The Cincinnati and Chicago owners were more progressive.  A number of Reds games were broadcast in 1936 and the entire Cubs schedule was available to the radio listening public in the Chicago metropolitan area.

The concern of most of the owners and the Commissioner, on behalf of the leagues, was that fans would not come to the parks if the games were broadcast.  This extended to concerns about fan attendance in the minor league markets.   In an  April 28, 1936 twenty-six word statement, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis warned both major and minor league clubs not to extend any further commitments for radio broadcasts of their games.  The written order came after Landis heard pleas from minor league officials to curtail radio coverage to their markets, the officials telling Landis that too many fans in minor league cities were choosing to listen to broadcasts of major league games rather than attending  minor league games in their home cities.  Gate receipts were dwindling, the minor league officials complained. 

As  AL President William Harridge remarked  to reporters, “It is amazing how many small radio stations in the minor league territory have started to broadcast major league games by telegraphic descriptions.”  He and other major league officials vowed to consider, at the close of the ’36 season, curbs for next season on major league radio broadcasts coverage to minor league territories.

Surging Tribe and Lots of Hitting.

Cleveland goes on a 19-9 tear from May 1 through June 2, including a ten game win streak, catapulting the team from fourth to first. One of these wins is a 20 to 7 drubbing of the Yanks at Cleveland Stadium on May 19th, featuring a 12-run fifth inning explosion by the Tribe.

Boston stays a close second during this period by going 15-14. And the Yanks, despite the May 19th shellacking, pull themselves from 6th place to 3rd, right behind the Bosox, by going 18-8 during this period.

Detroit’s Charlie Gehinger is hitting .478 and the top five hitters in AL are all over .400.  New York’s Johnny Broaca is one of the AL’s top aces, with 6 wins and 1.99 ERA.

Here are the standings and stats:

Batting Avg. (Based on 143 PA)

RBIs

Home Runs

Wins

 ERA (based on 46 IPs)

Strikeouts

Giants Are Still Leaders of the Pack But Bucs Are On the Rise.

New York Giants

 The New York Giants cool off but are still ahead of the pack, going 14 -15 from May 1 through June 2nd.  Pittsburgh leapfrogs Chicago, thanks to an 18-13 run and sub-.500 ball by the Cubs.

What happened to the Cards? In the Cellar (with the Bees) after going 11-20 in this period.

Pitching is king in the NL and Brooklyn’s Van Mungo is King of The Ks ahead of the rest of the pack.  Hubbell and Schumacher are among the top NL aces and the reasons why NYG is still in first.

Chicago’s Billy Herman is hitting over .400.

Here are the standings and the stats:

Batting Average (based on 143 PAs)

RBIs

Home Runs

Wins

ERA (based on 46 IPs)

Strikeouts

American League

The Red Sox start strong and so do the surprising Browns.  The A’s lay claim to the cellar.

National League

The Giants and Cubs start strong.

Highlights:

April 29th -   Cleveland’s John Allen, a Yankee alum from the prior year, No-Hits New York in 10-0 Romp by Cleveland at Yankee Stadium.  Allen strikes out 7 and is near perfect, giving up just one walk in the 6th, the only Yankee runner of the game.

Near Perfect Cleveland's Johnny Allen No Hits Yanks

April 30th – The Browns beat the A’s 20 to 5 in a slugfest that sees St. Louis third baseman Harlond Clift hit for the cycle and bat in 5 runs.

AL

Bos: Grove W(1-0) , complete game; McNair, 2-4, 2RBIs. PHA: Bullock L(0-1), 3-1/3 IP, gives up all 8 runs, 7ER, 10BB

STL A: Hogsett W(1-0), complete game, 3-hitter; Bell 4 RBIs, Triple&Double. CHW: Kennedy L(0-1), out after 2/3IP, 4ER, 9R

CLE: Allen W(1-0), complete game, 7K’s; Earl Averill, HR, Triple, 2RBIs. DET: S.Rowe L(0-1)

NL

Pirates Edge Red 5-4, 14-Hits Overcome 3 Errors

PITT: Swift W(1-0); L.Waner 3-4,  2b Young 3-5, 2E’s. CIN: Hilcher L(0-1), blown save

BOS: Bush W(1-0), complete game; Moore & Urbanski, each 3-5, 2RBIs. PHI N:       B.Walters L(0-1)   

STL N: Parmelee W(1-0), complete game. CHC: French L(0-1)     

April 14, 1936 – New York’s two remaining major league teams squared off today in the teams’ first opening day match up in over a decade. The Giants hosted the Brooklyn Dodgers, their NL rivals across the East River, at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan before a capacity crowd of  approximately 56,000 that split its allegiance almostly evenly between the combatants.  Opening Day at the Polo Grounds was blessed by an outbreak of sunshine after days of cold rain, as New York Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia tossed out the first ball to start the game between Col. Bill Terry’s Giants and Just Plain Old Casey Stengel’s Dodgers.

A tight, competitive game that saw the Dodgers three outs away from stealing the home opener from the Giants with a 2-0 win turned horribly wrong for the Brooklyn Bums in the bottom of the Ninth, as Giants’ left fielder Jo Jo Moore led off the frame with a single.  Brooklyn starter Van Mungo still appeared composed, having settled in to provide a competent inaugural performance up to that point. But what should have happened next, a double play to put Dodgers within one of an opening day victory, led instead to Giants’ runners  on second and first with no outs. A Sam Leslie grounder to the right side of the infield placed Brooklyn second baseman Jordan too far from the bag to get the unassisted force at second, so Jordan flipped  the ball to  shortstop Lonny Frey to complete the play instead. But Frey appeared have gotten the sequence mixed up,  intent on throwing before catching the ball, which dribbled  to the infield’s edge on the muffed exchange. Giants’ catcher Gus Mancuso punished the Dodgers for Frey’s error on the next at bat, driving Moore home on a single. After Travis Jackson bunted Giants’ runners to second and third, 26-year old rookie  Jimmy Ripple, pinch hitting for Hubbell, singled in the tying run.

In an effort to limit the damage, Dodger manager Casey Stengel called on Mungo to walk the Giants’ next batter, Burgess Whitehead, to load the bases.  It didn’t matter, as Giants’ second baseman Dick Bartell got the better of Mungo on the next at bat, singling Mancuso home for the Giants winning run.

Ninth Inning Winning Single

Double Play: 1 LOB: 7

In The Nation’s Capital:  Capacity Crowd Sees Yanks Top Senators 8-6 in 14 Inning Marathon Contest. The Yanks squared off against the Senators before a crowd of 31,000 spectators who packed Washington’s Griffith Stadium and included a healthy contingent of both notable and notorious politicians taking early leave from their offices to see and be seen.

Greeting both teams and the throngs of spectators was the politician in chief, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who just the day before day gave a speech before the Young Democrats in Baltimore that many saw as marking an opening day of another sort –  the President’s 1936 re-election campaign.   Hours before, in his own opening day salvo, the President dispatched, mostly with studied indifference, recent barrages of criticism leveled by his predecessor that business fears of creeping Roosevelt socialism and experimentation in 1932 were the real responsible causes for the protracted economic depression the country was still facing today.  But today the president seemed intent on accomplishing only two things – fulfilling an annual rite of Spring, tossing out the first ball, and enjoying a day at the ballpark.

 Arriving at the stadium and entering the field of play in the presidential limousine  to enthusiastic cheers, the President took his box close to the dugout on the first base side.  That his toss went wide of the mark, eluding the gathered players from both teams, was duly noted but not of abiding concern.  With that, the President and the capacity crowd settled in for a competitive and entertaining game that proved to pack  more baseball into the opening day outing than people bargained for.

