Week 20 Summary (08/23/1920 - 08/29/1920)

Week Twenty of the 1920 BBW Replay is in the books, and it was another interesting week and pennant races in both leagues are getting tighter. Just a few weeks ago I was thinking both New York teams were going to walk away with it, but as of Week Twenty the Yankees and the White Sox have been swapping the first and second spots back and forth while in the NL the Giants currently find themselves 1.0 games behind the Reds. All four of these teams have slightly over thirty games remaining, and none of them shows any signs of slowing down. 

Red Faber

In the AL, Cleveland has been playing better lately, even with the Ray Chapman tragedy intruding. Their hitting is off and on, but they do have Tris Speaker doing his best, and Jim Bagby and Stan Coveleski lead the AL in wins, so if they were able to get some additional pitching at the back of the rotation, they still have a chance to move up (shortstop Joe Sewell will arrive in about two more weeks). Cleveland's main problem is that the two teams in front of them always seem to match them step-for-step, and thus their ability to make up ground has been hindered.

In the NL, Brooklyn now finds itself in fifth place, behind both St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Similar to Cleveland, Brooklyn has been unable to make up any distance between them and the leaders, and now, not one, but two teams have managed to sneak past them in the standings. St. Louis has a high-powered offense and enough pitching to make a move, and Pittsburgh has a couple of strong starters and just enough offense that they can be a real nuisance, but I am not sure either can crack the top two. Brooklyn is often … lethargic … seemingly just going through the motions. The Robins are 7.0 games out, so it is not impossible for them to get back in the pennant race, but they are running out of time.

 

Harry Hooper

Five teams have not reached the 120-games-played mark yet, but some of the remainder will reach this level in the next few days, so most teams have ~30+ games remaining. Boston (NL) remains farthest behind as they currently have forty games remaining to be played in these final five weeks.

Note: Of course, you and I know we have a major betting scandal getting ready to unfold … let's go play!

 

League Leaders:

 

American League

 

Batting: George Sisler, SLB (.444), Babe Ruth, NYY (.396), Tris Speaker, CLE (.393), Joe Judge, WAS (.392)

 

Hits: Sisler, SLB (217), Buck Weaver, CHS (198), Shoeless Joe Jackson, CHS (179)

 

Runs: Ruth, NYY (123), Sisler, SLB (104, Eddie Collins, CHS (97)

 

RBI's: Ruth, NYY (136), Baby Doll Jacobson, STB (112), Weaver, CHS (110), Sisler, SLB (102)

 

Doubles: Jackson, CHS (44), Sisler, SLB (43), Ruth, NYY (36) Speaker, CLS (35)

 

Triples: Harry Hooper, BOS (16), Bobby Veach, DET (14), Larry Gardner, CLE (14)

 

Homeruns: Ruth, NYY (50), Sisler, SLB (15), Happy Felsch, CHS (14), Speaker, CLE (14)

 

Walks: Ruth, NYY (122), Ralph Young, DET (75), Ray Schalk, CHS (67)

 

Wins: Jim Bagby CLE (23-7, 2.50), Stan Coveleski, CLE (22-7, 3.27), Carl Mays, NYY (21-10, 2.45), Eddie Cicotte, CHS (20-5, 2.92), Urban Shocker, SLB (20-7, 2.62), Red Faber, CHS (20-11, 2.07)

George Sisler

National League

Batting: Rogers Hornsby, SLC (.392), Jack Fournier, SLC (.370), Milt Stock, SLC (.365), Ross Youngs, NYG (.358)

 

Hits: Stock, SLC (184), Hornsby, SLC (183), Youngs NYG (183), Fournier, SLC (169)

 

Runs: George J. Burns, NYG (94), Stock, SLC (93), Fournier, SLC (87), Young, NYG (87)

 

RBI's: Hornsby, SLC (121), Hi Myers, BKN (83), George Kelly, NYG (81)

 

Doubles: Hornsby, SLC (42), Jake Daubert, BKN (36), Myers, BKN (36), Burns, NYG (35), Cy Williams, PHI (34)

 

Triples: Fournier, SLC (19), Myers, BKN (19), Youngs, NYG (16), Les Mann, BSN (15)

 

Homeruns: Williams, PHI (12), Irish Meusel, PHI (10), Ed Konetchy, BKN (10), Kelly, NYG (10), Youngs, NYG (10)

 

Walks: Burns, NYG (63), Pete Kilduff, BKN (50), Max Carey, PIT (50)

 

Wins: Jesse Haines, SLC (22-5, 2.55), Wilbur Cooper, PIT (19-9, 1.97), Fred Toney, NYG (19-10, 2.27)

 

Note: While the AL has had several pitchers reach and surpass the twenty-wins mark over the past two weeks, the NL has a half-dozen still well within striking distance of twenty wins by the end of the season.