A New York State Of Mind: Replaying the New York Highlanders/New York Yankees History, 1903-Present

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1953 Season Preview: The face of baseball starts to change as the Braves start the westward expansion by moving to Milwaukee.

Hall Of Fame Inductees: OF Augie Galan, C/1B/OF Josh Gibson, OF Mel Ott, SS Arky Vaughn
Really the end of an era in the league as 4 of the best hitters in history retired. Between them they had about 12,500 hits, 1,450 homers, and 6,500 RBI. There are certainly some great hitters in the league now, but these 4 guys dominated the '40s.

Augie Galan played 19 seasons for Brooklyn, Cleveland, and both Boston teams. He had 2,788 hits in 9,779 at bats for a career .285 average. He had 468 doubles, 179 triples, 203 homers, 1,386 RBI, and he scored 1,781 runs. He drew 1,919 walks and never even struck out 50 times in a season until his last 2 years. His OBP was .402, his SLG was .432, his OPS was .834, and his VORP was 604. Augie won Rookie of the Year in 1934, 2 Gold Gloves, was an 11 time All Star, and he has 3 World Series rings to his credit. Galan ranks 13th all time in OBP, 10th in runs scored, and 3rd in walks. Augie currently holds the single season record for walks with 156 in 1951.

Where can I start about Josh Gibson? In my league he was the Babe Ruth that Babe Ruth wasn't. Gibson played 20 seasons for the Phillies, Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox. He had 3,275 hits in 10,287 at bats for a lifetime .318 batting average. He slugged 502 doubles, 75 triples, 571 homers, 1,870 RBI, and he scored 1,907 runs. He drew over 1,500 walks to help him compile a .411 OBP. His SLG was .548, his OPS was .960, and his VORP was 1,184.8. Gibson won Rookie of the Year in 1933, 8 MVP awards (6 in the National League), 4 Gold Gloves (all as a catcher), was a 13 time All Star, and he has 1 World Series ring. Gibson's name dominates the all time leaderboards. He ranks 7th in OBP, 4th in slugging %, 4th in OPS, 3rd in VORP, 15th in at bats, 3rd in runs scored, 12th in hits, 3rd in total bases, 2nd in home runs, 4th in RBI, and 7th in walks.

As great as Gibson was, Mel Ott may have been better! "Master Melvin" played 27 seasons, all in a Cincinati Reds uniform. He had 3,286 hits in 10,767 at bats for a career .305 average. He had 552 doubles, 74 triples, 503 homers, 1,980 RBI, and he scored 1,941 runs. He drew 2,039 walks, while never striking out even 50 times until 1950. He averaged 33 strikeouts a year. Ott posted a .415 OBP, a .510 SLG, a .925 OPS, and a 1,161.6 VORP. Mel won 5 MVP awards, was a 15 time All Star, and he has 4 World Series rings, and I believe he's the only player so far to have won World Series in 3 different decades. Ott ranks 6th in OBP, 15th in slugging %, 6th in OPS, 4th in VORP, 1st in games, 7th in at bats, 2nd in runs scored, 11th in hits, 5th in total bases, 11th in doubles, 5th in homers, 2nd in RBI, and 2nd in walks. So let the Gibson vs. Ott debates begin.

And lest we forget Arky Vaughn! Arky played 20 seasons for the Browns, Red Sox, and Pirates, spending the first 16 years of his career in a St. Louis Browns uniform. Vaughn had 3,289 hits in 10,444 at bats for a career .315 average. He had 535 doubles, 72 triples, 172 homers, 1,337 RBI, and he scored 1,689 runs. He drew 1,803 walks and only struck out 50 or more times 3 times in his career. His OBP was .419, his SLG was .429, his OPS was .848, and his VORP was 806.5. Vaughn won Rookie of the Year in 1932, 6 Gold Gloves, was a 9 time All Star. He'll go down as one of the greatest players never to win a World Series. Vaughn ranks 4th all time in OBP, 16th in games, 13th in at bats, 15th in runs scored, 10th in hits, 10th in singles, 15th in doubles, and 4th in walks.

Quite the amazing HoF class!

Yankees 1952 Award Winners: C Yogi Berra won his 3rd Gold Glove
At least we won something.

Draft Recap: Frank Robinson, Al Kaline, Roger Maris, and Bill White were all in this draft, but they were all taken before I got to pick. Robinson went to the Red Sox, Kaline to the A's, Maris to the Browns, and White to the Tigers. With my first pick I took a pitcher named Taylor Phillips.

Notable Offseason Transactions:

November 17, 1952: Signed IF Mickey Witek to a 2 year contract worth a total of $43,000
Witek is a gold glove caliber infielder with an OK bat. Not clear yet if he'll start all year or ride the pine.

November 19, 1952: Traded OF Andy Pafko, IF John Paul Sullivan, IF Tommy Nelson, P Duane Pillette, and P Dale Alderson to the New York Giants for OF Tommy Holmes and IF Jim Tabor
Pretty much a big bag of baseballs for a smaller bag of baseballs. I really don't like Pafko's lack of production, and with Clemente and Aaron coming up I didn't need a young outfielder. Tabor is a good 3rd baseman and will probably start this season. Beyond that I'm not sure.

February 17, 1953: Signed P Bob Feller to a 3 year extension worth $1,425,000 and C Yogi Berra to a 6 year extension worth $1,500,000
Great to lock up both Yogi and Feller. Honestly, I expected Feller to ask for more money. Hometown discount I guess.

Spring Training Injuries: None

Strengths: We have a great 1-2 punch in Feller and Newhouser. We have one of the best catchers in the league, probably the best shortstop, and some excellent fielding infielders.

Weaknesses: The bottom half of the rotation, and most of the bullpen is very young. Mickey Mantle has yet to show his home run power. We're very old in RF and some infield positions.

Projected Record: I think we're about the same as last year, but because of the young pitching I'm going to say we're taking a step back and barely breaking .500. I'll go 80 wins.

1953 Budget: $3,237,739 (#3 in the league)

1953 Payroll: $2,914,501 (#5 in the league)


1953 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1953 Season Recap:

Final 1953 Standings:


1953 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1953 Year In Review: So this year in my preseason projections I nailed our win total exactly. As you can see from our rankings we had one of the best pitching staffs in the American League, and we had the worst hitting. That's about to change though as Clemente and Aaron are now very close to being every day players, and both got September call ups to get their first tastes of big league action. Because of how my contracts are working out, Aaron will probably play RF with the big club next season while Clemente plays in AAA because Minnie Minoso has 1 year left on his deal.

Yogi had an off year at the plate, but probably more because he had no protection then anything else. Mantle was ok, but he's not "The Mick" yet. Jim Tabor was a pleasant offensive surprise at 3B, hitting 19 homers and leading the team in RBI.

But the biggest surprises came from the pitching staff. Rookie Billy Hoeft led the team in wins and was 2nd in ERA. Hoyt Wilhelm surprised me by becoming a viable starter with only 4 endurance. I stuck him in the rotation as a stop gap due to injuries in the middle of the year and he stayed there the rest of the season, posting an excellent 7-5 record with a 2.88 ERA. And his stuff rating isn't even close to his potential yet. If he can get another couple of points in endurance, he might become a dominant starter with that wicked knuckler.

Around The League: So my hunch about Ted Williams was right. He's not done. He returned to his usual Tedliness by batting .294 with 30 homers and 74 RBI. But, he is 35 years old and his ratings are starting to dip a little, so he's probably only got a couple of productive years left, if that.

Another interesting development was the power surge around baseball. Bobby Thomson, now with the Red Sox, hit 50 homers this year. The real Bobby Thomson never hit more then 32 in his career, so the bump in production is a bit curious

But all the buzz around baseball surrounds the World Series matchup of the A's vs. the Cardinals. All the hype is due to 2 reasons. First, the A's finished this season 34 games better then last season, winning the American Leauge pennant quite handily.

The 2nd reason everyone is excited is because it's Duke Snider for the A's vs. Ralph Kiner for the Cards. Both players hit 54 home runs this year, breaking Willard Brown's 8 year old single season record!

1953 All Star Yankees: P Hal Newhouser (6th AS game)
I felt a couple of Yankee pitchers got snubbed here, most notably Bob Feller.

