The Arizona League Redux: A New History

[AZTarHeel]

A few years ago I started a dynasty called The Arizona League: Real Players, Fictional Teams. My premise was pretty simple -- begin a historical dynasty in 1901 with real players but put them on fictional teams based in Arizona, a state I had lived in -- and became fascinated with -- from 2000-04.

I simmed about 20 seasons and got quite attached to the teams and many of the players (Sam Crawford and Sweetbreads Bailey to name a few). But a computer crash brought things to a halt around the 1920 season.

I did manage to salvage many of the files but it was an OOTP5 league and I was ready to invest in OOTP8. I now have OOTP9 (fully patched), and I want revisit The Arizona League. But rather than go through the trouble of upgrading my game through several steps (and raise the risk of more crashes, lost information, etc.), I figured it would be best to just start over.

So, here we are: The Arizona League Redux: A New History.

This time, I’m starting earlier than 1901 and trying to be much more accurate with the basic history so I don't, say, put a team in Lake Havasu at a time when Lake Havasu didn't exist in real life.

On the other hand, I know I will be taking great liberties with history in ways to fit my story (like the main idea that an entire professional baseball league will begin and thrive in Arizona).

I love the FaceGen technology and being able to create uniforms, so all my pictures will be fictional ones even though I know there are a lot of great face packs out there for the Deadball Era and before.

I plan to loosely follow Major League Baseball’s history with regards to expansion and the like. I imagine the early years of the Arizona League will be pretty volatile with regards to teams forming, moving, folding, changing nicknames, etc. I have a general idea of where I want to go with the overall look of the league, but I‘ll let how the game unfolds guide me as well…

For now, I won’t manage a team -- just be the commish (and sometimes the great baseball ‘deity‘), watch and report on what happens, trying to build an interesting dynasty tale as we go.

Enjoy the latest from AzTarHeel Productions: The Arizona League Redux: A New History … (fade out to hypnotic Native American flute music) …

[AZTarHeel]

But first a little back story to bring us up to speed…


History teachers tell us the land that makes up modern day Arizona was inhabited for thousands of years before the first European settlers arrived. The Cochise culture developed circa 2,000 BC, while the Hohokam peoples settled in southern Arizona around 300 BC.

In the late 1600s AD, Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino reportedly found petroglyphs depicting men from these prehistoric groups playing what appeared to be a game with a stick and a tightly wound-up ball of colorful fabric.

Apparently the men tried to hit this fabric ball as far as they could and then run to a safe place before being tagged by the others …

[AZTarHeel]

Arizona’s territory came under Spanish control in the 1500s. Tubac Presidio (fort), established by the Spanish in the mid-1700s, became the first European community in Arizona. Tucson was founded in 1776.

In the early 1800s, Arizona became part of the Mexican State of Vieja California after Mexico asserted its independence from Spain.

The United States took possession of parts of Arizona following the Mexican-American War in the late 1840s. In 1853 all of what is known today as Arizona came under U.S. control with the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico.

Arizona was administered as part of the Territory of New Mexico until it was organized into a separate territory on February 24, 1863.

Mining was a big part of Arizona life as early as the 1730s when large chunks of silver were located on the ground in a place known as Arizonac. Ranching also became a big part of the life and culture as more and more European pioneers came to the southwest.

The first territorial capital was established in Prescott in 1863, then it was moved to Tucson for a few years and then back to Prescott in 1877.

The legendary John Wesley Powell explored Grand Canyon in 1869.

Alexander Cartwright is credited with first bringing baseball to the Arizona territory. Playing for the New York Knickerbockers club in the 1840s, Cartwright established basic rules for the game that became widely accepted -- things like a) the concepts of fair and foul territory; b) three strikes per out; c) three outs in a half inning; d) nine players per side; e) ninety feet between bases, etc.

Cartwright got caught up in the Gold Rush of 1849 and decided to move to California. He was a true baseball missionary, spreading his game everywhere as he made his way to the West Coast. Some of those stops included Arizona.

