Alt-1922 World Series Preview

The Brooklyn (proto-)Dodgers vs. the New York Yankees are in the World Series, just like nature intended. Of course, Yankee Stadium isn't in operation yet, and the Dodgers are still called the Robins. But Casey Stengel will be on hand, about which more below.  This is another case of the Yankees coming in mashing and facing an NL opponent that is all about run prevention. Per recent tradition, the Yankees led the AL in basically every important offensive category, though they were only 3rd in drawing walks. On the other hand, they were up to 9th in stolen bases (half of them were by Oscar Charleston). Pitching-wise, though, things were not good. Rather than a mediocre staff, the Yankees seemed to have a downright bad one this year, finishing 7th in ERA, 7th in runs allowed, 8th in hits allowed, last in strikeouts, and only 7th in defensive efficiency on top of all that. Ick.

The Robins, for their part, were a bit better at batting than the Yankees were at pitching, finishing 4th-6th in the NL in most important categories. On the mound, they were as dominant as the Yankees were at the plate, finishing 1st in basically everything save walks (5th) and strikeouts (7th).  In addition, they led the NL in defensive efficiency and zone rating. These are the kinds of matchups that tend not to go the Yankees' way. 

The Robins were also remarkably consistent--they finished 95-67 for a .586 winning percentage. Their Pythagorean record was 96-66. They played at a .604 pace at home, .567 on the road. They played .590 in 1-run games, .590 vs. lefties and .585 vs. righties. They had a very hot April (19-7) a bad July (11-14) and were pretty consistently getting 15-17 wins and 10-12 losses the other months. 

The Yankees, on the other hand, were very hot and cold. They also had a very hot April, but their May was worse than the Robins' July. They were under .500 in 1-run games. They certainly didn't back in, but they did feel much shakier than it seemed they should have. Some of that could have been injuries--Eddie Collins missed nearly 8 weeks with one thing and another, and Peckinpaugh missed about 10 weeks between a back injury and a knee injury. Losing them in conjunction with playing the bad-fielding Cobb and Heilmann really hurt our overall defense. And then Cobb hit under .200 in September. Not good.

 

At this point, I'd typically run through and compare the players and lineups. A cursory look at the stats, though, suggests that that'd just be a re-run of the 1918 preview, with the names changed. Casey Stengel is no Rogers Hornsby, of course, but he is the best player in the Series according to WAR in 1922. The next several players in the series sorted by WAR are all on the Yankees. Sorting by OPS+ tells a similar story and in theory accounts for the park effects.  But Stengel and Wheat are basically the equal of anything the Yankees can put up against them, at least in 1922.  Pitching-wise, as you'd expect, it's all Robins. Sorting by ERA+ shows Lefty Williams at the head of the class, and two of the three expected starters for the Yankees down at league average or worse. But there is some hope for the Pinstripes--the best pitcher on Brooklyn's staff by ERA+, Ballplayer Koch (I'll flame about that another time), went down with a torn UCL in September and is out. The other Brooklyn standouts by ERA+ had very limited usage. Still, every Brooklyn pitcher who's likely to get any innings in was better than practically any Yankees pitcher in ERA+ other than Vance and Ruether.

 

I want the Yankees to win, and if I was in Watsonian mode I'd write here about how this team plays well with their backs against the wall, and the spark of getting Peckinpaugh back and the prospect of getting Cy Williams back starting in Game 2 and the Yankees pitchers having something to prove combined with Ty Cobb's mortification at how bad he was in September will all make a difference. But I'm in Doylist mode here, and  looking at the teams really is giving me 1918 World Series vibes, and the Cardinals beat the Yankees in 5 there. I've gotten better at matchups, and as always anything can happen in a short series, but I'm thinking Brooklyn in 5.  

Faber Leads Yankees to Playoff Victory: An article from the Alt-New York Examiner

 

New York, 2 October 1922: Six months after the 1922 baseball season began, the Yankees finally passed the Red Sox in the standings for good. Nearly 14,000 souls braved a rainy Monday in the Polo Grounds to watch their heroes in pinstripes topple the visitors from Boston 5-2 and secure a berth against the Brooklyn Robins in what's being called "The Subway Series". 

Today's win, like this season's pennant, did not come easily to the Yankees. And, like the season itself, New York spotted Boston an early lead--starter Red Faber ran into trouble in the 2nd when Grover Hartley tripled to deep left center field, driving in Paddy Siglin before Hartley himself was driven in by Harry Hooper. The Yankees started chipping away in the next inning, with the action started by Yankees captain Roger Peckinpaugh, newly returned from a sprained knee that had kept him out for nearly 7 weeks. Peckinpaugh singled, was sacrificed to second base by Faber, and then successfully tested his knee by scoring on a single through the middle by Charleston. New York tied the game the following inning with four consecutive singles by Santop, Cobb, Moore, and Goslin off of Red Sox starter Dutch Leonard, though Leonard stemmed the damage from being much worse. At this juncture, however, the mood in the Polo Grounds turned from pure anxiety to a more excited sense of inevitability, and during their next at-bats in the 5th inning Santop was able to cash in Charleston's leadoff double to give New York the lead. The Yankees tacked on an additional run in the 6th (singles by Moore, Goslin, and Peckinpaugh) and 7th innings (a leadoff double rocketed by Heilmann into deepest right center field in what was likely the hardest hit of the day, with singles by Cobb and Goslin bringing him in), the latter off of Boston reliever Erskine Mayer. 

