MLB Update: 7/8 | Tommy John Trouble

History of Baseball: 1933
World Series Champions: New York Giants (91-61, .599 WPCT).
    Though Hall of Famers Red Faber, Joe Sewell, and Eppa Rixey all retired in 1933, a lot happened during the season. On October 1st, Nick Altrock pinch hit for the Senators. At 57 years old, he became the oldest player in history and the first player ever to appear in games in five different decades (1890's, 1900's, 1910's, 1920's, 1930's). Though his age record would be broken twice by Charley O'Leary (age 58 in 1934) and Satchel Paige (age 59 in 1965), only Minnie Minoso would match his mark of playing in five decades. Also on October 1st, Babe Ruth made the final pitching appearance of his career, tossing a complete game over the Red Sox. He finished out his pitching career 94-46 with a 2.28 ERA, including a 5-0 mark with the Yankees. Earlier in the season, on July 6th, the American and National Leagues held the first annual "All-Star Game". In the days when AL and NL teams only faced off in the World Series and acted more independently than today, the idea was revolutionary: have the best players from each league square off. Held at Comiskey Park in Chicago, home of the White Sox, the A's' Lefty Grove pitched against the Cardinals' Bill Hallahan. The starting lineup in the American League featured, in order, Ben Chapman* (Yankees), Charlie Gehringer (Tigers), Babe Ruth (Yankees), Lou Gehrig (Yankees), Al Simmons (White Sox), Jimmy Dykes (White Sox), Joe Cronin (Senators), Rick Ferrell (Red Sox), and Grove. *Interesting side note, for those who watched the movie 42, Chapman would later go on to coach the Phillies and was the same Ben Chapman who harassed Jackie Robinson almost to his breaking point. The NL lineup was just as formidable, with Pepper Martin (Cardinals), Frankie Frisch (Cardinals), Chuck Klein (Phillies), Chick Hafey (Reds), Bill Terry (Giants), Wally Berger (Braves), Dick Bartell (Phillies), Jimmie Wilson (Cardinals), and Hallahan. Led by Babe Ruth's third inning home run off Hallahan, the AL would win 4-2. Grove was the winning pitcher. After the season, the Philadelphia A's completed one of their many fire sales, trading Lefty Grove, Max Bishop, Rube Walberg, Mickey Cochrane, and George Earnshaw away. Before the season, they had sent Al Simmons and Jimmy Dykes to the White Sox.
      Though the Yankees and Senators battled for first place throughout the first half of the season, Washington ended up pulling away in the second half and finished at 99-53, seven games ahead of New York (91-59). The New York Giants (91-61) finished the season with a comfortable five game lead over the Pirates (87-67), and met the Senators in the World Series. The Giants ended up taking the Series four games to one, giving New York its fourth World Series Championship. Mel Ott led the New York offense, batting .389 with two home runs and four RBI over the four games. Carl Hubbell was nearly unhittable on the mount, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP for the Giants. Overall, he had pitched 20 shutout innings on 13 hits and six walks. Dolf Luque and Hal Schumacher earned the other two victories for the Giants, while Earl Whitehill earned the Senators' only win in a complete game shutout in Game Three.
        Like 1932, 1933 was a good year for Philadelphia. After Jimmie Foxx and Chuck Klein earned the AL and NL MVP awards, respectively, in 1932, Foxx and Klein each won the AL and NL Triple Crown awards in 1933. Foxx also won the AL MVP award for a second straight season, hitting 48 home runs, driving in 163, and batting .356 with 125 runs scored for the A's. Klein didn't win the NL MVP award, but his Triple Crown consisted of a .368 average, 28 home runs, and 120 RBI. The Giants' Carl Hubbell took home the NL MVP award. Over in New York, Lou Gehrig continued to mash, batting .334 with 32 home runs, 139 RBI, and a league leading 138 runs scored. 38 year old Babe Ruth put up his final big season, batting .301 with 34 home runs and 103 RBI. It was the 13th and final time he would hit 30 home runs, as well as the 13th and final time he would drive in 100 runs. On the mound, Carl Hubbell put up one of the greatest pitching seasons of all time. Winning the NL MVP, he went 23-12 with a 1.66 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP to lead the Giants to the World Series. The 1.66 ERA set a new record for the Live Ball Era wand was the lowest since Walter Johnson put up a 1.49 ERA in 1919, back in the Dead Ball Era. The 0.98 WHIP, extended to 0.982, was also the lowest since Babe Adams put up a 0.981 WHIP in 1920. Hal Schumaker was right behind Hubbell in the powerful New York rotation, going 19-12 with a 2.16 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. The Cubs' Lon Warneke put up a second straight big season, going 18-13 with a 2.00 ERA. Leading the Senators to the World Series was Alvin Crowder, who tied Lefty Grove for the major league lead in wins by going 24-15 with a 3.97 ERA. Grove was 24-8 with a 3.20 ERA. Behind Crowder in the rotation was Earl Whitehill, who was 22-8 with a 3.33 ERA. The Senators also had Jack Russell as a reliable reliever, as he went 12-6 with a 2.96 ERA and 13 saves over 50 games (3 starts).

