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The View from the Gangplank July 1, 1936
Apologies for phoning the next few of these in - a positive Covid diagnosis has laid me somewhat low...
Another solid month by the lads, going 20-7 to consolidate our lead in the NL. Everything humming along nicely, with Gibson and Foster each repeating in the monthly awards. Only a few small concerns: Radcliffe continues to frustrate with his inconsistency, O'Day is struggling at this level, and Dandridge needs to give us more with bat in hand. https://i.imgur.com/EzIccUf.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/Z7R3tiS.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/wn6Tqsv.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/wn6Tqsv.png?1 The big guns remain sluggish in the AL, with the A's, White Sox and Indians currently fighting it out. Boston in particular, at 11 1/2 bacj, will need to get a hurry on. https://i.imgur.com/naoGCjj.png?1 Awards, news, leaders. Turkey Stearnes reaches the 2000-hit plateau. https://i.imgur.com/01QluaM.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/fVD1ZXQ.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/KIiSGjE.png?1https://i.imgur.com/AGsuhdL.png?1 S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME |
1936 MLB All-Star Game
Here are the squads who'll be competing this year, with six of our guys involved.
https://i.imgur.com/0bYVPNf.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/WVqyrWj.png Cleveland's Earl Averill wins the HR Challenge, while the AL makes it a 3-1 running score with a 6-3 win. Harlond Clift of the Browns is named MVP. |
Hope your symptoms are minor and your recovery swift!
My question was more about the MLB than the NeL guys. My experience is that a human run franchise in any long-term sim has a huge advantage in building a talent-rich organization. Sometimes I penalize my own teams--usually financially, or forcing myself to trading talent that looks unlikely to break through or whatever--and sometimes I don't. :) |
Quote:
Yes, I 100% agree and this is my biggest issue with the game. I don't want it to be made harder, just smarter, which will then make it harder in a more organic way. I have so many house rules it isn't funny and yet look at this team dominate, which makes neither for the most exciting game nor thread. So I am really looking forward for when the salaries catch up to the budgets and when, as I said, I can make some of these other adjustments to increase the challenge. |
The View from the Gangplank August 1, 1936
Despite the handy enough 17-10 record, July is not one of our better months as our shaky lower-rotation pitching gets borderline seismic. Only Derringer posts a sub-4 ERA sectional as even Bill Foster – in the middle of a career-best campaign – gets the wobbles in the second half of the month and only this splendid offence of ours keeps the ship bobbing along on top of the waves. Even they, however, are showing their first signs this season of a slowdown, although Vaughan’s outstandin year continues with the monthly batting award and a power surge sees Dihigo mash 7 taters for the sectional to almost double his season total.
https://i.imgur.com/rq22Brm.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/Bv3fEzP.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/h444vyd.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/3on0hZ4.png?1 At 70-31 and well in control of the NL (not to mention with a +200 run diff), this may sound like needless nit-picking. But our big lead has a lot to do with the underwhelming performance of our rivals and I doubt we’ll be given a similarly cushy ride come playoff time, especially with the Yankees now appearing to hit good form and within reach of the A's, who are proving themselves a formidable side after a long lean period. The flipside of Foster's success this season is that it all but guarantees it will be his last with us, so a mini-rebuild might be in order, especially with some of our other players moving toward their mid-30s. So it would be nice to lock down one more title before that. https://i.imgur.com/zGmx688.png?1 Here are the top 20s by WAR to this point. https://i.imgur.com/dO3t8rq.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/1WIltID.png?1 And the awards, news and leaders. https://i.imgur.com/ogs7c7L.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/NPMEtYJ.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/VG0r5QJ.png?1https://i.imgur.com/GJVT5iv.png?1 S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME |
250 for Bill
As I mentioned a while back, I am almost certain Bill Foster will opt out at the end of this season and be looking for beaucoup coin, meaning this is in all likelihood his last campaign as a Pirate, the only club he has played for after we drafted him in '22. We'll do our best to keep him, but I see little likelihood of it happening.
