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July 1, 1993

Colts in Full Sprint
Chicago Hottest Team, Behind Mulholland Goose Eggs

The Colts put their .500 start far in the rearview mirror in June, compiling a 21-6 mark that ranks as one of the best months by any team in UL history. The hot streak included sweeps of Montreal, Washington, and Keystone; and nine straight series wins.

Given their impressive .778 winning percentage, no batter had an OPS over 1.000 for the month. Eric Davis was the top contributor at the plate, batting .277-8-23 with a .955 OPS. Albert Belle batted .296-4-19, .882.

On the pitching side, Steve Cooke was 4-0, 1.80, 0.70 WHIP and ace Erik Hanson 3-0, 2.80, 1.08, whle setup man Mark Guthrie posted a 1.26 ERA in 12 appearances. Terry Mulholland's June ERA of 2.40 looks impressive, but more impressive is his 0.00 ERA in his last 5 starts. Yes, the 29-year-old lefthander has pitched 34.2 consecutive shutout innings, after being routed in an 8-3 loss to St. Louis on June 7. After that loss, Mulholland was sitting on a 1-8 record and 4.77 ERA, hardly a candidate to compete for the UL record in shutout innings. Some more stats on those last four starts: 34.2 innings, 16 hits, 6 walks, 0.63 WHIP.

The Colts are 13-8 in one-run games, including 3-0 in such games in June, in which they were also 2-0 in extra innings and 5-0 in shutouts, four of which coincide with Mulholland starts.

Detroit, L.A. Lead Divisions at Midway Point

Despite preseason prognostications assessed that Detroit's 1992 title was a fluke. However, the '93 Griffins are picking up where last year's championship team left off, posting a 53-31 first-half record that has them tied for first overall. The Flyin' Lions have the 7th best offense and 5th best pitching in the league, behind last year's #6 and #3 finishes, but they have trimmed last year's team ERA by 20 points to 3.50, their best ERA in eight seasons.

Andy Benes, who couldn't possibly repeat as a 20-game winner, they said, is on pace to do just that (10-5, 3.36). Fred McGriff, who couldn't possibly match his monster power numbers, they said, is doing darn close (20 HR, 70 RBI). And closer Mark Wohlers, who couldn't possibly break the single-season save record two years in a row, they said. Well, he won't. But still, the 23-year-old fireballer has a 2.34 ERA and 18 saves, with similar WHIP and K/9 rates as last year.

Detroit has been particularly unbeatable at home this year. The champs are 33-9 at Kiner Field, including 10-2 in June and seven straight wins.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Outlaws have righted themselves. After a horrific start last year that forced them to scramble back into the playoffs with the #3 seed, Peter Vay's boys are on track to claim their 10th division pennant in 12 years.

L.A. is 3rd in runs and 2nd in runs against, broadly matching up with their 1991 rankings, when they finished 101-59 and won the President's Trophy. Frank Thomas, in his first full season at Arroyo Seco, is batting .316-20-63, 1.039 and ranks 9th in batting, 6th-T in home runs, 5th in RBIs, and 4th in WAR. Thomas' production has more than offset off years by Cory Snyder, Andy Van Slyke, and Dion James.

L.A.'s rotation has been disappointing, but the Outlaw's lofty standards at least. Ace Floyd Youmans' 3.29 ERA is 70 points higher than last year and Greg Swindell is just 2-6 after going 18-7 a year ago. On the plus side, newcomer Joe Magrane has a 3.10 ERA and 2.9 WAR and 34-year-old SP5 Bruce Hurst is having a career year (11-2, 2.94).

But L.A. pitching dominance has shifted to the bullpen, whose 2.88 ERA ranks 1st in the league, led by Luis DeLeon's 1.46 in 19 games, and closer Todd Frohwirth (22 SV, 2.23 ERA), who is on pace to break Lee Smith's club save record.

The club suffered a setback on June 28, when CF Stan Javier injured his elbow, which will force him to miss all of July. Javier offense has plummeted in recent years, but his 13.0 ZR makes him the best defensive player in the league by a wide margin. So much so that a month's absence should have almost no impact on his chase for a third Willie Mays Award.

Howe Threes Saves Away
Sambito 394, Howe 391, Smith 386

An update on the all-time saves record chase.

Atlanta's Steve Howe recorded six saves in June (with a 1.02 ERA in 13 appearances), moving with three of Joe Sambito's career record. Meanwhile, Montreal's Lee Smith had one of the worst month's of his career: just 1 save and a 4.76 ERA in 10 appearances.

Other First Half Stories...

Boston's Sammy Sosa, who smashed 40 homers in his second full season last year, is on pace to become just the second ULer to hit 60 home runs in a season. The 23-year-old Dominican has 33 HR in 84 games.
Despite his hitting accolades (including three OPS titles, three slugging titles, and two MVPs), Barry Bonds has only led the league in RBIs once. That could change this season, as Bonds' trade to St. Louis has him affords him many more RBI opportunities. Bonds' 76 RBIs puts him on pace for 145, which would improve his career best by 20 and put him in the top seven all-time.
Washington's Kevin Tapani leads the league in ERA (1.84), which is surprising on many levels. First, Tapani is the fourth man on a rotation anchored by two Cy Young winners (Saberhagen and Higuera). Second, his career ERA was 4.65 coming into this season. And third, he had a three-start rehab assignment in Triple-A after an early April elbow injury.
Another surprising Washington starter has been Bob Knepper. The 38-year-old, who has almost five times more Triple-A then UL innings, ranks 9th with a 2.51 ERA in 13 starts. All of which begs the question, how is Washington 36-48 and mired in a sixth-place tie? Well, the aforementioned former Cy Young winners are having the worst seasons of their careers. Bert is 5-5, 3.14 and Higgy is 4-9, 3.77.
While we are on the topic of surprising pitchers, can you guess who leads the league in quality starts? Atlanta and Chicago aces Fernie Valenzuela and Erik Hanson are up there. But joining them with 15 QS is Detroit's Alex Fernandez. The fourth-year northpaw is having a breakout season in Motown, with a 8-3 record, 2.82 ERA, and, yes, 15/16 quality starts.
Toronto's Ellis Burks took Batter of the Month honors in June. The 1991 MVP batted .400-6-17, 1.069 and also strung together a 24-game hitting streak, breaking Steve Sax' club record.
Cleveland suffered a rare 20-loss month, including a 13-game losing streak. The skid included losses of 1-2, 5-6, 1-3, 0-4, 0-6, 1-5, 3-4, 2-3, and 9-10 (14). In other words, the Barons are doing three things: not scoring runs, not winning on the few occasions that they do score runs, and are coming close (with five one-run losses in the streak). Jose Canseco is turning out to be the worst cleanup hitter in the league, with a .235 average and .742 OPS.
The best leadoff man in the league is arguably Montreal's Larry Walker, who has a .421 OBP and 170 OPS+ in the leadoff role. Honorable mention goes to Havana's Kal Daniels with a .395 OBP and 63 runs (3rd in the league).
Seattle's four-man rotation experiment has blown up in their face. The Rainiers' rotation ranks 18th with a 5.07 ERA and ace Mike Mason is 1-6 with a 5.74 ERA in 13 starts. Alvin Davis is an impressive 4-8 with bases loaded, with 3 HR and 17 RBI. Harold Baines leads the league with 20 pinch hits (.357-3-9, 1.022 in 58 PA).

League Standings

West W L GB Last R RA
Los Angeles 53 31 - 16-11 3 2
Chicago 50 34 3 21-6 6 3
St. Louis 48 36 5 17-10 8 9
Florida 46 38 7 15-12 13 7
San Francisco 43 41 10 13-14 12 12
Havana 43 41 10 15-12 2 11
Atlanta 38 46 15 16-11 16 1
Denver 35 49 18 13-14 14 10
Seattle 34 50 19 10-17 10 18

East W L GB Last R RA
Detroit 53 31 - 17-10 7 5
Brooklyn 49 35 4 16-11 4 4
Toronto 48 36 5 12-15 1 14
Manhattan 39 45 14 12-15 11 16
Montreal 37 47 16 9-18 5 17
Boston 36 48 17 10-17 9 13
Washington 36 48 17 11-16 15 6
Keystone 34 50 19 13-14 18 15
Cleveland 34 50 19 7-20 17 7

League Leaders

Batting Average
Tony Gwynn ATL .334
Larry Walker MON .333
Jerry Browne BRO .331
Ivan Calderon FLO .324
+Benny Santiago CHI .322
C. Knoblauch BOS .318
+Ellis Burks TOR .318
Willie Upshaw BRO .317
+Frank Thomas LA .316
+Fred McGriff DET .316

RBIs
Barry Bonds STL 76
Fred McGriff DET 70
Mike Stanley HAV 65
Sammy Sosa BOS 64
Frank Thomas LA 63
Junior Felix MON 59
+Luis Gonzales MON 57
Matt Williams BRO 56
+Alvin Davis SEA 55
Cory Snyder LA 55

