What if Tom Yawkey had bought the A’s? (Part 2)
Last time, we introduced the counterfactual concept that, instead of purchasing the Boston Red Sox in early 1933, young multimillionaire Tom Yawkey bought the Philadelphia Athletics. In so doing, Yawkey would not only allow the A’s franchise to avoid its massive sell-off of stars, but indeed bring his mighty star-purchasing power to Philadelphia.
We listed the various white-flag transactions Connie Mack’s Athletics undertook in 1932-36 that Tom Yawkey’s Athletics wouldn’t. And we also identified the extravagant acquisitions Yawkey funded in Boston during the same period that he’d be making for our A’s instead. And, for good measure, we tossed in one additional big-money buy that another American League team made in 1935, and we’re having our free-spending Philadelphia owner step in and outbid them.
Now we’re ready to see how all of this would likely have worked out.
1933
Any lineup anchored by a hitter of the caliber of first baseman Jimmie Foxx at his monumental peak (capturing the triple crown and his second straight MVP award in ’33) is going to be a lineup to be reckoned with. But this one would feature multiple threats in addition to The Beast.
Superstar catcher Mickey Cochrane presented a career-best OBP and OPS+. Left fielder Al Simmons, at the age of 31, was no longer producing his prior superstar numbers, but he would remain a formidable hitter. And these familiar names were joined by those of two heavy-hitting rookies in right fielder Bob Johnson and third baseman Mike “Pinky” Higgins.
As if these Big Five weren’t enough, veteran second baseman Max “Camera Eye” Bishop chipped in an OBP that was third-best in the league (behind only Cochrane and Foxx). Neither of the final two regulars—center fielder Doc Cramer and shortstop Eric McNair—was impressive at the plate, but neither was a bad hitter for his position.
Altogether it would be a terrific hitting unit, with a team OPS+ superior to any produced by the Athletics pennant winners of 1929–30–31. In the 1933 American League, only the Lou Gehrig–Babe Ruth Yankees would present a better offense.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B J. Foxx 25 149 573 129 204 37 9 48 166 96 93 .356 .449 .703 1.153 200
2B M. Bishop* 33 117 391 84 115 27 1 4 42 106 46 .294 .446 .399 .845 124
SS-2B E. McNair 24 107 372 64 97 18 5 8 58 18 38 .261 .301 .401 .701 84
3B P. Higgins 24 152 567 80 178 34 12 13 109 61 53 .314 .383 .485 .868 128
RF B. Johnson 27 142 535 93 155 44 4 21 123 85 74 .290 .387 .505 .892 134
CF D. Cramer* 27 137 529 87 156 22 7 6 65 29 19 .295 .322 .397 .719 89
LF A. Simmons 31 146 605 115 202 29 10 16 104 37 49 .334 .373 .494 .867 127
C M. Cochrane* 30 130 429 108 138 30 4 15 60 106 22 .322 .459 .515 .974 157
SS-2B B. Werber 25 72 213 32 55 15 3 2 21 17 20 .258 .304 .385 .689 81
2B-SS J. Dykes 36 76 185 16 47 7 1 0 23 22 13 .254 .343 .303 .645 71
CF-RF M. Haas* 29 73 146 24 41 8 1 0 14 15 11 .281 .335 .349 .685 81
C E. Madjeski 24 51 142 17 40 4 0 0 17 4 21 .282 .301 .310 .611 61
LF-RF E. Coleman* 31 51 97 12 25 6 1 1 17 4 14 .258 .284 .371 .655 72
Others 63 4 10 1 0 0 5 5 11 .159 .229 .175 .403 8
Pitchers 472 40 77 13 1 1 36 31 130 .163 .206 .201 .408 8
Total 5319 905 1540 295 59 135 860 636 614 .290 .362 .443 .806 112
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
L. Grove* 33 45 28 21 24 8 6 275 280 113 98 12 83 114 3.21 134
S. Cain 26 38 32 16 13 12 1 218 244 132 103 18 137 43 4.25 101
R. Walberg* 36 40 20 10 9 13 4 201 224 132 109 12 95 68 4.88 88
R. Mahaffey 29 33 23 9 13 10 0 179 198 114 103 5 74 66 5.18 83
G. Pipgras 33 22 17 9 9 5 2 128 134 63 56 5 45 56 3.94 109
G. Earnshaw 33 21 16 4 5 8 0 106 138 84 70 7 52 33 5.94 72
J. Peterson 24 32 5 0 2 4 0 91 114 64 50 6 36 18 4.95 87
D. Barrett 26 10 5 2 3 3 0 49 50 34 31 2 34 18 5.69 75
T. Freitas* 25 13 3 1 1 2 1 32 45 28 26 4 12 8 7.31 59
Others 3 2 5 2 0 62 65 43 35 3 42 20 5.08 84
Total 152 74 84 67 14 1341 1492 807 681 74 610 444 4.57 94
* Throws left
However, the Athletics pitching would fail to measure up. Ace Lefty Grove, though outstanding, was distinctly below his peak form. Veterans Rube Walberg and George Earnshaw both struggled. Another veteran, George Pipgras, would be acquired in May and provide some help, but the rest of the staff was make-do.
The result would be a disappointing record of 84-67 and a third-place finish, the least impressive performance by an A’s team since 1926.
1934
As potent as the Athletics attack had been in 1933, it would be every bit as good this season. The regular lineup was unchanged from ’33 with the exception of second base, where speedy young Billy Werber edged aside the aging Bishop, and while Werber’s offensive profile wasn’t the same as Bishop’s (whose was?), his productivity was effectively the same. These A’s would be the best-hitting team in the league.
And this season the Philadelphia offense would receive a small, but not insignificant, boost from an unlikely source: in mid-season they acquired a pitcher who could really, really hit.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B J. Foxx 26 154 552 128 185 29 6 45 144 114 77 .334 .449 .653 1.102 186
2B-SS B. Werber 26 124 447 92 138 29 7 7 53 51 28 .310 .373 .454 .828 116
SS E. McNair 25 124 491 60 137 16 3 14 67 29 35 .280 .317 .413 .730 90
3B P. Higgins 25 148 557 91 183 38 6 16 103 57 72 .330 .392 .508 .901 135
RF B. Johnson 28 145 561 98 172 27 6 35 120 59 62 .307 .375 .563 .938 143
CF D. Cramer* 28 154 665 112 207 30 9 6 52 41 36 .311 .353 .411 .765 100
LF A. Simmons 32 141 572 111 194 35 7 18 107 52 59 .339 .396 .522 .918 139
C M. Cochrane* 31 132 448 81 140 31 1 2 73 75 29 .314 .412 .400 .813 114
2B M. Bishop* 34 67 173 44 45 9 1 1 15 53 16 .260 .431 .343 .774 105
3B-2B J. Dykes 37 64 149 18 33 7 1 3 17 7 16 .221 .260 .345 .605 57
C E. Madjeski 25 43 93 10 23 3 1 1 16 12 7 .242 .330 .330 .660 74
OF M. Haas* 30 54 90 14 24 4 1 0 6 10 6 .261 .317 .330 .647 70
LF E. Coleman* 32 52 84 13 22 3 1 3 15 7 9 .256 .322 .427 .749 95
P-PH W. Ferrell 26 34 78 12 22 4 0 4 17 7 15 .282 .341 .487 .828 107
Others 58 8 14 3 0 0 6 5 7 .246 .302 .298 .600 58
Pitchers 409 28 80 11 1 3 41 14 93 .196 .218 .249 .468 22
Total 5428 922 1619 278 52 160 853 595 567 .298 .365 .457 .822 114
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
G. Earnshaw 34 34 31 16 18 8 1 233 233 121 108 27 105 97 4.16 105
J. Marcum 24 38 25 14 14 7 1 191 206 103 90 10 72 77 4.26 103
W. Ferrell 26 27 23 17 16 4 2 186 203 81 69 3 50 67 3.33 131
S. Cain 27 37 18 8 8 8 0 158 156 82 72 9 87 48 4.09 107
L. Grove* 34 23 12 5 9 7 0 112 148 79 74 4 33 43 5.94 74
B. Dietrich 24 27 11 4 6 5 2 107 98 57 50 5 58 48 4.24 103
J. Cascarella 27 29 10 6 6 7 1 99 105 52 47 3 53 40 4.27 102
R. Walberg* 37 31 10 2 7 6 3 108 117 59 44 4 42 38 3.69 119
A. Benton 23 33 7 2 5 4 2 80 70 45 38 3 45 33 4.27 102
Others 7 3 4 5 0 97 107 69 62 10 54 32 5.68 77
Total 154 79 93 61 12 1369 1441 748 653 79 600 523 4.29 102
* Throws left
That pitcher was Wes Ferrell, who would recover from early-season shoulder problems to perform wonderfully on the mound and at the plate. His arrival couldn’t have come at a better time, because long-time staff bellwether Grove was suffering a miserable sore-armed season. Ferrell, along with a strong comeback season from Earnshaw, some nice work out of the bullpen from Walberg, and a solid rookie year from Johnny Marcum, would serve to rescue the A’s pitching, turning what might have been a problem into a slightly-above-average unit.
The combination of stout hitting and competent pitching would make this Athletics team a very serious contender. Their Pythagorean record would be 93-61 (originally it was 90-60, calculated against the 150 decisions recorded by the actual 1934 A’s, but I went ahead and extrapolated all the stats out to the full 154-game schedule, because a team engaged in this close a pennant race would make up all their rainouts).
The Detroit Tigers actually ran away with the 1934 AL pennant at 101-53. However, they did it with Cochrane as their catcher/manager, and in this scenario we have Cochrane. His absence alone would bring Detroit down to a record somewhere around equal to that of our A’s.
The other contender would, of course, be the Yankees, who even with Ruth in decline and a couple of holes in the lineup, still came in at 94-60. We may conclude that the Bronx Bombers would have won this pennant, but if so, it would be in an excruciatingly close battle with the Athletics and Tigers.
1935
Newly-arrived heavy-hitting shortstop Joe Cronin would be a perfect fit into the star-studded lineup. Left fielder Simmons would suffer an off-season, but the impressive rookie Wally Moses would provide excellent backup. And Ferrell’s booming bat provided the A’s with the best pinch hitter in the game on the days when he wasn’t pitching.
