1950 Season Update - Sept. 14, 1950

With just a little more than two weeks remaining in my 1950 APBA baseball replay, it appears the New York Yankees have all but wrapped up the American League. The National League, though, is an entirely different story and as the season winds down, it'll be a dogfight between the New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals to see who faces the Yanks in postseason play.

I've reached Sept. 14 in the replay. It's taken quite a while to arrive at this point. I began the replay on March 7, 2014, and now, 14 and a half months later, I'm still slowly rolling the games. I used to average four or five games a day. For some reason I've yet to figure out, I'm only tossing about two a game now.

But the National League race has sparked my interest and the games have returned to the forefront of my consciousness. Maybe I had a life outside of this dice game that briefly took me away — I've been busier at my newspaper job writing daily dispatches about flooding for the past two months, I've watched the NHL playoffs closely and the NBA games with a passing interest and I've been reading more stuff lately.

Anyway, despite the slow pace, the games continue on and, like all the previous replays I've done, this one has its own personality.

First, the standings:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

                    W     L    GB

New York    98   42      -

Boston         89   51      9

Cleveland    83   60    13.5

Detroit         80   59    17.5

Washington  59  81    39

St. Louis      53   86    44.5

Philadelphia 53  89     46

Chicago       47   94     51.5

Joe DiMaggio leads the AL with 38 home runs now and Boston Red Sox shortstop Vern Stephens is second with 35. Apparently the long ball is the deciding factor in the league. Six of the seven AL home run leaders are from New York, Boston or Cleveland — the top three teams in the league. Johnny Mize has 34 for the Yanks, Red Sox outfield Ted Williams has 33 and Indian teammates Al Rosen and Luke Easter each have 30 homers.

Early Wynn is an amazing 22-2 for the Indians on the mound and Allie Reynolds is 22-3 for the Yankees.

The Red Sox have won 10 of their last 12 games; their two loses have come to the Yankees. And Boston has scored in double digits in each of its last five games. Granted, those games were against cellar dwellers Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis.

The Yankees and Boston tangle four more times, including twice in Boston on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. With 14 games remaining and a nine-game lead, it appears the Yankees are a good lock to win the division.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

                    W     L   GB

New York    81    58    -

Brooklyn     78    61    3

St. Louis      78    61    3

Boston         74    64    6.5

Pittsburgh    72    66    8.5

Philadelphia 66   75    16

Chicago        58    81   23

Cincinnati    48    89    32

Pittsburgh has been an interesting team to play. The Pirates began the season hot, going 10-2 in April and leading the league through much of June. They've faltered since then. They've won only two games of their last nine and six of their last 14. They did club Chicago, 24-2, scoring the highest amount of runs any NL team has accumulated this year. Ralph Kiner leads the majors with his 41 home runs. Hank Sauer of the Chicago Cubs is next with 38 homers and Duke Snider leads the Dodgers with his 36 dingers.

Brooklyn has hung close to New York with Don Newcombe on the mound. He is the league's only 20-game winner. Actually, he's 21-6. Sal Maglie is pacing the Giants with his 19-5 record.

Philadelphia has been the biggest disappointment. The Phillies won the 1950 season in the real baseball life, but has consistently come up short in the replay games. Phillies reliever Jim Konstantly is the lone success, saving 24 of Philadelphia's 66 wins. Del Ennis has 31 home runs for the hapless Phillies.

The National League schedule promises to have key games ahead. St. Louis is in Brooklyn next for a two-game series and then heads to New York for another two games. They may have the easiest final week, playing in Chicago before closing out the season with games agains Cincinnati and then the Cubs again.

The Giants face the Cardinals and the Dodgers each only two more times. They also have four games against Boston.

Brooklyn may have the most difficult task of any team to unseat the Giants in the lead. After their two game set with the Cardinals, they host Chicago and Pittsburgh, then travel to Philadelphia for two games against the upset minded Phillies. They close their season with home games against the Giants, Braves and Phillies.

There are still over 100 games remaining to replay in this season and at the rate I'm going, I may end this about time for football season to begin. But the excitement of seeing how this comes out brings me back to the game.