Home Runs
Sammy Sosa BOS 33
Barry Bonds STL 31
Mickey Tettleton TOR 28
Tim Salmon KEY 23
Cory Snyder LA 21
Ellis Burks TOR 20
Fred McGriff DET 20
+Frank Thomas LA 20
Matt Williams BRO 20

bWAR
Barry Bonds STL 5.9
Sammy Sosa BOS 4.9
Kal Daniels HAV 4.8
Frank Thomas LA 4.4
+Fred McGriff DET 3.9
Geronimo Pena BRO 3.9
Ivan Calderon FLO 3.8
+Gary Sheffield CHI 3.7
Andy Van Slyke LA 3.6
+Larry Walker MON 3.4

Infield Zone Rating
Rey Sanchez LA 8.0
Jose Valentin ATL 7.2
Ryne Sandberg WAS 6.7
Alan Trammell CHI 6.5
+John Valentin MAN 5.4

Earned Run Average
+Kevin Tapani WAS 1.84
+Pedro Martinez ATL 2.00
Ramon Martinez BRO 2.09
F. Valenzuela ATL 2.19
Erik Hanson CHI 2.21
+Ken Howell MAN 2.22
Steve Trachsel SF 2.31
Scott Bankhead KEY 2.47
+Bob Knepper WAS 2.51
+Jose DeLeon SF 2.57

Strikeouts
Pat Hentgen BOS 142
Mike Mussina FLO 136
Roger Clemens DEN 131
Jose DeLeon SF 131
F Valenzuela ATL 131
Ryan Bowen BOS 130
Erik Hanson CHI 127
Mark Langston HAV 124
Tom Glavine BOS 122
+Pedro Martinez ATL 122

Outfield Zone Rating
Stan Javier LA 13.0
+Sammy Sosa BOS 5.4
+Kenny Lofton CLE 4.7
Andy Van Slyke LA 4.6
Mitch Webster WAS 4.6

Wins
Bruce Hurst LA 11
+Ramon Martinez BRO 11
Steve Trachsel SF 11
+Andy Benes DET 10
Kevin Brown BRO 10
Dwight Gooden TOR 10
+Bob Sebra FLO 10

pWAR
Jose DeLeon SF 3.8
Dwight Gooden TOR 3.6
Fern Valenzuela ATL 3.5
Ramon Martinez BRO 3.3
Mike Mussina FLO 3.2
Matt Young MAN 3.1
Erik Hanson CHI 3.1
+Chris Bosio MON 2.9
+Pedro Martinez ATL 2.9
+Joe Magrane LA 2.9

Awards

Batter of the Month
APR Frank E. Thomas LA
MAY Barry Bonds STL
JUN Ellis Burks TOR
JUL
AUG
SEP

Pitcher of the Month
APR Kevin Brown BRO
MAY Steve Trachsel SF
JUN Ramon Martinez BRO
JUL
AUG
SEP

Rookie of the Month
APR Steve Trachsel SF
MAY Steve Trachsel SF
JUN Kirk Rueter KEY
JUL
AUG
SEP

Player of the Week
4/12 Kevin Mitchell HAV
4/19 Mike Piazza BOS
4/26 Barry Bonds STL
5/3 Sammy Sosa BOS
5/10 Ivan Calderon FLO
5/17 George Bell KEY
5/24 Tim Salmon KEY
5/31 Rafael Palmeiro STL
6/7 Bip Roberts MON
6/14 Frank Thomas LA
6/21 Joe Carter MAN
6/28 Alvin Davis SEA

Milestones

Apr 2 - SEA Rickey Henderson 1,000th stolen base (#2 all-time)
Apr 10 - SEA Willie McGee 2,000th hit (#49 all-time)
Apr 21 - DEN Roger Clemens 2,000 strikeouts (#38 all-time)
May 26 - TOR John Shelby 300 home runs (41 all-time)
June 6 - SF Jose DeLeon 2,000 strikeouts (#39 all-time)
June 11 - CHI Eric Davis 1,000 runs (#50 all-time)

Injuries

BRO SP John Smiley 10 mo
DEN SP Kevin Gross 5 wk
FLO SP Bob Tewksbury 8 wk
LA CF Stan Javier 4 wk
MAN 1B Ed Sprague 5 wk
TOR SP Tom Candiotti 3 mo
TOR SP Dave Stieb 2 mo
TOR RP Michael Jackson 2 mo