The Virtual 1916-1925 Boston Red Sox (Part 2: 1920-1922)
Last time, we introduced the scenario of the Boston Red Sox under owners Joseph Lannin and (especially) Harry Frazee in the late 1910s/early 1920s not plundering the ball club’s talent for cash, but instead sustaining the investment in the pursuit of championships. Our ground rules are simple: We can’t introduce any significant acquisitions the Red Sox didn’t actually make, but we can eliminate the most regrettable transactions they did commit.
Our first installment took the franchise from 1916 through 1919. Our version of the Red Sox didn’t win any more pennants than the actual team (we had them with flags in ’16 and ’18, just as in real life), but our team cruised more easily to its crowns, and, most significantly, remained a contender in 1919, the season in which the real Bosox dropped into the second division.
So let’s pick up with the season in which the Red Sox in real life unloaded their superduperstar slugger …
Treder:
There’s only one transaction we have to undo between the 1919 and 1920 seasons, but of course it’s The Mother of All Bad Deals. Let’s just say that in our scenario, Mr. Frazee (a) doesn’t lose patience with the temperamental young Mr. Ruth, and (b) Frazee decides to find a different funding source to mount the stage play My Lady Friends (the non-musical precursor to No, No, Nannette) than the one he infamously did.
What we’re left with is essentially the same Red Sox roster we saw in 1919. The only differences are the introduction of a few journeyman players Boston truly did trade for that year: left fielder Mike Menosky, infielder Eddie Foster (the Red Sox actually played him primarily at third base, while we have him at second, which the 145-pounder was entirely capable of handling), and pitchers Harry Harper and (mid-season waiver pickup) Elmer Myers.
They were role players; the core of the team remains its stupendous first baseman Ruth and center fielder Tris Speaker, surrounded by solid stars in right fielder Harry Hooper, third baseman Larry Gardner, catcher Wally Schang, and pitchers Carl Mays, Joe Bush and Herb Pennock.
1920
Pos Player B Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+
1B B. Ruth L 25 142 457 137 173 41 11 41 139 142 80 .379 .526 .786 250
2B E. Foster R 33 117 386 52 100 17 6 0 45 42 17 .259 .336 .334 81
SS E. Scott R 27 154 569 45 153 21 12 4 64 21 15 .269 .300 .369 79
3B L. Gardner L 34 154 597 74 181 30 11 3 118 50 25 .303 .357 .405 101
RF H. Hooper L 32 139 536 115 167 30 17 7 58 88 27 .312 .411 .470 137
CF T. Speaker L 32 150 552 142 209 48 11 8 103 92 13 .379 .467 .549 170
LF M. Menosky L 25 113 399 65 117 18 7 2 51 49 39 .293 .371 .388 104
C W. Schang B 30 122 387 70 118 30 7 4 54 64 37 .305 .404 .450 130
C E. Ainsmith R 30 62 167 21 39 5 3 1 17 13 17 .234 .289 .317 61
2S M. McNally R 26 62 156 23 38 2 1 0 9 14 13 .244 .306 .269 52
OF T. Hendryx R 29 50 122 22 38 6 2 0 24 13 10 .311 .378 .393 106
OF D. Lewis R 32 54 122 11 30 2 0 1 15 7 12 .246 .287 .287 55
OF C. Shorten L 28 58 91 11 25 2 1 0 10 6 4 .275 .320 .319 68
2B C. Brady R 23 27 45 9 9 1 0 0 2 3 4 .200 .250 .222 25
Others 93 12 20 2 0 0 7 10 11 .215 .291 .237 41
Pitchers 520 57 115 15 4 1 43 40 131 .221 .277 .271 46
TOTAL 5199 866 1532 270 93 72 759 654 455 .295 .373 .424 113
Pitcher T Age G GS CG IP W L SV H HR BB SO ERA ERA+
C. Mays R 28 45 37 26 312 27 9 2 304 6 82 92 2.91 125
J. Bush R 27 35 26 14 220 16 9 2 249 3 85 84 3.93 93
H. Pennock L 26 36 26 15 218 17 7 3 210 8 55 65 3.43 106
D. Leonard L 28 30 22 8 172 11 11 1 166 5 55 70 3.87 94
H. Harper L 25 29 20 10 163 8 9 0 155 8 64 73 2.71 134
E. Myers R 26 12 10 9 97 9 0 0 88 1 24 34 2.13 171
W. Hoyt R 20 26 9 5 121 7 4 2 118 2 47 46 4.23 86
B. Karr R 26 17 1 0 46 2 3 1 55 2 12 11 4.89 74
E. Shore R 29 6 1 0 15 1 1 0 19 0 7 4 4.80 76
G. Fortune R 25 5 1 0 14 0 1 0 15 0 8 3 5.79 63
Others 1 0 17 1 0 0 20 0 7 5 5.72 64
TOTAL 154 154 87 1395 99 54 11 1399 35 446 487 3.46 105
The Bambino’s home run production would be significantly inhibited by playing half his games in Fenway Park (an extremely difficult home run park in that era) instead of the Polo Grounds (one of the easiest), but no ball park could well contain his power, and of course he was a terrific all-around hitter anyway.
