[Vyper]

1876 Season

History
The New National League was a tightly run, well organized insitution that offered the public honest baseball for a change. The early years were still marred by several franchise turnovers, but the seeds were falling in place.

The Chicago White Sox, who many thought had all but bought the pennant, did just that. Finishing the season with a 52-14 record, 6 games ahead of the St. Louis and Hartford clubs. Ross Barnes, formerly of Boston would lead most major offensive catagories.

Joel Zoss & John S. Bowman in The National League – A History: It was in 1876, the very year when Americans were observing their centennial as a nation, that a small group of men formed the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. Few Americans were aware of it, fewer still would have believed that it would ever observe its own centennial, and it would have been a rash individual who dared to predict that this National League would become a major institution in American life, one that comanded the attention of presidents and congresses and the loyalties of millions of Americans.”

From Baseballlibrary.com
February 2 – Chicago President William Hulbert organizes a meeting in New York to establish a new league. To win support of four former National Association clubs, Hulbert proposes that Morgan Bulkeley of Hartford be president and Nick Young of Washington be secretary. The National League is officially organized.

February 12 – Al Spalding, pitching star of the National Association, moves his home in Rockford, IL, whis his brother J. Walter Spalding to Chicago to “open a large emporium where they will sell all kinds of baseball goods.” This will be the start of the Spalding sporting goods enterprise.

March 19 – The Boston Herald reports on the first practice of the Red Caps under the direction of George Wright. The team has been weakened considerably by the loss to the White Stockings of Spalding, Mcvey, Barnes, and White.

April 8 – After 4 seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics, Adrian “Cap” Anson reports to Chicago to play 3B.

Retirements
No major news

Major Player Signings (Not a full listing)
Cap Anson with Chicago
Ross Barnes with Chicago
Jim Devlin with Louisville
Cherokee Fisher with Cincinnati
Mike Mcgeary with St. Louis
Cal Mcvey with Chicago
Levi Meyerle with Philadelphia
Tricky Nichols with Boston
Al Spalding with Chicago
Deacon White with Chicago
George Zettlein with Philadelphia

July 18 – In his second start for Chicago, Al Spalding pitches a 2-hitter against his former Boston team. It would be the first of three shutouts Spalding would pitch that week.

Davy Force released by New York, signs with Philadelphia

July 26 – George Bechtel released by New York, signs with Louisville

July 27 – Against Cincinnati, and for the second time in his career, Lip Pike has six hits in a game.

August 10 – Louisville rightfielder, George Bechtel, who was suspended for a week for “crookedness in the last Louisville-New York game,” gets in deeper trouble when pitcher Jim Devlin shows his manager a telegram from Bechtel saying, “We can win $100 if you lose the game today.”

Augst 13 – Flip Lafferty of the Athletics pitches the first no-hitter in National League history against the league leading St. Louis Brown Stockings.

August 22 – Nealy Phelps released by New York, signs with Philadelphia

September 8 – Flip Lafferty flirts with his second no-hitter of the season, but it is broken up by Louisville’s Johnny Ryan when he singles with one out in the eighth.

September 11 – President GW Thompson of the Athletics informs Chicago president William Hulbert that the Athletics can’t afford to make their final western trip. He suggests that Chicago and St. Louis (the big drawing clubs) play additional games in Philadelphia and take a larger portion of the receipts. Hulbert turns down the offer and Philadelphia seals it’s own fate regarding play in the next season.

September 17 – Dick Higham’s hitting streak ends at 31 games.

September 20 – Ross Barnes has 6 hits in an extra inning game against Cincinnati, bringing his total for the season up to 105, a league record.

September 23 – Fred Andrus of Chicago sets a rookie record for hits with 91.

September 26 - Led by the pitching of second-year star, George Bradley, the St. Louis Brown Stockings clinch the first National League pennant over the Chicago White Stockings. Their .672 average is the lowest ever for a first place team.

December 10 – After a 5-day league meeting in Cleveland, these results are announced: the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Mutuals are expelled by unanimous vote; a uniform and lively baseball is agreed upon; the playing rules for 1877 are modified, and William Hulbert is elected NL president.

National Association Rookie of the Year:

- Foghorn Bradley (Boston Red Caps)

  15-5 with a 1.29 ERA, 3 ShO, 21 GS, 188.1 IP, 12 K, 5 BB

National Association Pitcher of the Year:

- George Bradley (St.Louis Brown Stockings)

  42-21 with a 2.26 ERA, 8 ShO, 64 GS, 584.1 IP, 68 K, 36 BB

National Association Most Valuable Player:

- Ross Barnes (Chicago White Stockings)

  .414 in 278 AB, 2 HR, 55 RBI

1873 Final Standings

National Association

                W    L   Pct.   GB 

St. Louis      43   21   .672    *

Chicago        41   23   .641    2

Boston         40   24   .625    3

Philadelphia   34   30   .531    9

Hartford       29   35   .453   14

Cincinnati     27   37   .422   16

New York       26   38   .406   17

Louisville     16   48   .250   27

LEAGUE LEADERS

 BATTING AVERAGE

   R.Barnes CHC             .414

   L.Pike STL               .399

   L.Meyerle ATH            .392

 HOMERUNS

   C.Gould CIN              3

   T.York HAR               3

   9 players                2           

 RBI's

   R.Barnes CHC             55

   T.York HAR               50

   P.Hines CHC              48

 RUNS

   C.Mcvey CHC              59

   R.Barnes CHC             56

   C.Anson CHC              47

 STOLEN BASES

   N.Cuthbert STL           14

   D.Mack STL               13

   A.Leonard BSN            12

 ERA

   F.Bradley BSN            1.29

   T.Larkin NYU             1.71

   C.Cummings HAR           1.89

 WINS

   G.Bradley STL            42-21

   A.Spalding CHC           41-23

   D.Williams CIN           16-19

 STRIKEOUTS

   A.Spalding BOS           82

   G.Bradley STL            68

   T.Larkin NYU             45

LEAGUE TOTALS

AB 100000

H  33448

2B 5794

3B 1980

HR 9903

BB 587092

K  10101

   Adj.Real   Adj.Sim

AB 100000     100000     1.000

H   26529      26771     1.009

2B   3146       3147     1.000

3B    900        946     1.051

HR    199        193     0.970

BB   1670       1621     0.971

K    2927       2776     0.948

[ 05-19-2002, 09:47 AM: Message edited by: Vyper ]

[Vyper]

1876 Team Recaps
Borrowing from various other posters here, and depending on how much time it takes, I will start adding brief team recaps here.

St. Louis Brown Stockings
St. Louis surprised everyone by taking the first National League Pennant. In his sophmore season, George Bradley showed he was one of the best pitchers in the league (42-21 2.26) finally breaking Al Spalding’s streak of four straight Pitcher of the Year Awards. Lip Pike flirted with his fourth .400 season, but a poor final game left him at just .399. Catcher Mike Mcgeary, a career .286 hitter coming into the season, broke out, hitting .341

Chicago White Stockings
At the start of the season, everyone thought Chicago had all but bought their way to an NL Championship, but it was not to be despite having the top players in many offensive catagories. Recently acquired Al Spalding racked up his fourth straight 40+ win season (41-23 2.21). 2B Ross Barnes won his first MVP award (.414, 2, 55). Despite a career .310 average, Cap Anson, who joined the team after four years with the Athletics, and was immediately moved back to his more familiar spot at 3B is still not living up to expectations.

Boston Red Caps
The perennial National Association front runners went with a three man rotation with the exodus of Al Spalding, rookie pitcher Foghorn Bradley stepped up (15-5 1.29). Dick Mcbride recorded his sixth winning season (12-7 2.96) and notched his 100th career win. Andy Leonard and Tim Murnane led the offensive charge, but most Red Caps games were won on pitching. Forghorn Bradley (15-5 1.29) would win the Rookie of the Year Award and then announce his retirement, never playing another professional game.

Philadelphia Athletics
Off their first championship season last year, Philadelhia struggled to reach .500 thanks to the loss of many key players. Lon Knight and George Zettlein pitched admirably, but neither really stood out. Levi Meyerle, a career .395 hitter, had another good season (.392 2 44)

Hartford Dark Blues
Candy Cummings made the most of his starts this season (15-6 1.89), but fellow starters Tommy Bond and John Cassidy were a combined 14-29. Aquired at the start of the year, 2B Dick Higham set career highs in hits, triples, runs, and walks, while batting .376

Cincinnati Reds
The Reds finished their first professional season without a whole lot to write home about. Dale Williams was the primary pitcher most of the year (16-19 2.61). The fact that pitcher Dory Dean led the team in batting average (.311) should tell you something about the offense. Only Charlie Gould was able to break that 300 barrier at .301, he did however tie for the league HR lead at 3.

New York Mutuals
The Mutuals have been struggling the last few seasons, and this year was no diferent. While Bobby Mathews eeked out a 12-9 winning record, primary starter Terry Larkin went 14-29 despite a 1.79 ERA. With just 3 players above the .250 mark, the Mutuals main problem was a total lack of run support. Mutuals franchise player, Joe Start (.350, 1, 24) did all he could to make this team look better than it was.

Louisville Grays
The Grays tried 7 players on the mound this season, with Frank Pearce, thought of to be the first relief pitcher in the league the only one to break under the 4.00 ERA mark (3-4 2.17). Johnny Ryan (.304 2 23) was the only bright spot on an abismal offense.

[ 05-19-2002, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: Vyper ]

[Vyper]

I know at least a few people read these reports (not a complaint, even if just one person read, I'd be happy)

My question, should I continue posting the team recaps as I did for 1876, or go back to my original format?

Obviously I can't match Tigerfan's writing style, but any comments to improve my posts are greatly appreciated. I don't at all mind taking more time each season if it adds to the enjoyment/readability of my posts.

Thanks to all.

Anyway, unless I get some responses before then, 1877? (forgot what season I was on) will be up some time before midnight.

[Tiger Fan]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Vyper:
any comments to improve my posts are greatly appreciated.

---

Thanks for the compliment. To me your writing style in this thread is great. I know it is real time consuming but keep doing the team reports if you can. Real interesting stuff. They give us a real feel for what is going on in your league.

[Vyper]

Tiger Fan, thanks for your response. I think you're right, instead of a few nameless stats and various highlights, the team recaps do help.

Unfortunately I suffered a total computer meltdown last night, but I saved everything and should be back to the game tonight or tomorrow.

[Vyper]

Shameless bump

A) Because I don't like scrolling down the page to find my league

B) I got my computer working again and will have the 1877 season posted sometime after 6 tonight.

Thanks to all who read and comment. As stated in a previous message, I'll keep up with the team recaps so you can get more of a feel for what's actually going on in the league

[Vyper]

Better late then never, GTA3 owns me.

1877 Season

History
For failure to make their final west coast road trips, the National League expelled clubs from their two biggest cities, New York and Philadelphia, and the league struggled through the 1877 season with six teams. A further blow was dealt when the NL had to confront a major scandal in which four Louisville players were suspended for throwing games. William Hulbert immediately banned them for life, and Louisville dropped out of the league, along with St. Louis and Hartford. They would be replaced by Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Providence in 1878.

The Chicago club, which seemed a sure lock for the pennant with Philadelphia out of the picture struggled all season, finishing seven games below .500 and the Boston Red Caps once again found themselves on the top rung, beating Louisville by a wide seven game margin.

From Baseballhistory.com
January 6 – Joe Battin reportedly will not sign with the St. Louis Brown Stockings because of the new NL policy of charging players $30 for uniforms and deducting 50 cents a day from salaries during road trips to offset the cost of meals.

January 13 – St. Louis announces the signing of Mike Dorgan for $1,600, much to the surprise of the Syracuse Stars, who claim to hold a signed contract with him.

February 3 – Cherokee Fisher admits he was paid $100 to lose a game last September while pitching in an exhibition game.

February 20 – The International Association is organized at a meeting of representatives of 17 clubs held in Pittsburgh. Although set up as an alternative to the NL, the IA will go down in history as the first minor league.

February 21 – Candy Cummings is elected president of the IA, although he will play for the Cincinnati Reds

March 5 – The Hartford Dark Blues complete arrangements to play their home games in Brookly, although they will still be called “Hartford”.

March 22 – The NL publishes its 1877 game schedule, the first league-wide schedule ever issued. The failure of the Athletics and the Mutuals to finish the 1876 season has convinced the NL of this necessity.

May 17 – At a special league meeting, the NL adopts a livelier version of the Spalding ball for all games.

June 5 – Chicago ace Al Spalding announces his retirement at the end of this season in order to concentrate on his sporting goods empire. Entering the 1877 season, Spalding leads all players in wins, strikeouts, complete games, and shutouts, and is second in ERA only to Candy Cummings.

June 10 – Just before the start of the regular season, newly aquired Lip Pike resigns as captain of the Cincinnati Reds and is replaced by Bob Addy.

June 18 – Lacking the funds to start their season on an east coast trip, the Cincinnati club disbands.

June 21 – Stockholds move to reorganize the Cincinnati club.

June 25 – Hard luck continues to dog the Cincinnati team, as a heavy windstorm nearly destroys the pavillion at Cincinnati Baseball Park.

Retirements
Dave Birdsall, a solid contributor who played his entire career as an outfielder for the Boston club. He retires with a .290 avg, 2 HR, and 144 RBI’s. His best season came in 1871 when he hit .362

Major Player Signings (Not a full listing)
George Bradley with Chicago
Candy Cummings with Cincinnati
Cherokee Fisher with Chicago
Davy Force with St. Louis
Tricky Nichols with St. Louis
Lip Pike with Cincinnati
Joe Start with Hartford
Ezra Sutton with Boston
Deacon White with Boston

July 1 – Sensing the pending retirement of Al Spalding the White Stockings decide to go with a four man pitching staff this season, prepearing George Bradley, Cherokee Fisher, and Lou Reis to take the helm.

July 24 – The season opens in Louisville with the Grays beating St. Louis 7-3

August 1 – Umpire Dan Devinney charges that St. Louis manager George McManus tried to bribe him with $250 to help the Browns beat the Grays in Louisville. But the home team wins 3-1. St. Louis management will vehemently deny the charges.

August 6 - The NL rule calls for the home team to submit 3 names of approved local men as a possible umpire for each game, with the visiting team choosing one of them at random. Today in Louisville, Chicago's Cal Mcvey reaches into the hat and picks out a slip with Devinney's name on it. Disgusted, McVey then grabs the hat and finds that all 3 slips have Devinney's name on them. The incensed White Stockings demand a new umpire and then snap the Grays' 6-game winning streak 7-2.

August 7 – Cap Anson has 6 hits against Hartford

August 8 - After St. Louis C John Clapp has his cheek smashed by a foul tip, replacement Mike Dorgan goes behind the plate wearing a mask. Though used earlier in the IA, this is perhaps the first use of a catcher's mask in an official NL game.

August 12 – Charley Jones loaned from Chicago to Cincinnati. After going 0-4 for the Reds, he is immediately shipped back to the White Stockings.

August 16 - Louisville loses in Boston 6-1, but retains first place. Bill Craver takes a called 3rd strike with the tying runs on base, and Jim Devlin fans 4 times, raising suspicions of gambling.

August 20 - Louisville director Charles E. Chase receives an anonymous telegram from Hoboken, NJ, saying that "something is wrong with the Louisville players" and that gamblers were betting on Hartford.

Slumping Paul Hines receives a letter from Chicago president William Hulbert threatening him with release for poor play.

August 22 – Jimmy Hallinan released by Cincinnati, signed by Chicago

September 5 – Louisville’s Jim Devlin and George Hall agreee to throw tomorrow’s game in Cincinnati for $25 a piece. Louisville will lose the game 1-0

September 22 – Boston’s Will White pitches a 2-hit shutout against Louisville and wins his 28th game on his way to a rookie record and league leading 31 games.

October 20 - At an exhibition, LH Bobby Mitchell and RH Tommy Bond offer conclusive proof that a ball can curve. Three stakes are set up in a straight line; Bond curves the ball around the center stake on one side, while Mitchell curves it around on the other side.

October 26 - Louisville club vice president Charles Chase confronts George Hall and Jim Devlin with charges that they threw road games in August and September. Both admit to throwing non-league games and implicate teammates Al Nichols and Bill Craver.

October 27 – The Louisville club formally expels Devlin, Hall, and Nichols for selling games and tampering with other players and expels Craver for “disobedience to positive orders.” Craver will deny any wrongdoing.

November 30 – At Boston’s South End Fair, Andy Leonard wins a gold watch valued at $300 for being voted the league’s “most popular player”.

December 4 – At a formal meeting in Cleveland, the NL directors meet and confirm the expulsion of the four Louisville players.

December 5 – The NL comfirms the actions of the dicrectors and accepts the resignation of the St. Louis club. The Cincinnati Reds are readmitted for 1878. The Indianapolis Hoosiers and Milwaukee Cream Citys are also admitted.

December 6 – William Hulbert is reelected NL president and Nick Young as NL secretary. Hartford is stripped of its membership.

National Association Rookie of the Year:

- Will White (Boston Red Caps)

  31-9 with a 1.63 ERA, 3 ShO, 40 GS, 358 IP, 69 K, 20 BB

National Association Pitcher of the Year:

- Will White (Boston Red Caps)

  31-9 with a 1.63 ERA, 3 ShO, 40 GS, 358 IP, 69 K, 20 BB

National Association Most Valuable Player:

- Ross Barnes (Chicago White Stockings) (2)

  .396 in 255 AB, 0 HR, 35 RBI

1873 Final Standings

National Association

                W    L   Pct.   GB 

Boston         44    16  .733    *

Chicago        31    29  .517   13

St. Louis      30    30  .500   14

Cincinnati     29    31  .483   15

Louisville     27    33  .450   17

Hartford       19    41  .317   25

LEAGUE LEADERS

 BATTING AVERAGE

   R.Barnes CHC             .396

   A.Leonard BSN            .385

   L.Meyerle CIN            .363

 HOMERUNS

   J.Start HAR              3

   C.Fisher CHC             2

   E.Sutton BSN             2

   T.York HAR               2           

 RBI's

   C.Gould CIN              42

   C.Anson CHC              42

   T.Beals BSN              40

 RUNS

   R.Barnes CHC             53

   E.Sutton BSN             48

   C.Anson CHC              45

 STOLEN BASES

   D.Mack STL               9

   R.Barnes CHC             8

   N.Cuthbert CIN           8

   A.Leonard BSN            8

   H.Schafer BSN            8

 ERA

   W.White BSN              1.63

   T.Larkin HAR             1.89

   B.Mathews CIN            2.10

 WINS

   W.White BSN              31-9

   J.Devlin LOU             27-33

   J.Blong STL              22-26

 STRIKEOUTS

   B.Mithcell CIN           103

   J.Blong STL              82

   J.Devlin LOU             76

LEAGUE TOTALS

AB 100000

H  31262

2B 5731

3B 1114

HR 12553

BB 103820

K  6341

   Adj.Real   Adj.Sim

AB 100000     100000     1.000

H   27109      27483     1.014

2B   3154       2937     0.931

3B   1493       1569     1.051

HR    176        164     0.932

BB   2524       2458     0.974

K    5312       4902     0.923

[Vyper]

1877 Team Recaps

Boston Red Caps
Against the odds, the Red Caps were able to take home this year’s National League Championship. The loss of Al Spalding may have hurt the team, but rookie Will White stepped right up with a 31-9 record and an ERA better than any Spalding ever put up. Shortstop Andy Leonard had his best season to date, hitting .385 with 30 RBI’s and 40 runs scored.

Chicago White Stockings
With Al Spalding announcing his retirement sometime following the 1878 season, the White Stockings groomed three new pitchers in George Bradley, Cherokee Fisher and Lou Reis. Only Fisher was mildly successful, going 11-8 with a 3.17 ERA. Spalding, relegated to dealing with three other starters managed just 8 wins, bringing his career total to 222. On the offensive side, Ross Barnes continued to dominate the league, winning his second straight MVP award while batting .396. Cap Anson is even starting to develop albeit at a slow pace with a .314 batting average and 41 RBI’s.

St. Louis Brown Stockings
After winning the Championship last season, St. Louis fell to third place after losing some key players. Joe Blong did most of the work on the mound in the absence of George Bradley, but finished with a 22-26 record despite a 2.65 ERA. With hitting star Lip Pike gone to Cincinnati, no member of the Browns broke .300. Right fielder Jack Gleason needed a 4-5 game on the final day of the season to reach .299.

Cincinnati Reds
The Reds added some big names, but still weren’t able to crack .500. Pitching duties were split between Candy Cummings, Bobby Mathews and Bobby Mitchell, with Mathews the most succesful of the three. New hire Lip Pike had an “off” season, hitting just .340 and was outpaced by third baseman Levi Meyerle who batted .363

Louisville Grays
You’d have to wonder what the Grays would have been like without Jim Devlin. Not only did he start all 60 games and set career highs in all pitching catagories, he finished second in hitting to second baseman Ed Somerville. It’s hard to guess just how bad this team might have been.

Hartford Dark Blues
Hartford was just plain bad this year. The plan to move John Cassidy to centerfield in order to start Terry Larkin failed less than a month into the season when Larkin lost 9 straight games despite a 1.89 ERA. With no run support, Cassidy only faired marginally better, at 13-28 with a whopping 4.58 ERA. The only offensive bright spot was once again Dick Higham, while not matching last season’s numbers, he was a solid player all season long.

[Specs]

Who doesn't GTA3 own? Love your work.

[BaseballMan]

Didnt Jim Devlin get suspeneded for life in the real thing?
Your still doing a great job.
Sorry to see Spalding retire so early.
Would be surprised if Cummings last very long.

[perez24]

I'm finding this thread interesting as well.

[swampdragon]

I tried a 19th cwntury replay in OOTP3 and failed due to pitcher fatigue issues. I gather that is no longer a problem. The other big problem was going to be adding the extra league for the American Association, the Players League in 1890, contracting the next 2 years, and going back to 2 leagues in 1901. Have you gotten far enough to deal with the expansion in a custom league context?

[Vyper]

Sorry, been busy with a couple other projects, but I will keep going with this as soon as things settle down a little.

BaseballMan, yeah Devlin, as well as George Hall, Al Nichols, and Bill Craver all got suspended in real life and then were blacklisted, never appearing in another game following the 1877 season. I've edited Lahman's database so everyone lasts about as long as they did in real life. Spalding really did dominate the early National Association, as he has in my league and then retired following the 1877 or 78 season to run his sporting goods empire with his brother.

perez24, thankyou

swampdragon, I haven't noticed any fatigue issues (sure the guys are still listed as tired, but haven't had trouble pitching on no rest). As for adding another league, it's covered really well in another thread which unfortunately I can't find, but basically involves creating a new league (2 leagues, 4 teams each) and then copying all files except the records and league file over. Then it's just a matter of adding 6 new teams (in the AA's case) and rearranging them. You also have to manually reenter records as there's a problem with copying that specific file.

[swampdragon]

Thanks. I suppose I'll stick with starting in 1901. Maybe OOTP5 will have an add and delete leagues function.