Cardinal Rule: A Fictional Historical 1901 Replay

[Afino]

Round 1, Pick 16, 16th overall Pick: LHP Orlando Rubio (77/80), 19 years old, 6'1/205

A power lefty with an interesting makeup. All of the decent SP's were gone at this point, so I took this prospect whose scouting report reads high Stuff/Movement and average Control projection. Most interesting was his 40/100 Endurance rating. Could I make this guy a starter, especially in this era?? I may try.


Round 2, Pick 16, 32nd overall Pick: RHP Juan Alvarez (66/80), 20 years old, 6'0/220

Very similar to Rubio, but right handed. 50/100 Endurance rating. The hitters at this point are just PATHETIC.

Round 3, Pick 16, 48th overall pick: CF Nick Bell (23/80), 20 years old, 6'0/185

A slap-happy singles hitter who can run and play defense. Sad at this point he's the best man out there. But I did need some more outfielders and was determined not to draft a bunch of infielders.

Round 4, Pick 16, 64th overall pick: C Timothy Jackson (22/80), 20 years old, 6'2/205, switch hitter

Potential power hitter with decent defensive abilities.


Round 5, Pick 16, 80th overall pick: RHP Brian Young (31/80), 22 years old, 5'8/180

This guy's actuall y listed as a SP, believe it or not. The best of the remaining bunch, I've actually had my eye on this guy for quite a while. Good control, good work ethic.

Drafted 1B K. Gary in the 1901 first-year player draft (Round 6, Pick 16, 96th overall Pick).

Drafted LF H. Jones in the 1901 first-year player draft (Round 7, Pick 16, 112nd overall Pick).

Drafted C T. Boyer in the 1901 first-year player draft (Round 8, Pick 16, 128th overall Pick).

Drafted MR L. Salazar in the 1901 first-year player draft (Round 9, Pick 16, 144th overall Pick).

Drafted MR A. Barnes in the 1901 first-year player draft (Round 10, Pick 16, 160th overall Pick).

Drafted C R. Lee in the 1901 first-year player draft (Round 11, Pick 16, 176th overall Pick).

Drafted MR G. Wilkerson in the 1901 first-year player draft (Round 12, Pick 16, 192nd overall Pick).

[Afino]

Angelo Pacheco was absolutely DOMINANT today, pitching a six-hitter, striking out 11 Orphans batters in a 5-1 win today in Chicago.

He deserved a shutout, but was denied one in the 8th inning when the Orphans strung a couple of hits together then scored on an infield hit by Sullivan.

Pacheco's game score of 82 ranks 11th in MLB this season. John Burt and Enrique Lopez added two-run doubles on the offensive side of the ledger.

Today was the only game with the Orphans, as it's off to Cincinnati to face the Reds.

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Saturday, June 1st, 1901

Pittsburgh Pirates: R. Ward was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: bruised wrist. This is a day-to-day injury expected to last 2 days.

[Afino]

Steve O'Herlihy did it with both his bat and his arm today, driving in the winning run in the 9th inning and pitching another solid game as the Cardinals defeated the Reds 5-4 at League Park II today.

St. Louis pounded out 14 hits and took advantage of the horrible Reds defense in the 5th inning to score four runs, none earned.

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Monday, June 3rd, 1901

CF A. Castellanos of the Baltimore Orioles honored: Wins the MLB AL Player of the Week Award.

1B E. Lehman of the Pittsburgh Pirates honored: Wins the MLB NL Player of the Week Award. Sunday, June 2nd, 1901

Washington Senators: M. Robinson pitches a 4-hit shutout against the Chicago White Sox with 4 strikeouts and 2 BB allowed!

[Afino]

After the game, the following lineup adjustments were made:

- Moved Willie Keith from 1B to SS
- Moved Quinn Allison from SS to 3B
- Moved Preston Thomas from 3B to 1B

This better takes advantage of my team's talents and defensive ratings, as Thomas has made 24 errors already at 3B, which in this era isn't HORRIBLE (73/100 rating at 3B), but more than I like.

Current IF config:

1B - Thomas (100/100)
2B - Ortiz (100/100)
SS - Keith (81/100)
3B - Allison (100/100)

Changed Manny Torres to starting every 3rd game in CF to starting only if tired.

