Introducing the Footnote League

[ALB123]

Right now, my money is on Detroit taking the AL and Brooklyn the NL. I know, the Brooklyn prediction isn't much of a prediction considering they're up 1.5 Games at the moment.

Are there any head to head match-ups remaining between the teams fighting for first place in either league?

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by ALB123

Right now, my money is on Detroit taking the AL and Brooklyn the NL. I know, the Brooklyn prediction isn't much of a prediction considering they're up 1.5 Games at the moment.

Are there any head to head match-ups remaining between the teams fighting for first place in either league?

The Sox play the A's twice more then three v the Sens.

Detroit has, on paper at least, the easier run, with two v Boston and then 3 against your boys.

In the NL Brooklyn's remaining games are all against the Reds, so it's theirs to lose.

The Bucs only have 2 games v the Giants left.

The Cards have a tricky assignment with 3 v the Phillies.

Plenty of baseball left in this season! But the two leading at present certainly have the inside running.

[luckymann]

Americans 3, Tigers 2
A costly slip-up by Detroit against lowly Boston, who score 2 early and doggedly hold on for the narrow win.

White Sox 2, Athletics 1
Another nip-and-tuck affair sees the Pale Hose squeeze past the A's and keep their faint playoff hopes alive, with all of the games runs scored in the first three innings.

Senators 5, Naps 4
Yet another one-run game with Washington just scraping home despite out-hitting their opponents 15 to 5, putting them on top by a game.

Reds 4, Superbas 2 [1]
Superbas 5, Reds 0 [2]
On the cusp of their first post-season appearance a dose of nerves from Brooklyn in the first game sees them manage just 5 hits. But they regather themselves behind a stellar 5-hit shutout by Jack Pfiester to get the split and reduce their magic number to 1.

Giants 8, Pirates 1
A great season for the Bucs comes to naught as they are walloped by New York and eliminated from the race.

Phillies 6, Cardinals 3 (11 innings)
St Louis concede 3 in the top 11th to drop a heartbreaker to Philadelphia.

[luckymann]

Athletics 7, White Sox 3
Another one bites the dust as Chicago exits the pennant race with a meek loss to the A's, with Charlie Babb knocking in 3.

Americans 6, Tigers 4
Detroit's demise is all but sealed as they go down to Boston yet again.

Senators 2, Naps 0
A Jake Weimer 4-hit masterclass puts the Sens on the cusp of post-season action.

The NL had a day off.

[luckymann]

Highlanders 1, Tigers 0
Detroit's bats choose the worst possible time to go cold as they drop a nailbiter to Mike McCormack and New York.

White Sox 2, Senators 0
If Detroit's bats are cold then Washington's are positively Arctic, with Danny Cox shutting them out on a two-hit gem.

Reds 17, Superbas 5
Mike Benjamin and co shell 25-game winner Rube Manning big time as Brooklyn misses the chance to clinch.

Cardinals 8, Phillies 3
St Louis stays alive with a clutch win behind Dave Dravecky.

[luckymann]

Only the NL has games scheduled today.

Reds 10, Superbas 9
A wild ride in Cincy sees the Superbas fall behind early, surge back to take a 9-7 lead in the middle innings, then concede 3 in the final two to lose it by a run.

Cardinals 4, Phillies 3
There are no easy wins on offer here, as the Cards scrape past the Phils to get even in the standings and make a Game 141 tiebreaker necessary.

[luckymann]

Just to drag out the suspense, only AL games are being played today!

Senators 8, White Sox 5
Washington clinches with a dour win.

Tigers 7, Highlanders 4
Detroit is left to rue its missed chances and wonder what might have been, as their hard-fought win over New York turns out to be an exercise in futility.

[luckymann]

Cardinals 5, Superbas 3
A fitting end to an amazing pennant dogfight sees Ken Forsch go the distance to lead St Louis back to the postseason, and heartbreak for Brooklynites.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by ALB123

Right now, my money is on Detroit taking the AL and Brooklyn the NL. I know, the Brooklyn prediction isn't much of a prediction considering they're up 1.5 Games at the moment.

Are there any head to head match-ups remaining between the teams fighting for first place in either league?

The Oracle spaketh... 0 for 2 there bud, nice going

[luckymann]

What else was happening outside those fascinating pennant races?

Notable Performances

• 5th: a three-hit shutout by Rick Langford gets the Tigers a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Browns.
• 8th: the Superbas score 3 in the 12th to get past a dogged Giants outfit 6-3 for a crucial win that pulls them into a tie atop the NL standings.
• 9th: the Redbirds give up a deuce in each of the 8th and 9th innings to lose a 6-5 heartbreaker to the Reds.
• 11th: Eric Stults of the Beaneaters pitches a one-hitter as his side trounces Cincy 8-0.
• 16th: a day of high drama among the contenders, with the White Sox scoring 3 in the 9th to get past the Highlanders 5-3, the A’s keeping their dwindling hopes alive with runs in the 9th and 10th to nip the Browns 4-3, and the Cards reliant on 5 Brooklyn errors and a superb 14-inning performance by Ken Forsch for a 2-1 win.