The game of “Base Ball” became an instant hit on the southwestern frontier. It naturally followed the boom towns of the Arizona territory in the 1860s and 1870s, growing most popular around mining camps, ranches and larger settlements. For many, baseball was a pleasant diversion from the grind and harshness of physical labor and a point of community pride.

Players loved Arizona’s abundant sunshine throughout the year, and as more railroads were built, many came West to try and strike it rich -- in baseball and other ventures.

Baseball was strictly an amateur sport in its early history in Arizona as elsewhere. But it was a fractured game as well, as disagreements and disputes over “Cartwright’s Rules” and other issues arose. When the popular amateur leagues at Fort Bowie and Fort Huachuca dissolved after yet more squabbles, the cry to standardized the game across the territory -- and maybe even professionalize it -- grew stronger and stronger.

Those cries would begin to be answered in 1878...

[AZTarHeel]

When you think of Arizona's scenic beauty, places like Grand Canyon, Red Rock Country around Sedona, Monument Valley, the White Mountains and the 12,000-foot San Francisco Peaks overlooking Flagstaff likely come to mind.

But the Mule Mountains in the far southern part of the state near the Mexican border were the hot destination in the late 1870s. People flocked there for a different kind of scenery -- copper, silver, gold, turquoise.

A trio of Army scouts, in pursuit of Apache Indians, discovered rich deposits of copper ore in the Mule Mountains in 1877. In no time, dozens of prospectors made mineral claims there, prompting many to refer to the area as the “queen of all copper camps.“ One of the mines that emerged even went by the name Copper Queen.

By 1878, a settlement was quickly being built up around the Copper Queen, going informally by the name Mule Gulch. One Mule Gulch prospector in particular, George Warren (begin historical embellishments here) fancied himself quite a baseball fan, influenced no doubt by Alexander Cartwright’s missionary journey from decades before. He thought, as did others, that this emerging community needed its own baseball team — a sure sign to the outside world that it had arrived.

Putting aside any notions of amateurism, Warren platted land for a park and went to work signing modest contracts with some of the best players in the Arizona territory to "work" for the mine. They were assigned token jobs like clerking and cleaning but in reality, they were brought to Mule Gulch to play ball, give the workers and new settlers something to be proud of and to attract even more people to the area.

The first name Warren signed for his team was a young pitcher named Tommy Bond, who the year before at age 21 had won 40 games on the amateur circuit.

He also brought aboard some of the other top names of the day, guys like catchers Deacon White and Lew “Blower” Brown, outfielders Abner Dalrymple. Orator Shaffer and Paul Hines, and infielders like Cap “Pop” Anson and Cal McVey. Other pitching prospects included Cherokee Fisher and Tricky Nichols.

Anson boasted a .356 lifetime average, including batting .411 during an amateur season in 1872 at Fort Huachuca. Hines held a .311 lifetime average. Nichols won 39 games a year ago playing for a Tucson amateur team.

This new group of ball players quickly came to be known as the Copper Kings, playing off the name of the main Copper Queen mine. They wore shades of copper and navy blue in their flannel, collared uniforms. They also became one of the first ball teams in Arizona to use gloves on defense.

“Come see the greatest Base Ball team ever assembled in the Arizona Territory -- and maybe anywhere,” a story in The Weekly Arizonan newspaper boasted. "Come see Tommy and Tricky twirl their magic from the mound. Come watch Shaffer, Dalrymple and Hines roam the outfield like mountain lions. Come see a team that’s practically invincible.”

The rest of the Copper Kings original roster included 2B Jimmy Hallinan, 3B Frank Hankinson, SS John Peters, RF King Kelly and P The Only Nolan. A powerhouse group indeed...

[AZTarHeel]

Ed Schieffelin looked out into a different part of the Mule Mountains from a spot at Camp Huachuca and saw rich colors, ones that he believed held the promise of silver. But Schieffelin was warned time and again not to venture into the mountains because they were controlled by fierce Apaches.

“All you’ll find in those hills is your tombstone,” soldiers at the camp repeatedly told him.

But Schieffelin had the last laugh when he explored the mountains for himself and spied out a rich silver vein on a ledge high above where he had been hiding from Apaches. Remembering the warnings, he called his claim “Tombstone” and another promising mining camp was born about 25 miles away from Mule Gulch.

Before long Schieffelin also found other veins of silver ore and gave those places names like Graveyard, Lucky Cuss and The Toughnut. Word spread quickly about potential for riches here, and "Tombstone" became a hot destination in no time.

Baseball followed this boom as well, and some of Schieffelin’s men encouraged Schieffelin to build his own baseball team, to rival the one they had read about from Mule Gulch.

It didn’t take long before the Schieffelin's Tombstone Prospectors were assembled and ready to issue a little challenge to their baseball neighbors on the other side of the mountain.

[AZTarHeel]

First baseman Joe “Old Reliable” Start, outfielder Buttercup Dickerson, 2B "Black Jack" Burdock and catcher Joe Clapp were the first to sign with Tombstone, also taking token jobs with a mining camp there. The Prospectors also nabbed a 17-year-old pitching hotshot named John “Monte” Ward.

Old Reliable had batted a cool .332 in his final season in the Huachuca amateur league. Clapp had compiled a .318 average.

None of these guys, especially Ed Schieffelin, feared the so called Copper Kings. So what that Tommy Bond had supposedly twirled a no-hitter in an exhibition game a month earlier, reportedly switching between his left and right arms to pitch every inning. So what if Orator Shaffer allegedly had hit a ball so hard that it went deep into a mine shaft and had yet to be found? So what if the Mule Gulch team had beaten a group of “decent amateurs” 34-0.

The Prospectors wanted their shot at the Copper Kings -- and after repeated petitioning they got it at high noon on Friday, March 15, 1878.

[AZTarHeel]

The “Game of All Games” may have been forgotten in history had it not been for a young reporter named Phinieus “Doc” Victory of The Weekly Arizonan. He had been sent to the area months before to cover the new mining boom towns in the Mule Mountains and got word of the showdown between the baseball clubs from Mule Gulch and Tombstone.

Being a pretty decent baseball player himself before a mining accident had given him a permanent limp, Victory used his most flowering prose to hype up the game for the Weekly’s readers.

His stories previewing the match-up were so popular that they had been picked up by other newspapers in other parts of Arizona, New Mexico and even California. More than two thousand people showed up that Friday afternoon, filling up the hastily constructed “Copper Queen Grounds” all the way around.




The Copper Kings lived up to their billing in the top of the first inning. Tommy Bond rifled in a strike on his first pitch to Buttercup Dickerson and retired the first three batters in order. Mule Gulch then quickly got on a board in the bottom of the first after a two-out single from Paul Hines and a well-hit, line drive double from Orator Shaffer.

Tombstone struck back in the top of the second, getting a single from John Clapp and an RBI double from Billy Geer. The fans from the Tombstone camp roared with delight, and a couple even ran onto the field to greet Clapp as he touched home plate. But that was about the only highlight for the Prospectors the rest of the afternoon.

The Copper Kings scored at least one run in every inning except the eighth (not needing to bat in the ninth) to roll to a 10-1 win over Tombstone. Mule Gulch, with every starter getting at least one hit, chased Ward from the mound in the fifth inning, while Tommy Bond went on to pitch an eight-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks.

The Prospectors booted the ball all over the place, committing six errors. Their opponents, meanwile, were smooth as silk on defense, playing precision, error-free ball.

Despite the hype surrounding the game, the Kings still ruled.

Here’s a box score from the game, what is considered the first professional baseball contest in the Arizona Territory. It could be worth something someday...

[AZTarHeel]

As it turned out, players and managers from both clubs ended up at the same drinking establishment along a blossoming Main Street that evening. As the brews flowed, so did the chatter -- and a few arguments. A few guns were drawn by fans from the different sides but fortunately none were fired. And by the end of the night, a rematch had been set up for the following Friday, back on the Copper Kings‘ home diamond.

Tombstone had tried to talk with Mule Gulch players about coming to their camp for the game. But the Kings felt like they had earned the right to stay at home based on their convincing victory earlier in the day.

It was agreed. The Game of All Games, Part II would be played Friday, March 22, 1878. A fierce rivalry already was forming…

[AZTarHeel]

At least 2,000 fans came back to Copper Queen Grounds the following Friday for the much-awaited rematch between the clubs from Mule Gulch and Tombstone.

Tombstone players promised a much-better game, and the Prospectors lived up to it at first, getting two runs off Copper Kings starter Tricky Nichols in the top of the first. Buttercup Dickerson got things started with a single. Ned Williamson and John Clapp rapped two more hits to drive home a pair of scores. Again, the Tombstone fans roared, confident their Nine would secure a victory.

But the Copper Kings quickly regained the lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first off Tombstone starter Harry Wheeler. The pitchers ruled for the next several innings, and Tombstone felt good to have the game tied 4-4 going into the eighth.

You got the sense at that point that Mule Gulch players had only been going through the motions during the early part of the game, not all that concerned about the so-called challengers to their “throne.” In the eighth inning, they awoke and raised their game to a different level. Lew “Blower” Brown stroked an RBI double to score Orator Shaffer. Then Jimmy Hallinan wrapped another double over the head of CF Russ McKelvy to score Brown easily.

Tombstone had no answer and Mule Gulch celebrated another victory, 7-4. Tricky Nichols went the distance for his first mound win.

Prospector players felt they had played better, actually outhitting the Kings 11-10. But again, they had made some mistakes that hurt their cause, and again Mule Gulch had played flawless on defense.

As fate would have it, Tombstone’s stage broke down before the team could leave Mule Gulch. The team would have to stay in town for at least another day or two.

“Hey, why don’t you guys play another game tomorrow?” one of the fans suggested.

The idea sounded good to players from both squads, and third match-up between the Copper Kings and Prospectors was arranged for Saturday afternoon. Tommy Bond wanted the ball for Mule Gulch again, prompting John Ward to beg to get another chance to pitch against him.

[kailnurah]

Really liking this concept so far, AZ -- and your writing style. Reading through the Steve Victory thread at the moment and it's a little bit inspiring to tell you the truth!

[AZTarHeel]

Originally Posted by kailnurah

Really liking this concept so far, AZ -- and your writing style. Reading through the Steve Victory thread at the moment and it's a little bit inspiring to tell you the truth!

Thanks kailnurah -- i've been kicking around for weeks how best to do this dynasty, even started it a few other times before settling on this angle ... as for steve victory, that may forever be my all-time favorite dynasty ...

[AZTarHeel]

Alas, the baseball team from Tombstone seemed gluttons for punishment. Trapped in Mule Gulch, they agreed to play another game against the Mule Gulch Copper Kings. Once again, they suffered defeat.

Tommy Bond twirled a three-hitter for the Kings, and the Tombstone boys were humbled 4-2 (both of Tombstone’s runs came in the ninth inning against a tiring Bond, but the pitcher hung on for the victory).

The next Saturday, Mule Gulch acquiesced to Tombstone’s cry for a game at their park and promptly dealt the Prospectors two more defeats. In the first known baseball doubleheader in the Arizona territory, the Kings prevailed in a pair of close games, 3-1 and 3-2. For the third time in three weeks, Tommy Bond out-dueled John “Monte” Ward from the mound.

Mule Gulch CF Paul Hines wowed the crowd in the first game by hitting a ball out of Tombstone’s “Lucky Cuss” park, the first home run of the series. Even fans of the home Prospectors gave him a standing ovation after he touched home plate -- the hit over the centerfield fence was that beautiful. That shot tied the game 1-1 in the eighth inning, and Mule Gulch pushed two more across in the ninth to win it.

Ward pleaded with Mule Gulch players for a third game, even as darkness fell on Tombstone. “Let’s play three!“ he demanded. But the Copper Kings would have none of it, knowing they had nothing else to prove on this day...



