OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - A Fledgling “Free Agency” Movement in the Post-War World

jksander · 12-12-2025, 06:16 PM

June 24, 1947: Tom Seats (9-4, 3.23 ERA, 100.1 IP, 29 K, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Philly’s Thornton Lee (3-1, 2.83 ERA, 35.0 IP, 15 K, 1.40 WHIP) in our first of two road games, and though Philly started fast, scoring off a groundout by Frankie Crosetti to take the lead in the bottom of the first, we struck back in the fourth -- Richie Ashburn doubled in a run to tie it, Harry Walker hit an RBI single to push us into the lead, and two more runs scored off a Cavarretta double to put us ahead 4-1 midway through the inning. Philly answered quickly with back to back RBI singles from Buddy Rosar and Thornton Lee in the bottom of the inning, but we got a little insurance in the top of the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Jackie Robinson that gave us a two-run cushion. Unfortunately tkey just kept on slugging ... in the bottom of the inning Ferris Fein scored off a bases-loaded walk by Willard Brown, Frankie Crosetti tied it with another walk, and Pete Suder reached on an E6 error, all of these happening with two outs, giving the Athletics a 6-5 lead again. Jack Kramer took over in the bottom of the seventh, still trailing by a run, but our bats were silent the rest of the way and the Athletics beat us by that same 6-5 margin. Seats fell to 9-5 with a 3.47 ERA, allowing just seven hits, but he walked seven players as well, taking full blame for his meltdown in the sixth. We outhit them 9-8, but we’re not a team that can give up six runs and win, and we’re DEFINITELY not a team that can score five runs and then blow the lead. Cavarretta led the offense with three hits, a run and two RBIs.

June 25, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (6-8, 3.52 ERA, 110.0 IP, 55 K, 1.07 WHIP) started today against Philly’s Ted Alexander (5-5, 3.36 ERA, 96.1 IP, 37 K, 1.37 WHIP). It looked early on like yet another game where Olivo would pitch reasonably well and yet lack any run support at all ... Pete Suder put the Athletics on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, and he batted in a third run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double. But in the top of the sixth we got them back, scoring off an RBI double by Wally Judnich, an RBI single by Arky Vaughan and an RBI single from Joe Schultz to tie the score at 3-3. Olivo got us through the bottom of the inning, and then we just SLAMMED them -- we took the lead with an RBI single by Cavarretta, added on with a sac-fly by Wally Judnich, Arky Vaughan scored on a failed fielder’s choice and then Joe Schultz hit a three-run homer to pound a nail in! That gave us a 9-3 lead heading into the stretch, and we piled on three more in the eighth and another in the ninth! Olivo stayed out with his 10-run lead in the bottom of the inning, and we held tough to win 13-3 ... what a win! He threw 135 pitches and allowed just seven hits and five walks, striking out four and letting them have the three runs. Meanwhile, we outhit them 17-7, led by Cavarretta with four hits, three runs and an RBI and by Wally Judnich, who had two hits for two runs and five RBIs including his 10th homer of the season!

Cleveland has now overtaken the Yankees for the AL lead, with a 41-29 record! Since the huge trade for Max Lanier on May 21st, just a little over a month ago, Lanier has gone 6-1 with a 1.33 ERA, putting up nearly two games of WAR for the Guardians, and they’ve gone 26-11 as a TEAM during that stretch ... the Cardinals made their bet on the farm, and are still 35-35, but in the short term Cleveland is dominating because of that shrewd move. If the Cardinals manage to win multiple titles with their deep farm they may end up being able to get folks to reassess early harsh judgments (and if Lanier doesn’t pitch at this level for years, Cleveland may take a hit), but right now the press here in St. Louis has been vicious in their critiques of a team that they see as having sold their chance at championships now by trading Lanier at age 31.

June 27, 1947: Dutch Leonard (7-6, 3.07 ERA, 123.0 IP, 40 K, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Detroit tonight in front of around 20,000 fans, facing Fred Hutchinson (6-7, 3.23 ERA, 114.1 IP, 60 K, 1.34 WHIP). We didn’t start out great, spotting them a 2-0 lead after the first inning when Hank Greenburg batted in a pair with a flyball double into left. But Wally Judnich hit a homer in the second to get us on the board, and in the top of the third we really came to life -- Wally Moses scored the tying run off a single by Harry Walker, Phil Cavarretta hit a two-run single to put us ahead, and he would go on to score off a single by Judnich to give us a 5-2 lead midway through the inning. We tacked on two more in the top of the ninth when Cavarretta hit an RBI single to score Robinson and Walker, and Leonard shut them down from there as we won easily 7-2! He allowed just five hits with two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs, and we outhit the Tigers 9-5, led by Cavarretta’s two hits, a walk, a run and four batted in.