News
It has recently surfaced that #1 overall draft pick Brady Aiken has issues with his UCL, delaying his signing with the Astros and possibly meaning Tommy John surgery.
Jose Altuve set a new Astros record with 124 hits before the All Star Break.
Diamondbacks pitcher Bronson Arroyo will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season, as well as the first half of 2015.
Astros snapped their seven game losing streak.

Game Scores
Orioles (49-40) beat the Nationals (48-40) 8-2 (11 innings).
White Sox (43-47) beat the Red Sox (39-50) 4-0.
Yankees (45-43) beat the Indians (43-45) 5-3.
Phillies (38-51) beat the Brewers (52-38) 3-2.
Royals (46-42) beat the Rays (41-51) 6-0.
Reds (46-42) beat the Cubs (38-49) 9-3.
Padres (40-49) beat the Rockies (37-53) 6-1.
Top Scorer: Astros beat the Rangers 12-7.

Standings
AL East: Orioles (49-40, .551 WPCT). AL Central: Tigers (48-37, .565). AL West: A's (56-33, .629).
NL East: Braves (49-40, .551). NL Central: Brewers (52-38, .578). NL West: Dodgers (51-40, .560).
AL Wild Cards: Angels (52-36, .591) and Mariners (49-40, .551). NL Wild Cards: Giants (49-40, .551) and Nationals (48-40, .545).
Bottom Team: Astros (37-54, .407). Longets W Streak: A's/Angels, 5 games. Longest L Streak: Blue Jays, 5 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies), .349 (101-289). Home runs: Nelson Cruz (Orioles), 28. RBI: Nelson Cruz, 73. Stolen bases: Dee Gordon (Dodgers), 42.
Pitching: Wins: Masahiro Tanaka (Yankees), 12. K's: David Price (Rays), 159. ERA: Adam Wainwright (Cardinals). 1.79 (131 IP, 26 ER). Saves: Craig Kimbrel (Braves) and Francisco Rodriguez (Brewers), 27.

Top Performers
Offensive: Manny Machado (Orioles): 5-6, double, home run (8), 2 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .015 from .246 to .261, hitting streak to 5 games (11-25, .440 AVG).
Pitching: Hisashi Iwakuma (Mariners): Win (7-4), 7 shutout innings, 4 hits, no walks, 10 K's (72), ERA drop: 0.26 runs from 3.33 to 3.07.
Worst Pitching Performance: Miles Mikolas (Rangers): Loss (0-1), 3.1 innings, 9 earned runs, 12 hits, no walks, 5 K's (9), ERA jump: 7.40 runs from 5.06 to 12.46.

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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 lleave 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