DMB World Series-Baseball Memorabilia Reminiscing

 

 

This Mickey Mantle Bobble Head sold at auction back in 2005 for $1508.00. It was issued in 1966 and features the Mick with very wide shoulders. It’s known as the “muscles variation” bobble head. There have been thousands of bobble heads issued throughout the years in all sports, and there are many that have been sold for considerably more money than this particular example.

My question is why? What’s the appeal? I’ve never owned a bobble head doll, and have never wanted one. Can someone explain to me the attraction of the bobbing head.

Does anyone over the age of 12 seriously find this type of memorabilia desirable?

Let me know what you think….the good, the bad and the ugly of bobble heads…….enquiring minds want to know.

1904 DMB World Series- Game #3

NOTE: There was no World Series played in 1904

Dummy Taylor vs Jesse Tannehill 10/11/1904, @ Huntington Avenue Grounds

 

BILL DAHLEN GIVES GIANTS A MUCH NEEDED WIN

 Bill Dahlen had a 42 game hitting streak in 1894. It is still the longest for a right handed hitter in the NL.

Bill Dahlen stroked a long triple, his 3rd hit of the game,  in the 8th inning to drive in 2 runs and give the NY Giants their 1st victory in the 1904 DMB World Series.

The Americans had just tied the score at 5 with a 2 out rally in the 7th. Leading 5-2 with 2 outs in the 7th, Giant starter Dummy Taylor was facing his mound adversary Jesse Tannehill. Tannehill had struggled all game giving up just 6 hits, but walking 4 while hitting 3 batters, while throwing 130 pitches.  It was a spot for a pinch hitter but with little available on the bench Tannehill was allowed to hit. He managed to dribble a single into right field, unhinging Dummy Taylor. He gave up a line drive single to Kip Selbach on a 3-2 pitch, a line drive single to Chick Stahl on another 3-2 pitch to load the bases, and then a bases clearing triple to Freddy Parent on another 3-2 pitch.  Red Ames would come on to pitch to the dangerous Buck Freeman and would induce a groundball out. Ames would finish out the game by getting Buck Freeman to ground out with the bases loaded in the 9th.

The Americans lead this series 2 games to 1.

10/11/1904, NY104-BOS04, Huntington Avenue Grounds
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1904 Giants            0  1  1  0  1  2  0  2  0     7 10  1    12  0
1904 Americans         2  0  0  0  0  0  3  0  0     5 12  4     8  0

Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Americans            AB  R  H BI   AVG
Devlin,A          3b  5  1  0  0  .231    Selbach,K         lf  4  2  3  0  .467
Gilbert,B         2b  4  1  1  0  .077    Stahl,C           cf  5  2  2  0  .375
McGann,D          1b  4  2  2  1  .308    Parent,F          ss  5  0  4  4  .438
Dahlen,B          ss  5  1  3  3  .286    Freeman,B         rf  4  0  0  1  .154
Mertes,S          lf  5  0  0  0  .231    Collins,J         3b  4  0  1  0  .154
Bresnahan,R       cf  2  1  0  0  .300    LaChance,C        1b  4  0  1  0  .250
Browne,G          rf  5  0  1  0  .286    Ferris,H          2b  4  0  0  0  .077
Bowerman,F        c   4  1  1  0  .200    Criger,L          c   4  0  0  0  .091
Taylor,D          p   4  0  1  2  .250    Tannehill,J       p   3  1  1  0  .333
Ames,R           p   1  0  1  0 1.000     Gibson,N         p   0  0  0  0  .000
                     39  7 10  6           Farrell,D        ph  1  0  0  0  .000
                                                               38  5 12  5
Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Taylor,D                         6.2 11  5  5  0  2 117  75  6.75
Ames,R           W 1-0           2.1  1  0  0  1  1  42  27  0.00
                                 9.0 12  5  5  1  3 159 102
Americans                        INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Tannehill,J      L 0-1           7.1  8  7  5  3  4 142  91  6.14
Gibson,N                         1.2  2  0  0  0  0  20  11  0.00
                                 9.0 10  7  5  3  4 162 102
BOS: Farrell,D batted for Gibson,N in the 9th

