Random Debut League 1901-??

[Highlander]

The season is about to start, so it's time to publish the annual BNN Top 100 Prospects list. This year, 19 year-old RHP Smoky Joe Wood of the Chicago Orphans is the #1 prospect overall.

Here is the top 10:
1) RHP Smoky Joe Wood, 19, Chicago Orphans
2) CF Ben Chapman, 22, Philadelphia Phillies
3) SS Luke Appling, 23, St. Louis Cardinals
4) CF Ken Griffey, 24, Brooklyn Superbas
5) CF Paul Blair, 21, Detroit Tigers
6) RHP Juan Marichal, 22, St. Louis Cardinals
7) RHP Michael Soroka, 21, Cincinnati Reds
8) CF Jarren Duran, 25, New York Giants
9) RF Kirk Gibson, 22, Chicago White Sox
10) LHP Joe Magrane, 22, Philadelphia Phillies

[Highlander]

The Inaugural Season of the RDL (Random Debut League….I never came up with a creative name) is in the books!

When the dust cleared at the end of the regular season, there was mayhem in Chicago, as the Orphans and White Sox were both at the top of the standings in their respective leagues. Despite very similar records and what seemed like it would be a hard fought series, the Orphans completed a sweep of the White Sox in 4 games, by scores of 5-3, 9-8, 15-2 and 4-3. More on each team below!

Here’s a look at the teams in the American League, in reverse order of the standings.

Baltimore Orioles

Record- 56-84

Games Back- 24

Batters
- Fred Snodgrass was the star on the Orioles. He finished 2nd in MVP voting and was the Platinum Stick Award winner in RF. He hit .329/.408/.459 with 97 runs, a league leading 34 doubles, 13 triples, 3 HR, 68 RBI and 61 SB.
- Corbin Carroll also had a strong season as the Platinum Stick winner in LF….strange a team this bad had 2 winners of that award! He hit .283/.347/.443 with 86 R, 24 doubles, a league leading 24 triples, 3 HR, 100 RBI and 56 SB. He also led the league in Sac Flys (8) and Extra base hits (51).
- Buzzy Wares only got 10 AB the whole season, but he made the most of them with 7 hits!

Pitchers
- Freddy Peralta was the only Oriole starter with a winning record. He went 21-13 in 294 IP with a 3.55 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 96 Ks.
- Mike Caldwell led the league in losses with 26 and added to his misery by leading the league in wild pitches with 13.


Philadelphia Athletics

Record- 60-80

Games Back- 20

Batters
- Christian Yelich was the AL Batting Champion with a .343 BA. He also tied Fred Snodgrass for the lead in doubles with 34. His total stat line was- .343/.409/.442, 92 R, 34 doubles, 8 triples, 1 HR, 84 RBI, 40 SB.
- As expected, Ke’Bryan Hayes was the AL Gold Glove winner at 3B.

Pitchers
- Bobby Madritsch was the #1 starter and seemed to have the best season of the Philly starters. He went 16-17 with 1 save in 296.2 IP. He had a 3.58 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 98 Ks. Nothing fantastic, but with a better offense, he could win a good number of games I am sure.

Milwaukee Brewers

Record- 70-70

Games Back- 10

Batters
- Al Schweitzer was the AL Rookie of the Year. His batting line was .342/.407/.452 with 80 R, 23 doubles, 5 triples, 7 HR, 74 RBI and 50 SB. He led the league in Ks with 73. Not bad for a 13th round pick.
- Interestingly, Milwaukee had the runner-up in the ROY voting in Tom Downey. He won the Platinum Stick award at SS with a line of .314/.367/.386, 67 R, 15 doubles, 8 triples, 1 HR, 82 RBI, 42 SB.
- Jake Lamb only hit 4 HR on the season, but he made the most of them as 2 were Grand Slams.
- Jim Gantner had a tale of 2 seasons. He started out with Baltimore and over 77 games he hit .339. He was traded to Milwaukee on 7/29 for OF Charlie See and proceeded to hit just .249 for the rest of the season.
- Somehow I missed that both Ozzie Virgils….father and son….were in this inaugural season. Well, on 7/23, Ozzie Jr. was traded to Milwaukee for 2B Jordan Diaz. Unbeknownst to me until right now, his father is also on the team! Strangely, however, Ozzie Jr is 32 years old and Ozzie Sr is just 25! Hopefully they can play a few seasons together.

Pitchers
- On 8/23, Logan Gilbert was put on the injured list due to needing surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow. He will be out 6 months, so should be back for next season if all goes well. Before the injury, he was really good on the mound, going 14-10 with 1 save in 215.2 IP. He had a 2.40 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 68 Ks. He also led the league in Percentage of Quality Starts at .808.
- Unsurprisingly, Pedro Martinez was another very good member of this staff. He went 19-15 with 2 saves in 308.2 IP, a 3.27 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a league leading 185 Ks. He also led the league in K/9 (5.39) and FIP- (84.8). He and Gilbert should be a formidable duo for a number of years.

Cleveland Blues

Record- 71-69

Games Back- 9

Batters
- John Mc Graw had a huge season and was named AL MVP as well as the Platinum Stick winner at 3B. He missed about 5 weeks with a fractured foot and another week or so with a bruised shoulder. Despite that, he still hit .334/.484/.414, 104 R, 16 doubles, 9 triples, 1 HR, 52 RBI, and 66 SB. His OBP, R and SB were all league leading numbers. He also led the league in walks (111), HBP (25), RC (109.94), RC/27 (8.51), wOBA (.444), OPS (.898), wRC+ (172.2) and WAR (7.8).
- Clay Dalrymple won the Gold Glove Award at catcher.
- Dale Mitchell was a preseason favorite to win the batting title and while that didn’t happen, he still had a great season, hitting .323/.353/.426 with 82 R, 15 doubles, 22 triples, 1 HR, 82 RBI and 9 SB. He led the league in both hits with 194 and AB with 601, as well as total bases with 256.
- Chick Fullis started the season with the Boston Americans. He didn’t have a full time role, despite hitting .388/.448/.491 over 27 starts and a bunch of PH appearances. He was traded to Cleveland on 7/25 for Heinie Mueller and Ben DeMott. Other than a 3 week day-to-day bout with wrist tendonitis, he was full-time player the rest of the way for the Blues and he hit .338/.388/.415 for them. With a chance to play full time all season next year, he will be one to watch.
- Tony Abreu was a bench player who only got 192 ABs, but it seems like he should have had more. He had 12 triples and a solid .831 OPS.
- Sherry Robertson was another part time guy who needs a look at more ABs next season. Despite just 216 ABs, he finished 9th in the league in HR with 6.

Pitchers
- Reggie Cleveland made his mark by getting into a league leading 53 games, 35 of which were starts. His season numbers were a 19-13 record with 3 saves over 311 IP. He had a 3.73 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 109 Ks. His 1 hold was good enough to lead the league, along with batters faced (1356) and K/BB (2.42).
- Shawn Estes had a strange season. On the negative side, he had a losing record at 12-17, led the league in walks with 124 and had a pretty poor 1.41 WHIP. On the positive side, he had a solid 3.16 ERA, led the league with .03 HR/9 (gave up 1 in 264.2 IP) and led the league in GB% at 59%. If he could improve his control, he could be quite a pitcher…..that’s a HUGE “if”, though.
- Jerad Eickhoff had a solid season at 12-5 in 160.2 IP with a 2.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 47 Ks. He also won the Platinum Stick award at P, hitting .339/.355/.441 in 59 AB. He had 3 doubles and 1 HR.

Detroit Tigers

Record- 71-69

Games Back- 9

Batters
- Chuck Hinton won the Platinum Stick at 1B and was 3rd in the ROY voting. He hit .333/.381/.447 with 96 R, 27 doubles, 14 triples, 2 HR, 75 RBI and 36 SB.
- The Tigers had another Platinum Stick winner in George Grantham at 2B. He hit .296/.370/.418 with 101 R, 28 doubles, 13 triples, 4 HR, 73 RBI and 34 SB.

Pitchers
- Bob Welch lived up to his billing as a top pitcher in the league as he led the league in wins with 25 to go along with just 11 losses and 1 save. He threw 307 IP with a 2.73 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 100 K. He won 2 Pitcher of the Month awards and finished 3rd in Best Pitcher Award voting.
- Dave Koslo came over in a trade with Cleveland along with Bobby Stevens. Detroit sent back Ben DeMott and Frank Manush. Koslo ended up winning the Gold Glove Award for P. Despite an overall decent 3.66 ERA, he ended up having some bad luck on both teams with an overall 11-21 record.

Boston Americans

Record- 73-67

Games Back- 7

Batters
- Dave Martinez had a strong year at the plate, hitting .293/.352/.401, 90 R, 14 doubles, 20 triples, 1 HR, 51 RBI and 29 SB. He also won the Gold Glove Award for RF.
- Luis Aparicio was also solid, with a stat line of .311/.354/.392, 77 R, 26 doubles, 8 triples, 1 HR, 82 RBI and 27 SB. Soon after the World Championship games, Aparicio was traded to the Pirates for P Biff Schlitzer, so he will be the SS for Pittsburgh next season.
- Brett Butler, not known as a slugger by any means, ended up leading the league in SLG at .473. He did it by hitting an overall .326 with 16 doubles, 20 triples and 2 HR in just 423 AB. He only started 99 games and appeared in 123. Seems like Boston may want to give him a real full time spot next season.
- Alejandro De Aza won the Gold Glove Award in LF, despite starting in just 72 games.

Pitchers
- 21-year old Curt Simmons had a very good season for a pitcher of his age. He was only 18-17 with 1 save in 312 IP, but had a 3.35 ERA and 173 Ks. He showed some real control issues, so his WHIP was 1.39, but if he can figure that out he could be really good.
- Mario Soto was another guy with some control issues, but he still went 19-13 in 298.2 IP with a 2.92 ERA and 144 Ks. His 1.33 WHIP wasn’t awful, but could be even better without so many walks.
- Ed Whitson was also 19-13 and was on the opposite end of the spectrum with control, as he led the league with just 1.3 BB/9.
- Jeff Nelson led the league with 6 saves. He pitched in 31 games and threw 50.1 IP with 29 Ks, a 3.58 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. He also led the league in Relief Appearances and Games Finished with those 31 games.


Washington Senators

Record- 79-61

Games Back- 1

Batters
- Lorenzo Cain was the star of the Seantors, as he won the Platinum Stick Award for CF and finished 3rd in MVP voting. His season results were- .320/.369/.417, 100 R, 23 doubles, 16 triples, 1 HR, 60 RBI, 56 SB. He led the league with 139 Games Started and 645 Plate Appearances.
- Gil Hodges was a pre-season candidate to lead the league in HR….and boy, did he ever! He hit 18 HR, which actually tied him for the lead with a player we haven’t seen yet, but the next closest player only had 7. Hodges also scored 95 and drove in 97. He also led the league in ISO (.178).
- Earl Averill Jr. won the Platinum Stick Award at catcher in a surprising result. His surprising season looked like this- .285/.354/.370, 58 R, 16 doubles, 2 triples, 6 HR, 64 RBI and 10 SB.
- Asdrubal Cabrera had a 20-game hitting streak which helped him to a .311 BA on the season.
- Joe Connolly suffered a torn groin in May that kept him out about 3 months. Otherwise, he would have been among the best players in the game and we may have seen this team in the championship instead of Chicago. In just 250 AB, he hit .320/.391/.468 with 30 R, 21 doubles, 5 triples, 2 HR, 44 RBI and 11 SB. Watch out for him next season.
- Leonys Martin only got 281 AB but still hit 13 triples. He will be another one to watch if he gets a more full time role.

Pitchers
- Patrick Corbin was named the #1 starter of this team, but kind of fell short on being their ace. He only went 17-20 with 2 Saves in 307 IP. He had a 3.46 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 106 Ks. Not bad, but for a team 1 game away from a pennant, he needed to be better.
- Stepping up as the ace of the team was Butch Wensloff. He belied his “Fragile” reputation to go 22-13 in 312 IP with a 2.68 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 95 Ks. There was some luck involved, however, as he led the league in BABIP at just .234.
- Mark Clark only started 12 games and appeared in 17 overall, but in his 106.1 IP he went 7-6 with 1 save, a 2.62 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 23 Ks. He looks to be part of the rotation for next year, so we’ll see if he can build on what he did.


Chicago White Sox

Record- 80-60….They were the AL Champs, but didn’t have a big margin for error, finishing just that 1 game ahead of Boston.

