Old-Time Franchises - Single-Season WAR Leaders

Hardball Retrospective – Old-Time Franchises – Single-Season WAR Leaders

By Derek Bain December 2, 2018 Leave a Comment

Old-Time Franchises – Single-Season WAR Leaders recounts the yearly WAR leaders for professional baseball franchises that existed from 1871 through 1900. The team rosters are constructed using “Original” players
as defined in Hardball Retrospective such that players signing their first Major League contract with an organization are considered an “Original” member of the franchise for the balance of their career. Therefore Babe Ruth is a member of the Red Sox for the duration of his career, while Reggie Jackson and Rickey Henderson are listed with the Athletics, etc.

Based on the research for Hardball Retrospective. This website will include information that was omitted from the paperback version due to space limitations along with brand new content. Additional content will be posted in the near future. The initial release consists of:

· Hardball Retrospective – Franchise Batting Register

· Hardball Retrospective – Franchise Pitching Register

· Hardball Retrospective – All-Time “Original” Rosters

· Hardball Retrospective – Defensive Lineups By Decade

· Hardball Retrospective – Fielding WAR and WS Leader Boards

· Hardball Retrospective – Old-Time Franchises – Single-Season WAR Leaders

· Hardball Retrospective – Franchise Charts – Player-Seasons by Position, 20+ Win Shares

All table columns may be sorted in ascending or descending order and the number of entries displayed can be selected from 10, 25, 50 and 100 rows. You can also search for text within each table. For example, you could select 25 entries then search for Mike Trout. The resulting rows in that table will be limited to Mike Trout’s seasons and statistics.

entries per page

Search:

franchID	Name	Pos		Type	Year	WS	WAR
ALT	Germany Smith		SS		1885	16.69	4.18
ALT	Germany Smith		SS		1886	13.41	3.38
ALT	Germany Smith		SS		1887	15.81	3.33
ALT	Germany Smith		SS		1892	20.16	3.21
ATH	John Richmond		SS	P	1883	15.38	2.88
ATH	John Richmond		SS	P	1884	16.42	3.04
BFL	Howard Ehmke		SP	P	1919	15.43	2.14
BFL	Howard Ehmke		SP	P	1920	17.74	3.46
BFL	Howard Ehmke		SP	P	1923	23.87	3.77
BFL	Howard Ehmke		SP	P	1924	23.87	6.77

Showing 1 to 10 of 1,054 entries

Hardball Retrospective

Paperback and Digital editions now available at Amazon * Barnes and Nobles * GooglePlay * iTunes * Kobo

References

Retrosheet The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at “www.retrosheet.org”.

Seamheads – Baseball Gauge Win Shares and Wins Above Replacement data courtesy of Dan Hirsch

Sean Lahman – Lahman Database The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Sean Lahman. Interested parties can download the database at www.SeanLahman.com.

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Derek Bain

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family. Co-chair of the SABR Games and Simulations Committee since August 2022 along with Mark Wendling. Visit my Amazon author page to check out my books, promotional videos, and post a review if you're a Hardball Retro fan! My Books: “Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds”, published in September 2024 with co-author John Racanelli, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds was recognized with the 2025 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award. Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League Teams)”, published in July 2020, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League Teams)”, published in April 2022, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. “Hardball Architects” examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set (American League and National League). All key moves are scrutinized for every team and Sabermetric principles are applied to the roster construction throughout the lifetime of the organization to encapsulate the hits and misses by front office executives. Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. A cross-section of essays that I penned for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog spanning nearly a decade touching on subjects including "Taking the Extra Base", "General Manager Scorecard", "Worst Trades", "BABIP By Location" and "Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic". Rediscover your favorite hardball arcade and simulations in "Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser" or take a deep dive into every franchise's minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations in "Minors vs. Majors". “Hardball Retrospective” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. In Hardball Retrospective, I placed every ballplayer in the modern era (from 1901-present) on their original teams. Using a variety of advanced statistics and methods, I generated revised standings for each 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 real-time or “actual” team results to assess each franchise’s scouting, development and general management skills. Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here “Hardball Retrospective - Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each "original" team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 - 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Contact me on BlueSky - @hardballretro.bsky.social