Feats and Streaks

• 3rd: Chicago outfielder George Stone becomes the first player in the FL to go deep 10 times in a season.
• 15th: Brooklyn hurler Rube Manning beats Wilbur Wood to the punch, becoming the FL’s first 25-game winner.
• 17th: in the PSL, the Chattanooga Lookouts won their first title, beating Hazleton 4-2 in the Championship Series. 3B Hans Lobert was named Series MVP.

Transactions
None of note


Injuries

• 6th: a hamstring strain puts Cleveland ace Cy Falkenberg out of action for the remainder of the season.
• 8th: Cincy loses SP Dave Burba for the season when he is diagnosed with radial nerve compression.
• 18th: Browns SP Frank Castillo goes down with a ruptured UCL and will miss the better part of a year.
• 21st: devastation for Mike Lynch and the Superbas, as he goes down for the season with ulnar nerve entrapment.
• 23rd: a huge blow for Detroit, who lose SP Melido Perez for the year to elbow inflammation.
• 24th: you live long enough, you see it all – Cardinals reliever Steve Bedrosian loses a battle with nature and will miss the World Series when he is bitten by a coyote.

Monthly Awards
American League

• Batter: Mike Lum SLA (.427 / 2 HR / 12 RBI / 19 R)
• Pitcher: Ernie Brogio WAS (7-1, 1.97 ERA / 35 K / 64 IP)
• Rookie: Ernie Brogio WAS

National League

• Batter: Chris Jones NYG (.462 / 16 RBI / 19 R)
• Pitcher: Dave Dravecky STL (5-1, 2.42 ERA / 25 K / 52 IP) and yet he finds himself cut from the postseason roster...
• Rookie: Andy Coakley BSN (5-1, 2.83 ERA / 29 K / 54 IP)

Full leaderboards in the season review after the World Series.

Standings

[ALB123]

Originally Posted by luckymann

The Oracle spaketh... 0 for 2 there bud, nice going

Ahhh... This brings back such fond memories of when I used to regularly bet with a bookie. It's good to know that I've still got it! I should be running my own Tout Service. It would be called "Do The Exact Opposite of What I Suggest!"

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by ALB123

Ahhh... This brings back such fond memories of when I used to regularly bet with a bookie. It's good to know that I've still got it! I should be running my own Tout Service. It would be called "Do The Exact Opposite of What I Suggest!"

You and me both brother...

[luckymann]

And so, after a thoroughly engrossing stretch and two pennant races that went right to the wire, we get down the the big dance.

I mentioned in my season preview that there seemed a natural progression in play for Washington, a sense of destiny if you will. Well now they get the chance to see that natural progression to its conclusion and have their destiny in their own hands. St Louis, on the other hand, staged a rather miraculous bounce back from a disappointing 1902 that saw them finish well down in the standings; second-to-last in actual fact. But they did it tougher than Washington this year, with a run differential of just +13 compared to the Senators +70, and can perhaps consider themselves fortunate to be where they are. There's no doubt Brooklyn threw the NL Pennant away, whereas Washington just kept grinding away and eventually wore their challengers down one by one.

All of that means little now, however. Five wins are all that matter from here on in (the series is now best-of-nine for a while). So who will get them?

That is a tough question to answer. Neither team has an out-and-out superstar, yet both boast squads chock full of good players who made solid contributions for their teams over the past 150 games. Washington certainly looks to have the edge on paper, posting better offensive numbers across the board in the regular season and only marginally trailing the Redbirds in most pitching categories. But still the two teams match up very closely. St Louis has Harry Gumbert; Washington, Jake Weimer. Washington has Orlando Arcia; the Cards, Deivi Cruz. The respective depth in each team almost mirrors the other. Both are battle-hardened by their recent exertions and have post-season experience under their belt.

So I'll be surprised if this is a short series. And in the end I believe it will come down to a key play or two in each game and which of the two sides takes more of the chances presented them.

In a coin-toss I'm going to go with Washington in 8.

[luckymann]

WAS: Jake Weimer (0-0) v STL: Harry Gumbert (0-0)

A key matchup of two great hurlers to get things underway and they didn’t disappoint, with this one being the epitome of a pitchers’ duel. It remained scoreless until the 8th, when the Cards scored what would prove to be the game’s only run on a Deivi Cruz single. In the end it was the right result as Gumbert was in far better control of his stuff than Weimer, and it certainly gets the Series off on the right foot.