 It looked like New York would be cruising to an opening day victory as the Yanks headed into the seventh inning stretch with a comfortable lead that had just been extended to 6-0 on a Lou Gehrig 2-run homer in the front part of that inning. But then things unraveled for Yanks’ starter Red Ruffing and got the excitement going for the hometown crowd.   After striking out Senator shortstop Cecil Travis to start the inning, Ruffing quickly loaded the bases with the next three batters, walking Bolton  and yielding  back-to back singles to Bliege and Newsom.  He then gave a pass to Chapman, to walk in the Senators’s first run of the game. Yanks’ shortstop Lazzeri gifted the Senators their next run, booting a grounder that could have ended the inning in a double play but instead kept the bases loaded for Senator left fielder John Stone.  Taking Ruffing long into the count, Stone placed a hanging curve over the left field fence for a grand slam, squaring up the game for  the Senators. It could have been worse for the Yanks.  Ruffing fostered Senator hopes with the next two batters, yielding his third walk of the inning to Kuehl and a single to Travis in his second trip to the plate that inning, before escaping further carnage by getting Bolton to end the inning on a fly to center.

 In a remarkable show of patience and faith, Yanks’ Manager McCarthy left the ball in the hands of his starter through the next two innings and through the first inning of overtime play.  He was rewarded by the choice, Ruffing giving up scattered hits but no further runs through ten innings. 

 The teams settled in for three more innings of overtime play until the top of the 14^th, when Yankee bats signaled the Washington crowd that it was time to put a close to the opening day outing.  The end came in workmanlike fashion, with Gehrig kicking off the inning with a single to right.  The Senators quickly saw runners on second and third, after reliever Russell yielded a walk to Yanks’ catcher Bill Dickey and DiMaggio grounded to second, placing the Yankee tie-breaking run ninety feet from home.  New York right fielder George Selkirk got the job done on the next  bat, hitting a sacrifice fly to deep right center, that allowed Gehrig to trot in for the tie-breaker.  Capping an impressive offensive outing for the day (3 for 6, 3 RBIs), Red Rolfe batted in an insurance run with his third hit of the day.

The two run lead proved to  be a sufficient margin for the Yanks, though the Senators made reliever Ted Kleinhan work for the save in the bottom frame of the 14^th, when Reynolds smashed a lead off double and, following a fly out by Stone to left,  Kuehl came aboard first for the tying run after being hit by a pitch.  Kleinhan’s next pitch produced the merciful end, when Cecil Travis drove it into the hands of shortstop Lazzeri  who flipped it to Crossetti to turn  a game ending double play.

Newspapermen noted with amazement that FDR was one of the few politician-spectators  remaining at the park to witness the game ending play.

Errors:         Crosetti      (1)     Doubles:         Crosetti      (1)         Rolfe            2     (2)  Home   Runs:     Gehrig         (1)         Stolen         Bases:       Crosetti      (1)  Rolfe            (1)                  Caught        Stealing:    Powell        3       (3)  Double  Play:    1   LOB:      12

 HBP: Kleinhan(Kuhel)         

Errors:         Lewis           (1)                  Doubles:    Chapman   (1)                  Reynolds   (1)                  Travis           (1)                  Home          Runs:            Stone           (1)                  Stolen         Bases:                        Stone           (1)                  Double       Play:             1  LOB:        11                 

I have made two modifications based on several abortive simulations that were initially run using the Auto Lineup feature, which is designed to allow on an occasional basis for bench players to replace starters in the starting lineups.  When I ran the 1936 simulation with this feature on throughout the entire schedule, I saw two bizarre things that needed to be corrected. 

First, in one simulation, on opening day, one of the match-ups was between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators.  The automated lineups had Ben Chapman starting in the outfield for both teams!  It seems that the 1936 schedule file, in being completely faithful to the historical statistical record, lists Chapman on both teams’ rosters, accurately placing him as a reserve player on the Yankees, where he began the ’36 season, and as a starter on the Senators, where he ended the season and had most of his plate appearances.  Unfortunately, when using the schedule file as is, over the course of the season, there is a possibility that a simulation will place Chapman in the same game for both teams, a possibility which, as a logical matter, necessarily increases when the Auto Lineup feature is used without discrimination.  The schedule file also has Jake Powell on both rosters for the same reason, putting him as a reserve with the Senators and a starter with the Yankees.   So, without modifications and using Auto Lineup without discrimination, one may see two Jake Powells in the same game at the same time or,  more likely, two Jake Powells playing for two different teams on the same day.  (In the actual 1936  season, the teams exchanged Chapman and Powell mid-season in a one-for-one trade.)

