PRELIMINARY ROUND
Series #52
1906 New York Highlanders (90-61) vs 2017 Milwaukee Brewers (86-76)
The great Yankee dynasty in its infancy was a small club that played on a hill outside of Manhattan and was a shadow of the real team in the big apple which were the Giants. Still this New York team was lead by a very competent manager in Clark Griffith who also pitched a little but was primarily the general of this club that finished an upstart second in the AL. Al Orth and Jack Chesbro made an awesome duo in the starting rotation logging 650 innings and 60 complete games. Orth won 27 games while Chesbro struck out 154 batters, the team ERA sparkled even for the era at 2.78. Bill Hogg had most the rest of the starts and Walter Clarkson worked 151 innings in numerous roles holding his ERA firm at 2.32. The great Willie Keeler makes his first appearance at the age of 34 and out of his 180 hits, 167 of them were singles; he still scored 96 runs. Hal Chase at first base was also a star of his day hitting .323 but also having one of the smoothest gloves ever at first; there were real questions about his character however, Wid Conroy was the team leader in steals while Kid Elberfeld was a Cobb type player who owned the middle of the diamond whether you liked it or not. A great character team of the deadball era with some real talent, the New York American League club will be something to watch against a club over 100 years older.
Not an overly talented roster or offense, the 17 Brewers still managed to win 86 games and much of that was due to the dominant pen that they had. It will be interesting to see what role the pen plays in this series against a deadball era team and settings. Ryan Braun still sits in the middle of the batting order slugging ,487 but did miss almost 60 games. Travis Shaw was the most consistent bat hitting 31 bombs and driving in 101 runs while Eric Thames matched Shaw in home runs but did his damaged mostly without men on base. Twenty two year old Orlando Arcia 140 hits and 15 home runs in what was a decent season while Jonathan Villar stole 23 bases and brought some good glove work to the keystone when he was healthy. In the pen is the dominant Josh Hader who was 23 years old and just coming into his own while closer Corey Knebel was difficult to hit saving 39 games with a 1.78 ERA. The Brewers pen was really something special but it wasn't matched by a rotation that didnt have the stellar ace, something the Brewers can say for most of their history. Zach Davis had the most starts but had an ERA at 3.90 and was likely better suited as a number 3 in a rotation. Jimmy Nelson and Matt Garza didnt stay healthy for the entire season and could not be depended on. In fact 13 different pitchers had starts in 2017 for Milwaukee, of course the Highlanders do not even field that many arms in a complete season. The contrasts are great between to totally different universes of the game, but that is what could make it so much fun to watch.
Game 1 At Hilltop Park
Rain 57 (Delay 55 min)
2017 Brewers......................2
1906 Highlanders..............4
WP: L. Leroy (1-0) LP: C. Knebel (0-1)
HR: None
POG: Al Orth
1906 Highlanders lead series 1-0
In an expected pitchers duel, Al Orth and Jimmy Nelson battled into the late innings with the visiting Brewers holding a 2-1 lead into the 8th. Reliever Corey Knebel came on and saw the lead evaporate as Kid Elberfield tied the game with an RBI double and Jimmy Williams gave his side the win with a 2 run single. Orth struck out 6 in his effort and it was clear that the Brewers were off balance, especially when dealing with what may have been a splitter. Advantage New York.
Game 2 At Hilltop Stadium
Partly cloudy 66
2017 Brewers.....................0
1906 Highlanders.............3
WP: J. Chesbro (1-0) LP: Z. Davies (0-1)
HR: None
POG: Jack Chesbro
1906 Highlanders lead series 2-0
It is clear that the Highlanders are quite comfortable playing at home with their dominant arms doing their thing. In this one, Jack Chesbro made the Brewers look foolish again going nine innings in a shutout without walking a batter and striking out seven. Willie Keeler went 2-4 with an RBI on a rare double while Jimmy Wlliams drove in another run. Milwaukee desperately hopes fortunes will change as the series heads to Miller Park.
Game 3 at Miller Park
Partly cloudy 62
1906 Highlanders...............2
2017 Brewers.......................3
WP: C. Anderson (1-0) LP: B. Hogg (0-1) S: C. Knebel (1)
HR: None
POG: Chase Anderson
1906 Highlanders lead series 2-1
Chase Anderson not only pitched a nice game, he also broke the ice with a 2 run single in the 2nd inning that gave the Brewers their first lead of the series. Milwuakee would hang on as Anderson walked none while Corey Knebel bounced back to close out the one run win. Domingo Santana went 3-5 in this win.
Game 4 At Miller Park
Roof closed
1906 Highlanders.................4
2017 Brewers.........................5
WP: J. Nelson (1-0) LP: A. Orth (0-1) S: C. Knebel (2)
HR: None
POG: Jimmy Nelson
Series tied at 2
At tight game at Miller Park but the home team wins again as the Brew Crew have now tied this series. Ryan Braun drove in two important runs as Al Orth was not as good as he was in game one. Domingo Santana broke a 4-4 tie in the 5th inning and the pens would keep the game scoreless the rest of the way. Corey Knebel gets his second game of the series as Jimmy Nelson gets the win going seven innings and allowing 4 runs on 4 K's and no walks.
Game 5 At Miller Park
Roof closed
1906 Highlanders....................2
2017 Brewers............................1
WP: J. Chesbro (2-0) LP: Z. Davies (0-2) S: L. LeRoy (1)
HR: W. Conroy (1)
POG: Jack Chesbro
1906 Highlanders lead series 3-2
Another dramatic game as the Brewers had the tying run on third base in the 9th with only one out and Clark Griffith decided to remove Jack Chesbro and go to Louis LeRoy who worked out of the jam with a pop out and flyout. Orth had battled Zach Davies and the visitors hung on to the slim lead thanks to a solo home run by Wid Conroy. Chesbro again walked no one while striking out six while Davies allowed only 2 earned runs in 9 innings. Now the New Yorkers look to end the series at home.
Game 6 At Hilltop Park
56 partly cloudy
2017 Brewers.......................6
1906 Highlanders...............1
WP: C. Anderson (2-0) LP: B. Hogg (0-2)
HR: None
POG: Chase Anderson
Series tied at 3
Chase Anderson allowed 10 hits but kept the Highlanders down to a single run in 8 innings and also helped his own cause with a 2 run single. Domingo Santana added two more RBI and a 4 run second inning did most of the damage. This very even series now comes down to a single game as Al Orth tries to win it for New York against Jimmy Nelson.
Game 7 At Hilltop Park
Partly cloudy 56
2017 Brewers.............................4
1906 Highlanders.....................1
WP: J. Nelson (2-0) LP: A. Orth (0-2) S: J. Barnes (1)
HR: J. Aguilar (1)
POG: Jimmy Nelson
Jimmy Nelson brought his best stuff in game seven going 8 strong innings while allowing only 4 hits on 112 pitches. The game was tied at one when Ryan Braun singled in the go ahead run in the 6th inning. The biggest blow came in the 7th when Jesus Aguilar took Al Orth out of the park with a man on to increase the Brewer lead to 3. Jacob Barnes would close it out and Milwuakee defeats the deadball Highlanders in a tight seven game series by winning the last two games on the road.
2017 Milwaukee Brewers Win Series 4 games to 3
Series MVP:
Jimmy Nelson
(2-0, 2.05 ERA, 7 K, 2 BB, 0.82 WHIP, .213 OBA)