A World Without The Yankees (1901-????)

[jcbarr]

Detroit, MI
July 9th, 1901

Baltimore Only Three Games Back

The Orioles find themselves only three games back of the Detroit Tigers in the American League race. At 47-33 the Orioles have rolled off 5 straight wins to pull even closer to the Tigers. Pitcher Jack Dunn has really stepped up his game as he has lowered his team leading ERA to 2.97. The offense continues to be good as they are hitting over .300 as a team. Mike Donlin leads the way with 6 home runs and player/manager John McGraw has added 22 stolen bases. This series with the Tigers is huge. Baltimore hopes to come away only one game back and if they can manage the sweep they will leave Detroit tied for the lead in the American league. The season is winding down and if the O's can grab a few wins here it will really help their case.

McGraw's Thoughts on the Tigers

The Tigers are a tough squad for sure, but we can and have beat them. They have been playing over their heads. We are easily more talented than them and I hope that we can come out and show that in this three game series. We have the better offense and the better pitching staff. They might be slightly better than us in the bullpen, but hopefully that won't come down to be the deciding factor.

George Davis is a great player, but you can't sit back and try to stop just one guy. We have to concentrate on the whole team. One guy cannot beat us. If he hits three home runs against us and no one is on base then that is only three runs scored, that's the way I look at things like that.

[jcbarr]

Detroit, MI
July 27th 1901

Orioles Head Back to Bennett Park



The Orioles head back to Bennett Park for another three game series with the Tigers. Currently the Orioles sit only one and a half games back of the lead and hope to leave Detroit with it. Steve Brodie still leads the team with his .370 batting average which has been good enough for fourth in the entire league at the moment. Mike Donlin is third in home runs with 8, Jack Dunn is second in the league with a 2.99 ERA and Cy Seymour and Joe McGinnity are among the league leaders in wins as well. Unfortunately Jack Dunn is still out with a mild shoulder separation stemming from a collision at home plate suffered some two weeks ago when he was trying to score on a single by Brodie. All the odds makers are currently calling the Tigers the underdog despite the fact that they are in first place. Statistically speaking the Orioles are better in every category.

Game One

In game one Joe McGinnity pitched one heck of a ball game as he shut out the Tigers and only allowed three hits over 9 innings. He struck out 4 and only threw 112 pitches the whole game. It is always nice to get an efficient game like that out of your rotation. The fact that the Baltimore bullpen isn't all that strong didn't even matter in this one. Leadoff man Bill Kiester went three for five with a home run, drove in one and scored twice during the game.

Baltimore 6, Detroit 0

Game Two

Baltimore outlasted the Tigers in a thriller in game two. Heading in to the top of the ninth the O's found themselves down one run. They scored three to seal the victory and Bobby Keefe came in to pitch the ninth to pick up his 8th save this year. Cy Seymour got knocked around a little bit as he gave up 8 runs in 5 innings. Bill Keister was once again the hero as he drove in four runs including the game winning double that scored three in the top of the ninth. This win over the Tigers put the Orioles in first place by half a game.

Baltimore 12, Detroit 10

Game Three

Tigers score 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to take the victory and first place after game three of the series. Joe Lake came in to pitch the 8th and promptly game up a double to George Davis, a walk to Kip Selbach, a single to Collins that scored a run, another single to McAllister that scored another run, and finally a triple to Arndt that scored the final two runs. The game showed just how weak the bullpen is and that it will be a problem if the O's make it to the post season. McGraw may want to think about picking up some help.

Detroit 7, Baltimore 3

[PotatoOfCouch13]

McGraw may want to think about picking up some help.

Foreshadowing? I wonder who McGraw is going to get...

[jcbarr]

Baltimore, MD
August 1st, 1901

Record: 60-43
Standing: Second (.5 games back)
Injuries: 2B Bill Keister (4 games)

Orioles Only A Half Game Back

After a 19-11 record in the month of July the Orioles are within .5 games from the Detroit Tigers. Baltimore will start of August with series against the Senators, White Sox and Athletics before meeting up with the Tigers again on the 13th. The bull pen has been the one major weakness for the club. On offense they are as solid as any team in baseball and the starting rotation is also one of the best in the league. They don't have one guy in the pen that they can count on at this point, and that has been hurting them in some close games. Many feel that it is about time to make a change, but up to this point manager John McGraw has done nothing to remedy the situation. With the trade deadline passing just yesterday, it doesn't seem like anything is going to get done about it at all.

McGraw's Comments

Sure I feel like we are good enough to win this thing. I don't know who I was supposed to trade. Can you show me some guy on the team that we can afford to lose for a pitcher. The guys in the pen are just going to have to step it up and find a way to get it done. It's as simple as that.

I wouldn't say that I have been surprised by how good Brodie has played. We all knew that he was a heck of a ball player. I mean just go back and look what he did in the past, he some great seasons.

1901 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Keister, Bill             BLA   99  .324   454  147  19   8   5   31   29   19   6   81   82  .434  .372
Williams, Jimmy           BLA  102  .251   419  105  25   7   3   40   44    6   1   71   57  .365  .321
Jordan, Slats             BLA  100  .246   410  101  17   2   6   51   44    3   1   50   76  .341  .333
Snodgrass, Chappie        BLA  102  .276   402  111  29   2   3   40   35    3   2   59   64  .381  .338
Robinson, Wilbert         BLA   97  .258   357   92  13   2   2   28   33   12   6   53   37  .322  .316
McGraw, John              BLA   89  .316   354  112  10   1   0   65   30   27   8   77   46  .350  .431
Brodie, Steve             BLA   80  .363   350  127  15   4   4   28   28   16   3   74   49  .463  .422
Donlin, Mike              BLA   78  .339   322  109  15   4   8   32   28   16   1   58   73  .484  .403
Cree, Birdie              BLA   31  .252   103   26   5   2   0   10   18    1   1   12   10  .340  .330
LaPorte, Frank            BLA   25  .284    95   27   6   1   0   12    5    2   0   12   10  .368  .370
McGinnity, Joe            BLA   29  .213    80   17   1   0   0    7    9    0   0    8    5  .225  .273
Seymour, Cy               BLA   28  .351    77   27   3   0   1   13    6    3   2   21   12  .429  .451
Dunn, Jack                BLA   23  .301    73   22   2   1   1    6   10    0   0   10    7  .397  .354
Bresnahan, Roger          BLA   16  .407    54   22   5   0   0    8    3    0   0    9    8  .500  .492
Hart, Burt                BLA   52  .395    43   17   3   0   1    9    3    1   0    9   12  .535  .500
Howell, Harry             BLA   15  .325    40   13   2   0   0    3    2    0   0    2    5  .375  .356
Latimer, Tacks            BLA   22  .321    28    9   1   0   0    0    3    1   0    3    4  .357  .321
Foutz, Frank              BLA   25  .364    22    8   2   0   0    9    1    0   0    6    9  .455  .563
Roach, Roxey              BLA   37  .462    13    6   3   0   0    4    2    0   0    6    4  .692  .588
Nops, Jerry               BLA    7  .333    12    4   1   0   0    3    2    0   0    1    3  .417  .438
Clarkson, Walter          BLA    6  .125     8    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    2    0  .125  .125
Hogg, Bill                BLA    9  .000     4    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Burns, C.B.               BLA    3  .333     3    1   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    1    1  .333  .333
Lake, Joe                 BLA   23  .500     2    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .500  .500
Yerkes, Stan              BLA   10  .500     2    1   0   0   0    2    0    0   0    1    0  .500  .750
Doyle, Slow Joe           BLA    9 1.000     1    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0 1.000 1.000

