[Marmel]

1926

April

The AL wide open for every team. Last place is only 3 games back after 1 month. Threww teams share first place with records of 15-13. Cleveland, New York and Washington. In the NL, the Pirates had a hot start, winning their first nine games and taking first place with a 20-8 record. The Giants are just 2 back and the Dallas Braves are 4 back.

On April 10, Cincinnati’s Lefty Tyler threw a no-hitter in a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. He struck out 7 and walked 2.

On April 30, St. Louis’ Dave Davenport threw a no-hitter in a 2-0 victory over the Cubs. In the game, Davenport struck out 8 and walked 2.

May

Six teams are within 2 games of first place in the AL. The Philadelphia A’s lead with a 31-25 victory. The LA Waves are in second, just 1 game back, and 4 other teams are 2 back. In the NL, the New York Giants have a 5 game lead over the Cardinals. Pittsburgh has gone from 1st place to 6 back and in third place.

On May 30, the Highlander’s Tim McCabe threw a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the San Francisco Westerners. McCabe struck out 5 and walked four.

June

The Philadelphia A’s have opened up a 5 game lead in the AL with a 47-34 record. In second place are three teams: Cleveland, LA, and San Francisco. In the NL, The Giants are 7 games up on the Pirates. Babe Ruth has never been on a division winning team…could this be his year?

The AL won the All-Star game 1-0 in 12 innings. King Lear was named MVP for pitching 2 perfect innings and earning the Win.

July

The A’s are still in first, but they have been struggling and the LA Waves are now just 1 game back. Also in the picture are the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Westerners, both 3 back. In the NL, New York holds a comfy 9 game lead.

On July 27, the Naps’ Lefty Stewart threw a no-hitter in a 1-0 victory over the Waves. He struck out 8 and walked 5.

August

The A’s are still in first place. They are 76-60, just 3 games better than LA. In the NL, the Giants lost 9 of 10 in August and are now only 3 games up on the Pirates. Should be a good finish in both leagues.

On August 2, the Waves get no-hit once again. This time, Detroit’s Al Yeargin strikes out 2 and walks 3 in the 10-0 victory.

September 3, 1926

For the 3rd time this season, the Waves get no-hit! This time it is San Francisco’s Claude Hendrix who struck out 9 and walked 3 in the 6-0 victory.

September 20, 1926

Another no-hitter. The Giants’ Katsy Keifer throws it in a 1-0 victory over the Reds. He struck out 9 and walked just 2 batter. Meanwhile, neither second place team has been able to get closer than 3 games back.

September 23, 1926

The Philadelphia A’s clinch the AL. The Giants are 4 games up.

September 27, 1926

The New York Giants clinch the NL and Babe Ruth will make his first Series appearance.




1926 Final Standings


AL Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division
Philadelphia (A) 94 68 .580 -- .239 2.90
Boston 85 77 .525 9 .236 3.29
Los Angeles 84 78 .519 10 .225 2.67
San Francisco 84 78 .519 10 .224 3.07
Detroit 83 79 .512 11 .236 3.33
Cleveland 75 87 .463 19 .236 3.68
New York (A) 73 89 .451 21 .239 3.99
Washington 70 92 .432 24 .229 3.28
NL Standings :
(Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA)
Division
New York (N) 90 72 .556 -- .246 3.11
Pittsburgh 89 73 .549 1 .224 3.23
St. Louis 85 77 .525 5 .230 2.58
Philadelphia (N) 82 80 .506 8 .224 2.80
Chicago 79 83 .488 11 .223 3.25
Cincinnati 77 85 .475 13 .223 3.19
Brooklyn 75 87 .463 15 .224 3.30
Dallas 71 91 .438 19 .212 3.29





1926 Statistical Leaders


TOP 5 in BATTING AVG :
.330 Charlie Grimm(NY1,NL)
.288 Jim Curry(CLE,AL)
.286 Beauty Mcgowan(PHA)
.285 Spencer Adams(NY1,NL)
.285 Dick Burrus(NYA)
TOP 5 in HOMERUNS :
37 Merito Acosta( CHN,NL)
33 Babe Ruth(NY1,NL)
32 Frank Snyder(CIN,NL)
30 Ken Williams(SF,AL)
29 Aaron Ward(SLN,NL)
TOP 5 in RBI :
114 Merito Acosta( CHN,NL)
101 Wally Pipp(PHA,AL)
92 Aaron Ward(SLN,NL)
90 Earl Sheely(CLE,AL)
87 Babe Ruth(NY1,NL)
TOP 5 in ERA :
1.81 Bob Shawkey(PHI,NL)
1.93 Colonel Snover(LA)
1.93 Pol Perritt(LA,AL)
2.04 Joe Engel(SLN)
2.15 Jim Park(DET)
TOP 5 in WINS :
25 Bob Shawkey(PHI,NL)
25 Cactus Keck(PHA)
23 Lee Meadows(DET,AL)
23 Hugh Mcquillan( PIT,NL)
22 Pete Schneider(CHN,NL)
TOP 5 in SAVES :
12 Jakie May(NY1,NL)
11 Chet Hoff( SF)
8 Bernie Boland(PHI)
8 Fred Sherry(PIT,NL)
7 Dave Black( BOS)



World Series

The Series opens in New York, but it is the A’s who win both games and take the 2-0 lead.

The A’s take game 3 to go up 3-0, but the Giants storm back and take games 4 and 5 in Philadelphia to send the Series back to New York. Philly leads 3-2.

The Giants win game 6, 6-3 to set up an improbable game 7.

Both teams score once in the first inning, and the game remains tied at one until the 5th. In the top of the fifth, the A’s get one run across and go up 2-1.

Two more in the 6th and 1 in the top of the 8th put the A’s up 5-1, but the Giants come back in the bottom of the 8th with 3 runs to make it 5-4 heading to the 9th inning.

The Giants give up 5 in the top of the 9th, and the A’s are your 1926 World Champions!

Champion Review

Cactus Keck was the pitching leader for the A’s this season. He compiled a 25-11 record with a 2.32 ERA. Louise Druckle won 19 games with a 3.59 ERA, and Hank Thomahlen had 14 wins and a2.77 ERA.

Wally Pipp was the offensive leader for the A’s, batting .269 and hitting 26 homeruns with 101 RBI. SS Harry Heilmann hit .252 with 20 homeruns. SS Jackie Tavener hit .264 with 17 homeruns.

(Yet Unnamed) Best Batter Award

AL: 1B Wally Pipp, PHA, (590 AB, .269 AVG, 26 HR, 101 RBI, 74 R, 159 Hits, .813 OPS)
NL: RF Merito Acosta, CHN, (554 AB, .256 AVG, 37 HR, 114 RBI, 92 R, 142 Hits, .898 OPS)




Cy Young Award

AL: Cactus Keck, PHA, (Record: 25-11, 2.32 ERA, 345.1IP, 155 Ks, 56 BB)
NL: Bob Shawkey, PHI, (Record: 25-10, 1.81 ERA, 332.2IP, 245 Ks, 103 BB) - Shawkey wins his second consecutive Cy young




Rookie of the Year Award

AL: RF Paul Waner, BOS, (427 AB, .237 AVG, 6 HR, 55 RBI, 51 R, 101 Hits, .682 OPS)
NL: 1B Babe Herman, DAL, (592 AB, .215 AVG, 7 HR, 60 RBI, 65 R, 127 Hits, .602 OPS)



1926-1927 Offseason

Retirees:

Jim Baskette retires ...
Ed Appleton retires ...
Jesse Barnes retires ...
Hal Janvrin retires ...
Jimmy Johnston retires ...
Walter Johnson retires ...
He will be in the Hall Of Fame!
Duffy Lewis retires ...
Jewel Ens retires ...
Charlie Mullen retires ...
Marty Herrmann retires ...
Dixie Walker retires ...
He will be in the Hall Of Fame!
Walt Kinney retires ...
Dick Cotter retires ...
Roy Golden retires ...
Grover Hartley retires ...
Jack Fournier retires ...
Rabbit Maranville retires ...
Doc Cook retires ...
Eddie Murphy retires ...
Oscar Harstad retires ...
Jim Neher retires ...
Ty Helfrich retires ...
Zip Collins retires ...
George Smith retires ...
Nemo Leibold retires ...
Harley Dillinger retires ...
Milt Stock retires ...
Paul Strand retires ...
Bill Morrisette retires ...
Erv Kantlehner retires ...
Erv Lange retires ...
Irish Meusel retires ...
Mike Prendergast retires ...
Jack Roche retires ...
George Twombly retires ...
Ted Welch retires ...
Dan Woodman retires ...
Clarence Woods retires ...
BOS: Buck Freeman retires ...
BOS: Fred Johnson retires ...
CLE: Hal Carlson retires ...
CLE: Bugs Reisigl retires ...
DET: Grover Gilmore retires ...
DET: Jack Farmer retires ...
NYA: Shovel Hodge retires ...
PHA: Yam Yaryan retires ...
LA: Fred Graff retires ...
WS1: Charlie Jamieson retires ...
DAL: Joe Bush retires ...
DAL: Tex Mcdonald retires ...
DAL: Johnny Butler retires ...
BRO: Blaine Thomas retires ...
BRO: Dixie Carroll retires ...
BRO: Hank Severeid retires ...
BRO: Dutch Wetzel retires ...
CHN: Fred Mcmullin retires ...
CHN: Jim Viox retires ...
CIN: Carl Cashion retires ...
CIN: George Kaiserling retires ...
NY1: Dick Robertson retires ...
PHI: Ray Chapman retires ...
PHI: Jim Scott retires ...





League Outlook

It has been decided that the New York Highlanders can no longer compete in the city with the powerful giants team. The Highlander’s market has fallen to ‘tiny’, while the Giants are huge. Atlanta is a hotbed of baseball, and will be given a second chance at having a MLB team. The team is now the Atlanta Black Birds.

Long overdue is the Renaming of the Best Batter Award. Starting 1927, it will now be known as the Ty Cobb Award in honor of the Hall of Famer!

Also, the Rookie of the Year Award will be renamed as the Bob Meusel Award, in honor of the 1921 Rookie of the Year Award winner, who also went on to win the Best Batter Award in the same year. Bob is still playing with his original team, the New York Giants.

Free Agency, of Note

After winning a Championship, Best Batter Award winner, Wally Pipp (6-5-6) signs on with the Detroit Tigers for 3 years.

The Atlanta Black Bird make a quick dive into the FA market and pick up 2B Riggs Stephenson (7-3-6) for 4 years.

Atlanta also signs RF Jack Tobin (6-6-6) to a 3 year deal.

Elmer Smith (6-5-8) will be the new centerfielder for the LA Waves.

The Cardinals sign star SP Pol Perritt (9/8/8) to a 6 year deal.

Atlanta continues to sign big names. 3 time Cy Young winner SP Jim Park (10-9-7) signs on for 4 years.

Brooklyn inks 2B Johnny “Bananas” Mostil (8-4-8) to a 4 year contract.

Amateur Draft


Here is how the entire first round played out:

Washington pick: P Rufus Smith
Dallas pick: P Fred Frankhouse
Atlanta pick: CF Sam West
Brooklyn pick: P Jim Wright
Cleveland pick: P Augie Walsh
Cincinnati pick: P Hal Mckain
Chicago pick: P Ben Cantwell
Philadelphia (N) pick: P Russ Miller
Detroit pick: SS Red Kress
San Francisco pick: P Dick Coffman
Los Angeles pick: P Paul Hopkins
Boston pick: CF Fred Schulte
St. Louis pick: P Josh Billings
Pittsburgh pick: P John Wilson
New York (N) pick: P Hod Lisenbee
Philadelphia (A) pick: RF Ernie Orsatti