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Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
I won't be mentioning every detail of free agent signings in this diary. I will mention trades only if they're integral to the plot (if the guy will start, or a starter is traded, you'll know). I also don't intend to dwell on game by game details, and will only mention extensions or arbitration if a player is integral to the plot of the diary. Just wanted to be upfront with you guys, I want this to be fun for me, and dwelling on minutiae boggs me down.
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseb...l_Crawford.jpg
February 1901
Hey, my name's Jonathan Sanders, and I've taken over the Detroit Tigers! We’re playing in the American League this year, and should be bringing our fans a seriously competitive baseball team. We're in the same league now with the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Americans, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Blues, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Philadelphia Athletics and the Washington Senators. That's a lot of steep competition, but I plan to do my damnedest to keep the team as competive as any other in this league. So if you're ready, join us this April as we take Detroit baseball to the next level.
April 1, 1901
Here's our opening day lineup:
Batting
1 - Kid Elberfield (SS, 73/76) - 25, 5th Season
2 - Kid Gleason (2B, 75) - 34, 15th Season
3 - Jimmy Barrett (CF, 79) - 26, 4th Season
4 - Davey Crockett (1B, 65) - 25, Rookie
5 - Ducky Holmes (LF, 71) - 32, 8th Season
6 - Sport McAlister (RF, 74) - 26, 7th Season
7 - Doc Casey (3B, 68) - 31, 5th Season
8 - Al Shaw (C, 69/74) - 26, Rookie
B1 - Fritz Buelow (C, 68/70) - 25, Rookie
B2 - Harry Lochhead (SS, 74/75) - 25, 4th Season
B3 - Doc Nance (LF, 70/71) - 24, 6th Season
B4 - Emil Frisk (RF, 66) - 26, Rookie
B5 - Jack Burns (2B, 62/81) - 20, Rookie
B6 - Pop Dillon (1B, 63) - 27, 4th Season
Pitching
1 - Ed Siever (82/86) - 23, Rookie
2 - Jack Cronin (78/79) - 26, 8th Season
3 - Roscoe Miller (77/82) - 24, Rookie
4 - George Mullin (82/90) - 20, Rookie
Mopup - Frank Owen (79/82) - 21, Rookie
Closer - Ed High (69) - 27, Rookie
Setup - Frosty Thomas (67/74) - 19, Rookie
Short - John Eubank (73/79) - 28, Rookie
Short - George Disch (70/79) - 22, Rookie
Middle - Bugs Raymond (77/87) - 19, Rookie
Long - George Suggs (77/87) - 18, Rookie
May 1, 1901
After a month, we're off to a 15-13 start, pretty much in the middle of the pack. We're only six games behind league-leading Baltimore (21-7) and our .248 batting average is right up there with the best of the league. But our 3.27 team ERA is right in the middle of the pack -- it's pitching that's going to make or break us this season, it would appear.
Davey Crockett, at 1B, has led us with a .304 batting average, getting 31 hits in his 102 at bats so far, batting in 20 runs and making eight doubles and blasting six homers. Pop Dillon's been strong off the bench, getting 17 hits in 36 at bats (.472) and batting in eight runs. And Fritz Buelow has hit .417, but he's only had 12 at bats. So getting five hits doesn't seem particularly spectacular (though he already has two doubles and an RBI).
Jack Cronin's off to a 3-5 start with a 2.96 ERA after nine starts. He's struck out 34 batters in 70 innings, and will move to the first spot in the rotation. Meanwhile we've got Roscoe Miller with a 5-2 start in nine appearances, with a 3.36 ERA and 36 K's in 67 innings. He's moving to the second spot. And moving up from a mopup role will be Frank Owen, who takes over the third spot thanks to a 3-1 start in four started games. His 2.08 ERA leads the team, and he's struck out 12 batters in 34.2 innings. Switching to a three-man rotation, we're hoping to take some pressure off our relatively weak bullpen by putting these guys up to start more often.
June 1, 1901
Summer's heating up, and so are our Tigers! We're now 31-25, and have moved to third in the American League, behind Cleveland (33-23) and Baltimore (34-22)! Our team batting average is up to .276, the best in the majors, though our team ERA has fallen to 3.79, ranked third in the AL -- though fifth in the majors. So not as bad as it might look.
Doc Nance (LF) now leads our batters, with a .361 average, with 28 runs and another 44 batted in! He's hit nine doubles and six homers, good for a .548 slugging average. Davey Crockett continues to have a solid rookie year as well, hitting .302 with 15 doubles, six homers and 53 RBIs. And our leadoff batter, Jimmy Barrett, has a .330 average, 46 runs, 20 RBIs and 11 doubles (he's been walked 28 times, which is quite high for a leadoff batter). Jack Cronin, meanwhile, now has a 7-6 record and 3.41 ERA, compared to Roscoe Miller's 9-7 record and 4.67 ERA in the second spot, a solid rookie record. Owen Frank's having a great rookie year as well, with a 7-4 record and 3.12 ERA in 95 innings.
July 1, 1901
At 42-40, we're now tied for third (and listed fourth) in the AL, nine games back of Baltimore (51-31). Doc Nance continues to lead all batters (.327, 8 HRs, 65 RBIs) and he'll move from third to fourth, after starting the season on the bench -- something that says a lot for his dedication to the team's success. Jack Cronin's 8-7 with a 3.65 ERA, Frank Owen's off to a similar 8-7 (3.49 ERA) start, and Roscoe Miller's 11-11 with a 4.87 ERA and team-high 66 K's. But also notable has been the play of John Eubank, our 28-year-old rookie closer, who has pitched in 19 games to earn a 2-2 record, 4.19 ERA and 10 saves in 11 tries.
Meanwhile, we've made a big minor-league trade, sending pitchers Rube Kisinger, Ed Fisher, John Deering, Wish Egan, Elijah Jones and Art Loudell to Baltimore, for Tex Neuer, a 23-year-old rookie with a five-year career minor league record of 15-7 and a sub-4.00 ERA. He's got an excellent fastball, with solid control, movement and power. He'll join our team as a fourth starter, as we switch to a four-man rotation.
July 30, 1901
We're now 54-56, nine games back of Baltimore (63-47) and we're going to need a boost if we hope to make the World Series this year. Doc Nance, in the fourth spot now, has a .298 average, 22 doubles, 11 homers and 80 RBIs. Meanwhile, Jimmy Barrett is .309 with 39 RBIs and 22 stolen bases, and Pop Dillon has a .316 average and 20 RBIs, replacing Davey Crockett. Crockett has moved back to the bench, where he remains .302 with 21 doubles and 79 RBIs. As for pitchers, Tex Neuer has only played one game, and it was a complete game with a 5.00 ERA, which he won to be 1-0 at this point. I'm moving him up to third in the rotation, bumping down Frank Owen, who's now 8-11 with a 3.77 ERA, to setup (his lack of endurance was hurting us in close games and putting a lot of pressure on our bullpen). Jack Cronin still leads with a 12-11 record, 3.43 ERA and 85 K's, while Roscoe Miller is 13-16 with a 4.64 ERA and 92 K's, and the three-man rotation seems to work well for us, so we're going back to it with Cronin, Miller and now Neuer starting. Let's hope it helps us down the stretch.
September 18, 1901
We collapsed down the stretch, and finished the season at 71-93, in sixth place in the American League. Boston's Americans overtook Baltimore, finishing 88-66, one game ahead of the Orioles, so they've earned the chance to face the Pittsburgh Pirates (95-59) in the World Series. We finished 17 games back, and we were out of contention before September began.
Jimmy Barrett finished with a .309 average, 92 runs and 52 more batted in. He also had 25 stolen bases, leading the team in that regard. Doc Nance stayed in that fourth spot in the lineup, and finished with a .307 average, 35 doubles, 17 homers and 114 RBIs, along with 85 runs scored on his own. As for pitching, Jack Cronin finished 18-12 with a 3.25 ERA and 107 strikeouts, having started 37 times in this, his first year as a regular starter (and considering he's played on four teams since 1895, I think it's safe to say he's found a home here in Detroit). Roscoe Miller finished with an 18-24 record in 50 starts, for a 4.44 ERA and 127 K's in 358 innings. And Tex Neuer finished with a 6-6 record in 16 starts, with a 3.69 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 109.2 innings.
The 1901 World Series
Boston opened the series with a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh, which Pitt followed by a 3-2 win over the Americans. The Americans won game three 7-6, but the Pirates came back and blasted Boston 13-5 in game four. They improved to 3-2 in the series by beating Boston 6-4, and then closed it out with a 5-4 11th inning win in game six, pulling out the series four games to two.
Arbitration News
Jack Cronin asked for $650,000 in arbitration after his first major season in the majors, and he got the contract after we attempted to lowball him with a $300,000 offer. So he'll get $650,000 next year, after which
Team Moves
The Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis, where they'll be called the Browns.
The Chicago Orphans have changed their name to the Chicago Cubs.
The Boston Americans have changed their name to the Boston Somersets.
Free Agency Signings
We've signed 37-year-old right fielder Patsy Donovan to a contract worth $327,000 through 1904. He hit .310 for St. Louis last year in 90 games, batting in 36 runs and scoring 55 of his own. He provides consistent hitting and fielding, and should be able to find a spot in our lineup next spring.
