SSTN Admin
- Jun 5, 2020
- 3 min read

BotYD: Match-Up #5 – The 1904 Highlanders @ The 1923 Yankees!

Earlier this month, we introduced the next month-long series that I’ll be running, called Battle of the Yankee Decades! To see the introductory and explanation post for this series, check it out here.

Last week, I announced the rules, seeding, and team rosters for each of the sixteen teams that were added into the tournament. Check that out here.

We began our simulations last Friday, and continue the Sweet 16 today with the 1904 Highlanders at the 1923 Yankees!

Match-Ups:

The great thing about Out of the Park Baseball: 21 is that in these simulations, you can easily see which team is favored (when the logos are different).

Unfortunately, we run into this problem once again, as we aren’t quite sure which player in each line-up spot is favored from the game. Like yesterday, however, we can assume that the game does more favor the 1923 Yankees as they are the better seed and have home field advantage in this series.

Game One:

The 1923 Yankees took an early lead in Game One, mostly off the bats of Aaron Ward (1-RBI Double) and Babe Ruth (2-RBI Double), giving them a 3-2 lead. Both starting pitchers pitched very similarly through their 5.1 innings (Chesbro) and 6.2 innings (Bush) respectively, each allowing 3 runs in their appearances. However, Wee Willie Keeler flipped the game in favor of the 1904 Highlanders with a 2-run home run in the top of the 7th inning to give them a 4-3 lead that they wouldn’t give up.

Game Two:

In Game Two, both starting pitchers pitched 7.1 innings, but to much different results. For the Highlanders, Al Orth allowed 4 runs (all earned) on 3 hits, 3 walks, and with 3 strikeouts with allowing a 3-run home run to Harvey Hendrick in the 5th. Herb Pennock on the other-hand allowed only 1 run (earned) off 1 hit, 3 walks, and with 10 strikeouts on his way to a win and a tied series. His lone run was from a Pasty Dougherty home run in the 6th inning.

Game Three:

Waite Hoyt let down the 1923 Yankees in Game Three as he managed only 3.2 innings of work while allowing 5 runs (all earned), 7 hits, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout along with a 2-run home run to Jack Chesbro, the Game 1 pitcher for the Highlanders who came in as a DH. His reliever Oscar Roetteger didn’t help either, allowing another 3 runs in his 1.2 innings of work. From this, the 1904 Highlanders were able to take the series as an upset, mostly off the bat of John Ganzel who went 3-5 with 5 RBI’s, with 3 coming from a 5th inning bases-loaded double.

Series Statistics and MVP:

The 1904 Highlanders had series MVP John Ganzel who, in addition to his heroics in Game Three, went 4-11 with a home run and 6 RBI’s in the three game series. Good pitching from Jack Powell (Game Three winning pitcher) along with hitting from Wee Willie Keeler (5-13, HR), Kid Elberfeld (4-11), and Jack Chesbro (2-7, HR) also helped bring the series to the oldest team in the tournament.

The 1923 Yankees had a great pitching line from Herb Pennock (Game Two winning pitcher) and great hitting from Harvey Hendrick (5-11, HR), Babe Ruth (4-10), and Joe Dugan (3-12, HR) but they were unable to hold the series after losing a late Game One and letting up a big lead Game Three too early.