120 League: Final thoughts

I figured going into this league that the NeL all-star team from 1924 would win. I really did not anticipate how dominant the Elites would be.

And I certainly did not anticipate how the bottom half of the Elite lineup would produce. Judy Johnson, who generally hit seventh, led the league in RBIs; Ben Taylor, who generally hit sixth, tied for second. Biz Mackey, who generally hit fifth, also was in the top 10 -- and all this despite the fact that neither Taylor nor Mackey fully qualified for the batting title.

That's some serious lineup depth.

The pitcher of the year is pretty easy: Dazzy Vance led the league in wins and strikeouts, was fourth in ERA and tied for second in innings pitched.

Player of the year is tougher. Judy Johnson led the league in RBIs and batting average, but he had relatively little power. Mackey was among the leaders in all three triple crown categories and was the best defensive catcher in the league.

Calling it a tie would be a cop-out, so I'll give it to Mackey. I might have a different opinion on another day.

As for operating the league ... the five-team format worked with doubleheaders and fewer days off, although there were a few games in Washington was strapped for pitchers.

The biggest problems were with the operator. I screwed up the standings for a good part of the season, and Home Run Johnson should not have been on the Elites roster at all. I don't think that latter error greatly affected things; indeed, had I had Frank Warfield rostered all season, the Elites would have played Tubby Scales and Dick Lundy more, and that might have been better for them.

I'll certainly do five-team leagues again. I probably won't do another NeL all-star team vs. contemporary major league teams. It just wasn't very competitive.

But that very non-competitiveness leads to my next Strat adventure, which I will detail in my next post.

120 League leaders: Pitchers

Top ten in triple crown categories, top five in others

ERA (40 innings minimum)

1) Hugh McQuillan, NY Giants, 2.13; 2) Walter Johnson, Washington, 2.16; 3) John Donaldson, Baltimore, 2.41; 4) Dazzy Vance, Brooklyn, 2.59; 5) Bullet Joe Rogan, Baltimore, 3.23; 6) Dutch Ruether, Brooklyn, 3.34; 7) Nip Winters, Baltimore, 3.3501; 8) Burleigh Grimes, Brooklyn, 3.3510; 9) Dave Brown, Baltimore, 3.3519; 10) Tom Zachary, Washington, 3.52

Wins

1) Dazzy Vance, Brooklyn, 8; 2) (tie) Andy Cooper, Baltimore, and Herb Pennock, NY Yankees, 6; 4) (tie) John Donaldson, Baltimore; Burleigh Grimes, Brooklyn; and Walter Johnson, Washington, 5; 7) (tie) Dave Brown, Baltimore; Waite Hoyt, NY Yankees; Nip Winters, Baltimore; and Tom Zachary, Washington, 4.

Strikeouts

1) Dazzy Vance, Brooklyn, 78; 2) Walter Johnson, Washington, 56; 3) Burleigh Grimes, Brooklyn, 45; 4) Herb Pennock, NY Yankees, 44; 5) Jack Bentley, NY Giants, 36; 6) (tie) Dave Brown, Baltimore, and Dutch Ruether, Brooklyn, 2; 8) (tie) John Donaldson, Baltimore; Hugh McQuillan, NY Giants; and Bob Shawkey, NY Yankees, 25.

Saves

1) Fred Marberry, Washington, 9; 2) (tie) Bullet Joe Rogan, Baltimore, and Rosy Ryan, NY Giants, 5; 4) Claude Jonnard, NY Giants, 3; 5) four tied with two

Innings pitched

1) Herb Pennock, NY Yankees, 97.3; 2) (tie) Burleigh Grimes and Dazzy Vance, both Brooklyn, 94; 4) Walter Johnson, Washington, 91.6; 5) Waite Hoyt, NY Yankees, 72

Losses

1) Virgil Barnes, NY Giants, 7; 2) Burleigh Grimes, Brooklyn, and Bob Shawkey, NY Yankees, 6; 4) Joe Bush, NY Yankees, 5; 5) four tied with four

Games

1) Allan Russell, Washington, 16; 2) (tie) Andy Cooper, Baltimore, and Fred Marberry, Washington, 14; 4) (tie) Herb Pennock, NY Yankees, and Rosy Ryan, NY Giants, 13

Games started

1) Herb Pennock, NY Yankees, 13; 2 (tie) Burleigh Grimes, Brooklyn; Walter Johnson, Washington; and Dazzy Vance, Brooklyn, 11; 5) four tied with 9

120 League leaders: Hitters

Top 10 in triple crown categories, top 5 in others:

Batting average (124 PA min)*

1) Judy Johnson, Baltimore, .411;  2) Ross Youngs, NY Giants, .391; 3) Zack Wheat, Brooklyn, .377; 4) Biz Mackey, Baltimore, .400 *; 5) Andy High, Brooklyn, .35626; 6) Ben Taylor, Baltimore, 385*; 7) Oscar Charleston, Baltimore, .327; 8) Joe Dugan, NY Yankees, .326; 9) Goose Goslin, Washington, .323; 10) Muddy Ruel, Washington, .321.

*Mackey and Taylor did not meet the plate appearance requirement, but are placed where they would have been with sufficent hitless at-bats to get to 124.

Home runs

1) Babe Ruth, NY Yankees, 8; 2) (tie) Alejand ro Oms, Baltimore; and Ross Youngs, NY Giants, 6; 4) (tie) George Kelly, NY Giants; Biz Mackey, Baltimore; and Zack Wheat, Brooklyn, 5; 7) (tie); Oscar Charleston, Baltimore; Travis Jackson, NY Giants; and Bob Meusel, NY Yankees, 4; 10) four with 3.

RBIs

1) Judy Johnson, Baltimore, 32; 2) (tie) Ben Taylor, Baltimore, and Ross Youngs, NY Giants, 30; 4) (tie) George Kelly, NY Giants, and Babe Ruth, NY Yankees, 29; 6) Zack Wheat, Brooklyn, 28; 7) Bob Meusel, NY Yankees, 27; 8) Biz Mackey, Baltimore, 26; 9) Sam Rice, Washington, 25; 10) Oscar Charleston, Baltimore, 23

Runs

1) Andy High, Brooklyn, 33; 2) Oscar Charleston, Baltimore, 31; 3) Ross Youngs, NY Giants, 27; 4) (tie) Alejandro Oms, Baltimore, and Tubby Scales, Baltimore, 26

Hits

1) Andy High, Brooklyn, 61; 2) Zack Wheat, Brooklyn, 60; 3) Joe Dugan, NY Yankees, 58; 4) Sam Rice, Washington, 56; 5) Whitey Witt, NY Yankees, 54

Doubles

1) Joe Judge, Washington, 13; 2) (tie) Oscar Charleston, Baltimore, and Wally Pipp, NY Yankees, 12; 4) Goose Goslin, Washington, 11; 5) two tied with 10

Triples

1) (tie) Sam Rice, Washington; Cristobal Torriente, Baltimore; and Aaron Ward, NY Yankees, 5; 4) four tied with 4

Bases on balls

1) Babe Ruth, NY Yankees, 28; 2) Wally Schang, NY Yankees, 24; 3) (tie) Oscar Charleston, Baltimore, and Goose Goslin, Washington, 22; 5) Jack Fornier, Brooklyn 20

Stolen bases 

1) Bucky Harris, Washington, 7; 2) five tied with 6

At-bats

1) Bucky Harris, Washington, 185; 2) Sam Rice, Washington, 180; 3) Joe Dugan, NY Yankees, 178; 4) Whitey Witt, NY Yankees, 175; 5) Frankie Frisch, NY Giants, 174

The Baltimore Elites

Four of the teams in this league are rather straight-forward. They are the two pennant winners and two runners-up in the 1924 major league season.

The Washington Senators went 92-62 and won the World Series, the only one in Washington's history. The New York Giants went 96-57 to win the National League pennant before losing a classic Series. The Brooklyn Robins went 92-62, and the New York Yankees went 89-63.

The fifth team is not intended to replicate any specific team. The real-life Baltimore Elite Giants -- pronounced ee-LITE -- didn't exist in 1924, although Terrapin Park did. This team, the Baltimore Elites, is a collection of players listed by Strat-O-Matic's guide to its Negro League set as "caddy companions" to 1924 -- Negro League standouts who were at their peak in 1924.

I regard this roster as a reasonable answer to the imaginary proposition -- if you could put an all-star team of black players in the segregated majors of 1924, what would it look like?

It's a 25-man roster. Players are listed alphabetically. Two are both pitchers and position players; they are both listed as pitchers.  (l) for pitchers is for throwing arm, (l) for position players is for hitting.

Pitchers
William Bell
Dave Brown (l)
Phil Cockrell
Andy Cooper (l)
Dizzy Dizmukes
John Donaldson (l)
Bill Drake
Bill Holland
Bullet Joe Rogan
Tom Williams
Nip Winters (l)

Catchers
Larry Brown (s)
Biz Mackey (s)

Infielders 
John Beckwith
Tank Carr (s)
Home Run Johnson
Judy Johnson
Dick Lundy (s)
Tubby Scales
Ben Taylor (l)

Outfielders
Oscar Charleston (l)
Hurley McNair (s)
Alejandro Oms (l)
Cristobal Torriente (l)
Cheney White 

My expectation is that this team will win the pennant. But I've been wrong before on this stuff.

