The Arizona League: Real Players. Fictional Teams

[AZTarHeel]

1915 Retirees

A large contingent of players hung up their cleats and traded in their bats and gloves for other ventures after the 1915 season.

Here is the list, followed by several notes on players:

Rick Adams retires ...
Paddy Baumann retires ...
Harry Armbruster retires ...
Pop Foster retires ...
Johnny Bates retires ...
Jack Bliss retires ...
Tom Hughes retires ...
Jim Jackson retires ...
Willis Cole retires ...
Bill Collins retires ...
Red Downs retires ...
Buster Brown retires ...
Doc Newton retires ...
Walt Devoy retires ...
Jimmy Sheckard retires ...
Charlie Chech retires ...
Sammy Strang retires ...
Pat Donahue retires ...
Doc White retires ...
Jimmy Williams retires ...
Roy Ellam retires ... (first career hit was a triple, off Tucson's Bill Burns)
Red Faber retires ...
Mike Cunningham retires ... (five-time all-star as a reliever)
Rudy Hulswitt retires ...
Tom Jones retires ...
Harry Kane retires ... (eight different injury periods for this pitcher)
Happy Finneran retires ... (career ends at 23 due to shoulder problems)
Germany Schaefer retires ... (3B, part of all five Prescott championship teams)
Walt Mccredie retires ...
Walter Clarkson retires ... Jim Delahanty retires ...
Art Devlin retires ...
Miller Huggins retires ...
Moose Mccormick retires ... (Flagstaff LF played behind Sam Crawford most of his career, hit for the cycle against Jerome in 1911)
Charley O'leary retires ...
Joe Harris retires ...
Moxie Manuel retires ...
Harry Mcintire retires ... (138-120 record, all with Cottonwood, 3.21 ERA, career trailed off after 25-13 record in 1908)
Branch Rickey retires ...
Tubby Spencer retires ...
Vive Lindaman retires ...
Lee Quillen retires ...
Boss Schmidt retires ...
John Kane retires ...
Art Kruger retires ...
Larry Mclean retires ...
Tony Smith retires ...
Bob Unglaub retires ...
Joe Lake retires ...
Patsy O'rourke retires ...
Gabby Street retires ...
Bill O'hara retires ...
George Suggs retires ...
Ernie Shore retires ... (injury ends career at 24; he was 17-13 with 4.11 ERA, drafted by Cottonwood, trade to Prescott quickly)
FLG: Roger Bresnahan retires ...
FLG: Tex Neuer retires ...
PAY: Ginger Beaumont retires ...
PRE: Buck O'brien retires ...
CAR: George Stone retires ... (LF, 1,632 hits, all with Carefree/Havasu franchise)
PHX: Earl Moore retires ... (165-183 record, all with Phoenix)
PHX: Lucky Wright retires ...
TOM: Bert Conn retires ...
TOM: Bill Jackson retires ...

Some more interesting notes on this year's retiring class:

• The most notable member of this group looks to be pitcher Doc White. He compiled a 270-198 record, posted a 2.71 ERA and had a pair of no-hitters. He won 20 or more games 10 different seasons. He started his career with Bisbee but then toiled in relative obscurity with the Lake Havasu/Carefree franchise for much of his career. He appeared in the post-season in 1903, 1904 and 1905, posting a 5-3 record with a stingy 1.46 ERA.

More on him in a bit, when the Hall of Fame committee assembles!

• Walter Clarkson pitched a no-hitter for Yuma in 1905, but that turned out to be his only real highlight. He was 19-37 lifetime with 4 saves. He had a 3.60 ERA and was 0-1 in post-season, with a 7.72 ERA. But he'll always have the no-hitter...

• I think I finally found my ultimate Cup of Coffee guy. Willis Cole was drafted in the fifth round by Kayenta in 1909. He spent his entire career in Triple A, except for one game in 1912. He came up to the big club, had one at-bat and struck out. That was it, back to Triple A for him.

The next season, he had just one at-bat in Triple A, and got a hit. Then Kayenta released him and he retired when no one else signed him ... I'm still looking for the guy who had just one AB in the majors and got a hit with that AB (maybe even a home run!)... still looking for him, though...

• Payson LF Ginger Beaumont had an all-star career, compiling 2,318 hits (second most in AZL), 964 RBIs (ninth) and 1,060 runs (fifth). He retires with a career average of .287 average... Hall of Fame candidate? We'll find out...

• 3B Bert Conn flew under the radar most of his career because he played in Tombstone, which never really went anywhere in the post-season (one playoff appearance).

Still, Conn was tough, piling up 1,922 hits, 561 doubles (career leader in AZL), 183 home runs (second most in AZL) and 1,102 RBIs (fourth-best all-time). He was a five-time Field General winner and twice had six RBIs in a game. His average was just .230 and he never was voted to an All-Star Game... What about his Hall of Fame resume?

• Jimmy Williams had 1,949 hits, 1,005 RBIs, .261 average, with Phoenix and Payson

• Pop Foster had 1,721 hits, 907 RBIs, all with Tempe...

• Pitcher Doc Newton had 203-189 pitching record, with Prescott and Yuma. He was 6-1 in post-season...

• OF Jimmy Sheckard had 1,876 hits, 937 RBIs with Grand Canyon and Phoenix...

• Sammy Strang spent his entire career with Bisbee. He compiled 1,970 hits and 993 RBIs, winning a Big Stick Award in 1909. He was voted to the All-Star Game eight times and had five hits in four different games...

• Roger Bresnahan was the starting catcher in Flagstaff from 1901-15, except for in 1905 when a hip injury in early April ended his season prematurely. He finished his blue-collar career with 1,525 hits, 550 RBIs, 867 runs, .230 career average...

[AZTarHeel]

1915 Hall of Fame Inductions

Commissioner Phinieus "Doc" Victory announced the week before the 1915-16 Winter Meetings that the Arizona League Hall of Fame would have its first class of inductees.

"These three men have been true pioneers for our league and are worthy Hall of Famers in every sense of the word," Victory said.

Here's the list:


Outfielder Danny Green (1901-1914)
One of the league's pioneers, Green played his entire career for the Prescott Antelopes, helping lead them to five Arizona League championships. Green is third on the current career list in hits (2,288), seventh in batting average — minimum 2,000 at-bats (.299), third in RBIs (1,076), fifth in triples (141) and seventh in runs scored (1,019).

Green stole 420 bases, won the 1911 Big Stick Award and was voted to 11 All-Star games. He batted .270 in 75 playoff games for 'Lopes. He once had a hitting streak of 31 games back in 1911.

His 244 hits in 1911 and 154 RBIs is still a Northern League record. He batted .385 that season, still a Prescott record.



Leftfielder Ginger Beaumont (1901-15)
Another draftee from the original 1901 pool, Beaumont spent his entire career in Payson. He finished with 2,341 career hits (moving ahead of Green in his final season for second on the all-time list). Beaumont had 1,060 runs (fifth all-time), 964 RBIs (eighth all-time), 887 walks (sixth all-time) and 127 triples (14th) .

The man could flat get on base — and get home. He was a four-time All-Star and a three-time Field General Award winner. His final batting average was .287, and he hit .256 in 40 post-season games.



Pitcher Doc White (1901-15)
White concludes his career with a 270-198 career record (third-best all-time for career wins). He wasn't necessarily a strikeout pitcher, but he was solid at keeping runs down (2.78 ERA). And he was Mr. Endurance on the hill, throwing 387 complete games (sixth-best in the Arizona League) and 46 shutouts (tops in the league).

White threw two no-hitters in his career, both for Carefree. The first was in 1909 and the second in 1912. He earned Top Hurler honors for the Northern League in 1907, compiling a 28-13 record for the Blues with a 2.17 ERA. He was an eight-time winner of the Field General Award.


Left off the list for now is long-time Jerome IF Nap Lajoie, the first player chosen in the 1901 draft. His name may pop up again in future Hall of Fame discussions, however...

[Ric915]

Love the Detailed End of Season Reports and the Hall of Fame write ups Great Job

[AZTarHeel]

1915-16 Winter Meetings

Babe Ruth Update
Phoenix, winners of the 1915 Cactus Champions Cup, hosted this year's Winter Meetings, and the biggest buzz centered around The Babe.

Yep, word broke long before the Meetings that Babe Ruth would make himself available for the 1916 draft. Last year at this time, he was planning on joining the Nevada-Utah Baseball Association, but he changed his mind and never even set foot in either state.

Some speculate that Commissioner Doc Victory traveled all the way to the East Coast to meet with Ruth and persuade him not to join the Nevada-Utah league. NUBA officials harshly criticized Victory for that, though the speculation has not been confirmed by anyone. All Ruth is saying is that he had a change of heart and is excited about the prospect of playing in Arizona beginning with the 1916 season.

As it turns out, Ruth spent the 1915 season competing on a youth showcase team put together by none other than Clyde Cooley of Show Low, the man who makes a yearly request to get an AZL franchise in his beloved town (and who is now in charge of the All-Star Game as well as Payson's Double A franchise located in Show Low). Other top prospects on that team included 2B Rogers Hornsby and pitcher Stan Covelesky.

Also on that team, Commissioner Victory's grandson, Phinieus "Lil Doc" Victory. He was mostly used as a pinch runner because he can fly (and was included mostly as a favor to the Commish -- when he asks for something, you'd better listen). Lil Doc pitched a few times and beaned three guys in an inning of one game. His bat got better, but he's a long shot to ever get drafted by an AZL team. His claim to fame: he shares a birthday with twins, Babe and George Ruth...

You probably won't find Babe Ruth getting drafted by the hometown Phoenix Dust Devils considering that the Devils won the AZL championship in '15 and won't have a high draft pick. It's doubtful that Babe will link up with his brother George in Tucson for that same reason.

The Tombstone Epitaphs are on the clock with the first pick, with the Tempe Sun Devils, Bisbee Prospectors and Yuma Prisoners on deck after that...

[AZTarHeel]

1916 Team News


Prescott's new logo beside its old one.


Jerome's new logo beside its old one.

Prescott, Jerome franchises undergo makeovers

The Prescott Antelopes and Jerome Copper Miners unveiled new logos for the 1916 season. Both go for bold looks.

But not everyone in Prescott is happy with management's decision to dump the Antelopes' old logo for this new one. When you've won five championships in 15 years why change anything, some ask. But the franchise, going through a bit of a dry spell in the playoff department wanted to shake some things up and get folks excited again.

Both teams report good sales on merchandise bearing their new look, though Prescott officials also have been selling the old look a lot as well.

(Can you tell I visited CephasJames' photobucket site for logos?)

[AZTarHeel]

1916 Player Draft

One day, you might here a couple of Arizona League trivia questions that go something like this: Who was the one player picked ahead of Babe Ruth in the 1916 draft? And which team took a pass on a prospect that scouts say could be a "once in a generation" type player?

Your answers: Pitcher Elmer Myers. And the team? The Tombstone Epitaphs.

Yep, the perennially poor Epis — who have finished fifth or worse the past five seasons in the Southern League — took a pass on the Babe with the No. 1 pick in this year's draft. Instead they chose to go after pitching, picking Myers, the 21-year-old starting pitcher from Pennsylvania. Time will tell if that was the right decision. (methinks it was a poor one)...

So, Tombstone's loss is the Tempe Sun Devils' gain. Tempe was sitting in the No. 2 spot in the draft and wasn't about to let Babe Ruth drop any more. The Devils' championship hopes — and ticket sales — received a big boost on draft day. Of course, folks in the Nevada-Utah Baseball Association are crying foul over Babe coming to the Arizona League at all, but there isn't much they can do now.

Clyde Cooley of Show Low, who had the Babe on his youth showcase team during the summer of 1915, was very outspoken on what an amazing player Ruth could be at the big league level. "If I had a franchise in Show Low, I'd trade my entire starting lineup to get Babe on my roster. He's just that good. I don't know what Tombstone was thinking..." Of course, that's easy for Cooley to say. Show Low doesn't have a franchise.

Bisbee had been hoping Babe would fall to No. 3, but they still got a solid prospect in 2B Rogers Hornsby.

*** Just for the heck of it, I googled Elmer Myers, because I had never heard of him. Here are some real life facts on our 1916 first draft pick (other than that he shares my birthday of March 2!):

Myers had an 8-year career as a right handed pitcher. He finished with a 55-72 record, 428 Ks and a 4.06 ERA in 1,102 innings. Myers shut out the Senators 4-0 in his first ML game on October 6, 1915 and pitched 315 innings as a rookie in 1916. He won 28 games for four last-place Athletics teams before being traded to Cleveland. He gave up Ty Cobb's 3,000th hit on August 19, 1921

I think we all know enough about Ruth. We'll see how the Sultan of Swat fares in the Arizona League, starting now...

Here is the complete list of 1916 draftees. How did your favorite team fare? Alas, Commissioner Doc Victory's grandson was not chosen. Maybe next year

Round 1:
Tombstone pick: P Elmer Myers
Tempe pick: RF Babe Ruth
Bisbee pick: 2B Rogers Hornsby
Yuma pick: P Jing Johnson
Sedona pick: P Otis Lambeth
Grand Canyon pick: P Ed Klepfer
Cottonwood pick: RF Harry Heilmann
Kayenta pick: P Bob Steele
Jerome pick: P Art Nehf
Carefree pick: P Milt Watson
Prescott pick: P Frank Miller
Nogales pick: P Jim Bagby
Payson pick: P Stan Coveleski
Phoenix pick: P Lefty Williams
Flagstaff pick: 1B Joe Judge
Tucson pick: P George Mogridge

Round 2 :
Tombstone pick: P Clarence Mitchell
Tempe pick: P Jesse Barnes
Bisbee pick: C Verne Clemons
Yuma pick: LF Carson Bigbee
Sedona pick: P Bill Evans
Grand Canyon pick: LF Hack Miller
Cottonwood pick: P Deacon Jones
Kayenta pick: 2B Joe Gedeon
Jerome pick: P Joe Lotz
Carefree pick: P George Cunningham
Prescott pick: P Claude Thomas
Nogales pick: RF Greasy Neale
Payson pick: CF Elmer Miller
Phoenix pick: RF Lee King
Flagstaff pick: CF Whitey Witt
Tucson pick: SS Zeb Terry