All in all this machine-like offense would once again be the league’s best.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B J. Foxx 27 147 535 123 189 34 8 36 125 114 97 .353 .467 .649 1.115 187
2B-SS B. Werber 27 124 416 76 105 26 4 12 58 59 37 .252 .342 .421 .763 97
SS J. Cronin 28 144 556 95 161 35 16 8 88 60 40 .290 .357 .453 .810 109
3B P. Higgins 26 133 524 74 155 32 4 23 99 42 62 .296 .350 .504 .854 119
RF B. Johnson 29 147 582 108 174 29 5 28 115 78 76 .299 .384 .510 .894 130
CF D. Cramer* 29 142 580 91 193 33 4 3 66 33 31 .333 .365 .419 .783 103
LF A. Simmons 33 115 420 64 112 18 6 13 75 26 34 .267 .312 .431 .743 91
C M. Cochrane* 32 115 411 94 134 34 3 5 57 92 16 .326 .444 .460 .904 135
LF-CF W. Moses* 24 57 173 35 55 10 2 3 21 12 9 .318 .369 .451 .820 112
P-PH W. Ferrell 27 75 150 25 52 5 1 7 32 21 16 .347 .408 .533 .941 142
3B-2B J. Dykes 38 59 134 17 39 8 1 1 23 20 9 .291 .380 .388 .768 100
C P. Richards 26 43 129 16 32 5 1 2 18 12 6 .248 .306 .349 .654 69
OF M. Haas* 31 61 109 16 31 7 0 1 15 11 6 .284 .336 .376 .712 84
2B M. Bishop* 35 40 81 14 19 2 0 1 9 17 9 .235 .349 .296 .645 69
Others 146 17 40 6 1 0 12 9 12 .274 .310 .329 .639 66
Pitchers 348 27 71 6 4 3 34 26 92 .204 .246 .270 .516 34
Total 5294 892 1562 290 60 146 847 632 552 .295 .367 .455 .822 112
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
W. Ferrell 27 41 38 31 28 10 0 322 329 144 121 15 106 107 3.38 135
L. Grove* 35 35 30 23 23 8 1 273 264 102 79 6 64 118 2.60 175
J. Marcum 25 39 27 19 20 8 3 243 256 125 110 9 83 99 4.08 112
B. Newsom 27 21 17 13 10 7 2 149 168 81 73 7 63 49 4.41 103
G. Earnshaw 35 22 11 3 6 6 0 92 105 57 51 8 35 43 4.99 91
G. Blaeholder 31 15 10 4 4 4 0 75 85 37 31 4 25 13 3.72 123
R. Walberg* 38 34 10 3 5 4 3 95 95 42 36 6 35 31 3.41 134
B. Dietrich 25 9 1 0 1 1 0 19 20 13 11 1 10 6 5.21 88
Others 5 0 1 3 0 59 71 47 41 3 41 23 6.25 73
Total 149 96 98 51 9 1327 1393 648 553 59 462 489 3.75 122
* Throws left
And this season the Philadelphia pitching staff would fully match up to its lusty hitting. Ferrell, in career-best form, was a tireless ace. Grove bounced back wonderfully, no longer possessing great velocity, but displaying a pinpoint mastery of off-speed stuff.
In Marcum and mid-season acquisition Bobo Newsom the A’s had two additional reliable workhorse starters, and with Walberg doing splendidly as a reliever/spot starter, the Athletics pitching was the league’s finest.
It would be the sheet music for a waltz to the pennant. This A’s ball club would be comparable to their great 1929-30-31 run of champions.
1936
For the first time in the decade, the Athletics offense encountered serious problems.
Cochrane, the ever-durable and brilliant all-around catcher, would miss most of the season due to illness. (Cochrane’s affliction was, in the parlance of the day, a “nervous breakdown,” blamed on the intense pressure he was under while playing as well as handling the field manager and GM roles for Detroit. It’s fair to question whether he’d have suffered the same mental illness while just playing for Philadelphia, but we’ll err on the side of conservatism and assume that he would be gone from the lineup.) In his place, 21-year-old rookie Frankie Hayes would show promise, but he was no Cochrane.
A second issue was that shortstop Cronin suffered a broken finger early in the season, and upon his return was unable to find his batting stroke. Two young infielders, Skeeter Newsome and Rusty Peters, would get playing time in Cronin’s absence, and neither hit a lick.
