Butterflies in Chaos Redux (1901 On)

[Jestor]

The original Butterflies in Chaos got killed due to major problems with crashes (I blame the logos for it).

I'm in the mood to run a historical dynasty that goes season by season, so I've decided to restart the Butterflies in Chaos concept. League alignment should be familiar to those who have looked at my historical dynasties before.

AL East
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Americans
Philadelphia Athletics
Washington Senators

AL West
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Blues
Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers

NL East
Boston Beaneaters
Brooklyn Superbas
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies

NL West
Chicago Orphans
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals

Notice something different? Yep, that's right, I decided to have all the teams keep their original names this go-round. This'll give me more of an incentive to change team names and relocate franchises. Again, I won't be following the historical MLB model.

I've kept the original Deadball Era settings this time as well, with one exception. Teams are now running a four man rotation because I despise the three man. Career stats are also erased, because why should Cy Young get a free pass to the Hall of Fame when it's my new league I'm creating? I've always loved seeing what people do with a blank slate anyway.

I'll also be taking over an actual franchise this time, probably the White Sox, my favourite team.

Free agency? You bet! It's a Jestor trademark.

There won't be any stories here. No pseudophilopoetic ponderings, either. This is going to be short, hard, and most of all, fast. So fast, in fact, that I'll probably lose all but the most hardcore readership.

But that's okay, cuz I'm in the mood for speed, baby!

[Jestor]

1901 Chicago White Sox Preseason Look

I'll do some more expansive preseason writeups after 1901, because I tend to have no clue who rocks and who sucks in historical dynasties as far as teams go. But for this first year, I'll just look at our team.

And man, do we suck. Five pitchers on the whole staff (a problem with historical dynasties admittedly) and a glut of CFs that I can't ship off to anyone because they're all hoarding their players.

My best second baseman is also my best left fielder in Sam Mertes but the only other guy who can play second is Frank Isbell, who's the only one able to play first. Can you say depth issues? Oh yeah!

So here's our lineups. DH in both leagues cuz I like the DH.

Lineup vs R/H
DH Dummy Hoy
LF Herm McFarland
RF Fielder Jones
2B Sam Mertes
C Billy Sullivan
3B Fred Hartman
SS Frank Shugart
1B Frank Isbell
CF Zaza Harvey

Lineup vs L/H
RF Fielder Jones
C Joe Sugden
3B Fred Hartman
2B Sam Mertes
LF Herm McFarland
1B Frank Isbell
SS Frank Shugart
CF Zaza Harvey

Rotation
Roy Patterson
James Callahan
Clark Griffith
Jack Katoll

Closer
John Skopec

Oh what a beautiful irony. I, who am notorious for being scornful of middle relievers, have none. Rotation and closer, that's it. Of course, this shoots any chance we have at winning anything out of the sky for this year. Having only 16 players is a bad thing, folks!

Prediction: Last in AL West.

[Jestor]

With my prediction in mind, I'm sure you'll be as shocked as I am when I tell you that we went 18-9 in April, opening up a five game lead over the Tigers. Roy Patterson won AL Pitcher of the Month, going 6-2 with a 3.12 ERA and 27 Ks, tops for strikeouts in the league. Sam Mertes is tied for the AL lead in RBI with 28 and old man Dummy Hoy rewards me for making him DH-exclusive by leading the AL in runs (27) and stolen bases (15). Not bad for someone who's 38!

I'm thinking, "Okay, we had an insanely good month, but it was a fluke. We won't keep it up." Wrong. At the end of May, we're 41-16, a .712 win %. The next closest teams are the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies both with .596! How in the heck are we doing it? Sam Mertes leads the AL in RBI with 48, Dummy Hoy has 49 runs and 28 stolen bases, both tops in the American League. James Callahan went 8-0 with a 2.43 ERA in May to make it back-to-back White Sox AL Pitcher of the Month awards. Callahan is now 13-2 with a 2.51 ERA and 48 Ks, leading the AL in wins and ERA, third in strikeouts. Teammate Roy Foster is number two in Ks with 50 men punched out. I can't believe just how damn well this team is playing.

The All-Star break conveniently finishes out June and we're 54-27, with a 14 game lead over the Cleveland Blues. I'm thinking you can pretty much just mail us the AL West division trophy now and be done with it.

1901 Chicago White Sox All-Stars

SP James Callahan
SP Roy Patterson
SP Clark Griffith
LF Sam Mertes (even though he should really be listed as a 2B)
CF Dummy Hoy (should be DH, though he can play CF pretty well)
RF Fielder Jones

Six All-Stars. That's enough to make anyone feel good, especially me! Sam Mertes wins the June AL Batter of the Month and I go ahead and officially move his position to second base where he suddenly becomes a 5 star player. Nice! 39 year old Dummy Hoy gets officially named a DH too. Mertes leads all of MLB with 68 RBI, Hoy the main benefactor with an MLB-leading 69 runs. But Dummy also leads the AL with 38 stolen bases. James Callahan still tops the AL in wins and ERA thanks to a 17-5 2.51 line. Ooh that boy he pitch so good! Staff ace Roy Patterson is 15-7 with 74 Ks, wins and strikeouts both placing him second in the American League.

We hit a six-game losing skid in July, but still end up 11 ahead of the Tigers at the end of the month. More worrisome is the fact that we lose just about every time we play Nap Lajoie's Philadelphia Athletics and given that they have the same 11-game lead in the AL East that we do in the West, it's likely we'll be facing them in the ALCS. The NCLS is going to be the Philadelphia Phillies representing the East, who have solidly held a 6-7 game lead over Brooklyn and New York for much of the season, versus Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, who are in a dog fight for the NL West. At July's end, the Pirates hang on to a slim 1-game lead over the Reds.