So we best savour this superb season he is putting together, which now includes him becoming just the 20th player to record 250 career wins. Number 248, BTW, saw him pass his brother Rube - something that brought him great pleasure, given their fractious relationship. https://i.imgur.com/tXPjuW5.png?1 |
[QUOTE=luckymann;4914043]Apologies for phoning the next few of these in - a positive Covid diagnosis has laid me somewhat low...
Hoping you are back at full strength soon. I enjoy comparing some of your player totals to those in my 1938 [integrated] season replay, now into late May. I need to post a report for all to see. Having trouble with screenshots on my PC (where I am playing that season). |
The View from the Gangplank September 1, 1936
A late flourish with 7 wins from our last 8 makes our 18-10 August look far better than it really is. This time around it is our bats who struggle, with a few of our starters cooling right off – most notably Martin Dihigo, who hits just 208 for the sectional. By way of evidence, we hit just 9 HR over the first three weeks and 16 all told.
Bill Foster grabs yet another monthly award. His win tally now stands at 25 and he seems destined for 30, although I doubt he’ll reach the MLB record of 33 shared by Satchel Paige – who has reached that number twice – and Dazzy Vance. If, as I keep saying seems most likely, this proves to be his final season with us, he’ll also come very close to Wilbur Cooper’s franchise wins record but most likely again come up just short. https://i.imgur.com/gy7nlUt.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/bTKenyD.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/nYQbZtX.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/e599Xqq.png?1 The A's are still clinging onto a slight lead over the Yanks in the AL and it now looks a race in two. No idea what has happened to the Tigers (63-68) and Red Sox (60-70), both of whom seem destined for a rare second-division finish. https://i.imgur.com/clK6EHe.png?1 Awards, news, leaders. Rev Cannady gets his 2000th career hit; Joe Cronin, Tony Lazzeri and Johnny Hodapp each his 1500th. Carl Hubbell makes it to 200 wins, Mel Ott and Gabby Hartnett each belts his 300th home run. It will be very interesting to see if Joe DiMaggio can pull off a rare RoY-MVP double. He'll certainly go close. https://i.imgur.com/xXSlqzr.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/VU7XGJC.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/a3Mm3C3.png?1https://i.imgur.com/lqi4b9P.png?1 S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME |
The View from the Gangplank: end of regular season, 1936
We clinch early in the month as the lads work up a big head of steam, winning 11 of their first 13. We finish 106-48. A final day loss for Wes Ferrell prevents us from having all four starters win 20 games. Our Wilkes-Barre boys scrape through to earn another tilt at the AAA title.
https://i.imgur.com/tCPx7et.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/WAyWtrV.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/yI1dGu8.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/KcGmY1d.png?1 It just doesn’t seem like an MLB season can go by without some drama in the American League and this year is no different, as the A’s hold their nerve over the final week to win the Pennant by two games from the Yanks and punch their ticket to the World Series for the first time in exactly 30 years. https://i.imgur.com/oogFpbX.png?1 Joltin' Joe wins the AL batting title, Arky Vaughan the NL - firsts for both. Lou Gehrig leads both leagues with 37 homers, same for Josh Gibson's 134 RBI. Chicago's Wild Bill Wright sets a new MLB record with 69 stolen bases. Barney Brown is the league's only 30-game winner, with Bill Foster one behind him on 29. Cleveland rookie Bob Feller makes a somewhat ignominious start to his MLB career by walking a record 252 free passes, although he does also lead the MLB in strikeouts with 262. Our own Paul “Big Poison” Waner makes it to 2000 hits, as does Detroit’s Charlie Gehringer. Final Top 20s by WAR, news and leaders. https://i.imgur.com/pLHhi7w.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/Ntd9VJB.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/KHvp4lV.png?1https://i.imgur.com/W1NPYKt.png?1 https://i.imgur.com/JJI8h4y.png?1https://i.imgur.com/6gxlcrn.png?1 S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME |
1936 World Series Preview
