The Liberty League, Est. 1876 - Page 2

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 01:59 AM

Thursday, April 13, 1876 at Washington Olympics (3-1 tied for 1st)

These are the same Washington Olympics that have scored 42 runs in their last 3 games. They have 3 batters hitting .500 or better: 2B Calvin Biron, 1B Lou Knight and C Al Cannon. Just those 3 guys have scored 24 runs in 5 games. Hope we can cool them off.

John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 3-1 0.69) vs Cal Wright, Wash. (31 R 3-1 3.09)

Lost - 4 to 2

Changed the order a bit, moving myself up to 2nd instead of 3rd, since I ain't hitting much and put Hagadorn in the 3 spot. Kelley gets the day off with his sore leg and Wash Horsfall plays 3rd. Horsfall muffed the first ball hit to him, muffed another later on and went 0 for 4 at the plate. Bill Rush finally had a hit, but only 1. I had 1 one hit; can't seem to bust through for a multi-hit game. Me and Rush are finally starting to get used to each other. We turned our first double play. I started it, 4-6-3. Rush started another later, 6-4-3. Hagadorn and Hubbard each threw out a runner at the plate or the score would have been worse. On offense, we managed 12 hits, but could only plate 2 runs. Bendickson was the best hitter on the day, getting 3 singles and scoring a run.

Other Games:
New York (5) at Pittsburgh (4) in 12 innings- Bill McClean (1-0) in relief of Charlie Moss over George Dennis (0-2) in relief of Bones Lane. Pittsburgh scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to tie it, another in the bottom of the 11th to tie it again, but came up short. CF Henry Gunther was supposed to play for Pittsburgh, but had to come on in the 1st inning when Hi Lynch hurt himself. Gunther ended up with 5 hits in a losing cause. He had a hit with one out in the bottom of the 12th that almost tied the game, but the runner was thrown out at the plate by N.Y. RF Silver Borresen, who also had 3 hits

Philadelphia (4) at Boston (3) - Pop Yurkovich (2-2) over Charlie Morlock (2-3). 1B Joe Smith had 3 hits and 2 RBIs for the Centennials. Boston scored once in the bottom of the 9th, but the second run was gunned down at the plate by LF Fred Swanger.

Chicago (2) at St. Louis (4) - Fred Cline (3-2) over Dick Wheeler (0-1). Cline had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 10:25 AM

Saturday, April 15, 1876 vs. Boston Red Caps (2-4 tied for 5th)

William Rose, Bos. (25 R 0-1 1.74) vs Abe Everette, Troy (27 L 1-0 2.00)

Won - 4 to 0

Abe Everette pitched a 4-hit shutout, the first shutout in Liberty League history, and we did not make an error behind him. Dave Taylor, Tom Stanley and Crazy Kelley each had 2 hits.

Other Games:
Philadelphia (3) at New York (9) - Charlie Moss (3-3) over John Callaham (0-3). Moss had 2 hits and scored twice and knocked in 2.

Washington (6) at Chicago (5) - William Cunningham (2-0) over Will Taylor (3-3). 1B Lou Knight hit a home run and had 4 RBIs.

Pittsburgh (1) at St. Louis (4) - Roger Lake (2-0) over George Dennis (0-3). LF Pete Bucolo had 2 hits with a triple.

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 11:59 AM

Tuesday, April 18, 1876 at New York Metropolitans (4-3 4th place in the Liberty League)

John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 3-2 0.96) vs Charlie Moss, N.Y. (35 R 3-3 1.18)

Won - 3 to 1

Bendickson shut them out on 1 hit through 7 innings and ended up with a 4-hitter. He had 2 hits with his bat and so did Crazy Kelley. I put myself in the leadoff spot and didn't do nothing. I am under .200 now.

Other Games:
Chicago (14) at Pittsburgh (4) - Will Taylor (4-3) over Bones Lane (1-4). Taylor held Pittsburgh to 4 hits. 2B Sandy Woodruff had 3 hits with a double and scored 3 times and knocked in 3.

Washington (12) at Boston (10) - William Cunningham (3-0) in relief of Cal Wright over William Rose (0-3) in relief of Charlie Morlock. 2B Calvin Biron had 3 hits, including his third triple of the year. He scored twice. 3B Bill Sears had 3 hits with a double and 3 runs scored. 1B Lou Knight hit a home run for the second consecutive game. He had 2 hits, scoring twice and plating 2. 3B Sandy Perkes had 4 hits in defeat for Boston. He scored twice.

St. Louis (0) at Philadelphia (2) - Pop Yurkovich (3-2) over Fred Cline (3-3). St. Louis out-hit Philadelphia 8 to 6. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 8th, when a 2-out error by St. Louis 2B Marvin Frank let in a run.

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 12:40 PM

Thursday, April 20, 1876 at St. Louis Brown Stockings (5-3 3rd place in the Liberty League)

John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 4-2 0.96) vs Fred Cline, St.L. (34 R 3-3 2.94)

Won - 7 to 0

Bendickson was perfect for 7 and a third innings and then 1B Harry Skinner cracked one past Rush at short for a single. That was the only runner to get on, though, as he finished with a 1-hitter! Even I had a good game, getting 2 hits from the 6 hole and scoring twice. And they walked me again; must not be looking at my current batting average. Cline held us to 7 hits, but the Brown Stockings made 8 errors behind him, while we had none.

Other Games:
Philadelphia (6) at Pittsburgh (7) - Bones Lane (2-4) over Pop Yurkovich (3-3). 2B Tully Pasholk had 2 hits with a double, scoring twice and knocking in 2. LF Jim Leonardi had a double and a home run for Philadelphia with 2 RBIs.

New York (4) at Washington (6) - Cal Wright (5-1) over Charlie Moss (3-5). LF Jesse Spencer had 2 hits with a triple, scoring twice and knocking in 4. 1B Lou Knight and C Al Cannon each had 3 more hits and each scoring a pair of runs. Knight still has his average over .500 after 9 games.

Boston (8) at Chicago (9) - Will Taylor (5-3) over Charlie Morlock (2-4). Chicago scored 3 times in the bottom of the 9th to win. LF Tom Dore had the game winning hit with 1 out. CF George Kunz had 5 hits for Boston. He had a triple, scored 3 times and knocked in 2.

Mike45 · 06-18-2014, 01:34 PM

didn't catch your first installment from the beginning so not sure if you did it for that one as well, but like the touch how you are reporting from one of the players' perspectives, while still giving a global view of the league

goroyals · 06-18-2014, 01:50 PM

This team is gonna be dangerous. Your defense is loaded, and you have to flat out suck with the bat (Troy seems to be decent) or have an awful staff (which apparently you have two really good pitchers) to not win games with good fielders in this era. I think the baserunning is a plus of course, but with so many errors the slow runners seem to find a way around too.

I guess it depends on your league totals. What's your CS%? And PB rate? You seem like a stickler for historical accuracy, did you mess with those at all?

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goroyals

This team is gonna be dangerous. Your defense is loaded, and you have to flat out suck with the bat (Troy seems to be decent) or have an awful staff (which apparently you have two really good pitchers) to not win games with good fielders in this era. I think the baserunning is a plus of course, but with so many errors the slow runners seem to find a way around too.

I guess it depends on your league totals. What's your CS%? And PB rate? You seem like a stickler for historical accuracy, did you mess with those at all?

Now is as good a time as any to report on the league totals.

First off, NO setting in the game is allowed to be at a default value unless it has been verified to be the correct one. I do not run auto-calc at all and figure all my settings myself.

The stats I report in the thread are maintained outside of OOTP. The reason being is that the rules in 1876 were not the same as they are now and OOTP keeps stats like they are now.

Some things just weren't kept track of, like stolen bases and grounding into double plays, but they happened just the same, so I have estimated totals for them.

Somethings had different rules, like sac bunts and sac flies. They happened just the same, too, but were not counted as sacrifices, but as regular at bats. For these, I have estimated totals for them to be used in game based on what happened before and after when we do have totals and then I compile the stats, counting them as at bats as they were then.

Here is the National League Totals I am using for the Liberty League, including things I have estimated (in red):

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I don't use PCM's. The League modifiers are set to try to reproduce the above totals in game and then when I compile the stats outside of the game, counting SH and SF as at bats, everything should come out to match the actual totals reported for 1876.

It seems to work very well as my runs per game come out nearly identical with the actual totals over the long haul.

Of course, our totals in the Liberty League will not match the real totals from 1876 because we are playing more games, as all the real teams did not play their full schedules. But the rates should be very close. With only 8 teams and 70 games, though, the chance for randomness to skew the numbers away from the target is very high. When I figure the League Modifiers, I run many, many tests to insure accuracy. In such a short season, however, it would not be unusual for the League batting average, for instance, to turn out to be 10 points low or 10 points high. Also, with only 8 full-time starting pitchers, if just one of them goes out for the year, that will seriously put the league averages out of sync. But I am confident that I have done the best I could to make sure the settings are proper and the Liberty League is as close to a simulation of the National League of 1876 as is possible in OOTP.

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goroyals

This team is gonna be dangerous. Your defense is loaded, and you have to flat out suck with the bat (Troy seems to be decent) or have an awful staff (which apparently you have two really good pitchers) to not win games with good fielders in this era. I think the baserunning is a plus of course, but with so many errors the slow runners seem to find a way around too.

I guess it depends on your league totals. What's your CS%? And PB rate? You seem like a stickler for historical accuracy, did you mess with those at all?

I have found that even the best fielders make a ton of errors, so just having good fielders is not enough to win. With awesome fielding and poor bats, you will still give up plenty of runs (the League Average is almost 6 per game). Having the bats to punish the other team for their poor fielding by knocking in those runners they let on with errors is just as important, it seems to me.

But I agree that this team should be the best in the Liberty league, if they all hit like they have in the past. They are a very good fielding bunch, but not as highly rated as my team in the first go 'round of the Liberty League. That bunch had exceptional fielding, decent pitching and below average hitting and was basically a .550 club. This time I put more emphasis on drafting good hitters who could field well, rather than exceptional fielders who could hit a little and I think it has paid off. The team is certainly more fun to manage. Scoring runs is more fun than not scoring....

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike45

didn't catch your first installment from the beginning so not sure if you did it for that one as well, but like the touch how you are reporting from one of the players' perspectives, while still giving a global view of the league

As long as I am managing a team, I will give daily reports. If I get fired or the team loses its franchise, we will go to simming the games and reporting on a monthly basis until I find another team that catches my fancy.

This is all really just an elaborate system to create a history in my sim that will begin in 2001......

goroyals · 06-18-2014, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Questdog

I have found that even the best fielders make a ton of errors, so just having good fielders is not enough to win. With awesome fielding and poor bats, you will still give up plenty of runs (the League Average is almost 6 per game). Having the bats to punish the other team for their poor fielding by knocking in those runners they let on with errors is just as important, it seems to me.

But I agree that this team should be the best in the Liberty league, if they all hit like they have in the past. They are a very good fielding bunch, but not as highly rated as my team in the first go 'round of the Liberty League. That bunch had expectational fielding, decent pitching and below average hitting and was basically a .550 club. This time I put more emphasis on drafting good hitters who could field well, rather than exceptional fielders who could hit a little and I think it has paid off. The team is certainly more fun to manage. Scoring runs is more fun than not scoring....

Good take. I know you'll be popping in and out of managing, but I'm looking forward to seeing you deal with the 1880's. It looks like the roster rules in the Liberty League are going to be conducive to dynasties (once the franchises themselves stabilize), but it should be good fun to watch you try to build a foundation in the face of massive annual rule changes.

