Browns take 1908 NABL Crown

Dean Gordon · 06-08-2003, 07:21 PM

With summer giving away to autumn, the leaves upon the branches of the tress turning into the melancholy colours of the fall, the "royalty" of the NABL were all sitting where they should be. In the National League the Cubs opened the month a half game up on the Phillies, but in a first, the cubbies couldnt take the pressure of a Pennant race and Philadelphia swept Chicago in their three-game tilt on their way to a 15-5 month and the NL crown, outdistancing the Cubsters by 6 games.

In the American League, the St. Louis Brownies lead by 1 game over the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Blunts and the Chicago White Sox. But the Blunts folded like a cheap table when the pressure was on, and ended up 8 back thanks to a 5-12 month and the Indians, demoralized by the loss of Ace Doc White, dropped 4 to the Sox and 2 of 3 to the Browns, ending up 4 games back of the ledger. The Sox failed to do the expected and choke in the early going of the month, catching fire and going 12-4 with 3 left, including burying the Tribe by sweeping their White-less asses out of Comiskey. Meanwhile, the Browns were trudging along at an 8-8 record, 3 games back of the Sox with 3 to play when the went into Chicago to finish off the season.

September 20 - Ed Reulbach drops another game, allowing the Brownies to climb within 2....
September 21 - Frank Owen gets hammered and the Brownies are now 1 game back....
September 22 - Christy Mathewson vs. Jack Powell.. Frank Isbell's tricky grounder allows Otto Kruger, who led off the inning with a triple to score, allowing the Brownies to win the game 2-1 and tie for the Pennant...

Once again, Connie Mack's boys choked and his boys have the horror of yet another Pennant deciding game with momentum on the other side...

September 23 - In St. Louis. The struggling Reulbach vs. Lew Moren. The game is all squared until the 7th when the Brownies blow the game open and win 5-1....

so....

for the 1st time since 1903, there was be no "Chicago" team at the World Series as the Philadelphia Phillies squared off vs. the St. Louis Browns for the 1908 World Series.

The outcome was so staggering thats its best to let the teams speak for themselves:

Chicago
"God-damn September Curse", Connie Mack mumbled as he stood, alone, on the steps of the dugout as the last of the St. Louis Browns were leaving the field. "God-damn September Curse".

St. Louis
Game 1 started poorly, with the Pale Hose reaching Jack Powell for 3 quick runs on a walk, a single, a double and 2 triples. The Browns struck back, with Frank Isbell tripling and scoring on Bill Coughlin's groundout. Powell settled down and White Sox batters kept coming to the plate and then heading back to the bench. In the fourth, the Brownies got back another run on a bases loaded double-play ball. In the sixth, 3 singles and a hit batsmen plated two for the home team, and suddenly the Browns lead 4-3. Powell helped his own cause by singling home Topsy Hartsel in the 6th with an insurance run, and shut down the White Sox the rest of the way and the Browns had a 5-3 victory....still, 3 more victories were needed.

Game 2 again started with the Sox striking first, plating an unearned run in the top of the first frame when Larry McLean's throw to third on a stolen base attempt by Jim Delehanty sailed over the head of Bill Coughlin. Once again, the Southsiders would only touch the plate in the first, as rookie Nick Carter shut them down, allowing only the unearned run on 4 hits as he pitched a complete game. Meanwhile, the Browns were not kind to Sox starter Frank Owen, scoring single runs in the 1st, 2nd and 4th, and then exploding for 5 in the 8th, and the Browns cruised to an easy 8-1 victory.

It all game down to game 3. Win, and the Browns had a chance to make it to the series. Lose, and they got to look back at a "great season" that was ultimately unfulfilling. To make matters worse, the Browns would have to beat Christy Mathewson, the greatest pitcher of the decade. With Ed Doheny injured, Connor opted to bring back Powell on 1 day's rest, gambling that he could go pitch-for-pitch with the Hammer. And pitch Powell did, allowing only 6 hits and 1 walk to the White Sox. The Browns struck first in this game, plating a run in the bottom of the 2nd. The Sox struck back in the 3rd, as Mathewson helped his own cause by tripling and then scoring. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 6th, when Otto Krueger led off with a triple. Frank Isbell then hit a sharp grounder which looked to be a hit, however Jim Delehanty somehow got a glove on it, and threw out Isbell (not a 'tricky' grounder as some Chicago reporters have claimed), but not before Krueger scored. The Browns were up 2-1, and that's how the game ended, and suddenly the AL race ended in a playoff to see who would face the Phillies in the World Series.

The final game of the scheduled season may have been the game of the year, because the playoff game was almost anti-climactic. Rookie of the Year Lew Moren allowed only 5 hits and 3 walks to the White Sox, giving up 1 unearned run, while the Browns pounded Ed Reulbach for 14 hits and five runs. Reulbach had been brilliant for four innings, and then gave up one hit in the fifth inning and 3 in the sixth...still, the Browns could not score. However, his luck ran out in the seventh when the Browns scored 3 runs on five hits, and then they added 2 more runs on 4 hits in the 8th. As unimaginable as it seemed, the Browns had made the Series!

Philadelphia
"If it ain't Broke - don't fix it" cited Phillies skipper Nap Lajoie at a dejected news conference. "We were the better team but the Browns rode momentum. Should be have won? Yes. On paper. But championships arent won on paper".

********************

The North American Baseball League (NABL) is an OOTP5 league that was started in November 2002 with OOTP v4 and 16 teams involved with an initial draft. Prior to the 1905 season (March, 2003), the league converted to OOTP v5. The league is a fast-sim league, with seasons being completed about one a month.