Tommy Bond of Mule Gulch and John Ward of Tombstone

[AZTarHeel]

Gold was the name of the game in central Arizona, and Henry Wickenburg’s quest for this precious mineral paid off when he unearthed vast gold deposits in the early 1860s. His find gave birth to the Vulture Mine and by 1863, the town of Wickenburg sprang to life around it.

The Vulture Mine was still producing well in 1877, and two ballplayers in their 30’s -- Tom Carey and Bob “Death to Flying Things” Ferguson -- came to Wickenburg to settle and seek their fortunes, thinking their days on the diamond had come to an end following the dissolution of the most competitive amateur leagues.

But when Carey and Ferguson heard that professional teams were forming in the south, the two revived their dreams to keep playing ball and talked Henry Wickenburg into bankrolling a squad for their new hometown. Wickenburg’s only request, that the team bear his name. The players had no problems with that, nor the fact that their payments would come in gold!

Thus, the Wickenburg Vultures were born. Other key players to agree to play with this new professional team included outfielder Tom York, infielder/pitcher Al Spalding and pitcher Sam Weaver.

After hearing about the Mule Gulch Copper Kings’ dominance of Tombstone, the Wickenburg team wanted to take its shot at the Kings. A telegram was sent south and a meeting was set up for April 6, 1878. Another Mule Gulch romp was anticipated, of course.

Regardless of the final score, Henry Wickenburg aimed for his team to wear uniforms befitting a gold rush town. The caps and shirts he had specially made bore a gold color, with black trim and suspenders -- a break from the normal white or gray uniforms of the day.



Wickenburg pitcher Sam Weaver
________________________________

[AZTarHeel]

The game between the Copper Kings and Vultures went about like everyone expected. Tommy Bond tossed a four-hitter, and the boys from Mule Gulch fended off the “old men” from Wickenburg 6-0 in a driving rainstorm.

Sam Weaver took the loss, getting hammered time and again by Paul Hines (3-for-4, 3 RBIs), Cap Anson (2-for-3), Abner Dalrymple (2-for-3) and Lew Brown (2-for-4).

The Copper Kings were still undefeated, improving to 6-0. Maybe these guys were invincible after all since they proved they could hit even a wet ball all over the field.

But that air of invincibility would come crashing down when Wickenburg players asked for rematch after the rain showers cleared away…

[AZTarHeel]

A number of Tombstone players had come across the mountain to Mule Gulch to watch this new team play the Copper Kings. They certainly felt Wickenburg’s pain when the Kings won the first game 6-0 and jumped to a 2-0 lead in the opening inning of game two.

But Mule Gulch’s bats fell silent over the next several innings against Wickenburg hurler Tom Healey, who had moved to the Arizona territory from Rhode Island the year before. Then Wickenburg’s bats came alive in the top of the sixth, and the Vultures plated three runs to go ahead 3-2.

Of course, Tombstone had been here before, too. But the Prospectors couldn’t close the deal in tight games. Wickenburg’s lead evaporated in the bottom of the sixth when Cap Anson batted home John Peters to tie it 3-3. That brought the feared Paul Hines to the plate with Anson standing at first.

But Hines may have been a bit too eager to chomp at one of Healey’s pitches, swiping at the first offering from the Wickenburg twirler. He popped out to right to end the frame.

Then, Wickenburg gave the Copper Kings a dose of their own medicine. Three straight singles to start the top of the ninth inning brought in the go-ahead run against Tricky Nichols. Healey, though weary on what had became a pretty warm spring day, sat Mule Gulch down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the 4-3 upset. All three Kings batters flied out harmlessly to centerfield with fielder Mike Golden (an appropriate name for a Wickenburg player, eh?) barely even having to move.

It goes without saying that the couple of thousand rooters who attended the game went home stunned. Wickenburg had conquered the Copper Kings on their home diamond. The Kings had stranded 14 runners on the day, not the recipe for victory no matter how talented your team is.

