In “Hardball Retrospective: Evaluating Scouting and Development Outcomes for the Modern-Era Franchises”, I placed every ballplayer in the modern era (from 1901-present) on their original team. Therefore, Frank Robinson is listed on the Reds roster for the duration of his career while the Rangers claim Ivan Rodriguez and the Red Sox declare Jeff Bagwell. I calculated revised standings for every season based entirely on the performance of each team’s “original” players. I discuss every team’s “original” players and seasons at length along with organizational performance with respect to the Amateur Draft (or First-Year Player Draft), amateur free agent signings and other methods of player acquisition.  Season standings, WAR and Win Shares totals for the “original” teams are compared against the “actual” team results to assess each franchise’s scouting, development and general management skills.

Expanding on my research for the book, the following series of articles will reveal the finest single-season rosters for every Major League organization based on overall rankings in OWAR and OWS along with the general managers and scouting directors that constructed the teams. “Hardball Retrospective” is available in digital format on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, GooglePlay, iTunes and KoboBooks. The print edition is coming soon. Additional information and a discussion forum are available at TuataraSoftware.com.

Terminology

OWAR – Wins Above Replacement for players on “original” teams

OWS – Win Shares for players on “original” teams

OPW% – Pythagorean Won-Loss record for the “original” teams

Assessment

The 1924 Washington Senators   OWAR: 43.1     OWS: 287     OPW%: .615

Based on the revised standings the “Original” 1924 Senators obliterated the competition with the Tigers finishing a distant 13 games in arrears. Walter “Big Train” Johnson, approaching the final stop in his 21-year career, continued to blow smoke past American League batsmen. He whiffed the most batters in the Junior Circuit for the twelfth time and furnished a 23-7 mark with the best ERA (2.72) and WHIP (1.116) in the League. Johnson received the MVP Award for his efforts in ’24 and the future Hall-of-Famer retired three years later with 417 victories, a 2.17 ERA and a 1.061 WHIP along with 3,509 strikeouts and the most shutouts in Major League history (110). Johnson ranks first among pitchers in “The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract”.

Jack Bentley bolstered the Washington pitching corps, delivering 16 victories against 5 losses. Firpo Marberry split time between the rotation and bullpen, notching 11 wins and saving 15 contests (although saves were not officially tabulated until 1969).

ROTATION	POS	WAR	WS
Walter Johnson	SP	7.02	28.65
Jack Bentley	SP	1.96	11.78
Firpo Marberry	SP	1.48	17.72
Joe Martina	SP	0.35	5.74
BULLPEN	POS	WAR	WS
Ted Wingfield	RP	0.67	2.54
By Speece	RP	-0.25	3.52
Slim McGrew	SP	-0.27	0.32
Paul Zahniser	SP	-0.28	3.72

Goose Goslin (.344/12/129) topped the American League leader boards in RBI while recording 199 hits and 100 runs. The future Hall of Famer surpassed the century mark in ribbies 11 times and recorded a .316 lifetime batting average. Sam Rice batted .334 with 106 runs scored and 39 two-baggers while producing a League-best 216 base hits. A .322 career hitter, Rice concluded his career only 13 hits shy of 3,000.

Charlie Jamieson rapped 213 safeties and posted a personal-best .359 BA after leading the Junior Circuit in the previous campaign with 222 knocks. First-sacker Joe Judge clubbed 38 two-base hits and delivered a .324 BA. Goslin rated 16^th among left fielders in the “NBJHBA”. Rice (33^rd-RF), Judge (44^th-1B) and Bucky Harris (70^th-2B) also placed in the top 100 at their respective positions.

LINEUP	POS	WAR	WS
Charlie Jamieson	CF/LF	3.09	19.11
Sam Rice	RF	3.65	23.99
Goose Goslin	LF	5.69	28.91
Joe Judge	1B	2.12	19.08
Ossie Bluege	3B	0.72	10.42
Bucky Harris	2B	0.32	13.31
Eddie Ainsmith	C	0.11	0.45
Howie Shanks	SS	-0.02	5.21
BENCH	POS	WAR	WS
Frank Brower	1B	1.05	5.27
Irish Meusel	LF	0.98	16.78
Doc Prothro	3B	0.9	5.89
Bing Miller	RF	0.83	13.65
Earl McNeely	CF	0.3	5.84
Carl East	RF	0.09	0.36
Ike Davis	SS	0.02	0.35
Bennie Tate	C	-0.02	0.64
Carr Smith	RF	-0.13	0.04
Tommy Taylor	3B	-0.13	0.85
Showboat Fisher	RF	-0.14	0.4
Pinky Hargrave	C	-0.35	0.21
Mule Shirley	1B	-0.5	0.34
Frank Ellerbe	3B	-0.9	2.19

The “Original” 1924 Washington Senators roster

NAME	POS	WAR	WS	General Manager
Walter Johnson	SP	7.02	28.65	Thomas Noyes
Goose Goslin	LF	5.69	28.91	Clark Griffith
Sam Rice	RF	3.65	23.99	Clark Griffith
Charlie Jamieson	LF	3.09	19.11	Clark Griffith
Joe Judge	1B	2.12	19.08	Clark Griffith
Jack Bentley	SP	1.96	11.78	Clark Griffith
Firpo Marberry	SP	1.48	17.72	Clark Griffith
Frank Brower	1B	1.05	5.27	Clark Griffith
Irish Meusel	LF	0.98	16.78	Clark Griffith
Doc Prothro	3B	0.9	5.89	Clark Griffith
Bing Miller	RF	0.83	13.65	Clark Griffith
Ossie Bluege	3B	0.72	10.42	Clark Griffith
Ted Wingfield	RP	0.67	2.54	Clark Griffith
Joe Martina	SP	0.35	5.74	Clark Griffith
Bucky Harris	2B	0.32	13.31	Clark Griffith
Earl McNeely	CF	0.3	5.84	Clark Griffith
Eddie Ainsmith	C	0.11	0.45	Thomas Noyes
Carl East	RF	0.09	0.36	Clark Griffith
Ike Davis	SS	0.02	0.35	Clark Griffith
Howie Shanks	SS	-0.02	5.21	Thomas Noyes
Bennie Tate	C	-0.02	0.64	Clark Griffith
Carr Smith	RF	-0.13	0.04	Clark Griffith
Tommy Taylor	3B	-0.13	0.85	Clark Griffith
Showboat Fisher	RF	-0.14	0.4	Clark Griffith
By Speece	RP	-0.25	3.52	Clark Griffith
Slim McGrew	SP	-0.27	0.32	Clark Griffith
Paul Zahniser	SP	-0.28	3.72	Clark Griffith
Pinky Hargrave	C	-0.35	0.21	Clark Griffith
Mule Shirley	1B	-0.5	0.34	Clark Griffith
Frank Ellerbe	3B	-0.9	2.19	Clark Griffith

Honorable Mention

The “Original” 1915 Senators             OWAR: 49.1     OWS: 272     OPW%: .565

“Big Train” Johnson (27-13, 1.55) completed 35 of 39 starts while leading the American League in wins, WHIP (0.933), innings pitched, shutouts and strikeouts. The rotation was supplemented by Doc Ayers (14-9, 2.21) and Bert Gallia (17-11, 2.29). Clyde “Deerfoot” Milan swiped 40 bags and Tom Long legged out 25 triples at the top of the lineup.

The “Original” 1965 Twins                 OWAR: 46.0     OWS: 280     OPW%: .644

Zoilo Versalles topped the leader boards with 126 tallies, 45 doubles, 12 triples and 308 total bases to capture the 1965 A.L. MVP Award. Teammate Tony Oliva (.321/16/98) finished runner-up in the MVP race and collected his second batting title. Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew slammed at least 20 circuit clouts apiece. Jim Kaat (18-11, 2.83) anchored the starting staff and Ted Abernathy led the League with 31 saves and 84 relief appearances.

On Deck

The “Original” 1992 White Sox

References and Resources

Baseball America – Executive Database

Baseball-Reference

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York, NY.: The Free Press, 2001. Print.

James, Bill, with Jim Henzler. Win Shares. Morton Grove, Ill.: STATS, 2002. Print.

Retrosheet – Transactions Database

Seamheads – Baseball Gauge

Sean Lahman Baseball Archive