Hardball Retrospective – The “Original” 1924 Washington Senators by DerekBain April 21, 2015 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 16th among left fielders in the “NBJHBA”. Rice (33rd-RF), Judge (44th-1B) and Bucky Harris (70th-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 We hoped you liked reading Hardball Retrospective – The “Original” 1924 Washington Senators by DerekBain! Please support FanGraphs by becoming a member. We publish thousands of articles a year, host multiple podcasts, and have an ever growing database of baseball stats. FanGraphs does not have a paywall. With your membership, we can continue to offer the content you've come to rely on and add to our unique baseball coverage. Support FanGraphs