Batters
- Ryan Sweeney lived up to the hype and won the Gold Glove Award in CF. He also did pretty well at the plate, hitting .329/.374/.397 with 69 R, 23 doubles, 5 triples, 0 HR, 54 RBI and 16 SB.
- Cy Williams lived up to his reputation as a power hitter, as he was a major force on this Chicago team. He hit .290/.347/.442 with 17 doubles and 6 triples. He tied for the league lead in HR with 18 and led the league with 105 RBI. He stole 18 bases.
- Jamey Carroll was the Gold Glove winner at 2B. He also led the league in Sacrifices with 37.
- Wayne Tolleson was a solid hitter for the White Sox as well, hitting .300/.355/.387 with 62 R, 17 doubles, 10 triples, 0 HR, 55 RBI and 32 SB. Guess he came up in a lot of spots with the pitcher batting after him!

Pitchers
- Ian Anderson was one of the best pitchers in the league, as he went 23-11 in 309 IP with a 2.42 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 84 Ks. He led the league in Games Started with 36, H/9 at 7.46, Quality Starts with 27 and Shutouts with 5. He finished 2nd in the Best Pitcher Award voting.
- Brandon Beachy was the one who beat out Anderson for that best Pitcher Award. Pretty good to have teammates be #1 and #2 in that voting. Beachy went 22-14 with 1 save in a league leading 320.1 IP….not bad for a pitcher labeled as “fragile”. He had a 2.56 ERA, league leading 1.08 WHIP and 128 Ks. He also led the league in WAR (6.4), RA/9 (9.97), CG (30) and tied Anderson with 5 Shutouts.

The White Sox had one of the two biggest power hitters in the league, 2 Gold Glove Winners and the 2 best pitchers in the league….not a bad formula to win a pennant. The NL will be up next, then we’ll see who gets added to the league through the draft heading into the 1902 season.

[Highlander]

Just realized I missed the ERA leader in the AL! Well, he was traded to the NL at the Trade Deadline, so I will save him for the team he's on now. Hint- It's not someone you would expect!

[Highlander]

Here’s a look at the NL teams….again in reverse order of the standings.

Cincinnati Reds

Record- 55-85

Games Back- 26

Batters
- Dickie Thon didn’t do much at the plate, as evidenced by his .259/.286/.338 slash line, but he won the Gold Glove at 2B.
- Frank Shugart won the Gold Glove in LF, but was even worse at the plate (hey, this team really stunk so it makes sense!) than Thon- .231/.279/.286.
- Finally, a look at the curious case of Ron Jones. His batting line wasn’t that bad at all- .279/.309/.389, 59 R, 15 doubles, 8 triples, 9 HR, 72 RBI, 18 SB. However, his WAR was dead last on the team at -1.9. Taking a closer look at his defense, I think I found the reason why. He played a little bit in the OF, but started 128 games at 1B. He had 45 errors, which was the most at 1B, but not by THAT many. His Defensive Efficiency was only .875 which is quite a bit worse than any other regular 1B. Then the big one….his Zone Rating was -21.3. That is incredibly bad compared to everyone else…even in this age of horrible fielding. It’s like he was playing 1B by just standing on the base and not moving.

Pitchers
- On a better team, Michael Soroka could have been a big winner. However, he was only able to go 13-20 with 1 save in 293.2 IP, despite having a 2.97 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. He struck out 69.
- Dave Ferris led the league in losses with 22. He was 12-22 overall in 266 IP with a 3.72 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 99 Ks.


Boston Beaneaters

Record- 65-75

Games Back- 16


Batters
- Frank Chance didn’t let being on one of the worst teams in all of baseball hold him back. Despite his team’s record, he still won the league MVP and was the Platinum Stick Award winner at C. His stats were impressive- .340/.426/.470 (that OBP led the league), 91 R, 32 doubles, 10 triples, 3 HR, 58 RBI and a league leading 84 SB. He also led the league in HBP (27) and RC/27 (8.25). He also had a game where he stole 4 bases and a 25-game hitting streak. Hopefully Boston can put together a better team around Frank….or trade him to a team that can win!
- Greg Gagne led the league in games started with 140. So far, I think he is the only player I’ve seen who didn’t miss a game all season. His batting line was OK- .258/.302/.401, 62 R, 21 doubles, 21 triples, 2 HR, 52 RBI, 22 SB.
- On May 4th, Elmer Smith went 4-5 with 2 doubles, a triple and a HR. He scored 4 runs and drove in a whopping 8.
- Now that I mentioned Greg Gagne and his 140 games, I see that a teammate of his did the same thing. Brandon Moss played in all 140, plus he led the league in HR with 13. That season earned him a trade in October after the playoffs ended. He was sent to Detroit for another OF, Delmon Young. Delmon has some good potential, but got very little playing time in Detroit, so it remains to be seen how he will be compared to Moss. He is about 8 years younger and Detroit is closer to contention than this team is right now.

Pitchers
- Buck O’Brien had a great season, despite how bad Boston was. He went 18-15 with 1 save in 285.2 IP, with a 2.46 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 124 Ks.
- DJ Herz also had a winning record for Boston, going 19-16 in 293 IP with a 3.10 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 145 Ks. He also won the Gold Glove at Pitcher.
- On the other end of the spectrum, Charles Nagy tied for the league lead in losses with 22.
- Joe Barlow went 2-3 with a league leading 9 saves in 39.2 IP. He had a 2.27 ERA, .98 WHIP and 8 Ks. He was also the league leader in Relief Appearances with 30 and Games Finished with 23.


New York Giants

Record- 67-73

Games Back- 14

Batters
- Joe Cronin was a star of the Giants, even at age 36. He finished 3rd in the MVP voting, won the Platinum Stick at SS and won 2 Player of the Month Awards. He hit .322/.389/.474, 93 R, 36 doubles, 10 triples, 9 HR, 100 RBI, 4 SB. He was the league leader in WAR at 7.9.
- Jarren Duran was even better! He finished 2nd in the MVP voting, was named NL Rookie of the Year and won the Platinum Stick Award at LF. His numbers were fantastic- .338/.382/.547 (League leader in SLG), 92 R, a league leading 46 doubles, a league leading 30 triples, 3 HR, 78 RBI, 48 SB. He also led the league in Total Bases (300), XBH (79), RC (113.76), ISO (.210), wOBA (.431), OPS (.930) and wRC+ (164.4). Whew!
- Joe Morgan, at age 41, only hit .202 on the season, but he still led the league in walks with 84.


Pitchers
- Eric Show started the season with Detroit and pitched enough innings to qualify for and win the ERA title. With Detroit, he went 8-8 in 146 IP with a 2.16 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 46 Ks. Then he was traded to the Giants on 7/31, along with Darryl Hamilton for Lew Fonseca. Eric was somehow even better in NY! He went 6-5 in 112 IP with a 1.53 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 26 Ks. Not who I expected to win the ERA title, but he kept it up all season so we’ll see where he goes from here.


Philadelphia Phillies

Record- 68-72

Games Back- 13

Batters
- Ben Chapman won the Platinum Stick for CF. He was another NL player who played all 140 games. He hit .277/.306/.408, 81 R, 24 doubles, 18 triples, 4 HR, 60 RBI, 46 SB. Not a bad start to a career for a 22-year old!
- Another Platinum Stick winner was Robby Thompson at 2B. He was another 140 game guy and also led the league in AB with 568. His numbers were- .287/.335/.440 with 97 R, 23 doubles, 20 triples, 8 HR, 68 RBI and 31 SB.
- Robin Ventura won the Gold Glove at 3B. He only had a .709 OPS, so his hitting wasn’t quite where I thought it would be….but he’s only 24.

Pitchers
- Joe Magrane was the ace, going 22-13 with 2 saves in a league leading 316.1 IP. He had a 2.73 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 102 Ks. He also led the league in Batters Faced (1334) and Quality Starts (29).


St. Louis Cardinals

Record- 69-71

Games Back- 12

Batters
- This Cardinals team was all about pitching and defense, but offense was pretty lacking. The best offensive player was probably Nemo Leibold. He hit .312/.375/.392 with 80 R, 15 doubles, 12 triples, 1 HR, 62 RBI and 36 SB. He also won the Gold Glove in RF.
- David Freese didn’t have a bad season, but the fact he won the Platinum Stick at 3B says more about the other 3Bmen in the league and not so much about what he did. His numbers were- .298/.354/.368 with 58 R, 18 doubles, 4 triples, 4 HR, 79 RBI and 16 SB.
- Kevin McReynolds led the league in Sac Flys with 8.
- Andrew Young won the Gold Glove at 1B….but also led the league in Ks with 78.

Pitchers
- As disappointing as the Cardinals offense was, their pitching was terrific. Roy Halladay was the ace of the staff and finished 3rd in the Best Pitcher Award voting. He went 20-15 with 2 Saves in 312.2 IP with a 2.45 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 117 Ks. He had 6 games where he gave up 3 or less hits, including a No-Hitter against the Reds on June 17th. It would have been a perfect game, but Roy himself made an error to spoil it. He only needed 77 pitches to complete it, however. Roy led the league in HR/9 (.03….he gave up 1 HR in his 312.2 IP) and Shutouts (5).
- Fellow teammate Juan Marichal was also really good, but fell victim to the poor Cardinal offense a lot more than Halladay did. He only went 14-18 in 299.2 IP, but had a 2.94 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and struck out 116. He tied Halladay for the league lead in Shut Outs (5), so in games where he gave up even 1 run, he went 9-18.


Brooklyn Superbas

Record- 75-65

Games Back- 6

Batters
- Ken Griffey Sr finished 3rd in ROY voting and was a major force on this Brooklyn team. He hit 349/.423/.481 with 97 R, 26 doubles, 22 triples, 1 HR, 66 RBI and 36 SB. He led the league in Plate Appearances (624) and Hits (193).

Pitchers
- James McDonald led the league in Games Pitched with 50. He went 20-16 with 2 Saves in 304 IP with a 3.05 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 110 Ks. He also led the league in Walks (112).
- Slim Harriss had the highest Groundball Percentage in the league at 59%. It didn’t help his record, as he only went 12-19, but despite a 1.43 WHIP, he only had a 3.40 ERA.
- Ervin Santana went 6-5 with a 2.92 ERA in just 13 starts. He suffered a shoulder injury on June 14th and missed the rest of the season.
- Jacob Lopez took over for Santana in the rotation and was really good….11-5 in 171 IP with a 2.32 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 24 Ks. He led the league in BABIP (.226) and H/9 (7.47).


Pittsburgh Pirates

[URecord[/U]- 80-60

Games Back- 1

Batters
- The #1 overall pick, Roger Bresnahan wasn’t the best player in the league, but he was very good. He won the Platinum Stick for RF and hit .304/.401/.466 with a league leading 111 R, 31 doubles, 16 triples, 7 HR, 94 RBI and 37 SB. On June 25th, he hit for the cycle and drove in 7 runs.
- Billy Goodman was the Platinum Stick winner at 1B and was also the NL Batting Champion. He hit .364/.423/.442 with 94 R, 25 doubles, 8 triples, 0 HR, 67 RBI and 20 SB.
- Les Mann only hit .281/.325/.429, but he led the league with 109 RBI. His 38 doubles and 17 triples definitely helped him. He also tied for the league lead in Sac Flys (8).

Pitchers
- Ed Reulbach was traded to the Pirates on July 17th from Brooklyn for Ruben Gotay. Ruben did very little and was actually traded again for another player who didn’t do much either. However, Reulbach was fantastic….both with Brooklyn and Pittsburgh. Not sure if it was a salary issue for Brooklyn, or what, but on the season Reulbach went 17-6 in 233 IP with a league leading 2.01 ERA, a league leading 1.09 WHIP and 82 Ks. He also led the league in Winning Percentage (.739) and RA/9 (10.12).


Chicago Orphans

Record- 81-59….both Chicago teams had tough races with just 1 game leads.

Batters
- Johnny Evers led the World Champion Orphans in WAR with 5.5, so it seems like he is worth a mention. He hit .282/.364/.355 with 97 R, 20 doubles, 8 triples, 1 HR, 48 RBI and 55 SB.
- Ted Easterly was 2nd in ROY voting and was the World Series MVP for the Orphans, hitting .429/.455/.619 with 1 double, 1 HR and 7 RBI. On the season he hit .317/.343/.452 with 78 R, 27 doubles, 17 triples, 3 HR, 78 RBI and 50 SB.
- Mike Lum’s .609 OPS wasn’t very impressive, but he won the Gold Glove in CF, so he was still able to carve out a valuable role on the World Champs.
- Brendan Ryan’s .500 OPS was REALLY unimpressive, but he was also a Gold Glove winner, as predicted at SS.


Pitchers
- Smokey Joe Wood was the big star for this Chicago team. He won the Best Pitcher Award and the Platinum Stick at P. Offensively, he hit .319/.371/.425 over 113 AB with 16 R, 3 doubles, 3 triples, 1 HR, 20 RBI and 9 SB. On the mound he went 24-10 with 4 Saves in 313 IP. His wins led the league. He had a 2.76 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and led the league with 197 Ks. He also led the league in WAR (7.9), K/BB (2.94), K/9 (5.66) and FIP- (77.2).
- Masahiro Tanaka was a big factor in the Orphans’ championship season as well. He started the season off pretty well with the Reds. He only went 8-10 with them but with a 2.66 ERA. On July 18th he was traded to Chicago for a bag of balls….I mean Daniel Joseph Garcia, a little used player who would be traded yet again and be used very little yet again. This is another real head scratcher of a deal, like the Reulbach one fo Pittsburgh. Once Tanaka came to Chicago, he took off, going 11-4 in 131.2 IP with a 1.71 ERA, .94 WHIP and 40 Ks. His final numbers earned him 2nd place in the Best Pitcher Award voting and he led the league in BB/9 (1.57) and CG (28).


Alright….that’s finally the end of the inaugural season recap. I was involved in some other things that caused this to take so long, but I also need to shorten up the reports since it did take a long time…plus when more teams are added to the league, it will become impossible to go into so much detail. I’ll keep working on it…..next up will be a look at the new players joining the league in 1902 through the draft and any major trades that occur.

[Highlander]

Spring Training has arrived and it's time to look at the teams as we head into the 1902 season. A couple of teams have changed names and/or locations in the American League. The Milwaukee Brewers have moved to St. Louis and are calling themselves the Browns. The Cleveland Blues are now known as the Cleveland Bronchos.

First up, here's a look at the Baltimore Orioles lineup and staff heading into Spring Training







New players include-

1B Mike Andrews- 2nd round draft pick
3B Ke'Bryan Hayes- Acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Athletics for 3 players
CF Leonys Martin- Acquired in a trade with Washington for Beau Bell.

SP Hal Newhouser- 1st round draft pick and 2nd pick overall
SP Rube Schauer- 3rd round draft pick
MR Ralph Buxton- 4th round draft pick
LR Josh Lucas- 5th round draft pick

[Highlander]

New Players include-

SS Paul Serna- Acquired in a trade in July, 1901
1B Matt Carpenter- 1st round draft pick (24 y/o)
C Duffy Dyer- Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh for P Ed Whitson
3B Pedro Feliz- 3rd round draft pick (23)

SP Jesus Luzardo- Acquired in a trade with the Giants along with Daryl Hamilton for OF Brett Butler
SP Jerry Kutzler- Acquired in a trade in July, 1901
SP Biff Schlitzer- Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh for SS Luis Aparicio
MR Andrew Kittredge- 2nd round draft pick (25)

[Highlander]

New Players include-


SS Phil Rizzuto- 1st round draft pick (22)
2B Whitey Wietelmann- Acquired along with P Dave Danforth from the Athletics for OF Ben Gamel

SP Lil Stoner- 2nd round draft pick (22)
MR Dave Danforth- See trade above

[Highlander]

New Players include-

CF Chick Fullis- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
3B Stan Hack- 1st round draft pick (21)
2B Mike Tyson- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade

SP Darren Oliver- Acquired in a trade with the NY Giants for P Sam Militello

[Highlander]

New players include-

RF Brandon Moss- Acquired in a trade with the Beaneaters for OF Delmon Young
1B Lew Fonseca- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
SS Buck Weaver- 1st round draft pick

SP Rubby De La Rosa- 3rd round draft pick
SP Ricky Horton- 2nd round draft pick
MR Luis Peralta- 4th round draft pick

[Highlander]

New players include-

2B Denis Menke- 1st round draft pick

SP Tiny Osborne- 2nd round draft pick
MR Scott Perry- 3rd round draft pick
MR Evan Lee- 7th round draft pick

[Highlander]

New players include-

2B Jack Brohamer- Acquired in a trade with Washington for 1B Jose Pagan
CF Lyman Bostock- Acquired in a trade with the Reds for 4 players
1B Dave Hansen- Acquired in a trade with Brooklyn for OF Melky Cabrera and 3B Casey Schmitt
3B Roy Smalley- 2nd round draft pick (21)

SP Whit Wyatt- 1st round draft pick....#3 overall (20)
SP Luiz Gohara- 3rd round draft pick (19)
MR Edgmer Escalona- 5th round draft pick (22)
MR Bill McTigue- 7th round draft pick (19)

[Highlander]

New players include-

LF Bob Brower- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
3B Jose Pagan- Acquired in a trade with the Athletics for Jack Brohamer

SP Claude Hendrix- 1st round draft pick (20)
ST Sergio Escalona- 3rd round draft pick (23)
MR Bill Paschall- 5th round draft pick (22)
MR Trevor Megill- 2nd round draft pick (26)
MR Ryan Perry- 4th round draft pick (21)

[Highlander]

New players include-

LF Sal Frelick- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
3B Junior Caminero- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade

MR Ed Laffite- 3rd round draft pick
MR Sam Jones- 2nd round draft pick

Their 1st round pick was P Bill Singer, who has a lot of development to go through before he makes a major league rotation....he's only 18, so he's got time.

[Highlander]

New players include-

CF Buddy Bradford- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
RF Melky Cabrera- Acquired in a trade with the Athletics along with 3B Casey Schmitt for 3B Dave Hansen

SP Ricky Nolasco- 1st round draft pick
SP Charlie Smith- Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh for 3B David Bell
SP Harry McIntire- 2nd round draft pick
MR Josh Edgin- 4th round draft pick
MR Ron Tompkins- 5th round draft pick

[Highlander]

New players include-

LF Joe Liggert- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
RF Danny Moeller- 2nd round draft pick

MR Al Shealy- 3rd round draft pick
MR John Sutton- 4th round draft pick
MR Chris Mears- 5th round draft pick

Their 1st round draft pick was 2B Eddie Stanky- he should get some playing time but is currently blocked by Evers.

[Highlander]

New players include-

LF Rod Myers- Acquired in a trade with the Athletics along with 3 other players for OF Lyman Bostock.
C Jim O'Rourke- 1st round draft pick....1st pick overall
3B Hank Majeski- 2nd round draft pick
CF Erv Dusak- Acquired in the Lyman Bostock trade above. Interestingly, that was the 3rd time Erv has been traded already in this league! He started on the Pirates....then went to Baltimore.....then to Philly and now to the Reds. He's only 22, so he's got time to travel a few more places!

SP Oral Hildebrand- 3rd round draft pick
SP Eric Erickson- Acquired in the Lyman Bostock trade above....he's been in 2 of the trades involving Erv Dusak so far. Hopefully they have both found a home in Cincy.
SP Rick Beck- 5th round draft pick
MR Mike Overy- 7th round draft pick

[Highlander]

New players include-

CF Brett Butler- Acquired in a trade with the Americans for OF Daryl Hamilton and P Jesus Luzardo
3B George Kell- 1st round draft pick.....they now have 4 HOFers in the lineup and rotation, although 3 of them are pretty old!

SP Sam Militello- Acquired in a trade with Cleveland for P Darren Oliver
ST Steve Cishek- 2nd round draft pick
MR Jackie Collum- 3rd round draft pick
MR Luis Guerrero- 6th round draft pick

[Highlander]

New players include-

SP Brian Lawrence- 2nd round draft pick
SP Kevin Gausman- 1st round draft pick

[Highlander]

New players include-

SS Luis Aparicio- Acquired in a trade with the Americans for P Biff Schlitzer
3B David Bell- Acquired in a trade with Brooklyn for P Charlie Smith

SP Juan Pena- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
SP Ed Whitson- Acquired in a trade with the Americans for C Duffy Dyer
ST Bryan Hudson- 2nd round draft pick
MR Ken Rowe- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
MR Brian Duensing- 3rd round draft pick

Their 1st round draft pick was P Ed Brandt.

[Highlander]

New players include-

CF Johan Rojas- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade
1B Wally Moon- 1st round draft pick
SS Ian Desmond- Acquired in a trade with Detroit for C Hank Conger
C Mike Rivera- Acquired in a trade with the Reds for OF Dave Marshall and 1B Ray Cosey
2B Rich Severson- 5th round draft pick
2B Lenn Sakata- Acquired in a July, 1901 trade

MR Jake Diekman- 2nd round draft pick