1901 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
McGinnity, Joe            BLA  229.0  3.46   29  29  13  11   0   84   73 11.83
Seymour, Cy               BLA  205.0  5.14   28  28  13  10   0  131   99 13.52
Dunn, Jack                BLA  195.2  2.99   23  23  11   6   0   42   42  9.80
Howell, Harry             BLA  125.1  3.73   15  15  11   2   0   56   37 11.70
Nops, Jerry               BLA   41.0  4.61    7   5   2   1   0   12   16  9.88
Lake, Joe                 BLA   31.1  3.16   23   0   5   3   1   15   14 12.64
Clarkson, Walter          BLA   22.1  5.64    6   2   1   1   0   10   12 16.52
Keefe, Bobby              BLA   20.1  7.08   19   0   2   7   8   10   14 16.82
Yerkes, Stan              BLA   19.2  4.12   10   0   1   0   0    6    6 14.64
Hogg, Bill                BLA   14.1 10.05    9   0   0   2   0    5   18 20.09
Doyle, Slow Joe           BLA   10.1  5.23    9   0   0   0   0    3    3 15.68

[jcbarr]

September 1st, 1901
Chicago, IL

Eight Games to go, Three Games Back

The Orioles made no movement at the trade deadline and manager John McGraw has come under some fire for that move. Despite going 9-11 in their last 20 they have somehow managed to stay close enough to make a run in the last part of the season. Only 8 games remain and they are the most important ones of the Orioles' very short history. As it stands the Tigers are in first place followed by both the Americans and the Orioles at three games behind. The Orioles head to Chicago for quick two game series and then they come back home for three against Boston, and then head to Detroit for the final three game series with the Tigers. With 8 games left in the season the Orioles have a chance to not only keep Boston from winning the league, but they can determine their own fate on that matter as well.

Record: 73-59
Standing: Third (3.0 Games Back)
Injuries: OF Steve Brodie (5 games), 3B John McGraw (4 games), OF Choppie Snodgrass (5 games)

McGraw's Plans

Easy, win the **** league. That is what we set out to do this year and anything else is going to be a failure in my book. We got one heck of a squad and there is no excuse if we can't pull this thing off. We can send Boston home crying in their gloves and then we can go out to Detroit and take the league ourselves. If you ask me there ain't no better way to end a season.

[jcbarr]

October 4th, 1901

Season Ends In Disappointment

The 1901 season ended with the Orioles finishing just one game behind the Detroit Tigers. Coach John McGraw has been criticized for not making any moves during the season to improve the team. The bullpen was horrible for the O's and McGraw had several chances to make a trade to strengthen it. Some however feel that this just wasn't the year for the O's. The general feeling in Baltimore is good and they have nothing but respect for the man that not only coaches the team but is the starting third baseman and possibly the best player on the team.

Next year should prove to be a good year for the squad as the rookies will have some time to develop and mature in to stars. It is quite possible that we may not only see Art Fromme in the rotation but Russ Ford could see some significant playing time as well.

McGraw's Reaction

I don't even want to talk about this right now. 1901 was a failure if you ask me. We had every chance to win this thing and we just didn't do it. We finished out the year against the Tigers and we couldn't play well enough to get there. We had our shot and we blew it. Next year should be better, heck it WILL be better. We have the team, we just have to put everything together and make this thing work.

Next Up: Offseason

The Detroit Tigers were beaten in the 1901 World Series by the Pirates, and pretty handily at that. The Pirates look like the team to beat over the next few years and the Orioles have some work to do if they want to compete with them. It's not known at this point as to what kind of changes are going to happen on the team. The one thing that we do know is that John McGraw will be back as the coach. The people of Baltimore absolutely love his attitude and his general hatred for losing.

[jcbarr]

Contract Renewals

Harry Howell

Harry pitched well for the Orioles and of course they were going to keep him. They couldn't afford to lose him to an in league rival so they inked him to a new 4 year deal. With the reserver clause in effect the length of the contract didn't really matter but it makes the players feel like they have some control over things.

Cy Semour

Another pitcher that had to be retained. He was a big part of the rotation and a must sign. He is still rather young and it was well worth the money to keep him around.

