1959 AL Standings and League Leaders

 August 1, 1959

   The calendar is flipped to August in the 1959 AL season. My Detroit Tigers have been in a funk, losing 5 of their last 6 games and going 14-16 overall in July. Cleveland (59-42) was 17-14. This has allowed the Indians to move into 1st place and the Tigers (59-45) to drop into 2nd, 1.5 games behind. The injury bug has hit Detroit with Al Kaline(cf), Harvey Kuenn(rf), Rocky Bridges(ss), and Frank Bolling(2b) missing a significant amount of playing time. 

  The Chicago White Sox (55-44) were 16-11 in July and are gaining ground on the top spot. They're in 3rd place, 3 games behind. The New York Yankees are in 4th place with a 50-50 record. Only the Washington Senators, who are mired in last place, failed to gain ground on Detroit in July. 

  Detroit's offense this season has been incredible. Their 591 runs scored and +144 Runs/Angst Differential far outpaces any other team. The only other team with a + Differential is Cleveland (+61). Detroit's hitting is led by Charley Maxwell who leads the AL in Homeruns and RBI (32, 104). Harvey Kuenn (.345) and Al Kaline (.341) are 1, 2 in Batting Avg. Kaline is also 2nd in the league in RBI (79). 

  Rocky Colavito (29 HR, 75 RBI) and Woody Held (27 HR) have led the Cleveland hitting attack. Chicago's Early Wynn (16-6, 2.95 ERA. 116 K's) is the top pitcher in the AL. New York and Chicago have had the best pitching so far this season, so both teams have high hopes in the battle for the pennant.

LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 1959 American League
 
                                                      ACTUAL-TODATE  ACTUAL-TOTAL
                            WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC# WON LOS  PCT  WON LOS  PCT
1959 Cleveland CLA           59  42  .584 ----    52    59  42 .584   89  65 .578
1959 Detroit DEA             59  45  .567  1.5          50  54 .481   76  78 .494
1959 Chicago CHA             55  44  .556  3.0          59  40 .596   94  60 .610
1959 New York NYA            50  50  .500  8.5          49  51 .490   79  75 .513
1959 Boston BOA              50  51  .495  9.0          44  57 .436   75  79 .487
1959 Kansas City KCA         47  53  .470 11.5          50  50 .500   66  88 .429
1959 Baltimore BAA           47  56  .456 13.0          51  52 .495   74  80 .481
1959 Washington WAA          38  64  .373 21.5          43  59 .422   63  91 .409
 
 
 
       OVERALL RECORD
Team   WON LOST   PCT  HOME  ROAD  LEFT RIGHT EXTRA 1-RUN   LAST 10   STREAK
BAA     47   56  .456 23-29 24-27 12-16 35-40  9- 4 14-10     4-6     Won 2
BOA     50   51  .495 23-26 27-25  6- 8 44-43  3- 5  9-13     5-5     Won 1
CHA     55   44  .556 28-23 27-21 19-15 36-29  8- 0 21- 6     8-2     Won 2
CLA     59   42  .584 34-19 25-23  9-10 50-32  3- 5 17-14     6-4     Lost 1
DEA     59   45  .567 29-23 30-22 12- 8 47-37  2- 4 14-15     4-6     Lost 2
KCA     47   53  .470 24-29 23-24 10-10 37-43  6- 6  5-16     4-6     Lost 4
NYA     50   50  .500 24-20 26-30 11-17 39-33  3- 8 14-14     5-5     Won 1
WAA     38   64  .373 19-32 19-32  7- 7 31-57  3- 5 11-17     4-6     Lost 1
TOTAL  405  405  .500
HOME   204  201  .504
ROAD   201  204  .496
LEFT    86   91  .486
RIGHT  319  314  .504
 
TEAM   -APRIL   MAY  JUNE  JULY   AUG SEPT+  RUNS AGNST DIFF
BAA      6-10 15-15 11-16 15-15  0- 0  0- 0    404   483  -79
BOA      9- 4 14-16  9-19 18-12  0- 0  0- 0    498   501   -3
CHA      8- 8 10-18 21- 7 16-11  0- 0  0- 0    387   390   -3
CLA      7- 7 18-10 17-11 17-14  0- 0  0- 0    500   439  +61
DEA      9- 6 16-12 20-11 14-16  0- 0  0- 0    591   447 +144
KCA      6-10 14-11 10-19 17-13  0- 0  0- 0    464   519  -55
NYA      9- 6 14-13 13-17 14-14  0- 0  0- 0    407   407   +0
WAA      7-10 12-18 12-13  7-23  0- 0  0- 0    426   491  -65

NEWSPAPER STYLE RECAP FOR 1959 American League                 Date: 8/1/1959
 
TEAM     WON LOST   BATTING AVERAGE     HOME RUNS           RUNS BATTED IN
1959 CLA  59  42    H.Kuenn   DEA .345  C.Maxwell DEA   32  C.Maxwell DEA  104
1959 DEA  59  45    A.Kaline  DEA .341  B.Allison WAA   31  A.Kaline  DEA   79
1959 CHA  55  44    P.Runnels BOA .321  R.Colavit CLA   29  R.Colavit CLA   75
1959 NYA  50  50    G.Woodlin BAA .314  W.Held    CLA   27  J.Jensen  BOA   69
1959 BOA  50  51    R.Maris   KCA .310  OTHERS TIED W   26  F.Malzone BOA   68
1959 KCA  47  53
1959 BAA  47  56    WINS                SAVES               ERA
1959 WAA  38  64    E.Wynn    CHA   16  M.Forniel BOA   10  B.Shaw    CHA 1.95
                    F.Lary    DEA   13  T.Lown    CHA    9  A.Ditmar  NYA 2.06
                    OTHERS TIED W   11  B.Loes    BAA    8  C.Pascual WAA 2.72
                                        T.Morgan  DEA    8  E.Wynn    CHA 2.95
                                        R.Duren   NYA    6  B.Turley  NYA 3.06
 
                    CUR HIT STREAK      STOLEN BASES        STRIKEOUTS
                    R.Snyder  KCA   10  L.Aparici CHA   40  J.Bunning DEA  137
                    Y.Berra   NYA   10  B.Tuttle  KCA   15  H.Score   CLA  135
                    OTHERS TIED W    7  J.Jensen  BOA   10  C.Pascual WAA  132
                                        B.Allison WAA   10  E.Wynn    CHA  116
                                        OTHERS TIED W    9  F.Lary    DEA  114