In an arcticle on the “Hall of Stats” website** they take look into Major League Baseball's claim that the Negro Leagues played at a major league level by attempting to assess the talent in the Negro Leagues. Here is an exerpt from that article:
It’s important to note that this does not estimate what the player would have done in a fully integrated AL/NL—just if the single player was dropped into the AL/NL. Calculating estimates for an integrated AL/NL would be a much larger project that would need to adjust the statistics of every player in the AL/NL as well (including removing many players who would have lost their jobs to better talent from the Negro Leagues). I’m not even sure how to attempt that type of project. The MLEs feel more manageable.
Well that's interesting I'm going to attempt to do just that with the help of Eric Chalek's Negro League MLEs, Major League Equivalents*. I have created 50 years worth of Negro/Cuban leagues seasons in Dave Koch's PC Baseball+. I will be incorporating those players into the majors which means, like the "Hall of Stats" article suggests some MLB players maybe be replaced with the Negro and Cuban players. This is not my first attempt at this process but now I feel better equipped with the stats of over 400 Negro and Cuban players. Now I take a more complete look at how things may have looked like if major league baseball would have allowed darker skinned players into the fold like the Cuban league did in 1900. I will also be using Seamheads Negro Leagues site# which lists the games where major leaguers played against negro and cuban leaguers. Here is an example from 1905#.
In my research I noticed there were some players ie. Adolfo Domingo de Guzmán Luque, “The Pride of Havana” who played against multiple major league teams in the winters in Cuba. He was signed by the Boston Braves as Dolf Luque in 1914 and continued to play all year round for 10 years, spring/summer in the majors and in the cuban league in the winters. The sad part about this was due to his light complexion he was allow in the majors. He was inducted into the Cuban hall in 1957. This made me realize due to his winter games against the mlb clubs they saw his talent and brought him up. So with that example what if the mlb allowed black players the same year as Cuba did in 1900? What if players who battled against the majors from the negro and cuban leagues were given the same opportunity as Dolf? I put together a spreadsheet of with the matchups, (of course I did I'm a nerd!). So from 1900 to 1946 there were 36 years where MLB players matched up against the Negro and Cuban players. Starting with the Americanos in the winter of 1900-01 (a collection of mlb stars vs the Habana, San Francisco, and Cubano teams of Cuba . This continued year after year all the way to Bob Feller's all stars vs Satchel Paige's all stars in 1946, one year before Jackie Robinson played for the Dodgers.
You can either scroll across through the seasons above or just scroll down to see the seasons replayed.
I will take a look at twelve seasons where Negro League players if given the chance could have impacted the majors in a big way.
From as early as 1870s major league clubs would come down to Cuba to play in the winters. In 1871 cuban star Esteban Bellan was signed by an american club he later returned to Cuba in the winter to form the Cuban League. Check out the History of Cuban Baseball site for more details. In 1900 the Cuban X Giants became the first black club to play in Havana against Cuban League Teams. Also in 1900 major league clubs the Brooklyn Suberbas and the New York Giants also played in Cuba in the winter. We will start our replays with 1902 almost twenty years before the first organized Negro National League was formed by Rube Foster a one member of the Cuban X Giants.
Our second season is 1907, the year 'Smoky' Joe Williams debuted with the San Antonio Black Broncos. In the same rookie class was Jose Mendez "El Diamante Negro" of the Havana Cuban Stars. John Henry Lloyd was in his second compaign with the Philadelphia Giants, Andrew "Rube" Foster pitched for the Chicago Leland Giants, Grant "Home Run" Johnson was at short for the Brooklyn Royal Giants and Cuban star first baseman Julian Castillo was on the Azules.Our next season will be 1912 were we add two sensational center fielders Spotswood Poles also from Brooklyn in his fourth season and Cristobal Torriente of Cuban Stars. The fourth season is 1916 where possibly the best centerfielder of the Negro Leagues is in his sophmore season, Oscar Charleston. It is also the rookie season for "Bullet" Joe Rogan, the first real threat from both the plate and the mound. Moving on to the fifth season 1920, the year the Negro National League was formed. Note at this time 116 former negro and cuban league players have been added to the majors. It will be interesting to see how many actually take up a spot in the 25 man roster.
Season number six 1924 we will add five more star performers, another sensational two way player, Martin Dihigo who can play anywhere on the diamond. Speedy center fielder James "Cool Papa" Bell, slugger George "Mule" Suttles, and star catcher Norman "Turkey" Stearnes. We are now at the pinnacle of Negro League baseball and will have added 150 players into the majors. Ace pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige debuts in 1927 our seventh and Josh Gibson in our eight, 1930.
In season nine 1933 we say goodbye to "Bullet" Joe Rogan and get one more of a chance to see Oscar Charleston shine. Now in our tenth season, 1937 we are only ten years away from Jackie's historic 1947 debut. Rookies this year include 15 year old Roy Campanella and 25 year old Buck O'Niell. The next to last season 1940 here we have multiple players who will eventually join Jackie in the majors, previous mentioned Roy Campanella, Dave Barnhill, Sam Jethroe, Luke Easter, Dan Bankhead, Connie Johnson, and Monte Irvin. Our final season is 1943 we will add a few more future major leaguers Joe Black, Roberto "Bobby" Avila, Larry Doby, and Patricio Scantlebury.
Along with stars Johnson, Castillo and Foster there are 11 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1901 with the last place team going first.
Here is the list of players picked, the team who drafted them, their position and the players they have replaced.
After two and a half rounds in the draft there were 14 players picked who will start for a major league club that's a little over half of the total players in the draft. The others will be backups and are not listed above.
In the actual 1902 major league season the Pirates finished on top of the national league with 103 wins some 27 games over the second place Superbas. The Athletics won 78 with a 5 game lead over the St. Louis Browns. Top hitters on the year were Ed Delahanty of Washington who was tops in OBP and SLG, Nap Lajoie in batting and was second to Delahanty in OBP and SLG. Socks Seybold was tops in homers and Buck Freeman was top RBI man. On the mound Cy Young won 32 games, and Jack Chesbro was second with a 28-6 record. Jack Taylor of the Cubs was low era man with 1.29. Beaneaters ace Vic Willis was tops in games played, innings pitched and was 27-20 on the season.
In the replay Carlos Moran of the Reds hit .320 and was 3rd in stolen bases. Julian Castillo of the Giants batted .319. Niether players had a big impact on their clubs as the Cubs where 22 games behind the Pirates and the Giants only won 54 games. Harry Buckner and Rube Foster combined for 20 wins and 22 losses in the starting rotation of the Athletics who finished second behind the Americans in the american league. Their team mate Rube Waddell held the lowest era at 1.42. Vic Willis of the Beaneaters won 30 games and struck out the most batters from the hill. From the plate Ed Delahanty and Patsy Dougherty tied for the batting championship at .382. Socks Seybold belterd the most homers and was secon in RBI behind the Pirates Tommy Leach.
Visit 1902 Replay Season
Along with stars John Henry Lloyd, Jose Mendez and "Smoky" Joe Williams there are 37 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1906 with the last place team going first.
Here is the list of players picked, the team who drafted them, their position and the players they have replaced.
After two and a half rounds in the draft there were 23 players picked who will start for a major league club that's a little over half. The others will be backups and are not listed above. The top eight picks were all pitchers drafted by clubs who know that a good pitching rotation can make or break as season. Note Julian Castillo a fine Cuban first baseman is in a down year in 1907 and will play a backup role in this replay. The White Sox short stop George Davis and Bill Dahlen are in the twilight of their careers at and will be replaced by younger players like cuban star Alfredo Cabrera and a spry 34 year old Grant Johnson.
During the actual season the Chicago Cubs won 107 games and finished on top of the national league ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Tigers lead the american league with 92 wins infront of the White Sox. Honus Wagner led in most of the batting catergories except batting the top man was Ty Cobb. On the mound the Naps Addie Joss collected the most wins, the Cubs took the top era spots with starters Jack Pfiester, Carl Lundgren and Mordecai Brown. The Athletics Rube Waddell struck out the most batters. The White Sox ace Ed Walsh started and completed the most games. The Cubs defeated the Tigers in the world series.
In the replay Frank Duncan backup left fielder for the Cleveland Naps knocked in the winning run in the series in game five against the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds were catipulted into first place with the help of starter Johnny Taylor who won 16 games on the season. Harry Buckner won 19 games for the St. Louis Browns helping them into second place in the american league. The Cubs right fielder Emilio Palomino batted .283 on the season knocking in 84 runs.
Leaders on the season included; Honus Wagner was named MVP, he lead in homers, RBI, stolen bases, triples and was second to Sherry Magee in batting. On the mound Ed Walsh was the most valuable pitcher he won 22 games, two behind Tully Sparks, and was third in era behind Sparks and Chief Bender of the Athletics. Rube Waddell another Athletics hurler struckout 130 batters tops in the league.
Visit 1907 Replay Season
Now in our third seasonal replay, 1912 we will be adding and additional 34 players along with the four show above Spotswood Poles, Cristobal Torriente and Frank Wickware. The total of negro and cuban players will now total 79, that's almost 5 per team. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1911.
Here is the list of players picked, the team who drafted them, their position and the players they have replaced.
We have added 40 new starters to the majors from the 73 draft picks. The others will be backups and are not listed above one player to note not listed is 19 year old Cristobal Torriente who will be a backup outfielder for the New York Giants. Several lower placed clubs from 1911 completely revamped their starting pitching rotations. The Braves with three new pitchers, “Smoky” Joe Williams, Dicta Johnson, and Dizzy Dismukes. The Dodgers also with three new hurlers, Jose Mendez, Charles Dougherty, and Pastor Pareda. The Reds add Jose Munoz and Arthur Gilliard. The Cardinals added Andrew “Rube” Foster and Bill Gatewood. The Phillies add another ace to their starting rotation Walter Ball.
Some clubs were able to help their starting rotations and their lineups. The Browns add starting pitcher, Frank Wickware and two outfielders Spotswood Poles and Frank Duncan. The Senators have added another fireballer, “Cannonball” Dick Redding, second baseman Grant Johnson and left fielder Jules Thomas. The Highlanders add short stop, John Henry Lloyd and a pair of two way players Harry Buckner and Dustaquio Pedroso. The Red Sox will open Fenway park with some new additions starter Tom Johnson and first baseman Marcelino Guerra. The White Sox add first baseman Julian Castillo and starting pitcher Bill Lindsay. The Cleveland Naps add starter, Jose Junco, left fielder Judy Gans and first base man Ben Taylor. The Pirates add catcher Louis Santop and hurler Johnny Taylor.
The top teir clubs from 1911 are able to fill in the holes. The Tigers add infielders George Wright and Billy Norman. The Cubs add centerfielder, Pete Hill and first baseman Bill Pettus. The Giants add a pair of outfielders, Allen “Hurley” McNair and Jesse Barber. The Athletics add outfielder, Carlos Moran and short stop Bill Handy.Highlights from the replay: Tris Speaker 20 game hitting streak, Pete Alexander 10 inning shut out followed by another complete game shut (May 24th and 29th vs Braves and Giants). Heine Zimmerman, Cubs 5-5 day with 8 RBI vs Pirates, June 28th. Jose Junco of the Naps holds Highlanders to one hit in seven innings pitched (August 9th). Chief Meyers of the Giants has 25 game hitting streak end September 24th.
On the season, Walter Johnson is named most valuable pitcher with the second lowest era behind Ray Collins of the Red Sox, his is 5th in wins three behind Jack Coombs of the Athletics, and third in strikeouts behind Claude Hendrix of the Pirates and Smoky Joe Wood of the Red Sox. He also hit 9 homers on the season tied for 7th! Home Run Baker is named most valuable hitter, he was tops in homers at 16, and RBI at 150, while batting .340 (12th).
Pete Hill batted .352 8th for the Cubs. Carlos Moran .333 14th for the first place Athletics. Hurley McNair .329 16th for the second place Giants. Julian Castillo .325 18th fof the White Sox. Tom Johnson went 14-11 for the second place Red Sox.
Athletics hosted the Pirates in world series and took the series in the bottom of the 11th inning of game seven. With the score tied at 2 Amos Strunk singled scoring Marty McInnis for the win. Frank Baker, Eddie Collins and Amos Strunk all batted over .340 in the series. Mike Donlin led the series with a .355 average and Honus Wagner and Max Carey also hit over .340 in a lossing effort. Pittsburgh ace Johnny Taylor was the only pitcher with two wins in the series. Amos Strunk was named series MVP collecting 7 RBI including game seven's winner.
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Along "Bullet" Joe Rogan, Heavy Johnson, Oscar Charleston, and there are 28 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. There is now a total of 84 former Black and Cuban ball players in the league. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1915.
Here is the list of players picked, the team who drafted them, their position and the players they have replaced.
This season we added 36 of the 76 draft picks as starters with another five or so who will split time at their positions. The others will be backups and are not listed above one player to note not listed is 19 year old Oscar Charleston who will be a backup outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds. Like the 1912 draft the top picks were mostly pitchers who went to the clubs with the most losses in 1915. There were several exceptions though, short stop John Henry Lloyd was picked fifth by the St. Louis Browns, catchers Luis Santop and Doc Wiley along with outfielders Pete Hill and Critobal Torriente were all picked the first round. Also note that Joe Williams and Dick Redding were once again picked numbers one and two.
There were also three two-way players in this draft, John Donaldson, "Bullet" Joe Rogan and Eustaquio Pedroso. It was common in the early days to play a good hitting pitcher in right field on his off days from the mound. They were used in the same way Babe Ruth was used by the Red Sox who pitched in 44 games and played right field in the rest of his 67 total games. Of course we see this today with Shohei Ohtani and the Angels. That's quite a testimony to one's talent to be able to not only throw in the majors as well as hit.
In the actual season the Reds Sox won the world series. They defeated the Brooklyn Robins the winners of the national league pennant. Top batters on the season where Tris Speaker .386/.470/.502 (batting ave/on base pct, slugging pct), Ty Cobb .370/.451/.492 and Joe Jackson .341/.367/.495. Cy Williams, Dave Roberson and Wally Pipp all had 12 homers and Del Pratt was top RBI man. Top hurlers Pete Alexander 33 wins, 16 shoutouts, 1.55 era, Walter Johnson 25 wins 225 strikeouts, and Babe Ruth 23 wins, 1.75 era.
On the season in the replay the White Sox take the american league pennant by a comfortable 18 games over the Tigers. In the national league the Brooklyn Dodgers edged out the Braves by one game winning 101 and 100 games respectively.
The Browns finished in third place with the assistance of John Henry Lloyd who batted .306 and collected 77 RBI at short stop. The New York Giants did manage to climb a couple spots possibly due to first baseman Bill Pettus batting .287 and belting seven homers. But "Cannonball" Dick Redding did little to help the cause with a 5-9 record. The Senators top pick Pete Hill had a very good season batting .297 but did little to improve their middle of the pack standings. The White Sox picks Louis Santop and Jessie Barber did well in limited roles batting .333 and .289 possibly helping them over come the Red Sox for the Pennant. The other Boston club the Braves picks may have assisted them to finish with 101 wins as Jules Thomas batted .349 in 77 games and Tom Johnson was 9-4 with a 2.87 era. The Athletics still finished in last place with new comers Joe Williams and Walter Ball only winning of total of 11 games while losing 29.
The White Sox hosted the Robins in world series and capped off their season winning in five games. All the contest were low scoring as to be expected with the pitching involved. The White Sox ace pitcher Lefty Williams won his two contests and was named series MVP. Joe Jackson collected the most RBI and game winning hits.
Visit 1916 Replay Season
Along with adding Alejandro Oms, Tank Carr and Dick Lundy there are 101 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1919.
We have added 42 new starters to the majors with three players splitting time for their positions from the 105 draft picks. The others will be backups or spot pitching starters and are not listed above. This draft we see position players taken in the top picks as opposed to the first several drafts were pitchers were at a premium. The players being replaced by these new comers were forced back to their regular jobs before their baseball careers. Note back in 1920 the majority of players had to work in the off season just to make ends meet.
