Game History

[thehatfield]

I want to make a complete fictional game history before taking over a club in the year 2021. So as background I’ll report on what happened in this alternate MLB decade-by-decade. The actual dynasty, when started, will be similar to but less involved than my first dynasty effort. Basically I plan to drop the game-by-game summaries (except for playoffs) and will do month-by-month recaps.

This all will be a little wall-of-texty, enjoy!

I started the game as a historical game beginning in 1901. Almost all of the default settings were retained, including free agency, Rule 5 Draft, etc.. Injuries are at “Low” and AI Trading Frequency set to “Very Low.” Pitchers from each league get the “Outstanding Pitcher Award” while the best hitter (MVP), rookie (RoY), and fielder (Gold Glove) are the contemporary award names. Trading of draft picks is allowed. Trading of recently drafted players is not. There currently is no All-Star Game for major leaguers, it is thought of as a minor league gimmick.

Any stats accumulated in professional leagues prior to 1901 do not count towards this league’s leaderboards.


1901-1910

THE CHAMPIONS
The Cincinnati Reds were crowned the inaugural champions of Major League Baseball in 1901, sweeping the World Series in four games against the Detroit Tigers. But despite the sweep the series was extremely tense, the first two games went 14 innings apiece, and two of the games sported 1-0 final scores. Detroit were probably the favorites, boasting American League Outstanding Pitcher Award winner Jack Cronin (23-12, 1.97 ERA, 310 IP) and AL Rookie of the Year Award winner Ed Siever (17-12, 2.49 ERA, 292.2 IP) on the hill along with outfielder Jimmy Barrett (.333 AVG/10 HR/57 RBI/61 SB/88 R) and third baseman Doc Casey (.308 AVG/4 HR/47 RBI/71 SB/81 R). But it would be Cincinnati’s Noodles Hahn (17-14, 3.06 ERA, 303.1 IP) who became the unlikely World Series hero, by tossing 12 shutout innings in the eventual 14-inning Game 1 victory, and then was back on just two days rest to throw a complete 9 innings for the win in the Reds’ 4-2 Game 3 victory. Cronin was a convenient goat for the Detroit press with his 0-2 record and 3.38 ERA and was never the same pitcher again, going 62-82 for the rest of his career.

A shrewd trade with the Baltimore Orioles at the beginning of the 1901 season paid dividends for the Boston Americans in 1902, as outfielder Mike Donlin (.357 AVG/6 HR/67 RBI/57 SB/95 R) and right-handed starter Stan Yerkes (22-11, 2.27 ERA, 298 IP) helped lead Boston to their first World Series title with a 4-games-to-2 triumph over the New York Giants. The Americans trailed the Giants in the series 1-0, and 2-1, both wins for NL Outstanding Pitcher Award winner Christy Mathewson (24-9, 2.22 ERA, 316.2 IP). Yerkes won two games of his own and faced off against Mathewson in a widely-anticipated Game 6. But Mathewson was clearly out of gas, allowing 10 hits and 8 runs (7 earned) in 7 innings before being pulled for a reliever while Yerkes became the first pitcher to win three World Series games in a single series in the 8-3 clincher. This was viewed as a somewhat lucky championship for Boston, as they squeaked out the American League pennant by one game over the St. Louis Browns and the Giants were without the services of NL Most Valuable Player Nap Lajoie (.365 AVG/9 HR/79 RBI/79 R) who missed the World Series with back stiffness.

Almost to compound the point, Boston won their second straight American League title by one game the following year, this time besting the Philadelphia Athletics on the last game of the season. But there would be no second World Series championship in 1903 as they ran into a blue collar Pittsburgh Pirates team who beat them 5-games-to-2. A very workman-like lineup highlighted by the likes of Ginger Beaumont, Doc Gessler, and Fred Clarke were more than enough support for the Pirates’ twin aces of NL Outstanding Pitcher Award winner Rube Waddell (26-5, 1.39 ERA, 317.2 IP, 321K) and Jack Chesbro (22-9, 2.16 ERA, 283.2 IP). The Pirates’ bullpen was a bright spot in the series, especially 21-year old Bugs Raymond who was 2-0, with 7 shutout innings and 6 strikeouts in three appearances. For some inexplicable reason, 1902 World Series hero and completely healthy Stan Yerkes didn’t start a game for Boston in the series, appearing for just 3.1 innings of scoreless mop-up duty.

