Time Warp Baseball

[Matt from TN]

July 15, 1948

Detroit went 9-2 to open the month of July, and they have soared to a 12-game lead over the Browns. The defending AL champion Senators have finally shown signs of life. They have climbed into a tie for 5th place and are just 5 games below .500. In the NL, it is clearly a two horse race, but the Cardinals expanded their lead to 7.5 games over the Phillies.

In The News

July 2: Ernie Harwell began his career as an announcer for the Dodgers calling a 4-2 win over the Cubs. The Dodgers had to trade a player, Cliff Dapper, to the Atlanta Crackers to acquire Harwell. The Cubs took an early 2-0 lead, but the Dodgers scored 2 in the 7th and 2 in the 8th to defeat Chubby Allen.

July 12: Whiskey Allen died from cirrhosis of the liver at age 65. His body was discovered (again) in his Louisiana home, but this time the police and the county coroner are sure he is dead. His casket was put on display at a local funeral home, and more than 50,000 fans from across the country traveled to pay their last respects. A memorial service was also held in Cleveland, and the Indians had a farewell ceremony for him at Municipal Stadium prior to their 7-5 11-inning loss to the Yankees on July 15th. Here is a full story about his life and death(s).

American League Standings 
  
Detroit          61 30 .670 -
St. Louis (A)    49 42 .538 12.0
Boston (A)       47 43 .522 13.5
Philadelphia (A) 43 46 .483 17.0
New York (A)     43 48 .473 18.0
Washington       43 48 .473 18.0
Cleveland        39 53 .424 22.5 
Chicago (A)      38 53 .418 23.0 
 
National League Standings 
 
St. Louis (N)    62 29 .681 - 
Philadelphia (N) 55 37 .598 7.5 
Boston (N)       44 47 .484 18.0
Cincinnati       44 48 .478 18.5 
Brooklyn         42 47 .472 19.0
Chicago (N)      40 52 .435 22.5
Pittsburgh       39 52 .429 23.0 
New York (N)     39 53 .424 23.5

AL AVG
.391 Peaches Badeau, PHA
.351 Em Pelto, BOS
.343 Luther Ormiston, DET

NL AVG
.363 Tom Howard, NYG
.351 Lee Friedman, PHI
.349 Ogden Wing, STL

AL HOMERUNS
23 Luther Ormiston, DET
22 Ray Kress, DET
21 Jim Dunkel, WSH

NL HOMERUNS
24 Ken Chaucer, BSN
24 Maurice Misisca, PHI
22 Jonathan Wright, BKN

AL RBI
87 Luther Ormiston, DET
83 Jim Dunkel, WSH
76 Matt Perly, DET

NL RBI
80 Lee Friedman, PHI
80 Morton Chamblee, STL
79 Jonathan Wright, BKN

AL STEALS
43 Ping Hung, NYA
38 Hershel Cooley, PHA
24 Tony Monachino, SLA

NL STEALS
27 Jonny Perly, BKN
21 Ogden Wing, STL
20 Leroy Daurio, BKN

AL ERA
2.66 Bill Finley, WSH
2.72 Billy Crowell, DET
2.82 Chief Harrington, NYA

NL ERA
2.58 Schoolboy Emberling, CIN
2.89 Ace Shipley, CIN
3.05 Rock Charnley, STL

AL WINS
18 Billy Crowell, DET
15 Hal Andrew, DET
13 Bob Bussmann, CHA

NL WINS
17 John Nolting, PHI
16 Rock Charnley, STL
13 Mickey Lonergan, PHI
13 Frank Smith, BKN

AL STRIKEOUTS
125 Cotton Simson, SLA
122 Bob Finley, WSH
99 Hal Andrew, DET

NL STRIKEOUTS
105 Scottie Allen, BSN
103 Chubby Allen, CHN
102 Frank Smith, BKN

AL SAVES
13 Lloyd Wyman, DET
10 Eric Slater, WSH
10 Herman Curoe, SLA

NL SAVES
15 Doyle Weaver, PHI
12 Ben Jaroslawski, STL
10 John Quinney, STL

[Matt from TN]

Here is a full story about Whiskey's life and death(s).