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 06:21 PM

Saturday, April 22, 1876 vs. Pittsburgh Alleghenys (2-7 tied for 7th place in the Liberty League)

Bones Lane, Pitts. (33 L 2-4 3.52) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 5-2 0.83)

Won - 6 to 5

Going in to the bottom of the 8th we were down 5 to 1, but scored 5 times in the inning to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Pittsburgh out-hit us 11 to 10 and we tied our season-high of 6 errors made. The left side of the infield was to blame for most of them with SS Bill Rush and 3B Crazy Kelley each making a pair of them. But Rush had a good game otherwise, with 2 hits and he started two twin-killings, the second one in the 9th to end the game. I had 2 more hits out of the 6 hole, so I think I will stay there for a bit.

Other Games:
Chicago (4) at Philadelphia (2) - Will Taylor (6-3) over Pop Yurkovich (3-4). The White Stockings scored 3 times in the top of the 9th to win the game. LF Ike Noel had 3 hits and scored a run.

Boston (6) at New York (5) - Charlie Morlock (3-4) over Charlie Moss (3-6). Don't know why this game was so close: Boston out-hit New York 14 to 4 and New York out-erred the Red Caps 8 to 5. LF George Zech had 3 hits with a double and scored a run.

Washington (3) at St. Louis (1) - Cal Wright (6-1) over Fred Cline (3-5). St. Louis only had 5 hits and Washington only had 6. CF George Kennedy had two of them for Washington and scored a run. Washington lost 7 to 2 on Opening Day vs. Boston and has not lost since, winning 9 in a row now (including one against us).

Down in the International Association, 1B Sol Popko just had a 4 hit day for Syracuse to raise his average to .462. He has 5 doubles and a triple in 9 games. He belongs up here, but I promised Tom Stanley the job at first when I signed him. Unless he goes awfully cold or forgets how to catch a ball, I cannot bench him.

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 07:42 PM

Tuesday, April 25, 1876 at Philadelphia Centennials (3-7 tied for 6th place in the Liberty League)

Philadelphia is a lot better team than they have shown so far. In the Spring practice games they had more wins than anybody. John Callaham was 12-3 in the Spring with a 1.80 ERA. Last season in the final year of the National Association we was 35-17 with a 2.02 ERA. He is due for a good game, but I hope he waits until his next start to have it.

John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 6-2 0.97) vs John Callaham, Phil. (27 R 0-3 4.19)

Won - 13 to 4

Man, I tell you, it's a good thing there are other guys on this team besides me. I had a rough go of it today. First I made an error, which got my goat, because after making 5 of them in the first 3 games of the year I had gone 7 in a row without one until today. Then I got thrown out at home and then I got picked off at first base. But luckily we have other guys who can actually play some ball on the team and they won this one. Guys like LF John Hagadorn who had 4 hits, scored twice and had 4 RBIs. Bendickson did not have a particularly overwhelming game in the box today, but at the plate he had 4 hits, knocked in a run and scored 3 times. We had 20 hits as a team, our season high so far, only one of them by me.

Other Games:
Washington (7) at Pittsburgh (8) - George Dennis (1-3) over William Cunningham (3-1). C Ben White had 4 hits with a triple, scoring twice and knocking in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th.

St. Louis (7) at Boston (4) - Roger Lake (3-0) over William Rose (0-4). Lake held Boston to 7 hits and had 3 with his bat, knocking in a pair of runs.

New York (15) at Chicago (5) - Charlie Moss (4-6) over Dick Wheeler (0-2). The Mets pounded out 21 hits and Chicago made 11 errors. Charlie Moss had 3 of them, scoring twice and knocking in a pair. C Willie English had 4, plus a walk. He scored twice and had an RBI.

Down in the International Association, 1B Sol Popko took the day off, but pinch-hit in the 10th and got another double and scored the winning run for Syracuse. I am wanting his bat up here, but Tom Stanley's doing a good job for us.

Questdog · 06-18-2014, 10:46 PM

Saturday, April 29, 1876 vs. Washington Olympics (9-3 2nd place in the Liberty League)

Jimmy Gerber makes his debut today in right field. I expect it will take a few games to get the rust out, but I also expect him to be our best hitter by the end of the year. Dave Taylor, who started in Gerber's absence in right, will now start in Hagadorn's absence in left, at least against right-handers.

Big Showdown with Washington today. If we lose, we are back to being tied for first. I'm putting myself back in the 3 hole with Hagadorn out. We'll see if I can come to life. Washington leads the Liberty League in virtually every offensive category. We lead the League in virtually every defensive category. They beat us 4 to 2 at their place the first time we met. That was the last time we lost a game.

Cal Wright, Wash. (31 R 6-2 2.88) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 7-2 0.98)

Won - 3 to 1

Well, Gerber lasted all of 1 inning. He batted in the first, flying out to right to end the inning and then went out to his position. The first batter hit a ball to him that he caught, but he had to come out saying his shoulder hurt. It was his elbow last time. They say he'll be out about 2 weeks. So now we are down to one of our starting outfielders able to play. I put George Fields out in left and moved Dave Taylor to right, hoping Fields would be better than he was in right last time he played.

Well, right off he let a double go over his head with a runner on first, but recovered and threw out the runner at the plate. In the 8th inning with us up 3 to 1, John Bendickson doubled over after throwing a pitch and had to come out of the game. My heart went up in my throat; if we lost him, we'd be hurting for sure. But the doctor said it was just a mild muscle strain and he'd be fine with a good night's sleep. Whew!.... Abe Everette had to come in cold and he gave up a hit to the first batter he faced and George Fields made an error trying to corral it, but then Abe retired the last 4 in a row to nail down the win. He really 'saved' it for us....

Bendickson and SS Bill Rush each had 2 hits and Rush and 3B Crazy Kelley each had a double. Rush scored 2 of our 3 runs and Kelley knocked 2 of them in. Bobby Hubbard went hitless for the first time this season. I did too, but not for the first time. I guess I am back out of the 3 hole, but with Hagadorn and Gerber both out, it will be tough to come up with a good lineup.

Other Games:
Boston (10) at Philadelphia (11) - John Callaham (1-4) in relief of Pop Yurkovich over Charlie Morlock (4-5). Philadelphia scored 5 times in the bottom of the 9th to win. 3B John Schlosser tripled with a runner on to tie the game and then scored the winning run on a passed ball. 1B Bob Raymond had 3 hits with a double and a triple for Boston. He scored twice and knocked in 3.

Pittsburgh (5) at New York (3) - Bones Lane (3-6) over Charlie Moss (5-7). Lane held N.Y. to 5 hits. N.Y. CF Dick Bailey broke his kneecap and will miss the next 4 months.

St. Louis (9) at Chicago (13) - Will Taylor (7-4) over Fred Cline (3-7). C Jake Houghton had 2 doubles, scoring twice and knocking in a pair of runs. 1B Art Gajic had 3 hits, scoring 3 times with 2 RBIs.

Questdog · 06-19-2014, 12:03 AM

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Questdog · 06-19-2014, 12:27 AM

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Mike45 · 06-19-2014, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Questdog

Attachment 346456

Attachment 346457

Can you bat your P Bendickson cleanup? Guy is killing it at the plate AND on the mound

Questdog · 06-19-2014, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike45

Can you bat your P Bendickson cleanup? Guy is killing it at the plate AND on the mound

I could, but then he'd for sure quit hitting.....

Questdog · 06-19-2014, 03:44 PM

Tuesday, May 2, 1876 at Boston Red Caps (4-9 tied for 7th place in the Liberty League)

I did not call anyone up from Syracuse to fill our empty roster spot with 2 injured outfielders. I think we have enough to play with already here.

John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 8-2 0.89) vs William Rose, Bos. (25 R 0-4 1.91)

Won - 4 to 1

The game was tied until the 9th inning when we scored 3 times to win the game. The go ahead run was knocked in by Crazy Kelley with a double. We only had 7 hits, but Bendickson held Boston to only 5. We've now won 8 in a row and have only allowed 14 runs in the 8 games.

Something I guess I can mention now, but I didn't want to for fear of jinxing him, but CF Bobby Hubbard has only made 1 error in the 14 games we have played so far. To put that in perspective, there are 8 teams, so 8 regular center fielders, but Bobby is tied for 12th for the most errors in center field and he leads the League in innings played by almost a full game. Boston's George Kunz is second in innings played in center and he has made 14 errors, the most in the League.

Other Games:
New York (1) at Philadelphia (2) in 10 innings - John Callaham (2-4) over Charlie Moss (5-8). I told you Calaham was due for a good game. LF Fred Swanger doubled home the winning run with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th. 2B Horace Hayes had 3 hits.

St. Louis (9) at Pittsburgh (11) - Bones Lane (4-6) over Roger Lake (3-1). Lake's performance moves him out of the League lead in ERA and puts the Haymaker pitchers at #1 and #2. St. Louis C Bumpus Dowdy, their clean-up hitter, was injured in a collision at home plate and will miss a month of action. 1B Patrick Brezina had a single, double and triple for Pittsburgh, scoring 4 times and knocking in a run. LF Ed Radle had 4 RBIs on 3 hits for St. Louis.

Chicago (1) at Washington (7) - William Cunningham (4-1) over Dick Wheeler (0-3). Cunningham had 2 hits with a double and an RBI, scoring twice. 2B Calvin Biron had 3 hits and scored 2 runs.

Down in the International Association, the Columbus Buckeyes walloped the Lynn Live Oaks 22 to 5. 35-year-old 3B George Bankston scored 5 runs on 4 hits with 2 RBIs.

Questdog · 06-19-2014, 08:00 PM

Thursday, May 4, 1876 vs. New York Metropolitans (6-8 tied for 4th place in the Liberty League)

Charlie Moss, N.Y. (35 R 5-8 1.51) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 9-2 0.90)

Won - 9 to 8

What a crap game we played in the field today. We gave them 14 hits and set our new high with 8 errors. New York got 2 hits and SS Bill Rush flubbed a groundball in the first, but New York did not score because we threw 2 runners out on the bases. C Jumbo Tilford threw one out trying to steal second base and RF Dave Taylor threw another out trying to make third from first on a single. He threw another out at the plate later in the game that saved he day for us. We scored 3 in the bottom of the 1st and I thought we were in for clear sailing, but the Mets went ahead with a 5 run outburst in the 3rd inning. They hit 3 singles and 2 doubles and we made 2 errors in the inning.

What to do with LF Doc Hollister? There were 2 doubles that flew over his head, 2 singles that fell at his feet and he made 3 errors in the game without ever making a single clean chance. Just horrible to witness. But at bat he had 2 triples and a double and scored 3 runs. He led off the bottom of the 8th with a triple and scored the run that broke the 8-8 tie. He's not supposed to be that bad of a fielder, so I guess I'll give him one more chance, but you can't hit good enough to make up for fielding like that, though he almost did, today.

Other Games:
Boston (1) at Washington (5) - Cal Wright (7-3) over Charlie Morlock (4-6). Wright held Boston to 7 hits and struck out 3. LF Jim Spencer had 3 hits with a double and a triple. He scored twice and knocked in 2.

Pittsburgh (2) at Chicago (3) - Will Taylor (8-4) over George Dennis (1-4). Taylor held Pittsburgh to 5 hits. CF John Froom, one of the fellas that some people tout as better than Bobby Hubbard, had 3 hits and scored twice, but he made his 8th error of the season, which is actually pretty good, but not as good as one.

Philadelphia (8) at St. Louis (4) in 11 innings - John Callaham (3-4) in relief of Pop Yurkovich over Fred Cline (3-8). SS Jimmy Mark hit a triple in the top of the 9th and scored to tie the game at 4. He also had a double and a single in the gale with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. 2B Horace Hays had 4 hits and an RBI. RF Joseph Thompson sprained his elbow for St. Louis and will miss the next 3 weeks. The way he was hitting (.127, 7 for 55), they may be better off without him.

Questdog · 06-19-2014, 09:42 PM

Saturday, May 6, 1876 vs. St. Louis Brown Stockings (6-9 tied for 5th place in the Liberty League)

Fred Cline, St.L. (34 R 3-8 2.73) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 10-2 1.08)

Lost - 4 to 3

We played even worse today than yesterday. 9 friggin' errors. That's 17 in the last 2 games. I made 2 and 1B Tom Stanley made 2 and everyone else had one except C Jumbo Tilford and RF Dave Taylor. Even Bobby Hubbard got in on the act and made his second of the year. We out-hit St. Louis 10 to 6, but they did not make a single error.

What is wrong with me? I won the batting title last year and I am barely hitting my weight this season. .206. That's about half of my average from last year (.370). At least I had been fielding well, but today I couldn't even do that. We scored a run in the first after the first two batters were put out with 3 straight singles by 3B Crazy Kelley, C Jumbo Tilford and 1B Tom Stanley. Then with 2 on and 2 out, I flied out to left. The next time up, we again had a man on base and with 2 outs and I poked one right to the first baseman. A hit in either of those spots and we could have won despite the 9 errors.

Fred Cline is now 2-7 against everybody else, but 2-1 against us.

Other Games:
Pittsburgh (8) at Philadelphia (6) - Bones Lane (5-6) over Pop Yurkovich (4-5). C Ben White had 3 hits and 4 RBIs, but also made 2 errors. He's an awesome hitter, but a lousy catcher.

Chicago (11) at Boston (0) - Dick Wheeler (1-3) in relief of Will Taylor over Charlie Morlock (4-7). Taylor had to leave the game after 3 innings because of a strained calf muscle. He'll be okay in a few days. Wheeler pitched the final 6 innings to earn the win and complete the first ever combined shutout in League history. CF John Froom had 4 hits, 4 RBIs and scored twice. Boston made 14 errors.

Washington (1) at New York (9) - Charlie Moss (6-9) over Cal Wright (7-4). CF Willie Schommer had 3 hits, an RBI and scored 3 runs. LF Silver Borresen had 3 hits and scored twice.

06-18-2014, 10:25 AM	#22
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Saturday, April 15, 1876 vs. Boston Red Caps (2-4 tied for 5th) William Rose, Bos. (25 R 0-1 1.74) vs Abe Everette, Troy (27 L 1-0 2.00) Won - 4 to 0 Abe Everette pitched a 4-hit shutout, the first shutout in Liberty League history, and we did not make an error behind him. Dave Taylor, Tom Stanley and Crazy Kelley each had 2 hits. Other Games: Philadelphia (3) at New York (9) - Charlie Moss (3-3) over John Callaham (0-3). Moss had 2 hits and scored twice and knocked in 2. Washington (6) at Chicago (5) - William Cunningham (2-0) over Will Taylor (3-3). 1B Lou Knight hit a home run and had 4 RBIs. Pittsburgh (1) at St. Louis (4) - Roger Lake (2-0) over George Dennis (0-3). LF Pete Bucolo had 2 hits with a triple. Last edited by Questdog; 06-18-2014 at 10:51 AM.

06-18-2014, 06:21 PM	#31
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Saturday, April 22, 1876 vs. Pittsburgh Alleghenys (2-7 tied for 7th place in the Liberty League) Bones Lane, Pitts. (33 L 2-4 3.52) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 5-2 0.83) Won - 6 to 5 Going in to the bottom of the 8th we were down 5 to 1, but scored 5 times in the inning to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Pittsburgh out-hit us 11 to 10 and we tied our season-high of 6 errors made. The left side of the infield was to blame for most of them with SS Bill Rush and 3B Crazy Kelley each making a pair of them. But Rush had a good game otherwise, with 2 hits and he started two twin-killings, the second one in the 9th to end the game. I had 2 more hits out of the 6 hole, so I think I will stay there for a bit. Other Games: Chicago (4) at Philadelphia (2) - Will Taylor (6-3) over Pop Yurkovich (3-4). The White Stockings scored 3 times in the top of the 9th to win the game. LF Ike Noel had 3 hits and scored a run. Boston (6) at New York (5) - Charlie Morlock (3-4) over Charlie Moss (3-6). Don't know why this game was so close: Boston out-hit New York 14 to 4 and New York out-erred the Red Caps 8 to 5. LF George Zech had 3 hits with a double and scored a run. Washington (3) at St. Louis (1) - Cal Wright (6-1) over Fred Cline (3-5). St. Louis only had 5 hits and Washington only had 6. CF George Kennedy had two of them for Washington and scored a run. Washington lost 7 to 2 on Opening Day vs. Boston and has not lost since, winning 9 in a row now (including one against us). Down in the International Association, 1B Sol Popko just had a 4 hit day for Syracuse to raise his average to .462. He has 5 doubles and a triple in 9 games. He belongs up here, but I promised Tom Stanley the job at first when I signed him. Unless he goes awfully cold or forgets how to catch a ball, I cannot bench him. Last edited by Questdog; 06-18-2014 at 06:33 PM.

06-18-2014, 07:42 PM	#32
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Tuesday, April 25, 1876 at Philadelphia Centennials (3-7 tied for 6th place in the Liberty League) Philadelphia is a lot better team than they have shown so far. In the Spring practice games they had more wins than anybody. John Callaham was 12-3 in the Spring with a 1.80 ERA. Last season in the final year of the National Association we was 35-17 with a 2.02 ERA. He is due for a good game, but I hope he waits until his next start to have it. John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 6-2 0.97) vs John Callaham, Phil. (27 R 0-3 4.19) Won - 13 to 4 Man, I tell you, it's a good thing there are other guys on this team besides me. I had a rough go of it today. First I made an error, which got my goat, because after making 5 of them in the first 3 games of the year I had gone 7 in a row without one until today. Then I got thrown out at home and then I got picked off at first base. But luckily we have other guys who can actually play some ball on the team and they won this one. Guys like LF John Hagadorn who had 4 hits, scored twice and had 4 RBIs. Bendickson did not have a particularly overwhelming game in the box today, but at the plate he had 4 hits, knocked in a run and scored 3 times. We had 20 hits as a team, our season high so far, only one of them by me. Other Games: Washington (7) at Pittsburgh (8) - George Dennis (1-3) over William Cunningham (3-1). C Ben White had 4 hits with a triple, scoring twice and knocking in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th. St. Louis (7) at Boston (4) - Roger Lake (3-0) over William Rose (0-4). Lake held Boston to 7 hits and had 3 with his bat, knocking in a pair of runs. New York (15) at Chicago (5) - Charlie Moss (4-6) over Dick Wheeler (0-2). The Mets pounded out 21 hits and Chicago made 11 errors. Charlie Moss had 3 of them, scoring twice and knocking in a pair. C Willie English had 4, plus a walk. He scored twice and had an RBI. Down in the International Association, 1B Sol Popko took the day off, but pinch-hit in the 10th and got another double and scored the winning run for Syracuse. I am wanting his bat up here, but Tom Stanley's doing a good job for us. Last edited by Questdog; 06-18-2014 at 07:44 PM.

06-18-2014, 10:46 PM	#33
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Saturday, April 29, 1876 vs. Washington Olympics (9-3 2nd place in the Liberty League) Jimmy Gerber makes his debut today in right field. I expect it will take a few games to get the rust out, but I also expect him to be our best hitter by the end of the year. Dave Taylor, who started in Gerber's absence in right, will now start in Hagadorn's absence in left, at least against right-handers. Big Showdown with Washington today. If we lose, we are back to being tied for first. I'm putting myself back in the 3 hole with Hagadorn out. We'll see if I can come to life. Washington leads the Liberty League in virtually every offensive category. We lead the League in virtually every defensive category. They beat us 4 to 2 at their place the first time we met. That was the last time we lost a game. Cal Wright, Wash. (31 R 6-2 2.88) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 7-2 0.98) Won - 3 to 1 Well, Gerber lasted all of 1 inning. He batted in the first, flying out to right to end the inning and then went out to his position. The first batter hit a ball to him that he caught, but he had to come out saying his shoulder hurt. It was his elbow last time. They say he'll be out about 2 weeks. So now we are down to one of our starting outfielders able to play. I put George Fields out in left and moved Dave Taylor to right, hoping Fields would be better than he was in right last time he played. Well, right off he let a double go over his head with a runner on first, but recovered and threw out the runner at the plate. In the 8th inning with us up 3 to 1, John Bendickson doubled over after throwing a pitch and had to come out of the game. My heart went up in my throat; if we lost him, we'd be hurting for sure. But the doctor said it was just a mild muscle strain and he'd be fine with a good night's sleep. Whew!.... Abe Everette had to come in cold and he gave up a hit to the first batter he faced and George Fields made an error trying to corral it, but then Abe retired the last 4 in a row to nail down the win. He really 'saved' it for us.... Bendickson and SS Bill Rush each had 2 hits and Rush and 3B Crazy Kelley each had a double. Rush scored 2 of our 3 runs and Kelley knocked 2 of them in. Bobby Hubbard went hitless for the first time this season. I did too, but not for the first time. I guess I am back out of the 3 hole, but with Hagadorn and Gerber both out, it will be tough to come up with a good lineup. Other Games: Boston (10) at Philadelphia (11) - John Callaham (1-4) in relief of Pop Yurkovich over Charlie Morlock (4-5). Philadelphia scored 5 times in the bottom of the 9th to win. 3B John Schlosser tripled with a runner on to tie the game and then scored the winning run on a passed ball. 1B Bob Raymond had 3 hits with a double and a triple for Boston. He scored twice and knocked in 3. Pittsburgh (5) at New York (3) - Bones Lane (3-6) over Charlie Moss (5-7). Lane held N.Y. to 5 hits. N.Y. CF Dick Bailey broke his kneecap and will miss the next 4 months. St. Louis (9) at Chicago (13) - Will Taylor (7-4) over Fred Cline (3-7). C Jake Houghton had 2 doubles, scoring twice and knocking in a pair of runs. 1B Art Gajic had 3 hits, scoring 3 times with 2 RBIs. Last edited by Questdog; 06-18-2014 at 10:50 PM.

06-19-2014, 03:44 PM	#38
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Tuesday, May 2, 1876 at Boston Red Caps (4-9 tied for 7th place in the Liberty League) I did not call anyone up from Syracuse to fill our empty roster spot with 2 injured outfielders. I think we have enough to play with already here. John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 8-2 0.89) vs William Rose, Bos. (25 R 0-4 1.91) Won - 4 to 1 The game was tied until the 9th inning when we scored 3 times to win the game. The go ahead run was knocked in by Crazy Kelley with a double. We only had 7 hits, but Bendickson held Boston to only 5. We've now won 8 in a row and have only allowed 14 runs in the 8 games. Something I guess I can mention now, but I didn't want to for fear of jinxing him, but CF Bobby Hubbard has only made 1 error in the 14 games we have played so far. To put that in perspective, there are 8 teams, so 8 regular center fielders, but Bobby is tied for 12th for the most errors in center field and he leads the League in innings played by almost a full game. Boston's George Kunz is second in innings played in center and he has made 14 errors, the most in the League. Other Games: New York (1) at Philadelphia (2) in 10 innings - John Callaham (2-4) over Charlie Moss (5-8). I told you Calaham was due for a good game. LF Fred Swanger doubled home the winning run with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th. 2B Horace Hayes had 3 hits. St. Louis (9) at Pittsburgh (11) - Bones Lane (4-6) over Roger Lake (3-1). Lake's performance moves him out of the League lead in ERA and puts the Haymaker pitchers at #1 and #2. St. Louis C Bumpus Dowdy, their clean-up hitter, was injured in a collision at home plate and will miss a month of action. 1B Patrick Brezina had a single, double and triple for Pittsburgh, scoring 4 times and knocking in a run. LF Ed Radle had 4 RBIs on 3 hits for St. Louis. Chicago (1) at Washington (7) - William Cunningham (4-1) over Dick Wheeler (0-3). Cunningham had 2 hits with a double and an RBI, scoring twice. 2B Calvin Biron had 3 hits and scored 2 runs. Down in the International Association, the Columbus Buckeyes walloped the Lynn Live Oaks 22 to 5. 35-year-old 3B George Bankston scored 5 runs on 4 hits with 2 RBIs. Last edited by Questdog; 06-19-2014 at 09:42 PM.

06-18-2014, 01:59 AM	#21
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Thursday, April 13, 1876 at Washington Olympics (3-1 tied for 1st) These are the same Washington Olympics that have scored 42 runs in their last 3 games. They have 3 batters hitting .500 or better: 2B Calvin Biron, 1B Lou Knight and C Al Cannon. Just those 3 guys have scored 24 runs in 5 games. Hope we can cool them off. John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 3-1 0.69) vs Cal Wright, Wash. (31 R 3-1 3.09) Lost - 4 to 2 Changed the order a bit, moving myself up to 2nd instead of 3rd, since I ain't hitting much and put Hagadorn in the 3 spot. Kelley gets the day off with his sore leg and Wash Horsfall plays 3rd. Horsfall muffed the first ball hit to him, muffed another later on and went 0 for 4 at the plate. Bill Rush finally had a hit, but only 1. I had 1 one hit; can't seem to bust through for a multi-hit game. Me and Rush are finally starting to get used to each other. We turned our first double play. I started it, 4-6-3. Rush started another later, 6-4-3. Hagadorn and Hubbard each threw out a runner at the plate or the score would have been worse. On offense, we managed 12 hits, but could only plate 2 runs. Bendickson was the best hitter on the day, getting 3 singles and scoring a run. Other Games: New York (5) at Pittsburgh (4) in 12 innings- Bill McClean (1-0) in relief of Charlie Moss over George Dennis (0-2) in relief of Bones Lane. Pittsburgh scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to tie it, another in the bottom of the 11th to tie it again, but came up short. CF Henry Gunther was supposed to play for Pittsburgh, but had to come on in the 1st inning when Hi Lynch hurt himself. Gunther ended up with 5 hits in a losing cause. He had a hit with one out in the bottom of the 12th that almost tied the game, but the runner was thrown out at the plate by N.Y. RF Silver Borresen, who also had 3 hits Philadelphia (4) at Boston (3) - Pop Yurkovich (2-2) over Charlie Morlock (2-3). 1B Joe Smith had 3 hits and 2 RBIs for the Centennials. Boston scored once in the bottom of the 9th, but the second run was gunned down at the plate by LF Fred Swanger. Chicago (2) at St. Louis (4) - Fred Cline (3-2) over Dick Wheeler (0-1). Cline had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.

06-18-2014, 11:59 AM	#23
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Tuesday, April 18, 1876 at New York Metropolitans (4-3 4th place in the Liberty League) John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 3-2 0.96) vs Charlie Moss, N.Y. (35 R 3-3 1.18) Won - 3 to 1 Bendickson shut them out on 1 hit through 7 innings and ended up with a 4-hitter. He had 2 hits with his bat and so did Crazy Kelley. I put myself in the leadoff spot and didn't do nothing. I am under .200 now. Other Games: Chicago (14) at Pittsburgh (4) - Will Taylor (4-3) over Bones Lane (1-4). Taylor held Pittsburgh to 4 hits. 2B Sandy Woodruff had 3 hits with a double and scored 3 times and knocked in 3. Washington (12) at Boston (10) - William Cunningham (3-0) in relief of Cal Wright over William Rose (0-3) in relief of Charlie Morlock. 2B Calvin Biron had 3 hits, including his third triple of the year. He scored twice. 3B Bill Sears had 3 hits with a double and 3 runs scored. 1B Lou Knight hit a home run for the second consecutive game. He had 2 hits, scoring twice and plating 2. 3B Sandy Perkes had 4 hits in defeat for Boston. He scored twice. St. Louis (0) at Philadelphia (2) - Pop Yurkovich (3-2) over Fred Cline (3-3). St. Louis out-hit Philadelphia 8 to 6. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 8th, when a 2-out error by St. Louis 2B Marvin Frank let in a run.

06-18-2014, 12:40 PM	#24
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Thursday, April 20, 1876 at St. Louis Brown Stockings (5-3 3rd place in the Liberty League) John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 4-2 0.96) vs Fred Cline, St.L. (34 R 3-3 2.94) Won - 7 to 0 Bendickson was perfect for 7 and a third innings and then 1B Harry Skinner cracked one past Rush at short for a single. That was the only runner to get on, though, as he finished with a 1-hitter! Even I had a good game, getting 2 hits from the 6 hole and scoring twice. And they walked me again; must not be looking at my current batting average. Cline held us to 7 hits, but the Brown Stockings made 8 errors behind him, while we had none. Other Games: Philadelphia (6) at Pittsburgh (7) - Bones Lane (2-4) over Pop Yurkovich (3-3). 2B Tully Pasholk had 2 hits with a double, scoring twice and knocking in 2. LF Jim Leonardi had a double and a home run for Philadelphia with 2 RBIs. New York (4) at Washington (6) - Cal Wright (5-1) over Charlie Moss (3-5). LF Jesse Spencer had 2 hits with a triple, scoring twice and knocking in 4. 1B Lou Knight and C Al Cannon each had 3 more hits and each scoring a pair of runs. Knight still has his average over .500 after 9 games. Boston (8) at Chicago (9) - Will Taylor (5-3) over Charlie Morlock (2-4). Chicago scored 3 times in the bottom of the 9th to win. LF Tom Dore had the game winning hit with 1 out. CF George Kunz had 5 hits for Boston. He had a triple, scored 3 times and knocked in 2.

06-18-2014, 01:34 PM	#25
Mike45 Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 162	didn't catch your first installment from the beginning so not sure if you did it for that one as well, but like the touch how you are reporting from one of the players' perspectives, while still giving a global view of the league

06-18-2014, 01:50 PM	#26
goroyals All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 930	This team is gonna be dangerous. Your defense is loaded, and you have to flat out suck with the bat (Troy seems to be decent) or have an awful staff (which apparently you have two really good pitchers) to not win games with good fielders in this era. I think the baserunning is a plus of course, but with so many errors the slow runners seem to find a way around too. I guess it depends on your league totals. What's your CS%? And PB rate? You seem like a stickler for historical accuracy, did you mess with those at all?

06-19-2014, 12:03 AM	#34
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142

06-19-2014, 12:27 AM	#35
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142

06-19-2014, 08:00 PM	#39
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Thursday, May 4, 1876 vs. New York Metropolitans (6-8 tied for 4th place in the Liberty League) Charlie Moss, N.Y. (35 R 5-8 1.51) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 9-2 0.90) Won - 9 to 8 What a crap game we played in the field today. We gave them 14 hits and set our new high with 8 errors. New York got 2 hits and SS Bill Rush flubbed a groundball in the first, but New York did not score because we threw 2 runners out on the bases. C Jumbo Tilford threw one out trying to steal second base and RF Dave Taylor threw another out trying to make third from first on a single. He threw another out at the plate later in the game that saved he day for us. We scored 3 in the bottom of the 1st and I thought we were in for clear sailing, but the Mets went ahead with a 5 run outburst in the 3rd inning. They hit 3 singles and 2 doubles and we made 2 errors in the inning. What to do with LF Doc Hollister? There were 2 doubles that flew over his head, 2 singles that fell at his feet and he made 3 errors in the game without ever making a single clean chance. Just horrible to witness. But at bat he had 2 triples and a double and scored 3 runs. He led off the bottom of the 8th with a triple and scored the run that broke the 8-8 tie. He's not supposed to be that bad of a fielder, so I guess I'll give him one more chance, but you can't hit good enough to make up for fielding like that, though he almost did, today. Other Games: Boston (1) at Washington (5) - Cal Wright (7-3) over Charlie Morlock (4-6). Wright held Boston to 7 hits and struck out 3. LF Jim Spencer had 3 hits with a double and a triple. He scored twice and knocked in 2. Pittsburgh (2) at Chicago (3) - Will Taylor (8-4) over George Dennis (1-4). Taylor held Pittsburgh to 5 hits. CF John Froom, one of the fellas that some people tout as better than Bobby Hubbard, had 3 hits and scored twice, but he made his 8th error of the season, which is actually pretty good, but not as good as one. Philadelphia (8) at St. Louis (4) in 11 innings - John Callaham (3-4) in relief of Pop Yurkovich over Fred Cline (3-8). SS Jimmy Mark hit a triple in the top of the 9th and scored to tie the game at 4. He also had a double and a single in the gale with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. 2B Horace Hays had 4 hits and an RBI. RF Joseph Thompson sprained his elbow for St. Louis and will miss the next 3 weeks. The way he was hitting (.127, 7 for 55), they may be better off without him.

06-19-2014, 09:42 PM	#40
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Saturday, May 6, 1876 vs. St. Louis Brown Stockings (6-9 tied for 5th place in the Liberty League) Fred Cline, St.L. (34 R 3-8 2.73) vs John Bendickson, Troy (24 R 10-2 1.08) Lost - 4 to 3 We played even worse today than yesterday. 9 friggin' errors. That's 17 in the last 2 games. I made 2 and 1B Tom Stanley made 2 and everyone else had one except C Jumbo Tilford and RF Dave Taylor. Even Bobby Hubbard got in on the act and made his second of the year. We out-hit St. Louis 10 to 6, but they did not make a single error. What is wrong with me? I won the batting title last year and I am barely hitting my weight this season. .206. That's about half of my average from last year (.370). At least I had been fielding well, but today I couldn't even do that. We scored a run in the first after the first two batters were put out with 3 straight singles by 3B Crazy Kelley, C Jumbo Tilford and 1B Tom Stanley. Then with 2 on and 2 out, I flied out to left. The next time up, we again had a man on base and with 2 outs and I poked one right to the first baseman. A hit in either of those spots and we could have won despite the 9 errors. Fred Cline is now 2-7 against everybody else, but 2-1 against us. Other Games: Pittsburgh (8) at Philadelphia (6) - Bones Lane (5-6) over Pop Yurkovich (4-5). C Ben White had 3 hits and 4 RBIs, but also made 2 errors. He's an awesome hitter, but a lousy catcher. Chicago (11) at Boston (0) - Dick Wheeler (1-3) in relief of Will Taylor over Charlie Morlock (4-7). Taylor had to leave the game after 3 innings because of a strained calf muscle. He'll be okay in a few days. Wheeler pitched the final 6 innings to earn the win and complete the first ever combined shutout in League history. CF John Froom had 4 hits, 4 RBIs and scored twice. Boston made 14 errors. Washington (1) at New York (9) - Charlie Moss (6-9) over Cal Wright (7-4). CF Willie Schommer had 3 hits, an RBI and scored 3 runs. LF Silver Borresen had 3 hits and scored twice.