Daily Baseball Update: 7/24

Historical Individual Seasons: Randy Johnson 2001
Stat Line: 21-6, 2.49 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 372 K's.  Age 37.
Randy Johnson was already one of the best pitchers in baseball before he had the Hall of Fame caliber season shown above (2002 would also be comparable).  He went 21-6 with a 2.49 ERA and struck out 372 batters, just eleven shy of the single season record (post 1890) of 383 and the third best total since 1890.  He started the All Star Game for the NL and after allowing a single to Ichiro (who in all fairness hit .350 that year), he retired Alex Rodriguez (52 HR, 135 RBI, .318 AVG), Manny Ramirez (41 HR, 125 RBI, .306 AVG), Bob Boone (37 HR, 141 RBI, .331 AVG), Juan Gonzalez (35 HR, 140 RBI, .325 AVG), John Olerud (21 HR, 95 RBI, .302 AVG), and Edgar Marttinez (23 HR, 116 RBI, .306 AVG) in order.  At the season's end, he led the majors in ERA, starts (35), strikeouts, WHIP, pitches (4078), opponents' slugging percentage (.309), opponents' OPS (.583), strikeouts per nine innings (13.41), and hits per nine innings (6.52).  He earned his fourth Cy Young Award.  It was after the season that he was really at his best.  It started in the Division Series against the Cardinals, where he tossed eight innings of three run ball in a loss.  In the League Championship Series against the Braves, he tossed a three hit shutout and struck out eleven.  In his next start, he threw seven more innings of two run ball for another win.  Against the Yankees in the World Series, he started with another three hit shutout Game 2.  In Game 6, Johnson threw seven innings of two run ball for his second victory of the Series.  Coming in in relief in Game 7, he tossed the final inning and a third, retiring all four batters to earn the Game 7 win and become the first pitcher to win three games in one World Series since Mickey Lolich in 1968.  Going 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA, he was named co-World Series MVP with Curt Schilling, who went 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA.  Overall in the postseason, Johnson was 5-1 with a 1.52 ERA.  Combine his postseason and All Star performances with his regular season, and he was 26-7 with a 2.33 ERA and 422 strikeouts in 293 innings. 

News
Brewers traded Francisco Rodriguez (1-1, 1.09 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 10 SV, age 31) to the Orioles for minor leaguer Nick Delmonico (13 HR, 30 RBI, .243 AVG, 5 SB at High Class A, age 21).
After the Ryan Braun suspension, it looks as if Alex Rodriguez is next, and he will likely get an even longer punishment.
The Mariners extended their winning streak to eight games.

Game Scores
Pirates (59-39) beat the Nationals (48-52) 5-1.
Red Sox (61-41) beat the Rays (59-42) 6-2.
Yankees (53-47) beat the Rangers (55-45) 5-4.
Cardinals (60-37) beat the Phillies (49-51) 4-1.
Dodgers (52-47) beat the Blue Jays (45-54) 10-9.
Diamondbacks (52-48) beat the Cubs (44-54) 10-4.
Tigers (55-44) beat the White Sox (39-58) 6-2.
Top Scorer: Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 10-9 and Twins beat the Angels 10-3.

Standings
AL East: Red Sox (61-41, .598 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (55-44, .556).  AL West: A's (58-42, .580).
NL East: Braves (56-44, .560).  NL Central: Cardinals (60-37, .619).  NL West: Dodgers (52-47, .525).
AL Wild Cards: Rays (59-42, .584) and Orioles (57-44, .564).  NL Wild Cards: Pirates (59-39, .602) and Reds (57-44, .564).
Bottom Team: Astros (34-65, .343).  Longest W Streak: Mariners, 8 games.  Longest L Streak: Blue Jays, 6 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .358 (134-374).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 37.  RBI: Chris Davis, 97.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 37.
Pitching: Wins: Matt Moore (Rays) and Max Scherzer (Tigers), 14.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 161.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 2.01 (152.1 innings, 34 earned runs).  Saves: Jim Johnson (Orioles), 35.

Top Performers
Offensive: Zack Cozart (Reds): 4-5, home run, 2 RBI, 3 runs, AVG up .008 from .235 to .243, hitting streak to 2 games (5-9, .556 AVG).
Pitching: Gerrit Cole (Pirates): Win (5-3), 7 innings, 1 earned run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 4 K's (29), ERA drop: 0.38 runs from 3.89 to 3.51.
Worst Pitching Performance: Eric Surkamp (Giants): Loss (0-1), 2.2 innings, 7 earned runs, 9 hits, no walks, 0 K's, ERA jump: -.-- runs from -.-- to 23.62.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman