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 1925 season.
OFFSEASON / PRESEASON
Just two modded NeLers added for 1925, giving us 73 active:
- OF Charlie Smith (23); ABCs
- OF Vic Harris (19); Monarchs SABR BIO
Notable 1924 rookies include Ben Cantwell (Braves); Harry Davis and Billy Rogell (Tigers); Bill Dickey and Lyn Lary (Yankees); Adam Comorosky and Lloyd Waner (Pirates); Joe Cronin and Buddy Myer (Senators).
New Orleans takes pitcher Jumbo Brown first overall in this year’s Rookie Draft. Leo Durocher goes sixth to the Yankees.
My Dodgers get a pair of super-young prospects—age-16 Al Lopez, who should be a stalwart for our club down the track, and Jimmy Jordan. We trade away Ben Taylor and Tommy Griffith to the Monarchs for Jack Fournier.
Orchestrated moves: Babe Ruth (who exercises his opt-out with Boston) and Urban Shocker to the Yankees; Ira Flagstead to the Red Sox; George Harper and Russ Wrightstone to the Phillies; Joe Harris and Stan Coveleski to the Senators; Les Mann to the Braves; Wally Pipp to the Reds; Gene Robertson to the Browns; Earl Smith and Vic Aldridge to the Pirates.
Game-generated moves: include Bobby Veach to the Braves; Wally Schang and Rosy Ryan to the Black Sox; Allen Sothoron to the Red Sox; Jesse Barnes to the Cubs; Riggs Stephenson to the Reds; Frank Brower to the Grays; Wilbur Cooper and Willie Spearman to the Bears; Jigger Statz and Bill Pierce to the Blackbirds; Howard Ehmke to the Giants; Al Mamaux to the Browns.
No new HoFers again for 1925.
OPENING DAY PREVIEW
The top-ranked position player is Cardinals 2B Rogers Hornsby.
The top-ranked pitcher is our Dazzy Vance.
Age-17 A’s catcher Jimmie Foxx is the top position player prospect; age-19 non-modded NeLer Steel Arm Tyler the top pitching hopeful.
The top-ranked farm system belongs to we Dodgers.
BNN sees the races looking like this:
- AL East: 88-74 Black Sox 2 clear of the Yankees, with the 62-100 Red Sox in the cellar
- AL North: 102-60 Athletics 14 clear of the White Sox, with the 70-92 Buckeyes in the cellar
- AL South: 91-71 Senators 4 clear of the Browns, with the 70-92 Monarchs in the cellar
- NL East: 88-74 Giants and Grays 2 clear of the Dodgers, with the 65-97 Phillies in the cellar
- NL North: 101-61 Pirates 16 clear of the Reds, with the 66-96 Cubs in the cellar
- NL South: 105-57 Cardinals 19 clear of the Black Barons, with the 61-101 Blackbirds in the cellar
The Yankees look set to be all over the back of the defending champs this year, and that AL East race should be a fascinating battle indeed.
REGULAR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
04/06: Babe Ruth homers in his first game as a Yankee, although it’s their only run in a 6-1 loss to the Jays.
04/07: Cy Williams becomes the fifth member of the 300 HR club.
04/11: Hooks Dauss wins his 200th in this timeline.
04/13: Four years after making his MLB debut – he has only had 62 total AB prior to this season – Lou Gehrig opens his HR account in the bigs, so we pretty much can have a H2H race between him and the Babe over the next decade or so!
04/14: The milestones are coming thick and fast, with Tris Speaker becoming the eighth player to reach the 3000-Hit mark.
04/29: Cocky Collins is another to make it to 3000 Hits for his career.
05/09: Turkey Stearnes caps off the cycle with a walkoff slam to win this one:
05/27: Earl Smith goes yard three times and drives in 6 in Pittsburgh’s 14-5 pasting of the Cardinals.
06/12: Pie Traynor has 6 hits and Earl Smith drives in 7 as the Buccos destroy the Cubs 21-4.
07/17: Cleveland’s George Uhle gives us the season’s first no-hitter.
08/01: A fantastic start to August for Sunny Jim Bottomley, who mashes 3 taters and drives in 10 as his Cards belt the Phillies 18-9.
08/18: We get our third ever 4-homer game in this timeline, with Cy Williams of the Cubs achieving the feat against the Braves.
09/03: You’d have to think that Jules Thomas punches his ticket to the HoF as he becomes the first player in this timeline with both 3000 Hits and 300 HR, and he adds six more to that total and the same number of RBI the very next day, also collecting the cycle as his Cardinals destroy Atlanta 27-2.
09/06: Babe Ruth puts three into the seats against his former club to take his total for the season to 40.
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
Five of the division races are fairly comprehensive, with Newark the first to clinch—their first playoff appearance, and they look ready to give this a real shake.
The one with plenty of drama is, naturally, our NL East, as we squander a big lead and are in danger of missing out entirely, needing a final-day win behind Dazzy Vance to take the group.
The two Wild Cards go down to the wire, with the Tigers edging the White and Black Sox in the AL, and Homestead getting up by a game over the Black Barons on our side of the aisle.
NeLER NOTES
Bullet Rogan takes a few more steps in the direction of upstate NY with a combined total in excess of 12 WAR. His two-way counterpart Martin Dihigo does his up-and-soming rep no harm with another nice season, particularly on the mound.
Turkey Stearnes leads the group with a tick under 9 WAR, ahead of John Beckwith and Mule Suttles – who tie with a group-high 35 HR – as well as Rev Cannady and Cool Papa Bell.
Young guns Webster McDonald, Willie Foster, and Rosie Davis, along with veteran Willis Flournoy are among the pick of the arms this year. Rats Henderson ties with Bullet on 19 Wins, the most among these players for 1925.
With regard to the non-modded brigade, three words: Steel. Arm. Tyler. What a rookie season and he’ll be front and centre come awards time. Nelson Dean and Square Moore are also solid contributors, as is New Orleans utility John Hines.
Even our old mate Sylvester Foreman manages his first positive rWAR campaign.
Six modded NeLers calling it quits in 1925.
DAVE BROWN: With such a short span, Lefty was always going to be a tough get but the mod did a good enough job. Dave finishes his career in this timeline with league average ERA+ and short of 20 rWAR—roughly analogous to his input data.
SAM CRAWFORD: A somewhat disappointing return for Sam, who manages just 17 total rWAR and finishes with a 96-129 and ERA+ of 100. He had a really strong middle period in his source data that failed to eventuate for the most part in the sim. It happens.
JIM JEFFRIES: Another who just never really got it going in this timeline, amassing just 16 rWAR over his 12 seasons—all with the ABCs—with more than of those in 1921-22 alone.
DAN KENNARD: A nice little turn in this universe from the 3-time All-Star catcher, who finishes with a decent slash line of 275/341/413, 129 HR and more than 30 WAR.
BRUCE PETWAY: Another catcher, albeit a much more fringy type, Buddy outstripped his source data by some margin despite playing what has turned out to be his final MLB game all the way back in 1919. His career ZR total of 6.7 took a big hit with a -7.0 return in 1908.
BILL PIERCE: Yet another catcher, Bonehead finishes his career here roughly in-between the other two, belting 165 homers and racking up about 28 WAR in a decent return that – if you ignore his outrageous 13.4 WAR 1923 source campaign (9 more than his return for that season in the sim) – lines up fairly squarely with his input allocations.
FINAL MLB STANDINGS
AL STAT LEADERS
NL STAT LEADERS
PLAYOFFS
Despite 14 division titles and three pennants between them, the two St. Louis clubs remain on the hunt for a maiden title. Will this be the year?
DS
Our first opponent is the Pirates, who really came on strong in the second half and should prove a right handful for us here.
Joe Williams and Rats Henderson go toe-to-toe in the openier at Forbes, however it is anything but a pitchers’ duel as we outslug them 9-7.
They square the series by beating Burleigh Grimes 5-1 the next day as Specs Meadows goes the distance, then we edge back ahead at Ebbets a couple days later as Dazzy Vance gives us a 3-hit beauty over 8+ in a 1-0 win.
