[ojoe]

We're starting in 1901, the first year of the American League.

Real Life World Series Winner: None
Sub-.500 teams: Washington (AL), Chicago (NL)
Tiebreakers Required: None - but the Cubs and Giants both finished 37 games out of 1st. However, the Cubs played two more games than the Giants so their 53-86 gave a winning percentage of .381, compared to New York's 52-85, .380.
1 Seeds: Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates
2 Seeds: Boston Americans, Philadelphia Phillies

Wild Card Round - along with predictions (which were generated by putting each series into the Simulation Module):
(AL 5) Baltimore Orioles at (AL4) Philadelphia Athletics
Prediction: It's a close match on paper, but look for Philadelphia stars like Nap Lajoie, Harry Davis, and Eddie Plank to make the difference. A's in 2.
(AL 6) Washington Senators at (AL 3) Detroit Tigers
Prediction: This one looks a bit more lopsided with the Tigers finishing 12 games ahead of the Senators, the only team in the AL field with a losing record. But even though the team finished 61-72, lefty Casey Patten went 18-10, so look for him to steal a game and force this series to the limit. Tigers in 3
(NL 5) Boston Beaneaters at (NL 4) St. Louis Cardinals
Prediction: This isn't as close as it looks. Boston finished 69-69 to St. Louis's 76-64 - but run differential says that those records should have been 66-72 for the Beaneaters and 79-61 for the Cardinals. Vic Willis and Kid Nichols won't make it easy, but Cardinals in 2.
(NL 6) Chicago Orphans at (NL 3) Brooklyn Superbas
Prediction: Really, the Superbas should get a third bye. They spent the whole summer on the periphery of the pennant race, while the Orphans reached their high point on Opening Day with a win over the Cardinals. That was followed by a 6-game losing streak and Chicago was never in contention after that. Rube Waddell will give it his best shot, but he's up against Willie Keeler, Jimmy Sheckard, Bill Dahlen, and three pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA. Superbas in 2.


So, the game went with chalk - no upsets predicted. Let's see how it turns out.

AL Wild Card 1:Philadelphia 2, Baltimore 1
Game 1: Philadelphia 13, Baltimore 2
Game 2: Baltimore 6, Philadelphia 3
Game 3: Philadelphia 3, Baltimore 2
Series MVP: Dave Fultz, Philadelphia (6/13, .462/.500/.615 -

The A's came out blasting, scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the first on the way to a 13-2 laugher in Game 1. Baltimore starter Joe McGinnity lasted only 2/3 of an inning, but thanks to two Oriole errors, all 7 runs he allowed were unearned. But the Orioles struck back in Game 2 behind a home run and 5 RBI from 2B Jimmy Williams.
The A's did their best to give Game 3 away. Committing three errors that led to Baltimore scoring two unearned runs in the 6th to tie the game at 2-2. But then pitcher Chick Fraser drove in the eventual winning run in the bottom of the 7th with a 2-out double that scored Doc Powers.

AL Wild Card 2:Detroit 2, Washington 0
Game 1: Detroit 6, Washington 2
Game 2: Detroit 8, Washington 3
MVP: Kid Eberfeld, Detroit (3/5, .600/.750/1.200 - 1 HR)

Detroit cruised in Game 1, going out to a 6-0 lead before two late runs tightened the score a little. Washington did have a 3-1 lead after batting in the bottom of the 4th, but then 7 Detroit runs in the bottom of that inning put the series away for the home team.

NL Wild Card 1: St. Louis 2, Boston 1
Game 1: St. Louis 5, Boston 1
Game 2: Boston 8, St. Louis 7
Game 3: St. Louis 6, Boston 1
MVP: Otto Krueger, St. Louis (4/10, .400/.500/1.000 - 2 HR)
A 2-out, 2-run double by shortstop Herman Long in the 9th inning of Game 2 allowed Boston to avoid a sweep. St. Louis dominated Games 1 and 3, both of which were iced by home runs by Cardinal third baseman Otto Krueger.

NL Wild Card 2: Chicago 2, Brooklyn 0
Game 1: Chicago 3, Brooklyn 1
Game 2: Chicago 2, Brooklyn 1
MVP: Topsy Hartsel, Chicago (4/8, .500/.556/.750)
A fairly shocking result as the weakest team in either league ends up taking out a darkhorse candidate for the championship. The often anemic Chicago offense mustered only 5 runs for the two games, but thanks to stellar efforts by pitchers Rube Waddell and Tom Hughes, Brooklyn was only able to score two. Brooklyn's Willie Keeler, Jimmy Sheckard, and Bill Dahlen combined to go 4-22 with no runs scored.

