Baseball a Parallel History 1901-now

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Most Valuable Player


Pitcher of the Year


Rookie of the Year

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The League spent the winter months gauging the fan response to the 9 game championship series. The fan review led to the league deciding that 9 games was to long for a final series. They have decided that for the 1904 season they will reduce this back to 7 games.

The league still wanted to find a way to capitalise on the extra fan interest and decided that instead of going with the 9 game final series they would go with the other option they discussed the previous season and will up the season length to 154 games. There were a few grumbles about this from the players but with most under contract to the clubs there was very little they could do about it.

Notable Retirements for the end of 1903.

RF Steve Brodie
RF Sam Dungan
Pitcher Red Ehret
Pitcher Duke Esper
C Duke Farrell
CF Billy Hamilton
2B Bobby Lowe
C Deacon McGuire
Pitcher Jock Menefee
RF Mike Smith
Pitcher Brickyard Kennedy
1B Tommy Tucker
CF Walt Wilmot

The Hall of Fame Committee reviewed the above player retirements but decided that only 1 of the players was worthy of joining the hall of fame. The selection was of CF Billy Hamilton who has the biggest batting WAR of any retired batter either pre MLB or from the current MLB league.



Off Season Transactions
St. Louis Cardinals swap LF Jesse Burkett with Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Phil Deller, 2B Arthur Pennell and CF Bill O'Hara.
New York Highlanders swap 1B Mike Kelley and 1B Tim Jordan with St. Louis Browns Pitcher Doc Adkins.
Chicago Cubs swap Pitcher Frank Kitson and Catcher Red Dooin with Cincinnati Reds CF Harry Bay.
Brooklyn Superbas swap RF Willie Keeler, 3B Tom Downey and Pitcher Jack Fitzgerald with Pittsburgh Pirates CF Ginger Beaumont.
Washington Senators swap Pitcher Bob Ewing with Philadelphia Athletics C Ed Phelps.
St. Louis Cardinals swap 1B Dan McGann with Boston Americans LF Frank Huelsman and C Larry McLean.
St. Louis Cardinals swap RF Patsy Donovan with Cleveland Naps Pitcher Rube Vickers and 2B Harry Arndt.
Washington Senators swap Pitcher Jack Sutthoff and RF Bob P Hall with Hew York Highlanders 2B John Atz.
New York Highlanders swap SS Bill Keister with Brooklyn Superbas SS Ross Thornton.
Brooklyn Superbas swap 2B Tom P Daly and Pitcher Gene Wright with St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Jack Lundbom.
Chicago White Sox swap Pitcher Bill Reidy, Pitcher Cy Falkenburg and SS Otis Johnson with Philadelphia Phillies C Fred Jacklitsch.
Boston Beaneaters swap pitcher Togie Pittinger with Chicago Cubs CF Herm McFarland.
St. Louis Browns swap SS Monte Cross and C Ballplayer Dobie with Philadelphia Athletics Pitcher Wiley Piatt.
Brooklyn Superbas swap C Hughie Hearne with New York Giants RF Sammy Strang.
Washington Senators swap 1B Jack McAleese with Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Cy Vorhees and Pitcher Doc Scanlan.
Chicago White Sox swap Pitcher Libe Washburn with Boston Beaneaters CF Emil Batch.
Brooklyn Superbas swap Pitcher Clark Griffith with New York Giants C Frank Bowerman and Pitcher John Halla.
St. Louis Browns swap Pitcher Pink Hawley and SS Henry Scharnweber with Philadelphia Athletics LF Newt Randall.
Cincinnati Reds swap C Lou Criger and LF Bob Edmondson with Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Sam Leever.
Chicago White Sox swap Pitcher Roy Patterson and C Hugh Leach with Cleveland Naps LF Denny W Sullivan.