[luckymann]

WAS: Ernie Broglio (0-0) v STL: Ken Forsch (0-0)

Game 2 proved an entirely different beast altogether, and yet perhaps even more enthralling than its predecessor. The Cards got on the scoresheet in the top 1st, posting 2 on a Wilson Ramos single but the Sens responded in the home half with one of their own courtesy of a hit by Garret Anderson. The home side then took the 3-2 lead in the 3rd on a two-out two-run two-bagger by LF Curt Motton. A Rudy Law groundout doubled their lead in the next inning and when Broglio retired the next six in order they seemed in control. But the complexion of the game changed when the first two batters reached in the top 7th and Bill Pecota plated them both with a trip to knot it up at 4. Forsch was magnificent for the Redbirds from that point on, retiring the last nine in a row, and his triple to lead off the 9th led to the winning run when he came home on a Buddy Bradford sacrifice fly. So the Senators fall deep in an 0-2 hole that will take some recovering from, and I'm sure they are thankful of the new extended best-of-nine format adopted for this series.

[luckymann]

WAS: Lou Brissie (0-0) v STL: Eric Rasmussen (0-0)

A true test of heart for Washington today; one that, in the end found them wanting, and badly so. Things began promisingly for them with a deuce in the home 2nd, but again the middle innings proved their undoing. Or, to be precise, middle inning. Having limited the Redbirds to just one hit thru the first 4, Brissie completely unravelled in a 5th that saw St Louis send 13 to the plate and score 8, with 4 straight singles doing the bulk of the damage. The Sens fell further behind on a Bradford solo shot in the 7th, and when their 3-run, 8th inning reply finally came it was far too little far too late. Hard to see them coming back from here as we head to the Midwest for the next 4, unless St Louis finish them off sooner.

[luckymann]

STL: Harry Gumbert (1-0) v WAS: Jake Weimer (0-1)

They say every long journey begins with a small step. Unfortunately for Washington their long journey back in this series took a giant leap in the wrong direction, leaving them on the cliff’s edge of an ignominious sweep. Once again the Sens started on the right foot, opening the scoring in the 2nd with a run on a SF by Curt Motton. But they could only hold their advantage for one inning, as the Cards, who just seem to have all the ready responses in this series, posted two in the home 3rd to nose their way in front, with a single by Chris Owings plating both runs. It can’t be said that Washington hasn’t given their all in the games so far. It’s just that their best hasn’t been anywhere near good enough. And when St Louis added two more to their lead in the 5th, with Owings again up to his eyeballs in the action, the writing was on the wall. The Senators did peg one back in the 6th to give their fans some hope, however the Cards all but slammed the ajar door in their faces with a run on a wild pitch in the 8th. That was it for the visitors, who went meekly down in order in the 9th to give St Louis a seemingly unassailable 4-0 lead.

[luckymann]

STL: Ken Forsch (1-0) v WAS: Ernie Broglio (0-1)

To quote the great Kris Kristofferson as channelled through the equally great Janis Joplin, freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. And with nothing left to lose the Senators finally found some freedom in their game. After yet again taking an early lead only to see it disappear when the Cards scored two in the 6th to erase the Sens’ pair in the 1st, you would probably understand it if the Washington boys just collectively threw in the towel and went home quietly to another offseason filled with misery and those dreaded “what-if” questions that keep you up all night. But they didn’t, instead they threw caution to the wind and hit straight back with two on a Sam Bohne single in the 7th, and then added another one to be ahead by 3 in the 8th. The Cards threw everything at them in the final two innings, but for the first time in the series the Senators withstood the barrage, stayed staunch and won the game 5-3. I still feel they have only delayed the inevitable, but as the old saying goes: where there’s life, there’s hope. And Washington are alive for another day.

[luckymann]

STL: Eric Rasmussen (1-0) v WAS: Lou Brissie (1-0)

A rematch of Game 3 turned out to be anything but and we may well have a series on our hands after all. Washington got 4 in each of the 2nd and 3rd innings, chasing Rasmussen off the mound, and that was pretty much all she wrote. It briefly looked like St Louis was going to stage a comeback when they got on the board with runs in the 2nd and 4th, added another in the 5th, and made it 8-4 in the 7th. But the Sens steadied to push back out with one in the top 9th and coasted to the win. Why not us?

[luckymann]

STL: Red Lucas (0-0) v WAS: Tyler Anderson (0-0)

Anyone who doubts the value of momentum and the effect nerves can have need just look at what is going on here. Staring down elimination in a hostile away setting for the third game in a row, the Senators absolutely spanked the Cards yet again, and with the series now heading back to the nation’s capital, they must fancy their chances of the most unlikeliest of comebacks.

The two sides exchanged early runs in this one, and the Cards went up 2-1 in the 4th on an RBI double by Cruz. But from there it was all Washington, with the Sens sending 11 to the plate in the 6th and scoring 5, then adding two for good measure in the next. Anderson – who was fantastic, allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks in a 121-pitch gem – retired the last 9 in a row and well what do you know, the Sens are headed home right back in this again.