The 1898 Season
Posted 08-31-2017 at 10:49 PM by bjohn13
Opening Day Lineup
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Dan Coogan
SS Tommy Corcoran
LF Cy Seymour
CF Willie Keeler
RF Billy Hamilton
SP Charlie Buffington
Most Common Starters
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Tommy Corcoran
3B Dan Coogan
SS Bill Clymer
LF Cy Seymour
CF Willie Keeler
RF Billy Hamilton
Pitching Staff
SP Charlie Buffington
SP Cy Young
SP Jerry Nops
RP Andy Boswell
RP Roger Bresnahan
RP Joe Corbett
RP George Boone
RP Effie Norton
RP Walter Thornton
April
April proved to be a tough month for Brooklynl, as Hamilton, Bierbauer, Corcoran, and Seymour all found the disabled list. They never got their offense going, and their final record on the month ended up being 14-15.
May
As Brooklyn started to get healthy, Brooklyn started winning. Billy Hamilton was hitting .452 at the end of May while Charlie Buffington had contributed 9 wins in 14 starts.
Brooklyn went 18-9 in May, and they finished the month in second place, just a half game behind New York.
June
Brooklyn had a very poor month in June, but they kept things in check by sweeping the New York Giants in a three game set in the middle of the month. They still lost a game and a half over the month, falling to 2 games out of first place.
Perhaps the biggest news of the month, though, was the preposterous season that Charlie Buffington was putting together. Buffington, at 37 years of age, had won 13 games by the end of June, and he looked to be on pace to get to the 25 he would need to eclipse 300 by the end of the year. On June 30, though, Buffington let his emotions get the better of him. In a game that should have ultimately been his 14th win of the season, he gave up a home run to Pittsburgh’s Monte Cross to lead off the top of the 5th inning. He followed that up with a pitch that plunked Tim Shinnick in the shoulder, and Shinnick charged the mound to retaliate. Though Buffington insists that the altercation was inadvertent, he will be forced to sit through an 8-game suspension as a result. He will lose two starts in his quest to 25, making the probability that it would be attained in 1887 extremely unlikely.
July
Brooklyn went 2-6 during Buffington’s suspension, and when he came back, he only won one game in the entire month of July. Meanwhile, the Bridegrooms’ offense found itself to be completely incapable without Billy Hamilton in the lineup, as Hamilton missed most of the month with a foot injury. A very difficult month was barely salvaged due to another three game series sweep against first place New York. Again, they still lost ground. They went into August three games above .500 trailing the Giants by 3 1/2 games.
All Star Rosters
Augsut
Things got very interesting in August. Brooklyn was in the middle of a six game losing streak when the month began, and they would ultimately go on to lose 9 of 10. They fell 7 ½ games behind New York again, but when Brooklyn and New York met on August 9-11 in New York, Brooklyn managed to complete their third consecutive series sweep of the Giants. Now only 4 ½ games back, Brooklyn proceeded to get hot, and the pennant race proceeded to become very close.
Brooklyn went on to win 17 of their next 20 games while the St. Louis Browns unseated the Giants as the league leaders. When Brooklyn took two out of three from Boston over the last weekend of the month, Brooklyn gained a half-game lead in the National League, their first lead of the year.
Brooklyn split their first two games of a three-game series against St. Louis to finish the month ½ game ahead. Four teams in the National League were within a game and a half.
Brooklyn’s success in August had a lot to do with their offense finally getting healthy, and Billy Hamilton won the National League player of the month award to show that. However, the true heart and soul of this Brooklyn team was their pitching staff. Charlie Buffington, Cy Young, and Jerry Nops were all having great seasons from the rotation, and Andy Boswell was finally providing some stability from the number four spot. In the bullpen, Joe Corbett, Walter Thornton, Effie Norton, and George Boone were all having great seasons as Brooklyn geared up to make a pennant run.
September
On September 4, there was a four-way tie for first place in the National League. New York, St. Louis, and Boston were the three teams vying with Brooklyn for first place, and Brooklyn was not able to take care of business, losing 6 of 9 to these teams in September.
Brooklyn ended up finishing 19-30 in one run games on the year, something that many feel is just simply a testament to bad luck.
Final Standings
League Batting Leaders
League Pitching Leaders
Team Hitting
Team Pitching
Brooklyn Hitting
Brooklyn Pitching
World Series
The Washington Senators were set to square up against the New York Giants in the 1898 World Series. For Washington, it was to be their second World Series attempt without any victories. The Giants were entering their fourth World Series with one victory, but it was to be their first World Series appearance since 1889.
The Washington pitching staff was anchored by 26-game winner Parke Swartzel and 18 game winner Frank Kitson. Meanwhile, former Brooklyn reliever Gus Williams provided stability from the closer role. Their offense was centered around the bats of Cupid Childs, Herm McFarland, and Steve Brodie.
The Giants’ pitching staff featured three bona fide ace starters in John Hofford, Scott Stratton, and Clark Griffith. George Keefe and Bill Wise provided outstanding support from the bullpen. Klondike Douglass, Tom McCreery, and Danny Green anchored a potent offense.
Game one was a pitchers’ duel between John Hofford and Parke Swarzel. Washington pulled Swartzel in the 7th with a 2-2 tie, and Gus Williams let them down giving up three runs in relief. Klondike Douglass and Charlie Irwin both had 2 RBIs as New York took a 1-0 series lead on the road.
Game two wasn’t even that close. Clark Griffith gave up a run in the first, and that’s all. He went the distance to earn the win for New York. Meanwhile, Frank Kitson pitched well, but five Washington errors accounted for five New York runs. Joe Harrington and Tom McCreery each had two hits for New York, as they gained a 2-0 series lead with the 6-1 victory.
Scott Stratton and Egyptian Healy were the starters for game three. Stratton ran into some control issues in the 4th and 5th innings which allowed seven Washington runs to cross the plate. Meanwhile, Healy went the distance for the first Washington win of the series. John Reilly and Aleck Smith each had 2 RBIs, as Washington won 7-3 to pull within one game in the series.
Tom McCreery hit the first home run of the series in game four. He came to bat with the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th, and blasted a three-run shot off of Gus Williams to give the Giants a 5-2 lead that they would not relinquish. This put New York up 3 games to 1 in the series.
Game five was a close one. New York took an early 1-0 lead when Otis Stockdale used one of his three hits to drive in Tom McCreery in the bottom of the second. Charlie Irwin singled in Harry Davis in the 7th to give New York a 2-0 lead. In the top of the 8th, Harry McFarland and Cupid Childs each had RBI singles for Washington to even the score at 2-2, but New York took the lead again with a Yale Murphy RBI single in the bottom of the 8th. Facing elimination in the 8th inning, Steve Brodie came through with a 2-RBI single in the ninth to give Washington a 4-3 lead. Jim Hughie pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to earn the save and to force a game six with New York leading 3 games to 2.
Scott Stratton was untouchable in game six for New York. He gave up a double to Hughie MacFarland in the first, and that’s the only well-hit ball Washington had all game long. Stratton ended up going the distance for a shutout victory while Klondike Douglass contributed three hits to give New York the World Series Championship. Charlie Irwin won the series MVP award by going 10 for 22 with 4 RBIs.
Awards
Amateur Draft
1. Jimmy Slagle CF
2. Billy Sullivan C
3. Jack Harper P
4. Freddy Parent 2B
5. Highball Wilson P
6. Patsy Flaherty P
7. Erve Beck 2B
8. Lefty Herring P
Offseason Moves
With the acquisition of Jimmy Slagle, the Brooklyn outfield suddenly got very crowded. With the de facto starters of Cy Seymour, Willie Keeler, and Billy Hamilton, most experts were saying that prospects Pop Foster and Charlie Hickman were ready to start at the Major League level.
As a result of this over-crowded outfield, many teams were approaching Brooklyn about the availability of Foster and Hickman. Brooklyn finally ended up dealing Foster straight up to the Philadelphia Athletics for Rube Wadell.
