We're into the final month of the 1918 season. The Yankees hold a slim, 1-game lead over Boston, and have gone 33-21 since July 1st and picking up 4 games on Boston in the process. The bad news is that it was a 3-game lead not very long ago. But in the sense that you'd rather be in first place by a game than second place by a game, it's all good. Both teams are down some key players right now--Tris Speaker has another week until his return, and Larry Gardner may or may not come back before the season ends. Herb Pennock has been sitting at 18 wins since an injury took him out, and he still has two weeks left before healed. That unfortunately makes him unlikely to play in the big Yankees-Red Sox series coming up at the Polo Grounds in about 10 days--a series that may decide the pennant winner.
With 26 games to go, though, there's a series left with just about everyone. The Yankees finish up their games vs. the Packers in the upcoming series, and finish the season with 4 games against Philadelphia. The Red Sox finish against the 3rd-place Spiders. We'll see how it goes.
Over in the other league, the Cardinals are cruising toward their first-ever pennant. I'll talk more about them another time, I suppose!
