Expanded Playoffs Dynasty-Historical

[rjl518]

1904 coming up...i hope everyone who is reading this dynasty is enjoying it as i am enjoying doing it..

[rjl518]

1904 Preseason:

As we take a look at the predictions by OOTP for 1904 we see that the Boston Americans and the New York Giants are the favorites to get the top spot in the playoffs.
The Athletics, Naps, Reds and defending champions Pirates are slated for their leagues division series.
Nap Lajoie and Cy Young are featured to be the best hitter and pitcher respectively.
Lets get these teams to the starting gate.

[rjl518]

04/04

And they're off:

After a short first month we find the Chicago White Sox taking the first lead in the AL, followed by the Athletics and the St. Louis Browns.
Last year's AL champions, the Cleveland Naps find themselves near the bottom as they get off to a slow start.

In the NL, the New York Giants have a very slim starting lead over the Cubs, Pirates and Cardinals.

PHA's Harry Davis gets off to a .410 AVG start, while BSA Norwood Gibson shows why he can pitch in this league.

[rjl518]

05/04

The month of May turned out to be pretty exciting as a lot of teams tried to get the early lead in the pennant chase.
The AL has the Philadelphia Athletics taking over the top spot with a 4.5 game lead on the Chicago White Sox.
The Boston Americans hold the third spot by a 2.5 game lead over the Naps.

The New York Giants are in the #1 position in the NL but last year's champions, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 2.5 games back.
Watch out for the Cincinnati Reds, as they lurk in the shadows, with a host other teams trying to get into early position.

Fred Tenney of BSB seems to have his hitting under control as he is third in the NL in batting.
Fred Tenney: "I think im seeing the ball a lot better now. Trying to decide what kind of power to put behind it for contact or power."

He is third in the AL in ERA, but PHA Weldon Henley says that he should be pitching better.
Weldon Henley: "In this league, with teams such as the Naps and the Americans, you have to able to pitch the best."

[rjl518]

06/04

There was no change at the top in both leagues.
The PHA still lead the AL and the NYG stilll lead the NL.
However, the Chicago White Sox only trail the Athletics by 1.5 and the Americans are three behind them at the halfway mark.
So far, there hasnt been much challenge to the Giants in the NL, but the Pirates might have something to say about that.
And dont count out the Reds and Cubs either.

When it comes to being a teammate, you can rely on Honus Wagner. I asked him about his Pirates at the halfway mark.
Honus Wagner: "We are only now getting warmed up. I feel good about our chances to catch New York. With our team's style of play, the way we hit and pitch, we'll make the playoffs again."

PIT's Roscoe Miller only trails Henley by .01 in the ERA race.
Roscoe Miller: "I'm only 27 and i know i have a long way to go. The thing about movement on your pitches is knowing when to let the ball go when you release it."

[rjl518]

07/04

The Chicago White Sox and the Boston Americans traded positions a few times during the month of July, but at the end of the month, CHW was on top of the league.
The Americans and Athletics are right behind them, so i think we are going to have a tight AL pennant race.

The NL looks a little simpler than that.
The NYG hold first place with the Pirates and Reds behind them.
The Superbas are trying to make a run at the top three...will they have enough gas?

Cy Seymour of the Reds is 2nd in the AL in AVG batting behind Wagner.
Cy Seymour: "They tell me i have been getting a lot of singles. I said I'm already married."

Frank Kitson of the Tigers is 1st in the AL in ERA.
Frank Kitson: "Its nice to know how to work hard and pitch the way i want to. Thats great. But, my team needs to play harder if we are gonna catch up to the top three."

[rjl518]

08/04

AL
The Philadelphia Athletics take over first place from the Chicago White Sox with a huge month.
The Boston Americans are right behind the two of them as the race for number 1 in the league gets tighter.
September will be huge finish line for the American League.

NL
The New York Giants have pretty much wrapped up the top spot in the NL.
They are the best team in baseball, but does that translate to the playoffs as well?
The Pirates, Superbas and Reds are three teams fighting for TWO playoff spots as 2nd and 3rd will go down to the wire in the NL.

Bill Dahlen leads the AL in stolen bases with 48
Bill Dahlen: "Stealing bases is very simple. If you see a open base, just take it. It's up to the other team to try and stop you."

Rube Waddell has a HUGE strikeout lead in the NL with 330 Ks.
Rube Waddell: "I dont want any opposing batter to get a hit off of me. I would just rather send them right back to the dugout."

[rjl518]

09/04

AL
The Philadelphia Athletics continue to own the top spot.
Its a three way race for two spots as the Americans, White Sox, and Naps are seperated by two games between each other.

NL
The New York Giants are the best team in baseball.
They OWN the National League having already clinched the top spot.
The Pittsburgh Pirates should hold on to the number two spot while the Reds and Superbas are tied for third.

Honus Wagner, not surprisingly the best hitter in the majors...batting a hefty .355
Honus Wagner[/B]: "My only goal is to do the best i can and give this team a chance to defend what everyone else wants."

Christy Mathewson has surprised many to continue to pitch so well. He is third in the NL in ERA at 1.83
Christy Mathewson: "I just try to keep my control. Sometimes, if i will the ball to go where i want it to go, it just gets there"

[rjl518]

09/04

AL
It was pretty close in the AL for the 3rd playoff spot but the Cleveland Naps took it away from the Chicago White Sox.
The Boston Americans took number two and the Philadelphia Athletics have the league regular season championship.

NL
The New York Giants were pretty much solidified at number one in the NL, while the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds will take 2nd and 3rd.
The Brooklyn Superbas come up just a little bit short.

[rjl518]

1904 Postseason

As we get ready for the 1904 playoffs we see that the Cleveland Naps will play the Boston Americans in the ALDS.
Bill Bernhard: "Alright! We get another crack at those guys. I plan to make sure that i send those guys home in a short series."

The Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates will fight it out in the NLDS.
Honus Wagner: "We were champions last year for a reason...and we're gonna prove it."

[rjl518]

Game 1

AL
Cy Young pitched very well today, but not well enough to win as the Cleveland Naps win on the road in Boston 3-2.
Bill Bernhard picked up the win only giving up one earned run on 5 hits.
(CLE leads series 1-0)

NL
Its pretty rare when the Pittsburgh Pirates get shut out and even more rare in the playoffs.
Noodles Hahn was excellent on the mound today as the Reds take 1-0 series lead on the Pirates.
(CIN leads series 1-0)

[rjl518]

Game 2

AL
The Cleveland Naps advance to the ALCS for the 2nd straight year after a 4-1 win over the Boston Americans.
Red Donahue was the man of the hour as he gave up a run on only 5 hits.
Bill Dinneen wasnt his best today as the Americans are eliminated on their home field.
(CLE wins series 2-0)

NL
There will be a new champion crowned and for the first time in history, the Pittsburgh Pirates will NOT be going to the world series.
The Cincinnati Reds took out the Pirates 3-2 in Pittsburgh behind the pitching of Jack Harper.
(CIN wins series 2-0)

[rjl518]

LCS Preview

NLCS
The New York Giants were the most dominant team in baseball this year.
Im sure they will be looking forward to the NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds.
They were 16-6 in the 22 games they played against each other.
Joe McGinnity: "You would think that we would feel good about beating this team because we did it so many times during the regular season. This is the playoffs! That dont mean sh%$"

ALCS
The Cleveland Naps will play the Philadelphia Athletics in the ALCS.
Nap Lojoie batted .345 against PHA, so he knows how to hit this team.
Nap Lajoie: "Their pitching is good, ill give them that. But i think that they can be beaten with the correct amount of timely hitting."

[rjl518]

Game 1

AL
Its the Athletics who take the lead in the ALCS with a 5-3 win over the Naps.
Topsy Harstel, a relative unknown goes 1 for 3 with a HR and 2 RBI, while CLE commits 4 errors on route to the loss.
PHA leads series 1-0

NL
As dominant as the Giants were during the regular season, Noodles Hahn outpitched Christy Mathewson by a very slim margin.
A 1-0 score was all the Reds needed to take the lead in the series.
CIN leads series 1-0

[rjl518]

Game 2

AL
The Philadelphia Athletics continue to shine in the playoffs.
Scoring 4 runs in the bottoms of the 7th, they win the second game of the series and take a 2-0 lead heading to Cleveland.
Socks Seybold was the player of the game going 4 for 4 with a HR and 3 RBI.
The Naps scored 2 runs in the 9th to get close, but Nap Lajoie grounded out with a runner on base to end the game.
PHA leads series 2-0

NL
While game 1 of the series was a pitchers duel, game 2 was anything but, as the New York Giants destroyed the Reds 11-5 to tie the series.
Dan McGann was the NYG hero with a 4 for 4 day while grinding out SIX RBI.
Series tied 1-1

[rjl518]

Game 3

AL
Get out the brooms, for the Philadelphia Athletics are going to the world series.
A 3-2 win over the Naps clinched the AL pennant.
The Naps really never had it this time in the playoffs as the PHA proved they were the better team this time around.
PHA wins series 3-0

NL
They had the best record in baseball and looked like they were not going to be out done, but the New York Giants are now 1 game away from elimination.
Again, Christy Mathewson was beaten by Noodles Hahn as the Reds won the game 5-4 but it took 13 innings to do it.
Tommy Cocoran reached base on a NYG error by George Brown which allowed him to reach 2nd base.
Then Noodles Hahn helped his own cause with a game winning single that sent the Cincinnati crowd of over 14000 home happy.
CIN leads series 2-1

[rjl518]

Game 4

NL
There will be a deciding game as the Giants beat the Reds 4-3 in a very tight game 4 to tie the series.
Joe McGinnity out dueled Jack Harper on the mound but in the end, a key single by McGinnity in the top of the 9th was the difference maker.
Joe Kelley made an error in the outfield to allow the two runs to score.
Series tied 2-2

[rjl518]

Game 5

NL
They won 110 games and OWNED the NL by winning the regular season 27 games in front of Pittsburgh and 30 games ahead of Cincinnati.
But it will be the Reds going to the world series as Noodles Hahn pitched the game of his life at the Polo Grounds.
A 2-0 win sent the NYG crowd home hanging their heads and wondering how in the world they lost the NLCS.
Christy Mathewson was 0-3 against the Reds in this series and the look on his face told the story.
How could this team lose?
But they did!
CIN wins series 3-2

[rjl518]

World Series

The Cincinnati Reds will face off against the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1904 world series.
The real players of this series is Noodles Hahn and Rube Waddell as we should get some great pitching matchups.

[rjl518]

Game 1

The world series kicks off with a 4-2 win by the Philadelphia Athletics over the Cincinnati Reds.
Rube Waddell continues his strong pitching in the playoffs as he gives up only 2 runs on 5 hits.
Topsy Hartsell comes through with 2 RBI in the bottom of the 3rd inning.
PHA leads series 1-0