RetroTweets - What If They Had Divisional Play and Wild Cards Starting in MLB in 1901?
"What if" is a fun exercise. In a series we will call "Retro-Tweets", let's examine some "what ifs" about baseball history.
Let's start with the Deadball Era, 1901-1919. WHAT IF the 8 team AL and 8 team NL had been split into AL East and NL West Divisions, and each year there had been two wild cards, so that every year there was a full seven game wild card round followed by an LCS round, followed by a World Series?
First, the American League.
John J. McGraw - fiery Manager of the New York Giants, former Baltimore Oriole
The American League in 1901 had the Milwaukee Brewers and the Baltimore Orioles in it. The Baltimore Orioles
and Milwaukee Brewers would only play in the AL in one season, 1901. They would move in the following season & not re-appear again until 1954 and 1970
respec?tively.
One of them would move to New York and become the New York Yankees—do you know which one?
In AL, this is how the East and West divisions might logically have been split up:
AL East
Philadelphia Athletics
Boston Red Sox
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Senators
AL West
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
[Note: some of these team nicknames were different back in 1901; Cleveland was known as the "Naps", Boston as the "Red Stockings" and so forth, but for purposes of this article we'll stay with the modern franchise tags.]
In the National League, this is how the East and West divisions might logically have been split up:
NL East
New York Giants
Brooklyn Dodgers
Philadelphia Phillies
Boston Braves
NL West
Chicago Cubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cincinnati Reds
Well, now that you look at it, these divisions make excellent geographical and logical sense.
Big Ed Delahanty - HOF LF for the Phillies - batted .400 twice, hit 4HR in a game, hitting the dead ball in the dead ball era.
Now lets look at the actual results from 1901:
1901 American League
Team Statistics and Standings AL Detailed Standings RetroTweet – Divisional Play
American League East 1901
|
Rk
|
Tm
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
GB
|
GBsum
|
R
|
RA
|
Rdiff
|
SOS
|
SRS
|
pythWL
|
Luck
|
Home
|
Road
|
1Run
|
vRHP
|
vLHP
|
≥.500
|
<.500
|
|
2
|
|
79
|
57
|
.581
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
5.5
|
4.4
|
1.1
|
-0.1
|
1.0
|
82-54
|
-3
|
49-20
|
30-37
|
14-14
|
57-37
|
22-20
|
40-38
|
39-19
|
|
4
|
|
74
|
62
|
.544
|
9.0
|
14.5
|
5.9
|
5.5
|
0.3
|
0.0
|
0.3
|
72-64
|
2
|
42-24
|
32-38
|
16-15
|
62-51
|
12-11
|
35-41
|
39-21
|
|
5
|
|
68
|
65
|
.511
|
13.5
|
32.5
|
5.6
|
5.6
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
0.1
|
67-66
|
1
|
40-25
|
28-40
|
14-14
|
46-47
|
22-17
|
34-41
|
34-24
|
|
6
|
|
61
|
72
|
.459
|
20.5
|
67.5
|
4.9
|
5.6
|
-0.6
|
0.1
|
-0.6
|
59-74
|
2
|
31-35
|
30-37
|
12-16
|
44-58
|
17-14
|
44-53
|
17-19
|
|
Avg
|
67
|
67
|
.500
|
|
|
5.3
|
5.4
|
|
|
|
67-67
|
|
39-28
|
28-39
|
15-15
|
50-49
|
17-18
|
37-47
|
30-20
|
American
League West 1901
|
Rk
|
Tm
