Time Warp Baseball

[DamnYankees]

Well, in the In The News section, Matt mentioned Jocko Conlan, a very real player and umpire. He played in 1935 and 1936, then went into umpiring. He was elected to the HOF as an umpire in 1974. He was one of the great characters in baseball, and if you look him up, there are plenty of anecdotes.

You can see his career stats here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/conlajo01.shtml

[Matt from TN]

Originally Posted by DamnYankees

Well, in the In The News section, Matt mentioned Jocko Conlan, a very real player and umpire. He played in 1935 and 1936, then went into umpiring. He was elected to the HOF as an umpire in 1974. He was one of the great characters in baseball, and if you look him up, there are plenty of anecdotes.

Well, I overlooked his playing career. Basically, I use the real names of historical figures outside of managers and players. I use real commissioners, owners, league presidents, etc, so I assumed real umpires would be no big deal.

[bigjas]

Wait, I thought you was the commissioner.

[gambler]

Real umpire or not, it was a fun story to read. Glad to see the Cubs are bringing some fire back to the north side.

[canadiancreed]

True. I though only the fans at Crosley were that nuts

[Theowannabe]

I apologize for my of condiseration of others in the post that used to occupie this pst. I am truelly sorry!

[canadiancreed]

holy crap that's a trippy display

[Carlton]

Originally Posted by bigjas

Wait, I thought you was the commissioner.

I think in all my stories I have called Matt...Happy Alford

[Vris]

Can that be forbidden? I mean seriously, good for him and you, but.....was that necessary?

[Matt from TN]

WEB PAGES UPDATED...


September 1948

On September 7th at Philadelphia's Shibe Park, the Tigers and A's were locked in a 1-1 tie until Detroit's Bud Moore smacked a 1-out grand slam in the top of the 8th. Detroit went on to win the game 9-1, clinching the 2nd pennant in team history in the process. The Tigers went on to sweep the A's and win the every series they played throughout the final two weeks of the season. When the dust had settled, Detroit had set a new team record with 102 wins, the most wins by a team since the 105-win Braves in 1928 (whom the Tigers defeated in their only World Series appearance). This year's Tigers were also just the 4th AL team to win 100 games in the past 25 years. They had the most wins in the AL since the 1923 Yankees won 103.

After the Cardinals led the NL for most of the season, a 15-23 record from the end of the All-Star break through August 25th ultimately did them in. Over that same time span, the Phillies went 30-12, including a 5-2 record against St. Louis. The Cardinals did take 2-of-3 from the Phillies in early September, but Philadelphia went on to sweep the Dodgers twice in 11 days. A 6-3 victory over Brooklyn on September 17th was the clincher for Philly, giving them their 11th NL pennant, and their 3rd in 4 years.

Boston first baseman Ken Chaucer clubbed a whopping 10 homeruns in September for a 1.052 OPS, giving him 40 dingers on the season. Ray Kress hit 40 in the AL last season, and those two players join Willard Schwarz, Oscar Vancini and Froggy Borgert as the only players in history to reach that number.

On the final day of the season in a 11-4 whomping of the Browns, Detroit's Luther Ormiston hit 2 homeruns and drove in 7 RBI. Those 2 longballs gave him 39 on the season, tying him with teammate Kress for the AL homerun title. Those 7 RBI also gave him 140 on the season, the most in the majors by 14. Kress led the majors with 137 runs scored and a 1.091 OPS.

Phillies ace John Nolting did what many believed was no longer possible by winning 31 games. He is the first pitcher to win 30 games since ahrend Nagel did it in 1925. He is the first to do it in the NL since Tim Lopresto's second 30-win season in 1917. He enjoyed the 5th highest run support of any starter in the majors, and over his final 26 starts he went an incredible 21-2. His 31-6 record calculates to a 83.8 winning percentage, which puts him up with Lopresto (33-5 in 1914), Andrew Murphy (30-4 in 1919 and 31-5 in 1920) and Ahrend Nagel (31-6 in 1925) for the highest winning percentages of all time. The only other 30-game winners in baseball history are Cecil Tan (31-7 in 1914) and Dan Twitty (30-6 in 1921).

A's centerfielder Peaches Badeau finished the season with a .395 batting average, the second consecutive season in which he has hit .395 or better. He has now won 3 batting titles in 4 seasons. His amazing .353 career average currently ranks just befind Harry Cohan as 4th all-time.

