Week 19 Summary (08/16/1920 - 08/22/1920)

Eddie Collins

Week Nineteen of the 1920 BBW Replay is in the books, and this was an interesting week. It was a relatively slow week schedule-wise as there was a travel day mid-week with several light days wrapped around that. The schedule got busy late in the week and will continue into next week. New York (AL) has played 120 games and the remainder of the league is close behind, so the end is nearing.

Several newsworthy items occurred this past week. The week started out with the tragic death of Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman. Chapman was hit in the head by a Carl Mays fastball as he leaned over the plate, but Chapman never flinched once the pitch was thrown, which left people wondering if he ever even saw the pitch coming at him in the late afternoon shadows of the Polo Grounds.

 

There was a lot of noise following this incident. Chapman was quite a popular person with other plays and fans. There were calls for Mays's suspension from the game and multiple teams started petitions to get Mays removed from the game. Mays had a reputation as a tough pitcher who was not afraid to throw inside, but ultimately the AL president ordained that Mays would not be punished, and about this same time, a certain betting scandal was about to raise its head and overwhelm and this unfortunate incident in history.

 

Before the end of the week a more upbeat event occurred when Chicago (AL) hurler Eddie Cicotte threw the sixth no-hitter of the season:

 

The White Sox ended the week in first place in the AL, albeit by only 0.5 games over the Yankees. They've been here before and quickly fell back behind New York shortly thereafter, so they are well aware of the challenge in front of them. Babe Ruth ended the week by hitting five homeruns in the final four games of the week, putting him at 50 for the season. Just a few weeks ago he was at 41 homeruns at the same time he was at 41 in 1920, but as is his wont, he went on a binge immediately thereafter. Ruth has more homeruns than any other team, but the total homeruns of Ruth's teammates also exceed the totals of any other team.

 

Rabbit Maranville

As far as Cleveland goes, they won the game on Monday in which Chapman was originally injured, but they have lost their four games since, and now find themselves 9.0 games out of first.

In the NL, New York remained in first, but Cincinnati remains right on their tail as they have for most of the summer. The Reds had drawn to within one game of first place after Saturday but ended the week with a two-game deficit. St. Louis has kept up their current hot streak and remains in third place, 1.0 games ahead of fourth place Brooklyn.

 

Cleveland and Brooklyn met in the 1920 World Series, but both teams have found themselves locked in third or fourth place for most of the season, and while they have made occasional forays up the standings, both teams have been unable to make crack the top of the standings. There are six weeks remaining and both teams have less than 40 games remaining, so let's go play.

 

Edd Roush