[captaincarl]

Announcements
Boston (A) - Announced that they were going to change their nickname. They will now be known as the Boston Pilgrims.
Chicago (N) - Announced that they were going to change their nickname. They will now be known as the Chicago Cubs.
American League - Announced that the franchise formerly in Baltimore will be placed in New York. This makes New York the fifth city in which there will be direct competition between the leagues. The others are Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and St.Louis. They will be known as the New York Highlanders and will be playing their home games in Hilltop Park.
Hall of Fame - The Hall of Fame Committiee announced a couple of adjustments to its criteria for induction into the hall. Instead of a position player needing 2350 hits as long as they batted .285 or better, the criteria will now be 2000 hits as long as the player batted .295 or better. Pitchers will now need 350 saves, increased from 300, or will need 200 or more wins as long as they compiled a 3.50 earned run average, changed from 220 wins with a compiled 3.60 or lower ERA.



Free Agency

Here is how the major free agents (3-stars or better) fared during the offseason.

Charlie Hickman, 1b - Signed a 4-year, $72,760 contract with Chicago (A)
Red Donahue, sp - Signed a 3-year, $64,290 contract with Washington
Bill Dahlen, ss - Signed a 4-year, $87,440 contract with Cincinnati
Chick Stahl, cf - Signed a 6-year, $70,830 contract with New York (A)
Jack Powell, sp - Signed a 4-year, $48,280 contract with New York (N)
Billy Clingman, 2b - Signed a 1-year, $2,790 contract with Boston (N)
Bill Keister, rf - Signed a 4-year, $112,040 contract with St.Louis (N)
Mike Grady, rf - Signed a 4-year, $125,440 contract with Boston (A)
Duff Cooley, lf - Signed a 3-year, $25,320 contract with Philadelphia (N)
Nixey Callahan, 3b - Signed a 2-year, $12,720 contract with Chicago (N)
Bill Phillips, sp - Signed a 4-year, $31,930 contract with Boston (A)
Jack Doyle, 1b - Signed a 3-year, $16,680 contract with New York (N)



Offseason Trades
10/09 - Philadelphia (N) gets 1b John Ganzel (28 yrs old, .256-3-26-4), New York (N) gets lf Jimmy Slagle (29, .241-0-38-14)
10/21 - Boston (A) gets lf Al Shaw (29 yrs old, .283-2-48-4), Detroit gets lf Ducky Holmes (33 yrs old, .287-0-13-4)
10/23 - Detroit gets 1b Art Nichols (31 yrs old, .212-0-28-5), St.Louis (N) gets 3b Joe Yeager (27 yrs old, .286-0-1-1)
10/24 - Philadelphia (A) gets 3b Jimmy Burke (28 yrs old, .287-1-59-22), St.Louis (A) gets rf Charlie Hemphill (26 yrs old, .294-4-38-30)
12/17 - St.Louis (N) gets 3b George Magoon (27 yrs old, .194-0-17-3), Cincinnati gets lf George Barclay (26 yrs old, .302-0-6-4)



Major Retirements

cf Steve Brodie, age 34 - 12 seasons. His best season was in 1894 when he batted .366 with 3 HRs, 113 RBI and 42 SB in 129 games.
.300 avg, 1487 g, 5567 ab, 884 r, 1669 h, 23 hr, 900 rbi, 315 sb, .378 slg

ss Bones Ely, age 39 - 14 seasons. His best season was in 1894 when he batted .306 with 12 HR, 89 RBI and 23 SB in 127 games.
.255 avg, 1400 g, 5216 ab, 657 r, 1330 h, 26 hr, 642 rbi, 175 sb, .323 slg

cl Frank Foreman, age 39 - 11 seasons. His best season was in 1889 when he compiled a 23-21 record with 0 saves, a 3.52 ERA and 180 K in 414.0 innings.
3.82 era, 104-94, 243 g, 1790.2 ip, 633 k, 661 bb, 4 sv

cf Dummy Hoy, age 40 - 14 seasons. His best season was in 1894 when he batted .299 with 5 HR, 70 RBI and 27 SB in 126 games.
.290 avg, 1856 g, 7251 ab, 1443 r, 2102 h, 43 hr, 782 rbi, 641 sb, .377 slg

3b Charlie Irwin, age 33 - 10 seasons. His best season was in 1894 when he batted .289 with 8 HR, 95 RBI and 35 SB in 128 games.
.267 avg, 990 g, 3581 ab, 535 r, 956 h, 16 hr, 506 rbi, 181 sb, .345 slg

c Wilbert Robinson, age 39 - 17 seasons. His best season was in 1894 when he batted .353 with 1 HR, 98 RBI and 12 SB in 109 games.
.267 avg, 1391 g, 5098 ab, 645 r, 1363 h, 18 hr, 713 rbi, 192 sb, .339 slg