OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Bucs Start Here - A Pirates Do-Over

luckymann · 12-19-2021, 02:39 AM

Game 1 in Pittsburgh, October 8th 1920
Walter Johnson (23-12, 3.07) v Elmer Ponder (29-10, 2.66)

Walter’s season was one of two halves, as he came out extremely strong but then – perhaps a sign of age –fell away quite a lot, going 5-5 down the stretch. So a cloud hangs over him here, especially against the red-hot Ponder who gets the nod because of Williams having to pitch in the tiebreaker. Elmer, according to our scouts, has some of the most pinpoint control they’ve seen, which means patience will be the name of the game here. There are rumours he has a little niggle as well, so we’ll have to see if that affects him in any way.

We go ahead in the 2nd on two hits and a Snyder SF and a Marcell RBI groundout doubles our lead. We waste a chance to go further ahead in the 4th when, after 2 errors by their 3B load the bases for us, we leave them that way. But we do add one in the next when Charleston triples and scores on a hit by Cobb.

Train gives up just a walk and a HBP thru 5 before his no-no bid is spoiled by a Sisler double in the 6th. A single to Mackey drives in their first run of the game. The lads hit back in the 7th as Williams plates one with a single and Lundy then Snyder do likewise to make it 6-1, chasing Ponder. Marcell greets his replacement with a long 2-run double to put us 7 clear and Train adds yet one more with a two-out single. In the process thereof, however, Williams is hurt and we’ll be sweating on word from the medical staff as to whether or not he’s done for the remainder.

Walter runs out of juice in the 8th so I go to the pen and Mamaux douses the threat. He gives us a scoreless 9th to close it out. Just the start we were after, Williams’ injury notwithstanding.

Pirates 9, Browns 1
BOX SCORE

Game 2 in Pittsburgh, October 9th 1920
Wilbur Cooper (29-10, 2.35) v Joe Williams (8-2, 1.85)
Pirates lead series 1-0

No doubt Wilbur was better last Series than previously, so we hope he’s got past those dark days. What a stunning year he has had and we need him to translate that into a strong showing here against the mighty Smoky Joe. No news on Williams but we fear the worst and Bigbee will start in LF in this one.

Things do not start well as he gives up a run on back-to-back doubles but we square it up in the home half with one on a Cobb groundout. It appears those dark days are still upon us as Cooper looks a completely different pitcher under playoff conditions and they tag him for 3 runs, with an error not helping matters.

Williams on the other hand, one of the best money pitchers the game has seen, is having no such difficulty as we have only one hit to our name thru 4. We make two more errors in the next inning and Cooper does well to keep his composure and not let them add to their lead. But the signs are not good here.

They pad their lead with one in the 7th and that is Wilbur done. What we saw tonight is the difference between a great regular season pitcher and a great pitcher, full stop, I’m afraid.
The lads rally for a run in the home half of that inning, singled in by Traynor. Then Carey makes it 5-3 with another RBI single.

In the 9th, we get the tying runs aboard with two out but Williams gets Charleston to harmlessly ground out and they take the win.

Browns 5, Pirates 3
BOX SCORE

Game 3 in Pittsburgh, October 10th 1920
Jose Leblanc (15-8, 3.41) v Urban Shocker (26-14, 2.83)
Series tied 1-1

Count went 8 and 3 for us after the trade but his losses were ugly and inconsistency is his main flaw. We are unlikely to have the luxury of a poor one from him tonight with Shocker up for them, who is one of the league’s most dependable hurlers as a rule. Williams will take no further part, a huge blow for us, but there’s nothing to be done about it so we just have to get on with things without him. Mid-season FA signing Amos Strunk, who spent the year at AAA, gets the call up. Mixing things up a bit in this one, with Baker in at 1B, Charlie to CF and Scoops to LF.

Charleston has been quiet so far but gets us going here when he triples in the 1st and scores on a Cobb single. We add a second in the next on a Traynor double and Leblanc singles him in. An infield hit to Carey and a Charleston walk load the bases for Cobb, who duly singles one in, then Snyder wipes them clean with a two-out double to make it 7-0. That ends Shocker’s night and makes my earlier statement seem foolish as all get-up. It happens.

