MLB Replay....A new History

[George_Bell]

1941 MLB Preview

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[George_Bell]

1941 Regular Season

29 year old Josh Gibson has hit his 400^th career home run. He’s got his eyes on the record, which Lou Gehrig is still adding to. Gibson is the 4^th man to hit 400 home runs. Gehrig was also 29 when he hit his 400^th.

Josh Gibson

Nearing the end of his storied career, Lou Gehrig has been traded!

Gehrig heads to Brooklyn, as the Phillies let go of the face of their franchise. What once was….Babe Ruth has retired, Lou Gehrig traded, and Mule Suttles is on the bench.

As August 1^st comes around, the St. Louis Browns sit in 4^th place, 8.5 games out of 1^st place. They have won 5 straight AL pennants, and 6 of the last 7. The team is still young, with all their stars, but injuries to Van Atta, Greenberg and DiMaggio have obviously hurt. DiMaggio is back, Greenberg is a week away. Can they make a run and get back to the World Series?

Hank Greenberg

One month later- Joe DiMaggio hits .330, with 10 home runs, and 32 RBI’s in August. Robert Griffith allows 9 runs in 7 starts, winning them all, and the Browns go 23-7, including a 13 game win streak, and cut the Senators lead to just 3 games.


DiMaggio

With one week remaining, the Browns have tied the Senators with a record of 87-61.

During the final week, the Browns win 4 straight, while the Senators lose 3 straight which is enough. The St. Louis Browns complete the comeback and win the AL.

Satchel Paige wins another pitching triple crown. In doing so, he breaks his own single season strike out record, which is now 328!

[George_Bell]

With Newhouser, Noguchi, and Barnhill, the Reds have the pitching advantage. The Browns have DiMaggio and Greenberg though. There aren’t many hitters like that in the NL anymore.

[George_Bell]

1941 World Series

A game one pitching duel between Robert Griffith and Hal Newhouser ends with a 2-1 Reds win. A Hank Greenberg home run is the difference in game two, as the Browns tie the series and head home for 3 games.

A furious 9^th inning rally comes to an end when Joe DiMaggio flies out with the bases loaded. The Browns scored 4 runs, but fall 2 short in the Reds 9-7 win.

Despite 8 walks, Hal Newhouser again beats Robert Griffith, 3-2, and the Reds have a strangle hold on the series.

The Browns bats finally wake up. 4 home runs paces the team to a 9-4 victory.

Hank Greenberg scores the winning run on a wild pitch in the 8^th inning, as the Browns force a game 7 with a 3-2 win.

Robert Griffith has now lost 3 straight WS starts. He has pitched well, but not well enough against the Reds.


Newhouser is just 20 years old, and twice he’s out-pitched WS veteran Robert Griffith. In the biggest game of his career, can he do it again?

Game 7

The Reds score 2 runs early. The Browns get one back when pitcher Robert Griffith scores on a Johnny Hopp ground out in the third.

The Reds Russ Derry knocks in 2 more in the fifth inning, giving Cincinnati a 4-1 lead. Joe DiMaggio hits a solo show, but the Browns can get no closer.

Newhouser beats Griffith again, and the Cincinnati Reds have won the 1941 World Series.

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

1941-42 Offseason News and Notes

Larry Doby goes 1^st overall, but I’m more interested in Joe Garagiola, who happens to be one of my dad’s favorite players ever. Joe is only 15 years old!! He’s gonna need some seasoning.

Harry Heilmann was a superstar. One of the best players ever, and despite being overshadowed by Cobb, he was probably a better hitter.

[George_Bell]

1942 Preview

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[George_Bell]

1942 MLB Regular Season

This is an interesting stat, showing how dominant one player has really been. In total, there have been 16 times, when a pitcher has recorded 15 or more strikeouts in a game. Only 7 pitchers are on the list, and only 1 has done it more then once. Satchel Paige has achieved this mark 10 times!! He also holds the single game record of 18, which he achieved twice!

Paige

BNN Stats: The Rich Guys: Who has the richest contracts in the Major League Baseball?

Bill Salkeld, CIN,$33,630
Roy Cullenbine, WS1,$33,630
Sam Chapman, BSN,$33,630
Jack Graham, WS1,$33,630
Hank Greenberg, SLA,$31,700

Both Stan Musial and Ted Williams have made their first all-star teams. Nice to see both have arrived!


Again, the Browns suffer some major injuries at a bad time. In late August, on back to back days, both Russ Van Atta and Hank Greenberg were lost for the season. Van Atta had 18 wins and a 3.06 ERA, while Greenberg had 23 home runs, and a .313 average. The Browns currently lead the AL by 7.5 games, with a month to play. I fully expect them to win the pennant again, and now, lose in the world series.

Van Atta and Greenberg

In mid September, Browns SS Arky Vaughn is lost for the season. Ya, they aren’t gonna have a chance in October.

Vaughn

The Washington Senators have taken advantage of the Browns injury issues. They lost just 3 games all of September, in a furious attempt to dethrone St. Louis. Still, with no games left, they remain one game back. The Browns most lose both of their final 2 games to force a playoff. The Browns end up winning one of those games, and back their way to a 7^th straight AL Pennant.

[George_Bell]

The Browns are without Van Atta, Vaughn, Greenberg, and starting 1B Johnny Hopp. It’s basically Robert Griffith (whose lost his last 4 WS starts), and Joe DiMaggio vs the Reds.

[George_Bell]

1942 World Series

Hal Newhouser wins his 4^th straight start vs the Browns, despite giving up the first 3 runs of the game as the Reds lead the series 1-0.

Robert Griffith finally wins another postseason game, allowing 5 hits and 0 runs in a 3-0 Browns win in game two.

A Bill Rigney home run in the 11^th inning is the difference as the Reds take it 6-5. Browns pitcher Willis Hudlin went the whole away, probably tiring a little in that 11^th inning.

Newhouser finally loses, as the Browns tie the series with a 4-3 win. Robert Griffith wins again, allowing just 1 ER, and 3 total, in a 4-3 game five win. The Browns hit 3 home runs, and are on the brink of another championship.

Dave Barnhill does just enough, as the Reds take game six, 5-4. It’s been a very close series, with 1 run being the difference in four games. For the 2^nd straight year, these teams will play a game seven to decide the championship.



There isn’t a lot to say I haven’t said about these 2 pitchers. This will be their 4^th head to head meeting over the past 2 World Series. Griffith has been great this year, Newhouser, just average.

Game 7

Joe DiMaggio doubled in the first inning, but the Browns failed to cash him in. In the 2^nd inning, the Reds Hub Walker tripled in Russ Derry, then scored himself on a Larry Bettencourt ground out, and the Reds lead 2-0.

The Browns finally got on the board in the 7^th. Joe DiMaggio lead of the inning with a triple, and scored on a Hank Steinbacher ground out.

That was it though, for both teams. Griffith and Newhouser both pitch complete games, both allow just 2 hits, but the Reds get the extra run, to win the game and the series!

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

[George_Bell]

1942-43 Offseason News and Notes

Yogi Berra will be joining Ted Williams in Chicago. The White Sox have a hell of a duo to build around!

This is a pretty spectacular Hall of Fame class. Both players will be in consideration for the upcoming 50th anniversary team in a few years!

[George_Bell]

1943 MLB Preview

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[Carlton]

Actually the Phillies never filed the paperwork to change their name to Blue Jays.
That was the new owner's attempt to put his mark on the team, and he was later banned from baseball. Interesting fact, the Phillies were so bad for so long, Bill Veeck wanted to buy the team and supposedly fill the team with Negro League stars and was stopped by Landis at the request of the owners, and some prominent GMs who were racist, including Herb Pennock and Eddie Collins

So officially they were still called the Phillies, not sure why OOTP keeps changing them to the Blue Jays.

The Phillies are the team with the longest continuing nickname in all of sports(as the Reds later changed to Red Legs during the McCarthy witch hunt)

[Mike45]

don't mean to break up the flow you have going here...really enjoying your dynasty and seeing how your alternate universe plays out. I am doing the same thing, just don't have the time or skill to post a dynasty about it. I'm about 20 years behind you, so interested to see if the stars in my universe are similar to the ones in yours

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by Carlton

Actually the Phillies never filed the paperwork to change their name to Blue Jays.
That was the new owner's attempt to put his mark on the team, and he was later banned from baseball. Interesting fact, the Phillies were so bad for so long, Bill Veeck wanted to buy the team and supposedly fill the team with Negro League stars and was stopped by Landis at the request of the owners, and some prominent GMs who were racist, including Herb Pennock and Eddie Collins

So officially they were still called the Phillies, not sure why OOTP keeps changing them to the Blue Jays.

The Phillies are the team with the longest continuing nickname in all of sports(as the Reds later changed to Red Legs during the McCarthy witch hunt)

That's a really interesting story. I'm curious as to how that Veeck plan would have played out.

As for the Blue Jays, i did read up on that, it's pretty stupid and confusing. Though as long as OOTP says they are the Blue Jays, I will keep calling them the Blue Jays..haha

[George_Bell]

Originally Posted by Mike45

don't mean to break up the flow you have going here...really enjoying your dynasty and seeing how your alternate universe plays out. I am doing the same thing, just don't have the time or skill to post a dynasty about it. I'm about 20 years behind you, so interested to see if the stars in my universe are similar to the ones in yours

Thanks Mike, I'm glad your enjoying it. Without doing this dynasty, I'm sure i would have just started fast simming up until 1977, when the Blue Jays were born. This was the perfect way to become immersed in this world. I'm having a blast, and look forward to re-reading it in the future!

[ashantewarrier]

Love the attention to detail within your thread. The war patches, world series patches and player baseball cards are awesome!