Bill Keister

Bill was the starting second baseman and the leadoff hitter for the Orioles this past year. He did a great job at setting the tone and getting on base. Without him the offense would have had trouble scoring runs, so resigning him was really no question at all.

Jerry Nops

Jerry didn't see a whole lot of playing time but when he was on the mound he was very good. It's always nice to have some insurance for the big guns in your rotation and that is exactly what Nops gives the O's.

Crazy Schmit

Crazy, well he is just plain crazy. McGraw and him had some personality conflicts and his play just wasn't at the level that was expected from him. With Fromme and Ford coming up the ranks it was needed to make some room in the staff for the two of them and Schmit was the one standing it the way it seemed. Once Schmit was let go he promptly retired at the age of 35. He stated; "All I wanted to do was play close to home, and if I can't do that then I'm not worried about playing at all." These statements were made apparently after the Washington Senators told Schmit that they were not interested in signing him for the 1902 season.

Wilbert Robinson

The old man decided to call it quits after the 1901 season. At the tender age of 38 years old he came to the conclusion that he just wasn't in the shape to play baseball any longer. Robinson has decided to put all of his efforts in to the tavern that he and Coach/Player John McGraw own in downtown Baltimore. It still remains to be seen how McGraw will take this decision and how it will impact his play and managerial style during the 1902 season.

[jcbarr]

1901 Standings, Stats and Awards

AMERICAN LEAGUE (1901)

                        W   L   PCT    GB   AVG    HR    SB   ERA
 Detroit               79  61  .564    --  .284    39    81  4.37
 Baltimore             78  62  .557   1.0  .293    46   143  3.92
 Boston                75  65  .536   4.0  .272    34   157  4.34
 Philadelphia          74  66  .529   5.0  .293    38   143  4.70
 Washington            74  66  .529   5.0  .294    29   131  4.13
 Milwaukee             64  76  .457  15.0  .278    48   165  4.31
 Chicago               58  82  .414  21.0  .270    48   184  4.79
 Cleveland             58  82  .414  21.0  .275    30    82  5.13


NATIONAL LEAGUE (1901)

                        W   L   PCT    GB   AVG    HR    SB   ERA
 Pittsburgh            91  49  .650    --  .302    40   176  4.08
 Boston                76  64  .543  15.0  .281    26    99  4.67
 Philadelphia          73  67  .521  18.0  .287    34   187  4.28
 St. Louis             69  71  .493  22.0  .287    29   156  4.40
 Brooklyn              68  72  .486  23.0  .286    54   193  5.12
 Cincinnati            67  73  .479  24.0  .296    37   171  4.71
 Chicago               67  73  .479  24.0  .290    35   188  5.13
 New York              49  91  .350  42.0  .279    50   126  5.23

AMERICAN LEAGUE (1901)

Cy Young                  Win Mercer (WSH)
Player of the Year:       Mike Donlin (BLA)
Rookie Of The Year:       Lou Bruce (PHA)

Gold Glove (P):           Laurence MacGoun (DET)
Gold Glove (C):           Farmer Steelman (PHA)
Gold Glove (1B):          Frank Isbell (CHW)
Gold Glove (2B):          Hobe Ferris (CHW)
Gold Glove (3B):          Wid Conroy (MLA)
Gold Glove (SS):          Champ Osteen (WSH)
Gold Glove (LF):          Orth Collins (WSH)
Gold Glove (CF):          Chick Stahl (BOS)
Gold Glove (RF):          Lou Bruce (PHA)

NATIONAL LEAGUE (1901)

Cy Young                  Jesse Tannehill (PIT)
Player of the Year:       Honus Wagner (PIT)
Rookie Of The Year:       Frank Schulte (CHC)

Gold Glove (P):           Vic Willis (BSN)
Gold Glove (C):           Ed McFarland (PHI)
Gold Glove (1B):          Ed Delahanty (PHI)
Gold Glove (2B):          Claude Ritchey (PIT)
Gold Glove (3B):          Charlie Hickman (NYG)
Gold Glove (SS):          Bobby Wallace (STL)
Gold Glove (LF):          Honus Wagner (PIT)
Gold Glove (CF):          Willie Keeler (BRO)
Gold Glove (RF):          Roy Thomas (PHI)

