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Old 07-11-2019, 04:53 PM   #1
MightyVotto
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Mickey Mantle Replay (Beginning 1952)

I'm starting a historical replay of Mickey Mantle's career. I did this with Ruth, Gehrig, and Dimaggio (partially) from 1920 - 1940 in a replay league a few years ago and truly enjoyed it. The premise is to answer my curiosity for what it was like to follow these all-time greats as they played. Do they live up to their reputations? What will I learn that will surprise me if I follow them in this simulated day-to-day format? I developed appreciation for how great Ruth, Gehrig, and Dimaggio were by doing this in the past. I also, though, learned a great deal more about the rest of the league around them. It was also fun to follow a team that was good pretty much every year. My present team, the Reds, seems to be good once every five-ish years. I get my fill of mediocre-to-bad baseball in reality.

The Setup
- I'm using historical transactions and historical lineups. However, I'm managing the Yankees and setting the lineups myself each game. This gives me a little sense of actually participating in the season as opposed to being just a bystander.
- I started the league in 1901, erased all league history prior to that year, and simmed to 1952. I skipped Mantle's rookie season. He really isn't very good that year, and I have a hard time giving him much playing time versus the other outfielders on the team that year whenever I've attempted a sim for that season.
- Each year since 1901, I've restructured each league into 2 divisions and created a playoff format that included each division winner and one wild card team. The division winner with the lowest record hosts the wild card team in a 5 game series to open the playoffs. The winner plays the top division winner in a 7 game LCS. Then, of course, the winners of those series from each league face each other in a 7 game WS to determine the champion. I've been doing this for awhile now in many different historical replays since about 2012. It's really shown me how much an expanded playoff system creates greater variability in who actually wins a championship from year-to-year. Whether this is good or bad is certainly up for debate. I do believe, though, that it makes the postseason much more interesting than if just the league champions play one series each year.

Here are some interesting notes from the simmed alternate MLB history leading up to the beginning of my 1952 replay:
- The Yankees have still managed to win the most titles, but they aren't running away with that number as easily, yet. They've won 8.
- Cleveland, the Cubs, and the Cardinals are in second with 6 WS titles each.
- Only two teams, Cincinnati and Brooklyn, haven't won 1 WS title.
- The Red Sox are the reigning champs. They were unlikely winners in 1951 after earning the AL Wild Card and beating the favored Yankees in 7 during the ALCS.
- Babe Ruth is the single season HR leader with 64 in 1921. He's also the career HR king as usual, but only with 630. He had some surprisingly low HR numbers throughout his career. He only hit 40 in 1927. A little odd.
- The longest hitting streak is only 29. George Burns did it in 1927.

There are many more interesting points to highlight, but I'll touch on those as they pop up in a relevant way during my replay.

I'm going to play each game out and will try to provide updates at the beginning of each in-game week. I'll try to play approximately 2-3 games a day or a series a day depending on what time allows.

I hope I can stick with this as planned. I've never done one of these sim blogs but thought it would be fun. Hope you enjoy it!
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Old 07-11-2019, 05:13 PM   #2
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April 1952

Before I decided to start this blog, I had already played the first 12 games of the season. I'll share the results here.

April was a little shaky for the Yankees. As you can see they started out 0-4 before finally winning 6 of their last 7 for the month. This is a transitional year for NY since Dimaggio retired at the end of 1951 and Mantle really hasn't established himself yet. He hit .253/.350/.448 with 17 HRs in 398 PA's last season. He started out this season batting .200/.288/.533 with 4 HRs. I'm sure Yankee fans were freaking out at the beginning of May convinced that the long run of success since 1920 (1925 is the only losing season) may be ending.

One thing that stands out to me so far this season is that the A's are not too bad. There lineup is filled with players who draw a ton of walks, which is annoying.

The Korean War keeps taking players away as well. Ted Williams and Jerry Coleman both left on May 1st. Don't they realize there's baseball to play?!!
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Old 07-11-2019, 05:56 PM   #3
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April Monthly Awards 1952

I feel like they shouldn't even bother giving out these monthly awards for April during the historical seasons. They usually only played 10 games or so. But they did give them out so here they are:

AL Batter of the Month: Al Rosen (CLE) - .431 BA, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 12 runs scored, .508 OBP
NL Batter of the Month: Frank Baumholtz (CHC) - .500 BA, 0 HR, 9 RBIs
AL Pitcher of the Month: Vic Raschi (NYY) - 3-1, 2.64 ERA, 13 Ks, 4 GS
NL Pitcher of the Month: Chris van Cuyk (BRO) - 3-0, 0.67 ERA, 16 Ks, 3 GS
AL Rookie of the Month: Hector Rodriguez (CHW) - .362 BA, 0 HR, 6 RBIs, 9 runs scored.
NL Rookie of the Month: Toby Atwell (CHC) - .481 BA, 2 HRs, 7 RBIs, 5 runs scored.

This was Raschi's 3rd Pitcher of the Month Award. He last won it for May 1951. He's won the AL Walter Johnson Trophy each of the last two years. I've named the Cy Young Award after Walter Johnson in this replay since The Big Train won the pitcher of the year award more than anyone else in league history (8 times!) When you start the league history in 1901, Young isn't quite as impressive as in reality.
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Old 07-11-2019, 06:09 PM   #4
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May 1, 1952: Game 12

Mantle went 1-4 and hit his 1st triple of the year. It was his 2nd career triple. Some guy named Joe Fautch is the Yankees' manager. I have no idea who he is. He played 2 games for the White Sox in 1916. He's managed the Yankees, though, since 1943 in this replay. Nobody remembers an outfielder named Casey Stengel whose last season was 1925.
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Old 07-11-2019, 08:56 PM   #5
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May 2, 1952: Game 13

Whose Ted Gray? I'm starting to think these Yankees can't hit lefties. Mantle continues his early struggles. He goes 0-4 with 2 K's. Is the pressure getting to the 20-year old phenom? In '51 he was rated the #2 prospect in the MLB. The #1 prospect from that year, Willie Mays, went 5-5 with 2 HRs, 1 3B, 6 RBI's today.
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Old 07-12-2019, 05:08 PM   #6
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May 1-4, 1952: The Dynasty May be Over

I think I'm just going to stick to update entries to this blog based on each in-game week. Trying to provide updates for every game seems a little over-zealous.

Summary for the first partial week of May (May 1 - 4, 1952).

Lost 2 of 3 to the Tigers.
Split a doubleheader with the White Sox.
Team record: 8-8, 2.5 GB, 4th AL East

The Yankees inconsistent start to the season continues. They've been a tough team to watch so far. The game on May 3rd was particularly sloppy with 4 errors. The starting pitcher, Tom Gordon, barely got out of the 1st inning with 6 walks and 5 runs allowed. They followed that game up with the 1st game bludgeoning by Chicago on Sunday morning. I keep asking myself, "This team was good in 1952?" I'm sure they'll get it together eventually. Apparently, this is similar to how they played that season. They were inconsistent until June and marched to the pennant from there.

Mantle is struggling to show he can do anything with consistency. He's only managed a .180 BA and .261 OBP. He has shown his power with 5 HRs. He hit a single in the 2nd game Sunday, and the crowd went insane with cheering as if he'd hit a grand slam. He's definitely feeling the pressure of inheriting the crown from Joe D.

The Yankees did execute a significant trade on May 3rd. They traded Jackie Jensen, Spec Shea, and Archie Wilson to Washington for Irv Noren and Tom Upton. Jensen is the prize in this transaction. Shea, Wilson, and Upton don't really provide much return going forward. Noren seems to provide some value as a utility outfielder. Jensen, though, becomes a star for Boston after Washington trades him in a couple of years. Not sure if the Yankees really got enough back in return for him. Noren was probably valued about the same at the time of the deal. I was looking forward to using Jensen as a good bat off the bench, but now, Noren will have to do that for me.

Next up: We'll see the Cleveland Indians for the first time. A 3-game series with the Red Sox will close out the week.
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Old 07-14-2019, 09:39 PM   #7
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May 5-11, 1952: Yankee Fans No Like Last Place

Week Results
Record: 3-3
1-2 vs Cleveland
2-1 vs Boston
Total Record: 11-11 .500
4th Place AL East, 1.5 GB

Mantle Performance Overview
Mantle started to show signs of coming out of his early season funk. This was one of the bright spots for the team this week. For the week, he hit .391/.440/.565 with a 1.005 OPS. He's on a 7 game hit streak, and he's had 3 2-hit games in his last 5. He hit 1 2B, 1 HR, with 5 RBI. His season numbers still don't look great: .238/.309/.500, but he's trending in the right direction after this past week.

Team Performance Overview
The team continued its inconsistent performance to start this season. They're .500 and only 1.5 GB, and it's only been 22 games. No reason to panic, but Yankee fans aren't used to this mediocre style of baseball. A .500 team might as well be a losing team to them. They keep seeing the 20-year old Mantle and dreaming about the glory of Joe D. They're convinced that they're watching the end of those great seasons. When Luke Easter crushed a winning 3-run HR in the top of the 9th in the 3rd game of the Indians series, you could hear a primal rage scream of anguish echo from the Bronx.

Allie Reynolds pitched the staff's first shut-out of the season in the 1st game of the Indians series. In 9 innings, he gave up 5 hits with 9 K's and 9 BB's. Yes, 9 BB's! He just kept walking batters but getting out of trouble. It was his 16th career shut-out.

One early observation I've made is that the Yankee pitching staff walked a lot of batters in 1952. They strike out a lot, but they seem to walk the same amount. I'm not used to that, and it gets annoying seeing good pitchers issuing so many walks. I thought pitchers were known more for their control in these old days. That's not the case this season apparently. There are quite a few batters with high walk rates as well. Eddie Yost is even nicknamed, "The Walking Man", which is hilarious. As a Reds fan, it reminds me of watching Joey Votto this past decade. He received so much grief early in his career for taking walks. It seems like it was a normal way of playing the game in the early '50s.

League Notes
Bob Rush pitched the first No-Hitter of the season on Saturday, May 10th vs. Pittsburgh. The last No-Hitter for the Cubs was on 8/20/1946 by Hank Borowy, and it was the 4th No-Hitter in franchise history.

Nellie Fox has broken the consecutive game hitting streak record. He has hit in 35 straight games as of May 12th, 1952. The previous record had been 29 straight games by George Burns in 1927. Obviously, Fox's streak began at the end of last season.

Elmer Valo was named AL Player of the Week. He hit .435 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. It was the 2nd time he's won the award in his career.

Ted Kluszewski was named NL Player of the Week. He hit .522 with 3 HRs and 13 RBIs. It was the 1st time he's won the award in his career.

Up Next
The Yankees will work through the 2nd full week of May by making their first Western Tour of the season. They play 2 vs the Indians in Cleveland on Tuesday and Wednesday. They then head to Detroit to battle the Tigers in just 1 game on Friday. They'll close the week out with a doubleheader in St. Louis on Sunday. An odd schedule. There's no indication on Baseball Reference of rain outs or any other reason for so many days off. Hopefully, they'll find a way to string some wins together and calm the severely panic-stricken fans in the Bronx down.
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Old 07-16-2019, 06:51 PM   #8
Jerry Helper
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In terms of your comment about the Yankees not winning as many titles as they did in real life, adding playoffs truly throws a wrench into historical sims. It's amazing how many teams after 1968 didn't win the world series after being the best team in baseball all year long
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Old 07-16-2019, 08:58 PM   #9
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May 12-18, 1952: When It's Going Bad, Head West

Week Results
Record: 5-0
2-0 vs Cleveland
1-0 vs Detroit
2-0 vs St. Louis
Total Record: 16-11 .593
1st Place AL East

Mantle Performance Overview
Mantle had a spectacular week. He hit .500/.615/.950 with a 1.565 OPS. Beautiful! He blasted 3 HRs and had 11 RBIs. He had two 5 RBI games. He hit 2 HRs in the first game in Cleveland. It was already his 2nd 2 HR game of the season. He was named the AL Player of the Week for the 1st time in his career. His first HR hit in Cleveland was memorable. I'm sure this had a lot to do with the camera view I used, but it really looked like he obliterated the ball. It was a rocket that went 508 ft to left-center field in Cleveland Stadium. The center fielder, Larry Doby, barely moved and just turned slightly watching it go. I was surprised the exit velocity was only listed as 96.9. Whomever caught that one in the stands, probably couldn't use their hand the next day or so. Was this the week Mantle takes Joe D.'s crown? Yankee fans are skeptical but intrigued.

I am surprised that he's hitting so many home runs already. He's on pace to hit 51 this season. He only hit 23 in reality. I suspect he'll go on a fairly long HR drought to bring this in line.

Team Performance Overview
You go undefeated during the week, you have a pretty good week. The team seemed to enjoy playing away from home. They looked like the team I expected to see when I view their real profile on Baseball Reference. All phases of the game were strong.

Vic Raschi and Allie Reynolds made two starts each and solved their early control issues.

Eddie Lopat finally pitched well and earned his first win ending a 5 start losing streak to open his season.

Gene Woodling went .500/.560/.500 with a 1.060 OPS. He may have won Player of the Week if not for Mantle's great week.

League Notes
Nellie Fox's hit streak continues. He's hit in a record 40 straight games now. I mistakenly said in my previous post that the record had been 29 games. It was actually 39 games. 29 seemed low to me, and, well, it was. Fox, though, broke the record this week and became the first player to hit in 40 straight games.

Jackie Robinson was the NL Player of the Week. The Dodger 2nd baseman had 9 hits in 18 ABs, 2 HRs, 7 RBIs, and 7 runs scores. It was the 9th time he's won the award.

Up Next
Only 3 games planned for the final full week of May. The team concludes its first Western Tour with 2 games against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday. They, then, head back east to Boston and battle the Red Sox over a 2-game bridge series that begins Saturday, skips Sunday, and concludes the following Monday. Can they keep this hot-streak going? Will they keep Nellie Fox from getting a hit? Are the primal screams of anguish heard from the Bronx last week turning into the sounds of playoff tickets being printed?
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Old 07-18-2019, 10:14 AM   #10
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May 19-25, 1952: Only 3 games?? Feels like the 2019 schedule

Week Results
Record: 2-1
2-0 vs Chicago
0-1 vs Boston
Total Record: 18-12 .600
1st place AL East

Mantle Performance Overview
Coming off his 1st Player of the Week award, Mantle continued playing well in the extremely light schedule this week. He hit .308/.357/.538 with an .896 OPS. This included 1 HR (His 10th already!) and 2 RBIs. These last few weeks are the best the 20-year old has played in his 1+ year career. Maybe he is ready to take the Ruth/Gehrig/Dimaggio crown.

Team Performance Overview
Have I mentioned they only had 3 games scheduled for this full week? Not a lot to report. The highlight was back-to-back complete game shutouts pitched by Eddie Lopat and Bob Kuzava in Chicago. Lopat's was a Maddux: 9 innings/1 hit/0 runs/2 BBs/2 Ks. He took a no-hitter into the 6th. Of course, Nellie Fox got the hit, which extended his hit streak to 42.

I started the season with Tom Morgan as the 4th starter in the rotation. He was awful. Kuzava pitched well as the emergency 5th starter for the first few double-headers. So, I've switched him into the 4th spot, and he's done well. We'll see if he can keep it up.

League Notes
Nellie Fox's hit streak continues. The Yankees couldn't keep him from getting hits in the two games they played. It's now at 46 games. Can he get to 50?

Al Rosen was the AL Player of the Week. He hit .542 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. It was the 3rd time he's won the award in his career.

Dick Sisler was named the NL Player of the Week. He hit .467 with 3 HRs and 4 RBIs. It was the 4th time he's won the award in his career.

Up Next
We'll finish out the month of May with the 2nd game of the 2-game series in Boston that began on Saturday. Then, the Yankees will return home to face the Senators for 1 game on Tuesday. That will be followed by a 3-game series with the A's on Thursday and Friday. We will see where things stand after the first full month of the season. Are the contenders starting to appear? Is anyone already a lost cause? We'll do our first review of the leaderboards as well.
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Old 07-19-2019, 10:21 PM   #11
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May 26 - June 2, 1952: Shutouts and No-Hitters for Everyone!

Week Results
Record: 4-1
1-0 vs Boston
1-0 vs Washington
2-1 vs Philadelphia
Total Record: 22-13 .629
1st Place AL East

Mantle Performance Overview
The Mick stepped back a bit this week. He hit .188/.409/.250 with a .659 OPS. He had 1 2B and 3 RBIs. A quiet week certainly, but he did get on base regularly with 6 walks. Still productive.

Team Performance Overview
The highlight this week was the back-to-back shutouts thrown by Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat on Monday and Tuesday.

Reynolds shutout was nearly a no-hitter. He held the Red Sox hitless to the 9th inning. It's the deepest potential no-hitter I've seen play out in the game for quite some time. I did see Lefty Gomez pitch a perfect game once in a previous historical replay a few years ago. It can be almost as exciting as actually watching one for real. Reynolds got the first out in the 9th. The Red Sox put a rookie named Dick Gernert in to pinch-hit. He hit a single to right. The 3d actually made it look like the ball might be caught by Hank Bauer, though. However, it fell just in front of him. 2 outs away from a no-hitter. Disappointed, but it was exciting.

Lopat pitched his 2nd consecutive shutout. He's definitely doing better after his 5 start losing streak to start the season.

The Yankees then were shutout by Alex Kellner of the A's.

The bats did explode for the final game of the week. They destroyed the A's 26-6 in the 2nd game of the double-header on Friday. They've scored a run in every inning but the 8th. Everyone in the lineup got at least 1 hit, 1 run, and 1 RBI. Gil McDougald went 5-6 with 3 RBI and 1 HR. It just seemed like every pitcher the A's sent to the mound had absolutely nothing. I kinda felt bad, but then I didn't.

League Notes
Nellie Fox's hit streak came to an end. The St. Louis Browns stopped his streak at 48 on May 28th. It's the longest hit streak in this alternate replay. The previous record had been 39.

Two no-hitters were thrown this week by Vinegar Bend Mizell (STL) and Billy Loes (BRO). 1918 is the only season in this replay so far in which 4 no-hitters have occurred. There have been 3 already this season. I always find it a little deflating when a bunch of no-hitters or cycles occur really close together. As long as it's just a strange quirk, that's fine. If it gets unrealistically ridiculous, I start to think there's something wrong.

There were a glut of shutouts in the league the last couple of weeks as well. This made me concerned something weird was going on in the background. Then, the Yankees exploded for 26 in that one game.

George Kell (DET) was the AL Player of the Week. He hit .412 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs. It was the 5th time he's won the award. He last won it in August 1950.

Granny Hamner (PHI) was the NL Player of the Week. He hit .364 with 3 HRs and 11 RBIs. It's the 2nd time he's won the award. He last won it in May 1950.

Up Next
We'll kick-off the month of June with a full week of games. The Indians visit Yankee Stadium for just one game on Monday. Then, the White Sox storm the gates for 3 from Tuesday through Thursday. The St. Louis Browns and their strange martian mascot float into town for 4 Friday through Sunday.
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Old 07-20-2019, 10:12 AM   #12
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1952 Monthly Update: May - League Standings

After each month, I'll pause and review the current state of the league in more detail than what I provide for the weekly updates. This also provides more immersion for me to recognize what's going on with the teams and players I'm not focusing on.

We've just completed the month of May, which almost brings us to the 1st quarter point of the season. Who are emerging as the contenders? Is anyone already turning their heads to next season? Which individual players are off to the best starts?

The MLB League Standings - June 2, 1952
I won't spend any time discussing the Wild Card yet. It's too early. I'll bring that into the discussion beginning in July.

AL East
All four teams are contending early. The Senators are threatening to drop out but could still get back in the race with a push. They don't have much room for error, though, as June beckons.

AL West
The White Sox and Indians are emerging as the prime contenders in this division. Detroit's hanging on the fringe. The Browns may already be finished.

NL East
It's a 3 team race early with Boston tripping out of the gate. 15 games back at the beginning of June is tough to recover from. Brooklyn and Philadelphia could be a fun race to watch.

NL West
This may be the worst division in the MLB. Last year, it was awful with 2 100-loss teams. It doesn't look much better this season. The Cardinals are leading early, and I expect they'll just run away with it as the season progresses.

Whose Feeling Lucky?
The luckiest teams in the league so far are Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Their Pythagorean differential is +3. This could be a factor in the AL West race with Cleveland, but it probably won't help the Pirates much this year.

The unluckiest team to this point is the Giants. They're differential is -4. This could mean they may play a bigger role in the NL East race than they have so far.
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Old 07-20-2019, 03:38 PM   #13
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1952 Monthly Update: May - Team Batting and Pitching Stats

MLB Team Batting and Pitching Stats - June 2, 1952

The Yankees are solid offensively, but not great. They're currently 3rd in runs scored in the AL. They are leading in OPS at .773.

The Yankees pitching and defense has allowed the fewest runs in the AL at 127.

Looking at the NL rankings, I definitely think the Giants have a chance of challenging in the NL East more than they have so far. They are 2nd in runs scored and 1st in runs allowed. They did just lose Willie Mays, though, to military service on May 29th. We won't see him again until 1954.
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Old 07-20-2019, 03:44 PM   #14
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1952 Monthly Update: May - Team Fielding Stats

MLB Team Fielding Statistics - June 2, 1952

The Yankees are by far the best defensive club in the AL early on. Their ZR and DEF are spectacular.

In the NL, the Giants look like the best defensive team. Another sign that their record should improve as the season rolls along. Losing Mays, though, could really impact them the most defensively.
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Old 07-20-2019, 04:00 PM   #15
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1952 Monthly Update: May - Batting Leaders

MLB AL and NL Batting Leaders - June 2, 1952

The too early Babe Ruth Award candidates are:

AL
Minnie Minoso (CWS)
Al Rosen (CLE)
Nellie Fox (CWS)
Dom DiMaggio (BOS)
Gene Woodling (NYY)

NL
Jackie Robinson (BRO)
Granny Hamner (PHI)
Hank Sauer (CHC)
Duke Snider (BRO)
Stan Musial (STL)
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Old 07-20-2019, 04:07 PM   #16
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1952 Monthly Update: May - Pitching Leaders

MLB AL and NL Pitching Leaders - June 2, 1952

The too early Walter Johnson Trophy candidates are:

AL
Gene Bearden (SLA)
Bob Kuzava (NYY)
Mel Parnell (BOS)
Allie Reynolds (NYY)
Morrie Martin (PHA)

NL
Chris Van Cuyk (BRO)
Robin Roberts (PHI)
Sal Maglie (NYG)
Preacher Roe (BRO)
Larry Jansen (NYG)
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Old 07-23-2019, 05:32 PM   #17
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Time Machine Paused for Present Day Vacation

I'm off on vacation until Aug. 2nd. I've reached game 40 and time froze for the '52 MLB'ers until I get back.

I wonder, though, if time travel works like in Avengers: Endgame, have I created an alternate branching timeline with all the different results I've seen? What's the name of this one? Earth-CubsWinBefore2016? Does Joe D. still marry Marilyn Monroe?

I had no idea OOTP had such power.
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Old 08-03-2019, 03:14 PM   #18
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June 2-8, 1952: I thought they were supposed to be bad

Week Results
Record: 2-6
0-1 vs Cleveland
1-2 vs White Sox
1-3 vs St. Louis
Total Record: 24-19 .558
2nd Place AL East

Mantle Performance Overview
Mantle won AL Player of the Week for the 2nd time this year and in his career. He hit .441/.474/.647 with 1 2B, 2 HRs, and 10 RBIs. His OPS was 1.121.

With a little more than a quarter of the season completed, he's hitting .311/.397/.563 with a .960 OPS. He hasn't hit as many doubles as he did in reality so far, but many of those balls that stayed in the park have gone over the wall with 12 HRs. He only has 4 2Bs so far. He leads the AL in RBIs with 47. Defensively in CF, he's been solid with a +2.8 ZR. His DEF could be a little better, though, at only .989. Maybe this reflects his inexperience at the position.

I read a biography on Mantle last week while I was on vacation. I learned many interesting things I hadn't previously known about the Commerce Comet. One is that he was named after his father's favorite player, Mickey Cochrane.

Team Performance Overview
One word: putrid. A very rough start to June. Both Cleveland and Chicago are talented teams, but losing 3 out of 4 to the Browns was embarrassing. The Browns are the worst team in the AL easily. It just seemed like the Yankee offense couldn't get that hit to put them over the top in any game. All three losses to the Browns were by 1-run. They would score early and then get shutout the rest of the game by the like of Stubby Overmire.

The one guy who's really hurting this offense right now is Yogi Berra. He's the reigning Babe Ruth Award winner from 1951 and hitting like Stubby Overmire this season. His slash line is .233/.320/.327 with a .646 OPS. That is ugly. I keep expecting him to turn it on, but a new month didn't make that happen. Gotta pick it up Yogi!

I saw Satchel Paige twice in relief during the Brown's series. At 45 years old, he completely owned the Yankees in his two appearances.

League Notes
Two more no-hitters were thrown on the same day. Since it's becoming as common as the sun rising, I'm not even going to detail who did it. That makes it 5 no-hitters already in the league this season, which is the most in any season during this replay. I kinda hope the no-hitters cool off for awhile now. I like it when they're special and not when everyone's throwing one.

Up Next
The Yankees hope to right the ship with 3 vs Detroit Tuesday through Thursday. They then head out on their 2nd Western Tour beginning with 4 vs Cleveland Friday through Sunday. Maybe Yogi will start hitting like we all know he can.
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Old 08-07-2019, 09:32 AM   #19
MightyVotto
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June 9-15, 1952: "So I'm ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face."

Week Results
Record: 6-1
2-1 vs Detroit
4-0 vs Cleveland
Total Record: 30-20 .600
1st place AL East

Mantle Performance Overview
After winning AL Player of the Week last week, Mr. Mantle dropped off a little this week. He hit .233/.343/.500 with a .843 OPS. He had 2 2Bs and 2 HRs while driving in 8. He regained the HR edge in the AL from Luke Easter 14 to 13, and he continues to have a solid lead in the RBI lead with 55. His season totals are .299/.389/.553 with a .942 OPS. His OPS+ is 149.

One thing that stuck with me after reading Mantle's biography is how much he was booed by Yankee fans throughout the first half of his career. The expectations he played under to live up to Joe Dimaggio's legacy were nearly impossible to meet. Many of the fans just didn't like him since he wasn't Dimaggio. Stengel also didn't help early in Mantle's career when he told the press that #7 was going to be the next Babe Ruth. The pressure didn't subside on Mantle until Maris joined the team and became the new focus of the fans' ire for threatening Ruth's HR record. Mantle became more the hero because he was a lifelong Yankee. They wanted him to break the record rather than some guy who came out of nowhere from a different team. It reminds me of how many of our great players today get booed or scrutinized negatively in the press for not meeting lofty expectations. Joey Votto was eviscerated by many people in Cincinnati for walking too much during the first half of his career. An earlier example in Cincy was Griffey, Jr. who got booed massively just for not being able to stay healthy. Maybe things don't change as much as we think.

Team Performance Overview
It was a much needed rebound week for the Yankees. They took 2-3 from Detroit and swept the Indians in Cleveland Stadium. This put them back in 1st place in the AL East 2 games up on the Red Sox. This was one of the best stretches of quality baseball they've played so far this season. Hitting, pitching, defense all were strong.

In my last entry, I mentioned how poorly Berra had been hitting all season and questioned if he could turn it around this week. Well, he most certainly did. He won AL Player of the Week by going .484/.543/.774 with a 1.317 OPS. He hit 2 HRs and drove in 6 runs. Maybe this means, how Yogi goes, so goes the Yankees.

The crazy No-Hitter affliction continued. Vic Raschi pitched his first career No-Hitter on Wednesday against the Tigers. This is the 6th no-no pitched this season, which is already a league record. It just isn't as exciting when you expect to see one each week.

Up Next
The Yankees continue their 2nd western tour of the season. They'll visit Detroit for three followed by a four-game series vs. the West Division leaders, Chicago.
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Old 08-07-2019, 02:12 PM   #20
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Nice series, I've been following along.

Man, that Detroit Tigers logo is awful. Was that really a real thing, and is that what OOTP uses for this time period? It needs to be burned and the ashes need to be scattered and buried.
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