For those of you embarking this trolley along the route, the premise of the exercise can be found HERE.
OVERVIEW
No franchise changes for the 1920 season.
OFFSEASON / PRESEASON
A whopping nine new modded NeLers for 1920, and we now have 64 active:
- 1B John Beckwith (20); Black Barons SABR BIO
- P Andy Cooper (22); Black Barons SABR BIO
- P Rube Curry (21); Monarchs
- OF Fats Jenkins (22); Grays SABR BIO
- C Biz Mackey (22); Monarchs SABR BIO
- P Harry Salmon (24); Black Sox
- OF Turkey Stearnes (18); Black Sox SABR BIO
- OF Clint Thomas (23); ABCs SABR BIO
- OF Chaney White (25); ABCs SABR BIO
The Grays get unmodded pitcher Willie Gisentaner.
Notable 1920 rookies include Larry Benton (Braves); Ray Grimes (Cubs); Joe Sewell (Buckeyes); Heinie Manush (Tigers); Freddie Fitzsimmons (Giants); Lefty Grove (Athletics); Russ Wrightstone (Phillies); Pie Traynor (Pirates); Marty McManus (Browns); Jim Bottomley (Cardinals); Goose Goslin (Senators).
The Senators take unmodded NeLer John Taylor first overall in this year’s Rookie Draft.
My Dodgers sign NeLers Ben Taylor and Pelayo Chacon, trading away Pop Lloyd for outfielder Bill Lamar.
Joe Jackson’s final season will be where it all started for him, with the Buckeyes.
Orchestrated moves: Wally Schang to the Yankees; Billy Southworth and Walton Cruise to the Braves; George Burns to the Buckeyes; Dave Bancroft and Art Nehf to the Giants; Jake Daubert and Eppa Rixey to the Reds; Dave Danforth to the Browns; George Mogridge to the Senators.
Game-generated moves: include Tom Johnson (Braves); Jimmie Lyons (White Sox); Doc Wiley (Reds); Joe Jackson and Amos Strunk (Buckeyes); Al Mamaux and Jim Shaw (Tigers); Carl Weilman and Hurley McNair (Grays); Ed Konetchy (ABCs); Candy Jim Taylor (Monarchs); Ray Fisher and Vean Gregg (Blackbirds); Art Fletcher, Jimmy Ring, and Rube Benton (Yankees); Frank Wickware (Jays); Slim Sallee (Phillies); Claude Hendrix (Cardinals).
No HoF action this year, with Iron Joe McGinnity the closest.
OPENING DAY PREVIEW
The top-ranked position player is veteran Phillies OF Gavvy Cravath.
The top-ranked pitcher is Washington’s Walter Johnson.
The top-rated prospect is age-20 IF John Beckwith of the Black Barons, ahead of A’s pitcher Lefty Grove.
The top-ranked farm system belongs to the Tigers.
BNN sees the races looking like this:
- AL East: 101-61 Yankees 12 clear of the Red Sox, with the 69-93 Jays in the cellar
- AL North: 103-59 Buckeyes 15 clear of the White Sox, with the 72-90 Tigers in the cellar
- AL South: 92-70 Browns 1 clear of the Monarchs, with the 49-113 Bears in the cellar
- NL East: 105-57 Giants 10 clear of the Dodgers, with the 56-106 Phillies in the cellar
- NL North: 97-65 Cardinals 13 clear of the Blackbirds, with the 43-119 Black Barons in the cellar
- NL South: 97-65 Cardinals 13 clear of the Blackbirds, with the 43-119 Black Barons in the cellar
So many quality players coming into the league now, particularly from the NeL ranks, so expect some of these clubs to be more prominent the next few years and beyond. Already the pundits are seeing KC close the gap right up on the Bruins.
The non-NeL expansion clubs, on the other hand, will need to improve their player acquisition strategies from the look of it. I’ll probably need to give them more of a leg-up in this regard as well and am just trying to find the sweet spot.
REGULAR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
04/05: Elmer Ponder sets the tone for a season that promises so much excitement, with an Opening Day no-no for the Braves against the Jints.
04/17: The Grays go 10-0 to begin the season, while the Phillies kindly keep us from being in the NL East cellar by losing 15 straight games after winning their first five.
05/10: Atlanta’s Billy Southworth clips Indy for the cycle.
06/22: Cleveland’s Elmer Smith collects the cycle against Detroit.
07/31: At the Deadline, the Tigers trade Pete Flagstead to the Blackbirds for infielder Doc Lavan.
08/26: Carmen Hill of the Cubs no-hits the Buccos.
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
Fairly low levels of drama this time around, perhaps the playoffs will make up for it?
AL
Three very straightforward divisional wins in the AL to the rampaging 120-Win Buckeyes, Yankees and Browns.
A run of 10 straight losses in the heat of the stretch drive not only cruels the Red Sox’ division title hopes but also brings them right back into reach for the AL Wild Card. They are three clear of the Monarchs entering the final week and hold it together from there, clinching with a few days to spare.
NL
With the Giants and Cardinals also winning comfortably, the NL North is the only even remotely tight race of the six divisions and it sees a supreme three-way go for the duration of the second half between the ABCs, Cubs and Reds.
After each has a turn in the lead, the ABCs hit the front entering the final 10 games. The Reds are eliminated early in the final week despite neither of the other two clubs being able to buy a win. In fact, the only win either of them can manage over this period is the Cubs’ 3-2 thriller at Cincy on the final day that makes a tiebreaker necessary, with Indy’s 13-1 loss at Pittsburgh their fifth on the trot.
The ABCs’ horror finish is complete when the Cubbies blow them out 13-6 the next day.
We have all but given up hope of competing for the WC fairly early on but the lads keep chipping away at the Grays’ lead and then take a big chunk out of it with a 12-2 run in early September that leaves us three adrift heading into the final week. By the time we line up for a four-game H2H series at Posey Park to finish off the regular season, we are tied and two wins from the first three put us in the box seat going into the final game and it all comes down to a blue-riband final game match-up between Bullet Rogan and John Donaldson, which we win 8-5 to prolong our title defence into the playoffs. A truly miraculous comeback and a superb effort from the group, posting a 39-18 record since August 1.
Babe Ruth sets a bunch of new seasonal marks this year: OBA (.5529); SLG (.7379); OPS (1.2909) and Bases on Balls (199), while fictional Mal Mendoza’s 25 Saves is another new high.
The Meusel brothers combine for 76 homers, with big brother Irish outpointing Bob 40 to 36.
NeLER NOTES
Some top-notch baseball again from the modded NeL crew, led on the hitting side by Dobie Moore’s 10.6 WAR campaign that also sees him tie for the most HR among the group with 33.
The player he ties with, the mighty Cristobal Torriente, also wins his first batting title, pacing the NL with .368.
Dick Lundy, Oscar Charleston and Alejandro Oms are the best of the rest, along with Bullet Rogan, whose star continues its ascent as he posts a combined 11 WAR with 22 home runs and 21 wins.
Rube Curry is the pick of the pitchers on an rWAR basis and looks to be among the favourites for the AL RoY after posting a 17-9 / 2.33 in his first go-around, while Joe Williams wins 21 to take his career tally to 275.
Two modded NeLers exiting in 1920.
ASHBY DUNBAR: Pretty much as expected from Ashby, with some good early years but not much impact after that.
AD LANKFORD: Fringy in the extreme and, even with the expanded structure, he never really got much of a go.
FINAL MLB STANDINGS
AL STAT LEADERS
NL STAT LEADERS
PLAYOFFS
DCS
A 3-run homer in the 8th by Bill Lamar holds up as we take the opener 5-1 against Joe Williams at the Polo Grounds but they get to John Donaldson early in Game 2 and square the series with a 6-4 win.
