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Sept. 1, 1996

East W L GB Last R RA

Manhattan 79 57 - 13-14 8 3

Brooklyn 74 62 5 18-9 7 8

Boston 72 64 7 16-11 4 12

Toronto 72 64 7 11-16 2 13

Havana 68 67 10½ 15-12 11 7
Keystone 68 68 11 9-18 6 14
Washington 62 73 16½ 13-13 16 11

Montreal 58 78 21 13-14 15 18

Florida 57 79 22 12-16 18 9

West W L GB Last R RA

Atlanta 81 54 - 16-11 3 1

Chicago 81 55 ½ 19-8 1 10

Cleveland 80 56 1½ 16-11 5 5

St. Louis 74 62 7½ 14-13 13 5

Los Angeles 72 64 9½ 15-12 9 2

Denver 67 69 14½ 11-16 12 4
Minneapolis 58 78 23½ 11-16 10 17
Detroit 52 83 29 12-15 14 16

Seattle 47 89 34½ 9-18 17 15

TOP STORIES

With a healthy Ken Griffey Jr, Brooklyn went on a tear in August, jumping three spots to claim 2nd place, setting themselves up to challenge their crosstown rivals for the East pennant.

Atlanta, Chicago, and Cleveland played musical chairs in 1st place, while consolidating their positions relative to the rest of the West Division.

Four players hit homer hat tricks in August, including Carlos Delgado (CLE) on Aug. 19. His was the 10th HHT of the year, setting a new UL record.

Andy Van Slyke became the oldest player to get six hits in a game, prompting one observer to say, "Andy Van Slyke is still in the league?"

INJURIES

BRO SP John Smiley (7 wk)
CHI RP Chris Holt (season)
KEY SP Aaron Sele (5 wk)
MAN SS Tony Graffanino (5 wk)
MON SP Jim Abbott (9 mo)
STL CF Michael Tucker (season)
STL 3B Chipper Jones (season)
SEA SP Joey Hamilton (season)
TOR C Benito Santiago (7 mo)

Superbas on the March
Brooklyn Jumps 3 Spots to 2nd

The Brooklyn Superbas were the hottest team this side of Chicago in August, winning 18 of 27 and climbing three spots to 2nd, within shouting distance of their crosstown rivals for the East pennant.

Marty Cordova led the surge. The sophomore right fielder led the club with a .337 average, 18 RBI, and a .962 OPS in August. The second overall pick a year ago, Cordova has already made an All-Star roster and ranked 9th in the league in WAR.

Brooklyn's surge really took off on Aug. 12, the start of a four-game win streak. The Bas were 13-4 from that date forward, including a pair of pitching-fueled wins over Manhattan to close the month. Rookie Mike Sirotka held the Sox to four hits and one run in six-plus innings in a 4-1 home win at home, and Charlie Lea repeated the 4/1 feat at Hudson Yards the following night in a 6-1 win. Lea (10-9) is 4-0 in his last five starts, pushing his record over .500 for the first time since 1992.

Keystone Fades

After a red-hot midseason that rekindled hopes for a playoff return, the Keystone Starlings wilted in the August heat. The boys from Philly were 9-18 for the month, plummeting from third to sixth while watching a three-game lead for 3rd morph into a four-game deficit. The Blackbirds are now looking up at Havana and Toronto before they even catch glimpse of the playoff zone.

So what caused the collapse? Tim Salmon's bat was ice-cold and the pitching was slop. Salmon came into the month with a .900 OPS and then had one of the worst months of his young career, batting .245 with a .659 OPS and 0.0 WAR.

As for the pitching, this was always going to be a liability for the upstart club, whose staff could be described as "expansion pitching"—especially expanding ERAs. Only one starter managed an ERA under 5.00 for the month; that was Aaron Sele, who was lost for the season on Aug. 26.