With the addition of top notch hitters some teams in this year's draft were able to bolister their batting lineups in an effort to pull themselves from the bottom of their respective leagues. The Athletics now have a liget number three man to hit in front of their slugger Tillie Walker, Cristobal Torriente. They have also added two promising starting pitchers, Tom Williams and Bob McClure in their rotation.
Their counter part in the national league, the Phillies have also added another arm to their staff, Sam Crawford, no not the Tiger outfielder. They have also added a couple of good hitting infielders, Dobie Moore and Bartolo Portuondo to thier lineup. The St. Louis Cardinals have added two top notch bats to the middle of thier lineup in Oscar Charleston and Fats Jenkins to join Rogers Hornsby giving a needed punch. They too have added a couple of strong arms to the rotation, Dizzy Dismukes and George Britt to help they move up in this year's pennant chase.
The Washington Senators have upgraded their catching and right field ranks with the addition of Frank Duncan Jr. and Spotswood Poles. They also have added a starter to the rotation to assist to replace an aging Walter Johnson, Jim Jeffries. They also have Ping Gardner ready to fill in if needed. The Boston Braves have a new middle of the batting lineup centerfielder Cuban sensation Alejandro Oms, left fielder George Shiveley and second baseman Bill KIindle. They too have upgraded their pitching staff with hurlers John Donaldson and Connie Rector.
The Boston Red Sox add a couple of starters to their rotation, Dick Whitworth and Tom Johnson. They also upgraded their third base and centerfielders with Oliver Marcell and Irvin Brooks.
The St. Louis Browns improved their pitching staff by adding three new starters, Joe Williams, Jose Junco and Rube Curry. The Pirates added short stop John Henry Lloyd and first baseman Ben Taylor rounding out their infield. They also added hurler Andy Cooper to their already stout pitching staff. The Brooklyn Robins add Pelayo Chacon and Dave Malarcher to the left side of thier infield and slugging right fielder Hurley McNair. They also added on to their pitching staff with right hander Red Ryan.
The Detroit Tigers drafted hurler Dicta Johnson reducing the playing time of Dutch Leonard and Doc Ayers. They also added George Johnson to the outfield to split time with Chick Shorten in right.
The Chicago Cubs added pitcher/oufielder Bullet Rogan to their already top tier pitching staff and a backup outfielder. They also drafted a new catcher, Jim Brown, and first baseman Bill Pierce. The Yankees added starters Dave Brown and Frank Wickware to an already top notch staff. They also added catcher Otto Ray, left fielder Country Brown and first baseman Edgar Welsey to their lineup mostly to share time with their current starters.
The Cleveland Indians were able to snatch .300 hitting second baseman Bingo DeMoss and added to their outstanding pitching staff starter Juan Padron.
The last three clubs to pick in the draft the Giants, White Sox and Reds didn't need much to keep them at the top of their respective leagues. The Giants added centerfielder Jimmie Lyons and catcher Jose Maria Fernandez.
The White Sox added Jesse Barber in right and Cheo Hernandez to their pitching rotation. The Cincinnati Reds added short stop Dick Lundy and right fielder Bernardo Baro.
In the actual 1920 season the Indians and the Robins won their respective pennants with the Indians taking the world series. From the plate Babe Ruth was tops in just about every hitting category except batting average where George Sisler hit .407! Ruth was third with .376, but he hit 54 homers, and collect 135 RBI. On the mound Cleveland's Jim Bagby won 31 games, Phillies Alexander 27, with 33 complete games, and a tops 173 strikeouts.
In the replay the Yankees and the Pirates take their pennants by two games each. The Pirates over the Robins and the Yankees over the White Sox. The Yankees went on to win the series in an exciting seven game contest. Dave Brown picked up the win in game seven, Bob Shawkey, Frank Wickware and Carl Mays won the other three contests. Bob Meusel hit .407, Babe Ruth batted .333 and Wally Pipp had 5 RBI. On the season Babe Ruth and Stan Coveleski were MVPs on the season. Ruth belted 37 homers, 119 RBI (3rd behind Sisler and Felsch), and batted .331 (15th). Coveleski was tied with the most wins with team mate Jim Bagby at 25. He was also tops in era at 2.45 and 4th in strikeouts.
As mentioned in the world series two Yankees starters, Dave Brown and Frank Wickware collected a win. It is possible the Pirates were able to overcome the Robins was due to the play of John Henry Lloyd and Ben Taylor. Lloyd batted .281 and collected 72 RBI and Taylor batted .300 and tallied 96 RBI. They were quite an upgrade compared to Caton and Grimm who batted .236 and .227 with a total of 101 RBI. It's also possible the White Sox finished in second place due the pitching of Cheo Hernandez, 10-3 on the season. Washington's catcher Frank Duncan Jr. was 7th in batting at .357. Athletics centerfielder Cristobal Torriente was 16th with .330. The Giants turned in star performance hitting 23 homers second to Babe Ruth, was 4th in RBI and 3rd in stolen bases. Brooklyn's Hurley McNair was 5th in homers and 6th in RBI. The Senators Spotswood Poles was 4th in stolen bases while batting .301.