Division Series Matchups w/predictions
ALDS 1: (4) Philadelphia vs. (2) Boston
Look for Philadelphia to keep rolling behind Nap Lajoie and its pitching stars. The game smells an upset here, and a fairly emphatic one. A's in 3.
ALDS 2: (3) Detroit vs. (1) Chicago
Detroit will be a tough out, but 3B Fred Hartman and SP Roy Patterson are both primed for big series and they should give the No. 1 seed enough to survive. White Sox in 5
NLDS 1: (4) St. Louis vs. (2) Philadelphia
The Cardinals have enough to steal a game - probably Game 3 in St. Louis - but between Ed Delahanty and Doc White, the rested Phillies just have too much. Phillies in 4
NLDS 2: (6) Chicago vs. (1) Pittsburgh
This figures to be a fairly one-sided affair - but we've thought that before. Still, Rube Waddell and Tom Hughes aren't going to stop Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke. ...Are they? Probably not. Pirates in 3
* Just for fun, I ran the simulation mode for 162 games between these two teams. Pittsburgh won 82-80. Honus Wagner, who batted .353 with a .910 OPS in real life, went for .242 and a .633 OPS.


Results:
ALDS 1: Philadelphia 3, Boston 1
Game 1: Philadelphia 15, Boston 3
Game 2: Philadelphia 5, Boston 3
Game 3: Boston 7, Philadelphia 5
Game 5: Philadelphia 4, Boston 0
MVP: Nap Lajoie, Philadelphia (12/17, .706!/.700!/1.176! - 1 HR, 5 R, 8 RBI)
How dominant was Nap Lajoie? His worst game of the series was Game 2, when he went 2/4 with a double, 1 run scored, and 2 RBI. He hit 3 doubles, a triple, a home run, he stole a base...he did everything but commit an error. Once again, Philadelphia opened with a blowout in Game 1 and never looked back.

ALDS 2: Chicago 3, Detroit 0
Game 1: Chicago 6, Detroit 5
Game 2: Chicago 4, Detroit 3
Game 3: Chicago 2, Detroit 0
MVP: Clark Griffith, Chicago - 9 IP, 0 runs, 4 hits
Chicago got a pair of walk-off wins at home, breaking a 5-5 tie with a 2-out single by Herm McFarland n Game 1 and then erasing a 3-1 deficit with a 3-run 9th inning rally in Game 2. Then Griffith came in to shut down the Tigers in a closely-fought, but ultimately one-sided series.

NLDS 1: Philadelphia 3, St. Louis 0
Game 1: Philadelphia 8, St. Louis 0
Game 2: Philadelphia 6, St. Louis 2
Game 3: Philadelphia 10, St. Louis 9
MVP: Elmer Flick, Philadelphia (6/13, .462/.462/.692)
The Phils cruised at home before stunning St. Louis with a huge 9th inning rally to take the sweep. The Cardinals led 8-2 after 8 innings in the final game, but then Philadelphia scored 3 in the 8th and then 5 more in the 9th to take it 10-9 and move on to the NLCS.

NLDS 2: Pittsburgh 3, Chicago 2
Game 1: Chicago 2, Pittsburgh 1
Game 2: Pittsburgh 5, Chicago 4 (11 innings)
Game 3: Pittsburgh 7, Chicago 6 (11 innings)
Game 4: Chicago 3, Pittsburgh 2
Game 5: Pittsburgh 12, Chicago 4
MVP: Kitty Bransfield, Pittsburgh (10/23, .435/.435/.522)
What were the Orphans hiding all year. They managed only a .381 winning percentage, but then swept Brooklyn in the Wild Card Round and took the league's best team to 5 games in the Division Series. After the Game 1 loss, Pittsburgh needed to stage late inning comebacks in Games 2 and 3 to send those games to extra innings. Otherwise, the 53-86 Orphans would be headed to the NLCS with a 5-0 playoff record. But Pittsburgh did rally - and they needed another one in Game 5. Chicago jumped out to an early lead with a 4-run 2nd inning before the Pirates collectively said, "OK, enough of this nonsense" and scored 12 unanswered runs to turn Game 5 into a rout.

Next up: AL and NLCS.

And, hell of a run by the Chicago Orphans. We'll pour one out for them here: