The 1899 Season
Posted 09-04-2017 at 11:01 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
P Cy Young
Most Common Lineup
C Billy Sullivan
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Billy Lauder
SS Tommy Corcoran
LF Cy Seymour
CF Willie Keeler
RF Billy Hamilton
Pitching Staff
SP Cy Young
SP Charlie Buffington
SP Rube Wadell
SP Jerry Nops
RP Roger Bresnahan
RP George Boone
RP Andy Boswell
RP Joe Corbett
RP Effie Norton
RP Walter Thornton
RP Jake Boyd
April
1899 was the first year that Brooklyn began being known as the Brooklyn Superbas.
The age of Brooklyn’s core group of players was continually coming into focus, as Brooklyn lost Hamilton, Beckley, and Bierbauer to the DL in early April. The difference between 1898 and 1899, though, was that the 1899 Brooklyn team appeared to have enough depth to weather the storm. Particularly, Billy Sullivan and Billy Lauder stepped up to both have a decent month, and Brooklyn finished above .500 for the month. They ended April at 14-12. They were in second place five games behind the St. Louis Perfectos.
Charlie Buffington went 1-3 in April which meant that he still needed five wins to get to 300.
May
The Brooklyn rotation kept chugging along. It wasn’t dominant like it was in 1898, but the consistency shown between Buffington, Young, Waddell, and Young kept Brooklyn competitive in all of their games. Buffington won three games in May, which means he is only two away from 300.
Brooklyn’s offense was also spectacular. With Lou Bierbauer paying healthy, the punch of Hamilton, Bierbauer, Beckley, and Seymour was proving difficult for defenses to contend with. Billy Hamilton ended up winning May’s National League Player of the Month award. At the end of May, Brooklyn boasted a 31-24 record. They found themselves ½ games out of first place behind St. Louis.
June
June ended up being a special month for Brooklyn, as two milestones were reached by Superbas veterans. Charlie Buffington recorded his 300th win on June 9 by giving up just one run in seven innings. Brooklyn won the game 8-4. A few days later, Jake Beckley recorded his 2,000th career hit, a single, in a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh.
Brooklyn also took control of the National League in June. Billy Hamilton was still hitting .413 at the end of the month, and Cy Seymour and Lou Bierbauer contributed two huge bats that Brooklyn didn’t have in 1898. At the end of the month, Brooklyn maintained a four game lead over Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Boston.
July
Brooklyn was in the middle of an 8 game winning streak as the All Star Break hit, and that was good enough to get them sole possession of first place. Immediately after the break, Brooklyn had an opportunity to take a commanding lead in the National League as they squared off for a three game set against St. Louis with a 3 game lead. After winning the first game to increase their lead to 4, Brooklyn dropped the next two to drop their lead to 2. At the end of the month, Brooklyn still had a 1 ½ game lead.
All Star Rosters
August
Another Brooklyn milestone was accomplished in August as Billy Hamilton recorded his 2,000th career hit in a 9-0 rout of Chicago on August 2. Hamilton and Bierbauer both spent time on the disabled list in August, but the bat of rookie Billy Sullivan helped carry the team through a successful month. With Hamilton returning to the lineup, Brooklyn opted to move Lave Cross to shortstop to keep Sullivan’s bat in the lineup.
Sullivan won the National League’s Rookie of the Month award for August. Meanwhile, Brooklyn went 19-9 in August to take a 3 ½ game lead in the National League.
September
Jerry Nops was injured in September, and Bill Donovan filled in nicely for a couple of starts to wind down the season. While September wasn’t the greatest month for Brookyn, they still gained ground because second place St. Louis had a 7-13 month. That allowed Brooklyn to waltz into the post season.
Final Standings
Team Hitting
Team Pitching
Hitting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
Brooklyn Hitting
Brooklyn Pitching
World Series
The Boston Americans were set to square off against the Brooklyn Superbas in the 1899 World Series. For Boston, it would be their 5th World Series appearance. They had one Championship. Brooklyn was set to make their 6th World Series appearance. Broolyn had four championships.
Boston’s starting rotation was anchored by 22 game winner Matt Kilroy. Offenisvely, Ginger Beaumont and Jimmy Ryan had 100 RBIs each whie Ryan and Billy Lush both contributed over 100 runs.
Brooklyn’s pitching staff, without a clear ace, relied heavily on their bullpen to get the job done. Brooklyn’s lineup featured six .300 hitters with MVP candidate Billy Hamilton laeding the way. Hamilton scored 109 runs on the season, while Cy Seymour led the team with 104 RBIs.
In game one, Mat Kilroy went the distance while only giving up one run for Boston. Meanwhile, Cy Young was roughed up for Brooklyn, allowing 7 runs in 6 innings to earn the loss. Kid Elberfeld and Bill Gray both contributed three hits for Boston while Patsy Tebeau added on a 2-run home run.
Game two saw Rube Wadell face Hank Gastright. Boston got on the board first with a Bill Gray RBI single in the top of the second. Rube Wadell evened it up in the bottom of the 2nd with an infield RBI single with the bases loaded, and then Gastright hit Billy Hamilton to give Brooklyn a 2-1 lead. Brooklyn got an insurance run in the sixth when Billy Lauder singled in a run, but Boston evened it up with a 2-RBI single by Jimmy Ryan in the 7th. The bullpen let Brooklyn down, as Walter Thornton gave up an RBI single to General Stafford in the 8th, and then Kid Elberfeld followed that up with an RBI double. Brooklyn loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, but they couldn’t drive any home. Instead, they fell behind Boston 2-0 in the series with the 5-3 loss.
Veteran Charlie Buffington squared off against George Haddock in game three, and Boston delivered more of the same. Billy Hamilton went 5 for 5 for Brooklyn, but it wasn’t enough. Ginger Beaumont capped off the 6-3 Boston win with a 2-run home run in the 7th.
Cy Young took matters into his own hands in game 4. He gave up just 4 runs and walked none en route to a shutout victory. Lave Cross contributed 3 hits for Brooklyn as they took their first win of the series and forced a game 5.
In game 5, Rube Wadell faced Hank Gastright. Waddell didn’t make it through three innings. He left with the bases loaded in the third, and Effie Norton came out to pitch 2 2/3 innings of flawless relief. Tommy Corcoran contributed a 2-run single in the third, and Keeler scored twice as Brooklyn won 6-4 to force a game 6.
Charlie Buffington was shellacked in game six. He gave up 11 runs in 4 ½, and Brooklyn didn’t have an answer. Jimmy Ryan had 4 hits and 2 runs scored to lead the charge, and Boston won the series 4 games to 2. The series MVP was pitcher George Haddock who went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts.
Awards
1899 Amateur Draft
I did trade up in the second round, as this was a very abbreviated draft class. When it was all said and done, I ended up with a first round pick and two second rounders.
Christy Mathewson was the big prize in the 1899 draft, and he fell all the way down to the 15th overall pick because he was rated “impossible” to sign. I snagged him, and I intend to make him the highest player in baseball to get him to join my club. Of course, my owner had different intentions. He vetoed all of my offers until I felt I was lowballing Mathewson, and he declined the offer.
My 1899 picks:
1. Christy Mathewson
2. Zaza Harvey
3. Bert Husting
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Dan Coogan
SS Tommy Corcoran
LF Cy Seymour
CF Willie Keeler
RF Billy Hamilton
P Cy Young
Most Common Lineup
C Billy Sullivan
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Billy Lauder
SS Tommy Corcoran
LF Cy Seymour
CF Willie Keeler
RF Billy Hamilton
Pitching Staff
SP Cy Young
SP Charlie Buffington
SP Rube Wadell
SP Jerry Nops
RP Roger Bresnahan
RP George Boone
RP Andy Boswell
RP Joe Corbett
RP Effie Norton
RP Walter Thornton
RP Jake Boyd
April
1899 was the first year that Brooklyn began being known as the Brooklyn Superbas.
The age of Brooklyn’s core group of players was continually coming into focus, as Brooklyn lost Hamilton, Beckley, and Bierbauer to the DL in early April. The difference between 1898 and 1899, though, was that the 1899 Brooklyn team appeared to have enough depth to weather the storm. Particularly, Billy Sullivan and Billy Lauder stepped up to both have a decent month, and Brooklyn finished above .500 for the month. They ended April at 14-12. They were in second place five games behind the St. Louis Perfectos.
Charlie Buffington went 1-3 in April which meant that he still needed five wins to get to 300.
May
The Brooklyn rotation kept chugging along. It wasn’t dominant like it was in 1898, but the consistency shown between Buffington, Young, Waddell, and Young kept Brooklyn competitive in all of their games. Buffington won three games in May, which means he is only two away from 300.
Brooklyn’s offense was also spectacular. With Lou Bierbauer paying healthy, the punch of Hamilton, Bierbauer, Beckley, and Seymour was proving difficult for defenses to contend with. Billy Hamilton ended up winning May’s National League Player of the Month award. At the end of May, Brooklyn boasted a 31-24 record. They found themselves ½ games out of first place behind St. Louis.
June
June ended up being a special month for Brooklyn, as two milestones were reached by Superbas veterans. Charlie Buffington recorded his 300th win on June 9 by giving up just one run in seven innings. Brooklyn won the game 8-4. A few days later, Jake Beckley recorded his 2,000th career hit, a single, in a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh.
Brooklyn also took control of the National League in June. Billy Hamilton was still hitting .413 at the end of the month, and Cy Seymour and Lou Bierbauer contributed two huge bats that Brooklyn didn’t have in 1898. At the end of the month, Brooklyn maintained a four game lead over Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Boston.
