Cy Young-P, George Davis-3B, George Rettger-P, John Shearon, Jack Doyle-SUB, Jimmy McAleer-CF, Jack O’Connor-RF, George Davies-P,
Jake Virtue, Tom Williams-P, Nig Cuppy-P, Cupid Childs-2B, Pat Tebeau-UT, Lee Viau,
Jesse Burkett-LF , Ed McKean-SS
The 2nd half winners of the split season are just a shadow of their terrible 1899 self. A line-up that includes 4 future Hall of Famers, won 93 games and finished 2nd overall for the season despite playing 5 less games and winning 2 less games than the Brooklyn Wonders.
Jesse Burkett and George Davis had fine seasons but they have not reached their Hall of Fame numbers yet. The offensive star of this team is Cupid Childs. He led the team with a .317 average, and led the league with136 runs scored and a .443 OBP, helped by his 117 walks.
Cy Young is pitching in his prime, winning 36 games with a 1.93 ERA and 9 shutouts, all league leading totals. Nig Cuppy won 28 games and former Beaneater John Clarkson added 17 wins. Their team ERA of 2.41 easily led the league, but their 413 walks also paced the league.
PREDICTION: The Spiders lost easily to the Beaneaters in the Pennant Series 5-0-1, but I don’t think it will turn out quite that way. Cy Young will pitch in 3 games and should neutralize the superior slugging numbers of the Beaneaters. The Spiders could pull out the upset in 7 games.
Several years ago I was playing in a Championship series for a simulation league that I was in. We were using the stats from 1888 and my team, the Cleveland Spiders, had just won the 1st 3 games of the best of 7 series. One more win and I would have won the championship. The Yankees had just blown a 3-0 series lead to the Red Sox, the 1st time that had ever happened, so I figured the chances of that happening to me were non existent. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Playing live via the net, I lost game four 1-0 with the tying run getting thrown out at home in the 9th. I was losing by 8 runs in the 9th in the following game, only to score 7 runs and have the tying run thrown out at the plate once again. Needless to say, I lost that series in 7 games. A devastating turn of events. So in honor of my Cleveland Spiders, I will be rooting for this rendition to win in 7 games.