[jdw]

Since the Cardinals and Tigers are both chasing this, and it would be the first time it's ever happened in both leagues if they do, I thought I'd update this from an earlier post:

There have been 13 teams to win 100 games in a season:

1907 Cleveland (AL)     100-54 .649 +10  (0-4 to 85-69 NYN)
1908 New York (AL)      102-52 .662 +11  (4-2 over 92-62 PIT)
1910 Cleveland (AL)     107-47 .695 +11  (1-4 to 88-66 BSN)
1915 St. Louis (NL)     103-51 .669 +16  (1-4 to 91-64 CLE)
1916 Cleveland (AL)     102-52 .662 +14  (4-2 over 89-65 STL)
1920 Chicago (AL)       102-52 .662 +16  (5-4 over 87-67 CIN)
1923 New York (AL)      103-51 .669 +19  (0-4 to 92-62 STL)
1927 Philadelphia (NL)  100-54 .649  +8  (4-2 over 85-69 NYA)
1928 Boston (NL)        105-49 .682 +15  (2-4 to 93-61 DET)
1931 New York (AL)      100-54 .649 +20  (1-4 to 93-61 BSN)
1935 New York (AL)      101-53 .656 +17  (4-0 over 89-65 BRK)
1938 Chicago (NL)       101-53 .656  +9  (4-0 over 92-62 CHA)
1945 Boston (AL)        101-53 .656 +14  (3-4 to 89-65 PHI)

Interesting notes:

(a) no league has ever had two 100 game winners in a season.

(b) not only hasn't it happened in a league in a season, but there hasn't been a season where there was a 100 game winner in both leagues.

(c) 100 game winners have won only six of the thirteen WS they've competed in.

(d) 100 winners have been swept twice, and in turn of swept two series.

(e) The Braves are the only team to have "upset" two 100 games winners - the Yanks in 1931 and the Upset of the Century over the mighty 1910 Cleveland side.

(f) the 19 game gap in 1910 between 107-47 Cleveland and 88-66 is by far the biggest in Series history, with no other gap more than 15 games.

(g) no one has won 100 games back-to-back.

(h) missing from the list are the 1919 Black Sox who went 93-47 in the shortened season. Their .664 winning percentage is actually higher than the following year when they won 102 games. Of course they then threw the series to Brooklyn (83-57 .593) five games to two. They easily have the best two year winning percentage in TWB: 195-99 .663.

(i) The Yankees have won 100+ four different times, while the Indians have done it three times.


John

[lgkeeper]

Hey, guys. It's my first trip to the thread since my resignation as Cubs GM. Much easier to follow the league than to be committed to activity. Good to see that things are as active and people are as into it as ever.

So, here's my question: Looking at career leaders etc, is Blake Crocitto (Washington) the best hitting SS of all-time?

HOF SS are

Kohse
Arsenault
Levi Walls

Take a look and let me know what you think...

[jdw]

lgkeeper wrote:

> Hey, guys. It's my first trip
> to the thread since my
> resignation as Cubs GM.
> Much easier to follow the
> league than to be committed
> to activity. Good to see that
> things are as active and
> people are as into it as ever.

Good to know you're doing well.


> So, here's my question: Looking
> at career leaders etc, is Blake
> Crocitto (Washington) the best
> hitting SS of all-time?
>
> HOF SS are
>
> Kohse
> Arsenault
> Levi Walls

Dale Reneau went in last year to add another.

I think we can pitch Tyke and Wiz - Wiz clearly isn't the hitter the other four were, while Tyke had few high peak years as offenses went through the roof but then played at a lower level the rest of his career.

The other three are tricky.

Flaky played more years in the Dead Ball Era than did Kohse, but his bottom line is helped by the Roaring 20s coming along - 1920-25 include five of his six .900+ OPS seasons.

Kohse's prime is smack dab in the middle of the high offense era. But we'd be wrong to think he wasn't good before that. 3-3-3-6 in OPS from 1916-19, 5-4-2-8 in SLG and 2-3-5-6 in OBP. He already was flashing that broad base of hitting talent that would make him so great in the 20s. In the 20s he would bag 5 OPS titles and be runner up twice. Three SLG titles, and runner up another three times. Five OBP titles and runner up twice. Despite not winning a single BOY, he probably was the NL Batter Of The Decade in the 20s rather than the more famous and celebrated Pops Falise of the Phils.

Hitman came up in the 30s with offense still high. Five OPS titles, a pair of RU. Four SLG titles, twice RU. Three OBP titles, four times RU. Where he's a standout, and what truly drives the boat of his OBP, SLG and OPS success, is BA - seven Batting Titles, three times RU... and that's while missing a pair of seasons due to the war.

It would be interesting to crunch them in the context of their times. I think Kohse and Hitman stand above the crowd as far as their dominance in their era. I'm not sure who edges ahead of the other.

The "commer" would be Tom Howard of the Giants. He's 30, so he doesn't have the chance of the long career that some of these others had. But he's in the middle of his second straight .350/.400/.600+ season with 30+ HR. He could stake a really high peak.

Another player to watch for a "long career" is Mike Fellner of the Dodgers. "Just" 27, he's on his way to his second straight 20+ HR year and has room to improve there. Very good power, good contact, good eye, he's been a regular since the age of 23 and had 76 career HR. Kress finished his 27 year old season with 90, and Fellener isn't going to be terribly far behind. He's not going to set the positional record for Hits, but he should end up with 300+ HR, and possibly 400+ to hold that record for SS. He doesn't have the power of a Kress, but he should be banging out 30+ HR pretty soon. He has the same power as Jimmy Ditty, so that should give you some idea. Actually, his 8 power rating is *higher* than Tom Howard's. Fellner & Grumpy will likely be the Oscar & Rhino of the coming generation of Dodgers. Now if they can just find their Frank Smith for this generation, look out.

BTW - Frank's making a push to get into the race for the elusive POY #10. 5th in ERA, 3rd in Wins. He's behing Charnley and Nolting in both, and those two have amazing offenses supporting them even if their ERA's dip. It's a lot of people to jump, but Frank's 1.80 ERA and *1* BB in the first half of July show he's fired up again.


John

[DamnYankees]

John, no love for Morris?

Obviously he can't be added into the equation since he's so young, but at 25, he's making a strong case for the one of the best pure hitter, and best hitting SS, of all time. 9th on the career average list, with hit totals of 228, 198, and 199 in his first real 3 seasons.

True, he has pretty much no power. I don't think he is the best hitting SS out there, but he's in the discussion of the potentialli best slap hitters ever, I think. Obviouisly this is all speculation, as he is only 25 years old...but it's looking good.

Also, notice his OPS this year. Much much better than any other year, as his power seems to have turned it up a notch.

[canadiancreed]

what no Doc?! I'm outraged j/k

serisouly though it looks like quite a few contenders are ready to take the torch to the 50's in the SS catagory

[jdw]

DamnYankees wrote:

> John, no love for Morris?

I was hoping to troll Mets into going on a anti-jdw bender! :P

As you say, he's young. I wanted to see how he developed. He's flashed more power this year than in the past, but is was pretty much loaded into just one month (11 2B and 5 HR in May). He just doesn't strike me as a .342/.433/.505, where as last year's .352/.425/.427 looks more like his talent level. That's a very good player, but takes a back seat to the others.

He's young and will be fun to watch.


John

[m0ng00se]

We have to tip our hats to Washington for shutting us out on three consecutive games. Very impressive pitching in that series.

7/26 - 7/28

[Matt from TN]

WEB PAGES UPDATED...


July 1948

Detroit went 8-8 to finish out the month, but they only lost a half-game in the standings. The Red Sox actually gained 2 games in the standings and have moved back into second place.

The Cardinals showed their first signs of weakness by going 6-9. That allowed the Phillies to climb to within 4 games of the lead after they went 10-6. After going just 3-7 against the Cardinals so far this season, Philadelphia went 3-3 against them in July, failing to gain any additional ground. The two teams play 4 more games in the next week, and they will not see each other again until the first week in September.



American League-Pitcher of the Month:
Bill "Red" Finley (WSH)!
He had a record of 5-0 in 7 games started, with an ERA of 1.46 and 2 shutouts.

American League-Batter of the Month:
Jimmy "The Schnozz" Ditty (NYA)!
He batted .344 in 96 AB, with 7 homers and 33 RBI.

National League-Pitcher of the Month:
Schoolboy Emberling (CIN)!
He had a record of 5-0 in 6 games started, with an ERA of 0.89 and 1 shutouts.

National League-Batter of the Month:
Herman Dunkel (STL)!
He batted .387 in 93 AB, with 7 homers and 25 RBI.

American League Standings 
  
Detroit          69 38 .645 -
Boston (A)       57 49 .538 11.5
St. Louis (A)    56 49 .533 12.0
Washington       52 54 .491 16.5
Philadelphia (A) 51 54 .486 17.0
New York (A)     50 56 .472 18.5
Chicago (A)      45 61 .425 23.5 
Cleveland        43 62 .410 25.0 
 
National League Standings 
 
St. Louis (N)    68 38 .642 - 
Philadelphia (N) 65 43 .602 4.0 
Cincinnati       53 54 .495 15.5 
Boston (N)       52 54 .491 16.0
New York (N)     49 57 .462 19.0
Brooklyn         47 57 .452 20.0
Chicago (N)      47 59 .443 21.0
Pittsburgh       43 62 .410 24.5

AL AVG
.395 Peaches Badeau, PHA
.343 Em Pelto, BOS
.342 Ray Kress, DET

NL AVG
.354 Tom Howard, NYG
.352 Andy Martineau, NYG
.344 Ogden Wing, STL

AL HOMERUNS
27 Ray Kress, DET
26 Luther Ormiston, DET
23 Jimmy Ditty, NYA

NL HOMERUNS
26 Maurice Misisca, PHI
25 Ken Chaucer, BSN
24 Jonathan Wright, BKN

AL RBI
103 Luther Ormiston, DET
92 Ray Kress, DET
91 Jim Dunkel, WSH

NL RBI
93 Morton Chamblee, STL
89 Herman Dunkel, STL
88 Tom Howard, NYG

AL STEALS
60 Ping Hung, NYA
43 Hershel Cooley, PHA
26 Hans Habermehl, PHA
26 Tony Monachino, SLA

NL STEALS
32 Jonny Perly, BKN
23 Ogden Wing, STL
22 Jack Zenisek, BSN

AL ERA
2.54 Bill Finley, WSH
2.79 Cotton Simson, SLA
2.85 Billy Crowell, DET

NL ERA
2.29 Schoolboy Emberling, CIN
2.98 Frank Smith, BKN
3.07 Ace Shipley, CIN

AL WINS
20 Billy Crowell, DET
16 Bob Bussmann, CHA
15 Hal Andrew, DET
15 Cotton Simson, SLA

NL WINS
20 John Nolting, PHI
16 Rock Charnley, STL
15 Frank Smith, BKN

AL STRIKEOUTS
152 Cotton Simson, SLA
143 Bob Finley, WSH
115 Hal Andrew, DET
115 Trent Roberts, BOS

NL STRIKEOUTS
121 Scottie Allen, BSN
118 Chubby Allen, CHN
114 Frank Smith, BKN

AL SAVES
13 Lloyd Wyman, DET
13 Eric Slater, WSH
11 Frank Depratti, CLE
11 Willard Carte, CHA

NL SAVES
19 Doyle Weaver, PHI
14 Ben Jaroslawski, STL
10 John Quinney, STL
10 George Curd, CHN

[rogmax11]

Not a bad season for Pops; the old man is cranking out numbers and wins that are approaching the levels of his glory days. Its too bad that he's stuck on a bad team that has few prospects for becoming a better one. Indeed, in light of the Dodgers' 47 wins, Frank has nearly 1/3 of the victories and looks even more impressive by comparison. In any event this has been a watershed season that has been really enjoyable to watch. It will be interesting to see what happens from here on out: do we have a 10th POY on the horizon? Does Dad go out like Clemens after a remarkable season or does he strap it on for one more go-round? Perhaps he'll want a shot at that rarest of rarities, a four-decade-spanning career.

[metsgeek]

Last night I called my granddad, Jimmy Ditty, and told him about TWB. He almost spit out his false teeth laughing when I informed that he was a star CF for the Yankees. I think I'll print out his Player Page and mail it to him. He'll get a kick out of it

[ifspuds]

I've wanted to do that for my ancestor, Ogden Wing. He's a huge baseball fan, but he barely understands the concept of computers, so the idea of explaining the concept of fantasy baseball leagues using fictional players is a little daunting.

How'd you handle it, metsgeek? I know he'd love the idea of being a baseball player in some alternate history. He's a huge baseball fan.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

I've wanted to do that for my ancestor, Ogden Wing. He's a huge baseball fan, but he barely understands the concept of computers, so the idea of explaining the concept of fantasy baseball leagues using fictional players is a little daunting.

How'd you handle it, metsgeek? I know he'd love the idea of being a baseball player in some alternate history. He's a huge baseball fan.

i wish i could do that for mine. Cecil, Eric, Surrel, and Doug have passed on, and Ted and Bill are nowhere to be found or not long for this world. Kinda sad

[metsgeek]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

I've wanted to do that for my ancestor, Ogden Wing. He's a huge baseball fan, but he barely understands the concept of computers, so the idea of explaining the concept of fantasy baseball leagues using fictional players is a little daunting.

How'd you handle it, metsgeek? I know he'd love the idea of being a baseball player in some alternate history. He's a huge baseball fan.

I just didn't go into complicated details. I said I was playing a "video game" (didn't feel like explaining what a text sim was) with people all over the world that recreated the history of baseball. I then said we could rename the players...that I had added his name in 1930, and thathe was now a star CF for the Yankees. We also talked about his father, Campbell Ditty, now in the Hall.

If you don't get technical, it's pretty simple to explain.

[metsgeek]

I just noticed that there was no mention whatsoever of the 1948 ALL STAR GAME.

It looked like a great one....all tied at 4 in the top of the 9th, Detroit's Luther Ormiston jacks a solo shot to put the AL ahead 5-4. He had previously gone hitless in his first 4 AB. In the bottom half of the 9th, Mitch Liebowitz send the game into extras with a bomb of his own (interestingly it's the longest HR of his career at 494 feet). Bobby Johnson singles one in the top of the 10th, and Ormiston rears his head again with a 3 run tater in the top of the 10th to put the game out of reach as the NL goes down with a whimper in the bottom of the 10th. Naturally Luther wins All Star MVP.

Now that's an All Star Game!

[DamnYankees]

Something interesting I noticed, if I can do a little historical observation here.

As we all of course know, in the 20th century, 4 men have 3,000 hits without ever getting 200 in a season. Carl Yaztremski, Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson, and Eddie Murray just played a really long time, and got to the plateu. In the TWB world, we already have:

Sam Kass          - 3062 hits, no 200-hit seasons
Tom Turley        - 3098 hits, no 200-hit seasons
Steven Bussell    - 3098 hits, no 200-hit seasons
John Falise       - 3152 hits, no 200-hit seasons
Carl Kahle        - 3168 hits, no 200-hit seasons (yet, though I doubt he'll get one now, at age 40)
Salvatore Rossi   - 3320 hits, no 200-hit seasons

Campbell Ditty    - 3131 hits, 1 200-hit season (barely, with 200 hits in 1922)
Alan Liao         - 3065 hits, 1 200-hit season (barely, with 201 hits in 1930)
David McAuliffe   - 3525 hits, 1 200-hit season (barely, with 204 hits in 1930)

That's 6 players already who have done it, and 3 who escaped by the skin of their teeth. To be somewhat fair, Al Kaline barely escaped, with a single season of exactly 200 hits.

I'm not really sure what to make of this. All 4 men in our world started their careers well after 1948, the year TWB is in. So we can only surmise there are going to be many more people like this in the TWB world.

My guess is it all ties in with Matt's explanation that while league totals are the same, they are more standard and normalized, with less outliers. Just thought it's an interesting observation, and we should all cherish those years what an ancestor gets 200 hits. It's rare.

PS: Just figured out how to use the code wrap. Makes posts look awefully nice now!

[canadiancreed]

intresting observation

PS: Just figured out how to use the code wrap. Makes posts look awefully nice now!

must be nice

[metsgeek]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

must be nice

I'll help you, creed

1. Paste the text you want into Notepad and line it up manually
2. Type slowly and edit your typos
3. Cut and Paste that text in between code tags into your post.

VOILA! Nice and neat.

[Matt from TN]

Originally Posted by DamnYankees

That's 6 players already who have done it, and 3 who escaped by the skin of their teeth. To be somewhat fair, Al Kaline barely escaped, with a single season of exactly 200 hits.

I'm not really sure what to make of this. All 4 men in our world started their careers well after 1948, the year TWB is in. So we can only surmise there are going to be many more people like this in the TWB world.

My guess is it all ties in with Matt's explanation that while league totals are the same, they are more standard and normalized, with less outliers. Just thought it's an interesting observation, and we should all cherish those years what an ancestor gets 200 hits. It's rare.

It has to do with that, but also the fact that a lot of early ancestors hit the majors at ages 17-19, which I regret somewhat looking back. Plus a few players got their careers extended due to the war. All the players you listed except Bussell and Turley were ancestors, so IMO, that's the main reason why.