British and Irish Baseball

[as5680]

Finally going to make a start on a league system I have been wanting to try for some time - a complete fictional 'history' of baseball in the UK and Ireland.

The league is based on the premise that the game had been brought to London shortly after the formation of the NABBP in 1857. Numerous clubs then formed in London and by 1865, six of them formed the first organised competition - the Metropolitan Baseball League. The league is named after London's local government authority of the time, the Metropolitan Board of Works.

It is my intention to grow that league as well as forming a number of other regional leagues around the UK and Ireland, each of which will then send a champion into a final play-off tournament using an association. I have a number of ideas as to how the leagues will grow but I don't want to plan too much in advance so I can adapt the leagues as they develop.

My starting points for the league are:

- I have tried to make player names as realistic as possible by creating name sets for England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
- I have also amended the world database for these countries by placing all the towns in 'states' using the traditional counties of the UK and Ireland as they existed in 1865.
- To begin with, there are no players from outside the UK and Ireland. Indeed, there are no other countries in the game. I plan to gradually add other countries, initially the USA and the old 'dominions' of the British Empire as would have existed at the time.
- I don't plan to follow the real-life development of the game in terms of strategy. I have used 1871 strategy settings and will leave the stats settings unchanged, but will use 'current' player creation modifiers for each year.
- I don't intend to have leagues playing 'every day'. Initially, there will be one game per week, on Saturdays. This is partly because the league will initially be amateur, with no financials. Leagues will gradually turn professional and more games may be added but probably no more than three per week.
- I will often not keep to the format of 'Place name/Nickname' for team names, especially in the early years. This will cause a few difficulties with the news stories in the game but that is not a major problem.
- I will also use mostly coloured jerseys rather than white or grey.
- I will not manage a team, but rather just develop and plan the league.

League rules include:

- Teams will initially be allowed 15 players on their active roster, with an unlimited reserve roster and no secondary roster.
- Trading will initially be disabled, and then gradually introduced as the league develops.
- The starting format of the Metropolitan League will be a 30 game season, each team playing six games against each of the other five, beginning in late March and ending in mid-October. There will be no play-offs, unless a tie-breaker game is needed.
- There will be no 'disabled list' as such - I have set that to 1 day.
- There will be no minor leagues, all leagues will have the same status ('Major League') although they will have varying league reputations. The Metropolitan League starts with a reputation of 0 in its first season.
- There is no inaugural draft or amateur draft, at the start of the league teams will sign players from a pool of 165 players and new free agents will add to the pool each year.

[as5680]

The line-up for the Metropolitan Baseball League's inaugural 1865 season:

ANGEL ISLINGTON
Ballpark: Almeida Street; Jersey Colour: Sky Blue
The club was founded by patrons of the 'Angel' inn on Islington High Street. With not many open spaces in Islington, the club managed to find an area just large enough for a home field on a site surrounded by houses just off Almeida Street.

CITY OF LONDON CLUB
Ballpark: Artillery Ground; Jersey Colour: Red
The oldest club in London and in its early days, often known as simply 'The Club. Also the only club to carry the name of London itself. Despite its name, the club plays a few hundred yards outside the historic boundaries of the City of London at the 'Artillery Ground'.

CLAPHAM COMMON
Ballpark: Clapham Common; Jersey Colour: Royal Blue
The only one of the six clubs to play south of the River Thames. Formed when some members of the City of London Club moved out to the new suburbs of south London, forming their own club to play at the eastern end of Clapham Common.

KENSINGTON VICTORIA
Ballpark: Queen's Gate; Jersey Colour: Purple
The Kensington club plays a short distance from Kensington Palace and Gardens, and the land on which its ballpark is built is alongside Queen's Gate, a major route leading to the gardens. It was therefore no surprise that members chose to name the club after Queen Victoria.

MARYLEBONE REGENTS
Ballpark: Regent's Park; Jersey Colour: Red and Yellow
Formed by a number of members of the Marylebone Cricket Club who preferred the game of baseball, the Marylebone Club was given permission to use an area of the southern end of Regent's Park for their games. This led to the club becoming known as 'the Regents'.

OLD WESTMINSTERS
Ballpark: Vincent Square; Jersey Colour: Pink
The only one of the founding clubs to originate from a school, being formed by ex-pupils of the Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, commonly known as simply 'Westminster School'. The club was allowed to play on the School's playing fields at Vincent Square.

