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

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1942 Season Preview: The end of an era comes to the Bronx....

Hall Of Fame Inductees: 2B Riggs Stephenson
This guy was a bit of a surprise to me as he wasn't collecting awards year after year, but he has the numbers. "Old Hoss" spent 19 seasons in the majors, mostly with Brooklyn, but he also played for the Browns, Tigers, & Giants at the end of his career. Stephenson had 2,777 hits, 542 doubles, 88 triples, 167 homers, & 1,329 RBI. His lifetime batting average is .328 and he drew over 900 walks. His career OBP was .399 and his slugging was .472, giving him a lifetime .871 OPS. His career VORP was 689.2. Riggs is 14th all time in batting average, 12th in OBP, 13th in VORP, & 9th in doubles. He had 4 full seasons in which he batted over .350, including 1922 when he raked 242 hits to bat .377. Stephenson won Rookie of the Year in 1921, NL MVP in 1922, and was an AL All Star in 1933. He won 2 World Series in Brooklyn.

Yankees 1941 Award Winners: Josh Gibson won his 2nd straight & 5th career MVP award, and he picked up his 3rd career Gold Glove. Goody Rosen won his 2nd Gold Glove.

Draft Recap: For a war-time draft there were actually quite a few famous names, Perhaps most famous was Bobby Thomson (shot heard round the world...the Giants win the pennant...the Giants win the pennant...etc..) who was taken 9th overall by the Tigers. Other big names were Eddie Stanky (Red Sox), star Negro League shortstop Artie Wilson (Cards), Vic Wertz (Browns), Red Schoendienst (Indians), and Joe Garagiola who was taken by the Cards, the team he played for in real life. The Yankees didn't get any notable players, so I'm not going to bother listing them.

Notable Offseason Transactions:

October 10, 1941: Voided the contract option on 1B Lou Gehrig
I had to do it. I couldn't pay a guy $300k to bat .240 unless he could hit for power, which Lou can't anymore. I half expected him to retire on January 1st, but he didn't. He's still a free agent, and if anyone needs a 1st baseman this season due to injury, it wouldn't shock me to see Lou play again. Heck, I might try to get him back if I feel I need a boost or if an injury occurs.

January 3, 1942: Signed free agent 3B Johnny Hodapp to a 2 year contract worth $50,000 (year 2 is a team option).
Hodapp is a veteran who'll take over at 3rd base with Jimmie Foxx moving to his natural 1st base position. I'm expecting to platoon Hodapp with youngster Whitey Kurowski so he can eventually assume the starting role.

Spring Training Injuries: DiMaggio & Paige missed most of spring training, which was just fine. Reliever Joe Callahan was lost for the year with an elbow injury.

Strengths: We're still a power hitting team and we have a decent bullpen.

Weaknesses: After Satchel the rotation is very young. Also a couple of rookie position players will see significant playing time.

Projected Record: I think we're barely a .500 team and our string of American League pennants will come to an end. 80 wins at best.

1942 Budget: $1,928,837 (#1)

1942 Payroll: $1,755,169 (#2 behind the Giants)


1942 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1942 Season Recap:

Final 1942 Standings:


1942 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1942 Year In Review: So as I suspected it would, the Yankees string of 9 straight American League pennants came to an end. We had the hitting for the most part, but we didn't have the pitching.

Satchel Paige's stats took a bit of a step backwards, and so did his ratings. I need to find a new #1 pitcher pretty soon. The most tangible dip in Satchel's numbers came in his strikeout total. At only 134 Ks, it was the fewest of any season since 1931 when he only played in 9 games. His ERA went up for the 3rd season in a row, and his WHIP, opponents batting average, and batting average for balls in play all went up. It was also his lowest VORP (43.6) since 1936 when he went 15-14 for the White Sox. I'd say Satchel's chances of reaching 300 wins are now very slim. The 36 year old needs 68 wins to reach 300, and I just don't see it happening. I'd say 16 wins a year for 4 years is going to be too much for him. Maybe if he puts up 20+ wins next year he'll have a shot.

After Paige it was a mish mash of starting pitchers trying to prove they could play in the majors, and most of them weren't very good. Warren Spahn went 9-9 and missed 6 weeks with an arm injury. Orval Grove put up a 10-13 record and walked 33% more batters then he struck out. Harry Feldman, who got stuck into the #2 slot in the rotation by default, was 6-7 before he was lost for the season with a back injury. And our second best pitcher was Leon Day, who put up an 11-8 record with a 3.02 ERA, by far the best stats of any of his previous seasons.

Then there was the Tony Lazzeri situation. As soon as the season started, Lazzeri started asking for a new contract. But I wasn't willing to pay the 38 year old $200k + to stay in New York, and by June he was demanding a trade. So I obliged him.

In a big 12 player deal with the Cubs, I sent Lazzeri, Johnny Hodapp, Skeeter Newsome, Goody Rosen, a couple of prospects, and cash to Chicago for a package of players and prospects. The main guy I was after was SP Allie Reynolds, and I got him. The 25 year old is probably good enough to be a #2 or #3 pitcher next season and in future seasons, but he's still not that #1 guy I need to find.

After the deadline day trade, a lot of the kids got to play full time, and the Yankees fell from 8 games back on July 31st to their finishing spot of 15 games back and only 84 wins. At least I won't be picking last in the draft this time.

The Gehrig Watch: The Iron Horse signed on with the Indians in late April, but only got 3 at bats the whole year and no hits. He announced his retirement in August, and he'll leave the game with 599 homers.

The Splinter's Bat: Ted Williams had his best season in the majors, hitting over .300 and slugging 17 homers. His home run rating is up to 5, which is 2 points higher then he started the year with. Looks like he's on his way to terrorizing American League pitchers like we all expected.

1942 New York Yankees All Stars: P Rip Sewell (7th AS game), P Rene Monteagudo (1st AS game), C Josh Gibson (8th AS game), CF Joe DiMaggio (6th AS game), 2B Tony Lazzeri (5th AS game), 3B Johnny Hodapp (4th AS game), & 1B Jimmie Foxx (8th AS game).
Obviously Lazzeri & Hodapp were traded later in the season. Foxx was obviously selected on reputation because his numbers this season were pretty poor (.239, 17 HR, 64 RBI). He was bad enough that I have to decide if I want to pick up his option for next year. Right now I'm leaning against it.

1942 New York Yankees Transactions:

July 9, 1942: Signed P Rip Sewell to a 2 year extension @ $115,000
Sewell is probably the best relief pitcher in the game. Too bad he's already 35 years old, which is why he only got a 2 year deal. The 2nd year is a mutual option in case he starts going downhill.

July 31, 1942: Traded 2B Tony Lazzeri, 3B Johnny Hodapp, LF Cliff Mapes, P Preacher Roe, 2B Skeeter Newsome, RF Goody Rosen, & $25,000 cash to the Chicago Cubs for 2B Freddie Lindstrom, P Eddie Hanyzewiski, P Allie Reynolds, RF Lloyd Waner, SS Creepy Crespi (yes, that's his name), & P Eddie Head
Lindstrom & Waner were throw in pieces to help with the contracts involved. Neither played much in New York, and both will be gone in the offseason. Mapes was the big catch the Cubs wanted. They wouldn't take any deal that didn't include him.

World Series Matchup: I'm sure Sawx fans are happy to finally see them climb out of last place. It's the first AL pennant for Boston since 1930, and the 5th in team history. The Pirates actually led the National League the whole season, but Cincinnati caught them during the last week of the season, then took 2 out of 3 from the Pirates the last week of the season to pass them. For Cincinnati it's their 1st World Series since 1933, and their 6th NL pennant in team history. Boston is looking for their 3rd World Championship, as are the Reds.

The Reds won the first 2 games in Boston to take a commanding lead in the series. They then won game 3 in Cincy before the Red Sox avoided the sweep by winning game 4. But in the end the Reds were just too much for Boston and Cincinnati won game 5 to win the series 4 games to 1! Cincinnati wins their 3rd World Series!

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1943 Season Preview: The motto for this coming season is "How good are these kids??".

Hall Of Fame Inductions: SS Glenn "Buckshot" Wright, RF Paul Waner, CF Chick Hafey, 1B Lou Gehrig, P Lefty Grove
Besides Gehrig, you could arguably make cases against all these players, or say they should at least be "veteran's committee" candidates. I won't bother listing Gehrig's bio as it's well known. I will however correct an earlier post I made about him. He retires with 591 homers, not 599.

Glenn "Buckshot" Wright was one of the best shortstops in the game. He played 19 seasons for 5 different teams, but spent most of his career as a Chicago Cub. He had 2,682 hits, 1,343 runs, 406 doubles, 148 triples, 203 homers, & 1,415 RBI. He put up a .288 lifetime average, a .327 OBP, a .429 SLG, and a .756 OPS. His career VORP was 343.5. Buckshot Wright won 11 Gold Gloves and a World Series ring with the Giants in 1937. He was selected to the 1938 All Star game.

"Big Poison" Paul Waner played 16 seasons in the American League, 14 with the Washington Senators. He had 2,747 hits, 546 doubles, 146 triples, 135 homers, 1,256 RBI, and he scored 1,435 runs. He drew over 1000 walks and posted a lifetime .324 average. His OBP was .396 and his SLG was .471, giving him a career .867 OPS. He had a career VORP of 690.9. Waner won Rookie of the Year in 1926, 6 Gold Gloves, and was a 4 time All Star. He won 2 World Championships.

Chick Hafey played center field for 20 seasons for the Phillies, Tigers, Reds, A's, & Browns. He posted 2,596 hits, 602 doubles, 86 triples, 234 homers, & 1,376 RBI. He scored 1,317 runs and drew 811 walks. His lifetime average is .303 with a .363 OBP and a .475 SLG. His career OPS is .838 and his VORP is 397.8. He won 3 Gold Gloves and was an All Star in 1939.

