A History of the Chicago White Sox (TBC)

[OmahaReynolds]

The Baseball Chronicle is an online league that follows the history of baseball, from the National Association in 1871 to the present day. The first season of online play starts in 1903, and I've been given the reigns of the Chicago White Sox. There is a twist to the league: while the teams and league evolution follow history, the players are all fictional.

This thread will follow my journey with the White Sox as I guide them through the different eras of baseball. Will I end up with the fictional versions of Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth, or Joe DiMaggio? Can I create a dominant team while competing against other human GMs, who probably are a lot better at this than I am? Only time will tell.

[OmahaReynolds]

Chicago White Sox - 1903 Overview

1903 will beging the 3rd year of the White Sox existence, and my first year as GM. The club had a decent run in 1902:

1902 Chicago White Sox
83-57, .593 (2nd Place)
RS: 574 (3rd)
RA: 491 (2nd)

We finish in 2nd place, 25 games behind the Boston Americans who ran away with the American League pennant with a stunning 108-32 record. We were 10 games ahead of the next best club, the Washington Senators.

The GM's were given control of the teams January 1st of 1903. I didn't make any moves to sign anybody, not because I didn't try, partly because I wasn't aggressive enough.

Mostly, though, I just want to see how the team performs for a season with me at the helm. The White Sox are a good club, but they are not without their flaws. I doubt we have what it takes to topple the mighty Americans, but I've got over a hundred seasons ahead of me to turn this club into a winning machine. Not that I want to wait that long.

Next, I'll cover the roster, starting with the pitching staff.

[OmahaReynolds]

Chicago White Sox - 1903 Pitching

SP Tom Gooding
Age: 31, B:R, T:R
23-15, 358 IP, 33 BB, 269 K, 1.61 ERA, 1.01 WHIP


Gooding is the undisputed ace on the Chicago staff. He joined the league back in 1893 where he won Rookie of the Year for the Chicago Cubs. He won pitcher of the year with the Cubs in 1897, 1898 and 1900 before jumping leagues and signing with the White Sox in 1901. I hope he has another Pitcher of the Year season while he's on the south side.


SP Dolph Raab
Age: 19, B:R, T:R
8-11-1, 151 IP, 44 BB, 37 K, 3.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP


Our staff's rookie pitcher. He's projected to be an average guy at his peak, with high stamina who might serve as a innings workhorse in the bottom of the rotation. I'll be starting him on a trial basis this season, and if he gets shelled too much early on I'll put him in the spot start/backup role.


SP Fred Robbins
Age: 26, B:L, T:L
17-12, 263 IP, 63 BB, 102 K, 2.12 ERA, 1.20 WHIP


Robbins is one of three southpaws on the Chicago staff. Not exactly elite, but he's a good number 3 or 4, and he has three decent pitches to go along with a rather weak curveball that I hope he won't throw too often this season.


SP Bernhard Schulz
Age: 31, B:L, T:L
23-11, 322 IP, 26 BB, 137 K, 1.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP


This guy is my main lefty in the rotation. He's not as wicked with the strikeouts as Gooding, but he's as good a number 2 option as anyone else in the league. He's the same age as Gooding, and I expect (or hope, at least) that I can get another 4-5 years out of these two guys before I need to replace them in the rotation.


SP Bob Swartz
Age: 27, B:L, T:L
0-1-2, 15 IP, 12 BB, 2 K, 2.93 ERA, 1.70 WHIP


Swartz has never started a game in his entire career. He's a bullpen guy in an age where the bullpen doesn't really exist. His only decent pitch is his fastball, and he's got a below average curveball, slider and screwball. He'll start the season as the backup, coming in to games if the starters can't pitch the full nine (which'll rarely happen). If Dolph Raab really can't hold it together, I might bite the bullet and try him in the rotation, but with 3 solid guys at the top of the rotation, I might just let this guys wallow in the pen regardless of how Raab performs.


The staff going into opening day:


Rotation:
Tom Gooding
Bernhard Schulz
Fred Robbins
Dolph Raab


Spot Starter/Backup
Bob Swartz

[OmahaReynolds]

Chicago White Sox - 1903 Catchers/First Basemen


C Billy Bragg
Age: 26, B:R, T:R
.285/.340/.378, 7 HR, 58 RBI in 473 AB


Bragg was robbed from the Phillies in 1902. He's got good defensive abilities and has plenty of pop in his bat to be one of the better catchers in the league. He'll be starting most games for me this season


C Lemuel Ridgway
Age: 25, B:R, T:R
.244/.274/.293, 1 HR, 34 RBI in 266 AB


As a backup catcher, Ridgway leaves a lot to be desired. He's worse than Bragg both at and behind the plate, and at 25 years old he is not projected to get any better. At some point I'll be looking to fill his spot, probably in the next off-season. A long term injury to Bragg would seriously cripple the team.


1B Tater Byers
Age: 22, B:L, T:L
.211/.256/.306, 2 HR, 20 RBI in 147 AB


This young first baseman has a lot of room to grow, and there's no rush for him. He'll provide some depth at the first base position while he continues to progress in the hitting area during practices. Defensively, he's projected to be plus but not quite gold glove caliber.


1B Benny North
Age: 26, B:S, T:R
.287/.346/.357, 5 HR, 71 RBI in 512 AB


Benny North. An average guy at first, he was middle of the pack last year offensively. He's not a terrible hitter, it's just that there are a lot of monster first baseman in the league. We've got some heavy hitters at other position, so North isn't going to be hurting us.

[OmahaReynolds]

Chicago White Sox - 1903 Infielders


2B Patsy Reilly
Age: 33, B:R, T:R
.316/.383/.403, 2 HR, 56 RBI, in 367 AB


Reilly is one of the two big stars with a bat on my team. He didn't have a full season at the plate last year, which leads me to believe he suffered an injury of some kind, but the records have been lost for some reason. He was Rookie of the Year in 1891 for the New York Giants, and played for them until jumping ship to us in 1902. He's aging, but I hope he's got a season or two left in him.


3B Lou Chiles
Age: 34, B:L, T:R
.265/.348/.386, 6 HR, 53 RBI in 453 AB


Chiles is a 4-star guy who can play all infield positions, but is a natural at the hot corner. He never hits for a high average, but he's an on-base machine with some pop in the bat and the ability to drive in runs. He's one of the better bats on my team who are creeping up through the 30s, which is a bit of a concern going into future seasons. I need to start getting some fresh blood on this team


SS Max Schilling
Age: 24, B:R, T:R
.147/.165/.158, 3 RBI in 95 AB


This guy has never really had a chance to prove himself, but he's got good bats blocking him and he doesn't really project well at all. What he's good for is being a strong utility man defensively, being able to play second, third and short with a nice glove. He'll be getting his pinch hits this season, and I'll see if he can make any waves at the plate. He's not the answer to anything at this point.


SS Billy Banker
Age: 23, B:R, T:R
.292/.350/.404, 1 HR, 34 RBI in 260 AB


Banker's stats from 1902 might be misleading. He wasn't a regular, and his impressive stats off the bench contradict some mediocre numbers from 1901 when he had a full season of at-bats. Either way, somebody has to play shortstop, and his performance last season is enough of a sign that I don't need to be too nervous about Billy at the plate. He's slightly above average defensively.

[OmahaReynolds]

Chicago White Sox - 1903 Outfielders


LF Allan Johns
Age: 25, B:L, T:L
.255/.298/.369, 2 HR, 19 RBI in 157 AB


This guy seems destined to always hit around .250. He's never been a regular, but year after year he puts up the same paltry numbers off the bench. This year he'll be platooning, as I only have two outfielders who can hit.


CF Pip Broughton
Age: 26, B:R, T:R
.280/.324/.391, 1 HR, 48 RBI in 586 AB


Pip is the team's elite speedster, swiping 80 bags last season but getting caught on an additional 59. Nothing I can do about that really, as anyone who can sprint is going to try to steal in this era. This guy would normally bat leadoff, but since I have so many other bats in the lineup getting on base at a higher clip, he's going to be slotted in a little lower in the order. He's also a triples machine, getting at least 20 in the last two seasons.


RF Jimmy Stevenson
Age: 27, B:R. T:R
.226/.309/.309, 2 HR, 22 RBI in 230 AB


Here's another sub-par outfielder. Stevenson can play both right and left field with the same mediocre abilities. This season, he's going to platoon with Allan Johns in left field, with the hope that the two of them combined can put up the numbers of a respectable starter.


RF Doc Farley
Age: 35, B:R, T:R
.306/.363/.411, 12 HR, 67 RBI in 565 AB


Farley along with Patsy Reilly is one of the serious bats in the lineup. Also like Reilly, Farley is edging ever closer to the end of his career. With my top three bats being over 30 years old, the future of the White Sox looks mired in uncertainty. I have faith that Farley will have a good 1903 campaign, but how long is he going to last?


RF Job Harty
Age: 32, B:L, T:L
.221/.262/.328, 2 HR, 12 RBI in 131 AB


Job Harty was a monster with the bat in the 1890's. He never won any awards, but he posted some pretty impressive seasons. At 32, it already looks like he's regressed to the garbage heap, and he will serve as a last resort utility outfielder. He can play the corners, but I hope he never has to cover center.

[OmahaReynolds]

Chicago White Sox - 1903 Final Thoughts Before Opening Day


he Lineups for opening day:


R Patsy Reilly
S Benny North
R Doc Farley
L Lou Chiles
R Billy Banker
R Pip Broughton
L Allan Johns / R Jimmy Stevenson
R Billy Bragg


Ridgway, Byers, Schillings, and Harty will make up the bench.


Thoughts about the team: All of Chicago's good hitters are nearing the end of their careers. At least one of the big three (Reilly, Farley and Chiles) I expect to see some regression this season. Tater Byers is the only real hitting prospect on the team, but his ceiling isn't too impressive. The goal should be to aquire some young bats, probably at the corner outfield positions first.


Pitching wise, I think this team is looking alright. Gooding and Schulz are over 30, it's true, but I see a few good years out of them. Raab might end up turning into something special. Another good young pitching prospect would really help this team out.

Next up is opening day. I'll be reporting the results from each sim, and may or may not go in to detail about individual games. I'll try to break down the team's performance and analyze as best as I can as this goes along.

[Nick Soulis]

This is great. As you may have seen I have been doing a history of the Cubs so maybe you can have more luck then I have so far. Good luck and I will be following, just dont take my fanbase from across town as I am also currently in 1903.

[OmahaReynolds]

May 1st, 1903



The first sim has come and gone. We went 5-3.

The season started off with a 4 game set in St. Louis. On opening day, our ace Tom Gooding pitched a complete game, allowing one run on seven hits, striking out seven and walking one. We won the game 3-1, with some good hits from the top of the order and two RBI from Billy Banker hitting 5th in the order.

The next game our offense exploded, with a dominant 13-2 win over the Browns. Speedy CF Pip Broughton managed four hits, three ribbies, two runs and two stolen bags in the effort. Southpaw Bernhard Schulz picked up the win on a complete game.

We dropped the third game of the set, 7-6, as our other lefty start Fred Robbins allowed 18 hits in a complete game loss. 1B Benny North belted the White Sox's first homer of the year, but we were slightly edged out by a walk-off single by St. Louis's 2B Ollie Ramsey.

Rookie right hander Dolph Raab stuggled mightily for us in the fourth game of the series, but our offense gave him enough of a lead to pick up a win despite giving up seven runs (four earned).

After the series win in St. Louis, we hopped on a train and headed northeast, to Detroit, where we greeted them with 23 hits and 18 runs in the series opener. Gooding got his second win of the season despite giving up five runs, and Bob Swartz hopped on the mound in the 9th inning to shut things down. During the offensive poinding, Benny North set a club record by scoring four runs.

We managed to win the second game of the series thanks to another gem of a game by our favorite lefty, Mr. Schulz, but we couldn't manage the sweep as we were shut out in the final game of the series.

The last game of the sim was the home opener, as the Tigers followed us back to Chicago to play us at home. We lost that game, too, giving rookie Dolph Raab his first loss of the season.

Here's a look at the team to date this season:



Next sim is tommorow.

[OmahaReynolds]

White Sox 1B Nabs Batter of the Month Honors



April was a short month, but the sportswriters decided they still wanted to deal out awards for outstanding performance. Our own Benny North was given the batting honors for the American League, with some epic numbers to start the season. His stats for April?

.462/.500/.718, 2 HR, 2 3B, 9 RBI in 39 AB

[OmahaReynolds]

May 16th, 1903 We went 11-4 on the sim, putting us tied for first with the Boston Americans. I'm happy with the results, it's a good start to the season, and hopefully the White Sox can continue to score more runs than the rest of the league. There's been some surprise performances from some of the guys in the lineup, and a new batting order might come in to play soon, but I'd like to give the current order one more sim before I make any changes. Here are the standings and the team stats. AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS,

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Chicago White Sox 16 7 .696 - 16-7 0 11-5 5-2 0-0 4-1 118 L2 7-3 Boston Americans 16 7 .696 - 17-6 -1 7-4 9-3 1-1 2-4 118 W3 7-3 Cleveland Blues 15 7 .682 ½ 13-9 2 7-5 8-2 0-0 2-1 W1 6-4 Washington Senators 11 10 .524 4 11-10 0 2-5 9-5 1-1 4-2 W1 5-5 St. Louis Browns 11 11 .500 4½ 11-11 0 9-5 2-6 0-0 2-3 W6 6-4 New York Highlanders 9 12 .429 6 10-11 -1 2-4 7-8 0-1 3-4 L2 3-7 Detroit Tigers 6 17 .261 10 6-17 0 4-9 2-8 0-0 1-1 L1 4-6 Philadelphia Athletics 5 18 .217 11 5-18 0 2-8 3-10 1-0 1-3 L1 2-8

NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS,

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Brooklyn Superbas 20 6 .769 - 21-5 -1 14-4 6-2 1-1 6-3 108 W3 8-2 St. Louis Cardinals 13 13 .500 7 14-12 -1 5-8 8-5 0-1 2-4 L1 4-6 Philadelphia Phillies 13 13 .500 7 16-10 -3 7-6 6-7 2-0 4-7 L1 5-5 Cincinnati Reds 13 13 .500 7 12-14 1 7-7 6-6 0-2 4-3 W1 3-7 Chicago Orphans 13 14 .481 7½ 15-12 -2 2-4 11-10 1-0 1-2 L3 4-6 New York Giants 12 14 .462 8 11-15 1 8-10 4-4 2-2 4-1 L1 5-5 Pittsburgh Pirates 11 16 .407 9½ 10-17 1 4-8 7-8 1-1 3-4 W1 5-5 Boston Beaneaters 10 16 .385 10 8-18 2 7-4 3-12 1-1 4-4 W1 5-5 Chicago White Sox Batting POS Name B T AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K AVG OBP SLG ISO OPS SB CS SB% C Lemuel Ridgway R R 10 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 2 .300 .462 .400 .100 .862 0 0 0.0 C Billy Bragg R R 73 21 3 1 0 10 10 5 3 .288 .338 .356 .068 .694 0 0 0.0 1B Tater Byers L L 8 4 1 0 0 3 1 0 1 .500 .500 .625 .125 1.125 0 0 0.0 1B Benny North S R 94 36 2 3 2 12 19 8 4 .383 .431 .532 .149 .963 4 3 57.1 2B Patsy Reilly R R 96 30 1 1 2 12 23 9 10 .313 .371 .406 .094 .778 2 2 50.0 3B Lou Chiles L R 81 20 6 1 0 17 14 13 6 .247 .347 .346 .099 .693 0 2 0.0 SS Max Schilling R R 14 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 .143 .250 .143 .000 .393 0 0 0.0 SS Billy Banker R R 81 23 3 4 1 20 15 5 6 .284 .333 .457 .173 .790 1 4 20.0 LF Allan Johns L L 64 18 5 2 1 15 9 0 9 .281 .277 .469 .188 .746 0 0 0.0 CF Pip Broughton R R 78 27 7 5 0 15 17 13 2 .346 .435 .564 .218 .999 15 8 65.2 RF Jimmy Stevenson R R 28 5 0 0 0 6 2 0 4 .179 .172 .179 .000 .351 0 1 0.0 RF Doc Farley R R 88 25 2 1 0 13 19 11 7 .284 .364 .330 .045 .693 2 5 28.6 RF Job Harty L L 9 2 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 .222 .222 .333 .111 .556 0 0 0.0

Chicago White Sox Pitching

POS	Name	B	T	G	GS	W	L	SV	IP	HA	HR	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	AVG	BABIP	WHIP	FIP	CG	SHO
SP	Tom Gooding	R	R	6	6	6	0	0	53.0	45	0	21	10	7	37	1.70	.224	.274	0.98	2.43	5	0
SP	Dolph Raab	R	R	5	5	4	1	0	43.0	49	1	21	13	12	9	2.72	.282	.293	1.42	3.92	4	0
SP	Fred Robbins	L	L	6	6	2	4	0	51.2	63	0	28	21	16	24	3.66	.303	.342	1.53	3.14	5	0
SP	Bernhard Schulz	L	L	6	6	4	2	0	51.1	55	1	20	15	8	28	2.63	.279	.321	1.23	2.71	5	0
SP	Bob Swartz	L	L	4	0	0	0	0	6.2	2	0	1	0	1	3	0.00	.091	.105	0.45	2.75	0	0

[OmahaReynolds]

Quick note:

I'll be trying out some different kinds of formats as I recap each sim until I get one that I'm happy with, so this thread might seem a little messy at first. I'd like to present the information in a nice clean way without having to spend too much time editing screenshots or typing out a lot of stats.

If anyone has any tips on layout and format, feel free to chime in.

Also, if anyone has any thoughts or gripes on the way I'm running the team, give me your imput, too.

[CatKnight]

Well, you can't argue with tied for first place.

Only thing that strikes me so far is that Swartz is doing quite well as your 'reliever' while Robbins in particular (.303 OBA 1.53 WHIP) isn't. Maybe Swartz should get the occasional start to see if he has more to offer.

[OmahaReynolds]

June 1st, 1903

Last Sim Record: 10-4
Current Record: 26-11, .709, 2.5 GB, 2nd in AL

Another nice sim for the White Sox. We split a four game series against the Senators, swept the Highlanders, and were swept by the Americans before going out to Cleveland and sweeping the Blues in four games. We came back to South Side park and beat Cleveland again. We'll finish off that three game series in the next sim before heading on a long East Coast road trip.

We've been dominating the league, but after getting swept by Boston it looks like we might not be able to beat them down the stretch. But hey, it's only a month and half into the season, anything can happen, right? They might lose Buck Langford to an injury. Not that I'd wish that on anyone...

As far as the White Sox go, we've had some surprise performances. Benny North(.360/.411/.520) continues to tear the cover off the ball. Pip Broughton(7 2B, 11 3B, .592 SLG & 26 SB) seems to be bouncing back from last season, where he posted good numbers but wasn't as impressive as Doc Farleyand Patsy Reilly, both of whom have taken a back seat so far in 1903.

On the mound, Tom Goodingis still undefeated. His stat line is impressive: 10-0, 1.42 ERA, 8 BB/66 K in 89 innings. The man is a machine, making opposing lineups look like minor leaguers. Bernhard Schulz is doing a great job as the number two man, a good lefty in the rotation.

In other words, everything is going right for this team.

It's just that those freakin' Boston Americans are better than us.

They won 108 games last year. They might win over 100 again this year. I'm kicking myself for not pursuing some young fresh talent over the offseason. Reilly and Farley were my superstars last year, and this season they are fading away, forcing me to shuffle the lineup. Broughton and North are hot, but for how long? Will this club crash into the ground over the next sim?

Guess we'll find out.