Rookie Draft
Round 1 (Pick 6): Jack Quinn (18, SP, 74/92)
Round 2 (Pick 22): Ed Karger (18, SP, 74/84)
Round 3 (Pick 38): Steve Packer (21, C, 71/72)
Round 4 (Pick 54): Matthew Mustill (20, 3B, 54/78)
Round 5 (Pick 70): Tim Cochran (21, CF, 65/68)
Round 6 (Pick 86): Charlie Pickett (19, RP, 65/74)
1901 Awards
Doc Nance won the 1901 AL Gold Glove as a left fielder.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
April 1, 1902
Here's our opening day lineup:
Batting
1 - Kid Elberfield (SS, 80) - 26, 6th Season
2 - Jimmy Barrett (CF, 81) - 27, 5th Season
3 - Emil Frisk (RF, 73) - 27, 2nd Season
4 - Doc Nance (LF, 71/79) - 25, 7th Season
5 - Adam Jump (1B, 70) - 30, Rookie
6 - Joe Yeager (3B, 72/79) - 26, 6th Season
7 - Kid Gleason (2B, 75) - 35, 16th Season
8 - Al Shaw (C, 76) - 27, 2nd Season
B1 - Fritz Buelow (C, 72) - 26, 2nd Season
B2 - Harry Arndt (2B, 71/74) - 23, Rookie
B3 - Patsy Donovan (RF, 73) - 37, 14th Season
B4 - Ducky Holmes (LF, 72) - 33, 9th Season
B5 - Doc Casey (3B, 65) - 32, 6th Season
B6 - Harry Lochhead (SS, 71/78) - 26, 5th Season
Pitching
1 - Jack Quinn (79/94) - 18, Rookie
2 - Jack Cronin (80) - 27, 9th Season
3 - Roscoe Miller (80) - 25, 2nd Season
4 - Tex Neuer (79/87) - 24, 2nd Season
Mopup - George Mullin (87/90) - 21, 2nd Season
Closer - John Eubank (75/79) - 29, 2nd Season
Setup - Frank Owen (73) - 22, 2nd Season
Short - Ed Siever (73/79) - 24, 2nd Season
Short - Arch McCarthy (79/81) - 21, Rookie
Middle - Ed High (66/70) - 28, 2nd Season
Long - Bugs Raymond (78/85) - 20, 2nd Season
May 1, 1902
Much like last year we started the year 15-13, tied for third with Cleveland, and only trailing AL-leading Baltimore (18-10) by three games (the Boston Somersets are one game back, with a 17-11 record). Doc Nance leads the way, hitting .350 so far, with three doubles and eight homers, good for a stupendous .612 slugging average! As for pitchers, Jack Quinn's off to a 4-5 start with a 5.01 ERA and 23 K's in 73 innings. He'll be moving down to third. Moving up will be ace Roscoe Miller (6-2, 3.79 ERA, 32 K's) and Jack Quinn (3-3, 3.28 ERA, 17 K's).
June 1, 1902
After two months we're 29-27, clinging to third in the AL, but falling quickly out of the race. Boston's in second, with a 33-23 record, led by Baltimore's 40-16 ... and it's clear they really want that pennant after losing to Boston by a game last year. We're batting .258 (4th in the AL) and our ERA is 3.50 (3rd in the AL) so we need a boost all around if we want to make the playoffs this year. As for hitters, Ducky Holmes is hitting .361 with four homers and 23 RBIs, Emil Frisk has hit .306 with 38 RBIs, and Doc Nance is .290 with 11 four-baggers and 41 RBIs. On the pitching end, Roscoe Miller is 9-6 with a 3.53 ERA and 50 K's, Jack Quinn's 7-7 with a 4.34 ERA and 50 K's, and in the bullpen Frank Owen (Setup) is 3-2 with a 1.42 ERA and a save.
July 1, 1902
This season's going nowhere fast. We're now 41-42, and 17 games out of the pennant race. So we made what may be the riskiest trade of my young career, sending Jack Cronin, George Mullin and Roscoe Miller to Baltimore for Joe McGinnity. McGinnity is off to a 22-9 start this year with a 3.06 ERA and 100 strikeouts, having already pitched 300 innings this year. At 31, and in his 5th season, he has a career record of 104-51, and he makes the perfect staff ace, on contract at $327,000 through 1905. With him, Jack Quinn and Ed Siever as our top three, perhaps we can get this going somehow. If not, we'll build around him in the offseason and get some more "power bats" for run-support.
August 1, 1902
With a month and a half to go, we're 54-58, in third place but 21 games back of Baltimore (75-37) and 13 games behind Boston (67-45). We've made a few free agent pickups, signing LF Joe Kelley and SS Dick Padden. But I really doubt it's going to be enough to keep us in our slim playoff hopes for long.
September 18, 1902
We were out of the race by mid-August. But we finished 76-78, a few steps ahead of last year, so we're moving up. I think next year could be our big year if we can make the moves this offseason to bulk up our batting and our bullpen. Emil Frisk finished with a .296 average and 15 homers, along with 105 RBIs, while Jimmy Barrett had a .305 average, seven homers, 66 RBIs and 22 steals. As a whole we averaged .258 this year, so we held steady throughout the season. As for pitching, Joe McGinnity finished 9-12 with us (31-21 overall) with a 3.99 ERA and 56 K's in 200 innings 9he started a total of 65 games this year). Jack Quinn finished his rookie season with a 15-17 record in 41 starts, earning a 4.33 ERA and 119 K's in 297 innings. Ed Siever went 10-9 with a 3.16 ERA, and Frank Owen finished 9-5 with a 2.21 ERA and three saves off the bench.
The 1902 World Series
Last year's world champs (Pittsburgh) are back in the action thanks to a 97-57 season, but Baltimore (99-55) hoped to take the hope of a repeat from their grasp. The Pirates won game one 5-1, however, which made Baltimore fight harder in game two -- they won 5-3 to even the series 1-1. The Orioles took game three 5-4, but (much like last year) Pitt bounced back with a 7-1 drubbing in game four, then crushing the Orioles in game five 5-0 to go up 3-2. But this time a game seven would be necessary, since Baltimore fought back with a 4-1 beating in game six. And in the final game of the series, at home, Baltimore knocked off Pittsburgh 5-2 (again with an 11th inning win, much like last year!) bringing the world title back to the American League with a 4-3 series victory.
Team Moves
Baltimore fans were stunned to hear that the Orioles, fresh off their world title, would be moving to New York to become the Highlanders. The Boston Somersets changed their name (AGAIN) to the Boston Pilgrims ... make up your goddamned minds, would ya, Boston? And the Cleveland Blues are now the Cleveland Broncos.
1902 Rookie Draft
Round 1 (Pick 11): Eddie Mattison (18, RP, 70/86)
Round 2 (Pick 27): Ed Henderson (18, RP, 66/87)
Round 3 (Pick 43): Paul Sweatman (21, 1B, 57/80)
Round 4 (Pick 59): Otto Knabe (18, 2B, 51/85)
Round 5 (Pick 75): Jack Cameron (LF, 52/83)
Round 6 (Pick 91): Roy Beecher (18, SP, 51/85)
1902 Awards
Joe McGinnity was named AL Pitcher of the Year.
Joe McGinnity won the AL Gold Glove for pitching.
Al Shaw won the AL Catcher's Gold Glove.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
April 1, 1903
Here's our opening day lineup:
Batting
1 - Jimmy Barrett (CF, 84) 28, 6th Season
2 - Kid Elberfeld (SS, 83) 27, 7th Season
3 - Emil Frisk (RF, 75) 28, 3rd Season
4 - Joe Kelley (LF, 80) 31, 14th Season
5 - Joe Yeager (3B, 79/84) 27, 7th Season
6 - Pop Dillon (1B, 69) 29, 6th Season
7 - Harry Arndt (2B, 75) 24, 2nd Season
8 - Al Shaw (C, 80) 28, 3rd Season
B1 - Fritz Buelow (C, 73) 27, 3rd Season
B2 - Dick Padden (SS, 77) 32, 9th Season
B3 - Ducky Holmes (LF, 71) 34, 10th Season
B4 - Doc Gessler (RF, 73/82) 22, Rookie
B5 - Patsy Donovan (RF, 60) 38, 15th Season
B6 - Kid Gleason (2B, 68) 36, 17th Season
AAA - Doc Casey (3B, 67) 33, 7th Season
AAA - Harry Lochhead (SS, 70/76) 27, 6th Season
AAA - Davey Crockett (1B, 63/65) 27, 2nd Season
AAA - Doc Nance (LF, 72/74) 26, 8th Season
AAA - Lew Post (RF, 69/76) 27, 2nd Season
AAA - John Sullivan (C, 62/73) 30, 3rd Season
AA - Pete LePine (RF, 63/70) 26, Rookie
AA - Chris Lindsay (1B, 64/81) 24, Rookie
A - Steve Packer (C, 69/71) 22, Rookie
A - Simon Nicholls (SS, 71/87) 20, Rookie
A - Tim Cochran (CF, 65/67) 22, Rookie
R - Charley O'Leary (SS, 62/88) 20, Rookie
R - Fred Payne (C, 64/82) 22, Rookie
R - Boss Schmidt (C, 62/79) 22, Rookie
R - Clay Perry (3B, 60/86) 21, Rookie
R - Ed Irvin (3B, 61/92) 21, Rookie
R - Paul Sweatman (1B, 57/80) 21, Rookie
R - Otto Knabe (2B, 51/85) 18, Rookie
R - Jack Cameron (LF, 52/82) 18, Rookie
Pitching
1 - Joe McGinnity (94) 32, 6th Season
2 - Jack Quinn (76/92) 19, 2nd Season
3 - Ed Siever (86) 25, 3rd Season
Mopup - John Terry (71/76) 23, 2nd Season
Mopup - George Suggs (75/85) 20, 2nd Season
Closer - John Eubank (74/80) 30, 3rd Season
Setup - Frank Owen (83) 23, 3rd Season
Short - George Disch (72/77) 24, 3rd Season
Short - Bugs Raymond (77/85) 21, 3rd Season
Middle - Tex Neuer (75/89) 25, 3rd Season
Long - Ed Karger (75/82) 19, Rookie
AAA - Charlie Jaeger (66/70) 27, Rookie
AA - Cy Ferry (68/77) 24, ROokie
AA - Charlie Jackson (64/81) 26, Rookie
A - Ed High (63/66) 29, 3rd Season
A - Frosty Thomas (68/71) 21, 2nd Season
A - Arch McCarthy (68/84) 22, 2nd Season
A - Gene Ford (67/77) 21, Rookie
R - Kevin Kessler (48/84) 19, Rookie
R - Roy Beecher (51/85) 18, Rookie
R - Eddie Matthews (70/86) 18, Rookie
R - Ed Henderson (66/87) 18, Rookie
R - Charlie Pickett (64/75) 20, Rookie
R - Frank Browning (64/78) 20, Rookie
R - Kent Clawson (42/85) 19, Rookie
May 1, 1903
Another season's begun, and this time we're off to a dismal 13-15 start. Our sluggers are working overtime (.285) but are still 4th in the American League. Our pitching's gotten us out to a miserable 4.63 team ERA, good for 7th (the only worse team is Chicago, and the White Sox are 8-20, so that's bad company, if I do say so. Emil Frisk's off to a .368 start so far this year, with four doubles, three triples, five homers and 28 RBIs! And Kid Elberfeld is hitting .365, with a double, three triples, a homer and 21 runs scored. But Jack Quinn (#2 in the rotation) is 2-5 with a 6.95 ERA, which is unbelievably bad. Ed Siever's trying his best to build us up, with a 4-4 record and 3.49 ERA, but Joe McGinnity is also just 4-4, and his ERA of 4.16 is far below what we saw from him the past two years in Baltimore. Quinn's going down to middle relief, and Ed Karger will move up to the starting rotation.
June 1, 1903
We've improved slightly this month, pulling to 28-29, good for fourth place in the AL. Pop Dillon leads all hitters, with a solid .306 average, four homers and 29 RBI, while Joe Kelley adds a .280 average, six homers and 34 RBIs. Joe McGinnity has improved to 8-7 with a 3.12 ERA and 43 K's, Ed Siever is 8-10 with a 3.28 ERA and 37 K's, and Ed Karger is 5-4 with a 3.36 ERA and 32 K's.
July 1, 1903
We've improved to 44-39, which has put us in the heart of the pennant race in the American League! We're only three games out of first, held by Philadelphia (47-36); they're followed by New York's Highlanders (46-37) and St. Louis's Browns. New York (or should I say "The Team Formerly Known As Orioles") are gunning for another World Series title, and I'd love to be the team to get to kick 'em in the teeth by making the series instead of them!
Emil Frisk is hitting .304 with nine doubles, eight homers and 47 runs batted in, while Joe Kelley's 55 RBIs lead the team (and his .291 average isn't hurting things in the least!) Jimmy Barrett is batting .293, Pop Dillon's got a .278 average, and Joe Yeager's hitting .262. Now if we could get Al Shaw, Harry Arndt and Dick Padden to provide some hit support at the end of the lineup, we'd be UNSTOPPABLE.
As for pitching, Joe McGinnity has really started gunning it! He's off to a 16-8 record, midway through this season, with a 2.68 ERA and 75 K's ... and his OBA is .225, well better than his career average. He's been named an All Star, the third time that's happened for him in three years, and he's confident that he'll be the AL Pitcher of the Year again for the third consecutive year. And Ed Siever is over the hump as well, with a 13-12 record and 2.80 ERA.
August 1, 1903
This is amazing! This season's race is certainly getting good, particularly since yesterday's 7-3 upset win over Chicago put us in second place, 63-49, just a single game behind Cleveland's Broncos ... and we've got our next FIFTEEN GAMES at home! Could the Baseball Gods finally be shining down on us?
Emil Flint thinks so. He's hitting .316, with 14 doubles, 11 homers and 69 RBIs (plus 50 runs he's scored on his own accord!) Jimmy Barnett's hitting .300 with 47 RBIs, Pop Dillon's at .299 with 10 four-baggers and 70 RBIs, and Joe Kelley's hitting .298 with seven homers and 71 RBIs! Even Joe Yeager's getting in on things, with an improved .277 average, and Kid Gleason (playing 2B off the bench as a pinch hitter) has his average up to .397, having hit 23 times in 58 at bats.
And we've got two pitchers above 20 wins! McGinnity's pleased as punch to have improved to 21-13, with a 2.80 ERA and .229 OBA (and he got strikeout 100 on July 30, which gives him 529 for his career). And Ed Siever's up to 20-13, with a 2.78 ERA and .239 OBA after 288 innings (38 starts). Terry John has comfortably moved into the #3 spot, building a 5-1 start in 11 started games (15 appearances), with a 4.14 ERA and a .264 ERA. The 23-year-old played for us last year, going 2-1 in 10 appearances, so he's been a fan-favorite this year as he's quietly taken on this role. No one on our bench has made a huge impact, though closer John Eubank has gone 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA and eight saves, bringing his career saves total to 30. That's not bad at all -- in fact, his eight saves puts him at 3rd on that particular leaderboard.
We've got seven weeks left in the season, and we'll need to make these next two weeks count (since they're all home games) if we want to keep our chances at a pennant alive.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
August 12, 1903
Yesterday's 6-3 win over the Boston Pilgrims here at home put us at 69-53, earning us a share of 1st, tied with Cleveland! But I've never seen a pennant race this tight:
Detroit (69-53) --
Cleveland (69-53) --
Philadelphia (68-54) 1.0 GB
New York (68-54) 1.0 GB
Washington (64-58) 5.0 GB
St. Louis (63-59( 6.0 GB
This is clearly where the fun's at, because the National League's not nearly as close (Boston's Beaneaters lead Brookyn's Superbas by seven games with their 79-43 stranglehold on that league ... and Cincinnati's 15 games back in third). So get your tickets and come out and support Detroit baseball as we try and make a run at that elusive World Series title!
August 28, 1903
We've regained first place in the American League, with a solid 78-58 record (one game up on New York and Philly, two games up on Cleveland!) With 18 games left, this is still anyone's race ...
September 4, 1903
It's now a three-way tie for first in the American League, with Philly, ourselves and New York all with 82-61 records! This is the kind of thing that would make me fear a heart attack, if I wasn't the youngest GM in the majors.
September 13, 1903
Okay, so we've got one last homestand coming up. Four games at home against the Broncos. And that means THESE FOUR GAMES will make or break us ... right now we're tied for first with New York (86-64). Cleveland and Philly are tied for second with 84-66 records. New York's got the advantage ... they've got four games against Chicago (44-106). If they win them all, we have to win all of ours. This is making me crazy.
Code:
Cleveland Broncos at Detroit Tigers
September 13, 1903
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Broncos (CLE) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 8 2
Tigers (DET) 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 x 6 9 3
CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
H. Smoot (CF) 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 .313
J. McCarthy (LF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .287
B. Bradley (3B) 4 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .341
P. Lister (1B) 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .293
E. Beck (2B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286
S. Gallagher (RF) 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 .232
P. Graham (C) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .265
J. McGuire (SS) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .205
A. Joss (P) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .154
H. Iott (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .342
E. Courtney (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .258
C. Smith (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
TOTALS 35 8 1 4 1 3 3 0
2B: B. Bradley (35)
HR: S. Gallagher (14)
CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
A. Joss 6.0 5 1 0 3 3 1 70 2.64
C. Smith 2.0 4 1 1 3 3 1 29 4.63
TOTALS 8.0 9 2 1 6 6 2 99
DETROIT ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
J. Barrett (CF) 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .309
P. Dillon (1B) 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .293
E. Frisk (RF) 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .296
J. Kelley (LF) 4 2 0 2 1 3 0 0 .296
J. Yeager (3B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .272
A. Shaw (C) 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .238
H. Arndt (2B) 3 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 .256
D. Padden (SS) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .240
E. Siever (P) 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .116
D. Gessler (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .259
L. Post (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
J. Eubank (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
G. Disch (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222
TOTALS 33 9 2 6 2 5 2 1
2B: J. Kelley (26)
HR: H. Arndt (3), J. Kelley (12)
DETROIT ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Siever 6.0 3 0 0 2 1 1 49 2.81
G. Disch 2.0 4 1 0 1 1 1 22 3.33
J. Eubank 1.0 1 0 1 1 1 1 8 3.23
TOTALS 9.0 8 1 1 4 3 3 79
WP: E. Siever (25-15)
LP: A. Joss (21-18)
SV: J. Eubank (11)
Attendance: 14,000
Time: 1:57
Code:
Cleveland Broncos at Detroit Tigers
September 14, 1903
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Broncos (CLE) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 2
Tigers (DET) 2 4 0 1 0 0 3 0 x 10 13 2
CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
H. Smoot (CF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .311
J. McCarthy (LF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286
B. Bradley (3B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .339
P. Lister (1B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .293
E. Beck (2B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .285
S. Gallagher (RF) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .230
P. Graham (C) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263
J. McGuire (SS) 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .204
E. Killian (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .142
H. Iott (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .339
E. Courtney (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .257
H. Berger (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J. Lundbom (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
B. Cristall (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 32 3 0 1 0 0 3 0
CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Killian 1.2 6 2 0 6 3 1 38 3.24
J. Lundbom 3.1 2 1 1 1 1 1 32 2.45
H. Berger 2.0 4 2 0 3 3 0 35 4.31
B. Cristall 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.00
TOTALS 8.0 13 5 1 10 7 2 114
DETROIT ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
J. Barrett (CF) 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 .311
P. Dillon (1B) 4 2 1 1 0 2 0 0 .294
E. Frisk (RF) 4 2 1 3 1 2 0 0 .298
J. Kelley (LF) 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .297
J. Yeager (3B) 4 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 .272
A. Shaw (C) 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .236
H. Arndt (2B) 4 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 .256
D. Padden (SS) 4 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .242
J. Terry (P) 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .102
TOTALS 37 13 5 10 1 10 2 0
2B: P. Dillon (34)
HR: E. Frisk (20)
DETROIT ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
J. Terry 9.0 3 0 0 1 0 3 70 3.43
TOTALS 9.0 3 0 0 1 0 3 70
WP: J. Terry (10-4)
LP: E. Killian (19-16)
Attendance: 14,000
Time: 2:02
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
Code:
Cleveland Broncos at Detroit Tigers
September 15, 1903
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Broncos (CLE) 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 11 2
Tigers (DET) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 10 1
CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
H. Smoot (CF) 5 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .312
J. McCarthy (LF) 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .286
E. Beck (2B) 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .285
B. Bradley (3B) 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 .341
G. Stovall (1B) 4 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 .258
S. Gallagher (RF) 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .231
P. Graham (C) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263
J. McGuire (SS) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .202
E. Moore (P) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .120
TOTALS 36 11 1 4 0 4 4 0
3B: P. Graham (2)
CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Moore 8.2 10 6 1 6 6 5 118 4.09
TOTALS 8.2 10 6 1 6 6 5 118
DETROIT ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
J. Barrett (CF) 5 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 .310
P. Dillon (1B) 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 .292
E. Frisk (RF) 3 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 .300
J. Kelley (LF) 3 2 2 2 1 4 0 0 .299
J. Yeager (3B) 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273
A. Shaw (C) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .234
D. Holmes (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300
H. Arndt (2B) 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .257
D. Padden (SS) 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .243
J. McGinnity (P) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .165
D. Gessler (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .258
G. Disch (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222
TOTALS 36 10 6 6 1 4 5 0
2B: H. Arndt (22), J. Kelley (27), E. Frisk (20)
HR: J. Kelley (13)
DETROIT ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
J. McGinnity 8.0 10 1 0 4 4 3 80 2.59
G. Disch 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 13 3.28
TOTALS 9.0 11 1 0 4 4 4 93
WP: G. Disch (8-7)
LP: E. Moore (25-18)
Attendance: 14,000
Time: 2:10
Code:
Cleveland Broncos at Detroit Tigers
September 16, 1903
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Broncos (CLE) 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 9 2
Tigers (DET) 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 12 2
CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
H. Smoot (CF) 4 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 .311
J. McCarthy (LF) 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .288
B. Bradley (3B) 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .340
P. Lister (1B) 4 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .292
G. Stovall (1B) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .258
E. Beck (2B) 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 .284
H. Hogan (RF) 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .667
S. Gallagher (RF) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .230
P. Graham (C) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263
J. McGuire (SS) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .202
A. Joss (P) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .151
H. Iott (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .336
B. Pounds (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 35 9 1 4 1 4 1 1
2B: P. Lister (28), H. Hogan 2 (2)
HR: H. Smoot (9)
CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
A. Joss 8.0 11 2 1 3 3 2 94 2.66
B. Pounds 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 13 3.04
TOTALS 9.0 12 2 1 3 3 3 107
DETROIT ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
J. Barrett (CF) 5 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .310
P. Dillon (1B) 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .292
E. Frisk (RF) 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .297
J. Kelley (LF) 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .302
J. Yeager (3B) 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .272
A. Shaw (C) 4 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 .234
D. Holmes (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .298
H. Arndt (2B) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .259
D. Padden (SS) 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 .246
E. Siever (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .116
D. Gessler (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .257
L. Post (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231
C. Lindsay (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
G. Disch (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222
F. Thomas (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B. Raymond (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 40 12 2 3 1 3 3 0
2B: D. Padden (16), J. Kelley (28)
HR: A. Shaw (4)
DETROIT ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Siever 4.0 6 1 0 3 2 0 42 2.83
B. Raymond 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 21 5.94
F. Thomas 2.0 1 0 1 1 1 1 17 5.55
G. Disch 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3.24
TOTALS 9.0 9 1 1 4 3 1 88
WP: A. Joss (22-18)
LP: F. Thomas (1-3)
SV: B. Pounds (11)
Attendance: 14,000
Time: 2:08
We lost today's game 4-3 this afternoon, and since we'd been in a dead heat with New York (which had won the first three of its games against Chicago) our team was clearly downhearted as we all filed into the locker room afterwards. Later this evening, however, I received a telegram from New York:
"WHITE SOX, 5 .... HIGHLANDERS 3! .... PLAYOFF IN DETROIT TOMORROW, 2 P.M."
So it all comes down to one game, to see who represents the American League in the Series of all Series.
September 17, 1903
In the bottom of the first, we took a 1-0 lead thanks to Joe Yeager, who singled down the third-base line, scoring a run as Pop Dillon was driven home all the way from second! And in the bottom of the second, we improved to 2-0, as Dick Patton singled to right, allowing Harry Arndt to score from second!
But in the top of the fourth it all fell apart.
John McGraw doubled down the left field line. George Browne then singled to left, scoring a run. Mike Donlin singled to left, advancing Browne to third ... then Fred Curtis homered around the foul pole in right, scoring three runs. We suddenly trailed 4-2. George Stone then singled up the middle.
Bill Keister flied out to right, but we couldn't stop the bleeding as Roger Bresnahan homered out to right field, driving in two more runs (making it a 6-2 ballgame). John Gochnauer flied out to left and Harry Howell popped out to the shortstop, but the damage was done.
Bottom of the fourth: Jimmy Barrett singled to left field, driving in Doc Gessler from second, making the score 6-3. A few moments later, Joe Kelley reached first on a scoring error, sending home Jimmy Barrett, who made it 6-4. But that would be our last score of the day. New York added a run in the fifth, a run in the eighth, and FIVE RUNS in the ninth to butcher us 13-4, crushing our pennant hopes for good.
It took less than two and a half hours to crush those hopes. But it took us 154 games to get to this playoff game. I had to make it as clear as I could to our players that they earned this game, and that those two and a half hours shouldn't sum up an entire season.
But I know they will.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
The 1903 World Series
New York's Highlanders (90-65) moved on to face down the Boston Beaneaters (97-57) in the World Series. The Highlanders (as the Orioles) won the series last year. But Boston's the major favorite. Sure enough, the Beaneaters got out to a 1-0 series lead with a 6-4 win in game one, and followed it with a 3-1 win to go up 2-0. They made it 3-0 with a 5-1 win (in the 10th inning, having scored four runs in the top of the 10th). And they brought out the brooms with a 4-3 win in game four, making this the most predictable World Series finish in recent memory.
Jimmy Barrett finished with a .312 average, eight homers and 67 RBIs. Pop Dillon, Emil Frisk and Joe Kelley each hit better than .290, and they combined for 182 RBIs. Joe McGinnity finished with a 29-17 record, a 2.59 ERA and 146 K's, along with a .222 OBA. Ed Siever managed a 25-15 record, 2.83 ERA and 110 K's, with a .238 OBA. While Ginnity pitched 52 starts (441.1 innings), Siever started 52 games and only managed 385 innings. John Terry, playing the #3 role through the second half of the season, played in 30 games (26 of them starts) and put together a 10-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and 64 K's in 187.2 innings (with a .258 OBA). And though he has to live down that loss he pitched against New York, giving up six earned runs in four innings, he's a pitcher to watch. I think he'll be fine ... and if we make the Series next year, no one's going to remember that game.
Arbitration News
Al Shaw, our starting catcher, wanted $650,000. But we won arbitration, so he'll play next year for $350,000. We also won arbitration with Pop Dillon (1B), keeping him at $350,000 for next year. We won arbitration with Jimmy Barrett, and will pay him $400,000 next year. Emil Frisk was given a one year $350,000 contract in arbitration. Same goes for Fritz Buelow (our bench catcher). Doc Casey won arbitration and will get $500,000. Kid Elberfeld will make $350,000 since we won arbitration. Ed Siever will make $400,000 next year since we won arbitration -- which is a BARGAIN, since he won 25 games this year.
Contract Extensions
Dick Patton signed a $350,000 deal through 1908, a team option worth $400,000 for 1909 with a no-trade clause.
Joe Kelley signed a $350,000 deal through 1908 with a no-trade clause and a player option (1909) worth $360,000.
1903 Rookie Draft
Round 1 (Pick 14): Bill Bartley (19, RP, 74/77)
Round 2 (Pick 30): Cy Barger (18, SP, 66/86)
Round 3 (Pick 46): Art Wilson (18, C, 61/90)
Round 4 (Pick 62): Joe White (21, 1B, 60/71)
Round 5 (Pick 78): Buck Herzog (18, 2B, 56/78)
Round 6 (Pick 94): Cliff Daringer (18, SS, 59/75)
1903 Awards
Joe McGinnity won his third straight AL Best Pitcher award!
Al Shaw won the AL's Catcher's Gold Glove.
April 1, 1904
Here's our opening day lineup:
Batting
1 - Jimmy Barrett (CF, 80/81) 29, 7th Season
2 - Kid Elberfeld (SS, 80) 28, 8th Season
3 - Doc Gessler (RF, 78/80) 23, 2nd Season
4 - Joe Kelley (LF, 81) 32, 15th Season
5 - Joe Yeager (3B, 78/81) 28, 8th Season
6 - Pop Dillon (1B, 70) 30, 7th Season
7 - Harry Arndt (2B, 78) 25, 3rd Season
8 - Al Shaw (C, 80) 29, 4th Season
B1 - Fritz Buelow (C, 75) 28, 4th Season
B2 - Dick Padden (SS, 77) 33, 10th Season
B3 - Ducky Holmes (LF, 70) 35, 11th Season
B4 - Lew Post (RF, 71/76) 28, 3rd Season
B5 - Harry Lochhead (SS, 75) 28, 6th Season
B6 - Emil Frisk (RF, 76) 29, 4th Season
AAA - Fred Payne (C, 65/80) 23, Rookie
AAA - Davey Crockett (1B, 65/66) 28, 2nd Season
AAA - Doc Nance (LF, 75) 27, 8th Season
AAA - Doc Casey (3B, 63) 34, 8th Season
AAA - John Sullivan (C, 63/72) 31, 4th Season
AAA - Pete LePine (RF, 65/70) 27, Rookie
AAA - Kid Gleason (2B, 60) 37, 18th Season
AA - Chris Lindsay (1B, 67/79) 25, Rookie
AA - Steve Packer (C, 67/70) 23, Rookie
AA - Tim Cochran (CF, 68) 23, Rookie
A - Ed Irvin (3B, 64/91) 22, Rookie
A - Paul Sweatman (1B, 60/81) 22, Rookie
R - Charley O'Leary (SS, 71/87) 21, Rookie
R - Clay Perry (3B, 60/86) 22, Rookie
R - Otto Knabe (2B, 52/80) 19, Rookie
R - Boss Schmidt (C, 63/78) 23, Rookie
R - Jack Cameron (LF, 53/80) 19, Rookie
R - Art Wilson (C, 61/87) 18, Rookie
R - Joe White (1B, 60/70) 21, Rookie
R - Buck Herzog (2B, 58/78) 18, Rookie
R - Cliff Daringer (SS, 61/75) 18, Rookie
Pitching
1 - Joe McGinnity (93) 33, 7th Season
2 - Ed Siever (87) 26, 4th Season
3 - John Terry (64/74) 24, 3rd Season
4 - Cy Ferry (77) 25, Rookie
Mopup - Frank Owen (82) 24, 4th Season
Closer - John Eubank (74/78) 31, 4th Season
Setup - George Disch (75/76) 25, 4th Season
Short - Bill Bartley (75/76) 19, Rookie
Short - Bugs Raymond (80/87) 22, 4th Season
Middle - Charlie Jaeger (75) 28, Rookie
Long - George Suggs (75/87) 21, 3rd Season
AAA - Ed High (63/68) 30, 4th Season
AAA - Tex Neuer (77/87) 26, 4th Season
AAA - Charlie Jackson (67/81) 27, Rookie
A - Ed Karger (75/79) 20, 2nd Season
A - Jack Quinn (77/91) 20, 3rd Season <---- his 2-5 season last year got him sent back to A-ball.
A - Frosty Thomas (69/70) 22, 3rd Season
A - Gene Ford (69/75) 22, Rookie
A - Arch McCarthy (69/82) 23, 2nd Season
R - Kevin Kessler (51/87) 20, Rookie
R - Eddie Matteson (72/86) 19, Rookie
R - Cy Barger (66/87) 18, Rookie
R - Frank Browning (65/75) 21, Rookie
R - Charlie Pickett (65/74) 21, Rookie
R - Ed Henderson (64/87) 19, Rookie
R - Roy Beecher (55/79) 19, Rookie
R - Kent Clawson (42/80) 20, Rookie
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
May 1, 1904
Will this be our year to make the World Series? Too early to know at this point, but at the end of our first month we're off to an 18-10 start, leading the American League by one game over Boston's Pilgrims (yeah, another name change ... guess I forgot to mention it). They're 17-11. Joe Kelley's been our leading batter, with a .297 average, four homers and 26 RBIs, while we've had slugging help from Doc Gessler as well (with his .322 average and 15 RBIs). As for pitching, Joe McGinnity has been on FIRE starting out the season, with a 7-2 record, a 2.69 ERA and 17 K's, with a .239 OBA. John Eubank, our closer, has three saves (and a rather dismal 6.00 ERA) but the star of the bullpen has been setup-man George Disch, who has a 2-0 record, 2.77 ERA and four saves. And Billy Bartley, our first round pick from this season, has a 3-0 record and 1.50 ERA after 12 innings and seven appearances.
June 1, 1904
We ended the second month of the season with a 34-23 record, tied for first in the AL with the St. Louis Browns. Meanwhile, Philly, Washington and Boston are tied for third at 28-29 (6 games back). We're hitting much better than St. Louis (our .282 trumps everyone in our league, though it's only good for fourth in the majors) but our ERA of 3.50 trails their 3.22, and strong pitching has kept them in this race. Doc Gessler continues to lead our team, with a solid .346 average, six homers and 32 RBIs, while Joe Kelley has 40 RBIs and a .281 average and Joe Yeager has 43 RBIs and a .274 average. Joe McGinnity's 12-5 with a 2.28 ERA and .223 OBA. Ed Siever's 6-5 with a 3.20 ERA and 32 K's in 107 innings, while John Terry's off to a 7-6 start with a 4.86 ERA.
July 1, 1904
We remain tied for first with St. Louis, both teams at 49-34. We're still hitting .274 (1st, AL) and our ERA has improved to 3.23, but theirs is 3.14, the best in the majors other than the Boston Beaneaters, the team in the NL with a 3.08 ERA. Doc Gessler's got a .321 average and 64 runs to go with his 40 RBIs. Kid Elberfeld's got a .307 average, 17 doubles, six triples and 58 runs to go with 34 RBIs. Joe McGinnity went 7-0 this month, so he's 19-5 at this point with a 1.96 ERA and .212 average (he's had 17 complete games in 28 starts!) and played in his fourth straight All Star game on June 26. Ed Siever's 9-9 with a 3.39 ERA, while Cy Ferry (who stepped into the third spot this month) is 3-1 with a 2.74 ERA and .201 OBA! The 25-year-old rookie has pitched three complete games in nine tries, which is impressive indeed.
August 1, 1904
Not a great month. We started out on a six game losing streak, and though we recovered, we finished the month at 62-50, two games back of St. Louis (64-48). Worse, we're now only one game up on Philadelphia (61-51) and Cleveland's been working hard, now holding a 57-55 record (just seven games out of first). We've suddenly got ourselves a damned race, and our bats are cooling ... our strong pitching's been carrying the team so far, and with us, St. Louis and Cleveland with sub-3.30 ERAs, that may not be enough. Doc Gessler's now our only player above .300 (he's got a .310 average and has scored 81 runs with 56 batted in). Joe McGinnity's 23-8 and on his way to a potential career year, with a 2.25 ERA and .214 OBA (and is drawing ever closer to the 200 career-wins mark!) We'll be concentrating on inching our way back into first, because we're still in this. But I am not looking forward to another insanely close August and September. I don't think this team can take another heartbreaking finish.
August 7, 1904
We retook first with a 6-3 win at home against Washington, improving to 66-52!
September 1, 1904
We're currently 77-63, three games up on St. Louis (74-66) which means we're in a great position heading into these last two and a half weeks of competition as we run for that pennant! But Philly's only four games back at 73-67, and New York's Highlanders are, at 70-70, only seven back. While they're a huge long shot, we've seen in the past how quickly a long shot becomes a tight four-team race. Meanwhile, in the NL, Chicago's Cubs (at 95-45) are seven games up on Boston's Beaneaters (88-52). They're the only two teams yet in competition, as the next nearest team (Pittsburgh, 72-68) is 23 games out. Guess all the parity's in our league.
Joe Yeager's .309 with 90 RBIs, while Joe Kelley is .262 but has 15 homers and 101 RBIs. Don't leave Doc Gessler out though -- he's batting .318 with 15 homers, 23 doubles and 11 triples, which have produced 107 runs and 82 RBIs (and a .478 slugging average!) Joe McGinnity's slowed down somewhat, but he's still 26-12 with a 2.51 ERA and 108 K's (and a .214 OBA). Ed Siever's 18-13 with a 3.37 ERA and 99 K's, while Cy Ferry's 11-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 66 K's in 200 innings (plus a .236 OBA). Our bullpen's been less than impressive (seven pitchers combining for a terrible 11-21 record) but 19-year-old rookie Bill Bartley's been solid as a setup man, with an 8-8 record in 38 games, a 2.25 ERA and .220 OBA, which has helped him notch three saves and 22 K's in 56 innings pitched. I have high hopes for him in the future of this team.
September 10, 1904
No drama! We clinched the pennant this afternoon with a 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on the road! Cy Ferry pitched eight runless innings, and Eubank, our closer, notched his 10th save of the year in front of nearly 27,000 fans. The winning run was scored in the bottom of the third by Joe Kelley, who doubled down the third base line, driving in Kid Elberfeld!
September 16, 1904
We finished the season 88-66, seven games up on Philly's 81-73 record. Joe Yeager finished at .310 with six homers and 99 RBIs, Joe Kelley (who, it could be said, won us the pennant) finished at .271 with 15 homers and 115 RBIs, slugging .436 thanks to 25 doubles, 16 triples and 15 homers. And Doc Gessler finished at .322, having scored 116 runs (driving in 92), slugging .481 thanks to 26 doubles, 11 triples and 17 homers -- finishing fifth in the American League home run race). Still, the flash seems to be in the National League, where George Wheeler hit 50 homers for the Giants, beating out Brooklyn's Jimmy Sheckard, who had 45, in a nationally covered slugger's race. In fact, nationally, our AL home run leader ended up finishing seventh when added in with the NL race.
Joe McGinnity finished 30-13, with a 2.44 ERA and .211 OBA, and though he started 52 games (same as last year) he pitched 20 fewer innings, and improved his win percentage to .698 (from .630). He's now 172-93 after seven seasons in the majors, and yet this will be his first trip to a World Series! Ed Siever finished 19-14 with a 3.47 ERA, having pitched 16 complete games. And Cy Ferry had a 13-7 rookie season, with a 3.59 ERA and eight complete games in 32 starts. He finished with a .234 average, and could be in the running for Rookie of the Year honors.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
The 1904 World Series
In this series, our Detroit Tigers (88-66) are matched up against the Chicago Cubs (102-52), neither team having been in the series before. In fact, the Chicago pennant win stunned most in the National League, as the team finished 66-88 last year, dead last in the league, and this was their first winning season of the century.
Game 1: On our turf, the Cubs notched a 5-3 win, but it took extra innings. We'd gone into the top of the tenth tied 2-2, and an inning later we were stunned when Chicago railed off three runs (thanks to three consecutive run-scoring singles). Ducky Holmes came in for us in the bottom of the eleventh as a pinch hitter, and drove home a run with a ground ball to short, driving in Joe Yeager, who had reached first earlier on a throwing error by the pitcher. But the rally was short-lived. Al Shaw flied out to left field, and the game ended after two and a half hours. McGinnity had pitched nine innings, giving up two earned runs, and Eubank came in for the 10th inning, successfully keeping them scoreless, giving up no hits and throwing only five pitches. So it was Bartley who took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits in the 11th.
Game 2: The Cubs went up 2-0 in this one, beating us 4-2 in a game we never held a single lead in. Siever pitched seven innings and gave up two runs, and Bartley came in again but couldn't turn the game around (we were down 2-1 when he went in and we were down 4-2 when he went out. Barrett got three hits in five at bats, batting in one of our runs. But as far as hitting goes, he was our brightest spot, which doesn't say much. We now have to go face down Chicago on the road, which could spell our doom.
Game 3: The cubs punished us 7-4 tonight, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to turn a 4-4 tie into a win. McGinnity only lasted five innings, which says everything -- when Bugs Raymond comes in and gives up three runs, it's hard for anyone -- even Bill Bartley -- to save things. In fact, after three appearances in three games, even Bartley's ERA stands at 11.25 for the playoffs, and after tonight Raymond's is at 13.50. These relievers are KILLING us. We don't have the run support to give up that many runs and still pull out wins.
Game 4: Chicago brought their brooms tonight, and they got to use them to celebrate a 2-0 shutout. Chicago's Jack Taylor dominated our lineup, allowing five hits, two walks and no runs in nine innings. Pop Dillon was hitless in three at bats, Joe Yeager went hitless in four at bats, and Doc Gessler was hitless in three at bats, which really made things hard for McGinnity, who came in to start again tonight after last night's debacle, giving up a run in the fifth and a run in the seventh, though he valliantly stayed on to complete the game, which was over quickly. It's an hour and a half we'll have to try and swallow until next year. What a way to end the season.
Heading into the offseason, I've decided to make things harder financially, by keeping league revenue at -30% while raising salary demands from -100% (which I felt is realistic for 1900s era baseball) to -80%. This should lead to more players asking for larger performance-based contracts. I expect I'll lower team revenue during the World War I era (1914-1919) and then raise them slightly through the 1920s before crashing revenue to -100% during the depression 1929-1941. From there I intend to steadily raise revenue and contract demands until modern times. It may not be 100% accurate, but I want to simulate inflation and revenue as realistically as I can throughout the century.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
Arbitration News
Al Shaw will play another year at $350,000.
Pop Dillon will play another year at $350,000.
Harry Arndt gets another year at $450,000.
Kid Elberfeld asked for $1 million ... we offered $650,000, and lost. So he'll get the $1 million.
Jimmy Barrett will get $1,050,000 ... we wanted to pay $800,000 but lost.
Fritz Buelow will get $350,000 this year.
Emil Frisk gets $450,000 for another season.
We decided not to offer Doc Casey a contract, though we could have arbitrated.
Ed Siever wanted $1.4 million for another year ... but we won arbitration at $1.2 million.
Frank Owen will get $400,000 next year.
We passed up on the chance to arbitrate John Eubank's contract.
Bugs Raymond wanted $700K, but he's said some negative things about the team to the press. He's gone.
Retiring
Pete LePine
1904 Rookie Draft
Round 1 (Pick 2): Ty Cobb (18, CF, 73/96) <---- We traded Kid Elberfeld (SS) to the New York Giants to get this future superstar!
Round 1 (Pick 3): Rube Marquard (18, SP, 80/92) <---- We traded Bill Bartley (RP) and $6 million to the Chicago White Sox to make this pick!
Round 1 (Pick 14): Larry Doyle (18, 2B, 56/90)
Round 2 (Pick 30): Justin Dedrick (18, SS, 59/79)
Round 3 (Pick 46): Garrett Weeks (20, RF, 67/72)
Round 4 (Pick 62): Red Nelson (18, SP, 61/85)
Round 5 (Pick 78): Carl Maclan (21, CF, 62/70)
Round 6 (Pick 94): Sam Lanford (19, RP, 64/74)
Major Moves
We sent Larry Doyle (2B), Tex Neuer (SP), Rube Marquad (SP), Cliff Daringer (SS), Carl Maclan (CF), Fritz Buelow (C), Ed Henderson (RP) and Kent Clawson (SP) plus $1,000,000 to the Brooklyn Superbas in exchange for Jimmy Sheckard (LF), last year's second-place winner in the home run race (.405 average, 38 doubles, 13 triples, 45 homers, good for a .772 slugging average!) He scored 152 runs and batted in 144! He'll be a key in our rotation for sure. Of course there have been some rumblings in the Detroit press that I've lost my mind, but I think I know what I'm doing. I am the one who turned this team into a World Series contender in just a few short years ... and we've got Cobb! And that kid's got "the stuff" -- if anyone's ever had "the stuff" it's him.
1904 Awards
In case you were crazy and thought he wouldn't, Joe McGinnity won his 4th Best Pitcher award! He also won the AL MVP award, his first!
Cy Ferry was named the AL's Rookie of the Year, thanks to his 13-7 record, 3.59 ERA and .234 OBA.
Jimmy Sheckard was named the NL MVP, so we've got two of them on our team thanks to that blockbuster trade.
April 1, 1905
Here's our opening day lineup:
Batting
1 - Ty Cobb (CF, 80/96) 18, Rookie <---- He batted .421 in spring training with a double, two triples and four stolen bases!
2 - Doc Gessler (RF, 83) 24, 3rd Season
3 - Joe Yeager (3B, 84) 29, 9th Season
4 - Jimmy Sheckard (LF, 91) 26, 10th Season
5 - Claude Rossman (1B, 76) 23, 2nd Season
6 - Al Shaw (C, 81) 30, 5th Season
7 - Harry Arndt (2B, 80) 26, 4th Season
8 - Dick Padden (SS, 78) 34, 11th Season
B1 - John Sullivan (C, 69/70) 32, 5th Season
B2 - Harry Lochhead (SS, 74/77) 29, 7th Season
B3 - Joe Kelley (LF, 81) 33, 16th Season
B4 - Chris Lindsay (1B, 79/81) 26, Rookie
B5 - Emil Frisk (RF, 77) 30, 5th Season
B6 - Jimmy Barrett (CF, 85) 30, 8th Season
AAA - Doc Nance (LF, 73/76) 28, 8th Season
AAA - Pop Dillon (1B 65/67) 31, 8th Season
AAA - Lew Post (RF, 73/78) 29, 4th Season
AA - Steve Packer (C, 69/71) 24, Rookie
AA - Davey Crockett (1B, 65/67) 29, 3rd Season
AA - Tim Cochran (CF, 68) 24, Rookie
AA - Charley O'Leary (SS, 71/87) 22, Rookie
AA - Ducky Holmes (LF, 70) 36, 12th Season
A - Fred Payne (C, 64/79) 24, Rookie
A - Clay Perry (3B, 62/84) 23, Rookie
A - Joe White (1B, 63/71) 22, Rookie
A - Boss Schmidt (C, 64/79) 24, Rookie
R - Paul Sweatman (1B, 63/80) 23, Rookie
R - Otto Knabe (2B, 60/82) 20, Rookie
R - Jack Cameron (LF, 53/84) 20, Rookie
R - Justin Dedrick (SS, 52/80) 18, Rookie
R - Garrett Weeks (RF, 67/70) 20, Rookie
Pitching
1 - Joe McGinnity (94) 34, 8th Season
2 - Charlie Jackson (84) 28, 2nd Season
3 - Cy Ferry (79) 26, 2nd Season
4 - Ed Siever (87) 27, 5th Season
Mopup - Charlie Jaeger (66/69) 29, 2nd Season
Closer - Frosty Thomas (75) 23, 3rd Season
Setup - Gene Ford (75) 23, Rookie
Short - Frank Owen (83) 25, 5th Season
Short - George Suggs (75/83) 22, 4th Season
Middle - Ed High (63/66) 31, 4th Season
Long - Ed Karger (76/82) 21, 3rd Season
AA - John Terry (66/71) 25, 4th Season
AA - Arch McCarthy (69/82) 24, 2nd Season
A - Jack Quinn (78/91) 21, 4th Season <---- I'm really wanting to move him up, first chance I get and it happens.
A - Charlie Pickett (66/74) 22, Rookie
A - Frank Browning (64/74) 22, Rookie
R - Roy Beecher (60/83) 20, Rookie
R - Sam Lanford (64/74) 19, Rookie
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
I like the banner a lot! Interesting idea for a dynasty, too.
--Pet
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
Quote:
Originally Posted by petrel
I like the banner a lot! Interesting idea for a dynasty, too.
--Pet
Thanks, Petrel :) I'm not a huge baseball expert, but I enjoy these games, and thought Detroit would be a good subject, since the team has had highs and (most recently) lows throughout the century. Feel free to keep chiming in, it's a lot more fun when people comment :)
May 1, 1905
We opened the season with eight straight wins, which helped us to the strongest April of my tenure as manager. We are currently 22-6, leading the American League over Washington's Senators (20-8) by a pair of games. We're hitting .307 as a team, and our team ERA is 3.86.
For you Cobb fans out there, Ty, who's also known by his nickname "Georgia Peach," has hit .250 so far in 112 at-bats, having played in every game. He has five doubles and four triples, and has stolen 11 bases, proving how aggressive he is on those basepaths by not fearing being caught (he's been caught six times). Thanks to being walked 16 times against eight strikeouts, he's got a .344 OBA, good for a leadoff batter. Oh, and he's tied for first in steals, so he must be doing something right.
As for the rest of the lineup: Doc Gesslar's hitting .345 with 29 RBIs, eight steals and a .446 OBA. Joe Yeager has hit .418 with four homers, 32 RBIs, a .623 slugging average and .450 OBP. And Jimmy Stockard has overcome a seven game hitless streak to start the season, recovering to currently hold a .309 average, with six doubles, five triples, eight homers and 35 RBIs, with a .673 slugging percentage. Not bad for our first four in the lineup. Claude Rossman's hitting .322, Al Shaw's at .355 and Harry Arndt has a .275 average, so for those of you who don't fear us yet, be warned that anyone who comes to the plate can kick your asses at any time, and we're not afraid. We're world series bound this year, and no one's getting in our way.
Just look at our pitching: Joe McGinnity's 6-3 with a 2.70 ERA, Cy Ferry is 5-2 with a 4.37 ERA, and (get this!) Charlie Jackson, at 28 and in his second season, has pitched in ten games (nine more than he got in his rookie season) and has notched a 7-0 record, 3.29 ERA and 25 K's in 76.2 innings, good for a .228 OBA. How's that for stepping up in the three spot? Frosty Thomas is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in the closer spot, with five saves and a whopping .125 OBA, Gene Ford's 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA in the setup spot, and George Suggs is 1-0 with a 5.79 ERA in short relief.
I'm moving Jack Quinn up into relief, replacing Frank Owen as the first short reliever. Bring on May!
June 1, 1905
Our streak continues, as we're now 43-14 and still two games up on the Washington Senators (41-16). We're hitting .286 and holding a 3.14 ERA. Ty Cobb's heating things up in the leadoff spot, with a .284 average, 12 doubles, seven triples and a homer, as well as 23 steals and 32 walks, which brings his OBA up to .374 and his slugging percentage to .412! And Jimmy Sheckard's in familiar territory, hitting .309, with 12 homers, 12 triples and 13 doubles ... plus 13 steals. He's slugging .645 with a .417 OBA, exceptional for a cleanup hitter. And our pitching's on fire as well -- Joe McGinnity's 10-5 with a 2.41 ERA and .215 OBA ... Cy Ferry's showing his ROY honors from last year were no fluke, now that he's 11-5 with a 4.03 ERA, and Charlie Jackson continues to shine, with a 13-1 record, 2.69 ERA and .204 OBA. Could he be the one to finally unseat Joe "Mr. Best Pitcher" McGinnity in the pitching awards race? We're not sticking our noses in, we're just glad he keeps throwing such great games.
July 1, 1905
After three months we're 56-27, tied for first with those damned Senators from the D.C. ... hitting .272 and with a team ERA of 3.13. Ty Cobb's hitting .270 and has 33 stolen bases and 60 runs scored. Jimmy Sheckard has a .318 average, 18 homers, 19 stolen bases and 78 runs (77 batted in). And Doc Gessler's not bad off, with his .317 average, 28 stolen bases and 65 runs scored. Joe McGinnity's 14-8 with a 2.13 ERA, Cy Ferry's still a strong 14-9 with a 4.00 ERA, and Charlie Jackson's 17-3 with a 2.85 ERA. Thomas Frosty has 17 saves, and Gene Ford's 7-2 with a 2.52 ERA, so even the bullpen still wants to make the World Series. That's saying something, since even our weakest link of late hasn't been so weak this time around. If we make the series this year, we're winning. That's all I've got to say about that ... see you all in July!
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
August 1, 1905
As we hit the home-stretch, we're 76-36 and well atop the American League, nine games up on Washington (67-45)! The team's hitting .273 and has an ERA of 3.03, so we're keeping it up on both ends. Cobb's still leading off with a .278 average, 41 stolen bases and 77 runs, which has opened up our lineup to great things. Doc Gessler's hitting .310 with 23 doubles, 11 triples and eight homers (.464 slugging) with 32 stolen bases and 59 RBIs. Joe Yeager's got a .319 average, 30 doubles, 68 RBIs. Jimmy Sheckard (at cleanup) is hitting .324 with 27 doubles, 18 triples and 21 homers, along with 24 stolen bases and a .632 slugging average. And at fifth in the lineup, Claude Rossman, in his second season (age: 23) is hitting .312 with 64 runs batted in and .410 slugging. Not bad indeed.
Joe McGinnity's 19-12 with a 2.34 ERA, 78 K's and a .212 OBA. Cy Ferry's 17-10 with a 3.65 ERA, 78 K's and a .249 OBA. But Charlie Jackson's fast becoming the star, as he's now 24-4 with a 2.53 ERA, 86 K's and a .198 OBA. Seems we've hit the trifecta there with our three top starters. Gene Ford's 10-4 with a 3.04 ERA and a save, while Frosty Thomas is 2-5 with a 4.82 ERA and 21 saves. Oh, and Jack Quinn, up from single-A ball, has played five games at short relief, putting together a 1-0 record, 1.29 ERA, a .207 OBA and a save, all in just 14 innings.
September 1, 1905
This afternoon we clinched the pennant, having beaten the New York Highlanders on the road 3-2! We have thirteen games remaining and hold a spectacular 96-45 record!
September 18, 1905
We finished the season with a 106-48 record, the best in the majors! We'll face Boston's Beaneaters (92-62) in the World Series.
Ty Cobb finished with a .282 average, 34 doubles, 13 triples, a trio of homers and 52 stolen bases, all of which led to 113 runs, 33 batted in. Doc Gessler finished with a .311 average, 12 homers, 37 stolen bases and 122 runs (85 batted in). Jimmy Sheckard had a .331 average, 27 homers, 28 stolen bases and 125 RBIs (136 runs!) Joe Yeager also finished with a .322 average and a total of 91 RBIs.
Charlie Jackson moved into the second spot in the rotation late in August, and finished with a 32-4 record, a 2.15 ERA, 114 K's and a .200 OBA. That should sew up the race for the AL's Best Pitcher award right there. Joe McGinnity had a 28-16 season with a 2.52 ERA and 103 K's, Cy Ferry went 21-14 with a 3.38 ERA, and Gene Ford had a 16-4 record, a 2.69 ERA and a .234 OBA in 70 innings (42 appearances). Thomas Frosty finished with 29 saves, but his 4.99 ERA and 2-9 record suggest he's not cut out for this. If I can find a better closer I will ... and will send him back to the minors where a 2-9 record belongs.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
The 1905 World Series
Game 1: In Boston, we blew them out of the water tonight 8-3! Joe Yeager had four hits in five at-bats, Jimmy Sheckard hit two homers, and though they outscored us 2-0 in the first inning, we led 3-2 after three and never looked back. Charlie Jackson played seven innings and gave up only four hits and two earned runs, while Ed High came in for two to close it out, giving up one earned run and four hits.
Game 2: Again at Boston, again an 8-3 win! McGinnity gave up all three runs in his six innings, but Ford and Siever handled the three innings of relief with relish. McGinnity took the win, but it was a team effort, as seven players scored! Al Shaw was the star though, both scoring AND batting in a run. Padden also had three hits in four at-bats, scoring a run thanks to solid all around hitting.
Game 3: At home we took a 4-0 beating at the hands of the Beaneaters, as they improved to 1-2 on the series. They only had six hits the whole night, but managed to score in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh, shutting us out. We only had two hits: Joe Yeager singled up the middle in the second, and Jimmy Barrett (pinch hitting for Jack Quinn) singled to left field in the ninth. But despite those hits and three walks, plus a pair of fielding errors that led us on base, we weren't able to capitalize on anything despite aggressive play.
Game 4: We got our revenge tonight, improving to 3-1 with a 7-0 slaughter on our turf! Charlie Jackson pitched eight innings, giving up only five hits, while we got runs out of five players, including three from Gessler! He had two hits, three runs and two RBIs, including a homer in the bottom of the seventh! One game left, if we play our game right! Let's win this one in Detroit!
Game 5: Couldn’t do it. We got shut out tonight 5-0 by the Beaneaters, who outhit us 11-3, and though McGinnity stayed in eight innings, he couldn't stop the bleeding. We trailed 4-0 when he went out, and Thomas couldn't pull us out of it either in his one inning of relief. Yeager, Sheckard and Shaw each had hits, but we made nothing of them. So it's back to Boston for game six.
Game 6: The Beaneaters forced a game seven, going up 1-0 in the second inning and finishing us off with a second run in the seventh. They hit four times and we only got two, and though Cy Ferry pitched a complete game, in top form, we had no run support. Sheckard had a hit in three tries, as did Ferry, the goddamned pitcher! That's a sad state of things, when our stars contribute nothing, and the pitcher tries valliantly to keep us in it on both sides of the ball. Ty Cobb's .174 in 23 at-bats this time in the playoffs, which is a big reason we're struggling I'd say ... we're going to need strong hitting from all sides in game seven if we want to win this one. McGinnity will get the start.
Game 7: In front of 25,000 screaming fans here in Boston, the game got underway under the lights at just after 2 p.m. as Ty Cobb grounded out to the shortstop. Claude Rossman was up second, doubling down the left field line, but Lew Post grounded out to third, and Sheckard grounded out to short. It didn't stay scoreless for long though, as Boston came out gunning. Bud Sharpe wound up doubling in the right field gap, driving in Shad Berry to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and the war was on.
From there it became a pitchers' duel ... for all of three more innings, when Boston came up (again) and slammed us! Eddie Grant singled to left, driving in Bud Sharpe, who had walked early in the inning. Mike Heydon then singled to right, driving in Pat Carney. And to make things all nice and wonderful, Rube Sellers walked, then Billy Hamilton hit an infield single to the shortstop, driving in Eddie Grant. Suddenly we're down 4-0 after four. They scored again in the fifth, Mike Heydon grounding to short, driving in Bud Sharpe, making it 5-0. Things looked to be all but over.
Then came the top of the sixth. Ty Cobb singled to right field, taking first. Claude Rossman singled through the left side, pushing Cobb to second and taking first. Then Lew Post singled to center and Cobb took it all the way home, making it 5-1! Claude Rossman got greedy and went for third, but was thrown out. Sheckard popped out to short, but Lew Post stole second and then Yeager singled up the right field gap, driving Post home! Shaw brought the rally to an end though by lining out to third. Boston 5, Detroit 2 -- Bottom of the sixth, though, Boston's not blinking. Two more runs were scored, as Shad Berry grounded to first, driving in Billy Hamilton, followed by Bud Sharpe doubling down the right field line, driving in Dave Murphy. Our fans, who had travelled here all the way from Detroit by train, were getting mighty restless.
Top of the eighth: Lew Post homers around the foul pole in left, giving us a third run (still down 7-3 though). Nothing else though that inning. But thankfully we keep them scoreless in the bottom of the eighth (thanks Ed Siever! He came in during the seventh, and seems to have stopped the bleeding). It all comes down to the top of the ninth. We need four runs to tie it, or the game's over.
Al Shaw steps up and singles through the hole, taking first. Dick Padden lays down a sacrifice bunt to the third baseman, getting Shaw to second, but failing to make it to first before being tagged out. Jimmy Barrett, pinch hitting for Otto Knabe, gets to second on a fielding error by the center fielder, driving Shaw to third! Two runs on base ... can we get them home? Joe Kelley comes in to pinch hit for Ed Siever ... but POPS OUT TO SHORT! ******! And Ty Cobb comes up to bat and flies out to right field.