This ball club would be a monster, scoring the most runs in the league (despite the pitchers’ park) while allowing the fewest. Taking the best player (Speaker) away from the actual pennant-winning Cleveland Indians, and the best player (Ruth) and best pitcher (Mays) away from the close-third New York Yankees, our Red Sox would soar ahead of their actual 72-81, fifth-place performance, going 99-54 to grab the 1920 American League pennant, nosing out the defending champion (and soon to be disgraced) Chicago White Sox.
Namee:
Before we leave 1920, I can’t resist going off on a bit of a tangent. In real life, on Aug. 16, 1920, Carl Mays (pitching for the Yankees) beaned star Indians shortstop Ray Chapman. Chapman died the next day. Unless you think that somehow Chapman was just destined to die from a beanball, you’ve got to at least consider the possibility that he might have lived had Carl Mays remained with Boston.
Chapman was a great candidate for 3,000 hits, and he probably would have made the Hall of Fame. To replace him, the Indians acquired 21-year-old Joe Sewell from New Orleans; Sewell, of course, went on to a Hall of Fame career himself. With Chapman alive, the Indians would have had no reason to purchase Sewell.
In his book on the Chapman death (The Pitch that Killed), Mike Sowell says that the New Orleans owner was offered $100,000 by an unnamed major league team for Sewell, his shortstop. Now, the dollar figure might not be right, but other major league teams were clearly interested in Sewell.
Who would have gotten him eventually? My No. 1 suspect is the Pirates. In September 1920, they purchased Pie Traynor (then a shorstop) from Portsmouth for $10,000. Then, in January 1921, they traded three players plus $15,000 to the Braves for Rabbit Maranville. A lot of other teams had holes at shortstop, but only the Pirates made a deal to acquire a shortstop in the winter of 1920-21. And given that they made two deals and spent a total of $25,000, it seems reasonable to think they might have been interested in Sewell.
This is all theoretical, and the ripple effect of the Chapman death is hard to determine. Suffice to say that several future Hall of Famers might have been in different uniforms had Carl Mays not hit Ray Chapman, and Carl Mays might not have hit Ray Chapman if Mays had been with Boston.
Anyway, moving on … 1921.
In the winter before the ’21 season, the Red Sox made a big eight-player trade with the Yankees, getting quality second baseman Del Pratt and mediocre backstop Muddy Ruel, but paying a hefty price in the process: They lost future Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt, as well as star catcher Wally Schang. Needless to say, this is one trade we won’t be making.
In March, the Red Sox made another regrettable move, sending longtime star Harry Hooper to the White Sox for uninspiring outfielders Shano Collins and Nemo Liebold. We’ll nix this one as well.
