Results from my Baseball History League

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Hollingshead, for instance, was rated a "40" in range and got some playing time with the Washington teams, although the AI didn't consider him a key player. He's the kind of guy who'd probably be on the verge of slipping into oblivion now but for the ratings boost.

Using my own system based on RATE, which dougaiton adopted for his Born in '69 league file, I'd have rated Hollingshead a 1 in range at all of the positions he accrued significant time.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

Using my own system based on RATE, which dougaiton adopted for his Born in '69 league file, I'd have rated Hollingshead a 1 in range at all of the positions he accrued significant time.

The problem with doing that is that if I rate guys who actually played in 50-100 major league games a 1 and then rate guys who played in one or two games a 10 or 15, the AI will likely prefer the guy who only played in one game. Since I wanted to have results that more approximate reality and I don't really feel that 50 games or so is enough to give a player a real rating anyway, I just rate based on playing time below a certain point.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

The problem with doing that is that if I rate guys who actually played in 50-100 major league games a 1 and then rate guys who played in one or two games a 10 or 15, the AI will likely prefer the guy who only played in one game.

It's a good idea, one I'm sure you employed, to make poor the hitting talents of any player who made one appearance in the bigs.

It is a tough call regarding realism. On the one hand, making a player unreasonably good with the glove to garner him playing time, or rating him more accurately and risk seeing him nailed to the bench or marooned in the minors. There's no perfect solution.

This, however, is a perfectly good read.

[darkhorse]

I was thinking, dayam!, how did someone as wretched as Holly Hollingshead accrue a significant amount of playing time. In his three National Association seasons in Washington, D.C. in 1872, '73, and '75, those teams combined for a 13-65 record.

Eureka!

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

It's a good idea, one I'm sure you employed, to make poor the hitting talents of any player who made one appearance in the bigs.

Yeah, I've taken care of that. I'm wondering if any of those 1-10 game big leaguers will break through and get significant playing time despite my efforts, but so far it hasn't happened (apart from the pitchers, which is sort of inevitable in the 1870s).

And Hollingshead did manage to hit .268, which is probably the equivalent of a .230 hitter today - not good, but there have certainly been players just as bad who got 100 games or so of playing time.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Yeah, I've taken care of that. I'm wondering if any of those 1-10 game big leaguers will break through and get significant playing time despite my efforts, but so far it hasn't happened (apart from the pitchers, which is sort of inevitable in the 1870s).

Those don't happen often, and don't bother me a whit. If Granny Hamner can pick up massive talent boosts in the PWBL, and become the ARod of the '50's, it's all good. Another point, 10 games in the NA would be a good chunk of a single season.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

July 1, 1876 Report

Boston Red Caps 20-9
Chicago White Stockings 18-11
New York Mutuals 17-11
Hartford Dark Blues 14-13
Philadelphia Athletics 14-14
St. Louis Brown Stockings 13-16
Cincinnati Reds 11-18
Louisville Grays 7-22

League Leaders:

Batting - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings, .480
Home Runs - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago and Ezra Sutton, Philadelphia, 2 each
Runs Batted In - Joe Start, New York Mutuals, 29
Runs Scored - Joe Start, New York Mutuals, 28
Hits - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings, 59
Doubles - John Bass, Hartford Dark Blues, 15
Triples - 4 tied with 4 each
Stolen Bases - Lip Pike, Hartford Dark Blues, 16

Wins - Asa Brainard, New York Mutuals, 10
ERA - Dan Collins, Chicago White Stockings, 2.03
Strikeouts - John "Lefty" McMullin, Hartford Dark Blues, 15
Opponent Average - Cherokee Fisher, Boston Red Caps, .220

Obviously, Hollingshead's incredible hot streak continues, as he increasingly looks like a shoo-in to be the first player in National League history to hit .400 on the season. However, he may end up having to share that honor with "Old Reliable" Joe Start, who currently stands at .443 for the year.

There was one major injury over the last couple of weeks. Shortstop Wee Davy Force of the St. Louis Brown Stockings, who has been a standout infielder for years as a member of the Washington Olympics and Philadelphia Whites, went down to a season-ending injury on June 22. The 26-year-old Force has vowed that he will be ready by the start of the 1877 season, although only time will tell whether this proves true.

It's also becoming apparent that the western teams just aren't as strong as their east coast counterparts. Following the western teams' month-long road trip back east, the eastern teams have recently headed west and will not be home until late July. This has enabled the eastern teams to fatten their record at the expense of weak Cincinnati, St. Louis and Louisville teams.

Since it's time to switch up my avatar, I'm going to go with Asa Brainard of the New York Mutuals - the first pitcher of the 1876 season to make it to 10 wins.

[darkhorse]

Bumpus Jones

[Fallschirmjager]

This is good stuff.

Would make a good online league. Hint hint

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

July 15, 1876 Report

Boston Red Caps 27-9
New York Mutuals 20-14
Chicago White Stockings 21-15
Hartford Dark Blues 18-15
Philadelphia Athletics 18-17
Cincinnati Reds 14-21
St. Louis Brown Stockings 13-22
Louisville Grays 9-27

League Leaders:

Batting - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings, .459
Home Runs - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago and Ezra Sutton, Philadelphia, 2 each
Runs Batted In - Joe Start, New York Mutuals, 33
Runs Scored - "Black Jack" Burdock, Chicago White Stockings, 35
Hits - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings, 67
Doubles - John Bass, Hartford Dark Blues, 18
Triples - Lip Pike, Hartford Dark Blues, 5
Stolen Bases - Dickie Flowers, New York Mutuals, 17

Wins - Asa Brainard, New York Mutuals, 11
ERA - Hugh Campbell, Boston Red Caps, 2.27
Strikeouts - Asa Brainard, New York Mutuals, 17
Opponent Average - Lon Knight, Philadelphia Athletics, .238

After about six weeks of playing only the strong eastern teams, Chicago is finally starting to fade. They just got swept at home in a three-game series by the Red Caps, and it looks as though mighty Boston is on track to win their fifth consecutive base ball championship. Although the team does not have one player in particular who is starring this season, they are batting .318 as a team, and have some of the league's best fielders.

One interesting side note this off-season will be the agreement the players and owners have reached to allow for freer movement for players. After several years of disagreeing over whether players should be bound to their original teams, the sides have agreed that for the first six years of a player's career, he is bound to resign with his original team if that team wants to sign him. Following a player's sixth season, he is allowed to enter "free agency," and may sign with any team he chooses.

This could have a real impact on the Red Caps this year, as first baseman Charlie Gould, second baseman Ross Barnes, shortstop George Wright, third baseman Harry "Silk Stockings" Schafer, outfielder Joe Simmons, catcher Cal McVey, and pitchers Cherokee Fisher and Al Spalding all could potentially declare themselves "free agents" this season. Boston management insists that all of the players will be back next year if they win the championship again this year, but it remains to be seen if this could be the force that finally breaks up the long-time champions.

In other news, this season Jimmy Wood of the St. Louis Brown Stockings became the first player ever to hit 10 home funs for his career. For his slugging achievements, he'll be the new avatar for the time being....

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

It's also time for the popular "All Stars Game," which is fast becoming a base ball tradition. Here are the players selected for the 1876 All Stars Game:

SIX-TIME SELECTIONS

P Cherokee Fisher, Boston Red Caps (6-0, 3.04) - His record since the start of the 1875 season is 28-2.

RF Dick Higham, New York Mutuals (0-19-.310-0 for 2 SB) - He's about the only legitimate star in right field in the league.

P Dick McBride, Philadelphia Athletics (8-7, 3.59) - Well, it's not as good as last year's 26-4 campaign, but he's doing okay.

C Cal McVey, Boston Red Caps (0-26-.351-3 for 3 SB) - At 25, McVey is just heading into his prime and is the best catcher in the league by far.

P Al Spalding, Boston Red Caps (6-1, 3.47) - It's awfully easy to make the All-Stars Game as a pitcher for Boston.

FIVE-TIME SELECTIONS

2B Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps (0-24-.336-2 for 2 SB) - He's an obvious choice this year even though he's not even having a great season by his standards.

P Asa Brainard, New York Mutuals (11-3, 3.11) - For the two and a half seasons he's been in New York, Brainard has been one of the best pitchers.

P Frank Buttery, Boston Red Caps (10-4, 2.54) - Buttery's lifetime record is 58-25.

1B Clipper Flynn, Hartford Dark Blues (0-16-.329-3 for 3 SB) - Despite being far less celebrated, Flynn has more All Star appearances than Start or Gould at first base.

CF George Hall, New York Mutuals (0-28-.380-0 for 0 SB) - Although he's considered a shady character by some, there's no question that Hall is one of the best hitters there is.

LF Andy Leonard, St. Louis Brown Stockings (0-19-.291-5 for 7 SB) - He's about as anonymous as you can be and still be a five-time All Star.

P John "Lefty" McMullin, Hartford Dark Blues (9-6, 2.87) - The first left-handed pitcher to have a big impact.

P Al Pratt, Chicago White Stockings (9-5, 2.88) - He's always been a solid pitcher, though usually for subpar teams.

3B Ezra Sutton, Philadelphia Athletics (2-24-.299-9 for 12) - He's also the best fielding third baseman in the league.

SS George Wright, Boston Red Caps (0-29-.305-4 for 5 SB) - Like Barnes, he's having something of an off-year and is still one of the best at his position.

FOUR-TIME SELECTIONS

CF George Bird, Philadelphia Athletics (1-24-.344-0 for 0 SB) - A very steady hitter who's on pace to have his best year ever.

P Hugh Campbell, Boston Red Caps (1-2, 2.27) - Really only here because of a shortage of pitchers.

1B Charlie Gould, Boston Red Caps (0-20-.358-4 for 4 SB) - He doesn't get the publicity that Start gets in New York, but he's also a great first baseman.

C Scott Hastings, Philadelphia Athletics (1-19-.267-5 for 5 SB) - No, he's not really that great, but he is solid and skillful and catcher is a tough position.

C Charlie Hodes, New York Mutuals (0-22-.320-0 for 0 SB) - A very good-hitting catcher.

LF "Orator Jim" O'Rourke, Boston Red Caps (1-26-.325-5 for 9 SB) - He's been an All-Star every season since he joined Boston.

1B Joe "Old Reliable" Start, New York Mutuals (0-33-.413-2 for 4 SB) - After an off-year at age 32 last year, some thought he was on the way down but he's obviously proved otherwise.

THREE-TIME SELECTIONS

3B Adrian "Cap" Anson, New York Mutuals (0-31-.357-2 for 4 SB) - Another solid year for the young infielder from Iowa.

P Cy Bentley, Hartford Dark Blues (0-1, 2.08) - This roster filler is making his third appearance with a third different team.

RF Eddie Booth, Boston Red Caps (0-25-.288-0 for 0 SB) - He's not really that great of a player, but right field is a weak position.

SS Pony Sager, Chicago White Stockings (1-25-.331-8 for 11 SB) - Although he's always played for losing teams, he has a career .343 average.

RF Deacon White, St. Louis Brown Stockings (0-15-.302-1 for 1 SB) - This is his first good season since his amazing 1873 campaign with Baltimore.

RF Elmer White, Chicago White Stockings (0-30-.308-0 for 1 SB) - Has always been a solid hitter at a weak position.

2B Jimmy Wood, St. Louis Brown Stockings (1-21-.295-3 for 7 SB) - This slugger has hit at least one home run in every season so far.

TWO-TIME SELECTIONS

SS John Bass, Hartford Dark Blues (0-16-.326-0 for 0 SB) - He was kind of a forgotten player until he set the RBI record last season.

P Tommy Bond, Cincinnati Reds (3-0, 2.88) - Probably deserves more playing time than he's been getting.

P George Bradley, St. Louis Brown Stockings (4-4, 4.76) - Mostly here as a roster filler.

2B "Black Jack" Burdock, Chicago White Stockings (0-25-.345-5 for 5 SB) - A good hitter and an even better fielder.

C John Clapp, Chicago White Stockings (0-29-.348-0 for 0 SB) - He was the forgotten man in Brooklyn, but has become a minor star in Chicago.

P Candy Cummings, New York Mutuals (7-7, 3.02) - He's gradually become one of the league's better pitchers.

2B Bob "Death to Flying Things" Ferguson, Cincinnati Reds (0-11-.333-0 for 1 SB) - He's been dumped by two different teams over the years, but just keeps coming back with good seasons.

CF "Long Jim" Holdsworth, St. Louis Brown Stockings (0-21-.313-0 for 0 SB) - He's never played for a good team.

P Henry Luff, Chicago White Stockings (4-4, 2.88) - At 19, he's much younger than most of his All-Star teammates.

P Martin Malone, Louisville Grays (4-8, 4.87) - This surprise selection gives the Grays their only All-Star.

P Bill Parks, St. Louis Brown Stockings (0-2, 3.31) - Why is he even here?

3B Frank Selman, Cincinnati Reds (0-29-.346-1 for 1 SB) - After four years of thankless toil in Brooklyn, he's finally having a breakout year.

CF Joe Simmons, Boston Red Caps (0-30-.335-1 for 2 SB) - He got his first starting job last year at the age of 30, and has responded with back-to-back All-Star seasons.

FIRST TIME SELECTIONS

P Joe Blong, Chicago White Stockings (6-3, 3.95) - This 22-year-old looks like he has a solid future ahead of him.

P Dan Collins, Chicago White Stockings (2-3, 2.79) - He's been used mostly in relief this year, and has responded well.

P Mike Golden, Hartford Dark Blues (6-2, 3.68) - Last year, he was a rookie with the ill-fated Keokuk Westerns.

1B Charlie Hautz, St. Louis Brown Stockings (1-23-.336-0 for 0 SB) - Although he's not well-known, this St. Louis native is a very solid hitter.

CF Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings (2-20-.459-0 for 1 SB) - His breakthrough season is the story of the year so far.

P Pidgey Morgan, Boston Red Caps (1-0, 4.80) - Just here to fill out the roster.

LF Al Thake, New York Mutuals (0-24-.310-1 for 1 SB) - His 1874 and 1875 campaigns with Brooklyn were just as good, but got him little coverage because the team wasn't as strong.

P Dale Williams, Cincinnati Reds (4-3, 3.72) - Twenty-year-old Williams makes the team in his rookie season.

[swampdragon]

How are you handling league totals? Do you run test sims? Recalculate for historical accuracy? Guess? I want to start an 1892 replay but am undecided about how to handle it.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Originally Posted by swampdragon

How are you handling league totals? Do you run test sims? Recalculate for historical accuracy? Guess? I want to start an 1892 replay but am undecided about how to handle it.

For 1871, I didn't change the league totals at all - I reasoned that in this case I could turn one of the great weaknesses of the OOTP/Lahman compatibility into a strength. Basically, the vanilla Lahman (which is what I use) is rating players based on what they'd get by today's standards - thus, a power hitter from the 1970s who got 25 home runs might get a "60" in power or something.

So, I reasoned that my 1871 players should import with numbers fairly close to where I wanted them. This turned out to be correct.

For each subsequent season, I have a spreadsheet that calculates changes that need to be made by comparing my fictional totals to the next season's real totals. It took me an hour or so to set up, but now each season I just do a minute or two of data entry, and have my totals for the next season. Because of the relatively high year-to-year variance in the 19th century, my totals aren't perfect at the moment, but they're getting closer and I think within a season or two I should be able to get them within 1% or 2% each year.

