Replaying the Infamous 1912 Replacement Players Game (DET Tigers vs PHL Athletics)
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So, this was a fun little replay on APBA GO today. I’m between projects right now, so I rolled an infamous game from May 18, 1912. The Philadelphia A’s hosted the Detroit Tigers at Shibe Park.
This game is memorable because the Tigers’ regular players refused to take the field after AL President Ban Johnson had suspended Ty Cobb for assaulting a fan in New York three days earlier. Detroit Manager Hughie Jennings recruited replacement players from a north Philly neighborhood. Sure enough, those players are all carded on APBA GO’s 1912 Tigers.
I recreated that day’s two lineups exactly as they were in real life and kept to the original script as best I could. There was a wrinkle early in my replay, when A’s 3B ‘Home Run’ Baker was injured in the top of the first inning and had to leave the game. The Philadelphia cleanup hitter was replaced by Claud Derrick, who had not appeared in the real contest back in 1912.
Other than that, I was pretty much able to recreate the game perfectly. Jack Coombs, Carroll Brown and Herb Pennock each pitched three innings for the real-life A’s… and in my game as well. The replacement Tigers lost 24-2 on that afternoon 112 years ago. In my replay, they lost 18-0. Detroit had a couple of chances to score, but had two runners thrown out at home plate… and another two men pegged out at third base.
The Tigers managed nine hits in my replay. And just like in the real game, their hitting hero was Ed Irwin who went 2-3 including a triple. Detroit’s starting pitcher Allan Travers (D-RW) pitched eight innings, allowing 16 hits and walking nine.
The Tigers’ combined fielding total of 25 was easily the lowest I have ever seen in APBA. But, shockingly, Detroit played an error-free game. The A’s hitting hero was RF Danny Murphy who went 3-5 with 6 RBI’s. Eddie Collins had four hits and drove in three. Coombs was awarded the win in the real life game (despite pitching only three innings). So he got the win in my replay as well.
After that day, none of Detroit’s 1912 replacement players ever appeared in another MLB game. But the beauty of APBA is that, “You are the Manager.” And something tells me this Tigers’ club might see action again someday… against a formidable little outfit called the 1927 Yankees.
Just for laughs.