[Matt from TN]

1915

Three teams appear to be the best teams in the American League - Boston, Chicago and Cleveland. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but they stand out above the rest of the league. Despite winning the pennant fairly easily last season, the Broncos are not a clear-cut favorite to repeat. The Yankees and Senators both have highly competitive teams and could contend, but they have bigger hurdles to climb, mainly New York's offense and Washington's pitching (as well as some young hitters who may or may not be ready). The rest of the league - Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Louis - each have major issues on their rosters and have much dimmer chances.

The early NL favorite is Cincinnati. There are several good teams in the league, but the Reds stood out in the spring. The have good pitching, led by Cecil Tan, and a strong offense with some great veterans and some young players with incredible potential. The defending World Champion Cardinals are not far behind. Their offense is again incredible, led as always by Woody Woodson. Their top two pitchers are a pair of 25-year-olds, although age is not a factor with 33-game winner Tim Lopresto. Outside of him though, the rotation has questions. Brooklyn and Chicago are tough teams and should be in the mix, and a potential surprise could come in the form of the lowly New York Giants, whose franchise has only had one winning season over 14 years. However, the Giants have some incredibly gifted youngsters, and if they perform well (granted, a big question mark), this team could be among the top teams in the league. Pittsburgh is in deep decline as their pitching staff is in a shambles. The Braves are probably not the worst team in the league, and they could make a run at 3rd or 4th Place, but they have too many issues, especially with the suprising retirement of pitcher Patrick De Leon, to be a serious pennant threat.




Key Retirees:

"Evil" Gary Archer, SP, Chicago Cubs 1901-1914: Archer was loathed by opposing batters, so much so that one opponent said of his retirement, "Good, the baseball world can finally be rid of him." Archer was nicknamed "Evil Archer" for his style of throwing inside and his knack of hitting batters in certain situations. Archer was also hated because he was so good. He retired with a 237-188 record (5th Most Wins All-Time) and a 2.86 ERA (15th All-Time). He pitched 405 complete games (2nd Most All-Time), including 47 shutouts (6th Most All-Time). He threw 3 No-Hitters - the only pitcher to do that - and by the time he had thrown his third in September of 1906, it was just the 7th ever. He collected 1631 strikeouts (9th Most All-Time). He won 20 or more games five times, but was never honored with a Pitcher of the Year Award. Some say that was because he was so maligned in the press outside of his Windy City home. He also won the 1905 World Series with the Cubs.

Paul Rieker, SP, St. Louis Browns 1902-1912, Philadelphia Athletics 1912-1914: Paul was a very good pitcher for the Browns, especially back in the team's heyday in the early 1900's. He was traded to the A's in 1912 and after that season, he only appeared in 29 more games for the A's and only two as a starter. He finished his career with a 175-159 record (20th Most Wins All-Time) and a 3.09 ERA (22nd All-Time). His 1529 strikeouts rank 11th All-Time.

Patrick De Leon, SP, Detroit Tigers 1902-1906, Cleveland Broncos 1906-1912, Boston Braves 1912-1914: De Leon surprised the Braves organization by announcing his retirement at age 37. He has a rough season in 1914, but he was still a very talented pitcher, and likely still would have been the ace of their staff. He played in two World Series with Cleveland (1906, 1910) and oddly enough lost the 1910 Series to the Braves, to whom he was traded in 1912. He finished his career with a 214-165 record (8th Most Wins All-Time) and a 3.31 ERA. He also compiled 357 complete games (11th All-Time), 35 shutouts (16th All-Time) and 1700 strikeouts (8th All-Time).

Boris "The Bear" Lavender, 1B, 1902-1907 Chicago White Sox, 1907-1914 Chicago Cubs: Lavender came to the majors as a highly touted youngster with plenty of power (he was the 1903 AL ROTY). He set an American League record with 12 home runs in 1904 which still stands. He never again reached double-digit home runs until 1913 when he again hit 12, but this time for the Cubs. Over his career, he amassed 85 home runs (4th Most All-Time), 372 doubles (2nd Most All-Time), 672 RBI (25th Most All-Time), 713 walks (13th Most All-Time) and a .260 average.

"Whopper" Alberson, SP, Detroit Tigers 1901-1908, St. Louis Cardinals 1908-1914: Alberson was one of the top pitchers in the game at the turn of the century. He won the 1902 AL Pitcher of the Year Award. In his first five seasons with Detroit, he was 97-61. Injuries then began to slow down his career. He hurt his back in 1906 and then his shoulder in 1907. The Tigers unceremoniously dumped him in 1908, but the then lowly Cardinals were pleased to have him. He slowly began to resurrect his career in St. Louis, albeit never back to his early standards. He did pitch well, however, particularly in 1909 when he won 21 games, only the second time he had done that in his career. He strained his back again in 1912, and age began to take its toll. He was in and out of the bullpen in 1913 and a full time reliever in St. Louis' championship year of 1914. He finished his career with a 191-172 record (14th Most All-Time), 3.50 ERA, 1323 K's (19th Most All-Time), 301 complete games (19th Most All-Time) and 23 shutouts.

Dave Folse, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies 1901-1914: Folse was a little-known player who was a key part of the great early Phillies teams. He finished his career with a .266 average, 1844 hits (13th Most All-Time), 263 Doubles (17th Most All-Time), 207 Triples (18th Most All-Time), 723 RBI (17th Most All-Time), 816 runs scored (13th Most All-Time) and 626 walks (19th Most All-Time).






Ancestors Added

NONE