Exact Baseball Replay - Genesis 1903 -

[Nick Soulis]

Nothing like a new year to start something new. Another grand project for me. What would happen if we could play every single game again as it was played in reality? With OOTP 12 we have the ability to do this with schedules, rosters, and transactions that are exact to real life. I have recently joined SABR of america and am using this simulation to learn as much about the game as I can for my own research taking baseball one day at a time.

I figured I might as well post the results to get additional feedback from anyone following as I am sure that many of you have been or are wanting to do the exact same thing. If you have followed my threads over the past three years you know that for the most part I am good for the long haul to try and finish what I start.

I will begin in 1903 and take each season as a project to learn more and see if OOTP can duplicate results in the process. I will do some writing but less so as obviously the writing will slow down the process. I will also mix in historical events of the time to try and bring some perspective of what was happening in the world at the time.

So join me back to 1903 when the American League was two years old and the best player in the game was considered by many Nap Lajoie.

[Nick Soulis]

1903

President of the USA: Theodore Roosevelt
Movie: The Great Train Robbery (First Western)
Works: The Mall of Cleveland; Mataphysics is introduced, Wright Brothers apply for patent of powered flight machine.

The Sporting News tells us in its April 1903 addition:

• Prospect of 1903 Reds are rosy.
• Major League Races difficult to forecast.
• Improved infield make Superbas look good in practice.
• Detroit is interested in St. Louis third baseman Jimmy Burke who is a .240 career hitter.
• Nap Lajoie appears to be well below his playing weight but expects to be ready for the upcoming season. Lajoie batted .421 last season.
• The biggest news is that Ed Delahanty will remain in Washington and not join the Giants. Delahanty was rumored to be gone but a peace treaty will keep himw with the Senators.
• Questions about who first used the headfirst slide.
• In Chicago the Cubs are stronger and the White Stockings weaker then last season.
• Hobe Ferris is disabled in Boston.

The top 10 players in the game of baseball going into the season:

1. Ed Delahanty LF - Washington
2. Nap Lajoie 2B - Cleveland
3. Honus Wagner SS - Pittsburgh
4. Fred Clarke LF - Pittsburgh
5. Mike Donlin LF - Cincinnati
6. Rube Waddell P - Cincinnati
7. Cy Young P - Boston
8. Deacon Phillipe P - Pittsburgh
9. Noodles Hahn P - Cincinnati
10. Jesse Tannehill P - NY Highlanders

Top 5 prospects:

1. Chief Bender P - Philadelphia A's
2. Doc Gessler RF - Detroit Tigers
3. Hans Lobert 2B - Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Jake Stahl C - Boston Americans
5. Red Ames P - NY Giants

BBN Predictions for upcoming season

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Runs	AVG	HR	SB	Runs against	ERA	K	BB
Cleveland Naps	89	51	.636	-	688	.284	36	123	550	2.63	508	359
Boston Americans	83	56	.601	5	679	.264	42	112	542	2.97	511	274
Detroit Tigers	78	58	.574	9	634	.257	16	101	582	2.90	463	355
Philadelphia Athletics	70	65	.519	16½	557	.267	30	153	518	2.97	701	332
St. Louis Browns	63	76	.453	25½	571	.247	20	108	625	3.00	460	276
Chicago White Sox	60	77	.438	27½	536	.245	21	168	598	2.78	493	294
Washington Senators	54	83	.394	33½	567	.248	30	114	674	3.18	393	301
New York Highlanders	52	82	.388	34	476	.256	31	221	620	3.13	444	297

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Runs	AVG	HR	SB	Runs against	ERA	K	BB
Pittsburgh Pirates	85	55	.607	-	668	.288	21	268	526	2.45	415	376
Chicago Cubs	76	63	.551	8	619	.281	21	317	558	2.55	479	456
Cincinnati Reds	76	63	.547	8½	739	.274	30	103	622	3.03	491	416
St. Louis Cardinals	69	68	.504	14½	593	.256	19	151	628	3.04	493	377
Philadelphia Phillies	67	69	.496	15½	657	.273	15	111	659	3.41	362	422
Brooklyn Superbas	60	76	.441	23	499	.264	20	270	615	2.99	410	458
Boston Beaneaters	60	78	.435	24	558	.241	19	143	628	3.25	503	460
New York Giants	60	80	.432	24½	521	.266	20	308	619	2.82	586	429