With the clubs having signed up new players and prepared for the new competition, those who follow the game expect the City of London Club to be the team to beat in the 1865 season. Most are predicting them to win a large majority of their games and to be comfortably crowned champions, with the other clubs in a close battle for second place. Whoever does claim the championship will earn the 'Prince of Wales Cup', named in honour of the Queen's eldest son.

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week One: Saturday 25 March 1865

The first three games in the history of the Metropolitan Baseball League were played on Saturday afternoon and resulted in wins for the City of London Club, Clapham Common and Kensington Victoria.

It was the Old Westminsters who scored the first run in the league as they took an early lead in the first inning at Kensington, but that would be the only run they had to celebrate all afternoon. Victoria hit back with two runs in the second inning to take the lead, and scored three more in the fourth inning to establish a winning advantage.

City of London had to withstand a comeback from the Angel Islington. The City Club scored twice in the first inning and soon added another run for a 3-0 lead, only for Angel to score in the fourth and seventh innings to close the gap to 3-2. The home team were unable to level the scores though, and City held on for the narrow victory.

At Regent's Park, it was Clapham who scored regularly early on as they took a 3-0 lead over Marylebone after six innings. The Regents scored a run of their own in the seventh, and going to the final inning trailed only 3-1. The Regents crumbled in the ninth though, allowing five more runs as Clapham started with an easy 8-1 victory.

Scores:
City of London Club 3-2 Angel Islington
Old Westminsters 1-5 Kensington Victoria
Clapham Common 8-1 Marylebone Regents

Standings:
City of London Club 1-0
Clapham Common 1-0
Kensington Victoria 1-0
Angel Islington 0-1
Marylebone Regents 0-1
Old Westminsters 0-1

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Two: Saturday 1 April 1865

The second Saturday of the season saw the scheduled three games reduced to just two, as the game at Vincent Square between the Old Westminsters and Marylebone Regents was cancelled. Heavy rain had left the field unplayable, although thankfully the other two games were able to go ahead as the weather began to clear up. It is hoped that when Marylebone are next due to travel to Westminster, on 10 June, the clubs can play two games in order to catch up - with the first game starting early to allow both to be played before dark.

In the action which did take place today, there was very little scoring as both games saw runs scored in just one half-inning. In the meeting of two teams who had won their opening game, the City of London Club added another victory as they scored three runs in the fourth inning against Kensington. Victoria were unable to trouble the scorers at all.

Also unable to score were Angel Islington, who held out until the eighth inning before allowing a run at Clapham Common. Angel could not reply in the ninth and so Clapham recorded their second win, and Angel their second loss.

Scores:
Kensington Victoria 0-3 City of London Club
Angel Islington 0-1 Clapham Common
Marylebone Regents v Old Westminsters postponed

Standings:
City of London Club 2-0
Clapham Common 2-0
Kensington Victoria 1-1
Marylebone Regents 0-1
Old Westminsters 0-1
Angel Islington 0-2

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Three: Saturday 8 April 1865

The third round of league games saw the only two undefeated teams meet, and it was Clapham Common who continued their winning run as they shut down the highly fancied City of London Club, holding them scoreless in a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Angel Islington continue to struggle, as despite taking a first inning lead they were undone by a three-run fourth inning for the Old Westminsters, who would go on to win 4-2. The inning featured a historic moment as for the first time a player ran all the way around the bases on one hit - third baseman Samuel Baber the man with the 'home run'.

Just like the Old Westminsters, Marylebone also earned their first victory of the season as they scored twice in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to earn a convincing 6-1 success over Kensington Victoria.

Scores:
Old Westminsters 4-2 Angel Islington
City of London Club 0-4 Clapham Common
Kensington Victoria 1-6 Marylebone Regents

Standings:
Clapham Common 3-0
City of London Club 2-1
Marylebone Regents 1-1
Old Westminsters 1-1
Kensington Victoria 1-2
Angel Islington 0-3

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Four: Saturday 15 April 1865

There are now no teams left undefeated in the league as Clapham Common lost their first game of the season. With the Old Westminsters playing their first game at home after the postponement two weeks ago, pitcher Caleb Dean shut out Clapham allowing six hits across nine innings to set up a 2-0 victory.

The struggles go on for Angel Islington, who were in contention against Kensington until the seventh inning when Victoria pulled clear to win 5-2. Angel have now lost all four the games this season.

The game between City of London and Marylebone was scoreless after the first six innings. Marylebone fell behind when they gave up a run in the seventh, but the Regents immediately hit back with a decisive four of their own as all the scoring happened in that one inning.