Ebbets is rocking as we win Game 3 with an 8-7 walkoff thanks in a great part to Pelayo Chacon, who has 4 hits and scores half our runs, and even more so again the next day as we stage the mother of all comebacks with Bernie Neis delivering a bases-clearing double with two out in the bottom 9th to walk it off 6-5 and eliminate the dreaded enemy.
Bill Lamar does indeed have a “Good Time” going 5-for-6 with 4 RBI and taking out MVP honours.
The Buckeyes open their series against the BoSox with a clinical 2-0 home win behind a Babe Adams 5-hitter but then the other Babe – Ruth – comes alive, belting a pair of homers as Boston blows it out 12-5. A 5-4 come-from-behind win at Fenway a couple days later puts the Sox in the box seat and Sam Jones closes it out with a complete game 7-hitter in a 3-0 win. 120 regular season wins and then that. Those poor Cleveland fans.
The Yanks win Game 1 5-2 and Game 2 6-2 to put the Browns in a deep hole heading to St. Louis and finish them off with a minimum of fuss and an 8-4 victory.
Rogers Hornsby is prominent as the Cards take the first two games at home in their series with the Cubs, but a Hippo Vaughn 2-hit gem in Chi-Town a couple days later extends the series. Sadly for Cubs fans, the bats go quiet against Jesse Haines in Game 4 and the Cards advance to the NLCS with a 5-0 win.
LCS
As fun as that DS might have been, we’ll need to be much more disciplined to get past this Cardinals group, who beat us good and proper 9-3 in the opener at Sportsmans Park as Donaldson struggles again and Hornsby and McHenry run riot, then stick us again 4-3 the next day.
Our group does tend toward streakiness and are poor again at home in Game 3 as they whip us 9-2 to put us on the cusp of elimination, a cliff we almost willingly jump off the next day as they complete the sweep with a 3-0 shutout.
It’s Yankees v Red Sox and all that entails, even in these early years, with the Sox travelling to Yankee Stadium and destroying their hosts 9-1 in the opener as Harry Hooper goes yard twice, then backing that up with a much less flashy but equally effective 3-1 win in Game 2 behind a strong outing from Bullet Joe Bush.
The Sox blow a lead late in the sort of game that would seem familiar to members of the IRL Red Sox Nation in later generations, with the final score 7-5 in 10, but bounce back with a 5-2 win in Game 4 to restore their two-game cushion and secure their 8th AL Pennant in this timeline with a cruisy 9-4 win.
WORLD SERIES
A win here would put the Red Sox in front all by themselves with five titles (they are currently tied with the Athletics and Cubs), while it would be the first for the Cardinals. Both are at full strength.
The Cards need a walkoff solo shot from Aaron Ward off Dutch Leonard to get home 3-2 in Game 1 but can’t muster even one run against Herb Pennock the next day as Boston gets square with a 4-0 win.
Game 3 at Fenway is another low-scoring affair, scoreless in fact thru seven before the Sox ultimately walk it off 2-1 on a good old suicide squeeze and the St. Louis bullpen lets them down again the next day as Boston takes control of the series with another walkoff win, this time with a 5-4 final courtesy of a 2-run double by Fred Lear.
And it’s the Sox’ year but not without plenty of fight as the clincher goes 15 and ends in familiar fashion, with series MVP Babe Ruth scoring from second on a 2-out single by Josh Billings for a 3-2 victory.
1920 RECAP
The Babe and Rajah both repeat as MVP, the third for each, with Joe Williams and Babe Adams also winning CYA number three.
RoYs to NeLers Rube Curry and Clint Thomas, wFritz Coumbe and fictional Mel Mendoza named best relievers for 1920.
The White-Black Sox exodus will make for some interesting ballots later this decade, with Shoeless Joe and Eddie Cicotte the main hopes. Mordecai Brown and Ed Walsh should also give it a good run.
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.