[Pelican]

Many, many thanks for your thoughtful response. I’ve taken the lead over the AI in signing Negro League players for the Phillies and A’s. Now I see why. Without proper ratings, the Negro League players don’t look that attractive as free agents to the AI. Plus they can be tenacious in their demands for salary and bonus, from teams suffering through the Depression years. So my next task is to use your guidance to recalibrate some of the mid-level players who at very least could fill out the weaker clubs. Plus there are guys who were quite young in 1938 but starred later. They might get signed into the minor leagues and then develop as I go forward.

In retrospect, it may have made better sense to hold a draft of Negro League players, to give every MLB team a chance. Of course, that’s not at all what happened in 1947. In 1938, it’s my two Philly teams, rather that the Dodgers, who have broken the color line in a big way, with multiple signings. Remains to be seen if a few key signings can make bad teams better.

Also, to prevent skewed hitting results for the Phillies at the Baker Bowl, I have remodeled the old ballpark, moving the RF fences out thirty feet and lowering the wall. (Presumably eliminating the sidewalk area on Broad Street using a special variance from the City?). The Phils actually abandoned Baker Bowl in midseason, for Shibe Park. Now they can stay in their revamped spacious renovated ballpark. As redesigned, it plays fairly neutral, believe it or not.