1907 RECAP
NCAA
The 1907 season featured a 4-way tie for the final wildcard spot and two conferences that needed an extra game to determine a winner. The conference winners were UCLA, which beat Washington State to claim the Pac 10 title earn the Bruins first-ever tournament bid, and Kansas, which beat Nebraska-Omaha for their first Big 8 title and third straight post-season appearance. Michigan State would claim the final wildcard spot after beating Wake Forest in 10 innings.
THE TOURNAMENT
The brackets for the 1907 NCAA Tournament were as follows:
Code:
EAST REGION
ACC champ North Carolina Tar Heels 76-50
IVY champ Harvard Crimson 73-53
At Large 8 Michigan State Spartans 73-55
At Large 1 Wisconsin Badgers 81-45
SOUTH REGION
SEC champ Ole Miss Rebels 71-55
Big East champ Notre Dame Fighting Irish 81-45
At Large 4 Washington State Cougars 75-52
At Large 5 Maryland Terrapins 73-54
MIDWEST REGION
Big10 champ Purdue Boilermakers 82-44
Big 8 champ Kansas Jayhawks 82-45
At Large 2 Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks 81-46
At Large 7 Dartmouth Indians 73-54
WEST REGION
PAC10 champ UCLA Bruins 76-51
SWC champ Texas A&M Aggies 77-49
At Large 3 Illinois Illini 78-48
At Large 6 Virginia Tech Gobblers 73-54
The highlight of the opening round was provided by Virginia Tech sophomore Sean Orlando (20-9, 1.45). The 19 year old threw the first no-hitter in College World Series tournament history to help the Gobblers beat UCLA 2-0 in regional action. It helped propel Virginia Tech to the Elite Eight along with Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland, Ole Miss, Michigan State, Purdue and Nebraska-Omaha. The Big Ten became the first conference to ever place 4 teams in the quarterfinals.
Orlando would throw a 2-hit shutout as Virginia Tech knocked off Nebraska-Omaha 2 games to one in a quarterfinal. Wisconsin advanced with a sweep of Maryland while Purdue did the same to conference rival Illinois. Ole Miss needed two runs in the bottom of the ninth in game three to rally past Michigan State.
Both Big Ten teams came out on the losing end in the semi-finals, meaning Ole Miss and Virginia Tech will each make their first appearance in the College World Series finals.
The Rebels leader was 21 year old senior first baseman Jonathan Cresta (.373,38,112), who finished second in the nation in batting average and third in rbi's. Virginia Tech, which finished third in the ACC this season, relied on a balanced offense and the pitching of Orlando, Jose Cortez (15-8, 2.92) and Chris Beal (14-9, 2.50). In the end the Rebels offense would prove too much for Virginia Tech and Ole Miss took the series 3 games to one.
THE DRAFT
Four of the top ten picks were 22 year old players who were unable to agree to a contract last season and chose to sit out the year and re-enter the draft. Detroit took one of those players in reliever Pat Cerone 9th overall, but the Tigers also had the first overall pick which they used to select Purdue outfielder Leonard Smithers. Pittsburgh was up next and the Pirates drafted former Nebraska-Omaha pitcher Jason Garrison, who was taken 4th by the A's last season but refused to sign.
MAJOR LEAGUE SEASON
After a terrible 1906 season the St Louis Cardinals rebounded with 98 wins and their second National League pennant in 3 years. The Cardinals had the most prolific offense in the National League, with all 8 regulars recording double-digit homerun totals and at least 63 rbi's led by outfielder Bill Vincent (.312,29,101), who would win both the National League rookie of the year and MVP awards. The 23 year old was a second round pick out of Nebraska-Omaha last year. The Cardinals top hurler was also a 23 year old. Former Alabama pitcher Bryan Kleeman (21-4, 3.05) had a breakout year in his second full major league season. Kleeman finished second in the Cy Young voting to the Giants Mike Phaup (21-11, 2.28).
While the Cardinals had little competition for the NL crown, the American League race was a three team affair that went right down to the final day of the season. The Chicago White Sox needed a 7-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians on that last day to finish a game up on Washington and 2 ahead of the Tribe. Ryan Joy (20-10, 2.32) won his fourth AL Cy Young Award for the White Sox while teammate Pete Moreno (.316,43,119) was named MVP after leading the majors in both homers and rbi's.
The Philadelphia Athletics proved their 1906 pennant was a fluke, as they fell to 7th in the American League. They were last in 1905, the year prior to their miracle pennant run.
WORLD SERIES
The Cardinals started the series with a 2-0 victory behind a 2-hit shutout from 25 year old Ernie Shockey (16-12, 2.75) and followed that up with a 5-3 win as Kleeman outduelled Chicago ace Ryan Joy.
A return to Comisky for Game Three did little to help the White Sox as St Louis hammered the home side 7-1. This time it was another of the Cards good young starting pitchers who dominated as 24 year old David Mulholland (12-7, 3.61) tossed a complete game 5-hitter. Chicago pulled out a 4-3 victory in 11 innings the next day to avoid the sweep but Game Five was all St Louis as the Cardinals clinched the Series with a 12-5 victory. Bull Vincent had 2 hits, including a 2-run triple and scored 4 runs in the game while Shockey got his second win of the series.
OTHER NOTES
The Tampico Alijadores run as Mexican League champion came to an end when they lost the Mexican Series in 6 games to the Aguilas de Veracruz. Tampico had the best regular season record and has appeared in all 7 Mexico Series to date, winning 5 of them.
In the Canadian Series it was the Humboldt Giants who prevailed, beating the Drummondville Royals in the full seven games.
Nana Dowell of the Pacific Coast League's San Diego Padres put up an incredible Triple Crown winning season. The 24 year old first baseman destroyed the PCL record book with a 77 homer, 170 rbi season while batting .378. A former Auburn Tiger who hit 108 career college homers, Dowell was an 18th round draft pick of the Braves but never signed by the organization so he joined the independent Padres in 1905.
Minor league champions were as follows:
Code:
LEAGUE CHAMPION PARENT CLUB
American Association Milwaukee Brewers Bos Braves
International League Baltimore Orioles Cleveland
Pacific Coast League Seattle Rainiers Phi Phillies
Southern Association Mobile Bears Brooklyn
Texas League Shreveport Sports Chi White Sox
Eastern League Wilkes-Barre Barons Cleveland
SALLY League Columbia Reds Cincinnati
Three I League Decatur Commodores Independent
Interstate League Wilmington Blue Rocks Independent
West Texas-New Mex L Pampa Oilers Independent