July
Brooklyn was in the middle of an 8 game winning streak as the All Star Break hit, and that was good enough to get them sole possession of first place. Immediately after the break, Brooklyn had an opportunity to take a commanding lead in the National League as they squared off for a three game set against St. Louis with a 3 game lead. After winning the first game to increase their lead to 4, Brooklyn dropped the next two to drop their lead to 2. At the end of the month, Brooklyn still had a 1 ½ game lead.
All Star Rosters
August
Another Brooklyn milestone was accomplished in August as Billy Hamilton recorded his 2,000th career hit in a 9-0 rout of Chicago on August 2. Hamilton and Bierbauer both spent time on the disabled list in August, but the bat of rookie Billy Sullivan helped carry the team through a successful month. With Hamilton returning to the lineup, Brooklyn opted to move Lave Cross to shortstop to keep Sullivan’s bat in the lineup.
Sullivan won the National League’s Rookie of the Month award for August. Meanwhile, Brooklyn went 19-9 in August to take a 3 ½ game lead in the National League.
September
Jerry Nops was injured in September, and Bill Donovan filled in nicely for a couple of starts to wind down the season. While September wasn’t the greatest month for Brookyn, they still gained ground because second place St. Louis had a 7-13 month. That allowed Brooklyn to waltz into the post season.
Final Standings
Team Hitting
Team Pitching
Hitting Leaders
Pitching Leaders
Brooklyn Hitting
Brooklyn Pitching
World Series
The Boston Americans were set to square off against the Brooklyn Superbas in the 1899 World Series. For Boston, it would be their 5th World Series appearance. They had one Championship. Brooklyn was set to make their 6th World Series appearance. Broolyn had four championships.
Boston’s starting rotation was anchored by 22 game winner Matt Kilroy. Offenisvely, Ginger Beaumont and Jimmy Ryan had 100 RBIs each whie Ryan and Billy Lush both contributed over 100 runs.
Brooklyn’s pitching staff, without a clear ace, relied heavily on their bullpen to get the job done. Brooklyn’s lineup featured six .300 hitters with MVP candidate Billy Hamilton laeding the way. Hamilton scored 109 runs on the season, while Cy Seymour led the team with 104 RBIs.
In game one, Mat Kilroy went the distance while only giving up one run for Boston. Meanwhile, Cy Young was roughed up for Brooklyn, allowing 7 runs in 6 innings to earn the loss. Kid Elberfeld and Bill Gray both contributed three hits for Boston while Patsy Tebeau added on a 2-run home run.
Game two saw Rube Wadell face Hank Gastright. Boston got on the board first with a Bill Gray RBI single in the top of the second. Rube Wadell evened it up in the bottom of the 2nd with an infield RBI single with the bases loaded, and then Gastright hit Billy Hamilton to give Brooklyn a 2-1 lead. Brooklyn got an insurance run in the sixth when Billy Lauder singled in a run, but Boston evened it up with a 2-RBI single by Jimmy Ryan in the 7th. The bullpen let Brooklyn down, as Walter Thornton gave up an RBI single to General Stafford in the 8th, and then Kid Elberfeld followed that up with an RBI double. Brooklyn loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, but they couldn’t drive any home. Instead, they fell behind Boston 2-0 in the series with the 5-3 loss.
Veteran Charlie Buffington squared off against George Haddock in game three, and Boston delivered more of the same. Billy Hamilton went 5 for 5 for Brooklyn, but it wasn’t enough. Ginger Beaumont capped off the 6-3 Boston win with a 2-run home run in the 7th.
Cy Young took matters into his own hands in game 4. He gave up just 4 runs and walked none en route to a shutout victory. Lave Cross contributed 3 hits for Brooklyn as they took their first win of the series and forced a game 5.
In game 5, Rube Wadell faced Hank Gastright. Waddell didn’t make it through three innings. He left with the bases loaded in the third, and Effie Norton came out to pitch 2 2/3 innings of flawless relief. Tommy Corcoran contributed a 2-run single in the third, and Keeler scored twice as Brooklyn won 6-4 to force a game 6.
Charlie Buffington was shellacked in game six. He gave up 11 runs in 4 ½, and Brooklyn didn’t have an answer. Jimmy Ryan had 4 hits and 2 runs scored to lead the charge, and Boston won the series 4 games to 2. The series MVP was pitcher George Haddock who went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts.
Awards
1899 Amateur Draft
I did trade up in the second round, as this was a very abbreviated draft class. When it was all said and done, I ended up with a first round pick and two second rounders.
Christy Mathewson was the big prize in the 1899 draft, and he fell all the way down to the 15th overall pick because he was rated “impossible” to sign. I snagged him, and I intend to make him the highest player in baseball to get him to join my club. Of course, my owner had different intentions. He vetoed all of my offers until I felt I was lowballing Mathewson, and he declined the offer.
My 1899 picks:
1. Christy Mathewson
2. Zaza Harvey
3. Bert Husting
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