Pittsburgh Pirates (106-48) v Philadelphia Athletics (89-65) Best-of-seven, Pirates with the home-field advantage. PITTSBURGH PIRATES S+ PAGE PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS S+ PAGE It would be easy to look at the two clubs’ respective regular season records and think this is a done deal. It would also be foolish and, for us, dangerous in the extreme. This is an excellent A’s squad they have put together, with Johnny Mize seemingly the piece that has pushed them over the top after being in the wilderness for so long. He, Bob Johnson and Wally Moses provide the majority of their offence, but they have plenty of others who can hurt you as well. The loss of Rosey Davis is a big one, but if young Leon Day can swallow his nerves it becomes less so. And, of course, they have the mighty Lefty Grove. We go into this series primed, but that can also leave you vulnerable on so many levels. We simply need to go out there and play like we usually do and I feel confident we’ll get the job done. |
1936 World Series Recap
Game 1 in Pittsburgh - September 30th, 1936 Willie Foster (29-9, 3.05) v Leon Day (17-15, 4.83) What a shame the schedule has robbed us of what would have been a fantastic start to the 1936 World Series with two of the greatest southpaws going head-to-head. More than 500 combined wins for Grove (274) and Foster (255), and you’d have to expect one or perhaps both of them to join Eddie Plank (322) and Doc White (302) as the game’s only left-handed 300-game winners. All of that is in the future and of little importance tonight, however, with the A’s playing it safe and instead opting for young Leon Day as their Game 1 starter. He is a fantastic talent and will take some beating, providing he handles the pressure OK. Bill Foster has been here so many times before and rarely let us down, and we are looking for more of the same from him in this one. We go ahead in the second on our first hit of the game, a 2-run big fly by Gibson, and Wells then doubles and scores on a single by Lloyd Waner. There’s no doubt young Day is letting the occasion get to him, and we press our advantage in the next. With Dihigo and Paul Waner aboard with none out, Foxx singles one in and a long double by Wells adds two more, with yet another scoring on a Little Poison groundout to make it 7-0. After four no-hit frames, Foster finally gives up a run on two, but we manage to cancel that one out with a run of our own in the 7th on a Dandridge sac fly. Foster gasses a bit in the 8th, surrendering a second run, and with no apparent reason to push our luck, I go to the BP. A Dihigo solo shot gives them an extra one to work with but they don’t use it, closing out the game without incident for a strong win. El Diablo goes 4-for-5 with 3 doubles and 2 ribbies to win PotG honours. Pirates 9, A’s 2 BOX SCORE Game 2 in Pittsburgh - October 1st, 1936 Paul Derringer (22-9, 3.23) v Lefty Grove (24-20, 3.84) Pirates lead series 1-0 It’s always nice to get that first win under the belt, but there’s no resting on one’s laurels – especially now we get to face Grove. Duke had a shaky start to the year but was back to his best down the stretch and we expect nothing less from him today. He is lucky to get out of the 1st without conceding, getting a timely GIDP to douse the threat but isn’t so fortunate a couple innings later when Mize belts a 3-run homer. More trouble the flowing inning sees us fall 4-0 behind on another longball to Wally Moses. Our bats begin sluggishly, but Wells triples in a run for us in the bottom 4th and scores on a Dandridge double. Derringer then makes it a one-run contest with a two-out RBI single, but his pitching is all over the place and he gives one back in the 6th to make it 5-3. Myril Hoag has been a fantastic waiver grab for us this year, and he halves the deficit once again with a two-out hit in the bottom of that frame. I opt to hit for Derringer here, and Matlock takes over for the 7th. He gets in and out of trouble in each of the next two innings without conceding, but our pitchers have been really poor all game, and they put us away in the 9th with a 4-spot and go on to square the series with a 9-4 win. Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe we have ourselves a series. A’s 9, Pirates 4 BOX SCORE Game 3 in Philadelphia - October 3rd, 1936 Johnny Allen (21-15, 4.07) v Ted Radcliffe (26-12, 3.95) Series tied 1-1 The dominance of this group these past two seasons means they have rarely found themselves in this situation, under extreme pressure, and that is an element of the game that can go stale without constant usage. Pressure baseball – especially pressure playoff baseball – is far different from the everyday variety, and their response here needs to be clinical and decisive. That pressure is increased with Ted Radcliffe on the hill for us. As good as he can be, as his 26-win season shows, he still suffers