Round 3 :
Tombstone pick: P Allan Russell
Tempe pick: P Al Gould
Bisbee pick: CF Jack Smith
Yuma pick: P Dave Danforth
Sedona pick: P Cy Warmoth
Grand Canyon pick: RF Joe Schultz
Cottonwood pick: 3B Lee Mcelwee
Kayenta pick: 2B Stuffy Stewart
Jerome pick: C Byrd Lynn
Carefree pick: RF Buck Thrasher
Prescott pick: 3B Jimmy Johnston
Nogales pick: P Marsh Williams
Payson pick: 1B Babe Ellison
Phoenix pick: 2B Roy Grover
Flagstaff pick: C Walter Schmidt
Tucson pick: SS Bunny Fabrique

Round 4 :
Tombstone pick: 2B Jack Farmer
Tempe pick: P Bill Fincher
Bisbee pick: SS Chuck Wortman
Yuma pick: 2B Marty Shay
Sedona pick: RF Joe Wilhoit
Grand Canyon pick: P Molly Craft
Cottonwood pick: P Ken Penner
Kayenta pick: C Roxy Walters
Jerome pick: 2B Billy Gleason
Carefree pick: C Tony Brottem
Prescott pick: P George Hesselbacher
Nogales pick: P Rube Parnham
Payson pick: 2B Otis Lawry
Phoenix pick: 1B Lou Guisto
Flagstaff pick: RF Bill Johnson
Tucson pick: P Mike Cantwell

Round 5 :
Tombstone pick: P Gary Fortune
Tempe pick: 3B Hooks Warner
Bisbee pick: SS Frank Emmer
Yuma pick: CF Fred Bailey
Sedona pick: LF Lee (el) King

[Sir Lurksalot]

My favorite team fared poorly as usual. They need to fire whatever bonehead GM they have and get someone with half a brain.

[AZTarHeel]

1916 Season Recap — Northern League



Payson stays at the top, Jerome breaks through

The Payson Longhorns must like the view from above. The 'Horns won their fourth regular season championship in the past seven years and advanced to the AZL post-season for the fifth-straight year.

Actually, if you look at the team's Pyt. Record, Payson underachieved pretty mightily. But the Longhorns still had the best record in baseball this season, winning 97 games and taking the Northern League title rather comfortably.

Pitching ruled in Payson. The team was first pitching ERA (2.82), runs allowed (553), home runs allowed (just 26) and opponents' average (.220). The ace of the staff, Charley Hall, went 25-13 with a 2.19 ERA. He finished strong, going 6-0 in September with an ERA around 1.80. Sounds like a Top Hurler candidate to me. The past three year, Hall is 74-41 with season ERAs of 2.39, 2.06 and 2.19. Nice...

But the Horns had other aces as well. The No. 2 man, Bill Burns, went 25-15 with a 2.51 ERA. Tex Pruiett, the No. 3 guy, was 21-13 with a 2.83 ERA. There's the magic formula to put yourself in the championship picture — three 20-game winners. For good measure Ed Reulbach added 18 wins (though he lost 18).

All-star centerfielder Tris Speaker carried the most consistent bat of the season, batting .344 (tops in the Northern League) with 73 RBIs. His OPS was .956 (also best in the NL). The reigning Big Stick Award winner may hold on to his title for another year.

LF Guy Zinn was the top run-producer, driving home 101 with a .310 average. 1B Jake Daubert batted .285 with 94 RBIs. The beat goes on in Payson...

The Jerome Copper Miners are a different story. The Miners advanced to the playoffs just twice in their first 15 years, and this year will be their third trip. The team finished fourth in the division five times in the past seven years (taking second one other year and seventh in the other). So, this is big news that the team, which rose out of a middling group of teams, is back in the playoffs.

First-round draft pick Art Nehf did his part, going 16-16 as the No. 2 man in the rotation. Top-flight starter Bert Humphries was 23-15. Bill Doak also won 16 games.

Interestingly, Jerome had only the 12th best batting average in the AZL this season. Like Payson, they used the formula of good defense + good pitching = great record, earning 30 victories in one-run games. Or maybe players were inspired by the new logo the team unveiled for 1916

The top hitter for Jerome this season among the regulars was Butch "Butcher Boy" Smith, who batted .294 and drove home 84 runs. He had a six-RBI game against Cottonwood in September and made it to the All-Star Game. Catcher Tommy Clark was one of the NL leaders in on-base percentage. This was basically a team that just gutted out wins time and again without superstars.

Conventional wisdom says Payson should role through the Divisional Series and whip up on the Miners. But crazier things have happened in recent years...

Sedona actually challenged this season, while Flagstaff dropped way back after appearing in last year's Cactus Champions Cup series. As usual Kayenta didn't challenge at all. Prescott fans are discouraged by missing out on the post-season again. Guess they weren't inspired by their new logo...

Here are the final NL standings for 1916:

Team   W	L	PCT	GB	 Pyt.Rec	Diff	 	Home	Away	XInn	1Run	M#	Streak	Last10
Payson  	97	65	.599	-	106-56	-9	 	47-34	50-31	7-9	24-25	*	W1	6-4
Jerome  	85	77	.525	12.0	85-77	0	 	44-37	41-40	8-6	30-24	-	L1	6-4
Cottonwood 	82	80	.506	15.0	74-88	8	 	39-42	43-38	6-5	26-16	-	L1	6-4
Sedona  	81	81	.500	16.0	82-80	-1	 	38-43	43-38	7-8	24-28	-	W6	7-3
Prescott 	80	82	.494	17.0	79-83	1	 	36-45	44-37	11-8	27-29	-	L6	1-9
Grand Canyon	77	85	.475	20.0	76-86	1	 	40-41	37-44	8-4	22-23	-	W1	6-4
Flagstaff	76	86	.469	21.0	80-82	-4	 	37-44	39-42	6-5	19-21	-	W2	5-5
Kayenta 	70	92	.432	27.0	69-93	1	 	36-45	34-47	5-13	22-28	-	L2	3-7

[Ric915]

Guess the New makeover didn't help Prescott

BTW Sundogs win Game 7 to advance to next round of the CHL Playoffs

[AZTarHeel]

Originally Posted by Ric915

Guess the New makeover didn't help Prescott

BTW Sundogs win Game 7 to advance to next round of the CHL Playoffs

at least there is one team in that area to be proud of ...

[AZTarHeel]

1916 Season Recap — Southern League



Carefree Blues sing a winning tune (for a change)

If you looked at your Southern League standings after the final day of the regular season, you saw a strange sight. The Carefree Blues, a franchise usually left singing the blues in late September, were at the top of the heap.

It's the first time in Blues' history that Carefree has won an SL regular season crown and only the second time Carefree has made the playoffs. Looking back at franchise history, this is a team that has finished fourth or better just six times out of 15 before this season. The Blues were seventh in six different years and eighth in another.

In other words, these guys have been the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of their time, finally breaking new ground this season after many hapless tries.

Looking through season stats, I can't see how Carefree won the league. I guess the SL was pretty mediocre across the board, and the Blues just found ways to win important games.

This is a young team, and that bodes well for their future. Pitcher Phil "Shufflin' Phil" Davis, age 26, led the staff with a 24-15 record in only his third year in the league. Raymond Bressler, all of 21 years old, also in his third year, went 22-12 as the No. 4 starter. OK, that's pretty good stuff. Bressler was a nice steal for Carefree, which received him in a trade from Tombstone last season (the same Tombstone who passed on Babe Ruth by the way - more on him in a bit).

Believe it or not, Carefree had the lowest team batting average (.243) of anyone in the Arizona League this season. But they were nasty on the road, winning 50 games. Catcher Art Wilson had a solid year, batting .293 with 71 RBIs. 2B Larry Doyle hit 10 home runs to go with his 67 RBIs. 1B Hap Myers, CF Al Scheer (a nice pickup in a trade with Tucson), RF Gavvy Cravath and CF Al Shaw each had between 73-76 RBIs. See, no superstars. Just blue collar guys (and lots of young ones to build around).

Tucson nearly lost its chance at returning to the playoffs, fading quite a bit in September. But the Saguaros held off a pesky Yuma team for the second spot in the post-season.

Tucson has truly been the dominant team in the Southern League of late, finishing either first or second the past seven years. That's a pretty amazing streak, though fans in the Old Pueblo (i.e. like today's Atlanta Braves fans) will point to only one AZL championship for the club and just two Cactus Champions Cup appearances during that seven-year span.

It's almost as if Tucson cruised through this regular season, turning it on just enough to snare a playoff berth. Some impressive numbers by outfielders Ty Cobb (.321 average, 100 RBIs, 53 stolen bases) and Harry Hooper (.334 average, 91 RBIs, 31 steals) lead the way. 2B Heinie Zimmerman had a .322 average with 86 RBIs.

Willie Mitchell won 24 games from the mound, while Jake Boultes won 20 and George McQuillan 21. How did this team not win more games?