Come the end of August, we and the Athletics are still hosting double-digit leads in our respective divisions and it can't be too exciting for American League fans. The National League buffs have something to be excited about, though, as both divisions are in tight races. The Brooklyn Superbas have tied it up with the Philadelphia Phillies in the East and the NL West features a reversal of fortune from last month's end, the Reds up by 1 over the Pirates.

I nearly have a heart attack in September when we go on a 10 game losing streak and crash into a hard-charging Tigers team that cuts our lead to just 4 games, but we manage to put together enough wins to stave them off. The Athletics and Reds both have clinched, but the Phillies still have a magic number of 1 going into October. It takes them two days to clinch, but the playoff matchups are set.

ALCS
Chicago White Sox vs. Philadelphia Athletics

NLCS
Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies

I'll get to the postseason tomorrow. I'm suddenly tired and don't feel like writing anymore.

[bababui]

Jestor,,are you allowing a DH in 1901?

[Jestor]

Yes, I'm having a DH in 1901, because I like the DH. While I understand the love that purist historical simmers have for creating an alternate history through staying true to how MLB actually unfolded in terms of rules, teams, league structure, etc, I'm not one of those people. Besides to do so would be to invalidate the title of the dynasty, as there'd be no chaotic elements or chain effects.

Oh, and I've tinkered with the logos in some cases, just for my own aesthetic sense.

But on to the 1901 postseason! LCS are both best of 7, World Series is best of 9.

American League Championship Series


Chicago White Sox

Leading Batters
DH Dummy Hoy - .330 72 SB 129 R
C Billy Sullivan - .271 11 HR
2B Sam Mertes - .262 53 SB 111 RBI

Leading Pitchers
Roy Patterson - 27-18 3.54 ERA 132 K
James Callahan - 27-17 3.00 ERA 110 K
Clark Griffith - 23-16 3.32 ERA 66 K


Philadelphia Athletics

Leading Batters
2B Nap Lajoie - .380 8 HR 89 RBI 105 R
RF Socks Seybold - .351 12 HR 85 RBI 95 R
CF Dave Fultz - .281 40 SB

Leading Pitchers
Rube Foster - 27-11 2.63 ERA 160 K
Eddie Plank - 24-15 3.30 ERA 97 K
Chick Fraser - 19-14 3.63 ERA 90 K

Synopsis
The staff is about equal on both sides on balance, so what this series really boils down to is our speed against the Athletics' powerful Lajoie-Seybold combo. I'm thinking power beats speed in this case. Athletics in 5.

National League Championship Series


Cincinnati Reds

Leading Batters
RF Sam Crawford - .338 10 HR 80 RBI 105 R
CF Chick Stahl - .298 44 SB 82 RBI 87 R
1B Jake Beckley - .286 107 RBI

Leading Pitchers
Noodles Hahn - 27-16 2.03 ERA 189 K
Bill Phillips - 21-20 2.93 ERA
Doc Newton - 22-14 3.41 ERA 91 K


Philadelphia Phillies

Leading Batters
LF Ed Delahanty - .300 11 HR 101 RBI 119 R 44 SB
RF Elmer Flick - .294 6 HR 100 RBI 94 R 45 SB
CF Roy Thomas - .272 80 RBI 87 R 77 SB

Leading Pitchers
Doc White - 25-17 1.90 ERA 170 K
Red Donahue - 25-12 2.93 ERA 77 K
Al Orth - 20-22 3.78 ERA 109 K

Synopsis
As impressive as the Reds' staff is, the Phillies' looks even better and they have better hitters. Phillies in 6 to set up an All-Philadelphia Series.

Results
The Athletics clobber us in 5 games, as I expected. Ed Plank goes 2-0 against us and Rube Foster has a ridiculous 1.09 ERA. 35 year old 3B Lave Cross is the Athletics' batting hero, hitting .462 with 7 RBI for the series.

Red Donahue and Doc White go 2-0 and 2-1 respectively for the Phillies as the NLCS goes the full 7 games. No real standout batters for the NL Philly side, as it was a team effort. The real key to Philadelphia's victory? A major pitching mismatch in Game 7 between Bill Phillips for the Reds and Doc White for the Phillies. Looks like Cincy's manager screwed up on that one.

World Series

No one outside of Philadelphia is much going to care about this one, so let's see real quick who wins the Battle of Brotherly Love. My gut says it'll be the Phillies. The National League has a lot better pitchers than the American League both overall and in terms of their champions, and the Phillies have enough firepower to match their AL counterparts. Phillies in 6.

It ends up being exactly that as the NL Philly squad jumps out to a 4-0 Series lead en route to a 5-1 victory. Once again it's Doc White who throws the clinching win, making him 2-0 for the Series, 4-1 for the 1901 postseason and a 2.31 ERA. Elmer Flick is the postseason batting hero, hitting .383 with 2 HR and 7 RBI.


Philadelphia Phillies - 1901 World Series Champions. First Championship.

Awards

Pitcher of the Year
AL: Rube Foster (Philadelphia Athletics)
NL: Jesse Tannehill (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Batter of the Year
AL: Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia Athletics)
NL: Sam Crawford (Cincinnati Reds)

Rookie of the Year
AL: Rube Foster (Philadelphia Athletics)
NL: Noodles Hahn (Cincinnati Reds)

I was going to do a stats rundown too, but I have to leave in 20 minutes, so no go. Maybe next post!