[Nick Soulis]

World Events in 1903 included:

• Orville Wright completes first flight
• First Teddy Bear is introduced
• A firs in a Chicago theatre kills 600
• The Ford Model A car is first introduced for public sale.
• The first stock car race is held.
• Crayola Crayons are introduced
• Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are born.
• Marie Curie wins the Nobel Prize in Physics.

[Nick Soulis]

The Hardball Chronicle

Friday April 24, 2903
Ed Delahanty still has a lot left in his tank and career as he goes 3-4 with a double and a triple in the Washington win over New York. Eddie Plank beat Cy Young and strikes out six for the A's. Ed Doheny makes three errors as he is part of the Pirates loss to the Cardinals, the Pirates defense has been the worse in the league thus far. Fred Tenney hits his second home run of the season and is the first to do so.

Saturday April 25, 1903
In a last minute decision to start, Pop Williams made a start for the Cubs and pitched a complete game shutout against the Reds. It is the second shutout of his career but he still isnt expected to be a big part of the Chicago rotation. The Pirates lose again and the pressure on last season's
pennant winner continues to rise, the Cardinals do it to them again 2-1. The Americans hammer Rube Waddell in a rare poor effort for the hard throwinng star, was he prepared for the start? Nap Lajoie is only
batting .250 in his first three games but the Naps picked up a win against the Tigers.

Sunday April 26, 1920
The White Sox finish a sweep of the Browns in St. Louis and Patsy Flaherty is 2-0. The Pirates broke out the bats finally at home against the Cubs as Tommy Leach went 4-5 with four RBI, many are saying that they have to pick up the slack around Honus Wagner and they did in this 11-4 win.Sunday of course is still not a big baseball
day in the country.

Monday April 27, 1903
Chief Bender shuts out the A' and the Tigers give the White Sox their first loss of the season behind a young Sam Crawford who is batting .412 in his first few games as a Tiger. The Cubs stay in first place as Davy Jones
goes 4-5 in a 6-0 win over the Reds. Christy Mathewson was bailed out by his offense as the Giants had a late rally and 15 hits to beat the Cardinals. Finally the Pirates win again behind a shutout by Brickyard Kennedy in
his first start with the team.

Tusday April 28, 1903
Addie Joss and Cy Young both have fine outings as their teams win while the Highlanders beat Rube Waddell in extra innings in Philadelphia. The St. Louis Browns are the only team in the league not to have beaten anyone yet as they lost to Joss and Cleveland. In St. Louis, Dave Brain singles in the winning and only run of the game as the Cardinals avoid the sweep against the Pirates. Chappie McFarland was the In the meantime the hero on the mound for12 strong scoreless innings. The Reds lose again to the Cubs with Long Bob Ewing now winless at 0-3.

Wednesday April 29, 1903
Sam Leever got back at the Cardinals with a complete game shutout as the Pirates get their record back to even and will need such performances going forward. Judge McCredie went 4-4 with a double and a triple with 3 RBI against the Beaneaters that still beat the Superbas 10-5. Bill Bradley singled in the winning run for the Cleveland team that beat the Browns again keeping St. Louis winless. The White Sox beat Detroit again to keep
a lead in the early stages of the American League.