1953 New York Yankees Transactions:

July 31, 1953: Traded 2B Mickey Witek, RF Tommy Holmes, P Jackie Collum, P Ray Semproch, & $40,000 to the Detroit Tigers for P Mike Fornieles & RF Hank Sauer
Fornieles is a very good young prospect. I had to move Witek as he was angry about not starting and was demanding a trade, and teams did want him. Holmes wasn't happy either and wasn't playing worth a damn. Sauer is an aging veteran who was in a contract year, so mainly a placeholder for Aaron till next year.

August 2, 1953: Signed 3B Jim Tabor to a 2 year extension @ $550,000 per season (year 2 is a mutual option)
When I got Tabor I thought he was overpaid, but his quality offensive production this year shows that he wasn't.

World Series Matchup: The Philadelphia Athletics are making their 1st World Series appearance since 1906! They're trying to go 2 for 2 in World Championships. For the Cardinals it's their 2nd straight World Series and their 7th in team history. They're seeking championship #4. Can the A's break the recent domination of the World Series by the National League? NL teams have won 4 straight titles and 9 of the last 12.

The teams split the first 2 games in Connie Mack Stadium. Duke hit a homer in game 2, but Al Kaline went 5 for 8 over the 2 games with 2 doubles and 3 RBI.

The series then shifted to Sportmans Park in St. Louis. Former Yankee Don Larsen picked up his 1st playoff win in a 6-2 Cards victory as they took a 2 games to 1 lead. Ralph Kiner hit his 1st homer of the series in game 4 as the Cards won 5-2 to take a 3 games to 1 lead. Another former Yankee, Harry Feldman pitched the A's back into the series as Philly won 10-1. Duke Snider went 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored.

When the series shifted back to the City of Brotherly Love, the A's continued their comeback with a 5-4 win in game 6. Joe Garagiola hit 2 homers to lead the Cards, but it wasn't enough. The series is tied at 3 games each.

Don Larsen's 2nd win of the series was an impressive one as he pitched the Cards to a 3 hit shutout of Philadelphia and St. Louis won the game 3-0. The St. Louis Cardinals win their 4th World Series!

In the marquee matchup of sluggers Ralph Kiner batted .385 with a homer and 6 RBI, while Duke Snider batted .444 with a homer and 4 RBI.

[smartman]

Now you're done rebuilding. "You better win the (*^&%!#@ title!" George Steinbrenner.

Things do look good for you for the next 8 years barring injuries. And you almost feel bad for Philadelphia fans. They haven't been good for almost 50 years then get back to the World Series. Now they're upping and leaving for Kansas City. Maybe you can work that into the story (even though it would have nothing to do with the Yankees). The A's owner got a ridiculous offer from a Kansas City businessman while in St. Louis for the WS.

[gollum65]

What would be really amusing is if the game decided that the team didn't move. And actually, they have 1 more year in Philly. They didn't move to KC until 1955. But your idea is a good one and maybe I'll try to work some sort of story into the thread about it.

It was the St. Louis Browns who relocated after the 1953 season, becoming the Baltimore Orioles.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1954 Season Preview: The league sees it's second relocation in 2 years as the St. Louis Browns move east to become the "modern day" Baltimore Orioles.

Hall Of Fame Inductees: OF Willard Brown, OF Joe Medwick
Home Run Brown was just that. A home run hitter. He retires as part of the exclusive 500 home run club with 532 taters. At the start of 1954 only 6 players in history have reached 500 homers. As for his other stats, well, they were good. Brown retires after an 18 year career with 5 different teams, spending 7 of those seasons with the Phillies. He had 1,954 hits in 7,672 at bats for a lifetime .255 batting average. In addition to the homers he had 261 doubles, 64 triples, 1,562 RBI, and he scored 1,225 runs. He drew 545 walks to put his OBP at .307. His SLG was .513, his OPS was .821, and his VORP was 348.4. Brown won 5 Gold Gloves, was a 2 time All Star, and has 3 World Series rings to his credit. Willard currently ranks 14th all time in slugging percentage, 4th in home runs, and 16th in RBI. Brown held the single season home run record from 1945 to 1953 with 53 homers. He also hit 52 homers in 1940.