[OmahaReynolds]

June 16th, 1903: Tasting First Place

Last Sim Record: 7-5
Overall Record: 33-16, .673, -GB, 1st in AL

What a sim. We've managed to jump up to first place for the first time this season, though our lead is a slim one game ahead of Boston. Everything has been clicking for the team. We have no real weakness: our hitting, pitching and fielding are among the best in the league

The pitching crew has put together a combined 2.08 ERA, good for 2nd in the American League. Tom Gooding is first in wins with 11, first in ERA with 1.34, and second in strikeouts with 80. He's also leading the league in WHIP, opponent average, and K/BB, so he's definitely the leading candidate for Pitcher of the Year. Bernhard Schulz is also a force on the mound and he's in the top five in most pitching stats.

The offense has been incredible, scoring 257 runs which is good for 2nd in the league. Pip Broughton's 15 triples are tied for best in the league with Cleveland's Henry Waugh, and his .538 slugging percentage tops the leaderboard. Benny North is still hitting like a beast with a .342 batting average.

 
Pitching Staff:
             W  L  IP     BB  K   ERA   AVG  WHIP  FIP
Tom Gooding     11 2  114.0  11  80  1.34 .203  0.83  2.38 
Dolph Raab      8  3  107.0  25  19  2.27 .237  1.14  4.27
Fred Robbins    5  7  105.2  32  46  2.64 .251  1.28  3.43
Bernhard Schulz 9  3  105.1  11  55  2.14 .241  1.03  2.56
Bob Swartz      0  1  8.1    3   3   1.08 .172  0.96  3.20

Batting Stats:
                  AB  H  2B  3B  HR  RBI R  BB  K   AVG  OBP  SLG  SB CS
C  Lemuel Ridgway  12  3  1   0   0   2   2  4   2  .250 .412 .333  0  0
C  Billy Bragg     160 38 5   1   3   23  19 16  11 .237 .313 .338  0  0
1B Tater Byers     11  5  2   0   0   3   2  0   1  .455 .462 .636  0  0
1B Benny North     202 69 7   6   2   30  34 17  12 .342 .393 .465  6  3
2B Patsy Reilly    202 60 6   4   3   25  40 18  18 .297 .357 .411  8  5
3B Lou Chiles      184 40 10  2   1   23  25 23  15 .217 .303 .310  0  2
SS Max Schilling   55  18 2   0   0   8   7  7   7  .327 .391 .364  0  0
SS Billy Banker    143 40 5   7   1   28  24 7   10 .280 .321 .434  2  7
LF Allan Johns     144 36 11  4   1   26  20 4   15 .250 .261 .403  1  1
CF Pip Broughton   171 52 7   15  1   20  34 22  8  .304 .383 .538  30 16
RF Jimmy Stevenson 45  9  2   0   1   9   6  2   7  .200 .229 .311  1  2
RF Doc Farley      187 51 3   3   2   26  27 24  13 .273 .355 .353  9  12
RF Job Harty       16  2  1   0   0   3   2  0   1  .125 .167 .188  1  0

[OmahaReynolds]

July 1st, 1903: Still in the lead...
Last Sim Record: 7-7
Overall Record: 40-23, .635, 1st in AL (4 games ahead of Boston)

Well, we're still leading the AL, this time by a nice four games. This last sim was the first time the team was hit with the injury bug this season. Doc Farley went down with a hip strain the second day of the sim with a recovery time of 3-4 weeks, which means he may be out of the lineup for the next too. About halfway through the sim Billy Bragg strained a quad and is going to be out for another 3 days.

At least the injuries weren't long term, and since they have less than two weeks of recovery time left, Farley and Bragg won't be seeing the DL, and the lineup isn't getting changed.

Pitchers        W  L  IP    BB K   ERA   AVG WHIP FIP
Tom Gooding     12 4  146.0 18 106 1.42 .200 0.84 2.33 
Dolph Raab      10 4  134.0 35 28  2.42 .237 1.16 4.36
Fred Robbins    6  10 140.2 45 63  2.62 .252 1.29 3.38
Bernhard Schulz 12 4  140.1 20 74  1.99 .224 0.98 2.64
Bob Swartz      0  1  8.1   3  3   1.08 .172 0.96 3.20

Hitters             AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI R  BB K   AVG  OBP  SLG SB CS
C  Billy Bragg      186 51 8  2  3  29  24 17 12 .274 .338 .387 0  0
1B Benny North #    256 86 7  7  2  35  39 24 14 .336 .390 .441 6  4
2B Patsy Reilly     261 80 8  5  4  29  51 23 21 .307 .365 .421 10 7
3B Lou Chiles *     232 49 12 3  3  31  33 30 18 .211 .300 .328 1  2
SS Billy Banker     194 55 6  8  1  36  30 10 12 .284 .324 .412 4  9
LF Allan Johns *    189 47 12 4  1  31  22 6  21 .249 .265 .370 3  1
CF Pip Broughton    230 62 7  17 1  25  39 24 18 .270 .337 .461 37 20
RF Doc Farley       191 53 3  3  2  26  27 25 13 .277 .361 .356 10 13
---
C  Lemuel Ridgway   36  7  1  0  0  2   3  4  4  .194 .268 .222 0  0
1B Tater Byers      18  6  2  0  0  3   3  0  4  .333 .350 .444 0  0
SS Max Schilling    58  19 2  0  0  8   7  7  7  .328 .388 .362 0  0
RF Jimmy Stevenson  58  13 2  1  1  9   8  4  9  .224 .281 .345 2  3
RF Job Harty *      65  12 3  0  0  4   4  2  5  .185 .217 .231 2  1

[OmahaReynolds]

July 16th, 1903
Sim Record: 10-3

American League Standings    W   L   PCT GB
Chicago White Sox            49  27 .645 -
Boston Americans             46  32 .590 4
St. Louis Browns             44  33 .571 5.5
Cleveland Blues              41  36 .532 8.5
New York Highlanders         35  39 .473 13
Washington Senators          34  40 .459 14
Philadelphia Athletics       29  47 .382 20
Detroit Tigers               27  51 .346 23

Another good sim, this time we nearly went undefeated. Boston must have put together a good string of games because they are still only four games behind us. I'm getting more and more confident that this team has what it takes to play in the first world series later this year.

Farley and Bragg came back from their injuries and are back in the lineup. With a sufficient enough sample size, I did some shuffling of the lineups and depth charts, taking into account left/right splits, which there was no history of before the 1903 season. I don't want to make too many changes. As the saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Some of the bench guys were getting almost no at-bats, and a few of them might grow into good or decent players, so I made sure that every player on the team is going to get a spot in the lineup at least once every 10 games. Hopefully this won't backfire down the stretch.

Pitchers          W  L  IP    BB K   ERA   AVG WHIP FIP
Tom Gooding       15 4  173.0 21 127 1.30 .195 0.82 2.31
Bernhard Schulz * 15 4  166.0 24 86  1.90 .225 0.98 2.66
Dolph Raab        12 5  165.2 46 42  2.77 .243 1.21 4.20
Fred Robbins *    7  12 165.0 53 77  2.89 .253 1.30 3.45
Bob Swartz *      0  2  16.2  5  4   1.08 .177 0.96 3.44

Hitters             AB  H   2B 3B HR RBI R  BB K   AVG  OBP  SLG SB CS
2B Patsy Reilly     318 96  11 6  4  35  63 27 25 .302 .358 .412 11 8
1B Benny North #    313 102 10 7  2  42  48 27 18 .326 .376 .422 6  5
CF Pip Broughton    288 81  8  20 1  33  49 26 20 .281 .339 .458 45 24
3B Lou Chiles *     278 55  14 3  3  36  37 33 23 .198 .281 .302 1  2
SS Billy Banker     242 67  6  9  1  49  42 17 19 .277 .330 .388 7  11
C  Billy Bragg      230 65  9  2  3  37  34 22 15 .283 .350 .378 0  0
LF Allen Johns *    225 59  16 5  1  40  27 7  24 .262 .280 .391 3  1
RF Doc Farley       208 60  4  3  2  27  32 29 13 .288 .376 .365 13 15
RF Job Harty *      93  19  3  2  0  8   6  6  6  .204 .262 .280 3  3
RF Jimmy Stevenson  78  19  5  1  1  12  10 5  10 .244 .294 .372 2  4
SS Max Schilling    68  21  2  0  0  9   7  7  7  .309 .364 .338 0  0
C  Lemuel Ridgway   44  10  2  0  0  2   3  4  5  .227 .286 .273 0  0 
1B Tater Byers *    23  7   3  0  0  3   4  0  5  .304 .320 .435 0  0

Rotation & Lineup for next sim:

1. Tom Gooding <- Due up
2. Bernhard Schulz
3. Fred Robbins
4. Dolph Raab

1. R Doc Farley
2. R Billy Banker
3. S Benny North
4. R Patsy Reilly
5. R Billy Bragg
6. R Pip Broughton
7. L Lou Chiles
8. L Allen Johns

[OmahaReynolds]

August 1st, 1903
Sim Record: 8-4

American League Standings W  L   PCT GB
Chicago White Sox         57 31 .648 -
Boston Americans          58 33 .637 0.5
St. Louis Browns          52 39 .571 6.5
Cleveland Blues           48 40 .545 9
Washington Senators       39 49 .443 18
New York Highlanders      39 49 .443 18
Philadelphia Athletics    36 54 .400 22
Detroit Tigers            29 63 .315 30

The race with Boston for the pennant has gotten tighter over this last sim. Our lead is just a half game, but Boston has actually won more than Chicago. It's going to be tough to stay on top and something tells me that our momemtum is shifting down while Boston's is kicking into high gear.

One thing that I'm really liking is how dominant the White Sox pitching rotation is. Gooding and Schulz have been just absolutely awesome so far, and Robbins and Raab have been holding it together in the bottom half of the rotation. Robbins' win-loss record is probably worse than it should be, and Raab's better than it should be. That's how it goes sometimes.