Lefty Grove is the first pitcher inducted since 1933, and to be honest that was part of why I decided to induct him. This has been a hitter friendly HoF so far and it was time to include a pitcher. Grove posted a 258-210 record in 18 seasons for the White Sox, Reds, Braves, & Cardinals. He won 20+ games 4 times, and from 1927 to 1935 he won at least 18 games every year but one. The big knock on Grove is his career ERA, which was 3.87, and he only posted 1 season with an ERA below 3.00. He struck out 2,349 batters and only walked 1,301. His lifetime WHIP is 1.38 and his VORP was 561.4. Grove won Pitcher of the Year 3 times and was a 2 time All Star. He won a World Series with the Reds in 1933.

Yankees 1942 Award Winners: LF Willard Brown won his 2nd Gold Glove.
It was the fewest awards any Yankee/Highlander team has won since I took over the team, and it was the first time since the early 1900s that a Yankee/Highlander didn't win a major award.

Draft Recap: Some BIG names in this draft, including one of the most famous Yankees of all time. But unfortunately they were all gone by the time I picked. Yogi Berra went 9th overall to the White Sox. Roy Campanella went #1 to Washington. Duke Snider went 5th to the A's. Gil Hodges went 6th to the Philadelphia Blue Jays (I guess the Phillies changed their name for a time...) Since I couldn't get Yogi or Campy, I took a catcher named Ken Sears so I could move Josh Gibson to 1st base and let Jimmie Foxx walk.

Notable Offseason Transactions:

October 6, 1942: Voided the contract of 1B Jimmie Foxx
I only wish I had gotten Foxx earlier in his career. I couldn't justify bringing him back to pay him more then his batting average. He signed with the Reds, so maybe he'll rebound for the last few seasons of his career.

November 20, 1942: Signed 32 year old free agent 2B Sammy T. Hughes to a 2 year contract @ $15,000 per year (season 2 is a mutual option)
A real bargain to sign a 5 time Gold Glove winner for $15k per year.

December 12, 1942: Signed 24 year old free agent P Bob Feller to a 2 year contract worth $475,000 (season 2 is a mutual option)
On the surface it looks like I've found my new #1 pitcher. Feller has dominated the American League, striking out 200+ 4 times in his career. The problem with Feller is injuries. He's coming off his 2nd major elbow injury that cost him all of last season. He also missed all of 1938 and half of 1940 with a back injury. If he's able to stay healthy and still pitch as well as ever, I'm in good shape. If not, it's a good thing it's a short contract.

April 18, 1943: Signed LF Willard Brown to a 3 year extension worth a total of $645,000
I don't know if I'm going to keep Brown that long, but at least I have him locked up for a few more years. I'd still like to find a "bigger name" to play in LF, as Brown is just listed as "popular" locally.

Spring Training Injuries: None

Strengths: Even with the losses of Gehrig & Foxx the last 2 seasons, the lineup is still very strong. With Gibson, DiMaggio, & Brown we have 3 of the best power hitters in the game.

Weaknesses: Pitching is the big question mark. I've got to find out if some of these kids I've acquired the last few seasons are any good, such as Reynolds, Wyse, and Spahn. We're also a very young team, with only 3 players on the opening day roster over 30 years old.

Projected Record: I expect to have a losing record this year, and 100 losses wouldn't shock me. I'm clearly in rebuilding mode now. I tried all offseason to move Satchel Paige, but couldn't find a trading partner. He's not too happy about it. I intend to move him by the deadline if possible. Regardless he's almost certainly starting his last season in pinstripes.

1943 Budget: $1,895,506 (#1)

1943 Payroll: $1,458,560 (#6)


1943 Opening Day Roster:

[Jeff49]

Thanks for continuing with your game and reporting, gollum. I continue to enjoy it.

I wonder if in the historic game, the AI considers time away from the game for World War II as a long injury period? Feller is missing a lot of time, though before WWII, but I wonder if that's still held against him? It'll be interesting in the next three years to see if some more otherwise healthy players start taking months-long injuries. That would not be good for Ted Williams and many others.

Too bad about Paige and Foxx slowing down, but then Foxx did tail off pretty quickly when he got into his 30s and put on some extra weight. I was hoping for and expecting a couple more really good years from Gehrig, but maybe his RL disease was also interpreted by the AI as injuries.

Can you imagine a RL pitching staff of Satchel Paige, Warren Spahn, Bob Feller and Allie Reynolds, and Sal Maglie ready to spot start when needed? You must really be mishandling your starters?

Pee Wee Reese should be racking up some Gold Gloves pretty soon.

Enjoyable reading as always, and thanks for the patience to record all of this on the forum.

[gollum65]

I doubt the AI holds years missed due to the war against players, so I think he's just injury prone. Regarding Gehrig, he was pretty far up there in age. Yes, he did decline quickly, but many of them do in my franchise. Hornsby won an MVP one year and was trade bait 2 years later and out the game 2 years after that. It happens. The game does tend to decline players quickly, which is fine by me. It wouldn't seem right to have a 50 year old Gehrig hitting homer #700.

[gollum65]

1943 Season Recap: Satchel out. Yogi In!

Final 1943 Standings:


1943 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1943 Year In Review: Well, it wasn't quite as bad a season in the Bronx as I predicted it would be, but it was close. The only reason we didn't lose 100 games was mainly thanks to Satchel Paige, who won 14 games.....before I traded him.

