National Base Ball Union est. 1861

[risp2out]

Originally Posted by Eddie Paxil

In the New York Times (Where I did most of my research) the box scores from prior to 1861 only showed runs. Going closer to 1871 there's more statistical data available, but I chose the easy route regardless.

Most of my heavy research and editing came in the form of player names.

Very cool. I recommend also checking the Brooklyn Eagle at the Brooklyn Public Library website. Welcome to ActivePaper
The Advanced Search engine allows you to search by an exact term or phrase and within a date range. Remember that during this time "base ball" was printed as two words. Using that phrase, you'll get hundreds of hits between 1840 and 1875
1 including many box scores (passed balls are reported remarkably early), game recaps, and some interesting reading on the side: reports of player's deaths, a baby left on a doorstep, even rules for playing baseball on ice (Jan 08, 1875). It might add to your list of names, too. Enjoy. Keep up the great work on the Dynasty.

[Eddie Paxil]

Originally Posted by risp2out

I recommend also checking the Brooklyn Eagle at the Brooklyn Public Library website. Welcome to ActivePaper

Much Thanks for this resource. It's going to come in handy.

[Eddie Paxil]

I have neither forgotten about nor abandoned this Dynasty. I've just been busy. Too busy for my next planned post which is a preview of each team. I will be resuming soon. Just wanted to update anyone who'd been following.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Eddie Paxil

I have neither forgotten about nor abandoned this Dynasty. I've just been busy. Too busy for my next planned post which is a preview of each team. I will be resuming soon. Just wanted to update anyone who'd been following.

Glad to hear you'll be back soon. I've been following along and look forward to the previews.

[BMW]

This is very cool, and you're from Jersey too. Woo!

[Eddie Paxil]

I didn't expect an absence of nearly 2 years but that's what happened. This dynasty is something I planned on doing for a while after discovering OOTP and reading PLAGUE. So I held on to through computer problems and just plain being busy. And now I'm back to bring it to life.

Those who followed along during my short run of this in 2009 I hope you'll come back. Those just discovering this Dynasty I hope you like what I'd already done and will follow along as I start it up again.

I am currently working on the first installment of Henry Chadwick's "Beadle Base Ball Player." The official periodical of the league which will first preview all the teams for the inaugural season. That's coming very soon. I hope that you guys will follow along despite my long layoff.

...and as always. Thanks for reading.

[Eddie Paxil]

*Items in Bold are items that have changed in the NBBU time line.

• February 11
  • American Civil War: The U.S. House unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing non-interference with slavery in any state.
  • About 850 prisoners at Chatham Prison take over the jail during a riot.^[1]
• February 13 – Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta, last stronghold of the Neapolitan King Francis II, is ended by Piedmontese forces. Francis goes into exile.
• February 18
  • American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional president of the Confederate States of America.
  • Italian unification: Victor Emmanuel of Piedmont-Sardinia becomes King of Italy.
• February 23 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C. after an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland.

I realize nothing has changed so far. Be patient. The NBBU hasn't had a chance to change outside events yet. I am still posting the highlight events of the period to give you a sense of where the outside world is as compared to where the league is.

[Eddie Paxil]

February 24, 1861

Thanks you for picking up this copy of Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player, the official periodical of the all-new National Base Ball Union. In this first issue we will tackle a preview of all the teams in the league as we prepare for the March 9, 1861 opening day of the league. The previews will be the first step in a 32-week season that leads up to the top 2 teams playing in a 3 game Champion Match. Let the previews begin.

Brooklyn Allied

Pitching- John Grum should handle the primary pitching duties for the Allied. At 31 he is a veteran of the game, & a solid choice in R4 of the Dispersal Draft. Look for contributions from Mike Bixby & Dale Gifford.

Strikers- The Allied pulled off absolute highway robbery getting CF Rod Haughton in R1 of the Dispersal Draft, & still being able to get veteran RF Michael Waddell in R2. Other notable strikers are 1B Aleck Pearsall & LF Dylan Bates.

2nd IX Future Star- 25 yo. Jonathan Pinckney isn’t far from taking John Grum’s spot. If Grum should land on the 2 week injured list look for Pinckney to step in right away for the Allied.

Hartford Intrepids

Pitching- Another club that went for a veteran P in R4 of the Dispersal Draft where they landed 34 yo. T.G. Van Cott. Expect great contributions from R9 selection Xavier Hannegan & R13 selection George Byrnes.

Strikers- LF & R3 pick Pete O’Brien at 29 yo. should be the leader of the offense. He’ll be ably backed up by the likes of R5 3B Guy Van Cott.

2nd IX Future Star- R1 pick, 24 yo. John McKeever is one stumble by T.G. Van Cott or an injury away from being the team’s primary SP.

Hoboken Knickerbockers

Pitching- Jim Creighton. We shouldn’t need to say anything else. Creighton was an easy pick 1st overall by the Knickerbockers. He is in a class by himself & should dominate most of the league’s strikers.

Strikers- Look for veteran 2B Howard Wright & Fransisco Sturgis to lead the way for the offense. 19 yo. Joseph Snyder brings both a glove & at bat to 3B & will play a major role in the Knickerbockers’ fortunes.

2nd IX Future Star- P Ben Rogers probably won’t ever see the job of SP for Hoboken unless something happens to Creighton. Expect Rogers to be trade bait to upgrade elsewhere later.

Lowell Industrials

Pitching- There seems to be a trend here as the Industrials picked up veteran 29 yo. SP Jorge Berger in R4 of the Dispersal Draft. Not much else to get excited about on the primary club. We may see some contributions from Corey Standerwick & Russell Grum.

Strikers- R1 2nd overall pick CF George Flanly is a phenom at the age of 16. Look for the likes of SS George Hunt, 1B Ricardo Tate, & 3B George Green to help Flanly light up the offense in Massachusetts.

2nd IX Future Star- 25 yo. SP Robert Goldie was chosen in R2 of the Dispersal Draft because he has a ton of talent. We here at Beadle’s Dime think he’ll be the Industrials SP by season’s end.

New York United

Pitching- William Oddie was selected where else but in R4 of the Dispersal Draft. At 32 he is one of the true veterans of the NBBU, & should be solid for NY. Look for John Morrow & Tim Fitzpatrick to play a role.

Strikers- We love veteran R5 pick Charles De Bost minding things behind home plate. However 18 yo. LF Antonio Ford was chosen in R1 for a reason. He can flat hit & should be a member of the United for a long time to come. Keep an eye out for Dutchman Oeke Van Houten who can hit the ball out of most parks better than any other NBBU player.

2nd IX Future Star- SP J.T. Morrell dropped to R21 because at 21 yo. he still has some developing to do. We won’t see Morrell for a while, but we will see him.

Newark Leathernecks

Pitching- 28 yo. SP Matty O’Brien was picked up by Newark in R2 of the Dispersal Draft and is easily the 2nd best SP in the NBBU. However, Newark didn’t stop drafting SP for the primary club after landing O’Brien. They picked up 36 yo. veteran Chris in R14 & 29yo. Vet Travis Salisbury in R11 for depth at SP that no other NBBU club can match. Look for some help from John Harmegan & Bourke Walter.

Strikers- The Leathernecks really made out early in the draft. First, 21 yo. Phenom CF Gary Vanderlipp fell to them in R1 of the Dispersal Draft. Then 25 yo. Former Excelsiors C Joe Leggett was still there when they chose in R3. Add in selections like R4 pick Kelly Pearce, R5 pick Michael Vincent, & R6 pick Charles Alton, & you’ve got a potent experienced offense.

2nd IX Future Star- The Leathernecks are loaded with SP, & that includes at the 2nd IX level. 24 yo. R27 pick Benson Bannester is a strong prospect that could fill a lot of roles for Newark. Most likely his role will be a trading chip in the coming seasons.

Philadelphia Athletics

Pitching- The Athletics will hand the ball to 30 yo. Veteran Bart Woodruff as their primary SP. He is another example of a R4 SP veteran that most clubs are starting the season with. Steven Newel will probably contribute to the cause this year.

Strikers- Someone had to take former Excelsiors OF Henry Polhemus despite his 36 yo. That club was the Philadelphia Athletics. He doesn’t have much time left, but he should be productive while he is around. In R9 Polhemus was a bargain. Other notable bats belong to 23 yo. R5 pick Edwin Caswell & 19 yo. R3 pick, former Excelsior, John Whiting.

2nd IX Future Star- 24 yo. SP Frank Pigeon still needs time to progress. However, this R21 pick should develop into a star. Look for him to spend all of 1861 with Philadelphia’s 2nd IX club.

Washington Nationals

Pitching- 23 yo. SP N.S. Keith isn’t as talented as Newark SP Matty O’Brien, but he’s 5 years younger & still developing. For that reason Washington snatched him up in R1 4th overall. Also look for 26 yo. R6 pick Darryl Thorne to be of use this season.

Strikers- 27 yo. R2 pick CF Glen Aspinwal headlines a very potent offense that should score a lot of runs. 2B Luke Phillips & SS Dan Whiting make up one of the NBBU’s strongest middle infields.

2nd IX Future Star- 25 yo. R30 pick F.C. Dodd is a south paw that has a ton of potential. He still needs more seasoning and will get the time he needs with the Nationals 2nd IX club.

Thank you for reading this inaugural NBBU edition of Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player. We will have monthly updates as to how the league is progressing through all 32 weeks and the Champion Match.

Other Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player events to look forward to:

• Development of statistical analysis for the NBBU & all of base ball.
• Awards handed out at the end of the season for outstanding play in all facets of the game
• …and so much more.

[Powderguy]

Nice man, could to see you came back to this after a long layoff. What are you using to make those logos?

[Eddie Paxil]

Originally Posted by Powderguy

What are you using to make those logos?

I use a free program called GIMP along with fonts from dafont.com mostly.

I also did up uniforms for the teams, & set the game to show the fictional pictures in black & white. Here are the black & white photo examples of the uniforms. I used No Pepper's Vintage Jersey Styles 2.0 which I got from PadresFan's Mod Website and again GIMP.I basically played around with GIMP a lot until I became proficient enough to do the things I wanted for OOTP.

Brooklyn Allied

Hartford Intrepid

Hoboken Knickerbockers

Lowell Industrials

New York United

Newark Leathernecks

Philadelphia Athletics

Washington Nationals


Of course the uniforms are only good in game for 10 seasons. Starting in 1871 I'll be switching over to photo sets as the database kicks in.

I also created some in game replacement graphics to go with the time period of my dynasty. Here's a quick screenshot of some of it. All done on GIMP.



I might make these graphics available on Padresfan's website. They are generic enough that they can fit any league from the 19th Century.

[Eddie Paxil]

*Items in Bold are items that have changed in the NBBU time line.

• February 27 – Russian troops fire upon a crowd in Warsaw protesting Russian rule over Poland, killing 5 protesters.
• February 28 – Colorado is organized as a United States territory.
• March 2
  • Nevada is organized as a United States territory.
  • American Civil War: Texas is admitted to the Confederate States of America.
  • (February 19 O.S.) – Serfdom is abolished in Imperial Russia.
• March 4
  • President Abraham Lincoln takes office, succeeding James Buchanan.
  • American Civil War: The Stars and Bars is adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America.

[Eddie Paxil]

Just as a note I've decided to do my updates on the baseball side of things as monthly reports presented by Beadle's Dime Base-Ball Player. If something of note happens. Say, a no-hitter. What I'm going to do is put up a New York Times article about that event.

Also please bear with me and be patient on the History side of things. Most of my history changing ideas were for a little later say 1865ish, but I really wanted to include the great Jim Creighton in my dynasty so I started in 1861 right after he joined the Excelsiors. My ideas for history changes are coming on the fly until later and I just haven't been inspired to make a change yet.

Now, after almost two years. the next post will be about the baseball. It will be the first month (or first 4) of games. Barring a noteworthy New York Times Game.

[PITFan48]

I;m really intrigued by this, keep it up. I love how your incorporating the various inconsistencies of early baseball into your league, it brings a sense of realism to the dynasty.

[Eddie Paxil]

After running my first sim I got some weird numbers coming out of my Triple A league. I went in made some fixes and got it resolved. However, since I was already in the middle of a "test run." I went forward further to make sure everything was working right.

Needless to say that if everything was ok this post would've been about my first sims. For some reason my copy of OOTP X won't read any database except for it's internal version of Lahman, and that's for any historical attempt not just the NBBU. This is news to me. Two years ago when I ran all sorts of tests for this league the game read both Gambo's and Spritze's databases just fine.

It doesn't stop there. The game is treating my league like it's starting in 1871. So it starts to adjust strategy & financials right away. When I tested this two years ago it waited until 1871.

Now, I got the game to import players from the internal lahman database for the draft, but there are two problems. First again it treats the league like it's starting in 1871. The first draft class from the database is all 1872 players and they come in after the 1861 season. When I tested this it imported fictional players until 1871 when it started importing the real life 1871 players.

I have tried everything I could think of to resolve these issues. All to no avail. I am at a crossroads.

I can continue with a fictional league, and screw the database.

Or, I can invoke the "I am God in this world," clause. Continuing with the database importing players roughly 10 years early. This is the option I'm leaning towards as I want the players to be familiar, but I haven't really decided yet.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas PM me. At the moment I'm gonna take a day or two to decide. I spent all weekend trying everything I could think of, a day or two won't kill me.