Pitchers             G  GS W  L  SV IP    HA  HR ER BB K   ERA   AVG  BABIP WHIP
SP Tom Gooding       22 22 17 5  0  199.0 143 1  31 25 148 1.40 .198 .247   0.84
SP Fred Robbins *    22 22 9  13 0  195.1 194 3  61 60 93  2.81 .259 .292   1.30
SP Dolph Raab        22 22 14 6  0  191.2 177 8  60 51 50  2.82 .241 .250   1.19
SP Bernhard Schulz * 22 22 17 5  0  190.1 163 1  43 29 97  2.03 .229 .263   1.01
SP Bob Swartz *      11 0  0  2  1  19.1  13  0  2  5  6   0.93 .183 .200   0.93

The offense is doing a nice job as well. The bench could be a little better; injuries would expose the lack of depth in the offense. It will definitely be the focus of the offseason.

Hitters            AB  H   2B 3B HR RBI R  BB K   AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS SB CS
2B Patsy Reilly    369 115 13 7  4  44  66 33 29 .312 .369 .417 .786 14 10
1B Benny North #   356 121 14 9  3  56  57 35 21 .340 .396 .455 .851 6  6
CF Pip Broughton   341 98  11 22 1  38  55 28 26 .287 .341 .457 .799 48 28
3B Lou Chiles *    304 63  17 3  3  39  45 40 23 .207 .300 .313 .612 2  2
SS Billy Banker    296 83  9  10 1  52  51 21 21 .280 .334 .389 .723 10 14
C  Billy Bragg     275 76  13 2  3  41  36 24 17 .276 .339 .371 .710 0  0
RF Doc Farley      262 78  6  3  3  36  42 36 17 .298 .383 .378 .760 15 18
LF Allan Johns *   250 66  21 6  1  44  31 9  26 .264 .285 .408 .693 3  1
RF Job Harty *     102 21  4  2  0  9   8  7  8  .206 .263 .284 .547 4  3
RF Jimmy Stevenson 87  21  5  2  1  13  11 6  11 .241 .295 .379 .674 2  4
SS Max Schilling   81  23  2  1  0  10  10 8  8  .284 .341 .333 .674 0  0
C  Lemuel Ridgway  51  12  2  0  0  2   4  5  5  .235 .310 .275 .585 0  0
1B Tater Byers *   33  7   3  0  0  4   4  1  10 .212 .243 .303 .546 0  0

[OmahaReynolds]

August 15th, 1903
Sim Results: 7-8

After all that awesomeness this season, we have a losing sim. We have a losing sim just in time for Boston to catch a little fire and breeze past us, taking us from 1st place two weeks ago to 5 games out.

American League Standings W  L   PCT GB
Boston Americans          69 34 .670 -
Chicago White Sox         64 39 .621 5
St. Louis Browns          58 45 .563 11
Cleveland Blues           56 45 .554 12
Washington Senators       44 56 .440 23.5
New York Highlanders      44 56 .440 23.5
Philadelphia Athletics    41 61 .402 27.5
Detroit Tigers            31 71 .304 37.5

The pitching staff has been a bit of surprise this past sim, as Tom Gooding slipped a bit and suffered two tough losses in four starts. Bernhard Schulz, my favorite fictional southpaw, was dominant: four complete games allowing a total of three runs. Yes, he shut out the Cleveland Blues on 4 hits and picked up his only loss of the sim on a 1-0 shutout. Where's that run support when you need it? Two days before Schulz's shutout, Dolph Raab tossed a 2-hitter, also a shutout. The pitching staff is doing just fine, though one more elite guy in place of either Raab or Robbins would be pretty good for next season. I've added ERA+ to the stats this time (in the future I think I'm going to list the default stats displayed on the main page of player profiles).

Pitchers             W  L  SV ERA  G  GS IP    HA  ER HR BB K   WHIP OAVG BABIP ERA+
SP Tom Gooding       19 7  0  1.57 26 26 240.1 181 42 3  34 184 0.89 .208 .260  182
SP Fred Robbins *    10 16 0  2.77 26 26 230.1 222 71 3  71 110 1.27 .255 .289  103
SP Bernhard Schulz * 20 8  0  1.83 26 26 226.1 186 46 1  33 114 0.97 .220 .253  156
SP Dolph Raab        15 8  0  2.85 25 25 214.2 192 68 8  60 60  1.17 .236 .247  101
SP Bob Swartz *      0  2  1  0.84 12 0  21.1  14  2  0  6  6   0.94 .182 .197  340

We were not outscored during the sim. We scored 36 and allowed 35, which would assume around a .500 winning percentage, which is right around how we did. Over the course of the season, we've averaged 4.7 runs/game. During the sim, we've averaged a mere 2.4 runs/game. Somehow, during the last two weeks, the offense has lost about half of their run scoring ability. At least, that's one way to look at it.

It would be nice if OOTP had a "custom split" option where we could see a players stats between two specified dates.