Scores:
Angel Islington 2-5 Kensington Victoria
City of London 1-4 Marylebone Regents
Clapham Common 0-2 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Clapham Common 3-1
Marylebone Regents 2-1
Old Westminsters 2-1
City of London Club 2-2
Kensington Victoria 2-2
Angel Islington 0-4

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Five: Saturday 22 April 1865

Aside from the postponed game between Marylebone and Old Westminsters, all teams have now faced each other once across the first five weeks of the league and the standing really could not be much closer.

Marylebone became the fifth team to get the better of Angel Islington as they completed a 3-1 victory, all the scoring coming in the eighth inning as Angel continue to search for their first win.

Clapham Common had been leading the way after four weeks, but today they were comprehensively defeated by Kensington. By the time Clapham got on the board in the ninth inning, they already trailed 7-0 and there was no coming back from that deficit.

In a dramatic game between the Old Westminsters and City of London, the players had to leave the field for more than half an hour in the seventh inning as the rain came down. The score was tied at 1-1 at the time, but happily the game was able to restart and it was the City of London Club who snatched victory with a two-out hit.

Scores:
Marylebone Regents 3-1 Angel Islington
Old Westminsters 1-2 City of London Club
Kensington Victoria 7-1 Clapham Common

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 3-1
City of London Club 3-2
Clapham Common 3-2
Kensington Victoria 3-2
Old Westminsters 2-2
Angel Islington 0-5

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Six: Saturday 29 April 1865

The second round of league games got underway with the same match-ups as on opening day, but the home teams reversed. It was a familiar story for Angel Islington as they lost for the sixth game in a row, this time to City of London Club. Angel faced a five run deficit in the ninth inning and although they managed to score three, it was not enough to save the game.

'Home runs' were crucial in the day's other two games, with one hit scoring both of the runs for Clapham Common in their 2-0 victory over a Marylebone club who started the day at the top of the standings.

Kensington Victoria went one better as they had two runners on when Clement Diment circled the bases, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead over the Old Westminsters. Kensington would go on to win the game narrowly, 3-2.

Scores:
Angel Islington 3-5 City of London Club
Marylebone Regents 0-2 Clapham Common
Kensington Victoria 3-2 Old Westminsters

Standings:
City of London Club 4-2
Clapham Common 4-2
Kensington Victoria 4-2
Marylebone Regents 3-2
Old Westminsters 2-3
Angel Islington 0-6

[realstar]

Better than cricket!

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Seven: Saturday 6 May 1865

The big stories on the seventh week of games were the first match-ups to require extra innings to be played, and at long last the first league win for Angel Islington.

The game at Angel was one of those to need more playing time, being scoreless after the regulation nine innings only for Angel to grab the win 1-0 in the tenth. Angel pitcher Joseph Nicholls was superb as he got through all ten innings without allowing a run.

Extra innings were also needed as Old Westminsters finally met Marylebone for the first time after their week two game was postponed. The teams were level at 2-2 until the eleventh inning, when it was Marylebone who grabbed the win.

Finally, two of the three teams tied at the top of the standings met as City of London took on Kensington. It is now three wins in a row for the City of London club as their two runs in the sixth inning clinched a 3-1 success.

Scores:
Clapham Common 0-1 Angel Islington (10 innings)
City of London Club 3-1 Kensington Victoria
Old Westminsters 2-3 Marylebone Regents (11 innings)

Standings:
City of London Club 5-2
Marylebone Regents 4-2
Clapham Common 4-3
Kensington Victoria 4-3
Old Westminsters 2-4
Angel Islington 1-6

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Eight: Saturday 13 May 1865

A low scoring round of games in week eight saw league leaders City of London win for the fourth game in a row, triumphing 2-0 against a Clapham Common team who have now failed to score in two consecutive games.

Runs in each of the first two innings were enough for Marylebone to beat Kensington, Victoria grabbing a run of their own in the eighth inning but unable to tie the scores.

In a battle of the two teams at the foot of the standings, Angel Islington followed their ten inning win last week with another against the Old Westminsters. Having taken a 2-1 lead in the ninth, they let the advantage slip only to get back on top with a home run in the tenth and this time hold on for the win.

Scores:
Clapham Common 0-2 City of London Club
Marylebone Regents 2-1 Kensington Victoria
Angel Islington 3-2 Old Westminsters (10 innings)

Standings:
City of London Club 6-2
Marylebone Regents 5-2
Clapham Common 4-4
Kensington Victoria 4-4
Old Westminsters 2-5
Angel Islington 2-6

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Nine: Saturday 20 May 1865

The highlight of the ninth round of league games was the longest game we have seen so far this season, between the top two clubs in the standings. City of London Club took a 4-0 lead against Marylebone, only for Regents to come back and tie the game in the ninth inning. Nobody could score again until the fifteenth inning when Marylebone took a 5-4 lead and held on to take over first place in the league.