Boston Americans became the first club to go to three straight World Series in 1904, and the tide turned for them in a convincing 4-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first ever World Series rematch. This time it was Boston posting an American League record 101 victories and cruising to the AL title, while the Pirates held on by the skin of their teeth for the National League crown by besting both the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies by a single game. The Pirates now had three legitimate big-time starters, as Deacon Phillippe (23-15, 1.65 ERA, 337.1 IP) joined Waddell (20-16, 1.88 ERA, 344.1 IP) and hard luck Chesbro (19-19, 1.94 ERA, 347.1 IP) at the top of their rotation but Pittsburgh’s inconsistent lineup was no match for Boston’s pitching. Boston became the first pitching staff in MLB history to have four starters with 20 victories (Cy Young 27-10, Bill Philips 21-13, Win Kellum 22-10, George Winter 22-8). 37-year old master Cy Young (27-10, 1.52 ERA, 325.2 IP) beat Waddell twice in the Series. Boston also became the first team to win two World Series titles.

In 1905 the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first National League team to go to three straight World Series, posting an all-time MLB-best record of 102-52. Once again the Pirates were led by Waddell who won his second NL Outstanding Pitcher Award with a 26-6, 2.19 ERA, 320 IP season. Pittsburgh got a nice boost from NL Rookie of the Year Del Howard (.274 AVG/44 RBI/69 R) at first base, and third base free agent signing Bill Bradley (.257 AVG/86 RBI/69 R) but it wasn’t enough as the Chicago White Sox’ fearsome threesome of Addie Joss (21-15, 1.72 ERA, 345.2 IP), Roy Patterson (22-13, 1.71 ERA, 336.1 IP) and Chief Bender (25-11, 1.84 ERA, 341.2 IP) mowed them down 4-games-to-1, with Bender hanging two more World Series losses on Rube Waddell who fell to 1-5 with a 2.20 ERA in 49 career postseason innings. In Waddell’s six Series starts he has allowed 23 runs, but only 12 of them have been earned so he’s certainly been the victim of poor defensive play behind him.

The 1906 World Series may have been the most exciting to date, as the Chicago White Sox became the first ever repeat champions in a thrilling 4-games-to-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards held 1-0 and 3-1 series leads but three straight victories for Chicago, including the final two in front of a stunned St. Louis crowd, gave the Sox their second championship. Chief Bender went 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA for Chicago with three complete games, including the clinching Game 7. St. Louis’ Vic Willis was surprisingly able to get the better of Addie Joss twice in the series, but it was Joss bouncing back to beat Willis in Game 6 to force the deciding game.

On the strength of an amazing 27-8, 1.76 ERA, 321.2 IP season from Tom Hughes, the St. Louis Cardinals won their second straight National League crown and first World Series title in 1907 with a 4-games-to-1 series victory over Detroit. The Tigers were the sentimental favorites and were called “the Georges” by the press because of a lineup that included George Stovall at first base, George Rohe at second base, George Moriarty at third base, George Stone in left field, George Browne in right field, and George McQuillan on the hill. Truth be told, it was a poorly played series overall with 15 errors in the 5 games. 24-year old Cards starter Lefty Leifield was a positive story going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and two complete games in his two starts. Cards first baseman Claude Rossman hit .429 with a .500 OBP in his 21 at-bats to lead the offense. It was the best offensive performance in the World Series since Chick Stahl hit .565 with 8 RBI in 23 at-bats for Boston in the 1902 series.

After taking a year off, the South Siders were back at the big dance in 1908 for a Crosstown Classic, and the White Sox captured their record third World Series championship with a 4-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. It was the first time that two teams from the same city met for the title. The Cubs had a dogfight in the National League during the regular season, edging the perennial power Pittsburgh Pirates by 2 games and upstart Brooklyn Superbas (who acquired Pirates star Rube Waddell in the off season) by 1. In an amazing twist, the Cubs claimed 41-year old Cy Young off waivers from Brooklyn in April, and Young went on to win 17 games and post a 2.12 ERA for the Cubbies in 314.1 innings. Probably would have tipped the balance to Brooklyn if they kept the veteran. During the series 32-year old left fielder Charlie Hemphill hit .455 with a .588 OBP and a home run while 28-year old shortstop Heinie Wagner had 4 RBI in 12 at-bats to lead the White Sox to victory. AL Outstanding Pitcher Award winner Chief Bender (23-11, 1.29 ERA, 328.2 IP) went 2-0 in his two World Series starts, improving to 6-1 overall in World Series action with a 2.29 ERA in 63 innings. Nearly his equal against the Cubs, teammate Bob Wicker (23-11, 1.99 ERA, 330.2 IP) also won his two games, one by shutout, to go 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA in 18 innings.

