Time Warp Baseball - Page 212

canadiancreed · 03-30-2005, 05:59 PM

Ya know that post made me quite hungry

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ankhiel

and thats only the beginning...

i was aiming for a winning team by '55 , and i should have it

Assuming you dont upset the development Gods. They dont like bravado too well

metsgeek · 03-30-2005, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ankhiel

and thats only the beginning...

I was aiming for a winning team by '55 , and i should have it

Aim Higher. You just shot yourself in the foot.

DamnYankees · 03-30-2005, 11:42 PM

I just realized this, and I wonder if Matt did too.

As it turns out, the picture Matt used for Dodge Lee is that of an actual Hall of Famer. Anyone care to guess who it is?

I'd be amazed if there was more than 1 case of this in TWB. Hall of Fame player with another Hall of Fame picture.

Matt from TN · 03-31-2005, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamnYankees

I just realized this, and I wonder if Matt did too.

As it turns out, the picture Matt used for Dodge Lee is that of an actual Hall of Famer. Anyone care to guess who it is?

I'd be amazed if there was more than 1 case of this in TWB. Hall of Fame player with another Hall of Fame picture.

No I never realized that. Here's a hint: his "poisonous" brother is in the HOF too.

Matt from TN · 03-31-2005, 03:31 PM

WEB PAGES UPDATED... INCLUDING PLAYER PAGES

September 1953

Detroit went 5-2 over the first week of September and the Yankees went 3-4 over that same period. That meant that after a day off, Detroit would travel to New York needing to win just one game to clinch the AL pennant. Hal Andrew's comments about wanting to clinch in Yankee Stadium seemed to stir something in the Yanks, and they won the first two games 5-3 and 3-2. But on the final day of the series, a crisp Sunday afternoon, the Tigers pounded Maury Baum for 7 runs over 1.2 IP. They won the game 19-5 and clinched in typical Tigers' style.

The NL was nowhere near that clear cut. After last year's 3-way tie for first, one had to wonder if that would happen again with the Pirates, Cubs and Cardinals all vying for the pennant. As everyone knows, Pittsburgh has not won a pennant in 41 years. The Cubs have not won one in 15 years, and then there were the Cardinals looming in 3rd place. St. Louis won the World Series in 1950, and they have finished in 1st or 2nd place in each of the past 5 seasons. (Note: 1952 says 3rd place but they actually tied PIT for 2nd).

Early in the month, the Pirates lost 2-of-3 to the Cubs and Cards in back-to-back series. The Cards also won 2-of-3 from Chicago. With two weeks left in the season, the Pirates and Cubs were tied for 1st and the Cards were 2 games back.

St. Louis then won 2-of-3 against the Cubs while the Pirates also went 2-1 against Milwaukee. Then the Cubs lost 2-of-3 to the Braves while Pittsburgh won two clutch games against the Cards in their final series. So with 6 games left in the season, Pittsburgh led Chicago by 2 games and St. Louis by 3 games. That's when the fun really began.

On September 20th, Chicago won the first game of their series in Pittsburgh, clubbing Cotton Simson 7-1. Meanwhile, St. Louis and Gene Masarech stomped New York 14-4. The next day, Chicago led 5-2 in the 7th, but Pittsburgh scored a run and added 2 more in the 8th to tie the score. But in the top of the 9th, POY candidate Martin Gwaltney coughed up a 2-run HR to pinch hitter Nathan Felts as the Cubs won 7-5. That tied them with the Pirates for 1st place. A 8-3 Cardinals win also pulled them to within 1 game of the lead.

On 9/22, Cubs 1B Bobby Johnson hit a 3-run HR in the 1st inning off Ace Shipley. Pittsburgh scored a run in the 2nd, but Denny Evers had his best stuff working. He allowed just the one unearned run over 8 IP as the Cubs took first place with a sweep of the Pirates. Meanwhile, St. Louis clobbered New York 13-3 and tied Pittsburgh for 2nd.

With 3 games left to go, the Cubs hosted Cincinnati, the Cardinals hosted Brooklyn and the Pirates played at Philadelphia. A slight edge had to go to the Cubs who were coming off a huge series sweep, were playing at home and were facing a team they should be able to beat in Cincy. But fortune is a fickle mistress, and in the top of the 9th she turned her eye from the Cubs.

After scoring an insurance run on a solo HR by Johnson in the 8th, the Cubs bullpen took over after a fine outing by Charlie Lustgarten. And what did they do? They coughed up back-to-back singles and then a 2-run triple by Reds LF Ralph Jones, making it a 5-4 game. After another single plated Jones with the tying run, reliever Gene Lopez came in the game. He allowed another single. Then after a fly out and pinch runner George Maringo being thrown out at 2nd on a botched hit-and-run, pinch hitter Gerald Roberson made up for his botch with an RBI single to give the Reds the lead. Reds reliever James Bajofer came in the game and after one out, he allowed a single. After another out, he gave up a walk. Then who do the Cubs send to the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd but all-world catcher Chuch Rauch, but Bajofer tossed a nasty screwball and Rauch could do nothing but tap it back to the mound. Out 3.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals' Grady Ingram shut out Brooklyn and Pittsburgh narrowly held off Philly 2-1. Once again the NL had a 3-way tie, and thoughts of last year's wacky NL playoff came to mind. And the Cards and Pirates were two of the teams involved in it, then and now.

