Major League Baseball Reimagined (OOTP 16)
 

Every time a new version comes out I like to create a new league and take it for a test drive. There are several new features in OOTP 16 that I'm excited for, and thought that it would be fun to start in 1871 and replay a history of Major League Baseball.

I won't be taking control of any team, and will be using OOTP 'out of the box', at least primarily. That means I'll be starting with a historical league and letting OOTP control franchise movement, expansion, and player development. Historical players will import and recalc will be turned off, letting the OOTP engine control how players will develop. That will also mean that things like the All-Star game, awards, World Series, and Hall of Fame will be around from the beginning. The only changes from defaults will be turning off baseball cards, disabling spring training, and renaming a few awards - the Cy Young Award will be the Pitcher of the Year Award to start, and I change the offense and defensive awards to Silver Slugger and Gold Glove.

We'll begin in 1871 with the American League made up of future franchises of the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. The National League will consist of the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and Cincinnati Reds.

1871 All-Star Game
 

With each team playing just 15 games at the All-Star break it's hard to get a great feel for the league, but we've reached the midpoint of the inaugural season with the Baltimore Orioles (11-4) leading the American League, and the Chicago Cubs (9-6) leading the National League.

In the first half of the season Fred Waterman of the Yankees became the first player to pick up 5 hits in a game, while Fred Treacey of the Indians became the first player to hit for the cycle. The inaugural All-Star rosters were announced for the July 4th game.

AL All-Stars:

Attachment 389935

NL All-Stars:

Attachment 389936

The American League would be victorious in the first All-Star game with a 13-4 win. Harry Schafer of the Indians was named player of the game after going 3-3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored.

1871 Standings
 

The 1871 World Series is set with the Baltimore Orioles set to face off against the Chicago Cubs.

Attachment 389937

1871 World Series
 

Steve King was crowned the World Series MVP after hitting .400 for the series as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 2 to capture the inaugural World Series.

Attachment 389938

1871 American League Silver Slugger Awards
 

Pitcher
John McMullin (Philadelphia Athletics)
.409/.412/.538, 93 AB, 1 HR, 7 SB, 124 wRC+, 2.5 WAR

Catcher
Bill Craver (New York Yankees)
.338/.364/.421, 133 AB, 0 HR, 8 SB, 128 wRC+, 1.7 WAR

First Baseman
Joe Start (Cleveland Indians)
.338/.351/.448, 145 AB, 1 HR, 3 SB, 127 wRC+, 1.3 WAR

Second Baseman
Ross Barnes (Baltimore Orioles)
.353/.401/.504, 139 AB, 0 HR, 16 SB, 134 wRC+, 3.1 WAR

Third Baseman
Ed Pinkham (Philadelphia Athletics)
.283/.369/.450, 120 AB, 2 HR, 9 SB, 121 wRC+, 1.6 WAR

Shortstop
George Wright (Cleveland Indians)
.326/.367/.496, 135 AB, 0 HR, 12 SB, 134 wRC+, 2.4 WAR

Left Fielder
Jim Foran (New York Yankees)
.347/.358/.483, 118 AB, 0 HR, 3 SB, 134 wRC+, 1.0 WAR

Center Fielder
Fred Treacey (Cleveland Indians)
.299/.327/.408, 147 AB, 1 HR, 17 SB, 109 wRC+, 0.2 WAR

Right Fielder
Gat Stires (Cleveland Indians)
.298/.348/.500, 124 AB, 2 HR, 5 SB, 131 wRC+, 1.0 WAR

1871 National League Silver Slugger Awards
 

Pitcher
Asa Brainard (Chicago Cubs)
.404/.396/.485, 99 AB, 0 HR, 0 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.3 WAR

Catcher
Cal McVey (Los Angeles Dodgers)
.346/.343/.434, 136 AB, 0 HR, 8 SB, 122 wRC+, 1.3 WAR

First Baseman
John W Glenn (Chicago Cubs)
.326/.368/.376, 141 AB, 0 HR, 1 SB, 108 wRC+, 0.6 WAR

Second Baseman
Wes Fisler (Los Angeles Dodgers)
.294/.304/.357, 143 AB, 0 HR, 3 SB, 96 wRC+, 1.6 WAR

Third Baseman
Ezra Sutton (Cincinnati Reds)
.288/.292/.410, 139 AB, 0 HR, 5 SB, 102 wRC+, 1.1 WAR