Despite losing Chief Bender to the Phillies via free agency in the off season, the White Sox would extend their record with their fourth title in 1909, beating a revamped Pittsburgh Pirates squad 4-games-to-1. It was the second time that the White Sox had won back-to-back championships, the last repeat coming in ’05 & ’06. For the Pirates, they blew the doors off the National League with a 100-54 record, finishing 20 games ahead of the Brooklyn Superbas. They featured a young core of promising players that included first baseman Ed Konetchy, 1909 Rookie of the Year center fielder Jack Lelivelt, second baseman Eddie Collins, shortstop John Knight, and third baseman Bill Sweeney. Throw in a professional player like Gavvy Cravath and the Pirates were starting to look mean again. But a rotation no longer featuring Rube Waddell and instead depending on untested 24-year old Bill Graham (24-6, 2.42 ERA, 293.2 IP) just couldn’t stand up to the likes of Bob Wicker (20-15, 2.14 ERA, 332 IP) who improved his World Series record to 4-0 with two more victories in this series. Chicago’s 24-year old catcher Ted Easterly was a breakout star this season, hitting .336 with 3 home runs, 82 RBI, and 74 runs scored and going 6-for-17 with a .450 OBP in the World Series.

Déjà vu all over again as the White Sox won their third consecutive championship (and fifth overall) in 1910 with a thrilling come-from-behind 4-games-to-3 win over… the Pirates. Pittsburgh won their record fifth National League Championship but also lost their record fourth World Series, this time especially painful after holding a 3-2 series lead and going back to Pittsburgh to lose games 6 and 7. The White Sox got some terrible news in May as Bob Wicker, one of the best pitchers in baseball and a World Series legend in 1908 & 1909, went out for the year with surgery on a torn UCL. The Sox had to rely on 33-year old free agent signing “Wild” Bill Donovan (21-6, 1.89 ERA, 242.1 IP) and promising 28-year old Sam Frock (20-14, 2.87 ERA, 270 IP) who were able to deliver for the champions against a hungry Pirates team that might have tightened up too much once they took the series lead. Just a couple of breaks their way and the Pirates could have been celebrating their second World Series title.

Players of the decade up next...

[thehatfield]

THE PLAYERS
21-year old Joe Jackson’s 1910 season for the Cleveland Naps is quickly becoming the stuff of legend as he set eight single-season MLB records, including a mind-boggling .422 batting average in 578 at bats. Jackson is the first player in MLB history to hit over .400, the next closest is Ty Cobb’s 1909 season where he hit .375 in 581 at bats. Nap Lajoie’s .365 average in 507 at bats in 1902 was the record prior to Cobb and Jackson. Jackson also set the single-season hit record in 1910 with 244.

Brooklyn’s Nap Lajoie enters 1911 as the all-time hit leader with 1,616. Mike Donlin, now with the New York Giants, is tied for second with Honus Wagner, who is back with the Pirates, at 1,493. Sam Crawford of the Phillies is fourth with 1,475 and Frank Chance of the Red Sox is fifth at 1,360.

Lajoie is also the all-time RBI leader with 678, but Crawford (673) and Wagner (672) are right behind him. There’s a significant gap from the three leaders and Mike Donlin, who is fourth at 536, and Elmer Flick of the St. Louis Cardinals who is fifth with 531.

In 1904 while playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Sam Crawford became the first (and only) player in either league to win the Triple Crown. He led the National League in hitting (.318), home runs (9), and RBI (81). Controversially, Crawford lost out on the Most Valuable Player Award that year to Frank Chance, then with the Chicago Cubs, who hit .314 with 1 home run and 64 RBI, and 65 stolen bases. The baseball writers would correct their error the following year, giving Crawford the 1905 award.

Crawford is presently the all-time home run leader, with 69 bombs, well ahead of Honus Wagner’s 52 in second place.

