MLLB Update: 5/24

History of Baseball: 1922
World Series Champions: New York Giants (93-61, .604 WPCT).
     On April 30th, 1922, history was made.  Charlie Robertson, a 26 year old White Sox pitcher making just his fourth major league start, tossed the fifth perfect game in major league history.  Even more impressive was that he tossed it at Navin Field in Detroit, facing two of the best hitters in the game in Ty Cobb and Harry Heilmann.  It was also the first road perfect game in major league history, as well as the first by a pitcher with fewer than five starts under his belt.  Three more future Hall of Famers made their major league debuts in 1922, starting with 21 year old Gabby Hartnett on April 12th, the date that also marked Fenway Park's ten year anniversary.  Harnett would go on to be one of the greatest players in Cubs history, spending 19 of his 20 major league seasons in Chicago and appearing in nearly 2000 games.  22 year old Jim Bottomley was next, debuting on August 18th to begin a successful career with the Cardinals.  Lastly, the scrawny, 160 pound, 18 year old Travis Jackson played his first of 1656 games in a New York Giants uniform on September 27th.  Three Hall of Famers made their major league debuts, but three Hall of Famers also passed away in 1922: Tommy McCarthy, Sam Thompson, and Cap Anson, the latter of which is considered the greatest player of the 19th century.  Anson, who had batted .333 over his career, co-invented the pitching rotation and spring training, but he also contributed to the segregation of baseball.  
     The New York Giants raced to the NL Pennant in 1922, going 93-61 to easily edge out the Pittsburgh Pirates (86-68) by seven games.  The American League was a little bit closer.  The New York Yankees and St. Louis Browns, the only two teams to finish with a winning percentage above .513, battled to the end, and the Yankees (94-60) barely topped the Browns (93-61) by one game.  The Chicago American Giants, who went 36-23, won the Negro League Pennant.  For the second straight season, the Yankees and Giants met in the World Series, and for the second straight season, the Giants won it all.  The Yankees' pitching could not solve the double headed monster of Heinie Groh and Frankie Frisch, who combined to go 17-36 for a combined batting average of .472 during the five game series.  Babe Ruth was essentially a non-factor, going just 2-17 (.118 average) and driving in just one run.  Four different Giants pitchers earned wins, the most notable of which being Jack Scott's four hit shutout in Game 3.
       During the regular season, two St. Louis hitters, George Sisler of the Browns and Rogers Hornsby of the Cardinals, dominated baseball from the batter's box.  Sisler batted an amazing .420 while also stealing 51 bases and hitting 42 doubles and 18 triples.  The .420 average stands to this day as the third highest in the modern era (post 1900), and the sixth highest of all time (when including Hugh Duffy's .440 average in 1894, Ross Barnes' .429 in 1876, and Willie Keeler's .424 in 1897).  Across town, Rogers Hornsby may have been even better.  While playing in all 154 games for the Cardinals, he knocked 42 home runs, drove in 152, and batted .401 with 46 doubles and 14 triples.  He led the majors in runs scored (141), hits (250), home runs, slugging percentage (.722), OPS (1.181), total bases (450), and extra base hits (102).  The 450 total bases are the second highest total of all time, behind only Babe Ruth's 457 from a year prior.  Hornsby is also the only player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and bat .400 in the same season.  While Hornsby and Sisler were busy batting over .400, a third St. Louis player, Sisler's Browns teammate Ken Williams, had a monster season.  Williams hit 39 home runs, drove in a major league leading 155 runs, and batted .332 to help the Browns to their close second place finish in the AL.  Babe Ruth put up a relatively pedestrian season by his standards, finishing with "just" 35 home runs, 99 RBI, and a .315 average, largely due to an early season suspension for an illegal barnstorming tour that kept him out of action until May 20th.  Not many pitchers managed to have good seasons in such an offense-heavy era, but a few stood out.  The White Sox' Red Faber was arguably baseball's best pitcher, going 21-17 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, leading the majors in the latter two categories.  The Browns' Urban Shocker put up the best year of his career, going 24-17 with a 2.97 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and a major league leading 149 strikeouts.  Eddie Rommel, despite playing for an A's team that went just 65-89, led the majors in wins.  He earned 27 of the A's' 65 victories, but only registered 13 of their 89 losses.  In the end, he was 27-13 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP.  While he had been 27-13, the rest of the pitching staff combined to go 38-75.

News
A lot has happened since my last blog, so I'll stick to recent stuff.
Rangers players Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Martin Perez, and Matt Harrison look like they will all miss the remainder of the season, while Harrison's career may be over with the need for spinal fusion surgery.
Nationals signed Greg Dobbs (2013: 2 HR, 22 RBI, .228 AVG, 1 SB, 2014 age: 35-36) to a minor league deal.
Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado broke his middle finger and is likely out 4-6 weeks.

Game Scores
Pirates (21-26) beat the Nationals (24-24) 4-3.
Rays (21-28) beat the Red Sox (20-27) 1-0.
White Sox (25-25) beat the Yankees (24-23) 6-5.
Dodgers (26-23) beat the Phillies (20-25) 2-0.
Padres (22-27) beat the Cubs (17-29) 11-1.
Braves (27-20) beat the Rockies (26-22) 3-2.
Tigers (28-16) beat the Rangers (23-25) 7-2.
Top Scorer: Padres beat the Cubs 11-1.

Standings
AL East: Blue Jays (27-22, .551 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (28-16, .636).  AL West: A's (30-18, .625).
NL East: Braves (27-20, .574).  NL Central: Brewers (29-20, .592).  NL West: Giants (30-18, .625).
AL Wild Cards: Angels (27-20, .574) and Orioles (24-22, .522).  NL Wild Cards: Cardinals and Rockies (26-22, .542).
Bottom Team: Astros (17-32, .347).  Longest W Streak: Blue Jays, 4 games.  Longest L Streak: Red Sox, 8 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies), .377 (58-154).  Home runs: Jose Abreu (White Sox) and Nelson Cruz (Rangers), 15.  RBI: Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins), 47.  Stolen bases: Dee Gordon (Dodgers), 28.
Pitching: Wins: Mark Buehrle (Blue Jays), 8.  Strikeouts: Johnny Cueto (Reds), 82.  ERA: Jeff Samardzija (Cubs), 1.46 (68 IP, 11 ER).  Saves: Francisco Rodriguez (Brewers), 17.

Top Performers
Offensive: Garrett Jones (Marlins): 2-3, 2 home runs (8), 2 RBI, 2 runs, walk, AVG up .007 from .279 to .286, hitting streak to one game (2-3, .667 AVG).
Pitching: Felix Hernandez (Mariners): Win (6-1), 8 innings, 1 earned run, 5 hits, 1 walk, 9 K's (74), ERA drop: 0.19 runs from 2.94 to 2.75.
Worst Pitching Performance: Edwin Jackson (Cubs): Loss (3-4), 4 innings, 8 earned runs, 9 hits, 2 walks, 3 K's (52), ERA jump: 0.96 runs from 3.98 to 4.94.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman