The New York Skyliners

[mavericktango]

This story will be based on the Second League of Offseason Play which began in 1838. The league has been plagued in it's early days with teams springing up & vanishing just as fast. As the league approaches it's 30th season already eight franchises have vanished without trace and nine of the 20 current franchises have relocated at least once. The Rio Grande Rough Riders hold the record for that having relocated four times. You can follow the latest tables and stats HERE and this is the tale of the New York Skyliners who will replace the folding Boston Blue Sox in 1867

1867 will be remembered by New York baseball fans for many a year to come. It’s the year they finally got to watch baseball back in the heart of New York instead of traipsing out to Brooklyn to watch the Titans, good as the 1866 Sunset Series winners might be. What makes the arrival of the Skyliners even better was the fact that it was the hated Boston that lost a team to allow New York to welcome baseball back for the first time since the New York Americans folded in 1846 and headed for Winnemucca, Nevada.

In his opening press release though GM Laverick warned the New York faithful that they might not be as good as the 97-65 Brooklyn Titans quite yet. That’s because the Boston Blue Sox who sold up and moved lock, stock & barrel out of Beantown to the Big Apple never failed to lose at least 100 games in their brief four years of existence, in fact their best ever season was last year, 1866, when their record was 52-110. Hopefully the New York faithful will take their new team to their hearts and with their backing the Skyliners will turn that around and be rivalling the Titans by the turn of the century. The Titans play in the NL’s Eastern Division so their only possible meeting with the Skyliners who will play in the AL’s Eastern Division will be in the Sunset Series itself. All of the Big Apple look forward to that day.

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Awesomeness! Looking forward to seeing New York have a successful club again.

[mavericktango]

December, 1866

As the 1867 season races ever closer the recruitment team of the New York Skyliners is now in place. Word coming out of their offices is that they are hopeful of signing a few new faces for the new season but acknowledge that it might not happen. An insider was quoted as saying

“We’ve offered contracts to a few players we feel would really add value to the Skyliners brand but it’s a race against time. A lot of the top options are already off the board and coming in at this stage is always difficult as we don’t know just how desperate the other teams are. Our bids are realistic, perhaps with a bit of a premium on, but we might be outbid by teams, who having missed out on their top targets, may well resort to stuffing the suitcases with money.
If we don’t get our targets it won’t be the end of the world, we’ll carry on with what we’ve got. We feel our philosophy will help the players who have got used to losing with the Blue Sox and we’ll evaluate the roster at the end of 1867. By then we’ll have a clearer picture of where we’re going as a franchise and what we can do to progress the brand.

The recruitment team have been busy though offering minor league contracts to a number of young players who were born in New York under a revolutionary scheme they are pushing as “Play for your hometown”. Other players that were felt would fill some obvious gaps in the Skyliners farm system have also been approached.

One team that is in action at the moment is the rookie Skyliners that play in the SLOP Winter League. The team has started well going 5-3 in their opening games and 18-yr-old Kanye Thomas has picked up the franchise’s first ever award after being named the Republic League Batter of the Week. Kanye hit .385 with one homer & six RBI in his first week of pro action. He had been a fourth rounder for the Blue Sox in 1865.

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As the SLOP’s newest team, the New York Skyliners, head for their first ever spring training with two new additions. A lot of the Skyliners offers to free agents were rebuffed but three signed deals with the organisation. 30-year-old leftfielder J.R. Harman agreed a eight-year deal worth around $14.5m a year and will head to camp pencilled in as a starter, meanwhile 23-year-old Jabari Brown signed a two-year deal worth $2.5m, he will compete for starting roles but is expected to be utilised as an infield backup.

J.R. has eight years of SLOP experience with the Gettysburg Gomers, playing nearly 1200 games for them,. He hit 230 homers & 805 RBI and has career hitting averages of .294/.374/.538, he also has scored 855 runs and stolen 165 bases. Jabari was a 6th round pick of the St Louis Aviators in 1861 and made his SLOP debut in 1864, aged 20, with seven appearances where he hit a homer and drove in five runs. He also scored seven times and batted .226/.273/.419 but failed to make the grade and was released in 1865. After a spell in Cleveland Laborers’ Triple-A affiliate where he won the 1866 SLOP-AAA GL Gold Glove at 3B he became a free agent again and now the Skyliners hope he’s ready to make the grade. 23-year-old Cheong-weon Kym also signed a one-year $900k deal but was assigned to the Skyliners Triple-A affiliate, the New York Giants. After being drafted in the 7th round of the 1861 draft Kym had worked his way up the Gettysburg farm system and had spent 1865 & 66 in their Triple-A affiliate. There he played 160 times hitting .282/.322/.374 with six homers & 63 RBI while scoring 100 times himself. His last act was to pick up a Triple-A Championship ring with the Scranton Gomers.