- Cesar Duarte's hitting .339 with 27 RBI in only 115 AB. I can't keep this platoon up any longer.

Switched Duarte to 5th in the lineup and moved Ortiz to 6th vs RHP.

- See above for reason.

Switched Duarte to 2nd in the lineup and moved Stephen Downing to 6th vs LHP. Also, Manny Torres will play every other game in Downing's place at RF against LHP.

- Downing is a lefty and can't hit lefties. Duarte is the best lefty-hitter on the team. Enough said. Torres is a 100/100 RF and I do want to play him from time to time. I just can't leave Duarte out anymore.

Inserted Glenn Cox to 2nd on the LHP depth chart at SS, playing every other game, due to Willie Keith's lefty troubles.

- Again, straight platoon situation, just trying to maximize my team.

[Afino]

Programming note for the faithful readers.....

I won't be around much if at all until late Tuesday the 27th.




I'm getting married tomorrow. Hope the wife lets me keep playing OOTP

[Afino]

aaaaaaaaaand we're back!!

The first Cardinals home game in a month ended with a 6-5 11-inning Cardinals victory over the Giants. Kelley ended it with an RBI single, bringing home Manny Torres.

More noteworthy was the resiliency of the Cardinals, rebounding from a 5-1 deficit behind the bats of Willie Keith, Quinn Allison, and Torres.

Jorge Montalvo got knocked around, but Pablo Gutierrez pitched five great relief innings for the win.


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Monday, June 3rd, 1901

CF A. Castellanos of the Baltimore Orioles honored: Wins the MLB AL Player of the Week Award.

1B E. Lehman of the Pittsburgh Pirates honored: Wins the MLB NL Player of the Week Award.

Baltimore Orioles: A. Castellanos goes 1-6 against the Cleveland Blues, extending his hitting streak to 30 games!

Milwaukee Brewers: T. Coleman was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: bruised toe. This is a day-to-day injury expected to last 2 days.

[Afino]

A late Cardinals rally fell short today against the Giants in a 6-4 loss at Robison Field.

Ed Harkins went 4-4 for the victors, and John Burt stroked three hits for the losers.

I think I let Velasco in a little too long as he gave up two more runs in the 9th - which turned out to be the deciding factor. St. Louis ended up closing the gap from 6-2 to 6-4 in the 9th, and had the tying run on first base, but could do no more damage.

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Cleveland Blues: C. Ferris was injured on a defensive play. The Diagnosis: knee contusion. He's expected to miss about 5 days.

Detroit Tigers: N. Frost was injured on a defensive play. The Diagnosis: torn meniscus (knee). He's expected to miss about 6 weeks.

Cleveland Blues: M. Warner was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: knee contusion. He's expected to miss about 6 days.

[Afino]

Angelo Pacheco became the first 10-game winner in MLB history today in a dominant complete game five-hitter against the New York Giants. St. Louis won 3-1 on the strength of Pacheco and a 2-run John Burt homer.

Pacheco struck out 10 for the second straight outing, and the Giants really never had a good chance to get anything going unless the Cardinals defense gave it to them on a platter.

For the season, Pacheco is 10-1 with a 1.90 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 6.8 K/9

The Cardinals start a series against the Beaneaters of Boston tomorrow at home.

In other league news, Baltimore's Alfredo Castellanos has a 32-game hitting streak and is hitting .424 on the season. He may be the only other player in MLB that could be considered John Burt's equal.

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Wednesday, June 5th, 1901


Boston Beaneaters: S. Nichols pitches a 4-hit shutout against the Chicago Orphans with 8 strikeouts and 5 BB allowed!

[Afino]

St. Louis had no answer for the Boston offense today, dropping today's game by a score of 9-1.

Boston got on the board early when Lopez airmailed a throw down to second into center field, and Jake Watkins came in to score. But St. Louis came back in the bottom half on a Ortiz RBI ground out.

O'Herlihy couldn't keep batters off the base paths, and it came back to haunt him in the 4th on a Massey sac fly.

The 8th was a disaster, as Pablo Gutierrez was just laid to waste by the continued Boston assault. He gave up 5 of the 7 Beaneater runs and saw his ERA more than double to 2.51.

