Suddenly, the Minnesota Twins’ hold on the American League Western Division is looking less than solid. Since last week’s report, two full weeks were played in the 1991 fantasy replay league, and the Chicago White Sox 12 of 13 games to pull within five and a half games of the league leaders.
The Twins are still on top with a 73-35 record, but the Sox are at 66-39 and on a roll. Texas is not out of it yet, at 62-41.
With no real major league baseball to follow, we are using OOTP-20, a comprehensive baseball simulation strategy game, to replay 1991. It was a year that, in real life, saw the Minnesotans win the West by eight games and go on to beat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.
We wanted to see if the Twins could do it again.
Here’s how the other races shape up currently: Boston is 62-44 in the AL East, followed by Milwaukee and Detroit both at 54-42. In the NL West, it’s the Dodgers at 64-41 followed by Cincinnati at 55-49 and San Diego at 56-50. And in the NL East, Pittsburgh is at 68-36 but St. Louis is just a half-game behind at 68-37.
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The Twins are still hitting well, but their averages are beginning to level off a bit. Kirby Puckett leads the team with a .328 mark, and he’s hit 19 home runs. Kent Hrbek has plummeted from .340 to .317 over the last 14 games. Brian Harper is at .317, Chuck Knoblauch is at .316 and Chili Davis is at .301. Davis has 26 home runs and leads the league with 84 RBI.
Boston’s Wade Boggs is the top hitter in the American League with a .360 batting average. Frank Thomas (Chicago) and Danny Tartabull (KC) lead in homers with 30, and Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor leads in runs with 80.
The Twins’ Jack Morris is the league leader in wins. He has a 16-6 record with a 3.04 ERA, and teammate Scott Erickson is 9-3 and 3.18. Rick Aguilera continues to have a great year in relief, with 25 saves and a 1.65 ERA.