June 28, 1947: Tom Seats (9-5, 3.47 ERA, 106.1 IP, 31 K, 1.49 WHIP) challenged Preacher Roe (7-4, 2.84 ERA, 104.2 IP, 44 K, 1.18 WHIP) in game two of the four-game series, and we were dominant from the start. Vern Stephens hit an RBI double that scored our first run of the game in the top of the first inning, an Arky Vaughan sac-fly scored another, this one by Cavarretta, and we had Seats set up pretty well after just ten minutes of action. But it’s never that easy ... they got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a sac-fly by Hank Greenberg, and Billy Johnson tied it with an RBI single. We retook the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo homer by Richie Ashburn, his first as a big leaguer, and Jackie Robinson doubled to start the sixth inning, and he stole third to get into quick position to score, his second stolen base of the game! He would go on to score off a Wally Moses sac-fly to extend our lead to two, but Detroit fought back, scoring with a leadoff homer by Eddie Lake and tying the score when Billy Johnson reached safely on an E5 error that allowed Roy Cullenbine to score from third. Jack Kramer took the ball to start the bottom of the seventh still knotted 4-4, and in the eighth inning Robinson was again aggressive ... he hit a double to lead off and again managed to baffle their defense by stealing third ... he’s got LEGS! ... and Arky Vaughan drove him in to score with a sac-fly to left that put us back into the lead. We brought out Amos Watson to “close” in the ninth, still up by just the one run, and he shut them down nicely as we held on to the 5-4 win! Tomorrow’s a doubleheader, so that one really feels good. Kramer pitched two innings with just one hit, earning the win as he improved to 4-2 with a 3.53 ERA, while Watson saved his eighth game of the year and got his ERA back under 1.00 through 36.1 innings. They outhit us 10-7, but we won this one with strong baserunning by Robinson, who led the team with three hits and two runs scored off his three stolen bases ... which gives him 10 on the season, which ties him for first in the majors with Cincinnati’s Earl Torgeson! Robinson has the speed to destroy teams on the bases, but has yet to show killer instincts until tonight. Here’s hoping this is a sign he’s gaining confidence!

June 29, 1947: Though the Yankees (44-31) and Guardians (43-29) have dominated the league so far, teams in the middle of the standings have yet to break away from the pack, so we’re currently one of four teams that are currently within 2.5 games of third place. We’re also on a three-game winning streak, and if we can keep it up today, we’re heading into a sweet stretch with ten games in a row at home heading into the All Star break. Of course, including today, that stretch contains FOUR doubleheaders in an eight day span, so we know our pitching’s going to get a workout, and if we’re going to get back above .500 and fight for a spot in the pennant chase, we’re going to need skill and a ton of luck to fall on our side.

For the week we’re switching to a five-man rotation, and since Watson pitched last night, we’re starting Fred Sanford (2-6, 5.08 ERA, 79.2 IP, 23 K, 1.59 WHIP) in his place for game one, and he’s facing Virgil Trucks (8-3, 3.40 ERA, 100.2 IP, 53 K, 1.26 WHIP). We got on the board in the top of the fourth when Vern Stephens hit a two-out solo homer to put us up 1-0! But Sanford struggled in the fifth, a problem he’s had all season, giving up a single to Billy Johnson and then an RBI double to Eddie Mayo to tie the score without an out. But he got us out of the inning without any more fireworks. But he was denied the lead when we stranded runners on the corners in the sixth, and he had to give the ball to Ned Garver as we came up in the bottom of the frame. Jackie Robinson played the hero again in the eighth, hitting a one-out solo homer over the wall in left to put us back up a run, and then Detroit played a dangerous game, loading the bases on two outs to give us a chance to really break this one open. But they escaped with our lead just at one run when Vaughan popped out harmlessly to right. We brought out Amos Watson in the bottom of the inning and he was dominant through the last two innings as we again held tough to a one-run win, this time 2-1. After a solid start by Sanford, five innings with five hits, a strikeout and the one earned run, our bullpen combined for four innings of hitless baseball ... Garver got the win with two innings and one strikeout, improving to 2-4 with a 3.93 ERA, and Watson saved his ninth game with two innings and two strikeouts, walking one. We outhit the Tigers 6-5 in a real duel, Jackie Robinson’s back-breaking homer leading the way.