There were plenty of other contributions that may not have made the leaderboards like Oliver Marcell hit .302 with 85 RBI and Irvin Brooks batting .279 with 78 RBI for the Red Sox. Alejandro Oms batted .316, 11 HR and 84 RBI for the Braves. Pelayo Chacon was .277, 87 RBI for the Robins. Willie Green hit .316 with 75 RBI and catcher Jim Brown was .299 and 73 RBI for the Cubs. George Johnson joined Ty Cobb and Bobby Veach in the Detroit outfield and hit .282 with 83 RBI. Joe Williams won 15 and lost 12 with a 3.80 era for the Browns. Oscar Charleston hit .316 with 14 HR and 107 RBI for the Cardinals.
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Along with adding james "Cool Papa" Bell, Jud Wilson and Willie Foster there are 36 additional players who will be drafted into major league teams which brings the total players to 148. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1923.
Overall there 46 starters out of the close to 150 players drafted that's about 31%. That equates to two to three players per team. Here is a breakdown for each club.
The Phillies used their first pick to land the top player in the draft, Oscar Charleston who will take over leftfield for Joe Schultz. Now the Phillies have a top notch outfield with Cy Williams in center, George Harper in right and Charleston in left. They also aquired two starters, Nip Winters, Carl Glass and Eddie Miller to bolister their starting rotation.
The Red Sox had pick number two and they wasted no time in selecting the best pitcher in the draft, Dave Brown. In the second round they picked outfielder Alejandro Oms who batted. 365 in the negro leagues. In the third round they picked Otto Ray who will start at catcher taking up most of the playing time there. In the next couple rounds they picked up some more arms to build up their pitching staff.
The Braves had the third pick in the draft and they picked the two way star "Bullet" Joe Rogan. Rogan was a terror in the negro leagues, it will be interesting to see how he fares in the majors. Their next pick was catcher Julio Rojo who will more than likely be behind the plate a majority of thier games, leaving Mickey O'Neil and Frank Gibson to pick up the rest. They also picked up Johnny Johnny at second who should handle a bulk of the games moving Cotton Tierney to a backup role. In the latter rounds they picked two more starters, Willis Flournoy and Bill Holland to round out their pitching staff.
The White Sox had the four pick and went with infielder John Henry Lloyd who was fantastic in the negro leagues and will start at short stop. Their second pick, pitcher Red Ryan will move into the starting rotation moving Red Faber to a spot starter role. They also added two more arms, Bob McClure and Logan Hensley who will more than like in the fourth and fifth spots in the starting rotation.
The Philadelphia Athletics chose third baseman Jud Wilson in the first round. Jud hit .400 in the negro leagues with 17 homers and will start moving some players to backup in the infield. They also aquired Mack Eggleston who will start at catcher cutting Cy Perkins and Frank Bruggy's playing time in half. They also picked outfielder George Shiveley who will play left allowing Bing Miller and Al Simmons to concentrate on right and centerfield. The A's picked up a couple arms for thier bullpen, Sam Streeter, and William Ross and Lewis Hampton.
The Brooklyn Robins had the next selection and they chose centerfielder Cristobal Torriente who negro league numbers where off the chart. He will anchor the outfield with Zach Wheat in left and the newly aquired Country Brown to split time with Eddie Brown in right. They also picked up another Brown, Jim at catcher who will start decreasing the playing time for Zack Taylor and Hank DeBerry. They also picked up third baseman Judy Johnson who will start moving Milt Stock as a backup. In the latter rounds like most clubs so far they have added some arms to their bull pen, Salmon, Pedroso and Williams.
The St. Louis Browns picked next selecting John Beckwith who belted 29 homers while batting .376 in the negro league. Thus moving Wally Gerber to a backup role. Their next pick pitcher Andy Cooper added yet another lefty to their pitching staff moving Dave Danforth to spot starter. In the next round they chose another southpaw Lefty Williams moving Ernie Wingard to the bull pen.
The Cardinals where next selecting outfielder Heavy Johnson, who will take Jack Smith's spot in right field. They also picked up a bevy of arms in the draft, William Bell, Joe Williams and Bill McCall who will anchor their starting rotation.
The Senators cashed in on their top pick chosing outfielder Turkey Stearnes, moving Sam Rice to right field. With Goose Goslin in left giving them a first class outfield. Their second round pick Rats Henderson, and Hubert Lockhardt will give Walter Johnson some much need assistance needed in their starting rotation.
The Chicago Cubs chose first baseman Ben Taylor moving Cotter Hooks and Ray Grimes to the bench. Their next several picks may have revamped the outfield, with Charlie Mason in center, Dink Mothel in left and Jules Thomas in center. The players they replaced, Denver Grisby, Cliff Heathcote and Jigger Statz will see their playing time greatly reduced.
The Indians chose Esteban Montalvo, a cuban outfielder who moves Homer Summa to a backup role in right field. With their next pick they pick up infielder Dick Lundy who will take over the starting role and second base. With their next several picks they pick up two hurlers, Bill Drake and Dizzy Dismukes, who may make it into the starting rotation which is already loaded.
The Pirates had the next pick and chose right fielder Hurley McNair who will replace Clyde Barnhardt.
The Pirates now have McNair in right, Carey in center and Cuyler in right. The picked up Louis Santop at catcher next who will split time behind the plate with Earl Smith
and Johnny Gooch. The added to their pitching staff with their next picks with Dick Redding and Slim Braham.
The last four clubs to draft finished at the top of their respective leagues. The Detroit Tigers with their first pick chose Newt Joseph a .400 hitting third
baseman. With their next round pick they grabbed George Scales a powerful second baseman. Their next picks were starting pitchers, Rube Curry and Ping Gardner who will
have to earn their way into the rotation.