Using the Auto Lineup feature without discrimination can also lead to bizarre results, in my view, when significant games are played.  I saw this in another abortive simulation, when the Yanks’ lineup for opening day had the “manager” benching starters Dickey, Selkirk and DiMaggio and starting role and utility players in their place.

In an attempt to avoid these aberrant results, I modified the Yankee and Senator Roster files to eliminate Chapman as a reserve from the Yankees and to eliminate Powell as a reserve for the Senators.  Each team simply has one less player on its roster.  I then substituted these modified Roster files into the 1936 schedule file so that the modified rosters would be used when each team plays in the simulation.

Additionally, for  the first set of series of the season, the Auto Lineup feature is turned off, on the thinking that at the start of the season, each team would want to showcase its starters and that it was too early for teams to give their stars occasional rests.  Whether the Auto Lineup feature should remain off under this rationale for a longer period during the beginning phase of  the season is an open question; I made the arbitrary choice to proceed without this feature only for these  initial series. For similar reasons and because pennant races during this time frame may be entering critical periods, I am toying with the idea of turning off the Auto Lineup feature for the last set of series as well.  How much  before season’s end the feature should be turned off is, again, an open question and, again, this is an arbitrary line.

It’s the Tigers By A Mile in The AL, the writers say in the same poll for the junior circuit, believing that Detroit will accomplish a three-peat.  They like Al Simmon’s addition to the club.  Everyone else is battling for second, with the Red Sox, Indians and Yanks the serious combatants for that spot.  Just about all of the writers pick Connie Mack’s Athletics for the cellar.

Dizzy Dean in Spring Training

In the months and weeks leading up to the 1936 season, some things are new and noteworthy and somethings never change in the world of major league baseball:

Round Up The Usual Suspects– As in earlier seasons, several of the marquee major leaguers are slow to sign their contracts and come to spring training camp.  The most notorious of these is Dizzy Dean, who muses at one point that he may just go into the furniture business if things don’t work out. New York Times sports columnist John Kieran observes that last season Dizzy threatened to become a peanut farmer. There are no players’ unions yet, so it is each man and Hold Out for himself; Kieran notes that Dizzy cannot even marshal his brother Daffy’s support in a campaign for higher wages against management.  Players invariably re-sign.  It is the Great Depression, after all. Not that things are all that together amongst the baseball owners.  As Kieran further notes, it is not like “the capitalists are [   ] in a position to use strike-breakers to any noticeable extent. … When a Dizzy Dean or a Hank Greenberg holds out, no club owner can step around the corner and bring in a strike-breaker who can fill the bill temporarily,” although they sometimes try.

  There’s A New Kid In Town– And his name is Joe DiMaggio, a  21 year old Pacific Coast League phenom slated to start with the Yankees.  Brooklyn feels slighted,  notes columnist Kieran; the Dodgers’ not so  young rookie prospect, Oscar George “Ox” Eckhardt, actually hit several points higher than Joey D in 1935, besting him to take the Pacific Coast batting title that year, but does anyone note that? Does anyone care?  (In the real world 1936 season, Eckhardt will play only 16 games for Brooklyn, ending his major league career.  Let’s see how he does in this Sim.)

Iron Horse with the New Kid

 From Braves to Bees — New Owners, New Name, New Uniforms … New Team?  That is how the new owners of Boston’s National League franchise are hoping  things work.  After a dismal 1935 season, seeing them  winning less than 40 games, the Boston Braves new owners think a make-over is in order.  They hold a contest in the Boston Globe for fans to submit a new name for the club, and get over 1,300 suggested names, covering every letter of the alphabet but X.  Most stink, says the New York Times, but a commission of 29 baseball writers and cartoonist choose the “Bees” as the team’s new moniker in January 1936.  Sportswriters quickly dub the team’s park, formerly known as National League Park, the “Bee Hive” or simply the “Hive.”  Ownership is cool to the idea. (Let’s see in this Replay what the make-over does for the hapless former Braves.)