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Old 05-15-2018, 02:05 AM   #58
actionjackson
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Location: Toronto, ON
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1901 Season/Postseason Recap:

The inaugural season of my new random debut league saw four very good teams go to the postseason. In the American League, the Milwaukee Brewers won 96 games to finish ahead of the Baltimore Orioles by four games to gain home field advantage for the LCS. Baltimore held off a strong challenge from the Detroit Tigers, who finished third with 90 wins. The Boston Beaneaters finished miles ahead of by winning all of their final 11 games to finish with 104 wins on the season. Cincinnati finished a distant second with 93 wins, but they easily held off the Chicago Orphans, who finished with just 84 wins.

The ALCS was a bit of a wipeout, considering how evenly matched the teams were. That's baseball I guess. The Brewers swept the series winning 4-0, 6-5, 3-1, and 10-6, thus outscoring the Orioles 23-12. Toad Ramsey absolutely shut down the Orioles in Game 1, tossing a 3-hit shutout with 13 K against just 1 BB. It resulted in a Game Score of 93, which is very high. Game 2 was a crushing defeat for the Orioles, who found themselves down 5-1 after 4 innings. They got a run back in the sixth to make it 5-2, and then put three across in the eighth inning against MLA CL Bill Landrum to knot the game at 5-5. But RP Gus McGinnis could not get anyone out in the bottom of the 10th, as SS Alphonso Gerard (Spritze DB Negro Leaguer) singled to lead off the inning. LF Roy White was next, and he drew a walk, setting the stage for 2B Cupid Childs. Childs delivered with a walk off single, much to the delight of 9,983 rabid fans at Lloyd Street Grounds.

Pitching was the name of the game in Game 3, as Phil Knell outduelled Scott T Baker, with a little help from CL Bill Landrum, giving the Brewers a commanding 3 games to none lead in Baltimore. Clete Boyer gave the Brewers a 2-run lead that they would never relinquish with a 2-run blast off Baker in the second inning. Game four really wasn't that close. The Orioles took a 2-0 first inning lead, but then disappeared as the Brewers clobbered SP Todd Ritchie for 7 runs in 5.2 IP, and a further three runs in 1.1 IP off RP Roy Crabb to build a 10-3 lead. Brewer SP Preacher Roe bent, but did not break as he allowed the Orioles back into the game a bit, allowing solo HR to Joe Lefebvre, Tony Perez, and Dayan Viciedo, but the Brewers hung in there for a 10-6 win and a series sweep to move on to the inaugural World Series.

The other two series' were much closer. The NLCS started off with a bang as Rick Monday walked off the Reds with a 2-out solo blast off Lance McCullers Sr. This helped them overcome a catastrophic injury to ace Eppa Rixey, who tore his UCL after just 2.2 IP. The Reds had tied the game up in the ninth on a squeeze bunt by 3B Walter Barbare, so I'm sure it was quite a difficult defeat to stomach for the them. RHSP Doyle Lade shut down the Reds on 4 hits and 2 runs over 7 IP in Game 2 to put the Beaneaters up 2-0 in the series heading to Cincinnati. CL Bob Wickman tossed the final two innings for the save in a 5-2 victory.

Game 3 began with the Beaneaters getting a two-run HR from Julio Franco in the 3rd inning off RHSP Bill McGee, and it looked like the Beaneaters were going to run roughshod over the Reds, but McGee would allow one more run over his seven innings, while Lance McCullers Sr finished up for the save in a 5-3 Reds victory. Game 4 was an 8-3 blowout for the Reds to knot the series at 2-2. They scored all of their runs via the longball, as 1B Mike Hargrove (solo), LF Boog Powell (2-run), CF Sam Mele (2-run), PH Brett Phillips (solo), and RF Joe Collins (2-run) all went deep. LF Mike Donlin and CF Rick Monday had back-to-back solo shots in the sixth, but the Beaneaters were outmatched in this one. Game 5 should've heavily favoured the Reds, as they were at home, with ace Nolan Ryan on the mound against Rixey's replacement Pete Appleton (who?). Baseball is probably the most unpredictable of all the sports though. Who would've thought that Appleton would toss a six hit CG to drub the Reds 8-1? Certainly not yours truly. A 3-run HR by Mike Donlin kicked things off in the third inning, and it was all downhill for the Reds from there, as they headed back to Boston needing to win both games.

The Reds had been the first team to lose at home in the series, and they would be the last team to do so, as the Beaneaters came back from a 2-0 fourth inning deficit to win a 3-2 nailbiter in Game 6. Once again, the combination of Doyle Lade for the first seven innings and Bob Wickman for the final two proved to be the charm for the Beaneaters, as they were off to the inaugural World Series. The eventual series winning run scored when Julio Franco raced home on a wild pitch by LHSP Denny Driscoll in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ouch! After that Wickman finished up, punching out PH Brett Phillips to punctuate the series victory for the Beaneaters.