Outfielder Socks Seybold holds the single-season home run record, smashing 20 in 1902 for the Philadelphia Athletics. The next closest player is 25-year old up-and-coming Cleveland Naps first baseman Fred Luderus who hit 16 this past season. Seybold, now 40, spent the entire 2010 season with the Boston Red Sox’ Class A affiliate Anchorage Landsharks where he hit just .177 with 1 home run in 181 at-bats.

Honus Wagner is the only player to collect 6 hits in a 9-inning game, going 6-for-6 for the St. Louis Cardinals in a 9-8 win over the Boston Beaneaters back in 1905. Danny Murphy also went 6-for-6 in 1910 for the Red Sox against the Detroit Tigers, but that was a bizarre 11-inning affair which Boston ended up losing 14-6.

Four players have hit for the cycle in league history, although purists discount Joe Tinker’s 1903 cycle, which came on the back of a 4-for-8 hitting performance for the Chicago Cubs in a 17-inning game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The “real” cycles belong to Jimmy Sheckard (1901 while with Brooklyn against Pittsburgh), Tommy Leach (1904 while with St. Louis Browns against Cleveland Naps) and the last one on May 13, 1907 by the Cards’ Jack Dunn against Brooklyn.

George Davis holds the record for longest hitting streak at 32 games, set in 1902 while playing for the New York Giants. In that same 1902 season Sam Mertes went for 31 straight for the Chicago White Sox. The closest anyone else has come is Frank Chance, who hit safely 29 consecutive times for the Cubs in 1907.

Nap Lajoie became the first player in MLB history to win the Most Valuable Player Award in both leagues and he did it in the first two years of the league, also becoming the first player to win two consecutive MVPs in the process! In 1901 he took the award while with the Philadelphia Athletics (.359 AVG/12 HR/84 RBI) in the AL and in 1902 for the New York Giants in the National League (.365 AVG/9 HR/79 RBI). Sam Crawford also has one MVP from each league – 1905 with Cincinnati in the NL and 1908 with the St. Louis Browns of the AL.

Ty Cobb has the record for most MVPs and most consecutive MVPs, winning the NL award three straight years while with Brooklyn from 1907-1909. His first award came as a 20-year old and he’s only 24 entering the 1911 season. Cobb shocked the baseball world at the conclusion of the 1910 season by filing for free agency and then signing a traitorous 3-year contract worth $51,510 with the New York Giants.

Mike Donlin, then of the Boston Americans, was the first player to win the American League MVP in back-to-back seasons in 1903 & 1904. George Stone then took the following two years in ’05 & ’06 while with the Detroit Tigers. Donlin and Stone are the only two players to win multiple AL MVPs, although that looks to change with the emergence of Joe Jackson in 1910.

Tom Hughes (in 1907), Cy Young (1904), and Bill Dinneen (1904) all share the single season wins record for pitchers with 27. Hughes & Dinneen both went 27-8 while Young was 27-10.

Rube Waddell is the all-time leader in wins with 214. The next closest pitcher is Addie Joss with 185, followed by Eddie Plank (177), Tom Hughes (173), Christy Mathewson (173), and Doc White (172).

Waddell is the single season leader in strikeouts, breaking his record of 321 in 317 innings set in 1903 with 343 in 344 innings in 1904. Waddell is the only player in history to break 300 strikeouts, and owns the top four spots on the single season list (he’s third at 267 in 1906 and fourth at 254 in 1905). Fred Beebe’s 251 strikeouts in 1906 is the next closest player.

Waddell is the career strikeout leader by a wide margin. His 2,414 isn’t under threat by Christy Mathewson’s 1,831 in second place. Chief Bender is third with 1,716.

Waddell holds the record for strikeouts in a single game, sending down 17 in a complete game 5-1 victory over Kid Nichols and the Boston Beaneaters while pitching for the Pirates on June 4, 1903.

Waddell also has 49 career shutouts to pace Major League Baseball. Chief Bender has 43 in second, while Doc White’s 38 puts him in third.

Tom Hughes set the single season shutout record with 10 in his magical 1907 season.

Addie Joss (261) and Christy Mathewson (260) are neck-and-neck for the all-time lead in complete games, but Waddell leads MLB in total innings pitched with 3,167 compared to Mathewson’s 3,084 and Joss’ 3,042. Frank Smith owns the single season innings pitched record, tossing 360.2 innings for the Washington Senators in 1905.

Chief Bender is the career leader in ERA with a 1.78 in 2,732 innings. Mathewson holds the single-season mark though with his 1.10 in 229 innings in 1907.

