For those of you embarking this trolley along the route, the premise of the exercise can be found HERE.
OVERVIEW
OFFSEASON / PRESEASON
We get six new modified NeLers this year, including some big names:
- P José Méndez (22); Monarchs
- P / OF Eustaquio Pedroso (20); Black Sox
- P Julián Pérez (18); Grays
- 3B Candy Jim Taylor (23); ABCs
- P “Steel Arm” Johnny Taylor (27); Black Sox SABR BIO
- P Joe Williams (20); Grays SABR BIO
Notable 1907 rookies include Smoky Joe Wood, Harry Hooper and Duffy Lewis (Red Sox); Shano Collins (White Sox); Jack Quinn (Yankees); Fred Merkle (Giants); Home Run Baker (Athletics); Harry Coveleski (Phillies); Ed Konetchy (Cardinals); and the great Walter Johnson (Senators).
No big names among the draftees, with Joe Lake taken first overall by the Grays.
My Brooklyn receives Jake Daubert in the allocation and drafts no-one of note. We do sign NeLer Bill Monroe and 1B Tim Jordan as FAs, while Bill Dahlen walks and ends up at the White Sox.
Other interesting moves include Bills Dineen and Carrigan to the Black Sox; Moose McCormick to the Red Sox; Jimmy Collins heads across town to the Braves; “Long” Tom Hughes goes back to the Cubs after a season in Washington; Jack Powell to the Reds; Sam Leever to the Tigers; Jesse Tannehill to the Grays; Harry Steinfeldt to the Monarchs; Deacon Phillippe to the Giants; Rube Foster (the NeL one) to the Phillies; Art Devlin to the Cardinals; and Roy Thomas to the Senators.
OPENING DAY PREVIEW
The top-ranked position player is Pirates SS Honus Wagner.
The top-ranked pitcher is Charles Bender of the Athletics.
The top-rated prospect is age-20 P Joe Williams of the Grays.
The top-ranked farm system belongs to the Athletics.
The Preseason Predictions see the divisional races as follows:
- AL East: 121-41 Athletics 28 clear of the Red Sox, with the 41-121 Black Sox in the cellar.
- AL Central: 88-74 Buckeyes and Tigers 5 clear of the Browns, with the 64-98 Monarchs in the cellar.
- NL East: 104-58 Phillies 16 clear of the Dodgers, with the 46-116 Grays in the cellar.
- NL Central: 101-61 Cubs and Pirates 23 clear of the Reds, with the 50-112 ABCs in the cellar.
REGULAR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
04/11: After no-hitting St. Louis, Jack Pfiester might need to change his name to “Brown Killer” in this timeline.
04/13: The ABCs start the season 0-10 and lose a game 23-0 to the Pirates in early May.
05/12: Cincy’s Ed Summers no-hits the Grays.
06/29: A mixed month for the Cubs, who make a nice move in the standings but lose Howie Camnitz for the season to shoulder problems.
07/08: At the end of a 20-game run of losses, the poor old Grays sit an abysmal 18-71.
07/10: Another AL win in the All-Star Game, as Hal Chase leads them to a 3-2 victory.
07/30: Dave Brain of the Red Sox collects the cycle against Baltimore in a 14-2 cakewalk.
07/31: The Phillies trade pitchers Harry Coveleski and John McDonald to the Cards for Luther Taylor.
09/16: John Knight of the Braves hits for the cycle against the Grays.
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
It looks for a long while like we’re going to have two teams each from Chicago and Philly contesting the playoffs – which would be kinda cool – but in the end things don’t quite work out that way and, almost out of nowhere, we get a simply astonishing finish to the season with three races still alive on the final day.
AL
The Athletics hold a narrow lead throughout, occasionally look vulnerable, but ultimately do enough to get home for another AL East title.
The Buckeyes look to be following an almost identical path until they drop their bundle over the final stages to allow the Tigers to run them down with a few games to play.
The two remain tied at 89-72 entering the final day and, when both lose, a tiebreaker is necessitated with a maiden playoff berth for the winner.
That winner is Detroit, who gets the job done at Cleveland, 6-2.
NL
The Cubs run together 16 wins in July just as the wheels fall off for the Buccos, who lose 10 straight, changing entirely the complexion of the NL Central race.
The two are tied entering the final week, with the Buccos riding a 12-game win streak that puts them one in front with one to play. Wins to both deliver the Pirates a most unexpected division win.
My Dodgers fly out of the blocks to be 52-30 and on top of the NL East entering July but then suffer one of the most unbelievable runs of injuries – including career-enders for both Harry Howell and Bill Donovan – and get run down by the Phillies, who time their run perfectly with an 11-game win streak. Even then, they need 99 Wins to get past us by two.
Honus Wagner sets a new single-season WAR record of 14.78.
Some excellent campaigns from the MLE hitters this year, with Pete Hill, Grant Johnson and Alfredo Cabrera collecting more than 5 WAR apiece.
Walter Ball and Rube Foster lock down 20 or more Wins again this season and special mentions to Johnny Taylor and Jose Mendez for toiling away under tough conditions with Losses aplenty. Jose Munoz knows more than anyone how they feel, going 13-26 to leave his career mark at 53-99.
FINAL MLB STANDINGS
AL STAT LEADERS
NL STAT LEADERS
* Please note there are some discrepancies regarding players’ correct teams in these stat leaders screenshots from the early years due to them having been taken retrospectively.
PLAYOFFS
The two Philly clubs don’t drop a game to set up a rematch of last year’s World Series, with the Phillies in particularly devastating form as they outscore the Pirates by a combined 45-12. The ALCS ends in ugly fashion with Detroit’s Ty Cobb ejected and subsequentially suspended for four games.
Opening the WS at home, the defending Champion Athletics draw first blood with an 8-2 Game 1 victory and then blow the Phillies away 12-1 the next day, with Sammy Strang driving in 4.
Game 3 across town is a magnificent pitchers’ duel that stays scoreless for an unbelievable 15 innings before the A’s break the deadlock as Charles Bender goes the entire way.
That gives them a commanding 3-0 lead – exactly the opposite position, you might remember, they were in this time a year ago – and, as happened to their opponents on that occasion, they fail to take a golden opportunity to close it out for the sweep as the Phillies storm back late to win Game 4.
They nearly blow Game 5 as well before locking down their third title with a 10-inning 7-6 victory.
Rube Oldring, who had 6 hits in that epic Game 3 and 13 all told, wins the MVP award.
1907 RECAP
Unanimous MVPs for Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner, with Jack Pfiester and Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown winning this year’s CYAs.
Despite his 27 Losses, Jose Mendez just edges Walter Johnson for the AL RoY, with Ed Konetchy the unanimous NL winner.
Roy Hitt of Cleveland and Cincy’s Roy Witherup take out the relief awards.
Muggsy McGraw leads the retirees for 1907.
NeL-obsessed member from Sydney, Australia who spends an inordinate amount of my free time running simulations of various natures on Out of the Park Baseball.