Spring Training Update: 3/23

History of Baseball: 1919
World Series Champions: Cincinnati Reds (96-44, .686 WPCT).
     Before the 1919 season even got started, another great baseball player was born.  Exactly five months after Ted Williams was born in San Diego, Cairo, Georiga produced Jack Roosevelt Robinson on January 31st.  On January 8th, just before Roosevelt was born, one of the greatest hitters of the 1880's passed away.  Jim O'Rourke, who hit .310 with 50 home runs (a lot for that time period) mainly with the New York Giants from 1876-1893, died of pneumonia.  As it turned out, 1919 ended up as a historic season.  The in-season developments, which were much more positive than their postseason counterparts, were highlighted by Babe Ruth's home run montage.  On May 20th, he hit the first grand slam of his career, and on September 8th, he broke Buck Freeman's unofficial 1899 record of 25.  Twelve days later, he tied the real record of 27, set by Ned Williamson in 1884 in the Chicago White Stockings' tiny ballpark.  Ruth came away with the record breaker on the 24th and finished the season with 29.  That total will stand forever as the single season home run record for the Dead Ball Era (pre-1920).  A play from August 24th piques my interest.  Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell, one of the better pitchers of the 1910's decade, was one out away from defeating the Philadelphia Athletics on a complete game when he was struck by lightning.  Undeterred (but also briefly unconscious), he got back up and finished the game.  As a little bit of historical analysis, compare that to today's little league games, where if lightning is seen in the distance, a game is called.  In this instance, a player was struck by lightning and the game continued without delay, minus a brief visit by the coaching staff.  One final, notable event occurred on September 28th, the final day of the season.  The New York Giants, led by starting pitcher and breakout star Jesse Barns, topped the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 in just 51 minutes.  To this day, the Giants-Phillies tilt stands as the shortest nine-inning game of all time.  These days, an average game will take more than three hours.
     The Cincinnati Reds ran away with the National League, posting a major league best 96-44 record to win the NL by nine games over the New York Giants (87-53).  Their .686 winning percentage was the highest mark since the 1912 Boston Red Sox, who went 105-47 to check in at .691.  Over in the American League, the Chicago White Sox won the AL pennant with an 88-52 record, ousting the Indians (84-55) by 3.5 games.  Despite the differences in their records, the Chicago White Sox were heavily favored to win the World Series.  Led by Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Eddie Collins, Red Faber, Lefty Williams, Buck Weaver, and Ray Schalk, many came into the World Series thinking there was no way Chicago could lose.  However, the Reds won five games to three (the series was lengthened to best five out of nine) and questions arose.  As it turned out, a contingent of players, led by first baseman Chick Gandil, had conspired with gamblers to throw the World Series.  This would come to be known infamously as the Black Sox Scandal.  Because the details did not fully emerge until 1920, the aftermath will not be discussed until the next blog.  During the Series itself, Joe Jackson, who was banned in 1920 for "throwing" the series, actually led all participants with a .375 average.  On the mound, Lefty Williams, who had been 23-11 with a 2.64 ERA during the regular season, "struggled" in the Series and went 0-3 with a 6.61 ERA.  The scheme's organizer, Chick Gandil, hit just .233.  Jimmy Ring (1-1, 0.64 ERA), Slim Sallee (1-1, 1.35 ERA), and Hod Eller (2-0, 1.42 ERA) led the opposing Reds from the mound, while Greasy Neale led the offense with a .357 average.
      For the regular season, can you guess who led the majors in batting average?  That's right!  Ty Cobb batted .384, well ahead of any competition.  His teammate, Bobby Veach, finished second at .355, while Cincinnati's Edd Roush topped the more pitching heavy NL at just .321.  You wouldn't think it, but 1919 was Cobb's twelfth and final AL batting title.  He would bat over .370 three more times, but George Sisler and Rogers Hornsby would make sure he never led the league again.  The real story was about Babe Ruth, who smashed a record breaking 29 home runs while also leading the majors with 119 RBI and 103 runs scored and batting .322 along the way.  Giants speedster George Burns was the only player to reach 40 stolen bases, as he recorded that total while batting .303.  The aging slugger Gavvy Cravath was nearing the end of his career, but despite playing in only 83 games for the Phillies, he managed to lead the NL with twelve home runs.  He would play in 46 games in 1920 before retiring at 39 years old.  Over on the mound, Grover Cleveland Alexander had returned from World War I and was back to his usual, dominant form.  He led the NL in ERA as he went 16-11 with a 1.72 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP over 30 games (27 starts) for the Cubs.  Washington's Walter Johnson, however, was better, going 20-14 with a 1.49 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP over 39 games (29 starts).  Eddie Cicotte, who would be banned in 1920 for his role in the Black Sox Scandal, put up arguably the best season of his career, finishing 29-7 with a 1.82 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP.  Alexander's Cubs teammate Hippo Vaughn also put up a career year, going 21-14 with a 1.79 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.  The major league WHIP leader was not Johnson, nor was it Alexander, Cicotte, or Vaughn; it was Babe Adams, the Pittsburgh Pirates veteran who won 194 games and two World Series while rarely hearing his name discussed.  Adams was 17-10 with a 1.98 ERA, but his 0.90 WHIP was enough to top all of the big names.  

News
The Major League Baseball season "began" with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks playing a pair of games in Sydney.  The games were official, but the rest of the teams do not begin play until next week.
Reds closer Aroldis Chapman took a line drive to the face and will miss six to eight weeks while he recovers.
Angels signed Joe Martinez (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 2014 age: 31) to a minor league deal.
You might want to check Top Performers because Jose Quintana rebounded from Worst Pitching Performance to Top Pitching Performance in back to back games.

Game Scores
Real games
Dodgers (2-0) beat the Diamondbacks (0-2) 3-1 and 7-5.
Spring games
Mets (SS, 13-11) beat the Nationals (12-12) 3-1.
Rays (15-5) beat the Red Sox (8-15) 9-2.
Blue Jays (12-11) beat the Yankees (15-10) 3-1.
Phillies (7-15) beat the Twins (7-13) 5-1.
Cubs (12-15) beat the A's (SS, 12-11) 10-6.
Marlins (16-9) beat the Tigers (12-11) 8-4.
Rockies (12-12) tied the White Sox (7-12) 5-5.
Top Scorer: Giants beat the Royals 13-9.

Spring Standings
Grapefruit League: Top: Rays (15-5, .750 WPCT).  Bottom: Phillies (7-15, .318).
Cactus League: Top: Indians (16-7, .696).  Bottom: Rangers (7-15, .318).

Spring Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Mike Moustakas (Royals), .467 (21-45).  HR: Chris Heisey (Reds) and Luis Valbuena (Cubs), 6.  RBI: Mike Moustakas, 17.  Stolen bases: Billy Burns (A's), 10.
Pitching: Wins: Jesse Chavez (A's), 4.  K's: C.J. Wilson (Angels), 28.  ERA: Madison Bumgarner (Giants), 0.00 (17 shutout innings).  Saves: Jean Machi (Giants), 4.

Top Performers
Offensive: Junior Lake (Cubs): 3-5, 3 HR (3), 6 RBI, 3 runs.
Pitching: Jose Quintana (White Sox): No decision, 5 shutout innings, 1 hit, no walks, 2 K's (6).
Worst Pitching Performance: Mike Leake (Reds): Loss (0-1), 4 innings, 8 runs (7 earned), 9 hits, no walks, 2 K's (9).

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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