Thursday April 30, 1903
The Hilltoppers open their new park but lose to the Senators 4-2. Eddie Plank threw a gem for the A's In a win not allowing a walk or a run in the shutout. In 13 innings Patsy Donovan beat the Pirates with a walkoff hit. .
Tully Sparks threw a shutout for the still strong Phillies as they beat the Giants to tie them for second place in the division

AL Standings
 
Chicago White Sox     5-1  .833    -
Cleveland Naps        4-1  .800    .5
Philadelphia A's      5-5  .500    2
Boston Americans      5-5  .500    2
Washington Senators   4-4  .500    2
NY Highlanders        4-4  .500    2
Detroit Tigers        2-4  .333    3
St. Louis Browns      0-5  .000    4.5
 
NL Standings
 
Chicago Cubs              8-3   .727    -
NY Giants                 7-4   .636    1
Philadelphia Phillies     8-5   .615    1
St. Louis Cardinals       7-6   .538    2
Pittsburgh Pirates        6-7   .462    3
Boston Beaneaters         5-8   .385    4
Brooklyn Superbas         4-7   .364    4
Cincinnati Reds           3-8   .273    5
 
League Leaders
 
Average
C. Dolan     CHW     .500
D. McGann    NYG     .441
E. Delahanty WAS     .438
 
OBP
D. McGann     NYG     .529
J. Slagle     CHC     .509
F. Chance     CHC     .500
 
Home Runs
H. Davis      PHA       2
C. Dexter     BSN       2
F. Tenney     BSN       2
 
Runs Batted In
C. Dexter     BSN      12
J. Sebring    PIT      10
J. Evers      CHC      10
 
Stolen Bases
F. Chance     CHC      6
J. Sebring    PIT      6
S. Barry      PHI      5
 
ERA
C. Bender     PHA     0.00
C. McFarland  SLN     0.60
B. Duggleby   PHI     0.69
 
Wins
J. McGinnity    NYG   3
W. Piatt        BSN   3
J. Chesbro      NYA   2
 
Strikeouts
R. Waddell   PHA      40
W. Piatt     BSN      21
E. Plank     PHA      18

[Nick Soulis]

The Hardball Chronicle

May 1st, 1903
Detroit murder Chicago 15-2 and make a statement behind Mal Eason who earned the win. St. Louis won their first game of the season over Cleveland when they scored 4 runs in the 10th inning. The Phillies beat the Giants and Christy Mathewson as the Giants ace is having a rough start to the new year. The Big Six is only 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA, not much of an explanation to why he has started off so slow.

May 2, 1903
Cleveland beats the White Sox again to take the top position in the AL. Nap Lajoie smacks five hits in five tries and is back in a groove as the leagues most feared hitter. Cy Young still has alot to give and won his third game of the
season as Boston beats the A's 4-1. Willie Keeler hit the 24th home run of his career. Another Cy, Cy Falkenberg won his second career start for Pittsburgh and appears to be a real factor. The Phillies remain red hot and beat Brooklynfor their 10th win and a first place position. Lave Cross of the A's aslo got his 2000th hit today.

May 3, 1903
The first Sunday game ever in Chicago and the White Sox make the most of it by beating the Naps 5-3 and beating AddieJoss. In the NL the Cardinals had 20 hits against the Reds in their win as Art Nichols was 4-6and was part of the run
parade as Long Bob Ewing is 0-4 for the Reds. The Cubs beat the Pirates 5-1 and teams seem not to be intimidated by Pittsburgh in the least anymore.

May 4, 1903
Two shutouts thrown, one by Chief Bender for the A's in New York and another by Frank Owen for the White Sox against Detroit. In Boston three errors by Washington allow the Americans to win in the 10th inning. The Phillies score three runs in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Superbas. The Cubs also win over the Pirates but the Phillies still hold a half game lead.

Tuesday May 5, 1903
The White Sox win again over Detroit and Willie Keeler hits a three run home run as the Highlanders beat the A's. The Philies are now a perfect 7-0 at the new Baker Bowl after they beat Brooklyn. The Cubs take three out of four from the Pirates to keep pace.

Wednesday May 6, 1903
Cy Young gets rocked as the Senators have 17 hits in their win over Boston. Eddie Plank pitches a shutout for Connie Mack and the A's over the Highlanders. The White Sox remain atop the American League. The Cubs tie the Phillies at the head of the National League after a 3-2 win at Exposition Park over the Pirates.