Meanwhile, Faber held Boston down after the 2nd inning, only allowing four hits through the final 7 shutout frames, and outlasting a 20-minute rain delay. Faber went after the Boston batters all day, keeping Speaker off of the basepaths and keeping the mighty Ruth in the ballpark while facing him with the bases empty. 

After the game, the principals for both teams were by turns emotional and philosophical, though as you might expect the home clubhouse was much more animated and positive in both areas. Red Sox manager Bill Carrigan expressed pride in his team and how they kept pace with the Yankees in the final weeks of the season even when many sportswriters expected them to fold. Boston captain Harry Hooper congratulated the Yankees and expressed gratitude to the Red Sox' fans, over a million of whom attended games at Fenway Park this season. Ruth, never a shrinking violet, was nevertheless subdued compared to his typical demeanor. "This was quite the year" Ruth noted, "I didn't play up to the standard I set for myself the last couple of years, and of course I muffed that easy fly here a few weeks ago. I'll do everything I can to bring another championship home in 1923 to the best fans in baseball."  Up to his standard or no, Ruth will almost certainly win his 4th consecutive MVP award this year. 

As for the Yankees, the joy at winning the pennant was tempered a bit by a sense of unfinished business and memories of last year. Ty Cobb in particular spoke of "avenging last year" in a manner that somewhat belied claims that he'd mellowed since arriving in New York. Charleston, as close as the Yankees come to a Babe Ruth type, said the American League pennant meant more than "a week's worth of coin flips in lousy weather" but readily agreed that a Series win would be "necessary to end the season on a high note" and that it would rankle to "see a championship banner hanging across town". Eddie Collins, heading to his jaw-dropping 9th World Series, praised the Yankees' achievement of winning a third straight pennant and gave particular credit to Dobie Moore, who more than ably filled in for long stretches when either Collins or Peckinpaugh (or both!) were hurt. 

The World Series begins on Thursday in Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. 

Alt-1922: Like 1978 or like 1904?

 

In the end I suppose it was going to always be this--the Yankees and Red Sox are tied after Game 162, and need to play Game 163.  The will do so at the Polo Grounds, with Dutch Leonard facing Red Faber.  Things looked exceedingly dire for the Pinstripes after they dropped a very winnable game to the Athletics in Game 161 while Boston won their 5th in a row, but there was a wild finish the next day.  

New York turned to Dazzy Vance to try and hold down Philadelphia while they then hoped for Cleveland to beat Boston, but Vance was very ineffective in the first few innings and Bullet Rogan let some inherited runners score, and the Yanks were staring at a 8-1 deficit. They fought back and took a 9-8 lead into the 7th, which Pennock then gave back before rookie Cliff Bell threw a couple of clean innings. It took something of a miracle finish including a questionable Philadelphia attempt to cut off a run at home vs. taking the out at first to set up a walkoff 2-RBI double by Goose Goslin and a 12-11 win.

In Cleveland, the Red Sox-Spiders game followed what seemed to be a familiar pattern--the Spiders roughed Ray Collins up early, but a 4-0 lead was not nearly enough and Boston entered the 9th with a 7-4 lead and Collins still on the mound. However, a Ray Chapman triple tied up the game and put the winning run on third with 1 out. Erskine Mayer shut down that threat, and the game stayed deadlocked at 7 until the 13th inning, with repeated instances of Speaker getting to 2nd base followed by Babe Ruth getting intentionally walked and the Spiders escaping.  Finally, Alt-1915 legend Bevo LeBorveau drove in Guy Sturdy with the winning run, and we had our flatfooted tie atop the AL.

The Yankees have done very well against Boston this year, and Faber is 5-0 against them. Leonard is the ace of the Boston staff, but hasn't been quite as good in the second half. In-universe, people might wonder if Faber is cut out for big games, though of course this (should be) random.  In another random in-universe storyline,  Roger Peckinpaugh, the Yankees captain, is apparently healthy enough to play in Game 163 for the first time in over a month. 

Let's see how this goes.  Depending on the outcome I may go for a Watsonian post vs. a Doylist one...

The Final Throes of the Alt-1922 Regular Season

 

It's the morning of 27 September 1922, and the pennant races are as good as I've had since starting this simulation back in 1915. The Yankees cling to a 1/2 game lead over Boston, with a tie in the (all-important) loss column. In the NL, the Giants are up 1 1/2 games over Brooklyn, 2 in the loss column. The Yanks and Robins have 4 games to play, the Red Sox and Giants have 5. The Yankees and Giants are at home the rest of the way, Boston is on the road, Brooklyn has one more away game before finishing at home. 

The story continues to feel like one of missed chances. Since last time, the Yankees dropped as far as 4 games behind Boston before picking up a game somewhere and then sweeping the Sox to pull into a tie. The Yankees have been up as much as a game on Boston, but they can't seem to put them away--our inability to reliably beat bad teams may be our undoing, and we finish the season against bad teams. Boston finishes against the 3rd and 4th place teams in Cleveland and Kansas City, and while they're clearly on the ropes they refuse to go down.

The Giants similarly seem to not quite be able to put the Robins away, though the Robins also aren't quite taking advantage of the Giants' iffy recent play. 

Before closing this short update, I'll congratulate the San Diego Aces, Little World Series champions, and the Richmond Colts, winners of the Governors' Cup.