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Syd Thrift · 05-02-2007, 11:44 PM

Overview

The brand new Philadelphia Athletic Club had all kinds of luck in 1901, but nearly all of it was bad. A gentleman's agreement was made with the 1900 keystone combination of the crosstown Phillies, Kevin MacKeochan and Ning Zhang. We were prepared to use them to take the very first American League pennant but sadly injuries got in the way and they only played a combined 20 games for us. What's worse, there are rumblings of a lawsuit coming in to deny us the use of both players in '02 as well. Still, even without those guys the club finished a solid 12 games above .500 thanks to some solid athleticism. Our club may not have been anywhere near the best but they were the most conditioned. While much of the rest of the American League wilted in the hot summer air, our Athletics finished 39-23 from June 16th on. It is quite a good sign for the future of the Athletics team not to mention the future of calisthenics.

Pitching

Code:

Player				Age	W	L	Pct	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA
David Pininferino		34	21	11	0.656	36	35	304.2	285	99	3	84	137	2.92
Jim McNeiledge			33	18	16	0.529	35	35	294.0	314	112	4	60	117	3.43
Jimmy Baker			30	16	14	0.533	35	30	262.2	306	94	10	57	65	3.22
Claude Cugnoni			26	17	10	0.630	37	24	239.2	218	72	4	51	147	2.70
Ken Maw				23	4	13	0.235	26	16	152.0	169	71	4	94	24	4.20

As you can see, only 5 people pitched for the inaugural Athletics. We could have opened the proverbial door to in-season tryouts as so many of the other first-year clubs did but we felt that would take some of the emphasis away from our regimen. As a staff ace, David Pininferino may not have had the best walk or strikeout numbers in the league but only 4 pitchers threw more innings than the 34-year-old. For that matter, him and Jim McNeiledge represented one of 2 AL squads with 2 men in the top 10 in IPs (the Baltimore Orioles being the other; the Red Sox also had Jesse MacLagan and Keith Gages but of course MacLagan only threw half the year for that ballclub). Jimmy Baker had the opportunity to get to that level himself but the longball ultimately doomed him. Claude Cugnoni is a man we adore; before '01 he had pitched in the majors just one season and never started a game, but insisted to us that he could handle the increased workload. Well, with the help of lots and lots of running on his days off, we are happy to say that Cugnoni proved himself right. We hope that Ken Maw will embrace Cugnoni's commitment to excellence, but sadly we expect he will not.

Catcher and First Base

Code:

Pos	Player			Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG
C	#Dave Daniel		25	109	383	39	106	12	7	1	47	0	25	39	.277
C	 Carey Waye		26	41	127	13	28	9	0	1	12	0	2	17	.220
1B	#Ron Eshelman		33	133	505	88	134	40	8	5	71	1	80	58	.265
1B	#Olan Dreaper		29	10	36	2	6	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	.167

David Daniel showed that despite starting his career with the lowly Spiders, he is truly a winner. He doesn't have the finest arm in the world but hit well enough to make us forget that. Carey Waye is the kind of good-field no-hit backstop who can take over when the opposition is being a little too hard on that light arm. We're not entirely sure how, exactly, Ron Eshelman has crafted a career. His lifetime average of .294 is just 14th among the 23 players who have had enough at-bats to qualify for our career totals (1194 at present, which is a little over 2 seasons' worth of playing). However, he is selective at the plate, which leads to a lot of free passes from the pitcher and last year to leading all major leaguers in two-base hits. If his .265 average falls much further we may have to replace him with someone more athletic, but we submit that 1901 was still a good season to be had from a first baseman.

Infield

Code:

Pos	Player			Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG
2B	Cawthra Penington	25	96	346	48	82	11	8	0	38	28	25	40	.237
2B	#Albert Mangoni		32	41	125	12	24	5	0	1	13	3	15	10	.192
2B	 Kevin MacKeochan	36	12	49	7	21	5	0	0	8	1	3	2	.429
2B	Ning Zhang		29	8	29	5	7	1	0	0	2	1	1	2	.241
3B	*Rod van Schoonhoven	29	69	268	30	68	13	4	0	22	4	12	23	.254
3B	*Bailey Hamilton	26	89	354	50	102	10	13	3	58	6	25	40	.288
SS	#Ty Graham		29	124	483	92	131	19	7	3	49	6	62	16	.271
SS	 Cromawn McKlern	18	2	8	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.250

Ah, what might have been. If Zhang and MacKeochan combined to provide even one full season for the A's last year, this is what we think that fantasy player would have produced:

140 G, 546 AB, 84 R, 196 H, 42 2B, 70 RBI, 14 SB, .359 BA

Instead, poor old Connie Mack was forced to use Cawthra Pennington and Albert Mangoni at second, who combined to hit just .225. There's not a lot available down on the farm here; otherwise you would have seen it in September or earlier. At third, Bailey Hamilton won the job from Rod van Schoonhoven coming out of spring training but himself missed 2 months barely a week into the season. The team doctor blames it on a torn groin muscle. We blame it on the 4th-year player having never learned the proper methods of warming up in his years with the thespians (thespians, guhhh) in Brooklyn. Ty Graham had a solid year at shortstop but was supposed to spend that solid year flipping around the infield to wherever he was most needed. He finished 3rd in the AL in errors at the position and only Gunnar Jones of the Red Sox sported a lower range factor. We're not saying we know where replacements for him will come from but mark our words: they will come.

Outfield

Code:

Pos	Player			Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG
LF	*Ken McKichan		34	106	442	60	138	12	9	2	65	32	19	37	.312
LF	#Kemen Adams		29	46	152	18	35	7	7	2	21	3	6	16	.230
LF	 Frank Kirton		24	31	77	7	16	4	0	0	11	1	1	17	.208
CF	Dan Leaf		27	136	580	88	149	29	13	1	54	27	24	69	.257
RF	*Ross MacKerlich	20	62	238	28	73	5	0	4	42	3	11	27	.307
RF	*Sesto Cimabue		32	55	179	22	42	9	7	0	26	4	10	25	.235
RF	*John Duley		28	22	73	11	25	2	0	0	7	0	8	3	.342

Unlike some of the other clubs in other cities, we are not adverse to employing the Irish. It's true that as many of them, when asked to name their favorite athlete, will name brawlers John L. Sullivan or James Jeffries rather than, say, Nivens O'Mulvany, but as far as we're concerned a person who uses their body for a living is a person who uses their body for a living. We are told that there is a diabolical way to take that last statement but we refuse to acknowledge it. We'd like also to point out that in this outfield that proved to be so baneful to the Athletics' chances in 1901, the biggest disappointments were an Italian and a so-called "true" American. Sesto Cimabue was supposed to show us all why the Cubs had been mistaken in never giving him a starting job or even a long amount of time in relief of an injured starter (he did hit .324 in 204 at-bats in 1896, the only time in his career before '01 that he had more than 80 of them), but instead did little else than stretch long hits into triples and steal an occasional base. Dan Leaf may have started all season but he lost 48 points off of his average compared to 1900 and left us to wonder what was in the Reds' drinking water back then.

On the other hand, Ken McKichan was the team's best hitter over the course of the season. He's not blessed with a powerful swing but he is as good as anybody in the league at chopping out hits and terrorizing people on the basepaths. And in right nobody expected much of anything out of Ross MacKerlich but the man confounded us all with tricky hit after tricky hit. And he's only 20 years old! He has quite the Athletic future in store for himself.