Thursday May 7, 1903
Judge McCredie for Brooklyn goes 2-4 with 3 RBI in a win over Boston, the outfielder leads the league in avergae at .426. The Phillies win again beating Christy Mathewson and reclaiming first place alone as the Cubs lose to the Cardinals.
The Highlanders are shut out again as Bill Dinneen throws a gem and a 2-0 win. First baseman Cozy Dolan has continued his good start and leads the AL with a .429 average. In Pittsburgh, Honus Wagner will face a three game suspension after throwing a punch at Jack Morrisey. Wagner and the Pirates are obviously frustrated after their slower then anticipated start this season.

American League
 
Team                w    L    .pct    GB    real life diff

Chicago White Sox   9    4    .692    -       -1
Cleveland Naps      7    3    .700    .5      +4
Boston Americans    9    6    .600    1       +1
NY Highlanders      7    7    .500    2.5     0
Washington Senators 6    7    .462    3       +1
Philadelphia A's    7    9    .438    3.5     -2
St. Louis Browns    3    7    .300    4.5     -1
Detroit Tigers      4    9    .308    5       -2
 
National League
 
Team                      W     L    .pct     GB     real life diff

Philadelphia Phillies    13     5    .722     -         +7
Chicago Cubs             12     6    .667     1         +2
St. Louis Cardinals      11     7    .611     2         +5
NY Giants                8      7    .533     3.5       -3
Boston Beaneaters        7      9    .438     5         -1
Pittsburgh Pirates       8      11   .421     5.5       -4
Cincinnati Reds          5      12   .294     7.5       -3
Brooklyn Suberbas        5      12   .294     7.5       -4
 
Stats
 
Average
C. Dolan     CHW      .429
J. McCredie  BRK      .416
G. Beaumont  PIT      .416
 
OBP
J. Slagle   CHC     .512
J. McCredie BRK     .509
F. Chance   CHC     .482
 
Home Runs
H. Davis    PHA     3
C. Dexter   BOS     2
W. Keeler   WAS     2
 
Runs Batted In
S. Barry   PHI     18
T. Leach   PIT     16
T. MCCreery BRK    14
 
Stolen Bases
F. Chance    CHC    12
P. Donovan   STL    8
J. Doyle     BRK    8
 
ERA
F. Kitson    DET    0.50
E. Moore     CLE    1.00
B. Kennedy   PIT    1.04
 
Wins
J. McGinity   NYG    4
B. Dinneen    BOS    3
P. Duggleby   PHI    3
 
Strike Outs
R. Waddell   PHI     40
C. Mathewson NYG     32
C. Bender    PHI     24

[Nick Soulis]

The Hardball Chronicle

Friday May 8, 1903

Rube Waddell has a career worst day against Washington allowing 12 earned runs and losing his fourth game of the season.
Washington had 23 hits inclusing 4 RBI from Jimmy Ryan. Dummy Taylor and Ed Doheny both pitch sutouts in the National
League; the Cubs in the meantime keep pace with the Phillies with a win against the Cardinals.

Saturday May 9, 1903

Ed Delahanty carried the Senators to a victory against the A's as the star went 3-5 with a long home run. Jesse Tannehill
throws a three hit shutout against the Americans and the first place White Sox also lose to the Browns.Brooklyn gets two
in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Beaneaters while the Phillies win again behind starter Tully Sparlswho beats the
Giants; Sparks is 3-0 and has allowed only 5 earned runs in over 27 innings of work.

Sunday May 10, 1903

The Browns come from behind to beat the White Sox 3-2 again and the Chicago lead in the AL becomes even more slim. Jake
Weimer salvalges the second game of a double header with a shutout, both the Cards and the Cubs are well in the early
pennant race. Finally Deacon Phillipe gets his first win of the season with an 11-0 shutout, Pittsburgh is seeming to
finally come around.

Monday May 11 1903

Rube Waddell bounced back in a nice way in Chicago to beat the White Sox and struck out nine men in the process, he is
trying to recover from a slow start. The Reds scored five runs in the 10th inning to beat the Pirates, the Reds have
the worst record in the league and hope to build on this win.

Tuesday May 12, 1903

Tom Daly singled in the winning run for the White Sox as they got back on track against the A's. The Naps are knocked
out of first place after a loss to Boston. The Phillies keep their unexpected fitst place lead with another win over
the Pirates. The Cubs hit two home runs in their win at Brooklyn.

Wednesday May 13, 1903

Harry Davis goes 4-4 for the A's but the White Sox still hold on for a one run win 6-5. Charlie Hickman hit a three run
home run to carry the Naps over Boston. The American League is still only seperated from top to bottom by five games. The
Phillies and the Cubs remain tied for first place in the NL with Brooklyn and Cincinnati continueing to fall out of the race.

Thursday May 14, 1903

A three game suspension was handed down by the league to A's center fielder Ollie Pickering and Sox pitcher Patsy Flaherty as
both men were involved in an on the field fight in the 5-4 win for the Sox. Deacon Phillipe throws a four hit shutout to slow
down the first place Phillies as the Cardinals come within one game of first with their win over the Braves.

American League

Team                  W    L   PCT   GB    Diff

Chicago White Sox     13   7   .650   -     0
Cleveland Naps        10   7   .588  1.5    +3
Washington Senators   11   8   .579  1.5    +4
Boston Americans      12   9   .571  1.5    +1
NY Highlanders        11   9   .550   2     +2
St. Louis Browns       6   11  .353  5.5    -2
Philadelphia A's       8   14  .364   6     -5
Detroit Tigers         7   13  .350   6     -3

National League

Team                     W    L   PCT    GB   Diff

Philadelphia Phillies    15   8   .652    -    +9
Chicago Cubs             16   9   .640    -     0
St. Louis Cardinals      15   10  .600    1    +8
Pittsburgh Pirates       13   13  .500   3.5   -3
NY Giants                10   11  .476    4    -5
Boston Beaneaters        9    12  .429    5    -2
Brooklyn Superbas        8    15  .348    7    -3
Cincinnati Reds          8    16  .333   7.5   -4

Players of the week:
American LEague - Ed Delahanty WAS  (.444, 1 HR, 12 RBI)
National League - Gene Beaumont PIT (.409, 9 RBI, 13 BB)


Stats

Average

E. Delahanty WAS      .450
G. Beaumont  PIT      .397
R. Robinson  WAS      .397

OBP

E. Delahanty WAS    .477
G. Beaumont  PIT    .471
J. Slagle    CHN   .458

Home Runs

H. Davis    PHA     3
D. Green    CHW     3
W. Keeler   WAS     2

Runs Batted In

T. Leach   PIT     21
C. Hickman CLE     20
S. Barry   PHI     19

Stolen Bases

F. Chance    CHC    15
J. Slagle    CHC    12
G. Beaumont  PIT    11

ERA

D. Taylor    NYG    0.92
K. Wilhelm   PIT    1.24
B. Duggelby  PHI    1.32

Wins

W. Piatt      BSN    5
B. Dinneen    BOS    4
P. Flaherty   CHA    4

Strike Outs

R. Waddell   PHI     63
C. Mathewson NYG     40
E. Plank     PHA     36

[captaincarl]

I have tried a few times to create a history timeline with other OOTP editions in the past. I have tried one with OOTP12 that I have journaled here. I'm looking to see how you handle a couple of things, like deaths during the season.

[Nick Soulis]

Thanks Carl and yes it will be interesting to see how things play out which is where the research comes in.

However there is a major change and I hope this doesnt frustrate anyone but I am moving this forum. This project is important to me and I have created a website to better chronicle and display my baseball replay. It will also make the results much more accessable for many others to see.

I already have three good dynastys on this forum so wont restrict myself with a fourth. I hope everyone can follow and even comment on my blog about the year being replayed or sepcific comments and observations.

Here is the link and I hope you join me, remember I am still just a newbie when it comes to personal websites.

Seasons replayed.com - Home