The World Series pitted the two best teams of 1901 against each other. It doesn't always end up that way, but this year it did, and it did not disappoint. Game 1 in Boston featured a bit of a pitching mismatch, but as we've seen before there's no such thing as a sure thing in baseball. Toad Ramsey of the Brewers went up against Ron Robinson of the Beaneaters, and things went according to script. Ramsey went seven innings of four hit ball, allowing one unearned run (as it turned out, the only run he allowed for the entire postseason), while striking out seven and walking one. The Brewers jumped out to a 3-0 lead and coasted on Ramsey's back to a 4-2 victory. Bill Landrum picked up the save, allowing one run in 2 IP. Game 2 was heading for a Milwaukee win as well, as the Brewers' Phil Knell matched up against the Beaneaters' Lynn Nelson. The Brewers led 3-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth, when Rick Monday came up with some more postseason magic, hitting a 2-out solo shot off Bill Landrum to tie the game at 3. In the bottom of the tenth, the Beaneaters put together a rally against the Brewers' Oscar Harstad. With one out, Mike Donlin singled and stole second, which took the bat out of Rick Monday's hands, as Monday was intentionally walked. Harstad would not find the strike zone again, as he walked Don Hurst on four pitches, and went to a full count on Nap Reyes before issuing the walkoff walk. Painful way to lose. Off we went to Milwaukee for games 3, 4, and 5.

Game 3 featured Doyle Lade for the Beaneaters against Bernie Boland. Lade shut down the Brewers offense on seven hits over 8.1 IP, walking one while striking out one. Rick Monday and Mike Donlin provided most of the offense as both of them hit two-run bombs off Boland, and the Beaneaters coasted to a 5-0 win to take a 2-1 series lead. In Game 4, the Beaneaters sent Pete Appleton to the mound against Preacher Roe. Appleton's luck in replacing Eppa Rixey ran out in this game, as he was shelled for five runs in five innings, and the bullpen was not much better as Bill Quarles and Damaso Marte combined to give up four runs in 2.1 IP. The Beaneaters never had the lead in this game, as Sam Crawford hit a two-run bomb off Appleton in the first inning. Jerry Morales would respond for the Beaneaters with a two-run HR of his own in the 3rd inning off Roe to tie the game, but Milwaukee took it home 9-5 to even the series at 2. Game 5 would once again feature Toad Ramsey for the Brewers against Ron Robinson, and once again Ramsey would slam the door on the Beaneaters in a 3-0 win, pitching a CG four hit shutout, with seven strikeouts and no walks. 1B Chuck Hinton provided most of the offense (and the eighth inning insurance) for the Brewers with a 2-run HR off Ron Robinson. Both pitchers went the distance, and the series returned to Boston with the home nine needing to win both games to take it.

Game Six once again featured Phil Knell for the Brewers and Lynn Nelson for the Beaneaters. The Brewers put together a nice little 3-run rally in the top of the sixth, on a two out RBI triple by Sam Crawford followed by a 2-run shot from Ryon Healy. The Beaneaters would finally respond in the seventh with the big hits being a lead off double by 3B Nap Reyes, and capped it off with a two out two run triple by (who else?) Rick Monday. The huge 5-run rally in the bottom of the seventh resulted in a 5-3 Beaneaters victory, and sent the series to a seventh and deciding game.

Doyle Lade was once again magnificent for the Beaneaters, as he pitched seven innings of one run ball, helping the Beaneaters build a 5-1 lead after seven. They were six outs away from securing the first ever World Series, and then the bullpen happened, and the roof caved in. Damaso Marte came on to start the eighth, but could only get 1 out and then surrendered a single to Chuck Hinton and a double to Roy White. No problem right? On came closer Bob Wickman, needing to get five outs for the title. Wickman promptly gave up a two-run single to Sam Crawford, as the Brewers sliced the lead to 5-3. Bob would manage to wriggle out of it, with a fly out and a ground out. Now he only had to get three outs, and the World Series would go to Boston. He retired Clete Boyer and Jerry Hairston Jr to start the ninth inning. One more to go! Pinch hitter Bill Hunnefield (who?) hit a line drive double to CF, to stave off elimination for the Brewers. Cupid Childs followed with a single to send Hunnefield to third. Next up, Chuck Hinton lashed a single to score Hunnefield, and then disaster struck. LF Mike Donlin made a throwing error, which allowed Childs to score the tying run. Ugh for the Beaneaters, jubilation for the Brewers. Then came a bit of a head scratcher move by the Beaneaters manager. He inserted Ron Robinson to pitch the top of the tenth. Robinson was 0-3, with a 5.23 ERA in the postseason up to that point. Not exactly confidence instilling numbers. He gave up a single to Sam Crawford to start the tenth frame, but settled down to retire 1B Ryon Healy and C Robinson Chirinos on flyballs. Once again, the Beaneaters only had to get one out, and once again they could not do it. 3B Clete Boyer doubled Crawford to third, and then SS Jerry Hairston Jr came up with the huge two out two run single to all but put the nail in the coffin of the Beaneaters. CL Bill Landrum had pitched the ninth for the Brewers and stayed on to try and pick up the huge win for his club. It got a little hairy in the tenth, as the Beaneaters brought the go ahead run to the plate with two outs after Donlin and Morales singles, but Landrum buckled down to strike out Nap Reyes, and send Milwaukee into a frenzy.

ALCS MVP: Chuck Hinton, Milwaukee Brewers
NLCS MVP: Mike Donlin, Boston Beaneaters
World Series MVP: Toad Ramsey, Milwaukee Brewers

Last edited by actionjackson; 05-15-2018 at 02:18 AM.
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