OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - "Goodbye To 'The Mack': The 1916 A's In Peril

jksander · 04-18-2026, 02:25 PM

July 6, 1916: Detroit’s in town, and Dick Rudolph got the start for our first game of the series, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first off a groundout by Stuffy McInnis that scored Jimmy Walsh to give us a 1-0 lead. Sam Crawford hit an RBI single for the Tigers that tied it up in the top of the second, though, and in the top of the third they stole the lead with an RBI single by George Burns. Jimmy Walsh came through in a big way in the bottom of the eighth, hitting an RBI triple to tie the score at 2-2, and after Byron Houck got us through the ninth with the tie intact, Rube Oldring hitting an RBI single on two outs to walk it off as a 3-2 victory! We outhit them 7-6 in notching the win, with Houck improving to 6-3 with a walk and two strikeouts as he gave our batters the chance to complete the comeback. Rudolph had a rare eight inning night, but did so with six hits, a walk, two strikeouts and two earned runs. Leadoff maestro Jimmy Walsh led the way with two hits, a run and an RBI.

July 7, 1916: Gene Packard pitched in game two against the Tigers, and again we took a first inning lead, going up 1-0 off a Stuffy McInnis RBI single in the bottom of the frame. Again they answered, this time with an RBI single by Oscar Stanage in the top of the second, but we retook the lead in the bottom of the third with a groundout by Wally Schang that scored Jimmy Walsh. But the Tigers hit back hard in the top of the fifth, tying the score off a Ty Cobb RBI single, and then Bobby Veach scored with an RBI single that was aided by an E7 error ... Cobb then scored moments later off a single by Ossie Vitt, and we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 4-2. Wally Schang hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning to keep us within a run, and we tied the score in the bottom of the sixth with an Alex McCarthy sac-fly, and that’s where it stayed into extra innings, tied 4-4 at the end of nine. In the top of the 13th inning, his second in the game, Bill Morrisette (who threw more than a hundred pitches two days ago) gave up an RBI double to Harry Heilmann, and a sac-fly by Bobby Veach gave them a two-run advantage. We’d go on to leave two stranded in the bottom of the inning and Detroit came out of it with a 6-4 win ... that one stings. Morrisette pitched two innings with a hit, three walks and two runs, falling to 5-3 with a 4.01 ERA, but they outhit us 14-12 and we’d used up all our luck in the early innings. Gene Packard had a seven inning start, allowing 11 hits and four runs without a walk or a strikeout, and our offense was led by McInnis, who had four hits and an RBI in the long game.

July 8, 1916: Pedro Dibut took the mound in our last game of the series against the Tigers, and he gave them a nice head start with an RBI triple by Donnie Bush in the second and an RBI double by Ty Cobb in the third to spot them a 2-0 advantage. But we kept fighting, and in the bottom of the sixth Charlie Pick singled in a run, Lew Malone singled home Pick to tie it up, and Johnny Bassler singled in Malone to put us up 3-2! Byron Houck took over for Dibut in the top of the eighth, and he pitched the rest of the way as we held tough to win the game by the same 3-2 margin. Dibut improved to 11-7 with a seven inning effort, allowing nine hits, three walks and two runs with three strikeouts, while Houck earned a two-inning save, his eighth of the year. He’s now got a 3.00 ERA through 81 innings, “Duke” having adjusted well to the move to the bullpen this season so far. They outhit us 9-7, but we got hits when we needed them most, Amos Strunk leading the way with two hits and a run scored while Charlie Pick, a pinch hitter, had a hit, a run and an RBI.

We’re off tomorrow, and then will play four against St. Louis (44-37), followed by four each against the White Sox (44-35) and Indians (38-40) before hitting the road at the end of the month with four against St. Louis, and a pair against Chicago that will get us into August. With 14 of those 18 games coming against teams ahead of us in the standings (and all 18 games being against teams within 5.5 games of first) this is going to be a critical stretch if we’re going to prove to be real contenders as the races really heat up!

