Imaginary Sports

July 17, 1984 - The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres went back and forth for nine innings today, but it was the home team Cubs that pulled out the win in dramatic fashion.

The Padres took a 4-2 lead in the top of the 8th inning, but starting pitcher Eric Show ran into trouble right away, allowing leadoff singles to Leon Durham and Thad Bosley.

After striking out Ryne Sandberg, Show nearly escaped the inning with the lead intact as Jay Johnstone hit a ground ball to second. But Johnstone narrowly avoided being doubled up, as San Diego had to settle for a fielder’s choice and a run crossing the plate to cut their lead to one.

With two out, Gary Matthews singled and Ron Cey walked, loading the bases.

The Padres turned to closer Goose Gossage, who fared no better. On an 0-2 count, Gossage plunked Owen in the leg, bringing in the tying run.

Jody Davis then lifted an easy fly ball to left field that should have sent the game to the 9th with a tie score, but outfielder Carmelo Martinez misplayed it. The ball bounced off Martinez’ glove, allowing Matthews and Cey to score.

Tim Stoddard (S, 4) pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up the save.

Manager Chris Witt reported that Lee Smith was available to pitch in relief, but he wanted to give him some rest after throwing 30-plus pitches in yesterday’s game.

Chicago failed to make up any ground in the NL East, as the Pittsburgh Pirates won their third straight. Jose DeLeon (W, 6-5) pitched a one-hit shutout for the Bucs, going up against the last-place Los Angeles Dodgers. In fact, all six NL East teams were victorious today.

July 16, 1984 - Dick Ruthven walked six men, but allowed just a pair of hits in 7 innings of work as the Chicago Cubs defeated the San Diego Padres, 6-1, on Monday.

Ruthven (W 5-4) was then relieved by Lee Smith, who hadn’t thrown in nearly a week as the Cubs have suffered through a recent losing run.

The Cubs moved ahead 5-0 in the bottom of the 5th on consecutive home runs by Gary Matthews (5), Keith Moreland (5), and Jody Davis (9).

Day 25 of the 1900s/10s Strat-O-Matic season featured three close games. Two were come-from-behind wins. Two were one-run wins.

The Chicago Cubs retained their one game lead in the league with Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown (W, 3-4) carrying a shutout into the 9th inning against the visiting Detroit Tigers.

As it turned out, Brown ran into some trouble, allowing three base hits before being pulled with a 2-1 lead, 2 men on, and 2 out.

Relief pitcher Jack Taylor entered the game, allowed a base-loading base hit to Tom Jones, then retired pinch-hitter Davey Jones on a ground out to Frank Chance at first.

Meanwhile, the New York Giants are setting up a big series with the Cubs by remaining one game back. The two teams square off for a three-game series on days 27-29 on the schedule.

The Giants fell behind to the Chicago White Sox 6-0 after an inning and a half of play, as Christy Mathewson failed to make it out of the second inning.

But New York chiped away, scoring runs in each of the next five innings to move ahead 9-7.

Hooks Wiltse (S, 3) tossed three hitless innings out of the bullpen, facing the minimum nine batters to close the game out.

The win kept the Giants one game back of Chicago with seven games remaining in the season.

In the Pennsylvania showdown, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost their third straight, while the Philadelphia Athletics won their fifth in a row, beating Pitt 6-5.

The Bucs took a 5-0 lead early, but choked it away as Philly scored 3 in the bottom of the 7th and another 3 in the 8th. Down 5-4 with men on the corners and 2 out, struggling catcher Fred Thomas, who was riding the bench for this game, came in as a pinch-hitter and roped a two-RBI double to put the A’s ahead.
Despite early troubles, starting pitcher Jack Coombs (W, 5-1) stayed in for 8 innings of work to pick up his league-leading 5th win. Dave Danforth (S, 3) pitched the 9th for the save, striking out Owen Wilson with men on 1st and 2nd to end the game.

The Chicago Cubs took over sole possession of first place on Day 24 with a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers coupled with a 6-1 loss by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Carl Lundgren (W, 4-0) tossed eight strong innings for Chicago, carrying a 5-0 shutout into the 9th inning. Only a rough start to the inning cost him the shutout. It also cost him the lead for the league ERA title, as he trailed the White Sox Lefty Williams by just 0.03 following the game.

Orval Overall narrowly saved the game, walking two runners to load the bases and bring the go-ahead runner to the plate. Overall retired Donnie Bush on a ground out to Johnny Evers at second base, ending the game.

In Philadelphia, it was the Athletics winning their fourth straight to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1, ending the deadlock at the top of the league standings.

Chief Bender (W, 2-1) went the distance, losing the shutout in the top of the 9th inning after a leadoff man reached on a Bender fielding error, then scored two batters later on an RBI single by Honus Wagner.

The New York Giants remained one game back of Chicago after a 13-1 hurting they put on the Chicago White Sox.

Dan McGann leaped into 3rd place for the batting title, upping his average to .360 after a huge day. McGann doubled in each of his final three plate appearances and drove in four runs on the day.

Mike Donlin kept his hold on the batting title lead with a pair of triples in four at bats.

There are eight games and nine days remaining in the season.

I am currently playing a 30-game season using 6 teams from the 1900s and 1910s. Each team plays one 3-game home series against each other team.

Here’s a quick capsule on each team involved.

1905 New York Giants
Led by manager John McGraw, the Giants won the 1905 World Series after posting a 105-48 mark in the regular season.

Center fielder Mike Donlin led the offense with a .356 batting average, 124 runs scored, 216 hits, 31 doubles, 16 triples, and 7 home runs.

Left fielder Sam Mertes stole 52 bases and drove in 108 RBI to lead the team. Third baseman Art Devlin led the National League with 59 steals.

On the mound, Christy Mathewson finished with 31 wins - 8 more than any other NL pitcher. His also led the league with a 1.28 ERA and 206 strikeouts.

For those familiar with the movie “Field of Dreams”, this is also the team for which “Moonlight” Graham made his sole career plate appearance.

1906 Chicago Cubs
Perhaps the greatest baseball team of all time, the ‘06 Cubs hold the record for best winning percentage in a season, finishing 116-36 for a .763 mark. They went on to lose to the “hitless wonder” Chicago White Sox in the World Series that year before going on to win the titles in ‘07 and ‘08.

The pitching staff’s 1.75 team ERA was nearly a half run better than any other National League team in 1906. In fact, the top three finishers for the ERA title went to Cubs starting pitchers Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown (26-6, 1.04), Jack Pfeister (20-8, 1.51), and Ed Reulbach (19-4, 1.65).

Third baseman Harry Steinfeldt finished 2nd in the NL in batting average with a .327 mark, but led in hits (176) and RBI (83).

Seven Cubs finished the season with 25 or more stolen bases, including 57 for first-baseman/manager Frank “The Peerless Leader” Chance (.319) and 49 for sweet-fielding second baseman Johnny Evers.

1909 Detroit Tigers
Right fielder Ty Cobb posted a ridiculous .377 batting average during the regular season, but couldn’t overcome the Pittsburgh Pirates (see below) for the World Series title. The Hall of Famer took the Triple Crown, leading the American League in average, homers (9), and RBI (107), not to mention stolen bases (76).

Center fielder Sam Crawford edged him for the league lead in double, 35 to 33, and finished 2nd in the AL with 14 triples.

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates
Beating out Ty Cobb for the 1909 World Series title was Honus Wagner and the Bucs.

The Flying Dutchman, 35 years of age in 1909, led the National League with a .339 batting average, 39 doubles, and 100 RBI.

Howie Camnitz led the pitching staff, finishing 25-6 with a 1.62 ERA.

1911 Philadelphia Athletics
Manager Connie Mack’s 1911 A’s were an offensive juggernaut, posting a team batting average of .296.

Among the American League leaders, Philly had second baseman Eddie Collins (.365), third baseman Frank “Home Run” Baker (198 hits, 42 2B, 11 HR, 115 RBI), and left fielder Bris Lord (37 2B).

The lucky pitching staff of Jack Coombs (28 wins), Eddie Plank (23-8, 2.10), and “Chief” Bender (17-5, 2.16) didn’t have to work hard to keep their team in the game with such great hitting, but each did well.

1919 Chicago White Sox
The infamous “Black Sox” team most recently made famous in the movie adaptation of “Eight Men Out”, the 1919 White Sox team intentionally threw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

Left fielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson hit .351 with 14 triples and 96 RBI for the Sox.

Center fielder Happy Felsch hit 34 doubles and second baseman Eddie Collins led the American League with 33 stolen bases. (Collins is the only player to appear on two different teams in this league.)

The pitching staff was led by 35-year old veteran Eddie Cicotte (29-7, 1.82 ERA) and southpaw Lefty Williams (23 wins). Cicotte finished 2nd only to Walter “Big Train” Johnson for the ERA title in 1919.

The season is lost for the Chicago White Sox, but don’t tell Eddie Cicotte.

The veteran tossed a four-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4-0 win. Shano Collins had three singles and a pair of RBI for the Sox.

A Pittsburgh win would have put them into 1st place after the Chicago Cubs were beaten 4-1 by the Philadelphia Athletics earlier in the day. Philadelphia’s win finished off a three-game sweep of the Cubs. The A’s started the series with the worst record in the league, while the Cubs were atop the standings.

In New York, Mike Donlin went 1-for-2 to improve his batting average to .417, boosting his lead over Jimmy Sheckard and Ty Cobb in the race for the batting title.

Jack Pfeister was roughed up in the Cubs loss, losing his lead for the ERA title as it jumped up from 1.43 to 1.93. The White Sox’ Lefty Williams, who left his last start with an injury after just 2 innings of work, took over the lead with a 1.53 ERA. Each pitcher should still get 2 more starts this season.