Shortstop
Frank Sellman (Cincinnati Reds)
.264/.287/.411, 129 AB, 1 HR, 3 SB, 102 wRC+, 0.7 WAR

Left Fielder
Steve King (Chicago Cubs)
.358/.377/.480, 148 AB, 0 HR, 2 SB, 133 wRC+, 1.3 WAR

Center Fielder
Lip Pike (Atlanta Braves)
.336/.353/.539, 128 AB, 1 HR, 4 SB, 133 wRC+, 1.4 WAR

Right Fielder
Art Allison (Los Angeles Dodgers)
.351/.353/.507, 148 AB, 2 HR, 0 SB, 137 wRC+, 1.1 WAR

1871 American League Gold Glove Awards
 

Pitcher
Bill Stearns (Baltimore Orioles)

Catcher
Fergy Malone (Baltimore Orioles)

First Baseman
Joe Start (Cleveland Indians)

Second Baseman
Ross Barnes (Baltimore Orioles)

Third Baseman
Harry Schafer (Cleveland Indians)

Shortstop
Ralph Ham (Philadelphia Athletics)

Left Fielder
Jimmy Hallinan (Baltimore Orioles)

Center Fielder
Dave Eggler (Philadelphia Athletics)

Right Fielder
Al Reach (Baltimore Orioles)

1871 National League Gold Glove Awards
 

Pitcher
Bobby Mathews (Cincinnati Reds)

Catcher
Doug Allison (Chicago Cubs)

First Baseman
Everett Mills (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Second Baseman
Wes Fisler (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Third Baseman
John Radcliff (Atlanta Braves)

Shortstop
Dickey Pearce (Chicago Cubs)

Left Fielder
Tom York (Cincinnati Reds)

Center Fielder
Lip Pike (Atlanta Braves)

Right Fielder
Dave Birdsall (Atlanta Braves)

1871 AL Award Winners
 

After hitting .353 for the Baltimore Orioles Ross Barnes added a pair of awards to his trophy case, winning the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year Awards. It was a pair of Yankees winning the American League pitching awards, George Zettlein capturing Pitcher of the Year after going 8-17 with a 3.26 ERA and reliever Joe McDermott capturing Reliever of the Year after going 2-2 with an 11.10 ERA.

Zettlein's numbers may have been a bit misleading, but Triple Crown winner Bill Stearns of the Orioles should feel robbed after going 20-5 with a 1.95 ERA while leading the league with 27 strikeouts.

Attachment 389939

1871 NL Award Winners
 

The National League gave Asa Brainard the MVP, Pitcher of the Year, and Rookie of the Year awards after Brainard went 17-12 with a 3.41 ERA in 245 2/3 innings for the World Champion Chicago Cubs. Al Pratt won the only award Brainard didn't qualify for by going 3-0 with a save and 1.97 ERA in 50 1/3 innings to capture Reliever of the Year.

Attachment 389940

1871 Records, Milestones, and Accomplishments
 

Since 1871 was the first season every record was set, and it's too early for milestones, but there were a couple of notable achievements this season.

Attachment 389941

Joe Start was one of the best first baseman in baseball this year for the Indians, winning both a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award while going to the All-Star game, and Start also became the first player in the history of the league to pick up 6 hits in a game when he went 6-7 in the Indians 26-8 drubbing of the Yankees.

Count Sensenderfer of the Reds hit safely in 26 straight games before an 0-4 night against the Dodgers ended his hitting streak, the longest streak in the league this year.

1872 Standings
 

For the second straight year the Baltimore Orioles will be heading to the World Series, where they'll try and capture their first title. After winning the Triple Crown last year Orioles' hurler Bill Stearns followed that up with a 35 win season. With Cap Anson and Ross Barnes in their lineup the Orioles scored the second highest amount of runs in the league.

They'll be taking on a Dodgers' team which features Levi Meyerle (.390), Cal McVey (.367), and Al Spalding (23-13, 3.90 ERA).

Attachment 390089

1872 All Star Game
 

Before we get to the World Series let's talk about All-Stars. 43 players will be making their second All-Star appearance, with 27 players making their All-Star debut.

AL All-Stars:

Attachment 390099

NL All-Stars:

Attachment 390100

The American League won their second straight All-Star game with a 10-6 win. Cal McVey was named the MVP of the All-Star game after going 2-4.

1872 World Series
 

For the second straight year the Baltimore Orioles went to the World Series, and for the second straight year the Orioles lost the World Series. This year it was the Dodgers who won the World Series 4 games to 2.

Cal McVey was named World Series MVP after a big series in which he hit .419 with 6 runs scored and 14 RBI. Those 14 RBI move McVey to the top of the postseason RBI leaderboard.

Attachment 390102

1872 Meet the Teams - AL
 

Usually when I do a dynasty report I put a have a better idea of what I have planned. This was more of a spur of the moment dynasty, after going through about 30 years of history in a test league, thinking I should do a dynasty and focus on x. Then I started from the beginning and focused on y and z, and other things besides x. I spent some time yesterday thinking about the format, what I should post, how detailed I should be, and ultimately I scrapped it and just decided to wing it and post what feels right, and see what OOTP 16 has to offer.

One of my favorite new features so far is the meet the team, and I thought I'd take this opportunity early on in the league to "meet the teams" and set a baseline. So first up the AL teams:

The Baltimore Orioles:

Attachment 390370

The New York Yankees:

Attachment 390372

The Philadelphia Athletics:

Attachment 390373

The Cleveland Indians:

Attachment 390371

1872 Meet the Teams - NL
 

Then finally the National League teams:

Los Angeles Dodgers:

Attachment 390377

Chicago Cubs:

Attachment 390378

Cincinnati Reds:

Attachment 390379

Atlanta Braves:

Attachment 390380

Ross barnes and the Z-man have been beasts every time I do an 1871 start lg

I definitely agree about Barnes. He's one of the reasons I like to start in 1871. Zettlein always seems to pitch really well, but always seems to get on a bad team which makes his numbers look bad. We'll see if that trend continues.

1872 AL Awards
 

<b> Most Valuable Player </b>

Attachment 390622

Jimmy Wood of the Athletics took home the MVP award after hitting .330 on the season with 1 home run, 46 RBI, and 55 runs scored. Wood finished ahead of Paul Hines of the Indians and Bill Stearns of the Orioles.

<b> Pitcher of the Year </b>

Attachment 390623

19 year old Bill Stearns added to his growing trophy case when he was named Pitcher of the Year after going 35-15 with a 2.20 ERA for the Baltimore Orioles. Stearns finished ahead of last year's Pitcher of the Year, George Zettlein of the Yankees (23-22, 2.26) and Dick McBride of the Indians (16-27, 3.22)

<b> Rookie of the Year </b>

Attachment 390624

Confusion set in when the American League announced Jimmy Wood of the Athletics as the Rookie of the Year. The MVP played in all 30 games for the Athletics last year.

<b> Reliever of the Year </b>

Rynie Wolters of the Indians went 3-4 with 7 saves and a 1.90 ERA in 80 1/3 innings to earn Reliever of the Year.

<b> Manager of the Year </b>

After guiding the Orioles to their second straight World Series and a 35-15 record Eric Dixon took home his second Manager of the Year Award

<b>Silver Slugger </b>

Ed Pinkham won his second Silver Slugger Award, although this time Pinkham was awarded the Silver Slugger as a pitcher, despite playing 35 games at third base, and pitching in just 10 games. Joining Pinkham with their second Silver Slugger Award are Joe Start and Fred Treacey of the Indians.

Pitcher
Ed Pinkham (Philadelphia Athletics)
.276/.292/.432, 185 AB, 0 HR, 11 SB, 106 wRC+, 1.9 WAR

Catcher
Fred Waterman (New York Yankees)
.302/.330/.392, 212 AB, 1 HR, 16 SB, 106 wRC+, 1.6 WAR

First Baseman
Joe Start (Cleveland Indians)
.286/.297/.348, 224 AB, 2 HR, 9 SB, 100 wRC+, 0.5 WAR

Second Baseman
Jimmy Wood (Philadelphia Athletics)
.330/.353/.457, 221 AB, 1 HR, 27 SB, 126 wRC+, 1.9 WAR

Third Baseman
Cap Anson (Baltimore Orioles)
.312/.342/.394, 218 AB, 1 HR, 18 SB, 111 wRC+, 1.8 WAR

Shortstop
Ralph Ham (Philadelphia Athletics)
.311/.308/.411, 209 AB, 0 HR, 7 SB, 111 wRC+, 2.0 WAR

Left Fielder
Fred Treacey (Cleveland Indians)
.281/.289/.351, 228 AB, 0 HR, 18 SB, 97 wRC+, 0.6 WAR

Center Fielder
Paul Hines (Cleveland Indians)
.337/.338/.472, 193 AB, 2 HR, 9 SB, 128 wRC+, 2.3 WAR

