Week 15 Summary (07/17/1967

Week 15 Summary (07/17/1967 - 07/23/1967)

June 13, 2024

Week Fifteen of the 1967 BBW Replay is in the books, and the replay marches along. Week 15 means we have reached the 60% mark of the replay, at least by counting the weeks. All teams have reached and passed the 90-games-played mark, and by the end of next week, many will have reached the 100-games-played mark. All teams are still juggling their rosters as they look to improve their place in the standings Reaching for the top may be beyond their grasp, but the middle of both leagues is a muddled mess so any kind of winning streak can quickly propel a team up the standings, and then they can think about the pennant.

Both leagues are expecting shake-ups this coming week, not from new injuries or new players, but from players returning from extended injury periods. Al Kaline and Frank Robinson returned to Detroit and Baltimore respectively, and both teams were able to hold on to the second and third spots in the AL, all while not letting the first-place Red Sox run away with the AL. Curt Flood (STL) and Tommy Harper (CIN) return as well, as do players like Bob Aspromonte (HOU) and Tommy McCraw (CWS). There were a handful of smaller trades, but at the end of this week the white Sox acquired Ken Boyer and before the end of next week they will add Rocky Colavito - two veterans who have shown some pop in the past and that Chicago is hoping will bolster their anemic offense.

In the AL, Boston has been unable to shake Baltimore and Detroit, but they ended this week by sweeping a four-game series in Cleveland, which cements Boston's hold on first place but sends Cleveland back to one game below .500 and tied with Chicago. Minnesota is putting on another surge, which they have done before - can they maintain it this time. The Twins are at .500, but after 15.0 games out of first still, a long way to climb yet. Washington has a firm grasp on last place but inflicted a little punishment on their neighbors to the near north when they swept a three-game series in Baltimore late in the week.

In the NL, Atlanta and St. Louis ended the week with a split of a four-game series in St. Louis. This allowed the Braves to maintain their slim 1.5 games lead over second-place Cardinals. Both teams were looking for a different outcome but essentially fought to a draw. The Phillies have found themselves struggling recently, and while they remain in third place 3.0 games out of second place, they are starting to look over their shoulder as both Los Angeles and San Francisco have both been playing much better and have been slowly moving up the standings.

Another way to look at the standings is that Minnesota is at .500, in fourth place, and 15.0 games out of first place in the AL In the NL, Chicago, and Cincinnati are in sixth and seventh place, both teams only 8.5 games out of first. Hope runs eternal for the NL teams, but in the AL hope might begin to start running a little thin.

There were two big highlights this week, the first being no-hitter #5, as Joe Horlen humbled California. Horlen only gave up one walk, so very close to a perfect game.

The second highlight was the first Cycle of the season. On Thursday, the day after Horlen's no-hitter, Los outfielder Al Ferrara busted out the whooping stick against Philadelphia. Ferrara went 4-for-6 (.337), along with three runs scored, and five RBI's. Ferrara is one of a group of rotating and platooning outfielders, so while Ferrara has put up respectable numbers this season, no one was quite expecting this.

Not next week, but after next week the replay will move into the month of August. As mentioned previously, several teams have key players returning from injuries next week, so let's go play some games, and let's see what happens!