E-Gilbert,B, Selbach,K, Parent,F, Collins,J, Ferris,H. 2B-McGann,D, Dahlen,B,
Stahl,C. 3B-Dahlen,B, Parent,F. SB-Devlin,A(2), LaChance,C(1). CS-Selbach,K.
K-Devlin,A 2, Bresnahan,R, Bowerman,F, Ferris,H, Tannehill,J 2.
BB-Bresnahan,R 3, Selbach,K. SF-McGann,D, Freeman,B. HBP-Devlin,A, Gilbert,B,
Bowerman,F. PB-Criger,L. HB-Tannehill,J 3.
GWRBI: Dahlen,B
Temperature: 51, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 16 MPH.

1904 DMB World Series-Game #2

Note: There was no World Series played in 1904.

Bill Dineen vs Joe McGinnity 10/9/1904, @ Polo Grounds IV

Joe McGinnity won 20+ games in his 1st 8 seasons.

AMERICANS BEAT GIANTS IN 12 INNINGS

With the score tied at 2, Iron man Joe McGinnity came out to pitch the 12th inning having already thrown 150 pitches. Pitching on pure guts he inexplicably gave up a lead-off single to his contemporary Bill Dineen. He recovered to get an easy groundball to 1st baseman Dan McGann who tried to turn the 3-6-3 double play but hit Dineen with the throw to put 2 runners on with no outs. Chick Stahl lined the next pitch into left field scoring Dineen, and when Sam Mertes threw wild to 3rd, he allowed Kip Selbach to score the 2nd run of the inning.

Hook Wiltse came on to strike out 2 Americans to keep the score at 4-2.

In the last of the 12th Bill Dineen came out to try to finish what he started but immediately gave up a lead-off double to Sam Mertes. When Roger Bresnahan walked on 4 pitches, Dineen was pulled in favor of George Winter. An infield single loaded the bases, but the Americans turned a nifty double play to snuff any chance at a Giant comeback.

The Americans now have a surprising 2-0 lead in this series, that is heading to Boston for game 3.

10/9/1904, BOS04-NY104, Polo Grounds IV
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12     R  H  E   LOB DP
1904 Americans         0  0  0  0  0  2  0  0  0  0  0  2     4  9  1    10  2
1904 Giants            1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  1     3 10  5     6  0

Americans            AB  R  H BI   AVG    Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Selbach,K         lf  6  1  2  0  .364    Devlin,A          3b  4  1  2  0  .375
Stahl,C           cf  6  0  1  1  .364    Gilbert,B         2b  5  0  0  0  .000
Parent,F          ss  6  1  1  0  .273    McGann,D          1b  5  0  2  0  .222
Freeman,B         rf  5  1  1  0  .222    Dahlen,B          ss  5  0  1  1  .111
Collins,J         3b  6  0  1  2  .111    Mertes,S          lf  5  2  2  0  .375
LaChance,C        1b  4  0  0  0  .250    Bresnahan,R       cf  4  0  2  1  .375
Ferris,H          2b  5  0  1  0  .111    Browne,G          rf  5  0  1  0  .333
Criger,L          c   4  0  0  0  .143    Warner,J          c   3  0  0  0  .000
Dineen,B          p   4  1  2  0  .500     Donlin,M         ph  1  0  0  0  .000
Winter,G         p   0  0  0  0  .000     Bowerman,F       c   1  0  0  0  .000
                     46  4  9  3          McGinnity,J       p   4  0  0  0  .000
                                           Wiltse,H         p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                           Dunn,J           ph  1  0  0  0  .000
                                                               43  3 10  2
Americans                        INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Dineen,B         W 1-0          11.0  9  3  3  2  3 131  85  2.45
Winter,G         S 1             1.0  1  0  0  0  0   7   4  0.00
                                12.0 10  3  3  2  3 138  89
Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
McGinnity,J      L 0-1          11.0  9  4  2  2  5 166 113  1.64
Wiltse,H                         1.0  0  0  0  0  2  18  11  0.00
                                12.0  9  4  2  2  7 184 124
NY1: Donlin,M batted for Warner,J in the 10th
     Bowerman,F inserted at c in the 11th
     Dunn,J batted for Wiltse,H in the 12th

E-Parent,F, McGann,D 2, Dahlen,B, Mertes,S, Warner,J. 2B-Collins,J, Mertes,S,
Bresnahan,R 2. SB-Stahl,C(1), Devlin,A(1). CS-Ferris,H, Devlin,A.
K-Selbach,K, Parent,F, Freeman,B, Collins,J, LaChance,C, Criger,L 2,
Gilbert,B 2, McGinnity,J. BB-Freeman,B, Criger,L, Devlin,A, Bresnahan,R.
SH-Dineen,B. HBP-LaChance,C. HB-McGinnity,J. WP-McGinnity,J.
GWRBI: Stahl,C
Temperature: 61, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 16 MPH.

1904 DMB World Series-Game #1

Note: There was no World Series played in 1904.

Cy Young vs Christy Mathewson 10/8/1904, BOS04-NY104, Polo Grounds IV

 

PARENT’S DOUBLE IN THE 9TH GIVES AMERICANS THE VICTORY

When Freddy Parent died in 1972 he was the last surviving  player from the 1903 World Series. He was just 3 weeks shy of his 97th birthday.

A classic match-up between Cy Young and Christy Mathewson that never got to happen was finally realized in game 1 of this 1904 DMB World Series.

On a cold rainy day at the Polo Grounds Mathewson and Young matched performances as the score was tied at 3 entering the 9th inning. Mathewson showed signs of weariness when he walked the light hitting Lou Criger on 4 pitches to start the inning. Cy Young dropped a bunt down to sacrifice Criger to 2nd. Kip Selbach lined a single to center, sending Criger racing home. Centerfielder Roger Bresnahan, the soon to be hard throwing HOF catcher showed off his arm by throwing Criger out at the plate. With  2 outs it looked like Mathewson was going to get out of the inning when he coaxed a slow groundball off the bat of Chick Stahl  to Billy Gilbert at 2nd. Gilbert was unable to get good traction on the rain soaked infield and  Stahl beat out the infield hit, putting runners at the corners.

Freddy Parent lined a base hit that split the outfielders for a 2 rbi double and a 5-3 Americans lead.

In the last of the 9th the Giants put together a rally when Sam Mertes tripled to open the inning, but a groundout and 2 long flyball outs ended the game for the Giants.

10/8/1904, BOS04-NY104, Polo Grounds IV
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1904 Americans         2  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  2     5 11  2     8  1
1904 Giants            1  0  0  2  0  0  0  0  1     4  7  1     4  1

Americans            AB  R  H BI   AVG    Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Selbach,K         lf  5  2  2  0  .400    Devlin,A          3b  4  1  1  0  .250
Stahl,C           cf  5  2  3  0  .600    Gilbert,B         2b  4  0  0  0  .000
Parent,F          ss  5  1  2  2  .400    McGann,D          1b  4  0  0  1  .000
Freeman,B         rf  4  0  1  1  .250    Dahlen,B          ss  4  0  0  0  .000
Collins,J         3b  3  0  0  1  .000    Mertes,S          lf  3  1  1  0  .333
LaChance,C        1b  4  0  2  1  .500    Bresnahan,R       cf  4  1  1  1  .250
Ferris,H          2b  4  0  0  0  .000    Browne,G          rf  4  1  2  0  .500
Criger,L          c   3  0  1  0  .333    Warner,J          c   3  0  0  1  .000
Young,C           p   3  0  0  0  .000    Mathewson,C       p   3  0  2  1  .667
                     36  5 11  5                               33  4  7  4
Americans                        INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Young,C          W 1-0           9.0  7  4  3  0  5 119  85  3.00
                                 9.0  7  4  3  0  5 119  85
Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Mathewson,C      L 0-1           9.0 11  5  4  2  4 111  75  4.00
                                 9.0 11  5  4  2  4 111  75

E-Collins,J, LaChance,C, McGann,D. 2B-Stahl,C, Parent,F, Freeman,B,
Mathewson,C. 3B-Mertes,S. SB-Mathewson,C(1). K-Stahl,C, Parent,F 2, Young,C,
Devlin,A, Gilbert,B, McGann,D, Dahlen,B, Warner,J. BB-Freeman,B, Criger,L.
SH-Young,C. SF-Warner,J. HBP-Collins,J, Mertes,S. HB-Young,C, Mathewson,C.
WP-Young,C, Mathewson,C.
GWRBI: Parent,F
Temperature: 51, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: left to right at 16 MPH,
Rain Delays: 41 minutes.

1904 DMB World Series- NY Giants

1904 NY Giants

The 1904 NY Giants won their 1st of 8 NL pennants under Manager John McGraw. They won a then NL record 106 games. They lead the league with a .262 average, 31 home runs, 744 runs scored and for good measure they stole a league leading 283 bases. They lead the league with a 2.17 team ERA, 21 shutouts and 707 strikeouts. And then they went home.

Giants owner John Brush and manager John McGraw put their egos together and decided that the World Series would not take place. McGraw later claimed that this was all Brush’s doings,  but McGraw was not a big fan of AL President Ban Johnson, and he was very vocal in his opinion that the AL was still a minor league organization. When the Giants had a double digit lead over the Cubs in late July, the crosstown rival NY Highlanders were also in 1st place in the AL. Neither Brush nor McGraw wanted to share the glory with another NY team, and also didn’t want to take any chance in losing to that team, so they announced that they would not be participating in any post season play. When the Americans edged out the Highlanders on the last weekend of the season, I would imagine that both Brush and McGraw regretted blowing off what could have been a pretty nice payday.

There would not be another year without a World Series until 1994. Baseball ‘s World Series would survive 2 World Wars, and a boat load of “military actions” but it didn’t survive the battle between the millionaires and billionaires.

Offensively the Giants made a couple of key moves that greatly improved their team. Art Devlin  signed on as a rookie and would become the Giants full time 3rd baseman, hitting .281 with 81 runs scored and 33 stolen bases. Shortstop Bill Dahlen  arrived via a trade with the Brooklyn Superbas. Dahlen would provide solid defense while hitting .268 and driving in a team leading 80 runs. In August Mike Donlin  joined the team via a 3 way trade that involved the Reds and the Pirates.  Moose McCormick would go to the Pirates, while Jimmy Sebring would go to the Reds. Donlin would hit .280 in 42 games with the Giants.

Roger Bresnahan  hit .284 with 5 home runs while playing most of his games in the outfield. Bresnahan would not play a single game at catcher. He would play over 800 games at catcher over the next 9 seasons.

Dan McGann  hit .286 with a team leading 6 home runs at 1st base. Sam Mertes would lead the team with 11 triples and 28 doubles while hitting .276.

The pitching staff for the Giants was outstanding. Christy Mathewson went 33-12 with a 2.03 ERA and was not even the best pitcher on the team. Joe McGinnity would go 35-8 with a 1.61 ERA in 408 IPs. Dummy Taylor would be the 3rd member of the staff to win 20 games, he would finish with 21 wins and a 2.34 ERA. Rookie Hooks Wiltse would go 13-3 while appearing in 24 games.

On paper the Giants should win this World Series replay, 106 years too late.

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1904 DMB World Series-Boston Americans

The Boston Americans raise their 1903 Championship flag at the Huntington Avenue Grounds

The Boston Americans won their 2nd straight American League pennant, and unfortunately because the NY Giants, a la John McGraw and John Brush, decided to act like children in a sandbox, they do not get to vie for their 2nd World Series Championship. The Americans will get their chance for redemption in the upcoming DMB World Series Replay. In 1903 the Americans bested the Pirates in 8 games, but in the DMB Replay world they lost the 1903 Replay in 6 games.

The Americans won the pennant by 1.5 games over the NY Highlanders, but they battled them all the way to the final series of the season. The Highlanders needed to sweep the Americans in a double header played on the final day. Jack Chesbro took his 41 wins to the mound for the Highlanders and lost to the Americans on a much publicized wild pitch(probably a spit ball) in the 9th inning. The Highlanders would have to wait until 1921 for an AL pennant, when they were called the NY Yankees.

Much of the World Series winning team would return for the 1904 season. Lou Criger, Candy LaChance, Hobe Ferris, Jimmy Collins, Buck Freeman, Chick Stahl, Cy Young and Bill Dineen among others would all be back. Patsy Dougherty would return but would be traded to the NY Highlanders in June.

Jesse Tannehill joined the Americans via a trade from the Pirates during the off season. Tom Hughes would take his 20 wins in 1903 and join the Pirates.  NOTE: This trade involved the NY Highlanders not the Pirates.

Offensively the Americans hit .247, good for just 4th in the AL, as were their 26 home runs. They would score 608 runs good for 2nd.

They were lead by Freddy Parent at shortstop. His .291 average was best on the team, while his 6 home runs and 77 rbi would be good for 2nd on the team. The power hitting Buck Freeman paced the team with 7 home runs and 84 rbi. Player/manager Jimmie Collins would hit .271. Outfielder Kip Selbach came over from the Senators in July, and would take over for the traded Patsy Dougherty.

Pitching is what really made this team successful. Cy Young(26-16, 1.97) Bill Dineen(23-14, 2.20), and Jesse Tannehill(21-11, 2.04) all won 20 games and should be the reason the Americans either win or lose to the Giants in this upcoming series.  Their 2.12 team ERA was the best in the league.

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1904 DMB World Series Biography- Art Devlin

 

Arthur McArthur Devlin

Born: 10/16/1879-Washington, DC

Died: 9/18/1948- Jersey City, New Jersey

With Verdun2 expounding the dearth of  Hall of Fame 3rd basemen I thought I would pick the NY Giants rookie 3rd baseman as the subject of the 1904 DMB World Series mini biography.  Not a Hall of Fame 3rd sacker, but a pretty good player for the Deadball era.

Not quite iambic pentameter, but the poetically named(yes, that’s a real word) Arthur McArthur “Art” Devlin was born in Washington DC and attended Georgetown University, excelling in both baseball and football. He was Captain of the baseball team in his senior year.  One source that I used said that after his sophomore year he started playing professional ball, playing in the minor leagues in Wilmington and Newark of the Eastern League. I’m not sure how he kept his amateur status at Georgetown to allow him to keep playing for the Hoyas, but it looks like he was able to complete his 4 years at Georgetown.

John McGraw saw him play at Newark and purchased his contract to play for the NY Giants in 1903. Devlin joined the Giants in 1904, and immediately took over as the starting 3rd baseman for the pennant winning Giants. Art made an immediate positive impression by slamming a grand slam home run in just his 2nd week with the team. His obituary would claim that he hit this grand slam in his very 1st at bat, but this is not true. This would be the only grand slam of his career, as well as his only home run of the season. He would finish his 10 year career with just 10 home runs.

Devlin would play 130 games, all at 3rd base and hit .289 with 33 stolen bases and 66 rbi. He would slump to .246 in 1905 but would lead the league with 59 stolen bases. His .246 average would be his lowest average while playing with the Giants. He would hit .250 with 3 stolen bases in the Giants World Series victory over the Philadelphia A’s in 1905. In 1906 he would hit a career high .299 while stealing 54 bases. Art would steal 25+ bases in 6 of his 10 seasons.

Always respected as a quality fielder, he led the league in assists 3x, and is still in the top 20 for total chances per game.  He was known as a very good bunter and a good hit and run batter.

Devlin was a bit of a hot head, getting ejected 6 x in his career, and he was also not adverse to exchanging blows. He was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the better fighters in the game. He went into the stands June 23, 1910 to confront a belligerent fan in Brooklyn. He was arrested and charged with assault, but the judge, an obvious Giants fan, released him with out bail and the charges conveniently went away.

As many players of the day Devlin was extremely superstitious, and would not tolerate singing or humming on the bench. He felt that humming would kill base hits, and he would confront any teammate that did not respect that jinx. Devlin fell into a slump when a cross-eyed woman in the stands began talking to him. He told everyone that he was jinxed, and when word spread through the newspapers about the jinx, the cross-eyed fan recognized herself and stopped coming to the games.t

After the 1911 season Art Devlin was sold to the Boston Braves. He hit .289 in 1912 and slump to .229 in 1913, his final season in the majors. He was sent to Rochester in the Eastern League in August of 1913.  He would manage but not play in the Pacific Coast League in 1914, and he would play and manage for various minor league teams for the next 4 seasons.

He would coach for the the Giants, Braves and Pirates from 1914-1935. He got tryout for the Giants for some unknown ball player from Columbia University by the name of Lou Gehrig. John McGraw was unimpressed and did not sign Mr Gehrig. While coaching at Fordham he tutored a future Hall of Fame 3rd baseman, Frankie Frisch, and got John McGraw to scout him. McGraw would sign Frisch in 1919.

Art Devlin died on Sept. 18, 1948 just one month after his 2nd wife Gertrude. He is buried at Congressional Cemetery  in Washington, DC.

Batting Record
Year Team           G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB IBB   SO HBP  SH  XI ROE GDP   SB  CS   AVG   OBP   SLG   BFW Year Team
1904 NY  N        130   474   81  133  16   8   1   66   62            6  20               33      .281  .371  .354   2.3 1904 NY  N
1905 NY  N        153   525   74  129  14   7   2   61   66           13  12               59      .246  .344  .310   0.9 1905 NY  N
1906 NY  N        148   498   76  149  23   8   2   65   74            6  13               54      .299  .396  .390   6.6 1906 NY  N
1907 NY  N        143   491   61  136  16   2   1   54   63           15  36               38      .277  .376  .324   1.8 1907 NY  N
1908 NY  N        157   534   59  135  18   4   2   45   62           14  19               19      .253  .346  .313   2.6 1908 NY  N
1909 NY  N        143   491   61  130  19   8   0   56   65           10  18               26      .265  .362  .336   3.5 1909 NY  N
1910 NY  N        147   493   71  128  17   5   2   67   62       32   9  28               28      .260  .353  .327   1.1 1910 NY  N
1911 NY  N         95   260   42   71  16   2   0   25   42   0i  19   6  11   0i  6i  2i   9   7i .273  .386  .350   1.0 1911 NY  N
1912 BOS N        124   436   59  126  18   8   0   54   51       37   3   8               11      .289  .367  .367   0.0 1912 BOS N
1913 BOS N         73   210   19   48   7   5   0   12   29       17   2   4                8   8  .229  .328  .310   0.2 1913 BOS N
Total  (10 Years)1313  4412  603 1185 164  57  10  505  576   0i 105i 84 169   0i  6i  2i 285  15i .269  .364  .338  20.0 Total
Year Team           G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB IBB   SO HBP  SH  XI ROE GDP   SB  CS   AVG   OBP   SLG   BFW Year Team

DMB World Series Year in Review-1904

Polo Grounds 1904

In 1904 both leagues will increase their regular season games from 140 to 154 games. Thanks to 10 tie games for the Detroit Tigers Jimmy Barret will become the 1st player to appear in 162 games in a season. This would not be topped until 1961 when both Rocky Colavito and Brooks Robinson appear in 163 games.

A rule change would now allow 2 coaches on the field, one at 1st and 1 at 3rd, and 3rd base coaches were now prohibited from running down the line toward home in an attempt to draw a throw.

The Pirates would fail to win their 4th straight NL pennant finishing 4th, 19 games behind the pennant winning NY Giants. The Giants would win a record 106 games to easily out pace the 2nd place Chicago Cubs by 13 games. This would be the 1st of 8 pennants won by the Giants under John McGraw.

In the AL the pennant wouldn’t be decided until the final day.  Needing to sweep a season ending double header against the Boston Americans, the NY Highlanders sent 41 game winner Jack Chesbro to the hill in game #1. With the score tied at 2 in the 9th, Chesbro unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Lou Criger to score, giving the Americans their 2nd straight AL Pennant.