Joe Medwick was no slouch at the plate either. After a 22 year career during which he played for the Tigers, Phillies, and Giants, Medwick retires with 3,215 hits in 10,398 at bats for a lifetime .309 average. He had 578 doubles, 119 triples, 256 homers, 1,510 RBI, and he scored 1,469 runs. Medwick drew 693 walks, putting his career OBP at .352. His SLG was .462, his OPS was .814, and his VORP was 541.6. Joe won the NL MVP award in 1941, was a 6 time Gold Glove winner, a 7 time All Star, and he won 3 World Series rings. He currently ranks 14th all time in games played, 14th in at bats, 15th in hits, 13th in total bases, 15th in singles, 7th in doubles, and 17th in RBI.

Yankees 1953 Award Winners: P Billy Hoeft became the first Yankee to win the AL Rookie of the Year since Sam Chapman in 1938. Elston Howard won his 1st Gold Glove. Lou Boudreau picked up his 5th Gold Glove.

Draft Recap: Don Drysdale & Harmon Killebrew went 1 & 2 to the Pirates & Tigers respectively. I was pleasantly surprised to see Luis Aparicio still available when the Yankees picked, so I have my future replacement for Boudreau. In the 2nd round the Pirates got Tony Kubek and the Phillies picked up Joey Amalfitano.

Notable Offseason Transactions: Nothing to report this year. We're just waiting for prospects to mature, so no reason to chase free agents.

Spring Training Injuries: None

Strengths: The Feller/Newhouser/Hoeft/Wilhelm rotation should be pretty good. The bullpen is strong. We have a decent infield and an all star at catcher.

Weaknesses: With Mantle & Aaron in the outfield, and Bobby Richardson probably taking over a 2nd base, we're pretty young at some key positions.

Projected Record: Since Aaron and Mantle haven't really developed their home run swings yet, we're probably going to struggle to score runs. I'll say the same as last year and go with 80 wins.

1954 Budget: $3,325,816 (#4 in the league)

1954 Payroll: $2,984,324 (#8 in the league)


1954 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1954 Season Recap:

Final 1954 Standings:


1954 New York Yankees Leaders & Rankings:


1954 Year In Review: So this was another season in which the Yankees out-performed my expectations. 15 more wins then I expected. This was largely thanks to a few players. Mickey Mantle is well on his way to becoming a star. He was hitting over .400 well into May, and while he didn't finish over .300, he was truly a spark plug most of the year. Elston Howard had his best season, leading the team in homers & RBI. Minnie Minoso was a close 2nd. And it was another young pitcher stepping up this year when Roger Craig posted a 17-5 record with a 2.01 ERA.

The season came down to the final weekend with the Yankees leading the Philadelphia Athletics by 3 games going into a 3 game series in Yankee Stadium against the A's. Philly won all 3 games to force a 1 game playoff, then won the 1 game playoff to steal the American League pennant away from the Yanks. But considering my expectations for the Yankees, I can't say I'm TOO disappointed. Watch out next year....

Around The League: I guess Duke Snider of the Athletics didn't like having to share the single season home run record. He broke it on August 29th, hitting his 55th and 56th homers in a 5-4 win over Detroit. On September 5th Snider hit his 60th homer of the season, and it looked like he'd challenge 70 by the end of the year. But he went into a bit of a power outage and didn't hit another home run the rest of the way. But 60 is nothing to sneeze at! Plus he hit .316 and had 157 RBI. Truly one of the best individual seasons in baseball history. In the National League Gil Hodges & Russ Christopher led the Phillies into another World Series. Hodges batted .268 with 36 big flies and 123 RBI. And Christopher went 16-6 with a 3.01 ERA.

1954 All Star Yankees: P Hal Newhouser (7th AS game), P Roger Craig (1st AS game), P Billy Hoeft (1st AS game), OF Mickey Mantle (1st AS game)
The first of what I expect to be many All Star Games for Mantle.

1954 New York Yankees Transactions:

June 13, 1954: Signed P Hal Newhouser to a 2 year extension worth $1.375M
I debated about letting Newhouser go since I still have a lot of young pitchers coming up, but it's hard to argue with how good he is, and he didn't ask for much of a raise to stay in New York.

July 31, 1954: Traded 2B Bobby Young to the Brooklyn Dodgers for 2B Snuffy Stirnweiss
This was an attempt to get a better leadoff hitter for the stretch run. Minoso has been turning into more of a power hitter. Young was riding the bench, but he should have been starting. Stirnweiss is a veteran with an expiring contract. It didn't work out in my favor as he only hit .247 after the trade.

World Series Matchup: It's the first time the 2 Philadelphia teams meet in the World Series. We all know that the A's are moving next year, but the fans don't know that yet. It's the 2nd straight World Series for the Athletics, and 3rd in team history. They're trying to win their 2nd title. It's the 8th World Series for the Phillies franchise, and they're seeking ring #5.

The Athletics won the first 2 games at Connie Mack Stadium, and as the teams traded dugouts they led 2 games to none. Duke Snider hit 3 homers in game 1! When the Phillies took over the "home" dugout, they won games 3 and 4 to even the series at 2 games each. The Phillies won game 5 behind 2 home runs by Stan Musial and they seemed to have the upper hand with a 3 games to 2 lead. But when the A's became the "home" team again, they evened the series with a 10-5 win. So if game 7 plays out like the rest of the series has, the Athletics should win. The deciding game went to the 10th inning tied at 5. The Phillies took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th, but the A's walked off with the title on a 2 run homer in the bottom of the 10th by Roy Cullenbine. The Philadelphia Athletics win their 2nd World Series!

[gollum65]

1954 Offseason "Veteran's Committee" Hall Of Fame Ballot:

P Cliff Melton: "Mickey Mouse" Melton pitched 17 seasons for the Tigers, Reds, Browns, and Braves. His career record is 245-188 with a 3.83 ERA. He struck out 1,620 batters while allowing a .258 batting average against. His WHIP was 1.46 and his VORP was 561.3. Melton won 20+ games 4 times and is one of only 3 players in Major League history to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Pitcher in the same season when he went 23-7 in his rookie campaign in Detroit. Cliff was a 5 time All Star and he won 2 World Series rings with the Reds. At the time of his retirement Melton ranked 17th all time in wins. Probably the biggest knock on Melton is that he walked more batters then he struck out. Melton retired with 1,823 walks allowed. I'd say he's borderline. Let's see what you guys think.

[CatKnight]

I'd say no to Melton. He was obviously a good pitcher, but I wouldn't say a great one.

[Ankit]

Where does his VORP rank amongst other HOFer and all-time? More walks than strikeouts is likely to happen in this era. He's got a good winning percentage, fairly good ERA and appears to have been a good pitcher.

[gollum65]

Originally Posted by Ankit

Where does his VORP rank amongst other HOFer and all-time? More walks than strikeouts is likely to happen in this era. He's got a good winning percentage, fairly good ERA and appears to have been a good pitcher.

I don't have the game open, but if I remember correctly his VORP was like 33rd all time among pitchers.

[Ankit]

Tough call but no... He gets in the Hall of Very Good though.

[gollum65]

Originally Posted by Ankit

Tough call but no... He gets in the Hall of Very Good though.

Sounds like a Skip Bayless fan.

[Ankit]

Originally Posted by gollum65

Sounds like a Skip Bayless fan.

I would be a Steve Philips fan before I became a Skip Bayless fan and I loathe Philips.

[gollum65]

Phillips is a putz. He actually went on TV the other day and said Chien-Ming Wang should be in the rotation this week. Apparently Joe Girardi listened because Wang did start, and of course was terrible again.

Steve: You're not a GM anymore. Keep your nose out of it. When the Mets don't think you're good enough to be their GM......

[captaincarl]

Originally Posted by Ankit

Where does his VORP rank amongst other HOFer and all-time? More walks than strikeouts is likely to happen in this era. He's got a good winning percentage, fairly good ERA and appears to have been a good pitcher.

But not good enough. His ERA is too high for that number of wins in my book. I would also vote no.

[captaincarl]

I read your opening post again and I think that you should make the drug suspension year in the mid 1980's (Steve Howe & LaMarr Hoyt's time). That would be a closer time frame than 2005.

[gollum65]

Originally Posted by captaincarl

I read your opening post again and I think that you should make the drug suspension year in the mid 1980's (Steve Howe & LaMarr Hoyt's time). That would be a closer time frame than 2005.

Steve Howe? Drugs?

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll consider it when I get there.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1955 Season Preview: Shortly after the World Series parade in Philadelphia, the Athletics made their move to Kansas City. That's 3 teams in 3 seasons.

Hall Of Fame Inductees: 1B Hal Trosky (CWS) (I'm going to start naming the team cap the player gets inducted with)
Hal Trosky played 21 seasons for the White Sox, Senators, Cubs, and Tigers. He spent the first 14 seasons with the White Sox. He retires with 3,454 hits in 11,072 at bats for a lifetime .312 average. He had 590 doubles, 120 triples, 507 home runs, 1,990 RBI, and he scored 1,756 runs. He drew 1,314 walks helping him acheive a .385 OBP. His SLG was .524, his OPS was .910, and his VORP was 971.4. Trosky won 4 Gold Gloves, was a 13 time All Star, but he never won a World Series ring. Trosky currently ranks 9th in slugging percentage, 9th in OPS, 7th in VORP for batters, 7th in games played, 5th in at bats, 12th in runs scored, 7th in hits, 2nd in total bases, 5th in doubles, 5th in home runs, and 2nd in RBI. He currently holds the single season record for total bases with 424 in 1934. That season was an all timer. He batted .351 with 47 homers and 142 RBI. And it was his first full season in the majors.

Yankees 1954 Award Winners: P Hal Newhouser won his 3rd Most Valuable Pitcher award. C Yogi Berra won his 3rd Gold Glove. 1B Elston Howard won his 2nd straight Gold Glove.

Draft Recap: Sandy Koufax went 1st overall to the Pirates. So the Pirates become the equivelant of the real Dodgers, having Koufax & Drysdale. Willie McCovey went 9th overall to the Cubs. And no, there weren't any huge names between Koufax & McCovey. Orlando Cepeda went 11th the Indians. Brooks Robinson went 13th to the Cardinals. By the time I picked at 15th there wasn't much left. I got a decent reliever named Joe Grzenda.

Notable Offseason Transactions:

October 9, 1954: Voided the options on SS Lou Boudreau & 3B Jim Tabor
Both guys were good, but not good enough to warrant the big contracts they had. Plus they were both over 37 years old. Also let Minoso go to free agency as I believe Clemente is ready for the majors.

November 18, 1954: Signed IF Cass Michaels to a 2 year contract @ $75,000 per season
Cass is younger, better, and cheaper then Tabor or Boudreau. He should play 3rd base for quite a while for me.

November 19, 1954: Signed IF John Paul Sullivan to a 2 year contract worth $55,000 (year 2 is a team option)
I brought Sullivan back because he's a great infielder. I don't expect him to hit .250, but if he can put up a gold glove caliber season, that's enough for me. He's basically a placeholder till Aparicio is ready.

Spring Training Injuries: P Karl Spooner ended up in traction from a back injury. He's done for the year.

Strengths: I think we have the best pitching in baseball right now. Most of the guys in AAA could play now for major league teams, so we're deep too. The lineup is very sound defensively.

Weaknesses: It's hard to call an outfield of Aaron-Mantle-Clemente a weakness, but they are very young. Mantle is turning into a star. Aaron just finished his 1st year. And Clemente will be playing his rookie season this year.

Projected Record: I think our pitching and our hitting should be good enough to get near last year's record. I'll say 90 wins.

1955 Budget: $3,997,776 (#1 in the league)

1955 Payroll: $2,182,681 (#13 in the league)


1955 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

Well guys I think I'm going to put this dynasty on indefiniate hold. To be honest, I'm just not that interested in it right now. I've put a lot of work into it so I'm not going to say I'm not going to come back to it at a later date, but for now I think I'm done. And as of this date in the game, I think my chances of winning 27 titles before 2010 are slim to none. I'd have to win one every 3 seasons from here on out in order to make it and I don't see that happening. I haven't even gotten to expansion or divisional play yet.

I appreciate everyone reading this thread and responding. I've really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll start a new one in OOTP X with a different team. Or I might restart this one in X. I don't know yet. But right now I'm done with this one for a while at least.

[Papi]

Awwww, really? I enjoyed reading this. I hope you choose to pick it back up at some point!