For those of you embarking this trolley along the route, the premise of the exercise can be found HERE.
OVERVIEW
No franchise moves or changes to the league structure for the 1917 season.
OFFSEASON / PRESEASON
Four modded NeLers join the league in 1917, giving us 59 active:
- OF Jelly Gardner (21); ABCs SABR BIO
- SS Dick Lundy (18); Black Sox SABR BIO
- OF Alejandro Oms (21); Monarchs SABR BIO
- 1B Edgar Wesley (25); Grays
Notable 1917 rookies include Ira Flagstead (Tigers); Bob Meusel (Yankees); Earl Smith (Giants); Joe Dugan and Jimmie Dykes (Athletics).
The Black Sox take fictional pitcher Bryan Marshall first overall in this year’s Rookie Draft. Lefty O’Doul goes 12th to the Cardinals
My Dodgers sign pitcher Jack Coombs thru 1918 and Fred Merkle thru 1920, also trading for utility infielder Frank O’Rourke.
Homestead trades Jules Thomas – who is entering his walk year – to the White Sox for pitchers Shovel Hodge and Chippy Gaw Smoky Joe Williams to the Yankees.
Joe Williams heads across town from his short stint at Yankee Stadium to a longer one at the Polo Grounds, signing a 7-year deal with the Giants.
Orchestrated moves: Hank Severeid to the Browns; Howie Shanks to the Senators.
Game-generated moves: include Red Ames, Del Pratt, Fred Toney, Dode Paskert (Red Sox); Charles Earle, Jules Thomas (White Sox); Eustaquio Pedroso (Reds); Bullet Joe Bush (Buckeyes); Smoky Joe Wood, Slim Sallee (Grays); Joe Williams, Charles Bender (Giants); Rube Benton (Cardinals).
Cy Young is the latest HoF enshrinee, receiving 99.5% on his first ballot.
OPENING DAY PREVIEW
The top-ranked position player is Buckeyes OF Tris Speaker.
The top-ranked pitcher is Washington’s Walter Johnson.
The top-rated prospect is age-25 fictional P Bryan Marshall of the Black Sox.
The top-ranked farm system belongs to the Athletics.
BNN sees the races looking like this:
- AL East: 99-63 Red Sox 17 clear of the Yankees, with the 71-91 Athletics in the cellar
- AL Central: 93-69 White Sox 1 clear of the Tigers, with the 56-106 Monarchs in the cellar
- NL East: 100-62 Phillies 6 clear of the Dodgers, with the 68-94 Braves in the cellar
- NL Central: 82-80 Cardinals 2 clear of the ABCs, with the 69-93 Cubs in the cellar
REGULAR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
04/22: Baltimore’s Ping Bodie hits for the cycle against the Red Sox.
04/25: Babe Ruth pitches a 6-hit shutout and belts a pair of homers in a 9-0 Red Sox win against… you guessed it, the Yankees.
04/30: Baltimore’s Tony DeFate, who managed just 16 AB IRL in the bigs without a homer, leads the AL with 6 entering May in this timeline.
05/03: The Phillies diverge from the historical (where he is with the Cubs from 1918-26) in this timeline, extending Pete Alexander thru 1923.
05/04: He’s not eligible for us until 1922, but we acquire Dazzy Vance from the Browns for Jake Daubert, Larry Cheney, and Tom Fitzsimmons.
05/04: In the Giants’ comprehensive 13-0 thrashing of Homestead, George Burns hits for the cycle and Jeff Tesreau hurls a 1-hitter.
05/15: My Dodgers need 22 innings to beat the Pirates 8-7.
05/24: Frank Baker hits safely in 26 straight.
06/17: Heinie Zimmermann knocks in 7 of the Cubs’ runs in their 10-7 win against the Pirates, then hits for the cycle against the Giants a couple days later, then goes 5-for-6 against the Cards a few days after that—quite the tear!
07/25: Putting together a monster season indeed, Ty Cobb hits safely in 35 games—the fourth-longest so far in this timeline.
07/29: Joe Williams earns the 200th Win of his MLB career with a 9-3 decision over our mob. His record to this point sits at 200-177 with a 3.24 ERA (124 ERA+) and 76 rWAR. At 31 and set to play well into his 40s, he should end up keeping Barney Johnson company somewhere in the high-300s to low-400s, behind only Cy Young’s 519.
07/31: A few trades at or near the Deadline, with The Yanks offloading veteran catcher Jack Meyers to Detroit for SS Lu Blue and pitcher Wes Griffin, the Tigers also acquiring catcher Pearl Webster from the Cards for Johnny Bassler and Ray Keating, and Herb Pennock heading from the Black Sox to the Senators for Ray Frnacis.
09/12: A high ankle sprain earns Gorgeous George Sisler an early holiday—he is done for the year, as is Pirates outfielder Max Carey a few days later courtesy of a knee injury.
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
AL
After looking in midseason like the Senators are going to win the AL East in a canter, the three weeks or so immediately following the ASG change all that as they slump just as the Red Sox get red hot. From there it goes right to the wire, with the two tied entering their final regular-season series and they remain so til the death, as the BoSox blow a chance to win it outright by losing 8-7 at home to the A’s on the final day.
The ‘breaker at Fenway Park is tight early before the hosts blow it out late to book another playoff run with an 8-1 final.
The burgeoning rivalry between the White Sox and Buckeyes in this timeline looks all set to intensify with the two virtually tied entering September but then Cleveland collapses with eight straight losses and Detroit surges back into contention with a run of 12 wins. However, the White Sox also put together a double-digit win string at this time and – despite almost throwing it away with a horror final week – prevail by a game with a nervy 5-1 win at the Browns in their season closer.
NL
The Phils look strong all season and are never troubled in eventually taking the NL East by
The ABCs are the second club to clinch, a day after the Phils, easily taking out their third straight NL Central title.
Ty Cobb ends up hitting .432 and sets a new mark with 266 Hits.
Fritz Coumbe and Dave Danforth set a new joint record with 15 Saves.
Babe Ruth nearly achieves something I am pretty sure has never been done IRL and is unlikely to ever be, missing by just a pair of dingers from recording 20 wins and homers in the same season.
NeLER NOTES
If not for the presence of Rogers Hornsby, Dobie Moore would be an absolute lock for NL MVP after another stunning campaign. Even with Rajah there, he’s some chance of taking the award.
Cristobal Torriente and Jules Thomas continue to impress, with a noticeable power surge across the group this year.
Despite a softer second half, Dick Redding is still the pick of the pitchers with John Donaldson doing much better than in recent years. Three youngsters – Dick Whitworth, Gerardo Ballesteros and Tom Williams – are worth keeping an eye on over the next few years.
Two retirees from among the modded NeL fraternity for 1917.
GERARDO BALLESTEROS: Little more than a cameo and he was indentured with the Grays for its entirety.
RUBE FOSTER: Ignoring the iffy W-L record (he is one of the few to not be able to blame it on playing for the expansion clubs—instead, he found himself stuck on a dreadful Tigers franchise), Rube puts in a fairly commendable 40-WAR career over 13 seasons. Saw no MLB action since 1914, which was fair enough.
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
LCS
Two vastly experienced clubs duking it out for the ALCS this year and Babe Ruth gives the Red Sox an early lead with a 6-hit shutout in a 4-0 final. They win again in G2 to head to Fenway full of momentum, which they keep going with a cushy 6-1 win in Game 3 and advance with a minimum of fuss with a 1-0 win behind Red Ames, claiming a league-leading sixth pennant in the process.
The ABCs and Phillies have also both been here before in recent times and know what to expect. Indy nabs a big 11-6 road win in the opener but the Phils square it up with a 4-1 win behind Eppa Rixey. A fine outing at Riverside Park by George Dumont gets the ABCs’ noses back in front and Harry Harper in Game 4 puts them 3-1 ahead and on the cusp of their maiden NL pennant. They grab the opportunity with both hands, advancing to their first World Series with a gripping 3-2 win on the back of a solid outing by Bob Steele.
WORLD SERIES
So good to finally see one of the NeL-based teams invited to the “Big Dance” and they look a good enough chance to follow through with a maiden title here. That said, the Red Sox won’t want to miss the chance to pull ahead of the Athletics with a fifth Championship and will prove tough opposition, with their ALCS form a strong indication they are peaking just when they need to. Should be a ripper.
Ruth once again gets the Sox off to the desired start with another shutout in a 6-0 final and the ABCs look to have a touch of the dreaded stagefright as the bats stay quiet again in an 8-2 result in Game 2.
In Indy for Game 3, the home side finally gets a wriggle-on with a somewhat wild 9-5 win powered by 3-hit games from Charlie Blackwell, Cristobal Torriente and Ben Taylor, then knot the series at 2 with another feisty 7-5 victory.
Game 5 is a special one as the Sox explode with 5 in the 1st then give 4 of them straight back and the two are tied at 8 in regulation, before the Sox finally win it 9-8 in the 10th.
Back in Boston, Indy sets up a massive finale with a 5-2 G6 win and then shocks the New England region to its core with an utterly engrossing 6-4 victory to take that coveted first title.
Cristobal Torriente is named MVP.
1917 RECAP
A fourth MVP for Ty Cobb; a fourth CYA for Pete Alexander. Rogers Hornsby wins his first MVP, as does Eddie Cicotte with the CYA.
Boston’s Joe Harris and Pirates pitcher Hal Carlson win this year’s rookie awards, while Fritz Coumbe of the Buckeyes and Indy’s Dave Danfortth are named the best relievers for 1917.
Honus Wagner (almost 4000 Hits), Gettysburg Eddie Plank (344 Wins), and Wahoo Sam Crawford (3400+ Hits, all-time leader with 268 HR) can each book their hotel room now for the induction ceremony in 1923. I doubt any of the others will need to, although Harry Davis might get some love for his early dominance in this timeline.
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.