Following the implementation of the “Play for your local team” program the Skyliners have now signed nine youngsters who were born in New York but have no previous pro experience. Eight of them will spend 1867 playing for the Skyliners rookie affiliate, the Hartford Owls in the Dakota State League while 22-year-old B.J. Ansel who had a year at Wabash college will get to play for Evansville Electrics in A-ball

The SLOP Winter League has finished it’s regular season schedule for 1866 and while the junior Skyliners fell away badly at the end of the season they still finished 11-19 which is better than the last year in Boston where they only won 7 games. 22-year-old Dusty Dodson won the teams award for the outstanding team player, leading the Skyliners in average (.259), OBP (.362) and Hits (18).

[mavericktango]

As the Skyliners headed for their first ever spring training they were able to sign five more free agents that were expected to become important pieces in their inaugural season.

25-yr-old pitcher Dave Skaggs signed a three-year $10.45m deal. Dave had made nine appearances in the 1862 Cleveland team going 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA but hadn’t pitched in SLOP since. He spent the last three years in Triple-A Charleston where he won the 1866 SLOPAAA gold glove at pitcher.

24-yr-old 2B Ed Corkins signed a four-year deal work $9.2m. Ed was a 1862 fifth round draft pick of Chicago but has yet to make his SLOP debut. He is a sure-handed defensive second baseman having won the 1863 & 64 SLOP-R DAK Glove Wizard Award at 2B and the 1866 SLOPAAA GL Glove Wizard Award at 2B. He can bit too, reaching the 30 homers / 100 RBI mark in the last two Triple-A seasons.

30-yr-old CF Fred Bishop signed a two-year $6.5m deal. Fred has over 1000 SLOP games to his credit for San Diego, St Louis and Kauai with 204 career homers and 624 RBI. His career averages are .246/.302/.466.

26-yr-old Kevin Dyson signed a three=year $7.5m deal. Kevin made his SLOP debut at just 19 and played for Gettysburg between 1860-62 hitting 66 homers and 177 RBI but his career average was a disappointing .202 leading to him being demoted to Triple-A. Now after four years of being lightly used at Scranton his triple-A averages are .256/.333/.547 and he’s ready for another crack at making it in the majors.

35-yr-old reliever Mike Cameron signed a one-year $725k deal. Mike has pitched for fifteen years in SLOP for Rio Grande and Memphis and was signed to tell the stories in those long hours in the bullpen whilst lending his experience. He has a career record of 158-110 with 94 saves and a 4.21 ERA. He also has 1503 strikeouts to his name.

The Skyliners came bottom of their division in spring training with an 8-16 record but most of the roster got a good chance to shake off the rust and bond with their new team-mates. It’s a new beginning for them all in 1867 as they go forth playing for a brand-new franchise, a lot will have played for the 180-466 Boston Blue Sox but this is New York.

And if you can make it here you can make it anywhere!

[mavericktango]

After the first half of their inaugural season in SLOP the Skyliners were predictably in last place in the AL East division. Still they had 35 wins, just 17 short of the total that the team achieved in their last season in Boston and were only five wins behind the Cleveland Labourers. “Not a bad start for the new franchise” an inside source was quoted “We have several young players in our line-up and four players making their debut in the majors”. It’ll be five in the second half of the season as the New York Giants’, Skyliners Triple-A affiliate, Jamie Dorion will be promoted to fill the Skyliners DH role after 35-yr-old Ernie Whalen had a disappointing first half of 1867 hitting just .191. Jamie hit 21 homers, 76 RBI and .269 for the Giants.

Free agent signing Dave Skraggs was the best of the rotation posting an 8-9 record with a 5.55 ERA while Dusty Climer had 18 outings from the ‘pen going 2-0 with an ERA of 1.82. If the pitching was poor the offence was pretty anaemic too with the Skyliners ranked in the bottom end of the weekly power rankings for most weeks of the season so far. 23-yr-old Gabe Castillo led the team in average hitting .327 and was their only representative in the All Star game. Skyliners’ 23-yr-old centrefielder A.J. Peters led the team in homers with 18 and RBI with 66 while seven other players managed double digit homers. Another 23-yr-old, rookie Jabari Brown was the only starter not to reach double figures in homers (he only hit one!) but had the Skyliners best single game offence when he went 5 for 6 with two doubles & three singles against Memphis in late May. Dave Skaggs had the Skyliners first ever shutout (and only one so far) when he shutout the Cuyahoga Spiders on April 22nd giving up just two hits while striking out eight.

The Skyliners triple-A affiliate, the New York Giants, top the GL East division with a 54-25 record at the halfway stage. Stars for the Giants have been 28-yr-old Colin Johnston who posted a 12-2 record with a 1.83 ERA and 36-yr-old Gerald Martin who went 11-2 with a 3.19 ERA. Their leader in Homers & RBI, Jamie Dorion, has been promoted to the Skyliners.

Hollywood Stars are 10 and a half games back in the SLOP-AA CL West division with a 43-37 record. Both Joey Restaino & Ramiro Ramirez have hit 21 homers but Ramirez has 13 more RBI at 63. 24-yr-old Fred Rybolt is their best pitcher with a 10-4 record and a 2.88 ERA.

The Evansville Electrics are well back in the SLOP-A EL East division with a 34-44 record. Their most promising pitcher is 22-yr-old closer Jamie Adams who has a 3-1 record with 22 saves, a 1.67 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. 18-yr-old Kayne Thomas who won the franchise’s first ever award with a winter league player of the week award is tied for the most homers with 14 along with 23-yr-old Ian Cost. B.J. Ansel a 23-yr-old New Yorker that arrived on the “play for your local team” promotion hit a very reasonable .339/.383/.429 in his first 38 pro games abet from only 56 AB’s.

The Skyliners Rookie League outfit, the Hartford Owls, are 10 back in second place in the Dakota State League with a 48-30 record. 23-yr-old New Yorker Dave Martin has been one of their best pitchers posting an 8-2 first half record with a 2.78 ERA while 20-yr-old New York catcher Tyshawn Brown has driven in 52 runs from his first 283 pro at bats.

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It was a predicable finish I suppose to the New Yorker Skyliners first season in the SLOP given that the franchise had been bought out of the Blue Sox who had managed to rack up a 180-466 record in just four years. Still a 57-105 finish was five more wins than the hapless Boston side ever managed, it gives the new Skyliners some sort of foundation to build on.

Nearly all the youngsters brought in performed as well as expected and some of the veterans enjoyed a last hurrah. One of the best of the new crop of signings had proved to be Jabari Brown who is now third in the SLOP single season AB records with 700 AB’s after playing all Skyliners 162 games in 1867. He also picked up the AL Gold Glove award at SS and his 160 hits was good enough for third on their fledgling single season record lists. A breakout season was also had by the Skyliners young 23-yr-old catcher, Gabe Castillo who also managed all 162 games in his third SLOP season. He had career highs in homers (29), RBI (95) and runs scored (103) as well as winning the AL batting title with a .348 average. He struck out just 37 times in 618 AB’s and led the franchise with 215 hits. With another youngster, 24-yr-old A.J Peters, leading the team in RBI (108) and second in homers with 32 the Skyliners seem to be building a good nucleus.

The pitching staff wasn’t so hot though, Erik Burgess tied his personal worst with 22 losses and led the whole of SLOP in 1867 with that. Only free agent signing Dave Skaggs (12-16) and 23-yr-old rookie Pierre Philippe (10-15) reached the 10 win plateau. Veteran Dusty Climer was the best out of the ‘pen, despite walking 49 while only striking out 41 he finished with career figures of 4-1 with a 3.57 ERA. Closer Erik McCoy finished third in the 1867 SLOP records with 34 saves and a 3.75 ERA while only allowing one homer in 57 innings pitched.

The Skyliners Triple-A affiliate, the Giants, won the SLOP-AAA Governors League Eastern division with a 89-55 record but lost the Divisional Series 4-3 to the Scranton Gomers, the affiliate of NL East winners Gettysburg Gomers. 22-yr-old rightfielder Ian Suite in his first year playing above rookie level won the Giants triple crown leading the team in batting average (.316), homers (28) and RBI (113). 36-yr-old Gerald Martin after eight years in SLOP with Memphis & Boston spent the year with the Giants, posted a team best win total of 17-7, 3.36 ERA and promptly announced his retirement. 28-yr-old Colin Johnston also posted a 17 win season (17-6, 2.51 ERA) in his first pro season and will now be hoping to catch on with the Skyliners next season.

