The 1897 Season
Posted 08-26-2017 at 07:31 PM by bjohn13
Opening Day Lineup
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Joseph Herr
SS Tommy Corcoran
LF Willie Keeler
CF Henry Lyons
RF Billy Hamilton
SP Charlie Buffington
Most Common Lineup
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Tommy Corcoran
3B Joseph Herr
SS Dan Coogan
LF Willie Keeler
CF Duke Farrell
RF Billy Hamilton
Pitching Staff
SP Charlie Buffington
SP Jerry Nops
SP Cy Young
SP Win Mercer
RP Brickyard Kennedy
RP Joe Corbett
RP Andy Boswell
RP George Boone
April
Brooklyn was hit by the injury bug in April. Jake Beckley, Lou Bierbauer, Tommy Corcoran, and Duke Farrell all spend time on the disabled list in April Beckley was expected to miss most of the season, and Bierbauer was not expected to return until after the end of the season.
Even with all of the injuries, the Brookly pitching rotation performed extremely well. The real problems came in the bullpen. Andy Boswell got off to a horrible start blowing 4 saves in the month of April, and the bullpen as a whole blew 8 saves on the month.
Brooklyn’s record in April was 14-14, good enough for 4th place, 4 games back. The Brooklyn players couldn’t help but feel that the were a handful of saves away from having a comfortable lead in first place.
In the most interesting line of the month, Charlie Buffington had no decisions through 7 starts, a period of time where he put together a 1.90 ERA anda 1.06 WHIP.
May
Brooklyn’s offense continued to sputter, as news was released that both Jake Beckley and Lou Bierbauer would miss the remainder of the season. Brickyard Kennedy also joined the disabled list in May.
Brooklyn began on concentrate on fielding a solid defense just to remain competitive, and the result of that decision was that Brooklyn’s pitching and defense were both far better than anyone else in the league. The problem was that their .261 team batting average was also far worse than anyone else in the league.
Brooklyn did play better than .500 ball in May, going 15-14 on the month. They fell behind the first place Cincinnati Reds by 8 games.
The statistical aberration of the month involved Charlie Buffington again. After getting no decisions in 7 starts in April, he managed to get decisions in all 8 of his starts in May. His record at the end of the month was 3-5 with an ERA of 2.56. Brooklyn will need run support if they are going to make a run for the pennant.
June
All Star Roster
June was a great month for Brooklyn. They rode their pitching and defense to a 17-8 record on the month. Whereas the pitching and defense of this Brooklyn team ranked, by far, the number one in the league, they were also dead last, also by a wide margin, in most offensive categories.
Despite losing two of three against Cincinnati at home in a series from June 20-22, Brooklyn gained a lot of ground against Cincinnati in June. They finished the month only three games back.
July
Jake Beckley returned to the roster on July 13th just in time to play against Cincinnati. Brooklyn was tied for second place with Pittsburgh behind Cincinnati by two games at the time. Brooklyn took the first two games of the series to pull into a three-way time with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh before dropping the third game of the series.
Brooklyn went 10-5 the rest of the month including a three game sweep over Pittsburgh, but Cincinnati kept winning to finish the month with a three game lead in the National League.
August
It was another year of injuries in Brooklyn, and they caught up with the team in August. Willie Keeler hit the disabled list, and his backup Cy Seymour soon followed. Everything fell apart as the team struggled to get on base, and they finished the month with a 5-16 record, a full 13 games out of first place.
Final Standings
Team Hitting
Team Pitching
Batting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
Brooklyn Hitting
Brooklyn Pitching
World Series
The Baltimore Orioles and the Cincinnati Reds represented their respective leagues in the 1897 World Series. For Baltimore, it was their second World Series appearance, their first since the inaugural 1884 season. For Cincinnati, it was their third World Series appearance. Cincinnati has one World Championship under their belt.
Baltimore had an offensive powerhouse with Bill Lange, Dan McGann, Joe Kelley, and Fred Clarke heading up the offense. Overall, their pitching staff was good by American League standards, but they had no true staff ace. The best seasons from the pitching staff were put together by part time starter (and former Bridegroom) Ed Bagley and closer Bill Gallagher.
Cincinnati’s offense was even more powerful than Baltimore’s. George Davis, Jesse Hoffmeister, Bobby Lowe, Jack Boyle, and Hugh Duffy all had phenomenal seasons for Cincinnati both offensively and defensively. Meanwhile, in the pitching staff, Cincinnati did have a true staff ace in Dick Burns, who won 20 games and was one of the leading NL candidates for the Cy Young Award.
Game one started with Bill Hill against Dick Burns, and Baltimore quickly dispatched of Burns putting up 6 runs in 5 and 2/3 before Burns hit the showers. McGann had two RBIs and Kelley scored twice as Hill went the distance giving up only one earned run. Baltimore took a quick 1-0 lead in the series with the 6-2 victory.
