A New York State Of Mind: Replaying the New York Highlanders/New York Yankees History, 1903-Present

[Ric915]

Loving this uni. Go Yanks

[gollum65]

1912 Season Recap:
So clearly I'm still having trouble evaluating deaball era talent. Apparently I keep underestimating the player's abilities. I guess part of it is I'm not used to a team using it's bullpen so little....

Final 1912 Standings:


1912 New York Highlanders Leaders & Rankings:


1912 New York Highlanders Transactions: None

Season Recap:
The team's last season as the "Highlanders", and it's last season in Hilltop Park was obviously a great one. Much better then anyone expected. Eddie Collins clearly responded well to becoming the every day 2nd baseman. He won the AL batting crown, and might even win a Gold Gove. Homerun Baker put up another MVP type Season. Big Six Christy Mathewson was everything we expected and more. He should win the AL Most Valuable Pitcher award. But perhaps the most surprising contributor was young SS Stuffy McInnis, who put up a .327 average with 98 RBIs.

The American League quickly evolved into a 2 team race between the Highlanders & the Naps. But when New York started the month of July 12-0, they pulled away in the standings and never looked back. After July 15th, the closest Cleveland got was 7 games.

New York is making it's 5th straight World Series appearance. They'll take on the Pirates for the 2nd time in 3 years. Pittsburgh is making it's 5th World Series appearance since 1904.

But, the Highlanders are in a bit of trouble as Doc White will likely miss the entire World Series. He went down with "dead arm syndrome" on October 4th. He might make it back in time for game 6 or game 7, if the series goes that far. That leaves the starting duties to Mathewson, Frank Smith, & George Winter.

1912 World Series Recap:

Game 1 @ New York: Christy Mathewson pitched a complete game, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits and the Highlanders pounded out a dozen hits of their own. New York wins the game 8-3 to take a 1 game to none lead in the series.

Game 2 @ New York: Homerun Baker's 2 run homer in the bottom of the 1st was all the offense Frank Smith would need. Smith pitched a complete game giving up 1 run on 3 hits as the Highlanders won game 2 by a 3-1 score. New York leads the series 2 games to none.

Game 3 @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh pounded out 7 runs on 14 hits in just 5.1 innings against New York's George Winter. The Pirates won the game 9-2, but still trail the series 2 games to 1.

Game 4 @ Pittsburgh: Tris Speaker's 2 run homer in the 5th proved to be the deciding score as New York won 4-3. Christy Mathewson pitched his 2nd complete game of the series, giving up 2 earned runs on 7 hits. New York leads the series 3 games to 1.

Game 5 @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh bounced back with a convincing 10-1 win to send the series back to New York. The Highlanders still lead the series 3 games to 2.

Game 6 @ New York: The Highlanders turned to Christy Mathewson to make his 3rd start of the series, this time on just 2 days rest. Big Six didn't disappoint, giving up 2 runs in 8 innings as the Highlanders pounded Pittsburgh 8-2 to win their 3rd World Series! A great way to wrap up the Highlanders era and close down Hilltop Park!

World Series Tally:
Real Yankees: 26
My Yankees: 3

[gollum65]

BTW, the Walter Johnson experiment didn't work out. Looks like he's a victim of talent change randomness. Johnson put up a 6-8 record with a 4.45 ERA, piling up twice as many walks as strikeouts. On July 19th he suffered his 2nd major injury, going down with a ruptured disc in his back. I've decided not to pick up the option year on his contract.

[gollum65]

Highlanders Become Yankees! Team Moves Into Polo Grounds!

Offseason Recap & 1913 Season Preview:
I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years!

Hall Of Fame Inductees: OF Elmer Flick, 2B Nap LaJoie, SS Bobby Wallace
It's interesting that during the height of the dead ball era, almost all the hall of famers were hitters. Flick was an offensive force his whole career. He put up a .305 lifetime average, had 1876 hits, and a .813 OPS. Nap LaJoie was an even better hitter then Flick, piling up over 2000 career hits and a .331 lifetime average. Bobby Wallace however was not much of a hitter. His career .257 average would not be HoF worthy. But he defense was. Wallace is still known to this day as one of the best fielding shortstops of all time. One of Wallace's real world teammates said "It was a delight to play third base next to that fellow."