04-18-2026, 02:25 PM	#20
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,863	July 6, 1916: Detroit’s in town, and Dick Rudolph got the start for our first game of the series, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first off a groundout by Stuffy McInnis that scored Jimmy Walsh to give us a 1-0 lead. Sam Crawford hit an RBI single for the Tigers that tied it up in the top of the second, though, and in the top of the third they stole the lead with an RBI single by George Burns. Jimmy Walsh came through in a big way in the bottom of the eighth, hitting an RBI triple to tie the score at 2-2, and after Byron Houck got us through the ninth with the tie intact, Rube Oldring hitting an RBI single on two outs to walk it off as a 3-2 victory! We outhit them 7-6 in notching the win, with Houck improving to 6-3 with a walk and two strikeouts as he gave our batters the chance to complete the comeback. Rudolph had a rare eight inning night, but did so with six hits, a walk, two strikeouts and two earned runs. Leadoff maestro Jimmy Walsh led the way with two hits, a run and an RBI. July 7, 1916: Gene Packard pitched in game two against the Tigers, and again we took a first inning lead, going up 1-0 off a Stuffy McInnis RBI single in the bottom of the frame. Again they answered, this time with an RBI single by Oscar Stanage in the top of the second, but we retook the lead in the bottom of the third with a groundout by Wally Schang that scored Jimmy Walsh. But the Tigers hit back hard in the top of the fifth, tying the score off a Ty Cobb RBI single, and then Bobby Veach scored with an RBI single that was aided by an E7 error ... Cobb then scored moments later off a single by Ossie Vitt, and we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 4-2. Wally Schang hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning to keep us within a run, and we tied the score in the bottom of the sixth with an Alex McCarthy sac-fly, and that’s where it stayed into extra innings, tied 4-4 at the end of nine. In the top of the 13th inning, his second in the game, Bill Morrisette (who threw more than a hundred pitches two days ago) gave up an RBI double to Harry Heilmann, and a sac-fly by Bobby Veach gave them a two-run advantage. We’d go on to leave two stranded in the bottom of the inning and Detroit came out of it with a 6-4 win ... that one stings. Morrisette pitched two innings with a hit, three walks and two runs, falling to 5-3 with a 4.01 ERA, but they outhit us 14-12 and we’d used up all our luck in the early innings. Gene Packard had a seven inning start, allowing 11 hits and four runs without a walk or a strikeout, and our offense was led by McInnis, who had four hits and an RBI in the long game. July 8, 1916: Pedro Dibut took the mound in our last game of the series against the Tigers, and he gave them a nice head start with an RBI triple by Donnie Bush in the second and an RBI double by Ty Cobb in the third to spot them a 2-0 advantage. But we kept fighting, and in the bottom of the sixth Charlie Pick singled in a run, Lew Malone singled home Pick to tie it up, and Johnny Bassler singled in Malone to put us up 3-2! Byron Houck took over for Dibut in the top of the eighth, and he pitched the rest of the way as we held tough to win the game by the same 3-2 margin. Dibut improved to 11-7 with a seven inning effort, allowing nine hits, three walks and two runs with three strikeouts, while Houck earned a two-inning save, his eighth of the year. He’s now got a 3.00 ERA through 81 innings, “Duke” having adjusted well to the move to the bullpen this season so far. They outhit us 9-7, but we got hits when we needed them most, Amos Strunk leading the way with two hits and a run scored while Charlie Pick, a pinch hitter, had a hit, a run and an RBI. We’re off tomorrow, and then will play four against St. Louis (44-37), followed by four each against the White Sox (44-35) and Indians (38-40) before hitting the road at the end of the month with four against St. Louis, and a pair against Chicago that will get us into August. With 14 of those 18 games coming against teams ahead of us in the standings (and all 18 games being against teams within 5.5 games of first) this is going to be a critical stretch if we’re going to prove to be real contenders as the races really heat up! __________________ "Goodbye To 'The Mack'": The 1916 A's In Peril -- An OOTP 27 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)