Quote:
|
Originally Posted by darkhorse
Completely unrealistic!  |
Yeah, I hate those wildly ahistorical occurances.
Of course, Chicago's not looking much like a powerhouse through the late 1870s, so that spot is ripe for the taking.
Here's the preview I've written for the 1876 season, as the offseason stuff is finished and the new season ready to begin:
1876 Preview:
BOSTON RED CAPS: Another year, another championship. Although they were pressed to the limit in 1875, the Beantowners won their fourth straight title and again brought the same squad back to defend their crown. They will again be one of the favorites, as it does not appear that any of their main competitors improved much this offseason.
1B – Charlie Gould (2-39-.343-15 for 19 SB)
2B – Ross Barnes (0-59-.351-9 for 13 SB)
SS – George Wright (0-37-.361-14 for 17 SB)
3B – Harry “Silk Stockings” Schafer (1-46-.281-13 for 16 SB)
LF – “Orator Jim” O’Rourke (1-66-.334-10 for 16 SB)
CF – Joe Simmons (0-51-.353-6 for 8 SB)
RF – Eddie Booth (2-26-.231-1 for 1 SB)
C – Cal McVey (0-62-.330-6 for 9 SB)
P – Cherokee Fisher (22-2, 2.03, lifetime 71-35)
P – Frank Buttery (21-10, 1.98, lifetime 48-21)
P – Al Spalding (9-4, 2.00, lifetime 71-49)
CHICAGO WHITE STOCKINGS: Chicago improved markedly in 1875, but doesn’t figure to take many steps forward this season, as they didn’t upgrade their hitting much. The only major additions to the Chicago lineup were a few guys who were benchwarmers with the Philadelphia Whites and a new catcher. Although the pitching is improved, look for Chicago to struggle this season.
1B – Jim Devlin (0-9-.318-0 for 0 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .255 hitter)
2B – “Black Jack” Burdock (0-42-.332-18 for 21 SB)
SS – Pony Sager (1-42-.357-23 for 37 SB)
3B – George Fields (0-31-.251-0 for 1 SB)
LF – Ned Cuthbert (0-10-.237-2 for 3 SB for Phil. Whites, lifetime .279 hitter)
CF – Holly Hollingshead (spent 1875 in Phil. Whites’ system, lifetime .218 hitter)
RF – Elmer White (0-34-.332-1 for 1 SB)
C – John Clapp (0-17-.274-1 for 1 SB with Brooklyn)
P – “Uncle Al” Pratt (10-14, 3.74 with Brooklyn, lifetime 58-57)
P – Joe Blong (5-7, 3.55 with St. Louis Red Stockings as rookie)
P – Henry Luff (6-13, 4.23 with New Haven as rookie)
CINCINNATI REDS: This new team is going to struggle this season, but does have some talent. They’ve got an assortment of journeymen hitters, led by the talented Bob Ferguson, who is coming off a great year for Brooklyn. They won’t win too many games, but expect them to at least be better than some of the bad Association teams.
1B – Tim Murnane (0-3-.214-2 for 2 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .257 hitter)
2B – Bob “Death to Flying Things” Ferguson (1-30-.366-2 for 2 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .292 hitter)/Tom Carey (1-8-.351-0 for 0 SB with St. Louis Red Stockings)
SS – Carey/John Peters (0-1-.176-0 for 0 SB with Chicago, lifetime .279 hitter)
3B – Frank Selman (0-7-.258-0 for 0 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .314 hitter)
LF – Charley “Baby” Jones (0-2-.321-0 for 0 SB with Keokuk as rookie)
CF – Jack Remsen (0-25-.287-0 for 0 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .294 hitter)
RF – Ham Allen (0-4-.375-0 for 0 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .275 hitter)
C – Paddy Quinn (in minors in 1875, lifetime .226 hitter)
P – Bill Stearns (16-5, 2.00 with Phil. Whites, lifetime 53-50)
P – Dale Williams (rookie)
P – Dory Dean (rookie)
HARTFORD DARK BLUES: Hartford was the worst team to survive the collapse of the Association, and they were determined not to be the worst team in the new National League. They went out and spent a ton of money to upgrade, adding four new free agent hitters and three new pitchers. The result is a completely new team, and one that could be surprisingly good this year. They had a long way to go after last season’s finish, but could be a darkhorse contender this season.
1B – Clipper Flynn (0-48-.323-0 for 1 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .318 hitter)
2B – Bob “Magnet” Addy (0-42-.267-8 for 12 SB)
SS – John Bass (1-68-.298-0 for 0 SB)
3B – Ed Pinkham (0-23-.316-8 for 15 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .303 hitter)
LF – John Glenn (0-42-.331-1 for 1 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .305 hitter)
CF – Lip Pike (0-42-.319-34 for 36 SB)
RF – Candy Nelson (0-29-.333-4 for 4 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .334 hitter)
C – Fred Waterman (0-44-.281-28 for 38 SB)
P – John “Lefty” McMullen (18-12, 3.34 with Phil. Whites, lifetime 63-62)
P – Joe Borden (6-3, 2.29 with Phil. Whites as rookie)
P – Mike Golden (5-8, 2.83 with Keokuk as rookie)
LOUISVILLE GRAYS: Which is more important, hitting or pitching? The Grays, unlike Cincinnati, have several first-run hitters in Foran, Hines, Stires and especially Mike McGeary. However, they have no experienced pitching at all. Will their hitters keep them competitive (or at least better than Cincinnati), or will the lack of pitching haunt them?
