
1908 WITH REAL LIFE LINEUPS AND TRANSACTIONS

I have rebuilt this season database from the foundations with the intention of trying to produce a simulation of Deadball Era baseball. 
But do remember that even in the Deadball Era the unexpected happened, for instance  the Chicago White Sox 1906 Hitless Wonders had twenty six hits and scored 16 runs in games 5 and 6 of that years World Series.

The 1908 season had at 2.39 the lowest ERA in American league history, and in the National league the ERA was 2.35 the lowest in Major league history, but the Detroit Tigers began the defense of their American League title with an 8-15 loss.

Baseball is unpredictable, fans still remember the 1969 Mets surprise win over the Orioles, or the Reds 1990 sweep of the Athletics, and read about the Hitless Wonders 1906 victory over the great Cubs team. 
I suspect that Black Belt is working on 1914 because of the Miracle Braves, who against the odds swept the highly fancied Athletics in the World Series, after having climbed from last to first in an incredible run from July 4, 1914 when they had their worst record (26-40) and were 15 games behind the Giants in last place. 

Therefore if the season doesnt replicate the 1908 statistics exactly remember surprise is part of baseballs charm.

Acknowledgements

I would not have attempted this upgrade without the inspiration of Black Belt and his work on the 1924 season upgrade. He and Robert Bofors have devoted a great deal of time to improving seasons for the enjoyment of other DMBers. 
I dont understand fully understood the technicalities of what they do, but I am very grateful for their work.

I am also grateful to:

Luke Kraemer [for the as played schedule]
Mark Miller [for a version of the opening day rosters, transaction log, as played line-ups and recommended line-ups]
Stephen Drake for help, advice and encouragement
Robert Bofors, the statistical guru of the Pacific North West for his input.
Ken Schmidt
Kevin Gertsen
Eileen Canepari at the SABR lending library
SABR and Proquest
Chris Joyce for the original season
Jamie Marshall
And of course Tom Tippett for the game DMB










What I did:

I think if I ever did another season upgrade I would take more time and study each day even more closely for minor injuries, in order to produce a more comprehensive transaction log. [Although this one is over 8 pages long].
But I was keen to finish 1908 and go on to actually play DMB after over two months working on the season.

So this is not the definitive 1908, but it is a big step on the way. 

The process involved a complete overhaul of the basic season:

Insertion of an as played schedule to replace the generic schedule
Creation of a transaction log 
Creation of a large number of missing players
New ratings for position players [many were not rated for all the positions they played during the season] 
New ratings for pitchers, most starters were increased to Ex [see comment re Wilhelm and Rucker]
New managerial preferences and player preferences [pinch hitting set to never]
The pitching depth charts were altered to remove any reference to relief pitching 
Entering 1,228 line-ups, I make no apologies for any minor errors 
Checking the line-ups
Testing and further adjustments of the pitcher ratings

Most of the preferences and pitcher ratings were altered to try to prevent the CM using the bullpen. 
In 1908 the starting pitcher was expected to finish what he started, and for example Kaiser Wilhelm and Nap Rucker pitched over 300 innings for a team that lost over a 100 games.
 
You can try to manage differently and see what happens. 
Good luck and I hope you enjoy the season.

Recommended reading:

More than Merkle by David Anderson
The Unforgettable Season by G.H. Fleming
Deadball Stars of the National League edited by Tom Simon [SABR publication]
Touching Second by John Evers and Hugh Fullerton
Unhittable by Gabriel Schechter
The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter 
Addie Joss by Scott Longert
The Inside Game journal of the Deadball Committee SABR









 