And I'm really no closer to know what good pitching prospects I have then I was at the start of the year. Feller was good, but he got hurt twice and posted a losing record. Harry Feldman & Warren Spahn were probably our 3rd and 4th best pitchers, but they didn't exactly light up the opposition. I had a lot of hope for Hank Wyse & Allie Reynolds, but both have been awful so far. So while I think the pitching picture is a little clearer, I've certainly got a lot of work to do.

By the trade deadline I was clearly way out of the playoff race, so I struggled for hours (real time) trying to find a trading partner for Satchel Paige as he wanted out anyway. I finally settled on the White Sox and pulled off a massive 15 player deal. Leaving New York were Paige, C Ken Sears (the rookie was playing great for me too), young 3B Whitey Kurowski (who I really didn't want to move), a bunch of prospects, and cash. Coming to New York were C Yogi Berra, a couple of young pitchers, and a couple of aging veteran position players who I had to take to get the cash situation workable. Details below.

So obviously I'm stoked to get Yogi in a Yankee uniform before he makes the big leagues. And I think I got a couple of good young pitchers in the deal too. It hurt to let Satchel go, and Kurowski for that matter, but I had to do it. At least I have a top 3 pick in the upcoming draft.

The Foxx Is On The Prowl: I guess Jimmie Foxx wasn't done. He put up a good season in Cincy, batting .261 with 19 homers and 102 RBI. At this point I think he needs to be the focal point of a team, which was something I couldn't do for him.

The Splinter's Bat: Ted Williams hit .323 with 16 homers and 100 RBI with a .417 OBP. But his HR rating did go up again, so he's still developing.

1943 New York Yankees All Stars: Satchel Paige (6th AS game), Rip Sewell (8th AS game), Josh Gibson (9th AS game)
Obviously Paige was traded after the AS game.

1943 New York Yankees Transactions: What really concerns me more are the transactions that are about to happen. Bob Feller, Rip Sewell, and Josh Gibson can all opt out of their contracts when we hit the offseason, and it wouldn't shock me if they do. Sewell has been begging for a trade for almost 2 years. Gibson isn't happy on a losing team and has asked for a trade already. And while Feller hasn't said anything and his mood is good, he'll probably think he can make more money and play for a winner. If they do opt out, I'll try to resign them, but I'm not going to break the bank for any of them.

July 31, 1943: Traded 26 year old C Ken Sears, 30 year old P Joe Kohlman, 26 year old P Joe Callahan, 25 year old P Melvin Queen, 37 year old P Satchel Paige, 25 year old 3B Whitey Kurowski, 26 year old P Leon Day, 24 year old P Bob Voiselle, 18 year old P Rex Barney, 23 year old P Roy Talcott, & $50,000 cash to the Chicago White Sox for 18 year old C Yogi Berra, 37 year old OF Bob Johnson, 21 year old P Dave Ferriss, 35 year old 1B Buck Leonard, & 20 year old P Bob Kuzava
Some of you will probably think I got Yogi cheap. I think I overpaid. There were a lot of good young players going both ways in this deal. But it's Yogi!

World Series Matchup: Both pennant races were over by mid-September. It's the 2nd straight World Series for the Red Sox, and 5th in team history. They're trying to win their 3rd title. It's the first trip to the fall classic for the Giants since 1937, and their 5th appearance in team history. They're seeking World Championship #4.

The teams split the first 2 games at Fenway Park, then headed for the Polo Grounds. The Red Sox beat up on the Giants in games 3 and 4 to take a 3 games to 1 lead, then sealed the deal with a 7-4 victory in game 5 to take the series! Boston wins their 3rd World Series!

[gollum65]

Offseason "Veteran's Committee" Hall Of Fame Ballot:

2 new names for your consideration:

C Bill Dickey: One of the better hitting catchers in the league, Bill Dickey played 16 seasons for the A's, White Sox, Indians, & Giants. He had 2,512 hits in 8,062 at bats for a career batting average of .312. He had 428 doubles, 116 triples, 292 homers, and drew 572 walks. Dickey batted in 1,372 runs, and his OBP was .351. His slugging % was .502 and his OPS was .873. He had a career VORP of 604.5. Dickey won 3 Gold Gloves and was a 3 time All Star. He won the World Series in 1937 with the Giants. Dickey currently ranks 12th all time in homers.

OF Chuck Klein: Klein played 15 seasons for 6 teams, mostly with the Red Sox & Yankees. He had 2,156 hits in 6,488 at bats for a career average of .332. He had 332 doubles, 56 triples, 371 homers, and 1,324 RBI. His OBP was .397 with a .572 SLG and a .970 OPS. Klein's career VORP was 786.7. He won Rookie of the Year in 1929, an MVP award, 2 Gold Gloves, and was an 8 time All Star. He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1936. At the time of his retirement Klein ranks 8th all time in batting average, 3rd in slugging, 4th in OPS, 10th in VORP, & 4th in homers.

Dickey is really questionable in my mind. Great batting average for a catcher, but the rest of the numbers don't stack up. Most of Klein's numbers do stack up, except for his hits and RBI, which are really low for a power hitter who played that long. And the lack of career awards for both guys hurts them too. I'm leaning towards yes on Klein, no on Dickey. What do you guys think?

