The National League took the All-Star Game, held at Allston Grounds this year, 1-0. The game was simultaneously a pitchers' duel and rather sloppy (3 errors per team, including one that led to the single run). The Yankees had five starters--all of the infielders (Pipp, Zimmerman, Peckinpaugh, and Baker) plus Charleston in CF. I think my voting had a bigger effect than I intended, so I may not vote in future elections. Or maybe I will, who knows?
The Yankees find themselves 2.5 games behind Boston at the break. On the one hand, this is great because Boston is still playing really well and the Yankees are more or less hanging with them. On the other hand, the Red Sox have lost Babe Ruth and Larry Gardner for an extended period, and this kind of needs to be the period where the Yankees make a move if a move is to be made. Unfortunately, they've been scuffling a bit, including against some not-great teams. So, in a sense, the break didn't come too soon. The NL has been a real scrum, with the Rustlers currently ahead of the Cardinals (I believe) by 0.5 games. The Phillies led for a while but have dropped back. The surprising Buffalo Blues are in 3rd place several games back. I'm not convinced this will be the final ordering of the teams.
Let's do a little bit of qualitative grading of the Yankees' first half. As per my recent custom, I'm not going to call up the stats if only because it's a bit of a hassle to do while OOTP isn't running.
Exceeded Expectations: The pitching, for sure. I never would have expected the Yankees to be leading the league in ERA, let alone leading it by a lot. I'm not even totally sure where this great performance is originating--Pennock is pitching great, but everyone else seems to be making me sweat every time. And Reuther is out with a long injury again for the second year in a row. Nevertheless, props to the pitching staff.
Zimmerman has been a great acquisition for the team. He's been a great answer to the 2B problem that the Yankees have had since I've started playing--miles ahead of Baumann (who he drove into retirement) and Cree and, at least as of now, Dobie Moore.
And Zimmerman has catalyzed a suddenly-great defense--every infielder is above average, and all but Pipp are substantially above average. Gilhooley and Heilmann are above average, with Heilmann substantially above average in RF. Of the everyday regulars, only Charleston is iffy in the field.
Met Expectations: I'm going to put the offense here. Even with heightened expectations given last year, the main group have more or less come through (I should probably rest them more, though). I can't tell if there are fewer home runs this year or if it's statistics of small numbers, but while Pipp, Baker, and Charleston aren't dominating the leaderboards like they did last year, they're doing fine. Gilhooley is hanging in there (though new acquisition Cy Williams is biding his time and will likely ease Gilhooley into a 4th outfielder role before too long). Miller has 2 pinch-hit home runs already this year, which is bananas when Baker is leading the league in home runs with 5. So, solid work there. And the team has more or less been beating the teams they're supposed to. They've dropped a few to Kansas City this year, but there are a lot of teams they're going 6-2 or 6-3 against, which is good.
Has Not Met Expectations: First I'll note that the one baffling thing about the hitting is that we aren't scoring runs like I think we should. Boston is #2 in most offensive categories, but has been consistently scoring more runs than the Yankees have. Now, I don't know if they're overachieving, or if I'm being too conservative in terms of taking extra bases or (gulp) stealing, but it's been a (small) blemish on the offense.
To point fingers at individuals, Pat Collins has really had a terrible, terrible year so far. It took him close to (more than?) 30 at-bats to get his first hit, and he never really improved. after (I think?) 80 or so at-bats of a .100 batting average, I started looking for other options. That led to signing Negro League star Louis Santop (and having Cristobal Torriente become a free agent), and Santop is doing fine. Collins sat on the reserves for a bit, and I'm hoping he'll turn it around.
I'll also point to Jesse Barnes, who I was expecting to be a lights-out closer or great starter. He hasn't really done either and now is also sitting in the reserves. This may be unfair to him, so I'll give him some slack.
Fingers crossed that the Yankees can make up the ground on the Red Sox and bring home their first pennant!