News spread quickly of the Vultures' feat, thanks again to the pen of Weekly Arizonan writer Phinieus "Doc" Victory. This only served to create an even deeper hunger for professional baseball across the Arizona territory.

[AZTarHeel]

The town of Florence, Arizona in Pinal County came into being in 1866 and was considered the sixth-oldest European settlement in Arizona. While it wasn’t a mining town per se, mining did play a big role in Florence thanks to the mighty Silver King Mine just to the north.

Single men swarmed to work the mines and spend their money in Florence, while cowboys from local ranches celebrated payday in this growing town as well. Establishments such as the Nichols and Tunnel Saloons served these men who would quench their thirst and gamble.

Baseball became a natural fit in Florence, and this town sought to form a team even before many heard of the early success of clubs in Mule Gulch and Tombstone.

Charley “Baby” Jones and Harry “Silk Stockings” Schafer became two of the team’s first targets when it was learned both wanted to come West to play baseball. Both suited up for teams nicknamed “Red Stockings” back East -- Jones in Cincinnati and Schafer in Boston -- and both wanted the Florence team to play off that nickname somehow. So they suggested, because of the town’s connection to the silver mines, that the club be called the Florence Silver Stockings. The team’s colors would be silver, of course, and a darker shade of red than the clubs from Cincy and Boston. Some of the women in the town even pledged to find a way to turn the ballplayers’ socks from white to silver.

Jones, a North Carolina native, broke in after the already legendary Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869 became the first known professional baseball team. But he knew plenty about that group, which reportedly went 57-0 in its first season. He hoped the Florence Silver Stockings would post similar dominating results.

Jones certainly did his part in Florence’s first official game, stroking a three-run homer in the opening inning against Wickenburg. He finished with four RBIs, and the Silver Stockings went on to beat the Vultures that early April afternoon, 7-1.

“Must have been some magic in our silver stockings,” a smiling Jones said after the rout

Laurie Reis, a promising 19-year-old got the pitching win that day. As for “Silk Stockings” Schafer, who wouldn’t divulge where his nickname came from, he went 2-for-4 with a double. Yep, magical stockings indeed.

Meanwhile while this game was going on, Mule Gulch was beating up on Tombstone again, with Tommy Bond out pitching John “Monte” Ward for the fourth time. But what‘s newsworthy about that?



Florence Silver Stockings outfielder Charley "Baby" Jones

[AZTarHeel]

What was newsworthy that weekend came in another series of baseball games going on in the territory. Without nearly as much fanfare as places like Mule Gulch, Tombstone and Wickenburg, teams had formed in Tucson and Prescott -- Arizona’s former and present territorial capitals, respectively -- in the early spring of 1878. And the two squads were playing each other for the first time, a doubleheader in an old field used by amateurs in Tucson.

Each team won one game, with Tucson shortstop Andy Leonard going 5-for-8 in the twin bill. Teammate Jack Martin had four hits. Ironman Terry Larken pitched both games for Prescott. He actually seemed to get better as his 18 innings on the hill progressed, winning game two 5-2 after losing the opener 6-1...

[AZTarHeel]

When young writer Phinieus “Doc” Victory caught wind that professional baseball had exploded onto the scene in Arizona in the spring of 1878 -- he knew of at least six teams now -- he wrote a column proposing a “grand tournament” between the clubs.

The six squads (or more if they were out there) would gather at one spot for the weekend. By the end, one grand champion would emerge.

His idea was a hit and all six clubs agreed to meet in Tombstone on Friday, April 19th for the event. The home team would get a “bye” from the first round of games, as would the powerful Mule Gulch Copper Kings. Prescott and Tucson would face off again in one game Friday, while Wickenburg and Florence would square off in game two.

The winners would advance to Saturday to play Tombstone and Mule Gulch, while the losers would play each other. Then on Sunday, after church services of course, the two Saturday winners would battle for the “grand” championship. The victorious team would then walk away with bragging rights and a cash prize. Victory’s newspaper agreed to sponsor the tournament.

Victory was ecstatic that his idea was coming to light and even threw out the first pitch to start the action on Friday …