from horrible bouts of inconsistency. If that version of his play is brought to bear today, we are in trouble, irrespective of how good our offence is. We get the ideal start, taking a 2-0 lead in the 1st on a Foxx bomb, and the lads get at it again in the next, with Dandridge singling one in and another scoring on a Vaughan SF. But it is indeed the version of Radcliffe we didn’t want to see, as he gives three of them straight back in the home 2nd. Our bats go totally silent and we are barely hanging on by a thread. I go to the BP for the 7th, but Stanley immediately gives up a leadoff homer to Moses and it is 4-4. Finally the bats awaken, as Dihigo doubles and scores on a triple by Paul Waner, his first hit of the series. But he makes a bonehead running play and is thrown out at home to end the inning. This is the pressure baseball I referred to earlier. After Brewer gives us a scoreless frame, O’Dea comes off the bench and delivers a key two-out single to get us an insurance run. Matlock closes it out and we escape with an almighty scare. Pirates 6, A’s 4 BOX SCORE Game 4 in Philadelphia - October 4th, 1936 Leon Day (0-1, 7.5) v Willie Foster (1-0, 2.35) Pittsburgh leads series 2-1 The importance of yesterday’s win cannot be overstated. To have fallen behind with Grove looming on the horizon would have made things very uncomfortable to say the least. And yet, it will count for much less if we can’t get another win here today. I don’t expect Day to be so easily handled the second time around. We need more from Gibson and Paul Waner, who have just three hits between them to this point. Moses and Mize are causing us a world of hurt at the top of their order, and they get to Foster immediately with a pair of doubles to give them the lead, then Puccinelli bombs one out with a man on and we are in a deep hole. A Lloyd Waner double in the next gets us a run but again we are fast and loose on the bases and he is thrown out trying to stretch it into an unlikely triple. We score again in the next on a triple by his big brother, and Foxx singles him in to knot things up at 3. They respond immediately with a run in the home half as Foster’s struggles continue, but we get even again with a run in the 5th. With two on and one out in the 8th, I make the call and put O’Dea in to hit for Foster and he doesn’t let us down, doubling the two runners home to put us in front 6-4. A single by Dihigo adds another run but Paul Waner’s poor form continues as he GIDPs to kill the rally. The pen does its thing to get us another really gritty win against a side that is showing all the heart in the world. Pirates 7, A’s 4 BOX SCORE Game 5 in Philadelphia - October 5th, 1936 Lefty Grove (1-0, 4.00) v Paul Derringer (0-1, 7.50) Pittsburgh leads series 3-1 The ferocity our opponents have shown so far makes me certain there’ll be no easy ride from this point, starting with having to overcome their ace in this one. The boys’ response so far has been commendable, and I would love to wrap things up right here and now. For Duke, this isn’t about beating Grove, but rather keeping us close enough so that our bats can. He is in immediate strife, as they tag him for a run on two in the 1st, but then Gibson makes his first meaningful contribution since the opening game with a 2-run jack in the next. We waste scoring chances in the next two, and are punished for it when they pretty much tear Derringer apart in the 5th, plating 3 on 4 hits to go ahead. Grove is at his parsimonious best in this one, and we still trail by a pair when Derringer gets the hook after 6. We load the bases in the 8th on a couple hits and an error, and Wells delivers a 3-run double to put us up by a run. We reload them with two out and this time it is Vaughan with the key strike, a 2-run single to make it 7-4. We add another on a Wells groundout in the 9th and look home. But, as you’d expect from this A’s unit, they do not go down quietly, loading the bases with none down. We get a crucial out when Mize pops one up, then trade a second out for a run on a SF, before Brewer strikes out Bob Johnson to end it. For all the glitz and glamour surrounding our group, they showed in this series they know how to get down and dirty when the occasion calls for it. This was a fantastic win. Pirates 8, A’s 5 BOX SCORE PITTSBURGH WINS SERIES 4-1 SERIES MVP: Martin Dihigo (Pittsburgh) S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME |
In a Minor Key
Unfortunately our Wilkes-Barre boys come up short against a red-hot Alpine squad in the AAA decider.
https://i.imgur.com/WuroZx3.png |
1936 Offseason
The band has officially broken up, and in a far bigger way than I had imagined.