Our 1921 Red Sox bear little resemblance to the actual team:
1921
Pos Player B Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+
1B B. Ruth L 26 152 540 147 200 47 19 49 166 142 81 .370 .501 .800 232
2B E. Foster R 34 120 412 53 117 18 6 0 40 57 15 .284 .371 .357 89
SS E. Scott R 28 154 576 65 151 21 9 1 66 27 21 .262 .295 .335 62
3B L. Gardner L 35 153 586 92 182 30 13 3 122 65 16 .311 .366 .422 103
RF H. Hooper L 33 108 419 97 140 27 5 8 53 55 21 .334 .402 .480 127
CF T. Speaker L 33 132 506 133 178 51 13 3 75 68 12 .352 .422 .522 143
LF M. Menosky L 26 133 477 90 143 18 5 3 43 60 45 .300 .388 .377 98
C W. Schang B 31 134 424 69 130 29 5 6 70 78 35 .307 .415 .441 121
2B M. McNally R 27 55 160 26 41 3 1 1 19 10 11 .256 .287 .306 53
OF T. Hendryx R 30 61 137 13 33 8 2 0 22 24 13 .241 .349 .328 79
OF C. Shorten L 29 58 135 20 37 7 2 0 15 12 7 .274 .325 .356 76
C E. Ainsmith R 31 41 106 8 30 3 2 0 12 11 7 .283 .342 .349 79
OF D. Lewis R 33 54 102 11 19 4 1 0 14 8 10 .186 .239 .245 25
23 P. Pittenger R 22 20 31 3 6 1 0 0 3 1 7 .194 .206 .226 11
Others 41 6 9 0 0 0 3 4 8 .220 .289 .220 33
Pitchers 557 64 149 20 6 3 68 23 68 .268 .285 .341 61
TOTAL 5209 897 1565 287 89 77 791 645 377 .300 .370 .434 112
Pitcher T Age G GS CG IP W L SV H HR BB SO ERA ERA+
C. Mays R 29 43 35 29 315 28 8 4 312 10 71 67 2.97 143
J. Bush R 28 36 31 21 249 18 9 2 236 10 93 96 3.47 122
W. Hoyt R 21 42 25 15 229 17 9 5 240 3 66 83 3.07 138
D. Leonard L 29 33 27 14 214 15 9 1 234 13 55 105 3.70 115
H. Pennock L 27 29 25 12 188 15 10 0 221 6 52 77 4.07 104
E. Myers R 27 20 8 4 85 4 5 1 105 5 26 20 4.87 87
B. Karr R 27 19 2 0 59 3 1 0 62 4 19 19 3.66 116
H. Harper L 26 8 1 1 20 2 1 0 20 1 9 10 4.05 105
C. Fullerton R 22 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 8 1 3 2 9.00 47
TOTAL 154 154 96 1364 102 52 13 1438 53 394 479 3.53 120
Ruth’s supporting cast is outstanding, and Hoyt emerges this year as a standout pitcher. The Yankees, who won the pennant in real life, are robbed of their best players (Ruth, Mays, Hoyt and Schang). The runner-up Indians lose two of their stars (Speaker and Gardner). Meanwhile, our Red Sox—75-79 in real life—would win their second straight pennant (and fifth in seven years) with ease, going 102-52.
Treder:
Frazee made three major trades in the 1921-22 off-season. The first was yet another in the dismal series with the Yankees: This one sent top pitchers Joe Bush and Sam Jones as well as slick-fielding shortstop Everett Scott to the Big Apple in exchange for shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh and three pitchers. Well, we don’t have Jones at our disposal, and anyway this deal didn’t make sense for the Red Sox, so we aren’t going to make it.
A follow-up trade flipped Peckinpaugh to Washington for infielders Joe Dugan and Frank O’Rourke; obviously we won’t do that one either. The other big one the Red Sox made that winter swapped first baseman Stuffy McInnis to the Indians for three good hitters: first baseman George Burns, outfielder-first baseman Joe Harris and outfielder Elmer Smith. This was a very sharp trade on Frazee’s part, but since we didn’t make the Larry Gardner-for-Stuffy McInnis deal several years earlier, this is one we can’t have.
Instead we’ll go into 1922 pretty much standing pat. Alas, our juggernaut finally encounters some difficulty: Ruth finds himself suspended no fewer than four times, and is unavailable for more than a quarter of the schedule. His performance in this emotionally troubled season suffers; though still tremendous, his hitting is less than his best.