Right Fielder
Clipper Flynn (New York Yankees)
.299/.335/.360, 214 AB, 1 HR, 13 SB, 106 wRC+, 0.5 WAR

<b>Gold Glove </b>

Pitcher
Bill Stearns (Baltimore Orioles)

Catcher
Fred Waterman (New York Yankees)

First Baseman
Joe Start (Cleveland Indians)

Second Baseman
Ross Barnes (Baltimore Orioles)

Third Baseman
Harry Schafer (Cleveland Indians)

Shortstop
Candy Nelson (Baltimore Orioles)

Left Fielder
Fred Treacey (Cleveland Indians)

Center Fielder
Paul Hines (Cleveland Indians)

Right Fielder
Tim Murnane (Philadelphia Athletics)

1872 NL Awards
 

<b><u> Most Valuable Player </b></u>

Attachment 390634

It's been some year for Levi Meyerle. The 23 year old hit .390 this season to lead the National League, went to the All-Star Game, won a Silver Slugger Award, a World Series, and a World Series MVP before adding the National League MVP award. Meyerle finished ahead of teammate Cal McVey (.367, 64 RBI) and Jim Holdsworth of the Cubs (.360, 52 RBI)

<b><u> Pitcher of the Year </b></u>

Attachment 390635

Asa Brainard won 26 games for the Cubs this year against 22 losses to go along with a 3.26 ERA to earn Pitcher of the Year honors. Bobby Mathews of the Reds (10-11, 2.89) finished second, with Al Pratt of the Dodgers (3-1, 4 SV, 2.13 ERA) finishing third.

<b><u> Rookie of the Year </b></u>

Attachment 390636

Cubs' rookie Jim Holdsworth hit .360 this year with 52 RBI to capture the National League Rookie of the Year.

<b><u> Reliever of the Year </b></u>

After finishing third in the Pitcher of the Year voting Al Pratt easily won his second Reliever of the Year award.

<b><u> Manager of the Year </b></u>

Jonathan Cairns of the Dodgers was named Manager of the Year after guiding the Dodgers to their first World Series title.

<b><u>Silver Slugger </b></u>

Three players won their second Silver Slugger Award in the National League, Cal McVey of the Dodgers, Lip Pike of the Atlanta Braves, and Art Allison of the Dodgers.

Pitcher
Cherokee Fisher (Atlanta Braves)
.302/.298/.424, 139 AB, 0 HR, 0 SB, 98 wRC+, 3.0 WAR

Catcher
Cal McVey (Los Angeles Dodgers)
.367/.364/.454, 251 AB, 0 HR, 5 SB, 135 wRC+, 3.4 WAR

First Baseman
Everett Mills (Los Angeles Dodgers)
.331/.335/.402, 239 AB, 0 HR, 2 SB, 120 wRC+, 2.5 WAR

Second Baseman
Dick Higham (Chicago Cubs)
.345/.359/.399, 238 AB, 0 HR, 7 SB, 122 wRC+, 1.3 WAR

Third Baseman
Levi Meyerle (Los Angeles Dodgers)
.390/.406/.520, 246 AB, 1 HR, 4 SB, 153 wRC+, 3.7 WAR

Shortstop
Jim Holdsworth (Chicago Cubs)
.360/.371/.441, 247 AB, 0 HR, 3 SB, 134 wRC+, 3.0 WAR

Left Fielder
Tom York (Cincinnati Reds)
.345/.359/.464, 235 AB, 1 HR, 6 SB, 136 wRC+, 2.7 WAR

Center Fielder
Lip Pike (Atlanta Braves)
.332/.342/.457, 223 AB, 3 HR, 7 SB, 127 wRC+, 0.9 WAR

Right Fielder
Art Allison (Los Angeles Dodgers)
.301/.305/.415, 236 AB, 0 HR, 6 SB, 111 wRC+, 0.6 WAR

<b><u>Gold Glove </b></u>

Pitcher
Asa Brainard (Chicago Cubs)

Catcher
Doug Allison (Chicago Cubs)

First Baseman
Everett Mills (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Second Baseman
John Hatfield (Cincinnati Reds)

Third Baseman
Bob V Ferguson (Chicago Cubs)

Shortstop
Jack McDonald (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Left Fielder
Tom York (Cincinnati Reds)

Center Fielder
Jack Remsen (Chicago Cubs)

Right Fielder
John Clapp (Atlanta Braves)