The Third Major League - a fictional history of the Federal League - Page 11

Tiger Fan · 07-20-2017, 10:09 AM

SATURDAY AUGUST 20, 1921
RED HOT COBB RIPS 6 HITS FOR BROWNS

34 year old St Louis Browns outfielder Ty Cobb (.384,2,53) continued his torrid play with a 6-hit game today against Washington. Cobb, who now is riding a 21 game hitting streak and is batting .451 for August, went 6-for-7 with 3 rbi's but it wasn't enough to prevent the Browns from falling 12-10 to Washington. The offensive outburst moved the 7-time American League MVP to the top of the batting race. Cobb has won the American League batting crown 6 times in his career. It marked the second time in his career that Cobb had a 6 hit game. The major league record for hits in a game is 7 heled by 3 players: Ross Barnes of Cincinnati in 1873, Fred Carroll of Baltimore in 1889 and Sam Rice of Giants in 1917.

Rip Vowinkel is a pitcher who's name has come up often in the past. The now 36 year old threw a 2-hit shutout today to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-0 win over Detroit. The win was the 303rd major league victory for Vowinkel, who is 15-10 with a 3.77 era this year. He began his career with Pittsburgh in 1906 and helped the Pirates win a pair of World Series titles before being dealt to the Red Sox midway through the 1910 season. Despite having 8 twenty-win seasons he only made the midseason all-star team once in his career. He is the 30th pitcher to win 300 games but only two - him and Walter Johnson of the Giants - are presently active.

Born in Oswego, New York, his given name was John. In real life he spent just part of one season in the major leagues, going 3-3 in 6 starts for the 1905 Cincinnati Reds.

As for the American League pennant race, both Philadelphia and New York won today so the Athletics lead remains at a half game. The A's Herb Pennock (20-5) got his 20th win in a 7-1 victory over Cleveland while Phil Douglas (21-8) pitched all 10 innings to lead the Yankees to a 7-5 win over Chicago in extras.

In the National League the first place Reds fell for the second game in a row, losing 6-4 to the Giants in New York. Babe Ruth (.405,42,128) did not homer or drive in a run but he did go 2-for-4 and is now closing in on St Louis' Rogers Hornsby (.407,28,92) for the batting lead. Oscar Charleston's (.321,8,25) 2-run single in the 7th inning with the bases loaded provided the margin of victory for New York.

Second place Pittsburgh failed to gain ground as the Bucs also lost for the second game in a row and remain 5.5 games off the pace. The Pirates fell 9-6 to Philadelphia despite a 3-for-4 game from lead-off man Charlie Jamieson (.306,2,53). In Brooklyn, Austin McHenry went 3-for-5 with a homerun and 3-rbi's to lead the visiting St Louis Cardinals past Brooklyn 8-4 at Ebbets Field. Hornsby went 0-for-4 in the game. The third place Cardinals are 7 games back of Cincinnati while Brooklyn remains 9 behind.

NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE

The Chicago American Giants received bad news today when they learned veteran outfielder Pete Hill will miss the rest of the Negro World Series with an ankle injury suffered in a loss in Game Five. The American Giants lead the series 3 games to two and can clinch with a win at home tomorrow. The 38 year old Hill suffered torn ligaments in his ankle and at his age, it could spell the end of a long career. He hit .310 with 6 homeruns and 38 rbi's for the American Giants this season but was just 3-for-16 in the playoff series with Indianapolis.

Hill made a name for himself in his twenties playing for St Joseph in the Western Association, leading that league in batting 5 times in his 12 seasons. He joined the St Louis Terriers of the Federal League in 1916 and spent four seasons with them while winning a pair of Federal League titles. The Terriers released him after the 1919 campaign and he signed with the American Giants and was a member of the first NNL championship team last year.

A 7-time MVP in the Western Association, he is considered to be one of the best players ever to play in that league and is the only player to win a Western Association, Federal League and Negro World Series title.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Hooks Cotter (.333,8,81) is a name to keep an eye on. The 21 year old Los Angeles Angels first baseman extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a pair of singles in the Angels 4-3 win over Sacramento today. It is his second 20 game streak of the season having had one that ended in late April. Despite his youth, Cotter is already playing for his third major league organization. He was signed by the New York Giants in the fall of 1919 but after spending the first three months of the 1920 season on their reserve roster the Giants dealt him to the Browns with another player for veteran 2B Dutch Schliebner. Cotter got 2 at bats for the Browns and went 1-for-2 with his first major league hit being a double off of Detroit's Hugh Bedient. Over the winter he was dealt to the Cubs who assigned him to Los Angeles where he has won a pair of PCL player of the week awards and was named the top batter for the month of March.

In real life Cotter played 99 games over 2 seasons with the Chicago Cubs(1922,1924). He bounced around the minor leagues for over a decade with his best season likely being 1929 when he hit .293 with 27 homers for Minneapolis of the American Association.

Tiger Fan · 07-20-2017, 10:56 AM

THE TAYLOR FAMILY

Seeing Candy Jim Taylor (.280,7,35) had a 5-hit game for the Birmingham Barons in a win over Little Rock today made me think it was time to profile the Taylor family of 4 brothers who have all enjoyed some success in this replay. Before doing so I should note the pitcher Taylor beat up on was Bill Sline, who was discussed a short time ago. Sline got rocked for 9 earned runs and 20 hits in his Southern Association debut.

In real life there were four Taylor brothers from South Carolina who between them played, managed and had a role in founding the Negro National League. They are considered one of the most famous families in black baseball history and one was inducted into the baseball hall of fame.

The brothers are Candy Jim, Ben, C.I. and "Steel Arm" Johnny. Candy Jim started as a catcher but switched to third base and was a player manager for the Dayton Marcos in the first season of the Negro National League. He piloted the St Louis Stars to their first championship in 1928 and did the same for the Homestead Grays in 1943.

Johnny was the second oldest and was given the nickname "Steel Arm Johnnie" when a reporter wrote about his great speed when he pitched for Biddle Univdersity in Charlotte in 1898. He would later coach the Biddle University squad and would play for several teams until joining his brothers with the Indianapolis ABC's in 1914. Johnny would pitch at least 3 games for them in the first season of the NNL at the age of 40 and was said to still be pitching at the age of 45.

Charles or C.I. as he was known played second base but was best known for being a co-founder and vice-president of the Negro National League. He owned and managed the Indianapolis ABC's until his death at age 47. He developed the ABC's into a powerhouse in the late teens that was rivaled only by Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants.

Ben, the youngest of the 4 siblings, was also a manager after playing first base for his career. He replaced C.I. as manager of Indianapolis after his brothers death in 1922. In a 1949 article, Oscar Charleston selected Ben as his first baseman on his all-time all-star team. He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 2006.

In the sim Ben did not import until prior to the 1920 season. He joined the Indianapolis ABC's and hit .381 with 2 homers and 56 rbi's as a 31 year old in 1920. This season (1921) he batted .366 with 4 homers and 68 rbi's and helped Indianapolis reach the Negro World Series for the second year in a row. The ABC's presently trail the Chicago American Giants 3 games to two but through no fault of Taylor, who is batting .524 (11-for-21) in the series.

Candy Jim is the oldest of the four brothers and made his sim debut in 1907. He spent over a decade with Sacramento in the old Pacific Coast League and won a batting title in that loop in 1917 when he was also named MVP of the PCL that season. He was signed by Hartford of the Federal League in 1918 but after going 4-for-22 in 12 games the Oaks released him and he moved to Birmingham of the Southern Association which is a bit of a coincidence as in real-life his brother C.I. founded the first negro team in Birmingham. A lifetime .257 hitter, Candy Jim has played over 1600 games in this sim and is still going strong with the Barons at the age of 36.

Like Ben, C.I. did not import in the game until the birth of the NNL in 1920. As a result he was almost 45 years old when he joined the sim. He spent all of the 1920 season on the Indianapolis ABC's reserve roster. He is presently listed as a manager in the personnel section of the game but so far has not found work.

Steel Arm Johnny had a very short career for some unknown reason. He imported in 1907 and signed with the Portland Colts of the Northwestern League. As a 21 year old rookie he went 17-15 with a 2.34 era and tossed 5 shutouts that season. The Portland club moved to Vancouver for 1908 but they did not take a Taylor with them as he was released over the winter. After sitting in the free agent pool for 1908 and 1909 he retired at the age of 25 in 1910.

Tiger Fan · 07-20-2017, 06:44 PM

SUNDAY AUGUST 21, 1921
ABC'S WIN MARATHON TO FORCE 7TH GAME

The Indianapolis ABC's needed 13 innings but they beat the Chicago American Giants 9-7 at Chicago's Schorling's Park to force a 7th and deciding game in the Negro World Series. The ABC's, who had trailed 3 games to one in the series, got the win thanks to Ben Taylor's rbi single in the top of the 13th. Taylor, who has been a thorn in the side of the American Giants pitchers all series, had 2 hits in the game and is batting .464 for the series. Game seven will go tomorrow in Chicago.

The ABC's took a 5-0 lead into the fourth inning before the American Giants began to claw back with 2 runs in the home fourth and two more in the fifth. After Indianapolis extended it's lead with 2 runs of their own in the 7th the American Giants battled back and finally tied the game at 7 thanks to a Biz Mackey rbi single.

RUTH HITS 43rd HOMER AND TAKES BATTING AVERAGE LEAD

Babe Ruth (.407,43,131) went 3-for-5 with a double and his 43rd homerun to pace the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-0 victory over the New York Giants. The win ended a two-game slide for the National League leading Reds and keeps them 5.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh, who also ended a 2-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory in Philadelphia.

Ruth's big day allowed him to move ahead of St Louis Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.403,28,92) and into the batting average lead as the Babe bids to become the first MLB triple crown winner since 1872. Hornsby is hitless in his last 12 at bats and has seen his average plummet after hitting just .190 last week.

There is no change atop the American League after both Philadelphia and New York lost today. The first place Athletics remain a half game up on the Yankees. Philadelphia fell 8-3 in Cleveland while the Yankees were doubled 6-3 by the White Sox in Chicago. A's outfielder Bob Meusel (.380,16,86) had his 23 game hitting streak snapped in the loss to the Indians. St Louis Browns outfielder Ty Cobb(.387,2,53) extended his hitting steak to 22 games with 3 hits in the Browns 7-3 loss to Washington. However, Cobb no longer leads the American League batting race as Detroit's Tris Speaker (.417,3,41) now has enough plate appearances to qualify for the title. The 33 year old Speaker has been bothered by back and groin issues all season and has appeared in just 88 games.

The American League player of the week award went to Chicago White Sox infielder Charlie Hollocher (.339,4,60). The 25 year old hit .438 (14-for-32) with 2 homeruns, 10 rbi's and 9 runs scored this past week. He has been in the White Sox organization since 1915 and has already played 685 major league games with a lifetime .307 batting average. He led the American League in hits (202), doubles (18) and stolen bases (57) in 1919 and was named AL MVP that season.

While teammate Rogers Hornsby has been struggled, Austin McHenry (.369,11,95) has picked up the slack for the St Louis Cardinals. The 25 year old outfielder was named the National League player of the week after batting .565 (13-for-23) with a homerun, 8 rbi's and 9 runs scored. McHenry, the 1916 National League rookie of the year, is in his 6th season with the Cardinals.

FEDERAL LEAGUE UPDATE

The Pittsburgh Rebels continue to hold on to the wildcard spot in the Federal League and a big reason is the breakout season from 33 year old veteran pitcher Harry Suter (21-10, 3.69). Suter, who is in his 4th season with the Rebels after over a decade in the Central League, was named Federal League player of the week after getting 4 wins last week to break the 20-mark for the first time in his career. Suter started two games and came on in relief in two others to go 4-0 with 11 strikeouts and a 1.20 era.

He pitched a complete game 3-2 win over Chicago yesterday that allowed the Rebels to sweep a doubleheader from the Whales and increase their lead in the wildcard to 2 full games over Newark, 3 on St Louis and 3.5 on the Whales. Brooklyn (93-32) continues to dominate the Federal League and the Tip-Tops lead on Pittsburgh is 20 games.

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION

Veteran Atlanta Crackers lefthander Gus Salve became the first pitcher in Southern Association history to fan 2700 batters. He reached the milestone today with 3 strikeouts in a 7-5 loss to Mobile. The 35 year old has spent his entire 16 year pro career with Atlanta, compiling a 255-256 career record including 10-18 this season. He was named the Southern Association's top pitcher in 1910 and the Southern Series MVP in 1907 when he won the first of 3 Series championships with the Crackers. Salve also threw one of just 12 no-hitters in Southern Association history.

Salve's 255 wins rank 6th all-time in the Southern Association. The leader is Lou Johnson, who was 297-299 from 1895-1911 with 7 different teams in the league. Salve is third in losses behind Johnson and Harry Keenan (202-290) from 1893-1905 with New Orleans.

In real-life Salve pitched in just 2 major league games, both in 1908 for the Philadelphia Athletics. I can't find anything else about him other than he pitched for Richmond in the Class C Virginia League in 1906,07 and 1910 and was 14-15 for Columbus of the South Atlantic league in 1908. He also pitched for Johnstown of the Tri-State League in 1909 which is where I found his picture.

Tiger Fan · 07-21-2017, 12:20 AM

MONDAY AUGUST 22, 1921
ABC's CAP DRAMATIC COMEBACK WITH GAME 7 WIN

The Indianapolis ABC's won the Negro World Series title with a 7-4 victory over the Chicago American Giants in the seventh and deciding game of the series. The win capped a comeback of three straight victories, including the last two on the road for Indianapolis, which had trailed 3 games to one. It also gives the ABC's revenge after being swept 4 straight by the American Giants in last year's inaugural series.

Dobie Moore, who was named the series MVP after batting .419 with 2 homers and 12 rbi's in the seven games, played a huge role in the deciding contest. Moore was 3-for-5 on the day including a 2-run homer in the fifth inning that put Indianapolis up 7-0 at the time. ABC's pitcher Bill Holland went the distance for the win. Holland (17-5, 2.46) held the American Giants hitless through 3 innings and then had to pitch out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam in the fourth but did so without conceeding a run. The 24 year old, who was named NNL pitcher of the year last season and seems a shoe-in to repeat this year, kept Chicago off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when he allowed a solo homerun to Biz Mackey. The American Giants added 3 more runs in the bottom of the ninth but could get no closer than the 7-4 final.

While Moore was named the MVP, Indianapolis also received very strong performances from first baseman Ben Taylor (.455,1,5) and catcher Geechie Meredith (.400,0,6). Bill Riggins (.471,1,6) and Biz Mackey (.417,2,5) led the American Giants, who might have won the series had they not lost outfielders Chaney White and Pete Hill to injury during the series.

FUTURE CLOUDY FOR NNL

This series might have marked the end of a very brief era for the Negro National League as many within the league are unsure if this might well be it's last year of existance. With Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal enjoying tremendous success with the National League's New York Giants the expectation is major league clubs will go after many of the great young stars that have emerged during the two seasons of the NNL's tenure.

If that happens there are many questions as to what the Negro National League will become. Will there still be enough talent to support the league and with major league baseball and it's minor leagues fully intergrated could the NNL also become an integrated minor league affiliated with MLB?

Those, and other, details will have to be ironed out over the winter.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
YANKEES MOVE INTO TIE FOR AL LEAD

Cy Williams (.311,16,69) hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning to lift the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox in American League play. The victory allowed the Yankees to pull even with idle Philadelphia atop the league standings. Catcher Steve O'Neill (.357,4,59) led the way for New York with 4 hits including a solo homerun in the game. Lee Meadows (11-10) got the win with Rube Benton getting the final two outs.

Detroit is in third place, 7.5 games back, after the Tigers hammered Boston 10-0. Bill L James (10-16) tossed a complete game 4-hitter for the shutout win. In the only other American League game Bill Wambsganss (.308,3,59) had 4-hits including a homerun and drove in 5 runs to lead the Senators past St Louis 13-3. Ty Cobb (.388,2,53) had two hits in a losing effort to extend his hitting streak to 23 games.

In the National League first place Cincinnati hammered the New York Giants 12-2 as Babe Ruth (.411,43,132), although homerless, managed 3 hits and an rbi in the win. The Reds lead on Pittsburgh atop the National League is back to 6 games after the Pirates were rained out in Philadelphia.

St Louis outslugged Brooklyn 11-9 to remain 7 games behind Cincinnati. Rogers Hornsby (.405,28,94) broke out of a slump with 3 hits and 3 runs scored in the victory while veteran pitcher Ed Wahl (17-9, 3.19) pitched 8 innings for the win. In the only other game Boston beat Chicago 9-4 as 26 year old Bing Miller (.336,7,66) led the Braves with 2 hits and 4 rbi's in the contest.

FEDERAL LEAGUE

George H Burns had a 5 hit game but it wasn't enough to prevent his Brooklyn Tip-Tops from losing 8-7 to the Chicago Whales. With the Pittsburgh Rebels losing 7-3 to Indianapolis the Federal League wildcard picture tightened up again. St Louis and Newark are both 2 games back of the Rebels with Chicago 2.5 off the pace.

With the Federal League becoming an afterthought after the dramatic departure of stars Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal to the National League, the amazing season Brooklyn pitcher Bullet Joe Bush is compiling has been all but ignored. The 28 year old, who pitched 4 seasons for the Brooklyn Robins before joining the Tip-Tops 6 years ago, leads the Federal League with a 30-4 record. He has an amazing record of 166-48 in 264 Federal League appearances and is the Federal League career leader in wins, complete games, shutouts and strikeouts. Bush is a 3-time Federal League pitcher of the year and a 3-time Federal Series champion. He was also named regular season MVP in 1917 and appeared in the lone Federal League all-star game in 1919.

In real life Bush enjoyed a solid major league career, going 195-183 for 7 teams over 17 seasons. The righthander is credited for having developed the forkball. He won World Series titles with both the Red Sox and Yankees and also won a National League pennant with Pittsburgh. He threw a no-hitter in with the A's in 1916, missing a perfect game by walking Jack Graney of Cleveland - the lead-off hitter in the first inning.

Tiger Fan · 07-21-2017, 09:45 AM

TUESDAY AUGUST 23, 1921
RUTH BELTS TWO HOMERUNS IN LOSS TO BROOKLYN

Hitting 50 homeruns now seems like too modest a target for Cincinnati Reds slugger Babe Ruth. Sixty appears to be a more realistic goal after the outfielder belted two more homeruns against Brooklyn today giving him 45 for the season with 36 games remaining. Despite Ruth's (.411,45,134) two round-trippers his Cincinnati ballclub came up on the short end of an 11-7 score at Ebbets Field. Brooklyn first baseman Joe Harris (.363,8,75) hit a grand slam to pace the Robins while 22 year old Pie Traynor (.367,2,24) had his best day as a major leaguer when he entered the game after Cotton Tierney and Cincinnati pitcher Tod Sloan were ejected for igniting a first inning bench-clearing brawl after Sloan hit Tierney with a pitch.

Traynor, who had just 124 at bats this season entering the day, went 2-for-4 with a homerun, a double and 5 rbi's to pace the Brooklyn offense. Traynor will get more starts at third base this week as Tierney and Sloan will almost assuredly both be suspended.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are now 5.5 games back of Cincinnati after the Bucs split a doubleheader with Boston. The Pirates scored four times in the 10th inning of the opener to make a winner out of Chet Carmichael (16-7, 3.93) by a 9-5 score. Game two was all Boston as Pete Schneider (.328,7,48) led the way for the Braves with a 2-for-5 day that included a bases loaded triple and 4 rbi's in the contest.

The St Louis Cardinals won their fifth in a row and are now just 6 games off the pace. The Cardinals scored 6 times in the first inning and coasted to a 7-1 win over the Giants at the Polo Grounds. Rogers Hornsby (.407,29,96) hit a two-run homer to help the Cardinals cause.

New York and Philadelphia remain tied atop the American League standings as both won today. The Yankees got 3 hits and 3 rbi's from Ken Williams (.360,21,87) in a 12-4 pasting of St Louis, handing the slumping Browns their 4th straight defeat. Ty Cobb (.388,2,53) did go 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 24 games. Meanwhile in Detroit, Athletics starter Guy Morton (12-10, 4.13) outduelled the Tigers Dutch Leonard (21-7, 2.78) in a 3-2 Philadelphia victory. The difference was Dave Robertson's (.343,2,12) two-run homer off of Leonard in the second inning.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

A big showdown begins today in the Pacific Coast League as first place Seattle (88-62) hosts second place San Francisco (84-64) in a 3 game series. The Rainiers have the top offense in the league and are led by 25 year old first baseman Ted Jourdan (.313,11,90). A pro since 1915, Jourdan has played 85 games in the Federal League but spent the rest of his time in the International League before joining Seattle this year. In real life he hit .214 in 75 games between 1916-1920 with the White Sox.

San Francisco's strength is it's starting rotation led by John Merritt (18-11, 3.74) and Cliff Markle (14-13, 3.93) but the Seals do have a pair of powerful bats in young outfielders Herschel Bennett (.333,13,81) and Cedric Durst (.314,12,57).

Durst is a 25 year old who is playing in his first professional season. In real life he played 7 seasons in the major leagues, primarily as a reserve outfielder including some time with the 1927 Yankees. Perhaps his biggest claim to fame is when he was with San Diego of the PCL late in his career he lent a rookie by the name of Ted Williams a sweatshirt because Williams could not afford one. He roomed with Williams on the road that season.

Bennett is a 24 year old from Elwood, New York who is in his first season as a professional. In real life Bennett played parts of 5 seasons with the St Louis Browns. Bennett was also the subject of a court case that could have had a huge impact on the minor leagues. In the late twenties and early thirties some major league teams, most notably the Cardinals, began acquiring minor league clubs which would allow them to sign amateur players at a cheap rate and continuously maintain their property rights as they developed. Bennett, with Commissioner Landis heavily involved, challenged that his rights to play in the major leagues were being interfered with because the Browns conspired to keep him in the minors and away from other major league clubs. Landis, who felt the minor league system was bad for baseball, ordered Browns owner Phil Ball to either promote Bennett or release him. Ball refused and filed suit.

In Milwaukee American Association vs Landis, the judge in the case sided with the commissioner stating "St Louis was at work to keep Bennett out of the major leagues and in the minors and to prevent any major league club from securing his services. The judge added such conduct was detrimental to baseball. Despite the ruling the Judge in the case also ruled the farm system in baseball was legitimate, which was what Landis was trying to avoid with the ruling on Bennett.

Tiger Fan · 07-21-2017, 10:19 AM

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24, 1921
A 'GRAND' GAME FOR RUTH BUT REDS LOSE AGAIN

Babe Ruth hit a towering grand slam homerun in the ninth inning but it was not enough as his Cincinnati Reds fell just short, losing 10-9 to Brooklyn for their second straight loss. Ruth (.411,46,138), who leads the league in all three triple crown categories, went 2-for-4 and homered for the 3rd time in the past two games. The fourth place Robins are now within 9 games of Cincinnati for the National League lead. Second place Pittsburgh and third place St Louis both lost today so they remain 5 and 6 games back respectively.

The big story remains Ruth, who has shattered the previous homerun record of 38 he set two years ago, and appears to be on his way to 60 or perhaps even more homeruns this season.

The New York Yankees moved a game ahead of Philadelphia atop the American League standings. The Yankees scored 4 times in the top of the ninth to beat St Louis 10-9. Cy Williams (.321,17,75) led the way for the Yankees with 4 hits and 4 rbi's on the day. Ty Cobb had 2 hits in a losing cause for St Louis to extend his consecutive game hitting streak to 25. Meanwhile, Philadelphia fell 4-3 in 12 innings at Detroit. Tigers third baseman Marty McManus (.320,2,78) delivered the game-winning rbi single to send the crowd at Navin Field home happy.

FEDERAL LEAGUE

Little has changed atop the Federal League although the first place Brooklyn Tip-Tops did drop 3 straight to the Chicago Whales. Brooklyn still has a very comfortable 19 game lead on second place Pittsburgh. The surging Whales are a game and a half behind the Rebels for the wildcard spot with Newark sandwiched in between them, 1 game off the pace. St Louis has struggled a bit of late and the Terriers are in 5th, 2 games out of the wildcard spot.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

John Merritt (19-11, 3.68) won his 19th game of the season to lead the San Francisco Seals to 5-3 win in Seattle over the Rainiers in Pacific Coast League action. The win moves the second place Seals to within a game of the league leading Seattle ballclub. The contest was the opener of a 3-game series between the two PCL front-runners.
San Francisco is the hottest team in the league right now, with 3 straight wins and 9 victories in their last 10 games.

VETERAN LAPORTE RETIRES

Rather than accept a demotion to the Central League, 41 year old second baseman Frank Laporte has decided to call it a career. A 4-time major league gold glove winner, Laporte is one of the very few remaining active players who played prior to the turn of the century. He made his major league debut with the Boston Braves in 1898 and played 2461 major league baseball games for the Braves, Athletics and Tigers before joining the St Louis Terriers this year. Laporte never played a minor league game in a career that saw him bat .258 and win a World Series title with the 1915 Athletics.

In real life Laporte played 913 major league games primarily with the New York Highlanders(Yankees) but also with the Red Sox, Browns and Washington. A stocky man, Laporte played 2B, 3B and the outfield. Like in this sim Laporte also finished his career playing in the Federal League.

Tiger Fan · 07-22-2017, 05:47 AM

THURSDAY AUGUST 25, 1921
TWO MORE FOR RUTH

Babe Ruth belted two more homeruns today and established a new major league baseball record for rbi's in a season. The 26 year old outfielder went 4-for-6 including a pair of home runs off of Brooklyn starter Stan Dougan (10-13, 3.65) as the Reds crushed the Robins 16-1. Ruth hit a 2-run shot in the first inning and added a solo blast in the fourth giving him 48 homers and 141 rbi's on the year. The 2-run shot allowed Ruth (.415,48,141) to surpass the single season MLB rbi record of 139 established by Beals Becker when he was with the New York Giants.

Ruth, who also scored 4 runs in the game, also extended his lead on St Louis Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.407,30,102) in the batting race as he bids to become the MLB's first triple crown winner since 1872. Hornsby went 1-for-3 in his club's 8-1 win over the Giants but the hit was a big one, a grand slam homerun to help the Cardinals remain within 6 games of front-running Cincinnati in the National League pennant race. The Pittsburgh Pirates stay 5 games back in second place after the Bucs beat Boston 3-1 behind a 5-hit complete game from Glen Harle (17-12, 3.30).

Phil Douglas (22-8) became the first 22 game winner this season as he pitched the New York Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the St Louis Browns. The Yankees win, coupled with Philadelphia's 5-3 loss in Detroit, gives New York a 2-game bulge on the Athletics atop the American League standings.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

The San Francisco Seals continue to roll along in the PCL. The Seals blanked Seattle 6-0 behind a 4-hit shutout from righthander Don Baty (6-0, 1.17). It was San Francisco's second straight win over Seattle and propelled the Seals into a first place tie with the Rainiers atop the PCL standings. San Francisco has won 4 straight and 10 of their last 11 games while slumping Seattle has dropped 4 straight and 6 of their last 8 games.

The 28 year old Baty has taken the PCL by storm ever since he was released by the Baltimore Terrapins organization in mid-July. Signed on July 26th, he has made 6 starts for the Seals and won each of them, tossing 6 straight complete games. It is only his second pro season as he pitched for Aberdeen of the Northwestern League last year, going 9-17 with a 3.57 era. The Terrapins signed him in June from Aberdeen's reserve roster but Baty never pitched in the Federal League as he was assigned to Zanesville of the Central League. He made just 1 start for the Potters, also a complete game victory, before being released. I can't find anything on the real Don Baty other than BBRef showing him as 22-25 over 3 seasons in the Western Association from 1920-22.

TEXAS LEAGUE

Been a while since we have looked at the Texas League so here is a quick update. The Wichita Falls Spudders have a 7 game lead on Fort Worth for first place but there is a very good battle going on for the wildcard as the Panthers are a half game ahead of the Beaumont Exporters and a game up on the Houston Buffaloes.

Wichita Falls, which is affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates, recently sent it's top pitcher to the big leagues. 29 year old Erv Kantlehner was 11-8 with a 2.41 era in the Texas loop before being recalled to Pittsburgh in late July. With the Bucs, Kantlehner is 2-2 in 5 starts. He has had 2 previous stints with the Pirates and also pitched 3 years for Newark of the Federal League. In real life Kantlehner spent 3 seasons in the major leagues, going 13-29 for the Pirates and Phillies.

The Pirates top prospect in Wichita Falls is 19 year old outfielder Dick Porter. The rookie started the season in the big leagues but hit just .217 and played sparingly in Pittsburgh so in late June he was demoted to the Texas League. He is on a tear with the Spudders, batting .382 with 7 homers and 26 rbi's in 53 games. In real life Porter would go on to play a half dozen major league seasons with Cleveland and the Red Sox but spent the bulk of his 21 year pro career in the International League, and was inducted into that league's hall of fame.

Tiger Fan · 07-22-2017, 09:26 PM

FRIDAY AUGUST 26, 1921
YANKEES AND ATHLETICS BOTH LOSE

The New York Yankees lead on Philadelphia atop the American League remains at 2-games after both clubs tasted defeat today as each continues it's western swing. The worst of the travel is over for the Yankees who moved into Cleveland after taking 5-of-6 from stops in Chicago and St Louis. The rested Indians were waiting for them when they arrived and the Tribe bats blasted 10 hits enroute to an 8-1 win over the Bronx club. Baby Doll Jacobson (.346,6,60) led the way for Cleveland with a 3-for-3 day that included 3 runs scored. Frank Brower (.325,18,95) added to the Indians offense with 2 hits and 4 rbi's.

Meanwhile the Athletics struggles on their road trip continued. After losing 3 of 5 in stops in Cleveland and Detroit, Philadelphia stumbled into Chicago on a 2-game losing streak. The White Sox, fresh off a 3-game sweep at home over Washington, kept the momentum going with a 7-1 win over the Athletics. Frankie Frisch (.325,7,71) led the Chicago offense with a pair of doubles off A's starter and losing pitcher Dick Rudolph (14-11, 3.43).

The third place Detroit Tigers missed an opportunity to gain ground on the leaders as the Tigers fell 2-1 to Washington. Tommy Atkins (16-11, 3.07) was dialed in for the visitors from Washington, tossing a 6 hitter while fanning 7 for the victory. Detroit remains 8.5 games behind the first place Yankees.

It was an off-day for the National League leading Cincinnati Reds as they travelled to Philadelphia where they will begin a 4 game set with the Phillies tomorrow. Second place Pittsburgh picked up a half game on the Reds and now trail by 4.5 after doubling Boston 6-3. Erv Kantlehner (3-2, 4.14), who I just talked about yesterday, went the distance for the win, which was the 7th of his MLB career.

COBB SIDELINED

American League pitchers could not slow down St Louis Browns outfielder Ty Cobb but the injury bug did. The 34 year old, who is in the midst of a 26 game hitting streak, missed today's game against Boston. Cobb (.391,2,54) could miss a week with what is being described as a back injury. He had 2 hits yesterday against the Yankees but left the game in the 7th inning for a pinch-runner. The Browns won 7-6 over the Red Sox today despite Cobb's absence.

FEDERAL LEAGUE
WHALES MAKING PUSH FOR PLAYOFF SPOT

The Chicago Whales extended their winning streak to 5 games and 10 out of their last 13 with a 5-4 win over Indianapolis today. The streak, which included a 3 game sweep of first place Brooklyn, leaves the Whales just 1 game behind the Pittsburgh Rebels in the race for the second playoff berth. The Newark Pepper, who beat St Louis 7-3 today, are also just a game behind the second place Rebels.

The big story for the Whales, who have not made the Federal League series since winning the inaugural title in 1914, has been the play of rookie second baseman Frank Parkinson (.340,18,75). Parkinson, who was the MVP in the spring Chicago Cup event, leads the Federal League in homeruns and leads the Whales in batting average and rbi's.

MINOR LEAGUE NOTES
MOBILE CLINCHES SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION TITLE

The Mobile Bears clinched the Southern Association regular season title with a 6-1 victory over the Crackers in Atlanta today. Pitcher G. Hall (14-11, 2.72) led the Bears by throwing a 7-hit complete game and adding to the offense with a 2-run homer. It marks the first regular season title for the Bears since 1917.

With a little over a week remaining in the season the Bears will now wait to see who they will face in the Southern Series. The Nashville Volunteers and New Orleans Pelicans are tied for second place but there are also 3 other teams right in the mix as well.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

The Seattle Rainiers salvaged the final game of their 3-game set with San Francisco by beating the Seals 5-4 thanks to a walk-off rbi single from catcher Robert Snyder (.373,0,11) in the bottom of the ninth. The win puts the Rainiers a game ahead of the Seals atop the 8 team Pacific Coast League.

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

The Newark Bears are closing in on their first International League regular season title in 3 years. The Bears, who lead all IL teams with 10 playoff series titles, have a 7 game lead on second place Baltimore and are 8 ahead of third place Syracuse. Newark lost 1-0 today to Jersey City thanks to a masterful 4-hit shutout from Skeeters ace Parson Perryman (15-13, 2.93) but the Bears are coming off a big 3 game sweep of the Orioles.

NORTHWESTERN LEAGUE

With about 10 days left in the regular season schedule there is quite a battle shaping up in the Northwestern League. The Everett Smokestackers and Spokane Indians are tied for first place, 1 game ahead of the Victoria Bees. The Smokestackers beat Spokane 7-1 today in the opener of a 4-game set between the two clubs. The Bees, who have won the last two league championships, lost 13-7 to Vancouver. After the series with Vancouver, the Bees finish the season with 4 against Spokane and 3 games at Everett.

Tiger Fan · 07-24-2017, 12:08 AM

SATURDAY AUGUST 27, 1921
PIRATES CLOSE TO WITHIN 3.5 GAMES

The Pittsburgh Pirates had 21 hits including 4 each from Eddie Collins (.358,0,56), Bernie Friberg (.327,8,60) and Charlie Jameison (.317,2,58) to power their way past the New York Giants 15-9. With the win the defending World Series champions now find themselves just 3.5 games out of first place in the National League. It is quite a surprise for a team that dumped a lot of salary, including slugger Babe Ruth, over the winter to now find itself back in contention.

The first place Cincinnati Reds fell 11-6 to Philadelphia and have now dropped 3 of their last 4 games. Babe Ruth did not homer, but he did have a pair of hits and his league leading 142nd rbi of the season. Teammate Elmer Smith (.310,14,100) also reached the century mark in rbi's with a pair in the loss.

The top two American League clubs also lost so the Yankees lead on the Athletics remains at 2 games. New York fell for the second day in row to Cleveland while Philadelphia's losing streak reached 4 games with a 7-2 loss to the White Sox in Chicago.

SUNDAY AUGUST 28,1921
YANKEES DOUBLE CLEVELAND

The New York Yankees salvaged one game out of their series in Cleveland by beating the Indians 10-5 today. The win keeps New York 2 games ahead of Philadelphia as the Athletics snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 5-4 win in Chicago.

The top of the National League stays the same as each of the top three teams won today. The first place Reds doubled Philadelphia 6-3 to stay 3.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh after the Pirates pounded the New York Giants 9-3. St Louis hung on to beat the Boston Braves 11-10 allowing the Cardinals to remain 5 games back.

Babe Ruth did not homer today but the Cincinnati outfielder was named National League player of the week after going 14-for-27 with 5 homers and 11 rbi's in 6 games last week. On the season Ruth is batting .414 with 48 homers and 143 rbi's. American League honors went to Charlie Hollocher (.348,4,65) of the Chicago White Sox, who hit .485 (16-33) last week.

NO-HITTER IN NORTHWESTERN LEAGUE

Larry Jacobus of the Tacoma Tigers tossed his second career no-hitter as he blanked the Aberdeen Black Cats 6-0 in Northwestern League play. The 26 year old Jacobus also threw a no-hitter in 1919 against the Oakland Oaks while pitching for Sacramento. He becomes just the second pitcher in the history of the Northwestern League (which includes the old Pacific Coast League) to record two no-hitters. Dick Clark, who pitched for Grays Harbor from 1902-1916 had 3 no-hitters in his career.

As for Jacobus, he is an unlikely candidate for one no-hitter, let alone two. He is just 13-16 this season for the Tigers with a 3.98 era and in four seasons has a lifetime record of 56-48. In real life Jacobus made 5 relief appearances for the 1918 Cincinnati Reds but spent most of his pro career in the Texas League. His career came to an early end in 1928 when he was involved in a car accident and lost the use of his right eye.

MONDAY AUGUST 29, 1921

The Yankees and Athletics both began the final stop in their midwest swing with losses so New York remains 2 games ahead of Philadelphia atop the American League. The Yankees started their trip by taking 2 of 3 from the White Sox before moving on to St Louis where they swept the Browns 3 straight. Next stop was Cleveland where New York lost the first two games before winning yesterday. The trip ends in Detroit where the Yankees fell 6-5 in the opener of the 3 game set. The Athletics began by splitting a pair in Cleveland but then managed to win just one out of 3 games in both Detroit and Chicago. Philadelphia was pounded 11-2 by the Browns in the opener of their 3 game set.

Just noticed Ty Cobb's(.391,2,56) extended his hitting streak to 29 games in the win over Philadelphia. He was supposed to miss about a week with an injury but turns out he only sat out one game.

The National League leading Cincinnati Reds lost 14-9 in Philadelphia and have dropped two of three to the Phillies. Babe Ruth (.413,48,142) has been quiet this series, with no homeruns and just 1 rbi. He was 1-for-4 in todays game. The only other National League game had St Louis beat Boston 5-1 behind Rogers Hornsby's (.407,32,106) career best 32nd homerun of the season.

MAXWELL GETS 200TH WIN

Washington Senators pitcher Bert Maxwell became just the 75th pitcher in the 51 year history of major league baseball history to record 200 career victories. The 34 year old reached the milestone by pitching 7 innings of a 6-1 win over Cleveland today. On the season Maxwell is 16-13 with a 3.40 era.

Maxwell made his pro debut with the Brooklyn Robins in 1907, going 2-0 in 12 relief appearances. He would spend 3 seasons in Brooklyn before being dealt to Pittsburgh in 1910. He enjoyed his most productive seasons with the Pirates, including a 25 win season in 1912. Following the 1916 season he jumped to the Federal League where he spent a season and a half with the Pittsburgh Rebels, going 27-25 during that time, before the Rebels dealt him to the Washington Senators midway through the 1918 season. He was an American League all-star in 1920 and again this season and won a gold glove in 1919.

A native of Texarkana, Texas, Maxwell had a very brief major league career in real-life. He lost his only start with Pittsburgh in 1906 and wass 1-2 in 4 appearances for the 1911 New York Giants. Maxwell also played for Brooklyn of the Federal League in 1914, going 3-4. He spent 9 seasons in the minors, primarily in the Southern Association but also spent a couple of seasons with Toronto of the International League.

MINOR LEAGUE NO-HITTER

For the second day in a row we get a minor league no-hitter. This time it was 28 year old Ralph Farnham of the Atlanta Crackers who turned the trick, blanking the Mobile Bears 2-0. Farnham (14-10, 2.88) struck out 4 while walking one in the game. He is in his second pro season, having gone 13-16 with the Crackers as a rookie last year. His no-hitter was just the 13th in the history of the Southern Association, which dates back to 1892, and first in a little over 2 years. I can't find anything about the real life Farnham other than his career lasted one season, going 7-20 for Pawhuska of the Western Association in 1920.

Tiger Fan · 07-25-2017, 12:50 AM

TUESDAY AUGUST 30, 1921
FEDERAL LEAGUE
HARD CHARGING WHALES MOVE INTO SECOND PLACE

With 7 wins in their last 8 games and 12 out of 16 victories the Chicago Whales have moved into second place in the Federal League. The Whales blanked the Newark Pepper 6-0 behind an 8-hit complete game performance from former Pittsburgh Pirate Mike Prendergast (19-12, 3.31). The win moves the Whales into the second playoff spot by a .002 margin over the Pepper. The Pittsburgh Rebels, who have lost 3 of their last 4 games, are a half game back while the St Louis Terriers, fresh off a pair of wins over Pittsburgh, are 2.5 off the pace. Meanwhile the first place Brooklyn Tip-Tops are closing in on another 100 win season - which would be the fourth in a row for the Tip-Tops. Brooklyn has won the last three Federal Series and finished first in the regular season 4 years in a row.

COBB'S STREAK REACHES 30 GAMES

Ty Cobb extended his hitting streak to 30 games by going 3-for-5 for the St Louis Browns in their 11-7 win over Philadelphia today. The Athletics remain 2 games back of first place New York in the American League after the Yankees fell 4-3 in Detroit.

As for Cobb, his 30 game streak is the longest this season in the American League but Joe Harris of Brooklyn had a 37 game streak earlier in the season. The major league record is 44 games set by Frank Baker of Cincinnati in 1911. The American League mark of 40 games was established by Jesse Burkett of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1894.

Cobb's teammate Zach Wheat (.350,9,63) also reached a milestone today. The 33 year old outfielder hit a triple in the win over the A's. It was the 2000th hit of Wheat's career, making him the 78th player to reach that plateau. The record for career hits is 3733 set by John J McGraw, who played for Cincinnati from 1891-1918 with Nap Lajoie second (3725) and Honus Wagner (3583) third.

In National League action the Cincinnati Reds needed a 5-run outburst in the top of the 8th inning to rally past Philadelphia 7-6. George Sisler (.376,8,88) led the Reds with 3 hits and 3 rbi's while catcher Wally Schang (.313,4,49) led the Phillies with 2 hits including a homerun. It was another quiet game for Babe Ruth, who went just 1-for-3 with a single and 2 walks. Ruth failed to homer in the 4 game series against the Phillies.

St Louis moved into a second place tie with Pittsburgh, 4 games back of Cincinnati after the Cardinals outslugged Boston 10-8. The Pirates lost 4-3 in 10 innings to the Giants as Oscar Charleston (.319,8,27) led New York with a 4-hit game.

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

The Newark Bears clinched first place in the International League regular season for the first time since 1914. The Bears, who have 7 IL playoff titles to their credit, will face the second place team in the International League Series. The battle for second remains tight as the Baltimore Orioles have a 2 game lead on the Syracuse Stars with 6 games remaining for each club.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31, 1921
COBB EXTENDS HIT STREAK TO 31 GAMES

Ty Cobb had a pair of hits to lead the St Louis Browns to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Athletics, extending his consecutive game hit streak to 31. Cobb took care of business early with a first inning rbi single and he would later add a double in the third inning. With the win the Browns completed a 3-game sweep of Philadelphia in their series.

The Athletics remain two games back of the first place New York Yankees in the American League after the Yanks were beaten by Detroit for the third straight game. The Tigers won 6-2 but suffered a big loss as Tris Speaker (.408,3,41) was forced out of the game in the sixth inning with an injury that will likely end his season.

There has been plenty of hard luck for the 33 year old Speaker, who has lost about 5 seasons worth of games due to injuries over the years. A 3-time American League MVP and a 10 time all-star, Speaker has 2381 career hits in just 1807 games and a lifetime .329 average.

In National League play the Pittsburgh Pirates edged Brooklyn 4-3 to move to within 3.5 games of idle Cincinnati.

AUGUST AWARDS

The American League player of the month for August is Ken Williams of the New York Yankees. The 31 year old outfielder hit .409 with 7 homers and 32 rbi's last month. On the season Williams, who won a triple crown in the Federal League in 1919, is batting .357 with 21 homers and 91 rbi's. His Yankee teammate Phil Douglas (22-8,2.84) was named the pitcher of the month. Douglas went 6-0 for the Yankees in August. The top rookie for August was St Louis Browns shortstop George Grantham (.318,13,93). The 21 year old hit .336 with 26 rbi's and 19 runs scored last month.

No surprise that Babe Ruth of the Cincinnati Reds was named the player of the month in the National League. Ruth (.412,48,142) hit .426 in 26 August games with 10 homers and 30 rbi's. Ruth also won the monthly award in April, June and July this season. Pittsburgh Pirates righthander Chet Carmichael (17-7,3.94) was named the top pitcher last month after going 6-0 with a 3.04 era in his 6 starts.

The rookie award for August in the National League went to 27 year old Oscar Charleston (.317,8,27). Even though Charleston is a veteran of the Federal League he is considered a rookie by major league standards. Charleston hit .324 last month with 4 homeruns and 13 rbi's.

FEDERAL LEAGUE

Wyman Smith (.398,9,36) is quickly making Brooklyn Tip-Tops fans forget about Oscar Charleston. The 22 year old rookie was named the player of the month in the Federal League for August after hitting .418 with 7 homers and 19 rbi's last month. Smith's story is quite an interesting one. He signed with Dayton of the Negro National League a year ago and hit .438 in his first four games of the season before suffering a fractured elbow that forced him to sit out the remainder of the year. Complications in his recovery forced a second surgery in the fall that kept him out of action until mid-May when his contract was purchased by Brooklyn. Smith played sparingly until Charleston and Jack Hannibal bolted to the National League, at which time he stepped into the starting lineup and has been on a tear ever since. I can't find much about the real Wyman Smith other than he was born in Baltimore and he played 5 seasons for the Baltimore Black Sox, batting .335

NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE TOP FIELDERS NAMED

The NNL announced it's gold glove winners for the 1921 season. The winners are pictured below.

Tiger Fan · 07-27-2017, 12:07 PM

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 1921
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Babe Ruth is now one shy of the 50 homerun mark for the season after the Cincinnati slugger snapped a 5-game homerless drought with a 2-run shot in the Reds 7-5 loss to Boston on Saturday. Ruth (.411,49,145) went 1-for-4 in the Reds 5-1 win today over the Braves. The victory leaves Cincinnati 4.5 games ahead of both Pittsburgh and St Louis atop the National League. Rogers Hornsby (.405,32,112) continues to trail Ruth in the batting race as the Babe bids to become MLB's first triple crown winner since 1872.

In the American League the New York Yankees continue to lead the Philadelphia Athletics by a game and a half. In other AL news Ty Cobb (.389,2,60) saw his hitting streak come to an end at 31 games after he went 0-for-4 in a 3-2 Browns win over the Chicago White Sox.

The player of the week in the American League was Detroit Tigers third baseman Marty McManus (.325,2,85). The 21 year old third baseman, who is in his second season with Detroit, hit .556 (10-for-18) last week with 6 rbi's. The National League's top performer for the last week was Philadelphia's Carson Bigbee. In addition to having a 5-hit game, Bigbee (.353,3,82) went 15-for-27 with 7 rbi's in 6 games last week.

FEDERAL LEAGUE

The battle for the Federal League wildcard spot continues to look like it will go right down to the wire. The Chicago Whales (81-60) have a .001 lead on the Newark Pepper (82-61) with Pittsburgh (80-61) just 1 game off the pace and the St Louis Terriers (76-63) hanging in as they sit 4 games back.

NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS

Bill Holland of the Indianapolis ABC's was named the top pitcher in the NNL. The 24 year old righthander, who finished second in balloting last year, won the award after going 17-5 with a 2.46 era. John Taylor (17-7, 2.67) of the Kansas City Monarchs was second while St Louis Giants hurler Bill Force (14-11, 2.85) finished third in this year's vote. Bill Drake of the St Louis Giants was the winner last year. This season the 26 year old Drake was 15-8 with a 3.12 era.

The top hitter award went to Indianapolis shortstop Dobie Moore (.383,20,87). The 23 year old was also named MVP of the Negro World Series, which was won by Moore's ABC team over the Chicago American Giants. League batting champion Robert Hudspeth (.415,20,78) was second in the voting with Biz Mackey (.414,12,55) of the American Giants finishing third.

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

Many of the minor leagues finish their regular season tomorrow including the International League. While most league playoff matchups are already decided the race in the I.L. will come down to the final day. The Newark Bears long ago clinched first place and sit at 85-54 with 1 game remaining. However, their playoff opponent remains to be determined as Baltimore and Syracuse are both in the running. The Orioles lead is down to just 1 game after Baltimore fell 9-8 to Montreal today. It was a dramatic finish as the Orioles scored three in the top of the ninth to tie the game only to see Montreal pinch-hitter Daniel Beal hit a walk-off rbi single to prevent Baltimore from celebrating a playoff berth.

The Orioles have one more chance to clinch with a win in Montreal tomorrow. If the Orioles lost and Syracuse can win it's 4th straight game by beating Buffalo at home then we will need a one game playoff to determine who squares off against Newark in the International League Series.

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION

The New Orleans Pelicans punched their ticket to the Southern Series with a 10-2 win over Chattanooga today. The Pelicans win eliminates Atlanta and sets the stage for a post-season matchup against the first place Mobile Bears. Among New Orleans leading players two in particular stand out. Outfielder Ballplayer Baker (.262,35,104) leads the league in homeruns and is one of only two players in the league to surpass the 100 rbi mark -Chattanooga's Roy Grimes (.366,20,117) is the other one. The 32 year old Baker is in his third season with the Pelicans after playing 3 years Dallas of the old South Texas League.

The other key Pelican is outfielder Jack Kiblle (.360,1,39), the lead-off man for New Orleans. The 29 year old Kibble is second behind Chattanooga's Grimes in the batting race and his 46 stolen bases this season will allow him to lead the Southern Association in thefts for the 8th straight season. Kibble made his sim debut at the age of 20 with Columbus of the American Association. He hit .299 as a rookie and led his league in runs and stolen bases. That performance led to his contract being purchased by the Philadelphia Athletics and he spent most of 1913 on the A's reserve roster but did play in 2 major league games, going 2-for-7 with a pair of singles. He was caught stealing in his only big league attempt. The A's released him after the 1913 season and he signed with the Pelicans where his 520 stolen bases presently rank him third in Southern Association history.

In real life Kibble's major league career consisted of 5 games for the 1912 Cleveland Naps. He was 0-for-8 at the plate with his only time on base being a hit by pitch. The native of Seatonville, Illinois played 8 seasons in the minor leagues, primarily with Evansville of the Central League. The little else I could find on Kibble centered around his life outside of baseball. He served in the US Army during WWI and then worked in coal mines near Roundup Montana until opening a sporting goods store there in 1922. He would continue to operate the store until shortly before his death in 1969.

Tiger Fan · 07-29-2017, 01:46 AM

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 1921

Labor Day marks the end of the season for several of the minor leagues and the start of the stretch run for pennant contenders in the major leagues.

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

The Baltimore Orioles lost 7-3 to Montreal but still managed to claim a playoff spot as the Syracuse Stars failed to beat Buffalo, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Bisons. The result is Baltimore goes to the post-season after finishing second, 1 game up on Syrcause. The Orioles will face the Newark Bears, who claimed top spot with an 85-55 record, 9 games up on Baltimore.

NORTHWESTERN LEAGUE

The Spokane Indians, led by 23 game winner Walter Upchurch, finished first in the Northwestern League, 1 game ahead of the second palce Victoria Bees. It will be the Bees third straight trip to the Northwestern Series. They were victorious each of the previous two years.

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION

As mentioned earlier the regular season champion Mobile Bears will meet the New Orleans Pelicans in the Southern Association championship series.

Each of the remaining minor leagues still have several weeks to go in their schedules.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 1921
RUTH BELTS HIS 50TH HOMER

Cincinnati slugger Babe Ruth (.404,50,151) made baseball history today by hitting his 50th homerun of the season. The 26 year old outfielder, who had been stuck on 49 for the past 7 games, ripped his milestone blast in the third inning of the Reds 7-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. In the top of the third inning, on a 3-2 count from Cubs starter Jim Scott (14-14, 4.15), Ruth hit a 2-run shot over the right field wall to tie the game 3-3 at that point. It was Ruth's second homerun in 15 career at bats against Scott and it extended Ruth's hitting streak to 28 games, which is the longest of his career.

The win was important for the Reds as they extended their lead on St Louis back to 4 games and to 4.5 over Pittsburgh, as both those teams were losers today. Cincinnati has a big week with 2 games at home vs the Cardinals Monday and Tuesday followed by a Wednesday doubleheader against Pittsburgh. Those games mark the last time the Reds play either of the two teams chasing them for the pennant.

There is also a crucial series in the American League beginning tomorrow as the New York Yankees head to Philadelphia for 3 games vs the Athletics. New York's 7 game winning streak was snapped with a 3-1 loss to Boston today but the Yankees are still 4 games ahead of second place Philadelphia as New York continues to chase it's first pennant in franchise history.

Speaking of New York, here is a quick update on the National League Giants new players. Despite not joining the team until mid-July Oscar Charleston (.327,11,37) leads the team in homeruns while Jack Hannibal (.350,6,34) is also playing extremely well.

Tiger Fan · 07-30-2017, 08:57 AM

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 1921
ATHLETICS DUMP YANKEES IN OPENER OF BIG SERIES

The New York Yankees have been in this position before. Leading the American League late in the season only to lose the pennant to the Philadelphia Athletics. Could history repeat itself yet again and have the Athletics once more deny New York it's first championship? Game one of the 2 game series between the two clubs seems to indicate yes as the Athletics rode a 5-hitter from veteran Dick Rudolph (16-12, 3.53) to a 7-1 victory. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when 2 errors by New York rightfielder Bibb Falk (.347,11,90) led to a pair of Philadelphia runs, giving the 34 year old Rudolph more than enough run support to earn his 180th career major league win.

With the victory the Athletics creep to within 3 games of first place New York. The Detroit Tigers remain 6.5 games off the pace after they were blanked 6-0 by the White Sox in Chicago. Rookie Chicago outfielder Hack Wilson (.291,13,59) had a pair of hits including a 3-run homer to lead his club to victory.

In the National League, the first place Cincinnati reds opened a 16 game homestand with a 6-3 win over the St Louis Cardinals. Babe Ruth (.407,50,152) failed to homer but he did have 3 hits including a double and a triple to lead the Reds to the win. Catcher Ray Schalk (.286,4,65) also had a 3 hit game. Ruth is closing in on the triple crown as Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.394,32,115) continues to see his average dip. Hornsby was 0-for-2 in the game. The loss leaves the Cardinals 5 games back of the first place Reds. The Pittsburgh Pirates move up to second place but stay 4.5 games back of Cincinnati after beating the Chicago Cubs 4-1. Glen Harle (19-14, 3.31) went the distance for the win for the Pirates.

FEDERAL LEAGUE

The Brooklyn Tip-Tops dominance continues as they hammer the Chicago Whales 16-1 in todays action. With the win the Tip-Tops record improves to 105-43 (.709) and they are 20.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh. Only 4563 fans came out to see the win as it appears even Brooklyn fans are sick of their club's dominance even after the defection of star players Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal to the National League. The Tip-Tops lead the Federal League in attendance by a wide margin but their total would rank 15th if they were in the major leagues as they have only outdrawn the Chicago Cubs.

Pittsburgh gained another half game breathing room in the wildcard race as the Rebels had the day off while their two nearest competitors both lost. The Whales and Newark are now 1.5 games behind Pittsburgh in the wildcard race. The Whales were humiliatated in Brooklyn while Newark lost 7-5 in Indianapolis. St Louis had a 5-run 9th inning to earn a walkoff 9-8 win over Columbus. The victory leaves the Terriers 2.5 games out of second place.

MINOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Baltimore Orioles claimed the International League crown with a dramatic 6-5 walkoff win in game four to take the best of five series. Trailing 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth the Orioles rallied for the win thanks to a 2-run double off the bat of Walter Simpson (.285,21,87). It capped a stellar season for the 28 year old catcher as Simpson went 7-for-16 with a homerun in the 4 game set and was named the playoff MVP. This was Simpson's first year in the game so I am just going to assume he got his late start in the sport because of serving in World War I. His age is not listed on baseball reference so the more likely scenario is he is actually younger than the game indicates but I could find out very little about him. He did spend 8 seasons at various minor league levels between 1921-28. The title was the 7th International League crown for the Orioles but their first since 1905. Only Newark, with 10, has won more International League series.

The Southern Association playoffs will need to go to a fifth and deciding game after the Mobile Bears and New Orleans Pelicans split the opening 4 contests. The Pelicans took the opener on the road by a 9-3 score but Mobile evened the series the next day with a 6-5 win thanks to a 2-run triple off the bat of Bears 19 year old shortstop Ray Gardner (.313,2,61).

Game Three was won 4-3 by the visitors from Mobile while the Pelicans stayed alive with a 9-7 victory yesterday to send the series to a 5th game, which will be played in Mobile tomorrow. The big batting star of the series has been Pelicans infielder Al Woods, who has gone 11-for-19 with 6 rbi's in the 4 games. Woods, a 29 year old rookie, hit .348 during the regular season.

The Victoria Bees can wrap up a third straight Northwestern League playoff title with a win tomorrow. The Bees lead the Spokane Indians 3 games to one in the best of 7 series.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 1921
ATHLETICS CUT YANKS LEAD TO 2

The Philadelphia Athletics staged a dramatic comeback to beat the New York Yankees 7-6 and move to within 2 games of the first place Yankees atop the American League. Dave Bancroft (,315,5,84)had the big bat for Philadelphia as he went 5-for-5 with a double, a homerun and 5 rbi's on the day.

The 30 year old shortstop got the rally going for the Athletics when he hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to tie a game at 6 that the Yankees had led right from the first inning when Bibb Falk doubled in Joe Hauser to start the game. Falk would also have a 5-hit day.

Tied at 6 heading into the bottom of the ninth the A's got a 1-out single from Clyde Barnhart off of New York's Lee Meadows, who came on in the ninth in relief of Kirby Hoon (14-9, 4.50). After Barnhart singled the A's loaded the bases on a single by Bob Meusel and a walk to Eddie Brown. Max Carey popped out to bring Bancroft to the plate with 2 out and the bases loaded. The shortstop delivered his fifth hit of the game, a seeing eye single that snuck between Yankee first baseman Joe Hauser and second baseman Lew Fonseca to end the game and give Philadelphia it's second straight win over the Yankees. The two clubs will meet 4 more times over the final week of the season.

Detroit remains 5.5 games back as the Tigers got a complete game 6 hitter from Dutch Leonard (24-8) to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-0, making Leonard the first 24 game winner this season.

In the National League the Cincinnati Reds completed the sweep of St Louis in their two game series as Babe Ruth hit homerun #51. Cincinnati prevailed 7-5 to drop the third place Cardinals 6 games off the pace. The Reds now set their sights on Pittsburgh as the Bucs come to Cincinnati for a quick 1 day trip that will involve a doubleheader being played tomorrow. Pittsburgh stayed 4.5 games back with an 8-2 win over the Cubs.

FEDERAL LEAGUE

The Pittsburgh Rebels won both ends of a doubleheader with Indianapolis and now lead both Chicago and Newark by two games in the wildcard race. The Whales beat Brooklyn 7-2 while Newark kept pace with a 10-3 victory over Baltimore.

MINOR LEAGUES

The Victoria Bees won their third straight Northwestern League title with an 8-3 victory over Spokane today. The Bees take the best of seven series in 5 games. 21 year old rookie outfielder Odie Strain (.267,2,53) was named the series MVP. In 5 games Strain hit .524 (11-21) with 4 rbi's and 5 runs scored. In real life Strain played minor league ball from 1921-33 and his son Odie Jr would also play for over a decade in the minors beginning in 1940.

The Mobile Bears won the Southern Series with a 4-3 victory over New Orleans in the deciding game of their 5 game series. Not only did the series go the distance but the final game needed 11 innings to declare a champion. The Bears had a 3-run lead heading into the top of the ninth inning but series MVP Al Woods of New Orleans forced extra innings with a 2-run double to tie the contest. Mobile won it with a lead off triple from Ralph Sharman in the bottom of the 11th followed by a line drive single off the bat of Joe H Kelly to plate Sharman with the series winning run.

Kelly has had an interesting career in this sim. He broke in with the New York Giants at the age of 22 in 1909 and would spend 4 seasons in New York before being moved to the White Sox for 3 years. After playing for the Pirates in 1916 he jumped to the Federal League's Hartford Oaks where he spent 3 seasons. When the Oaks folded he signed with Mobile and played the first minor league game of his career last year at the age of 33.

In real life Joseph Henry Kelly played 5 seasons in the majors between 1914-19 for the Pirates, Cubs and Braves. He also had a lengthy minor league career starting with the Tulsa Oilers in 1908 and played until 1930. He was a player-manager late in his minor league career.

Tiger Fan · 07-30-2017, 09:57 AM

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 1921

The Athletics move closer to first place with their 5th straight win, an 8-0 drubbing of Boston as Herb Pennock runs his record to 22-9 with a 4-hit shutout. The Yankees had the day off so their lead now drops to 1.5 games. In the National League the Reds have the day off so Pittsburgh and St Louis each gain a half game with victories. The Pirates nipped Boston 3-2 while the Cardinals pounded the Cubs 10-4 as Ed Wahl (20-10) got his 20th win of the season. Pittsburgh is now 4 games back with St Louis 5.5 off the pace.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 1921

As if 51 homers and 159 rbi's plus a solid run at the triple crown are not enough, Babe Ruth is now setting his sights on the consecutive games with a hit record. The 26 year old Cincinnati outfielder (.407,51,159) extended his hitting streak to 33 games with a triple and a single in Cincinnati's 7-6 loss to the New York Giants. The record is 44 games set by Frank Baker of the Reds in 1911.

Jack Hannibal's (.350,9,41) rbi single plated Russ Wrightstone (.327,4,69) with the winning run for the Giants in the top of the 12th inning. The Reds defeat did not result in any lost ground in the standings as Pittsburgh and St Louis both came up short today as well. Boston outslugged the Pirates 10-8 while Brooklyn downed St Louis 5-3.

In the American League the New York Yankees fell for the fourth straight game, getting blasted 9-0 by Chicago as journeyman pitcher Adolph Schinkle (6-6, 5.10) found magic on this day, throwing a 3-hit shutout. The only good news for the struggling Yankees is Philadelphia lost 5-4 to Cleveland so the Athletics remain a game and a half back. Detroit is making a charge as the Tigers won for the 7th time in their last 8 games and are now just 4 games off the pace. Detroit beat Boston 2-1. Next week will be crucial for the Tigers as they play 3 games in New York and then head to Philadelphia for 3 more.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 1921

No change atop the standings in either league as the top 3 teams in each loop won today. The Yankees snapped their 4 game skid in a big way as their bats came alive in a 12-2 drubbing of the Chicago White Sox. Catcher Steve O'Neill (.357,5,76) led the Yankee onslaught with 3 hits and 4 rbi's. In Philadelphia, rookie pitcher Claude Jonnard (8-9,3.79) pitched 7 plus innings of 3-hit ball to help the Athletics past Cleveland 2-1 while in Boston the visiting Tigers eeked out a 4-3 win over the Red Sox in 12 innings. Joe Judge (.326,2,82) drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the 12th to hand Boston it's fourth straight loss.

Babe Ruth extended his hitting streak to 34 games with a pair of singles in the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 win over the New York Giants. In Pittsburgh, Chet Carmichael (19-10, 4.08) tossed a 4-hit shutout as the Pirates blanked the Boston Braves 1-0 while St Louis rode two Austin McHenry (.368,18,125) homeruns to a 5-3 win over Brooklyn.

In the Federal League, the Pittsburgh Rebels continue to hold down the wildcard spot despite losing 6-1 to Chicago today. The Rebels are 2 games ahead of third place Newark, 2.5 up on the Whales and 3.5 ahead of St Louis with a week remaining in the season.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 1921

Babe Ruth's hit streak comes to an end at 34 games as he goes 0-for-1 with 4 walks in the Reds 8-4 win over the New York Giants. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat Boston 5-3 to stay 4 games behind the National League leading Reds while St Louis lost 5-2 to Brooklyn and his 5.5 back.

Here are the remaining games for the 3 National League contenders:

Code:


CINCINNATI REDS :  13 games (11 H 2 A)
Sep 19-22 BSN, SEP 23-24 PHI, SEP 26-28 BKN
Sep 30,Oct 1 at CHN, Oct 4-5 CHN

PITTSBURGH PIRATES :  15 games (10H 5A)
Sep 19-20,22 NYG, SEP 23-25 BKN, Sep 26(2) PHI
Sep 27,29 PHI, Oct 2 (2) at STL, Oct3-5 at StL

ST LOUIS CARDINALS: 14 games (14H 0A)
Sep19-22 PHI, Sep 23-24 BSN, Spe 26-27 NYG
Oct 2(2) PIT, Oct 3-5 PIT

The American League leading New York Yankees had the day off today but they did extend their lead to 2.5 games on Philadelphia after the Athletics fell 2-1 to Cleveland. New York and Philadelphia are tied in the loss column with 58 defeats but the Yankees have 5 more wins. Detroit won again, for the fifth straight game, and the Tigers are now just 3.5 games off the pace. Since star outfielder Tris Speaker(.408,3,41) went down for the year with his second series injury of the campaign, the Tigers have gone 11-3 including a 7-1 win over Boston. Next up for Detroit is a big 3 game series in New York with the Yankees starting tomorrow.

Here are the games remaining for the three American League pennant contenders.

Code:


NEW YORK YANKEES : 14 games (12H 2A)
Sep 19-21 DET, SET 23-25 SLB, SEP 26-28 CLE
OCT 2-3 at PHA, Oct 4(2)PHA  Oct 5 BOS

PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS : 19 games (15H 4A)
Sep19 SLB, Sep20(2)SLB, Sep 22 SLB, Sep23-25 DET
Sep 26 CHA, Sep27 (2)CHA, Sep29 CHA, Sep30-Oct1 BOS
Oct 2-3 NYY Oct4(2) atNYY, Oct 5(2)atWSH

DETROIT TIGERS: 11 games (2H 9A)
Sep 19-21 at NYY, Sep 23-25 at PHA, Sep 26-28 @ WSH
Oct 4-5 at SLB

FEDERAL LEAGUE

The Brooklyn Tip-Tops won for the 110th time this season as they swept a doubleheader from St Louis, which all but eliminates the Terriers from the wildcard chase. With exactly one week remaining in the season the Terriers, losers of 4 straight, are now 5 games back of Pittsburgh for the second playoff berth. The Rebels beat Chicago 5-3 while Newark outscored Indianapolis 10-7 so the Rebels lead on the Pepper remains 2 games with Chicago now 3.5 back.

The Rebels and Pepper each have 6 games remaining in their season including a 3 game set between the two clubs in Pittsburgh next weekend to end the season. The challenge for Newark will be staying close as they host Brooklyn for 3 games before making the trip to Pittsburgh. The Whales have 3 games in Kansas City before finishing up the year with 4 at home vs the Columbus Buckeyes.

Here are the current standings and leaderboards for MLB, the Federal League and the two MLB-affiliated minor leagues (PCL and Texas League) as the seasons in each draw towards a close. The Texas League in particular should have quite a finish as 4 teams are separated by 2 games in the battle for the two spots in the Texas Series.

Tiger Fan · 07-30-2017, 10:19 AM

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1921
FEDERAL LEAGUE WRAP-UP

The Newark Pepper faced a tough task as they needed to win at least 2 games from Brooklyn in order to give themselves a chance to claim the wildcard in their season ending series. The Pepper came up short as the mighty Tip-Tops took 2 of 3 from Newark while at the same time the Rebels swept their 3 game series from Baltimore, eliminating the Rebels from the wildcard even before the final weekend. Newark got a moral victory by winning their first two games over Pittsburgh before dropping yesterday's contest 5-4.

The final wildcard standings show Pittsburgh holding a 3 game bulge on both Newark and St Louis after the Terriers won their final 6 games of the season. The Chicago Whales ended up in 4th place after going 3-4 the final week.

The Pittsburgh Rebels (94-68) enjoyed their best season since the inagural season of the Federal League in 1914, when they finished first in the league only to lose to Chicago in the playoff series. They will enter the Federal Series as huge underdogs against the 3-time defending champion Brooklyn Tip-Tops, who tied their own record for wins in a season after a 114-48 campaign. The Rebels did compete quite well with Brooklyn during the regular season, with the Tip-Tops winning 10 of the 18 meetings between the clubs. The best of seven series will get underway Thursday in Brooklyn.

Tiger Fan · 07-30-2017, 10:42 AM

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1921
TEXAS LEAGUE SEASON COMES TO AN END

Despite 4 teams being seperated by just 2 games nothing changed during the final week of the Texas League season as the Wichita Falls Spudders and Beaumont Exporters held on to the playoff spots ahead of Fort Worth and Shreveport. The Panthers and Gassers ended the final week 1 game behind second place Beaumont and 2 games back of front-running Wichita Falls.

When the dust settled the Spudders finished 2 ahead of Beaumont and 3 up on Fort Worth with Shreveport limping home 5 games off the pace. Wichita Falls started the week of slow by losing 7-3 to the Panthers but the Spudders then won their next 4 games to clinch the regular season title a year after finishing dead last.

The Exporters started the week off by sweeping Houston threee straight at home but finished with 3 straight losses to San Antonio. Fortunately for Beaumont supporters, the Panthers could not capitalize as they lost their final 2 games of the season to the Gassers in Shreveport leaving them 1 game shy of second place. Shreveport fell out of contention quickly as they opened the week with 3 straight losses in San Antonio.

The top hitter in the Texas League was 23 year old Fort Worth first baseman Dud Branom. The second year Panther hit .329 with a league leading 27 homers and 115 rbi's, a big step up over his rookie pro season of .314,6,55. Branom,a Detroit Tiger farmhand, was named the 29th best MLB prospect in the spring. In real life Branom played just 30 major league games for the 1927 Philadelphia Athletics but did spend 15 seasons in the minors with a career minor league batting average of .310. A Sulpher Springs, Texas native, Branom would hit 129 homers in his minor league career and would become a sheriff in Oklahoma after his playing days.

The Texas League series, a best of seven, will begin in Wichita Falls tomorrow. The Spudders are one of 3 Texas League clubs currently affiliated with a major league team - the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Spudders rely on their pitching led by Johnny Jones (16-12, 3.23) and Jose Hernandez (10-7, 2.74). They will be missing their best pitcher as Erv Kantlehner (11-8, 2.41) was called up to Pittsburgh in late July and is 5-5 with the big league club. Beaumont, which is unaffiliated, also relies on it's pitching staff which includes Ballplayer Brennan (21-14, 3.34) and Frank Wolfram (18-12, 3.59)

Tiger Fan · 07-30-2017, 05:30 PM

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1921
MAJOR LEAGUE UPDATE

The New York Yankees have been searching for their first American League pennant since the franchise was formed in 1871. The franchise has endured some tough times including a stint from 1900-1911 when they finished 7th or 8th 10 out of 12 seasons. However, the past decade has been very good for the Yankees but they are still searching for that elusive first pennant. Their nemisis has been the Philadelphia Athletics, winners of 8 pennants in the last 10 years. Included in those titles were several seasons when the A's made a late comeback to steal the pennant away from the Yankees.

The Yankees once again find themselves on the verge of victory, leading Philadelphia by 4 games as the season nears it's close. The 86-61 Yankees have 7 games remaining while the Athletics sit at 80-63 with 11 contests still to be played. Included is a potentially huge 4 game set between the two clubs beginning next Monday. Can New York finally overcome their inability to win when the games are at their greatest importance?

The Detroit Tigers hopes of making it a 3 team pennant race took a huge beating last week as the Tigers dropped two of three games to both the Yankees and Athletics and now sit 5.5 games off the pace.

In the National League, Babe Ruth (.409,52,161) seems all but assured of winning the triple crown and it looks like he will have a .400 season at the plate to go with his record-breaking homerun and rbi totals. Ruth's Reds have the best record in baseball at 90-58 and are 4.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh and 6.5 up on third place St Louis. Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.394,36,128), who was the biggest threat to Ruth getting the batting title, has slumped in September and has dropped to third in the batting race behind Ruth and Chicago's Bill Terry (.396,19,106).

MINORS

The Central League regular season came to an end with the Fort Wayne Railroaders needing a win on the final day of the season to clinch first place. The Railroaders, who are the farm club of the Federal League's Indianapolis Indians, finished one game ahead of the Zanesville Potters, who are affiliated with the Baltimore Terapins. Fort Wayne had a string of 7 playoff appearances in the first 9 seasons of the Central League starting in 1906, but has not played in the Central Series since 1914. Zanesville has made 3 trips to the Central Series but is still searching for it's first victory.

The Potters will be without Central League homerun champion Babe Ellison, as the 24 year old who hit .279 with 33 homers and 104 rbi's was called up to Baltimore in mid-September and is ineligible for the series. Ellison hit 2 Federal League homers in 6 at bats for the Terrapins.

There are still 3 weeks remaining in the Pacific Coast League seasons but it looks like the PCL series will feature Seattle against San Francisco. The Rainiers have a 9 game lead on the Seals, who are 6 up on Portland in the wildcard chase.

Tiger Fan · 07-30-2017, 06:05 PM

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 1921

Knuckles are getting a little white in New York again as the Yankees lost 7-3 to Cleveland while Philadelphia split a doubleheader with Chicago moving the Athletics to within 3.5 games of New York. Herb Pennock (25-10) won his major league leading 25th game in the A's win. Detroit had it's game in Washington rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow.

In the National League the Reds beat Brooklyn 5-3 while Pittsburgh lost to Philadelphia 8-5 in 12 innings extending Cincinnati's lead on Pittsburgh to 5.5 games. Babe Ruth went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and is now batting .409 but if Bill Terry stays as hot as he has been Ruth might now win the triple crown. Terry, a 22 year old first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, went 5-for-5 yesterday and is now hitting .401. He was hitting just .376 at the start of the month.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 1921

The Cincinnati Reds clinched the National League pennant with a 2-1 victory over Brooklyn today. It is the Reds first pennant since 1901 and 5th in franchise history. Babe Ruth (.407,52,161) went 0-for-3 while Bill Terry (.400,20,110) was 1-for-4 in the Cubs 5-2 win over Boston.

The slumping Yankees lost for the fifth time in their last 7 games, falling 4-3 to Cleveland. The Yankees lead on Philadelphia is down to 3 games after the Athletics had the day off. New York will not play again until Sunday when they open a 4 game set with Philadelphia. Detroit only got 1 game of their doubleheader with Washington in due to bad weather, but the Tigers did get the win by an 8-5 score to stay alive in the pennant race. Detroit is 4 games back.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 1921

The Athletics lost 10-3 to Chicago so they are now 3.5 games back of New York. Detroit got a win over Washington by a 3-2 score as Dutch Leonard (27-9) earned the win. The Tigers are also 3.5 games back of the idle Yankees.

Code:


AMERICAN LEAGUE	 W  L  PCT  GB
New York 	86 63 .577  -
Philadelphia    81 65 .555  3.5
Detroit		84 68 .553  3.5

The only National League game on the schedule had Philadelphia blank Pittsburgh 9-0 so no changes in Babe Ruth's pursuit of the triple crown.

FEDERAL LEAGUE SERIES - GAME ONE

The heavily favoured Brooklyn Tip-Tops took game one of the Federal Series but it took them 12 innings to dispose of the pesky Pittsburgh Rebels. Tied 4-4 after 9 innings the game stayed that way until the bottom of the 12th when George H Burns delivered a walk-off rbi double to win it for Brooklyn. Burns and catcher Val Picinich each had 3 hits for the Tip-Tops while outfielder Beauty McGowan enjoyed a 4-hit game for the Rebels.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 1921

Yankees fans can breathe a little easier as the Philadelphia Athletics lost for the second straight day and have dropped four of their last 5 games. Boston did the Yankees a favour by blanking the A's 9-0 behind a 4-hit shutout from Burleigh Grimes (12-15, 6.30). Herb Pennock (25-11) was roughed up on the mound for the Athletics.

Detroit stayed mathamatically alive with a 3-2 win in Washington but the Tigers need to win their final 2 games and see New York lose all 4 to Philadelphia just to tie the Yankees.

Babe Ruth and Bill Terry get to go head-to-head as the two contenders for the batting title face each other this weekend. Terry's Cubs won the game 5-2 but he went just 1-for-4 to lower his average to .399. Ruth was 2-for-3 with an rbi and is now batting .409.

FEDERAL SERIES GAME TWO

Pittsburgh evened the series at on win apiece after the Rebels scored 4 runs in the final two innings to claim a 7-3 victory in Brooklyn. Outfielder Lance Richbourg went 4-for-4 with 3 rbi's while Beauty McGowan had another 3 hits to pace the Pittsburgh offense.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1, 1921

The Philadelphia Athletics won today so they are tied with Detroit for second, 3.5 games back of the first place Yankees in the American League pennant race. The Yankees visit Philadelphia for two games starting today before the two clubs return to New York for a doubleheader on Tuesday. New York finishes the season with 1 game against Boston while the Athletics end with a doubleheader in Washington. The Tigers have just 2 games remaining, both at home against St Louis on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Code:


AMERICAN LEAGUE	 W  L  PCT  GB
New York 	86 63 .577  -
Philadelphia    82 66 .554  3.5
Detroit		84 68 .553  3.5

Cincinnati hammered Chicago 14-1 in National League play but Babe Ruth (.407,52,163) went just 1-for-5 in the game. Bill Terry (.398,20,111) was 1 for 4 on the day for the Cubs.

Tiger Fan · 07-30-2017, 06:23 PM

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2, 1921
ATHLETICS TAKE OPENER FROM NEW YORK

The Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Yankees 7-6 thanks to a 10th inning walk-off rbi single from Emmett McCann (.303,0,39). The reserve catcher, who delivered the winning run as a pinch-hitter moved Philadelphia to within 2.5 games of the Yankees and ruined a New York comeback that saw Bibb Falk contribute an rbi double in the top of the ninth to tie the game. It was one of 3 hits for Falk (.361,14,101) in the contest.

FEDERAL LEAGUE SERIES: GAME THREE

Bullet Rogan tossed a 9 hit complete game to lead the Brooklyn Tip-Tops to a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Rebels and a 2 games to one series lead. All 3 Pittsburgh runs off of Rogan, who scattered 6 hits, were unearned. The Tip-Tops also were the beneficiary of 3 unearned runs as each club made 3 errors in the contest.

MONDAY OCTOBER 3, 1921
ANOTHER PHILADELPHIA WIN, YANKEES IN DANGER OF ANOTHER EPIC COLLAPSE

The Philadelphia Athletics are now just 1.5 games back of the New York Yankees heading into a crucial doubleheader for the club's in New York tomorrow. The A's won 6-4 today as they beat New York ace Phil Douglas (23-13). Larry Gardner had 3 hits for New York including the 2000th of his major league career.

FEDERAL LEAGUE SERIES: GAME FOUR

The Pittsburgh Rebels evened the series with a 4-2 victory in game four. A 3-run first inning highlighted by a 2-run single off the bat of Patsy Gharrity was more than enough offense for Rebels starter Hank Thormahlen, who went the distance for the win allowing 8 hits.

EDITORS NOTE- I can't believe the dominance the Philadelphia Athletics have over the New York Yankees in September-October games. It seems almost every year the Yankees look close to clinching their first pennant only to see the Athletics battle back and knock off New York. The doubleheader between the two clubs tomorrow should be outstanding. I generally watch one major league game a day in the final few weeks of the season so this doubleheader will be a must watch.

Tiger Fan · 08-01-2017, 09:40 AM

TUESDAY OCTOBER 4, 1921
YANKEES -ATHLETICS DOUBLEHEADER

Here are notes as I watched the doubleheader that goes a long ways towards deciding the American League pennant. The Yankees limp into the game having lost 6 straight to the A's and 15 of 20 this season. New York has also dropped it's last 4 games overall and six of their last seven. The A's have won 3 straight. Despite this New York is still 1.5 games ahead of Philadelphia and you have to think a split of the doubleheader should be enough to win their first pennant. After todays games New York has 1 game left against Boston while the A's go to Washington for two games tomorrow to end their season.

It is a cold, rainy day at the Polo Grounds with a crowd of 17,355 on hand. Bill Steen (17-13) gets the start for New York against A's ace Herb Pennock(25-11).

Clyde Barnhart gets a 1-out single in the top of the first but is stranded. Jim Poole gets a lead-off single in the home half but he also fails to advance. In the bottom of the second New York explodes for four runs with Ken Williams 2-run single being the big blow. The game is starting to look like a laugher as New York pushes two more runs across the plate in the bottom of the third to go up 8-0. It is clear that this is not Pennock's day.

Meanwhile Bill Steen keeps the A's off the scoresheet until the 6th inning when Max Carey delivers an rbi single. Steen would go the distance for his 18th win and the Yankees would win 10-1.

There would be no championship celebration today as the second game of the doubleheader was cancelled due to rain so New York's lead is 2.5 games. The Yankees magic number is just 1 as they prepare to host Boston tomorrow and then finish the season Thursday against the Athletics. Philadelphia boards the train for Washington where they will play two tomorrow knowing they have no margin for error.

Detroit beat St Louis 6-5 in 12 innings but the Tigers are eliminated with the New York victory. In National League action the champion Reds beat Chicago 7-2. Babe Ruth (.406,52,163) goes 1-for-3 while Bill Terry (.398,20,113) of the Cubs is 2-for-4 on the day. Rogers Hornsby (.399,36,129) has 2 hits in the Cardinals loss to Pittsburgh. With 1 game remaining for each of the three it appears Ruth's triple crown is secure.

FEDERAL SERIES GAME FIVE

Brooklyn moves to within 1 victory of it's fourth straight Federal Series title as the Tip-Tops go up 3 games to two in the series with an 8-2 victory. Jeff Tesreau went the distance for his second win of the series. Rookie third baseman Rube Lutzke had 2 hits including a homerun and drove in 3 runs for the winners.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 5, 1921
YANKEES CLINCH PENNANT

The New York Yankees are going to the World Series for the first time in the 51 year history of the franchise. The Yankees clinched the pennant with a 9-6 victory over Boston. Bibb Falk (.358,15,105) hit a grand slam homerun while Ken Williams (.359,25,113) had 4 hits, including 3 doubles and drove in 2 runs to lead New York to victory.

Philadelphia split a doubleheader with Washington to drop to third place as the Detroit Tigers slipped into second with their fourth straight victory.

Meanwhile Babe Ruth became the first triple crown winner since 1872 as the National League season came to a close. Ruth finished with a .403 batting average to end .003 ahead of Rogers Hornsby at .400. Ruth also set major league records for homeruns with 52 and rbi's with 163.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 6, 1921

The major league season came to an end as Philadelphia beat the Yankees 4-3 in a make-up of the game rained out two days ago. Herb Pennock picked up his 26th win of the season as he gets the start after a terrible outing in New York two days ago, allowing the Athletics to finish the year tied with Detroit for second place, 2 games back of the Yankees.

FEDERAL SERIES
BROOKLYN WINS IT'S FOURTH STRAIGHT TITLE

The Brooklyn Tip-Tops dominance of the Federal League continues as they won their fourth straight Federal Series title after a 6 game victory over the Pittsburgh Rebels. Even the defection of stars Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal to the National League's New York Giants at mid-season did little to slow down the Tip-Tops, who have made 6 straight playoff appearances and averaged 113 wins over each of the past four seasons.

The deciding contest was a 4-3 victory as Frank Arellanes went the distance allowing 7 hits. Arellanes, who was acquired in a mid-season deal with the Cleveland Indians, had previously pitched 3 seasons for the Baltimore Terrapins. Brooklyn put the game away in the bottom of the 6th inning when they scored 3 times to snap a 1-1 tie. Rube Lutzke, who was named series MVP, started the rally with a lead off triple.

The 23 year old Lutzke hit .381 with 4 rbi's and 4 runs scored in the series. He hit .318 with 8 homers and 78 rbi's during the regular season, his first full year in the Federal League. Lutzke spent most of 1920 with Terre Haute of the Central League but was promoted to Brooklyn late in the year and played all 5 games of last seasons Federal Series, batting .300 for the Tip-Tops.

In real life Lutzke, a Milwaukee native, played 5 seasons for the Cleveland Indians and an additional 7 seasons in the minors, primarily with Kansas City and Newark. From what I have read he was an outstanding defensive third baseman and an ideal deadball era player as he had little pop in his bat. However his career began just as the deadball era was ending and as his defensive skills started to wane he lost his job in Cleveland

07-20-2017, 10:09 AM	#201
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Saturday August 20, 1921 SATURDAY AUGUST 20, 1921 RED HOT COBB RIPS 6 HITS FOR BROWNS 34 year old St Louis Browns outfielder Ty Cobb (.384,2,53) continued his torrid play with a 6-hit game today against Washington. Cobb, who now is riding a 21 game hitting streak and is batting .451 for August, went 6-for-7 with 3 rbi's but it wasn't enough to prevent the Browns from falling 12-10 to Washington. The offensive outburst moved the 7-time American League MVP to the top of the batting race. Cobb has won the American League batting crown 6 times in his career. It marked the second time in his career that Cobb had a 6 hit game. The major league record for hits in a game is 7 heled by 3 players: Ross Barnes of Cincinnati in 1873, Fred Carroll of Baltimore in 1889 and Sam Rice of Giants in 1917. Rip Vowinkel is a pitcher who's name has come up often in the past. The now 36 year old threw a 2-hit shutout today to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-0 win over Detroit. The win was the 303rd major league victory for Vowinkel, who is 15-10 with a 3.77 era this year. He began his career with Pittsburgh in 1906 and helped the Pirates win a pair of World Series titles before being dealt to the Red Sox midway through the 1910 season. Despite having 8 twenty-win seasons he only made the midseason all-star team once in his career. He is the 30th pitcher to win 300 games but only two - him and Walter Johnson of the Giants - are presently active. Born in Oswego, New York, his given name was John. In real life he spent just part of one season in the major leagues, going 3-3 in 6 starts for the 1905 Cincinnati Reds. As for the American League pennant race, both Philadelphia and New York won today so the Athletics lead remains at a half game. The A's Herb Pennock (20-5) got his 20th win in a 7-1 victory over Cleveland while Phil Douglas (21-8) pitched all 10 innings to lead the Yankees to a 7-5 win over Chicago in extras. In the National League the first place Reds fell for the second game in a row, losing 6-4 to the Giants in New York. Babe Ruth (.405,42,128) did not homer or drive in a run but he did go 2-for-4 and is now closing in on St Louis' Rogers Hornsby (.407,28,92) for the batting lead. Oscar Charleston's (.321,8,25) 2-run single in the 7th inning with the bases loaded provided the margin of victory for New York. Second place Pittsburgh failed to gain ground as the Bucs also lost for the second game in a row and remain 5.5 games off the pace. The Pirates fell 9-6 to Philadelphia despite a 3-for-4 game from lead-off man Charlie Jamieson (.306,2,53). In Brooklyn, Austin McHenry went 3-for-5 with a homerun and 3-rbi's to lead the visiting St Louis Cardinals past Brooklyn 8-4 at Ebbets Field. Hornsby went 0-for-4 in the game. The third place Cardinals are 7 games back of Cincinnati while Brooklyn remains 9 behind. NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE The Chicago American Giants received bad news today when they learned veteran outfielder Pete Hill will miss the rest of the Negro World Series with an ankle injury suffered in a loss in Game Five. The American Giants lead the series 3 games to two and can clinch with a win at home tomorrow. The 38 year old Hill suffered torn ligaments in his ankle and at his age, it could spell the end of a long career. He hit .310 with 6 homeruns and 38 rbi's for the American Giants this season but was just 3-for-16 in the playoff series with Indianapolis. Hill made a name for himself in his twenties playing for St Joseph in the Western Association, leading that league in batting 5 times in his 12 seasons. He joined the St Louis Terriers of the Federal League in 1916 and spent four seasons with them while winning a pair of Federal League titles. The Terriers released him after the 1919 campaign and he signed with the American Giants and was a member of the first NNL championship team last year. A 7-time MVP in the Western Association, he is considered to be one of the best players ever to play in that league and is the only player to win a Western Association, Federal League and Negro World Series title. PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE Hooks Cotter (.333,8,81) is a name to keep an eye on. The 21 year old Los Angeles Angels first baseman extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a pair of singles in the Angels 4-3 win over Sacramento today. It is his second 20 game streak of the season having had one that ended in late April. Despite his youth, Cotter is already playing for his third major league organization. He was signed by the New York Giants in the fall of 1919 but after spending the first three months of the 1920 season on their reserve roster the Giants dealt him to the Browns with another player for veteran 2B Dutch Schliebner. Cotter got 2 at bats for the Browns and went 1-for-2 with his first major league hit being a double off of Detroit's Hugh Bedient. Over the winter he was dealt to the Cubs who assigned him to Los Angeles where he has won a pair of PCL player of the week awards and was named the top batter for the month of March. In real life Cotter played 99 games over 2 seasons with the Chicago Cubs(1922,1924). He bounced around the minor leagues for over a decade with his best season likely being 1929 when he hit .293 with 27 homers for Minneapolis of the American Association. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-20-2017, 10:56 AM	#202
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	The Taylor brothers THE TAYLOR FAMILY Seeing Candy Jim Taylor (.280,7,35) had a 5-hit game for the Birmingham Barons in a win over Little Rock today made me think it was time to profile the Taylor family of 4 brothers who have all enjoyed some success in this replay. Before doing so I should note the pitcher Taylor beat up on was Bill Sline, who was discussed a short time ago. Sline got rocked for 9 earned runs and 20 hits in his Southern Association debut. In real life there were four Taylor brothers from South Carolina who between them played, managed and had a role in founding the Negro National League. They are considered one of the most famous families in black baseball history and one was inducted into the baseball hall of fame. The brothers are Candy Jim, Ben, C.I. and "Steel Arm" Johnny. Candy Jim started as a catcher but switched to third base and was a player manager for the Dayton Marcos in the first season of the Negro National League. He piloted the St Louis Stars to their first championship in 1928 and did the same for the Homestead Grays in 1943. Johnny was the second oldest and was given the nickname "Steel Arm Johnnie" when a reporter wrote about his great speed when he pitched for Biddle Univdersity in Charlotte in 1898. He would later coach the Biddle University squad and would play for several teams until joining his brothers with the Indianapolis ABC's in 1914. Johnny would pitch at least 3 games for them in the first season of the NNL at the age of 40 and was said to still be pitching at the age of 45. Charles or C.I. as he was known played second base but was best known for being a co-founder and vice-president of the Negro National League. He owned and managed the Indianapolis ABC's until his death at age 47. He developed the ABC's into a powerhouse in the late teens that was rivaled only by Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants. Ben, the youngest of the 4 siblings, was also a manager after playing first base for his career. He replaced C.I. as manager of Indianapolis after his brothers death in 1922. In a 1949 article, Oscar Charleston selected Ben as his first baseman on his all-time all-star team. He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 2006. In the sim Ben did not import until prior to the 1920 season. He joined the Indianapolis ABC's and hit .381 with 2 homers and 56 rbi's as a 31 year old in 1920. This season (1921) he batted .366 with 4 homers and 68 rbi's and helped Indianapolis reach the Negro World Series for the second year in a row. The ABC's presently trail the Chicago American Giants 3 games to two but through no fault of Taylor, who is batting .524 (11-for-21) in the series. Candy Jim is the oldest of the four brothers and made his sim debut in 1907. He spent over a decade with Sacramento in the old Pacific Coast League and won a batting title in that loop in 1917 when he was also named MVP of the PCL that season. He was signed by Hartford of the Federal League in 1918 but after going 4-for-22 in 12 games the Oaks released him and he moved to Birmingham of the Southern Association which is a bit of a coincidence as in real-life his brother C.I. founded the first negro team in Birmingham. A lifetime .257 hitter, Candy Jim has played over 1600 games in this sim and is still going strong with the Barons at the age of 36. Like Ben, C.I. did not import in the game until the birth of the NNL in 1920. As a result he was almost 45 years old when he joined the sim. He spent all of the 1920 season on the Indianapolis ABC's reserve roster. He is presently listed as a manager in the personnel section of the game but so far has not found work. Steel Arm Johnny had a very short career for some unknown reason. He imported in 1907 and signed with the Portland Colts of the Northwestern League. As a 21 year old rookie he went 17-15 with a 2.34 era and tossed 5 shutouts that season. The Portland club moved to Vancouver for 1908 but they did not take a Taylor with them as he was released over the winter. After sitting in the free agent pool for 1908 and 1909 he retired at the age of 25 in 1910. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 07-20-2017 at 11:03 AM.

07-20-2017, 06:44 PM	#203
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Sunday August 21, 1921 SUNDAY AUGUST 21, 1921 ABC'S WIN MARATHON TO FORCE 7TH GAME The Indianapolis ABC's needed 13 innings but they beat the Chicago American Giants 9-7 at Chicago's Schorling's Park to force a 7th and deciding game in the Negro World Series. The ABC's, who had trailed 3 games to one in the series, got the win thanks to Ben Taylor's rbi single in the top of the 13th. Taylor, who has been a thorn in the side of the American Giants pitchers all series, had 2 hits in the game and is batting .464 for the series. Game seven will go tomorrow in Chicago. The ABC's took a 5-0 lead into the fourth inning before the American Giants began to claw back with 2 runs in the home fourth and two more in the fifth. After Indianapolis extended it's lead with 2 runs of their own in the 7th the American Giants battled back and finally tied the game at 7 thanks to a Biz Mackey rbi single. RUTH HITS 43rd HOMER AND TAKES BATTING AVERAGE LEAD Babe Ruth (.407,43,131) went 3-for-5 with a double and his 43rd homerun to pace the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-0 victory over the New York Giants. The win ended a two-game slide for the National League leading Reds and keeps them 5.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh, who also ended a 2-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory in Philadelphia. Ruth's big day allowed him to move ahead of St Louis Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.403,28,92) and into the batting average lead as the Babe bids to become the first MLB triple crown winner since 1872. Hornsby is hitless in his last 12 at bats and has seen his average plummet after hitting just .190 last week. There is no change atop the American League after both Philadelphia and New York lost today. The first place Athletics remain a half game up on the Yankees. Philadelphia fell 8-3 in Cleveland while the Yankees were doubled 6-3 by the White Sox in Chicago. A's outfielder Bob Meusel (.380,16,86) had his 23 game hitting streak snapped in the loss to the Indians. St Louis Browns outfielder Ty Cobb(.387,2,53) extended his hitting steak to 22 games with 3 hits in the Browns 7-3 loss to Washington. However, Cobb no longer leads the American League batting race as Detroit's Tris Speaker (.417,3,41) now has enough plate appearances to qualify for the title. The 33 year old Speaker has been bothered by back and groin issues all season and has appeared in just 88 games. The American League player of the week award went to Chicago White Sox infielder Charlie Hollocher (.339,4,60). The 25 year old hit .438 (14-for-32) with 2 homeruns, 10 rbi's and 9 runs scored this past week. He has been in the White Sox organization since 1915 and has already played 685 major league games with a lifetime .307 batting average. He led the American League in hits (202), doubles (18) and stolen bases (57) in 1919 and was named AL MVP that season. While teammate Rogers Hornsby has been struggled, Austin McHenry (.369,11,95) has picked up the slack for the St Louis Cardinals. The 25 year old outfielder was named the National League player of the week after batting .565 (13-for-23) with a homerun, 8 rbi's and 9 runs scored. McHenry, the 1916 National League rookie of the year, is in his 6th season with the Cardinals. FEDERAL LEAGUE UPDATE The Pittsburgh Rebels continue to hold on to the wildcard spot in the Federal League and a big reason is the breakout season from 33 year old veteran pitcher Harry Suter (21-10, 3.69). Suter, who is in his 4th season with the Rebels after over a decade in the Central League, was named Federal League player of the week after getting 4 wins last week to break the 20-mark for the first time in his career. Suter started two games and came on in relief in two others to go 4-0 with 11 strikeouts and a 1.20 era. He pitched a complete game 3-2 win over Chicago yesterday that allowed the Rebels to sweep a doubleheader from the Whales and increase their lead in the wildcard to 2 full games over Newark, 3 on St Louis and 3.5 on the Whales. Brooklyn (93-32) continues to dominate the Federal League and the Tip-Tops lead on Pittsburgh is 20 games. SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION Veteran Atlanta Crackers lefthander Gus Salve became the first pitcher in Southern Association history to fan 2700 batters. He reached the milestone today with 3 strikeouts in a 7-5 loss to Mobile. The 35 year old has spent his entire 16 year pro career with Atlanta, compiling a 255-256 career record including 10-18 this season. He was named the Southern Association's top pitcher in 1910 and the Southern Series MVP in 1907 when he won the first of 3 Series championships with the Crackers. Salve also threw one of just 12 no-hitters in Southern Association history. Salve's 255 wins rank 6th all-time in the Southern Association. The leader is Lou Johnson, who was 297-299 from 1895-1911 with 7 different teams in the league. Salve is third in losses behind Johnson and Harry Keenan (202-290) from 1893-1905 with New Orleans. In real-life Salve pitched in just 2 major league games, both in 1908 for the Philadelphia Athletics. I can't find anything else about him other than he pitched for Richmond in the Class C Virginia League in 1906,07 and 1910 and was 14-15 for Columbus of the South Atlantic league in 1908. He also pitched for Johnstown of the Tri-State League in 1909 which is where I found his picture. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-21-2017, 12:20 AM	#204
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Monday August 22, 1921 MONDAY AUGUST 22, 1921 ABC's CAP DRAMATIC COMEBACK WITH GAME 7 WIN The Indianapolis ABC's won the Negro World Series title with a 7-4 victory over the Chicago American Giants in the seventh and deciding game of the series. The win capped a comeback of three straight victories, including the last two on the road for Indianapolis, which had trailed 3 games to one. It also gives the ABC's revenge after being swept 4 straight by the American Giants in last year's inaugural series. Dobie Moore, who was named the series MVP after batting .419 with 2 homers and 12 rbi's in the seven games, played a huge role in the deciding contest. Moore was 3-for-5 on the day including a 2-run homer in the fifth inning that put Indianapolis up 7-0 at the time. ABC's pitcher Bill Holland went the distance for the win. Holland (17-5, 2.46) held the American Giants hitless through 3 innings and then had to pitch out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam in the fourth but did so without conceeding a run. The 24 year old, who was named NNL pitcher of the year last season and seems a shoe-in to repeat this year, kept Chicago off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when he allowed a solo homerun to Biz Mackey. The American Giants added 3 more runs in the bottom of the ninth but could get no closer than the 7-4 final. While Moore was named the MVP, Indianapolis also received very strong performances from first baseman Ben Taylor (.455,1,5) and catcher Geechie Meredith (.400,0,6). Bill Riggins (.471,1,6) and Biz Mackey (.417,2,5) led the American Giants, who might have won the series had they not lost outfielders Chaney White and Pete Hill to injury during the series. FUTURE CLOUDY FOR NNL This series might have marked the end of a very brief era for the Negro National League as many within the league are unsure if this might well be it's last year of existance. With Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal enjoying tremendous success with the National League's New York Giants the expectation is major league clubs will go after many of the great young stars that have emerged during the two seasons of the NNL's tenure. If that happens there are many questions as to what the Negro National League will become. Will there still be enough talent to support the league and with major league baseball and it's minor leagues fully intergrated could the NNL also become an integrated minor league affiliated with MLB? Those, and other, details will have to be ironed out over the winter. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL YANKEES MOVE INTO TIE FOR AL LEAD Cy Williams (.311,16,69) hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning to lift the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox in American League play. The victory allowed the Yankees to pull even with idle Philadelphia atop the league standings. Catcher Steve O'Neill (.357,4,59) led the way for New York with 4 hits including a solo homerun in the game. Lee Meadows (11-10) got the win with Rube Benton getting the final two outs. Detroit is in third place, 7.5 games back, after the Tigers hammered Boston 10-0. Bill L James (10-16) tossed a complete game 4-hitter for the shutout win. In the only other American League game Bill Wambsganss (.308,3,59) had 4-hits including a homerun and drove in 5 runs to lead the Senators past St Louis 13-3. Ty Cobb (.388,2,53) had two hits in a losing effort to extend his hitting streak to 23 games. In the National League first place Cincinnati hammered the New York Giants 12-2 as Babe Ruth (.411,43,132), although homerless, managed 3 hits and an rbi in the win. The Reds lead on Pittsburgh atop the National League is back to 6 games after the Pirates were rained out in Philadelphia. St Louis outslugged Brooklyn 11-9 to remain 7 games behind Cincinnati. Rogers Hornsby (.405,28,94) broke out of a slump with 3 hits and 3 runs scored in the victory while veteran pitcher Ed Wahl (17-9, 3.19) pitched 8 innings for the win. In the only other game Boston beat Chicago 9-4 as 26 year old Bing Miller (.336,7,66) led the Braves with 2 hits and 4 rbi's in the contest. FEDERAL LEAGUE George H Burns had a 5 hit game but it wasn't enough to prevent his Brooklyn Tip-Tops from losing 8-7 to the Chicago Whales. With the Pittsburgh Rebels losing 7-3 to Indianapolis the Federal League wildcard picture tightened up again. St Louis and Newark are both 2 games back of the Rebels with Chicago 2.5 off the pace. With the Federal League becoming an afterthought after the dramatic departure of stars Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal to the National League, the amazing season Brooklyn pitcher Bullet Joe Bush is compiling has been all but ignored. The 28 year old, who pitched 4 seasons for the Brooklyn Robins before joining the Tip-Tops 6 years ago, leads the Federal League with a 30-4 record. He has an amazing record of 166-48 in 264 Federal League appearances and is the Federal League career leader in wins, complete games, shutouts and strikeouts. Bush is a 3-time Federal League pitcher of the year and a 3-time Federal Series champion. He was also named regular season MVP in 1917 and appeared in the lone Federal League all-star game in 1919. In real life Bush enjoyed a solid major league career, going 195-183 for 7 teams over 17 seasons. The righthander is credited for having developed the forkball. He won World Series titles with both the Red Sox and Yankees and also won a National League pennant with Pittsburgh. He threw a no-hitter in with the A's in 1916, missing a perfect game by walking Jack Graney of Cleveland - the lead-off hitter in the first inning. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-21-2017, 09:45 AM	#205
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Tuesday August 23, 1921 TUESDAY AUGUST 23, 1921 RUTH BELTS TWO HOMERUNS IN LOSS TO BROOKLYN Hitting 50 homeruns now seems like too modest a target for Cincinnati Reds slugger Babe Ruth. Sixty appears to be a more realistic goal after the outfielder belted two more homeruns against Brooklyn today giving him 45 for the season with 36 games remaining. Despite Ruth's (.411,45,134) two round-trippers his Cincinnati ballclub came up on the short end of an 11-7 score at Ebbets Field. Brooklyn first baseman Joe Harris (.363,8,75) hit a grand slam to pace the Robins while 22 year old Pie Traynor (.367,2,24) had his best day as a major leaguer when he entered the game after Cotton Tierney and Cincinnati pitcher Tod Sloan were ejected for igniting a first inning bench-clearing brawl after Sloan hit Tierney with a pitch. Traynor, who had just 124 at bats this season entering the day, went 2-for-4 with a homerun, a double and 5 rbi's to pace the Brooklyn offense. Traynor will get more starts at third base this week as Tierney and Sloan will almost assuredly both be suspended. The Pittsburgh Pirates are now 5.5 games back of Cincinnati after the Bucs split a doubleheader with Boston. The Pirates scored four times in the 10th inning of the opener to make a winner out of Chet Carmichael (16-7, 3.93) by a 9-5 score. Game two was all Boston as Pete Schneider (.328,7,48) led the way for the Braves with a 2-for-5 day that included a bases loaded triple and 4 rbi's in the contest. The St Louis Cardinals won their fifth in a row and are now just 6 games off the pace. The Cardinals scored 6 times in the first inning and coasted to a 7-1 win over the Giants at the Polo Grounds. Rogers Hornsby (.407,29,96) hit a two-run homer to help the Cardinals cause. New York and Philadelphia remain tied atop the American League standings as both won today. The Yankees got 3 hits and 3 rbi's from Ken Williams (.360,21,87) in a 12-4 pasting of St Louis, handing the slumping Browns their 4th straight defeat. Ty Cobb (.388,2,53) did go 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 24 games. Meanwhile in Detroit, Athletics starter Guy Morton (12-10, 4.13) outduelled the Tigers Dutch Leonard (21-7, 2.78) in a 3-2 Philadelphia victory. The difference was Dave Robertson's (.343,2,12) two-run homer off of Leonard in the second inning. PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE A big showdown begins today in the Pacific Coast League as first place Seattle (88-62) hosts second place San Francisco (84-64) in a 3 game series. The Rainiers have the top offense in the league and are led by 25 year old first baseman Ted Jourdan (.313,11,90). A pro since 1915, Jourdan has played 85 games in the Federal League but spent the rest of his time in the International League before joining Seattle this year. In real life he hit .214 in 75 games between 1916-1920 with the White Sox. San Francisco's strength is it's starting rotation led by John Merritt (18-11, 3.74) and Cliff Markle (14-13, 3.93) but the Seals do have a pair of powerful bats in young outfielders Herschel Bennett (.333,13,81) and Cedric Durst (.314,12,57). Durst is a 25 year old who is playing in his first professional season. In real life he played 7 seasons in the major leagues, primarily as a reserve outfielder including some time with the 1927 Yankees. Perhaps his biggest claim to fame is when he was with San Diego of the PCL late in his career he lent a rookie by the name of Ted Williams a sweatshirt because Williams could not afford one. He roomed with Williams on the road that season. Bennett is a 24 year old from Elwood, New York who is in his first season as a professional. In real life Bennett played parts of 5 seasons with the St Louis Browns. Bennett was also the subject of a court case that could have had a huge impact on the minor leagues. In the late twenties and early thirties some major league teams, most notably the Cardinals, began acquiring minor league clubs which would allow them to sign amateur players at a cheap rate and continuously maintain their property rights as they developed. Bennett, with Commissioner Landis heavily involved, challenged that his rights to play in the major leagues were being interfered with because the Browns conspired to keep him in the minors and away from other major league clubs. Landis, who felt the minor league system was bad for baseball, ordered Browns owner Phil Ball to either promote Bennett or release him. Ball refused and filed suit. In Milwaukee American Association vs Landis, the judge in the case sided with the commissioner stating "St Louis was at work to keep Bennett out of the major leagues and in the minors and to prevent any major league club from securing his services. The judge added such conduct was detrimental to baseball. Despite the ruling the Judge in the case also ruled the farm system in baseball was legitimate, which was what Landis was trying to avoid with the ruling on Bennett. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-21-2017, 10:19 AM	#206
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Wednesday August 24, 1921 WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24, 1921 A 'GRAND' GAME FOR RUTH BUT REDS LOSE AGAIN Babe Ruth hit a towering grand slam homerun in the ninth inning but it was not enough as his Cincinnati Reds fell just short, losing 10-9 to Brooklyn for their second straight loss. Ruth (.411,46,138), who leads the league in all three triple crown categories, went 2-for-4 and homered for the 3rd time in the past two games. The fourth place Robins are now within 9 games of Cincinnati for the National League lead. Second place Pittsburgh and third place St Louis both lost today so they remain 5 and 6 games back respectively. The big story remains Ruth, who has shattered the previous homerun record of 38 he set two years ago, and appears to be on his way to 60 or perhaps even more homeruns this season. The New York Yankees moved a game ahead of Philadelphia atop the American League standings. The Yankees scored 4 times in the top of the ninth to beat St Louis 10-9. Cy Williams (.321,17,75) led the way for the Yankees with 4 hits and 4 rbi's on the day. Ty Cobb had 2 hits in a losing cause for St Louis to extend his consecutive game hitting streak to 25. Meanwhile, Philadelphia fell 4-3 in 12 innings at Detroit. Tigers third baseman Marty McManus (.320,2,78) delivered the game-winning rbi single to send the crowd at Navin Field home happy. FEDERAL LEAGUE Little has changed atop the Federal League although the first place Brooklyn Tip-Tops did drop 3 straight to the Chicago Whales. Brooklyn still has a very comfortable 19 game lead on second place Pittsburgh. The surging Whales are a game and a half behind the Rebels for the wildcard spot with Newark sandwiched in between them, 1 game off the pace. St Louis has struggled a bit of late and the Terriers are in 5th, 2 games out of the wildcard spot. PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE John Merritt (19-11, 3.68) won his 19th game of the season to lead the San Francisco Seals to 5-3 win in Seattle over the Rainiers in Pacific Coast League action. The win moves the second place Seals to within a game of the league leading Seattle ballclub. The contest was the opener of a 3-game series between the two PCL front-runners. San Francisco is the hottest team in the league right now, with 3 straight wins and 9 victories in their last 10 games. VETERAN LAPORTE RETIRES Rather than accept a demotion to the Central League, 41 year old second baseman Frank Laporte has decided to call it a career. A 4-time major league gold glove winner, Laporte is one of the very few remaining active players who played prior to the turn of the century. He made his major league debut with the Boston Braves in 1898 and played 2461 major league baseball games for the Braves, Athletics and Tigers before joining the St Louis Terriers this year. Laporte never played a minor league game in a career that saw him bat .258 and win a World Series title with the 1915 Athletics. In real life Laporte played 913 major league games primarily with the New York Highlanders(Yankees) but also with the Red Sox, Browns and Washington. A stocky man, Laporte played 2B, 3B and the outfield. Like in this sim Laporte also finished his career playing in the Federal League. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-22-2017, 05:47 AM	#207
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Thursday August 25, 1921 THURSDAY AUGUST 25, 1921 TWO MORE FOR RUTH Babe Ruth belted two more homeruns today and established a new major league baseball record for rbi's in a season. The 26 year old outfielder went 4-for-6 including a pair of home runs off of Brooklyn starter Stan Dougan (10-13, 3.65) as the Reds crushed the Robins 16-1. Ruth hit a 2-run shot in the first inning and added a solo blast in the fourth giving him 48 homers and 141 rbi's on the year. The 2-run shot allowed Ruth (.415,48,141) to surpass the single season MLB rbi record of 139 established by Beals Becker when he was with the New York Giants. Ruth, who also scored 4 runs in the game, also extended his lead on St Louis Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.407,30,102) in the batting race as he bids to become the MLB's first triple crown winner since 1872. Hornsby went 1-for-3 in his club's 8-1 win over the Giants but the hit was a big one, a grand slam homerun to help the Cardinals remain within 6 games of front-running Cincinnati in the National League pennant race. The Pittsburgh Pirates stay 5 games back in second place after the Bucs beat Boston 3-1 behind a 5-hit complete game from Glen Harle (17-12, 3.30). Phil Douglas (22-8) became the first 22 game winner this season as he pitched the New York Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the St Louis Browns. The Yankees win, coupled with Philadelphia's 5-3 loss in Detroit, gives New York a 2-game bulge on the Athletics atop the American League standings. PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE The San Francisco Seals continue to roll along in the PCL. The Seals blanked Seattle 6-0 behind a 4-hit shutout from righthander Don Baty (6-0, 1.17). It was San Francisco's second straight win over Seattle and propelled the Seals into a first place tie with the Rainiers atop the PCL standings. San Francisco has won 4 straight and 10 of their last 11 games while slumping Seattle has dropped 4 straight and 6 of their last 8 games. The 28 year old Baty has taken the PCL by storm ever since he was released by the Baltimore Terrapins organization in mid-July. Signed on July 26th, he has made 6 starts for the Seals and won each of them, tossing 6 straight complete games. It is only his second pro season as he pitched for Aberdeen of the Northwestern League last year, going 9-17 with a 3.57 era. The Terrapins signed him in June from Aberdeen's reserve roster but Baty never pitched in the Federal League as he was assigned to Zanesville of the Central League. He made just 1 start for the Potters, also a complete game victory, before being released. I can't find anything on the real Don Baty other than BBRef showing him as 22-25 over 3 seasons in the Western Association from 1920-22. TEXAS LEAGUE Been a while since we have looked at the Texas League so here is a quick update. The Wichita Falls Spudders have a 7 game lead on Fort Worth for first place but there is a very good battle going on for the wildcard as the Panthers are a half game ahead of the Beaumont Exporters and a game up on the Houston Buffaloes. Wichita Falls, which is affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates, recently sent it's top pitcher to the big leagues. 29 year old Erv Kantlehner was 11-8 with a 2.41 era in the Texas loop before being recalled to Pittsburgh in late July. With the Bucs, Kantlehner is 2-2 in 5 starts. He has had 2 previous stints with the Pirates and also pitched 3 years for Newark of the Federal League. In real life Kantlehner spent 3 seasons in the major leagues, going 13-29 for the Pirates and Phillies. The Pirates top prospect in Wichita Falls is 19 year old outfielder Dick Porter. The rookie started the season in the big leagues but hit just .217 and played sparingly in Pittsburgh so in late June he was demoted to the Texas League. He is on a tear with the Spudders, batting .382 with 7 homers and 26 rbi's in 53 games. In real life Porter would go on to play a half dozen major league seasons with Cleveland and the Red Sox but spent the bulk of his 21 year pro career in the International League, and was inducted into that league's hall of fame. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-22-2017, 09:26 PM	#208
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Friday August 26, 1921 FRIDAY AUGUST 26, 1921 YANKEES AND ATHLETICS BOTH LOSE The New York Yankees lead on Philadelphia atop the American League remains at 2-games after both clubs tasted defeat today as each continues it's western swing. The worst of the travel is over for the Yankees who moved into Cleveland after taking 5-of-6 from stops in Chicago and St Louis. The rested Indians were waiting for them when they arrived and the Tribe bats blasted 10 hits enroute to an 8-1 win over the Bronx club. Baby Doll Jacobson (.346,6,60) led the way for Cleveland with a 3-for-3 day that included 3 runs scored. Frank Brower (.325,18,95) added to the Indians offense with 2 hits and 4 rbi's. Meanwhile the Athletics struggles on their road trip continued. After losing 3 of 5 in stops in Cleveland and Detroit, Philadelphia stumbled into Chicago on a 2-game losing streak. The White Sox, fresh off a 3-game sweep at home over Washington, kept the momentum going with a 7-1 win over the Athletics. Frankie Frisch (.325,7,71) led the Chicago offense with a pair of doubles off A's starter and losing pitcher Dick Rudolph (14-11, 3.43). The third place Detroit Tigers missed an opportunity to gain ground on the leaders as the Tigers fell 2-1 to Washington. Tommy Atkins (16-11, 3.07) was dialed in for the visitors from Washington, tossing a 6 hitter while fanning 7 for the victory. Detroit remains 8.5 games behind the first place Yankees. It was an off-day for the National League leading Cincinnati Reds as they travelled to Philadelphia where they will begin a 4 game set with the Phillies tomorrow. Second place Pittsburgh picked up a half game on the Reds and now trail by 4.5 after doubling Boston 6-3. Erv Kantlehner (3-2, 4.14), who I just talked about yesterday, went the distance for the win, which was the 7th of his MLB career. COBB SIDELINED American League pitchers could not slow down St Louis Browns outfielder Ty Cobb but the injury bug did. The 34 year old, who is in the midst of a 26 game hitting streak, missed today's game against Boston. Cobb (.391,2,54) could miss a week with what is being described as a back injury. He had 2 hits yesterday against the Yankees but left the game in the 7th inning for a pinch-runner. The Browns won 7-6 over the Red Sox today despite Cobb's absence. FEDERAL LEAGUE WHALES MAKING PUSH FOR PLAYOFF SPOT The Chicago Whales extended their winning streak to 5 games and 10 out of their last 13 with a 5-4 win over Indianapolis today. The streak, which included a 3 game sweep of first place Brooklyn, leaves the Whales just 1 game behind the Pittsburgh Rebels in the race for the second playoff berth. The Newark Pepper, who beat St Louis 7-3 today, are also just a game behind the second place Rebels. The big story for the Whales, who have not made the Federal League series since winning the inaugural title in 1914, has been the play of rookie second baseman Frank Parkinson (.340,18,75). Parkinson, who was the MVP in the spring Chicago Cup event, leads the Federal League in homeruns and leads the Whales in batting average and rbi's. MINOR LEAGUE NOTES MOBILE CLINCHES SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION TITLE The Mobile Bears clinched the Southern Association regular season title with a 6-1 victory over the Crackers in Atlanta today. Pitcher G. Hall (14-11, 2.72) led the Bears by throwing a 7-hit complete game and adding to the offense with a 2-run homer. It marks the first regular season title for the Bears since 1917. With a little over a week remaining in the season the Bears will now wait to see who they will face in the Southern Series. The Nashville Volunteers and New Orleans Pelicans are tied for second place but there are also 3 other teams right in the mix as well. PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE The Seattle Rainiers salvaged the final game of their 3-game set with San Francisco by beating the Seals 5-4 thanks to a walk-off rbi single from catcher Robert Snyder (.373,0,11) in the bottom of the ninth. The win puts the Rainiers a game ahead of the Seals atop the 8 team Pacific Coast League. INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE The Newark Bears are closing in on their first International League regular season title in 3 years. The Bears, who lead all IL teams with 10 playoff series titles, have a 7 game lead on second place Baltimore and are 8 ahead of third place Syracuse. Newark lost 1-0 today to Jersey City thanks to a masterful 4-hit shutout from Skeeters ace Parson Perryman (15-13, 2.93) but the Bears are coming off a big 3 game sweep of the Orioles. NORTHWESTERN LEAGUE With about 10 days left in the regular season schedule there is quite a battle shaping up in the Northwestern League. The Everett Smokestackers and Spokane Indians are tied for first place, 1 game ahead of the Victoria Bees. The Smokestackers beat Spokane 7-1 today in the opener of a 4-game set between the two clubs. The Bees, who have won the last two league championships, lost 13-7 to Vancouver. After the series with Vancouver, the Bees finish the season with 4 against Spokane and 3 games at Everett. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-24-2017, 12:08 AM	#209
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	August 27-29, 1921 SATURDAY AUGUST 27, 1921 PIRATES CLOSE TO WITHIN 3.5 GAMES The Pittsburgh Pirates had 21 hits including 4 each from Eddie Collins (.358,0,56), Bernie Friberg (.327,8,60) and Charlie Jameison (.317,2,58) to power their way past the New York Giants 15-9. With the win the defending World Series champions now find themselves just 3.5 games out of first place in the National League. It is quite a surprise for a team that dumped a lot of salary, including slugger Babe Ruth, over the winter to now find itself back in contention. The first place Cincinnati Reds fell 11-6 to Philadelphia and have now dropped 3 of their last 4 games. Babe Ruth did not homer, but he did have a pair of hits and his league leading 142nd rbi of the season. Teammate Elmer Smith (.310,14,100) also reached the century mark in rbi's with a pair in the loss. The top two American League clubs also lost so the Yankees lead on the Athletics remains at 2 games. New York fell for the second day in row to Cleveland while Philadelphia's losing streak reached 4 games with a 7-2 loss to the White Sox in Chicago. SUNDAY AUGUST 28,1921 YANKEES DOUBLE CLEVELAND The New York Yankees salvaged one game out of their series in Cleveland by beating the Indians 10-5 today. The win keeps New York 2 games ahead of Philadelphia as the Athletics snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 5-4 win in Chicago. The top of the National League stays the same as each of the top three teams won today. The first place Reds doubled Philadelphia 6-3 to stay 3.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh after the Pirates pounded the New York Giants 9-3. St Louis hung on to beat the Boston Braves 11-10 allowing the Cardinals to remain 5 games back. Babe Ruth did not homer today but the Cincinnati outfielder was named National League player of the week after going 14-for-27 with 5 homers and 11 rbi's in 6 games last week. On the season Ruth is batting .414 with 48 homers and 143 rbi's. American League honors went to Charlie Hollocher (.348,4,65) of the Chicago White Sox, who hit .485 (16-33) last week. NO-HITTER IN NORTHWESTERN LEAGUE Larry Jacobus of the Tacoma Tigers tossed his second career no-hitter as he blanked the Aberdeen Black Cats 6-0 in Northwestern League play. The 26 year old Jacobus also threw a no-hitter in 1919 against the Oakland Oaks while pitching for Sacramento. He becomes just the second pitcher in the history of the Northwestern League (which includes the old Pacific Coast League) to record two no-hitters. Dick Clark, who pitched for Grays Harbor from 1902-1916 had 3 no-hitters in his career. As for Jacobus, he is an unlikely candidate for one no-hitter, let alone two. He is just 13-16 this season for the Tigers with a 3.98 era and in four seasons has a lifetime record of 56-48. In real life Jacobus made 5 relief appearances for the 1918 Cincinnati Reds but spent most of his pro career in the Texas League. His career came to an early end in 1928 when he was involved in a car accident and lost the use of his right eye. MONDAY AUGUST 29, 1921 The Yankees and Athletics both began the final stop in their midwest swing with losses so New York remains 2 games ahead of Philadelphia atop the American League. The Yankees started their trip by taking 2 of 3 from the White Sox before moving on to St Louis where they swept the Browns 3 straight. Next stop was Cleveland where New York lost the first two games before winning yesterday. The trip ends in Detroit where the Yankees fell 6-5 in the opener of the 3 game set. The Athletics began by splitting a pair in Cleveland but then managed to win just one out of 3 games in both Detroit and Chicago. Philadelphia was pounded 11-2 by the Browns in the opener of their 3 game set. Just noticed Ty Cobb's(.391,2,56) extended his hitting streak to 29 games in the win over Philadelphia. He was supposed to miss about a week with an injury but turns out he only sat out one game. The National League leading Cincinnati Reds lost 14-9 in Philadelphia and have dropped two of three to the Phillies. Babe Ruth (.413,48,142) has been quiet this series, with no homeruns and just 1 rbi. He was 1-for-4 in todays game. The only other National League game had St Louis beat Boston 5-1 behind Rogers Hornsby's (.407,32,106) career best 32nd homerun of the season. MAXWELL GETS 200TH WIN Washington Senators pitcher Bert Maxwell became just the 75th pitcher in the 51 year history of major league baseball history to record 200 career victories. The 34 year old reached the milestone by pitching 7 innings of a 6-1 win over Cleveland today. On the season Maxwell is 16-13 with a 3.40 era. Maxwell made his pro debut with the Brooklyn Robins in 1907, going 2-0 in 12 relief appearances. He would spend 3 seasons in Brooklyn before being dealt to Pittsburgh in 1910. He enjoyed his most productive seasons with the Pirates, including a 25 win season in 1912. Following the 1916 season he jumped to the Federal League where he spent a season and a half with the Pittsburgh Rebels, going 27-25 during that time, before the Rebels dealt him to the Washington Senators midway through the 1918 season. He was an American League all-star in 1920 and again this season and won a gold glove in 1919. A native of Texarkana, Texas, Maxwell had a very brief major league career in real-life. He lost his only start with Pittsburgh in 1906 and wass 1-2 in 4 appearances for the 1911 New York Giants. Maxwell also played for Brooklyn of the Federal League in 1914, going 3-4. He spent 9 seasons in the minors, primarily in the Southern Association but also spent a couple of seasons with Toronto of the International League. MINOR LEAGUE NO-HITTER For the second day in a row we get a minor league no-hitter. This time it was 28 year old Ralph Farnham of the Atlanta Crackers who turned the trick, blanking the Mobile Bears 2-0. Farnham (14-10, 2.88) struck out 4 while walking one in the game. He is in his second pro season, having gone 13-16 with the Crackers as a rookie last year. His no-hitter was just the 13th in the history of the Southern Association, which dates back to 1892, and first in a little over 2 years. I can't find anything about the real life Farnham other than his career lasted one season, going 7-20 for Pawhuska of the Western Association in 1920. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-25-2017, 12:50 AM	#210
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	August 30-31, 1921 TUESDAY AUGUST 30, 1921 FEDERAL LEAGUE HARD CHARGING WHALES MOVE INTO SECOND PLACE With 7 wins in their last 8 games and 12 out of 16 victories the Chicago Whales have moved into second place in the Federal League. The Whales blanked the Newark Pepper 6-0 behind an 8-hit complete game performance from former Pittsburgh Pirate Mike Prendergast (19-12, 3.31). The win moves the Whales into the second playoff spot by a .002 margin over the Pepper. The Pittsburgh Rebels, who have lost 3 of their last 4 games, are a half game back while the St Louis Terriers, fresh off a pair of wins over Pittsburgh, are 2.5 off the pace. Meanwhile the first place Brooklyn Tip-Tops are closing in on another 100 win season - which would be the fourth in a row for the Tip-Tops. Brooklyn has won the last three Federal Series and finished first in the regular season 4 years in a row. COBB'S STREAK REACHES 30 GAMES Ty Cobb extended his hitting streak to 30 games by going 3-for-5 for the St Louis Browns in their 11-7 win over Philadelphia today. The Athletics remain 2 games back of first place New York in the American League after the Yankees fell 4-3 in Detroit. As for Cobb, his 30 game streak is the longest this season in the American League but Joe Harris of Brooklyn had a 37 game streak earlier in the season. The major league record is 44 games set by Frank Baker of Cincinnati in 1911. The American League mark of 40 games was established by Jesse Burkett of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1894. Cobb's teammate Zach Wheat (.350,9,63) also reached a milestone today. The 33 year old outfielder hit a triple in the win over the A's. It was the 2000th hit of Wheat's career, making him the 78th player to reach that plateau. The record for career hits is 3733 set by John J McGraw, who played for Cincinnati from 1891-1918 with Nap Lajoie second (3725) and Honus Wagner (3583) third. In National League action the Cincinnati Reds needed a 5-run outburst in the top of the 8th inning to rally past Philadelphia 7-6. George Sisler (.376,8,88) led the Reds with 3 hits and 3 rbi's while catcher Wally Schang (.313,4,49) led the Phillies with 2 hits including a homerun. It was another quiet game for Babe Ruth, who went just 1-for-3 with a single and 2 walks. Ruth failed to homer in the 4 game series against the Phillies. St Louis moved into a second place tie with Pittsburgh, 4 games back of Cincinnati after the Cardinals outslugged Boston 10-8. The Pirates lost 4-3 in 10 innings to the Giants as Oscar Charleston (.319,8,27) led New York with a 4-hit game. INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE The Newark Bears clinched first place in the International League regular season for the first time since 1914. The Bears, who have 7 IL playoff titles to their credit, will face the second place team in the International League Series. The battle for second remains tight as the Baltimore Orioles have a 2 game lead on the Syracuse Stars with 6 games remaining for each club. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31, 1921 COBB EXTENDS HIT STREAK TO 31 GAMES Ty Cobb had a pair of hits to lead the St Louis Browns to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Athletics, extending his consecutive game hit streak to 31. Cobb took care of business early with a first inning rbi single and he would later add a double in the third inning. With the win the Browns completed a 3-game sweep of Philadelphia in their series. The Athletics remain two games back of the first place New York Yankees in the American League after the Yanks were beaten by Detroit for the third straight game. The Tigers won 6-2 but suffered a big loss as Tris Speaker (.408,3,41) was forced out of the game in the sixth inning with an injury that will likely end his season. There has been plenty of hard luck for the 33 year old Speaker, who has lost about 5 seasons worth of games due to injuries over the years. A 3-time American League MVP and a 10 time all-star, Speaker has 2381 career hits in just 1807 games and a lifetime .329 average. In National League play the Pittsburgh Pirates edged Brooklyn 4-3 to move to within 3.5 games of idle Cincinnati. AUGUST AWARDS The American League player of the month for August is Ken Williams of the New York Yankees. The 31 year old outfielder hit .409 with 7 homers and 32 rbi's last month. On the season Williams, who won a triple crown in the Federal League in 1919, is batting .357 with 21 homers and 91 rbi's. His Yankee teammate Phil Douglas (22-8,2.84) was named the pitcher of the month. Douglas went 6-0 for the Yankees in August. The top rookie for August was St Louis Browns shortstop George Grantham (.318,13,93). The 21 year old hit .336 with 26 rbi's and 19 runs scored last month. No surprise that Babe Ruth of the Cincinnati Reds was named the player of the month in the National League. Ruth (.412,48,142) hit .426 in 26 August games with 10 homers and 30 rbi's. Ruth also won the monthly award in April, June and July this season. Pittsburgh Pirates righthander Chet Carmichael (17-7,3.94) was named the top pitcher last month after going 6-0 with a 3.04 era in his 6 starts. The rookie award for August in the National League went to 27 year old Oscar Charleston (.317,8,27). Even though Charleston is a veteran of the Federal League he is considered a rookie by major league standards. Charleston hit .324 last month with 4 homeruns and 13 rbi's. FEDERAL LEAGUE Wyman Smith (.398,9,36) is quickly making Brooklyn Tip-Tops fans forget about Oscar Charleston. The 22 year old rookie was named the player of the month in the Federal League for August after hitting .418 with 7 homers and 19 rbi's last month. Smith's story is quite an interesting one. He signed with Dayton of the Negro National League a year ago and hit .438 in his first four games of the season before suffering a fractured elbow that forced him to sit out the remainder of the year. Complications in his recovery forced a second surgery in the fall that kept him out of action until mid-May when his contract was purchased by Brooklyn. Smith played sparingly until Charleston and Jack Hannibal bolted to the National League, at which time he stepped into the starting lineup and has been on a tear ever since. I can't find much about the real Wyman Smith other than he was born in Baltimore and he played 5 seasons for the Baltimore Black Sox, batting .335 NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE TOP FIELDERS NAMED The NNL announced it's gold glove winners for the 1921 season. The winners are pictured below. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-27-2017, 12:07 PM	#211
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Sunday September 4, 1921 SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 1921 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Babe Ruth is now one shy of the 50 homerun mark for the season after the Cincinnati slugger snapped a 5-game homerless drought with a 2-run shot in the Reds 7-5 loss to Boston on Saturday. Ruth (.411,49,145) went 1-for-4 in the Reds 5-1 win today over the Braves. The victory leaves Cincinnati 4.5 games ahead of both Pittsburgh and St Louis atop the National League. Rogers Hornsby (.405,32,112) continues to trail Ruth in the batting race as the Babe bids to become MLB's first triple crown winner since 1872. In the American League the New York Yankees continue to lead the Philadelphia Athletics by a game and a half. In other AL news Ty Cobb (.389,2,60) saw his hitting streak come to an end at 31 games after he went 0-for-4 in a 3-2 Browns win over the Chicago White Sox. The player of the week in the American League was Detroit Tigers third baseman Marty McManus (.325,2,85). The 21 year old third baseman, who is in his second season with Detroit, hit .556 (10-for-18) last week with 6 rbi's. The National League's top performer for the last week was Philadelphia's Carson Bigbee. In addition to having a 5-hit game, Bigbee (.353,3,82) went 15-for-27 with 7 rbi's in 6 games last week. FEDERAL LEAGUE The battle for the Federal League wildcard spot continues to look like it will go right down to the wire. The Chicago Whales (81-60) have a .001 lead on the Newark Pepper (82-61) with Pittsburgh (80-61) just 1 game off the pace and the St Louis Terriers (76-63) hanging in as they sit 4 games back. NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS Bill Holland of the Indianapolis ABC's was named the top pitcher in the NNL. The 24 year old righthander, who finished second in balloting last year, won the award after going 17-5 with a 2.46 era. John Taylor (17-7, 2.67) of the Kansas City Monarchs was second while St Louis Giants hurler Bill Force (14-11, 2.85) finished third in this year's vote. Bill Drake of the St Louis Giants was the winner last year. This season the 26 year old Drake was 15-8 with a 3.12 era. The top hitter award went to Indianapolis shortstop Dobie Moore (.383,20,87). The 23 year old was also named MVP of the Negro World Series, which was won by Moore's ABC team over the Chicago American Giants. League batting champion Robert Hudspeth (.415,20,78) was second in the voting with Biz Mackey (.414,12,55) of the American Giants finishing third. INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE Many of the minor leagues finish their regular season tomorrow including the International League. While most league playoff matchups are already decided the race in the I.L. will come down to the final day. The Newark Bears long ago clinched first place and sit at 85-54 with 1 game remaining. However, their playoff opponent remains to be determined as Baltimore and Syracuse are both in the running. The Orioles lead is down to just 1 game after Baltimore fell 9-8 to Montreal today. It was a dramatic finish as the Orioles scored three in the top of the ninth to tie the game only to see Montreal pinch-hitter Daniel Beal hit a walk-off rbi single to prevent Baltimore from celebrating a playoff berth. The Orioles have one more chance to clinch with a win in Montreal tomorrow. If the Orioles lost and Syracuse can win it's 4th straight game by beating Buffalo at home then we will need a one game playoff to determine who squares off against Newark in the International League Series. SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION The New Orleans Pelicans punched their ticket to the Southern Series with a 10-2 win over Chattanooga today. The Pelicans win eliminates Atlanta and sets the stage for a post-season matchup against the first place Mobile Bears. Among New Orleans leading players two in particular stand out. Outfielder Ballplayer Baker (.262,35,104) leads the league in homeruns and is one of only two players in the league to surpass the 100 rbi mark -Chattanooga's Roy Grimes (.366,20,117) is the other one. The 32 year old Baker is in his third season with the Pelicans after playing 3 years Dallas of the old South Texas League. The other key Pelican is outfielder Jack Kiblle (.360,1,39), the lead-off man for New Orleans. The 29 year old Kibble is second behind Chattanooga's Grimes in the batting race and his 46 stolen bases this season will allow him to lead the Southern Association in thefts for the 8th straight season. Kibble made his sim debut at the age of 20 with Columbus of the American Association. He hit .299 as a rookie and led his league in runs and stolen bases. That performance led to his contract being purchased by the Philadelphia Athletics and he spent most of 1913 on the A's reserve roster but did play in 2 major league games, going 2-for-7 with a pair of singles. He was caught stealing in his only big league attempt. The A's released him after the 1913 season and he signed with the Pelicans where his 520 stolen bases presently rank him third in Southern Association history. In real life Kibble's major league career consisted of 5 games for the 1912 Cleveland Naps. He was 0-for-8 at the plate with his only time on base being a hit by pitch. The native of Seatonville, Illinois played 8 seasons in the minor leagues, primarily with Evansville of the Central League. The little else I could find on Kibble centered around his life outside of baseball. He served in the US Army during WWI and then worked in coal mines near Roundup Montana until opening a sporting goods store there in 1922. He would continue to operate the store until shortly before his death in 1969. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 07-27-2017 at 12:10 PM.

07-29-2017, 01:46 AM	#212
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 1921 Labor Day marks the end of the season for several of the minor leagues and the start of the stretch run for pennant contenders in the major leagues. INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE The Baltimore Orioles lost 7-3 to Montreal but still managed to claim a playoff spot as the Syracuse Stars failed to beat Buffalo, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Bisons. The result is Baltimore goes to the post-season after finishing second, 1 game up on Syrcause. The Orioles will face the Newark Bears, who claimed top spot with an 85-55 record, 9 games up on Baltimore. NORTHWESTERN LEAGUE The Spokane Indians, led by 23 game winner Walter Upchurch, finished first in the Northwestern League, 1 game ahead of the second palce Victoria Bees. It will be the Bees third straight trip to the Northwestern Series. They were victorious each of the previous two years. SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION As mentioned earlier the regular season champion Mobile Bears will meet the New Orleans Pelicans in the Southern Association championship series. Each of the remaining minor leagues still have several weeks to go in their schedules. SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 1921 RUTH BELTS HIS 50TH HOMER Cincinnati slugger Babe Ruth (.404,50,151) made baseball history today by hitting his 50th homerun of the season. The 26 year old outfielder, who had been stuck on 49 for the past 7 games, ripped his milestone blast in the third inning of the Reds 7-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. In the top of the third inning, on a 3-2 count from Cubs starter Jim Scott (14-14, 4.15), Ruth hit a 2-run shot over the right field wall to tie the game 3-3 at that point. It was Ruth's second homerun in 15 career at bats against Scott and it extended Ruth's hitting streak to 28 games, which is the longest of his career. The win was important for the Reds as they extended their lead on St Louis back to 4 games and to 4.5 over Pittsburgh, as both those teams were losers today. Cincinnati has a big week with 2 games at home vs the Cardinals Monday and Tuesday followed by a Wednesday doubleheader against Pittsburgh. Those games mark the last time the Reds play either of the two teams chasing them for the pennant. There is also a crucial series in the American League beginning tomorrow as the New York Yankees head to Philadelphia for 3 games vs the Athletics. New York's 7 game winning streak was snapped with a 3-1 loss to Boston today but the Yankees are still 4 games ahead of second place Philadelphia as New York continues to chase it's first pennant in franchise history. Speaking of New York, here is a quick update on the National League Giants new players. Despite not joining the team until mid-July Oscar Charleston (.327,11,37) leads the team in homeruns while Jack Hannibal (.350,6,34) is also playing extremely well. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-30-2017, 08:57 AM	#213
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	September 12-13, 1921 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 1921 ATHLETICS DUMP YANKEES IN OPENER OF BIG SERIES The New York Yankees have been in this position before. Leading the American League late in the season only to lose the pennant to the Philadelphia Athletics. Could history repeat itself yet again and have the Athletics once more deny New York it's first championship? Game one of the 2 game series between the two clubs seems to indicate yes as the Athletics rode a 5-hitter from veteran Dick Rudolph (16-12, 3.53) to a 7-1 victory. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when 2 errors by New York rightfielder Bibb Falk (.347,11,90) led to a pair of Philadelphia runs, giving the 34 year old Rudolph more than enough run support to earn his 180th career major league win. With the victory the Athletics creep to within 3 games of first place New York. The Detroit Tigers remain 6.5 games off the pace after they were blanked 6-0 by the White Sox in Chicago. Rookie Chicago outfielder Hack Wilson (.291,13,59) had a pair of hits including a 3-run homer to lead his club to victory. In the National League, the first place Cincinnati reds opened a 16 game homestand with a 6-3 win over the St Louis Cardinals. Babe Ruth (.407,50,152) failed to homer but he did have 3 hits including a double and a triple to lead the Reds to the win. Catcher Ray Schalk (.286,4,65) also had a 3 hit game. Ruth is closing in on the triple crown as Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.394,32,115) continues to see his average dip. Hornsby was 0-for-2 in the game. The loss leaves the Cardinals 5 games back of the first place Reds. The Pittsburgh Pirates move up to second place but stay 4.5 games back of Cincinnati after beating the Chicago Cubs 4-1. Glen Harle (19-14, 3.31) went the distance for the win for the Pirates. FEDERAL LEAGUE The Brooklyn Tip-Tops dominance continues as they hammer the Chicago Whales 16-1 in todays action. With the win the Tip-Tops record improves to 105-43 (.709) and they are 20.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh. Only 4563 fans came out to see the win as it appears even Brooklyn fans are sick of their club's dominance even after the defection of star players Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal to the National League. The Tip-Tops lead the Federal League in attendance by a wide margin but their total would rank 15th if they were in the major leagues as they have only outdrawn the Chicago Cubs. Pittsburgh gained another half game breathing room in the wildcard race as the Rebels had the day off while their two nearest competitors both lost. The Whales and Newark are now 1.5 games behind Pittsburgh in the wildcard race. The Whales were humiliatated in Brooklyn while Newark lost 7-5 in Indianapolis. St Louis had a 5-run 9th inning to earn a walkoff 9-8 win over Columbus. The victory leaves the Terriers 2.5 games out of second place. MINOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS The Baltimore Orioles claimed the International League crown with a dramatic 6-5 walkoff win in game four to take the best of five series. Trailing 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth the Orioles rallied for the win thanks to a 2-run double off the bat of Walter Simpson (.285,21,87). It capped a stellar season for the 28 year old catcher as Simpson went 7-for-16 with a homerun in the 4 game set and was named the playoff MVP. This was Simpson's first year in the game so I am just going to assume he got his late start in the sport because of serving in World War I. His age is not listed on baseball reference so the more likely scenario is he is actually younger than the game indicates but I could find out very little about him. He did spend 8 seasons at various minor league levels between 1921-28. The title was the 7th International League crown for the Orioles but their first since 1905. Only Newark, with 10, has won more International League series. The Southern Association playoffs will need to go to a fifth and deciding game after the Mobile Bears and New Orleans Pelicans split the opening 4 contests. The Pelicans took the opener on the road by a 9-3 score but Mobile evened the series the next day with a 6-5 win thanks to a 2-run triple off the bat of Bears 19 year old shortstop Ray Gardner (.313,2,61). Game Three was won 4-3 by the visitors from Mobile while the Pelicans stayed alive with a 9-7 victory yesterday to send the series to a 5th game, which will be played in Mobile tomorrow. The big batting star of the series has been Pelicans infielder Al Woods, who has gone 11-for-19 with 6 rbi's in the 4 games. Woods, a 29 year old rookie, hit .348 during the regular season. The Victoria Bees can wrap up a third straight Northwestern League playoff title with a win tomorrow. The Bees lead the Spokane Indians 3 games to one in the best of 7 series. TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 1921 ATHLETICS CUT YANKS LEAD TO 2 The Philadelphia Athletics staged a dramatic comeback to beat the New York Yankees 7-6 and move to within 2 games of the first place Yankees atop the American League. Dave Bancroft (,315,5,84)had the big bat for Philadelphia as he went 5-for-5 with a double, a homerun and 5 rbi's on the day. The 30 year old shortstop got the rally going for the Athletics when he hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to tie a game at 6 that the Yankees had led right from the first inning when Bibb Falk doubled in Joe Hauser to start the game. Falk would also have a 5-hit day. Tied at 6 heading into the bottom of the ninth the A's got a 1-out single from Clyde Barnhart off of New York's Lee Meadows, who came on in the ninth in relief of Kirby Hoon (14-9, 4.50). After Barnhart singled the A's loaded the bases on a single by Bob Meusel and a walk to Eddie Brown. Max Carey popped out to bring Bancroft to the plate with 2 out and the bases loaded. The shortstop delivered his fifth hit of the game, a seeing eye single that snuck between Yankee first baseman Joe Hauser and second baseman Lew Fonseca to end the game and give Philadelphia it's second straight win over the Yankees. The two clubs will meet 4 more times over the final week of the season. Detroit remains 5.5 games back as the Tigers got a complete game 6 hitter from Dutch Leonard (24-8) to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-0, making Leonard the first 24 game winner this season. In the National League the Cincinnati Reds completed the sweep of St Louis in their two game series as Babe Ruth hit homerun #51. Cincinnati prevailed 7-5 to drop the third place Cardinals 6 games off the pace. The Reds now set their sights on Pittsburgh as the Bucs come to Cincinnati for a quick 1 day trip that will involve a doubleheader being played tomorrow. Pittsburgh stayed 4.5 games back with an 8-2 win over the Cubs. FEDERAL LEAGUE The Pittsburgh Rebels won both ends of a doubleheader with Indianapolis and now lead both Chicago and Newark by two games in the wildcard race. The Whales beat Brooklyn 7-2 while Newark kept pace with a 10-3 victory over Baltimore. MINOR LEAGUES The Victoria Bees won their third straight Northwestern League title with an 8-3 victory over Spokane today. The Bees take the best of seven series in 5 games. 21 year old rookie outfielder Odie Strain (.267,2,53) was named the series MVP. In 5 games Strain hit .524 (11-21) with 4 rbi's and 5 runs scored. In real life Strain played minor league ball from 1921-33 and his son Odie Jr would also play for over a decade in the minors beginning in 1940. The Mobile Bears won the Southern Series with a 4-3 victory over New Orleans in the deciding game of their 5 game series. Not only did the series go the distance but the final game needed 11 innings to declare a champion. The Bears had a 3-run lead heading into the top of the ninth inning but series MVP Al Woods of New Orleans forced extra innings with a 2-run double to tie the contest. Mobile won it with a lead off triple from Ralph Sharman in the bottom of the 11th followed by a line drive single off the bat of Joe H Kelly to plate Sharman with the series winning run. Kelly has had an interesting career in this sim. He broke in with the New York Giants at the age of 22 in 1909 and would spend 4 seasons in New York before being moved to the White Sox for 3 years. After playing for the Pirates in 1916 he jumped to the Federal League's Hartford Oaks where he spent 3 seasons. When the Oaks folded he signed with Mobile and played the first minor league game of his career last year at the age of 33. In real life Joseph Henry Kelly played 5 seasons in the majors between 1914-19 for the Pirates, Cubs and Braves. He also had a lengthy minor league career starting with the Tulsa Oilers in 1908 and played until 1930. He was a player-manager late in his minor league career. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-30-2017, 09:57 AM	#214
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	September 15-18, 1921 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 1921 The Athletics move closer to first place with their 5th straight win, an 8-0 drubbing of Boston as Herb Pennock runs his record to 22-9 with a 4-hit shutout. The Yankees had the day off so their lead now drops to 1.5 games. In the National League the Reds have the day off so Pittsburgh and St Louis each gain a half game with victories. The Pirates nipped Boston 3-2 while the Cardinals pounded the Cubs 10-4 as Ed Wahl (20-10) got his 20th win of the season. Pittsburgh is now 4 games back with St Louis 5.5 off the pace. FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 1921 As if 51 homers and 159 rbi's plus a solid run at the triple crown are not enough, Babe Ruth is now setting his sights on the consecutive games with a hit record. The 26 year old Cincinnati outfielder (.407,51,159) extended his hitting streak to 33 games with a triple and a single in Cincinnati's 7-6 loss to the New York Giants. The record is 44 games set by Frank Baker of the Reds in 1911. Jack Hannibal's (.350,9,41) rbi single plated Russ Wrightstone (.327,4,69) with the winning run for the Giants in the top of the 12th inning. The Reds defeat did not result in any lost ground in the standings as Pittsburgh and St Louis both came up short today as well. Boston outslugged the Pirates 10-8 while Brooklyn downed St Louis 5-3. In the American League the New York Yankees fell for the fourth straight game, getting blasted 9-0 by Chicago as journeyman pitcher Adolph Schinkle (6-6, 5.10) found magic on this day, throwing a 3-hit shutout. The only good news for the struggling Yankees is Philadelphia lost 5-4 to Cleveland so the Athletics remain a game and a half back. Detroit is making a charge as the Tigers won for the 7th time in their last 8 games and are now just 4 games off the pace. Detroit beat Boston 2-1. Next week will be crucial for the Tigers as they play 3 games in New York and then head to Philadelphia for 3 more. SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 1921 No change atop the standings in either league as the top 3 teams in each loop won today. The Yankees snapped their 4 game skid in a big way as their bats came alive in a 12-2 drubbing of the Chicago White Sox. Catcher Steve O'Neill (.357,5,76) led the Yankee onslaught with 3 hits and 4 rbi's. In Philadelphia, rookie pitcher Claude Jonnard (8-9,3.79) pitched 7 plus innings of 3-hit ball to help the Athletics past Cleveland 2-1 while in Boston the visiting Tigers eeked out a 4-3 win over the Red Sox in 12 innings. Joe Judge (.326,2,82) drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the 12th to hand Boston it's fourth straight loss. Babe Ruth extended his hitting streak to 34 games with a pair of singles in the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 win over the New York Giants. In Pittsburgh, Chet Carmichael (19-10, 4.08) tossed a 4-hit shutout as the Pirates blanked the Boston Braves 1-0 while St Louis rode two Austin McHenry (.368,18,125) homeruns to a 5-3 win over Brooklyn. In the Federal League, the Pittsburgh Rebels continue to hold down the wildcard spot despite losing 6-1 to Chicago today. The Rebels are 2 games ahead of third place Newark, 2.5 up on the Whales and 3.5 ahead of St Louis with a week remaining in the season. SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 1921 Babe Ruth's hit streak comes to an end at 34 games as he goes 0-for-1 with 4 walks in the Reds 8-4 win over the New York Giants. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat Boston 5-3 to stay 4 games behind the National League leading Reds while St Louis lost 5-2 to Brooklyn and his 5.5 back. Here are the remaining games for the 3 National League contenders: Code: CINCINNATI REDS : 13 games (11 H 2 A) Sep 19-22 BSN, SEP 23-24 PHI, SEP 26-28 BKN Sep 30,Oct 1 at CHN, Oct 4-5 CHN PITTSBURGH PIRATES : 15 games (10H 5A) Sep 19-20,22 NYG, SEP 23-25 BKN, Sep 26(2) PHI Sep 27,29 PHI, Oct 2 (2) at STL, Oct3-5 at StL ST LOUIS CARDINALS: 14 games (14H 0A) Sep19-22 PHI, Sep 23-24 BSN, Spe 26-27 NYG Oct 2(2) PIT, Oct 3-5 PIT The American League leading New York Yankees had the day off today but they did extend their lead to 2.5 games on Philadelphia after the Athletics fell 2-1 to Cleveland. New York and Philadelphia are tied in the loss column with 58 defeats but the Yankees have 5 more wins. Detroit won again, for the fifth straight game, and the Tigers are now just 3.5 games off the pace. Since star outfielder Tris Speaker(.408,3,41) went down for the year with his second series injury of the campaign, the Tigers have gone 11-3 including a 7-1 win over Boston. Next up for Detroit is a big 3 game series in New York with the Yankees starting tomorrow. Here are the games remaining for the three American League pennant contenders. Code: NEW YORK YANKEES : 14 games (12H 2A) Sep 19-21 DET, SET 23-25 SLB, SEP 26-28 CLE OCT 2-3 at PHA, Oct 4(2)PHA Oct 5 BOS PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS : 19 games (15H 4A) Sep19 SLB, Sep20(2)SLB, Sep 22 SLB, Sep23-25 DET Sep 26 CHA, Sep27 (2)CHA, Sep29 CHA, Sep30-Oct1 BOS Oct 2-3 NYY Oct4(2) atNYY, Oct 5(2)atWSH DETROIT TIGERS: 11 games (2H 9A) Sep 19-21 at NYY, Sep 23-25 at PHA, Sep 26-28 @ WSH Oct 4-5 at SLB FEDERAL LEAGUE The Brooklyn Tip-Tops won for the 110th time this season as they swept a doubleheader from St Louis, which all but eliminates the Terriers from the wildcard chase. With exactly one week remaining in the season the Terriers, losers of 4 straight, are now 5 games back of Pittsburgh for the second playoff berth. The Rebels beat Chicago 5-3 while Newark outscored Indianapolis 10-7 so the Rebels lead on the Pepper remains 2 games with Chicago now 3.5 back. The Rebels and Pepper each have 6 games remaining in their season including a 3 game set between the two clubs in Pittsburgh next weekend to end the season. The challenge for Newark will be staying close as they host Brooklyn for 3 games before making the trip to Pittsburgh. The Whales have 3 games in Kansas City before finishing up the year with 4 at home vs the Columbus Buckeyes. Here are the current standings and leaderboards for MLB, the Federal League and the two MLB-affiliated minor leagues (PCL and Texas League) as the seasons in each draw towards a close. The Texas League in particular should have quite a finish as 4 teams are separated by 2 games in the battle for the two spots in the Texas Series. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-30-2017, 10:19 AM	#215
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Monday September 26, 1921 Federal League season finish MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1921 FEDERAL LEAGUE WRAP-UP The Newark Pepper faced a tough task as they needed to win at least 2 games from Brooklyn in order to give themselves a chance to claim the wildcard in their season ending series. The Pepper came up short as the mighty Tip-Tops took 2 of 3 from Newark while at the same time the Rebels swept their 3 game series from Baltimore, eliminating the Rebels from the wildcard even before the final weekend. Newark got a moral victory by winning their first two games over Pittsburgh before dropping yesterday's contest 5-4. The final wildcard standings show Pittsburgh holding a 3 game bulge on both Newark and St Louis after the Terriers won their final 6 games of the season. The Chicago Whales ended up in 4th place after going 3-4 the final week. The Pittsburgh Rebels (94-68) enjoyed their best season since the inagural season of the Federal League in 1914, when they finished first in the league only to lose to Chicago in the playoff series. They will enter the Federal Series as huge underdogs against the 3-time defending champion Brooklyn Tip-Tops, who tied their own record for wins in a season after a 114-48 campaign. The Rebels did compete quite well with Brooklyn during the regular season, with the Tip-Tops winning 10 of the 18 meetings between the clubs. The best of seven series will get underway Thursday in Brooklyn. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-30-2017, 10:42 AM	#216
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Monday September 26, 1921 Texas League regular season MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1921 TEXAS LEAGUE SEASON COMES TO AN END Despite 4 teams being seperated by just 2 games nothing changed during the final week of the Texas League season as the Wichita Falls Spudders and Beaumont Exporters held on to the playoff spots ahead of Fort Worth and Shreveport. The Panthers and Gassers ended the final week 1 game behind second place Beaumont and 2 games back of front-running Wichita Falls. When the dust settled the Spudders finished 2 ahead of Beaumont and 3 up on Fort Worth with Shreveport limping home 5 games off the pace. Wichita Falls started the week of slow by losing 7-3 to the Panthers but the Spudders then won their next 4 games to clinch the regular season title a year after finishing dead last. The Exporters started the week off by sweeping Houston threee straight at home but finished with 3 straight losses to San Antonio. Fortunately for Beaumont supporters, the Panthers could not capitalize as they lost their final 2 games of the season to the Gassers in Shreveport leaving them 1 game shy of second place. Shreveport fell out of contention quickly as they opened the week with 3 straight losses in San Antonio. The top hitter in the Texas League was 23 year old Fort Worth first baseman Dud Branom. The second year Panther hit .329 with a league leading 27 homers and 115 rbi's, a big step up over his rookie pro season of .314,6,55. Branom,a Detroit Tiger farmhand, was named the 29th best MLB prospect in the spring. In real life Branom played just 30 major league games for the 1927 Philadelphia Athletics but did spend 15 seasons in the minors with a career minor league batting average of .310. A Sulpher Springs, Texas native, Branom would hit 129 homers in his minor league career and would become a sheriff in Oklahoma after his playing days. The Texas League series, a best of seven, will begin in Wichita Falls tomorrow. The Spudders are one of 3 Texas League clubs currently affiliated with a major league team - the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Spudders rely on their pitching led by Johnny Jones (16-12, 3.23) and Jose Hernandez (10-7, 2.74). They will be missing their best pitcher as Erv Kantlehner (11-8, 2.41) was called up to Pittsburgh in late July and is 5-5 with the big league club. Beaumont, which is unaffiliated, also relies on it's pitching staff which includes Ballplayer Brennan (21-14, 3.34) and Frank Wolfram (18-12, 3.59) Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-30-2017, 05:30 PM	#217
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	Monday September 26, 1921 MLB recap MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1921 MAJOR LEAGUE UPDATE The New York Yankees have been searching for their first American League pennant since the franchise was formed in 1871. The franchise has endured some tough times including a stint from 1900-1911 when they finished 7th or 8th 10 out of 12 seasons. However, the past decade has been very good for the Yankees but they are still searching for that elusive first pennant. Their nemisis has been the Philadelphia Athletics, winners of 8 pennants in the last 10 years. Included in those titles were several seasons when the A's made a late comeback to steal the pennant away from the Yankees. The Yankees once again find themselves on the verge of victory, leading Philadelphia by 4 games as the season nears it's close. The 86-61 Yankees have 7 games remaining while the Athletics sit at 80-63 with 11 contests still to be played. Included is a potentially huge 4 game set between the two clubs beginning next Monday. Can New York finally overcome their inability to win when the games are at their greatest importance? The Detroit Tigers hopes of making it a 3 team pennant race took a huge beating last week as the Tigers dropped two of three games to both the Yankees and Athletics and now sit 5.5 games off the pace. In the National League, Babe Ruth (.409,52,161) seems all but assured of winning the triple crown and it looks like he will have a .400 season at the plate to go with his record-breaking homerun and rbi totals. Ruth's Reds have the best record in baseball at 90-58 and are 4.5 games ahead of second place Pittsburgh and 6.5 up on third place St Louis. Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby (.394,36,128), who was the biggest threat to Ruth getting the batting title, has slumped in September and has dropped to third in the batting race behind Ruth and Chicago's Bill Terry (.396,19,106). MINORS The Central League regular season came to an end with the Fort Wayne Railroaders needing a win on the final day of the season to clinch first place. The Railroaders, who are the farm club of the Federal League's Indianapolis Indians, finished one game ahead of the Zanesville Potters, who are affiliated with the Baltimore Terapins. Fort Wayne had a string of 7 playoff appearances in the first 9 seasons of the Central League starting in 1906, but has not played in the Central Series since 1914. Zanesville has made 3 trips to the Central Series but is still searching for it's first victory. The Potters will be without Central League homerun champion Babe Ellison, as the 24 year old who hit .279 with 33 homers and 104 rbi's was called up to Baltimore in mid-September and is ineligible for the series. Ellison hit 2 Federal League homers in 6 at bats for the Terrapins. There are still 3 weeks remaining in the Pacific Coast League seasons but it looks like the PCL series will feature Seattle against San Francisco. The Rainiers have a 9 game lead on the Seals, who are 6 up on Portland in the wildcard chase. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-30-2017, 06:05 PM	#218
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 1921 Knuckles are getting a little white in New York again as the Yankees lost 7-3 to Cleveland while Philadelphia split a doubleheader with Chicago moving the Athletics to within 3.5 games of New York. Herb Pennock (25-10) won his major league leading 25th game in the A's win. Detroit had it's game in Washington rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow. In the National League the Reds beat Brooklyn 5-3 while Pittsburgh lost to Philadelphia 8-5 in 12 innings extending Cincinnati's lead on Pittsburgh to 5.5 games. Babe Ruth went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and is now batting .409 but if Bill Terry stays as hot as he has been Ruth might now win the triple crown. Terry, a 22 year old first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, went 5-for-5 yesterday and is now hitting .401. He was hitting just .376 at the start of the month. WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 1921 The Cincinnati Reds clinched the National League pennant with a 2-1 victory over Brooklyn today. It is the Reds first pennant since 1901 and 5th in franchise history. Babe Ruth (.407,52,161) went 0-for-3 while Bill Terry (.400,20,110) was 1-for-4 in the Cubs 5-2 win over Boston. The slumping Yankees lost for the fifth time in their last 7 games, falling 4-3 to Cleveland. The Yankees lead on Philadelphia is down to 3 games after the Athletics had the day off. New York will not play again until Sunday when they open a 4 game set with Philadelphia. Detroit only got 1 game of their doubleheader with Washington in due to bad weather, but the Tigers did get the win by an 8-5 score to stay alive in the pennant race. Detroit is 4 games back. THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 1921 The Athletics lost 10-3 to Chicago so they are now 3.5 games back of New York. Detroit got a win over Washington by a 3-2 score as Dutch Leonard (27-9) earned the win. The Tigers are also 3.5 games back of the idle Yankees. Code: AMERICAN LEAGUE W L PCT GB New York 86 63 .577 - Philadelphia 81 65 .555 3.5 Detroit 84 68 .553 3.5 The only National League game on the schedule had Philadelphia blank Pittsburgh 9-0 so no changes in Babe Ruth's pursuit of the triple crown. FEDERAL LEAGUE SERIES - GAME ONE The heavily favoured Brooklyn Tip-Tops took game one of the Federal Series but it took them 12 innings to dispose of the pesky Pittsburgh Rebels. Tied 4-4 after 9 innings the game stayed that way until the bottom of the 12th when George H Burns delivered a walk-off rbi double to win it for Brooklyn. Burns and catcher Val Picinich each had 3 hits for the Tip-Tops while outfielder Beauty McGowan enjoyed a 4-hit game for the Rebels. FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 1921 Yankees fans can breathe a little easier as the Philadelphia Athletics lost for the second straight day and have dropped four of their last 5 games. Boston did the Yankees a favour by blanking the A's 9-0 behind a 4-hit shutout from Burleigh Grimes (12-15, 6.30). Herb Pennock (25-11) was roughed up on the mound for the Athletics. Detroit stayed mathamatically alive with a 3-2 win in Washington but the Tigers need to win their final 2 games and see New York lose all 4 to Philadelphia just to tie the Yankees. Babe Ruth and Bill Terry get to go head-to-head as the two contenders for the batting title face each other this weekend. Terry's Cubs won the game 5-2 but he went just 1-for-4 to lower his average to .399. Ruth was 2-for-3 with an rbi and is now batting .409. FEDERAL SERIES GAME TWO Pittsburgh evened the series at on win apiece after the Rebels scored 4 runs in the final two innings to claim a 7-3 victory in Brooklyn. Outfielder Lance Richbourg went 4-for-4 with 3 rbi's while Beauty McGowan had another 3 hits to pace the Pittsburgh offense. SATURDAY OCTOBER 1, 1921 The Philadelphia Athletics won today so they are tied with Detroit for second, 3.5 games back of the first place Yankees in the American League pennant race. The Yankees visit Philadelphia for two games starting today before the two clubs return to New York for a doubleheader on Tuesday. New York finishes the season with 1 game against Boston while the Athletics end with a doubleheader in Washington. The Tigers have just 2 games remaining, both at home against St Louis on Tuesday and Wednesday. Code: AMERICAN LEAGUE W L PCT GB New York 86 63 .577 - Philadelphia 82 66 .554 3.5 Detroit 84 68 .553 3.5 Cincinnati hammered Chicago 14-1 in National League play but Babe Ruth (.407,52,163) went just 1-for-5 in the game. Bill Terry (.398,20,111) was 1 for 4 on the day for the Cubs. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

07-30-2017, 06:23 PM	#219
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	SUNDAY OCTOBER 2, 1921 ATHLETICS TAKE OPENER FROM NEW YORK The Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Yankees 7-6 thanks to a 10th inning walk-off rbi single from Emmett McCann (.303,0,39). The reserve catcher, who delivered the winning run as a pinch-hitter moved Philadelphia to within 2.5 games of the Yankees and ruined a New York comeback that saw Bibb Falk contribute an rbi double in the top of the ninth to tie the game. It was one of 3 hits for Falk (.361,14,101) in the contest. FEDERAL LEAGUE SERIES: GAME THREE Bullet Rogan tossed a 9 hit complete game to lead the Brooklyn Tip-Tops to a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Rebels and a 2 games to one series lead. All 3 Pittsburgh runs off of Rogan, who scattered 6 hits, were unearned. The Tip-Tops also were the beneficiary of 3 unearned runs as each club made 3 errors in the contest. MONDAY OCTOBER 3, 1921 ANOTHER PHILADELPHIA WIN, YANKEES IN DANGER OF ANOTHER EPIC COLLAPSE The Philadelphia Athletics are now just 1.5 games back of the New York Yankees heading into a crucial doubleheader for the club's in New York tomorrow. The A's won 6-4 today as they beat New York ace Phil Douglas (23-13). Larry Gardner had 3 hits for New York including the 2000th of his major league career. FEDERAL LEAGUE SERIES: GAME FOUR The Pittsburgh Rebels evened the series with a 4-2 victory in game four. A 3-run first inning highlighted by a 2-run single off the bat of Patsy Gharrity was more than enough offense for Rebels starter Hank Thormahlen, who went the distance for the win allowing 8 hits. EDITORS NOTE- I can't believe the dominance the Philadelphia Athletics have over the New York Yankees in September-October games. It seems almost every year the Yankees look close to clinching their first pennant only to see the Athletics battle back and knock off New York. The doubleheader between the two clubs tomorrow should be outstanding. I generally watch one major league game a day in the final few weeks of the season so this doubleheader will be a must watch. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

08-01-2017, 09:40 AM	#220
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,873	October 4-6, 1921 TUESDAY OCTOBER 4, 1921 YANKEES -ATHLETICS DOUBLEHEADER Here are notes as I watched the doubleheader that goes a long ways towards deciding the American League pennant. The Yankees limp into the game having lost 6 straight to the A's and 15 of 20 this season. New York has also dropped it's last 4 games overall and six of their last seven. The A's have won 3 straight. Despite this New York is still 1.5 games ahead of Philadelphia and you have to think a split of the doubleheader should be enough to win their first pennant. After todays games New York has 1 game left against Boston while the A's go to Washington for two games tomorrow to end their season. It is a cold, rainy day at the Polo Grounds with a crowd of 17,355 on hand. Bill Steen (17-13) gets the start for New York against A's ace Herb Pennock(25-11). Clyde Barnhart gets a 1-out single in the top of the first but is stranded. Jim Poole gets a lead-off single in the home half but he also fails to advance. In the bottom of the second New York explodes for four runs with Ken Williams 2-run single being the big blow. The game is starting to look like a laugher as New York pushes two more runs across the plate in the bottom of the third to go up 8-0. It is clear that this is not Pennock's day. Meanwhile Bill Steen keeps the A's off the scoresheet until the 6th inning when Max Carey delivers an rbi single. Steen would go the distance for his 18th win and the Yankees would win 10-1. There would be no championship celebration today as the second game of the doubleheader was cancelled due to rain so New York's lead is 2.5 games. The Yankees magic number is just 1 as they prepare to host Boston tomorrow and then finish the season Thursday against the Athletics. Philadelphia boards the train for Washington where they will play two tomorrow knowing they have no margin for error. Detroit beat St Louis 6-5 in 12 innings but the Tigers are eliminated with the New York victory. In National League action the champion Reds beat Chicago 7-2. Babe Ruth (.406,52,163) goes 1-for-3 while Bill Terry (.398,20,113) of the Cubs is 2-for-4 on the day. Rogers Hornsby (.399,36,129) has 2 hits in the Cardinals loss to Pittsburgh. With 1 game remaining for each of the three it appears Ruth's triple crown is secure. FEDERAL SERIES GAME FIVE Brooklyn moves to within 1 victory of it's fourth straight Federal Series title as the Tip-Tops go up 3 games to two in the series with an 8-2 victory. Jeff Tesreau went the distance for his second win of the series. Rookie third baseman Rube Lutzke had 2 hits including a homerun and drove in 3 runs for the winners. WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 5, 1921 YANKEES CLINCH PENNANT The New York Yankees are going to the World Series for the first time in the 51 year history of the franchise. The Yankees clinched the pennant with a 9-6 victory over Boston. Bibb Falk (.358,15,105) hit a grand slam homerun while Ken Williams (.359,25,113) had 4 hits, including 3 doubles and drove in 2 runs to lead New York to victory. Philadelphia split a doubleheader with Washington to drop to third place as the Detroit Tigers slipped into second with their fourth straight victory. Meanwhile Babe Ruth became the first triple crown winner since 1872 as the National League season came to a close. Ruth finished with a .403 batting average to end .003 ahead of Rogers Hornsby at .400. Ruth also set major league records for homeruns with 52 and rbi's with 163. THURSDAY OCTOBER 6, 1921 The major league season came to an end as Philadelphia beat the Yankees 4-3 in a make-up of the game rained out two days ago. Herb Pennock picked up his 26th win of the season as he gets the start after a terrible outing in New York two days ago, allowing the Athletics to finish the year tied with Detroit for second place, 2 games back of the Yankees. FEDERAL SERIES BROOKLYN WINS IT'S FOURTH STRAIGHT TITLE The Brooklyn Tip-Tops dominance of the Federal League continues as they won their fourth straight Federal Series title after a 6 game victory over the Pittsburgh Rebels. Even the defection of stars Oscar Charleston and Jack Hannibal to the National League's New York Giants at mid-season did little to slow down the Tip-Tops, who have made 6 straight playoff appearances and averaged 113 wins over each of the past four seasons. The deciding contest was a 4-3 victory as Frank Arellanes went the distance allowing 7 hits. Arellanes, who was acquired in a mid-season deal with the Cleveland Indians, had previously pitched 3 seasons for the Baltimore Terrapins. Brooklyn put the game away in the bottom of the 6th inning when they scored 3 times to snap a 1-1 tie. Rube Lutzke, who was named series MVP, started the rally with a lead off triple. The 23 year old Lutzke hit .381 with 4 rbi's and 4 runs scored in the series. He hit .318 with 8 homers and 78 rbi's during the regular season, his first full year in the Federal League. Lutzke spent most of 1920 with Terre Haute of the Central League but was promoted to Brooklyn late in the year and played all 5 games of last seasons Federal Series, batting .300 for the Tip-Tops. In real life Lutzke, a Milwaukee native, played 5 seasons for the Cleveland Indians and an additional 7 seasons in the minors, primarily with Kansas City and Newark. From what I have read he was an outstanding defensive third baseman and an ideal deadball era player as he had little pop in his bat. However his career began just as the deadball era was ending and as his defensive skills started to wane he lost his job in Cleveland Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles