THE AUGUST CAMPAIGN.
Baltimore rallied in fine style in August, that club winning 22 out of 29 games that month, while New York won 20 out of 28; but Boston won only 15 out of 25, Philadelphia pulling up with 19 out of 29. Chicago also won a majority of their August games, these being the only clubs of the twelve which won more games during the month than they lost. When the August campaign opened the first division clubs included Boston, Baltimore, New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Brooklyn, the "Phillies" being in the second division; but the latter soon took Brooklyn's place and sent them to seventh place in the race. But before the first week of the month had ended, Brooklyn replaced Pittsburgh in the first division. The "Pirates," however rallied and drove their Eastern opponents back again; Brooklyn ending the month in sixth place, and after that the "Pirates" remained at the head of the second division to the finish. The 31st of August saw the first division clubs fixed for the season, as far as first and sixth places in the race were concerned, the interesting point in the month's campaign being the struggle between the New York and Boston clubs for second place and that between Brooklyn and Philadelphia for fourth position. There was but one Western club in the first division at the end of August, the other five staying in the second division to the finish, a result that was ruinous to the financial interests of the Western clubs, and to a large extent to the clubs of the East, all of which clubs played to "small houses" out West, especially at Louisville, the cranks of "Breckinridgeville" being disgusted with their local club team during the last three months of the season.
Here is the record of the August campaign, showing each club's victories and defeats for August;
THE AUGUST RECORD. —————————————————————————————- P P P e P e l r l r L a c L a c W o y e W o y e o s e n o s e n Clubs. n t d t Clubs. n t d t —————————————————————————————- Baltimore 22 7 29 .759 Washington 13 14 27 .481 New York 20 8 28 .714 St. Louis 9 13 22 .409 Philadelphia 19 10 29 .655 Cleveland 9 15 24 .375 Boston 15 10 25 .600 Pittsburgh 8 16 24 .333 Chicago 15 12 27 .556 Cincinnati 7 19 26 .269 Brooklyn 14 14 28 .500 Louisville 5 18 23 .217 —————————————————————————————-
It will be seen that August was a bad month for the Boston champions, while it was the very reverse for the Chicago "Colts," the latter making their best monthly record in August. The difference in percentage points between the leader and the tail-ender at the close of the August campaign was 355 points, the best of the season to that date. Still the figures showed a comparatively poor race, several of the minor league races being more evenly contested. Cleveland and Pittsburgh were behind Washington in percentage of victories during the August campaign, the latter making their best monthly record in August, thereby escaping their old place in the last ditch.