120 League schedule

Day 1: Giants at Baltimore

Day 2: Giants at Brooklyn
Yankees at Brooklyn

Day 3: Washington at Yankees
Brooklyn at Yankees

Day 4: Giants at Washington
Brooklyn at Washington

Day 5: Giants at Baltimore
Washington at Yankees

Day 6: Washington at Brooklyn
Giants at Yankees

Day 7: Yankees at Baltimore
Giants at Brooklyn

Day 8: Giants at Washington
Brooklyn at Washington

Day 9: Brooklyn at Yankees
Baltimore at Yankees

Day 10: Washington at Baltimore
Yankees at Giants

Day 11: Washington at Brooklyn
Giants at Baltimore

Day 12: Brooklyn at Baltimore
Yankees at Giants

Day 13: Brooklyn at Giants
Baltimore at Yankees

Day 14: Brooklyn at Washington
Giants at Washington

Day 15: Yankees at Brooklyn
Baltimore at Washington

Day 16: Brooklyn at Baltimore
Washington at Giants

Day 17: Baltimore at Washington
Yankees at Giants

Day 18: Washington at Brooklyn
Giants at Brooklyn

Day 19: Baltimore at Yankees
Washington at Yankees

Day 20: Yankees at Giants
Washington at Baltimore

Day 21: Brooklyn at Washington
Yankees at Washington

Day 22: Baltimore at Giants
Brooklyn at Yankees

Day 23: Yankees at Brooklyn
Yankees at Brooklyn

Day 24: Baltimore at Washington
Giants at Washington

Day 25: Yankees at Giants
Baltimore at Brooklyn

Day 26: Brooklyn at Giants
Yankees at Baltimore

Day 27: Baltimore at Brooklyn
Washington at Yankees

Day 28:  off day
Washington at Brooklyn

Day 29: Yankees at Brooklyn
Baltimore at Washington

Day 30: Baltimore at Giants
Washington at Giants

Day 31: Baltimore at Yankees
Brooklyn at Yankees

Day 32: Brooklyn at Baltimore
Washington at Baltimore

Day 33: Yankees at Washington
Yankees at Washington

Day 34: Baltimore at Giants
Brooklyn at Yankees

Day 35: Brooklyn at Baltimore
Giants at Baltimore

Day 36: Washington at Giants
Baltimore at Brooklyn

Day 37: Baltimore at Washington
Yankees at Washington

Day 38: Yankees at Baltimore
Yankees at Baltimore

Day 39: Brooklyn at Giants
Brooklyn at Giants

Day 40: Yankees at Baltimore
Giants at Washington

Day 41: Brooklyn at Baltimore
Giants at Baltimore

Day 42: Giants at Brooklyn
Baltimore at Brooklyn

Day 43: Baltimore at Giants
Washington at Giants

Day 44: Giants at Yankees
Washington at Baltimore

Day 45: Baltimore at Giants
Yankees at Washington

Day 46: Brooklyn at Giants
Washington at Baltimore

Day 47: Washington at Brooklyn
Giants at Yankees

Day 48: Giants at Brooklyn
Baltimore at Yankees

Day 49: Brooklyn at Washington
Giants at Yankees

Day 50: Washington at Giants
Baltimore at Brooklyn

Day 51: Washington at Yankees
Giants at Yankees

Welcome to the 120 League

This, like the just completed Corner League, will be a five-team league in which there will be two games played each league day, which leaves a team idle each day. But there will be significant differences as well.

The teams will be the top four teams from the 1924 set -- Washington Senators, New York Giants, Brooklyn Robins and New York Yankees -- and a 1924 team selected from the Negro League set, which I shall call the Baltimore Elites in homage to the Baltimore Elite Giants. Five (teams) times {19}24  -- 5x24=120, the 120 League.

Because I won't be dealing with the skimpy pitcher numbers of the Corner League, I cut back the randomized one-game league days to two -- opening day and one in mid season.

And because double headers were a fact of life in 1924, I am permitting them in the 120 league, with restrictions. The home team has to be playing in both games; no team will have consecutive doubleheaders, and no team will play more than six games in a five-day span.

The five teams will each have their own home park, with Baltimore using Terrapin Park from the NeL set.

Injuries for remainder of game only. No designated hitter. I intend, as in the Corner League, to post updated stats every third league day.