The Incredible Benjamin Disney

JimServo · 08-05-2002, 05:31 PM

Benjamin Disney was drafted in the 26th round by the Philadelphia Athletics of "Major League Baseball" in 1901. (Basically, I'm running through baseball history with fictional players, and using the appropriate numbers for each era from Jermanfu's tutorial. The 24-year didn't yet have the ability to stare the big leaguers down, but scouts assured Philadelphia management that he had the ability to be a star.

Disney spends the entire 1901 season at AA, posting a respectable 13-12 record, but not all that impressive 3.93 ERA. He also gave up over 9 hits a game, but with just 3 walks/9 innings.

In 1902, Ben Disney was promoted to AAA, but his performance was dissapointing. He went 5-6 in 15 starts with an ERA of 4.30. He gave up more then 9 hits a game, although he walked less then 3/game. The Athletics began to think that there investment was not worth it. Despite that, he was called up to the bigs twice in 1902, once in July, and once August, when injuries effected their staff. Disney performed descently, giving up 3 runs in 10 2/3 innings, all in relief (one loss). He was wild though, giving the other squad 8 walks, while striking out just 1. Still Disney was happy with himself and was surprised when he was sent down to AAA when rosters expanded, and he started wondering what games the last place club was playing with its prospect. Midway in September, Disney's season was ended by an injury, and the A's started talking with other teams about trading some of their pitching prospects off for some infield help.

Ben Disney opened the 1903 season in AAA, and was immediately promoted after a solid performance in a loss, going 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. In April and May he performed well (3 GS, 1-1, 3.09 ERA), but on the 5th of May he was knocked out for 8 weeks with an injury. The Athletics decided to pull the trigger on a deal. They shouldn't have, it would seal their fate near the bottom of the AL for at least 6 years. The Athletics sent Disney and young but talented pitching prospect Damon Crissman (and a meaningless minor leaguer) to the Tigers for 2B Ed Crosby, a guy who could hit the league average. Bad idea.

When Disney returned in July, he went 2-3 in 6 games, but had a nice 2.61 ERA, with only 43 hits and 16 walks in 55 1/3 innings. This would be a teaser a what he did over the next 2 months. In August he won 6 and lost 2 and dropped his ERA to 2.31 with 59 hits and just 9 walks in 74 innings pitched. For September, Disney went 4-2 and further dropped his ERA to 1.80. His 10-4 finish left him with a record of 14-8 and his ERA of 2.37 led the American League. He placed 4th in W/L %, 2nd in (H+BB)/9IP, and amazingly, he managed to finish 2nd in the AL in sacrifices (21) despite missing much of the season. All of this got Benjamin Disney a well earned American League Rookie of the Year Award.

The Athletics worst fears were confirmed next year as Disney got better. He started the 3-0 with an ERA of 1.67, and cruised through the rest of the year. His worst month was June when he went 2 and 5...with an ERA of 2.75. His month-by-month numbers...



 Category        ERA  W  L  S   G GS    IP  HA   R  ER  BB   K

  Overall        2.07 21 11  0  37 37 316.2 241  85  73  53  67 

  Apr/Mar        1.67  3  0  0   3  3  27.0  18   6   5   5   2 

  May            2.20  4  2  0   8  8  69.2  59  18  17  10  14 

  June           2.75  2  5  0   7  7  59.0  50  22  18  11  21 

  July           1.45  5  1  0   7  7  56.0  37  11   9   6  16 

  August         2.37  5  2  0   7  7  64.2  49  21  17  15   9 

  Sep/Oct        1.56  2  1  0   5  5  40.1  28   7   7   6   5

...

All in all Ben went 21-11 on his way to helping Detroit take the AL by 2 games...over Philadelphia (this would be a surprising gasp into the first division, Philly had finished last in 1903, and would finish that way in 1905). Disney finished 2nd in the league in ERA (2.07), 4th in wins, and 3rd in shutouts (4), although far away from Blair Edge's record 11, the second year in a row that he got that total.

Surprisingly, the Tigers did not give Disney the job of starting game 1 of the World Series in Cincinnati, giving the job instead to Chris Wright, he had split 36 decisions and had an ERA of 3.22 ERA. Wright would end up losing the game 4 to 3 and Ben Disney hoped to help his team even up things in game 2. And he did a fantastic job, giving up just 1 hit, and 1 walk over 7 1/3 innings before being pulled due to a long rain delay. Cory Haskell closed it out and the series was evened up. The teams split the next two games before Disney got another chance to pitch. He pitched well, taking a two hitter, and a 1-0 lead, into the 9th, then things fell apart for him. Cincinnati 1st Baseman Ronnie Thompson singled to center, and scored on John Stevens 1-out triple. After an intentional walk, Ben gives up another single and the go-ahead run scores, and there are runners on first and second with one out. He gets the next two outs, but Detroit goes out in order in the ninth. Disney avoids any serious blame though as the Tigers go on to easily defeat the Reds in the next to games in Cincy by scores of 4-1 and 9-3 to take the crown.

No one knew that Benjamin Disney was about to go on a 3-year (at least) run that this author had never seen before.

JimServo · 08-05-2002, 06:11 PM

Benjamin Disney really came into his own in 1905. Interestly, he had the exact same ERA in April as last year (1.67) but finished 2-1 this year (3-0 in 1904). Still, in anything, he was more impressive, giving up just 14 hits in 27 innings pitched, although his 9 walks were a bit high. His May was better then his record, 3-3 indicated, with a 2.39 ERA, and 49 hits in 60 IP. But he was just gearing up for June. Ben went 5-1 with an ERA of just 0.53, with just 21 hits and 5 walks in his 5 starts. It was enough to earn him his first Pitcher of the Month Award. But a broken cheekbone late in the month forced him to sit out all of July. But in August he was solid again at 5-1 (2.00 ERA), and in September he returned to Superman mode. He went 6-0 with an ERA of 0.69 to pick up his second Pitcher of the Month Award of the Season. FINAL STATS:



  Category        ERA  W  L  S   G GS    IP  HA   R  ER  BB   K

  Overall        1.47 21  6  0  30 30 245.0 144  54  40  33  52 

  At Home        1.67 11  4  0  16 16 135.0  89  36  25  15  31 

  Away           1.23 10  2  0  14 14 110.0  55  18  15  18  21 

  Apr/Mar        1.67  2  1  0   3  3  27.0  14   5   5   9   5 

  May            2.39  3  3  0   8  8  60.1  49  21  16   8  13 

  June           0.53  5  1  0   6  6  51.1  21   6   3   4   5 

  July           0.00  0  0  0   0  0   0.0   0   0   0   0   0 

  August         2.00  5  1  0   6  6  54.0  40  16  12   7  19 

  Sep/Oct        0.69  6  0  0   7  7  52.1  20   6   4   5  10

...

Ben's 6-win September helped Detroit take their second straight American League Pennant, and this year the Tigers were better (12 games better at 97-57). Joining Disney in the 20-win Club was lefty Will Stennett, a player who had been traded to the Athletics in 1904 and had no desire to stay their. The 34-year old signed up with Detroit for a 5-year deal. Ed Blanchard also helped out with 17 wins. The Tigers offense was only average. Damon Crissman, the pitching prospect who came with Disney, would need a couple more years in the minors.

Disney ended up beating out his teammate Stennett, and Blair Edge, who won a record 27, to win the AL OHR Award. Helping no doubt was his record ERA of 1.47. He also finished 3rd in the league in wins, first in W/L %, first in H/9IP and H+B/9IP, and first in shutouts with 7 despite missing a month. Disney prepared for his second World Series...

And this time he got to start the series. And he had the additional bonus of being in front of the home crowd. Again, the Tigers were taking on the Reds, who were just as strong as the previous year as hungry after the Tigers came back from a 3-2 defecit to steal what they felt was their crown. Game 1 was a pitching duel between Disney and Ciny starter Clifford Williams. The Tigers scratched out a run in the 5th and that was all they would need. Disney gave up just 2 hits and 2 walks in the shutout and the Tigers led the series 1 to none. But Cincinnati took the next 3 games by one run, including a 1 to nothing victory over Ben Disney in game 4. Disney gave up 3 hits and didn't walk anyone, but two of those hits were in the 8th, as well as a wild pitch which led to the run. Cincinnati took the next game 3 to 1 to finish the series and get their championship.

Benjamin Disney prepared for the next year...