The Reds had the next pick and went with short stop Dobie Moore. Moore who hit .388 in the negro leagues will take the
starting job while Ike Caveney and Boob Fowler will be reduced to backup roles. With their second round pick they went with outfielder Dreke Valentin, who gets the nod in
left field. The also added a hurler George Harney who will try to work his way into the starting rotation.
The New York Giants with the second to last pick in the
first round picked pitcher Juan Padron, they also added Doc Sykes, and Phil Cockrell to their pitching staff, not that it needed any help.
The Yankees who finished on
top in 1923 had the last pick and chose centerfielder Jelly Gardner, he will join Ruth and Meusel in the outfield. They also drafted pitcher Webster McDonald who may fit in
as their fifth starter in the pitching rotation.
In the actual 1924 season the Giants winners of the national league pennant faced the Senators winners of the american league pennant in the world series. The Senators took
the series in seven games in dramatic fashion winning game seven in 12 innings. Both pennant races were close with the Yankees 2 games behind the Senators and the Robins
just a game and a half behind the Giants. On the season Rogers Hornsby's WAR if they would have kept track back then was an amazing 12.3, Ruth at 11.8 and Dazzy Vance 10.3.
Hornsby batted .424, that's right! with 225 hits and 25 homers, Ruth hit 46 homers and George Kelly collected 136 RBI. From the mound Dazzy Vance won 28 games, struckout
262 batters, and tallied a 2.16 era. Tops in all three categories, the pitching triple crown.
In the replay the national league teams finished in the exact same spots with one exception the Phillies and the Braves traded for last plate. The Giants finished 2 games
ahead of the Robins. In the american league the Senators and Yankees finished 1-2, with the Yankees 4 games back. The White Sox were dead last again but the middle of the
pack got shuffled around with the Indians swapping places with the Tigers and the Red Sox leapping into 4th spot with the Athletics moving all the way down to 7th. The
world series ended with the same winner as the Senators defeated the Giants in seven games.
The batting leaderboards where filled with negro league players, Esteban Montalvo, Jules
Thomas, Oscar Charleston and Charlie Mason finished behind Babe Ruth in homers. Montalvo, Heavy Johnson, Judy Johnson finished behind Jack Fornier and in front of Babe Ruth
in RBI. Rogers Hornsby was the batting leader but he had company on top of the leaderboard, Heavy Johnson, Oscar Charleston, John Beckwith, Jud Wilson, Judy Johnson,
Newt Joseph and Cristobal Torriente all were in the top 10. Dave Malarcher and Oscar Charleston were in the top five in stolen bases. Cristobal Torriente also finished second
to Rogers Hornsby in on base percentage, .518 and .513. Oscar Charleston finished second to Ruth in OPS, 1.169 and 1.161.
From the mound Walter Johnson was tops in wins with
28, Dazzy Vance was second with 26. Hugh McQuillan was low man in era with 2.59, Johnson was second with 2.68. Vance was top strikeout man with 163. One last note two way player
Bullet Rogan was 11th in batting at .353 and won 10 games pitching with a 5.10 era for the Braves. So did they really changed things, maybe not in the standings but they did
replace a lot of players on the charts and in the lineups and starting pitching rotations. As mentioned above there were 46 major leaguers who lost playing time due to these
draftees.
1924 Replay Season Outcomes
What impact did the Negro and Cuban League players have?
Season Six 1924 Allstars
MVP: Babe Ruth
MVP: Walter Johnson
P: Herb Pennock
P: Dazzy Vance
P: Ray Kremer
C: Glenn Myatt
1B: Jack Fournier
2B: Rogers Hornsby
3B: Newt Joseph
SS: John Beckwith
LF: Zack Wheat
LF: Oscar Charleston
CF: Jules Thomas
RF: Babe Ruth
RF: Esteban Montalvo
Once again we are in the thick of things from a black baseball prespective with over 140 players viaing for a starting role in the majors along with Roosevelt Davis, Martin Dihigo, and Charles Smith pictured above. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1926.
Overall there were 60 drafties that made it onto a starting lineup or pitching roation. Here is the breakdown by team.
The Boston Red Sox took pitcher William Bell in the very first pick. They also drafted three other pitchers Willie Gisentaner, Sam Streeter and Connie Rector. They also picked Roy Parnell in left to replace Wally Shaner.
The Phillies with the second pick drafted "Bullet" Joe Rogan, outfielder/pitcher. Like the Red Sox they needed to revamp their pitching staff and they did with Rogan, Red Ryan, Bill Holland and George Mitchell. They also drafted Clarence Smith outfielder and infielder, Newt Joseph.
Third team to pick the St. Louis Browns also went with a pitcher on their first pick Nip Winters. He will join new comers Ping Gardner and Willis Flournoy in their starting rotation. They also drafted Bienvenido Jimenez at second, Chaney White at center, Clint Thomas in left, and Judy Johnson at third base. All who have won starting spots.
The Boston Braves drafted fourth and picked Mack Eggleston for their starting catcher. Their next pick was Walter Cannady and he will start at short stop. They also picked up several pitchers to upgrade their staff, Harry Salmon, Andy Cooper and John Williams.
The Robins chose short stop Willie Wells, who will start along side Oliver Marcell at third and Turkey Stearnes in center will add some power to their lineup. Pitchers Willie Powell and Bob McClure have been added to their starting pitching rotation.
In Detroit they felt the need for a starting catcher and they chose Biz Mackey for their first round pick. He will be joined by Dave Malarcher at third and Bill Riggins at short in their starting lineup.
