Two Weeks Notice (First half of July 1980)

News and Notes as of July 16, 1980

With two months left into the season, the National League teams are starting to separate themselves from contender to pretenders.

Los Angeles Dodgers now have a very comfortable 20 game lead over Cincinnati even though their two top offensive guys are on the DL (Dino Dinardo and Manny Kreitenberg).

Great pitching has propelled Hollywood’s team to the top. Unfortunately, it would also be costly since their ace, Perry Whitham, is a key free agent who’s asking for a $1.5 M raise. If the deal takes place that would leave them with just over $10 M to work with when they have two soon-to-be free agents in Shane Eddy and Dave Ricelli.

St. Louis Cardinals, on the other hand, only has 7.5 games lead with Chicago Cubs and they have shown, along with Montreal Expos that they’re not giving up easy. The 2nd best pitching staff in the Majors, only behind LA, has a better-than-average offense to boost. Arthur Adams, vying for the NL Triple Crown, leads the Red Birds lineup.

On the other side, the American League is quite the opposite.

Baltimore Orioles only has a half-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the AL East and two other teams are within striking distance. The Orioles is leaning on their offense, led by Joe Nolette, who’s also competing for the AL Triple Crown. With a few spots in their pitching staff, the O’s have kept their lead even there’s a lot of critics.

AL West has the same story. Chicago White Sox just lead a half game over Texas Rangers with three teams still on the verge of contending for the division. The White Sox has a pretty balanced roster but with key injuries to their staff, it will be a rocky road ahead.

Bullets around the League

Monday 7/16/1980: Player of the Week honors go to Merwin and Darna

Wednesday 7/11/1980: Boston's Lee out for the season

Monday 7/9/1980: Chicago (N)'s Ambriz wins Player of the Week award along with Seattle’s Steve Bookhardt

Wednesday 7/4/1980: Gabe Knocke pitches 1-hit shutout against New York (N)

Tuesday 7/3/1980: Maurice Mills out for 5 weeks

Monday 7/2/1980: Player of the Week honors go to Nolette and Hinton