Batters            G   AB  R  H   2B 3B HR RBI BB K  SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS OPS+
2B Patsy Reilly    99  421 69 132 14 10 4  50  37 36 17 11 .314 .369 .423 .792 141
1B Benny North #   100 410 61 131 14 10 3  60  39 26 6  6  .320 .375 .424 .800 143
CF Pip Broughton   100 394 60 114 12 25 1  42  32 31 56 38 .289 .344 .454 .798 142
3B Lou Chiles *    96  354 48 71  18 4  3  39  48 29 3  4  .201 .296 .299 .596 82
C  Billy Bragg     93  323 40 86  13 2  4  46  26 23 0  0  .266 .324 .356 .680 107
RF Doc Farley      79  317 48 89  6  3  4  41  43 26 20 22 .281 .367 .356 .723 121
SS Billy Banker    80  311 51 85  10 10 1  52  21 24 10 14 .273 .326 .379 .705 114
LF Allan Johns *   75  283 33 75  26 6  1  47  13 31 4  2  .265 .293 .410 .703 113
SS Max Schilling   40  126 14 31  4  1  0  12  12 16 0  0  .246 .307 .294 .601 84
RF Job Harty *     36  116 9  26  4  2  1  10  8  10 5  3  .224 .279 .319 .598 82
RF Jimmy Stevenson 38  103 13 25  5  2  1  13  9  12 5  4  .243 .307 .359 .666 103
C  Lemuel Ridgway  22  63  4  15  2  0  0  3   5  7  0  0  .238 .300 .270 .570 74
1B Tater Byers     32  44  5  10  3  1  0  5   1  12 0  0  .227 .250 .341 .591 79

[OmahaReynolds]

September 1st, 1903
Sim Results: 12-3

We managed to gain a little ground on Boston, as they had a slightly less productive sim (10-3). Time is running out, however, as there are only 22 games left for the White Sox to play in 1903, where Boston has 24. They seem to have a slightly easier schedule in September as well. It's time to step it up I guess.

American League Standings W  L   PCT GB
Boston Americans          79 37 .681 -
Chicago White Sox         76 42 .644 4
Cleveland Blues           65 50 .565 13.5
St. Louis Browns          66 52 .559 14
Washington Senators       49 65 .430 29
New York Highlanders      46 68 .404 32
Philadelphia Athletics    45 71 .388 34
Detroit Tigers            38 79 .325 41.5

As far as the team goes, the pitching continues to be outstanding. Our starters' combined ERA is 2.19 which is good for 2nd in the league (behind Boston, of course) and I've gotten a nice season from Dolph Raab, who was a bit of a wild card coming into 1903. I wonder if I might have done better putting Bob Swartz in there, but it's too late in the season to slot him in. I need every win I can get.

Pitchers             W  L  SV ERA  G  GS IP    HA  ER HR BB K   WHIP OAVG BABIP ERA+
SP Tom Gooding       21 9  0  1.68 30 30 273.1 222 51 4  39 214 0.95 .219 .274  170
SP Bernhard Schulz * 23 6  0  1.89 30 30 261.1 213 55 1  39 137 0.96 .218 .253  151
SP Fred Robbins *    15 19 0  2.59 29 29 257.1 245 74 4  80 119 1.26 .254 .286  111
SP Dolph Raab        18 9  0  2.64 29 29 255.2 232 75 9  65 74  1.16 .239 .251  108
SP Bob Swartz *      1  2  1  0.71 14 0  25.1  15  2  0  6  8   0.83 .169 .185  403

Lou Chiles has been an absolute bust this year, I fear he is past his prime. He was one of the trio of good hitters in his mid-30's (along with Patsy Reilly and Doc Farley) and it seems like he is seeing his decline before the other two. He's been shifted to a platoon role with Max Schilling, who is not too impressive either. Benny North was able to offset this a bit by greatly exceeding expectations, but His hot start has cooled off lately and he's come back down to Earth.

Batters              G   AB  R  H   2B 3B HR RBI BB K  SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS OPS+
1B Benny North #     114 461 73 149 15 11 4  71  47 28 7  6  .323 .382 .430 .812 147
CF Pip Broughton     113 445 70 125 14 27 1  52  39 38 61 38 .281 .340 .440 .781 137
2B Patsy Reilly      108 438 72 139 14 10 4  55  42 36 17 11 .317 .376 .422 .798 143
3B Lou Chiles *      109 403 54 86  21 4  3  47  56 34 5  5  .213 .313 .308 .620 89
RF Doc Farley        93  374 63 107 7  3  6  50  55 32 21 24 .286 .377 .369 .746 128
C  Billy Bragg       105 367 47 91  14 2  4  51  35 26 0  0  .248 .320 .330 .649 98
SS Billy Banker      88  342 60 99  12 11 1  59  25 25 12 15 .289 .343 .398 .741 125
LF Allan Johns *     85  318 41 87  28 6  3  51  17 33 4  2  .274 .306 .428 .734 122
SS Max Schilling     52  169 18 40  7  1  0  20  15 22 0  0  .237 .298 .290 .588 79
RF Job Harty *       45  144 12 35  4  2  1  12  10 12 7  3  .243 .296 .319 .615 87
RF Jimmy Stevenson   48  123 16 30  6  2  1  16  10 12 6  5  .244 .304 .350 .653 99
1B Tater Byers *     44  86  12 24  8  1  0  12  4  18 0  0  .279 .319 .395 .714 117
C  Lemuel Ridgway    27  80  7  19  4  0  0  4   6  8  0  0  .237 .295 .287 .583 78