1904 RECAP - BASEBALL
NCAA
Unlike last season when there were tight pennant races in nearly every conference, the 1904 season lacked drama. Only the always tight SEC had a real race as Alabama held off Tennessee by 1 game for it's second straight conference crown, and even that race was tempered as the Tide, despite winning by just 1 game, clinched the title with 3 games left in the season.
The Stanford Indians tied the record set by Michigan and Arizona in 1901 for most victories in a season, finishing at 88-38 and winning the Pac 10 by 16 games over Oregon. The Indians were led by three juniors: pitchers Kevin Field (22-8, 2.76) and Mike Smith (20-4, 2.71) as well as outfielder Pedro Perez (.377,41,126).
Arizona earned a wildcard berth as Jason Sawyer(.300,41,81) finished up his storied college career. The outfielder ends up with 211 career homers and 451 rbi's, both records, as well as a career .342 batting average.
THE TOURNAMENT
The brackets for the 1904 NCAA Tournament were as follows:
Code:
EAST REGION
ACC champ Duke Blue Devils 79-47
IVY champ Penn Quakers 76-50
At Large 8 Arizona Wildcats 71-55
At Large 1 Clemson Tigers 75-51
SOUTH REGION
SEC champ Alabama Crimson Tide 74-52
Big East champ Rutgers Scarlet Knights 74-52
At Large 4 Dartmouth Indians 73-53
At Large 5 Tennessee Volunteers 73-53
MIDWEST REGION
Big10 champ Michigan Wolverines 83-43
Big 8 champ Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks 83-43
At Large 2 Colorado Buffaloes 74-52
At Large 7 Oregon Ducks 72-54
WEST REGION
PAC10 champ Stanford Indians 88-38
SWC champ Texas Tech Red Raiders 72-54
At Large 3 Indiana Hoosiers 73-53
At Large 6 Virginia Cavaliers 72-54
Defending champ Michigan failed to advance out of their regional as the Wolverines went just 1-5. Oregon, with 5 wins and Nebraska-Omaha with 4 came out of the Midwest. Alabama, which reached the College World Series finals a year ago, breezed through the South Region with a perfect 6-0 record. 3-3 Dartmouth also advanced. In the East Duke (5-1) and Penn (4-2) moved on while out west Stanford (4-2), owners of the best regular season record, and Virginia (3-3) reached the Elite Eight.
The Final Four saw an all-Ivy League matchup in the East between Dartmouth and Penn while Nebraska-Omaka, which knocked off Stanford, would face Virginia in the West. When the dust settled it was the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks that won the College World Series, needing the maximum 5 games to eliminate Penn in the Finals. Junior outfielder Ryan Coots was the hero, capturing tournament MVP honors after hitting 7 homers and driving in 14 runs while batting .263 in 15 games.
THE DRAFT
Well I was waiting to see if Arizona's Jason Sawyer would go number one overall but it turns out he is 11 days too young for the draft and will be granted a 5th season of college eligibility. Penn State pitcher Samuel Pullen, who was an All-American in 1902 but missed almost the entire 1903 season with arm problems, went first to the Chicago White Sox. Pullen had a bounce back year this season, going 26-7 with a 1.49 era and threw two no-hitters in a 10 day span including a perfect game.
The White Sox also picked third because they were unable to sign their first round pick a year ago. That pick was 2B Joe Estrada of Baylor, who was taken second by Brooklyn this time around. A second player, pitcher Mike Barror, also failed to sign last year when the Cubs selected him 6th. Guess they really like him as the Cubs picked Barror again, this time with the 5th pick.
MAJOR LEAGUE SEASON
In 1901 we had the Red Sox and in 1902 and 03 we had the Braves. Now for the 1904 World Series we have both Boston teams as the Red Sox and Braves rolled to their respective league championships.
The Red Sox are beloved in the city of Boston and lead the majors in attendance while the Braves, despite three straight National League titles, have the worst attendance in either league and are constantly losing money with their high payroll. It is clear who the favourite in the World Series will be, at least in the hearts of fans.
The Red Sox led the majors in runs scored and homers and their #3 thru 7 hitters all belted at least 20 homeruns. They include 27 year old shortstop Craig Hill (.345,39,97), 29 year old first baseman Matt Davis (.323,32,109), 28 year old catcher Gabe Ruiz (.290,29,92), 34 year old second baseman Matt Ritchie (.272,24,77) and 32 year old outfielder Curt Wasinger (.282,24,97).
The Braves have plenty of offense of their own with 30 year old outfielder Matthew Eiden (.295,46,146), 32 year old outfielder John Macomber (.275,41,128) and 28 year old first baseman David Ingram (.290,33,115) providing the bulk of it. The Braves real strength is their pitching but it suffered a big blow when reigning Cy Young Award winner Dale Coats (8-2, 1.89) went down with arm troubles in June. The 36 year old is said to be ready to return for game one of the World Series but there are question marks about how effective he will be coming off of more than 3 months of inactivity.
WORLD SERIES
Coats was very good in his return, allowing just 2 runs over 7 innings but the Red Sox were better, taking a 2-1 victory in Game One thanks to a 6-hit complete game from Tyler Lawrence (18-13, 4.10). The Braves evened the series the next day with a 4-3 win behind a 3 hit effort from Matthew Eiden.
Game Three was the most attended contest ever at Braves Field but the crowd was decidedly pro-Red Sox. The home team prevailed 5-4 thanks to an rbi double off the bat of John Macomber in the bottom of the 8th.
With all of the big name talent on the field it was a rookie that stole the show in Game Four as the Red Sox evened the series with a 6-2 victory. Jermaine George (.316,12,79), a 1902 first round pick out of Rutgers, had a double and two triples while driving in 5 runs to key the victory.
Not only did he pitch 6 innings, allowing just 2 runs, but Braves ace Dale Coats also had 2 rbi's in a 9-2 Braves victory in Game Five that moved the National Leaguers to within one victory of a second straight World Championship. That win would come two days later at Fenway as Ralph Mason pitched 7 innings of 4-hit ball and the Braves clinched the Series with a 3-1 victory.
The Series MVP was 23 year old outfielder Rich Goeldner (.288,12,78). The 1902 second round pick out of Penn State went 9-for-22 (.409) with a homer and 5 rbi's in the series.
OTHER NOTES
Former Wisconsin star Tyler Dempewolf had an outstanding first full season of minor league ball. The 1903 14th overall pick of the Dodgers was named Eastern League MVP after hitting .421 with 33 homers and 145 rbi's for Williamsport. Dempewolf went on to bat .452 with 7 rbi's in the Eastern Series but Williamsport fell short, losing to Wilkes-Barre in 7 games.
Dempeewolf's average was surpassed only by Roland Point of the Abilene Blue Sox. The 25 year old West Texas-New Mexico League star hit .486 in 137 games for the Independent club. Point has spent all 4 seasons of the game with Abilene and is a career .402 hitter with 856 hits in 523 games and is a two-time league MVP.
The Sherbrooke Athletics became the fourth different champion in the four years of the Canadian Baseball League. The winners of the Quebec Provincial League beat the Western Canada champion Regina Bonepilers 4 games to 2 in the Canadian Series.
The Tampico Alijadores 3 year run as Mexican League champion came to an end when they lost to the Mexico City Red Devils in the playoff series. The Red Devils set a league regular season record with 97 wins and finished 8 games ahead of second place Tampico. Pitching was the Red Devils strength on a staff anchored by 20 game winners Zachary Anderson (20-8, 2.88) and Mexico native Alex Garcia (20-8, 2.92).
Minor league champions were as follows:
Code:
LEAGUE CHAMPION PARENT CLUB
American Association Toledo Mud Hens StL Browns
International League Baltimore Orioles Cleveland
Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels Chi Cubs
Southern Association Little Rock Travelers Bos Braves
Texas League Houston Buffaloes StL Cardinals
Eastern League Wilkes-Barre Barons Cleveland
SALLY League Columbus Cardinals StL Cardinals
Three I League Waterloo White Hawks Chi White Sox
Interstate League Lancaster Red Roses Phi Athletics
West Texas-New Mex L Pampa Oilers Independent