The Hitchhiker's Guide to an OOTP Universe

[NYY #23]

I feel like I can't make up my mind on how I want to proceed with this league, so once again I'm starting from scratch and I'll edit the first few posts since I haven't really gotten too far into the league.

My goal is pretty simple, create an alternative history with fictional players and see how things develop. I really just like to play OOTP God of a universe, and see how things develop. I don't want to take control of any team, and just follow the league as things progress, making changes when I feel like it, and writing about what I feel like.

I have a rough idea of how I'd like the league to evolve, or at least a rough draft. This time I'd like to start at the beginning in an effort to get to know the players better. Once I start following a player I'll add them to a shortlist, and provide updates as things happen. If I find something interesting I'll share it, and see what happens. Sometimes those updates will be brief, sometimes they'll be a little bit longer. I think of it as sharing notes from my OOTP universe as it grows, and I'll see what jumps out at me.

We'll see how it goes, and if I can make it to page 2 this time. The year is 1871, and the American Baseball League has been born. I'll be starting with 16 teams, 8 in the Eastern League, and 8 in the Western League. We'll be playing 30 games per year to start.

Then last, but not least I do want to thank txranger and knuckler for their great work on the retro logos and uniforms -

I don't think I could do a fictional league without their work, and most of the logos and uniforms in this universe came from there.

[NYY #23]

Ryan Graves was named the first top prospect in baseball. The 22 year old second baseman will be manning second base for the Minnesota Muskies.

[NYY #23]

20 year old Harry Shapiro made history when he was the first player selected in the amateur draft by the Jackson Cottons. The 20 year old was drafted out of college, where he hit .333 with 33 stolen bases.

[NYY #23]

Kyle 'Mr. Cool' Cargile of the Philadelphia Patriots was named the first MVP of the American League, hitting .358 with 15 triples, 23 RBI, and 43 runs scored.



In the Western League it was Casey Vigesaa of the Indianapolis Ravens who was named MVP after hitting .364 with 15 triples, 40 RBI, and 33 runs scored.

[NYY #23]

Tommy Ditto of the Louisville Kings was named Pitcher of the Year in the Eastern League after going 6-0 with a 1.91 ERA.



In the Western League it was Garett Malloy of the Chicago Lincolns who went 5-1 with a 1.81 ERA who won the first Pitcher of the Year Award.

[NYY #23]

25 year old left fielder Cody Emich of the Louisville Kings was named Rookie of the Year in the Eastern League after hitting .369 with 2 home runs, 30 RBI, 27 runs scored, and 6 stolen bases.



23 year old Gavin Cook of the Chicago Lincolns was named Rookie of the Year in the Western League after hitting .307 with 16 RBI, 29 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases.

[NYY #23]

Adam Phillips of the Washington Maroons became the first player to hit .400 in a season, winning the Western League batting title with a .403 batting average. Phillips added 40 RBI while scoring 35 runs. Phillips also became the first batting champion to be traded, dealt to the Chicago Lincolns in exchange for four players.



Next year he'll be in competition for the Western League batting title with 1871 champion Jeff Wilkinson of the Indianapolis Ravens, who hit .381.

[NYY #23]

Jay Varley of the Iowa Hawkeyes was the only player in the league to hit safely six times in a game, going 6-6 in a 15-14 win over the Ravens.

[NYY #23]

Jason Yocum of the Worcester Hearts set the record for longest hitting streak in a season, hitting safely in 29 straight games. The 30th and final game of the season was the only game Yocum did not hit safely in a game, going 0-5 at the plate to see his streak come to an end.

Jeff Wilkinson of the Indianapolis Ravens did hit safely in 28 straight games and will get a chance to continue his hitting streak next year.

[NYY #23]

As we head into the 1872 season the American Baseball League will increase the number of games played from 30 to 50.

Last year's number one overall pick Harry Shapiro was in the news during the offseason, being traded first from the Jackson Cottons to the Burlington Maple Sox, and then three days later being traded from Burlington to the Boise Cutthroats.

[NYY #23]

25 year old second baseman Ed Flores of the Louisville Kings was named the new number one prospect in baseball. Flores did make his debut last year hitting .257 with 5 stolen bases, but didn't have enough at-bats to lose his prospect status.



Last year's top prospect Ryan Graves fell to second on the prospect list. Graves hit .248 last year with 12 stolen bases.

[NYY #23]

Jeff Wilkinson of the Indianapolis Ravens saw his hitting streak come to an end at 31 games today after going 0-5 at the plate as the Ravens lost 11-8 to the Minnesota Muskies. While Wilkinson's streak is now over, it's the longest hitting streak of his career.

His wasn't the only hitting streak that ended today, as Brett LaRiviere of the New Orleans Crescents saw his 22 game hitting streak come to an end after going 0-4 in the Crescents 12-2 win over the Cincinnati Stags.

[NYY #23]

Jeff Wilkinson of the Indianapolis Ravens was named Batter of the Month in the Western League after hitting .371 with 22 RBI and 28 runs scored.



Cody Emich of the Louisville Kings was named Rookie of the Month in the Eastern League after hitting .341 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 15 RBI, and 24 runs scored.



Jeff Varley of the Hawkeyes finished the month with a 20 game hitting streak.



Last year's batting champion Adam Phillips went down with an injury that will cause him to miss four weeks. At the time of the injury Phillips was hitting .410 with 5 RBI.

[NYY #23]

Aaron Hewlett of the Burlington Maple Sox became the new single season record holder for most hits in a season when he picked up his 55th hit of the season. This year Hewlett is hitting .390 on the season as the 23 year old starting right fielder for the Maple Sox. Last year Hewlett hit .279 in his rookie season.

[NYY #23]

Year two is in the books with the Baltimore Atlantics capturing the Eastern League by one game, and the Jackson Cottons capturing the Western League by a game.



Zach MacDonald of the Burlington Maple Sox captured the Eastern League batting title after hitting .365 this year, edging out teammate Aaron Hewlitt who hit .361. While Burlington led the Eastern League in batting average hitting .312, they were sixth in runs scored with 366.



Josh Esposito of the Jackson Cottons won the Western League batting title with a .387 batting average. It was a big improvement for Esposito who hit just .200 last year.

[NYY #23]

Chris Cox was the number one overall pick in the amateur draft this year selected by the Chicago Lincolns. The 23 year old was drafted out of college after going 6-2 with a 2.22 ERA.

Last year's first overall pick Harry Shapiro is still waiting to make his major league debut after being traded twice last offseason.

[NYY #23]

While a quirk of the small number of games Cody Emich of the Louisville Kings won his second straight Rookie of the Year. The 26 year old hit .351 this season with 34 RBI and 43 runs scored.



In the Western League the Rookie of the Year Award went to 22 year old Jose Macias of the Jackson Cottons. Macias hit .310 with 34 RBI and 33 runs scored as the starting left fielder.

[NYY #23]

Pat Macaluso of the Baltimore Atlantics won the Pitcher of the Year Award in the Eastern League after going 5-1 with a 1.70 ERA.



Larry Cunningham of the Cincinnati Stags was named Pitcher of the Year in the Western League after he went 5-2 with a 1.96 ERA.

[NYY #23]

Matt Thornton of the Worcester Hearts was named MVP in the Eastern League after hitting .322 with 5 home runs, 27 RBI, 20 stolen bases, and 39 runs scored.



In the Western League it was Jeff Wilkinson of the Indianapolis Ravens who captured the MVP Award. Wilkinson hit .377 on the year with 41 RBI and 46 runs scored.

[NYY #23]

For the second straight offseason the number one overall draft pick was traded in the offseason they were drafted, this time with Chris Cox being traded from the Chicago Lincolns to the Jackson Cottons.

Also traded during the offseason was 1871 Pitcher of the Year Garett Malloy who was dealt from the Chicago Lincolns to the Bridgeport Jumbos.



As we head into the 1873 season Jason Becker of the Indianapolis Ravens was named the top prospect in baseball. The 19 year old second baseman was drafted fifth overall in last year's draft.

One final note as we head into the 1873 season is that the number of games has been increased from 50 to 60.