CASBL names Players of Month for August

Top AL Pitcher

AL Pitcher Eppa Rixey tops all pitching vote-getters this month with his 41 points (8 -1st and 1 5th place vote). He was 3-1 with a 0.91 ERA on the month. He pitched 49 and a 1/3 inning pitched and allowed just 5 runs. Rixey has pitched very well on a sub .500 team !! Rixey is now 17-5 with a 1.09 ERA on the season. He could have a very good shot at the NL CY Young Award winner, but he also has to deal with 2 time Player of the month Dazzy Vance to deal with.

Rixey only gave up 32 hits for an opponent batting average of .181. The other big fact to helping him earn the award for the month is his 56 Ks and only 5 walks in those same 49+ innings. Rixey is a good part of the reason that the Kansas City Kings are even as good of a situation as what they are in. The Kings have about 29 games left, so Rixey stands to get another 6-8 starts. This means he should be able to eclipse the 20 win mark, but with his team 11 out it'll be tough for them to visit the post-season.

Over in the NL, Hubert "Dutch" Leonard of the Fresno Grizzlies earned the NL Pitcher of the Month. Leonard may have gotten less voting points then his AL counterpart, but his stats would tend to make you think he had a MUCH better month. Leonard went 6-0 with a 0.70 ERA (3rd lowest of any month for any award winner), but he had more innings than the others. He pitched 51 and 2/3 innings and allowed only 4 runs. Opponents hit only .168 against him and struck out 55 times, while Leonard gave up only 8 walks.

This is Leonard's second time on the Award list. He also took the award back in May when he sported the same ERA for the month of May. Could this be the month that he makes a final move toward the NL Cy Young award or will 2 time player of the month Burleigh Grimes answer the call. Of course, player of the month is nice, but doesn't assure you'll be a Cy Young winner.

Fresno is only 3.5 back, so they're surely counting on Leonard to help them overcome the Astros and recently fallen Boise Spuds. This is the closest race going in the league -- so watch it carefully.. 2 of the 3 top teams have had managerial changes during the season, so anything can happen.

On the hitting front, we saw National League Billy Williams of the the Halifax Moosehead take the honor. Halifax is 6.5 back of the Oregon Timberjacks, but we saw some weakness fromt he Timberjacks this week and they are starting to get some key injuries (including the loss of Eddie Mathews this week for the rest of the season). So don't count Halifax out just yet.

And if Williams can keep up the work it'll improve their chances. Williams hit .446 on the month (going 41 of 92). 13 of his 41 hits left the yard. That is just totally incredible. That'll help any team start gaining some games. Williams contributed by driving in 28 runs. His great month didn't give him a landslide victory in the player of the month balloting though as he barely edged out Boise's Merv Rettenmund by 1 point. Boise also has Ripper Collins in 3rd on the voting. Oregon's Shoeless Joe Jackson finished tied with Collins and 5th place went to Ron Santo of Fresno. The difference between first & 5th was only 3 points, so it was anyone's race. Congrats to Williams for squeeking out the competition.

Over in the AL, Carl Yastrzemski (2 time player of the month and possible Triple Crown winner - although voters don't think so) was edged out by Orioles' Dick Wakefield. Wakefield also won by a 1 point margin, but beyond that it was a landslide. Wakefield & Yaz each received 8 first place votes, but Wakefield's 3rd place edged out Yaz' 4th place to give him the honor.

Wakefield also barely edged Yaz for the month in batting average as he hit .409 (47-115), while Yaz hit .402 (43-107). Every stat was like this with the two. Wakefield lost the HR battle by 1 as Yaz has 13 and Wakefield 2, but Wakefield knocked in 30 (28 by Yaz). Wakefield did this all while playing for a team that is in last place and all but eliminated from the playoffs. Some people think this shouldn't mean anything, but how do you get motivated to play when you know the games mean nothing to you ?? Guess you can ask Wakefield as he definitely finds a way !!!

Yastrzemski has bigger goals in mind though as his team is only 2 games back of the division leading Los Angelas Lumber Kings. This battle should come right down to the finish as both teams are playing well. Helena boosts the better divisional record, so when they meet again (Sept 28-30) it's sure to be a battle and could very well decide the division winner.

Top AL Hitter