Transcript:
Howdy folks, it’s Divergent League Update for February 26th 2021, but of course in Divergent League we’re all the way back on August 29th, 1993.
We’ve got just under 30 days of baseball left in the regular season, with almost every division still in play if one team gets on a hot or cold streak over the next 20 games.
As per usual let’s take a look at the dingers-
Chicago’s Frank Thomas still leads the league with 44 homers, head and shoulders above second place Jay Buhner’s 31 and Rafael Palmiero’s third place 30 in the American League. In the NL Mark McGwire is still in the chase, with 39 dingers on the ailing Mets. San Francisco’s Matt Williams follows with 36, and Fred McGriff with 35.
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Yes we’re winding down the regular season here in 1993, but that just means we’ve got a whole Postseason to look forward to. The Divergent League Schedule will change slightly. We’ll be playing all night games from now on, every Wednesday and Sunday.
Next Friday will be the last Regular season games in a special episode of Divergent League at 6pm Pacific. We hope to see all of you owners in the Discord!
After that, you can expect us to watch the first game of all series featuring a human-controlled team, and all of the elimination games in the Playoffs all the way through the World Series.
Let’s see how the standings have shaken out through August.
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Onto the Divisional Races, the AL East is still firmly Orioles territory, but the Blue Jays at 8.5 games back and the Yankees making a big late-season push after the acquisition of Kirby Puckett are still in the hunt at 15 games back.
The Central is a similar story, with the White Sox pulling away a bit and holding onto a 4.5 game lead over the Tigers and a 6 game lead over the Royals. The Cleveland Baseball Club is out.
In the rollin west the CPU-controlled Astros are 3.5 games up on the also CPU-controlled Athletics, and 4.5 games on the Texas Rangers. The Mainers are still in it at 11.5 games back. Here’s to hoping a player team can pull this one out.
The AL Wild Card Picture sees the Tigers and Royals leading the pack, with the Blue Jays and Rangers 4 and 5 games back respectively.
Over in the National League The Phillies maintain a slim 2.5 game lead over the Braves in the highly contested NL East, 8 up on the Expos, while the Mets and Marlins are the first two teams eliminated from the Playoff picture.
The Cardinals have the NL Central by the throat, 7.5 games ahead of the faltering Cubs. The Reds have an elimination number of 12, at 15.5 games out of first.
A-way out west those Giants have a solid 7.5 game lead over the Dodgers and are twenty games above the rest of the division.
The Braves and Expos are 10 games up in the NL Wild Card chase, with the Cubbies 12.5 games out and the Reds 20 back.
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According to the stat sheet two Phillies lead the NL and two Yankees lead the AL in batting average. New York’s Wade Boggs and Kirby Puckett are #1 and #2 batting .359 and .345 this year. Puckett is on track for 200 hits this season, and Boggs leads the bigs in Doubles. Meanwhile John Kruk and Dave Hollins are leading the NL at .335 and .327. Mike Piazza is coming up at their heels at .326.
Keeping with the theme, a pair of White Sox lead the AL in RBIs separated by just one run- Tim Raines sits at 115 to Frank Thomas’ 114. McGwire leads the NL with 106, with San Francisco’s Barry Bonds and Matt Williams in 2nd and 3rd place.
The Angels Curtis and Polonia are still the leaders in Stolen Bases with 48 and 46. Raines comes in 4th with 34. The Expos Marquis Grissom has 33.
Frank Viola, Jack McDowall, Erik Hanson and Darryl Kile lead the American League side in wins, all tied 15. The Phillies Tommy Greene, LA’s Orel Hershiser and The Expos Dennis Martinez lead the NL at 16 a piece.
Looking at the closers Philadelphia’s David West and Atlanta’s Greg McMichael lead in saves with 49 and 46. In the AL Baltimore’s Gregg Olson has 47, followed by Chicago’s Roberto Hernandez.
Andy Benes leads the bigs in ERA, at a grisly 1.82. He’s the last one left with an ERA under 2. Hershiser and Martinez are close though, sitting at 2.00 even. David Cone leads the NL with 2.22, followed by Seattle’s Mike Mussina at 2.27 and Blackjack McDowall with 2.35.
The Big Unit Randy Johnson is the first player to break the 200K mark this year, with 228 so far. David Cone comes in 2nd with 191. Mussina has 183. In the NL The Reds Jose Rijo sits at 182 Ks on the year, leading that league. Andy Benes, Greg Maddux, and John Smoltz are all over 160 on the year.
Checking in on the MVP standings, Chicago’s Thomas and Raines are deadlocked in the AL. On the NL side it’s down to Mark McGwire, Matt Williams, and Barry Bonds.
Leading the AL Cy Young race is Randy Johnson, with Jack McDowell still in contention. Philadelphia’s Tommy Greene leads the NL race, with LA’s Orel Hershiser and The Expos Dennis Martinez in 2nd and 3rd place.