After 6 strong one-hit innings, Leblanc loses his way in the 7th as they pound him for three extra base hits on the trot. When he gives up another hit and then walks them loaded, I hook him. Mamaux comes in and does superbly to allow just one of those to score. But we are looking very shaky.

Baker steadies the ship with a big solo moonshot in the home half and then Cobb all but ends it with a 2-run bomb in the 8th.
Mamaux retires all 8 he faces and we head to St. Louis up 2-1.

Pirates 10, Browns 3
BOX SCORE

Game 4 in St. Louis, October 12th 1920
Elmer Ponder (0-1, 11.37) v Walter Johnson (1-0, 1.17)
Pirates lead series 2-1
A win here would put us in a really strong position, so hopefully Train can keep things going from Game 1. Consistency has, after all, been Walter’s bugbear this year.

And he starts dreadfully here, giving up hits to the first three he faces and before we know it we are down by 4.

No-one has come out to play today, it seems, as Traynor throws one away and they add another run to their lead. Two more in the 4th renders this a no-contest and we eventually lose 7-2.

A forgettable game in every respect.

Browns 7, Pirates 2
BOX SCORE

Game 5 in St. Louis, October 13th 1920
Joe Williams (1-0, 2.00) v Wilbur Cooper (0-1, 3.86)
Series tied 2-2

It gets tricky for us here as we need Wilbur to somehow get himself over the hump and give us some chance of beating Williams. Charleston and Lundy simply must inject themselves into things, as both have been ineffectual to this point.

We get men on in each of the first three innings but can’t convert them into runs. Cooper starts strongly, retiring the first 11 he faces.

Still scoreless after 5, Charleston comes alive in the top 6th with a 2-run homer to put us in front.

We keep pushing but lack that key hit and it takes two errors in the 8th for us to pad our lead. We load the bases and Charlie comes through again for us, doubling in a pair to make it 5-0, but then leave two more in scoring position from none out to three.

Thankfully it doesn’t matter as Wilbur chases the ghosts away with a magnificent 3-hit shutout.

Pirates 5, Senators 0
BOX SCORE

Game 6 in St. Louis, October 14th 1920
Urban Shocker (0-1, 37.80) v Jose Leblanc (1-0, 4.50)
Pirates lead series 3-2

Obviously we’ve had no problems putting down good performances so far in this series. It is our lack of consistency that has handcuffed us to this point, and that part of our game will get a stern test today. No chance of us getting another shocker from Urban (sorry, been keeping that one in my pocket for a while now...) and as I mentioned Jose has struggled to string good form together. So we are primed for a fall today if we let it happen. The key is not to. Easterly in at catcher today to give Snyder a rest.

They open the scoring with one in the 2nd and we waste a Cobb triple in the 4th as our bats once again retreat into their shells.

A Lundy error in the 6th paves the way for them to add to their lead with an unearned run, but that sparks our offence to life as we respond with one on a Baker single. Another error in the 8th by Easterly gifts them another run and yet again we are our own worst enemy with a pretty dire performance as we go down meekly in the 9th, wasting an excellent effort by Leblanc.

Browns 3, Pirates 1
BOX SCORE

Game 7 in St. Louis, October 15h 1920
Earl Hamilton (6-10, 4.75) v Dutch Ruether (7-7, 2.95)
Series tied 3-3

Pitching depth becomes the key here as the focus turns to each side’s SP4. Ruether was good in patches, bad in others. His role today is to keep us close; Hamilton is a trickier proposition than his seasonal stats suggest, especially given we are a lesser side with bat in hand against southpaws.

We score first in this one, as a single in the 4th by Traynor brings one home and another comes in on a Wood groundout. An error by their 2B Collins gives us an extra out and we use it well as Carey singles one more in.

The tension is heightened by a half-hour rain delay following the 4th, and when the game resumes another Browns error gifts us another run to make it 4-0. Wood then singles one in and Ruether another, with one more thrown out at the plate.
We keep things ticking along nicely in the next as Charlie singles and Cobb triples him home, ending Hamilton’s game. An RBI single by Lundy puts us 8 in front and Traynor makes it 9 when he singles Lundy in with two out.

Ruether, with his knuckler working well, has only given up 3 hits to this point, but they get to him with a pair and I get the hook ready. It comes out in the 7th when he gives up singles to the first two he faces, with Richter getting the call and doing brilliantly to keep them from scoring.

