MLB Update: 6/25

History of Baseball: 1926
World Series Champions: St. Louis Cardinals (89-65, .578 WPCT).
     Four more future Hall of Famers popped into the majors in 1926, starting with Tony Lazzeri (Yankees) and Paul Waner (Pirates) on April 13th and continuing with 17 year old Mel Ott (Giants) on the 27th and 19 year old Joe Cronin (Pirates) on the 29th.  Multiple players reached career milestones, beginning with Walter Johnson's 400th career victory on May 12th and continuing with Tris Speaker's 700th career double on August 11th.  No player would ever win 400 games again (Cy Young being the only other pitcher to reach 400), and only Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, and Pete Rose would ever accumulate 700 doubles.  While the Major Leagues went about their business, the Negro Leagues discovered a jewel of their own.  Leroy "Satchel" Paige was signed to the Chattanooga White Sox, the equivalent to a minor league in the Negro Leagues.  It was the beginning of a professional baseball career that would span 41 years before Paige's last pitches in the independent leagues in 1967.
         Both the AL and NL featured close races, and the Yankees (91-63) barely edged out the Indians (88-66) by three games.  In the NL, the Cardinals (89-65) were only able to hold off the Reds (87-67) by two games.  The Chicago American Giants (57-23) won the Negro League Championship in what would be manager Rube Foster's last season.  Back in the majors, the Yankees and Cardinals met in the World Series, and it turned out to be little known, 155 pound shortstop Tommy Thevenow who led the Cardinals in the Series, as he batted .417 with a home run and five runs scored in the seven game series.  Ironically, Thevenow had hit two home runs during the regular season, and the three total home runs would be the only home runs he hit during his entire 15 year career from 1924-1938.  Despite Babe Ruth's four home runs in the seven games, the Cardinals prevailed, thanks in large part to the two headed pitching monster of Jesse Haines (2-0, 1.08 ERA) and 39 year old Grover Cleveland Alexander (2-0, 1.33 ERA).
     The two League Awards were given to Cleveland's George Burns and the Cardinals' Bob O'Farrell.  Though Burns had hit just four home runs, he managed to bat .358 with 114 RBI and a then-single season record of 64 doubles.  O'Farrell won the award more as a leader, as the World Champion catcher batted .293 with seven home runs and 68 RBI.  Detroit's Heinie Manush ended up winning the batting title at a sizzling .378 pace, combining that with 14 home runs and 95 runs scored for the Tigers.  Cincinnati's Bubbles Hargrave was the NL batting champion at .353.  Though he missed out on the League Award due to the one-award-per-player cap, Babe Ruth put up the best offensive season in baseball, hitting 47 home runs, driving in 146, and batting .372 over 152 games.  In addition to leading the majors in home runs and RBI, Ruth led in runs (139), walks (144), on-base percentage (.516), slugging percentage (.737), and OPS (1.253).  Three other players who put up big seasons were the Cubs' Hack Wilson (21 HR, 109 RBI, .321 AVG), the Athletics' Al Simmons (19 HR, 109 RBI, .345 AVG), and the Senators' Goose Goslin (17 HR, 108 RBI, .354 AVG).  Pittsburgh's Ray Kremer turned out to be the most dominating pitcher of 1926, going 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.  Athletics sophomore Lefty Grove put up a huge breakout season, going 13-13 with a major league leading 2.51 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  In his final full season, Washington's Stan Coveleski went 14-11 with a 3.12 ERA to show that even at 37 years old, he still had some left in him.  Cleveland's George Uhle led the majors in wins as he went 27-11 with a 2.83 ERA, and Washington's Firpo Marberry, baseball's first Mariano Rivera, broke his own saves record by recording an unprecedented 22 in 1926.

News
Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki and Toronto's Jose Bautista were named captains of the NL and AL Home Run Derby teams, respectively.
Astros prospect and 2012 first overall pick Carlos Correa sustained a serious ankle injury and could miss significant time.
Yesterday's Nationals-Brewers tilt lasted 16 innings before Ryan Zimmerman hit a two run home run to break up the stalemate.
Atlanta's Evan Gattis snapped his hitting streak at 20 games.

Game Scores
Nationals (41-35) beat the Brewers (47-32) 4-2 (16 innings).
Mariners (42-36) beat the Red Sox (35-43) 8-2.
Blue Jays (44-35) beat the Yankees (39-37) 7-6.
Phillies (35-41) beat the Marlins (38-39) 7-4.
Pirates (39-38) beat the Rays (31-48) 6-5.
Dodgers (43-36) beat the Royals (40-37) 2-0.
Cubs (32-43) beat the Reds (38-38) 7-3.
Rockies (35-42) beat the Cardinals (42-36) 10-5.
Tigers (41-32) beat the Rangers (35-41) 8-2.
Top Scorer: Mets beat the A's 10-1 and Rockies beat the Cardinals 10-5.

Standings
AL East: Blue Jays (44-35, .557 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (41-32, .562).  AL West: A's (47-30, .610).
NL East: Nationals (41-35, .539).  NL Central: Brewers (47-32, .595).  NL West: Giants (45-32, .584). 
AL Wild Cards: Angels (42-33, .560) and Mariners (42-36, .538).  NL Wild Cards: Dodgers (43-36, .544) and Cardinals (42-36, .538).
Bottom Team: Rays (31-48, .392).  Longest W Streak: Tigers and Mariners, 5 games.  Longest L Streak: Rangers, 6 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies), .354 (90-254).  Home runs: Edwin Encarnacion (Blue Jays), 24.  RBI: Edwin Encarnacion, 63.  Stolen bases: Dee Gordon (Dodgers), 39
.Pitching: Wins: Masahiro Tanaka (Yankees), 11.  K's: David Price (Rays), 133.  ERA: Johnny Cueto (Reds), 1.86 (116 IP, 24 ER).  Saves: Francisco Rodriguez (Brewers), 25.

Top Performers
Offensive: Carlos Santana (Indians): 4-5, double, home run (12), 2 RBI, 2 runs, 2 walks, AVG up .012 from .202 to .214, hitting streak to 4 games (9-18, .500 AVG).
Pitching: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers): Win (8-2), 8 shutout innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, 8 K's (94), ERA drop: 0.28 runs from 2.52 to 2.24.
Worst Pitching Performance: Kyle Gibson (Twins): Loss (6-6), 2 innings, 7 earned runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 1 K (47), ERA jump: 0.67 runs from 3.25 to 3.92.

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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