Having not scored for two games, Clapham Common must have feared the worst when they fell behind early on against the Old Westminsters, but they quickly fought back. Five unanswered runs set Common on the way to a 5-2 victory.

Also fighting back from an early deficit were Angel Islington, who scored two runs in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead over Kensington Victoria. Angel managed to hold on to the advantage and after losing their first six games, have now won three in a row and are no longer last in the standings.

Scores:
Kensington Victoria 1-2 Angel Islington
Marylebone Regents 5-4 City of London Club (15 innings)
Old Westminsters 2-5 Clapham Common

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 6-2
City of London Club 6-3
Clapham Common 5-4
Kensington Victoria 4-5
Angel Islington 3-6
Old Westminsters 2-6

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Ten: Saturday 27 May 1865

The league reached the one-third of the season mark with the completion of the second round of matches on another low scoring day.

League leaders Marylebone fell to a narrow defeat at the hands of a revitalised Angel Islington team, who took an early 2-0 lead and held on to win 2-1 and claim their fourth victory in a row.

City of London returned to the top of the standings by beating Old Westminsters 1-0, scoring the single run in the fourth inning and holding on thanks to pitcher Gilbert Attwell's complete game shutout.

At Kensington the spectators were waiting until the twelfth inning to see a run, but when it came it was for the visiting Clapham Common side who earned a 1-0 victory over Victoria.

Scores:
Clapham Common 1-0 Kensington Victoria (12 innings)
Angel Islington 2-1 Marylebone Regents
City of London Club 1-0 Old Westminsters

Standings:
City of London Club 7-3
Marylebone Regents 6-3
Clapham Common 6-4
Angel Islington 4-6
Kensington Victoria 4-6
Old Westminsters 2-7

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Eleven: Saturday 3 June 1865

Week eleven's games saw the same match-ups on the same grounds as on opening day, as the teams now begin to play each other for the first time. Angel Islington's four game winning streak came to an end against league leaders City of London, as they fell behind 4-0 early on and could not recover, losing 4-1.

Marylebone kept close behind the City Club as they jumped out to an early lead over Clapham Common, going on to complete a 4-0 shutout win as a gap begins to open up between the top two in the standings and the rest.

The day's most dramatic game came at Kensington, where the Old Westminsters took a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning and held it until the ninth, as Victoria wasted many chances to score. With pitcher Caleb Dean close to a complete game shutout but two runners on base, Kensington first baseman Felix Kitt circled the bases for a home run to snatch a 3-2 victory. Westminsters have now lost seven games in succession.

Scores:
City of London Club 4-1 Angel Islington
Old Westminsters 2-3 Kensington Victoria
Clapham Common 0-4 Marylebone Regents

Standings:
City of London Club 8-3
Marylebone Regents 7-3
Clapham Common 6-5
Kensington Victoria 5-6
Angel Islington 4-7
Old Westminsters 2-8

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Twelve: Saturday 10 June 1865

For the first time, four league games were played on the same day as Marylebone and the Old Westminsters played two back to back to make up for their postponed game in week two.

Westminsters carried a seven game losing run into the day and ended it having lost nine in a row as the Regents won both. A three-run seventh inning was pivotal in the first game as Marylebone took it 4-2, before adding the second game by a score of 3-1 to complete a perfect day.

Regents now top the standings after City of London Club were shut out 2-0 by Kensington Victoria, while Clapham edged out Angel Islington 2-1 in a very tight game.

Scores:
Angel Islington 1-2 Clapham Common
Kensington Victoria 2-0 City of London Club
Marylebone Regents 4-2 Old Westminsters (Game One)
Marylebone Regents 3-1 Old Westminsters (Game Two)

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 9-3
City of London Club 8-4
Clapham Common 7-5
Kensington Victoria 6-6
Angel Islington 4-8
Old Westminsters 2-10

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Thirteen: Saturday 17 June 1865

It may be the middle of June but the rain interfered with the schedule of games today as the match-up of the league's bottom two teams Old Westminsters and Angel Islington was called off due to rain. Currently the plan is for the teams to play two when Westminsters make their final visit to Angel in late August.