This is of course a significant blow to our Red Sox. Another issue is that Tris Speaker misses significant playing time due to nagging injuries, though his rate of performance is as brilliant as ever. A third problem is that stalwart pitcher Dutch Leonard, holding out for more salary, refuses to report.
1922
Pos Player B Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+
1B B. Ruth L 27 110 406 94 130 26 9 29 104 84 82 .320 .434 .643 178
2B E. Foster R 35 113 380 53 99 10 0 0 25 43 28 .261 .330 .287 62
SS E. Scott R 29 154 557 54 149 23 5 3 50 23 23 .268 .289 .343 65
3B L. Gardner L 36 137 470 64 137 32 3 2 78 49 22 .291 .349 .385 92
RF H. Hooper L 34 152 602 111 184 35 8 10 79 69 34 .306 .376 .440 113
CF T. Speaker L 34 131 426 95 164 49 8 10 76 77 11 .385 .469 .608 180
LF M. Menosky L 27 143 529 85 149 21 7 4 50 55 48 .282 .346 .371 87
C W. Schang B 32 124 408 51 129 21 7 1 55 53 37 .316 .384 .409 107
10 C. Shorten L 30 108 266 38 73 17 7 2 32 27 15 .274 .329 .414 93
2S M. McNally R 28 68 196 28 50 3 2 0 23 21 18 .255 .303 .291 56
C E. Ainsmith R 32 60 190 23 56 8 2 4 30 16 22 .295 .336 .421 97
23 P. Pittenger R 23 66 186 16 48 3 0 0 9 9 10 .258 .291 .274 48
OF D. Reichle L 25 48 84 10 21 3 0 0 5 2 7 .250 .276 .286 47
C E. Chaplin L 28 28 69 8 13 1 1 0 6 9 9 .188 .275 .232 34
Others 26 2 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 .154 .226 .154 1
Pitchers 501 40 109 12 7 0 36 23 62 .218 .253 .269 37
TOTAL 5296 772 1515 264 66 65 658 563 430 .286 .347 .398 100
Pitcher T Age G GS CG IP W L SV H HR BB SO ERA ERA+
W. Hoyt R 22 37 31 17 265 19 12 1 268 11 74 95 3.23 127
J. Bush R 29 39 30 20 255 26 7 3 237 14 83 92 3.10 132
C. Mays R 30 34 29 21 240 12 14 2 254 10 49 41 3.38 122
H. Pennock L 28 32 26 15 202 15 10 2 223 6 73 59 4.14 99
A. Ferguson R 25 35 23 8 178 10 10 3 175 5 55 40 4.10 100
B. Karr R 28 37 11 5 165 7 7 3 185 8 40 37 4.31 95
C. Fullerton R 23 28 3 0 58 1 3 0 61 4 31 15 5.12 80
Others 1 0 12 0 1 0 21 1 6 4 10.50 39
TOTAL 154 154 86 1375 90 64 14 1424 59 411 383 3.75 110
The phenomenal depth of this pitching staff allows it to more or less shrug off the absence of Leonard, and remain one of the best in the league. But this ball club’s overall offense isn’t particularly special. The result is a contending team, but is it a champion?
While the actual Red Sox fell to last place at 61-93, our version is of course vastly better than that. And the actual pennant-winning Yankees, in our scenario missing Ruth, Bush, Hoyt, Mays, Schang and Scott, will certainly fall far short of their real-life 94-60 performance.
But nothing we’ve done here would have significant impact on the 1922 St. Louis Browns, with a terrific core of first baseman George Sisler, left fielder Ken Williams and ace pitcher Urban Shocker. This St. Louis ball club, despite posting an actual record of 93-61 and a pythagorean mark of 98-56, finished an excruciating one game behind the Yankees. In our scenario it will be the Browns capturing their first pennant, with the Red Sox trailing in second by a few games.
Next installment
Can the Red Sox rebound?
References & Resources
Mike Sowell, The Pitch that Killed: The Story of Carl Mays, Ray Chapman, and the Pennant Race of 1920, New York: Macmillan, 1989.