Speaking of Cohan, he stepped down as manager of the Yankees on September 1st. The Hall of Fame catcher, who turns 61 in a few days, said he saw the writing on the wall. "The team stopped responding late in the season," Cohan said in a recent interview with The Sporting News. "With [Ervin] Skjerly returning to the team, I knew my days as skipper were likely done. He is well-respected in New York, and I wish him and the Yanks the best of luck in the future. They still have a long way to go, but I think the future is bright." Cohan, known as "the Haymaker" thanks to a short, but fiery temper, threw quite a tantrum after a 7-0 loss to the A's on August 31st, and as reported in the New York Times, he was asked by Yankees ownership not to come back. One highlight in the Yankees' season was the resurgance of 37-year-old outfielder Ping Hung on the basepaths. Despite the lowest batting average of his career (.272), "the Outlander" swiped a new AL record 77 bases, breaking his own record of 75 set in 1936.

American League Standings 
  
Detroit         102 52 .662 -
Boston (A)       84 70 .545 18.0
St. Louis (A)    76 78 .494 26.0
Washington       75 79 .487 27.0
Chicago (A)      73 81 .474 29.0 
Cleveland        70 84 .455 32.0 
Philadelphia (A) 69 85 .448 33.0
New York (A)     67 87 .435 35.0 
 
National League Standings 
 
Philadelphia (N) 96 58 .623 - 
St. Louis (N)    92 62 .597 4.0 
Boston (N)       77 77 .500 19.0
Cincinnati       76 78 .494 20.0
Chicago (N)      73 81 .474 23.0
Pittsburgh       71 83 .461 25.0 
Brooklyn         67 87 .435 29.0
New York (N)     64 90 .416 32.0

AL AVG
.395 Peaches Badeau, PHA
.355 Em Pelto, BOS
.343 Gordon Grosvenor, WSH

NL AVG
.347 Rudy Young, PIT
.343 Tom Howard, NYG
.335 Cutter Brekke, BSN

AL HOMERUNS
39 Ray Kress, DET
39 Luther Ormiston, DET
34 Jim Dunkel, WSH

NL HOMERUNS
40 Ken Chaucer, BSN
38 Maurice Misisca, PHI
34 Mike Fellner, BKN

AL RBI
140 Luther Ormiston, DET
126 Ray Kress, DET
124 Jim Dunkel, WSH

NL RBI
126 Ken Chaucer, BSN
122 Herman Dunkel, STL
120 Morton Chamblee, STL

AL STEALS
77 Ping Hung, NYA
54 Hershel Cooley, PHA
45 Hans Habermehl, PHA

NL STEALS
43 Jonny Perly, BKN
31 Jack Zenisek, BSN
30 Ogden Wing, STL

AL ERA
2.50 Cotton Simson, SLA
2.74 Bill Finley, WSH
2.93 Hal Andrew, DET

NL ERA
2.83 Schoolboy Emberling, CIN
2.91 Ace Shipley, CIN
2.99 John Nolting, PHI

AL WINS
25 Billy Crowell, DET
23 Cotton Simson, SLA
22 Bob Bussmann, CHA

NL WINS
31 John Nolting, PHI
20 Charlie Lustgarten, CHN
19 Wally Saeger, STL

AL STRIKEOUTS
219 Cotton Simson, SLA
201 Bill Finley, WSH
163 Trent Roberts, BOS

NL STRIKEOUTS
182 Chubby Allen, CHN
161 Scottie Allen, BSN
160 Wally Saeger, STL

AL SAVES
19 Lloyd Wyman, DET
18 Eric Slater, WSH
16 Frank Depratti, CLE

NL SAVES
27 Doyle Weaver, PHI
20 Ben Jaroslawski, STL
16 Dale Scott, CIN

World Series

This was a fabulous season for Detroit and all their long-suffering fans. This is their first pennant since 1928, and just their second pennant ever. This has been a fun two seasons with the Reds winning just their second pennant and first ever World Series last year and Detroit getting a monkey off their back.

This should shape up to be one of the more exciting World Series with two very potent offenses slugging away in baseball's top two hitter's havens - Tiger Stadium and Shibe Park. The Phillies led the majors with an eye-popping 183 homeruns. They incredibly had 5 hitters with over 25 homeruns, and 3 of them with over 30. That is certainly the first time in history a team has achieved that. Their .272 team average and 3.96 team ERA were both 4th best in the majors. John Nolting had an off-the-charts 31-win season. However, if you take out two 3-game sweeps of the Dodgers, Philly has won just 2 of their last 9 games.

On the other hand, Detroit has won 14 of their last 19 games. They were second in the majors with 165 longballs, and they scored the most runs of all 16 teams. Their .273 team average and 3.87 team ERA are 3rd best in the majors, and their pitchers allowed a major league best .243 opponents average. Their top two sluggers tied for the AL lead with 39 homeruns each, and several Tigers are scattered all over the AL offensive leaderboards. They have two 20-game winners in Billy Crowell and Hal Andrew, who proved to be two of the best pitchers in the AL this season.

My Prediction: This is a even matchup, and we should see a lot of homeruns with two power-laden lineups in two sluggers' parks. The difference should be which pitching staff will hold the opponent more in check. My money is on Detroit's staff, and I expect the Tigers to win in 6 games.


Starting Lineups:

**Ancestors in BLUE

Tigers
CF Carlton Affee, .279, 68 RBI
RF Carl Sandoz, .295, 120 R
LF Ray Kress, .333, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 137 R, 131 BB
3B Luther Ormiston, .311, 39 HR, 140 RBI, 127 R, 112 BB
2B Matt Perly, .309, 27 HR, 121 RBI
C Bud Moore, .277, 18 HR, 100 RBI
1B Rik Kaladimos, .230, 10 HR, 62 RBI
SS David Castaneda, .286, 56 RBI

SP #1 - Billy Crowell, 25-10, 3.22, 88 K
SP #2 - Hal Andrew, 22-9, 2.93, 161 K
SP #3 - Harley Melzer, 12-6, 3.74, 131 K

Emergency SP - Bob Guilderson, 15-10, 4.43, 131 K
Closer - Lloyd Wyman, 9-4, 19 SV, 2.37 ERA

Other Noteable Players:
OF Roland Fish, .241, 19 RBI


Phillies
RF Nicky Barker, .303, 26 HR, 97 RBI, 109 R, 25 SB
SS Ted Stuart, .316, 51 RBI
LF Lee Friedman, .313, 26 HR, 109 RBI
3B Maurice Misisca, .291, 38 HR, 116 RBI, 110 R
1B Lonny Arrendale, .323, 33 HR, 99 RBI
C Chuck Rauch, .318, 30 HR, 114 RBI
CF Flint Rutty, .280, 57 RBI, 19 SB
2B Pokey Dorsey, .271, 76 RBI, 25 SB


SP #1 - John Nolting, 31-6, 2.99, 157 K
SP #2 - Dan Volpe, 16-10, 3.92, 106 K
SP #3 - Mickey Lonergan, 18-12, 4.18, 68 K

Emergency SP - Garland Sisk, 11-5, 3.29, 53 K
Closer - Doyle Weaver, 2-8, 27 Sv, 3.84 ERA

Other Noteable Players:
SS Billy Alexander, .262 in 130 AB
P Ed Lacivita, 6-3, 3.83, 18 K
P Steven Smith, 6-4, 4.74, 29 K

[canadiancreed]

well as much as i'd like to see Rutty get another ring in what looks to have been a happy home for him......

GO TIGERS GO

and at least i didnt finish in 5th this year like everoyne though I woul d

[BPS]

I kept my fingers crossed, but for the second season in a row Peaches Badeau just missed hitting .400. He hit .395 this season and .397 last season. His career batting average is .353. As he's 32 years-old my guess is that this year was his last chance at hitting .400.

But Peaches' run at .400 brings to mind the great A's player CF Ben "Rabbi" Baum. Starting in 1923 (at the tender age of 23), Baum had the following season batting averages:
.409
.393
.423
.393

Over this 4-year person Baum's batting average was an astounding .404. Over this period he had 902 hits, averaging 225.5 hits per season!

But, sadly, by the age of 31 Baum's ability to hit for high average sharply eroded. At the age of 31 Baum hit only .307 and this was followed by .280 a year later.

His decline was the result of two significant injuries experienced by Baum in 1930 and 1931. He broke his hand in 1930 and broke his forearm the following year. He could never hit without pain after 1931.

He did hit .350 in part-time play in 1933, but for the most part his days of pounding out hits at a torrid pace was over by his 31st year.