JimServo · 08-05-2002, 11:48 PM

Ben Disney would end up pitching just about exactly as well in 1906 as he did in 1905. Unfortunately the same could not be send for the Tigers ballclub. The Tigers were leapfrogged in the AL by the New York Highlanders (who had actual led the league in runs scored and least runs allowed in 1905, and did so again this year). While the Tigers overall hitting improved, they dropped from to last in runs production, owing to a slight league wise surge in runs. The pitching was still the leagues second best, but that was mostly due to Disney, the Bengal's other two pitcher stars of 1905, Will Stennett (24-10), and Ed Blanchard (17-13) fell to 10-15 and 5-11 respectively as they are both showing their age. Blanchard would never pitch in the majors after this season. Joining the 35-year old Stennett and 36-year Blanchard was 36-year Rodney Weakley, who got his first his significant play since 1903 going 10-11 with a 3.59 ERA. A wave of the future arrived in Damon Crissman's first half-season in the majors (6-6, 3.07 ERA).

Moving back to the main topic, he was just fantastic. He got off to his best start ever, going 4-0 in April with an ERA of 0.87, capturing his 3rd Pitcher of the Month Award. He got only one start in May, however, before getting knocked out with an injury for 6 weeks. On his return, he gave up 2 runs in his first 2 starts (both complete games). In July his ERA "balooned" to 2.31, but he still went 5-2 to imrove his record to 10-3. Just like the previous season, for the last two months he gave a clinic on pitching. Overall he went 10-3 in 15 starts with an ERA of 1.22 over the stretch. In 133 1/3 innings he gave up just 85 hits, and 15 walks, and struck out 44. In August he won his fourth pitcher of the month award. FINAL STATS:



  Category        ERA  W  L  S   G GS    IP  HA   R  ER  BB   K

  Overall        1.49 20  6  0  30 30 253.0 162  45  42  36  78 

  At Home        1.50 10  3  0  16 16 138.0  94  25  23  17  47 

  Away           1.49 10  3  0  14 14 115.0  68  20  19  19  31 

  Apr/Mar        0.87  3  0  0   4  4  31.0  21   3   3   5   9 

  May            3.24  0  1  0   2  2   8.1   4   3   3   0   1 

  June           1.00  2  0  0   2  2  18.0  10   2   2   3   4 

  July           2.31  5  2  0   7  7  62.1  42  16  16  13  20 

  August         1.15  5  2  0   7  7  62.2  38   9   8   8  15 

  Sep/Oct        1.27  5  1  0   8  8  70.2  47  12  10   7  29

...

For the second straight season and the third season in 4, Disney led the AL in ERA, just 2 points above his previous year's total. He again led in W/L %, BB+H/9IP, H/9IP, and tied for the league lead in shutouts with 7. For all of this he was awarded his second consecutive Old Hoss Radbourn Award, becoming the second player in Major League History to win 2 awards, and the first to win 2 in a row. Another reward was a new contract from the Tigers, signing him for 6 years for $8,550(000)/year, making him one of the best values in the game. Disney willingness to sign to a contract of that amount (he could have easily made $10,000 in free agency market signals that he wants stick with a winner. The Tigers will have their star until at least 1912, and meanwhile the Philadelphia Athletics finish in last place for the second straight season.

In other league news, the team Detroit battled in the Series the last two years, Cincinnati, fell off somewhat, dropping from 94 to 86 wins, but still won the NL pennant and went on to win the series over the Highlanders 4 games to 2.

Just for the record, here is a comparison of Ben Disney's 1905 and 1906 seasons to show how similar they were:



 Year Ag Tm   W   L   G   GS  CG SHO SV   IP     H   ER   HR  BB   SO   ERA

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

 1905 28 DET  21   6  30  30  24   7  0  245.0  144   40   4   33   52  1.47

 1906 29 DET  20   6  30  30  24   7  0  253.0  162   42   9   36   78  1.49

I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am

JimServo · 08-06-2002, 12:07 PM

If Detroit figured to jump back into first, most analysts said, they had to improve their lineup. Much of the blame of the Tigers fall to last was blamed on their age, with the all of the starters ranging from 33 to 37; So, the analysts concluded, the Tigers must sign some good young players in the off season.

The Tigers made only one notable free agent signing over the off-season, the signing of 34-year old CF Weldon Reese. With that most newpaper writers and the like picked Detroit to fall off somewhat, and the Highlanders to repeat as AL Champs.

Again, Ben Disney had a astonishing April. He won 3 and lost 1 with his lowest ERA yet for the month, 0.25. He threw a shutout on opening day, and another in his next start. After giving up just a run on 7 hits for his third win, he gave up no earned runs but lost to Boston because of problems behind him. After this loss to Boston, he wouldn't lose again until August 17th going on an incredible 23-0 run which included 5 shutouts, and 9 games in which he gave up just 1 run. Ben won back to back to back Pitcher of the Month Awards in May, June, and July. His best outing during the streak was on June 20 when he gave up just 1 hit and 2 walks to Boston. In August he actually lowered his ERA further to 1.28, but was 4-3. He closed the final month out 2-4 but still had a solid 2.20 ERA, and following the streak was just 5-8 with strong numbers in every other category. Disney ended up with 29 wins, 8 loses, and a record low ERA of 1.36. This was also the first full season he had played without an injury. FINAL STATS:



  Category        ERA  W  L  S   G GS    IP  HA   R  ER  BB   K

  Overall        1.36 29  8  0  39 39 336.2 240  70  51  52  84 

  At Home        0.95 14  5  0  20 20 171.0 115  30  18  30  44 

  Away           1.79 15  3  0  19 19 165.2 125  40  33  22  40 

  Apr/Mar        0.25  3  1  0   4  4  36.0  25   3   1   4  13 

  May            1.07  6  0  0   7  7  59.0  45  14   7   7  15 

  June           1.50  7  0  0   7  7  60.0  34  12  10  11  12 

  July           1.41  7  0  0   7  7  64.0  51  11  10   8  13 

  August         1.28  4  3  0   7  7  56.1  39   8   8   9  12 

  Sep/Oct        2.20  2  4  0   7  7  61.1  46  22  15  13  19

...

Disney was honored with his 3rd straight Old Hoss Radbourn Award, and boy did he deserve it. He finished first in the league in ERA (Record, and nearly a full run better then anyway else), Wins, W/L % (3rd Best So Far), BB+H/9IP (although not his personal best), H/9IP (same), and Shutouts. He also finished 2nd in Complete Games and 5th in BB/9IP.

The rest of the team, perhaps inspired by Disney, won a team record 99 times to win the American League by a full 13 games as the Highlanders fell all the way to 5th (73-81). Equally surprising was the Tigers offense, which ranked as the 2nd best in the AL. It produced 3 .300 hitters and was spearheaded by Vince Williams (.314, 34 3B, 6 HR, 77 RBI). With young 2B Gary Goguen prepared to move up to the majors next years, the Tigers may finally have a youth movement. The pitching was the best in the league, easy. In addition to Disney, Chris Wright won 18 games, and Damon Crissman established himself with 17 wins. Finally, 36-year Will Stennett rebounded from his 1906 performance to go 14-7 with a 2.30 ERA (2nd in the AL).

The Bengals opponent in the World Series would be the St. Louis Cardinals, making their first apperance. They also ranked 2nd in runs, and 1st in least runs allowed. For the first of the two they were powered by slugging Guy Strunk (11 HR), and Dan Lavine (.335). Overall, they featured 4 .300 hitters. Pitching wise, they compared well to the Tigers with 3 of their 4 starters having ERAs under 3. Jerry Dawon (20-8) led the league at 2.08, followed by OHR Winner Barry Nussbaumm (24-11) at 2.15 and Edwin Thomas (17-5) at 2.43.

The series would open in Detroit and Disney would face Nussbaumm.

Disney would have his stuff going and would get into just one jam all night, and after throwing the wild pitch that put runners on second and third with one out in the 5th. He got the next two batters to fly out to short left-center, and strikeout. The Tigers got single runs in the 3rd, 6th, and 7th innings and that would be enough. Disney came away with a 6-hit shutout and the Detroit led the series 1 to nothing. St. Louis crushed Detroit 13 to 2 (and their surprise starters, a struggling Victor Langford, 9-12, 4.12 ERA during the season) in game 2. The beat rookie Damon Crissman a more conventional 3-1 in game 3 to take the series lead. With Ben Disney on the mound for game 4, Detroit had a 5 to nothing lead in the 4th and it would stick. Disney ended up giving up 1 earned run on 5 hits as Detroit locked the series up at 2 with a 5-2 victory.

Lanford looked much better, but lost in extra innings in Game 5 2 to 1 and St. Louis was up 3 to 2. Damon Crissman gave up 3 runs in the first inning of game 6 and things looked bad, but he calmed down and gave up no more runs and just 5 hits the rest of the way. Detroit scored 5 times to tie the series and set up the decisive Game 7. Which unfortunately went bad for Ben Disney who finally had a bad night, giving up 5 runs (all earned) on 10 hits and a couple of walks. Barry Nussbaumm got his revenge by giving up just 3 hits in a shutout to finish the job for St. Louis and they were the World Champions of 1907.

A great year and what was a great post-season for him ends unfortunately, but hopes are high for next season.

JimServo · 08-06-2002, 12:16 PM

Here are Ben Disney's career numbers as of the end of the 1907 season...



 Year Ag Tm   W   L   G   GS  CG SHO SV   IP     H   ER   HR  BB   SO   ERA

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

 1902 25 PHA   0   1   7   0   0   0  0   10.2   11    3   0    8    1  2.65

 1903 26 DET* 14   8  25  25  22   4  0  224.2  182   59   3   47   45  2.37

 1904 27 DET  21  11  37  37  28   4  0  316.2  241   73  12   53   67  2.08

 1905 28 DET  21   6  30  30  24   7  0  245.0  144   40   4   33   52  1.47

 1906 29 DET  20   6  30  30  24   7  0  253.0  162   42   9   36   78  1.49

 1907 30 DET  29   8  39  39  35   7  0  336.2  240   51  13   52   84  1.37

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

 6 Yr Car    105  40 168 161 133  29  0 1384.8  980  268  41  229  327  1.74

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

Career High   29  11  39  39  35   7  0  336.2  241   73  13   53   84  1.37

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

*Disney spent the 1903 season with both PHA and DET.
*Disney currently holds the all-time record for career ERA, as well as the top 3 spots for single season ERA. His 29 wins in 1907 are also a record, and his .714 Winning Percentage is the best of all time (of course he is still active so all of this could change).

POST-SEASON STATS



 Year    G   GS   W   L   S    ERA     IP     HA    R   ER   BB    K

+-----+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

 1904     2    2   1   1   0    1.12   16.1     6    2    2    5     4

 1905     2    2   1   1   0    0.53   17.0     5    1    1    2     3

 1907     3    3   2   1   0    2.00   27.0    21    7    6    4     8

+-----+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

 Category         G   GS   W   L   S    ERA     IP     HA    R   ER   BB    K

+--------------+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

 Playoffs          7    7   4   3   0    1.35   60.1    32   10    9   11    15

+--------------+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

MINOR LEAGUE STATS



 Year Level   G   GS   W   L   S    ERA     IP     HA    R   ER   BB    K

+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

 1901    AA   28   28  13  12   0    3.93  199.0   219   92   87   68    52

 1902   AAA   15   15   5   6   0    4.30   92.2   119   49   44   27    23

 1903   AAA    1    1   0   1   0    2.25    8.0     7    2    2    4     2

+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

 Level   G   GS   W   L   S    ERA     IP     HA    R   ER   BB    K

+-----+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

 AA      28   28  13  12   0    3.93  199.0   219   92   87   68    52

 AAA     16   16   5   7   0    4.13  100.2   126   51   46   31    25

+-----+----+----+---+---+---+-------+------+-----+----+----+----+-----+

1908 will be soon, but I haven't simmed it yet...

Henry · 08-06-2002, 12:37 PM

Keep it coming Jim - I'm having fun

Greg Layton · 08-06-2002, 03:04 PM

Great thread, makes me rethink dealing off any of my young pitchers

joshuaaaaaa · 08-06-2002, 09:32 PM

Quite interesting...I'm enjoying it. I'll be starting a thread soon on a new pitcher for the Mets. Drafted #1 in 2026 at age18, he's already at AAA midway through the season (he's 19 now) and may make his debut in September...It will be my first attempt at a pitcher thread...I learn from all those I read, though.

JimServo · 08-06-2002, 10:38 PM

Thanks for the kind words...just for the record, I let the computer handle everything. Personally I read just about all of the threads in the dynasty forum and thoroughly enjoy just about all of them.

Joshua, best of luck with your prospect. Next post should be up tomorrow or the next day (I'm a bit busy over the next few days).

JimServo · 08-08-2002, 04:44 PM

During the 1907-08 offseason the Detroit club made one major signing, and one major trade. The major trade was the signing of another aging player, this time C Allen Hill. Hill is a career .296 hitter and will replace Lee Wyatt (.244 career hitter), who left via free agency). The Tigers also acquired 1B Ed Mickens in a trade with the St. Louis Browns for spot starter Matt Warner. Overall the Tigers look slightly stronger this year, although they are also a year older (their lineup now ranges from 34 to 38), and they would end up trading prospect 2B Gary Goguen in a questionable deal to the Cubs.

Age certainly didn't hurt the Tigers early as they had the greatest start in the history of the league. The Tigers opened the season an incredible 42-10, and opened a gigantic lead on the rest of the AL before slumping and allowing the rest of the league to get within 5 games or so. Interestingly, Ben Disney's run of great starts actually ended as he went only 1-2 in April with an ERA of 3. Things improved in May and went 6-1 with an ERA of 2.14, and was clearly helped by his team's offensive support. Over the next two months he performed as good as ever. In 14 starts over 129 2/3 innings, he had a 1.67 ERA, with 51 Ks and just 19 BBs. Unfortunately, with the slumping Tigers behind him this amounted to just a 7-6 record. Still entering August he was 14-9 with a 1.97 ERA, good numbers. And he improved those numbers in his first 5 starts in August, with 3 wins, no losses, and 2 no decisions in 5 starts with an ERA of 1.31, but a ruptured Tendon knocked him out for 5 weeks on that fifth start. When he came back he struggled (for him) with a 3.12 ERA, winning 2 and losing 1 in 3 starts, giving up more then a hit an inning. FINAL STATS:



  Category        ERA  W  L  S   G GS    IP  HA   R  ER  BB   K

  Overall        2.00 19 10  0  33 33 284.1 209  70  63  43  90 

  At Home        2.08  9  5  0  17 17 138.2  97  37  32  31  48 

  Away           1.92 10  5  0  16 16 145.2 112  33  31  12  42 

  Apr/Mar        3.00  1  2  0   3  3  27.0  19  10   9   8   5 

  May            2.14  6  1  0   8  8  67.1  50  18  16  11  15 

  June           1.39  3  3  0   7  7  64.2  41  12  10   9  23 

  July           1.94  4  3  0   7  7  65.0  49  16  14  10  28 

  August         1.31  3  0  0   5  5  34.1  23   5   5   4  11 

  Sep/Oct        3.12  2  1  0   3  3  26.0  27   9   9   1   8

...

Disney posted less then 20 wins for the first time since his Rookie of the Year Season of 1903, and went above an ERA of 2.00 (the game incorrectly rounded from 1.996 to 1.99, I fixed that) since 1904. Still his numbers are strong: He ranked first in ERA, BB+H/9IP, and H/9IP. He ranked second in shutouts, and fourth in wins. Still injuries are taking a toll on his career...

Fortunately, the Tigers more then overcame those injuries this year. After the severely slumping Bengals allowed the White Sox within 5 or so games of the lead, they took command of the race and played like a first place team the rest of the way out, taking the AL by 7 games with a record of 98-56. Again the hitting was a solid second in the AL, with all 3 outfielders batting at least .300, and one batting .363 (although not qualifying for the batting title, all 3 outfielders had at-bats ranging from 425-432). Vince Williams was again the top batter on the team with 28 Doubles and a league leading 27 Triples. But the pitching was what people came to see...

25-year old Victor Langford overshadowed Ben Disney by winning 27 games (losing 9), with a 2.90 ERA) to earn his first Old Hoss Radbourn Award. It was quite a recover for a man who went just 9-12 last year with an ERA of over 4. Dependable Chris Wright went 20-15 (3.05 ERA) and led the league in Strikeouts with 194, and Damon Crissman went 17-12.

Speaking of Cris Wright, he has won between 14 and 20 games each year since 1902:



 Year Ag Tm   W   L   G   GS  CG SHO SV   IP     H   ER   HR  BB   SO   ERA

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

 1901 22 DET   3   0   4   2   2   1  0   21.0   13    3   0    1    6  1.29

 1902 23 DET  14  12  29  28  23   1  1  251.1  218   90  12   90  114  3.23

 1903 24 DET  19  15  39  39  32   3  0  325.0  278  116  15   67  169  3.21

 1904 25 DET  18  18  39  39  34   3  0  338.1  284  121  14   93  191  3.22

 1905 26 DET  16  19  38  38  33   2  0  322.1  256  109  11   73  183  3.05

 1906 27 DET  14  15  30  30  26   2  0  253.2  225   98   9   69  141  3.48

 1907 28 DET  18  11  34  34  27   0  0  292.0  255  112  14   91  144  3.45

 1908 29 DET  20  15  38  38  34   5  0  339.1  304  115  16   94  194  3.05

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

 8 Yr Car    122 105 251 248 211  17  1 2141.6 1833  764  91  578 1142  3.21

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

Career High   20  19  39  39  34   5  1  339.1  304  121  16   94  194  3.05

+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+

...

