Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Chaos on the Cathedrals of Green-An OOTP 2006 Dynasty

BYU 14 · 06-13-2006, 12:49 AM

Pre-Season
As the 1902 Season drew near DW Griffith decided it was time to strike and encouraged his owners to pursue Players from the two Eastern Major Leagues. Following his directive PCL owners flooded players from the AL and NL with telegrams. The ploy was designed to place the PCL on equal footing and force their inclusion into the competition for the title of top Baseball League in America. The only problem was many established players still regarded the PCL as a bush league and were reluctant to bite. The PCL did steal some players of note but no top names as hoped. Perhaps the biggest coup was 21 year old Davy Jones. Set to be a Rookie with the Tigers, who had purchased him from El Paso, Jones spurned Detroit to play close to home, leaving Tiger owner Frank Lavin fuming! Signing with Vernon Jones took the PCL by storm hitting .397!

One fairly big name that made the jump was Kip Selbach, the 32 year old veteran bailed out on his contract with the Giants after starting every game in 1901 and hitting .281. A career .316 hitter, Selbach stroked PCL pitching to the tune of .383 joining Jones on the Vernon Tiger squad. Apart from this it was fringe players (Mike Grady, Al Maul, Heinie Pietz) or those past their prime (Duke Farrell, Gus Weyhing) that also chose to sign. Weyhing in particular is a notable example. A 309 game winner over his career in the majors, Gus, now 36 had actually been released by Cleveland after going 12-14 3.32 in 1901. It was clear his best years were behind him as he turned in a 10-15 4.89 performance for the Los Angeles Angles in 1902, hardly the type of effort a Major League Team would miss.

The biggest shock of the off-season however came when some NL and AL teams signed PCL players! Harry Felix in particular set the NL on its Ear going 21-13 and leading the circuit in ERA with a stellar 1.84. Still, the transaction that surpassed all others in this area was the signing of 36 year old George Stovey from Portland by the Chicago Orphans. Other NL owners were furious that the color line had been broken and demand an explanation from the Wrigley family. The explanation they got was that it was rumored that the aging Stovey had a dead arm after his dominating performance with Portland in 1901. The reasoning was, if true, a poor performance would discredit both the PCL and the idea that the color line should be removed permanently from the big Leagues. Though skeptical, the others relented. Stovey for his part did not uphold the bargain. Though used sparingly in only 16 relief appearances, George still went 6-3 with 4 saves and a 2.18 ERA. Not really the type of performance to lend credence to the NL owners underhanded plot. Coupled with Felix’ performance, by the end of the year both arguments, in fact, were pretty much dashed. Ban Johnson, a fair and just Man, and one sick of dealing with corruption and exclusion found out the reasoning behind Stovey’s signing and encouraged AL owners to erase the color line for good.

Regular Season
In the NL race the Pirates repeated by 5 games over Cincinnati, finishing 17-5 the final Month of the Season to wrap it up after going a combined 25-28 in July and August. Once again Jesse Tannehill led the way going 30-9 2.16, carrying the Team on his back down the stretch. Happy Jack Chesbro chipped in a 23-15 2.63 campaign, but no other Pirate Starter hit double figures. The worst of it came in June when Rube Waddell, 9-2 with a 2.08 ERA and leading the League in K’s at the time ruptured his triceps muscle in the 4th inning against St Louis. Waddell was lost not only for the Season, but may not be back until July of 1903, if ever. The lineup did not have the pop of 1901 either, with only Ginger Beaumont (.333) hitting over .300. Cincinnati led at various times of the year behind Fireballing Noodles Hahn 21-17 2.54 233 K. The true strength of the Reds though were their bats with Home Run king Sam Crawford .320 14 67 leading the way. John Dobbs .301, 41 steals and SS George Magoon whose .319 Season was 54 points above his career average also were threats. The Phillies boasted two 20 game winners (Felix and Doc White) and the lethal trio of Elmer Flick .318, Ed Delahanty .305 and George Browne .300, but didn’t have enough depth to overtake the Pirates or Reds.

In the AL things couldn’t have been anymore exciting as Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia ended the year tied at 77-63. A three day round robin was scheduled and Boston beat both teams to secure their second straight pennant. After a 5-2 win over Baltimore in the first game, Win Kellum out dueled Philly ace Eddie Plank in a thrilling 1-0 contest to clinch it. Besides Kellum who finished the year 19-12 2.62, the Americans also had George Winter 18-10 2.42, Nig Cuppy 16-17 2.99 and the ageless Cy Young 15-8 2.59 in double figures. Kennedy’s crew had no big bats on Offense, but LF Patsy Dougherty .290, CF Chick Stahl .284 and C Ossee Schreckengost .282 were all adequate. Philly worked their way into the end of Season playoff behind a potent attack featuring Nap Lajoie .340 5 74, Matty Mcintyre .334 3 64 and Danny Murphy .327. Socks Seybold again knocked in over 100 runs and hit .305 as well. The Achilles heel was pitching as after Plank 23-8 2.10, the remaining starters were 41-41 with an ERA of nearly 3.5. Baltimore relied on the Iron Man trio of Harry Howell 22-13 3.60, Ed Poole 22-18 3.00 and Dummy Taylor 20-19 3.38 as each piled up 325 innings pitched or more. The O’s also have arguably the most exciting young player in the Game in Mike Donlin .352 11 105, plus 38 steals. With four other regulars over .300 the Orioles are potent as their .277 Team averages shows. Their Team ERA however was 3.34, only last place Washington was worse.

The PCL saw a rapid descent from glory as Portland tumbled to 3rd, seven games behind the pennant winning Bee’s, who were led by 23-13 Steve Learmonth. The second best offense in the slugging PCL had five starters over .300 led by PCL batting Champ Clarenc Williams (.417), signed from Portland in the off-Season. Former Major Leaguer Duke Farrell, thought to be washed up at 37, responded with a .370 mark and 92 runs scored in his PCL debut. Vernon scored a coup stealing Davy Jones from Detroit and luring Kip Selbach from the Giants. Both men tore up the PCL hitting .397 and .383 respectively in the thin air against the mediocre pitching. Selbach also added 46 steals showing he has lost no spring in his step. Last years Champ Portland could not make up for losing Stovey and Williams. Sol White hit .388 and Grant Johnson hit .380 to go with another solid Season from Rube Foster 23-9 2.85 but it was not enough to offset the losses. Another factor was William Malone being hurt off and on through the year, though most Pitchers would still take his 19-6 2.47 numbers.

Notes
No Hall of Fame inductees

Baltimore AL Franchise moves to New York after the Season

06-13-2006, 12:49 AM	#9
BYU 14 Coordinator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The scorched Desert	1902 Summary Pre-Season As the 1902 Season drew near DW Griffith decided it was time to strike and encouraged his owners to pursue Players from the two Eastern Major Leagues. Following his directive PCL owners flooded players from the AL and NL with telegrams. The ploy was designed to place the PCL on equal footing and force their inclusion into the competition for the title of top Baseball League in America. The only problem was many established players still regarded the PCL as a bush league and were reluctant to bite. The PCL did steal some players of note but no top names as hoped. Perhaps the biggest coup was 21 year old Davy Jones. Set to be a Rookie with the Tigers, who had purchased him from El Paso, Jones spurned Detroit to play close to home, leaving Tiger owner Frank Lavin fuming! Signing with Vernon Jones took the PCL by storm hitting .397! One fairly big name that made the jump was Kip Selbach, the 32 year old veteran bailed out on his contract with the Giants after starting every game in 1901 and hitting .281. A career .316 hitter, Selbach stroked PCL pitching to the tune of .383 joining Jones on the Vernon Tiger squad. Apart from this it was fringe players (Mike Grady, Al Maul, Heinie Pietz) or those past their prime (Duke Farrell, Gus Weyhing) that also chose to sign. Weyhing in particular is a notable example. A 309 game winner over his career in the majors, Gus, now 36 had actually been released by Cleveland after going 12-14 3.32 in 1901. It was clear his best years were behind him as he turned in a 10-15 4.89 performance for the Los Angeles Angles in 1902, hardly the type of effort a Major League Team would miss. The biggest shock of the off-season however came when some NL and AL teams signed PCL players! Harry Felix in particular set the NL on its Ear going 21-13 and leading the circuit in ERA with a stellar 1.84. Still, the transaction that surpassed all others in this area was the signing of 36 year old George Stovey from Portland by the Chicago Orphans. Other NL owners were furious that the color line had been broken and demand an explanation from the Wrigley family. The explanation they got was that it was rumored that the aging Stovey had a dead arm after his dominating performance with Portland in 1901. The reasoning was, if true, a poor performance would discredit both the PCL and the idea that the color line should be removed permanently from the big Leagues. Though skeptical, the others relented. Stovey for his part did not uphold the bargain. Though used sparingly in only 16 relief appearances, George still went 6-3 with 4 saves and a 2.18 ERA. Not really the type of performance to lend credence to the NL owners underhanded plot. Coupled with Felix’ performance, by the end of the year both arguments, in fact, were pretty much dashed. Ban Johnson, a fair and just Man, and one sick of dealing with corruption and exclusion found out the reasoning behind Stovey’s signing and encouraged AL owners to erase the color line for good. Regular Season In the NL race the Pirates repeated by 5 games over Cincinnati, finishing 17-5 the final Month of the Season to wrap it up after going a combined 25-28 in July and August. Once again Jesse Tannehill led the way going 30-9 2.16, carrying the Team on his back down the stretch. Happy Jack Chesbro chipped in a 23-15 2.63 campaign, but no other Pirate Starter hit double figures. The worst of it came in June when Rube Waddell, 9-2 with a 2.08 ERA and leading the League in K’s at the time ruptured his triceps muscle in the 4th inning against St Louis. Waddell was lost not only for the Season, but may not be back until July of 1903, if ever. The lineup did not have the pop of 1901 either, with only Ginger Beaumont (.333) hitting over .300. Cincinnati led at various times of the year behind Fireballing Noodles Hahn 21-17 2.54 233 K. The true strength of the Reds though were their bats with Home Run king Sam Crawford .320 14 67 leading the way. John Dobbs .301, 41 steals and SS George Magoon whose .319 Season was 54 points above his career average also were threats. The Phillies boasted two 20 game winners (Felix and Doc White) and the lethal trio of Elmer Flick .318, Ed Delahanty .305 and George Browne .300, but didn’t have enough depth to overtake the Pirates or Reds. In the AL things couldn’t have been anymore exciting as Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia ended the year tied at 77-63. A three day round robin was scheduled and Boston beat both teams to secure their second straight pennant. After a 5-2 win over Baltimore in the first game, Win Kellum out dueled Philly ace Eddie Plank in a thrilling 1-0 contest to clinch it. Besides Kellum who finished the year 19-12 2.62, the Americans also had George Winter 18-10 2.42, Nig Cuppy 16-17 2.99 and the ageless Cy Young 15-8 2.59 in double figures. Kennedy’s crew had no big bats on Offense, but LF Patsy Dougherty .290, CF Chick Stahl .284 and C Ossee Schreckengost .282 were all adequate. Philly worked their way into the end of Season playoff behind a potent attack featuring Nap Lajoie .340 5 74, Matty Mcintyre .334 3 64 and Danny Murphy .327. Socks Seybold again knocked in over 100 runs and hit .305 as well. The Achilles heel was pitching as after Plank 23-8 2.10, the remaining starters were 41-41 with an ERA of nearly 3.5. Baltimore relied on the Iron Man trio of Harry Howell 22-13 3.60, Ed Poole 22-18 3.00 and Dummy Taylor 20-19 3.38 as each piled up 325 innings pitched or more. The O’s also have arguably the most exciting young player in the Game in Mike Donlin .352 11 105, plus 38 steals. With four other regulars over .300 the Orioles are potent as their .277 Team averages shows. Their Team ERA however was 3.34, only last place Washington was worse. The PCL saw a rapid descent from glory as Portland tumbled to 3rd, seven games behind the pennant winning Bee’s, who were led by 23-13 Steve Learmonth. The second best offense in the slugging PCL had five starters over .300 led by PCL batting Champ Clarenc Williams (.417), signed from Portland in the off-Season. Former Major Leaguer Duke Farrell, thought to be washed up at 37, responded with a .370 mark and 92 runs scored in his PCL debut. Vernon scored a coup stealing Davy Jones from Detroit and luring Kip Selbach from the Giants. Both men tore up the PCL hitting .397 and .383 respectively in the thin air against the mediocre pitching. Selbach also added 46 steals showing he has lost no spring in his step. Last years Champ Portland could not make up for losing Stovey and Williams. Sol White hit .388 and Grant Johnson hit .380 to go with another solid Season from Rube Foster 23-9 2.85 but it was not enough to offset the losses. Another factor was William Malone being hurt off and on through the year, though most Pitchers would still take his 19-6 2.47 numbers. Notes No Hall of Fame inductees Baltimore AL Franchise moves to New York after the Season Last edited by BYU 14 : 06-13-2006 at 01:19 AM.