I have spoken repeatedly about Bill Foster and, as expected, he voids his final contract year with us. What I did not see coming was both Willie Wells and Wes Ferrell following him out the door. Wes, I can kind of understand. He signed with us on a pretty cheap deal and has been a vital contributor to these past three Championship seasons, increasing his value substantially. El Diablo, however, makes little sense to me. At 32 and already the league's highest-paid player, he is taking an awful risk. For us, it means a lot of things. Most immediate of all is a large chunk of freed-up salary to be deployed elsewhere - $71k all told for next year alone. Add all of the other departures and that figure actually approaches $100k. But there's no doubt - especially with the house rules I have in place - it will leave us worse off as a playing group. With Dandridge and Frey, we are OK for infielders in Wells's absence, though clearly we'll be taking a step down in quality. Dihigo gives us another option, if we want to move him back in from the outfield. Chet Brewer looks the likeliest candidate to replace Ferrell, and we have a few decent prospects in the wings as well, although most of these are borderline starters at best and far more suitably deployed from the BP. There's no such thing as "replacing" Bill Foster. Duke will become our spearhead, and we'll be making a new SP2 our #1 priority in the FA / trade market over the next month or so. Reliever Jumbo Brown is our only arb-eligible player, and we offer him $6k vs his $5500 this season. We also offer Andy Reese a 2-year deal for $10500. His defensive versatility is worth every penny, even if he offers little with bat in hand. Just a couple managerial casualties, as the Dodgers fire both GM Whitey Witt and Manager Burley Bayer, and the Cards also cut GM Jason Milz. Fairly quiet on the retirement front as well, with the list including Earl Whitehill, Russ Youngs, Charlie "Postalita" Smith, Juanelo Mirabal, and Jimmy O'Connell. |
1936 Awards & Leaders
AL 1936 HISTORY INDEX
NL 1936 HISTORY INDEX AWARDS HISTORY Joe DiMaggio does indeed lock down the AL Wagner-Lajoie Medal / RoY double, while Arky Vaughan wins his second NL MVP. Barney Brown grabs his first Johnson-Waddell in the AL, while Bill Foster repeats in the NL. Morrie Arnovich wins the NL RoY, with the Reliever awards going to Detroit's Bill Weir and our own Leroy Matlock. S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME |
The Wheeling and the Dealing
Well, this turned out for whatever reason to be much less painful than I'd anticipated. I had contingency plans in place in case a bidding war broke out but it never eventuated and we got our man for a fairly decent price.
https://i.imgur.com/4F2O3Ll.png So we have a guy of similar quality, a fair bit younger, for barely more than what we were paying Bill (and what he ended up signing for elsewhere). I love it when a plan comes together. |
