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Circuit Clouts
Sept. 1, 1994
Sept. 1, 1994
Feds Closing In On Pennant
Boston Takes Four-Game Lead into Final Month
The Boston Federals tied for the hottest team in the United League in the second half. Boston was 18-9 in August, pushing their record since July 1 to 37-15. The Feds have been winning with a combination of raw power and stellar relief pitching. Their 173 home runs are 2nd in the league and they lead the league with a 2.49 Bullpen ERA. The lineup features four players with at least 25 home runs, led by Sammy Sosa's 37 and Jim Thome's 34. Sosa, in his fifth year, is on pace for his third straight 40-homer season and has improved his OPS by 80 points to .885. Thome, in just his second year, has been even more impressive, with a .904 OPS to go with 34 HR and 97 RBIs.
The bullpen features three pitchers with ERAs under 2.00—pitching half their games in Fenway Park. Most impressive has been rookie closer Billy Taylor, who has 37 saves and a 1.27 ERA and figures to be in the mix for Rookie of the Year. Fellow rookie Ricky Bottalico (1.24 in 22 G) has ably filled the set-up role, and a third rookie Miguel Batista has excelled since his Aug. 1 callup, with a 1.69 ERA in 7 games.
Boston's hot streak allowed them to leapfrog Detroit and Brooklyn for first place after sitting four games behind on July 1. Boston has not won a division flag since 1980.
In case you were wondering who Boston was tied with at the hottest second half team, that would be the Toronto Polar Bears. The Sailors of the Floe were 45-40 at the midway point, eight games back and in fifth place. Toronto is 1st in home runs, 2nd in home runs, and 28-16 in one-run games. Eric Karros (.270-42-92) is tied for the lead in home runs, and rookie Raul Mondesi (.260-32-73), the 11th overall pick in 1993, has exceeded all expectations.
As in their four-year run of 90-win seasons from 1988-1991, the P-Bears are getting key pitching contributions beyond Dwight Gooden. Brian Holman is 13-6, 3.38 and Greg Mathews is 11-4, 3.64. Toronto was 34-7 from July 1 to August 18, but has struggled of late, going 3-8 to close the month, including six straight losses. But with their offensive firepower and Gooden at the top of the rotation, Toronto should challenge Boston for East Division supremacy.
Second Half Records
Team W L
Boston 37 15
Toronto 37 15
Brooklyn 30 22
Detroit 30 22
Don't Sleep on the Maroons
Justice Returns, Leads STL to 18-9 August
The St. Louis Maroons and their GM Glen Reed have been battling against a narrative of a team in decline since winning back-to-back UL titles in 1988-89. Since then, the Maroons win totals have dipped into the 80s (after six straight 90-win seasons) and the club has lost four straight playoff series, including two sweeps and 12 consecutive playoff losses.
But the '94 Maroons were red-hot in August and are anxious to prove their relevance. At 80-56, the Dark Reds are four games ahead of Los Angeles for third place with a comfortable 6.5-game cushion ahead of fourth-place Florida. The Maroons notched seven straight wins mid-month, including a 14-1 rout at Detroit that combined a Barry Bonds homer hat trick with a Shawn Hillegas gem (yes, the same Shawn Hillegas who authored a no-hitter earlier this year).
Bonds hit .327-18-27, .995 in August, but it arguably David Justice has been the key bat. The 27-year-old hit .326-4-25, .910 in August after OPSing just .742 before a June 11 injury benched him for six weeks. Another key contributor has been Reggie Jefferson. The 25-year-old is batting .339 with a .940 OPS and has batted himself into the starting lineup, with 36 starts in right field.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, defensive specialist and noted crackhead Cal Ripken Jr. may be a net-negative for the first time in his career, despite a league-best 14.7 Zone Rating. That stat means Ripken has single-handedly taken almost 15 runs off the opponents' scoreboard. However, Ripken's presence in the lineup—even batting ninth after the pitcher, a classic Glen Reed gambit—has taken almost as many runs off the Maroons' scoreboard. Ripken's
.471 OPS, .206 wOBA, and 29 OPS+ would rank dead last—and by a wide margin—if he had just a handful more plate appearances.