Yuma appears to be rebuilding well, and Tempe — with Babe Ruth firmly planted in the No. 3 spot in the lineup — finished just out of the post-season chase. Babe had a MONSTER first season, enough to earn him not one but two big awards. We'll save that for later.

Remember Elmer Myers, who was picked ahead of Babe Ruth in the draft by Tombstone? Well, he spent the entire year with the big club but only appeared in seven games, earning a 0-0 record, one save and a 4.00 ERA. Probably would have done him well to leave him at Triple A or something. But then again, that's Tombstone. There's a reason why the Epitaphs have been, well, dead to the post-season for most of their existence.

Here are the final SL standings for 1916. Not a good year at all for the defending AZL champions. Phoenix finished dead last (and Flagstaff was seventh in the NL). Yikes...

Team	   W	L	PCT	GB	 Pyt.Rec	Diff	 	Home	Away	XInn	1Run	M#	Streak	Last10
Carefree	93	69	.574	-	90-72	3	 	43-38	50-31	3-10	24-22	*	W1	6-4
Tucson  	86	76	.531	7.0	87-75	-1	 	47-34	39-42	11-8	28-22	-	L2	3-7
Yuma    	83	79	.512	10.0	85-77	-2	 	45-36	38-43	10-5	25-19	-	W2	5-5
Nogales  	81	81	.500	12.0	79-83	2	 	46-35	35-46	14-9	28-27	-	L1	6-4
Tempe   	81	81	.500	12.0	81-81	0	 	43-38	38-43	10-3	28-25	-	W1	9-1
Tombstone	76	86	.469	17.0	78-84	-2	 	35-46	41-40	4-14	23-36	-	L1	5-5
Bisbee   	74	88	.457	19.0	71-91	3	 	38-43	36-45	8-9	33-32	-	L5	1-9
Phoenix  	74	88	.457	19.0	77-85	-3	 	38-43	36-45	7-9	19-25	-	W2	5-5

[AZTarHeel]

For my Yuma fan out there, here is their roster this season as an FYI. Still my favorite logo by the way:

Active Roster
Player	#	Pos	Birthday	Bats	Throws	AVG	HR	RBI	SB	OPS	 
CATCHERS	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	  
Fred Carisch	19	C	11/14/1881	Right	Right	.241	4	67	3	.594	 
John Henry	95	C	12/26/1889	Right	Right	.264	1	12	0	.822	 

INFIELDER	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Babe Borton	78	1B	8/14/1888	Left	Left	.304	0	88	4	.776	 
Charlie French	43	2B	10/12/1883	Left	Right	.324	4	70	29	.819	 
Harry Lord	58	3B	3/8/1882	Left	Right	.266	0	61	26	.705	 
Tommy Mcmillan	90	SS	4/18/1888	Right	Right	.249	0	73	59	.668	 
Dots Miller	21	1B	9/9/1886	Right	Right	.313	0	18	23	.757	 
Charlie Pick	83	2B	4/10/1888	Left	Right	.214	1	5	0	.586	 
Everett Scott	44	SS	11/19/1892	Right	Right	.250	0	0	0	.500	 
Fred Beck	67	1B	11/17/1886	Left	Left	.419	0	6	0	1.083	 

OUTFIELDER	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Bobby Veach	96	LF	6/29/1888	Left	Right	.320	4	106	31	.856	 
Al Burch	76	CF	10/7/1883	Left	Right	.257	7	64	5	.676	 
Jimmy Sebring	57	RF	3/22/1882	Left	Right	.277	7	74	28	.690	 
Rube Oldring	60	CF	5/30/1884	Right	Right	.292	0	22	4	.704	 
Tommy Griffith	66	RF	10/26/1889	Left	Right	.277	4	79	5	.715	 
George Maisel	78	RF	3/12/1892	Right	Right	.333	0	0	0	1.000	 

Player	#	Role	Birthday	Bats	Throws	ERA	W	L	S	WHIP	 
STARTERS	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Jim St.vrain	44	SP	6/6/1883	Right	Left	3.02	23	16	0	1.20	 
Al Demaree	90	SP	9/8/1884	Left	Right	3.77	10	8	0	1.23	 
Ray Collins	66	SP	2/11/1887	Left	Left	4.70	13	22	0	1.38	 
Ralph Comstock	25	SP	11/24/1890	Right	Right	4.66	13	18	0	1.59	 
Bugs Raymond	86	SP	2/24/1882	Right	Right	5.40	1	2	1	1.43	 
Larry Cheney	28	SP	5/2/1886	Right	Right	3.55	5	2	0	1.41	 
Jing Johnson	54	SP	10/9/1894	Right	Right	0.00	0	0	0	 	
 
RELIEVERS	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Harry Suter	67	CL	9/15/1887	Left	Left	0.00	0	0	4	0.67	 
Cliff Markle	22	MR	5/3/1894	Right	Right	4.66	5	0	0	1.60

Same thing for my Prescott fan...