The Hollywood Stars finished down the Double-A rankings with a 68-76 record. 23-yr-old Ramiro Ramirez, Boston’s 8th round pick in 1864, played his first season above rookie level as he DH’d for the Stars and wound up leading them in homers (38), RBI (116) and batted .302/.410/.554 to claim Stars’ triple crown. Fred Rybolt, also a 1864 draftee (5th round), won the Stars pitching triple crown with a 16-9 record, 2.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts.

A-ball league club Evansville Electrics finished 65-79, their star batter being 19-yr-old Kayne Thomas who hit 28 homers and drove in 79 runs while 22-yr-old “Play for your local team” New Yorker, Johnny Knighten picked up the Electrics’ pitching triple crown with a 13-10 record, 2.36 ERA and 190 K’s.

The Rookie ball outfit, the Hartford Owls, finished second with an 80-46 record. First baseman Manuel Cruz smacked 14 homers and drove in 67 runs while backup outfielder Tom Cline also drove in 73 runs thanks to a .350 OBP. Top pitchers were local boy Dave Martin (14-3, 2.94) & 21-yr-old Dave Jarvis (15-2, 3.00). Undrafted 22-yr-old Tom Greene made a splash out of the ‘pen in his first pro season posting a 10-1 record with a 1.30 ERA in 76 innings pitched, he also notched 83 strikeout victims.

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Keep up the good work.

[mavericktango]

March 19th, 1868

As we stand on the verge of the Skyliners second SLOP season it’s time to look back over the teams of season activities and spring training.

The first action of the off season was 36-yr-old Ernie Whalen retiring. He had started 1867, his 10th season is SLOP, as the Skyliners DH but after losing his place to young 24-year-old Jamie Dorion halfway through the season and finishing the year in Triple-A Ernie retired. His final figures were 1179 games, 195 homers & 603 RBI with career averages of .233/.333/.431. The first pick in the 1867 first-year-player draft (3rd overall) was used on pitcher Dave Daley, the second pick went on pitcher Manny Padron and the third pick was 3B Tom Philpott

Three pitchers were added to the Skyliners as free agent signings, 27-year-old T.J. DeHaven who had compiled a 59-68, 5.12 record in 250 games over seven years with Columbus, 28-yr-old Pat Geddes who in six years in Gettysburg posted a 58-41 record and a 4.25 ERA and 28-yr-old Edgar Gaeta whose record is 58-36, 4.36 in eight years with three different SLOP franchises.

For the second year running the Skyliners finished spring training a disappointing 8-16. After the dust settled the management made a few changes to the 25-man roster going into the 1868 season. Bobby Mendoza who posted a 5-18, 6.90 record last year didn’t do anything to show he could improve and so lost his rotation spot to Triple-A sensation Colin Johnston who went 17-6, 2.74 for the Giants. All three free agent signings ended up winning spots in the bullpen while the only change in the batting line-up was that 23-year-old Ian Suite who hit 28 homers & 113 RBI for the triple-A Giants in 1867 won a seat in the bench.

So here we go, eyes down for the second season of the New York Skyliners in SLOP

[mavericktango]

It was the case of ‘same as, same as’ at the end of May 1868 for the Skyliners. Last year at the start of June the Skyliners were 26-41, this year at the end of May they were 25-41 so much for improvements!

A.J. Peters was starting to assume the role of team leader, winning two AL Batter of the Week awards in the opening two months while also leading the Skyliners with a .297 average and hitting 15 homers& swiping eight bags. Kevin Dyson led the team with 17 homers but his average was a pretty woeful .202, striking out 73 times in 223 AB’s. Pierre Philippe after posting a 10-15 record in his rookie season got to grips with things in 1868 and was 7-6 with almost two whole points off his ERA as we entered June. He was the only starter with a win record over .500, the worst being Sophomore Jung-Gwon Khang who after going 9=18 in his rookie year with a 7.14 ERA was now 2-8 with a point bigger ERA.

While the major league team wasn’t doing too well it was happy days down on the farm. All of the Skyliners minor league affiliates were playing above .500 with the Rookie league Hartford Owls posting an amazing 47-6 record. Stars in Hartford being Sophomore pitcher Zach Hoarty who was 9-1 with a 1.46 ERA and Dave Jarvis who was 8-0 with a 2.67 ERA. Evansville in A-ball were two back in the division helped by rookie New Yorker, Erik Gash, who posted a 7-0 record with a 1.55 ERA and outfielder San-gui Wang who had hit 11 homers in the opening two months. Ramiro Ramirez in his second year in Double-A Hollywood Stars has hit 28 homers and drive-in 75 runs in the opening two months as they’re third with a 31-22 record.

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Rooting for the Skyliners to break through one of these years.