Quote:
Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS
I have always found the short period before the implementation of the reserve clause to be interesting in that it so closely mimics much of what folks complain is ruining the game in our times. Greed, drugs, no loyalty, rotten owners, et cetera.  |
It's interesting that you bring this up. I think major league baseball is one of the best test cases out there for the argument that regulated capitalism is the healthiest economic system.
Look at it this way: professional baseball has been played for 137 years now. For about 55 of those years (1915-70) the owners had complete and total control over the players - the opposite of a free market system. Now, the effect of this can be hard to track because there were two events that dramatically boosted baseball's popularity during this time: Babe Ruth's incredible personal popularity, which affected the entire sport, and westward expansion, which brought baseball to new areas that had previously not had it. (I would argue that the financial windfall from latter is largely what brought down the owner-dominated system, but that's an argument for another day.)
The thing is, if you take out the 1920-34 Babe Ruth years and the 1958-69 expansion years,
baseball was dying. The minor leagues were collapsing on themselves, attendance was down - baseball's socialist system was "making the pie lower" for everyone.
I'm fascinated by the eras when those fights took place - the pre-reserve clause financial struggling, the reserve clause and the players' revolt of 1890, the Federal League and its direct connection with the Black Sox scandal, and of course the saga of Curt Flood, Marvin Miller, Messersmith and McNally, etc.
I'm sure someone more educated than me has written something scholarly about the fact that for baseball, socialism = bad health, unrestrained capitalism = bad health (see: 1870s baseball, Black Sox scandal), but regulated capitalism = gold mine. Someday I'll have to find it and read it.
Anyway... on to the important stuff. I'm not going to implement the reserve clause in this universe, so player movement will be a little more possible, although of course each player starts with the team for which he actually debuted.
May 27, 1877 - Sunday Base Ball Report
Chicago White Stockings 8-1
Hartford Dark Blues 4-3
Cincinnati Reds 4-4
Boston Red Caps 4-4
Louisville Grays 3-4
St. Louis Brown Stockings 0-7
Chicago seems intent on wiping out all thoughts of a pennant race rather quickly. As a team, they are currently batting .329, while the league itself hits at a more modest .274 clip. It simply does not appear that there are other teams out there that can challenge the supremacy of Hulbert's boys.
The result is that the other five teams are struggling financially. Cincinnati has already announced that their situation is dire - and they are not helped at all by this week's news. Their highest-paid player, veteran outfielder Steve King, went down to a season-ending injury. While the club will forge on without him, they are likely to see some struggles, both competitively and financially.
The current league leaders:
Batting Average - .526, Foghorn Bradley, Boston Red Caps
On-Base Percentage - .526, Foghorn Bradley, Boston Red Caps
Slugging Percentage - .591, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
OPS - 1.053, Foghorn Bradley, Boston Red Caps
Hits - 18, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Doubles - 5, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Triples - 1, 17 players tied
Home Runs - 1, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Extra Base Hits - 6, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Total Bases - 26, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Runs Batted In - 16, Tom Carey, Chicago White Stockings
Runs Scored - 14, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Stolen Bases - 3, Fred Cone, Louisville Grays
Walks - 3, John Clapp, Boston and Jim O'Rourke, Chicago
Strikeouts - 5, 3 players tied
RC/27 - 10.05, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
ISO - .182, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
VORP (Batting) - 5.8, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Earned Run Average - 0.96, Will White, Boston Red Caps
Wins - 7, J. O'Neill, Chicago White Stockings
Losses - 6, Pud Galvin, St. Louis Brown Stockings
Saves - 1, Pidgey Morgan, Hartford Dark Blues
Innings Pitched - 78 2/3, J. O'Neill, Chicago White Stockings
Shutouts - 1, J. O'Neill, Chicago White Stockings
Walks - 10, Harry Arundel, Louisville Grays
Strikeouts - 28, Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati Reds
H/9IP - 8.68, Will White, Boston Red Caps
HR/9IP - 0.00, 7 players tied
BB/9IP - 0.00, Tommy Bond, Louisville and George Zettlein, Hartford
K/9IP - 4.50, Harry Arundel, Louisville Grays
K/BB Ratio - cannot be computed for players with 0 walks
Opp. Avg. - .225, Will White, Boston Red Caps
WHIP - 1.04, George Zettlein, Hartford Dark Blues
VORP (Pitching) - 15.1, J. O'Neill, Chicago White Stockings