[Le Grande Orange]

I've been following the posts of the historical simmers here, and I must say that you guys are doing a great job! It's inspired me to attempt to do my own someday (that is, if I ever get the blasted schedules I want to use finished first).

You guys go through great lengths to get your stats correct, but there is one little nitpick I have. And that is that you are using the default 2-3-2 home field rotation for the World Series; however, this rotation pattern was not used until 1924. In the years prior, the assignment of the home field for games was a bit more chaotic.

I'm not sure just what the exact rules actually were (still have to see if I can dig up that info), but here's what I can tell you so far.

One of the options that was in place up until 1924 was this: if both teams were from the same city (sometimes even playing in the same park), the home field would simply be alternated each game. This is what happened in 1906, 1921, 1922, and 1923. Thus the pattern was simply 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. However, none of these Series went 7 games, so it is possible that the 7th game might've been played in the same park as the 6th, so the pattern might've actually been 1-1-1-1-1-2. Have to do a bit more checking up on this.

From 1907-1910 the pattern used varied but seems to tended towards 2-2-1-2 (which is an interesting pattern because it means the team which ultimately has the home field advantage for the Series actually plays the first two games on the road). However, 1908 and 1910 are exceptions to this pattern, so I can't say for sure just what was the rule.

From 1911-1913, the pattern has switched to a simple alternating one, even with the teams being from different cities. Again, it might've been either 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 or 1-1-1-1-1-2. However, the teams in the Series those years were all eastern cities (specifically, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York), so it may have been the case that had a more distant city like St. Louis been in the Series a different pattern might've been used.

From 1914-1917 it seems as if things reverted back to the 2-2-1-2 format, which was used regardless of whether the two teams were based in cities close together or not.

In 1918, things seemed to have switched to 3-4 (or perhaps 3-3-1) rotation, but this is likely due to travel restrictions caused by the influenza epidemic which was occuring at the time (and which also cut short the regular season).

From 1919-1921, the Series had reverted back to a best-of-9 format, so I'll leave these years out since that length of series can't be used in OOTP (although, as mentioned earlier, 1921 followed the simple alternating method).

In 1922 and 1923 the teams were from the same city, so the home games were simply alternated each game. I don't know what pattern would've been used had the teams been from different cities (but probably the 2-2-1-2 pattern used a few years earlier).

Finally, in 1924, the pattern was standardized at 2-3-2, regardless of the cities the teams were from, and has been used in every World Series since, with two exceptions, In 1943 and 1945, due to travel restrictions caused by the war, the home field rotation pattern was changed to 3-4. This likely would've been used in 1944 as well, except for the fact that both teams in the Series that year were from St. Louis, which enabled the normal 2-3-2 pattern to be used instead.

Okay, that takes care of the home field rotation, but how was the team getting home field advantage for the Series chosen? Well, that too seems to have been under various rules over the years.

Along with the standardized 2-3-2 rotation adopted in 1924, the home field advantage assignment for the World Series was also standardized, with it alternating between each league each year. It started with the AL team getting it in 1924, and from then on in even years the AL team received the home field advantage and in odd years the NL team had it. Things proceeded in this manner up until 1934.

In 1935, the NL team should've had the home field advantage, but for some reason the AL team got it again. However, things went right back to alternating years, except now it was even years for the NL team and odd years for the AL team. This continued to be the case in all the subsequent years, right up until 1993. The only exceptions were in 1943 and 1945. The AL team should've had the home field advantage for the Series in those two years, but as mentioned earlier, travel restrictions changed the home field rotation to 3-4. So, while the AL team technically did not have home field advantage for the Series, it did get the first 3 games at home. By doing it this way, it kept the site of the first games of the Series alternating each year between each League (as it had been doing already), although the home advantage for the Series as a whole ended up being with the NL for several years in a row.

The cancellation of the World Series in 1994 meant that the rotation for that year was skipped, so in 1995 the NL team got the home field advantage, and from there things alternated once again, with odd years going to the NL team and even years going to the AL team.

For the years prior to 1924, the way in which home field advantage was assigned seems to be quite varied, with several methods apparently used.

From 1903-1911, it is difficult to tell how home field advantage was assigned. It appears to be most likely an alternating system. It was the AL for two years, then the NL for two years, and thereafer it alternated between the AL and NL each year (the fact that no Series was played in 1904 probably contributed to it initially being two years before rotating).

In 1912-1913, a different method was used. It appears that the League getting the home field advantage was the League whose team had lost the World Series the previous year. So, for example, in 1912 the NL team gets the home field advantage for the Series because the AL team had won the Series in 1911.

From 1914-1917, it appears things were reversed, so that now the League which had won the previous Series got the home field advantage. Thus, in 1914 the AL team gets it, because the AL team had won the 1913 World Series.

For 1918-1923, things are quite confused and it looks like both of these methods were used at different times. In 1918, 1919, 1921, and 1923 it looks like the League that lost the previous Series got the home field advantage; in 1920 and 1922 it looks like the League that previously won the Series got it instead. However, it is difficult to know for sure if these were indeed the actual methods used.

So, there you have it. Things are quite consistent from 1924 onwards when it comes to both home field rotation and assignment, but the pre-1924 time period is highly varied.

You may ask how does this affect simming the Series in OOTP, since by default it uses the 2-3-2 pattern? The answer is that you can reassign the home field of the games in the World Series yourself. You can do this by simply using the schedule editor to remove the games from the schedule, and then manually adding the games back in, with them taking place at the home field you want (and on the dates you want too, for that matter). Just add back in all 7 of the Series games and you're ready to begin simming. The game still recognizes it as a best-of-7 series and will stop once a team reaches 4 wins, but now the games will take place in the city you designate. I've tried this out myself a couple of times, switching the Series to a 3-4 rotation, and it worked fine.

So, if any of you want to add one more element of accuracy to your historical leagues (admittedly a nitpick of an element), you can.