In the 1908 World Series, the Tigers would have a chance for revenge against the St. Louis Cardinals, who posted an astonishing 2.49 ERA in the National League. The first game was a rematch of last year's between Ben Disney and Barry Nussbaumm (24-11, 2.15). In the game, Disney outdueled Nussbaumm 3 to 2, with Detroit's Ken Campbell striking a game winning single in the bottom of the 7th. The teams split the next two games before the two pitchers faced eachother again. There was to be no doubt this time. The Tigers got a couple of runs in both the 2nd and the 6th, and the Cards never had a real threat, and Ben Disney posted a 5-hit shutout, his 3rd in the World Season history. Detroit finished the next day with a 3-2 victory to clinch Detroit's second World Championship. Ben Disney goes 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA but gets beaten out for series MVP by Allen Hill.

Still, many question whether the aging Detroit lineup can hold up for another year.

JimServo · 08-09-2002, 04:16 PM

The Tigers continued their pattern of signing older free agent players by signing 2B Gilbert Hooper (38) and LF Jim Murphy (37), despite the fact that they had more then the means to go after younger players. In an early season trade they would acquire an additional elder, 3B Howard Summers (35). The other major deal they would make happened in late June when they send last year's Old Hoss Radbourn Award Winner Victor Lanford (who would struggle along to 15-13 record, and a 4.31 ERA) to the Giants for 2B Gary Wells (just 28) and a minor league RF who soon would be released. Wells replaced Hooper as the starter 2B, and would help the Tigers chase the upstart Washington Nationals as the summer drew on.

Ben Disney, now 32, got back to his traditional dominating April, going 3-0 with a 2.17 ERA in 4 starts. Things got better in May as he his ERA dropped to 1.87 but his record went to 4-3 for the month. Things slowed down a bit for him in June (4-3, 2.24), and, the next month, he was hit by injury yet again. A broken hand knocked him out in mid July, but he was solid for 3 starts in the month, he threw 2 shutouts in 3 starts and gave up 0 earned runs (he got through only 4 2/3 of his final July start because of a rain delay). Despite his limited apparences, he still managed to pick up another Pitcher of the Month Award. After mixed results in 2 August starts after his return, Disney pulled off the single greatest month ever put together by a pitcher in league history. In September: He won 7, lost none, had 4 shutouts, and an ERA of just 0.43. He had 17 Ks, 4 BB's and just 29 hits over 63 Innings. His top outing during the month as his first, a 2-hitter in which he walked none over the New York Highlanders. The month drove his final numbers back to the superman type marks of 1905-1907: 21-7, 1.54 ERA. FINAL STATS:



  Category        ERA  W  L  S   G GS    IP  HA   R  ER  BB   K

  Overall        1.54 21  7  0  30 30 245.2 170  49  42  33  76 

  At Home        1.55 10  4  0  15 15 122.0  72  26  21  15  30 

  Away           1.53 11  3  0  15 15 123.2  98  23  21  18  46 

  Apr/Mar        2.17  3  0  0   4  4  29.0  28   7   7   4   9 

  May            1.87  4  3  0   7  7  57.2  38  14  12  10  13 

  June           2.24  4  3  0   7  7  56.1  44  16  14   7  17 

  July           0.00  2  0  0   3  3  22.2  15   2   0   2  11 

  August         3.18  1  1  0   2  2  17.0  16   6   6   3   9 

  Sep/Oct        0.43  7  0  0   7  7  63.0  29   4   3   7  17

...

Ben led the league in what he usually does: ERA, W/L %, BB+H/9IP, H/9IP, and Shutouts (a career best 9). His 21 wins were 3rd best in the American League. His ERA actually was actually only second best in the Majors, with the Cardinals' Jerry Dawson coming in with a 1.50 ERA. This is the 5th straight year he has led the AL though.

The Tigers hung in all summer long, and it proved vital to them as in September the Nats went on a 7 game losing streak alonging the Tigers to take over first. After a couple of wins, Washington went on another long losing streak and the Tigers ended up winning the AL pennant by 8 games. For the Tigers, it was their 3rd straight pennant, and their 5th in 6 years. They would face the Philadelphia Phillies, who have come back to win their first since 1903 (and 3rd overall.).

The Tigers were hoping for their 3rd World Championship, and the Phils their 2nd. Ben Disney would face off against Phillies starter William McAnally (24-13, 2.93), and would pitch well for most of the game, the key word being most. The Phillies got 4 runs, and 4 hits off of him in the second, but the Tigers fought back to tie it by the 6th and the game moved to extra innings. Unfortunately for Disney, a 2-out single by NL Deacon White Winner Thomas Nichols won it for the Phillies and gave them the series lead. It would be the last game the Phillies would win. The Tigers crushed the Phils in games 2, 3, and 4. Disney got only 4 innings pitched in the 4th inning before a rain delay knocked him out, he only gave up 1 hit though. A close 2-1 victory sealed it for Detroit the next day. They repeat as champions.

JimServo · 08-11-2002, 03:31 PM

After the Detroit Tigers again failed to make any signings of moves during the off-season to make the team younger, Player-Manager Vince Williams openly lambasted Tigers management in the press calling the situation "ridiculous." After the incident, there were rumors that Ben Disney would take over as the role of player-manager as some sort of long term contract agreement that would guarentee the star staying in Detroit for the remainder of his career. But in the end, the incident blew over, and Williams remained as manager, but Disney did get the role of the unofficial second "Pitching Coach." (I love adding little fictional events to the reports).

The only major signing that the Tigers did make was the 37-year old 3B Tim Lattimore, a career .297 hitter who was moving past his prime. In fact, this was the first year in a while in which the Tigers had serious holes in their lineup. With LF Jim Murphy declining and approaching retirement, the Bengals had no real starting LF, and would half to put in spot-starter Eric Bedford in a starting role for much of the season. 2B Gary Wells .300 plus season of a year ago looks like it may well have been a fluke as he would descend all the way to .241.

The whole Tigers lineup would have only 1 .300 hitter (C Allen Hill at .302), and only two others who hit above .270 (Tim Lattimore at .277, and Earl Casey at .290) as the team fell from 1st to 5th in runs produced. Age had clearly caught up. The pitching staff, Disney included, was hit by injuries, but still was the second best in baseball. Damon Crissman (16-12, 2.64), and Chris Wright (12-11, 2.83).

Even with the problems, the Tigers managed to stay the AL lead until August when they fell back behind the White Sox. A late season charge got them close, and they pulled into a tie a few times, and even took the lead once, but in the end they fell 1 game short at 87-67 as Chicago clinched it on the next to the last day. One of the reasons they were able to stay so close was of course...Benjamin Disney.

Ben Disney got back into his 1907 form this year, although his April did not seem to indicate that (1-1, 3.12 ERA). But in May, he surpassed his incredible September of last year. He won 7, lost 1, and had a miniscule 0.25 ERA. From April 27 to May 17 he gave up no runs for 42 2/3 innings. From 4/27 to May 21 he gave up no earned runs for 48 innings. He allowed just 38 hits, 7 walks, and an incredible 2 earned runs in 72 innings in the month. He followed it with a 5-1 June with an ERA of 1.17 ERA. Going into the All-Star Break he was 16-3 with an ERA of just 1.13.

He slowed down in July a bit, going just 4-3 jumping his ERA to 2.49 (for the month). He was starting an impressive August when he was again touched by injury, this time knocking him out until September. When he came back, he went 3-0 in 3 starts. He finished the year with a record of 22-6 with a 1.34 ERA, breaking his old record. He also captured 3 Pitcher of the Month Awards. FINAL STATS:





  Category        ERA  W  L  S   G GS    IP  HA   R  ER  BB   K

  Overall        1.34 22  6  0  31 31 262.0 184  50  39  34  75 

  At Home        1.80  9  6  0  17 17 144.2 106  36  29  24  46 

  Away           0.77 13  0  0  14 14 117.1  78  14  10  10  29 

  Apr/Mar        3.12  1  1  0   3  3  26.0  27  13   9   7   8 

  May            0.25  7  1  0   8  8  72.0  38   5   2   7  23 

  June           1.17  5  1  0   6  6  54.0  36   8   7   9   9 

  July           2.49  4  3  0   8  8  61.1  51  20  17   7  16 

  August         0.42  2  0  0   3  3  21.2  16   1   1   0   9 

  Sep/Oct        1.00  3  0  0   3  3  27.0  16   3   3   4  10

...
Disney (of course) won his fifth (in six years) Old Hoss Radbourn Award. He led the league in what he usually did (ERA, H/9IP, ect...), finished 2nd in wins, and 2nd in shutouts.

In other league news, the Chicago White Sox were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in 6 games. It is the Cardinals 2nd title in 4 years (and 3rd pennant).

Blair Edge won 15 games...10 by shutout. This is just astonishing to me. Blair is the only pitcher in league history to post 10 or more shutouts, he has done it 3 times. He posted 11 in back-to-back seasons in 1903-04.

Richard Shatley, of the New York Giants, has reason to complain. He had a .412 Batting Average (his second of over .400). He led the NL in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, Hits, and Runs Created. Despite these things, he did not win the NL Deacon White Award, which went to Thomas Nichols (PHI). Thomas batted .324 (not good enough for the top 5), finished 1st in RBIs, 4th in hits, and 4th in runs created. In a word (3 actually): He's been robbed.

--------------------

Things are not looking up for the Tigers next year as they grow one year older, and fail to resign excellent #2 starter Damon Crissman. Damon should get somewhere between $9-12 Million from a team which is not the Tigers...

JimServo · 08-11-2002, 06:20 PM

This topic is getting long, I'll start a new one

08-05-2002, 11:48 PM	#3
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	1906 Ben Disney would end up pitching just about exactly as well in 1906 as he did in 1905. Unfortunately the same could not be send for the Tigers ballclub. The Tigers were leapfrogged in the AL by the New York Highlanders (who had actual led the league in runs scored and least runs allowed in 1905, and did so again this year). While the Tigers overall hitting improved, they dropped from to last in runs production, owing to a slight league wise surge in runs. The pitching was still the leagues second best, but that was mostly due to Disney, the Bengal's other two pitcher stars of 1905, Will Stennett (24-10), and Ed Blanchard (17-13) fell to 10-15 and 5-11 respectively as they are both showing their age. Blanchard would never pitch in the majors after this season. Joining the 35-year old Stennett and 36-year Blanchard was 36-year Rodney Weakley, who got his first his significant play since 1903 going 10-11 with a 3.59 ERA. A wave of the future arrived in Damon Crissman's first half-season in the majors (6-6, 3.07 ERA). Moving back to the main topic, he was just fantastic. He got off to his best start ever, going 4-0 in April with an ERA of 0.87, capturing his 3rd Pitcher of the Month Award. He got only one start in May, however, before getting knocked out with an injury for 6 weeks. On his return, he gave up 2 runs in his first 2 starts (both complete games). In July his ERA "balooned" to 2.31, but he still went 5-2 to imrove his record to 10-3. Just like the previous season, for the last two months he gave a clinic on pitching. Overall he went 10-3 in 15 starts with an ERA of 1.22 over the stretch. In 133 1/3 innings he gave up just 85 hits, and 15 walks, and struck out 44. In August he won his fourth pitcher of the month award. FINAL STATS: Category ERA W L S G GS IP HA R ER BB K Overall 1.49 20 6 0 30 30 253.0 162 45 42 36 78 At Home 1.50 10 3 0 16 16 138.0 94 25 23 17 47 Away 1.49 10 3 0 14 14 115.0 68 20 19 19 31 Apr/Mar 0.87 3 0 0 4 4 31.0 21 3 3 5 9 May 3.24 0 1 0 2 2 8.1 4 3 3 0 1 June 1.00 2 0 0 2 2 18.0 10 2 2 3 4 July 2.31 5 2 0 7 7 62.1 42 16 16 13 20 August 1.15 5 2 0 7 7 62.2 38 9 8 8 15 Sep/Oct 1.27 5 1 0 8 8 70.2 47 12 10 7 29 ... For the second straight season and the third season in 4, Disney led the AL in ERA, just 2 points above his previous year's total. He again led in W/L %, BB+H/9IP, H/9IP, and tied for the league lead in shutouts with 7. For all of this he was awarded his second consecutive Old Hoss Radbourn Award, becoming the second player in Major League History to win 2 awards, and the first to win 2 in a row. Another reward was a new contract from the Tigers, signing him for 6 years for $8,550(000)/year, making him one of the best values in the game. Disney willingness to sign to a contract of that amount (he could have easily made $10,000 in free agency market signals that he wants stick with a winner. The Tigers will have their star until at least 1912, and meanwhile the Philadelphia Athletics finish in last place for the second straight season. In other league news, the team Detroit battled in the Series the last two years, Cincinnati, fell off somewhat, dropping from 94 to 86 wins, but still won the NL pennant and went on to win the series over the Highlanders 4 games to 2. Just for the record, here is a comparison of Ben Disney's 1905 and 1906 seasons to show how similar they were: Year Ag Tm W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA +-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+ 1905 28 DET 21 6 30 30 24 7 0 245.0 144 40 4 33 52 1.47 1906 29 DET 20 6 30 30 24 7 0 253.0 162 42 9 36 78 1.49 I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower Last edited by JimServo; 08-06-2002 at 01:53 PM.

08-06-2002, 12:07 PM	#4
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	1907 If Detroit figured to jump back into first, most analysts said, they had to improve their lineup. Much of the blame of the Tigers fall to last was blamed on their age, with the all of the starters ranging from 33 to 37; So, the analysts concluded, the Tigers must sign some good young players in the off season. The Tigers made only one notable free agent signing over the off-season, the signing of 34-year old CF Weldon Reese. With that most newpaper writers and the like picked Detroit to fall off somewhat, and the Highlanders to repeat as AL Champs. Again, Ben Disney had a astonishing April. He won 3 and lost 1 with his lowest ERA yet for the month, 0.25. He threw a shutout on opening day, and another in his next start. After giving up just a run on 7 hits for his third win, he gave up no earned runs but lost to Boston because of problems behind him. After this loss to Boston, he wouldn't lose again until August 17th going on an incredible 23-0 run which included 5 shutouts, and 9 games in which he gave up just 1 run. Ben won back to back to back Pitcher of the Month Awards in May, June, and July. His best outing during the streak was on June 20 when he gave up just 1 hit and 2 walks to Boston. In August he actually lowered his ERA further to 1.28, but was 4-3. He closed the final month out 2-4 but still had a solid 2.20 ERA, and following the streak was just 5-8 with strong numbers in every other category. Disney ended up with 29 wins, 8 loses, and a record low ERA of 1.36. This was also the first full season he had played without an injury. FINAL STATS: Category ERA W L S G GS IP HA R ER BB K Overall 1.36 29 8 0 39 39 336.2 240 70 51 52 84 At Home 0.95 14 5 0 20 20 171.0 115 30 18 30 44 Away 1.79 15 3 0 19 19 165.2 125 40 33 22 40 Apr/Mar 0.25 3 1 0 4 4 36.0 25 3 1 4 13 May 1.07 6 0 0 7 7 59.0 45 14 7 7 15 June 1.50 7 0 0 7 7 60.0 34 12 10 11 12 July 1.41 7 0 0 7 7 64.0 51 11 10 8 13 August 1.28 4 3 0 7 7 56.1 39 8 8 9 12 Sep/Oct 2.20 2 4 0 7 7 61.1 46 22 15 13 19 ... Disney was honored with his 3rd straight Old Hoss Radbourn Award, and boy did he deserve it. He finished first in the league in ERA (Record, and nearly a full run better then anyway else), Wins, W/L % (3rd Best So Far), BB+H/9IP (although not his personal best), H/9IP (same), and Shutouts. He also finished 2nd in Complete Games and 5th in BB/9IP. The rest of the team, perhaps inspired by Disney, won a team record 99 times to win the American League by a full 13 games as the Highlanders fell all the way to 5th (73-81). Equally surprising was the Tigers offense, which ranked as the 2nd best in the AL. It produced 3 .300 hitters and was spearheaded by Vince Williams (.314, 34 3B, 6 HR, 77 RBI). With young 2B Gary Goguen prepared to move up to the majors next years, the Tigers may finally have a youth movement. The pitching was the best in the league, easy. In addition to Disney, Chris Wright won 18 games, and Damon Crissman established himself with 17 wins. Finally, 36-year Will Stennett rebounded from his 1906 performance to go 14-7 with a 2.30 ERA (2nd in the AL). The Bengals opponent in the World Series would be the St. Louis Cardinals, making their first apperance. They also ranked 2nd in runs, and 1st in least runs allowed. For the first of the two they were powered by slugging Guy Strunk (11 HR), and Dan Lavine (.335). Overall, they featured 4 .300 hitters. Pitching wise, they compared well to the Tigers with 3 of their 4 starters having ERAs under 3. Jerry Dawon (20-8) led the league at 2.08, followed by OHR Winner Barry Nussbaumm (24-11) at 2.15 and Edwin Thomas (17-5) at 2.43. The series would open in Detroit and Disney would face Nussbaumm. Disney would have his stuff going and would get into just one jam all night, and after throwing the wild pitch that put runners on second and third with one out in the 5th. He got the next two batters to fly out to short left-center, and strikeout. The Tigers got single runs in the 3rd, 6th, and 7th innings and that would be enough. Disney came away with a 6-hit shutout and the Detroit led the series 1 to nothing. St. Louis crushed Detroit 13 to 2 (and their surprise starters, a struggling Victor Langford, 9-12, 4.12 ERA during the season) in game 2. The beat rookie Damon Crissman a more conventional 3-1 in game 3 to take the series lead. With Ben Disney on the mound for game 4, Detroit had a 5 to nothing lead in the 4th and it would stick. Disney ended up giving up 1 earned run on 5 hits as Detroit locked the series up at 2 with a 5-2 victory. Lanford looked much better, but lost in extra innings in Game 5 2 to 1 and St. Louis was up 3 to 2. Damon Crissman gave up 3 runs in the first inning of game 6 and things looked bad, but he calmed down and gave up no more runs and just 5 hits the rest of the way. Detroit scored 5 times to tie the series and set up the decisive Game 7. Which unfortunately went bad for Ben Disney who finally had a bad night, giving up 5 runs (all earned) on 10 hits and a couple of walks. Barry Nussbaumm got his revenge by giving up just 3 hits in a shutout to finish the job for St. Louis and they were the World Champions of 1907. A great year and what was a great post-season for him ends unfortunately, but hopes are high for next season. __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

08-06-2002, 09:32 PM	#8
joshuaaaaaa All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 633	Quite interesting...I'm enjoying it. I'll be starting a thread soon on a new pitcher for the Mets. Drafted #1 in 2026 at age18, he's already at AAA midway through the season (he's 19 now) and may make his debut in September...It will be my first attempt at a pitcher thread...I learn from all those I read, though. __________________ Baltimore Monarchs-GUBA Baltimore Orioles-ORB2 "One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do." ~Henry Ford ~

08-06-2002, 10:38 PM	#9
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	Thanks for the kind words...just for the record, I let the computer handle everything. Personally I read just about all of the threads in the dynasty forum and thoroughly enjoy just about all of them. Joshua, best of luck with your prospect. Next post should be up tomorrow or the next day (I'm a bit busy over the next few days). __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

08-08-2002, 04:44 PM	#10
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	1908 During the 1907-08 offseason the Detroit club made one major signing, and one major trade. The major trade was the signing of another aging player, this time C Allen Hill. Hill is a career .296 hitter and will replace Lee Wyatt (.244 career hitter), who left via free agency). The Tigers also acquired 1B Ed Mickens in a trade with the St. Louis Browns for spot starter Matt Warner. Overall the Tigers look slightly stronger this year, although they are also a year older (their lineup now ranges from 34 to 38), and they would end up trading prospect 2B Gary Goguen in a questionable deal to the Cubs. Age certainly didn't hurt the Tigers early as they had the greatest start in the history of the league. The Tigers opened the season an incredible 42-10, and opened a gigantic lead on the rest of the AL before slumping and allowing the rest of the league to get within 5 games or so. Interestingly, Ben Disney's run of great starts actually ended as he went only 1-2 in April with an ERA of 3. Things improved in May and went 6-1 with an ERA of 2.14, and was clearly helped by his team's offensive support. Over the next two months he performed as good as ever. In 14 starts over 129 2/3 innings, he had a 1.67 ERA, with 51 Ks and just 19 BBs. Unfortunately, with the slumping Tigers behind him this amounted to just a 7-6 record. Still entering August he was 14-9 with a 1.97 ERA, good numbers. And he improved those numbers in his first 5 starts in August, with 3 wins, no losses, and 2 no decisions in 5 starts with an ERA of 1.31, but a ruptured Tendon knocked him out for 5 weeks on that fifth start. When he came back he struggled (for him) with a 3.12 ERA, winning 2 and losing 1 in 3 starts, giving up more then a hit an inning. FINAL STATS: Category ERA W L S G GS IP HA R ER BB K Overall 2.00 19 10 0 33 33 284.1 209 70 63 43 90 At Home 2.08 9 5 0 17 17 138.2 97 37 32 31 48 Away 1.92 10 5 0 16 16 145.2 112 33 31 12 42 Apr/Mar 3.00 1 2 0 3 3 27.0 19 10 9 8 5 May 2.14 6 1 0 8 8 67.1 50 18 16 11 15 June 1.39 3 3 0 7 7 64.2 41 12 10 9 23 July 1.94 4 3 0 7 7 65.0 49 16 14 10 28 August 1.31 3 0 0 5 5 34.1 23 5 5 4 11 Sep/Oct 3.12 2 1 0 3 3 26.0 27 9 9 1 8 ... Disney posted less then 20 wins for the first time since his Rookie of the Year Season of 1903, and went above an ERA of 2.00 (the game incorrectly rounded from 1.996 to 1.99, I fixed that) since 1904. Still his numbers are strong: He ranked first in ERA, BB+H/9IP, and H/9IP. He ranked second in shutouts, and fourth in wins. Still injuries are taking a toll on his career... Fortunately, the Tigers more then overcame those injuries this year. After the severely slumping Bengals allowed the White Sox within 5 or so games of the lead, they took command of the race and played like a first place team the rest of the way out, taking the AL by 7 games with a record of 98-56. Again the hitting was a solid second in the AL, with all 3 outfielders batting at least .300, and one batting .363 (although not qualifying for the batting title, all 3 outfielders had at-bats ranging from 425-432). Vince Williams was again the top batter on the team with 28 Doubles and a league leading 27 Triples. But the pitching was what people came to see... 25-year old Victor Langford overshadowed Ben Disney by winning 27 games (losing 9), with a 2.90 ERA) to earn his first Old Hoss Radbourn Award. It was quite a recover for a man who went just 9-12 last year with an ERA of over 4. Dependable Chris Wright went 20-15 (3.05 ERA) and led the league in Strikeouts with 194, and Damon Crissman went 17-12. Speaking of Cris Wright, he has won between 14 and 20 games each year since 1902: Year Ag Tm W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA +-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+ 1901 22 DET 3 0 4 2 2 1 0 21.0 13 3 0 1 6 1.29 1902 23 DET 14 12 29 28 23 1 1 251.1 218 90 12 90 114 3.23 1903 24 DET 19 15 39 39 32 3 0 325.0 278 116 15 67 169 3.21 1904 25 DET 18 18 39 39 34 3 0 338.1 284 121 14 93 191 3.22 1905 26 DET 16 19 38 38 33 2 0 322.1 256 109 11 73 183 3.05 1906 27 DET 14 15 30 30 26 2 0 253.2 225 98 9 69 141 3.48 1907 28 DET 18 11 34 34 27 0 0 292.0 255 112 14 91 144 3.45 1908 29 DET 20 15 38 38 34 5 0 339.1 304 115 16 94 194 3.05 +-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+ 8 Yr Car 122 105 251 248 211 17 1 2141.6 1833 764 91 578 1142 3.21 +-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+ Career High 20 19 39 39 34 5 1 339.1 304 121 16 94 194 3.05 +-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+ ... In the 1908 World Series, the Tigers would have a chance for revenge against the St. Louis Cardinals, who posted an astonishing 2.49 ERA in the National League. The first game was a rematch of last year's between Ben Disney and Barry Nussbaumm (24-11, 2.15). In the game, Disney outdueled Nussbaumm 3 to 2, with Detroit's Ken Campbell striking a game winning single in the bottom of the 7th. The teams split the next two games before the two pitchers faced eachother again. There was to be no doubt this time. The Tigers got a couple of runs in both the 2nd and the 6th, and the Cards never had a real threat, and Ben Disney posted a 5-hit shutout, his 3rd in the World Season history. Detroit finished the next day with a 3-2 victory to clinch Detroit's second World Championship. Ben Disney goes 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA but gets beaten out for series MVP by Allen Hill. Still, many question whether the aging Detroit lineup can hold up for another year. __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

08-05-2002, 05:31 PM	#1
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	The Incredible Benjamin Disney Benjamin Disney was drafted in the 26th round by the Philadelphia Athletics of "Major League Baseball" in 1901. (Basically, I'm running through baseball history with fictional players, and using the appropriate numbers for each era from Jermanfu's tutorial. The 24-year didn't yet have the ability to stare the big leaguers down, but scouts assured Philadelphia management that he had the ability to be a star. Disney spends the entire 1901 season at AA, posting a respectable 13-12 record, but not all that impressive 3.93 ERA. He also gave up over 9 hits a game, but with just 3 walks/9 innings. In 1902, Ben Disney was promoted to AAA, but his performance was dissapointing. He went 5-6 in 15 starts with an ERA of 4.30. He gave up more then 9 hits a game, although he walked less then 3/game. The Athletics began to think that there investment was not worth it. Despite that, he was called up to the bigs twice in 1902, once in July, and once August, when injuries effected their staff. Disney performed descently, giving up 3 runs in 10 2/3 innings, all in relief (one loss). He was wild though, giving the other squad 8 walks, while striking out just 1. Still Disney was happy with himself and was surprised when he was sent down to AAA when rosters expanded, and he started wondering what games the last place club was playing with its prospect. Midway in September, Disney's season was ended by an injury, and the A's started talking with other teams about trading some of their pitching prospects off for some infield help. Ben Disney opened the 1903 season in AAA, and was immediately promoted after a solid performance in a loss, going 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. In April and May he performed well (3 GS, 1-1, 3.09 ERA), but on the 5th of May he was knocked out for 8 weeks with an injury. The Athletics decided to pull the trigger on a deal. They shouldn't have, it would seal their fate near the bottom of the AL for at least 6 years. The Athletics sent Disney and young but talented pitching prospect Damon Crissman (and a meaningless minor leaguer) to the Tigers for 2B Ed Crosby, a guy who could hit the league average. Bad idea. When Disney returned in July, he went 2-3 in 6 games, but had a nice 2.61 ERA, with only 43 hits and 16 walks in 55 1/3 innings. This would be a teaser a what he did over the next 2 months. In August he won 6 and lost 2 and dropped his ERA to 2.31 with 59 hits and just 9 walks in 74 innings pitched. For September, Disney went 4-2 and further dropped his ERA to 1.80. His 10-4 finish left him with a record of 14-8 and his ERA of 2.37 led the American League. He placed 4th in W/L %, 2nd in (H+BB)/9IP, and amazingly, he managed to finish 2nd in the AL in sacrifices (21) despite missing much of the season. All of this got Benjamin Disney a well earned American League Rookie of the Year Award. The Athletics worst fears were confirmed next year as Disney got better. He started the 3-0 with an ERA of 1.67, and cruised through the rest of the year. His worst month was June when he went 2 and 5...with an ERA of 2.75. His month-by-month numbers... Category ERA W L S G GS IP HA R ER BB K Overall 2.07 21 11 0 37 37 316.2 241 85 73 53 67 Apr/Mar 1.67 3 0 0 3 3 27.0 18 6 5 5 2 May 2.20 4 2 0 8 8 69.2 59 18 17 10 14 June 2.75 2 5 0 7 7 59.0 50 22 18 11 21 July 1.45 5 1 0 7 7 56.0 37 11 9 6 16 August 2.37 5 2 0 7 7 64.2 49 21 17 15 9 Sep/Oct 1.56 2 1 0 5 5 40.1 28 7 7 6 5 ... All in all Ben went 21-11 on his way to helping Detroit take the AL by 2 games...over Philadelphia (this would be a surprising gasp into the first division, Philly had finished last in 1903, and would finish that way in 1905). Disney finished 2nd in the league in ERA (2.07), 4th in wins, and 3rd in shutouts (4), although far away from Blair Edge's record 11, the second year in a row that he got that total. Surprisingly, the Tigers did not give Disney the job of starting game 1 of the World Series in Cincinnati, giving the job instead to Chris Wright, he had split 36 decisions and had an ERA of 3.22 ERA. Wright would end up losing the game 4 to 3 and Ben Disney hoped to help his team even up things in game 2. And he did a fantastic job, giving up just 1 hit, and 1 walk over 7 1/3 innings before being pulled due to a long rain delay. Cory Haskell closed it out and the series was evened up. The teams split the next two games before Disney got another chance to pitch. He pitched well, taking a two hitter, and a 1-0 lead, into the 9th, then things fell apart for him. Cincinnati 1st Baseman Ronnie Thompson singled to center, and scored on John Stevens 1-out triple. After an intentional walk, Ben gives up another single and the go-ahead run scores, and there are runners on first and second with one out. He gets the next two outs, but Detroit goes out in order in the ninth. Disney avoids any serious blame though as the Tigers go on to easily defeat the Reds in the next to games in Cincy by scores of 4-1 and 9-3 to take the crown. No one knew that Benjamin Disney was about to go on a 3-year (at least) run that this author had never seen before. __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower Last edited by JimServo; 08-05-2002 at 05:40 PM.

08-05-2002, 06:11 PM	#2
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	Benjamin Disney really came into his own in 1905. Interestly, he had the exact same ERA in April as last year (1.67) but finished 2-1 this year (3-0 in 1904). Still, in anything, he was more impressive, giving up just 14 hits in 27 innings pitched, although his 9 walks were a bit high. His May was better then his record, 3-3 indicated, with a 2.39 ERA, and 49 hits in 60 IP. But he was just gearing up for June. Ben went 5-1 with an ERA of just 0.53, with just 21 hits and 5 walks in his 5 starts. It was enough to earn him his first Pitcher of the Month Award. But a broken cheekbone late in the month forced him to sit out all of July. But in August he was solid again at 5-1 (2.00 ERA), and in September he returned to Superman mode. He went 6-0 with an ERA of 0.69 to pick up his second Pitcher of the Month Award of the Season. FINAL STATS: Category ERA W L S G GS IP HA R ER BB K Overall 1.47 21 6 0 30 30 245.0 144 54 40 33 52 At Home 1.67 11 4 0 16 16 135.0 89 36 25 15 31 Away 1.23 10 2 0 14 14 110.0 55 18 15 18 21 Apr/Mar 1.67 2 1 0 3 3 27.0 14 5 5 9 5 May 2.39 3 3 0 8 8 60.1 49 21 16 8 13 June 0.53 5 1 0 6 6 51.1 21 6 3 4 5 July 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 August 2.00 5 1 0 6 6 54.0 40 16 12 7 19 Sep/Oct 0.69 6 0 0 7 7 52.1 20 6 4 5 10 ... Ben's 6-win September helped Detroit take their second straight American League Pennant, and this year the Tigers were better (12 games better at 97-57). Joining Disney in the 20-win Club was lefty Will Stennett, a player who had been traded to the Athletics in 1904 and had no desire to stay their. The 34-year old signed up with Detroit for a 5-year deal. Ed Blanchard also helped out with 17 wins. The Tigers offense was only average. Damon Crissman, the pitching prospect who came with Disney, would need a couple more years in the minors. Disney ended up beating out his teammate Stennett, and Blair Edge, who won a record 27, to win the AL OHR Award. Helping no doubt was his record ERA of 1.47. He also finished 3rd in the league in wins, first in W/L %, first in H/9IP and H+B/9IP, and first in shutouts with 7 despite missing a month. Disney prepared for his second World Series... And this time he got to start the series. And he had the additional bonus of being in front of the home crowd. Again, the Tigers were taking on the Reds, who were just as strong as the previous year as hungry after the Tigers came back from a 3-2 defecit to steal what they felt was their crown. Game 1 was a pitching duel between Disney and Ciny starter Clifford Williams. The Tigers scratched out a run in the 5th and that was all they would need. Disney gave up just 2 hits and 2 walks in the shutout and the Tigers led the series 1 to none. But Cincinnati took the next 3 games by one run, including a 1 to nothing victory over Ben Disney in game 4. Disney gave up 3 hits and didn't walk anyone, but two of those hits were in the 8th, as well as a wild pitch which led to the run. Cincinnati took the next game 3 to 1 to finish the series and get their championship. Benjamin Disney prepared for the next year... __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

08-06-2002, 12:37 PM	#6
Henry Hall of Fame Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 6,498	Keep it coming Jim - I'm having fun

08-06-2002, 03:04 PM	#7
Greg Layton Major Leagues Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 302	Great thread, makes me rethink dealing off any of my young pitchers