And to think, we had to follow that with another game ... fans on both sides getting the win in that one. Diomedes Olivo (7-8, 3.48 ERA, 119.0 IP, 59 K, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in the game, facing Art Houtteman (4-3, 1 SV, 3.65 ERA, 69.0 IP, 33 K, 1.54 WHIP) as we attempted the four-game series sweep. We loaded the bases in the top of the second, and Olivo bought himself the lead when he walked in the game’s first run, though Robinson struck out swinging to keep us from blowing it open. We added on in the fifth when Robinson doubled and then came home off a double by Harry Walker, who stole third but was stranded there as we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Olivo lost his no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth off a single by Eddie Mayo, and we lost the shutout a few moments later when, with two outs, Eddie Lake hit a single into right that drove in Birdie Tebbetts for a score. And that’s when our luck crumbled, as Roy Cullenbine slammed a three-run rock out of center to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead. Jack Kramer took over for a shellshocked Olivo to start the bottom of the sixth inning, and Sam Zoldak got the ball in the eighth, still trailing by a pair. In the top of the ninth, with one out, pinch-hitter Bob Dillinger got on base with a walk, but we had no rally left in us as we lost this one 4-2, snapping our winning streak and dropping back to just shy of .500, at 34-35. Olivo took the loss and fell to 7-9, allowing four hits, three walks and four runs with three strikeouts, but it was yet another duel ... they only outhit us 6-5, and it was the three-run homer by Cullenbine that left us wounded. Robinson and Walker each had a stolen base, and Ashburn led the way with two hits and a walk, Robinson and Vaughan scoring our only runs.

We’ll return home to play Cleveland (44-30) for two games, and we won’t hit the road again until the 22nd of July, two weeks after the All Star game. But Cleveland is tied with the Yankees for the lead in the AL so they’ll be no easy team to beat -- though at least we won’t face Lanier, who is on pace to win 25 games this year, as he threw 139 pitches today in a 4-2 win over the White Sox.

Our upcoming schedule:

6/30-7/1: Cleveland Guardians (44-30)
7/2, 7/4: Chicago White Sox (27-49) -- both are doubleheaders due to a rain rescheduling
7/5-6: Detroit Tigers (39-35) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader
7/8: MLB All Star Game
7/10-12: New York Yankees (45-31)
7/13: Washington Senators (32-42) -- a Sunday doubleheader
7/15-17: Philadelphia Athletics (38-39)
7/18-20: Boston Red Sox (38-36) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader

12-12-2025, 06:16 PM	#31
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,816	June 24, 1947: Tom Seats (9-4, 3.23 ERA, 100.1 IP, 29 K, 1.44 WHIP) pitched against Philly’s Thornton Lee (3-1, 2.83 ERA, 35.0 IP, 15 K, 1.40 WHIP) in our first of two road games, and though Philly started fast, scoring off a groundout by Frankie Crosetti to take the lead in the bottom of the first, we struck back in the fourth -- Richie Ashburn doubled in a run to tie it, Harry Walker hit an RBI single to push us into the lead, and two more runs scored off a Cavarretta double to put us ahead 4-1 midway through the inning. Philly answered quickly with back to back RBI singles from Buddy Rosar and Thornton Lee in the bottom of the inning, but we got a little insurance in the top of the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Jackie Robinson that gave us a two-run cushion. Unfortunately tkey just kept on slugging ... in the bottom of the inning Ferris Fein scored off a bases-loaded walk by Willard Brown, Frankie Crosetti tied it with another walk, and Pete Suder reached on an E6 error, all of these happening with two outs, giving the Athletics a 6-5 lead again. Jack Kramer took over in the bottom of the seventh, still trailing by a run, but our bats were silent the rest of the way and the Athletics beat us by that same 6-5 margin. Seats fell to 9-5 with a 3.47 ERA, allowing just seven hits, but he walked seven players as well, taking full blame for his meltdown in the sixth. We outhit them 9-8, but we’re not a team that can give up six runs and win, and we’re DEFINITELY not a team that can score five runs and then blow the lead. Cavarretta led the offense with three hits, a run and two RBIs. June 25, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (6-8, 3.52 ERA, 110.0 IP, 55 K, 1.07 WHIP) started today against Philly’s Ted Alexander (5-5, 3.36 ERA, 96.1 IP, 37 K, 1.37 WHIP). It looked early on like yet another game where Olivo would pitch reasonably well and yet lack any run support at all ... Pete Suder put the Athletics on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, and he batted in a third run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double. But in the top of the sixth we got them back, scoring off an RBI double by Wally Judnich, an RBI single by Arky Vaughan and an RBI single from Joe Schultz to tie the score at 3-3. Olivo got us through the bottom of the inning, and then we just SLAMMED them -- we took the lead with an RBI single by Cavarretta, added on with a sac-fly by Wally Judnich, Arky Vaughan scored on a failed fielder’s choice and then Joe Schultz hit a three-run homer to pound a nail in! That gave us a 9-3 lead heading into the stretch, and we piled on three more in the eighth and another in the ninth! Olivo stayed out with his 10-run lead in the bottom of the inning, and we held tough to win 13-3 ... what a win! He threw 135 pitches and allowed just seven hits and five walks, striking out four and letting them have the three runs. Meanwhile, we outhit them 17-7, led by Cavarretta with four hits, three runs and an RBI and by Wally Judnich, who had two hits for two runs and five RBIs including his 10th homer of the season! Cleveland has now overtaken the Yankees for the AL lead, with a 41-29 record! Since the huge trade for Max Lanier on May 21st, just a little over a month ago, Lanier has gone 6-1 with a 1.33 ERA, putting up nearly two games of WAR for the Guardians, and they’ve gone 26-11 as a TEAM during that stretch ... the Cardinals made their bet on the farm, and are still 35-35, but in the short term Cleveland is dominating because of that shrewd move. If the Cardinals manage to win multiple titles with their deep farm they may end up being able to get folks to reassess early harsh judgments (and if Lanier doesn’t pitch at this level for years, Cleveland may take a hit), but right now the press here in St. Louis has been vicious in their critiques of a team that they see as having sold their chance at championships now by trading Lanier at age 31. June 27, 1947: Dutch Leonard (7-6, 3.07 ERA, 123.0 IP, 40 K, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Detroit tonight in front of around 20,000 fans, facing Fred Hutchinson (6-7, 3.23 ERA, 114.1 IP, 60 K, 1.34 WHIP). We didn’t start out great, spotting them a 2-0 lead after the first inning when Hank Greenburg batted in a pair with a flyball double into left. But Wally Judnich hit a homer in the second to get us on the board, and in the top of the third we really came to life -- Wally Moses scored the tying run off a single by Harry Walker, Phil Cavarretta hit a two-run single to put us ahead, and he would go on to score off a single by Judnich to give us a 5-2 lead midway through the inning. We tacked on two more in the top of the ninth when Cavarretta hit an RBI single to score Robinson and Walker, and Leonard shut them down from there as we won easily 7-2! He allowed just five hits with two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs, and we outhit the Tigers 9-5, led by Cavarretta’s two hits, a walk, a run and four batted in. June 28, 1947: Tom Seats (9-5, 3.47 ERA, 106.1 IP, 31 K, 1.49 WHIP) challenged Preacher Roe (7-4, 2.84 ERA, 104.2 IP, 44 K, 1.18 WHIP) in game two of the four-game series, and we were dominant from the start. Vern Stephens hit an RBI double that scored our first run of the game in the top of the first inning, an Arky Vaughan sac-fly scored another, this one by Cavarretta, and we had Seats set up pretty well after just ten minutes of action. But it’s never that easy ... they got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a sac-fly by Hank Greenberg, and Billy Johnson tied it with an RBI single. We retook the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo homer by Richie Ashburn, his first as a big leaguer, and Jackie Robinson doubled to start the sixth inning, and he stole third to get into quick position to score, his second stolen base of the game! He would go on to score off a Wally Moses sac-fly to extend our lead to two, but Detroit fought back, scoring with a leadoff homer by Eddie Lake and tying the score when Billy Johnson reached safely on an E5 error that allowed Roy Cullenbine to score from third. Jack Kramer took the ball to start