Active Roster
Player	#	Pos	Birthday	Bats	Throws	AVG	HR	RBI	SB	OPS	 

CATCHERS	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Red Mckee	31	C	7/20/1890	Left	Right	.278	7	71	12	.731	 
Otto Miller	32	C	6/1/1889	Right	Right	.233	2	16	2	.605	 

INFIELDER	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Tim Jordan	30	1B	2/14/1879	Left	Left	.197	6	80	9	.569	 
Eddie Collins	19	2B	5/2/1887	Left	Right	.273	1	64	55	.711	 
Fritz Maisel	46	3B	12/23/1889	Right	Right	.231	3	65	44	.668	 
Ernie Johnson	95	SS	4/29/1888	Left	Right	.266	6	75	38	.706	 
Zinn Beck	68	2B	9/30/1885	Right	Right	.156	0	4	0	.375	 
Al Halt	17	SS	11/23/1890	Right	Right	.221	1	7	8	.574	 
John Dodge	20	3B	4/27/1889	Right	Right	.000	0	0	0	.000	
 
OUTFIELDER	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
George Jackson	62	LF	10/14/1882	Right	Right	.258	2	43	29	.722	 
Fred Snodgrass	78	CF	10/19/1887	Right	Right	.255	3	58	20	.725	 
Jack Tobin	27	RF	5/4/1892	Left	Left	.293	3	68	31	.739	 
Gil Whitehouse	74	CF	10/15/1893	Both	Right	.000	0	0	0	.000	 
Olaf Henriksen	72	LF	4/26/1888	Left	Left	.292	2	39	15	.767	 
Red Murray	59	RF	3/4/1884	Right	Right	.287	2	30	15	.737	 

Player	#	Role	Birthday	Bats	Throws	ERA	W	L	S	WHIP	 
STARTERS	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Christy Mathewson	49	SP	8/12/1880	Right	Right	2.00	5	5	0	1.13	 
Biff Schlitzer	96	SP	12/4/1884	Right	Right	1.45	1	2	0	1.16	 
Frank Miller	66	SP	5/13/1886	Right	Right	3.90	20	21	0	1.48	 
Hooks Dauss	51	SP	9/22/1889	Right	Right	4.67	16	19	0	1.60	 
Lew Richie	56	SP	8/23/1883	Right	Right	10.31	1	1	1	2.02	 
Bill Steele	91	SP	10/5/1885	Right	Right	0.00	0	0	0	0.00	 
Lew Brockett	63	SP	7/23/1880	Right	Right	3.18	0	0	0	1.59	
 
RELIEVERS	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Jim Park	43	MR	11/10/1892	Right	Right	8.53	1	1	0	2.53	 
Dave Black	37	CL	4/19/1892	Left	Right	0.00	1	0	1	0.69	 
Charlie Schmutz	55	MR	1/1/1890	Right	Right	0.00	0	0	0	0.60

[Astros33Resurrected]

I can't believe someone passed on Babe Ruth!

[dfsteele]

I just noticed that I should either be cheering for Prescott (Bill Steele) or Kayenta (Bob Steele), but I think that I will just continue following all the teams and not concentrate too much on any specific teams.

It is always surprising in these historical dynasties when a big name player in real life gets passed over in the draft. However, I don't think that I can ever remember Babe Ruth not going first overall when he was available.

Keep up the great work!

[AZTarHeel]

Originally Posted by dfsteele

I just noticed that I should either be cheering for Prescott (Bill Steele) or Kayenta (Bob Steele), but I think that I will just continue following all the teams and not concentrate too much on any specific teams.

It is always surprising in these historical dynasties when a big name player in real life gets passed over in the draft. However, I don't think that I can ever remember Babe Ruth not going first overall when he was available.

Keep up the great work!

The computer in my league always drafts very weird... pitchers for some reason always go first ... it's like one team grabs a pitcher, then all the others start to panic thinking they are going to miss out and start going after pitching, too. Frankly I was surprised that two position players (Ruth and Hornsby) went in the top three...

Anyways, this dynasty has been a lot of fun and I've gotten far more into it than I thought. I've got some (hopefully) interesting twists for the coming seasons. Maybe even a spinoff dynasty of some sort, if I can pull it off ...

As a side note, I dropped the name of one of my old friends from Arizona into the story a few pages back and didn't tell him about it. His wife did a google search on his name, trying to see where his own photography Web site might show up, and came across this dynasty. He called me last night to rag on me ... I did a search of "Arizona League" (since there really is one) and was pleased to see this come up on page two of the search results! Hope this doesn't confuse non-OOTP'ers too much...