Chief Bender has won three AL Outstanding Pitcher Awards, in ’05, ’06, & ’08. Rube Waddell has three in the NL, in ’03, ’05, & ’06. The only other pitcher to have multiple awards is Eddie Plank, who took the AL award in ’03 & ’07.

An amazing 8 of Rube Waddell’s 10 seasons in baseball have been 20-win seasons. Some are beginning to question his skills though, as his strikeouts have declined each of the last two years, down to 145 in 283 innings in 1910 with a 2.48 ERA, which is the highest since his rookie season 2.83 in 1901. Five pitchers have had five 20-win seasons – Addie Joss, Chief Bender, Deacon Phillippe, Doc White, and Eddie Plank while three have had four – Christy Mathewson, Ed Walsh, and George Winter.

There have been four no-hitters thrown in MLB history thus far, Addie Joss for the Chicago White Sox over the St. Louis Browns in May of 1907 in a 2-0 victory for Joss, Eddie Plank in a 3-0 win for the Brooklyn Superbas over the Cincinnati Reds in July of 1909, later that same year the Reds would get one of their own as Doc Scanlan blanked the Boston Doves in a 2-0 masterpiece, and in 1910 Harry “Hal” Krause of the Boston Rustlers shut down the New York Giants in a 6-0 rout. Joss and Krause both struck out 6 in their wins, and Joss’ game against the Browns would have been a perfect game if Joss himself hadn’t dropped a routine pop up in the very first inning of the game, allowing the only Browns baserunner of the game through error.

Joe Jackson of the American League Cleveland Naps is the first player to go from Rookie of the Year one year (1909), to Most Valuable Player the next (1910). Chief Bender, the 1902 American League Rookie of the Year, has three Outstanding Pitcher Awards. Bender and Jackson are the only former Rookies of the Year to win the MVP or OPA.

Catcher Red Dooin holds the record with four Gold Gloves, while playing for the Cleveland Naps in the American League. Johnny Evers and John Farrell both hold three AL Gold Gloves at second base, and pitcher Roy Patterson has three as well. George Moriarty is the first player ever to win a Gold Glove at two different positions, winning at first base while with the Detroit Tigers in 1908 and then winning at third base for the Chicago White Sox in 1910. In the National League Honus Wagner has three at shortstop (’03, ’07, ’10), and four others have three-in-a-row: Art Devlin at third base while with the Reds (1904-06), Bill Sweeney at third base for the Pirates (1908-10), Sam Crawford in right field for the Reds (1901-03), and Mike Mitchell, also in right field, for St. Louis (1907-09).

LOOKING BACK
Player of the Decade: Nap Lajoie
Pitcher of the Decade: Rube Waddell
Team of the Decade: Chicago White Sox – 5 American League titles, 5 World Series titles

#1 OVERALL DRAFT CHOICES
1901: Addie Joss SP RHP (Chicago White Sox)
1902: Red Ames SP RHP (Chicago Orphans)
1903: Harry Lumley RF (Cincinnati Reds)
1904: Irv Young SP LHP (New York Giants)
1905: Ed Karger SP LHP (Washington Senators)
1906: Walter Johnson SP RHP (Boston Doves)
1907: Harry Krause SP LHP (Boston Doves)
1908: Russ Ford SP LHP (Boston Doves)
1909: Ray Fisher SP RHP (Boston Doves)
1910: Pete Alexander SP RHP (Chicago Cubs)

Draft Notes: The White Sox got Chief Bender with the #2 overall pick in 1902. Two-time AL MVP George Stone was originally picked in the 5th round of the ’02 draft, 78th overall, by the Philadelphia Athletics. Ty Cobb was selected by the Brooklyn Superbas as the 16th overall and final pick of the first round of the 1904 draft. Tris Speaker was nabbed with the 7th pick of the 3rd round by the White Sox, 53rd overall, in the 1906 draft. Joe Jackson was the 103rd pick overall in the 1907 draft, selected by the Boston Americans with the 12th pick of the 6th round.




NOTE: I'm disappointed to learn that I don't have access to full transaction logs, despite changing Keep Transaction Logs to "all" in global setup and running a full almanac. For some reason it only keeps the transactions from the end of the World Series through the end of the December for that calendar year, and ignores all of the transactions from January through the World Series. Without a transactions log I can't reasonably report on the game world. It just becomes too much research and I'm not prepared for that sort of commitment for something that's supposed to be fun.