1936/37 Rookie Draft
6 Legacies this year, including the mighty Campy as a raw 16-yo.
These are the Legacy Players for the 1937 season: Boston Red Sox: Bobby Doerr (51.5; 1865 – one-club player) Brooklyn Dodgers: Roy Campanella (41.6; 1218 – one-club player) Cincinnati Reds: Johnny Vander Meer (25.7; 313) Cleveland Indians: Ken Keltner (33.3; 1513) New York Giants: Cliff Melton (15.3; 272 – one-club player) New York Yankees: Tommy Henrich (39.6; 1284 – one-club player) Spud Chandler (24.4; 211) was also eligible for the Yankees, but Henrich’s higher WAR makes him the selection. There are 112 rookies for this season, and the Draft will consist of 5 rounds. The Draft order will be as follows (winning percentage from 1935 IRL season (my error in using 1936 last year, so I have switched them) in brackets; bold indicates Legacy Pick in 1st Round): Round 1 1. Boston Red Sox (510) 2. Brooklyn Dodgers (458) 3. New York Yankees (597) 4. Cleveland Indians (536) 5. Cincinnati Reds (444) 6. New York Giants (595) 7. Boston Bees (248) 8. Philadelphia Athletics (389) 9. Philadelphia Phillies (418) 10. St. Louis Browns (428) 11. Washington Senators (438) 12. Chicago White Sox (487) 13. Pittsburgh Pirates (562) 14. Detroit Tigers (616) 15. St. Louis Cardinals (623) 16. Chicago Cubs (649) Rounds 2 thru 5 1. Boston Bees (248) 2. Philadelphia Athletics (389) 3. Philadelphia Phillies (418) 4. St. Louis Browns (428) 5. Washington Senators (438) 6. Cincinnati Reds (444) 7. Brooklyn Dodgers (458) 8. Chicago White Sox (487) 9. Boston Red Sox (510) 10. Cleveland Indians (536) 11. Pittsburgh Pirates (562) 12. New York Giants (595) 13. New York Yankees (597) 14. Detroit Tigers (616) 15. St. Louis Cardinals (623) 16. Chicago Cubs (649) Once again, our course of action will be almost entirely decreed by what goes before it. We have players earmarked in a preferred order, but that’s about it. Here’s who we took: 1. P Jim Tobin, 23
5. P Lefty Sunkel, 24
In the end, despite not getting the main guy we were after, I’m pretty happy with our new additions. FULL DRAFT LOG https://i.imgur.com/TkTfwOC.png |
Call from the Hall
Two NeL legends and champions of this league take their rightful place among the immortals.
https://i.imgur.com/ZURVJBb.png https://i.imgur.com/HqWAg1i.png https://i.imgur.com/vsHZe5V.png |
1937 The First Time Around
Another cruisy title for the Yankees, who again win 102 and then easily dispose of the Giants in 5.
AL CHAMPIONS: New York Yankees (102-52) NL CHAMPIONS: New York Giants (95-67) WORLD SERIES: Yankees 4, Giants 1 AL MVP: Charlie Gehringer (Tigers) NL MVP: Joe Medwick (Cardinals) Top Ten Lists (courtesy of thisgreatgame.com) NL Hitters 1. JOE MEDWICK, ST. LOUIS
AL Hitters 1. HANK GREENBERG, DETROIT
NL Pitchers 1. JIM TURNER, BOSTON
AL Pitchers 1. LEFTY GOMEZ, NEW YORK
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1937 Preseason / Spring Training
The A’s, Phillies, Red Sox and Giants have made it clear they intend to compete hard this season, each being very prominent in the offseason markets. Here are the signings and trades of note:
ALL TRANSACTIONS For the first time I can remember, we finish Spring Training with a losing record, going 8-10. No injuries of note, however. No great surprise given our player exodus, BNN sees things tightening right up in our division, although they still believe we’ll win the Pennant. Perhaps even less surprisingly, they are seeing another close call in the AL, with the A’s, Yanks and Red Sox prominently placed. FULL PRESEASON PREDICTIONS https://i.imgur.com/zoyiISj.png https://i.imgur.com/kPI1gFF.png |
1937 Opening Day
Our team page can be accessed HERE.
Like déjà-vu all over again, the Senators poach our AAA Pitching Coach John Donaldson. We replace him with Johnny Morrison. We have the 4th-highest payroll ($247k) and 2nd-lowest budget ($540k). We enter the new season with a spare slot on our 24-man roster. I have a couple IF utilities in mind, as we’re a bit thin at 1B and SS, but just want to hold off for now and see how things go for a while. Our Opening Day squad will look like this: Catchers
Ted Radcliffe will also play a handful of games behind the plate, as he did last year. Infielders
See my comment above. Martin Dihigo will also help out around the diamond as needed to give Roy Weatherly more game time. Outfielders
Reese can also cover the corner OF slots if needed. Don Padgett will be the first called up if we lose a guy. Rotation
Bullpen
I am almost certain some tinkering will be required across our staff over the course of the season. Plenty ready at AAA to be deployed. |
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