We lose Traynor to injury in the 8th (they have also lost Tobin and Mackey in the course of this game, so it will be interesting to see how that affects the rest of the series) and Krause replaces Richter on the hill. He has been a liability all year and struggles again here before recovering to only concede one run. He gets into trouble again before Drucke comes in to lock it down.

Pirates 9, Browns 3
BOX SCORE

Game 8 in Pittsburgh, October 17th 1920
Walter Johnson (1-1, 4.61) v Joe Williams (1-1, 2.00)
Pirates lead series 4-3

Traynor’s injury is only serious enough to keep him out of the rest of the series, but he will be greatly missed. Ernie Johnson comes in to replace him in the squad, while Bernie Friberg will start in this game. Both of their guys under injury clouds are right to play.

The biggest question in the lead-up to this game was whether or not they’d deploy Williams and, in the end, they have decided to. This sets up a dream head-to-head with The Big Train. It makes little difference to our mindset, we always thought we would have to beat him one more time to get it done. For Walter to achieve this he will have to be greatly improved on his two previous starts.

Both of them wobble a bit early but use their game smarts to keep from any runs being conceded.

It remains scoreless until the home 5th, when a walk and a HBP put men aboard and Friberg singles one of them in to give us the lead.

Neither of these legendary warriors is at their best, but they keep going places mere mortals do not have to keep it at 1-0 thru 6 then 7 then 7 ½...

We get an insurance run in the 8th on a two-out single by Snyder. Then Baker gets a clutch 2-run single to make it 4-0. A double by Marcell adds yet another and I’ve seen few more poignant things than Smoky Joe Williams taking his leave of this game, apparently beaten.

You know they weren’t going down quietly, and McHenry leads off the 9th with a long double. Train gets Tobin to pop out to short and then Bassler is the second out, with the runner moving to third. A flyout to Carey in LF gets Train a much-deserved shutout and gets us our 6th Championship.

Pirates 5, Browns 0
BOX SCORE

PITTSBURGH WINS SERIES 5-3
SERIES MVP: Ty Cobb (Pittsburgh)

