Can the Yanks do better this time 1901-2006?

jar2574 · 08-15-2007, 01:56 PM

Baseball’s owners agreed to peacefully integrate the American and National Leagues into one Major League, in 1901. Everyone got together for an inaugural draft after the owners agreed to release all players and start over.

The draft took place on January 1st, and afterwards, the Baltimore Orioles knew that they had a great team. They drafted Honus Wagner, Nap Lajoie and Cy Young in the first three rounds to form a triumvirate that could dominate baseball in the years to come.

The Orioles got off to a great start in April, but then they struggled for a while, and found themselves behind the Philadelphia Athletics by three games at the midway point in the season. The A’s were led by a rookie, Lefty Davis, who had one of the best seasons in history, batting .435, stealing 81 bases, and scoring 118 runs in 125 games. But down the stretch the A’s couldn’t keep up, and they finished two games back of the O’s.

After finishing the season 88-52, Baltimore won the World Series in five games over the Cincinnati Reds. Cy Young was hit pretty hard in the first game and took the loss, but he came back to win games three and five. The Orioles won the last four games and took the series.

The Orioles lead the league with a .301 batting average, .364 on base percentage, and a .384 slugging percentage. The American League averages in those categories were .274, .332, and .351 respectively. This offensive production lead to 762 runs (5.44 per game), when the league average was only 649 runs (4.64 per game).

The Orioles everyday lineup was:

G AB Avg R RBI VORP
CF Roy Thomas 128 489 .305 108(2) 52 16.9
RF Cy Seymour 138 536 .356(3) 87 58 33.5(7)
2B Nap Lajoie 136 586 .367(2) 97(4) 107(2) 68.4(1)
SS Honus Wagner 130 532 .301 86 103(3) 31.9
LF Fred Clarke 128 495 .297 91 75 17.4
3B Tommy Leach 139 539 .310 78 67 18.5
1B Fred Tenney 138 502 .273 63 80 6.6
C Joe Sugden 111 399 .283 42 54 17.2
P Cy Young 49 158 .171 17 12 -1.3

Obviously this was a stacked lineup, one of the best the game may ever see. Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke actually had off years, by their standards. Next year the meat of this order is likely to produce even more runs.

On the pitching side, 34 year old Cy Young anchored the staff. 32 year old Kid Nichols enjoyed a great season, and 25 year old Vic Willis rounded out the three-man rotation employed by the O’s. Bill Bernhard and Joe McGinnity came in as relievers occasionally, and Bernhard started a few games when other arms needed a rest.

The O’s pitching staff put up numbers just as impressive as the hitters. O's pitchers compiled a 2.44 ERA when the league average was 3.12. They struck out a league leading 549 batters and walked a league low 306. 124 of their 140 games were complete games.

W L ERA GS IP BB K VORP
1. Cy Young 33(1) 15 2.17 49(1) 452.3(1) 64 212(1) 99.1(1)
2. Vic Willis 25(2) 14 2.74 40(2) 354.3(2) 98 157(3) 55.8(5)
3. Kid Nichols 23(3) 14 2.59 39(3) 344.7(3) 108 152(4) 60.3(3)
4. Bill Bernhard 6 7 2.45 12 106.3 26 21 20.1
5. Joe McGinnity 1 2 1.56 0 17.3 7 6 4.9

The only weakspot on this team was the bench, which probably cost the O's a few close games. Win Mercer was converted from a pitcher into a utility player mid-season. That helped somewhat, but Mercer didn’t really live up to his potential, batting only .263 in 99 AB. The club is hopefully that shortstop George McBride and second basemen Danny Murphy will eventually develop into solid players.

giantsfan07830 · 08-15-2007, 05:43 PM

One heck of a team you have

Im following

08-15-2007, 01:56 PM	#1
jar2574 Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 405	Can the Yanks do better this time 1901-2006? Baseball’s owners agreed to peacefully integrate the American and National Leagues into one Major League, in 1901. Everyone got together for an inaugural draft after the owners agreed to release all players and start over. The draft took place on January 1st, and afterwards, the Baltimore Orioles knew that they had a great team. They drafted Honus Wagner, Nap Lajoie and Cy Young in the first three rounds to form a triumvirate that could dominate baseball in the years to come. The Orioles got off to a great start in April, but then they struggled for a while, and found themselves behind the Philadelphia Athletics by three games at the midway point in the season. The A’s were led by a rookie, Lefty Davis, who had one of the best seasons in history, batting .435, stealing 81 bases, and scoring 118 runs in 125 games. But down the stretch the A’s couldn’t keep up, and they finished two games back of the O’s. After finishing the season 88-52, Baltimore won the World Series in five games over the Cincinnati Reds. Cy Young was hit pretty hard in the first game and took the loss, but he came back to win games three and five. The Orioles won the last four games and took the series. The Orioles lead the league with a .301 batting average, .364 on base percentage, and a .384 slugging percentage. The American League averages in those categories were .274, .332, and .351 respectively. This offensive production lead to 762 runs (5.44 per game), when the league average was only 649 runs (4.64 per game). The Orioles everyday lineup was: G AB Avg R RBI VORP CF Roy Thomas 128 489 .305 108(2) 52 16.9 RF Cy Seymour 138 536 .356(3) 87 58 33.5(7) 2B Nap Lajoie 136 586 .367(2) 97(4) 107(2) 68.4(1) SS Honus Wagner 130 532 .301 86 103(3) 31.9 LF Fred Clarke 128 495 .297 91 75 17.4 3B Tommy Leach 139 539 .310 78 67 18.5 1B Fred Tenney 138 502 .273 63 80 6.6 C Joe Sugden 111 399 .283 42 54 17.2 P Cy Young 49 158 .171 17 12 -1.3 Obviously this was a stacked lineup, one of the best the game may ever see. Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke actually had off years, by their standards. Next year the meat of this order is likely to produce even more runs. On the pitching side, 34 year old Cy Young anchored the staff. 32 year old Kid Nichols enjoyed a great season, and 25 year old Vic Willis rounded out the three-man rotation employed by the O’s. Bill Bernhard and Joe McGinnity came in as relievers occasionally, and Bernhard started a few games when other arms needed a rest. The O’s pitching staff put up numbers just as impressive as the hitters. O's pitchers compiled a 2.44 ERA when the league average was 3.12. They struck out a league leading 549 batters and walked a league low 306. 124 of their 140 games were complete games. W L ERA GS IP BB K VORP 1. Cy Young 33(1) 15 2.17 49(1) 452.3(1) 64 212(1) 99.1(1) 2. Vic Willis 25(2) 14 2.74 40(2) 354.3(2) 98 157(3) 55.8(5) 3. Kid Nichols 23(3) 14 2.59 39(3) 344.7(3) 108 152(4) 60.3(3) 4. Bill Bernhard 6 7 2.45 12 106.3 26 21 20.1 5. Joe McGinnity 1 2 1.56 0 17.3 7 6 4.9 The only weakspot on this team was the bench, which probably cost the O's a few close games. Win Mercer was converted from a pitcher into a utility player mid-season. That helped somewhat, but Mercer didn’t really live up to his potential, batting only .263 in 99 AB. The club is hopefully that shortstop George McBride and second basemen Danny Murphy will eventually develop into solid players.

08-15-2007, 05:43 PM	#2
giantsfan07830 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 244	One heck of a team you have Im following