MLB Update: 7/7 | Yankees Make Moves

History of Baseball: 1932
World Series Champions: New York Yankees (107-47, .695 WPCT).
     The 1932 season was filled with historical events.  First off, the Brooklyn Baseball Club permanently changed its name to the "Brooklyn Dodgers".  For decades, the names "Superbas", "Dodgers", and "Robins" had been used interchangeably, although none were considered official and most historians use the term "Robins" for the 1920's and early 1930's.  1932 simply marked the first time the name "Dodgers" appeared on their uniforms.  In 1933, the name "Dodgers" would become official.  In addition to changing their name, the Dodgers also acquired two big players in Hack Wilson and Waite Hoyt for the 1932 season.  Across town on June 3rd, Lou Gehrig hit four home runs in the Yankees' 20-13 victory over the A's, making him the third player in history and the first since Ed Delahanty in 1896 to do so.  Gehrig was also the first player in American League history to hit four home runs in one game.  On July 10th, the A's and Indians played one of the more interesting games in baseball history.  A's manager Connie Mack brought only two pitchers, Lew Krausse and Eddie Rommel, to Cleveland.  Krausse had a rough start and had to be lifted before the first inning was out, meaning Rommel would have to pitch the final eight innings with no relief.  Of course, this was no nine inning game.  Cleveland and Philadelphia ended up finishing regulation tied 15-15, and the game would go 18 innings before the A's picked up an 18-17 victory.  Rommel's stat line ended up like this: 17 innings, 14 runs (13 earned), 29 hits, 9 walks, and a win.  Cleveland shortstop Johnny Burnett garnered nine hits in eleven at bats, setting a single game record for hits that still stands today.  After the season, four time AL batting champion and future Hall of Famer Harry Heilmann hung up his spikes, ending a 16 year career in which he batted .342 with 183 home runs and 1539 RBI, mostly with the Tigers.  On December 15th, Major League Baseball approved the use of "farm systems", where major league teams could own lower teams, setting up the future Minor League system.   
     The New York Yankees (107-47) cruised to the AL pennant, easily edging the Philadelphia A's (94-60) by 13 games.  The Boston Red Sox finished last at just 43-111, 64 games out of first place.  Over in the NL, the Chicago Cubs (90-64) won a close race with the Pittsburgh Pirates (86-68) by four games.  New York and Chicago met in the World Series, one which would produce one of the most famous World Series moments of all time.  In Game Three, Babe Ruth stepped to the plate against Chicago pitcher Charlie Root.  With an 0-2 count, the Babe seemingly pointed to the flag pole in center field at Wrigley, as if to say that was where the ball would go.  Nobody knows for sure whether that was actually the case, but on that pitch, Ruth homered to center field to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead.  The Bombers went on to win the game 7-5 and the series four games to zero, giving New York its fourth World Series championship in ten years.  At this point, they were still behind the A's and Red Sox, who had five apiece.  Overall, it was Lou Gehrig who propelled the Yanks the series win, as he batted .529 (9-17) with three home runs, eight RBI, and nine runs scored over the four games.  Bill Dickey hit .438 (7-16), while Babe Ruth hit .333 (5-15) while slamming two home runs and driving in six.  Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing, George Pipgras, and Wilcy Moore each picked up victories for New York.
     When it came to MVP awards, Philadelphia did pretty well.  In the AL, the A's' Jimmie Foxx won his first MVP by putting up a monster season, batting .364 with 58 home runs and 169 RBI.  Across town, the Phillies' Chuck Klein picked up the NL MVP award by batting .348 with 38 home runs, 137 RBI, and even 20 stolen bases.  Brooklyn's Lefty O'Doul picked up the batting title at .368 while hitting 21 home runs, and Foxx won the AL batting title at .364.  Babe Ruth, aged 37, clubbed 41 home runs, drove in 137, and batted .341.  It was the eleventh and final time the Babe would hit 40 home runs in a season.  Lou Gehrig was right behind Ruth in putting up huge numbers, batting .349 with 34 home runs and 151 RBI.  The Giants' Bill Terry batted .350 with 28 home runs and 117 RBI.  Leading the Cubs to the World Series was 23 year old Lon Warneke, who was arguably baseball's best pitcher as he went 22-6 with a league leading 2.37 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.  It was the Giants' Carl Hubbell who led the majors in WHIP at 1.06, as he went 18-11 with a 2.50 ERA.  The A's' Lefty Grove put up another dominating season, going 25-10 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP.  Leading the way in wins was Washington's Alvin Crowder, who went 26-13 with a 3.33 ERA.  Over in St. Louis, 22 year old Cardinals rookie Dizzy Dean put up a great first season, going 18-15 with a 3.30 ERA and a major league leading 191 strikeouts to set up a Hall of Fame career.  