Another tight win on a two-out walkoff hit by Eddie Brown sends us into the next round, with Dutch Ruether a major factor in the 3-2 clincher and Zack Wheat named MVP.
Detroit gets a big win against Newark superstar Gui Fou, scoring four in the top 9th to secure a 6-1 victory, and a Dutch Leonard shutout the next day puts the Jays deep in the hole. They stay alive with a nice 7-1 win at Navin Field but another disappointing performance sees their maiden playoff run come to a premature end as the Tigers advance with a comprehensive 11-4 win.
The Athletics take Game 1 against the Browns with a dramatic 5-4 win on a walkoff 2-run double by Mickey Cochrane, then double up with a 6-3 win in G2 behind Slim Harriss.
As for Game 3, WTAF? Al Simmons with 3 HR and 10 RBI to send the Browns home tail between legs.
Bullet Rogan pitches the Grays past the Cards 8-2 to begin their series, and a dour 3-2 win the following day doubles Homestead’s lead. Facing elimination, the Cards rebound with an emphatic 9-0 win at Homestead as Bill Sherdel comes up trumps with a 3-hitter and then force a decider with a 7-4 comeback win in Game 4. Sadly for Cardinals fans – and all in St. Louis who follow the game of baseball – the drought continues as the Grays set up a meeting with yours truly via a 4-1 win.
LCS
The universe is having its fun, pitting us against the Grays after all that transpired in the regular season, and they get the better of us in the opening game at Ebbets with Nelson Dean pitching them to a 4-1 win.
A fine game from Pelayo Chacon just gets us back on even terms with a 4-3 win the following day as Burleigh goes all nine, but Rosey Davis gets his revenge on Dazzy Vance in Homestead a couple days later as they edge ahead again.
Dutch Ruether gets us a crucial 7-3 win over Bullet Rogan in G4 to knot it at two and a 2-1 win in 10 the day after that gives us the series lead for the first time and puts us in the box seat heading back to Brooky.
The Grays force a Game 7 as Campanita Bell shuts us out 3-0, but we ride the golden arm of Dazzy Vance into the Big Dance with a 4-2 win.
Pelayo Chacon takes the MVP.
The Athletics fight back against the Tigers to tie Game 1 late, then win it 4-3 in 11 and win again the next day despite a few pitching wobbles over the closing frames.
A blowout home loss in Game 3 leaves the Tigers on the precipice of a sweep exit, but they show plenty of character to fight back late after being down to their last out, staying alive with a 10-inning, 7-6 walkoff win.
It’s only the briefest of reprieves, however, as the A’s outplay them comprehensively and book their first WS appearance since 1908 with a 6-3 win behind Lefty Grove.
WORLD SERIES
A fifth WS win here will earn the Athletics a tie for the most in this timeline with the Red Sox. We are making our first appearance at the final stage since 1919, and looking for our third title.
Joe Hauser’s grand slam off Joe Williams in the 6th is the decisive blow in Game 1, as they knock us off 6-3, and Lefty Grove’s ascendancy continues as he 3-hits us the next day in a 9-0 drubbing.
Dazzy holds his nerve against Dolly Gray at Ebbets in Game 3, which we take 5-3, but they beat us again the next day with Dizzy Dismukes leading them to a 6-3 win.
They finish us off barely raising a sweat, as Smoky Joe picks the wrong day to have an off day and they whip us 7-0 with Slim Harriss tossing a 4-hitter—a most disappointing end indeed to an otherwise fantastic campaign.
Unser Cho Hauser is named series MVP.
1925 RECAP
A fifth MVP award for Rajah, while Bucketfoot Al Simmons earns his first.
Dazzy Vance and fictional Gui Fou repeat as CYA winners, with Earl Webb and Steel Arm Tyler taking the RoYs.
Best reliever gongs go to fictionals Tim Civetti and Alex Fernandez.
Dutch Leonard leads a fairly low-key list of MLB retirees this year.
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.