The big bats of Foxx, Johnson, and Moses (shunting Cramer aside in center field) continued to deliver, but on balance the A’s attack was rendered slightly better than league-average.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B J. Foxx 28 154 585 135 195 30 9 38 146 100 124 .333 .430 .610 1.040 156
2B-SS B. Werber 28 145 535 104 145 27 7 9 67 85 39 .271 .369 .398 .767 91
SS J. Cronin 29 81 295 46 81 21 5 2 43 30 23 .275 .337 .400 .737 83
3B P. Higgins 27 146 550 85 159 32 2 12 87 67 61 .289 .366 .420 .786 95
RF B. Johnson 30 153 566 111 165 29 14 25 121 88 71 .292 .389 .525 .913 125
CF W. Moses* 25 146 585 113 202 35 11 7 70 62 32 .345 .410 .479 .888 120
LF A. Simmons 34 129 456 77 149 30 5 10 95 39 28 .327 .382 .480 .862 113
C F. Hayes 21 104 364 46 99 18 1 7 51 33 42 .272 .334 .385 .719 78
LF-CF D. Cramer* 30 77 214 36 63 10 2 0 14 16 7 .294 .342 .360 .702 75
2B-3B J. Dykes 39 64 174 27 46 6 1 3 24 24 14 .264 .353 .362 .715 78
C M. Cochrane* 33 44 126 27 35 8 0 2 17 44 15 .278 .449 .389 .838 110
P-PH W. Ferrell 28 61 135 20 36 6 1 5 24 14 10 .267 .336 .437 .773 85
SS S. Newsome 25 64 118 12 24 4 1 0 12 6 7 .203 .236 .254 .490 22
LF-RF M. Haas* 32 60 102 19 27 6 1 0 12 15 8 .265 .341 .343 .685 71
SS-2B R. Peters 21 45 119 14 26 3 2 3 16 4 28 .218 .244 .353 .597 47
C C. Moss 25 33 44 2 11 1 1 0 10 6 5 .250 .340 .318 .658 65
Others 114 17 30 4 2 0 10 4 14 .263 .292 .333 .625 55
Pitchers 358 25 65 13 0 2 32 14 73 .182 .201 .235 .435 8
Total 5440 916 1558 283 65 125 851 651 601 .286 .360 .431 .791 96
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
W. Ferrell 28 39 38 28 23 12 0 301 320 154 135 10 119 106 4.04 126
L. Grove* 36 35 30 22 20 9 2 253 232 87 76 13 65 130 2.70 189
B. Newsom 28 39 30 19 16 10 2 228 242 127 111 11 112 128 4.38 116
J. Marcum 26 31 23 9 11 10 1 174 192 97 90 13 52 57 4.66 110
H. Kelley 30 28 11 6 11 3 2 118 117 51 46 9 39 45 3.51 145
R. Walberg* 39 28 7 4 6 3 0 100 96 51 47 7 37 50 4.23 121
G. Earnshaw 36 22 9 2 4 4 1 76 97 58 53 7 27 34 6.28 81
B. Ross 21 18 3 1 3 2 0 40 49 27 24 3 17 10 5.40 94
H. Fink 24 19 3 1 3 2 1 38 46 23 21 4 16 12 4.97 103
Others 0 0 0 1 0 25 30 25 21 0 18 6 7.56 67
Total 154 92 97 56 9 1353 1421 700 624 77 502 578 4.15 123
* Throws left
Thus the pitching was given a heavy load to bear, and proved every bit up to the challenge. Ferrell and Grove were once again a marvelous pair of aces. Newsom and Marcum would continue to do quite well rounding out the rotation.
The ageless Walberg was still effective, and he would be joined by journeyman Harry Kelley in providing first-rate support work. The A’s staff was again the very best in the league.
This ball club would be an excellent one, but not quite the powerhouse of 1935. And this year the Yankees, featuring sensational rookie Joe DiMaggio, were a serious powerhouse, and thus our Athletics would have to settle for a strong second.
1937
Cochrane would be back, and producing in top form—until severely beaned in late May, endangering his life and finishing his career. Hayes would now take over as the first-stringer, and this time he was ready to hit with serious power.
Cronin was healthy, and would deliver a splendid comeback season. Even with an off-year (by his lofty standards) from Foxx, and a clearly declining Simmons, this offense, led by outstanding performances by Johnson and Moses, would rival that of the Yankees as the league’s best.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B J. Foxx 29 150 569 111 160 23 7 33 117 99 96 .281 .386 .520 .907 128
2B B. Werber 29 128 493 95 144 31 4 7 57 74 39 .292 .386 .414 .799 103
SS J. Cronin 30 148 570 112 173 38 5 16 87 84 73 .304 .392 .472 .864 119
3B P. Higgins 28 153 570 88 168 31 6 8 93 76 51 .295 .375 .412 .787 100
RF B. Johnson 31 138 477 91 146 32 6 25 108 98 65 .306 .425 .556 .981 147
CF W. Moses* 26 154 649 113 208 48 13 25 86 54 38 .320 .374 .550 .925 132
LF A. Simmons 35 103 419 58 117 21 8 10 77 29 35 .279 .330 .439 .769 94
C F. Hayes 22 80 304 43 83 19 2 15 57 50 55 .273 .376 .497 .872 120
OF D. Cramer* 31 89 187 35 56 7 4 0 15 12 5 .299 .335 .380 .715 81
C E. Brucker 36 68 143 18 35 7 3 3 16 21 14 .245 .337 .399 .736 86
P-PH W. Ferrell 29 57 111 12 32 7 0 1 20 13 16 .288 .354 .378 .733 86
C M. Cochrane* 34 27 98 27 30 10 1 2 12 25 4 .306 .444 .490 .934 137
LF M. Haas* 33 49 74 5 15 2 2 0 7 11 7 .203 .303 .284 .587 50
2B-SS R. Peters 22 46 68 9 16 3 1 1 6 7 13 .235 .303 .353 .656 66
3B-1B J. Dykes 40 30 57 7 17 3 0 1 10 6 5 .298 .359 .404 .763 94
SS-2B S. Newsome 26 24 44 5 10 2 0 0 3 4 2 .227 .280 .273 .553 41
Others 92 11 25 4 0 0 10 9 7 .272 .337 .315 .652 67
Pitchers 412 42 86 20 1 1 38 27 93 .209 .247 .269 .517 31
Total 5337 882 1521 308 63 148 819 699 618 .285 .365 .450 .815 106
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