[AZTarHeel]

1916 Divisional Playoffs


Payson, Tucson advance to Cactus Champions Cup

Northern League Final Scores
Payson 8, Jerome 0 — WP: Charley Hall
Jerome 4, Payson 2 — WP: Bert Humphries
Payson 6, Jerome 3 — WP: Nick Cullop
Payson 2, Jerome 0 — WP: Charley Hall
Payson 9, Jerome 1 — WP: Bill Burns

Southern League Final Scores
Carefree 6, Tucson 1 — WP: Marty McHale
Tucson 6, Carefree 3 (16) — WP: Dick Rudolph
Tucson 11, Carefree 6 — WP: George McQuillan
Tucson 4, Carefree 3 — WP: Jake Boultes
Tucson 9, Carefree 5 — WP: Willie Mitchell


Not a whole lot to write about either series. The "veteran" teams pretty much took it to the two squads with scant playoff experience.

Charley Hall had a pair of eye-opening pitching performances for Payson. The Longhorns' 8-0 win in the opener and 2-0 win in Game Four were both one-hitters. Jerome only managed three hits against Bill Burns in the decisive Game Five.

Carefree had a lot more pop in its bats down in the Southern Leaguer but couldn't overcome the Cactus Kids, who scored 30 runs in four games after losing the opener.

Ty Cobb (.130 batting average) slumped during this series but Tucson teammates like 1B Jack Fournier (.350 average), Heinie Zimmerman (.304) and catcher Tex Erwin (.300) really came through. Erwin had two homers in the five-game set.

"Carefree is a good young team and they look to be a force in the years to come," Cobb said after the series. "We never felt comfortable against them. They just kept coming after us time and again. We're fortunate to be moving on in five."

This series, even in a loss, did something to the small Carefree community and surrounding areas. It awoke a passion for baseball and this team in particular that had been pretty dormant since the franchise moved there from Lake Havasu. People started coming out of the woodwork in August and September during the pennant run to support the team, and filled up the stadium during the playoff set.

"Wait till next year!" had a very positive ring to it among Carefree faithful.

But first, a big Cactus Champions Cup series looms this October between the league's true heavyweights. Tris Speaker vs. Ty Cobb. Charley Hall and Bill Burns vs. Willie Mitchell and Jake Boultes on the mound. Payson vs. Tucson.

Could be a seven-game thriller...

[AZTarHeel]

1916 Cactus Champions Cup


Payson stands tall again, wins third AZL title

Final Scores
Payson 4, Tucson 2 — WP: Charley Hall
Payson 7, Tucson 5 — WP: Bill Burns
Payson 4, Tucson 3 (12) — WP: Nick Cullop
Tucson 6, Payson 4 — WP: George McQuillan
Payson 3, Tucson 2 — WP: Ed Reulbach


Another championship for Payson. Another post-season collapse for Tucson. Granted, the Longhorns were probably the favored team in this series, but most expected the Saguaros to at least extend things out to six or seven games.

The pitching combo of Charley Hall and Bill Burns staked Payson out to a 2-0 lead, and Tucson just couldn't fight back into contention. Hall was shaky in Game Three, but teammate Nick Cullop saved things in the 12th. LF Guy Zinn hit a two-out, bases loaded single to right field in the bottom of the 12th to score 2B Jack Barry for the win.

Ty Cobb of Tucson really struggled in the playoffs, batting just .182 (8-for-44), though he did have eight RBIs. In this series, his teammates couldn't bail him out.

Payson's Tris Speaker also struggled at times in the post-season, recording only 10 hits in 10 games. But he came through in the bottom of the 10th in the decisive Game Five. RF Danny Moeller and C Ted Easterly singled ahead of him, and moved up on steals. Speaker then put a frozen rope up the third base line off Tucson hurler Jake Boultes to bring Moeller home for the series win. Moeller stomped on home plate, and Speaker flew over from first base and knocked him to the ground with a massive celebratory hug. Then the dugout cleared and a pile of Payson players went delirious with joy over winning back the AZL championship.

The 'Horns had a lot more offensive fireworks from guys like Zinn (.371 playoff average), Barry (.345) and Easterly (.351). Of course, having Hall and Burns at the top of the pitching rotation certainly doesn't hurt, either.

So Payson hoists another AZL trophy, the third in their history. Tucson again is left to wonder what if, falling for the third time in four years in the penultimate AZL playoff series. In seven straight years of being top two in the Southern, the Saguaros have just one Cactus Champions Cup to show for it — and may soon be looking for another manager. Payson's manager likely will get another raise...

Arizona League Championships
Prescott: 5
Payson: 3
Bisbee: 2
Nogales: 1
Flagstaffl; 1
Cottonwood: 1
Grand Canyon: 1
Tucson: 1
Phoenix: 1