[darkhorse]

Bump Hadley.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 1, 1876 Report

Boston Red Caps 29-12
New York Mutuals 24-15
Chicago White Stockings 24-18
Hartford Dark Blues 19-16
Philadelphia Athletics 18-19
Cincinnati Reds 17-24
St. Louis Brown Stockings 17-24
Louisville Grays 11-31

League Leaders:

Batting - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings, .433
Home Runs - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago and Ezra Sutton, Philadelphia, 2 each
Runs Batted In - Elmer White, Chicago White Stockings, 37
Runs Scored - "Black Jack" Burdock, Chicago White Stockings, 40
Hits - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago and Joe Start, New York, 71 each
Doubles - John Bass, Hartford Dark Blues, 20
Triples - Lip Pike, Hartford and Paul Hines, Louisville, 6 each
Stolen Bases - Dickie Flowers, New York Mutuals, 18

Wins - Asa Brainard, New York and Frank Buttery, Boston, 11 each
ERA - Hugh Campbell, Boston Red Caps, 2.27
Strikeouts - Al Pratt, Chicago White Stockings, 19
Opponent Average - Lon Knight, Philadelphia Athletics, .260

Boston came within one half-inning of getting swept by New York in a three-game series at the end of July to give a little hope to the Mutuals and White Stockings. However, the hot bats of Chicago and New York seem to be cooling off and Boston's top-to-bottom strength may just be too much for their opponents again.

In St. Louis, serious injury struck yet again, as center fielder "Long Jim" Holdsworth went down with a season-ending injury. Holdsworth, who had a breakthrough season in 1875 as a member of the Washington Nationals, was hitting a solid .311 for St. Louis. Although the team hopes he'll back at full strength for 1877, only time will tell - at 26, Holdsworth is still relatively young, though, so Brown Stocking cranks are optimistic.

The best hitter for the month of July was first baseman Tim Murnane of the Cincinnati Reds, who has toiled in obscurity most of his career, but is finally having a big season this year, hitting .348 for the Cincinnatis. For July, he went 24 for 55, hitting .436 with 11 runs scored and 11 driven in. For his efforts, he'll be my new avatar for the time being.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

The best hitter for the month of July was first baseman Tim Murnane of the Cincinnati Reds, who has toiled in obscurity most of his career, but is finally having a big season this year, hitting .348 for the Cincinnatis. For July, he went 24 for 55, hitting .436 with 11 runs scored and 11 driven in. For his efforts, he'll be my new avatar for the time being.

To give Murnane his props, here's an upgrade for your avatar.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

To give Murnane his props, here's an upgrade for your avatar.

Thanks. You wouldn't happen to have a 90x135 crop of that, would you?

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Thanks. You wouldn't happen to have a 90x135 crop of that, would you?

I sent that size up originally, then realized that 125 x 125 would suit av purposes better.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 15, 1876 Report

Boston Red Caps 31-13
New York Mutuals 26-17
Chicago White Stockings 28-21
Hartford Dark Blues 24-20
Philadelphia Athletics 22-25
St. Louis Brown Stockings 21-26
Cincinnati Reds 19-28
Louisville Grays 14-35

League Leaders:

Batting - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings, .402
Home Runs - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago and Ezra Sutton, Philadelphia, 2 each
Runs Batted In - Elmer White, Chicago White Stockings, 44
Runs Scored - "Black Jack" Burdock, Chicago White Stockings, 44
Hits - Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings, 78
Doubles - John Bass, Hartford Dark Blues, 24
Triples - Lip Pike, Hartford Dark Blues, 8
Stolen Bases - Dickie Flowers, New York Mutuals, 21

Wins - Asa Brainard, New York and John "Lefty" McMullin, Hartford, 12 each
ERA - Hugh Campbell, Boston Red Caps, 2.23
Strikeouts - Al Pratt, Chicago White Stockings, 24
Opponent Average - Lon Knight, Philadelphia Athetics, .249

In honor of both his good season with the White Stockings and the fact that I've got a good new photo of him, "Black Jack" Burdock is going to be my new avatar....

[goroyals]

Looking foward to the next installment.