With Cincinnati’s ace out of the way, Baltimore wasted no time jumping all over Buttons Briggs in game two. Lange was 3 for 4 with two runs scored, and Jack O’Connor drove in three. Baltimore starter Tom Vickery only pitched five, but he only gave up 1 run on 4 hits. He earned the victory in the 9-2 shellacking, and Baltimore found themselves up 2 games to 0.
Game three proved to be a closer affair as Herb Goodal for Cincinnati engaged George Meakim for Baltimore in a pitchers’ duel. Back to back triples by Jake Gettman and Zeke Wrigley in the third followed by an RBI single by Ace Stewart put Baltimore up 2-0. Hugh Duffy answered with an RBI single in the top of the fourth to make the game 2-1. Jack O’Connor added another run with an RBI single in the 8th, and Cincinnati scored two off of a 2 RBI single by Tommy McCarthy in the top of the ninth to tie the score at 3. Bill Lange drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off base hit, and Cincinnati found themselves down 3 games to 0.
Game four was a barn burner. Dick Burns was ineffective again for Cincinnati, but he was at least able to scatter his baserunners enough to leave with the score tied at 3 in the 7th. Jesse Hoffmeister started off the scoring in the top of the first when he doubled with the bases loaded to drive in two runs. Hugh Duffy drove ina third off a fielders choice, and Cincinnati had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the first. Baltimore squared the score by putting up a three-spot of their own in the bottom of the first off of RBI doubles by Lange and McGann along with a fielder’s choice by Clarke. No one scored until the ninth after that. Hoffmeisterd drove in another in the top of the ninth for Cincinnati with an RBI double, and then George Van Haltren cleared the bases with a 2-RBI single to give Cincinnati a 6-3 lead. Cincinnati reliever Bill Garfield imploded after that. Joe Kelley drove in two with a triple, and then Lange singled him home to tie the score at 6. In the bottom of the 10th, O’Connor doubled, and then Jake Gettman drove him in with a walk-off single to win the game and to complete the 4-0 series sweep. O’Connor won the series MVP, as he went 8 for 18 with 5 RBIs on the series.
Awards:
Amateur Draft
1. Bill Donovan P
2. Harry Steinfeldt 3B
3. Pop Foster OF
4. Bert Miller P
5. Nick Altrock P
6. Billy Lauder 3B
7. Doc Armole P
8. Charlie Carr 1B
9. Jim Jones P
Brooklyn was not able to sign Harry Steinfeldt, so they will get a compensation pick in 1998.
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Joseph Herr
SS Tommy Corcoran
LF Willie Keeler
CF Henry Lyons
RF Billy Hamilton
SP Charlie Buffington
Most Common Lineup
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Tommy Corcoran
3B Joseph Herr
SS Dan Coogan
LF Willie Keeler
CF Duke Farrell
RF Billy Hamilton
Pitching Staff
SP Charlie Buffington
SP Jerry Nops
SP Cy Young
SP Win Mercer
RP Brickyard Kennedy
RP Joe Corbett
RP Andy Boswell
RP George Boone
April
Brooklyn was hit by the injury bug in April. Jake Beckley, Lou Bierbauer, Tommy Corcoran, and Duke Farrell all spend time on the disabled list in April Beckley was expected to miss most of the season, and Bierbauer was not expected to return until after the end of the season.
Even with all of the injuries, the Brookly pitching rotation performed extremely well. The real problems came in the bullpen. Andy Boswell got off to a horrible start blowing 4 saves in the month of April, and the bullpen as a whole blew 8 saves on the month.
Brooklyn’s record in April was 14-14, good enough for 4th place, 4 games back. The Brooklyn players couldn’t help but feel that the were a handful of saves away from having a comfortable lead in first place.
In the most interesting line of the month, Charlie Buffington had no decisions through 7 starts, a period of time where he put together a 1.90 ERA anda 1.06 WHIP.
May
Brooklyn’s offense continued to sputter, as news was released that both Jake Beckley and Lou Bierbauer would miss the remainder of the season. Brickyard Kennedy also joined the disabled list in May.
Brooklyn began on concentrate on fielding a solid defense just to remain competitive, and the result of that decision was that Brooklyn’s pitching and defense were both far better than anyone else in the league. The problem was that their .261 team batting average was also far worse than anyone else in the league.
Brooklyn did play better than .500 ball in May, going 15-14 on the month. They fell behind the first place Cincinnati Reds by 8 games.
The statistical aberration of the month involved Charlie Buffington again. After getting no decisions in 7 starts in April, he managed to get decisions in all 8 of his starts in May. His record at the end of the month was 3-5 with an ERA of 2.56. Brooklyn will need run support if they are going to make a run for the pennant.
June
All Star Roster
June was a great month for Brooklyn. They rode their pitching and defense to a 17-8 record on the month. Whereas the pitching and defense of this Brooklyn team ranked, by far, the number one in the league, they were also dead last, also by a wide margin, in most offensive categories.
