The AL was kind of a unique experience for me. I was not really interested in it, but got kind of drawn in about the time June came around. Initially just for certain game match ups, but eventually for individual performers. I expected the Red Sox to win a pretty easy pennant, and the Sox did indeed run away with it. Except for one minor problem. It was the WHITE SOX that cruised to the flag. (Saying that still kinda hurts)
Final league standings
W L Pct GB
Chicago White Sox 112 28 .800
Boston Red Sox 93 47 .664 19
Detroit Tigers 77 63 .550 35
Washington Senators 76 64 .543 36
St Louis Browns 66 74 .471 46
Cleveland Indians 58 82 .414 54
New York Yankees 52 88 .371 60
Philadelphia A’s 26 114 .186 86
Chicago White Sox (112-28)
Just like my 1901 replay the Sox got off to a blistering start and never looked back. That team set the record for most wins in a season and it lasted until this team set the new record with an impressive 112 victories. They won their final 25 games to destroy any hope of Boston coming back.
This team was solid all around, and the hitting really punished pitching. Led by Eddie Collins (.341 5 HR 98 RBI) and had an impressive mastery of the strike zone with 111 walks and just 40 strikeouts. He also tore up the base paths with 77 stolen bases.
Joe Jackson (.327 5 HR 116 RBI 25 SB), Eddie Murphy (.301 36 SB), Jack Fournier (.335), Ray Schalk (.290),
George Weaver (.273 93 RBI) and John Collins (.284 42 SB) provided more than ample backup.
As solid as the hitting was, the pitching was significantly better. Arguably the best pitching I have seen.
I could make a case that ANY of the 5 starters was the ace of the staff, so I won’t call any of them that, but basically nobody could touch this staff. Jim Scott (18-3 1.78), Joe Benz (22-4 1.71), Red Faber (23-3 1.89) and he hit 8 homers despite hitting just .178! Ewell Russell (18-4 1.96), and Eddie Cicotte (14-4 2.63) were an unstoppable force for certain.
I tried hard to give sentimental favorite Ed Walsh (8-6 4 SV) a chance to be in the rotation, but he lost job in rotation but did hit .412. Mellie Wolfgang (8-2 6 SV 1.20) nailed down any late comebacks and was the bullpen ace.
Boston Red Sox (93-47)
It appears that the big problem with the Bosox is they had a lack of everyday starters. Chester Thomas (.292), Del Gainer (.297), Dick Hoblitzell (.298), Larry Gardner (.297), Hal Janvrin (.270) were all solid players, but only got to play platoon roles for some reason. Tris Speaker (.327 36 SB) however did NOT have to platoon. This young star always seemed to be at bat when the game was on the line and came through.
Ernie Shore (27-17 2.00) was the most dominating of the Boston trio of starters and had solid 247 strikeouts as well. George Foster (29-14 1.88) was a solid number three pitcher. But it was Babe Ruth Ruth (34-12 1.81) who the big wins seemed to fall to. Unfortunately, after this trio the rest of the staff was very ineffective and probably did the most damage to their pennant chase.
In addition to being good pitching, they all swung the bat well too. Foster hit .294 with a pair of homers, Mays hit .300 with a pair as well, but it was the bambino, even before he was the “Sultan of Swat” that did it all. The babe hit a dominating .357 and drove in 34 RBI. His 6 homers had him finish in the top 10 in the league. Sorry roiders when you can do this and win thirty then you can talk.
Detroit Tigers (77-63)
Detroit is a team on the rise it would seem. While they still have some weaknesses, they have a solid young core and if the pitching ever comes around it will be difficult for the AL teams to stop them. But for now, they are still a little bit short of what they need.
Ty Cobb finally had that breakout year I have been hoping for. He hit .378 with 4 homers, drove in 86 RBI and stole 83 bases on the way to his first MVP. Sam Crawford (.278 7 HR 101 RBI) had what is a down year for him, but still a solid year for anyone else. Young Bobby Veach (.327 8 HR 108) is someone I want to read up on, because in the few times I have seen his name it’s with seasons just like the fine one he had this year. He finished second in a very heated MVP ballot.
Marty Kavanagh (.279), Ralph Young (.270) and Ossie Vitt (.274) were part of the supporting case and
Ray McKee hit .304 in a part time role.
The pitching was good, but they need more arms to compete at this point. Harry Coveleski (13-7 1.97)
George Dauss (15-8) were the starters that held the team together, and George Boehler (2-2 24 SV 1.97) had one of the best seasons by a closer for me ever.
Washington Senators (76-64)
How the Senators didn’t finish last is still a surprise. They had almost no hitting and pitching. Also, they were one of the worst defensive teams of the year.
But things were not all bad. Joe Judge (.363) and Turner Barber (.283) were only able to play half the schedule. Chick Gandil (.295) was the teams leading hitter that played the whole season. Eddie Foster hit .279, and Clyde Milan was the team leader in homers with 3 and 41 stolen bases. That was not a typo. This team only had 7 homers and Milan had basically half of them. Very embarrassing for.
Walter Johnson (19-11 1.80) was the king of the staff and Bert Gallia (18-13 1.70) was a solid number two. Unfortunately, the rest of the staff was not much help.
St Louis Browns (66-74)
A weak pitching staff doomed this team to a bottom division finish. Thankfully for Brownie fans there was a little hitting to cheer on.
Ivan Howard (.311 46 SB) was the catalyst at the top of the order, allowing George Sisler (.309) and
Del Pratt (.297 29 SB) to drive in the runs. Jimmy Austin (.296) also chipped in his share.
Of the bad pitching staff only Carl Weilman (16-16 2.51) was usefull.
Cleveland Indians (58-82)
The tribe has some good players, but unfortunately this is another thin pitching staff that just couldn’t help out much. Led by Jay Kirke (.334 25 SB) and Ray Chapman (.281) the team appears to be on the rise hitting wise. Joe Evans (.271), Jack Graney (.282) and Robert Roth (.289) provided plenty of opportunities. Billy Southworth was a bit of a statistical anomaly. He hit 27 homers but only had 30 RBI and hit just .166.
Guy Morton (12-13 2.96) pitched much better than his numbers would indicate, but he was about it as far as starters go. Allan Collamore (5-1 2.09) and Oscar Harstad (6-4 2 SV) were awesome from the bullpen. Sad Sam Jones sets a new record with 30 saves.
New York Yankees (52-88)
It’s hard to believe the Yankees were only a few years from greatness, because this team is pretty devoid of talent. Team leader Wally Pipp (.274 7 HR) whom I am starting to really appreciate was the only true threat, but Roger Peckinpaugh (.230 9 HR 29 SB) was helpful at times. Fritz Maisel (.241 90 SB) struggled at times was very dangerous once he reached base.
Ray Fisher (14-18 2.24) deserved much better numbers than he got. He lost many games by one run and had the bullpen lose several games for him also.
Philadelphia A’s (26-114)
American League cellar, population A’s!!!!!!! So far this is the third season I have done in windows and the A’s have finished with the worst record in baseball every single time. Not just dead last, but SIGNIFICANTLY worse than everyone else. Not only did they break their previous record for most losses in a season they were the worst defensive team too. Oddly enough they set the record for most double plays turned in a season with 163.
There was not much to speak of on this team, but James Thompson (.318 26 SB) was the team star, although aging veteran Napoleon Lajoie (.265 5 HR) still had enough to make pitchers pay at times. Ruben Oldring (.211 9 HR) led the team in homers.
There was no pitcher worthy of mention as the team ERA was 6.84.
No Smoky Joe Wood appearances?
And did you use 3-man rotations? 4 was pretty much the norm by 1901.
Hello,
Wood was rated a J-4, and I won’t intentionally start a J-4. Unfortunately the computer didn’t stick him in as a reliever like I thought they would.
I tried to use 4 man rotations, and in some cases 5 depending on the J ratings and depth of the staff. In the Red Sox case I did use a 3 man rotation (Shore, Foster, Ruth) Dutch Leonard was a J-3 and I thought about using him as the 4th, but for reasons I no longer remember did not.
But I have had very bad luck with injuries in the windows version of the game, no matter how much I try to tweak the settings, and that probably played a large part in that decision.
Got it. Thanks Scott!
Scott,
Do you play the board version? and why do did you choose the early era? I been playing 1967, but for some odd reason, 1919 keeps calling? I first started playing APBA in the late 60’s, that is why I started the 1967 season. You thoughts?
PS: I am wrong for thinking about 1919
Hi Mike,
I do play the card and dice version and actually prefer it. I use windows to help speed up the process of other seasons that are what I would term “less interesting, but not boring” since it takes me about two years to complete a full replay on dice.
I broke into APBA at the start of the 80’s. My first season I played with some friends was the 78 season. I took a long time off and started back again about 6 years ago and wanted to go back as far as possible, and on the cards and dice it was 1901.
It was the very first time I ever completed a full season replay, and I instantly fell in love with the high average, aggressive baserunning of that era, and honestly prefer it over today’s game.
I am presently in the final 5 weeks of the 2015 season on cards, and will eventually provide this information for Tom to share with the community.
Regarding 1919 I am somewhat interested in that year. Just to see if the White Sox could win it all instead of throwing the series, should they get that far.