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
GB
|
GBsum
|
R
|
RA
|
Rdiff
|
SOS
|
SRS
|
pythWL
|
Luck
|
Home
|
Road
|
1Run
|
vRHP
|
vLHP
|
≥.500
|
<.500
|
|
1
|
|
83
|
53
|
.610
|
---
|
|
6.0
|
4.6
|
1.4
|
-0.2
|
1.2
|
84-52
|
-1
|
49-21
|
34-32
|
15-12
|
56-41
|
27-12
|
44-34
|
39-19
|
|
3
|
|
74
|
61
|
.548
|
8.5
|
13.0
|
5.4
|
5.1
|
0.3
|
0.0
|
0.3
|
72-63
|
2
|
42-27
|
32-34
|
21-15
|
57-44
|
16-17
|
38-37
|
36-24
|
|
7
|
|
54
|
82
|
.397
|
29.0
|
118.5
|
4.8
|
6.0
|
-1.2
|
0.1
|
-1.1
|
54-82
|
0
|
28-39
|
26-43
|
12-17
|
41-56
|
13-26
|
34-64
|
20-18
|
|
8
|
|
48
|
89
|
.350
|
35.5
|
164.0
|
4.6
|
6.0
|
-1.3
|
0.2
|
-1.2
|
53-84
|
-5
|
32-37
|
16-52
|
17-18
|
40-59
|
8-30
|
29-70
|
19-19
|
|
Avg
|
67
|
67
|
.500
|
|
|
5.3
|
5.4
|
|
|
|
67-67
|
|
39-28
|
28-39
|
15-15
|
50-49
|
17-18
|
37-47
|
30-20
|
Summary:
The Red Sox win the AL East, the Chisox win
the AL West. The two wild cards would
have been the Philadelphia As and the Detroit Tigers. Tigers v. Bosox and Chisox v. As, Wild Card
round, then ALCS round. The Bosox were
very good and would have beaten the Tigers, while the Chisox had better
pitching than the As, so the Chisox win.
Chisox v. Bosox in ALCS is very close—both fine clubs—probably a tossup,
slight edge to Chisox, but the Bosox of 1901 were a fine team.
1901 National League
Team Statistics and Standings –
National League East 1901
|
Rk
|
Tm
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
GB
|
GBsum
|
R
|
RA
|
Rdiff
|
SOS
|
SRS
|
pythWL
|
Luck
|
Home
|
Road
|
1Run
|
vRHP
|
vLHP
|
≥.500
|
<.500
|
|
2
|
|
83
|
57
|
.593
|
7.5
|
7.5
|
4.8
|
3.9
|
0.9
|
-0.1
|
0.8
|
83-57
|
0
|
46-23
|
37-34
|
26-23
|
70-49
|
13-8
|
38-42
|
45-15
|
|
3
|
|
79
|
57
|
.581
|
9.5
|
11.5
|
5.4
|
4.4
|
1.1
|
-0.1
|
0.9
|
81-55
|
-2
|
43-25
|
36-32
|
23-18
|
66-49
|
13-8
|
41-38
|
38-19
|
|
5
|
|
69
|
69
|
.500
|
20.5
|
50.5
|
3.8
|
4.0
|
-0.2
|
0.0
|
-0.2
|
66-72
|
3
|
41-29
|
28-40
|
27-24
|
57-58
|
12-11
|
31-49
|
38-20
|
|
7
|
|
52
|
85
|
.380
|
37.0
|
133.0
|
3.9
|
5.4
|
-1.5
|
0.2
|
-1.3
|
49-88
|
3
|
30-38
|
22-47
|
14-19
|
42-68
|
10-17
|
31-66
|
21-19
|
|
Avg
|
69
|
69
|
.500
|
|
|
4.6
|
4.6
|
|
|
|
69-69
|
|
37-31
|
31-37
|
20-20
|
56-57
|
12-12
|
37-49
|
32-19
|
National
League West 1901
|
Rk
|
Tm
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
GB
|
GBsum
|
R
|
RA
|
Rdiff
|
SOS
|
SRS
|
pythWL
|
Luck
|
Home
|
Road
|
1Run
|
vRHP
|
vLHP
|
≥.500
|
<.500
|
|
1
|
|
90
|
49
|
.647
|
---
|
|
5.5
|
3.8
|
1.7
|
-0.2
|
1.5
|
92-47
|
-2
|
45-24
|
45-25
|
17-16
|
70-43
|
20-6
|
47-32
|
43-17
|
|
4
|
|
76
|
64
|
.543
|
14.5
|
26.5
|
5.6
|
4.9
|
0.7
|
-0.1
|
0.6
|
79-61
|
-3
|
40-31
|
36-33
|
22-19
|
62-47
|
14-17
|
42-38
|
34-26
|
|
6
|
|
53
|
86
|
.381
|
37.0
|
133.0
|
4.1
|
5.0
|
-0.9
|
0.1
|
-0.8
|
58-81
|
-5
|
30-39
|
23-47
|
17-22
|
46-71
|
7-15
|
32-67
|
21-19
|
|
8
|
|
52
|
87
|
.374
|
38.0
|
140.0
|
4.0
|
5.8
|
-1.8
|
0.2
|
-1.6
|
46-93
|
6
|
27-43
|
25-44
|
18-23
|
40-73
|
12-14
|
34-65
|
18-22
|
|
Avg
|
69
|
69
|
.500
|
|
|
4.6
|
4.6
|
|
|
|
69-69
|
|
37-31
|
31-37
|
20-20
|
56-57
|
12-12
|
37-49
|
32-19
|
Summary:
The Phillies win their first division title in the NL East in 1901,
while the Pirates win the NL West going away in 1901. The wild cards are the Cards in the West and
the Brooklyn Dodgers (Superbas?) in the NL East. So Cards v. Phils and Dodgers v. Pirates Wild
Card. This playoff is much easier to
predict—the Pirates really did have the best team in the NL in 1901. They were stacked both offensively and with
great pitching. The Phils had offense
but not much pitching, similar to the Cards.
The Phils would probably edge the Cards, while the Pirates would flatten
the Dodgers, then the Pirates would beat the Phils in the NLCS. The World Series would have gone to the
Pirates.
John Frank "Buck" Freeman - Slugging RF and 1B for the Boston Red Sox - hit 25 HR in 1899 - In an 11-season career, Freeman was a .293 hitter (1235-for-4208) with 82 home runs and 713 RBI in 1126 games, including 199 doubles, 131 triples, 92 stolen bases, a slugging percentage of .462, and a .346 OBA. Born Catasauqua, PA, 1871, died Wilkes-Barre, PA 1949 age 77.
OVERALL: This is fascinating. The Phillies waited until 1950 to win anything in eight team NL league play. The Cardinals did not win a pennant in eight team NL league play until the 1920s, but here they get into the playoffs via the wild card. The Brooklyn Dodgers, who would win only one pennant in the 1910s and then wait until 1941, get into the wild card their first year. On the AL side of the ledger, it's more of the same old same old, except that the Chisox walk away with a division title their first year. The As were uniformly excellent in the dead ball era through 1914. The Tigers likewise, especially after they picked up that young kid Cobb "the Georgia Peach." And the Boston Red Sox, well, the curse of the Bambino had not yet hit, and they were as fine a ballclub as you would want to see in 1901--pitching, hitting, defense--the Red Sox had it all in 1901.
Come to think of it, these are playoffs we'd want to see today. In the deadball era, every player knew how to bunt; every player knew how to steal a base; stealing home was a common occurrence; the hit and run play was scientifically executed; players routinely played for one run at a time, but there were also guys who could hit home runs and long doubles and triples. Everyone in the lineup, including the catchers, could run, and no one swung from their heels on every pitch. Strikeouts were rare and everyone tried to keep the ball in play. Some fielders were superb while others were pretty awful, so you never knew what might happen on a ball hit to the field. And the distances to the outfield--were gargantuan--500 feet to CF, and often 400 feet or more to the alleys. Some parks were 400 feet down the lines, or were uneven, 400 to one field but only 325 to the other field. And fans during playoff games stood in the outfield behind a rope--if the ball went into the crowd, it was a ground rule double. It was baseball, but not the baseball of today.
Ty Cobb - 4,191 Hits, .367 lifetime BA, 11 Batting Titles