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Thursday, June 6th, 1901

Cincinnati Reds: The Cincinnati Reds have announced that they set their team focus from 'Win Now' to 'Neutral'

Cleveland Blues: P. Holmes pitches a 5-hit shutout against the Baltimore Orioles with 4 strikeouts and 2 BB allowed!

[Afino]

Good win today in St. Louis as the Cardinals take it from Boston in 13 innings, 4-3.

Montalvo got the Cards on the board himself with an RBI single in the 5th. However, the Beaneaters got that run back after a Preston Thomas error and a Mooney single.

However, in the 12th, Stewart tripled off Gutierrez (who's clearly struggling) and then scored on a passed ball. 3-1 Beaneaters.

In the bottom half, Willie Keith led off with a single to right-center. Manny Torres then singled to left and advanced to second on the throw to third. Quinn Allison brought the Cards to within one run on an RBI single to right. Pinch hitter Alvarado sac flied Torres in to tie the game! John Burt then flied out and we were off to the 13th...

Who comes out to pitch the 13th? Angelo Pacheco.

He quickly set down the Boston club in the 13th, and Orlando Ortiz led off the bottom half of the 13th with a triple! Lopez was walked intentionally, and Willie Keith hit a deep enough ball to score Ortiz for the win.

Pacheco picked up his 11th win for his quick work.

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Friday, June 7th, 1901

Baltimore Orioles: A. Castellanos goes 0-2 against the Cleveland Blues, ending his hitting streak at 33 games.


Boston Americans: B. Silver was injured while throwing the ball. The Diagnosis: tender elbow. This is a day-to-day injury expected to last 1-2 weeks.

Washington Senators: S. Pineda was injured in a collision at a base. The Diagnosis: microfracture surgery (knee). He's expected to miss about 7 months.

[Afino]

Today, the Cardinals took a coconut to the dome in Piper's Pit*, as Boston pitcher Michael Piper shut down St. Louis for a 4-3 win.

Cesar Duarte singled home Thomas and Downing for a 2-0 Cardinals lead after 1. John Burt gave those runs back though, when with two men on in the 5th, let a ball between his legs for a two-base error and a tie game.

Boston added a sacrifice fly in the 6th when Jorge Velasco was clearly tiring because he's terrible.

St. Louis loaded the bases in the 7th, but got nothing done with two outs. Steve Smith hit a mammoth blast off Velasco in the 8th to expand the lead to 4-2 though, but shoddy Boston defense gave that run right back.

With the bullpen sort of depleted, Velasco went out for the 9th and a 4-3 score. Thankfully, he escaped with no more damage.

St. Louis got runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 out and John Burt up, but he grounded out harmlessly to second for the final.

Off day tomorrow, then Philly rolls into town.


* - I've been wanting to use that Piper's Pit joke ever since I saw his name in the draft.....sue me.

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Monday, June 10th, 1901

SS E. Cabrera of the Chicago White Sox honored: Wins the MLB AL Player of the Week Award.

CF M. Torres of the St. Louis Cardinals honored: Wins the MLB NL Player of the Week Award.

Brooklyn Superbas: The Brooklyn Superbas have announced that they set their team focus from 'Rebuilding' to 'Neutral' Saturday, June 8th, 1901

New York Giants: J. Ramírez pitches a 4-hit shutout against the Cincinnati Reds with 5 strikeouts and 3 BB allowed!
Chicago White Sox: E. Cabrera was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: hip flexor strain. This is a day-to-day injury expected to last 2 days.

[Afino]

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[Afino]

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[Afino]

A good start to this series with the Phillies, as Angelo Pacheco shook off some early jitters for his 12th win of the season, a 9-3 decision.

Leonard O'Neil stroked one down the short porch in right for a homer in the first off Pacheco, and then William Sellers put one in the exact same spot for back-to-back homers!

To add more insult, Javier Medina took Pacheco deep with a tape-measure shot in the 2nd.

St. Louis got the runs back though, due to some crappy D by Philly. Ortiz hit one to center, but two runs scored when it bounced off Wallace's glove. Another run scored on a double steal attempt in the 7th that went into center field and then Ortiz scored on an RBI groundout for a 6-3 Cardinals lead.