News
The All-Star Game rosters have been announced.  Check your favorite sports page to see them.
Diamondbacks traded Brandon McCarthy (3-10, 5.01 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, age 31) to the Yankees for Vidal Nuno (2-5, 5.42 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, age 26).
Diamondbacks traded Joe Thatcher (1-0, 2.63 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, age 32) and Tony Campana (0 HR, 3 RBI, .150 AVG, 4 SB, age 28) to the Angels for minor leaguers Zach Borenstein (7 HR, 50 RBI, .262 AVG, 6 SB at AA and AAA, age 23) and Joey Krehbiel (0-0, 2.00 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 5 SV at Class A and High Class A, age 21).
Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion strained his quadriceps and will miss two to four weeks.
Yankees designated Alfonso Soriano for assignment, meaning they have ten days to trade, demote, or release him.
Blue Jays claimed Nolan Reimold (minor leagues: 2 HR, 9 RBI, .315 AVG, 1 SB at AA, age 30) off waivers from the Orioles.
Nationals traded minor leaguer Brock Peterson (6 HR, 31 RBI, .250 AVG, 0 SB at AAA, age 30) to the Dodgers for cash considerations.
Braves snapped their nine game winning streak, while the Astros lost their seventh straight game.

With C.C. Sabathia's season in question, the Yankees had to make a move, and in doing so they landed Brandon McCarthy from the Diamondbacks.  The 6'7" right hander will slot into a stronger than expected rotation that already includes Masahiro Tanaka, Hiroki Kuroda, Dellin Betances, and Chase Whitley. The fact that the Yankees went after McCarthy is interesting, because he relies on pitching to contact rather than striking hitters out.  That style of pitching worked great in spacious O.Co Coliseum in Oakland, where he was 17-15 with a 3.29 ERA over two seasons with the A's, but it hurt him in Arizona and it will hurt him in cozy Yankee Stadium.  McCarthy was just 8-21 with a 4.75 ERA over his year and a half in Arizona, where he played his home games in Chase Field, which is known to have balls carry (meaning fly farther without coming down).  If McCarthy wants to have success in the Bronx, he will have to keep the ball down and avoid allowing solid contact from big AL East hitters like Evan Longoria, Nelson Cruz, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and David Ortiz.  McCarthy's best season came in 2011, when he was 9-9 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP for the A's.  Thus far in 2014, he is 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA.  For his career, the 31 year old, actually celebrating his 31st birthday today, is 45-60 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP over nine seasons.
In return, the Diamondbacks got 26 year old Vidal Nuno.  Nuno has had plenty of minor league success, but he is yet to transfer that to the major leagues.  He was a Yankees Organizational All Star in in 2012, when he was 10-6 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP at High Class A Tampa and AA Trenton.  Nuno had a brief major league stint in 2013, when he was 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA over five games (three starts).  However, he is just 2-5 with a 5.42 ERA through 17 games (14 starts) in 2014.  For his career, he is 3-7 with a 4.78 ERA over 22 games (17 starts).

Game Scores
Nationals (48-39) beat the Cubs (38-48) 2-1.
Orioles (48-40) beat the Red Sox (39-49) 7-6.
Yankees (44-43) beat the Twins (39-48) 9-7.
Pirates (47-41) beat the Phillies (37-51) 6-2.
Rays (41-50) beat the Tigers (48-37) 7-3.
Dodgers (51-40) beat the Rockies (37-52) 8-2.
Top Scorer: Yankees beat the Twins 9-7.

Standings
AL East: Orioles (48-40, .545 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (48-37, .565).  AL West: A's (55-33, .625).
NL East: Braves (49-39, .557).  NL Central: Brewers (52-37, .584).  NL West: Dodgers (51-40, .560).
AL Wild Cards: Angels (51-36, .586) and Mariners (48-40, .545).  NL Wild Cards: Giants (49-39, .557) and Nationals (48-39, .552).
Bottom Team: Astros (36-54, .400).  Longest W Streak: A's/Angels, 4 games.  Longest L Streak: Astros, 7 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies), .350 (100-286).  Home runs: Jose Abreu (White Sox) and Nelson Cruz (Orioles), 27.  RBI: Nelson Cruz, 71.  Stolen bases: Dee Gordon (Dodgers), 42.
Pitching: Wins: Masahiro Tanaka (Yankees), 12.  K's: David Price (Rays), 159.  ERA: Adam Wainwright (Cardinals), 1.89 (124 IP, 26 ER).  Saves: Craig Kimbrel (Braves) and Francisco Rodriguez (Brewers), 27.

Top Performers
Offensive: Kole Calhoun (Angels): 3-3, home run (9), RBI, 2 runs, walk, AVG up .011 from .290 to .301, hitting streak to 2 games (6-8, .750 AVG).
Pitching: Corey Kluber (Indians): Win (8-6), 8.1 innings, 1 earned run, 4 hits, 1 walk, 10 K's (137), ERA drop: 0.13 runs from 2.99 to 2.86.
Worst Pitching Performance: Ricky Nolasco (Twins): Loss (5-7), 2 innings, 6 earned runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 0 K's, ERA jump: 0.41 runs from 5.49 to 5.90.

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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