BEANEATERS WIN 7-3, DETROIT CHOKES, LOSING THREE STRAIGHT TO LOSE SERIES.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
good stuff...keep em coming!
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
Expect an update later tonight or tomorrow morning :) I'm having a lot of fun with this one.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
how did you change the salary and contract demands?
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
Quote:
Originally Posted by discodave1977
how did you change the salary and contract demands?
Commish mode, league setup. There are dropdown options for "salary demands" and "league revenue." And they can be adjusted mid-season without killing your game :)
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
Arbitration News
Al Shaw will play next year earning $400,000 since we won arbitration.
Harry Arndt wanted $750,000, but we won arbitration at $450,000.
John Sullivan, a backup catcher, will play for $350,000 next year.
Emil Frisk will play for $350,000 next season.
Pop Dillon didn't play last year, and we won arbitration to give him a $350,000 deal next year.
Doc Gessler wanted $1.25 million, but we won arbitration at $900,000.
Ed Siever wants $1.2 million. We won arbitration at $850,000 and will keep him another year.
George Suggs gets $350,000 for another year in the minors.
Contract Negotiations
Joe Yeager has agreed to a 7 year deal worth $1,250,000 per season.
Jimmy Barrett wants $1.1 million a year, but as a backup to Ty Cobb, I don't feel he's worth it. Cut him.
Ducky Holmes, at 37, wanted to stay with us, but he's unlikely to play, so we released him. Maybe someone else'll start him.
Joe McGinnity wants $3.85 million for four years, and that's a no brainer. At 35, he's still a superstar. We signed on the line.
Free Agent Signings
Cy Seymour (37, RF) hit .306 last year for Pittsburgh, with eight doubles four triples. We signed him at $1.1 million for the next two years!
1905 Rookie Draft
Round 1 (Pick 16): Pete Henning (18, SP, 74/83)
Round 2 (Pick 32): Ross Reynolds (18, RP, 68/79)
Round 3 (Pick 48): Marc Hall (SP, 18, 70/79)
Round 4 (Pick 64): Lou Lowdermilk (19, RP, 65/81)
Round 5 (Pick 80): Clarence Kraft (18, 1B, 46/82)
Round 6 (Pick 96): Red Fisher (18, LF, 49/81)
Major Moves
We traded Doc Nance (LF) and Claude Rossman (1B) to get Pete Alexander, the #1 pick in this year's draft off of Brooklyn's Superbas! Alexander's a superior pitcher with astounding endurance, a brutal fastball and defense and health that should make him a crucial part of our lineup for years to come. He's also known to be a solid hitter, which should help us a lot down the stretch.
1905 Awards
Charlie Jackson won the AL Best Pitcher Award with his 32-4 record! He was also the AL's most valuable player!
Jimmy Sheckard was awarded the AL's Gold Glove for left fielders!
April 1, 1906
Here's our opening day lineup:
Batting
1 - Doc Gessler (RF, 86) 25, 4th Season
2 - Ty Cobb (CF, 86/95) 19, 2nd Season
3 - Chris Lindsey (1B, 80) 27, 2nd Season
4 - Jimmy Sheckard (LF, 88) 27, 11th Season
5 - Joe Yeager (3B, 83) 30, 10th Season
6 - Al Shaw (C, 81) 31, 6th Season
7 - Dick Padden (SS, 71/74) 35, 12th Season
8 - Otto Knabe (2B, 63/81) 21, 2nd Season
B1 - John Sullivan (C, 70) 33, 6th Season
B2 - Charley O'Leary (SS, 71/86) 23, Rookie
B3 - Joe Kelley (LF, 81) 34, 17th Season
B4 - Lew Post (RF, 74/77) 30, 5th Season
B5 - Emil Frisk (RF, 79) 31, 6th Season
B6 - Cy Seymour (RF, 80) 33, 12th Season
AAA - Fred Payne (C, 74/76) 25, Rookie
AAA - Pop Dillon (1B, 64/67) 32, 8th Season
AA - Steve Packer (C, 68/71) 25, Rookie
AA - Davey Crockett (1B, 67/68) 30, 3rd Season
AA - Tim Cochran (CF, 62/68) 25, Rookie
AA - Boss Schmidt (C, 72/78) 25, Rookie
AA - Clay Perry (3B, 63/83) 24, Rookie
A - Joe White (1B, 67/71) 23, Rookie
A - Garrett Weeks (RF, 67/70) 21, Rookie
R - Paul Sweatman (1B, 59/81) 24, Rookie
R - Jack Cameron (LF, 61/83) 21, Rookie
R - Justin Dedrick (SS, 58/79) 19, Rookie
R - Clarence Kraft (1B, 46/81) 18, Rookie
R - Red Fisher (LF, 49/83) 18, Rookie
DL - Harry Arndt (81) 27, 5th Season [29 Days - Severed Knee Ligament]
Pitching
1 - Joe McGinnity (94) 35, 9th Season
2 - Pete Alexander (89/93) 19, Rookie
3 - Charlie Jackson (78/81) 29, 3rd Season
4 - Ed Siever (87) 28, 6th Season
5 - Ed Karger (83) 22, 4th Season
Closer - Frosty Thomas (68/74) 24, 4th Season
Setup - Gene Ford (68/74) 24, 2nd Season
Short - Charlie Pickett (67/74) 23, Rookie
Short - Jack Quinn (79/90) 22, 5th Season
Middle - Cy Ferry (72/74) 27, 3rd Season
Long - George Suggs (75/81) 23, 5th Season
AAA - Charlie Jaeger (65/68) 30, 3rd Season
AA - John Terry (68/70) 26, 4th Season
AA - Arch McCarthy (68/80) 25, 2nd Season
A - Frank Browning (65/74) 23, Rookie
R - Roy Beecher (64/83) 21, Rookie
R - Pete Henning (74/83) 18, Rookie
R - Marc Hall (70/79) 18, Rookie
R - Ross Reynolds (68/79) 18, Rookie
R - Sam Lanford (64/72) 20, Rookie
R - Lou Lowdermilk (65/81) 19, Rookie
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
May 1, 1906
After a month, our 18-10 record puts us in a tie for first with Boston's Pilgrims! Washingon (17-11) is in third and New York's Highlanders are in fourth (16-12) so it's a tight early race. Ty Cobb's having a stupendous start, hitting ..341 with four doubles two triples and two homers, slugging .500 thus far. He's got two steals but has been caught six times, which has kept his OBP down at .389. Crazy enough, though, he's not our best hitter! Chris Lindsay is hitting .359 with six doubles and four homers (.547 slugging) and Jimmy Sheckard's off to a .404 start with eight homers, eight doubles and six stolen bases, good for a .504 OBA and .750 slugging average! Charlie Jackson's in the three spot in the pitching rotation, and is off to a 5-2 start (2.68 ERA) in seven starts, bringing his career total to 37-6! And though no other pitchers can match his decision totals, all five of our starters are below 4.00 in ERAs, and our team ERA is 3.07, so we're getting a balanced series of performances going deep into our bullpen.
June 1, 1906
After two months, we're on our usual roll, leading the American League by five games, 38-19, ahead of Washington (33-24) and Boston (32-25). Chris Lindsay now leads all batters with a .340 average, 10 homers and 42 runs (with 54 batted in) while Ty Cobb's .313 with seven homers and eight stolen bases ... and our leadoff man, Gessler, is hitting .316, with a .409 OBA, 11 homers and 64 runs! Joe McGinnity's 8-3 with a 3.14 ERA, Ed Karger's now 6-0 with a 3.32 ERA, Charlie Jackson's 9-5 with a 3.10 ERA and Ed Siever's off to a 5-3 start with a 3.43 ERA.
July 1, 1906
We're midway through the season, the All Star game's been played, and we're 55-28, six games up on Washington (49-34) and seven up on Boston (48-35). Chris Lindsay is hitting .342 with 13 homers and 70 RBIs, Jimmy Sheckard's got a .352 average and 18 homers (plus 87 runs and 83 RBIs) and Doc Gessler's .306 with 12 homers, 20 stolen bases and 85 runs. Charlie Jackson (13-6, 2.93 ERA) continues to lead all starters, while Joe McGinnity's 11-4 with a 3.01 ERA and Ed Karger's 9-2 with a 3.99 ERA. Ed Siever (4th in the rotation) is 8-4 with a 3.23 ERA, while Pete Alexander (5th Starter/Mopup) has pulled out a 3-2 record with a 3.59 ERA in seven appearances, though he hasn't started since April 27.
August 1, 1906
Well, with a month and a half to play, we lead the AL with a 74-38 record, eight games up on Washington (66-46) as we hit the homestretch of the long season. Jimmy Sheckard leads all batters with a .341 average, 23 homers and 112 RBIs, while the team as a whole is hitting .275. Our team is pitching with a 3.24 ERA, and our five starters are sharing the love well. Pete Alexander in the fifth spot got four starts this month, going 3-1, which brings his record to 6-3 with a 3.40 ERA. Charlie Jackman leads with a 17-7 record with a 2.93 ERA, Ed Karger's 14-3 with a 3.63 ERA, and Joe McGinnity's 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA. Gene Ford, our setup man, has a 9-5 record plus five saves with a 2.48 ERA, but Frosty Thomas has been disappointing at closer, with a 2-7 record, 5.97 ERA and 10 saves. He's only 24, but he's 8-20 in four years closing for us, and this year's .299 OBA is his worst of his career. We may need to start shopping him around for a pitcher with better movement.
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
very fun read. looks like you simulate by the month? do you do any pbp games? keep up the diary!
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Re: Tiger Century: Turning the 1901 Tigers into an eventual Dynasty!
No, no play by play games. I've tried it out in some test games, and I can't get the feel for the pitch by pitch mode. I prefer to move faster anyway. I sim day by day, making changes when needed, but I do writeups monthly. Makes it easy to follow, I'd think, since you don't have to read about 154 games a year ;)