Wadell, at age 22, had already been something of a journeyman pitcher. In two years, he put in time with the St. Louis Browns and the Philadelphia Athletics giving up just one earned run in five appearances. Brooklyn was hoping that they can use him to fill the number four hole in the rotation
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Dan Coogan
SS Tommy Corcoran
LF Cy Seymour
CF Willie Keeler
RF Billy Hamilton
SP Charlie Buffington
Most Common Starters
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Tommy Corcoran
3B Dan Coogan
SS Bill Clymer
LF Cy Seymour
CF Willie Keeler
RF Billy Hamilton
Pitching Staff
SP Charlie Buffington
SP Cy Young
SP Jerry Nops
RP Andy Boswell
RP Roger Bresnahan
RP Joe Corbett
RP George Boone
RP Effie Norton
RP Walter Thornton
April
April proved to be a tough month for Brooklynl, as Hamilton, Bierbauer, Corcoran, and Seymour all found the disabled list. They never got their offense going, and their final record on the month ended up being 14-15.
May
As Brooklyn started to get healthy, Brooklyn started winning. Billy Hamilton was hitting .452 at the end of May while Charlie Buffington had contributed 9 wins in 14 starts.
Brooklyn went 18-9 in May, and they finished the month in second place, just a half game behind New York.
June
Brooklyn had a very poor month in June, but they kept things in check by sweeping the New York Giants in a three game set in the middle of the month. They still lost a game and a half over the month, falling to 2 games out of first place.
Perhaps the biggest news of the month, though, was the preposterous season that Charlie Buffington was putting together. Buffington, at 37 years of age, had won 13 games by the end of June, and he looked to be on pace to get to the 25 he would need to eclipse 300 by the end of the year. On June 30, though, Buffington let his emotions get the better of him. In a game that should have ultimately been his 14th win of the season, he gave up a home run to Pittsburgh’s Monte Cross to lead off the top of the 5th inning. He followed that up with a pitch that plunked Tim Shinnick in the shoulder, and Shinnick charged the mound to retaliate. Though Buffington insists that the altercation was inadvertent, he will be forced to sit through an 8-game suspension as a result. He will lose two starts in his quest to 25, making the probability that it would be attained in 1887 extremely unlikely.
July
Brooklyn went 2-6 during Buffington’s suspension, and when he came back, he only won one game in the entire month of July. Meanwhile, the Bridegrooms’ offense found itself to be completely incapable without Billy Hamilton in the lineup, as Hamilton missed most of the month with a foot injury. A very difficult month was barely salvaged due to another three game series sweep against first place New York. Again, they still lost ground. They went into August three games above .500 trailing the Giants by 3 1/2 games.
All Star Rosters
Augsut
Things got very interesting in August. Brooklyn was in the middle of a six game losing streak when the month began, and they would ultimately go on to lose 9 of 10. They fell 7 ½ games behind New York again, but when Brooklyn and New York met on August 9-11 in New York, Brooklyn managed to complete their third consecutive series sweep of the Giants. Now only 4 ½ games back, Brooklyn proceeded to get hot, and the pennant race proceeded to become very close.
Brooklyn went on to win 17 of their next 20 games while the St. Louis Browns unseated the Giants as the league leaders. When Brooklyn took two out of three from Boston over the last weekend of the month, Brooklyn gained a half-game lead in the National League, their first lead of the year.
Brooklyn split their first two games of a three-game series against St. Louis to finish the month ½ game ahead. Four teams in the National League were within a game and a half.
Brooklyn’s success in August had a lot to do with their offense finally getting healthy, and Billy Hamilton won the National League player of the month award to show that. However, the true heart and soul of this Brooklyn team was their pitching staff. Charlie Buffington, Cy Young, and Jerry Nops were all having great seasons from the rotation, and Andy Boswell was finally providing some stability from the number four spot. In the bullpen, Joe Corbett, Walter Thornton, Effie Norton, and George Boone were all having great seasons as Brooklyn geared up to make a pennant run.
September
On September 4, there was a four-way tie for first place in the National League. New York, St. Louis, and Boston were the three teams vying with Brooklyn for first place, and Brooklyn was not able to take care of business, losing 6 of 9 to these teams in September.
Brooklyn ended up finishing 19-30 in one run games on the year, something that many feel is just simply a testament to bad luck.
