1873 - End of regular Season
Posted 11-10-2016 at 04:13 PM by TheEquinox
Hey there,
the regular season is over and there's a reason why I'm not going to post the regular season and the playoffs in one update. The second half of the season turned out very nice for Boston. We've been chasing Cincinnati for quite a while and were finally able to intercept them in game 41. It was an up and down from there, but we managed to keep a lead of two games in front of Cincinnati until the final 3-game series against them. The first of those three games was lost 12-3 after an incredible performance of Cincinnati's SP Rynie Wolters, who managed to keep us at 6 hits.
Now we were just one game ahead, and everybody in Boston was talking about the 'eternal runner-up' curse already. Gladly, the boys were able to put themselves together for the following match, which was won 8-3, mainly due to two triples hit by our icon Levi Meyerle in the 4th and the 5th inning, driving in 4 runs. Now it was official and the final game against Cincinnati turned into one long party night:
Everybody in Boston is proud, the club was finally able to make it into the annals of Baseball history! Interestingly, the team wasn't carried to victory by our two major signings Tom York and Mike McGeary, who both played average seasons to put it mildly.
Instead, this success is based on the Fab-5:
Our rookie pitcher, drafted at the first year draft by Cincinnati at the start of the season and trader in for our previous pitching staff. Hugh Campbell missed the triple crown by 0.04 ERA and six Strikeouts. I'd bet he would have made it if he didn't miss six weeks in the first half of the season through injury. Next year, the competition is going to be tougher, as Al Pratt is back from his long-time injury and will certainly try to get back to his previous form, but these stats in his first season is certainly encouraging!
Long Levi as the boys call him (I guess I don't want to know in more detail why), is certainly THE big Boston icon in these early years of the MLB. He's gained nationwide popularity, after winning the NL batters crown three times in a row now. This is his first season where he narrowly missed the 0.4 AVG, but this is also the first season where he wasn't stopped by an injury. He's still only 24 years old, so this guy has a bright future ahead of him. Much to the excitement of our fans, Levi and me agreed on a new 5 year contract after his current contract expires, so the fairy tale may continue!
The Dude Jorge Guzman played himself into the heart of every Boston fan this year. He hasn't been a starter so far and was stuck behind former Boston catcher Fergy Malone, who left for Chicago last season. This season was his first one as a regular starter, and to be frankly honest, I expected him to fail, and was already keeping an eye on the catcher market. But Jorge proved everybody wrong by playing a fantastic season. His contact rating developed from ~50 to 72 this year and given the fact, he's only just 26, who knows where it's going to stop?
Dick Higham had already proven his skills in the 1871 opening season playing for Cleveland. We picked him up last season with high hopes which he failed to meet in 1872. However, with a contact rating of 74 and all other batting ratings >50, I wasn't ready to give him up yet. Looks like he just needed a season to gel in here in Boston. Great season, Dick, keep it up and continue to make us proud!
George Bechtel has been a constant performer since the first season, but he never really reached his full potential. According to his ratings, he's a power hitting / Homerun guy (58 contact, 78 HR power) but he failed to knock even one out of the stadium during his career so far. But still, this was by far his best season, hitting an AVG of .379 in 46 games is a great achievement. I hope he can repeat this next year, and during the playoffs now of course.
Especially those five players brought glory to Boston this year, but lets have a look at the performances of the rest of the players:
Parker Zimmer jumped in as a starter during Hugh Campbell's injury period. With limited success as you can see. As glad as I am to have Hugh in my bullpen, I'm a little worried about the lack of alternatives. We saw what happened to Chicago when their SP went out of service for 9 months, and with this current lineup, I'm afraid the same might happen to us if things get ugly.
Both Tom York and Mike McGeary managed to stabilize a bit towards the end of the season, but we clearly expect more of them, especially Tom. Who knows, maybe they also just needed a season to get familiar in Boston, like Dick Higham. We'll see...
Former minor-leaguer Robbie Stoltenberg battled Santos Coro for the 1B starting lineup. Robbie's the better hitter, while Santos is the better defender and produces much less errors. I think this race is still undecided especially with Juan Gonzales who is also still in the competition.
Despite his WAR of -0.1, the performance of youngster Carlos Tamayo in the Right Field seemed encouraging. He tied up a nice hitting AVG which makes him a good pinch hitter in close games. Could be a sleeper for the future!
This concludes my regular season end report. I'll be back with a summary of the world series:
the regular season is over and there's a reason why I'm not going to post the regular season and the playoffs in one update. The second half of the season turned out very nice for Boston. We've been chasing Cincinnati for quite a while and were finally able to intercept them in game 41. It was an up and down from there, but we managed to keep a lead of two games in front of Cincinnati until the final 3-game series against them. The first of those three games was lost 12-3 after an incredible performance of Cincinnati's SP Rynie Wolters, who managed to keep us at 6 hits.
Now we were just one game ahead, and everybody in Boston was talking about the 'eternal runner-up' curse already. Gladly, the boys were able to put themselves together for the following match, which was won 8-3, mainly due to two triples hit by our icon Levi Meyerle in the 4th and the 5th inning, driving in 4 runs. Now it was official and the final game against Cincinnati turned into one long party night:
National League Champions 1873
Boston Red Stockings
Boston Red Stockings
Everybody in Boston is proud, the club was finally able to make it into the annals of Baseball history! Interestingly, the team wasn't carried to victory by our two major signings Tom York and Mike McGeary, who both played average seasons to put it mildly.
Instead, this success is based on the Fab-5:
Our rookie pitcher, drafted at the first year draft by Cincinnati at the start of the season and trader in for our previous pitching staff. Hugh Campbell missed the triple crown by 0.04 ERA and six Strikeouts. I'd bet he would have made it if he didn't miss six weeks in the first half of the season through injury. Next year, the competition is going to be tougher, as Al Pratt is back from his long-time injury and will certainly try to get back to his previous form, but these stats in his first season is certainly encouraging!
Long Levi as the boys call him (I guess I don't want to know in more detail why), is certainly THE big Boston icon in these early years of the MLB. He's gained nationwide popularity, after winning the NL batters crown three times in a row now. This is his first season where he narrowly missed the 0.4 AVG, but this is also the first season where he wasn't stopped by an injury. He's still only 24 years old, so this guy has a bright future ahead of him. Much to the excitement of our fans, Levi and me agreed on a new 5 year contract after his current contract expires, so the fairy tale may continue!
The Dude Jorge Guzman played himself into the heart of every Boston fan this year. He hasn't been a starter so far and was stuck behind former Boston catcher Fergy Malone, who left for Chicago last season. This season was his first one as a regular starter, and to be frankly honest, I expected him to fail, and was already keeping an eye on the catcher market. But Jorge proved everybody wrong by playing a fantastic season. His contact rating developed from ~50 to 72 this year and given the fact, he's only just 26, who knows where it's going to stop?
Dick Higham had already proven his skills in the 1871 opening season playing for Cleveland. We picked him up last season with high hopes which he failed to meet in 1872. However, with a contact rating of 74 and all other batting ratings >50, I wasn't ready to give him up yet. Looks like he just needed a season to gel in here in Boston. Great season, Dick, keep it up and continue to make us proud!
George Bechtel has been a constant performer since the first season, but he never really reached his full potential. According to his ratings, he's a power hitting / Homerun guy (58 contact, 78 HR power) but he failed to knock even one out of the stadium during his career so far. But still, this was by far his best season, hitting an AVG of .379 in 46 games is a great achievement. I hope he can repeat this next year, and during the playoffs now of course.
Especially those five players brought glory to Boston this year, but lets have a look at the performances of the rest of the players:
Parker Zimmer jumped in as a starter during Hugh Campbell's injury period. With limited success as you can see. As glad as I am to have Hugh in my bullpen, I'm a little worried about the lack of alternatives. We saw what happened to Chicago when their SP went out of service for 9 months, and with this current lineup, I'm afraid the same might happen to us if things get ugly.
Both Tom York and Mike McGeary managed to stabilize a bit towards the end of the season, but we clearly expect more of them, especially Tom. Who knows, maybe they also just needed a season to get familiar in Boston, like Dick Higham. We'll see...
Former minor-leaguer Robbie Stoltenberg battled Santos Coro for the 1B starting lineup. Robbie's the better hitter, while Santos is the better defender and produces much less errors. I think this race is still undecided especially with Juan Gonzales who is also still in the competition.
Despite his WAR of -0.1, the performance of youngster Carlos Tamayo in the Right Field seemed encouraging. He tied up a nice hitting AVG which makes him a good pinch hitter in close games. Could be a sleeper for the future!
This concludes my regular season end report. I'll be back with a summary of the world series:
Baltimore Canaries vs.
Boston Red Stockings
Boston Red Stockings
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