HBL Inaugural Season-1921 (long)

[Highlander]

I am running a career sim, similar to what TigerFan is doing, except I am starting in 1921. I am planning to post results here as I go along, and hopefully have the same kind of Hall of Fame voting that TigerFan has been doing as well.
I attempted this a few months ago on the original board, but kept running into troubles. I had given up for awhile, but reading all of TigerFan's great posts got me inspired again. I ran a number of "pracitce sims" to make sure it would run more smoothly now. I have completed 6 seasons so far, and everything looks good. I have tried to follow a lot of what TigerFan did as far as Player Pages, box scores, etc.
One more thing before I report on the first season. Although I have patterned this somewhat after TigerFan's league, it is in no way being done to try to "out-do" his league. I'm not sure if anyone can beat the standard that has been set with the HOB. Hopefully this can just be an alternate look at baseball history, starting at a different time and done in a little bit different way. I welcome all comments, and if I can generate half the interest of the HOB, I will be thoroughly pleased. I will start Hall of Fame voting after the 5th season, so that I can see if enough interest is there, and to allow for enough guys to retire to get some candidates. On to the first season!!

April 1, 1921- Baseball begins in the HBL!!!

The first season of the HBL was played with great anticipation of things to come, and fans were not let down. Two of the greatest "real-life" teams in history met in a classic World Series.

In the American League, the New York Yankees(93-61) were the champions. They were challenged all year by Cleveland(89-65). The Boston Red Sox(80-74), Detroit(76-78), and St.Louis(76-78) provided some competition. Chicago(74-80), Washington(68-86), and the A's(60-94) were never really in the race.

In the National League, it was the St. Louis Cardinals(90-64) who just squeaked by the Giants(89-65) and the Cubs(87-67). Pittsburgh(79-75) and Boston(76-78) were in the middle of the pack. The Reds(69-85), Dodgers(65-89), and Phillies(61-93) brought up the rear.

Here are the Players of the Year from the regular season:

AL-
C-Wally Schang(NY) .319, 25D, 6T, 4HR, 93RBI, 91R, 15SB

1B-George Sisler(StL) .355, 36D, 15T, 10HR, 114RBI, 115R, 33SB

2B-Eddie Collins(Chi) .334, 22D, 13T, 6HR, 58RBI, 110R, 37SB

3B-Frank Baker(NY) .307, 25D, 9T, 16HR, 109RBI, 96R, 20SB

SS-Joe Sewell(Cle) .290, 40D, 7T, 1HR, 86RBI, 98R, 2SB

OF-Babe Ruth(NY) .369, 30D, 15T, 36HR, 115RBI, 136R, 8SB

OF-Tris Speaker(Cle) .377, 53D, 18T, 2HR, 113RBI, 131R, 16SB

OF-Harry Heilmann(Det) .359, 42D, 12T, 21HR, 108RBI, 134R, 5SB

SP-Joe Bush(Bos) 22-8, 3.03, 318.3IP, 14CG, 2SHO, 120K, 1.32WHIP

SP-Carl Mays(NY) 19-14, 3.18, 337IP, 29CG, 3SHO, 54K, 1.19WHIP

SP-Walter Johnson(Was) 22-13, 3.23, 331.6IP, 26CG, 2SHO, 147K, 1.27WHIP

SP-Waite Hoyt(NY) 21-16, 3.46, 336IP, 31CG, 3SHO, 85K, 1.28WHIP

RP-Bill Bayne(StL) 3-2, 1.55, 29IP, 17Sv, 16K, 1.45WHIP

RP-Jack Quinn(NY) 3-0, 2.29, 19.6IP, 13Sv, 2K, 1.17WHIP

NL-
C-Earl Smith(NY) .296, 24D, 6T, 24HR, 83RBI, 96R, 10SB

1B-George Kelly(NY) .327, 39D, 7T, 27HR, 109RBI, 102R, 6SB

2B-Rogers Hornsby(StL) .383, 46D, 13T, 19HR, 95RBI, 119R, 7SB

3B-Tony Boeckel(Bos) .345, 18D, 11T, 11HR, 92RBI, 83R, 14SB

SS-Charlie Hollocher(Chi) .329, 17D, 4T, 4HR, 79RBI, 80R, 23SB

OF-Irish Meusel(Phi) .340, 30D, 10T, 16HR, 71RBI, 93R, 13SB

OF-Les Mann(StL) .319, 26D, 18T, 13HR, 100RBI, 85R, 13SB

OF-Austin McHenry(StL) .308, 31D, 4T, 23HR, 107RBI, 98R, 7SB

SP-Dolf Luque(Cin) 23-14, 3.03, 344.6IP, 35CG, 3SHO, 110K, 1.07WHIP

SP-Rube Benton(NY) 19-14, 2.54, 322.6IP, 24CG, 6SHO, 43K, 1.08WHIP

SP-Art Nehf(NY) 22-13, 3.00, 330.3IP, 27CG, 3SHO, 90K, 1.12WHIP

SP-Joe Oeschger(Bos) 22-10, 3.05, 307.3IP, 25CG, 2SHO, 63K, 1.28WHIP

RP-Huck Betts(Phi) 4-5, 1.73, 36.3IP, 12Sv, 4K, 1.29WHIP

RP-Chief Yellowhorse(Pit) 3-0, 1.88, 14.3IP, 8Sv, 5K, 0.70WHIP

World Series-
Game 1- Les Mann and Heinie Mueller each drove in 3 runs, and Bill Doak pitched 8.3 innings for an 8-2 win over Carl Mays and the Yanks.

Game 2- Jack Smith drove in 2 runs as the Cardinals beat Waite Hoyt and the Yankees 4-2. Roy Walker got the win in relief of Bill Pertica.

Game 3- The Yankees scored 5 runs in the 2nd inning with doubles by Wally Pipp, Aaron Ward, and Braggo Roth off of Jesse Haines. Bob Shawkey held on to get an 8-6 win for the Yanks.

Game 4- In a rematch of game 1, the Cardinals pounded out 14 hits off of Carl Mays, and got 3 RBI from Jack Fournier to give Bill Doak a 6-5 win.

Game 5- Waite Hoyt pitched 9 strong innings as a well-balanced Yankee offense gave him the 4-3 win over Bill Pertica.

Game 6- The Yankees got 12 hits and Wally Schang drove in 3 runs to give Bob Shawkey all he needed in his 4-hitter. Jesse Haines took his second loss to send the Series into a game 7.

Game 7- For the third time in the Series, Bill Doak and Carl Mays matched up. The Yankees could only manage 3 hits and a Sac. Fly by Bob Meusel to scrape together 1 run. Carl Mays almost matched him, giving up 7 hits and only 2 runs, but still took the loss. Jack Fournier drove in Austin McHenry in the 4th inning for the eventual Series winning run.

CARDS IN 7!!!!

Year-end Awards (Stats not given here are found above in Player of the Year awards)

AL Batter Award- Babe Ruth(NY)
AL Pitcher Award- Joe Bush(Bos)
AL Rookie of the Year- Bing Miller(Was) .329, 9, 92
NL Batter Award- Rogers Hornsby(StL)
NL Pitcher Award- Dolf Luque(Cin)
NL Rookie of the Year- Bill Pertica(StL) 19-9, 3.09, 282.6IP, 76K

Milestones-
Ty Cobb(Det) got his 3000th hit off of Stan Coveleski(Cle)
Bob Hasty of the Philadelphia A's pitched a No-Hitter against the Washington Senators. He walked 2 and struck out 1.

Trades-
Tuesday 4/10/1921 :
Trade between St. Louis (A) and Washington :
Washington gets :
2B Billy Gleason
St. Louis (A) gets :
RF Earl Smith

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Friday 4/13/1921 :
Trade between Chicago (N) and St. Louis (A) :
St. Louis (A) gets :
2B William Marriott
Chicago (N) gets :
RF Earl Smith

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Sunday 4/15/1921 :
Trade between St. Louis (A) and Boston (N) :
Boston (N) gets :
3B Lyman Lamb
St. Louis (A) gets :
RF Fred Nicholson

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Sunday 5/13/1921 :
Trade between Boston (A) and Pittsburgh :
Pittsburgh gets :
CF Nemo Leibold
Boston (A) gets :
RF Dave Robertson

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Wednesday 5/30/1921 :
Trade between Chicago (N) and Pittsburgh :
Pittsburgh gets :
3B Charlie Deal
Chicago (N) gets :
2B George Cutshaw

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Friday 6/1/1921 :
Trade between Chicago (N) and Brooklyn :
Brooklyn gets :
LF Turner Barber
Chicago (N) gets :
RF Tommy Griffith

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Friday 6/22/1921 :
Trade between Chicago (A) and Philadelphia (N) :
Philadelphia (N) gets :
CF Amos Strunk
RF Fred Bratschi
Chicago (A) gets :
LF Cy Williams


Next up, 1922!!!

[ January 16, 2002: Message edited by: Highlander ]