Slippery Elm Boys Update 1907
It appears that the career of
Bill Dineen, now with Brooklyn, is coming to a close as the 10-year veteran was kept in relief duty and limited use all year. Former teammate
Tom Hughes stayed in California after being released by Seattle and did not catch on with a team.
Ed Walsh pitched even better this year, his fourth in the majors, but Chicago’s offense was weak this year and failed to support the rising star.
Harry Howell was welcomed back to Chicago but experienced a similar fate as the team fell from contention into the second division. The steal of the year came in Cleveland with the signing of
Noodles Hahn, ex-Cincinnati star. The return of the lefthanded spitballer made fellow Slippery Elm Boy
Glenn Liebhardt expendable, who spent the full year at Columbus in disbelief. Former Nap
Heinie Berger made the best of his opportunity to start in Pittsburg and was a key contributor in the championship season. Troubled
Earl Moore resurfaced only to announce that he was hanging up his cleats.
Hooks Wiltse of New York and
Beany Jacobson in Washington are the new breed of spitballers, branding their own mark on the leagues to the tune of being southpaws. For Jacobson, 1907 was his best effort in his five year career, and his 1.75 ERA was tied for second in the AL.
Jimmy Dygert repeated last year’s performance in Philadelphia and benefited from an improved offense this year. He joins veteran Eddie Plank, young Chief Bender and Jack Coombs in a tough Athletic rotation.
Jack Chesbro again found himself in California, this time via a trade which ended up being a contract dump by the Highlanders. It was a mistake as Chesbro completely dominated the PCL as the Yankees fell on hard times and into the second division. That led to “The Curveless Wonder”
Al Orth’s first professional 20-loss season. Overall, Orth has 220 career victories, second only to Griffith’s 238 among those who tossed the wet one. Meanwhile,
Cy Falkenberg lost 28 for the lowly Cubs, walking 130 in a frustrating year after being traded from Cleveland.
Code:
Player Team W L SV ERA G GS IP HA BB K CG SHO
B. Dineen BRO 4 2 3 2.81 19 2 57.2 57 22 18 1 0
T. Hughes - no team -
E. Walsh CHA 18 18 0 1.84 40 39 357.0 280 63 213 33 2
H. Howell CHA 16 19 0 2.54 37 37 336.2 295 80 138 31 2
N. Hahn CLE 29 10 0 2.15 39 39 356.0 306 35 98 37 7
G. Liebhardt CLE - minor leagues -
H. Berger PIT 22 16 0 2.54 39 39 343.2 274 92 186 36 4
E. Moore - retired -
H. Wiltse NYG 20 18 0 2.30 38 38 340.0 308 83 150 36 5
B. Jacobson WAS 19 18 0 1.75 38 38 340.0 281 81 138 36 4
J. Dygert PHA 22 13 0 2.26 39 38 335.0 271 102 167 33 2
J. Chesbro PCL - statistics unavailable -
A. Orth NYH 13 21 0 2.55 35 35 304.0 317 78 86 29 1
C. Falkenberg CHN 10 28 0 2.90 38 38 326.0 297 130 155 33 3
*
EDIT - In my rush to get to 1908 I overlooked Jack Chesbro's NO HITTER against Philadelphia that occurred on July 4, 1906. This is the first no-hitter among those dedicated to the saliva shoot. Chesbro is a bit of an enigma for being shuttled to California and back, especially when his success with the spitter mounts each year.