1B – Jim Foran (2-24-.314-0 for 0 with Brooklyn, lifetime .316 hitter)
2B – Henry “Lucky” Kessler (1-29-.298-0 for 0 with New Haven, lifetime .293 hitter)
SS – Denny Mack (0-11-.256, 4 for 6 with St. Louis Red Stockings, lifetime .240 hitter)
3B – Mike McGeary (0-42-.374-12 for 13 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .362 hitter)
LF – “Pigtail Billy” Riley (0-4-.224-0 for 0 SB with Keokuk as rookie)
CF – Paul Hines (0-24-.318-4 for 5 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .288 hitter)
RF – Gat Stires (0-21-.335-10 for 11 SB with New Haven, lifetime .313 hitter)
C – Pop Snyder (in minors in 1875, lifetime .185 hitter)
P – NFN O’Rourke (2-4, 2.29 with Boston, lifetime 5-8)
P – Martin Malone (1-1, 3.86 with Phil. Athletics, lifetime 6-3)
P – J. O’Neill (0-0 in 13 1/3 innings with Brooklyn as rookie)
NEW YORK MUTUALS: Mostly the same team that finished a strong fourth last season, but they have two additions that they hope will be key components this year. Second baseman Bill Craver was added from the Philadelphia Whites, and outfielder Al Thake will start the season in left field. Look for these additions to improve New York, but probably still not enough to overtake Boston.
1B – Joe Start (1-51-.305-4 for 4 SB)
2B – Bill Craver (1-39-.333-12 for 15 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .326 hitter)
SS – Dickie Flowers (1-39-.340-44 for 57 SB)
3B – Cap Anson (0-50-.305-10 for 13 SB)
LF – Al Thake (1-20-.321-1 for 2 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .330 hitter)
CF – George Hall (2-55-.391-1 for 1 SB)
RF – Dick Higham (0-65-.346-4 for 5 SB)
C – Charlie Hodes (0-27-.281-0 for 0 SB)/Tom Foley (0-9-.350-0 for 0 SB)
P – Candy Cummings (13-5, 1.66, lifetime 32-32)
P – Asa Brainard (20-9, 2.71, lifetime 53-40)
P – Rynie Wolters (7-4, 3.03, lifetime 61-56)
PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS: They almost won their first championship in 1875, but might have a more difficult time this season. For financial reasons, they were unable to add any significant players over the offseason, and so are standing pat with the same roster that came up just short last season. Look for them to do so again unless all of their top players repeat their breakout 1875 performances.
1B – Everett Mills (0-41-.331-1 for 1 SB)
2B – Al Reach (0-40-.325-0 for 0 SB)/Joe Kernan (rookie)
SS – John Radcliff (0-35-.352-11 for 14 SB)
3B – Ezra Sutton (1-66-.357-34 for 36 SB)
LF – Charlie Pabor (5 for 8 as reserve, lifetime .314 hitter)/Steve King (0-24-.239-0 for 0 SB)
CF – George Bird (0-48-.338-1 for 1 SB)
RF – George Heubel (2-67-.355-3 for 4 SB)
C – Scott Hastings (0-41-.321-7 for 10 SB)
P – Dick McBride (26-4, 2.20, lifetime 70-40)
P – George Zettlein (13-5, 2.08, lifetime 94-71)
P – Bobby Mathews (3-0, 2.21, lifetime 33-26)
ST. LOUIS BROWN STOCKINGS: This is another team that got a complete overhaul in the offseason. Since their 1875 squad couldn’t hit, the ownership replaced all eight of the everyday position players. Look for this team to be a major upgrade over last year’s squad – maybe not enough to actually contend yet, but this is a team on the rise.
1B – Charlie Hautz (0-14-.338-0 for 0 SB with St. Louis Red Stockings as rookie)
2B – Jimmy Wood (1-28-.350-16 for 18 SB with New Haven, lifetime .307 hitter)
SS – Davy Force (0-27-.310-3 for 4 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .315 hitter)
3B – George Trenwith (0-5-.250-1 for 1 SB with Phil. Centennials as rookie)
LF – Andy Leonard (1-30-.304-13 for 15 SB with Phil. Whites, lifetime .325 hitter)
CF – “Long Jim” Holdsworth (1-14-.325-0 for 0 SB with Washington, lifetime .282 hitter)
RF – Deacon White (0-1-.281-0 for 0 SB with Phil. Centennials, lifetime .322 hitter)
C – Tom Barlow (0-8-.266-1 for 3 SB with Brooklyn, lifetime .308 hitter)
P – Tricky Nichols (12-16, 3.50 with New Haven as rookie)
P – George Bradley (15-26, 3.38 as rookie)
P – Bill Parks (8-6, 4.57 with Washington as rookie)
OPENING DAY ODDS TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIP:
Boston – 2 to 1
New York – 7 to 2
Philadelphia – 7 to 2
St. Louis – 6 to 1
Hartford – 10 to 1
Chicago – 12 to 1
Louisville – 35 to 1
Cincinnati – 45 to 1