Highlanders 1912 Award Winners: P Frank Smith won his 2nd career AL Gold Glove. 1B Hal Chase won his 5th straight AL Gold Glove. LF Lee McGee won his 1st career AL Gold Glove. 2B Eddie Collins won his 1st AL MVP Award. P Christy Mathewson won his 1st AL Most Valuable Pitcher award. He also won the NL version in 1910 with the Giants.

Highlanders Draft Recap: No real big names in this draft. I'm not going to lie. My eye is on the 1914 draft, when George Herman Ruth should be available. He WILL be a Yankee, even if it means I have to trade half the team to get him.

Notable Offseason Transactions: We sent a number of players packing who were either not working out, or were going to be too expensive. They included Walter Johnson, Hub Pernoll, Bill Killefer, George Winter, & Frank Smith. Smith wouldn't agree to any contract offers I made, yet he signed elsewhere for less money.

December 11, 1912: Signed free agent P Vic Willis to a 2 year contract @ $4,500 per season
Willis will be a good #4 starter, or could come out of the pen.

December 17, 1912: Signed P Doc White to a 1 year extension @ $38,500
White is one of my best pitchers, and I didn't want to lose him. Thankfully he didn't ask for a raise to stay in NY.

January 6, 1913: Traded RF Ray Demmitt & P Roy Patterson to the Cincinnati Reds for P Louis Drucke
Teams kept trying to get Demmitt from me, and since he wasn't going to start in RF anytime soon, I decided to trade him for a young pitcher. Drucke is a decent young righty who is probably good enough to be a legit #2 starter. His lack of control will never allow him to be a staff ace though.

Strengths: Our lineup is as good or better then last year. Pitching will be almost as tough to beat.

Weaknesses: The Yankees don't have a decent hitting catcher, but at least Agnew is solid behind the plate.

Projected Record: While our rotation is probably not as good as last year, it's still going to be hard to beat us. With our lineup we should score a lot of runs. It's hard to imagine this team not winning 90+ games and another AL pennant.

1913 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1913 Midseason Update:
Well, there is an easy way for the Yankees to end up with a high draft pick this year. Injuries. It's only mid-July, but we've already lost Doc White, Hal Chase, and Homerun Baker for the year. And Doc Gessler is out till September.

We're already 9.5 games back and fading fast. I can't get Christy Mathewson to agree to a new contract, so maybe I'll trade him at the deadline to a contender for prospects...

[gollum65]

Injury & Transaction Update: There's something I've never seen before. An injured player getting injured again. While recovering from his knee injury, Doc Gessler got bit by a poisonous snake to extend his injury time another week. lol.

Christy Mathewson was traded at the deadline to the Washington Senators for 23 year old SP Rube Robinson, RF Jack Dalton (pending arbitration case...will be released...just filling in for Gessler), & 20 year old C Frank Snyder. 4 days after the trade, Mathewson signed a 4 year extension with Washington for less money then I was offering him, but for 2 more years then I was willing to go.

Despite all the turmoil and injuries, the Yankees are still hanging around in the American League. We're 8.5 games back on August 24th.

[gollum65]

1913 Season Recap: Even despite all the injuries, and the big trade, the Yankees managed to win 90+ games for the 6th straight season. But this time it wasn't enough, and for the first time since 1908 the team did not win the AL pennant.

Final 1913 Standings:


1913 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1913 New York Yankees Transactions: I won't repeat the trade info I posted in the last thread. There was 1 other transaction of note however...

May 6, 1913: Signed free agent P Eddie Plank to a 1 year contract @ $1,300
When Doc White went down, I had to find a capable replacement. I didn't really have any decent starting prospects in the minors. Plank had a great year for me, going 18-10 with a 2.57 ERA. I couldn't have asked for anything more, and because of that performance I'm going to try to extend his contract.

Season Recap: Well, you pretty much know the story of the season. The injuries started early and kept coming all year. The Yankees managed to stay in the race anyway, but by mid-September it was clear they would not be in the playoffs.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1914 Season Preview:
Looks like rebuilding time in upper Manhattan....

Hall Of Fame Inductees: P Red Powell
Powell won 278 games over an 18 year Major League career. He's not in the real HoF, but I felt he was just barely good enough in OOTP that a veteran's comittee probably would have inducted him at some point.

Yankees 1913 Award Winners: Eddie Collins won his 2nd straight AL MVP award. That was 4 in a row for NY players. C Sam Agnew won his 1st AL Gold Glove.

Yankees Draft Recap: Probably the biggest name player the Yankees drafted was our 1st round pick, George H. Burns. But he didn't stay in New York too long. The Cubs drafted Babe Ruth. I then traded for him. Details to follow....

Notable Offseason Transactions:
On the first day of the offseason Tris Speaker, Eddie Collins, & Vic Willis all opted out of their contracts. I also chose not to pick up the option on Hal Chase. Doc Gessler was also scheduled to become a free agent in November.

To keep all 5 players would have cost the Yankees over $350,000. The Steinbreners don't own the Yankees yet. Remeber, at this time in history, the New York Giants are still the big name team in New York. They have the biggest budget, the biggest payroll, the biggest media contract, and the highest attendance. With my 3 championships I've positioned the Yankees as the #2 team, but we're still way behind the Giants in the eyes of New York baseball fans.

So, the Yankees will try to win with pitching, defense, and team speed this year....

November 2, 1913: Traded P Charlie Schmutz, 1B George Burns, & P Judge Nagle to the Chicago Cubs for Babe Ruth
Schmutz & Burns were my top 2 draft picks are are both 5 star prospects. Nagle is a 4 star player at 33 years old who can help the Cubs now. Ruth is far from developed, and maybe the "curse" has accompanied him to New York this time. One week into spring training Ruth suffered an arm injury and is out for the season. So he won't get to play anywhere until 1915.

November 25, 1913: Signed free agent P Chief Bender to a 3 year contract @ $30,000 per year (year 3 is a mutual option)
Bender & Doc White will be the top anchors in our starting rotation.

December 13, 1913: Signed free agents RF Wilbur Good, 2B Chappy Charles, & CF Red Murray to 1 year contracts, all under $2,000.
These signings go towards my hopes of winning with defense and team speed. All 3 are great defenders. Murray & Good are speed demons, and if they get on base they should lead the league in steals. Plus they save us a ton of cash.

Strengths: Pitching, defense, team speed

Weaknesses: With Speaker, Gessler, & Collins all gone, our offense will certainly suffer. Add to that the fact that Homerun Baker won't be back from last season's injury until June, and it's not hard to imagine the Yankees really struggling to score runs, especially to start the season

Projected Record: If the Yankees can hang on near the .500 mark until Baker comes back, and Baker is still Baker when he returns, I think the Yankees can win about 80 games and finish in the middle of the American League.

1914 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1914 Season Recap: It was pretty much the season I expected in upper Manhattan. We got the pitching (47 wins by our starting pitchers). We got the team speed (274 steals, 3rd most in baseball). But we didn't get the team defense I expected, which was partly my fault....

Final 1914 Standings:


1914 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1914 New York Yankees Transactions:

June 4, 1914: Signed 3B Homerun Baker to a 2 year extension @ $30,000 per year

June 6, 1914: Signed P Doc White to a 3 year extesnion @ $44,000 per year (year 3 is a mutual option)
I'm not too thrilled that after signing my biggest contract yet, White went out and only won 10 games this year.

September 3, 1914: Signed CF Red Murray to a 2 year extension @ $2,300 per year (year 2 is a mutual option).
Murray had a decent season considering his skill level. He batted .262 with 59 RBIs and 29 steals. He only commited 2 errors in center field all year.