L. Grove* 37 32 32 21 18 8 0 262 266 100 87 9 83 153 2.99 158
W. Ferrell 29 33 26 19 13 11 1 225 255 137 117 19 98 103 4.68 101
B. Newsom 29 31 25 11 15 8 0 220 210 125 113 13 134 138 4.62 102
J. Marcum 27 30 23 9 14 8 3 166 205 93 88 15 42 54 4.77 99
G. Caster 29 24 13 6 8 7 1 116 109 66 52 10 54 55 4.03 117
H. Kelley 31 29 12 5 9 8 1 103 129 72 56 7 40 37 4.89 97
E. Smith* 23 27 10 5 4 5 6 99 84 45 38 7 45 43 3.45 137
R. Walberg* 40 26 6 1 3 4 3 70 92 45 40 4 31 33 5.14 92
B. Thomas 26 23 5 1 3 3 0 57 64 31 26 3 17 20 4.11 115
Others 2 1 1 1 0 42 48 29 25 2 21 15 5.36 88
Total 154 79 88 63 15 1360 1462 743 642 89 565 651 4.25 111
* Throws left
The pitching staff would remain a very good one. But Ferrell would pitch through a severe early-season slump, Walberg would finally hit the end of the line, and overall the pitching wouldn’t be as dominant as in the prior couple of years.
The result would be a good team, but no better than a distant second behind the runaway Bronx Bombers.
1938-1939
In both of these seasons, the A’s would present a formidable offense. Foxx would bounce back from his merely good 1937 performance with back-to-back great ones. With Johnson, Cronin, and Hayes continuing to supply additional power, and Werber and Moses continuing to get on base ahead of them, Philadelphia would score lots of runs.
But the pitching in these years would face some issues. Grove was still highly effective, but in a much more limited usage pattern. Ferrell would struggle in 1938, and following that, though he was only in his early 30s, his pitching career would prove to be essentially over (Ferrell would perform for several more years as a slugging star in the low minors, playing second base(!) and the outfield). Marcum as well would flame out with a bad arm.
In this environment, Newsom would step forward as the staff ace, and he would be a good one. But the young pitchers taking on prominent roles would have limited success.
Thus in both seasons the A’s would deliver results similar to those of 1937: a good team, with 85-90 wins, but not nearly good enough to challenge the mighty Yankees.
1940
This was the year those mighty Yankees finally encountered some slumps, and while still very good, they were back within the realm of competition.
It would present a keen opportunity for these A’s. Their power-laden attack, utterly without a weakness, would be the league’s best. The lineup included the familiar names of the remarkably consistent and durable veterans—Foxx, Johnson, Cronin, Werber, and Higgins—joined by the younger talents Moses and Hayes, and now as well by power-hitting young outfielder Sam Chapman, who’d displaced Simmons.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B J. Foxx 32 151 541 116 164 31 6 37 130 108 88 .303 .418 .588 1.006 159
2B B. Werber 32 143 584 110 167 37 5 15 53 78 40 .286 .376 .443 .819 113
SS J. Cronin 33 149 548 109 155 34 7 22 96 85 67 .283 .372 .491 .863 123
3B P. Higgins 31 131 480 63 125 23 3 12 76 61 34 .260 .343 .396 .739 92
RF-CF W. Moses* 29 142 537 111 166 41 9 9 55 75 44 .309 .396 .469 .865 125
CF S. Chapman 24 134 508 76 140 26 3 23 90 46 96 .276 .337 .474 .811 109
LF-RF B. Johnson 34 138 512 96 137 25 4 31 113 83 64 .268 .374 .514 .888 129
C F. Hayes 25 136 465 71 143 23 4 16 79 61 59 .308 .389 .477 .866 125
OF D. Cramer* 34 75 220 34 65 9 4 0 17 11 10 .295 .322 .373 .695 81
3B-SS A. Rubeling 27 54 125 16 29 5 2 1 13 15 20 .232 .310 .328 .638 67
2B-SS A. Brancato 21 54 99 14 18 3 1 0 8 8 13 .182 .248 .232 .480 26
C H. Wagner* 24 34 75 9 19 5 1 0 10 11 6 .253 .356 .347 .703 85
LF A. Simmons 38 37 81 7 25 4 0 1 19 4 8 .309 .341 .395 .736 92
C E. Brucker 39 23 46 3 9 1 1 0 2 6 3 .196 .288 .261 .549 45
Others 74 7 20 2 0 0 7 4 7 .270 .308 .297 .605 59
Pitchers 486 33 90 8 0 3 39 20 124 .185 .209 .220 .429 12
Total 5381 875 1472 277 50 170 807 676 683 .274 .353 .438 .791 105
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
B. Newsom 32 36 34 20 21 5 0 264 225 104 78 18 103 162 2.66 167
J. Babich 27 31 30 16 17 10 0 229 222 111 95 16 80 94 3.73 119
N. Potter 28 31 25 13 13 12 1 201 213 115 99 18 71 73 4.43 100
L. Grove* 40 22 21 9 8 7 0 153 159 72 67 19 50 62 3.94 113
B. Ross 25 24 18 9 8 7 2 148 152 85 71 14 57 41 4.32 103
B. Beckmann 32 31 8 5 9 2 2 114 119 60 52 9 32 43 4.11 108
E. Heusser 31 37 5 2 7 10 6 99 129 75 54 9 38 36 4.91 90
G. Caster 32 24 8 4 4 8 3 89 112 75 60 8 34 41 6.07 73
C. Dean* 24 15 2 1 2 2 0 32 44 27 23 4 13 8 6.47 69
Others 3 0 0 2 0 27 34 27 24 5 17 11 8.00 56
Total 154 79 89 65 14 1356 1409 751 623 120 495 571 4.13 107
* Throws left
The rebuilt staff would be the Athletics’ best since 1937. Newsom would deliver his best year. The 40-year-old Grove was a shadow of his former self, but still useful. And a couple of journeymen, Johnny Babich and Nels Potter, provided solid starting performances.
The pitching wouldn’t be the league’s best, but it was distinctly better than average.
This yields a Pythagorean record of 89-65. This compares with:
{exp:list_maker}the actual pennant-winning 1940 Detroit Tigers’ record of 90-64. Without Newsom and Higgins, the Tigers would finish well back.
the actual second-place Cleveland Indians’ record of 89-65. The Indians’ Pythag mark was 85-69, so those 89 wins seem the high end of their likely range.
the actual third-place New York Yankees’ record of 88-66. The Yanks’ Pythag was 92-62, so 89 (or more) wins was well within their capacity. {/exp:list_maker}The actual A’s came in four games below their Pythagorean record (54-100 actual versus 58-96 Pythag), so if our A’s do the same, they’re at 85-69, looking up at the pennant winner. But there’s no reason to assume our version would have similarly underperformed, although they obviously might have (as, for instance, the Yankees did).
It adds up to a “too close to call” race. Perhaps (oh hell, maybe probably) the Damn Yankees would have prevailed with a fifth straight flag (and given the three more they would bag in the coming three years, yielding a mind-boggling eight in a row). But our Athletics might well have pulled this one out, and so might have the Indians.
1941 and beyond
Just about all of the outstanding performers we’ve retained or added to the A’s would encounter decline as the 1940s unfolded. Thus the actual Athletics’ continuing difficulties in recovering from their early-to-mid-1930s talent divestiture would become more salient. Unless virtual owner Yawkey could build the same farm system in Philadelphia he built in Boston, our A’s would encounter real problems in the 1940s.
But why couldn’t Yawkey have done that? It’s fun to consider an A’s franchise bringing Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Tex Hughson, and, yes, Ted Williams to the majors.
But, anyway. We digress.
Let’s review just how dramatically these Athletics outpaced their actual counterparts:
Actual Virtual Year W L Pos W L Pos 1933 79 72 3 84 67 3 1934 68 82 5 93 61 1? 2? 3? 1935 58 91 8 98 51 1 1936 53 100 8 97 56 2 1937 54 97 7 88 63 2 1938 53 99 8 85-90 62-67 2? 3? 1939 55 97 7 85-90 62-67 2? 3? 1940 54 100 8 89 65 1? 2? 3?
Instead of diving to the bottom of the league and lying there like so much roadkill, our A’s rebounded from the merely-good 1933 performance and would excel as a strong contender through 1940. They would capture one pennant for certain, in 1935, and both the 1934 and 1940 editions would have a good shot at it.
But strong as our souped-up version of the Athletics would be, they wouldn’t be strong enough to prevent the Yankee juggernaut from achieving any of its triumphs in the awe-inspiring run from 1936 through ’39. In that four-year stretch, the Bronx Bombers’ narrowest margin over the American League’s second-place finisher was 9.5 games, their lowest regular-season winning percentage was .651, and they rolled to four straight World Series victories with 16 wins in 19 games, outscoring opponents 113 to 52.
That’s pretty much the definition of dominance, and in this exercise we’ve discovered yet another measure of it: even the combined best forces of the Athletics and Red Sox franchises (with Bobo Newsom thrown in for the heck of it) wouldn’t have been enough to thwart them.
The As have had pretty good history in Philadelphia,Kansas City and now in Oakland I believe that history may have not been much improved on even if Yawkey. bought the team.The reasoning is did he really do much with the Redsox?
Dave,
“The A’s had a pretty good history in … Kansas City…”? They never had a winning season in KC. From about 1933 to 1970 they were never in contention.
How does moving Cochrane from the 1934 Tigers (101-53) to the A’s (68-82) bring the Tigers down to the A’s level in W-L? Considering Cochrane had a 4.3 WAR that season, I can’t really see how he could add more than 4-5 W’s to the A’s or subtract more than 4-5 W’s from Detroit….and it would take a lot more W’s than that, to bring the Tigers down to the A’s. Huh?
“How does moving Cochrane from the 1934 Tigers (101-53) to the A’s (68-82) bring the Tigers down to the A’s level in W-L? Considering Cochrane had a 4.3 WAR that season, I can’t really see how he could add more than 4-5 W’s to the A’s or subtract more than 4-5 W’s from Detroit….and it would take a lot more W’s than that, to bring the Tigers down to the A’s. Huh?”
Several things. First: “Our” A’s didn’t go 68-82, they went 93-61 (by Pythag). Second: the actual Tigers went 101-53, but their Pythag was 98-56, probably a better estimate of their true ability.
Third: WAR isn’t the last word on win estimation; it’s a good estimator but hardly infallible. In particular it’s shaky on defense, especially catcher defense. Win Shares has Cochrane with 23.1 in 1934, including 7.1 for fielding; that estimate has him worth close to 8 wins. Splitting the difference between them, we can roughly call Cochrane worth about 6 wins for the Tigers that year.
Putting it all together, I’m comfortable in estimating in our scenario that the virtual ‘34 A’s and virtual ‘34 Tigers are neck-and-neck; either one (or the Yankees) might have won it.
As for the A’s franchise: absolutely right, they were virtually never in contention, indeed almost always a doormat, from the early ‘30s until the early ‘70s. The Red Sox under Yawkey were a better team, almost always a much better team, nearly every one of those many seasons.
I’ve often thought that a situation where Yawkey did not buy the Red Sox would have a massive geo-political concequences. One interested party before Yawkey bought the team was a group lead by Royal Rooter grandson-in-law Joe Kennedy. The consequences of such a change in ownership are incalculable. The Kennedy had as much money and were at least slightly less racist. Beyond bringing in top-tier talent, the Red Sox might also have challenge the color barrier early on and signed one of the three players who auditioned for them, maybe Willie Mays, maybe Jackie Robinson maybe both.
Philip,
Bleed Red-Sox-Red very much?
In any case, you must have missed these, but I trust you’ll find lots of fun in them:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-virtual-1916-1925-boston-red-sox-part-1-1916-1919/
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-virtual-1916-1925-boston-red-sox-part-2-1920-1922/
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-virtual-1916-1925-boston-red-sox-part-3-1923-1925/
Enjoy!
‘‘It’s fun to consider an A’s franchise bringing Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Tex Hughson, and, yes, Ted Williams to the majors.’‘
Fun? What the (bleep)?
‘Fun’ would have been Ban Johnson not engineering the sale of Eddie Collins to Chicago when Red Sox owner John Lannin was ready to purchase him from the Athletics for the 1915 season.
‘Fun’ would be the four straight flags Boston would have won heading into the 1919 season.
‘Fun’ would have been Ed Barrow remaining in Beantown and building the reserve list.
‘Fun’ would be imagining Tom Yawkey buying the Red Sox after the club had a decade of success in the Roarin’ Twenties following five pennants in the teens.
‘Fun’ would be counting the number of flags Boston would have been raising at Fenway with a roster featuring:
C Wally Schang
1B Jack Fournier …1928—> Phil Todt
2B Eddie Collins …1927—> Billy Regan
SS Everett Scott …1925—> ?
3B Larry Gardner …1922—> ?
LF Babe Ruth …
CF Tris Speaker …1928—>
RF Harry Hooper …1926—> Babe Herman
P Waite Hoyt
P Herb Pennock
P Carl Mays
P Bullet Joe Bush
Who would replace Scott and Gardner when they were done? The quite capable players GM Barrow would have gotten for talents like Tilly Walker and Braggo Roth/Mike Monosky.
‘Fun’ would be Billy Rogell remaining the Red Sox shortstop, instead of being released after 1928 and going on to glory in Detroit.
‘Fun’ would be Red Ruffing going to the Bronx in 1930 only to visit.
‘Fun’ would be reading Steve Treder’s next essay: ‘The Dynasty That Never Was, The Boston Red Sox, 1915-1930’
And if one can start imagining Yawkey and his GM’s signing Williams, Pesky and Doerr in Philadelphia, ‘Fun’ might be Ed Barrow remaining with the Red Sox and putting the finding of talents such as Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Joe DiMaggio to good use in Boston.
Thanks, Steve.
Yes, I somehow did miss those! I usually catch your ‘What If…’ essays, which are always fascinating.
I, too, had thought about the Babe playing first, but had the Red Sox not let Fournier go and not made the Menosky trade with Washington, Ruth would have found a home in left field.
(As an aside, I should point out that Fournier was sold by Boston to the White Sox in 1912, where he became their starting first basemen, 1914-16. Had Chicago stuck with Fournier at first instead of acquiring Chick Gandil for 1917, who knows? Maybe there would have been no Black Sox scandal in the 1919 World Series. Of course,had Eddie Collins been sold to Boston, Chicago wouldn’t have won the flags in 1917 or 1919 anyway.)
But reading those today also reminded me of something that skipped my mind in my earlier post. Third Base!
Ready for this, Yankee fans? The Red Sox might have very well added Pie Traynor to their already Hall of Fame, star-studded roster!
Traynor, who was from Framingham, Massachusetts, had a try-out with the Sox in the spring of 1920. Although Pie performed well, Everett Scott is said to have knocked Traynor to GM Barrow. (Scott was then Boston’s starting shortstop and, like Scott, Traynor was then a shortstop.)
Barrow, instead of signing Traynor to a Boston contract, had him instead go to Portsmouth of the Virginia League, which whom the Red Sox had an unofficial working relationship.
According the SABR bio project, Barrow would later say, “I made it plain [to Portsmouth owner H.P. Dawson] he belonged to Boston, even though I hadn’t signed him to a Red Sox contract.”
After the way scouts began to see how Traynor could hit, Portsmouth began offering him to other teams, including the Giants and Senators. The Pirates ended up paying $10,000 for him in September 1920 and Barrow had a fit.
“I hit the ceiling,” said Barrow. “I grabbed the phone and called Dawson and called him everything I could think of.”
The Red Sox appealed the transaction to American League President Ban Johnson, but that hadn’t a chance of going anywhere, given Johnson’s hatred for Boston owner Harry Frazee and the pull Pittsburgh owner Barney Dreyfuss had given all the turmoil coming out of the Black Sox scandal.
The Pirates, of course, made Traynor into a third basemen and he became a regular in 1922. But had Traynor instead came up with the Red Sox, he might have split time with Gardner at 3rd in 1922 before taking over at 3rd in 1923 for the next dozen seasons.
So, with the best case scenario, the virtual early-mid 20’s Red Sox might have looked like this:
C Wally Schang
1B Jack Fournier
2B Eddie Collins
SS Everett Scott
3B Larry Gardner …1923—> Pie Traynor
LF Babe Ruth
CF Tris Speaker
RF Harry Hooper
P Waite Hoyt
P Herb Pennock
P Carl Mays
P Bullet Joe Bush
Whereas Ruth drove in 131 of the Yankees 823 runs in 1923, keep in mind that the Bambino was the only starting Yankee who hit above .314.
With the virtual Red Sox, Ruth would have retained teammates Scott & Schang, but instead of being in a lineup with Pipp (6 HR, .304), Ward (.284), Dugan (.283), Witt (18 2B, .314) and Meusel (.313), he’d have had Fourner (22 HR, .351), Collins (.360 with 49* SB), Traynor (19* 3B, 19 HR, .338), Speaker (59* 2B, 17 HR, .380) and Hooper (.291 and 41 SB).
It’s not hard to see Ruth getting close to 200 RBI’s with that group, especially since he walked 170 times with the Yankees in a lineup that couldn’t protect his bat.
The virtual Red Sox lineup would have been much stronger:
2B Collins
CF Speaker
LF Ruth
1B Fournier
3B Traynor
RF Hooper
SS Scott
C Schang
P pitcher’s spot
Then, of course, would have come the 1930’s. As some have already pointed out, the Red Sox suffered in the 1950’s and 1960’s by passing up talented African-American ballplayers once the color barrier was finally broken by Jackie Robinson.
However, there is evidence to suggest that Boston’s lack of signing black players had much more to do with GM Joe Cronin than owner Tom Yawkey. If so, and if the Red Sox kept Billy Rogell for their shortstop of the 1930’s and had all that success in the teens and twenties, there’s no need for Yawkey to acquire Cronin from Washington. Perhaps the Red Sox then do sign Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays after all.
Hmmmmm.
Adding Jackie to a 1947 lineup already featuring Doerr, Pesky, DiMaggio and Williams?
Adding Willie Mays to a 1951 team that had scored 1027 runs the season before?
The Red Sox would have almost surely rolled off five straight pennants, 1947-1951. And if Williams wasn’t off flying F-9 Panthers in the Korean War, you can add flags for 1952 and 1953, too. The Indians would have finally ended Boston’s run at a never-to-be equaled SEVEN straight pennants in 1954.
The Say Hey Kid might have topped 60 HRs playing in Fenway in 1955 (the first player, as Ruth remained a Red Sox and likely would have fallen short of the mark in 1927), and the Red Sox would have had a shot at every A.L. flag through 1958 (perhaps as much as 11 flags in 12 seasons).
Surely, everywhere outside of the Bay State, there’d have been cries, ‘‘Break up the Red Sox.’‘
Yeah, I can see the eye-rolling from Yankee fans.
I looooove these articles, but I wish you’d just merge them into one. Lately I just end up waiting for Part 2 to come out, then read the whole thing together.
Nonetheless, this is why I come here.
Are we suggesting that the As would have survived,better than the Redsox or do we feel Connie Mack was like Phillip Wrigley a little short of logic about baseball—-also did Yawkey really do much with the Redsox, therefore are we apply any real common sense—-before the Reds the AS AS a 7 year old in 1950 were my favorite team,because of a book I read about baseball and Connie Mack-this is great for a 60 year baseball fan who misses the game played with quality not quanity.
Here’s another thought: Would the A’s still be in Philadelphia if this had happened? Given that the Phillies were arguably even worse (and didn’t draw, AND were tenants at Shibe Park), they likely would have become the St. Louis Browns of the NL—a dreadful team trapped in a market as an afterthought behind a much better team. I’d venture to say that had your scenario taken place, the A’s might still be in Philadelphia and the Phillies would have relocated after World War II.