Chasing Milestones

[NYY #23]

This is an idea that I tried a few years ago, which didn't work out as well as I hoped. I learned that making a change to the aging modifiers caused some problems, that skewed results too much. I've started going through history here: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ootp-16-a.html , although my focus has wandered around, April has been unexpectedly hectic, and I'm only in 1875.

So I'm going to try and get some focus by starting a new thread, although the history from 1871-1875 is still valid. Outside of wins nobody is even close to reaching any milestones, and even wins is only just past the halfway point. I'll recap where things stand with each of the milestone categories, and begin moving forward in time. I'll mostly move forward from year to year, but I've got some ideas that I'd like to try out, because I don't want to make this a carbon copy of my previous failed attempt.

I will add some comparisons between how a player did in real life versus the replay. Some other ground rules -

• Recalc will be off so OOTP will control player development. That will result in some surprises.
• I will be using the Spritze database so players will enter the draft as 18 year olds, and that also means Negro League players will get a chance from the beginning
• No minor leagues, just reserve rosters
• We'll go until the final year of real players ends their career

I've done this with home runs only a couple times, so hopefully this will work out and can have some fun looking at all milestones.

If you have any questions about any particular players feel free to ask.

[NYY #23]

Let's begin with hits, one of the most relevant milestones from the start, at least from the standpoint of hits being a common occurrence of the 1870's. Of course the number of games per season is going to cause problems in the beginning.



Cap Anson is the one active member of the 3000 hit club. After the 1875 season Anson had a total of 423 hits, just over 14% of the way to 3000. He's never led the league in hits, and is currently sitting in 7th place on the career hit list. Anson never did that in real life either, and it wasn't until 1880 when he moved atop the career hit list.

In real life following the 1875 season Ross Barnes was the career hit leader with 531. Barnes has just 364 during the replay, although that number puts him in third place. It's still much too early to make any judgements though.

Season Leaders
1871: Steve King - 53
1872: Levi Meyerle - 96
1873: George Hall - 95
1874: George Hall - 102
1875: George Hall - 88

Career Leaders

1) George Hall - 394
2) Cal McVey - 376
3) Ross Barnes - 364
4) John Radcliff - 361
5) Lip Pike - 348
6) Harry Schafer - 348
7) Cap Anson - 346
8) Deacon White - 339
9) Tom York - 336
10) Levi Meyerle - 334

[NYY #23]

We'll jump from the batter's box to the pitching mound and talk about wins. No player has been more dominant than Bill Stearns, who has led the league in four of five seasons, and sits atop the career win leaderboard with 44 more wins than the nearest pitcher.

Season Leaders

1871: Bill Stearns - 19
1872: Bill Stearns - 35
1873: Bill Stearns - 38
1874: Bill Stearns - 31
1875: Bobby Mathews - 36

Career Leaders

1) Bill Stearns - 172
2) Bobby Mathews - 128
3) Asa Brainard - 117
4) Al Spalding - 106
5) Jim Britt - 101
6) Dick McBride - 72
7) Tommy Bond - 66
8) John McMullin - 64
9) Cherokee Fisher - 61
10) George Zettlein - 55
11) George Bradley - 51
12) Pud Galvin - 43
13) Sam Weaver - 32
14) Terry Larkin - 19
15) Candy Cummings - 18

[NYY #23]

Next up is the runs scored category, which has a long way to go before reaching 1500.



George Bechtel is the only name to lead the league in more than one year, and is also the career leader.

Season Leaders

1871: George Bechtel - 42
1872: Levi Meyerle - 71
1873: Tim Murname - 63
1874: Dickie Flowers - 68
1875: George Bechtel/John Hatfield - 66

Career Leaders

1) George Bechtel - 266
2) Harry Schafer - 252
3) George Hall - 249
4) Dickie Flowers - 248
5) John Radcliffe - 247
6) Dave Eggler - 246
7) Jimmy Woods - 243
8) Cap Anson - 231
9) Ross Barnes - 231
10) Cal McVey - 231

[NYY #23]

Dave Eggler of the Athletics currently sits atop the career leaderboards with 134 stolen bases, leading the league in both the 1872 and 1873 season. While it's a close race at the top it's still a long way to go to the magic number of 500.

Season Leaders

1871: Fred Treacey/Jimmy Wood - 17
1872: Dave Eggler - 28
1873: Dave Eggler - 35
1874: Mike McGeary - 36
1875: Fred Treacey - 32

Career Leaders

1) Dave Eggler - 134
2) Ross Barnes - 122
3) Fred Treacey - 121
4) Jimmy Woods - 112
5) Mike McGeary - 99
6) Andy Leonard - 95
7) Dickie Flowers - 81
8) George Wright - 78
9) John Hatfield - 76
10) Cap Anson - 75

[NYY #23]

There is a tie atop the career RBI leaders, with Cal McVey and Deacon White each driving in 214 runs.

Season Leaders

1871: Art Allison - 36
1872: Cal McVey/Levi Meyerle - 64
1873: Lip Pike - 60
1874: Deacon White - 56
1875: Levi Meyerle - 55

Career Leaders

1) Cal McVey - 214
2) Deacon White - 214
3) Levi Meyerle - 200
4) George Hall - 198
5) Lip Pike - 195
6) Steve King - 190
7) George Bechtel - 188
8) Jimmy Woods - 186
9) John Radcliff - 184
10) Jim Holdsworth - 183

[NYY #23]

Asa Brainard led the league in strikeouts in each of the first two seasons, and currently sits atop the career leaderboards. However, strikeout totals haven't reached the level where a run at 3000 would even be possible.

Season Leaders

1871: Asa Brainard - 50
1872: Asa Brainard - 36
1873: Jim Britt - 42
1874: Jim Britt - 54
1875: Jim Britt - 74

Career Leaders

1) Asa Brainard - 206
2) Bill Stearns - 198
3) Jim Britt - 178
4) Bobby Mathews - 119
5) Dick McBride - 110
6) Al Spalding - 105
7) George Zettlein - 82
8) John McMullin - 76
9) Cherokee Fisher - 63
10) George Bradley - 59

[NYY #23]

This will be the obligatory home run season leaders, but it will still be about 45 years before home runs start to get interesting.

Season Leaders
1871: Sam Jackson - 4
1872: George Hall - 5
1873: Gat Stires - 5
1874: Count Gedney - 4
1875: Chick Fulmer - 6

[NYY #23]

I also won't spend much time talking about saves for a long time, but I'll include the seasons leaders

Season Leaders
1871: Rynie Wolters - 2
1872: Rynie Wolters - 7
1873: George Zettlein - 5
1874: Martin Malone - 7
1875: John Cassidy - 5

[NYY #23]

While we wait for things to get interesting in the milestone department the Dodgers captured their third World Championship after being the Indians 4 games to 1.



Dodgers rookie Sam Weaver captured the National League Triple Crown after going 32-22 with a 2.14 ERA and 58 strikeouts.



Teammate Cal McVey led the league with 112 hits, and became the first player to hit over .400 in a season (.416).

Season Leaders
Hits: Cal McVey - 112
Runs: George Bechtel - 58
RBI: Cal McVey - 46
HR: John Bass - 4
SB: Dave Eggler - 29
W: George Bradley -35
K's: Jim Britt - 87
SV: Len Lovett - 3

[NYY #23]

In the World Series it was the Athletics winning their first World Championship with a 4 game to 2 series win over the Braves.



For the second straight year it was Cal McVey who led the majors with 102 hits. That moved McVey into first place on the career hits list:

1) Cal McVey - 590
2) George Hall - 577
3) John Radcliff - 527
4) Ross Barnes - 526
5) Deacon White - 508



21 year old Jim Britt led the league in strikeouts for the fifth straight year with a record of 177. Britt is alone in first place on the career leaderboards with 442 strikeouts.

Milestone watch

200 Wins
Bill Stearns (24) - Needs 4

Season Leaders
Hits: Cal McVey - 102
Runs: George Hall - 59
RBI: Mike Dorgan - 50
HR: Charley Jones/Fergy Malone - 4
SB: Andy Leonard - 33
W: Tommy Bond - 30
K's: Jim Britt - 177
SV: Dan Collins/Bobby Mitchell - 3

[NYY #23]

With a 9-3 win over the New York Yankees Bill Stearns became the first pitcher to reach 200 career wins. The 25 year old is well positioned to become the first player to chase 300 career wins. Real life wasn't as kind to Stearns, who pitched in the National Association from 1871 to 1875 with Stearns going 13-64 with a 4.28 ERA. A look at his historic pitching line:



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While Monte Ward was a real life member of the 500 stolen base club it was the Cleveland Indians who drafted Ward as a starting pitcher as the first overall pick in last year's draft. On Opening Day in New York Ward made an immediate impact, pitching a no-hitter, proving that the Indians were wise to stick him on the mound:

[NYY #23]

Jim Clinton stepped to the plate just 8 times during the regular season for the Cleveland Indians, but it was the first time he stepped to the plate in the World Series that it was special. With the game tied in the bottom of the tenth in Game 7 of the World Series Clinton stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and picked up a walk off single to give the Indians an 8-7 win to capture their first World Championship as they beat the Braves 4 Games to 3.

Season Leaders
Hits: Bill Boyd - 95
Runs: Bill Boyd - 60
RBI: Lip Pike - 51
HR: George Bechtel - 4
SB: Dave Eggler - 31
W: Monte Ward - 29
K's: Jim Britt - 218
SV: George Knight - 4

With Bill Stearns reaching the 200 win milestone this year we had some movement among the career win leaders. Jim Britt moved into second place, while Tommy Bond jumped up to fifth place. We saw Sam Weaver jump from 11th to 7th place, with Terry Larkin debuting in 12th place and Monte Ward debuting in 16th place.

Career Leaders

1) Bill Stearns - 208
2) Jim Britt - 153
3) Bobby Mathews - 144
4) Asa Brainard - 125
5) Tommy Bond - 123
6) Al Spalding - 112
7) Sam Weaver - 85
8) George Bradley - 80
9) Dick McBride - 72
10) John McMullin - 64
11) Cherokee Fisher - 62
12) Terry Larkin - 60
13) George Zettlein - 60
14) Will White - 51
15) Pud Galvin - 49
16) Monte Ward - 29

[NYY #23]

The New York Yankees became just the second team to win multiple World Series titles with their 4 games to none sweep over the Chicago Cubs. Jack Manning collected the World Series MVP after hitting .412 with 1 home run and 6 RBI.

Championships
1) Dodgers - 3
2) Yankees - 2
3) Athletics - 1
4) Cubs - 1
5) Indians - 1
6) Orioles - 1
7) Reds - 0
8) Braves - 0

It was a year of repeat award winners with Monte Ward (19-21, 1.97) and The Only Nolan (19-19, 2.49) each winning their second straight Pitcher of the Year in only their second year. Ross Barnes won his fifth Most Valuable Player Award after hitting .324 with 39 RBI and 66 runs scored.



Currently fifth on the career wins list, Asa Brainard of the Cubs announced he was retiring after the season. Brainard went 126-135 with a 3.19 ERA during his career. Brainard was 24-53 with a 4.40 ERA in real life. 31 year old Count Sensenderfer announced he will be joining the army after the season. Sensenderfer hit .272 during his career.

Jimmy Wood of the Athletics became the ninth player to pick up 6 hits in a game against Cleveland.

[NYY #23]

Ross Barnes leads the league in hits for the first time since 1876, and currently sits in second place on the career hits list.
With just one active player of the 3000 hit club playing, we'll also take a look at how Cap Anson is doing compared to real life. For the first time since our debut year Anson beat his real life total:

[NYY #23]

With 24 wins this year Jim Britt is within 23 wins of becoming just the second pitcher to win 200 games during his career.

[NYY #23]

Dan Brouthers looks like a name to watch after an impressive rookie season in which he led the league in runs scored with 70 while hitting .282 as a 21 year old.

[NYY #23]

We'll just take a quick look at these two categories, since there isn't too much action yet.

[NYY #23]

Monte Ward continues to make a big impact in just his second season, leading the league in strikeouts and moving up to fifth place on the career list.

[NYY #23]

Dave Eggler led the league for the fifth time with 56 stolen bases, and is the current all-time stolen base leader with 277.