September 3, 1914: Signed RF Wilbur Good to a 1 year extension @ $2,000.
Better season then I expected from Good. He hit .251 with 36 RBIs and 28 steals. He commited 5 errors in right field and had 12 assists.

Season Recap: My expectation was that the Yankees would win more when Homerun Baker recovered from his injury. But I probably ended up sabotaging that possibility when I tried to play Baker at 2nd base. The reason I did that was due to the season that Fritz Maisel was having at 3rd base. He ended up leading the majors in steals with 78, so I didn't want to take him out of the lineup, and Baker was a better infielder, so I decided to try him at 2nd base. But in the end all the errors that Baker commited really hurt the Yankees and they ended up losing more once he returned.

The Cleveland Naps won their first AL pennant in 10 years. The Pirates made their 6th trip to the World Series since 1903. The Naps won their 1st World Series title, beating Pittsburgh in 6 games.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1915 Season Preview:
Quite the busy offseason for the Yankees....

Hall Of Fame Indcutees: P Jesse Tannehill & P Vic Willis
Former Highlander standout Powder Tannehill becomes the second HoF inductee that's not a real world member. He won 272 games in my franchise file, with 155 of those wins coming after I started this game. Vic Willis won more games in this franchise then he did in the real MLB, and he was a HoF inductee regardless. Willis won 271 games in this franchise.

Yankees 1914 Award Winners: C Johnny Bassler won his 1st AL Gold Glove. RF Wilbur Good won his 1st AL Gold Glove.

Yankees Draft Recap: There were a few famous names in this draft. Going 1st overall to the Boston Braves was Rogers Hornsby. The Pirates took George Sisler with the 10th overall pick. Thanks to losing Collins & Speaker last year, the Yankees had 3 first round picks. My first pick was a LF named Ken Williams, but probably my most famous player picked was a pitcher named Dazzy Vance, who was a real world hall of famer. With my 3rd pick in the first round I took a SS named Dave Bancroft.

Notable Offseason Transactions: Lost quite a few guys to free agency this year, most of which were because I didn't want to pay their new arbitration awards. Among the guys who I shipped out were LF Lee Magee, RF Jack Dalton, P Larry Drucke, & P Elmer Leonard.

December 5, 1914: Signed free agent LF Duffy Lewis to a 2 year contract @ $10,000 per season
Lewis is a good defensive outfielder with a decent bat. Magee's arbitration award was slated to be more then twice what I sgned Lewis for.

December 19, 1914: Signed free agent 2B Dots Miller to a 2 year contract worth $7,000.
Decent defensive 2nd basemen with an adequate bat.

December 20, 1914: Traded 3B Fritz Maisel, P Tom Barry, P Frank Schneiberg, & 2B Carl Sawyer to the Cincinnati Reds for 1B Ted Cather, RF Tom Daley, 3B Ivy Olson, P Pol Perritt, & P Tom Sheehan
I was in a tough spot at 3rd base. I had Maisel, who could steal bases like crazy. And I had Homerun Baker who could hit the ball out of the park in the deadball era. I decided to keep the power hitter and trade the speed demon. Cather, Olson, & Daley will all fill bench roles this season. Perritt is a good bullpen prospect. Sheehan could develop into a very good starting pitcher.

Strengths: I'd say our pitching and defense is still the strength of this team. Babe Ruth is finally ready to start his career, and he'll be slotted into the #4 spot in the rotation.

Weaknesses: We certainly don't have the potent hitting lineup we used to have. But with Pipp, Bassler, Baker, & McInnis we should be able to hold our own and score some runs.

Projected Record: I think this team is a little better and a little deeper then last season. I'll go 77 wins, for an even .500 record.

1915 Opening Day Roster:

[PhillieFever]

Originally Posted by gollum65

1906 Season Recap:

Final 1906 Standings:


1906 New York Highlanders Leaders & Rankings:


1906 New York Highlanders Transactions:
June 28, 1906: Signed IF Danny Shay to a 2 year extension @ $2,250 per season (year 2 mutual option)
Shay put together a decent season, both at the plate and in the field. He was a pending arbitration case and likely would have gotten over $3,000 per year.