There was plenty of drama in the two games which did go ahead, with the City of London Club holding on for a narrow 4-3 win over Clapham Common. The City Club took a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning only for Common to rally for two runs of their own, but they could not tie the game.

There was even more drama at Regent's Park, as the highest scoring game of the season so far was played out by Marylebone and Kensington. The Regents took a 9-2 with seven runs in the fourth inning, and held it until the ninth when Victoria scored six to close the gap and had the tying run waiting at third base when the final out was recorded.

Scores:
Old Westminsters v Angel Islington postponed
City of London Club 4-3 Clapham Common
Kensington Victoria 8-9 Marylebone Regents

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 10-3
City of London Club 9-4
Clapham Common 7-6
Kensington Victoria 6-7
Angel Islington 4-8
Old Westminsters 2-10

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Fourteen: Saturday 24 June 1865

The big game in week fourteen saw the league's top two teams battle it out. City of London Club had a chance to pull level with Marylebone at the top of the standings but instead fell further behind, giving up two runs in the first inning and failing to recover, going down 4-1.

The Old Westminsters finally picked up a win after nine defeats in a row - beating Clapham Common 2-0 thanks to a magnificent pitching performance from Caleb Dean, who got through the whole game allowing just five hits.

Westminsters close the gap on Angel Islington at the bottom of the standings, as Angel went down to defeat at Kensington, a five-run fifth inning crucial to Victoria's 6-2 win. Kensington's Felix Kitt became the first player in the league to score two home runs during the season.

Scores:
Angel Islington 2-6 Kensington Victoria
City of London Club 1-4 Marylebone Regents
Clapham Common 0-2 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 11-3
City of London Club 9-5
Clapham Common 7-7
Kensington Victoria 7-7
Angel Islington 4-9
Old Westminsters 3-10

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Fifteen: Saturday 1 July 1865

The inaugural season of the Metropolitan League has now reached the halfway point, as every team apart from the Old Westminsters and Angel Islington have played fifteen games.

League leaders Marylebone suffered a shock defeat today at the hands of Angel, falling behind in the opening inning and going down to a heavy 8-1 loss. City of London failed to take advantage though, as despite coming back from 5-2 behind to force extra innings they were beaten 7-6 by the Old Westminsters in a record-equalling 15 inning game.

In the battle of the teams in the middle of the standings, Kensington shut out Clapham Common 3-0 to finish the first half of the season with a winning record.

Scores:
Marylebone Regents 1-8 Angel Islington
Old Westminsters 7-6 City of London Club (15 innings)
Kensington Victoria 3-0 Clapham Common

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 11-4
City of London Club 9-6
Kensington Victoria 8-7
Clapham Common 7-8
Angel Islington 5-9
Old Westminsters 4-10

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Sixteen: Saturday 8 July 1865

The second half of the season got underway in the same way as the first half ended, with leading teams Marylebone and City of London losing their games. Marylebone were beaten 6-1 by Clapham Common after four seventh inning runs turned a close game into a comfortable Clapham win.

City of London tied their game with Angel Islington at 2-2 in the ninth inning but in the eleventh, Angel put up three runs to take a lead which they would easily keep.

With the two leaders struggling, Kensington Victoria have moved into contention near the top of the standings with three consecutive wins. Their latest success was a 6-0 win over the Old Westminsters, with pitcher Lyn Duncalf allowing just two hits in a complete game shut out.

Scores:
Angel Islington 5-2 City of London Club (11 innings)
Marylebone Regents 1-6 Clapham Common
Kensington Victoria 6-0 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 11-5
City of London Club 9-7
Kensington Victoria 9-7
Clapham Common 8-8
Angel Islington 6-9
Old Westminsters 4-11

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Seventeen: Saturday 15 July 1865

Week seventeen saw the Marylebone Regents maintain their lead at the top of the standings with a win over last placed Old Westminsters, scoring one in the first inning and three in the third to open up a lead which they never relinquished.

Their two closest challengers met at Kensington, where the visiting City of London Club broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the eleventh inning. Victoria responded with two of their own, but could not get back on level terms.

In the day's other game, Clapham Common needed only one ninth inning run to overcome Angel Islington, as their pitcher Michael Barlow shut down Angel allowing just four hits over nine innings.

Scores:
Clapham Common 1-0 Angel Islington
City of London Club 5-3 Kensington Victoria (11 innings)
Old Westminsters 2-4 Marylebone Regents

Standings:
Marylebone Regents 12-5
City of London Club 10-7
Clapham Common 9-8
Kensington Victoria 9-8
Angel Islington 6-10
Old Westminsters 4-12