Yankee4Life

Clyde Milan Milan was a left-handed hitter who batted .285 over the course of 16 seasons, and Clark Griffith called him Washington’s greatest centerfielder, claiming that he played the position more shallow than any man in baseball. Yet Clyde “Deerfoot” Milan achieved his greatest fame as a base stealer. After Milan supplanted Ty Cobb as the American League’s stolen-base leader by pilfering 88 bases in 1912 and 75 in 1913, F. C. Lane of Baseball Magazine called him “Milan the Marvel, the Flying Mercury of the diamond, the man who shattered the American League record, and the greatest base runner of the decade.” It was hyperbole, of course; Cobb re-claimed the AL record in 1915 by stealing 96 bases and went on to swipe far more bases over the decade than Milan, but Deerfoot stole a total of 481 during the Deadball Era, ranking third in the AL behind only Cobb (765) and Eddie Collins (564). In 1906 he joined Wichita of the Western Association. “I felt none too sure that I could make good there, for the company was much faster,” Clyde recalled. That partial season in Wichita saw him hit just .211, but he returned in 1907 and batted .304 with 38 stolen bases in 114 games, attracting the attention of Washington manager Joe Cantillon, who had seen him in a spring exhibition. That summer Cantillon dispatched injured catcher Cliff Blankenship to Wichita with orders to purchase Milan’s contract, then go to Weiser, Idaho, to scout and possibly sign Walter Johnson. In later years Clyde loved to relate Blankenship’s remarks during his contract signing: “He told me that he was going out to Idaho to look over some young phenom. ‘It looks like a wild goose chase and probably a waste of train fare to look over that young punk,’ Blankenship said.” Milan cost the Nats $1,000, while Johnson was secured for a $100 bonus plus train fare. Milan and Johnson had a lot in common: They were the same age, they both hailed from rural areas–Washington outfielder Bob Ganley started calling Milan “Zeb,” a common nickname for players from small towns–and they were both quiet, reserved, and humble. Naturally, they became hunting companions and inseparable friends, and eventually they became the two best players on the Senators team. “Take Milan and his roommate, Walter Johnson, away from Washington, and the town would about shut up shop, as far as base ball is concerned,” wrote a reporter in 1911. But stardom was not immediate for Milan. After making his debut with the Senators on August 19, 1907, he played regularly in center field for the rest of the season and batted a respectable .279 in 48 games. In 1908, however, Milan batted just .239, and the following year he slumped to .200, with just 10 stolen bases in 130 games. Cantillon wanted to send him to the minors and purchase an outfielder who could hit, but the Senators were making so little money that they couldn’t afford a replacement. Fortunately for Washington, Jimmy McAleer took over as manager in 1910 and immediately recognized the young center fielder’s potential. Under McAleer’s tutelage, Milan bounced back to hit .279 with 44 steals, and in 1911 he became a full-fledged star by batting .315 with 58 steals. Milan’s peak was from 1911 to 1913 when he played in every game but one, batted over .300 each season, and averaged almost 74 stolen bases per season. In 1912 he finished fourth in the Chalmers Award voting, and his American League record-breaking total of 88 steals would have been 91 if Washington’s game against St. Louis on August 9th hadn’t been rained out in the third inning. Running into Milan on a train that summer, Billy Evans, who had umpired Milan’s first game back in 1907, remarked on his wonderful improvement in every department of the game, base running in particular. “When I broke in, I thought all a man with speed had to do was get on in some way and then throw in the speed clutch,” Milan told the umpire. “I watched with disgust while other players much slower than me stole with ease on the same catcher who had thrown me out. It finally got through my cranium that a fellow had to do a lot of things besides run wild to be a good base runner. I used to have a habit of going down on the second pitch, but the catchers soon got wise to it and never failed to waste that second ball, much to my disadvantage. Now I try to fool the catcher by going down any old time. Changing my style of slide has also helped me steal many a base that would have otherwise resulted in an out. I used to go into the bag too straight, making it an easy matter for the fielder to put the ball on me, but I soon realized the value of the hook slide.” In 1914 Milan suffered a broken jaw and missed six weeks of the season after colliding with right fielder Danny Moeller. He rebounded to play in at least 150 games in each of the next three seasons, 1915 to 1917, and he continued to play regularly through 1921, batting a career-high .322 in 1920. Griffith appointed Milan to manage the Nats in 1922 but the job didn’t agree with him; he suffered from ulcers as the club finished sixth, and he was fired after the season amidst reports that he was “too easy-going.” That marked the end of his major-league playing career, but he continued to play in the minors in Minneapolis in 1923, while serving as player-manager at New Haven in 1924, and Memphis in 1925 and 1926. After retiring as an active player, Milan coached for Washington in 1928 and 1929 and managed Birmingham from 1930 to 1935 and Chattanooga from 1935 to 1937. He also scouted for Washington in 1937 and served as a coach for the Senators from 1938 through 1952.

This week’s fine group of modders honor who created a lot of mods that you would have in your own game or in the season conversion or classic mods and they would be in there in the open without you noticing it. And another modder who spent a lot of time working on datafiles that really gave a different look to Mvp baseball. And finally in our behind the scenes category we have a modder that once again exemplifies what working behind the scenes on mods really meant because I believe only a few will recall his name. Spitoon Each time you were at bat during the game you may have been using Spitoon’s mods without knowing it as he made his mods for Mvp ‘04 and ‘05. The ball he made for Mvp 2004 is still one of the best I ever saw and you can compare it to the hi-res ball by Trues for Mvp ‘05. If you noticed the different style bats in the game you can thank the work by this modder for that. Spitoons Bat Selector for MVP 2005 Spitoon and Trues combined datafile mod New Bats and Official MLB Baseball (for Mvp 2004) Squeegeedeadly Squeegeedeadly is the creator of some highly recommended camera mods for Mvp 2005 that I encourage some of you to try. His mods have been buried in the download section along with many others in this thread and because he is not well known to the group of people that are here today (he has not been here in fourteen years) his mods have been overlooked. That I believe is a mistake and if you experiment with any of these camera mods you will see what I mean. SqueegeeDeadly’s First Person Camera View SqueegeeDeadly’s Aerial Fielding Cam SqueegeeDeadly’s Camera Mod 2 TSN Overlay Behind the Scenes Crowe1 Crowe1 was part of the superb group of modders that gave us the Total Classics series. He is not well known as Fuzzone or Jim825 but his work in that series helped make it what it is today. Crowe1 worked in the stadium restoration group that helped make the old ballparks in the game more colorful and attractive. Based on his mod of the 1944 Sportsman’s Park he was very successful. Crowe1's Sportsman Park 1944

7 out of 10, 71 seconds. The three I got wrong I should have got wrong. I had no idea. We are a third of the way through and it is a very close race to the top.

10 out of 10, 33 seconds. I really needed a good score today but I was also shocked to see the time.

Great job Jim!

4 out of 10, 98 seconds. Three days in a row now that I have done terrible. Don't believe it when it says General: Easier because they are only being half truthful with you. One of my questions was What was the name for Saskatoon's WHL team in 2005? I did not see any guesses that said who gives a damn so I had to wing it. 😄

Game six. Modders 10, Forum Fanatics 0. Played at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. WP Fuzzone LP Big Shmooz The Fuzzone is mighty and shall prevail. Game 6 Modders 10, Fanatics 0.htm Thome25 hits a two-run home run in the third inning off of Big Shmooz. Big O hits a bunt single in the fourth. It would be remembered by the Fanatics because when he did this the Modders were already ahead by a 8 - 0 score. MarkB hits Ty Wiggins with a pitch in the seventh inning. The Fanatics played their best but the Modders were a strong team to go up against. Modders pitcher Fuzzone was the MVP of this series as he went 2 -0 with a 1.02 earned run average. What's next? The Fanatics will rest up a bit and then will take on the Boston Red Sox in a game that will likely see multiple Boston players getting beaned, bench warnings and ejections. Stay tuned for the laughs that this will surely bring to one and all.

3 out of 10, 89 seconds. Another baseball card question, naturally. But these were hard questions. Two days in a row for me Jim. I've been having a hard time. And sometimes with these difficult baseball questions I have noticed something. Sometimes they are just difficult but challenging. Sometimes they are downright impossible. Like today.

Game five. Fanatics 7, Modders 6. Played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. WP: Cybernetic LP: Hory The Fanatics are twice as lucky in the ninth. Game 5 Fanatics 7, Modders 6.htm Kraw makes a great diving stop in the first inning off the bat of Olyrunner. Totte throws the ball into right in the second as he tries to start a double play. Oh that had to hurt. Tony III singles off of GCurrier2004's shin in the 5th. That is Trues scoring a run. This was a no-doubter by Big Bully in the sixth inning.

5 out of 10, 121 seconds. The funny part was that I got the first four right. Then I went right straight downhill.