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Cheers,

Dean Gordon
Commish - GMC, EBL, NABL

06-08-2003, 07:21 PM	#1
Dean Gordon Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: vancouver, canada Posts: 354	Browns take 1908 NABL Crown With summer giving away to autumn, the leaves upon the branches of the tress turning into the melancholy colours of the fall, the "royalty" of the NABL were all sitting where they should be. In the National League the Cubs opened the month a half game up on the Phillies, but in a first, the cubbies couldnt take the pressure of a Pennant race and Philadelphia swept Chicago in their three-game tilt on their way to a 15-5 month and the NL crown, outdistancing the Cubsters by 6 games. In the American League, the St. Louis Brownies lead by 1 game over the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Blunts and the Chicago White Sox. But the Blunts folded like a cheap table when the pressure was on, and ended up 8 back thanks to a 5-12 month and the Indians, demoralized by the loss of Ace Doc White, dropped 4 to the Sox and 2 of 3 to the Browns, ending up 4 games back of the ledger. The Sox failed to do the expected and choke in the early going of the month, catching fire and going 12-4 with 3 left, including burying the Tribe by sweeping their White-less asses out of Comiskey. Meanwhile, the Browns were trudging along at an 8-8 record, 3 games back of the Sox with 3 to play when the went into Chicago to finish off the season. September 20 - Ed Reulbach drops another game, allowing the Brownies to climb within 2.... September 21 - Frank Owen gets hammered and the Brownies are now 1 game back.... September 22 - Christy Mathewson vs. Jack Powell.. Frank Isbell's tricky grounder allows Otto Kruger, who led off the inning with a triple to score, allowing the Brownies to win the game 2-1 and tie for the Pennant... Once again, Connie Mack's boys choked and his boys have the horror of yet another Pennant deciding game with momentum on the other side... September 23 - In St. Louis. The struggling Reulbach vs. Lew Moren. The game is all squared until the 7th when the Brownies blow the game open and win 5-1.... so.... for the 1st time since 1903, there was be no "Chicago" team at the World Series as the Philadelphia Phillies squared off vs. the St. Louis Browns for the 1908 World Series. The outcome was so staggering thats its best to let the teams speak for themselves: Chicago "God-damn September Curse", Connie Mack mumbled as he stood, alone, on the steps of the dugout as the last of the St. Louis Browns were leaving the field. "God-damn September Curse". St. Louis Game 1 started poorly, with the Pale Hose reaching Jack Powell for 3 quick runs on a walk, a single, a double and 2 triples. The Browns struck back, with Frank Isbell tripling and scoring on Bill Coughlin's groundout. Powell settled down and White Sox batters kept coming to the plate and then heading back to the bench. In the fourth, the Brownies got back another run on a bases loaded double-play ball. In the sixth, 3 singles and a hit batsmen plated two for the home team, and suddenly the Browns lead 4-3. Powell helped his own cause by singling home Topsy Hartsel in the 6th with an insurance run, and shut down the White Sox the rest of the way and the Browns had a 5-3 victory....still, 3 more victories were needed. Game 2 again started with the Sox striking first, plating an unearned run in the top of the first frame when Larry McLean's throw to third on a stolen base attempt by Jim Delehanty sailed over the head of Bill Coughlin. Once again, the Southsiders would only touch the plate in the first, as rookie Nick Carter shut them down, allowing only the unearned run on 4 hits as he pitched a complete game. Meanwhile, the Browns were not kind to Sox starter Frank Owen, scoring single runs in the 1st, 2nd and 4th, and then exploding for 5 in the 8th, and the Browns cruised to an easy 8-1 victory. It all game down to game 3. Win, and the Browns had a chance to make it to the series. Lose, and they got to look back at a "great season" that was ultimately unfulfilling. To make matters worse, the Browns would have to beat Christy Mathewson, the greatest pitcher of the decade. With Ed Doheny injured, Connor opted to bring back Powell on 1 day's rest, gambling that he could go pitch-for-pitch with the Hammer. And pitch Powell did, allowing only 6 hits and 1 walk to the White Sox. The Browns struck first in this game, plating a run in the bottom of the 2nd. The Sox struck back in the 3rd, as Mathewson helped his own cause by tripling and then scoring. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 6th, when Otto Krueger led off with a triple. Frank Isbell then hit a sharp grounder which looked to be a hit, however Jim Delehanty somehow got a glove on it, and threw out Isbell (not a 'tricky' grounder as some Chicago reporters have claimed), but not before Krueger scored. The Browns were up 2-1, and that's how the game ended, and suddenly the AL race ended in a playoff to see who would face the Phillies in the World Series. The final game of the scheduled season may have been the game of the year, because the playoff game was almost anti-climactic. Rookie of the Year Lew Moren allowed only 5 hits and 3 walks to the White Sox, giving up 1 unearned run, while the Browns pounded Ed Reulbach for 14 hits and five runs. Reulbach had been brilliant for four innings, and then gave up one hit in the fifth inning and 3 in the sixth...still, the Browns could not score. However, his luck ran out in the seventh when the Browns scored 3 runs on five hits, and then they added 2 more runs on 4 hits in the 8th. As unimaginable as it seemed, the Browns had made the Series! Philadelphia "If it ain't Broke - don't fix it" cited Phillies skipper Nap Lajoie at a dejected news conference. "We were the better team but the Browns rode momentum. Should be have won? Yes. On paper. But championships arent won on paper". ****************** The North American Baseball League (NABL) is an OOTP5 league that was started in November 2002 with OOTP v4 and 16 teams involved with an initial draft. Prior to the 1905 season (March, 2003), the league converted to OOTP v5. The league is a fast-sim league, with seasons being completed about one a month. NABL Front Page Cheers, Dean Gordon** Commish - GMC, EBL, NABL