Mizher Strat League at 68 games

(OK, so two teams played their 69th game yesterday, but we’re going to just ignore that for this article). Who starts writing with a parenthetical?!? Someone who hasn’t written since game 12!!! It’s a crime how long it has been since we had a Strat update! Anywho, let’s take a look see and see what we see - (more poor writing, but whatevs…..). Season 4 is nearing the halfway mark. I encourage you to all get on and start voting for All-Star appearances.

  1. The biggest of the rule changes was to Homefield Advantage. Trying to get the road teams to have a bit more of a level playing field. Back at game 12 home teams were winning at a .553 clip. Last year it was .583. So, we thought we’d made some improvement. Not any more! Home teams are not 162-111 which is a .593 winning percentage!!! LOL! We’ve made the problem worse. This is an excellent example of a typical federal government “solution” to things. Instead of fixing anything, it just exacerbates the problem that was there. Note especially the road record of the El Paso Spiders. 7-25!! Ouch!
  2. We have also previously noted how the Homefield Advantage rule seems to have increased offense. At game 12 teams were averaging 6.125 runs per game. During last season - (Season 3) - it was just 5.38. As of now it is 6.19! Again….up from what was already a shockingly high number. In Season 3 team ERAs ranged from 4.85 to 6.16. Now we’ve got 5.56 to 8.15! Like the modern NFL all the rules favor the offense, and of course scoring will go up.
  3. So far Grand Rapids has had the best record in the league for most - (if not all!) - of the season. The East is dominating the West, as the last place St. Louis Explorers would be tied for the division lead if they played in the West.
  4. 10 shutouts have been pitched so far. Including one by Dwight Gooden, and one by Luis Tiant.
  5. Walter Johnson, Kid Nichols, and Ed Plank are the only pitchers on pace to get 20 wins.
  6. Pedro Martinez has given up the fewest runs, second fewest singles, fewest doubles, and fewest HRs! Oh, and he has the 6th fewest walks along with the 6th most strikeouts. He faces the fewest batters per inning and leads in Average, On Base, and Slugging Average allowed. Lowest ERA - (by nearly a full run!) - and lowest WHIP. It’s hard to imagine someone being more dominant than he has been up to this point.
  7. Another interesting thing about pitching this year is how uninteresting it is. Leaders in Ks are almost exclusively who you’d expect - (Koufax, Pedro, Waddell, Schilling, Santana, Gibson, etc.). Leaders in ERA are pretty much who you’d expect. The low walkers are also a list of what would’ve been predicted. I don’t know you can report as interesting how dull something is, but that is what this author is trying to do here.
  8. The El Paso Spiders have 67 more hits than the second place team in that category - (Ottawa). From 2 through 8 they are separated by 105. El Paso is WAY better at hitting than anyone else. Team batting average is .331!! Even in a league of increased offense that is spectacular. Second place - (again Ottawa) - is just .313. This means that Wade Boggs .325 batting average for El Paso….is bringing down the team’s average! You would need a team full of Stan Musial hitting at his expected lifetime average to be this good! 4 of the top 10 batting averages in the league are in the Spiders’ lineup, and they have 3 other players withing striking distance of making that list.
  9. There is similar disparity in the team power department. Grand Rapids has hit 28 more HRs than the second place team - (Vegas). From 2 through 8 the difference is only 33. 3 of the top 10 HR hitters are Trappers, and 3 more on the team are close to getting on that list. They are on pace to hit 269 team HRs!!! Ahead of even the steroid enhance Mariners of 1997 - (264)! And well clear of the non-steroid enhance record of the ‘61 Yanks - (240). Although it should be noted that it is the St. Louis Explorers who lead the league in Slugging Average as they combine solid HR production - (4th in the league) - with lots of doubles - (leads the league) - and a high batting average - (3rd).
  10. While it isn’t nearly as important of a category the Vegas Agents have equal dominance when it comes to bases on balls. They have 84 more walks than second place - (St. Louis) - but second place is in front of last place by just 101. Vegas is tied with St. Louis for league leading On Base Percentage.
  11. New Orleans leads the league in turning double plays - (thank you Honus Wagner and Ryne Sandberg!) - and also leads in fewest double plays hit into. Their +39 in this area is way ahead of everyone else! Portland is second with just +15.
  12. What has got to be my favorite thing to report is that we have another real possibility of a .400 hitter!!!! Rod Carew! 3 games ago he actually was hitting .400. Now he stands at .393. He is hitting .403 when Adrian/Dad rolls for him, .400 when Jason/Uncle Jason does, and just .373 when Mike/Dad/Grandpa rolls for him. New rule going forward is that Mike/Dad/Grandpa can no longer play for the Spiders. LOL! I’m sure hoping the chase goes on all year.
  13. Last year’s batting champion - (Honus Wagner at .352) - would only be in 5th place in this year’s chase.
  14. Ruth and Greenberg led the MVP discussion all year in Season 3. They are both head and shoulders ahead again. Greenberg slugging .696, and Ruth and eye-popping .701! First and second in HRs. Also first and second in RBIs.
  15. Joe Dimaggio scores almost 55% of the time he gets on base. Wow! Last year’s leader in that category - (Rickey Henderson at 45%) - wouldn’t even make the top 10 this year.
  16. Harry Heilmann is on pace to score 172 runs! That would be second behind Ruth’s 1921 season - (177!). 6 players are on pace to top 150.
  17. Heilmann is on pace to hit 60 doubles! 4 others - (Delahanty, Greenberg, Simmons, and Dimaggio) - are on pace to top 50.
  18. Gehrig is on pace to hit 21 triples.
  19. Ruth is on pace for 62 HRs! Greenberg on pace for 55.
  20. Greenberg is on pace for 198 RBIs!!! Breaking Hack Wilson’s record of 191 set in 1930. Ruth, Dimaggio, and Klein are all on pace to top 150.
  21. Mantle is on pace for 188 strikeouts! That would be second to non-steroid numbers - (Bobby Bonds struck out 189 times in 1970). He has struck out at least once in over 70% of the games this season. 7 times he’s struck out thrice!

That’s it for now kids. Class dismissed. 😉