Game four. Fanatics 7, Modders 6. Played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. WP: KG Baseball LP: Hory A fanatical win. Game 4 Fanatics 7, Modders 6.htm Fred13 throws the ball in after Royal Blues doubles in the 2nd. Tebjr makes a great play to save an error as Krawhitham is retired in the third inning. Royal Blues loses the ball in the lights in the 5th. Olyrunner makes a five star play off with this catch in the eighth. The Modders complete a 8-2-4 double play in the eighth. Thome25's double in the ninth that landed inches fair.

9 out of 10, 48 seconds. These were not that difficult today. Who won the 1953 World Series, making it their 5th consecutive World Series title? I'll take those questions every day.

What I have been doing is clicking through the available stadiums and picking one that stands out. Fenway Park is one that stands out for me because I had no plans of using it. 😄

Game three. Modders 8, Fanatics 6. Played at old Yankee Stadium WP: KCCityStar LP: AstroEric Save: Hory The Unmaintainable Krawhitham. Game 3 Modders 8, Fanatics 6.htm Thome25 continues his hot hitting as he homers here off of Yankee4Life in the fifth inning. Here is Totte. He made the UItimate Rosters for years without any drama. We lost a good one when he moved on. Trues continues to apply pressure on the Fanatics as he steals another base in this series. Krawhitham did not know it but he did not need to slide into third base when he hit this triple in the seventh inning because the throw did not come to third base. In the ninth inning he was even more productive.

I have a lot of pressure too trying to keep up with all of you. That's what makes this game so much fun each month. Anyone can win it.

10 out of 10, 36 seconds. I love those "how many rookie of the year awards did so-and-so win?" Thank you! When I get one I am going to to be thrilled. Good going Jim.

Game two. Modders 8, Forum Fanatics 7. Played at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. WP: Hory LP: MarkBtheYankee Modders walk it off in the ninth thanks to UMachines. Game 2 Modders 8, Fanatics 7.htm A home plate view of Krawitham's home run in the third inning. Quick thinking here by Krawitham. with one out and runners on first and second Kraw forces the lead runner for the second out.

As promised here are some 2023 players that stood out this season. You can save any photo you want. They are all yours. I have lot of photo galleries that I love working on. Thank you. 2023 Major League Baseball.

You missed the cut by seven years. We did this before the 2007 mod came out. We also had one for the 2006 mod.

Okay it may not be the series for the ages but it will be at least a fun one and I will be playing this best-of-seven series during the off season we are now going through. Here are the who, what, when, where and whys. Who: The Forum Fanatics (played by me) vs. The Mvp Modders (played by the CPU.) What: These are the rosters of the teams made for Mvp 2007 and the people who signed up to be in it. When: Dates to be determined by me. Where: In various ball parks that were included in the 2007 mod and on days I have time to play the game. Why: And why not? It was fun then and it still is and I only wish that a more modern version of these two rosters could be in Mvp but that’s ok. Also included is the ENHANCED BOXSCORE from Ty Wiggins’ wonderful utility called the Box Score Extractor. It can be viewed a lot better when you place the .htm file in the box score extractor directory. The FuzZ One game. Game 1 Modders 6, Fanatics 2.htm Thome25 homers off of Big Shmooz in the third inning. MarlinsMY tries to get something going in the fourth as he tries to steal home but is unsuccessful. Totte keeps the pressure on as he doubles in the eighth inning. The man, the myth, the owner of Mvpmods, Trues.

6 out of 10, 79 seconds. And I am happy to get six of them. Wow.

10 out of 10, 39 seconds. I love the ones where I don't have to read the entire question. Born in Narrows, Georgia, I had the nickname, 'Georgia Peach'......etc. As soon as I saw that I knew it was Ty Cobb. I don't know how many times I have done the same thing.

Domingo German, Matt Bowman, Franchy Cordero, Jimmy Cordero, Billy McKinney and Ryan Weber were outrighted off its 40-man roster today. I don’t see anything wrong with this and it was a good move by Cashman and the Yankees. It was also an easy move on their part so we will see how well they do when the transactions and acquisitions get harder.

4 out of 10, 76 seconds. I was completely lost in this one and the only thing that saved me was guessing four of them right. When they ask me Nascar and soccer questions I am beaten. How do I know where Dale Earnhart is from? I never was interested enough to find out. Maybe you didn't get any of those under forty seconds scores but you got enough to keep pace and win. You have always done good in this trivia.