Coincidentially, it was at the age of 31 that Woody Woodson began his amazing hitting in 1912. His batting averages over the 1912-1916 years were:
.398
.390
.444
.391

Woodson had "only" 824 hits over this 4-year period compared to Baum's 902. His 4-year BA was .406.

Woodson, of course, is TWB's leading all-time BA champ with .364 career batting average. Baum finished up with a career average of .337, 16th on the all-time list. If not for his injuries in 1931 and 1932 Baum just might have challenged Woodson for the top BA in TWB history.

At this point, Peaches Badeau's BA of .353 places him at 4th on the all-time BA list. Among current players only Blake "Hitman" Crocitto has a higher career BA, of .358. Crocitto is 37 and this year he hit only .317 and so it appears that his career BA will only decline for the rest of his career. Observers of the Senators have noted a marked decline in Crocitto's hitting this year. Some think he might retire very soon.

[Vris]

What a season!

77-77...a perfectly .500 record, just as I wanted.

Chaucer makes a late surge for BOTY, leading the league in HR and RBI. But I doubt he will get it. Braves best finish in years. Making a strong case for another Top 3 finish next year.

Glad to see Roland in the World Series. If he were alive today I know he would love to see it. I should've added my "adopted" grandfather, Bob Vilandre. He would've enjoyed this immensely. However, his time in the game is long gone.

[canadiancreed]

Yep sounds like the Braves may be contenders next year.....along with the Cards, the Phils, and the Reds

[m0ng00se]

Tigers vs Phillies... should be a good battle.

[gambler]

Hey, the Cubs were predicted to finish dead last, so I'd say they did rather well. Of course I'd like to believe it had something to do with me, but when I took over they were 25-28 (.471), and the final record was 73-81 (.474) so they've actually been pretty consistent all season. Pretty good for a team some called a AAA club masquerading as major leaguers.

[bigjas]

The White Sox were picked to finish fourth, and we finished fifth. That's quite a feat, since we were in the AL cellar just a month or two ago. Actually, I wish we would have stayed in the cellar and gotten a high draft pick.

[canadiancreed]

hehehe ya I think everyone that isnt in the WS is thinking that

so ok, here's a question.

since its' a buyers market for vetrans.....what do you do? Go for the talent that is out there, and give it a quick shot before you have to rebuild when your stars all retire, or totally rebuild and get rid of your old players?

[Carlton]

Originally Posted by BPS

At this point, Peaches Badeau's BA of .353 places him at 4th on the all-time BA list. Among current players only Blake "Hitman" Crocitto has a higher career BA, of .358. Crocitto is 37 and this year he hit only .317 and so it appears that his career BA will only decline for the rest of his career. Observers of the Senators have noted a marked decline in Crocitto's hitting this year. Some think he might retire very soon.

Maybe Crocitto can do a Hornsby and just have 150 PA over the next couple of years, hitting .360 or better

2 things....

Detroit is due to slow down...and when the Phillies GET to the WS, they usually win it...IIRC they have the best WS win% of teams with more than 3 appearances

Doyle Weaver gets the new TWB and NL save record...when told he got the record...Doyle responded...."What's a save?" Cherish that folks...pretty soon a 27 save man will ask for 7 million a year

Bill Bailey since being put in the bullpen has a PHENOMINIAL 1.12 ERA.
Lacivita and Sisk after starting hot cooled down...and Sisk will be put in the bullpen but should still get many votes for ROY

Friedman did what he was supposed to do...slightly better D in CF...and around a .260 .850 OPS. His torrid start notwithstanding he did that...and his ability to walk was instrumental in our offense but since he has slowed down by a bad cataract in his left eye (massive rating drops) he will be dropped to 7th

We set the All Star record with 9 players...and Detroit was right behind with 8...so obviously this WS will be very evenly matched, unlike our previous two where we were massive underdogs.

This WS is for Bob Vacha though...regardless if we win or lose...I think we will all agree...Bob Vacha is a 1st ballot HOFer as manager...I hope after this season he can enjoy his time fishing in retirement

Also I am sure we will take a hit as many teams will look at our batting and pitching coaches for vacancies

[rogmax11]

John Nolting had a superb season, but I think he is credited with a win on 8-29 after getting knocked out in 4.2 innings as the starter. Unless the rules differed then ( which may be the case ), a starting pitcher cannot be the WP in those circumstances. Still, 30-6 is one for the ages.