Chronological serendipity abounds for Beaneaters SP Chappie McFarland and the Footnote League.
IRL Chappie (born Charles Amos McFarland) debuted in 1902 for the Cards, fashioning a 34-61 record with an ERA of 3.35 over his five seasons in the bigs. Time travel obviously agrees with him, as the second go around seems him faring much better. Picked up as a FA in late 1901, his debut season in the FL has seen him go 13-7 / 3.81, responsible for exactly one-third of his struggling team’s wins. Thru late July he features prominently on the National League leaderboards, currently leading in strikeouts, K/9 (4.2), K/BB (2.77), WHIP (1.35), and FIP (3.76), as well as sitting second in BB/9 (1.5) and QS (16), third in wins, fourth in OBA (.286), fifth in BABIP (.327) and sixth in ERA. If not for the presence of Chicago’s Wilbur Wood he’d be a lock on this year’s NL Cy Young Award, and is still an outside chance to win it if his form holds up down the stretch and Wood stumbles. Another Orphan, Bill Parsons, along with Giants positional players Chuck Diering and Harry Bemis, are his only real threats for NL RoY honours.
Chappie’s real life ended tragically at just 49 when he had a heart attack on the golf course, so I’ll be rooting for him to enjoy a few years of success in the FL before hanging up his cleats.
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