the bottom of the seventh still knotted 4-4, and in the eighth inning Robinson was again aggressive ... he hit a double to lead off and again managed to baffle their defense by stealing third ... he’s got LEGS! ... and Arky Vaughan drove him in to score with a sac-fly to left that put us back into the lead. We brought out Amos Watson to “close” in the ninth, still up by just the one run, and he shut them down nicely as we held on to the 5-4 win! Tomorrow’s a doubleheader, so that one really feels good. Kramer pitched two innings with just one hit, earning the win as he improved to 4-2 with a 3.53 ERA, while Watson saved his eighth game of the year and got his ERA back under 1.00 through 36.1 innings. They outhit us 10-7, but we won this one with strong baserunning by Robinson, who led the team with three hits and two runs scored off his three stolen bases ... which gives him 10 on the season, which ties him for first in the majors with Cincinnati’s Earl Torgeson! Robinson has the speed to destroy teams on the bases, but has yet to show killer instincts until tonight. Here’s hoping this is a sign he’s gaining confidence! June 29, 1947: Though the Yankees (44-31) and Guardians (43-29) have dominated the league so far, teams in the middle of the standings have yet to break away from the pack, so we’re currently one of four teams that are currently within 2.5 games of third place. We’re also on a three-game winning streak, and if we can keep it up today, we’re heading into a sweet stretch with ten games in a row at home heading into the All Star break. Of course, including today, that stretch contains FOUR doubleheaders in an eight day span, so we know our pitching’s going to get a workout, and if we’re going to get back above .500 and fight for a spot in the pennant chase, we’re going to need skill and a ton of luck to fall on our side. For the week we’re switching to a five-man rotation, and since Watson pitched last night, we’re starting Fred Sanford (2-6, 5.08 ERA, 79.2 IP, 23 K, 1.59 WHIP) in his place for game one, and he’s facing Virgil Trucks (8-3, 3.40 ERA, 100.2 IP, 53 K, 1.26 WHIP). We got on the board in the top of the fourth when Vern Stephens hit a two-out solo homer to put us up 1-0! But Sanford struggled in the fifth, a problem he’s had all season, giving up a single to Billy Johnson and then an RBI double to Eddie Mayo to tie the score without an out. But he got us out of the inning without any more fireworks. But he was denied the lead when we stranded runners on the corners in the sixth, and he had to give the ball to Ned Garver as we came up in the bottom of the frame. Jackie Robinson played the hero again in the eighth, hitting a one-out solo homer over the wall in left to put us back up a run, and then Detroit played a dangerous game, loading the bases on two outs to give us a chance to really break this one open. But they escaped with our lead just at one run when Vaughan popped out harmlessly to right. We brought out Amos Watson in the bottom of the inning and he was dominant through the last two innings as we again held tough to a one-run win, this time 2-1. After a solid start by Sanford, five innings with five hits, a strikeout and the one earned run, our bullpen combined for four innings of hitless baseball ... Garver got the win with two innings and one strikeout, improving to 2-4 with a 3.93 ERA, and Watson saved his ninth game with two innings and two strikeouts, walking one. We outhit the Tigers 6-5 in a real duel, Jackie Robinson’s back-breaking homer leading the way. And to think, we had to follow that with another game ... fans on both sides getting the win in that one. Diomedes Olivo (7-8, 3.48 ERA, 119.0 IP, 59 K, 1.09 WHIP) pitched in the game, facing Art Houtteman (4-3, 1 SV, 3.65 ERA, 69.0 IP, 33 K, 1.54 WHIP) as we attempted the four-game series sweep. We loaded the bases in the top of the second, and Olivo bought himself the lead when he walked in the game’s first run, though Robinson struck out swinging to keep us from blowing it open. We added on in the fifth when Robinson doubled and then came home off a double by Harry Walker, who stole third but was stranded there as we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Olivo lost his no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth off a single by Eddie Mayo, and we lost the shutout a few moments later when, with two outs, Eddie Lake hit a single into right that drove in Birdie Tebbetts for a score. And that’s when our luck crumbled, as Roy Cullenbine slammed a three-run rock out of center to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead. Jack Kramer took over for a shellshocked Olivo to start the bottom of the sixth inning, and Sam Zoldak got the ball in the eighth, still trailing by a pair. In the top of the ninth, with one out, pinch-hitter Bob Dillinger got on base with a walk, but we had no rally left in us as we lost this one 4-2, snapping our winning streak and dropping back to just shy of .500, at 34-35. Olivo took the loss and fell to 7-9, allowing four hits, three walks and four runs with three strikeouts, but it was yet another duel ... they only outhit us 6-5, and it was the three-run homer by Cullenbine that left us wounded. Robinson and Walker each had a stolen base, and Ashburn led the way with two hits and a walk, Robinson and Vaughan scoring our only runs. We’ll return home to play Cleveland (44-30) for two games, and we won’t hit the road again until the 22nd of July, two weeks after the All Star game. But Cleveland is tied with the Yankees for the lead in the AL so they’ll be no easy team to beat -- though at least we won’t face Lanier, who is on pace to win 25 games this year, as he threw 139 pitches today in a 4-2 win over the White Sox. Our upcoming schedule: 6/30-7/1: Cleveland Guardians (44-30) 7/2, 7/4: Chicago White Sox (27-49) -- both are doubleheaders due to a rain rescheduling 7/5-6: Detroit Tigers (39-35) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader 7/8: *MLB All Star Game* 7/10-12: New York Yankees (45-31) 7/13: Washington Senators (32-42) -- a Sunday doubleheader 7/15-17: Philadelphia Athletics (38-39) 7/18-20: Boston Red Sox (38-36) -- includes a Sunday doubleheader __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)