[Eckstein 4 Prez]

For the offseason, three of the league's six teams disbanded: St. Louis, Louisville, and Hartford. They were replaced by new teams in Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Providence. Here's a preview I wrote for the start of the 1878 season:

1878 Preview:

BOSTON RED CAPS: After a dismal, injury-plagued 1877, the Red Caps appear reloaded and ready to challenge for the title again. Bass is back and healthy, and the loss of “Orator Jim” O’Rourke has been offset by the additions of Anson, Flynn, Kernan, Thake, and especially stars Ezra Sutton and Orator Shaffer. With the league’s highest payroll, Boston is going to need to win the championship this year if they are to remain intact as a team.

1B – Cap Anson (1-32-.237-12 for 13 SB)/Clipper Flynn (0-23-.260-2 for 2 SB with Hartford, lifetime .312 hitter)
2B – Joe Kernan (0-9-.403-0 for 0 SB with Hartford, lifetime .335 hitter)
SS – John Bass (0-23-.362-0 for 0 SB)
3B – Ezra Sutton (1-37-.315-11 for 15 SB with Louisville, lifetime .329 hitter)
LF – Al Thake (0-35-.345-3 for 3 SB with Louisville, lifetime .324 hitter)
CF – George Hall (0-40-.337-0 for 0 SB)
RF – Orator Shaffer (1-34-.343-2 for 2 SB with Hartford, lifetime .322 hitter)
C – Charlie Hodes (1-28-.224-0 for 0 SB)

P – Phonney Martin (2-4, 2.31, lifetime 51-38)
P – Terry Larkin (3-6, 1.98 with St. Louis, lifetime 5-9)
P – Jim Britt (8-8, 2.60, lifetime 45-78)

CHICAGO WHITE STOCKINGS: Instead of challenging for the pennant as expected, they had nearly the entire roster slump last season and finished in the second division. This year, the only significant player they added was the talented veteran Joe Start, who should help, but is probably not enough to bring the club back to the optimistic days with which they finished 1876.

1B – Joe Start (0-24-.300-4 for 5 SB with St. Louis, lifetime .346 hitter)/Charlie Gould (0-43-.302-8 for 10 SB)
2B – “Black Jack” Burdock (0-35-.275-7 for 9 SB)
SS – Pony Sager (0-19-.260-20 for 26 SB)/Andy Leonard (0-36-.283-5 for 6 SB with St. Louis, lifetime .319 hitter)
3B – Frank Selman (0-28-.278-1 for 1 SB)
LF – Leonard/Tom Foley (0-39-.325-1 for 1 SB)
CF – Charley Jones (0-6-.364-0 for 0 SB)
RF – Elmer White (0-41-.330-0 for 0 SB)
C – John Clapp (0-26-.303-0 for 0 SB)

P – Al Spalding (17-8, 2.84, lifetime 101-61)
P – Candy Cummings (5-13, 4.28, lifetime 46-54)
P – “Uncle Al” Pratt (5-5, 5.13, lifetime 77-72)

CINCINNATI REDS: Last year’s champions have added a couple talented speedsters in veteran Lip Pike and rookie King Kelly, and have lost the superb Tim Murnane at first. It looks like they will battle the Red Caps for supremacy in the league this season.

1B – Frank Heifer (0-4-.348-0 for 0 SB, lifetime .304 hitter)/Fraley Rogers (lifetime .292 hitter as Boston reserve)
2B – Ross Barnes (0-36-.338-6 for 10 SB)
SS – George Wright (0-35-.339-6 for 7)
3B – Bob “Death to Flying Things” Ferguson (1-39-.335-1 for 2 SB)/”Long Jim” Holdsworth (0-22-.283-1 for 1 SB with St. Louis, lifetime .291 hitter)
LF – Tom York (1-37-.335-1 for 1 SB)/Steve King (0-1-.167-1 for 1 SB)
CF – Lip Pike (2-43-.299-25 for 39 SB with Hartford, lifetime .324 hitter)/George Bird (0-37-.320-0 for 0 SB)
RF – George Heubel (0-27-.342-0 for 0 SB)
C – King Kelly (rookie)/Tom Barlow (out of baseball in 1877, lifetime .294 hitter)

P – Lon Knight (11-12, 3.08, lifetime 17-18)
P – Cherokee Fisher (11-5, 3.02, lifetime 92-43)
P – Dory Dean (0-0, 1.23, lifetime 2-10)

INDIANAPOLIS BLUES: This is actually a pretty solid team, with the only big question marks being third base, left field and possibly center if Hollingshead cannot return to his 1876 form. It doesn’t seem like they have the firepower to contend with Cincinnati or Boston, but they could very well finish above the established Chicago White Stockings and should certainly be better than the other new teams.

1B – Jim Foran (1-53-.311-0 for 0 SB with Louisville, lifetime .309 hitter)
2B – Mike McGeary (0-27-.310-9 for 11 SB with Louisville, lifetime .335 hitter)
SS – Dickie Flowers (2-31-.336-19 for 26 SB with St. Louis, lifetime .314 hitter)
3B – Fred Waterman (1-11-.226-11 for 12 SB with Hartford, lifetime .282 hitter)
LF – Fred Treacey (1 for 1 with St. Louis in 1877, lifetime .247 hitter)/“Big Jim” Clinton (3 for 12 with Hartford in 1877, lifetime .291 hitter)
CF – Holly Hollingshead (0-25-.253-0 for 0 SB with Chicago, lifetime .316 hitter)
RF – Deacon White (1-36-.326-0 for 1 SB with St. Louis, lifetime .331 hitter)
C – Pop Snyder (0-37-.277-2 for 3 SB with Louisville, lifetime .248 hitter)

P – J. O’Neill (14-5, 2.97 with Louisville, lifetime 19-20)
P – Asa Brainard (6-4, 3.07 with Hartford, lifetime 73-51)
P – George Bradley (2-1, 4.09 with St. Louis, lifetime 25-32)

MILWAUKEE CREAM CITYS: They’ve got a couple of stars (Murnane, Hines) and a lot of question marks (pretty much everyone else). While it’s likely that at least some of the question marks will do well, it just doesn’t look like they have what it takes to finish as a contender. Look for them to be an also-ran this year.

1B – Tim Murnane (0-32-.364-4 for 6 SB with Cincinnati, lifetime .327 hitter)
2B – John Peters (0-18-.235-1 for 1 SB with Cincinnati, lifetime .294 hitter)
SS – John Radcliff (0-17-.254-8 for 10 SB with Louisville, lifetime .314 hitter)
3B – Chick Fulmer (0-12-.247-0 for 0 SB with St. Louis, lifetime .284 hitter)
LF – Abner Dalrymple (rookie)
CF – Paul Hines (1-40-.352-5 for 8 SB with Louisville, lifetime .302 hitter)
RF – Jack Manning (2 for 4 as Hartford reserve, lifetime .301 hitter)
C – Andrew Thompson (out of baseball in 1877, lifetime .177 hitter)

P – Tricky Nichols (13-9, 3.00 with St. Louis, lifetime 37-37)
P – Mike Golden (11-12, 3.70 with Hartford, lifetime 31-29)
P – Joe Borden (0-2, 3.21 with Hartford, lifetime 11-14)

PROVIDENCE GRAYS: Like Milwaukee, they have an awful lot of players of questionable ability in key roles. A team that is planning to start guys like Patterson, Booth, and Pinkham probably isn’t heading for any championships.

1B – Mike Dorgan (0-6-.265-0 for 0 SB with St. Louis as rookie)/Art Allison (0-3-.333-1 for 1 with St. Louis, lifetime .271 hitter)
2B – Dan Patterson (out of baseball in 1877, lifetime .237 hitter)
SS – Joe Doyle (0-16-.344-0 for 0 SB with Louisville, lifetime .308 hitter)
3B – Candy Nelson (0-26-.293-7 for 10 SB with Hartford, lifetime .321 hitter)
LF – Eddie Booth (1 for 5 as Boston reserve, lifetime .275 hitter)
CF – “Orator Jim” O’Rourke (0-44-.353-11 for 16 SB with Boston, lifetime .335 hitter)
RF – Ed Pinkham (0-29-.230-8 for 13 SB with Hartford, lifetime .280 hitter)/Dorgan
C – Bill Harbidge (0-41-.348-0 for 1 SB with Hartford, lifetime .303 hitter)

P – Len Lovett (5-0, 2.56 with St. Louis, lifetime 16-18)
P – Charles Witherow (out of baseball in 1877, lifetime 3-14)
P – Dick McBride (6-11, 3.92 with St. Louis, lifetime 86-65)

OPENING DAY ODDS TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIP:

Boston – 2 to 1
Cincinnati – 2 to 1
Indianapolis – 7 to 1
Chicago – 8 to 1
Milwaukee – 20 to 1
Providence – 20 to 1