Season Recap:
So clearly from the standings you can see that I still don't have a solid grasp on the talent level of this team. Every time I think they're going to be good, they're bad. Every time I think they'll be bad, they're good. At least I have the #2 overall pick, especially since I lost my 2nd round pick when I signed Wild Bill Donovan. I'm excited about this draft because Walter "Big Train" Johnson is in the talent pool. I hope the Cardinals take someone else.

I do have a trade pending to get an "ace pitcher", lefty Doc White from the White Sox that sends Kid Nichols and some other pieces to Chicago. Nichols had asked for a trade and is down to a ** talent, plus he's 10 years older then Doc White. It's a waiver trade, so if it goes through I'll detail it next post.

Rube Waddell & the Philadelphia Athletics took down Pittsburgh in a thrilling 6 game World Series. Five of the 6 games were 1 run games.

Thats pretty crazy,in my 1906 season,it was the same World Series,the only difference being that Pittsburgh won it in 5.Although I've moved on from the deadball era,it was really fun to see all of those names again and how things turned out.The biggest surprise has to be Walter Johnson who by all accounts flamed out,bummer.You're doing an awesome job with this,keep it up

[gollum65]

Regarding Walter Johnson, he did sign on with another team last year and wasn't horrible. Maybe he'll end up rounding into form.

Thanks for the compliment. Keep reading.

[Ankit]

I am a Phillies phan and don't like the Yankees but I am liking your dynasty. Keep it up!

[gollum65]

Thanks Ankit. I'm not stopping for anything. Just slowing down lately as other issues get in the way.

[Jestor]

Enjoyable quick-read, even though I'm a White Sox fan.

[canadiancreed]

Agreed with the quick read and nice summaries. Well done.

[gollum65]

1915 Season Recap:

Final 1915 Standings:


1915 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


Season Recap: I'm going to start putting the season recaps first, after the screenshots so you don't have to read to the bottom to know what happened.

The 1915 season started with a major injury just 2 weeks in. The Yankees #1 pitcher Chief Bender blew out his arm on April 28th and won't return until early in the 1916 regular season. Couple that injury with some of the Yankee pitchers struggling out of the gate and I was forced to spend money on aging free agents to try and stay competitive.

The injuries continued to pile up over the season. LF Duffy Lewis went down twice. Reliever Buddy Napier blew out his arm in June and won't be back until next season. Starting catcher Johnny Bassler tore his ACL in September and won't be back until May. And just a week after Bassler went down, backup catcher Sam Agnew tore his groin and was done for the year.

Even despite all those injuries, the Yankees fought hard and managed to finish 1 game over .500, so I'm pretty happy with how things went.

1915 New York Yankees Transactions:

May 13, 1915: Signed RF Wilbur Good to a 1 year extension @ $2,500
Is Wilbur Good a great player? No. But he is a great fielder and that's what's earning him contract extensions. Good only committed 1 error in the outfield this year and had 10 assists.

June 22, 1915: Signed free agent P Ed Siever for 1 year @ 1,320
After Chief Bender went down I tried to make due with some minor leaguers such as Pol Perritt & Dazzy Vance, but nobody was reliable enough. Siever was 38 years old but he could still pitch. He put up a 8-7 record with a 3.35 ERA. Not great for this era, but not awful either.

July 27, 1915: Signed free agent P Case Patten for 1 year @ $5,000
This was a replacement for Napier after his injury. The main reason I signed Patten was his popularity as my attendance was waning. He did give me a nice fan interest bump, and some very good innings out of the pen. In 43.2 innings Patten was 1-1 with a 1.65 ERA. That was obviously good enough to earn him an extension next year, with an option for 1917, both at the same salary.

The Pirates made it to their 7th World Series since 1904, winning their 2nd in 6 games over the Senators.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1916 Season Preview:

Hall Of Fame Inductees: Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown
The former Yankee, Red, & St. Louis Brown retired with very similar OOTP stats to his real life stats. In my franchise he won 201 games with a 2.57 career ERA. The real Mordecai Brown won 239 games with a 2.01 ERA.

