I’ve reached June 1 in my 1947 APBA baseball replay and a few things are evident. The Yankees and Red Sox look like they’ll have a close battle to the end of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals are Playing above what they did in the real game and Ted Williams will have a monster season.
All this is based upon the completion of about 30 percent of the season; there’s plenty to play and, as APBA players know, anything can happen during a full season replay.
Here are the standings and highlights for the American League so far:
Boston 28 17 2
Detroit 29 18 2
Cleveland 22 21 7
St. Louis 18 25 12
Philadelphia 16 30 14.5
Washington 16 31 15
Ted Williams is the Triple Crown winner so far. He is batting .402 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs. Williams dipped below .400 in late May , but a few good outings boosted his average above the coveted mark again by June 1.
Joe DiMaggio, who was quiet for the first part of the season, is second in the American League with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs. He’s batting .348.
The Detroit Tigers are a playing well, too. Roy Cullenbine has 10 homers and Fred Hutchinson leads the team with six wins so far Joe Gordon, who was traded from the Yankees in October 1946 to Cleveland for pitcher Allie Reynolds, has helped pace the Indians to a fourth-place mark. Pitcher Bob Feller, who George Kell once told me was the most difficult pitcher he ever faced, has a 6-2 record for the Tribe.
It looks like Washington and Philadelphia will clash for last place honors. Those late season As-Senators doubleheaders will be a chore to play.
Here are the National League standings and some highlights:
W L GB
St. Louis 30 15 -
Boston 29 17 1.5
Brooklyn 26 19 4
Philadelphia 25 22 6
New York 22 22 7.5
Cincinnati 22 25 9
Chicago 15 31 15.5
Pittsburgh 14 31 16
Ralph Kiner, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ outfielder, and New York Giants first baseman Johnny Mize are tied for the league lead in home runs with 13 each. The two led the real season with 51 dingers each.
Mize also leads my replay with 44 RBIs. The Giants are somewhat of a disappointment; they are clobbering the long ball. Willard Marshall has 12 home runs and Bobby Thomson has 11. But the team is only playing .500 ball. Part of that reason is because of the slow runners, and I intend to write an entry on that soon. Seems like the Giants’ slow runners – those marked with an ‘S’ on their card – are often thrown out at second when running from first to second on a batter’s single. It’s happened twice in an inning for the Giants several times and has been a major rally killer.
The Cubs are simply bombing. Other than Bill “Swish” Nicholson’s 11 home runs, there’s nothing to see at Wrigley Field. They are on a tailspin lately and have a chance of toppling the Pirates for a lock on the cellar spot in the standings.
On the top of the league, the Cardinals are playing way above what the real team did in 1947. After 45 games in the real season, the Cards won 19 and lost 26 games. The Birds are playing 11 games above that pace in the replay and part of that is a combination of both hitting and pitching. Whitey Kurkowski has 12 home runs so far and Stan Musial is in second place in the RBI race with 42. Harry Breechen and Red Munger each have 7-1 records on the mound.
So, I’ve reached June 1, 1947. It’s a day where most teams will play doubleheaders. The standings are bound to change as teams and players get hot or cool off. Despite the statistical-based nature of the APBA game, I’ve found over the years there are some teams that get streaky and roll off several wins, or losses. The same with the players. DiMaggio had been pretty quiet early on, but lately he’s on a huge tear, hitting seven home runs in his last 10 games.
We’ll see how the season progresses. It’s why we roll all these games.
All this is based upon the completion of about 30 percent of the season; there’s plenty to play and, as APBA players know, anything can happen during a full season replay.
Here are the standings and highlights for the American League so far:
W L GB
New York 31 16 --Boston 28 17 2
Detroit 29 18 2
Cleveland 22 21 7
St. Louis 18 25 12
Philadelphia 16 30 14.5
Washington 16 31 15
Ted Williams is the Triple Crown winner so far. He is batting .402 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs. Williams dipped below .400 in late May , but a few good outings boosted his average above the coveted mark again by June 1.
Joe DiMaggio, who was quiet for the first part of the season, is second in the American League with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs. He’s batting .348.
The Detroit Tigers are a playing well, too. Roy Cullenbine has 10 homers and Fred Hutchinson leads the team with six wins so far Joe Gordon, who was traded from the Yankees in October 1946 to Cleveland for pitcher Allie Reynolds, has helped pace the Indians to a fourth-place mark. Pitcher Bob Feller, who George Kell once told me was the most difficult pitcher he ever faced, has a 6-2 record for the Tribe.
It looks like Washington and Philadelphia will clash for last place honors. Those late season As-Senators doubleheaders will be a chore to play.
Here are the National League standings and some highlights:
W L GB
St. Louis 30 15 -
Boston 29 17 1.5
Brooklyn 26 19 4
Philadelphia 25 22 6
New York 22 22 7.5
Cincinnati 22 25 9
Chicago 15 31 15.5
Pittsburgh 14 31 16
Ralph Kiner, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ outfielder, and New York Giants first baseman Johnny Mize are tied for the league lead in home runs with 13 each. The two led the real season with 51 dingers each.
Mize also leads my replay with 44 RBIs. The Giants are somewhat of a disappointment; they are clobbering the long ball. Willard Marshall has 12 home runs and Bobby Thomson has 11. But the team is only playing .500 ball. Part of that reason is because of the slow runners, and I intend to write an entry on that soon. Seems like the Giants’ slow runners – those marked with an ‘S’ on their card – are often thrown out at second when running from first to second on a batter’s single. It’s happened twice in an inning for the Giants several times and has been a major rally killer.
The Cubs are simply bombing. Other than Bill “Swish” Nicholson’s 11 home runs, there’s nothing to see at Wrigley Field. They are on a tailspin lately and have a chance of toppling the Pirates for a lock on the cellar spot in the standings.
On the top of the league, the Cardinals are playing way above what the real team did in 1947. After 45 games in the real season, the Cards won 19 and lost 26 games. The Birds are playing 11 games above that pace in the replay and part of that is a combination of both hitting and pitching. Whitey Kurkowski has 12 home runs so far and Stan Musial is in second place in the RBI race with 42. Harry Breechen and Red Munger each have 7-1 records on the mound.
So, I’ve reached June 1, 1947. It’s a day where most teams will play doubleheaders. The standings are bound to change as teams and players get hot or cool off. Despite the statistical-based nature of the APBA game, I’ve found over the years there are some teams that get streaky and roll off several wins, or losses. The same with the players. DiMaggio had been pretty quiet early on, but lately he’s on a huge tear, hitting seven home runs in his last 10 games.
We’ll see how the season progresses. It’s why we roll all these games.