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12-19-2021, 02:39 AM	#523
luckymann Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 12,790	1920 World Series Recap Game 1 in Pittsburgh, October 8th 1920 *Walter Johnson (23-12, 3.07) v Elmer Ponder (29-10, 2.66)* Walter’s season was one of two halves, as he came out extremely strong but then – perhaps a sign of age –fell away quite a lot, going 5-5 down the stretch. So a cloud hangs over him here, especially against the red-hot Ponder who gets the nod because of Williams having to pitch in the tiebreaker. Elmer, according to our scouts, has some of the most pinpoint control they’ve seen, which means patience will be the name of the game here. There are rumours he has a little niggle as well, so we’ll have to see if that affects him in any way. We go ahead in the 2nd on two hits and a Snyder SF and a Marcell RBI groundout doubles our lead. We waste a chance to go further ahead in the 4th when, after 2 errors by their 3B load the bases for us, we leave them that way. But we do add one in the next when Charleston triples and scores on a hit by Cobb. Train gives up just a walk and a HBP thru 5 before his no-no bid is spoiled by a Sisler double in the 6th. A single to Mackey drives in their first run of the game. The lads hit back in the 7th as Williams plates one with a single and Lundy then Snyder do likewise to make it 6-1, chasing Ponder. Marcell greets his replacement with a long 2-run double to put us 7 clear and Train adds yet one more with a two-out single. In the process thereof, however, Williams is hurt and we’ll be sweating on word from the medical staff as to whether or not he’s done for the remainder. Walter runs out of juice in the 8th so I go to the pen and Mamaux douses the threat. He gives us a scoreless 9th to close it out. Just the start we were after, Williams’ injury notwithstanding. Pirates 9, Browns 1 BOX SCORE Game 2 in Pittsburgh, October 9th 1920 *Wilbur Cooper (29-10, 2.35) v Joe Williams (8-2, 1.85)* Pirates lead series 1-0 No doubt Wilbur was better last Series than previously, so we hope he’s got past those dark days. What a stunning year he has had and we need him to translate that into a strong showing here against the mighty Smoky Joe. No news on Williams but we fear the worst and Bigbee will start in LF in this one. Things do not start well as he gives up a run on back-to-back doubles but we square it up in the home half with one on a Cobb groundout. It appears those dark days are still upon us as Cooper looks a completely different pitcher under playoff conditions and they tag him for 3 runs, with an error not helping matters. Williams on the other hand, one of the best money pitchers the game has seen, is having no such difficulty as we have only one hit to our name thru 4. We make two more errors in the next inning and Cooper does well to keep his composure and not let them add to their lead. But the signs are not good here. They pad their lead with one in the 7th and that is Wilbur done. What we saw tonight is the difference between a great regular season pitcher and a great pitcher, full stop, I’m afraid. The lads rally for a run in the home half of that inning, singled in by Traynor. Then Carey makes it 5-3 with another RBI single. In the 9th, we get the tying runs aboard with two out but Williams gets Charleston to harmlessly ground out and they take the win. Browns 5, Pirates 3 BOX SCORE Game 3 in Pittsburgh, October 10th 1920 *Jose Leblanc (15-8, 3.41) v Urban Shocker (26-14, 2.83)* Series tied 1-1 Count went 8 and 3 for us after the trade but his losses were ugly and inconsistency is his main flaw. We are unlikely to have the luxury of a poor one from him tonight with Shocker up for them, who is one of the league’s most dependable hurlers as a rule. Williams will take no further part, a huge blow for us, but there’s nothing to be done about it so we just have to get on with things without him. Mid-season FA signing Amos Strunk, who spent the year at AAA, gets the call up. Mixing things up a bit in this one, with Baker in at 1B, Charlie to CF and Scoops to LF. Charleston has been quiet so far but gets us going here when he triples in the 1st and scores on a Cobb single. We add a second in the next on a Traynor double and Leblanc singles him in. An infield hit to Carey and a Charleston walk load the bases for Cobb, who duly singles one in, then Snyder wipes them clean with a two-out double to make it 7-0. That ends Shocker’s night and makes my earlier statement seem foolish as all get-up. It happens. After 6 strong one-hit innings, Leblanc loses his way in the 7th as they pound him for three extra base hits on the trot. When he gives up another hit and then walks them loaded, I hook him. Mamaux comes in and does superbly to allow just one of those to score. But we are looking very shaky. Baker steadies the ship with a big solo moonshot in the home half and then Cobb all but ends it with a 2-run bomb in the 8th. Mamaux retires all 8 he faces and we head to St. Louis up 2-1. Pirates 10, Browns 3 BOX SCORE Game 4 in St. Louis, October 12th 1920 *Elmer Ponder (0-1, 11.37) v Walter Johnson (1-0, 1.17)* Pirates lead series 2-1 A win here would put us in a really strong position, so hopefully Train can keep things going from Game 1. Consistency has, after all, been Walter’s bugbear this year. And he starts dreadfully here, giving up hits to the first three he faces and before we know it we are down by 4. No-one has come out to play today, it seems, as Traynor throws one away and they add another run to their lead. Two more in the 4th renders this a no-contest and we eventually lose 7-2. A forgettable game in every respect. Browns 7, Pirates 2 BOX SCORE Game 5 in St. Louis, October 13th 1920 *Joe Williams (1-0, 2.00) v Wilbur Cooper (0-1, 3.86)* Series