[Jeff49]

gollum, I'm one who thinks catchers should almost be judged separately from other everyday players, as far as the HOF goes, because their positions are so demanding physically, so I'll ask you before deciding, how do Dickey's stats compare to your other all-time catchers? He might be only 12th in homers, which is very good in and of itself, but if he's in the top three or so among catchers in homers and other important stats, his case improves, I think, so I'm leaning toward voting him in.

Yogi should be good for you for a lot of years. I'm disappointed in DiMaggio's home runs, he should be in the 30s by now.

That was a huge trade - I see you gave up eight pitchers, nearly a staff's complement worth, assume most were minor-leaguers. I've started a league in which I'm the commissioner with responsibility for all trades, majors and minors, and it takes a lot of time to decide on trades, doesn't it? I've taken to writing down names a team is unhappy with and looking to trade, or is loaded with minor leaguers at a position the major team already has a very good young player playing, and trying to match them with another team's weaknesses and something to give in return.

[gollum65]

DiMaggio only played 107 games due to injury. Had he played the full season I would expect his home run total to be somewhere near 30.

Regarding Dickey vs. other HoF catchers, I agree that you almost have to judge them separately, just like you have to judge relievers separately.

Compared to other catchers (active & retired), Dickey ranks as follows:
Games: 9th
At Bats: 6th
Hits: 5th
Doubles: 5th
Triples: 9th
Home Runs: 2nd (Only Gibson has more)
RBI: 5th
Runs: 6th
Walks: 19th
Batting Average: 4th
OBP: 13th
SLG: 4th
OPS: 5th
VORP: 5th

So I guess if you just compare him to other catchers, Dickey was a HoF worthy player. The problem I still have with him however is that while his numbers rank favorably, they don't really compare. The catchers who are, or are going to be in the HoF have significantly better numbers then Dickey. Most of those guys played, or will have played, about 1000 more games then Dickey.

So let's compare him to a HoF catcher who played a similar number of games, Gabby Hartnett. I'll list the stat and how many more the leader between the 2 players had:

Games: Hartnett (+132 more games)
At Bats: Dickey (+74)
Hits: Dickey (+195)
Doubles: Dickey (+17)
Triples: Even
Home Runs: Dickey (+8)
RBI: Hartnett (+14)
Runs: Hartnett (+98)
Walks: Hartnett (+349)
Strikeouts: Hartnett (Struck out 616 more times)
Batting Average: Dickey (.312 vs. .290)
On Base %: Hartnett (.360 vs. .351)
Slugging: Dickey (.502 vs. .477)
OPS: Dickey (.853 vs. .837)
VORP: Dickey (604.5 vs. 552.9)

Dickey also won more awards then Hartnett. So I guess if Hartnett is a HoF player, so is Dickey. Still think his numbers are too low in terms of the big picture, but comparable catcher vs. catcher he looks good enough.

[lawrence97]

i'd vote them both in. Klein i think is a no brainer, and Dickie i think measures up fine agaisnt Hartnell, so if GH is in, so should Dickie. Then again, i thought that there's no way you lose more than 70 games last year when i saw your roster!

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1944 Season Preview:

Hall Of Fame Inductions: OF Paul Waner, C Bill Dickey, C Mickey Cochrane, P Red Ruffing
I won't bother listing Dickey's stats and accomplishments again. They've been discussed at length in the posts above.

Paul Waner played 16 seasons, 14 of which were in Washington. He had 2,747 hits and scored 1,435 runs. He smacked 546 doubles, 146 triples, 135 homers, and had 1,256 RBI. His lifetime average is .324 and his OBP is .396 thanks to 1,030 walks earned. His slugging % is .471 and his OPS is .867, and he put up a career VORP of 690.9. Waner won AL Rookie of the Year in 1926, then won 6 Gold Gloves and 2 World Series rings. He was a 4 time All Star, and at the time of his retirement ranks 8th all time in doubles.

Mickey Cochrane was a great catcher who played all 19 big league seasons as a Chicago Cub. He had 3,106 hits, 605 doubles, 173 triples, 223 homers, 1,568 RBI, and scored 1,817 runs. His lifetime batting average was .320 and he drew 1,492 walks to help him earn a .408 OBP. His slugging % was .486 and his OPS was .894. His career VORP was 984.2. Cochrane won NL Rookie of the Year in 1925, was a 3 time MVP and a 6 time All Star. He won a World Series ring in 1935.

Some of you might remember that I cut Red Ruffing loose after a couple of major injuries early in his career because I didn't think he was worth the arbitration award he was going to get if he was always going to be hurt. And while he did suffer another major back injury later in his career, all he did beyond that was earn a spot in the HoF, which I guess proves I'm an idiot. Over a 19 year career in the American League Ruffing earned a 255-214 record with a 3.81 ERA and 1,811 strikeouts. He won Pitcher of the Year in 1927 with the Yankees, then picked up 2 Gold Gloves and was an All Star in 1937. He won a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1923.

Yankees 1943 Award Winners: Willard Brown won his 2nd straight and 3rd career Gold Glove.
In addition to Brown, Buck Leonard & Ken Sears, who both spent half seasons with the Yankees, won Gold Gloves at their positions.

Draft Recap: Picking 3rd was unusual for me, so it was a tough decision to make as there were a few great players in this draft. I ended up taking 2B Nellie Fox. Other big names were Joe Nuxhall, Minnie Minoso, & Eddie Yost.

Notable Offseason Transactions:

October 12, 1943: C Josh Gibson opts out of his contract. Voided the team option on 2B Sammy T. Hughes
I wasn't surprised that Gibson wanted to leave, but I was surprised when Feller & Sewell decided to stay. Especially Sewell, who has begged for a trade numerous times in the last 2 seasons. But I'm happy to have him stay. I could have tried to resign Gibson, but decided to let him walk in favor of youth and saving a few bucks.

November 5, 1943: Purchased the contract of 32 year old minor league C Walter Stephenson from the Philadelphia Blue Jays for $7,000
Stephenson is a very good defensive catcher who will platoon with Yogi until Yogi's ready to be the every day guy.

November 15, 1943: Signed free agent RF George Case to a 1 year contract @ $19,500
Case is a good defensive outfielder with a nice bat. Since Carl Furillo is still struggling to develop, I decided to run with a platoon of Case & Furillo.

December 24, 1943: Signed free agent 1B Buck O'Neil to a 1 year contract @ $16,000
O'Neil is a great defensive 1st baseman with a decent bat. If my team is going to stink, at least we can play good defense.

January 9, 1944: Signed 2B Lew Riggs to a 2 year contract worth $165,000 (year 2 is a mutual option)
Riggs is a good defensive 2nd baseman who I signed mainly as a stop gap until Nellie Fox matures and is ready to play in the majors.

Spring Training Injuries: None

Strengths: We still got DiMaggio and a good bullpen.

Weaknesses: We're very young at some positions and very average at others. The starting pitching is still a big question mark.

Projected Record: I doubt this season will be any better then last, and could even be worse. I'll say 75 wins.

1944 Budget: $1,907,906 (#3)

1944 Payroll: $1,263,045 (#10)


1944 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

I thought I'd mention something about the HoF. One thing that's bothered me about this franchise is that all the players I inducted into the Hall of Fame before 1920 somehow vanished, both from the HoF and from the statistical leaderboards. Guys like Cy Young are in the game as retired and in the hall, but they have 0 stats.

So this morning I decided to try to delete those players, reimport them from the database, retire them again, and induct them again. I figured at least that way I'd have their real stats. Well, they import fine, but after induction into the HoF, they still don't show up in the hall or on the leaderboards. Very frustrating.

If anyone knows why this is happening or can suggest a way to fix it, please let me know.

[gollum65]

1944 Season Recap:

Final 1944 Standings:


1944 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1944 Year In Review: So while it's clear that the rebuilding continues, I think I can safely say we've turned a corner in the Bronx and I can declare the "rebuilding" almost complete. I'm not saying we'll be back in the World Series next season or even for a few seasons. But with the deals I made this season I've re-stocked at almost every position and now have a much clearer picture of the direction I want to take the team.

A few members of the young pitching staff clearly started showing their potential this year, and because of the progress they made I was able to deal away some of the other young pitchers I've acquired over the last few seasons. 24 year old Karl Drews & 24 year old Harry Feldman had very good seasons, and they appear to be ready to take on the #2 and #3 slots in the rotation behind Bob Feller in future seasons. The #4 slot will probably fall to Warren Spahn or Hank Wyse. Both have been pretty bad, but Wyse shows more potential so he's got the best shot of staying in the rotation. If he does then Spahn will become a full time bullpen arm.

Of the young hitters who started the season in the Bronx, only RF Carl Furillo showed marked improvement, batting .286 with 7 homers & 52 RBI. He's only 22 years old and is still a 1 star player, but he's still a 4.5 star prospect.

By the trading deadline the Yankees were in 7th and sinking fast, so a couple of veterans were dealt and some youngsters were acquired to shore up critical positions for the future....

The Splinter's Bat: Ted Williams won the AL batting title with a .344 averaage and hit 34 homers with 104 RBI, so I'd say the 26 year old has arrived. He'll be a free agent after 1945. I may have to see what I can do to bring him to the Bronx soon....

1944 New York Yankees All Stars: P Bob Feller (3rd AS game), P Rip Sewell (9th AS game), CF Joe DiMaggio (7th AS game).
Gotta love Rip. All he does is make All Star games.

1944 New York Yankees Transactions:

May 31, 1944: Signed SS Pee Wee Reese to a 3 year extension worth a total of $45,000 (season 3 is a team option)
There are better shortstops out there, but I do like Pee Wee so I decided to keep him around for now. He'll never win a batting title or a Gold Glove, but he does an adequate job and he's still relatively young.

July 13, 1944: Signed P Rip Sewell to a 2 year extension worth a total of $340,000 (season 2 is a mutual option)
This was a bit of a surprise considering how many times Sewell asked to be traded, and that he wouldn't even talk about an extension for most of the 1st half of the year. I guess the AS selection put him in a good mood. I'm happy to have him back for another year or 2.

July 26, 1944: Signed P Bob Feller to a 3 year extension worth a total of $975,000 (season 3 is a mutual option)
This was another surprise as Feller had refused to talk about an extension all year. But after Rip signed, I guess Rapid Robert felt like I was committed to winning, so he signed.

And now for the trades.....

July 31, 1944:
Trade 1: Traded 1B Buck O'Neil, P Phil McCullough, P Don Black, SS Rod Dedeaux, P Ed Head, 1B Bob Kennedy, & $8,000 cash to the Cincinnati Reds for LF Minnie Minoso, 3B Pinky Higgins, & 1B Dick Sisler
Minnie Minoso was my target in this trade, and I gave up a lot of talent to get him. Sisler is a good 1st baseman and he'll compete for the starting job. Higgins was a throw in to make the deal financially feasible.

Trade 2: Traded P Lefty Smoll, 3B Buck Leonard, P Bob Kuzava, SS Creepy Crespi, & $43,000 cash to the St. Louis Cardinals for P Sam Nahem, 1B Paul Gillespie, SS Vic Barnhart, & P Andy Hansen
The two guys I wanted in this deal were Nahem and Gillespie. Nahem is just as good as Smolll and he's younger and cheaper. Gillespie will probably be my starting 1st basemen for a few years, unless Sisler out plays him.

I tried desperately to trade Willard Brown at the deadline, but I couldn't find a taker. A couple of teams wanted him but wouldn't offer anyone I was interested in. I'll probably dump him in the offseason, even if I have to eat salary. Yeah, he hits homers. But that's all he hits. A .226 average with 30 homers in 130 games is not what I had in mind. I had hoped his hitting would improve but it hasn't. I may just unload him for a scrub prospect just to get him off the books.

August 5, 1944: Claimed P Jess Dobernic off waivers from the Boston Red Sox
I don't usually mess with waivers too much, but the opportunity to take a good young pitcher away from the Sawx was too good to pass up.

So now with the acquisition of Minoso & the 2 young first baseman, I have good young prospects or entrenched young veterans (like DiMaggio) at almost every position. What I'll need now is a good young power hitting 3rd baseman and I'll have pretty much completed the rebuild.

World Series Matchup: It's the 1st World Series for the Indians since 1929, and their 7th appearance in franchise history. The Blue Jays (Phillies) are making their 3rd trip to the World Series in this decade, and their 5th trip overall. Cleveland has won 4 titles while Philadelphia has won 2.

The Jays won the first 2 games at home to send the series to Cleveland with the Indians down 2-0. Cleveland rebounded to win game 3, but the Blue Jays won game 4 to take a 3 games to 1 lead. The Indians avoided elimination by winning game 5 in dramatic fashion with a walk off RBI single in the bottom of the 14th. Philly leads the series 3 games to 2 as it shifts back to Pennsylvania. Home cooking proved to be good for the Blue Jays as they won game 6 by a 3-2 score. The Philadelphia Blue Jays win their 3rd World Series! (now if we can just get them to change their name back. )

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1945 Season Preview: With the war in Europe all but over and the war in the Pacific nearing it's completion, the nation is ready to turn to Major League Baseball to help in the recovery. The Yankees are poised to thrill their fans, and anger their haters, for years to come.

Hall Of Fame Inductions: 2B Tony Lazzeri
No surprise to see Tony Lazzeri be enshrined. Lazzeri played 20 seasons for the Pirates, Yankees, & Cubs, but spent most of his career in Pittsburgh. He collected 2.696 hits in 9,366 at bats for a .288 lifetime average. He drew 1,487 walks which helped him compile a .385 OBP. His 497 doubles, 167 triples, & 218 homers contributed to his .447 slugging %. His career OPS was .832 and his VORP was 612.8. He had 1,338 RBI. Lazzeri was selected to 6 All Star games and won 3 World Series rings.

Yankees 1944 Award Winners: Yogi Berra won his 1st career Gold Glove. Pretty good for a 19 year old. That was the only award for the organization, which makes it our thinnest year yet.

Draft Recap: The Yankees had the 2nd pick, so we pretty much had our choice between Larry Doby, Don Newcombe, and Richie Ashburn. We went with Doby because I need a power hitting infielder. Newk went to the Pirates and Ashburn went to the A's.

Notable Offseason Transactions:

November 16, 1944: Traded OF Willard Brown, P Dan Bankhead, P Allie Reynolds, P Junior Walsh, P Ed Hanyzewski, & C Bill Swift to the St. Louis Browns for P Vito Tamulis, CF Vince DiMaggio, & $41,000 cash.
So I finally unloaded Brown's weak bat. He'll probably be one of the best home run hitters in history, and one of the worst hitters for average in history. I really didn't want to deal Hanyzewski, but the Browns wouldn't make the deal without him. I had to take Tamulis for salary reasons. Now I have 2 DiMaggio brothers in the outfield. I tried to deal for Dom but couldn't get the Reds to budge. Now if I can just get Joe to accept a new contract. Right now he's refusing to negotiate.

December 4, 1944: Signed free agent 3B Red Kress to a 1 year contract @ $44,390
I need Kress to hold down 3rd base for a year or 2 until Doby is ready for the majors.

Spring Training Injuries: None

Strengths: Our young pitching staff is improving. We're pretty good in the outfield now.

Weaknesses: We're either very young, or the guys we have holding down positions for future youngsters are not that great.

Projected Record: We won 69 games in '43 and 61 games last season. I think we're on the upswing again. I'll say 70 wins.

1945 Budget: $2,016,557 (#2)

1945 Payroll: $1,332,862 (#10)


1945 Opening Day Roster:

[Jeff49]

You have a lot of faith in Bob Feller I see, with his new $300-325-350,000 contract extension based on his 22 wins in the last two seasons. I hope it works out for you.

I've never heard of Vito Tamulis. How is he doing? $218,000?

I'm afraid to ask about Spahn. I don't see him listed among your game winners.

[gollum65]

Feller's extension is based on quality, not quantity. He usually leads the league in strikeouts in an era when strikeouts weren't piled up like they are today. I have confidence that if I put a good team in front of him he'll win games.

I'd never heard of Vito Tamulis either. But coming into this season he had a 137-113 record, all with the Athletics. The real Vito Tamulis played 6 seasons for the Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies, and A's and won 40 games in his career. Certainly not a star pitcher, real or fake. But he's decent enough, and as I said I had to take money back in the deal to make it work.

My Warren Spahn has not yet turned into the real Spahn, but I still hold out hope. He's only 24 years old, so as long as he doesn't get expensive I'll probably stick with him another couple of seasons. He went 5-13 on a really bad Yankees team in 1944.

[gollum65]

1945 Season Recap:

Final 1945 Standings:


1945 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1945 Year In Review: I missed our final wins total by 3 wins in my projections. We were actually hovering around .500 through most of July, but poor months of August & September sunk our season.

Joltin' Joe had a DiMaggio-esque season. He led the team in average, homers, & RBI. He finished 3rd in the AL in batting average, 2nd in slugging %, 1st in OPS, 1st in VORP, 1st in hits, 3rd in homers, and 7th in RBI. If it weren't for Willard Brown, DiMaggio would have led the league in most categories. More on Brown in a minute...

The biggest surprise of the Yankee season was Nellie Fox. When I got to May, Fox was batting .362 in AAA while Lew Riggs was struggling to stay above .200 in the majors. So I brought Fox up and gave him some starts. By June he was my leadoff hitter and batted near .300 almost all season before slumping down the stretch. And he's only 17 years old!

The pitching staff continued to deveop and guys like Karl Drews, Vito Tamulis, Dave Ferris, Harry Feldman, and Hank Wyse all put up decent numbers, despite losing records. Warren Spahn struggled to keep his ERA under 6.00, so needless to say I wasn't pleased with his performance. The news in the bullpen is that 9 time All Star Rip Sewell announced his retirement. He'll be an interresting candidate for the Hall of Fame in the offseason.

Former Yankee Willard Brown had a monster season, breaking his own single season record for homers by hitting 53. He came within 13 RBI of breaking Al Simmons' 20 year old single season record for RBI by piling up 159. And to top it off he hit .290 which is 10 points higher then his best season as a Yankee.

Another former Yankee Josh Gibson won the NL Triple Crown at 33 years old. He hit .342 with 47 homers and 124 RBI.

Neither player was able to lead their teams to the playoffs however.

1945 All Stars: There was no All Star game in 1945.

1945 New York Yankees Transactions: Only 1 transaction to report, and it was a big one...

May 31, 1945: Signed LF Joe DiMaggio to a 4 year extension worth a total of $1.66M
I believe it's the biggest contract I've paid out yet. Certainly happy to do it.

World Series Matchup: The Red Sox are in their 3rd World Series in 4 seasons, and their 7th in franchise history. They're trying to win their 4th title. The Philly franchise is in their 2nd straight World Series, their 4th in the last 6 years, and their 6th overall. They're trying to win championship #4.

The teams split the first 2 games in Philly. The Phillies pounded the Red Sox 17-6 in game 3, then won games 4 and 5 to beat the Sox. The Philadelphia Philles win their 4th World Title!

[Jeff49]

I can't believe it, Willard Brown doing so well after leading the Yankees, as if you were holding him back somehow. That must be exasperating.

Who are some of Boston's best players, that they can win three pennants in four years?

The Yankees are moving up in the standings, and getting closer to the top - 29 games back two years ago, 25 games back last year and 23 back this year.

[jg2977]

What happened in 1944? Why was Philadelphia called the Blue Jays?

[Powderguy]

Originally Posted by jg2977

What happened in 1944? Why was Philadelphia called the Blue Jays?

From Wiki:

After lumber baron William B. Cox purchased the team in 1943, the Phillies began a rapid rise to prominence in the National League, as the team rose out of the standings cellar for the first time in five years. The fans responded with an increase in attendance, but it soon became clear that not all was right in Cox' front office. Eventually, it was revealed by Cox that he had been betting on the Phillies, and he was banned from baseball. The new owner, Bob Carpenter, Jr., tried to polish the team's image by unofficially changing the name to the "Blue Jays"; however, the new moniker did not take, and it was quietly dropped by 1949.