Ortiz had 4 RBI to up his league leading total to 45.

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Monday, June 10th, 1901

Boston Beaneaters: S. Smith was injured being hit by a pitch. The Diagnosis: knee contusion. He's expected to miss about one week.

Baltimore Orioles: C. Lambert was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: strained forearm. He's expected to miss about 1-2 weeks.

[Afino]

Steve O'Herlihy didn't have the best game with his arm, so he took some frustrations out with his bat. He had a walkoff double in the 10th inning today of a 7-6 thriller over Philadelphia.


O'Herlihy squandered a 5-0 St. Louis lead between the bats of O'Neil and Sellers, and with the score 6-5 in the 9th, allowed an RBI single to Leonard O'Neil to tie the game at 6. But he made up for it on his double to score Manny Torres from 1st for the win.

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Tuesday, June 11th, 1901

Philadelphia Phillies: The Philadelphia Phillies have announced that they set their team focus to 'Rebulding'

Chicago White Sox: D. Nolan pitches a 4-hit shutout against the Washington Senators with 4 strikeouts and 1 BB allowed!

[Afino]

Sloppy defense and a late blown lead spelled doom today in St. Louis, as the Cardinals dropped one to the Phillies, 7-6 in 10 innings.

The Cardinals committed seven errors, leading to four unearned Phillie runs, including the winner in the 10th, making a loser out of Pablo Gutierrez.

It didn't help that Downing and Burt went 0-11 either.

Four against Brooklyn coming up!

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Wednesday, June 12th, 1901

Milwaukee Brewers: J. O'Savage pitches a 6-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Athletics with 7 strikeouts and 0 BB allowed!

[Afino]

St. Louis began a crucial four-game series with second-place Brooklyn today, and extended their lead to five with a 6-3 win over the Superbas at Robison Field.

Orlando Ortiz hit a two-run double in the 4th to get St. Louis on the board, and after Jorge Velasco started faltering in the 7th, Pablo Gutierrez shut dow Brooklyn the rest of the way to preserve the victory.

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Thursday, June 13th, 1901

Cleveland Blues: B. Evans pitches a 5-hit shutout against the Washington Senators with 2 strikeouts and 1 BB allowed!

Cincinnati Reds: M. Carrión pitches a 4-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies with 6 strikeouts and 4 BB allowed!


Baltimore Orioles: W. Nixon is ill. The Diagnosis: viral infection. He's expected to miss about one week.

Pittsburgh Pirates: C. Ryals was injured while throwing the ball. The Diagnosis: strained tricep tendon. He's expected to miss about 3 weeks.

[Afino]

A rainy day in St. Louis today, but Angelo Pacheco made sure that the fans didn't get too wet sitting in the seats, as he and the Cardinals cruised 3-1 today at Robison Field.

Pacheco pitched another gem for his league leading 13th win, going the distance, allowing one unearned run and striking out 10 batters for the third time in his last four starts.

John Burt provided the offense with a two-run triple in the first inning.

The lead is now six!

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Friday, June 14th, 1901

Boston Americans: B. Holley was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: torn meniscus (knee). He's expected to miss about 3-4 weeks.

[Afino]

An RBI triple by Orlando Ortiz, his 50th of the year, drove in John Burt with one out in the 8th inning to give St. Louis a lead that it would not relinquish in a 6-3 win today over Brooklyn.

St. Louis has now taken the first three games of this critical four-game set and leads Brooklyn by seven in the National League.

Steve O'Herlihy went the distance, allowing 10 hits and 3 walks, striking out three.

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Saturday, June 15th, 1901

Chicago White Sox: The Chicago White Sox have announced that they set their team focus from 'Win Now' to 'Neutral'

Milwaukee Brewers: J. García goes 6-6 against the Philadelphia Athletics, with 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI and 4 R.

Detroit Tigers: V. Sierra was injured in a collision at a base. The Diagnosis: strained oblique. He's expected to miss about 2 weeks.

[glenn]

A little late, but congratulations on getting married!

I've never been able to get into a fictional league of my own for a long period of time, but I'm enjoying reading yours, and following along with John Burt, my favorite fictional players.

How old is Burt, by the way?