In late July with the Giants already at a double digit lead in  the NL, and the Highlanders leading in the AL, Giant owner John T. Brush and John McGraw state that they would not meet in a post season series against a minor organization. McGraw may have been the force behind this decision based on both the fact that he didn’t want to give  another NY team the chance to best his NY team, and also because of his general dislike of AL President Ban Johnson. So, after a very successful 1903 World Series, the 1904 series would not take place. There would not be another cancellation of the World Series until 1994.

The DMB World Series replay will look to right this wrong, by finally playing this series 106 years later.

OTHER EVENTS:

5/5- Cy Young would pitch a perfect game, beating the A’s 3-0. This would be part of a record 24 1/3 consecutive no hit innings by Young, which would include 76 straight batters.

6/15- Fred Glade of the St Louis Browns would strike out15 Highlanders for a then major league record.

8/17- Jesse Tannehill would no hit the White Sox by a score of 6-0.

9/22- A 54 year old Jim O’Rourke would go 1-4 for the Giants and become the oldest player to ever get a hit.

10/3- Christy Mathewson strikes out 16 Cardinals to break Fred Gladde’s short-lived record of 15.

Rube Waddell would finish the season with a record 349 strike outs.

BORN:

2/29- Pepper Martin

3/30- Ripper Collins

7/19- Mark Koenig

10/7- Chuck Klein

Died:

3/28- George Seward

4/11- Shorty Fuller

WORLD EVENTS:

1/8- Ray Bolger is born.

11/8- Teddy Roosevelt is elected President

                                                                

Ray Bolger-AKA Raymond Wallace Bulcao                                    Teddy Roosevelt-The 26th President

1904 Final Standings

NL

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
New York Giants                158  106   47    5  .693     -   744  474
Chicago Cubs                   156   93   60    3  .608  13.0   597  517
Cincinnati Reds                157   88   65    4  .575  18.0   695  547
Pittsburgh Pirates             156   87   66    3  .569  19.0   675  592
St. Louis Cardinals            155   75   79    1  .487  31.5   602  595
Brooklyn Superbas              154   56   97    1  .366  50.0   497  614
Boston Beaneaters              155   55   98    2  .359  51.0   491  749
Philadelphia Phillies          155   52  100    3  .342  53.5   571  784

AL

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Boston Americans               157   95   59    3  .617     -   608  466
New York Highlanders           155   92   59    4  .609   1.5   598  526
Chicago White Sox              156   89   65    2  .578   6.0   600  482
Cleveland Naps                 154   86   65    3  .570   7.5   647  482
Philadelphia Athletics         155   81   70    4  .536  12.5   557  503
St. Louis Browns               156   65   87    4  .428  29.0   481  604
Detroit Tigers                 162   62   90   10  .408  32.0   505  627
Washington Senators            157   38  113    6  .252  55.5   437  743

AMERICAN LEAGUE	NATIONAL LEAGUE
AVG: Nap Lajoie(Clev)- .376	AVG: Honus Wagner(Pitt)- .349
HRS: Harry Davis(Phil)- 10	HRS: Harry Lumley(Bro)- 9
RBI: Nap Lajoie(Clev)- 102	RBI: Bill Dahlen(NY)- 80
WINS: Jack Chesbro(NY)- 41	WINS: Joe McGinnity(NY)- 35
K’S: Rube Waddell(Phil)- 349	K’S: Christy Mathewson(NY)- 212
ERA: Addie Joss(Clev)- 1.59	ERA: Joe McGinnity(NY)- 1.61
MVP:** Nap Lajoie(Clev) .376-5-102	MVP: Honus Wagner(Pitt)- .349-4-75
CY YOUNG:** Jack Chesbro(NY) 41-12, 1.82	CY YOUNG: Joe McGinnity(NY) 35-8, 1.61
ROY:** Fred Glade(STL) 18-15, 2.27	ROY: Harry Lumley(Bro) .279-9-78

Note: These awards were not awarded in 1904. The MVP is my choice, while the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year is based on a SABR vote.

DMB World Series Hall of Famer-Honus Wagner

Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1936                                                                                      Image provided by Dick Perez

HONUS WAGNER

LOUISVILLE, N.L., 1897-1899

PITTSBURGH, N.L., 1900-1917

THE GREATEST SHORTSTOP IN BASEBALL

HISTORY. BORN CARNEGIE, PA., FEB. 24, 1874

KNOWN TO FAME AS “HONUS”, “HANS” AND

“THE FLYING DUTCHMAN.” RETIRED IN 1917,

HAVING SCORED MORE RUNS, MADE MORE

HITS AND STOLEN MORE BASES THAN

ANY OTHER PLAYER IN THE HISTORY

OF HIS LEAGUE.

Honus Wagner finished his career with a .328 average, 3420 hits, and 723 stolen bases. An 8x NL batting champion, and a 5 x rbi leader. He stole 20+ bases in 19 straight seasons.

"Acknowledging that there may have been one or two whose talents were greater, there is no one who has ever played the game that I would be more anxious to have on a baseball team." – Historian / Author Bill James

DMB World Series-Baseball Card Reminiscing

 

If you’re reading this post you’ve probably bought at least 1 pack of baseball cards, if not 100’s of packs of baseball cards in your life.  Well my experience was just a little bit different.

As a child growing up in the 60’s and early 70’s, Topps baseball cards were the gold standard, and for 3 years they were all mine. Every card, and every insert were mine for the taking, and I do mean taking.

I grew up just 6 blocks from a Topps manufacturing plant and from 1968 to 1971 I got every single card for free.  During that time, before the baseball card boom of the 80’s it was the practice of Topps to toss any cards that hit the floor into the garbage. At 10 cents a pack they weren’t worth anything, and were treated as nothing more than litter. By pure luck I also happened to live only a couple of blocks from the private garbage hauler that had the contract to take away Topps’s garbage. They picked up the garbage every Wednesday and Friday, and on Friday they wouldn’t take the trucks to the dump until Monday, so the trucks would be parked for the weekend loaded with Topps baseball cards, packs and packs of unopened cards. Every Saturday morning  me and a couple of friends would go “shopping”.  It was dirty work, but when you’re 10 years old, it wasn’t much dirtier than a typical summer’s day.

Each week would yield anywhere from 75-200 packs of cards. Baseball card nirvana. Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Rose, all mine for the taking. Rookie cards of Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, Nolan Ryan, and Thurman Munson. I had dozens of them.

After 4 years it was over. Topps must have changed to another garbage hauler, because no more cards showed up on Saturday morning. It sucked at the time, but hey, I had several thousand baseball cards, in mint condition that I got for free, and in 15 years those cards would be worth several thousand dollars…….if I only held on to them.

All the cards were faithfully placed into boxes, every set complete, from 1968 to 1971, along with 100’s of doubles. Being a Yankee fan I had a bunch of Yankee cards including at least 10- 1968 Mantles. All “safely” tucked away in my closet.

High School, girls, college, girls, work, and girls took up a lot of my time and when I moved out in 1981 after I got married, I failed to take my cards with me. It never crossed my mind.

A couple of years later the baseball card industry exploded, and I realized that I had a small fortune “safely” tucked away in a closet. As you can probably guess, the cards were not “safely” tucked away. My Mother had “thrown them out years ago.”  No Mantles, no Mays, no Clementes, not even a Danny Cater. All gone, no small fortune, no new car, no Hawaiian vacation…..nothing…nada….zip…..or so I thought.

When I moved out I did take my books with me, mostly baseball books, but a couple of classics, Catcher In The Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet On The Western Front, among others. A couple of years after what I like to refer to as, “Baseball Armageddon”, I watched Fahrenheit 451on TV, and decided to reread the Ray Bradbury classic. This happened to be one of the books I brought with me when I had moved out 10 years before and when I opened the book out popped this 1971 Thurman Munson card. I had used it as a bookmark over 18 years before when I 1st read the book.

It reminded me of all that I had lost, but it also reminded me of some of the best times I’ve ever had. 4 summers of baseball card heaven, 4 summers of playing non stop baseball, 4 summers of childhood innocence and joy.

I’ve used this card as a bookmark for the last 20 years. About 5 years ago I put it in a protective sleeve. It’s creased and bent in 15 different places, and not worth a nickel.

It’s priceless, and every time I look at it, it makes me smile.