The Giants had the next pick at grabbed left fielder Fats Jenkins, who will start and hit infront of Hornsby and Harper adding more pop to their lineup. They drafter a couple of hurlers to join Burleigh Grimes in the rotation, Beroge Britt and Cliff Bell.
The White Sox took the second short stop picked in the draft Dick Lundy. He will join centerfielder Cool Papa Bell and first baseman Lemuel Hawkins in
their starting lineup. New comer Oscar Levis will join the starting pitching roatation anchored by Ted Lyons.
Chicago's national league club the Cubs drafted next and chose third baseman Jud Wilson, who will bat third in from of slugger Hack Wilson. Manuel Cueto shortstop
will also join the starting lineup. Hurlers Darltie Cooper, Hubert Lockhardt and Heliodoro Diaz will be an intregal part of the starting pitching rotation.
The Senators also added some fire power to their starting rotation with Webster McDonald, and Bill Drake. They beefed up their bullpen with a couple of
two way players Martin Dihigo and Steel Arm Tyler. Dihigo will see plenty of time at short stop and Tyler should get plenty of pinch hit opportunities. Dihigo will be
hitting between Goslin and Speaker in the middle of their lineup.
In a suprise pick the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Heavy Johnson as their first pick. He will join the Waner brothers in the outfield and
bat third behind Paul and in front of their first base draft pick Ben Taylor. Piondexter is also another addition to the team and will start at catcher.
The Athletics selected slugger Mule Suttles next and he will platoon at first base with 19 year old Jimmie Foxx. Out fielder Alejandro Oms will be
joining Al Simmons and Ty Cobb in the outfield and Newt Allen will be taking the reigns from Eddie Collins at second base. Wow this lineup is loaded! They also added
pitcher Willie Foster to join the star studded rotation. Maybe they can give make a run at the Yankees in the american league.
The Reds added an outfielder Charlie Mason who may be able to work his way into the lineup. They also added hurler Rats Henderson to join a stellar pitching
rotation.
The Indians drafted centerfielder Oscar Charleston as they were suprised to see him still availble. He will be joining Charlie Jamieson and Homar Summa
in the outfield. Third baseman George Scales will add some punch to the starting lineup.
The Cardinals drafted next and added Charlie Smith outfielder sending Billy Soutworth to a backup role. New comers Tom Young will take over at catcher
and Pythias Russ at short stop.
Last but certainly not least the Yankees look to repeat with the addition of John Beckwith at third base. He will take the place of Joe Dugan and bat
5th behind Lou Gehrig. Beckwith hit .334 with 14 homers and 97 RBI in the negro leagues. Murders row has added another weapon! It's hard to believe the Yankees could
have a added a hurler to break into their top notch starting rotation but new comer Phil Cockrell is giving it a go.
The year Babe set the bar really high! In the last two replays we see that Babe is still the top attraction, earning back to back MVPs. We have also see how some
Negro and Cuban stars have got some skills too! It will be interesting to see how close Babe will get to 60 in the replay and how close some new comers will come out
to challenge him. In the actual season Ruth was not the MVP it was team mate Lou Gehrig and they combined to hit 107 homers and collect 338 RBI as the Yankees won 110
games. Their Yankees defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the world series. In the Negro National League the Chicago American Giants won their championship.
In the replay the Yankees and the Pirates faced each other in the world series. The Yankees defeated the Pirates in six contests with Lou Gehrig hitting 5 homers, 3 in the
final contest and collecting 7 RBI while batting .385. Team mate John Beckwith batted .400 in the series and Waite Hoyt won two games. The Yankees won 106 games, 15 more
than the Athletics. The following clubs finished in pretty much the same order as in the actual season with the exception of the Browns in eight and the Red Sox moved up
to seventh. The Pirates won 100 games 13.5 more than the Cardinals. The remaining clubs finished in the same spots as in the actual season. Harry Heilmann was top batter
and Babe Ruth hit the most homers with Lou Gehrig second. Babe was named MVP for the third straight time. Team mate Waite Hoyt was name top pitcher, 2nd in ERA and 4th
in wins. Other pitching notables were Pete Alexander was 1st in complete games, 3rd in wins and 5th in WHIP. Jesse Haines was top in wins, 3rd in era and 4th in complete
games.
The difference the new comers made was in the replacement of the everyday players for the
most part. There were the outliners, Heavy Johnson hit .383, 2nd to Heilmann. Other top ten batters were Fats Jenkins, John Beckwith and Roy Parnell. The home runs
leaderboard included Willie Wells, Turkey Stearnes and John Beckwith. The top 10 in RBI included John Beckwith, George Scales, Alejandro Oms, Bill Riggins and Dick Lundy.
The top 10 in steals included Oscar Charleston, Fats Jenkins, Roy Parnell and Jud Wilson. The other leaderboards, OPS, slugging, on base percentage included the usual
supects, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Harry Heilmann with new comers Vic Harris, Heavy Johnson and John Beckwith.
As far as pitching goes most pitchers were drafted by the lower ranked teams and did not do any better than the players they replaced. In fact they filled the top
lossers board. Some standouts were, Harry Salmon won 13 wins for the Braves. Darltie Cooper won 15 for the Cubs. Phil Cockrell was 16-7 for the Yankees. George Britt
went 16-11 for the Giants. Webster McDonald was 15-8 for the Senators.
1927 Replay Season Outcomes
What impact did the Negro and Cuban League players have?
Season Seven 1927 Allstars
MVP: Babe Ruth
MVP: Waite Hoyt
P: Jesse Haines
P: Tommy Thomas
P: Guy Bush
C: Mickey Cochrane
C: Biz Mackey
1B: Lou Gehrig
2B: Frankie Frisch
3B: John Beckwith
3B: Jud Wilson
SS: Bill Riggins
SS: Willie Wells
LF: Heavy Johnson
CF: Earle Combs
RF: Babe Ruth
RF: Harry Heilmann
Along with adding Josh Gibson, Leroy "Satchel" Paige and Vic Harris there are 36 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1906.
What impact did the Negro and Cuban League players have?
Visit 1930 Replay Season
Along with adding Hilton Smith, Ray Brown and Buck Leonard, there are 73 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1911.
Visit 1933 Replay Season
Along with adding Leon Day, Silvio Garcia, Ray Dandridge there are 36 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1906.
Visit 1937 Replay Season
Along with adding Buck O'Niell, Monte Irvin and Roy Welmaker there are 36 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1906.
Visit 1940 Replay Season
Along with adding Willard Brown, Bonnie Serrell, and Larry Doby, there are 73 other players who will be drafted into major league teams. The draft order will be based on how the teams finished in 1911.
Visit 1943 Replay Season
After seven seasons, 1902, 1907, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 and 1927. Batters with at least 400 at bats and pitchers with at least 200 innings pitched.
| Stat | Record | Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| BA | .312 | Pittsburgh | 1927 |
| HR | 173 | New York Yankees | 1927 |
| Hits | 1729 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1924 |
| RBI | 1066 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1924 |
| Runs | 1117 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1924 |
| OBP | .394 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1924 |
| SLG | .507 | New York Yankees | 1927 |
| OPS | .898 | New York Yankees | 1927 |
| Stat | Record | Player, Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| BA | .402 | Hal Chase, Cincinnati Reds | 1916 |
| HR | 53 | Babe Ruth, New York Yankees | 1927 |
| Hits | 242 | George Sisler, St. Louis Browns | 1920 |
| RBI | 186 | Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees | 1927 |
| Runs | 188 | Babe Ruth, New York Yankees | 1927 |
| OBP | .518 | Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Cardinals | 1924 |
| SLG | .766 | Babe Ruth, New York Yankees | 1927 |
| OPS | 1.155 | Babe Ruth, New York Yankees | 1920 |
| SB | 105 | Clyde Milan, Washington Senators | 1912 |
| Stat | Record | Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 106 | New York Yankees | 1927 |
| PCT | .732 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1934 |
| ERA | 2.02 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1902 |
| K | 683 | New York Giants | 1916 |
| CG | 119 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1902 |
| SO | 22 | Chicago White Sox | 1916 |
| Stat | Record | Player, Team | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 30 | Vic Willis, Boston Beaneaters | 1902 |
| PCT | .929 | Rube Waddell, Philadelphia Athletics | 1902 |
| ERA | 1.45 | Noodles Hahn, Cincinnati Reds | 1902 |
| K | 270 | Vic Willis, Boston Beaneaters | 1902 |
| CG | 48 | Vic Willis, Boston Beaneaters | 1902 |
| SO | 8 | Walter Johnson, Washington Senators | 1912 |
After seven seasons, 1902, 1907, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 and 1927. Batters with at least 550 at bats and pitchers with at least 250 innings pitched.
| Stat | Record | Player |
|---|---|---|
| BA | .373 | Heavy Johnson |
| Doubles | 277 | Tris Speaker |
| Triples | 89 | Sam Crawford |
| HR | 128 | Babe Ruth |
| Hits | 1482 | Ty Cobb |
| RBI | 444 | Tris Speaker |
| Runs | 611 | Ty Cobb | Stolen Bases | 273 | Ty Cobb |
| OBP | .474 | Babe Ruth |
| SLG | .682 | Babe Ruth |
| OPS | 1.157 | Babe Ruth |
| Stat | Record | Player |
|---|---|---|
| ERA | 1.45 | Noodles Hahn |
| G | 180 | Walter Johnson |
| IP | 1366.2 | Pete Alexander |
| CG | 127 | Pete Alexander |
| W | 89 | Pete Alexander |
| SV | 24 | Firpo Marberry |
| SO | 19 | Walter Johnson |
| K | 595 | Walter Johnson |
* Eric Chalek. "Major League Equivalencies for Negro Leagues Hitters." "the Hall of Miller and Eric", October 25, 2017,
https://homemlb.wordpress.com/2017/10/25/major-league-equivalencies-for-negro-leagues-hitters/.
** Adam Darowski. "The Hall of Stats", Dec 29, 2021,
http://hallofstats.com/articles/the-hall-of-stats-and-the-negro-leagues.
+ Dave Koch. "Action PC Baseball." DK Sports,
https://www.dksports.com/baseball.htm *Note with the addition of the greatest
black baseball teams this year I was able to update the players rankings, ie. fielding, base running, pitching and hitting!
+++ Baseball Almanac. "Baseball Rule Changes." "Baseball Almanac",
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/rulechng.shtml
++++ Baseball Reference. "Baseball Stats and History The complete source for current and historical baseball players and teams, scores and leaders."
"Baseball Reference",
https://www.baseball-reference.com
# Seamheads Negro League Database. "Negro Leagues Database." "Seamheads",
https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1905
Various website tips. "CSS Tricks on Codepen", https://codepen.io/team/css-tricks