MLB Update: 7/3

History of Baseball: 1930
World Series Champions: Philadelphia Athletics (102-52, .662 WPCT).
     A new decade began with the 1930 season, and with it came more players that would define the game during that time period.  Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg (Tigers), Lefty Gomez (Yankees), Luke Appling (White Sox), and Dizzy Dean (Cardinals) all debuted in 1930.  Over in the Negro Leagues, on July 31st, Josh Gibson, one of baseball's greatest power hitters, debuted with the Homestead Grays.  Other greats, such as Grover Cleveland Alexander, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, and George Sisler, a two time .400 hitter, retired after the 1930 season.  Alexander was 43 years old, and Sisler managed to bat over .300 for the 14th time in his 16 year career.  After the season, a new rule known as the "ground rule double" was instated so that balls that bounced over the fence would not be home runs.  Brooklyn's Al Lopez was the last player to hit a bouncing home run on September 12th.  On the final day of the season, with the Yankees eliminated from World Series contention, Babe Ruth started on the mound against the Red Sox.  He tossed a complete game and allowed three earned runs in the victory.
    For the second straight season, the Philadelphia Athletics (102-52) won the American League, this time by an easy eight games over the Senators (94-60).  The NL was much more closely contested, as the Cardinals (92-62) barely edged the Cubs (90-64) by two games.  The A's and Cardinals met in the World Series, where the A's came out on top four games to two.  Though it would be their last in Philadelphia, the A's tied the Red Sox for most World Series Championships at five.  Al Simmons paced the team on offense, batting .364 with a pair of home runs, while Max Bishop and Mickey Cochrane scored five runs apiece.  George Earnshaw was clearly the Series MVP, going 2-0 with a 0.72 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP over his three starts.  Lefty Grove picked up the other two wins with a 1.42 ERA.
     With a lack of official MVP awards, The Sporting News took it upon themselves to crown unofficial MVP's.  Washington's Joe Cronin was the newspaper's AL MVP, as he hit .346 with 13 home runs, 126 RBI, and 17 stolen bases.  The Giants' Bill Terry was selected in the NL, having batted .401 with 23 home runs and 129 RBI.  No other National League player would ever bat .400 after Terry, whose 254 hits still stand as an NL record, tied with Lefty O'Doul's 254 a year earlier with the Phillies.  That same 1930 season, the Cubs' Hack Wilson put up one of the greatest offensive seasons ever compiled.  While playing in 155 games, he batted .356 with 56 home runs and a still standing record of 191 RBI.  The 191 RBI smashed Lou Gehrig's single season record of 175 from the 1927 season, and still stand 21 ahead of Chuck Klein's second place 170 in the NL (also 1930).  He was also the first player in NL history to hit 50 home runs, smashing Klein's record of 43.  Over in New York, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig put up monster seasons.  Ruth hit 49 home runs while driving in 153 and batting .359, while Gehrig hit 41 home runs while driving in 174 and batting .379.  Chuck Klein put up the best season of his Hall of Fame career, batting .386 with 40 home runs and 170 RBI for the Phillies.  Brooklyn outfielder Babe Herman also put up the biggest year of his career, batting .393 with 35 home runs and 130 RBI.  Leading the A's to the World Series was Al Simmons, who won the AL batting title at .381 while setting career bests with 36 home runs, 165 RBI, and 152 runs scored.  It was tough containing all of this offense, but the A's' Lefty Grove somehow managed to do it.  Leading all of the major leagues in wins, ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, and even saves, Grove went 28-5 with a 2.54 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP,  209 strikeouts and nine saves.  Dazzy Vance was almost as good for the Brooklyn Robins, finishing 17-15 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.  No other pitcher kept his ERA under 3.00, with Cleveland's Wes Ferrell coming the closest at 3.31 (while also going 25-13).

News
Thursday marked the beginning of the international signing period, and many of the top players have been signed.  The Yankees signed Dermis Garcia (ranked #1), Nelson Gomez (#2), Juan DeLeon (#5), Jonathan Amundaray (#7), andAntonio Arias (#9).  The Rays signed Adrian Rondon (#3), the Brewers signed Gilbert Lara (#4), and the Red Sox locked up Christopher Acosta (#6) and Anderson Espinoza (#10).  The Mariners inked Brayan Hernandez (#8).
Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello became the first pitcher since Jeff Ballard in 1989 to throw a complete game with zero walks, zero runs, and zero strikeouts.  The shutout also extended Porcello's scoreless streak to 25.1 innings.
Raul Ibanez became the oldest player in Royals history to hit a home run at 42 years old.
Braves won their seventh straight game.

Game Scores
Nationals (46-38) beat the Rockies (36-49) 4-3.
Cubs (37-46) beat the Red Sox (38-47) 16-9.
Rays (38-49) beat the Yankees (41-42) 6-3.
Marlins (41-43) beat the Phillies (36-48) 5-0.
Indians (41-43) beat the Dodgers (48-39) 5-4.
Tigers (47-34) beat the A's (51-33) 9-3.
Top Scorer: Cubs beat the Red Sox 16-9.

Standings
AL East: Blue Jays (47-39, .547).  AL Central: Tigers (47-34, .580).  AL West: A's (51-33, .607).
NL East: Braves (47-38, .553).  NL Central: Brewers (51-35, .593).  NL West: Giants (47-37, .560).
AL Wild Cards: Angels (47-36, .566) and Mariners (47-38, .553).  NL Wild Cards: Dodgers (48-39, .552) and Nationals (46-38, .548).
Bottom Team: Diamondbacks (35-51, .407).  Longest W Streak: Braves, 7 games.  Longest L Streak: Phillies, 6 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies), .351 (98-279).  Home runs: Juan Abreu (White Sox), Nelson Cruz (Orioles), and Edwin Encarnacion (Blue Jays), 26.  RBI: Edwin Encarnacion, 69.  Stolen bases: Dee Gordon (Dodgers), 40.
Pitching: Wins: Rick Porcello (Tigers), Masahiro Tanaka (Yankees), and Adam Wainwright (Cardinals), 11.  K's: David Price (Rays), 153.  ERA: Adam Wainwright, 1.89 (124 IP, 26 ER).  Saves: Francisco Rodriguez (Brewers), 27.

Top Performers
Offensive: Brandon Moss (A's): 4-4, double, home run (19), 2 RBI, run, AVG up .010 from .264 to .274, hitting streak to 1 game (4-4, 1.000 AVG).
Pitching: Tyson Ross (Padres): Win (7-8), 9 shutout innings, 3 hits, no walks, 9 K's (111), ERA drop: 0.25 runs from 3.18 to 2.93.
Worst Pitching Performance: Jim Johnson (A's): No decision, 0.1 innings, 4 earned runs, 4 hits, no walks, 0 K's, ERA jump: 0.94 runs from 5.00 to 5.94.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman