Update: 7/21/1941
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Campanella |
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While the season is just a little past the
halfway point, San Diego’s (50-40) six-game series
at Los Angeles (54-36) that ended on Thursday had
a bit of a now-or-never feel to it. After all, the
Angels’ six-game lead over the second-place Padres
had barely budged for three weeks, and the Friars
and Halos won’t meet again until late September.
If San Diego wanted to start decreasing the
distance between themselves and first place, this
was the time to do it.
The Padres responded to the challenge, taking
four out of six. San Diego now trails Los Angeles
by only four games. Seattle (48-43) is 6½ games
back, Portland and San Francisco (both 45-45) are
nine games back, Oakland (45-46) is 9½ games back,
and Hollywood and Sacramento (both 37-53) are 17
games back.
Seattle’s Roy Campanella is the Player of the
Week. The 19-year-old backstop hit an eye-popping
.632 (12-for-18) to raise his season’s average to
.322. Campanella has five homers and 55 runs
batted in this year.
Update: 7/14/1941
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Williams |
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Ted Williams of San Diego and George Scales of
Los Angeles have been alternating as the Player of
the Week almost exclusively this season, taking
eight of the thirteen awards distributed thus far.
This week it was Williams’ turn again, as The Kid
picked up his fifth trophy of the year after
hitting .435 (10-for-23) with four home runs, ten
runs batted in, and ten runs scored. Williams
leads the loop in batting; his average now at
.400, and he is tied with Scales for the league
lead in homers with 12.
Not surprisingly, the Angels (52-32) and Padres
(46-38) occupy the top two spots in the league
standings. The Halos hold a six-game lead over the
Friars. In third place is Seattle (45-40), who
trail Los Angeles by 7½ games. Portland (43-41) is
in fourth place, nine games out, Oakland (42-43)
is in fifth, 10½ games out, San Francisco (41-43)
is in sixth, 11 games out, Sacramento (35-49) is
in seventh, 17 games out, and Hollywood (33-51) is
in eighth, 19 games out.
Update: 7/7/1941
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Gordon |
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Oakland’s Joe Gordon went on a tear this week,
picking up hits in 13 of his 29 at-bats for a .448
average while the Oaks (39-39) won five of seven
games. The sudden surge brought the Acorns’ record
back to .500, lifted them past San Francisco
(37-40) and into fifth place in the standings, and
brought them within 2½ games of a playoff spot.
Not a bad week in the East Bay. Gordon is hitting
just .269 but is leading the Oaks in home runs
with 8.
There haven’t been many highlights for Hollywood
(30-47) this season, so Stars fans certainly must
have enjoyed Bill Fleming’s no-hitter against the
arch-rival Angels at Gilmore Field on Sunday.
Fleming walked two and struck out three in the 3-0
victory.
Los Angeles (47-30) remains six games ahead of
second-place San Diego (41-36). Just hair behind
the Padres is Seattle (41-37), followed by
Portland (40-37). The Oaks and Seals are 8½ and 10
games out of first, respectively, while Sacramento
(34-43) trails by 13 and the Stars trail by 17.
Update: 6/30/1941
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Scales |
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Ever heard of a player having his greatest season
at age 40? Anyone who has heard of George Scales
has. Los Angeles’ manager-second baseman hit .560
(14-for-25) with three home runs and eight runs
batted in this week to earn his third Player of
the Week award of the season. Scales is now first
in the P.C.L. in home runs (11), first in doubles
(29), second in batting (.395), third in runs
scored (55), and tied for fourth in RBI (43). He’s
not doing a bad job making decisions, either; the
Angels (43-27) have a six-game lead over their
closest pursuers.
The race for second place remains super-tight.
San Diego (37-33) has a half-game edge over
Seattle (37-34), and a one-game lead over Portland
and San Francisco (both 36-34). Oakland (34-37) is
also hanging in there, nine games out of first but
only three out of second. Sacramento (30-40) and
Hollywood (28-42) have struggled for much of the
season.
Update: 6/23/1941
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Williams |
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Ted Williams of San Diego (34-29) continued his
onslaught on the collective pitching staffs of the
Pacific Coast League this week, hitting .565
(13-for-23) with three home runs. Williams is now
flirting with a .400 season, having raised his
season average to .397. The Padres picked up a
half-game on Los Angeles (38-26) to pull within 3½
games out.
The Angels lead third-place San Francisco (34-30)
by four games, fourth-place Seattle (34-31) by 4½,
fifth-place Portland (32-32) by six, sixth-place
Oakland (31-34) by 7½, seventh-place Sacramento
(29-35) by nine, and last-place Hollywood (24-39)
by 13½.
The Halo’s George Scales’ hitting streak ended at
38 games, halted by four Oakland pitchers in the
Oaks’ 11-10 victory on June 17th.
Update: 6/16/1941
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Brown |
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Willard Brown got Oakland (28-30) off the mat and
led them to five straight victories over
last-place Hollywood (22-35) this week. Brown, a
25-year-old center fielder who hails from
Shreveport, Louisiana, hit a blistering .593
(16-for-27) to give Player of the Week award
voters an easy choice. Brown is hitting .302 for
the season and the Oaks are suddenly just 3½ games
removed from a playoff spot.
Los Angeles (35-22) has opened up a four-game
lead over San Diego (31-26) after defeating San
Francisco (30-27) five times in six tries,
dropping the Seals into third place, five games
out. Seattle (30-28) is in fourth place, 5½ games
back, Portland (28-29) is in fifth, seven games
back, Oakland is in sixth, 7½ games back,
Sacramento (25-32) is in seventh, ten games back,
and the Stars are 13 games back.
Update: 6/9/1941
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Williams |
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San Diego’s Ted Williams is having a spectacular
season. The 22-year-old right fielder hit .583
(14-for-24) over the last seven days, earning his
third Player of the Week award of the season,
while the Padres (29-22) were locked in mortal
combat with one of their chief rivals for a
postseason berth, San Francisco (also 29-22). The
two combatants split the six-game series. Williams
leads the P.C.L. with a .374 average.
Just behind Williams in the batting derby is Los
Angeles’ George Scales, who is hitting .372 and is
the owner of what has now become a 32-game hitting
streak. The longest hitting streak in league
history belongs to Smead Jolley, now one of
Scales’ teammates. Jolley hit safely in 41
consecutive games in 1934 while a member of the
Portland Beavers.
The Angels (30-21) have taken over sole
possession of first place. They lead the Padres
and Seals by a game, Seattle (26-26) by 4½,
Portland (24-27) by six, Sacramento (23-28) by
seven, Oakland (23-29) by 7½, and Hollywood
(21-30) by nine.
Update: 6/2/1941
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Scales |
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Los Angeles player/manager George Scales seems to
have discovered the Fountain of Youth. At 40 years
young (he’ll turn 41 in August) the 19-year
veteran is having perhaps his finest season,
leading the league in batting average at .373,
doubles with 23, and extra base hits with 31. This
week he picked up his second Player of the Week
award, hitting .478 with a pair of homers and six
runs batted in.
Scales’ team is rolling, too, as the Angels
(26-19) have won nine of their last ten games,
earning them a share of the top spot in the league
standings. San Diego and San Francisco (also both
26-19) round out the three-way tie for first
place. The rest of the league is under .500;
Portland (22-23) trails the leaders by four games,
Sacramento (21-24) trails by five, Seattle (21-25)
trails by 5½, Hollywood (20-25) by six and Oakland
(19-27) by 7½.
Update: 5/26/1941
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Wells |
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The 1941 Coast League race is shaping up to be
another fiercely competitive one. San Francisco
(22-16) retains the top spot this week but the
Seals’ lead over San Diego (21-17) is down to a
game. Los Angeles (21-18) picked up two games in
the standings; the Angels are now in third place
and just a game and a half out of first.
Sacramento (19-19) and Seattle (20-20) are three
back, Hollywood and Portland (both 18-21) are just
4½ back, and Oakland (16-23) is 6½ back. A lot of
baseball left to be played, and everyone is still
very much in it.
Sacramento’s Willie Wells is the Player of the
Week. Wells hit a blistering .522 (12-for-23) and
drove in eight runs. He also hit his first home
run of the year. The 35-year-old star battled
injuries the last two seasons while playing for
Seattle but seems to have a new lease on life as a
Solon. He’s hitting .325.
Update: 5/19/1941
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Dihigo |
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Martín Dihigo of Hollywood hit .423 (11-for-26)
and knocked in eight runs, adding a pair of
homers, as the Stars (15-18) took four of seven
games. It wasn’t enough to get Hollywood out of
seventh place but this year’s race remains fairly
tight from top to bottom. Hollywood is 4½ games
out of first. Dihigo, the Player of the Week, is
hitting .342.
San Francisco (19-13) dropped its first game this
week but won its next five, so the Seals have
taken over the top spot, leading San Diego (17-15)
by two games. Portland (17-16) is now in third
place, 2½ games out, and Sacramento (16-16) and
Seattle (17-17) are tied for fourth, three games
out. Los Angeles is 3½ out, and last-place Oakland
is still just 5½ out.
Update: 5/12/1941
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Scales |
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Los Angeles (14-12) made its way into a crowded
field of teams at or near the top of the standings
thanks to the exemplary play of player/manager
George Scales this week. The ageless Scales—he’ll
be 41 in August—collected 16 hits in 33 at-bats
for a .485 average, adding a homer, seven runs
batted in, and ten runs scored. The Angels won
four of six and are now a game out of first.
While only a game back they are still just in
third place, and they’ve got lots of company. San
Diego and Sacramento (both 15-11) are leading the
field, and Los Angeles, Portland, and San
Francisco (all 14-12) are in a three-way tie for
second. Seattle (12-15) is 3½ games back,
Hollywood (11-15) is four back and Oakland (10-17)
has dropped into the cellar, 5½ games back.
Update: 5/5/1941
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Williams |
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Ted Williams of the first-place San Diego Padres
(13-7) is the Player of the Week for the second
time this season. The 22-year-old Williams hit
.478 (11-for-23) with a pair of home runs, seven
runs scored, and seven runs batted in as the
Friars took four of seven games to secure sole
position of the top spot. Williams is hitting .390
and the Padres are a game ahead of their closest
competitors.
Sacramento (12-8) is in second place, San
Francisco (11-8) is a game and a half behind in
third place, Portland (10-10) trails by three
games, Los Angeles (9-10) trails by 3½, Seattle
(9-12) trails by 4½, Oakland (8-12) trails by
five, and Hollywood (7-12) trails by 5½.
Update: 4/28/1941
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Bankhead |
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It was a perfect week for San Diego (9-4), as the
Padres traveled north and swept Hollywood (4-9) in
a five-game set and won the first two games of a
five-game showdown at Los Angeles (5-8). The
Friars are the undisputed kings of Southern
California right now but they have company atop
the Coast League standings, with San Francisco
also sitting at 9-4.
Portland shortstop Sam Bankhead is the Player of
the Week. Although known more for his glove than
for his bat, the 30-year-old veteran wore out
opposing pitchers, collecting 14 hits in 30
at-bats for a .467 average, adding runs batted in
and six runs scored. The Beavers (6-7) went 4-3.
San Diego and San Francisco lead Sacramento (8-5)
by a game. Portland is three games back, Oakland
and Seattle (both 6-8) are 3½ games back, the
Angels trail by four and the Stars trail by five.
Update: 4/21/1941
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Williams |
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The first week of the 1941 season separated the
league into teams with winning records and teams
with losing records, as each six-game series
concluded with one team defeating the other four
times.
San Diego (2-4) was not one of the teams that
emerged victorious from the majority of their
games this week, but the week’s standout player
wears a Padres uniform. That man is 22-year-old
right fielder Ted Williams. Williams collected 13
hits in 28 at bats for a .464 average, scoring
seven runs and driving in a pair. The San Diego
native is already in his sixth big league season,
with a career batting average sitting just below
.300, at .297.
Hollywood, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Seattle
are all 4-2; Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, and
San Diego are 2-4.
1940
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