Horner Climbs Homer List
Veteran slugger Bob Horner is having a career resurgence in his age-35 season. The seven-time home run champion and Detroit Griffins legend is posting his best slugging percentage and OPS since 1988. He collected two homers at Denver Aug. 24 and had a five-RBI game against San Francisco Aug. 27, earning him Player of the Week honors, his first in over seven years.
Horner, the #1 pick in 1978, hit 44 home runs as a 19-year-old rookie, won his first home run title with 55 at age 20, and had 333 home runs and five home run titles by age 26, making him the most precocious slugger in UL history.
His nine round-trippers this year push his career tally to 631, just three behind Mickey Mantle for #2 all-time and 56 behind Orlando Cepeda for the all-time record. Horner just turned 36 on Aug. 6, but Cepeda hit 154 home runs after his 36th birthday and Mantle hit 143, so in that context 56 more dingers seems within reach for Horner.
All-Time Home Run Leaders
Player Total to35 36+
Orlando Cepeda 687 533 154
Mickey Mantle 634 491 143
Bob Horner 631 631 ?
Frank Robinson 602 537 65
Joe Torre 587 429 158
League Standings
League Standings
West W L GB Last R RA
Atlanta 94 42 - 18-9 1 1
St. Louis 80 56 14 18-9 4 7
Los Angeles 76 60 18 16-11 9 4
Florida 73 62 20½ 16-10 10 6
Chicago 67 69 27 15-12 12 2
Havana 65 69 28 12-15 8 12
Seattle 50 86 44 11-16 17 15
San Francisco 49 86 44½ 8-18 13 16
Denver 47 87 46 8-18 18 14
East W L GB Last R RA
Boston 86 50 - 18-9 5 8
Brooklyn 82 54 4 15-12 7 3
Detroit 82 54 4 16-11 3 5
Toronto 82 54 4 17-10 2 8
Keystone 76 60 10 12-15 6 10
Cleveland 58 78 28 16-11 13 10
Washington 54 82 32 10-17 16 13
Montreal 52 84 34 6-21 11 17
Manhattan 48 88 38 10-18 15 18
League Leaders
League Leaders
Batting Average
Wade Boggs ATL .346
Dave Nilsson DET .332
Tony Gwynn ATL .326
Carlos Baerga KEY .325
Larry Walker CLE .323
Bip Roberts MON .319
Ken Griffey Jr BRO .318
+Barry Bonds STL .311
Juan Gonzalez TOR .310
+Mike Piazza BOS .304
RBIs
Ryan Klesko DET 112
Barry Bonds STL 111
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 106
Tim Salmon KEY 106
Howard Johnson HAV 98
Bret Boone ATL 97
Jim Thome BOS 97
Raffy Palmeiro STL 96
Eric Karros TOR 92
Mike Piazza BOS 88
Home Runs
Barry Bonds STL 42
Eric Karros TOR 42
Tim Salmon KEY 40
Ryan Klesko DET 39
Sammy Sosa BOS 37
+Howard Johnson HAV 35
Mickey Tettleton TOR 35
Jim Thome BOS 34
+Eric Davis CHI 32
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 32
Raul Mondesi TOR 32
bWAR
Barry Bonds STL 8.9
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 8.8
Jose Valentin ATL 7.5
Sammy Sosa BOS 7.4
Andy Van Slyke LA 7.4
Dave Nilsson DET 7.3
Rich Gedman STL 7.0
+Eric Davis CHI 6.8
+Jim Edmonds CLE 6.7
+Ryne Sandberg WAS 6.4
Infield Zone Rating
Cal Ripken Jr STL 14.7
Alan Trammell CHI 13.0
Jay Bell LA 8.6
Robin Yount BRO 7.8
+Ryne Sandberg WAS 6.6
Earned Run Average
Pedro Martinez ATL 1.96
Mike Mussina FLO 2.13
Steve Avery BRO 2.22
+Joe Magrane STL 2.41
Floyd Youmans LA 2.44
T. Mulholland CHI 2.46
+F. Valenzuela ATL 2.48
+Greg Swindell LA 2.58
Darryl Kile ATL 2.58
Jaime Navarro CLE 2.62
Strikeouts
Pedro Martinez ATL 289
Floyd Youmans LA 253
F. Valenzuela ATL 229
Mike Mussina FLO 224
Scott Sanders DET 205
Dwight Gooden TOR 204
Jon Lieber BOS 204
Steve Cooke CHI 202
+Jose DeLeon KEY 190
Darryl Kile ATL 187
Outfield Zone Rating
Eric Davis CHI 14.0
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 11.9
+G. Anderson SF 9.4
Stan Javier LA 8.8
Shane Mack HAV 7.9
Wins
Joe Magrane STL 18
Mike Mussina FLO 18
F. Valenzuela ATL 18
Kirk Rueter KEY 17
Brian Anderson BOS 16
Pedro Martinez ATL 16
Darryl Kile ATL 15
5 tied with 14
pWAR
Pedro Martinez ATL 7.6
Mike Mussina FLO 5.7
Dwight Gooden TOR 5.4
Bret Saberhagen BOS 5.3
Floyd Youmans LA 5.3
Fern Valenzuela ATL 5.2
Jon Lieber BOS 5.2
Butch Henry KEY 4.6
+Scott Sanders DET 4.3
Darryl Kile ATL 4.2
Awards
Awards
Batter of the Month
APR Raffy Palmeiro STL
MAY Tim Salmon KEY
JUN Ken Griffey Jr BRO
JUL Barry Bonds STL
AUG Howard Johnson HAV
SEP
Pitcher of the Month
APR Mike Mussina FLO
MAY Mike Mussina FLO
JUN Pat Hentgen BOS
JUL Pedro Martinez ATL
AUG Fern Valenzuela ATL
SEP
Rookie of the Month
APR Aaron Sele KEY
MAY Jon Lieber BOS
JUN Jim Edmonds CLE
JUL Salomon Torres CLE
AUG Salomon Torres CLE
SEP
Player of the Week
4/11 Kal Daniels BOS
4/18 Tim Salmon KEY
4/25 Shane Mack HAV
5/2 Jeff Bagwell KEY
5/9 Greg Colbrunn ATL
5/16 Ken Griffey Jr BRO
5/23 Andy Van Slyke LA
5/30 Matt Williams BRO
6/6 Ron Karkovice LA
6/13 Matt Williams BRO
6/20 Ken Griffey Jr BRO
6/27 Barry Bonds STL
7/4 Ken Caminiti MAN
7/11 Frank Thomas LA
7/18 Ron Gant TOR
7/25 Mike Piazza BOS
8/1 Eric Karros TOR
8/8 Bret Boone ATL
8/15 Barry Bonds STL
8/22 Eric Davis CHI
8/29 Bob Horner MAN
Milestones
Milestones
May 14 - HAV Lenny Dykstra 500 stolen bases (#20 all-time)
May 16 - ATL Tony Gwynn 500 stolen bases (#21 all-time)
May 18 - LA Andy Van Slyke 700 stolen bases (#5 all-time)
May 25 - TOR Dwight Gooden 2,500 strikeouts (#22 all-time)
June 5 - BOS Mike Scott 2,000 strikeouts (#42 all-time)
June 6 - ATL Wade Boggs 1,000 runs (#57 all-time)
June 7 - SEA Alvin Davis 1,000 RBIs (#48 all-time)
July 1 - DEN Ozzie Smith 1,000 runs (#58 -all-time)
July 7 - HAV Lenny Dykstra 1,000 runs (#59 all-time)
July 15 - BRO Robin Yount 3,000 hits (#4 all-time)
July 18 - SEA Willie McGee 1,000 runs (#60 all-time)
July 18 - LA Don Robinson 200 win (#19 all-time)
July 24 - TOR Ellis Burks 300 home runs (#43 all-time)
