Reader Scott Fennessy is into May in his 1905 APBA baseball replay. He sends us a recap of a game pitched by two of baseball’s best hurlers. -Tom
by Scott Fennessy
Not ready for the total update yet as I am still in mid May, and will definitely have a full recap in about 2 weeks when I estimate I will be complete with that month. But this is a series for my 1905 replay that I have been anticipating since I opened the cards. So far it is May and the Cubs and Giants are battling for for the lead and I expect this to stay close all season. Cubs in front by about a game (don’t have my stats here at work) both are playing outstanding ball Cubs I think are 14-3 Giants think are 13-4. This is the first matchup for them this year. Game 1 starters in NY are for Chicago 3 finger Brown A(Z) vs Christy Mathewson A&B (YZ). This is a game that did not disappoint.
First inning Billy Maloney draws a harmless walk to open the game, but immediately steals second. two outs later moving to third on an infield single by Frank Chance both score on a Joe Tinker double. Tinker after a slow start is now on a 5 game hitting streak and the Cubs finish the inning up 2-0. “Turkey Mike” Donlin gets a hit and steals 2nd in the bottom of the inning but is stranded at second. This guy needs a monster monday card and I will try to get this to you, and he was a big favorite of mine in my 1901 replay too.
Cubs press the advantage in the second inning as Doc Casey leads off with a double, moves to third on a single by Brown, and Maloney walks again as Mathewson clearly does not have his good stuff today. Johnny Evers hits a sac fly and Casey scores and the inning ends with the cubbies on top 3-1. Giants go down 1-2-3 and the Cubs still lead 3-0.
Third inning and the cubs still continue to hit. Tinker gets his second straight double with one out and scores on a Frank Schulte Single.and Johnny Kling hits another single but the third base coach puts the hold sign and runners are now on the corner. Mathewson holds serve but the Cubs now lead 4-0. Bill Dahlen leads off the inning reaching on an error by Casey moves to third on a single by Mathewson, who is having a very good year at the plate. Mathewson steals second to the cheers of the NY faithful. Art Devlin drops a single into center and Dahlen scores. One out later Donlin delivers on another single and two more score and suddenly this is a game again. Chance visits the mound after George Browne walks and Mike Bowerman flies to Hofman in left and the inning ends Cubs still on top 4-3.
Mathewson finally stops the bleeding in the 4th, and although both teams get several runners on board Cubs miss a big chance in the 5th and one out the bags full and left them that way without scoring. The giants finally tie the game in the sixth on a Bowerman single an error by Evers, followed by an infield single by Dahlen. Evers, Tinker and Chance deliver on their patented double plays, but the lead run scores. Devlin flies out to Maloney in center and the inning ends with the score tied at 4.
The Cubs threaten again in the 6th but come up short again and the score is tied with two out in the 7th when Dan McGann hits a towering home run to left and the G-Men have taken the lead. The crowd is really getting their money’s worth today. Brown gets out of the inning but the score is now NY5-CHI4. (BOOOOO)
Mathewson who is clearly tiring but does not want to come out of the game takes the hill in the 8th and after striking out Brown surrenders a triple into the corner by Maloney, who then scores on a double into the gap by Evers and the Cubs come right back and tie the game. Manager John McGraw comes to the mound and settles “Big 6” who stops the rally cold and the cubs don’t see another batter reach base. The Giants come up short in the ninth and the now very vocal crowd gets bonus baseball. Unfortunately Mathewson who had retired 7 straight batters gives up a 2 out single to Maloney, his 3rd of the game, steals after a few pick off throws. Evers draws a walk and Hofman rips a single to right center scoring Maloney for the go ahead run. McGraw finally takes out Mathewson and Ames gets the final out of the inning.
Brown gets his first 1-2-3 inning since the 2nd and the Cubs hang on to win in one of the better games of the early season.
Two truly dominating pitchers who were bigger than the game itself. Mathewson’s story is quite unique:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Mathewson
Hi Tom,
Thanks for posting this for me. Big 6 is certainly living up to his name on both sides of the field. This was his first loss of the season, and he is really shutting people down on the hill.
As a a hitter he has a game winning homer and a stolen base thanks to this game’s results and without looking at the stats has to be over .275
Curious if you know if he is the only A&B starter APBA has ever run? I know it is the first I have seen.
Matty had 2.1 more K per 36 BF than the NL average and he only got a Y? Dang.
Out of curiousity, what are Ames’ grades for the Giants?
Thanks!
Hi Chris,
Ames is a B(X) APBA went crazy with the pitchers grades for the 05 replay. All but 2 teams have at least 1 The Cubs and White Sox got 4. The best strikeout pitcher is probably Rube Waddell for the A’s with an A&C(XZ)rating.
Using 3 man staffs not a single team has to use a D rating and if I remember right only 1 or 2 C starters. Hardly any D’s in general. Most of my team BA’s are in the 230’s right now.
I have seen other A&B pitchers in the past. APBA has given the rating to Walter Johnson, Joe McGinnity & Jack Chesbro. I can’t remember the years for each card off tee top of my head.
Shawn:)
Hi Shawn,
Thanks for the info. I have mostly played in post 1970 seasons. I would imagine Chesbro’s A&B was from when won 41 games.
Do you have any other dead ball era seasons you really enjoyed? once I finish this year I will either be doing 03 or 06 but am curious about other “old time” seasons.
Scott,
Thanks for the reply:) I have never played a complete season replay. My Dad &I would always split the cards up & do a blind draft into usually 8 or 12 teams. I would love to do a replay at some point. I have always played dice & cards. Right now, i’m playing a 60s&70s era tourney with 8 teams that I drafted blindly. I have always enjoyed playing with deadball era players:) I love Mathewson& Three-Finger, 2 greats! I believe Smokey Joe Wood had an A&B rating for 1912.
I look forward to seeing how 1905 plays out, as a passionate cubs fan, I hope they knock off NY Giants!;-)
Shawn:)
Well my understanding in card creation has always been that the batter grades are based on actual rates. For example, 1905 NL cards (.255 league BA) would have fewer hit chances on them than 1927 NL cards (.282 league BA).
HOWEVER, when you think about, all the pitcher grades do is basically *modify* those numbers, so they should be based on rates *relative to league average*, not actual rates. So you should still a fairly even distribution of A, B, C, and D grades regardless of which season you are playing with. And ditto for a distribution of the walk and strikeout grades as well…
Looking at the 39 NL pitchers who qualified for the ERA title, I see that 22 of them had an ERA better than the league average. So… 8 NL teams multiplied by the 3-man rotations you are using… that’s 24. I’m not really surprised that you’re not seeing a lot of C and D pitchers.
Similar in the AL, where 20 of the 34 qualifiers were better than league average. Again, based on that, not too surprising that you would see mostly A and B guys.
So thanks for the scoop. I was gonna’ take 1905 off my “wish list” but once I saw that they *did* give Ames an X, I’m kind of back on board! ;-)
Seeing Matty’s ERA of 1.28 relative to a league average of 2.99 – that’s a huge difference. An A&B grade doesn’t seem so crazy to me. His ERA+ rating of 230 is 11th best in baseball history. And Waddell’s 179 is 99th all-time.
Ed Reulbach is also up there. His 1905 ERA+ of 209 is 28th best all time. Wouldn’t be surprised if he got an A&C or even an A&B either, I suppose.
This is my idea of lunch break fun… I’m sick…
Chris,
Thanks for the information. I am still new to trying to use BR for information and information you provided which was helpful.
To answer your question Reulbach was in fact an A&C (Z) “Doc” White of the W. Sox is also an A&C (Z).
I just wrapped up game two and submitted to Tom, so be ready for the info on the finale to this 2 game set.
Shawn is correct. Smokey Joe Woood was an A&B with the 1912 Red Sox with his 34-5 record.