Yankees 1915 Award Winners: SS Stuffy McInnis won his 1st AL Gold Glove Award

Yankees Draft Recap: This seemed to be a fairly weak draft. The only recognizable name was P Burleigh Grimes, who was picked long before I got a pick. The guys I picked will probably never make the majors, except for my 1st pick MR William Evans, who will get a shot at least.

Notable Offseason Transactions: Not much turnover this year. I did make one trade.

February 9, 1916: Traded CF Red Murray, LF Tom Daley, CF Felix Chouinard, P Byron Houck, & C Jess Orndorff to the Chicago White Sox for CF George Burns & RF Bill Davidson
No, it's not THAT George Burns. This George Burns is a very good center fielder who has a great bat and lots of speed. Davidson is a real speed demon and a good defensive substitute. Plus this trade opened up some room for a couple of prospect to make the team.

Strengths: I'd say our biggest strength is pitching, especially when Chief Bender returns from his injury. We have a lot of options in the majors and AAA, many of which can start games if needed. Our infield is pretty good too.

Weaknesses: The Yankees outfield may well be great in a year or 2, but right now we're pretty young.

Projected Record: Our ownership thinks we're a playoff team. I'm not that confident. I think if we can win 80+ games, that's a good season for this group.

1916 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

A couple of things have really peaked my interest in baseball history, those being this franchise that I'm running, and watching Ken Burns' great documentary "Baseball" now airing on the new MLB Network.

So I've decided that in between my posts about the progress of my league I'm going to make short posts about baseball history. I'll try to post stories about events that occurred the year that I'm currently simming. But since this will be the first one, I'm going to backtrack a little bit.

First a few things that I've found very interesting....

It's now believe that it's almost a complete myth that Abner Doubleday "invented" baseball in Cooperstown, NY. Most baseball historians now believe the game just evolved from a couple of british games, "Rounders" and Cricket.

I was shocked to learn how violent baseball games in the early 20th centry were - not that the players were violent, but that the fans were violent. For instance the near record crowd that packed the Polo Grounds for a 1 game playoff between the New York Giants & the Chicago Cubs at the end of 1908 were practically rioting in the stands the whole day.

And speaking of that infamous 1 game playoff, let me tell you the story of why it occurred. Cubs fans probably know it well, but I'm not sure the rest of us do...

"The Curse of Fred Merkle" or "The Merkle Boner"

September 23, 1908 - The Giants were playing a series against the Cubs that would most likely decide the National League pennant between the 2 teams that year. The Giants 19 year old rookie 1B Fred Merkle was starting in place of everyday 1B Fred Tenney, who was hurt.

It was the bottom of the 9th and the game was tied at 1-1. The Giants had OF Moose McCormick on 3rd base, Merkle on 1st, and SS Al Bridwell at the plate with 2 outs. Bridwell hit a single up the middle. McCormick scored. The crowd stormed the field. The game was over. The Giants had basically clinched the pennant.

But there was a problem. The way the story goes is that the youngster Merkle got spooked by the fans rushing the field and instead of touching 2nd base, he turned and ran to the clubhouse. Cubs 2B Johnny Evers noticed this, somehow got the ball away from a fan, and stepped on 2nd base, thereby making Merkle a force out and nullifying McCormick's run.

2 days after the game, the National League upheld the out call and declared the game a 1-1 tie. It was decided that if the teams finished the season tied, a 1 game playoff would need to occur to decide the pennant.

They did finish tied. The Cubs beat the Giants in the Polo Grounds in the 1 game playoff in front of a reportedly ANGRY New York crowd, and advanced to the World Series.

The Cubs won the World Series over Ty Cobb's Tigers 4 games to 1.....and have NEVER won a World Series since. The Curse of Fred Merkle.....

I hope you guys enjoy these kinds of stories.

[BoofBonser26]

A fun, quick read. Keep it up and good luck!