08-09-2002, 04:16 PM	#11
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	1909 The Tigers continued their pattern of signing older free agent players by signing 2B Gilbert Hooper (38) and LF Jim Murphy (37), despite the fact that they had more then the means to go after younger players. In an early season trade they would acquire an additional elder, 3B Howard Summers (35). The other major deal they would make happened in late June when they send last year's Old Hoss Radbourn Award Winner Victor Lanford (who would struggle along to 15-13 record, and a 4.31 ERA) to the Giants for 2B Gary Wells (just 28) and a minor league RF who soon would be released. Wells replaced Hooper as the starter 2B, and would help the Tigers chase the upstart Washington Nationals as the summer drew on. Ben Disney, now 32, got back to his traditional dominating April, going 3-0 with a 2.17 ERA in 4 starts. Things got better in May as he his ERA dropped to 1.87 but his record went to 4-3 for the month. Things slowed down a bit for him in June (4-3, 2.24), and, the next month, he was hit by injury yet again. A broken hand knocked him out in mid July, but he was solid for 3 starts in the month, he threw 2 shutouts in 3 starts and gave up 0 earned runs (he got through only 4 2/3 of his final July start because of a rain delay). Despite his limited apparences, he still managed to pick up another Pitcher of the Month Award. After mixed results in 2 August starts after his return, Disney pulled off the single greatest month ever put together by a pitcher in league history. In September: He won 7, lost none, had 4 shutouts, and an ERA of just 0.43. He had 17 Ks, 4 BB's and just 29 hits over 63 Innings. His top outing during the month as his first, a 2-hitter in which he walked none over the New York Highlanders. The month drove his final numbers back to the superman type marks of 1905-1907: 21-7, 1.54 ERA. FINAL STATS: Category ERA W L S G GS IP HA R ER BB K Overall 1.54 21 7 0 30 30 245.2 170 49 42 33 76 At Home 1.55 10 4 0 15 15 122.0 72 26 21 15 30 Away 1.53 11 3 0 15 15 123.2 98 23 21 18 46 Apr/Mar 2.17 3 0 0 4 4 29.0 28 7 7 4 9 May 1.87 4 3 0 7 7 57.2 38 14 12 10 13 June 2.24 4 3 0 7 7 56.1 44 16 14 7 17 July 0.00 2 0 0 3 3 22.2 15 2 0 2 11 August 3.18 1 1 0 2 2 17.0 16 6 6 3 9 Sep/Oct 0.43 7 0 0 7 7 63.0 29 4 3 7 17 ... Ben led the league in what he usually does: ERA, W/L %, BB+H/9IP, H/9IP, and Shutouts (a career best 9). His 21 wins were 3rd best in the American League. His ERA actually was actually only second best in the Majors, with the Cardinals' Jerry Dawson coming in with a 1.50 ERA. This is the 5th straight year he has led the AL though. The Tigers hung in all summer long, and it proved vital to them as in September the Nats went on a 7 game losing streak alonging the Tigers to take over first. After a couple of wins, Washington went on another long losing streak and the Tigers ended up winning the AL pennant by 8 games. For the Tigers, it was their 3rd straight pennant, and their 5th in 6 years. They would face the Philadelphia Phillies, who have come back to win their first since 1903 (and 3rd overall.). The Tigers were hoping for their 3rd World Championship, and the Phils their 2nd. Ben Disney would face off against Phillies starter William McAnally (24-13, 2.93), and would pitch well for most of the game, the key word being most. The Phillies got 4 runs, and 4 hits off of him in the second, but the Tigers fought back to tie it by the 6th and the game moved to extra innings. Unfortunately for Disney, a 2-out single by NL Deacon White Winner Thomas Nichols won it for the Phillies and gave them the series lead. It would be the last game the Phillies would win. The Tigers crushed the Phils in games 2, 3, and 4. Disney got only 4 innings pitched in the 4th inning before a rain delay knocked him out, he only gave up 1 hit though. A close 2-1 victory sealed it for Detroit the next day. They repeat as champions. __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

08-11-2002, 03:31 PM	#12
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	1910 After the Detroit Tigers again failed to make any signings of moves during the off-season to make the team younger, Player-Manager Vince Williams openly lambasted Tigers management in the press calling the situation "ridiculous." After the incident, there were rumors that Ben Disney would take over as the role of player-manager as some sort of long term contract agreement that would guarentee the star staying in Detroit for the remainder of his career. But in the end, the incident blew over, and Williams remained as manager, but Disney did get the role of the unofficial second "Pitching Coach." (I love adding little fictional events to the reports). The only major signing that the Tigers did make was the 37-year old 3B Tim Lattimore, a career .297 hitter who was moving past his prime. In fact, this was the first year in a while in which the Tigers had serious holes in their lineup. With LF Jim Murphy declining and approaching retirement, the Bengals had no real starting LF, and would half to put in spot-starter Eric Bedford in a starting role for much of the season. 2B Gary Wells .300 plus season of a year ago looks like it may well have been a fluke as he would descend all the way to .241. The whole Tigers lineup would have only 1 .300 hitter (C Allen Hill at .302), and only two others who hit above .270 (Tim Lattimore at .277, and Earl Casey at .290) as the team fell from 1st to 5th in runs produced. Age had clearly caught up. The pitching staff, Disney included, was hit by injuries, but still was the second best in baseball. Damon Crissman (16-12, 2.64), and Chris Wright (12-11, 2.83). Even with the problems, the Tigers managed to stay the AL lead until August when they fell back behind the White Sox. A late season charge got them close, and they pulled into a tie a few times, and even took the lead once, but in the end they fell 1 game short at 87-67 as Chicago clinched it on the next to the last day. One of the reasons they were able to stay so close was of course...Benjamin Disney. Ben Disney got back into his 1907 form this year, although his April did not seem to indicate that (1-1, 3.12 ERA). But in May, he surpassed his incredible September of last year. He won 7, lost 1, and had a miniscule 0.25 ERA. From April 27 to May 17 he gave up no runs for 42 2/3 innings. From 4/27 to May 21 he gave up no earned runs for 48 innings. He allowed just 38 hits, 7 walks, and an incredible 2 earned runs in 72 innings in the month. He followed it with a 5-1 June with an ERA of 1.17 ERA. Going into the All-Star Break he was 16-3 with an ERA of just 1.13. He slowed down in July a bit, going just 4-3 jumping his ERA to 2.49 (for the month). He was starting an impressive August when he was again touched by injury, this time knocking him out until September. When he came back, he went 3-0 in 3 starts. He finished the year with a record of 22-6 with a 1.34 ERA, breaking his old record. He also captured 3 Pitcher of the Month Awards. FINAL STATS: Category ERA W L S G GS IP HA R ER BB K Overall 1.34 22 6 0 31 31 262.0 184 50 39 34 75 At Home 1.80 9 6 0 17 17 144.2 106 36 29 24 46 Away 0.77 13 0 0 14 14 117.1 78 14 10 10 29 Apr/Mar 3.12 1 1 0 3 3 26.0 27 13 9 7 8 May 0.25 7 1 0 8 8 72.0 38 5 2 7 23 June 1.17 5 1 0 6 6 54.0 36 8 7 9 9 July 2.49 4 3 0 8 8 61.1 51 20 17 7 16 August 0.42 2 0 0 3 3 21.2 16 1 1 0 9 Sep/Oct 1.00 3 0 0 3 3 27.0 16 3 3 4 10 ... Disney (of course) won his fifth (in six years) Old Hoss Radbourn Award. He led the league in what he usually did (ERA, H/9IP, ect...), finished 2nd in wins, and 2nd in shutouts. In other league news, the Chicago White Sox were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in 6 games. It is the Cardinals 2nd title in 4 years (and 3rd pennant). Blair Edge won 15 games...10 by shutout. This is just astonishing to me. Blair is the only pitcher in league history to post 10 or more shutouts, he has done it 3 times. He posted 11 in back-to-back seasons in 1903-04. Richard Shatley, of the New York Giants, has reason to complain. He had a .412 Batting Average (his second of over .400). He led the NL in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, Hits, and Runs Created. Despite these things, he did not win the NL Deacon White Award, which went to Thomas Nichols (PHI). Thomas batted .324 (not good enough for the top 5), finished 1st in RBIs, 4th in hits, and 4th in runs created. In a word (3 actually): He's been robbed. -------------------- Things are not looking up for the Tigers next year as they grow one year older, and fail to resign excellent #2 starter Damon Crissman. Damon should get somewhere between $9-12 Million from a team which is not the Tigers... __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

08-11-2002, 06:20 PM	#13
JimServo Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 418	This topic is getting long, I'll start a new one __________________ "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." -Dwight D. Eisenhower