Week in Review - National League (April 29-May 5, 1929)

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Through this week in the season the Giants continue to be the class of the National League, extending their lead to 1.5 games - they went 3-0 on the week and are rolling.  The powerful Cubs lineup, led by Rogers Hornsby and Hack Wilson, though, appear to have found their stride and not sit three games over .500 and in second place behind the Giants.  Taking a look at the link to Baseball-Reference which shows the actual standings at this point in 1929, you can see that the Giants are certainly outperforming what they did historically.  Conversely, the  Cardinals are underperforming and currently sitting in the cellar at 3 games below .500.  The Pirates and Reds also had rough weeks, both picking up only a single win on the week.  The Phillies, at 6-6, are probably the most fun National League team to play with for me, as their offense featuring Lefty O'Doul, Chuck Klein, and Don Hurst always keeps things lively.

NL Batting Leaders

 

 

 


 


National League - Top 10 Hitters

 
                Rogers Hornsby (CHC)                                Lefty O'Doul (PHI)

1. Rogers Hornsby, Chicago Cubs (.476/.535/.825) - Hornsby is on an absolute tear - second in the league in batting average while leading the league in RBI, hits, slugging, and OPS.  His 5 home runs is only one behind the league leader.  Taking a look at his 27 RBI, that is 11 more than the leader in the American League (Lew Fonseca - 16).  And he's doing all this as the leader of a surging Cubs team that seems to be finding its stride and poised to make a run toward the Giants.

2. Lefty O'Doul, Philadelphia Phillies (.468/.537/.809) - Last week's NL Player of the Week didn't do anything wrong to drop from the top spot, Hornsby was just that good.  O'Doul continues to do it all on offense as the leader of potent Phillies offense.

3. Jim Bottomley, St. Louis Cardinals (.441/.471/.814) - Bottomley is without question the bright spot for the underperforming Cardinals.  While the team currently sits in last place, Bottomley is near the top of nearly all offensive categories.  He leads the league with 6 home runs and has knocked in an impressive 22 runs.  His 1.285 OPS ranks third in the league, which Cardinals fans are hoping will be enough to spark a run by the team.

4. Bill Terry, New York Giants (.425/.477/.700) - The spearhead of the league leading offense. He certainly has great hitters around him (Freddie Lindstrom, Mel Ott), but Terry is the leader.  His offense numbers are impressive on their own, but the fact that he is doing it for a club that is surprisingly maintaining a lead in the National League makes it even better.

5. George Harper, Boston Braves (.485/.605/.545) - The Braves may be sitting near the bottom of the heap, but Harper is a surprising bright spot as he leads the league in batting average and on-base percentage, and has an OPS of 1.150.

6. Travis Jackson, New York Giants (.371/.421/.743) - Travis Jackson may be getting outpaced offensively by teammate Bill Terry, but some is nearly everyone else in the league.  Jackson is another reason why the Giants continue to sit atop the standings.  His slashes look great, as do his 3 run runs.  On a personal note, Jackson is another great example of this replay shining a light on players that I know virtually nothing about but who had incredible careers (Jackson is a Hall of Famer).

7. Kiki Cuyler, Chicago Cubs (.393/.479/.557) - The man who sets the table for Hornsby and Hack Wilson, Cuyler is having a huge offensive season in his own right.  He is hitting .393 and has walked 11 times, which helps explain why he leads the league in runs scored - Cuyler finds a way to get on base and then either Hornsby or Wilson (mainly Hornsby thus far) drives him in.  Like mentioned above in regard to Travis Jackson, Cuyler is another Hall of Famer that I knew nothing about before starting this replay, so it's been fun to see things progress so far.

8. Don Hurst, Philadelphia Phillies (.383/.412/.681) - Hurst came on strong over the last week and is yet another weapon in the Phillies lineup.  How they only sit at 6-6 with all these great hitters is a bit of a mystery.

9. Chuck Klein, Philadelphia Phillies (.313/.377/.646) - Another masher in the Phillies lineup.  Klein's 5 home runs on the year rank second in the league and he also ranks among the league leaders in RBI, slugging, and OPS.

10. Hack Wilson, Chicago Cubs (.317/.400/.600) - Hack also started to really come alive this week as the Cubs surged to second place in the National League.  As noted in an earlier Stellar Performances post, Wilson's week was highlighted by a monstrous game on May 4 against the Phillies, where he went 3-4 with two home runs, a triple, a walk, and 3 RBI.

NL Pitching Leaders

 




NL - Top 5 Pitchers

 
            Dazzy Vance (BRO)                                Red Lucas (CIN)

1. Dazzy Vance, Brooklyn Robins (4 games, 4 starts, 2-1, 1.03 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 16 Ks)

2. Red Lucas, Cincinnati Reds (4 games, 3 starts, 3-0, 2.17 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 8 Ks)

3. Guy Bush, Chicago Cubs (3 games, 3 starts, 2-1, 2.82 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 3 Ks)

4. Charlie Root, Chicago Cubs (4 games, 4 starts, 2-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 13 Ks)

5. Larry Benton, New York Giants (2 games, 1 start, 1-0, 1.64 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 5 Ks)






















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