West Division

East Division

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League Leaders

Batting Average
Tony Gwynn ATL .387
+Carlos Delgado CLE .350
Juan Gonzalez TOR .346
Albert Belle CHI .335
Mark Grace DEN .333
+Vladi Guerrero MON .329
Gary Sheffield CHI .328
Frank E Thomas LA .328
Tim Raines DEN .326
Dion James CLE .323

RBIs
Ellis Burks BOS 114
Eric Karros TOR 112
Frank E Thomas LA 110
+Rafael Palmeiro HAV 103
Gary Sheffield CHI 103
Barry Bonds STL 102
Tim Salmon KEY 102
Jeff Bagwell KEY 101
+Juan Gonzalez TOR 100
Matt Williams BRO 98

Infield Zone Rating
Benji Gil SEA 23.9
Tony Batista STL 22.8
Rey Ordonez BOS 22.0
+Rey Sanchez STL 17.7
Craig Grebeck CLE 16.7

Home Runs
Barry Bonds STL 39 Juan Gonzalez TOR 27
Eric Karros TOR 35
Gary Sheffield CHI 34
Frank E Thomas LA 34
Matt Williams BRO 33
Ellis Burks BOS 32
+Carlos Delgado CLE 30
Ryan Klesko DET 29

bWAR
Barry Bonds STL 6.6
Gary Sheffield CHI 6.4
+Vladi Guerrero MON 6.0
Jim Thome BOS 6.0
+Ken Griffey Jr BRO 5.7
Juan Gonzalez TOR 5.5
Jeff Cirillo LA 5.4
Jeff Bagwell KEY 5.3
+Marty Cordova BRO 5.1
Darin Erstad DEN 5.0

Outfield Zone Rating
Darin Erstad DEN 22.4
F.P. Santangelo MAN 22.0
Andruw Jones WAS 20.3
Stan Javier LA 19.6
+Ken Griffey Jr BRO 14.1

Earned Run Average
Pedro Martinez ATL 2.39
F. Valenzuela ATL 2.92
Kevin Brown BRO 3.15
Greg Swindell LA 3.39
+Franc. Cordova FLO 3.41
Greg Hibbard FLO 3.49
+Mike Grace TOR 3.56
+Jim Gott STL 3.62
+Rheal Cormier LA 3.70
+Floyd Youmans LA 3.72

Strikeouts
Pedro Martinez ATL 226

Fern Valenzuela ATL 190
Steve Cooke CHI 184

Mike Mussina FLO 164

Aaron Sele KEY 155
Bruce Hurst LA 154
Floyd Youmans LA 154
Jon Lieber BOS 147
Darryl Kile ATL 144
Shane Reynolds HAV 143

Wins
Fern Valenzuela ATL 19
Steve Cooke CHI 18
Jim Gott STL 16
+John Mitchell CHI 15
+Kenny Rogers BOS 15
Greg Swindell LA 15
Floyd Youmans LA 15
+Shane Reynolds HAV 14
Aaron Sele KEY 14

pWAR
Pedro Martinez ATL 7.0
Fern Valenzuela ATL 6.8
+Steve Cooke CHI 4.9
Sean Bergman HAV 4.5
Jon Lieber BOS 4.5
Greg Swindell LA 4.4
Shane Reynolds HAV 4.2
+Bruce Hurst LA 3.8
Bret Saberhagen STL 3.8
+Erik Hanson BOS 3.7

Awards

Batter of the Month
APR Carlos Delgado CLE

MAY Juan Gonzalez TOR

JUN Barry Bonds STL

JUL Bernie Williams FLO

AUG Glenallen Hill FLO
SEP

Pitcher of the Month
APR Pedro Martinez ATL

MAY JM Robinson CHI

JUN Shane Reynolds HAV

JUL Sean Bergman HAV

AUG Steve Cooke CHI
SEP

Rookie of the Month
APR N. Garciaparra ATL

MAY J. Allensworth CHI

JUN Brant Brown TOR

JUL Bobby Abreu MPS

AUG Vladi Guerrero MON
SEP

Player of the Week
4/8 Carlos Delgado CLE

4/15 Frank Thomas LA

4/22 Jon Nunnally MAN

4/29 Mike Piazza BOS

5/6 Junior Felix CHI

5/13 Tim Raines DEN

5/20 Eric Karros TOR

5/27 Ryan Klesko DET

6/3 Barry Bonds STL

6/10 Jim Thome BOS

6/17 Carlos Baerga KEY

6/24 Mark Grace DEN

7/1 Marty Cordova BRO

7/8 Tim Salmon KEY

7/15 Albert Belle CHI

7/22 John Olerud CHI

7/29 Gary Sheffield CHI

8/5 Vladi Guerrero MON

8/12 Tony Gwynn ATL

8/19 Mike Piazza BOS

8/26 Carlos Delgado CLE

9/2

9/9