The Bucs Start Here - A Pirates Do-Over

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

The season's first no-no.

[luckymann]

He gave us some great years and we wish him all the best - except, of course, if we come up against them sometime - and it's nice to see El Diablo bringing up his 2000th career hit in appropriately fine style.

[luckymann]

While the loss of Foster was expected, and the loss of Wells - and, to a lesser extent, Ferrell - not unwelcome, there was no way I was going to lose Foxx. He had player options for his final two contract years, for which he was due to be paid $24k per, meaning he was a real chance to walk as well.

That is no longer a problem, and this deal means XX, Josh, Big Poison and Arky will all be with us until well into the next decade.

[luckymann]

Were I a superstitious man, our 14-2 Opening Day shellacking at the hands of the Cubs would worry me immensely. Instead, I choose to take heart from Ray Brown’s fine debut for us the following day. Two more poor starts from our putative ace Paul Derringer, however, do cause an unpleasant tingling sensation to go rolling through my spidey senses. Dihigo’s 3-for-31 effort over the first ten games doesn’t help matters.

Duke turns it round with back-to-back shutouts, and Martin comes good eventually, but it is a scrappy start to the year indeed as the group – yours truly included – tries to recalibrate in its new composition. In the end and with all things considered, our 25-17 record is a minor miracle.

It doesn’t take long for me to realise our infield setup isn’t right and we call up utility Gordon Slade, who we’d signed to a minor league deal a few weeks earlier. Lonny Frey, while a handy player, proves my concerns about him in an everyday role well-founded, and so I move Dihigo back to 3B, Dannie to 2B and give Roy Weatherly the starting job in LF.

Towards the end of the month, after he suffers another beatdown, we send Jumbo Brown back to AAA. He never makes it there, however, as Brooky claim him on waivers. Young Hugh Casey comes up in his place. Ray Brown cops a pitch to the hand but won’t need an IL stint from the look of it.

I can’t finish this update without mentioning Josh Gibson. He has just been a monster so far this season, and wins the May hitting award for his 416 / 8 HR / 33 RBI effort. Whatever effect the loss of Wells has had on our offence, he has greatly offset. Ray Brown (8-2 / 3.08) has had a similar effect on our otherwise shaky pitching.







A tight start to both divisions, although I'm not sure what's going on at Fenway, where the Red Sox sit at 14-26 and well off the pace.




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[luckymann]

This game pretty much sums up how the Sens are going right now. Kuhel with three dingers and they come back late, only to blow a 3-run lead and lose it walkoff.

[luckymann]

Mel Ott has pulled a ways in front of Jimmie in their little personal HR derby, but he's still banging them out with great regularity and this one sees him become the 12th member of the 300 Club.

The Babe seems destined to stay on 569, making that the target for all of the sluggers out there. Gehrig is just about to reach a milestone of his own, so I'll leave further discussion on the matter until then.

[luckymann]

As I alluded to in the previous post, Lou Gehrig becomes the second player after teammate Babe Ruth to reach the 500-HR plateau.






I'm using 5-year recalc here, so Lou still has maybe three years ahead of him at his current level and then the fairly precipitous dropoff will ensue. I think that's enough to at least give him the clubhouse lead for a few years, with Ott the obvious threat as well as Foxx. Beckwith, Stearnes, Klein and Simmons will be lucky to reach 400 I'd think but all are virtual HoF locks IMHO.

[luckymann]

Pitching struggles continue to hinder our ability to play consistently and string wins together, with Derringer and Radcliffe both in dreadful form all season and even Ray Brown and Brewer each showing signs of cooling off after strong starts.

It gets worse before it gets better, with a 4-game losing streak in the second week the harbinger of further challenges as we lose reliever Bud Tinning for 2 months with bone chips in his elbow, then Chet Brewer for a month with an elbow sprain. If anything, however, this seems to galvanize us and we tie our best win streak of the season with 5 in a row.

Then lose 15-3 to the Phillies as Derringer gets pummelled, just to tether us back to terra firma.

Three losses to finish off – including two extra-inning walkoffs at the Reds – leave us with a 13-13 month and plenty of question marks hanging over us. After a couple cruisy seasons, I do believe we have a fight on our hands here.







For once it is the senior circuit that is closely bunched, with just 4 1/2 games separating first from sixth. Over in the AL, the A's still hold sway - but the Tigers have made a move to sit right on their tail. While still a ways off, a 17-11 month has let the Red Sox creep just that bit closer, now 10 1/2 off the pace.




Speaking of the Bostonites, Satchel Paige notches career win number 250.

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[luckymann]

Five representatives from our club among this year's All-Stars. The Yankees, with seven, lead either league.




Detroit young gun Rudy York wins the HR Derby, while MVP Ival Goodman leads the AL to their third straight ASG win.

[Pelican]

So, how are you going to handle Lou Gehrig, going forward? We know he started to decline in 1938, and by 1939 was in the throes of ALS, despite being the self-declared “luckiest man”. In my 1938 sim I have turned off forced retirement and reduced his injury numbers, so that he can play through to a natural career end, probably in 1940 or 1941. Before contracting the fatal disease, he was always healthy and consistent, so I wonder how long he would have played. Surely, three or four more full years is not out of the question. Maybe, like Cal Ripken, he would have voluntarily sat for a day at some point, and then kept playing. What is fascinating is that he would have reached age forty about the time younger players were being drafted or volunteering for the War. Lou would have been too old to fight (although he could still have volunteered, and would likely have been sent to the Pacific theatre, due to his German ancestry), and could have continued on a war-depleted roster. I suspect we will find that he would have become the career leader in just about every hitting category.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Pelican

So, how are you going to handle Lou Gehrig, going forward? We know he started to decline in 1938, and by 1939 was in the throes of ALS, despite being the self-declared “luckiest man”. In my 1938 sim I have turned off career ends and reduced his injury numbers, so that he can play through to a natural career end, probably in 1940 or 1941. Before contracting the fatal disease, he was always healthy and consisten, so I wonder how long he would have played. Surely, three or four more full years is not out of the question. Maybe, like Cal Ripken, he would have voluntarily sat for a day at some point, and then kept playing. What is fascinating is that he would have reached age forty about the time younger players were being drafted or volunteering for the War. Lou would have been too old to fight, and could have continued on a war-depleted roster. I suspect we will find that he would have become the career leader in just about every hitting category.

I'm just letting the 5-year recalc play out, as is the case with all players in this save. He's just about to hit the ratings wall but the spread should give him maybe two years with little discernible drop then he'll start skidding pretty fast because of course IRL there was no decline for him, just the end. My tip is he makes it to 600 HR but not much past. I hope he retires fairly quickly so as to not erode his averages too much. Ruth should go at the end of this season I'd think, and has barely played in '36 or '37, which closely replicates his IRL retirement in early '35.

[luckymann]

We start July in the worst possible fashion, with a bunch of insipid losses that takes our string to 7 before we finally crack a win, only to cop another flogging the next game as Ray Brown’s form worsens.

The All-Star Break can’t come quickly enough.

The time off does bring a modicum of improvement, but we are still well shy of where I want us to be. Time for action.

There’s no doubt we are lacking a certain cohesive spark this season, as is to be expected when you lose a couple of elite players and another handy one. Our pitching is causing us the most grief but that one is just going to have to take care of itself because trading for pitchers in this league is too expensive a business for our blood and should for the most part be avoided. But I also feel we need to shake things up on offence and also improve our versatility in the field. With that in mind, I pull the trigger on this trade.

TRADE 1 OF 2 (07/17/37)

OF Roy Weatherly, 2B Lonny Frey and minor league P George Caster traded to Chicago (AL) for OF Wild Bill Wright and IF Billy Jurges.


It’s probably best to break this deal down into two arithmetic formulae:

• WRIGHT = WEATHERLY + CASTER
• JURGES = FREY

Bill is a vast upgrade on Roy defensively, especially at CF where we are thin, but perhaps at present a step down at the plate. Still, I have liked the look of him from the moment he entered the league and believe that, with the right guidance, he is a potential superstar, perhaps even a HOFer in the making. Plus, he’s just about as fast as they come. For that piece of bluer sky, we had to part with Caster, who was unlikely to figure in our future plans. Bill will take over the everyday CF role, with Lloyd Waner moving to LF, and he’ll move to the leadoff spot, with Martin down to six. Now we need to lock him down long-term or at least into next year to begin with, as he is an FA come the end of this season. Thanks to our recent departures, we have a fair wad of cash at our disposal to throw at him.

For Lonny, we get a slightly older guy who is again better in the field – especially at another weak spot for us, shortstop – but not quite as good with bat in hand. With Billy operating in a secondary capacity, this works to our advantage. On the other hand, were we to lose one of our IF starters to injury, this would leave us somewhat exposed.

Still, I am happy to have swung this one and think we are a better group for it, both now and in the future.

I send Andy Reese down to AAA via waivers and Don Padgett gets the call to make his MLB debut. He’ll mainly be used as a PH and to rest XX at 1B.

The immediate effect is a sweep win for us at Philly. But our form remains scratchy and patchy to the end, leaving us with a 15-13 record for the sectional.

We do end up locking down WBW for 6+1 years at a total cost of $150k.







The A's remain in control of the AL, pushing out to a 4 1/2-game lead from the Yanks. The NL remains bunched, with the Cubs just in front of us.




Here are the Top 20s by WAR to this point:





Awards, news and leaders. Wally Berger belts homer number 200, Chick Hafey gets his 2000th career hit.






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[luckymann]

No doubt we are struggling so far this year, and our bats are taking their turn of late to underperform. This absolute monster of a game (123 GSc) from Josh, with a nice supporting role from XX, will hopefully prove the catalyst for a turnaround in that regard.

[luckymann]

Another month that sees us on the back foot from the get-go as we open it with some flat out poor games, swept at home by the Dodgers while conceding 25 runs in the 3-game series. They have whipped us soundly this season, winning 13 of 18 to this point, and we’ll be glad to see the back o them until next year.

The next game is a milestone win for yours truly: my 3000th in the MLB as a Manager.

After an IL stint that seems interminable, Brewer is finally able to rejoin the group, although we send him for a quick rehab assignment first. When he does make it back to the big club, I decide to move Double Duty into the pen for a bit as Bill Lee has been doing quite well in the rotation.

Our next challenge comes in the form of a season-ending injury to Myril Hoag, who has been an unsung hero for us since we claimed him on waivers last year. He will be sorely missed. Another waiver acquisition Frenchy Bordagaray, gets the call-up from AAA.

Gibson’s big game (see previous post) does indeed wake us up a bit as we win five of our next six despite losing Wright for a few of those games with a niggle.

A nice run of four wins to end the month leaves our record for the sectional at 16-11 and puts us on top of the NL by a single game.







The reversal continues as the NL remains super tight with just a game and a half between ourselves, the Cubs and the Reds, while the A's look to be cruising in the AL with a handy 8 1/2-game lead.




Awards, news and leaders. Willie Wells reaches 200 career HR, Lou Gehrig and Al Simmons each get their 2500th hit and Babe Herman his 2000th.






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[luckymann]

A huge loss for the Cubbies just when they least needed it, right in the NL pennant race mix.

[luckymann]

All-time leader is Ty Cobb with 758.

[luckymann]

After yet another really poor outing on the very first game of the new month, Chet Brewer – who hasn’t been the same since his IL stint – gets sent back to the BP, with Jim Tobin given the chance to show us what he’s got.

The next day, Duke Derringer goes down with back tightness and we’ll have to micromanage his usage to get him thru the remainder.

A couple days later we cop the worst beating in franchise history – a 22-6 humiliation by our closest rivals, the Cubs, as Phil Cavaretta and Gene Moore jr tear us a new one. Another two losses to the struggling Cards, including one in which Brewer blows a 3-run lead in the 12th and we lose walkoff in the 13th after having gone ahead again, and this season is officially getting away from us. This game – our sixth straight loss – also puts our bullpen ERA dead last in the NL at an unheard-of (for us at least) 4.34 and with 25 to play leaves us 4 ½ games out of first spot, now held by the streaking Reds who have won 9 in a row.

Entering a homestand that is almost certain to decide our season, we finally get a win behind a strong outing by Duke. But it is the only one we get in the series against the Reds and we fall even further behind them.

More losses ensue as we go a whole week without a home run and just throw in the towel, basically. Suddenly a winning record and first division finish are under threat, the sorts of mindless incidentals you hang onto when things aren’t going your way.

Sparked by a dramatic come-from-behind walkoff win against the Cubs, we start stringing a few wins together to keep our faint pulse beating. But in the end, as John Lennon would later say, this bird has flown—and all the Norwegian wood in the world can’t stop us being eliminated. A late burst of wins gets us to a final record of 82-72, tied for third.

There is a big lesson for all at our club from this season, myself most of all. A lot of complacency has set into our mindset and what has happened this year is proof positive we cannot expect to simply turn up and win. A lot of questions for me to answer over the break, mainly with regard to our pitching.







The Reds get as far as four clear of the Cubs but lose their way and by the time of their final series for the season – against us at Forbes Field, as it just so happens – that gap is back to 1 ½. We beat them in the opener, but a 6-5 win in 13 the next day, coupled with Chicago’s second straight loss at home to the Cards, puts Cincy in the playoffs for just the second time ever and the first since 1905. They will meet the A’s, who coast to the AL pennant by a double-digit margin.




Joe DiMaggio repeats as AL batting champ with Cincy's Morrie Arnovich winning his first in the NL. Hank Greenberg's 42 homers lead the league, with Jimmie Foxx's 137 ribbies the most. Wild Bill Wright ties his all-time record of 69 steals, with Willard Brown just one behind him.

Barney Brown again leads the league with his 26 wins and finishes top 3 across the TC stat cats, while Satchel Paige is the King of K with 259. He now sits 4th all-time with 3091.

Here are the final Top 20s by WAR for 1937:





Awards, news and final leaders for the year. Dick Bartell reaches 1500 career hits, as does Rap Dixon.






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[luckymann]

Philadelphia Athletics (95-59) V Cincinnati Reds (88-66)
Best-of-seven, Athletics with the home-field advantage.

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CINCINNATI REDS S+ PAGE

I’m so happy to see the Reds back in the playoffs. While I obviously play to win, what I want above all is a good, competitive league with all clubs having their up and down periods. Our dominance aside, this save is seeing such a spread with only the Indians and Dodgers yet to make the playoffs, and only the two of them, the Cardinals and Cincy still to taste the ultimate victory.

Many eyebrows were undoubtedly raised by the Josh Gibson trade, but it has proven far less one-sided than it first appeared, with Bill Swift having a breakout season. The presence of Clarence Palm was obviously a factor in letting Josh go, and he hasn’t let them down with two really strong seasons under his belt. Throw in some astute Draft selections such as Morrie Arnovich, Willard Brown, Cy Blanton, Russ Bauers and Lee Grissom, along with some nice trade pickups like Ripper Collins and you can see that the Reds are finally getting their act together. Let’s hope they make every possible effort to keep it that way, because this group looks to have the makings of a competitive unit for years to come if they can hold them all.

That said, I don’t quite think they match up just yet to what is a really strong A’s group. Even with Lefty Grove out of action, I think they’ll have too many weapons here. The addition of Willie Wells has really taken Philly up another notch and I think they’ll handle the Reds fairly easily.

A’s in five for mine.

[luckymann]

Game 1 in Philadelphia - October 7th, 1937

Roosevelt Davis (20-16, 3.41) v Cy Blanton (23-14, 3.43)

A couple quality hurlers to get things underway, both of whom won 20 this season. The Reds will be keen to show that they aren’t to be intimidated, while the A’s will want to control this series from the front, especially in their home park. A fascinate arm-wrestle awaits.

Neither pitcher gives much away in the opener with just a dozen hits all told, but the home side takes its few chances to sneak by 3-1 and get their noses in front. Both Blanton and Davis go the distance and the game isn’t settled until the final out. Advantage Philly, but only just.

A’s 3, Reds 1

BOX SCORE

Game 2 in Philadelphia - October 8th, 1937

Leon Day (23-11, 3.80) v Russ Bauers (5-8, 3.44)

Athletics lead series 1-0

Young Leon Day showed he is set to star in this league for some time with a superb 23-win campaign and will have plenty to prove after a less-than-stellar series last year. Sophomore Russ Bauers only got the call-up in midseason, but acquitted himself well over the remainder. This, however, is a huge step up for him and the A’s will be looking to hit him hard and early.

They do get an early pair off him but the youngster hangs in there and once again this one stays uncomfortably close for the hosts until the very end. Bob Johnson’s 2-run homer in the 1st might have torpedoed a lesser player, but Bauers digs deep before tiring in the 6th, when the A’s add two more. He comes out in the following frame with his side trailing by 5, but a 3-run double by Ripper Collins in the 8th brings the game back to life. Lee Grissom holds his nerve, however, and a 6-4 final score puts the A’s where they need to be. Day goes the distance despite the late wobble and will again be better for the experience.

A’s 6, Reds 4

BOX SCORE

Game 3 in Cincinnati - October 10th, 1937

Bill Swift (20-15, 3.30) v Johnny Allen (19-13, 4.16)

Athletics lead series 2-0

I’m full of admiration for Bill Swift, whom of course I traded away in the Gibson deal. After losing 50 games his first two seasons at Cincy, including a nasty 28 last year, his turnaround has mirrored that of his club and I hope he gets some votes come awards time. The pressure is right on him today, however, and he faces a guy who has been here before and knows what to expect. A bit of a late-bloomer, perhaps, but Johnny Allen has won 40 games over the past two seasons and impressed me with his grit this time a year ago.

This one is another tight affair, with both hurlers acquitting themselves will and pitching complete games. This time, however, the breaks fall Cincy’s way as they squeeze past the A’s 3-2. A Morrie Arnovich RBI single in the 7th proves the difference and this is starting to look a little dangerous for the A’s as the Reds continue to show plenty of spunk.

Reds 3, A’s 2

BOX SCORE

Game 4 in Cincinnati - October 11th, 1937

Cy Blanton (0-1, 3.38) v Roosevelt Davis (1-0, 1.00)

Athletics lead series 2-1

The pitchers from Game 1 renew their acquaintance after Davis’s points decision in the earlier contest, and Blanton evens the tally in another enthralling game in what has been a gripping series.

This one remains scoreless thru 5 before the visitors post a deuce to go ahead. Staring down the barrel of falling behind 3-1, the Reds respond as you kind of knew they would, halving the deficit in the 7th then going ahead for good in the 8th on a 2-run bomb by Roy Carlyle. Yet again the bullpens aren’t needed as the outstanding starting pitching continues, with Blanton finishing the job himself to put the series at 2-2.


Reds 3, A’s 2

BOX SCORE

Game 5 in Cincinnati - October 12th, 1937

Russ Bauers (0-1, 3.86) v Leon Day (1-0, 4.00)

Series tied 2-2

The A’s look a bit shellshocked to be honest and they’ll need to shake that off pronto before this series slips away. Bauers and Day back up.

And, to their credit, they do just that with a clinical win that is much more representative of what we’ve come to expect from this group. Day allows just 2 runs on 7 hits and the result is never really in doubt once the A’s get out by 3 in the middle innings. Another 3-spot in the 6th all but ends it, despite the Reds scoring two of their own in the 7th, and Philly now has two bites of the cherry at home to wrap this up.


A’s 6, Reds 2

BOX SCORE

Game 6 in Philadelphia - October 14th, 1937

Johnny Allen (0-1, 3.38) v Bill Swift (1-0, 2.00)

Athletics lead series 3-2

Neither of these pitchers did much wrong in Game 3 and they’ll need a similar performance tonight. Who will handle the pressure better and, perhaps more importantly, which side will take their opportunities—because, so far, there haven’t been too many to spare.

In the end, the A’s prove too strong with another grinding win to lock down the club’s second Championship. The two sides combine for 24 hits in all as the A’s go ahead with 2 in the 1st and are never headed. The Reds score their only run of the game in the 3rd, but singles in the 5th, 7th and 8th make it a 5-1 final. A's shortstop Eric McNair, who goes 3-4 in this one and hits 438 for the series, is named MVP.

Disappointment for the Reds faithful, but their guys were magnificent here, with only a slight lack of polish stopping them in the end.

A’s 5, Reds 1

BOX SCORE

PHILADELPHIA WINS SERIES 4-2

SERIES MVP: Eric McNair (Philadelphia)

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