1901 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
McGinnity, Joe            BLA  299.0  3.46   38  38  16  14   0  109   92 11.89
Seymour, Cy               BLA  281.2  4.67   38  38  17  15   0  175  135 12.88
Dunn, Jack                BLA  262.1  3.12   31  31  15  10   0   54   56 10.19
Howell, Harry             BLA  195.0  3.46   24  24  16   6   0   82   52 11.35
Nops, Jerry               BLA   50.0  4.32   11   6   2   2   0   14   17 10.80
Lake, Joe                 BLA   48.0  3.19   36   0   7   4   3   22   22 12.56
Yerkes, Stan              BLA   26.2  4.73   12   0   1   0   0    9   11 15.53
Keefe, Bobby              BLA   26.0  6.92   25   0   2   8  13   11   17 15.58
Clarkson, Walter          BLA   24.1  5.55    8   2   1   1   0   11   12 15.90
Hogg, Bill                BLA   14.2  9.82   10   0   0   2   0    5   18 19.64
Doyle, Slow Joe           BLA   13.1  5.40   12   0   0   0   0    4    4 14.85

1901 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Keister, Bill             BLA  133  .316   605  191  28  14   6   36   48   26   8   99   97  .438  .359
Williams, Jimmy           BLA  139  .263   558  147  34  10   3   55   56    9   4   90   75  .376  .333
Jordan, Slats             BLA  137  .251   557  140  26   2   7   68   65    3   1   63  101  .343  .335
Snodgrass, Chappie        BLA  134  .259   532  138  36   2   6   48   46    7   2   70   81  .368  .319
Brodie, Steve             BLA  112  .368   489  180  23   6   4   36   31   21   5  103   64  .464  .425
Donlin, Mike              BLA  115  .341   469  160  23   9  12   51   44   24   3   89  101  .505  .408
McGraw, John              BLA  111  .315   445  140  12   1   0   72   35   29  10   96   59  .346  .417
LaPorte, Frank            BLA   41  .270   152   41   7   2   0   16    9    3   0   20   13  .342  .341
McGinnity, Joe            BLA   38  .193   109   21   1   0   0    7   14    0   0   10    7  .202  .239
Seymour, Cy               BLA   38  .346   107   37   4   0   2   15    7    4   3   26   14  .439  .435
Cree, Birdie              BLA   31  .252   103   26   5   2   0   10   18    1   1   12   10  .340  .330
Dunn, Jack                BLA   31  .283    92   26   2   2   1    8   13    0   0   12    9  .380  .340
Bresnahan, Roger          BLA   22  .406    69   28   6   0   0   10    3    0   0   11   10  .493  .494
Howell, Harry             BLA   24  .262    65   17   2   0   0    5    6    0   0    5    6  .292  .306
Hart, Burt                BLA   71  .390    59   23   5   0   1   12    4    1   0   11   17  .525  .493
Foutz, Frank              BLA   32  .290    31    9   2   0   0   10    3    0   0    6    9  .355  .476
Latimer, Tacks            BLA   25  .300    30    9   1   0   0    0    3    1   0    3    4  .333  .300
Roach, Roxey              BLA   53  .407    27   11   4   0   0    5    4    1   0    9    5  .556  .500
Bell, Rudy                BLA    4  .333    15    5   0   0   1    1    2    0   0    3    2  .533  .353
Nops, Jerry               BLA   11  .400    15    6   1   0   0    3    2    0   0    1    3  .467  .474
Rohe, George              BLA    3  .333     9    3   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    2    0  .333  .333
Clarkson, Walter          BLA    8  .125     8    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    2    0  .125  .125
Burns, C.B.               BLA    4  .250     4    1   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    1    1  .250  .250
Hogg, Bill                BLA   10  .000     4    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Yerkes, Stan              BLA   12  .250     4    1   0   0   0    2    0    0   0    1    0  .250  .500
Curtis, Fred              BLA    3  .667     3    2   1   0   0    0    0    0   0    1    0 1.000  .667
Lake, Joe                 BLA   36  .500     2    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .500  .500
Courtney, Ernie           BLA    1  .000     1    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Doyle, Slow Joe           BLA   12 1.000     1    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0 1.000 1.000

[jcbarr]

April 1st, 1902
Baltimore, MD

The Pressue is on Mike

Mike Donlin was chosen as the American League MVP for 1901. Mike only played in 115 games in 1901 but he still managed to lead the team in home runs with 12 and RBI with 101. Donlin batted .341 and had an OPS of over .900 which is very impressive for any player in the league no matter what the circumstance. The pressure will be on Donlin not only to play up to the level that he did last year, but to also stay healthy. A lot of fans are blaming the month long injury last year for the reason that the O's finished a mere one game behind the Tigers when all was said and done. Coach McGraw refuses to use that as an excuse, but I doubt anyone can argue that it didn't play in to the equation just a little bit. Donlin will once again find himself as the starting CF and hit in the clean up spot for the O's.

Fromme and Ford Stay in AAA

Despite pressure being put on McGraw by not only the fans but ownership as well, Art Fromme and Russ Ford will start the 1902 season in AAA. They made some improvements but overall it is felt that they still need a season or two more before they are ready to contribute at the major league level. These things have to be played carefully as you would hate to rush them to the pros only to have them falter and get set back another year because of it.

McGraw's Outlook

Mike's a big boy, I'm sure that he can handle the pressure. He is a world class athlete and he won't have any issues putting up numbers. That has never been a question about him. The biggest concern is if he can actually make it out on to the field for the whole season.

Art and Russ just ain't ready. I don't care what ownership or the fans say. I ain't gonna bring them up just so they can fail and go back down. Do you know what that could do to a kid?

Wilbert calling quits wasn't my idea. I thought he could still play, but we got Roger and he should be able to step in and carry the load. It don't bother me none. At least I know I got someone competent running my bar when I ain't around.

This year we are going to be more aggressive with our scouting and we hired some better medical guys. Hopefully coming up off the money is going to help us get what we need. We need good information on the guys that we are playing and we need to be able to get our guys patched up and back out on to the field as soon as when can when they get banged. Overall I think we got a better team than we did last year. We should have won the whole **** thing last year, and we should again this year. Like I have said in the past, if we don't them I'm gonna be one pissed of guy.

Team Changes

Milwaukee Brewers - St. Louis Browns
Chicago Orphans - Chicago Cubs
Boston Americans - Boston Somersets
Cleveland Blues - Cleveland Broncos


.

[jcbarr]

Sports Writers Projections

American League

Baltimore Orioles (85-55)
Philadelphia Athletics (71-69)
St. Louis Browns (70-70)
Boston Somersets (69-71)
Chicago White Sox (69-71)
Detroit Tigers (66-74)
Washington Senators (66-74)
Cleveland Broncos (64-76)

Hopes are high in Baltimore but I don't think that anyone can honestly pick them to win the league by 14 games. That is just an insane amount to pick. They most certainly have the talent to win the league, but that margin will never happen. Detroit is also a lot better than than the writers are giving them credit for. I think this comes from the fact that the personalities on that team might not be the friendliest in town.

National League

Pittsburgh Pirates (88-52)
New York Giants (71-69)
Boston Beaneaters (70-70)
St. Louis Cardinals (70-70)
Brooklyn Superbas (68-72)
Chicago Cubs (67-73)
Philadelphia Phillies (67-73)
Cincinnati Reds (60-80)

The Pirates are no doubt the favorites again this year, and probably for many years to come. Their team is just too strong and I don't think anyone is going to give them a run for their money this year. Just like over in the American League the rest of the teams are pretty much lumped together with no clear second place or even last place.