tied 2-2 It gets tricky for us here as we need Wilbur to somehow get himself over the hump and give us some chance of beating Williams. Charleston and Lundy simply must inject themselves into things, as both have been ineffectual to this point. We get men on in each of the first three innings but can’t convert them into runs. Cooper starts strongly, retiring the first 11 he faces. Still scoreless after 5, Charleston comes alive in the top 6th with a 2-run homer to put us in front. We keep pushing but lack that key hit and it takes two errors in the 8th for us to pad our lead. We load the bases and Charlie comes through again for us, doubling in a pair to make it 5-0, but then leave two more in scoring position from none out to three. Thankfully it doesn’t matter as Wilbur chases the ghosts away with a magnificent 3-hit shutout. Pirates 5, Senators 0 BOX SCORE Game 6 in St. Louis, October 14th 1920 *Urban Shocker (0-1, 37.80) v Jose Leblanc (1-0, 4.50)* Pirates lead series 3-2 Obviously we’ve had no problems putting down good performances so far in this series. It is our lack of consistency that has handcuffed us to this point, and that part of our game will get a stern test today. No chance of us getting another shocker from Urban (sorry, been keeping that one in my pocket for a while now...) and as I mentioned Jose has struggled to string good form together. So we are primed for a fall today if we let it happen. The key is not to. Easterly in at catcher today to give Snyder a rest. They open the scoring with one in the 2nd and we waste a Cobb triple in the 4th as our bats once again retreat into their shells. A Lundy error in the 6th paves the way for them to add to their lead with an unearned run, but that sparks our offence to life as we respond with one on a Baker single. Another error in the 8th by Easterly gifts them another run and yet again we are our own worst enemy with a pretty dire performance as we go down meekly in the 9th, wasting an excellent effort by Leblanc. Browns 3, Pirates 1 BOX SCORE Game 7 in St. Louis, October 15h 1920 *Earl Hamilton (6-10, 4.75) v Dutch Ruether (7-7, 2.95)* Series tied 3-3 Pitching depth becomes the key here as the focus turns to each side’s SP4. Ruether was good in patches, bad in others. His role today is to keep us close; Hamilton is a trickier proposition than his seasonal stats suggest, especially given we are a lesser side with bat in hand against southpaws. We score first in this one, as a single in the 4th by Traynor brings one home and another comes in on a Wood groundout. An error by their 2B Collins gives us an extra out and we use it well as Carey singles one more in. The tension is heightened by a half-hour rain delay following the 4th, and when the game resumes another Browns error gifts us another run to make it 4-0. Wood then singles one in and Ruether another, with one more thrown out at the plate. We keep things ticking along nicely in the next as Charlie singles and Cobb triples him home, ending Hamilton’s game. An RBI single by Lundy puts us 8 in front and Traynor makes it 9 when he singles Lundy in with two out. Ruether, with his knuckler working well, has only given up 3 hits to this point, but they get to him with a pair and I get the hook ready. It comes out in the 7th when he gives up singles to the first two he faces, with Richter getting the call and doing brilliantly to keep them from scoring. We lose Traynor to injury in the 8th (they have also lost Tobin and Mackey in the course of this game, so it will be interesting to see how that affects the rest of the series) and Krause replaces Richter on the hill. He has been a liability all year and struggles again here before recovering to only concede one run. He gets into trouble again before Drucke comes in to lock it down. Pirates 9, Browns 3 BOX SCORE Game 8 in Pittsburgh, October 17th 1920 *Walter Johnson (1-1, 4.61) v Joe Williams (1-1, 2.00)* Pirates lead series 4-3 Traynor’s injury is only serious enough to keep him out of the rest of the series, but he will be greatly missed. Ernie Johnson comes in to replace him in the squad, while Bernie Friberg will start in this game. Both of their guys under injury clouds are right to play. The biggest question in the lead-up to this game was whether or not they’d deploy Williams and, in the end, they have decided to. This sets up a dream head-to-head with The Big Train. It makes little difference to our mindset, we always thought we would have to beat him one more time to get it done. For Walter to achieve this he will have to be greatly improved on his two previous starts. Both of them wobble a bit early but use their game smarts to keep from any runs being conceded. It remains scoreless until the home 5th, when a walk and a HBP put men aboard and Friberg singles one of them in to give us the lead. Neither of these legendary warriors is at their best, but they keep going places mere mortals do not have to keep it at 1-0 thru 6 then 7 then 7 ½... We get an insurance run in the 8th on a two-out single by Snyder. Then Baker gets a clutch 2-run single to make it 4-0. A double by Marcell adds yet another and I’ve seen few more poignant things than Smoky Joe Williams taking his leave of this game, apparently beaten. You know they weren’t going down quietly, and McHenry leads off the 9th with a long double. Train gets Tobin to pop out to short and then Bassler is the second out, with the runner moving to third. A flyout to Carey in LF gets Train a much-deserved shutout and gets us our 6th Championship. Pirates 5, Browns 0 BOX SCORE PITTSBURGH WINS SERIES 5-3 SERIES MVP: Ty Cobb (Pittsburgh) S+ HOME REPORTS HOME PIRATES HOME __________________ HISTORICAL DO-OVERS PIRATES A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE GULF LEAGUE Last edited by luckymann; 01-02-2022 at 03:41 AM.