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 1915 season.
OFFSEASON / PRESEASON
Four new modded NeLers enter the league in 1915, meaning we have 51 active:
- OF Charlie Blackwell (20); ABCs
- OF Oscar Charleston (18); Monarchs SABR BIO
- P Juan Padron (22); Black Sox
- P/OF Bullet Rogan (21); Grays SABR BIO
Notable 1915 rookies include Dickey Kerr (White Sox); Charlie Hollocher (Cubs); George Sisler and Ken Williams (Browns); Rogers Hornsby, Austin McHenry, and Jack Smith (Cardinals); and Muddy Ruel (Senators).
The Grays take pitcher Jimmy Zinn first overall in this year’s Rookie Draft.
My Dodgers are quiet again, signing pitcher Larry Cheney thru 1918, and trading for infielder Ivy Olson.
My program of orchestrating moves to reflect the historical wherever possible amps up from this point. For 1915, I send Ty Cobb back to the Tigers, along with Harry Coveleski, and Frank Baker to the Yankees.
Interesting game-generated moves include George McQuillan, Ping Bodie, Howie Shanks (Black Sox); Dick Hoblitzel (Braves); Steve Yerkes (White Sox); Johnny Evers (ABCs); Andrew Payne (Monarchs); Eddie Plank and Jack Meyers (Yankees); Hans Lobert (Giants); Buck Herzog (Phillies); Sam Crawford (Cardinals); Al Demaree, George Gibson (Senators).
OPENING DAY PREVIEW
The top-ranked position player is Red Sox outfielder Tris Speaker.
The top-ranked pitcher is Washington’s Walter Johnson.
The top-rated prospect is age-21 OF Bullet Rogan of the Grays.
The top-ranked farm system belongs to the Browns.
BNN sees the races looking like this:
- AL East: 96-66 Red Sox 2 clear of the Yankees, with the 67-95 Athletics in the cellar
- AL Central: 103-59 White Sox 13 clear of the Buckeyes, with the 57-105 Monarchs in the cellar
- NL East: 95-67 Braves 5 clear of the Dodgers, with the 57-105 Grays in the cellar
- NL Central: 103-59 Pirates 6 clear of the ABCs, with the 57-105 Reds in the cellar
REGULAR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
04/01: The Yankees get zero return this year from offseason add Eddie Plank, who has his entire 1915 campaign derailed by a labrum tear, while quality Tigers OF Bobby Veach misses the first 5-6 weeks of the season with a hip injury.
04/12: Stat cat leader Nap Lajoie, currently with the Monarchs, gets career Hit number 3500.
05/31: Walter Johnson gets his 200th Win.
06/13: Pirates legend Honus Wagner hits safely in 25 straight.
06/26: Sam Crawford goes 6-for-6 as the Cards whip Cincy 14-2.
07/17: Babe Ruth spins a 14-inning 3-hitter in a game against Detroit that his Red Sox ultimately lose 6-3 in the 15th.
07/23: Fred Luderus goes yard three times and knocks in 7 as the Phils whip the Braves 13-1.
07/31: The Senators trade rookie catcher Muddy Ruel to the Monarchs for fictional 1B Chance Terrell.
08/08: Honus Wagner gets his 3500th career Hit.
08/10: A’s veteran Charles Bender 1-hits the Tigers for his 250th MLB Win.
08/15: Charlie Blackwell helps himself to 6 hits against the Reds in a game his ABCs lose 10-9.
09/10: Christy Mathewson gets his 300th Win.
09/11: Nap Lajoie clips the White Sox for the cycle.
09/19: The White Sox lose Hap Felsch for the remainder to a rib injury.
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
In stark opposition to the thriller of a year ago, all four races are easily settled including the ABCs breaking the expansion club hoodoo in the NL Central.
My Dodgers have had a bit of a charmed run recently, and this poor season in which we are simply never in the hunt is a stark reminder that nothing comes easy in this league.
Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Phillies goes 24-10 with a 2.21 ERA and 177 strikeouts to win the NL pitching Triple Crown.
NeLER NOTES
A strong year for our NeL crew as the pool of these players really starts to warm to the task.
Cristobal Torriente leads the WAR list for hitters with north of 7, ahead of Pops Lloyd and rookie sensation Oscar Charleston. Bombin Pedroso’s hitting and pitching total 7 WAR on the dot.
Sad news for Charlie Blackwell, who misses the ABCs historic playoff run due to a shoulder strain.
Man you gotta feel bad for a couple of these pitchers. It was a real race to the bottom for both John Donaldson and Jose Mendez, who combine for more than 50 Losses despite neither really pitching all that badly—John in particular, as his 5-rWAR return displays, bested only by Dick Redding’s 7.3.
Bullet Rogan’s rookie campaign at AAA needs to be seen to be believed:
Two from the modded NeL fraternity retire at the end of 1915.
CARLOS MORAN: Like Clarke, he can expect at least a fair showing in his HoF ballots. A rock solid career but might just come up short.
CHARLES DOUGHERTY: Another who was a borderline candidate and he never really featured too prominently. Nice that he had clearly his best season in 1912 at our club.
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
We are once again guaranteed a first-time winner, with the Phillies looking to go one better than their IRL counterparts managed in this season.
Veteran Eddie Plank guides the Yanks to a tight 2-1 opening game win in NYC but get beat up bad in Game 2 as the White Sox whip them 9-0 behind Eddie Cicotte, with Jack Fournier knocking in a half-dozen. The Yankees edge ahead again with a 5-2 G3 win in Chicago and extend their lead with a 7-5 win the next day. They lock down the club’s third AL Pennant, leaving the Sox with an 0 and 4 LCS record, with a 5-3 win and road sweep.
The ABCs draw first blood in Philly with a late score earning them a 2-0 win in G1 as Phil Douglas pitches a 4-hitter and the Phils have to claw their way to a home split with a dogged 4-3 win the next day. Game 3 in Indy is another close and see-sawing affair that the Phils finally take 7-5 and they again prevail in a hard-fought affair, with a 7-4 win in 10 giving them a 3-1 series lead. The ABCs stay alive with an 8-4 win that sends the series back to Philly, with Doc Wiley going 4-for-5 and driving in six, and draw level with a 7-6 G6 win after leading 7-0 early. The decider remains on a knife-edge throughout before the Phillies prevail 2-1.
WORLD SERIES
The Phils got a good scare in the NLCS and I do think they’ll have just a bit too much offensive prowess for the Yanks here.
Pete Alexander goes the distance and Buck Herzog’s bases-clearing triple in the 8th holds up as the visiting Phillies take Game 1 4-1 and they flex their muscles the next day with a 15-6 win to head home 2-0 up.
The Yanks give it the old college try in Game 3 but the Phils beat them 8-3 all the same, with George Chalmers in good nick, and hang tight again the next day to finally break through for their first win.
Their only win, as it turns out, as they blow a 4-0 lead late and the Phillies claim their coveted maiden World Championship with Gavvy Cravath going deep twice and driving in all the runs in a 5-4 win.
Fred Luderus takes MVP honours.
1915 RECAP
Cocky Collins and Gavvy Cravath each earn their first MVP, while Walter Johnson wins CYA number four and Pete Alexander his second.
Unanimous RoYs to the two Charlies—Oscar Charleston in the AL, and Charlie Blackwell in the NL—with Dave Davenport of the Browns and Clyde Barfood of the Cards make it a St. Louis sweep in the relief awards.
Of this year’s retirees, only Fred Clarke looks any chance of HoF enshrinement.
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.