On the next day, Cincy's Hank Makris threw the game of his young life, allowing just 1 hit in a dominating 8 innings of shutout ball as the Cubs fell 2-0. In Philly, the Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the 7th, but a solo HR by Lonny Arrendale tied the score in the bottom of the 8th. Both teams had leadoff singles in each of the 9th, 10th and 11th innings, but no one broke through until Pittsburgh strung together 4 straight singles in the 11th off Billy Roberson. With 2 on and no one out in the bottom of the 11th, Pittsburgh's Carl Maloney sat down 3 straight Phillies to hold onto the win for the Pirates. At the same time, St. Louis pounded Brooklyn 15-8. So now with just one day left in the season, St. Louis and Pittsburgh were tied in 1st, a single game ahead of Chicago.

On that final day, the Cubs scored 4 runs in the 8th as they went on to beat Cincy 9-6. Going into the bottom of the 9th in their game, the Pirates led the Phillies 5-2. Henry Cavalluzzo, acquired this spring in a trade with Milwaukee, came in to pitch. With one out, he allowed a single and then a 2-run bomb to deep center by pinch hitting slugger Paul Lett. Cavalluzzo stayed in and walked the next batter, followed by a single. Pirates manager Slap Hertzog stuck with him and he gave up another single, this one to Walter Davis, scoring a run and tying the game. Hertzog then walked to the mound and called for Porter Helms. After working the count on Em Pelto to 2-2, Helms left a fastball over the plate which Pelto pulled deep to left for a game-ending 3-run jack!

At the time that HR was hit, the Cards led Brooklyn 3-2 in the top of the 8th. If they won, they would be NL champs. If they lost, there would be another 3-way tie. With two outs in that inning, pitcher Matt Keyes Jr. hit Dodgers 1B Abraham Noel. Pinch hitter Jim Yost followed that with a single, moving Noel to 3rd. After a visit to the mound by Cards pitching coach Wally Saeger, Keyes settled down and got Bob Ferry to ground out and end the inning. In the bottom of the 9th with the score still 3-2, former closer Ben Jaroslawski came to the mound. He hit the first batter he faced and then gave up a single. He buckled down and got a huge 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Ed Impens Jr. With the tying run on 3rd, "Slaw" got RF Dale Wuerstle to ground out to 2nd. Rex Seelinger scooped up the ball and tossed it to Ed Monchak at first and the Cards jumped up and down for joy!

After the game, a champagne-covered Cards manager Vic Gorin said this: "I am so proud of these guys. A few weeks ago everyone thought we were dead. But they pulled together and fought hard, and here we are! We're going back to the World Series!"

Detroit's Matt Perly joined the exclusive list of players to hit 40 HR in a season in grand style. In the 3rd inning at home against the Red Sox, Perly hit a Grand Slam off Daniel McCarty. The other players to have reached 40 HR are Willard Schwarz, Oscar Vancini, Froggy Borgert, Ken Chaucer and Perly's teammate Ray Kress.

The Tigers tied the 1928 Braves for the 2nd most wins in baseball history with 105. They won 9 of their final 10 games of the season to do it. The most wins ever by a team is 107 by the 1910 Cleveland Broncos. While winning 5 of those final 9 games against Washington, the Tigers also ensured the Senators would set a new record for losses, which they did with 107. Who said a team could not finish the season below .300?

Milwaukee won 2-of-3 against New York in their final series of the season to stay out of last place. But I believe that is the first time in 53 years that a team has gone from the World Series to last place.

In The News

Sep 11: Ray Kress was photographed blowing a huge bubble with a wad of gum while returning to left field after hitting a 2-run HR in the top of the 9th of their blowout 19-5 pennant-clinching win in New York. Manager Kid Fite publicly rebuked the Boss, and Kress later apologized for the indiscretion. However, Kress did later get an endorsement fee from the Bowman Gum company.

Sep 22: A Baltimore syndicate headed by Baltimore Mayor Tom D'Alesandro bought Bill Veeck's interest in the Browns for $2.475 million. The AL approved the shift of the Browns to Baltimore without Bill Veeck.

Sep 25: The St. Louis Browns played their last game in the franchise's 52-year history. Fittingly, they were pounded 11-1 by Cleveland as the Tribe swept the Browns. On a more positive note, the Browns did sweep the A's from Sept 19-21 in their final games at Sportsman's Park.

Sep 26: The AL adopted a constitutional amendment calling for expansion to 10 teams.

Code:

American League Standings 
  
Detroit         105  49 .682 -
New York (A)     91  63 .591 14.0
Cleveland        85  69 .552 20.0
Boston           80  74 .519 25.0
Philadelphia (A) 77  77 .500 28.0
Chicago (A)      68  86 .442 37.0 
St. Louis (A)    64  90 .416 41.0 
Washington       46 108 .299 59.0
 
National League Standings 
 
St. Louis (N)    94 60 .610 -
Chicago (N)      93 61 .604 1.0
Pittsburgh       93 61 .604 1.0
Cincinnati       77 77 .500 17.0
Philadelphia (N) 73 81 .474 21.0
Brooklyn         67 87 .435 27.0 
Milwaukee        60 94 .390 34.0  
New York (N)     59 95 .383 35.0

World Series

The Cubs, Pirates and Cardinals are all excellent teams, but the Cards are the hottest one of all right now. After a terrible first few weeks of the season, they clawed back and are hungry to take on the powerhouse Tigers. The Cards are very balanced and ranked in the top 4 of almost all batting and pitching categories. They don't have Detroit's power, but the only place they really struggle is their pitchers' propensity for giving up walks. And you can give most of that credit to walk-happy Gene Masarech whose near-record 192 walks will loom large against a Tigers lineup that drew more walks than any other team.

The chief walk-taker is none other than Ray Kress, who nearly set a new record with his 157 free passes this year. Six of the eight everyday Tigers drew 70 or more walks. And they have 5 hitters with 20 or more homeruns. The Cardinals have only 2 players with 20+ HR, but they do have 7 players with 10+ HR, the same as Detroit... although two of those for Detroit did it while playing part time.

As always, this series should come down to the more dominant pitching. The Tigers led the majors with a 3.42 team ERA, but the Cardinals' 3.59 is not far behind. Detroit's pitchers are well-known clutch performers, but a few chinks in their armor appeared this year. The onus will be on St. Louis' staff stopping the Tigers, and the key could be Masarech's walk total.

My Prediction: This should be a very close series, but Detroit's overall dominance and the depth of their bench should win out in the end. Tigers in 6 games.

Starting Lineups:

**Ancestors in BLUE

Tigers
SS David Castaneda, .254, 41 RBI
1B Dennis Kitterman, .296, 58 RBI
LF Ray Kress, .378, 37 HR, 126 RBI, 157 BB, 20 SB
3B Luther Ormiston, .273, 25 HR, 102 RBI, 93 BB
2B Matt Perly, .304, 40 HR, 138 RBI
C John Degal, .288, 28 HR, 99 RBI
RF Isaac Mitchell, .307, 11 HR, 52 RBI
CF Roland Fish, .257, 21 HR, 82 RBI

SP #1 - Hal Andrew, 20-8, 2.93 ERA, 200 K
SP #2 - Corky Stell, 26-7, 2.46 ERA, 122 K
SP #3 - Bud Ulrich, 21-7, 3.69 ERA, 167 K

Emergency SP - Roy Wolfe, 17-13, 4.44 ERA, 130 K
Closer - Lloyd Wyman, 4-6, 23 Sv, 4.20 ERA

Other Noteable Players:
Sam Cole, 10-3, 2.86 ERA, 48 K
RF Carl Sandoz, .302, 33 RBI
IF Mike Kreitenberg, .331, 35 RBI, 23 SB
C Smokey Jim Meacham, .240, 13 HR, 45 RBI

Other Ancestors:
3B Buster Darling
1B George Young

Cardinals
CF Bullet Ben Cook, .268, 15 HR, 57 RBI, 121 BB, 64 SB
LF Johnny Champagne, .317, 65 RBI
RF Ogden Wing, .358, 18 HR, 107 RBI, 84 BB
C Herman Dunkel, .332, 26 HR, 111 RBI
SS Mike Fellner, .274, 19 HR, 91 RBI
1B Ed "Monster" Monchak, .252, 28 HR, 95 RBI
3B Junior Nunez, .302, 10 HR, 75 RBI
2B Rex Seelinger, .318, 11 HR, 77 RBI

SP #1 - Grady Ingram, 26-9, 2.75 ERA, 220 K
SP #2 - Gene Masarech, 22-7, 3.40 ERA, 202 K
SP #3 - Matt Keyes Jr., 16-16, 3.43 ERA, 119 K

Emergency SP - Garland Sisk, 11-13, 4.08 ERA, 116 K
Closer - Loren Cost, 3-4, 21 Sv, 4.13 ERA

Other Ancestors:
Frank Vamos, 3-3, 5.30 ERA, 14 K

canadiancreed · 03-31-2005, 03:47 PM

just......wow

i will say though that St. Lous has their secret weapon.

Label

kreitena · 03-31-2005, 04:32 PM

I'm not sure if anyone noticed this but on 9/1 Lex Tjeenk-Willink threw his second NO HITTER of his career to cap a great season of individual achievement. He is really showing that he can be the real deal in Cleveland.

Matt from TN · 03-31-2005, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kreitena

I'm not sure if anyone noticed this but on 9/1 Lex Tjeenk-Willink threw his second NO HITTER of his career to cap a great season of individual achievement. He is really showing that he can be the real deal in Cleveland.

Thanks. With all the pennant fever I forgot all about that.

Matt from TN · 03-31-2005, 05:30 PM

FYI: Everyone's invited to the live WS sim tonight around 9:15 PM Eastern... chat is linked at the TWB site.

Matt from TN · 04-01-2005, 02:59 AM

WORLD SERIES BOX SCORES UPDATED

WORLD SERIES

A solo HR by Detroit's Matt Perly in the 2nd lead off the scoring in the 53rd World Series, and three batters later, Roland Fish hit a solo shot off Cardinals ace Grady Ingram to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The Tigers scored again in the 3rd, but a 2-out, 2-run double by Rex Seelinger in the 4th brought St. Louis to within a run of the lead. Mike Fellner led off the 6th with a solo HR off Detroit's Corky Stell, and the game was knotted a 3-3. It didn't last long as Detroit scored in the bottom of that inning on a 2-out double by David Castaneda. Detroit then added 3 runs in the 7th, but St. Louis wasn't done. A 2-run HR by Ed "Monster" Monchak with two outs made it a 7-5 game. In the top of the 9th, the Cards got a leadoff single off Detroit closer Lloyd Wyman, but a 6-4-3 double play by pinch hitter Jack Veney snuffed out that rally.

Cardinals 5 - Tigers 7

Just as St. Louis feared, pitcher Gene Masarech allowed a lot of walks to Detroit. He walked the 1st three batters of the game but got out of the jam with a key 5-4-3 double play. He wasn't so lucky in the 2nd when he again walked the bases loaded. This time David Castaneda hit a 3-run triple, and he later scored on a single by Dennis Kitterman. The Cards chipped away off Hal Andrew though, scoring 2 in the 3rd and 1 in the 5th. Coupled with an earlier run from the 1st inning, that tied the score at 4-4. The game went on into the 10th when Castaneda led off with a single. He was bunted to second, and after an intentional walk to Ray Kress, he advanced to 2nd on a sac fly. Then John Degal singled him home to win the game.

Cardinals 4 - Tigers 5

The series moved to St. Louis, but Detroit still came out quickly. Kitterman tripled and Kress singled him home. Then Luther Ormiston hit a 2-run homer to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead. Both teams continued to score as neither Detroit's Bud Ulrich nor St. Louis' Matt Keyes Jr. could seem to stop them. Detroit led 6-2 after just 4 innings, but the Cards scored 1 run in the 6th and 2 in the 7th to make it 6-5. Reliever Ben Jaroslawski walked the bases loaded in the 9th, and after recording two clutch outs, he coughed up a 2-run single to Roland Fish. The Cardinals offense then started to come back in the bottom of the 9th off Lloyd Wyman. With 2 outs, St. Louis got a double from Monchak and a RBI single from Seelinger. Then Ogden Wing hit a RBI single and suddenly the score was 8-7. Catcher Herman Dunkel grounded out however, ending the game and giving Detroit a mighty 3-0 series lead.

Tigers 8 - Cardinals 7

This rematch of Stell and Ingram proved wrong the saying that pitching is everything. Ormiston hit a 2-run HR in the 1st, but the Cards scored a run in that same inning after "Bullet" Ben Cook walked, stole second, moved to third on an errant throw from Degal and then scored on a sac fly. Both teams scored in the 2nd, and then a Fellner RBI single in the 3rd knotted the score at 3-3. Stell loaded the bases with two outs in the 5th and was removed in favor of Oswald Adkins, who walked in a run. Adkins would settle down and allow just one hit and no runs over 3 innings, but it was too late.

Tigers 3 - Cardinals 4

This was a wild game. Both teams scored a run in the 1st. Fellner doubled in a run for St. Louis in the 4th, but Detroit answered with 2 runs in the 5th. Monchak tied things up with a solo HR to lead off the 7th, and then the game went on to extra innings. Pitching was good out of both bullpens and the teams had few opportunities to score. Then in the top of the 12th, Ormiston hit a solo HR off Abner Branscome, the only hit he allowed over 2 innings. Starter-turned-reliever Roy Wolfe finished up his 3 scoreless innings of work for the Tigers and Detroit became back-to-back World Series champions.

Tigers 4 - Cardinals 3

It was a tough call between him and Dave Castaneda, but Luther Ormiston was named World Series MVP. In the series, he hit .391 with 3 HR, 4 2B, 7 RBI, 4 R and a 1.373 OPS.

fvamos · 04-01-2005, 09:31 AM

Congrats to goose and his Tigers, sorry to disappoint the NL, we'll give it a go next year

Vris · 04-01-2005, 11:50 AM

Indeed. Congrats to the Tigers, giving Gramps his 2nd consecutive WS ring. Had an excellent series too. Many a big hit.

Now let's get the draft going.

Matt from TN · 04-01-2005, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vris

Indeed. Congrats to the Tigers, giving Gramps his 2nd consecutive WS ring. Had an excellent series too. Many a big hit.

Now let's get the draft going.

Will have a file ready by the end of the day.

Vris · 04-01-2005, 01:41 PM

Oh no rush Matt. Please take your time. Sorry for my impatience.

I think the draft is my favorite part. It's the only time I can have hope for my players.

haggis007 · 04-01-2005, 02:08 PM

Four one run games--much closer than the 4-1 result would suggest! Congrats Tigers!

Matt from TN · 04-01-2005, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vris

I think the draft is my favorite part. It's the only time I can have hope for my players.

I guess my 2 favorite parts are editing/preparing/naming/etc the amateurs for the draft and the end of the season w/ the pennant races & seeing who will lead the league in each category or what records/career marks may be set.

Quote:

Originally Posted by haggis007

Four one run games--much closer than the 4-1 result would suggest! Congrats Tigers!

Yes very close. I commented last nite in the chat that after Detroit won Game 5, it could easily have been 3-2 St. Louis instead. Frank & the Cards have nothing to be ashamed of. Fabulous season & great series. Congrats to him and Michael!

I wonder if it's time to officially abandon the Tigers bandwagon now? I'm a sucker for underdogs and I love fresh, new teams. I think I'll start watching Cleveland more closely. There are many other intriguing franchises out there. But, I imagine I'll always like the Tigers. Just a cool team, cool logo and I won my 1st ever online championship as GM of the 1957 Tigers.

rudel.dietrich · 04-01-2005, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt from TN

I wonder if it's time to officially abandon the Tigers bandwagon now? I'm a sucker for underdogs and I love fresh, new teams. I think I'll start watching Cleveland more closely. There are many other intriguing franchises out there. But, I imagine I'll always like the Tigers. Just a cool team, cool logo and I won my 1st ever online championship as GM of the 1957 Tigers.

Like maybe umm...Washington?
No?
oh ok

DamnYankees · 04-01-2005, 05:40 PM

Alright, here is the Win Share report for 1953:

Code:

Top 10 Position Players

Rank    Player 	        Team 	Year 	Off     Fld 	Total
 	
1.    	Ray Kress 	DET 	1953 	45.1 	2.5 	47.7 	 
2.    	Herm Vardaman 	PIT 	1953 	25.1 	10.2 	35.3 	 
3.    	Matt Perly 	DET 	1953 	28.0 	6.0 	34.1 	 
4.    	Rudel Dietrich 	CLE 	1953 	27.9 	5.0	32.9 	 
5.    	Morris Lutske 	BOS 	1953 	26.7 	6.2 	32.9 	 
6.    	Ogden Wing 	STL 	1953 	30.2 	2.6 	32.8 	 	 
7.    	Herman Dunkel 	STL 	1953 	24.5 	5.7 	30.2 	 
8.    	Ted McMurray 	CIN 	1953 	27.3 	1.9 	29.2 	 	 
9.    	Maurice Goza 	CIN 	1953 	23.2 	5.4 	28.6 	 
10.    	Ken Chaucer 	MLN 	1953 	25.6 	3.0 	28.5

Code:

Top 10 Pitchers

Rank    Player 	        Team 	Year 	Total 	
1.    	M. Gwaltney 	PIT 	1953  	34.7 	 
2.    	Adam Sardina 	CHA 	1953 	33.0 	 
3.    	Billy Simson 	PIT 	1953 	31.4 	 
4.    	R. Liebermann 	CHN 	1953 	31.1 	 
5.    	B. Allen Jr. 	CHA 	1953 	28.8 	 
6.    	Denny Evers 	CHN 	1953 	27.3 	 
7.    	Corky Stell 	DET 	1953 	26.3 	 
8.    	Tjeenk-Willink 	CLE 	1953 	26.1 	 
9.    	C. Erickson 	NYA 	1953  	24.7 	 
10.    	Joe Helton 	BKN 	1953 	24.3

rudel.dietrich · 04-01-2005, 05:49 PM

DY
Where does Dietrich rank among CF in terms of defensive winshares?

DamnYankees · 04-01-2005, 05:56 PM

I'm gonna do the complete defensive Win Shares a little later, but I can check on Dietrich now...

He was the 4th best fielding CF, behind Young, Huschke, and Wynne. Young pretty much laps the field, though.

03-31-2005, 03:31 PM	#4225
Matt from TN Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In a funk.... Posts: 3,413	WEB PAGES UPDATED... INCLUDING PLAYER PAGES September 1953 Detroit went 5-2 over the first week of September and the Yankees went 3-4 over that same period. That meant that after a day off, Detroit would travel to New York needing to win just one game to clinch the AL pennant. Hal Andrew's comments about wanting to clinch in Yankee Stadium seemed to stir something in the Yanks, and they won the first two games 5-3 and 3-2. But on the final day of the series, a crisp Sunday afternoon, the Tigers pounded Maury Baum for 7 runs over 1.2 IP. They won the game 19-5 and clinched in typical Tigers' style. The NL was nowhere near that clear cut. After last year's 3-way tie for first, one had to wonder if that would happen again with the Pirates, Cubs and Cardinals all vying for the pennant. As everyone knows, Pittsburgh has not won a pennant in 41 years. The Cubs have not won one in 15 years, and then there were the Cardinals looming in 3rd place. St. Louis won the World Series in 1950, and they have finished in 1st or 2nd place in each of the past 5 seasons. (Note: 1952 says 3rd place but they actually tied PIT for 2nd). Early in the month, the Pirates lost 2-of-3 to the Cubs and Cards in back-to-back series. The Cards also won 2-of-3 from Chicago. With two weeks left in the season, the Pirates and Cubs were tied for 1st and the Cards were 2 games back. St. Louis then won 2-of-3 against the Cubs while the Pirates also went 2-1 against Milwaukee. Then the Cubs lost 2-of-3 to the Braves while Pittsburgh won two clutch games against the Cards in their final series. So with 6 games left in the season, Pittsburgh led Chicago by 2 games and St. Louis by 3 games. That's when the fun really began. On September 20th, Chicago won the first game of their series in Pittsburgh, clubbing Cotton Simson 7-1. Meanwhile, St. Louis and Gene Masarech stomped New York 14-4. The next day, Chicago led 5-2 in the 7th, but Pittsburgh scored a run and added 2 more in the 8th to tie the score. But in the top of the 9th, POY candidate Martin Gwaltney coughed up a 2-run HR to pinch hitter Nathan Felts as the Cubs won 7-5. That tied them with the Pirates for 1st place. A 8-3 Cardinals win also pulled them to within 1 game of the lead. On 9/22, Cubs 1B Bobby Johnson hit a 3-run HR in the 1st inning off Ace Shipley. Pittsburgh scored a run in the 2nd, but Denny Evers had his best stuff working. He allowed just the one unearned run over 8 IP as the Cubs took first place with a sweep of the Pirates. Meanwhile, St. Louis clobbered New York 13-3 and tied Pittsburgh for 2nd. With 3 games left to go, the Cubs hosted Cincinnati, the Cardinals hosted Brooklyn and the Pirates played at Philadelphia. A slight edge had to go to the Cubs who were coming off a huge series sweep, were playing at home and were facing a team they should be able to beat in Cincy. But fortune is a fickle mistress, and in the top of the 9th she turned her eye from the Cubs. After scoring an insurance run on a solo HR by Johnson in the 8th, the Cubs bullpen took over after a fine outing by Charlie Lustgarten. And what did they do? They coughed up back-to-back singles and then a 2-run triple by Reds LF Ralph Jones, making it a 5-4 game. After another single plated Jones with the tying run, reliever Gene Lopez came in the game. He allowed another single. Then after a fly out and pinch runner George Maringo being thrown out at 2nd on a botched hit-and-run, pinch hitter Gerald Roberson made up for his botch with an RBI single to give the Reds the lead. Reds reliever James Bajofer came in the game and after one out, he allowed a single. After another out, he gave up a walk. Then who do the Cubs send to the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd but all-world catcher Chuch Rauch, but Bajofer tossed a nasty screwball and Rauch could do nothing but tap it back to the mound. Out 3. Meanwhile, the Cardinals' Grady Ingram shut out Brooklyn and Pittsburgh narrowly held off Philly 2-1. Once again the NL had a 3-way tie, and thoughts of last year's wacky NL playoff came to mind. And the Cards and Pirates were two of the teams involved in it, then and now. On the next day, Cincy's Hank Makris threw the game of his young life, allowing just 1 hit in a dominating 8 innings of shutout ball as the Cubs fell 2-0. In Philly, the Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the 7th, but a solo HR by Lonny Arrendale tied the score in the bottom of the 8th. Both teams had leadoff singles in each of the 9th, 10th and 11th innings, but no one broke through until Pittsburgh strung together 4 straight singles in the 11th off Billy Roberson. With 2 on and no one out in the bottom of the 11th, Pittsburgh's Carl Maloney sat down 3 straight Phillies to hold onto the win for the Pirates. At the same time, St. Louis pounded Brooklyn 15-8. So now with just one day left in the season, St. Louis and Pittsburgh were tied in 1st, a single game ahead of Chicago. On that final day, the Cubs scored 4 runs in the 8th as they went on to beat Cincy 9-6. Going into the bottom of the 9th in their game, the Pirates led the Phillies 5-2. Henry Cavalluzzo, acquired this spring in a trade with Milwaukee, came in to pitch. With one out, he allowed a single and then a 2-run bomb to deep center by pinch hitting slugger Paul Lett. Cavalluzzo stayed in and walked the next batter, followed by a single. Pirates manager Slap Hertzog stuck with him and he gave up another single, this one to Walter Davis, scoring a run and tying the game. Hertzog then walked to the mound and called for Porter Helms. After working the count on Em Pelto to 2-2, Helms left a fastball over the plate which Pelto pulled deep to left for a game-ending 3-run jack! At the time that HR was hit, the Cards led Brooklyn 3-2 in the top of the 8th. If they won, they would be NL champs. If they lost, there would be another 3-way tie. With two outs in that inning, pitcher Matt Keyes Jr. hit Dodgers 1B Abraham Noel. Pinch hitter Jim Yost followed that with a single, moving Noel to 3rd. After a visit to the mound by Cards pitching coach Wally Saeger, Keyes settled down and got Bob Ferry to ground out and end the inning. In the bottom of the 9th with the score still 3-2, former closer Ben Jaroslawski came to the mound. He hit the first batter he faced and then gave up a single. He buckled down and got a huge 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Ed Impens Jr. With the tying run on 3rd, "Slaw" got RF Dale Wuerstle to ground out to 2nd. Rex Seelinger scooped up the ball and tossed it to Ed Monchak at first and the Cards jumped up and down for joy! After the game, a champagne-covered Cards manager Vic Gorin said this: "I am so proud of these guys. A few weeks ago everyone thought we were dead. But they pulled together and fought hard, and here we are! We're going back to the World Series!" Detroit's Matt Perly joined the exclusive list of players to hit 40 HR in a season in grand style. In the 3rd inning at home against the Red Sox, Perly hit a Grand Slam off Daniel McCarty. The other players to have reached 40 HR are Willard Schwarz, Oscar Vancini, Froggy Borgert, Ken Chaucer and Perly's teammate Ray Kress. The Tigers tied the 1928 Braves for the 2nd most wins in baseball history with 105. They won 9 of their final 10 games of the season to do it. The most wins ever by a team is 107 by the 1910 Cleveland Broncos. While winning 5 of those final 9 games against Washington, the Tigers also ensured the Senators would set a new record for losses, which they did with 107. Who said a team could not finish the season below .300? Milwaukee won 2-of-3 against New York in their final series of the season to stay out of last place. But I believe that is the first time in 53 years that a team has gone from the World Series to last place. In The News Sep 11: Ray Kress was photographed blowing a huge bubble with a wad of gum while returning to left field after hitting a 2-run HR in the top of the 9th of their blowout 19-5 pennant-clinching win in New York. Manager Kid Fite publicly rebuked the Boss, and Kress later apologized for the indiscretion. However, Kress did later get an endorsement fee from the Bowman Gum company. Sep 22: A Baltimore syndicate headed by Baltimore Mayor Tom D'Alesandro bought Bill Veeck's interest in the Browns for $2.475 million. The AL approved the shift of the Browns to Baltimore without Bill Veeck. Sep 25: The St. Louis Browns played their last game in the franchise's 52-year history. Fittingly, they were pounded 11-1 by Cleveland as the Tribe swept the Browns. On a more positive note, the Browns did sweep the A's from Sept 19-21 in their final games at Sportsman's Park. Sep 26: The AL adopted a constitutional amendment calling for expansion to 10 teams. Code: American League Standings Detroit 105 49 .682 - New York (A) 91 63 .591 14.0 Cleveland 85 69 .552 20.0 Boston 80 74 .519 25.0 Philadelphia (A) 77 77 .500 28.0 Chicago (A) 68 86 .442 37.0 St. Louis (A) 64 90 .416 41.0 Washington 46 108 .299 59.0 National League Standings St. Louis (N) 94 60 .610 - Chicago (N) 93 61 .604 1.0 Pittsburgh 93 61 .604 1.0 Cincinnati 77 77 .500 17.0 Philadelphia (N) 73 81 .474 21.0 Brooklyn 67 87 .435 27.0 Milwaukee 60 94 .390 34.0 New York (N) 59 95 .383 35.0 World Series The Cubs, Pirates and Cardinals are all excellent teams, but the Cards are the hottest one of all right now. After a terrible first few weeks of the season, they clawed back and are hungry to take on the powerhouse Tigers. The Cards are very balanced and ranked in the top 4 of almost all batting and pitching categories. They don't have Detroit's power, but the only place they really struggle is their pitchers' propensity for giving up walks. And you can give most of that credit to walk-happy Gene Masarech whose near-record 192 walks will loom large against a Tigers lineup that drew more walks than any other team. The chief walk-taker is none other than Ray Kress, who nearly set a new record with his 157 free passes this year. Six of the eight everyday Tigers drew 70 or more walks. And they have 5 hitters with 20 or more homeruns. The Cardinals have only 2 players with 20+ HR, but they do have 7 players with 10+ HR, the same as Detroit... although two of those for Detroit did it while playing part time. As always, this series should come down to the more dominant pitching. The Tigers led the majors with a 3.42 team ERA, but the Cardinals' 3.59 is not far behind. Detroit's pitchers are well-known clutch performers, but a few chinks in their armor appeared this year. The onus will be on St. Louis' staff stopping the Tigers, and the key could be Masarech's walk total. My Prediction: This should be a very close series, but Detroit's overall dominance and the depth of their bench should win out in the end. Tigers in 6 games. Starting Lineups: Ancestors in BLUE Tigers SS David Castaneda, .254, 41 RBI 1B Dennis Kitterman, .296, 58 RBI LF Ray Kress, .378, 37 HR, 126 RBI, 157 BB, 20 SB 3B Luther Ormiston, .273, 25 HR, 102 RBI, 93 BB 2B Matt Perly, .304, 40 HR, 138 RBI C John Degal, .288, 28 HR, 99 RBI RF Isaac Mitchell, .307, 11 HR, 52 RBI CF Roland Fish, .257, 21 HR, 82 RBI SP #1 - Hal Andrew, 20-8, 2.93 ERA, 200 K SP #2 - Corky Stell, 26-7, 2.46 ERA, 122 K SP #3 - Bud Ulrich, 21-7, 3.69 ERA, 167 K Emergency SP - Roy Wolfe, 17-13, 4.44 ERA, 130 K Closer - Lloyd Wyman, 4-6, 23 Sv, 4.20 ERA Other Noteable Players: Sam Cole, 10-3, 2.86 ERA, 48 K RF Carl Sandoz, .302, 33 RBI IF Mike Kreitenberg, .331, 35 RBI, 23 SB C Smokey Jim Meacham, .240, 13 HR, 45 RBI Other Ancestors: 3B Buster Darling 1B George Young Cardinals** CF Bullet Ben Cook, .268, 15 HR, 57 RBI, 121 BB, 64 SB LF Johnny Champagne, .317, 65 RBI RF Ogden Wing, .358, 18 HR, 107 RBI, 84 BB C Herman Dunkel, .332, 26 HR, 111 RBI SS Mike Fellner, .274, 19 HR, 91 RBI 1B Ed "Monster" Monchak, .252, 28 HR, 95 RBI 3B Junior Nunez, .302, 10 HR, 75 RBI 2B Rex Seelinger, .318, 11 HR, 77 RBI SP #1 - Grady Ingram, 26-9, 2.75 ERA, 220 K SP #2 - Gene Masarech, 22-7, 3.40 ERA, 202 K SP #3 - Matt Keyes Jr., 16-16, 3.43 ERA, 119 K Emergency SP - Garland Sisk, 11-13, 4.08 ERA, 116 K Closer - Loren Cost, 3-4, 21 Sv, 4.13 ERA Other Ancestors: Frank Vamos, 3-3, 5.30 ERA, 14 K

03-31-2005, 03:47 PM	#4226
canadiancreed Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 11,660	just......wow i will say though that St. Lous has their secret weapon. Label __________________ PT21 PT22

03-31-2005, 04:32 PM	#4227
kreitena Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 302	I'm not sure if anyone noticed this but on 9/1 Lex Tjeenk-Willink threw his second NO HITTER of his career to cap a great season of individual achievement. He is really showing that he can be the real deal in Cleveland. __________________ PBRL - Chicago Cubs TWB - Los Angeles Dodgers

03-31-2005, 05:30 PM	#4229
Matt from TN Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In a funk.... Posts: 3,413	FYI: Everyone's invited to the live WS sim tonight around 9:15 PM Eastern... chat is linked at the TWB site. __________________ Set in Stone... Players Remain with Original Franchise

04-01-2005, 11:50 AM	#4232
Vris Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: somewhere where I don't know where I am Posts: 3,251	Indeed. Congrats to the Tigers, giving Gramps his 2nd consecutive WS ring. Had an excellent series too. Many a big hit. Now let's get the draft going. __________________ None Blog it.

03-30-2005, 11:42 PM	#4223
DamnYankees All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,644	I just realized this, and I wonder if Matt did too. As it turns out, the picture Matt used for Dodge Lee is that of an actual Hall of Famer. Anyone care to guess who it is? I'd be amazed if there was more than 1 case of this in TWB. Hall of Fame player with another Hall of Fame picture.

04-01-2005, 02:59 AM	#4230
Matt from TN Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In a funk.... Posts: 3,413	WORLD SERIES BOX SCORES UPDATED WORLD SERIES A solo HR by Detroit's Matt Perly in the 2nd lead off the scoring in the 53rd World Series, and three batters later, Roland Fish hit a solo shot off Cardinals ace Grady Ingram to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The Tigers scored again in the 3rd, but a 2-out, 2-run double by Rex Seelinger in the 4th brought St. Louis to within a run of the lead. Mike Fellner led off the 6th with a solo HR off Detroit's Corky Stell, and the game was knotted a 3-3. It didn't last long as Detroit scored in the bottom of that inning on a 2-out double by David Castaneda. Detroit then added 3 runs in the 7th, but St. Louis wasn't done. A 2-run HR by Ed "Monster" Monchak with two outs made it a 7-5 game. In the top of the 9th, the Cards got a leadoff single off Detroit closer Lloyd Wyman, but a 6-4-3 double play by pinch hitter Jack Veney snuffed out that rally. Cardinals 5 - Tigers 7 Just as St. Louis feared, pitcher Gene Masarech allowed a lot of walks to Detroit. He walked the 1st three batters of the game but got out of the jam with a key 5-4-3 double play. He wasn't so lucky in the 2nd when he again walked the bases loaded. This time David Castaneda hit a 3-run triple, and he later scored on a single by Dennis Kitterman. The Cards chipped away off Hal Andrew though, scoring 2 in the 3rd and 1 in the 5th. Coupled with an earlier run from the 1st inning, that tied the score at 4-4. The game went on into the 10th when Castaneda led off with a single. He was bunted to second, and after an intentional walk to Ray Kress, he advanced to 2nd on a sac fly. Then John Degal singled him home to win the game. Cardinals 4 - Tigers 5 The series moved to St. Louis, but Detroit still came out quickly. Kitterman tripled and Kress singled him home. Then Luther Ormiston hit a 2-run homer to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead. Both teams continued to score as neither Detroit's Bud Ulrich nor St. Louis' Matt Keyes Jr. could seem to stop them. Detroit led 6-2 after just 4 innings, but the Cards scored 1 run in the 6th and 2 in the 7th to make it 6-5. Reliever Ben Jaroslawski walked the bases loaded in the 9th, and after recording two clutch outs, he coughed up a 2-run single to Roland Fish. The Cardinals offense then started to come back in the bottom of the 9th off Lloyd Wyman. With 2 outs, St. Louis got a double from Monchak and a RBI single from Seelinger. Then Ogden Wing hit a RBI single and suddenly the score was 8-7. Catcher Herman Dunkel grounded out however, ending the game and giving Detroit a mighty 3-0 series lead. Tigers 8 - Cardinals 7 This rematch of Stell and Ingram proved wrong the saying that pitching is everything. Ormiston hit a 2-run HR in the 1st, but the Cards scored a run in that same inning after "Bullet" Ben Cook walked, stole second, moved to third on an errant throw from Degal and then scored on a sac fly. Both teams scored in the 2nd, and then a Fellner RBI single in the 3rd knotted the score at 3-3. Stell loaded the bases with two outs in the 5th and was removed in favor of Oswald Adkins, who walked in a run. Adkins would settle down and allow just one hit and no runs over 3 innings, but it was too late. Tigers 3 - Cardinals 4 This was a wild game. Both teams scored a run in the 1st. Fellner doubled in a run for St. Louis in the 4th, but Detroit answered with 2 runs in the 5th. Monchak tied things up with a solo HR to lead off the 7th, and then the game went on to extra innings. Pitching was good out of both bullpens and the teams had few opportunities to score. Then in the top of the 12th, Ormiston hit a solo HR off Abner Branscome, the only hit he allowed over 2 innings. Starter-turned-reliever Roy Wolfe finished up his 3 scoreless innings of work for the Tigers and Detroit became back-to-back World Series champions. Tigers 4 - Cardinals 3 It was a tough call between him and Dave Castaneda, but Luther Ormiston was named World Series MVP. In the series, he hit .391 with 3 HR, 4 2B, 7 RBI, 4 R and a 1.373 OPS.

04-01-2005, 09:31 AM	#4231
fvamos Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 75	Congrats to goose and his Tigers, sorry to disappoint the NL, we'll give it a go next year

04-01-2005, 01:41 PM	#4234
Vris Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: somewhere where I don't know where I am Posts: 3,251	Oh no rush Matt. Please take your time. Sorry for my impatience. I think the draft is my favorite part. It's the only time I can have hope for my players. __________________ None Blog it.

04-01-2005, 02:08 PM	#4235
haggis007 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 115	Four one run games--much closer than the 4-1 result would suggest! Congrats Tigers!

04-01-2005, 05:49 PM	#4239
rudel.dietrich Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Zürich, Switzerland Posts: 8,608	DY Where does Dietrich rank among CF in terms of defensive winshares?

04-01-2005, 05:56 PM	#4240
DamnYankees All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,644	I'm gonna do the complete defensive Win Shares a little later, but I can check on Dietrich now... He was the 4th best fielding CF, behind Young, Huschke, and Wynne. Young pretty much laps the field, though.