Three-team NL race in 1903 replay by Scott Fennessy

by Scott Fennessy

Not much has changed over the month of June in the NL as it has become another case of the “Have’s” against the “Have not’s”. The Giants continue to dominate, and the Cubs their seemingly endless pursuit. The Pirates have come alive and are starting to enter the picture while the Reds hover at .500. The season is effectively over for everyone else.

New York Giants (38-21)
Similar to the 1905 replay the Giants seem destined to hold off the Cubs and Pirates while dominating everyone else. They have several players having solid seasons, but “The Duke” Roger Bresnahan is having a superb season, hitting .315 with 3 homers and 24 stolen bases, which for a catcher today is a career total.

The pitching is the best around, especially the lethal 1-2 punch of Christy Mathewson (15-4 2.79 ERA .81 WHIP). “Big 6” has a 5.44 hits per 9 innings, which is almost a full hit per inning over number two and almost 2 over the better hitters, and twice as good as the league average. As a hitter he is hitting .234.

Joe McGinnity may be number two for the Giants, but would be the ace for almost every other team. June was a month he will not forget for a while, and the rest of the league would like to forget. He 3 hit the Pirates, then followed that up with a 2 hitter against the Cubs. In his final start of the month he then took a no hitter into the 8th against the Cubs again before Frank Chance broke it up.

Leon Ames takes up the 3rd spot on the roster. Leon has been an interesting pitcher this year. Rated a BKYW he had a rough May where he struck out many hitters but walked a lot too, and lost several games due to his inability to keep runners off of first. He recovered nicely this month, and is still mowing down hitters at a record pace. In his final start this month he took the loss but struck out 14 for the 3rd time this year. We are only about half way through the season and with 161 strikeouts he only needs 75 more to tie Mathewsons SEASON record of 236. He is averaging 9.22 per game.

Sam Mertes had the big highlight this month, going 4-5 against the Cardinals.

Chicago Cubs (39-24)

The Cubs are playing solid ball, and while I expect them to finish third when the Pirates eventually play like their cards indicate they should, but they have gotten consistent hitting from almost all starters and while the pitching is not as good as Pittsburgh or New York, they have gotten a lot of mileage from their rotation.

The hitters may not have power, but they run like rabbits. Johnny Evers is hitting .300 with 32 steals, and Jimmy Slagle is also hitting .300 with 21 steals. Frank Chance is hitting .286 with 34 steals and his 34 walks lead the league. John McCarthy had his best game of the year going 4-5 with 4 RBI against the Phillies.

Jake Weimer leads the staff with a 15-5 record, a 3.39 ERA and a .94 WHIP. Bob Wicker has been a pleasant surprise going 13-8 with a 2.49 ERA and a .96 WHIP. John Taylor has had a so –so season, but pitched a 3 hitter against the Phillies on the recent road trip.

Pittsburgh Pirates (35-26)

The Pirates continue their run at the Cubs, but at present seem unable to catch their prey. They are a solid team that had a tough start but has recovered and can only hope their foes hit a rough patch so they can take advantage.

Ginger Beaumont is having another great season, hitting .311 and Honus Wagner is hitting .288 with 7 triples. Fred Clarke is not hitting for power like his card indicates he should, but with a .343 average it’s hard to complain. Fred Carish is hitting .277 with 5 HR from the bench. Claude Ritchey went 4-4 against the Braves two weeks ago.

Sam Leever 3 hit the Braves earlier in the month, and Deacon Phillippe tossed a two hitter against the Pirates. They are having fine seasons, but need a little more help to catch the Giants and Cubs.

Cincinnati Reds (29-28)

The Reds have played about as well as can be expected. They simply lack the horses to compete with the upper division, but have enough to keep the lower division at distance.

Joe Kelley is very valuable, playing multiple positions and hitting .312 with 17 steals. Jim Seymour is having another great season with a .310 average, 6HR and 13 steals. Leo Fohl is hitting .328 off the bench. If Mike Donlin hits like normal they may be able to make a push for third.

While the pitching is not spectacular it has been decent. John Suthoff is 11-8 with a 2.51 ERA, and while Bob Ewing is 10-9, he is hitting .273 and has helped himself several times.

Brooklyn Dodgers (29-30)

I am somewhat surprised the bums are not in last, but there is plenty of season left, and the bottom 3 are equally terrible. The Dodgers do however have a pretty solid 1-2 at the top of the order. Leadoff man Jimmy Sheckard is hitting .281 with 31 steals, and “Dirty Jack” Doyle is hitting .335 with 24 steals. Recently against the Braves he went 4-5 with 2 steals.

Hughie Hearne came off the bench against the Cardinals and had the game of his life, going 5-6 with two stolen bases. Henry Schmidt pitched a 3 hit beauty and the Dodgers stomped the lowly redbirds 7-1.

Boston Braves (23-39)

As usual the Braves are pretty awful. Only Fred Tenney stands out offensively, hitting .302, he is in the top ten in walks, OBP and doubles. Although hitting just .251, centerfielder Duff Cooley went 4-5 with a pair of doubles against the Cardinals who are the one team they look forward to playing.

Pitching has not been spectacular either, but John Malarkey has been among the leaders in many categories and a pleasant surprise considering Vic Willis’ lackluster year. Malarkey is 12-8 with a .255 ERA and shut down the Cardinals with a 3 hit shutout early in the month. Charles Pittinger tossed a one run, two hitter against the Reds recently, and because they are not doing well with the starters, Wiley Piatt (1 SV 2.44 ERA) and Walt Williams (2.72 ERA) have seen a lot of action and done surprisingly well for C’s.

St. Louis Cardinals (23-39)

This may be the worst Cardinal team I have ever played. Little or no offense and weak pitching. Only player-manager Pat Donovan is any good, hitting .332 with 17 steals. Recently John Dunleavy, who had been the team’s main pinch hitter was inserted into the lineup recently and has responded. He is the only other hitter on the roster above .250 with his .286 average. For the pitchers Stan Yerkes is 12-9.

Philadelphia Phillies (22-38)

Unlike most of the other bad teams this season the Phillies have hitting, and plenty of it. Unfortunately they have a weak staff and it shows.

Roy Thomas is hitting .290 with 18 steals and playing his usual stellar defense in center. William Kiester was originally on the bench because I had somehow thought he was a J-4 and he was not. Since getting into the lineup is hitting .341.

John Titus is hitting .296 and Billy Gleason .314. Thirdbaseman Harry Wolverton, healthy for the first time in his career is hitting .320 and among the leaders.

Secondbaseman Randy Hulswitt, who is really weak offensively, but the only true secondbaseman went 4-5 with 3 RBI vs the Pirates.

Bill Duggleby is only a C starter, but this month pitched 6.2 no hit innings against the Braves to set the record for a C starter. He later pitched a 1 hitter against the Cardinals that saw Roy Thomas go 4-5.

"Roger Bresnahan, St. Louis, NL (baseball) (LOC)" by The Library of Congress – originally posted to Flickr as [Roger Bresnahan, St. Louis, NL (baseball) (LOC)]. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.