Daily Baseball Update: 7/27

Historical Individual Seasons: Mickey Mantel 1956
Stat Line: 52 HR, 130 RBI, .353 AVG, 10 SB.  Age 24.
Mickey Mantle, one of the greatest players of all time, had his best season in 1956.  In 150 games, he hit 52 home runs and batted .353.  He started the All Star Game and hit a home run off the great Warren Spahn (20-11, 2.78 ERA that season).  He led the Yankees to a 97-57 record, which was nine games ahead of the second place Indians.  In the World Series against Brooklyn, he hit three home runs, one of which backed Don Larsen in his perfect game.  That year, Mantle led the majors in runs (132), home runs, RBI, average, slugging percentage (.705), OPS (1.169), total bases (376), and extra base hits (79) en route to winning the Triple Crown.  After the season, he earned his first of three MVP awards, winning this one unanimously over Yogi Berra (30 HR, 105 RBI, .298 AVG) and Al Kaline (27 HR, 128 RBI, .314 AVG).

News
Cubs traded Alfonso Soriano (17 HR, 51 RBI, .254 AVG, 10 SB, age 37) and cash considerations to the Yankees for minor leaguer Corey Black (3-8, 4.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, age 21).
Red Sox signed Dustin Pedroia to an eight year, $110 million extension ($13.75 million per season).
Phillies signed Cuban prospect Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez to a six year, $59 million deal ($9.83 million per season).
Braves pitcher Tim Hudson broke his ankle and will miss the rest of the season.

Game Scores
Mets (46-54) beat the Nationals (50-54) 11-0 and Nationals beat the Mets 2-1.
Orioles (58-46) beat the Red Sox (61-43) 6-0.
Rays (61-42) beat the Yankees (54-49) 10-6.
Tigers (57-45) beat the Phillies (49-54) 2-1.
Dodgers (54-48) beat the Reds (59-45) 2-1.
Cubs (46-55) beat the Giants (46-56) 3-2.
Top Scorer: Blue Jays beat the Astros 12-6.

Standings
AL East: Rays (61-42, .592 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (57-45, .559).  AL West: A's (60-43, .583).
NL East: Braves (58-45, .563).  NL Central: Cardinals (62-38, .620).  NL West: Dodgers (54-48, .529).
AL Wild Cards: Red Sox (61-43, .587) and Orioles (58-46, .558).  NL Wild Cards: Pirates (60-41, .594) and Reds (59-45, .567).
Bottom Team: Astros (34-68, .333).  Longest W Streak: Royals, 4 games.  Longest L Streak: Phillies, 6 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .358 (134-374).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 37.  RBI: Chris Davis (Orioles), 97.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 37.
Pitching: Wins: Bartolo Colon (A's), Matt Moore (Rays), and Max Scherzer (Tigers), 14.  K's: Matt Harvey (Mets), 164.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 1.96 (160.1 innings, 35 earned runs).  Saves: Jim Johnson (Orioles), 35.

Top Performers
Offensive: Daniel Murphy (Mets Doubleheader): 6-9, 2 home runs (8), 5 RBI, 3 runs, walk, AVG up .009 from .277 to .286, hitting streak to 6 games (13-24, .542 AVG).
Pitching: Randall Delgado (Diamondbacks): Win (3-3), 9 shutout innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 K's (38), ERA drop: 0.58 runs from 3.43 to 2.85.
Worst Pitching Performance: Paul Clemens (Astros): Loss (4-4), 0.1 innings, 6 earned runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 K (37), ERA jump: 1.12 runs from 5.24 to 6.36.

-- 
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