Despite losing two of three against Cincinnati at home in a series from June 20-22, Brooklyn gained a lot of ground against Cincinnati in June. They finished the month only three games back.
July
Jake Beckley returned to the roster on July 13th just in time to play against Cincinnati. Brooklyn was tied for second place with Pittsburgh behind Cincinnati by two games at the time. Brooklyn took the first two games of the series to pull into a three-way time with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh before dropping the third game of the series.
Brooklyn went 10-5 the rest of the month including a three game sweep over Pittsburgh, but Cincinnati kept winning to finish the month with a three game lead in the National League.
August
It was another year of injuries in Brooklyn, and they caught up with the team in August. Willie Keeler hit the disabled list, and his backup Cy Seymour soon followed. Everything fell apart as the team struggled to get on base, and they finished the month with a 5-16 record, a full 13 games out of first place.
Final Standings
Team Hitting
Team Pitching
Batting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
Brooklyn Hitting
Brooklyn Pitching
World Series
The Baltimore Orioles and the Cincinnati Reds represented their respective leagues in the 1897 World Series. For Baltimore, it was their second World Series appearance, their first since the inaugural 1884 season. For Cincinnati, it was their third World Series appearance. Cincinnati has one World Championship under their belt.
Baltimore had an offensive powerhouse with Bill Lange, Dan McGann, Joe Kelley, and Fred Clarke heading up the offense. Overall, their pitching staff was good by American League standards, but they had no true staff ace. The best seasons from the pitching staff were put together by part time starter (and former Bridegroom) Ed Bagley and closer Bill Gallagher.
Cincinnati’s offense was even more powerful than Baltimore’s. George Davis, Jesse Hoffmeister, Bobby Lowe, Jack Boyle, and Hugh Duffy all had phenomenal seasons for Cincinnati both offensively and defensively. Meanwhile, in the pitching staff, Cincinnati did have a true staff ace in Dick Burns, who won 20 games and was one of the leading NL candidates for the Cy Young Award.
Game one started with Bill Hill against Dick Burns, and Baltimore quickly dispatched of Burns putting up 6 runs in 5 and 2/3 before Burns hit the showers. McGann had two RBIs and Kelley scored twice as Hill went the distance giving up only one earned run. Baltimore took a quick 1-0 lead in the series with the 6-2 victory.
With Cincinnati’s ace out of the way, Baltimore wasted no time jumping all over Buttons Briggs in game two. Lange was 3 for 4 with two runs scored, and Jack O’Connor drove in three. Baltimore starter Tom Vickery only pitched five, but he only gave up 1 run on 4 hits. He earned the victory in the 9-2 shellacking, and Baltimore found themselves up 2 games to 0.
Game three proved to be a closer affair as Herb Goodal for Cincinnati engaged George Meakim for Baltimore in a pitchers’ duel. Back to back triples by Jake Gettman and Zeke Wrigley in the third followed by an RBI single by Ace Stewart put Baltimore up 2-0. Hugh Duffy answered with an RBI single in the top of the fourth to make the game 2-1. Jack O’Connor added another run with an RBI single in the 8th, and Cincinnati scored two off of a 2 RBI single by Tommy McCarthy in the top of the ninth to tie the score at 3. Bill Lange drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off base hit, and Cincinnati found themselves down 3 games to 0.
Game four was a barn burner. Dick Burns was ineffective again for Cincinnati, but he was at least able to scatter his baserunners enough to leave with the score tied at 3 in the 7th. Jesse Hoffmeister started off the scoring in the top of the first when he doubled with the bases loaded to drive in two runs. Hugh Duffy drove ina third off a fielders choice, and Cincinnati had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the first. Baltimore squared the score by putting up a three-spot of their own in the bottom of the first off of RBI doubles by Lange and McGann along with a fielder’s choice by Clarke. No one scored until the ninth after that. Hoffmeisterd drove in another in the top of the ninth for Cincinnati with an RBI double, and then George Van Haltren cleared the bases with a 2-RBI single to give Cincinnati a 6-3 lead. Cincinnati reliever Bill Garfield imploded after that. Joe Kelley drove in two with a triple, and then Lange singled him home to tie the score at 6. In the bottom of the 10th, O’Connor doubled, and then Jake Gettman drove him in with a walk-off single to win the game and to complete the 4-0 series sweep. O’Connor won the series MVP, as he went 8 for 18 with 5 RBIs on the series.
Awards:
Amateur Draft
1. Bill Donovan P
2. Harry Steinfeldt 3B
3. Pop Foster OF
4. Bert Miller P
5. Nick Altrock P
6. Billy Lauder 3B
7. Doc Armole P
8. Charlie Carr 1B
9. Jim Jones P
Brooklyn was not able to sign Harry Steinfeldt, so they will get a compensation pick in 1998.
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