Final Standings
League Batting Leaders
League Pitching Leaders
Team Hitting
Team Pitching
Brooklyn Hitting
Brooklyn Pitching
World Series
The Washington Senators were set to square up against the New York Giants in the 1898 World Series. For Washington, it was to be their second World Series attempt without any victories. The Giants were entering their fourth World Series with one victory, but it was to be their first World Series appearance since 1889.
The Washington pitching staff was anchored by 26-game winner Parke Swartzel and 18 game winner Frank Kitson. Meanwhile, former Brooklyn reliever Gus Williams provided stability from the closer role. Their offense was centered around the bats of Cupid Childs, Herm McFarland, and Steve Brodie.
The Giants’ pitching staff featured three bona fide ace starters in John Hofford, Scott Stratton, and Clark Griffith. George Keefe and Bill Wise provided outstanding support from the bullpen. Klondike Douglass, Tom McCreery, and Danny Green anchored a potent offense.
Game one was a pitchers’ duel between John Hofford and Parke Swarzel. Washington pulled Swartzel in the 7th with a 2-2 tie, and Gus Williams let them down giving up three runs in relief. Klondike Douglass and Charlie Irwin both had 2 RBIs as New York took a 1-0 series lead on the road.
Game two wasn’t even that close. Clark Griffith gave up a run in the first, and that’s all. He went the distance to earn the win for New York. Meanwhile, Frank Kitson pitched well, but five Washington errors accounted for five New York runs. Joe Harrington and Tom McCreery each had two hits for New York, as they gained a 2-0 series lead with the 6-1 victory.
Scott Stratton and Egyptian Healy were the starters for game three. Stratton ran into some control issues in the 4th and 5th innings which allowed seven Washington runs to cross the plate. Meanwhile, Healy went the distance for the first Washington win of the series. John Reilly and Aleck Smith each had 2 RBIs, as Washington won 7-3 to pull within one game in the series.
Tom McCreery hit the first home run of the series in game four. He came to bat with the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th, and blasted a three-run shot off of Gus Williams to give the Giants a 5-2 lead that they would not relinquish. This put New York up 3 games to 1 in the series.
Game five was a close one. New York took an early 1-0 lead when Otis Stockdale used one of his three hits to drive in Tom McCreery in the bottom of the second. Charlie Irwin singled in Harry Davis in the 7th to give New York a 2-0 lead. In the top of the 8th, Harry McFarland and Cupid Childs each had RBI singles for Washington to even the score at 2-2, but New York took the lead again with a Yale Murphy RBI single in the bottom of the 8th. Facing elimination in the 8th inning, Steve Brodie came through with a 2-RBI single in the ninth to give Washington a 4-3 lead. Jim Hughie pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to earn the save and to force a game six with New York leading 3 games to 2.
Scott Stratton was untouchable in game six for New York. He gave up a double to Hughie MacFarland in the first, and that’s the only well-hit ball Washington had all game long. Stratton ended up going the distance for a shutout victory while Klondike Douglass contributed three hits to give New York the World Series Championship. Charlie Irwin won the series MVP award by going 10 for 22 with 4 RBIs.
Awards
Amateur Draft
1. Jimmy Slagle CF
2. Billy Sullivan C
3. Jack Harper P
4. Freddy Parent 2B
5. Highball Wilson P
6. Patsy Flaherty P
7. Erve Beck 2B
8. Lefty Herring P
Offseason Moves
With the acquisition of Jimmy Slagle, the Brooklyn outfield suddenly got very crowded. With the de facto starters of Cy Seymour, Willie Keeler, and Billy Hamilton, most experts were saying that prospects Pop Foster and Charlie Hickman were ready to start at the Major League level.
As a result of this over-crowded outfield, many teams were approaching Brooklyn about the availability of Foster and Hickman. Brooklyn finally ended up dealing Foster straight up to the Philadelphia Athletics for Rube Wadell.
Wadell, at age 22, had already been something of a journeyman pitcher. In two years, he put in time with the St. Louis Browns and the Philadelphia Athletics giving up just one earned run in five appearances. Brooklyn was hoping that they can use him to fill the number four hole in the rotation
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