05-02-2007, 11:44 PM	#108 (permalink)
Syd Thrift Banned Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 3,113	Philadelphia Athletics, 76-64, 4th AL 15 GB Overview The brand new Philadelphia Athletic Club had all kinds of luck in 1901, but nearly all of it was bad. A gentleman's agreement was made with the 1900 keystone combination of the crosstown Phillies, Kevin MacKeochan and Ning Zhang. We were prepared to use them to take the very first American League pennant but sadly injuries got in the way and they only played a combined 20 games for us. What's worse, there are rumblings of a lawsuit coming in to deny us the use of both players in '02 as well. Still, even without those guys the club finished a solid 12 games above .500 thanks to some solid athleticism. Our club may not have been anywhere near the best but they were the most conditioned. While much of the rest of the American League wilted in the hot summer air, our Athletics finished 39-23 from June 16th on. It is quite a good sign for the future of the Athletics team not to mention the future of calisthenics. Pitching Code: Player Age W L Pct G GS IP H ER HR BB SO ERA David Pininferino 34 21 11 0.656 36 35 304.2 285 99 3 84 137 2.92 Jim McNeiledge 33 18 16 0.529 35 35 294.0 314 112 4 60 117 3.43 Jimmy Baker 30 16 14 0.533 35 30 262.2 306 94 10 57 65 3.22 Claude Cugnoni 26 17 10 0.630 37 24 239.2 218 72 4 51 147 2.70 Ken Maw 23 4 13 0.235 26 16 152.0 169 71 4 94 24 4.20 As you can see, only 5 people pitched for the inaugural Athletics. We could have opened the proverbial door to in-season tryouts as so many of the other first-year clubs did but we felt that would take some of the emphasis away from our regimen. As a staff ace, David Pininferino may not have had the best walk or strikeout numbers in the league but only 4 pitchers threw more innings than the 34-year-old. For that matter, him and Jim McNeiledge represented one of 2 AL squads with 2 men in the top 10 in IPs (the Baltimore Orioles being the other; the Red Sox also had Jesse MacLagan and Keith Gages but of course MacLagan only threw half the year for that ballclub). Jimmy Baker had the opportunity to get to that level himself but the longball ultimately doomed him. Claude Cugnoni is a man we adore; before '01 he had pitched in the majors just one season and never started a game, but insisted to us that he could handle the increased workload. Well, with the help of lots and lots of running on his days off, we are happy to say that Cugnoni proved himself right. We hope that Ken Maw will embrace Cugnoni's commitment to excellence, but sadly we expect he will not. Catcher and First Base Code: Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG C #Dave Daniel 25 109 383 39 106 12 7 1 47 0 25 39 .277 C Carey Waye 26 41 127 13 28 9 0 1 12 0 2 17 .220 1B #Ron Eshelman 33 133 505 88 134 40 8 5 71 1 80 58 .265 1B #Olan Dreaper 29 10 36 2 6 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 .167 David Daniel showed that despite starting his career with the lowly Spiders, he is truly a winner. He doesn't have the finest arm in the world but hit well enough to make us forget that. Carey Waye is the kind of good-field no-hit backstop who can take over when the opposition is being a little too hard on that light arm. We're not entirely sure how, exactly, Ron Eshelman has crafted a career. His lifetime average of .294 is just 14th among the 23 players who have had enough at-bats to qualify for our career totals (1194 at present, which is a little over 2 seasons' worth of playing). However, he is selective at the plate, which leads to a lot of free passes from the pitcher and last year to leading all major leaguers in two-base hits. If his .265 average falls much further we may have to replace him with someone more athletic, but we submit that 1901 was still a good season to be had from a first baseman. Infield Code: Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG 2B Cawthra Penington 25 96 346 48 82 11 8 0 38 28 25 40 .237 2B #Albert Mangoni 32 41 125 12 24 5 0 1 13 3 15 10 .192 2B Kevin MacKeochan 36 12 49 7 21 5 0 0 8 1 3 2 .429 2B Ning Zhang 29 8 29 5 7 1 0 0 2 1 1 2 .241 3B Rod van Schoonhoven 29 69 268 30 68 13 4 0 22 4 12 23 .254 3B Bailey Hamilton 26 89 354 50 102 10 13 3 58 6 25 40 .288 SS #Ty Graham 29 124 483 92 131 19 7 3 49 6 62 16 .271 SS Cromawn McKlern 18 2 8 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .250 Ah, what might have been. If Zhang and MacKeochan combined to provide even one full season for the A's last year, this is what we think that fantasy player would have produced: 140 G, 546 AB, 84 R, 196 H, 42 2B, 70 RBI, 14 SB, .359 BA Instead, poor old Connie Mack was forced to use Cawthra Pennington and Albert Mangoni at second, who combined to hit just .225. There's not a lot available down on the farm here; otherwise you would have seen it in September or earlier. At third, Bailey Hamilton won the job from Rod van Schoonhoven coming out of spring training but himself missed 2 months barely a week into the season. The team doctor blames it on a torn groin muscle. We blame it on the 4th-year player having never learned the proper methods of warming up in his years with the thespians (thespians, guhhh) in Brooklyn. Ty Graham had a solid year at shortstop but was supposed to spend that solid year flipping around the infield to wherever he was most needed. He finished 3rd in the AL in errors at the position and only Gunnar Jones of the Red Sox sported a lower range factor. We're not saying we know where replacements for him will come from but mark our words: they will come. Outfield Code: Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG LF Ken McKichan 34 106 442 60 138 12 9 2 65 32 19 37 .312 LF #Kemen Adams 29 46 152 18 35 7 7 2 21 3 6 16 .230 LF Frank Kirton 24 31 77 7 16 4 0 0 11 1 1 17 .208 CF Dan Leaf 27 136 580 88 149 29 13 1 54 27 24 69 .257 RF Ross MacKerlich 20 62 238 28 73 5 0 4 42 3 11 27 .307 RF Sesto Cimabue 32 55 179 22 42 9 7 0 26 4 10 25 .235 RF John Duley 28 22 73 11 25 2 0 0 7 0 8 3 .342 Unlike some of the other clubs in other cities, we are not adverse to employing the Irish. It's true that as many of them, when asked to name their favorite athlete, will name brawlers John L. Sullivan or James Jeffries rather than, say, Nivens O'Mulvany, but as far as we're concerned a person who uses their body for a living is a person who uses their body for a living. We are told that there is a diabolical way to take that last statement but we refuse to acknowledge it. We'd like also to point out that in this outfield that proved to be so baneful to the Athletics' chances in 1901, the biggest disappointments were an Italian and a so-called "true" American. Sesto Cimabue was supposed to show us all why the Cubs had been mistaken in never giving him a starting job or even a long amount of time in relief of an injured starter (he did hit .324 in 204 at-bats in 1896, the only time in his career before '01 that he had more than 80 of them), but instead did little else than stretch long hits into triples and steal an occasional base. Dan Leaf may have started all season but he lost 48 points off of his average compared to 1900 and left us to wonder what was in the Reds' drinking water back then. On the other hand, Ken McKichan was the team's best hitter over the course of the season. He's not blessed with a powerful swing but he is as good as anybody in the league at chopping out hits and terrorizing people on the basepaths. And in right nobody expected much of anything out of Ross MacKerlich but the man confounded us all with tricky hit after tricky hit. And he's only 20 years old! He has quite the Athletic future in store for himself.