First Year Player Draft (first 3 rounds)

Round 1

Boston Beaneaters CF Ty Cobb
Chicago White Sox LF Sherry Magee
St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Orval Overall
Washington Senators Pitcher Fred Brown
New York Highlanders 1B Jake Stahl
Cleveland Naps 2B Miller Huggins
New York Highlanders 2B Bill Sweeney
St. Louis Browns 2B Solly Hofman
New York Giants Pitcher Frank Corridon
Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Bugs Raymond
Chicago Cubs Pitcher Ballplayer O'Brien
Philadelphia Phillies RF Harry Lumley
Detroit Tigers Pitcher Lyle Cromley
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Nap Rucker
Cleveland Naps Pitcher Elmer Stricklett
Boston Americans Pitcher Dick Rudolph (Did not sign)
Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Hal Chase
Philadelphia Athletics LF Pete Hill
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Joe W Harris

Round 2

Boston Beaneaters 2B Amby McConnell
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Doc Reisling
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Mike Lynch
St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher George Suggs
Washington Senators Pitcher Chick Robitaille
New York Highlanders CF Clyde Engle
St. Louis Browns Pitcher Charley Hall
New York Giants Pitcher Tom C Fisher
Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Vive Lindaman
Chicago Cubs Pitcher George G Bell
Detroit Tigers CF Claude Rossman
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Gene W Ford
Cleveland Naps Pitcher Rip Ragan
Boston Americans Pitcher Glenn J Liebhardt
Cincinnati Reds RF Spike Shannon
Philadelphia Athletics Pitcher Lew Brockett
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Buster Brown
Boston Americans Pitcher Lefty Leifield
Philadelphia Athletics Pitcher Walter Clarkson

Round 3

Boston Beaneaters CF Del Howard
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Nick Williams
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Stoney McGlynn
St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher John Fisher (Did not sign)
Washington Senators Pitcher Carl Druhot
New York Highlanders Pitcher Dode Paskert
St. Louis Browns Pitcher William Robertson
New York Giants Pitcher Ed Kinsella
Brooklyn Superbas LF Fred Odwell
Chicago Cubs LF George Stinson
Detroit Tigers RF Otis Clymer
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Lou Fiene
Cleveland Naps Pitcher Jesse Reynolds
Boston Americans Pitcher Claude Elliott
Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Lou Schettler
Philadelphia Athletics Pitcher Del Mason
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Rudy Schwenck

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The 1904 season saw all of the teams remain with the same names and cities. The changes by the league this year was to increase the number of regular games from 140 to 154 to try and take advantage of the good fan pull the league has built up over the last 3 years.

The 4th May saw Win Mercer move out alone in career saves as he picked up number 17.

The 20th of May was a big game for Rube Waddell of the Pittsburgh Pirates as the K's kept coming. He totalled 19 on the day to set a new league record for a single game.

The 29th of June saw Joe Kelley of the Brooklyn Superbas continue to add to his hitting stats for his career as he recorded hit number 2000.

The 4th of July saw the Boston Americans veteran hurler, Cy Young, record win number 365 to move to the top of the tree for career wins. He overtook Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin in the process.

In Season Trades
July
Philadelphia Athletics swap 1B Harry H Davis with Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Gene W Ford, Pitcher Cy Falkenburg and CF Bert Conn.
Brooklyn Superbas swap 3B Ed Gremminger and Pitcher Cecil Ferguson with New York Giants RF Charlie Hemphill.
Boston Americans swap Pitcher Jake Weimer with Chicago Cubs C Earl Howard and CF Roland Wolfe.

1904 saw the AL pennant flag flying over a new stadium. This was due to the fact that the Detroit Tigers managed to win the American League by 7 games from the Cleveland Naps and Boston Americans. The National League was again won by the Pittsburgh Pirates. This gave them their 3rd pennant in 4 years as they continued to be the power house in the NL. This one was not an easy win though as they only took the title on the last game of the season. They finished 1 game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The AL saw a triple crown awarded to Cleveland Naps Pitcher Earl Moore. Moore managed to rack up a 1.36 ERA over the season along with a league leading 28 wins and 244 strikeouts. The Batting crown for the AL was once again won by Nap Lajoie. This is his 4th batting crown in 4 years and it is proving he is the best out their when it comes to hitting a ball. This year saw his batting average at .339. Watty Lee of the Washington Senators took home 10 home runs to win the home run chase. Sam Mertes of the Chicago White Sox had the most RBI's at 82.

The NL saw Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies dominate the batting statistics again this year. He won his second triple crown in 2 years. He had 12 home runs, abatting average of .341 and 91 RBI's to lead the NL in all categories. Brooklyn Superbas rookie starting pitcher, Jack Lundbom, proved you don't need experience to do well in this league. His ERA of 1.86 was the best in the NL. Addie Joss of the Chicago Cubs picked up the most wins at 26 while Rube Waddell won the strikeout count with 308 over the season.

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Final Table


Play Offs

V

Game 1 and the Pittsburgh Pirates got off to a flyer. Rube Waddell was on fire all game as he held the Tigers to 1 hit in the 8-0 win.

Game 2 saw the Detroit Tigers bounce back strongly as they took the game 7-1. Ed Seiver had an excellent day on the mound giving up only 1 run on 9 hits.

Game 3 saw a tight game go the distance as the Pittsburgh Pirates won 4-3 in the 9th. Jesse Tannehill was the winning pitcher with 8 hits a 3 runs over his 9 innings. The Pirates were now 2-1 up in the series.

Game 4 saw the Tigers get themselves back on level terms as they took a tight game 2-1 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. With both pitchers on top form it was Frank Owen that won the dual with 5 hits and 1 run from 9 innings.

Game 5 saw the Detroit Tigers take the lead in the series for the first time. They won the game 5-1 with Ed Seiver picking up his second win of the series. John Titus came to the party as well as he struck the first home run of the series.

Game 6 saw the teams back in Detroit and the Tigers used full advantage of home conditions to take the series and their first Championship crown. They won the game 5-3 with Dolly Gray picking up the win.

Player of the Series was John Titus of the Detroit Tigers. for his 7 hits, 5 RBI's and game 5 home run.

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Batting Average


Runs Scored


Home Runs


RBI's


Batting WAR

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ERA


Wins


Saves


Strikeouts


Pitching WAR

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Most Valuable Player


Pitcher of the Year


Rookie of the Year

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Most Valuable Player


Pitcher of the Year


Rookie of the Year

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The end of the 1904 season and the winter meeting for the MLB was a much quieter affair. The meeting was used to discuss the success of the 154 game season and any new player trades as the teams and league decided to remain static for the first time since its inception. No team name changes or rule changes were implemented.

Notable Retirements for the end of 1904.

Pitcher George Cuppy
Pitcher Jim Hughey
Pitcher Al Maul
Pitcher Kid Nichols
Pitcher Bill Phillips
CF George Van Haltren
C Charles Zimmer
Pitcher Ted Breitenstein
Pitcher George Hemming
SS Herman Long
Pitcher Zeke Wilson

The Hall of Fame Committee reviewed all of the above retirements and decided to induct Kid Nichols into the hall of fame for his 339 wins and 16 saves.



Off Season Transactions
Brooklyn Superbas swap Pitcher Pink Hawley with Boston Beaneaters C Paddy Livingston.
Cincinnati Reds swap CF Jimmy Slagle with New York Giants Pitcher Rusty Hall.
New York Highlanders swap Pitcher Doc Adkins with Philadelphia Athletics RF Judge McCredie and LF Matty McIntyre.
Washington Senators swap Pitcher Win Mercer and Pitcher Harry Eells with Philadelphia Athletics SS Henry Scharnweber and Pitcher Chris Eastman.
Washington Senators swap 1B Fred Tenney with Cleveland Naps SS Al Bridwell, C George Gibson and C Dave Tucker.
St. Louis Cardinals swap Pitcher Mike O'Neill with Chicago White Sox RF Denny Sullivan and CF Emil Batch.
Brooklyn Superbas swap RF Fred Odwell and Pitcher Bugs Raymond with New York Giants Pitcher Dummy Taylor.

First Year Player Draft (first 3 rounds)

Round 1
St. Louis Cardinals CF Bris Lord
Brooklyn Superbas 2B Fred Snodgrass
Washington Senators Pitcher Russ Ford
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Big Jeff Pfeffer
New York Giants Pitcher Ed Cicotte
Cincinnati Reds 3B Frank LaPorte (Did not sign)
Philadelphia Athletics CF John Wilson
New York Highlanders SS Bobby Byrne (Did not sign)
St. Louis Browns Pitcher Ed Reulbach
Boston Beaneaters SS John Knight
Cleveland Naps Pitcher Charlie Chech
Boston Americans Pitcher Tom L Hughes
Chicago Cubs LF Rube Oldring
Detroit Tigers 3B Mike Mowrey
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Harry McIntire
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher King Brady
Boston Americans Pitcher Slim Sallee

Round 2
St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Buck Ehman (Did not sign)
Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Pat Ragan
Washington Senators Pitcher George McQuillan
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Bill Hogg
New York Giants Pitcher Ed Summers
Cincinnati Reds 2B John Hummel
Philadelphia Athletics C William Harris
New York Highlanders Pitcher Frank Farris
St. Louis Browns Pitcher Hi West
Boston Beaneaters Pitcher Judge Nagle
Cleveland Naps Pitcher George Disch
Boston Americans Pitcher Billy Campbell
Chicago Cubs SS Jim Nealon
Detroit Tigers Pitcher John Eubank
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Jimmy Smith
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Jake Thielman

Round 3
St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Bill Tozer
Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Cack Henley
Washington Senators Pitcher Fred Olmstead
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Bert Coy
St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Bill Essick
New York Giants Pitcher Bob Groom
Cincinnati Reds RF Rudy Bell
Philadelphia Athletics Pitcher Kid Speer
New York Highlanders C Howard Wakefield
St. Louis Browns Pitcher Ed Willett (Did not sign)
Boston Beaneaters CF Fred Beck
Cleveland Naps Pitcher Willie Hogan (Did not sign)
Boston Americans Pitcher Jimmy Dygert (Did not sign)
Chicago Cubs CF George Whiteman
Detroit Tigers 2B Otto Knabe
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Frank Moore
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Elmer Califf

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The 1905 season saw a continued bolstering of the MLB status within the country. With a steady ship and no major rule changes, Commissioner Mr Sutherland and the team owners were looking forward to a strong year of baseball for the fans to watch.

April saw Bill Dahlen of the Brooklyn Superbas reach hit number 2000 of his career.

The 15th of June proved to be Red Ames's day to show he was a major league pitcher with a long career ahead of him. He pitched wonderfully to gain a no hitter in the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 win. It was not a perfect game due to a walk and 2 errors(1 of which was his own).

July saw the Philadelphia Athletics Lave Cross continue to rack up hits in his career. He made it up to hit number 2500 since his debut in 1887.

August saw Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies have all of his hard work over his career pay off. He made it to the hallowed ground of 3000 hits to join a very exclusive club of players.

Frank Owen had a wonderful day on the mound on the 5th of September. He was in full control as he pitched a no hitter in the Detroit Tigers 6-1 win that day. He gave up a run on 1 walk and 2 errors during the no hitter.

In season trades

April
New York Highlanders swap Pitcher Jack Chesbro with Cincinnati Reds RF Shad Barry and RF Gavvy Cravath.
June
Philadelphia Athletics swap Pitcher Bob Ewing with Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Tony Thebo and 2B Heinie Wagner.
July
Philadelphia Athletics swap LF Jack McCarthy with Detroit Tigers 2B Neal Ball.
Boston Americans swap CF Duff Cooley and Pitcher Bill Lelivelt with Detroit Tigers Pitcher Lyle Cromley.
St. Louis Cardinals swap Pitcher Bob Wicker with New York Highlanders C Boss Schmidt Pitcher Harold Christman.
Cleveland Naps swap CF Ollie Pickering and RF Dick Bayless with Boston Americans Pitcher Glenn J Liebhardt and Pitcher Charlie Fritz.

When the dust settled on the 1905 season it showed that the National League was the most competitive. It took until late September before the NL powerhouse Pittsburgh Pirates managed to shake off the challenges of the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs. The Pirates ended up taking their 4th NL pennant in 5 years by 5 games over the Philadelphia Phillies. The American League in contrast was over well before September started. The newly crowned St. Louis Browns won their first AL pennant by 13 games from the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics.

The American League had a new batting champion in 1905 as Mike Donlin of the New York Highlanders hit for .374 over the season to take the crown. The Home run battle was shared by a number of players in the AL as the top mark reached 7. Jimmy T Williams of the New York Highlanders won the RBI battle in the AL with 85. The pitching in the AL was dominated by the St. Louis Browns. The pitcher with the most wins was shared by Ed Walsh of the Browns along with Ed Siever of the Detroit Tigers, both with 21 wins on the year. Eddie Plank of the Philadelphia Athletics had the most strikeouts on 202 while Ed Walsh had the best ERA over the season on 1.54.

The NL also saw new players come to the fore in the batting categories. George R Stone of the Boston Beaneaters won the NL batting crown with his batting average of .348. Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies managed to retain the home run title with 13 while the RBI title went to his teammate Harry H Davis with 87. Rube Waddell of the Pittsburgh Pirates topped the win chart for NL pitchers with 24 over the season. He also had the most strikeouts again with 290. He failed to take the triple crown after Charles Bender of the Boston Beaneaters took the ERA title on 1.45.

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Final Standings


Play Offs
V

Game 1 saw the Pittsburgh Pirates take the series lead in a close fought 12 inning game that finished 4-3 in their favour. Kitty Bransfield struck the winning home run in the 12th to give the game to the Pirates. Red Ames was player of the game.

The Pittsburgh Pirates moved to 2-0 in the series as Rube Waddell pitched a masterclass of 9 inning 4 hit ball in the 2-0 win.

Game 3 saw the St. Louis Browns bounce back to get into the series. They won the game 5-3. Browns Centre Fielder Davey Jones helped his team a lot with 3 hits from 4 at bats along with 2 runs and an RBI.

The St. Louis Browns tied the series up at home with a 3-0 shutout. Bill Thomas pitched magnificently for his 9 inning 5 hit game.

Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates managed to spark his team back to life in the series as he went 3-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI's. He helped the Pirates to a 5-4 win to put them back into the lead of the series before it heads back to Pittsburgh for the final 2 games.

Game 6 saw the St. Louis Browns turn the series into a 1 game shoot out. They took game 6 3-1 as Ned Garvin pitched a strong 9 innings for the win.

Game 7 saw the St. Louis Browns strike another blow for the American League as they won the leagues 4th Championship in 5 years. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 and take the title on the back of some excellent pitching by Bill Thomas. There was a home run for each side as Bill Maloney of the Browns and Mike Grady of the Pirates both struck long balls.

Player of the Series went to Davey Jones for his 11 hits, 6 runs and 3 RBI's.

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Batting Average


Runs


Home Runs


RBI's


Batting WAR

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ERA


Wins


Saves


Strikeouts


Pitching WAR

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Most Valuable Player


Pitcher of the Year


Rookie of the Year

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Most Valuable Player


Pitcher of the Year


Rookie of the Year

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The winter meeting for the MLB was again a quiet one with very little discussed around rule changes or team changes. The only real business done was player trading.

Notable Retirements for the end of 1904.
2B Cupid Childs
SS Tommy Corcoran
2B Tom P Daly
Pitcher Clark Griffith
2B Dick Padden
RF Patsy Donovan
CF Jimmy Ryan
1B Joe Kelley

After review by the Hall of Fame Committee it was decided that there would not be an induction from this years retirement class.

Off Season Transactions
Cleveland Naps swap C Bob Wood with Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Frank Arellanes and LF Bill O'Hara.
Cincinnati Reds swap 1B Jake Beckley with Pittsburgh Pirates 2B Harry Niles.
Boston Americans swap Pitcher Bill Bernhard with Brooklyn Superbas SS Bill Dahlen.
New York Highlanders swap RF Bunk Congalton with Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Tom Dougherty.
Boston Americans swap 1B Dan McGann and Pitcher Slim Sallee with Brooklyn Superbas CF Charlie Hemphill.
Cleveland Naps swap 1B Fred Tenney and Pitcher Roy Toren with Detroit Tigers 1B Bob Unglaub.
Washington Senators swap Pitcher Casey Patten and 2B George Schirm with Brooklyn Superbas 3B Mickey Corcoran, CF Ned Pettigrew and C Fred Carisch.
New York Highlanders swap 3B Suter Sullivan with Brooklyn Superbas SS Phil Lewis.
New York Highlanders swap 1B Jake Stahl with Boston Americans 3B Lee Tannehill and 3B Roy Hartzell.


First Year Player Draft (first 3 rounds)

Round 1
Chicago White Sox LF Tris Speaker
St. Louis Cardinals SS Eddie Collins Sr.
Washington Senators Pitcher Ed Kager
Cleveland Naps 2B Heinie Zimmerman
Cincinnati Reds C John Meyers
New York Highlanders CF Clyde Milan
Cincinnati Reds 2B Larry Doyle (Did not sign)
New York Giants Pitcher Babe Adams
New York Highlanders Pitcher Jack Coombs
Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Rube Marquard
Boston Beaneaters RF Johnny Bates
Boston Americans SS Bobby Byrne
Philadelphia Athletics 3B Frank LaPorte
Chicago Cubs Pitcher Hub Perdue
Detroit Tigers LF Red Murray (Did not sign)
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Bill Lattimore
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Fred Beebe
St. Louis Browns LF Danny Moeller

Round 2
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Ralph Glaze
St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Bill Burns
St. Louis Cardinals 3B Harry Lord
Washington Senators Pitcher Bill Grahame (Did not sign)
Cleveland Naps SS John Henry Lloyd
Cincinnati Reds SS Donie Bush
New York Highlanders C Bill Carrigan
New York Giants Pitcher Jimmy Dygert
Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Charlie Rhodes
Boston Beaneaters LF Bob Bescher
Boston Americans Pitcher Lew Richie
Philadelphia Athletics Pitcher Ben Henderson
Chicago Cubs Pitcher Mike Cunningham
Detroit Tigers RF Joe Birmingham
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Rex Ames
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Ed Willett
St. Louis Browns Pitcher Buck Ehman

Round 3
Chicago White Sox Pitcher Doc Crandall
St. Louis Cardinals CF Herbert Dunn
Washington Senators Pitcher George Zackert
Cleveland Naps Pitcher Harry Rush
Cincinnati Reds 2B Hack Simmons
New York Highlanders Pitcher Jess Garrett
New York Giants Pitcher Rube Manning
Brooklyn Superbas Pitcher Roy Witherup
Boston Beaneaters Pitcher Willie Hogan
Boston Americans Pitcher Thomas Doyle
St. Louis Browns Pitcher Billy Neal
Philadelphia Athletics C Gus Fisher
Cleveland Naps Pitcher Irv Higginbotham
Boston Americans Pitcher Biff Schlitzer
Chicago Cubs LF Al Shaw
Detroit Tigers C Art Wilson
Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Frank Browning
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Rube Geyer
St. Louis Browns Pitcher Elmer Rieger

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The 1906 season came around pretty quickly as the fans continued to flock to see their favourite stars in baseball. With no rule changes and the same teams things were going from strength to strength for the MLB and commissioner William Sutherland.

Willie Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates made it to hit number 2500 on the 4th May.

The Boston Americans Cy Young continued to extend his win record as he put up win number 400 on the 7th May.

The 5th of July saw a major mark set for baseball as Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies smacked his 139th home run of his career. This passed the mark set by Roger Connor.

George Davis of the New York Giants collected hit number 2500 on the 27th July.

Fred Clarke of the Pittsburgh Pirates made it hit number 2000 on the 29th August.

Pre Season Transactions
March
Washington Senators swap Pitcher Fred Glade and Pitcher Jake Lively with Philadelphia Athletics C William Harris and CF John Wilson.

In season transactions.

May
Chicago Cubs swap 2B Germany Schaefer and LF George Stinson with Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Otto Hess.

July
Boston Beaneaters swap LF Bob Ganley and LF Hank Perry to Cleveland Naps for 2B Ed McDonald and LF Bill O'Hara.
Boston Beaneaters swap Pitcher LibeWashburn and SS Charley O'Leary with Brooklyn Superbas 3B Lou Barbour.
Chicago Cubs swap CF Harry Bay with Chicago White Sox Pitcher George Mullin.
Boston Beaneaters swap 2B Joe Yeager with Chicago Cubs 2B Ivan Howard, CF George Whiteman and RF Otto McIvor.
Philadelphia Athletics swap Pitcher Win Mercer with St. Louis Browns 2B Harry Pattee.

The 1906 season saw a wonderful advert for league play come from the American League. The AL pennant went to the St. Louis Browns for the second season running. It did not always look like this as they were languishing in 4th place as late as the end of July. It was a strong second half of the season that led them the title by 1 game from the Detroit Tigers. In the National League the Pittsburgh Pirates were again the class of the league. They easily won the NL pennant, taking the title by 19 games from the Chicago Cubs.

Mike Donlin continued to be the top bat in the American League as he won his second batting title in 2 years. The New York Highlander put up a batting average of .343 over the season to just pip Nap Lajoie on the fact he did it with fewer at bats. Dave Brain of the Chicago White Sox posted the best home run count in the AL with a tally of 12 to his name while Mike Donlin took the RBI top spot on 85. Ed Walsh of the St. Louis Browns was again showing his class on the mound with his 1.59 ERA over the season. Fred Burchell of the Washington Senators posted the best win count at 23 while the Strikeout king was Eddie Plank of the Philadelphia Athletics on 204.

Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates proved to be the hot bat in the National League as he posted a league leading average of .355. Teammate Cy Seymour took the RBI title with 100 while Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies continued his home run surge with another 11. Bob Ewing of the Pittsburgh Pirates led the way in the NL for Pitchers ERA on a total of 1.49. Teammate Rube Waddell had the most wins for the year on 26, he also led the way on strikeouts with another 301 victims over the season.

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Final Standings


V

Game 1 saw the St. Louis Browns storm out of the blocks with a quick 5 runs before being pegged back by the Pittsburgh Pirates. They still managed to win the game but only by a score of 5-4. Ed Walsh took the win.

With both pitchers in the zone it took until the 13th inning to resolve game 2 of the series. In the end the St. Louis Browns extended their series lead with a 2-1 win. Rube Waddell got player of the game, going 12 innings for 8 hits and 1 run against.

Home comforts bought the Pittsburgh Pirates back into the series as they took game 3 by a score of 3-1. Deacon Phillippe allowed only 6 hits in his 9 innings to restrict the St. Louis Browns all day. Danny Moeller of the St. Louis Browns managed to hit a solo home run in the 9th.

Red Ames of the Pittsburgh Pirates finally got to show his skills as he blanked the St. Louis Browns in game 4 of the Championship Series. The final score of 3-0 saw the Pirates move back level at 2 apiece.

Game 5 saw the St. Louis Browns go back into the lead of the series after another extra innings effort. This time it took 12 to get to the scoreline of 4-2. Rube Waddell picked up his second player of the game award during a loss by the Pirates. This time it was 11 innings with only 5 hits 4 runs given up.

The Series continued its back and forth action as another extra inning game saw the Pittsburgh Pirates cling on to the St. Louis Browns tails. The 13 inning 8-6 victory for the Pirates meant that the final game of the series became winner takes all. Deacon Phillippe gave another excellent pitching show on 12.1 innings of 11 hit ball.

The St. Louis Browns made it 2 championship series in a row as they finally shook off the Pittsburgh Pirates in game 7. The final score was 6-4 with Ed Walsh pitching the team to the top spot in the MLB.

Player of the Series went to Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates for his 16 hits, 7 runs and 7 RBI's over the series.

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Batting Average


Runs


Home Runs


RBI's


Batting WAR

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ERA


Wins


Saves


Strikeouts


Pitching WAR