July 26 - CHI Eric Davis 1,000 RBIs (#48 all-time)
July 28 - WAS Ryne Sandberg 2,000 hits (#51 all-time)
Aug. 18 - KEY Jesse Barfield 300 home runs (#44 all-time)
Aug. 18 - WAS Ryne Sandberg 300 home runs (#45 all-time)
Aug. 20 - DEN Tim Raines 2,000 hits (#52 all-time)
Aug. 23 - TOR Scott Sanderson 2,500 strikeouts (#23 all-time)
Aug. 23 - HAV Lou Whitaker 2,000 hits (#53 all-time)
Aug. 27 - CHI Eric Davis 400 home runs (#20 all-time)
Injuries
(*min 4 wk; bold=this sim)
Injuries
(*min 4 wk; bold=this sim)
ATL 3B Wade Boggs 8 mo
ATL SP John Smoltz 7 mo
DEN SP Bill Swift 5 wk
FLO RP Mike Henneman 13 mo
LA SP Jose Lima 11 mo
SEA SP Joey Hamilton 7 mo
East Division
East Division
The Feds are 27-13 in one-run games. The bullpen stars three rookies and a 34-year-old veteran Jim Gott, who is 1.31 with 16 Ks in his last 20.2 innings. Julian Tavarez anchored a 4-0 shutout of Florida Aug. 27.
Geronimo Pena is batting .455, 1.402 in his last 6 games, coinciding with the Superbas' six-game win streak.
Steve Avery has a 0.00 ERA in his last two starts and Rudy Seanez has a 0.00 ERA in his last 15 relief appearances.
1992 MVP Fred McGriff has been benched. Just two years removed from his 55 HR/145 RBI season, McGriff was replaced at 1B by Ryan Klesko (.273-39-112, .926) to make room in LF for new arrival Larry Walker from Montreal (.345, .899 in his first 27 games with the Griffins).
How is the league's fourth-best rotation faring lately? Quite well: Alex Fernandez (1.12 in last 2 G), Pete Schourek (1.16 in last 3 G), Scott Sanders (1.30 in last 4 G). Oh, and Hector Carrasco is 0.42 in his last 17 games.
Toronto is on pace for 260 team home runs, which would rank 6th all-time in the UL but just 5th for Toronto seasons.
The 1-7 skid coincides with homerless streaks of eight games for Ellis Burks (.137-0-0) and six games for Eric Karros (.050-0-1).
Keystone ranks 3rd in wOBA and home runs. Their attack is led by "Mr. Starling" Tim Salmon (.271-40-106) who is 3rd in HR and 4th in RBI. Sixth overall pick William Van Landingham (WVL) is 12-8 with 176 Ks and struck out eight in a three-hit win over Atlanta on Aug. 15.
Some bright spots in the Barons' rotation: Rookie Ismael Valdez has a 2.87 ERA in 28 starts and Jaime Navarro has a 1.23 ERA in his last four starts.
Jim Edmonds (.284-28-84) has climbed onto the WAR chart, coming it at #9 with a 6.7 WAR.
Eric Young is batting .048 (1-21) in his last 6 games.
Three weeks after collecting his 2,000th hit, Ryne Sandberg hit his 300th home run. He recently inked a contract that will keep him at Griffith Stadium through the 1997 season.
Rookie Willie Blair has a 0.86 ERA in his last three games and is already arguably the better starter on a rotation that ranks 17th in ERA.
Bip Roberts (3.6) is again the bWAR leader, as he was in 1990-92. At .319, he is on pace for his 7th straight .300 season as a qualfied batter. His .333 career average is behind only Gwynn and Boggs.
Ed Sprague is quietly putting together a fine season (.252-24-48, .803 OPS).
Frank Seminara has a 7.56 ERA in hist last 16 games.
West Division
West Division
At .691, the Toppers need to go 18-6 in September to finish .700. Their +243 run differential projects out to +1.79 per game, sixth best all-time. Their 2.79 runs against would rank #1 all time, 0.13 better than the 1963 Conley-Burdette-Ford Brooklyn Superbas.
1963 Brooklyn 1994 Atlanta
Pitcher GS W L ERA K WAR Pitcher GS W L ERA K WAR
Lew Burdette 35 22 7 2.62 196 10.9 Pedro Martinez 28 16 5 1.96 289 7.6
Gene Conley 36 24 6 2.02 222 10.6 Fern Valenzuela 28 18 6 2.48 229 5.2
Whitey Ford 30 21 5 2.05 229 9.0 Darryl Kile 27 15 6 2.58 187 4.2
Joe Magrane has found his groove. If the Maroons continue their hot streak and make a playoff run, their 29-year-old ace will likely be a key cog. Magrane is 6-0, 1.40 in his last 8 starts and is now tied for the league lead with 18 wins. At 80-63, 2.92, Magrane is one of the best starters under 30.
Best Starting Pitchers Under 30
Pitcher W L ERA ERA+ WAR
Dwight Gooden 184 82 2.96 140 84.6
Bruce Ruffin 110 65 3.28 124 35.9
Joe Magrane 80 63 2.92 134 27.5
Greg Swindell 88 66 3.57 111 24.6
Erik Hanson 72 54 3.27 118 23.2
Los Angeles ranks just fourth in runs allowed, would ties them for their worst season since 1980. Who is to blame? Well, for starters the bullpen ranks 10th and Roberto Hernandez has been particularly suspect, with a 5.66 ERA in 25 games. But starters Don Robinson (3.35) and Rheal Cormier (3.46) have inflated the starters ERA.
Pedro is good. But Florida ace Mike Mussina is making a strong case for the Cy Young Award. Mussina is 18-4, 2.13 and is actually getting better, with a 5-1, 1.53 mark in his last eight starts. However, he only won one of his last four starts after winning five straight to give him 17 wins on Aug. 4. Ruben Sierra tied the UL record with three triples in a game Jun. 19.
Eric Davis is the 20th ULer to hit 400 home runs. He hit the historic clout in the fifth inning of a 4-3 win at Toronto Aug. 27. For good measure, he hit #401 three innings later to break a 3-3 tie. The Colts will be hosting a Eric Davis commemorative poster promotion for an upcoming homestand.
Howard Johnson was the Batter of the Month, going .350-10-24, 1.118 in August. The 32-year-old former Polar Bear is having the best year of his career, with a .294 batting average 25 points north of his career average and outside shot to top his career marks of 45 HR and 125 RBI.
Bruce Ruffin has been unhittable. The 29-year-old pitched 15.1 shutout innings across consecutive starts and is 5-1 since July 29. His 2.81 ERA ranks as his best effort since he led the league with a 2.24 ERA in 1987 as a 22-year-old sophomore.
Barry Larkin was a Seals Stadium fixture, playing shortstop every day for eight seasons. Who's playing short now? His name is Andujar Cedeno, a 25-year-old Dominican who was drafted 66th overall by Manhattan in 1990 and made his UL debut this spring. By all accounts he is a no-glove, no-hit type middle infielder, though he already has 3 HR in 29 games.
John Costello has a 0.51 ERA in his last 19 games, including the last eight with Denver since the Luis Polonia trade with Cleveland Aug. 1. Denver had a tough time dealing Polonia, due to some clubs' strict "no pedaphiles" policy.
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