So how are we doing? A closer look at the "Modern Era" of FABL baseball.
SAILORS CLASS OF MODERN ERA
As we prepare for the 1933 season it is worth mentioning that Professional baseball will celebrate it's 50th anniversary in two years time. Over the past 47 years teams, and even leagues, have come and gone. Which franchise has been the most successful in that time? Well, that depends upon how you judge success. If we take the ultimate measuring stick in professional sports - championships - then it is pretty cut and dry that the New York Stars are the best team of all-time. The Stars have won a record 7 championships in their history including 3 straight from 1924-26 and the most recent season just completed.
Here is how the teams rank in FABL World Championship Series victories.
Code:
TEAM TOTAL
NY STARS 7
DETROIT 5
PHI KEYSTONES 5
CHI COUGARS 5
NY GOTHAMS 4
BOSTON 4
WASHINGTON 3
BALTIMORE 3
CHI CHIEFS 3
PHI SAILORS 3
ST LOUIS 3
MONTREAL 2
TORONTO 2
PITTSBURGH 1
CLEVELAND 0
BROOKLYN 0
If you want to instead judge it by wins and losses the leaderboard does not change drastically. Here are the 16 active franchises sorted by winning percentage.
Code:
TEAM PCT
CHI COUGARS .540
NY GOTHAMS .524
NY STARS .524
BOSTON .520
BALTIMORE .519
CHI CHIEFS .518
DETROIT .507
WASHINGTON .506
PHI SAILORS .495
PHI KEYSTONES .491
PITTSBURGH .488
TORONTO .488
CLEVELAND .486
BROOKLYN .481
MONTREAL .467
The winning percentage information above covers the entire 47 year history of baseball, all the way back to the early days of baseball when the Century League was first formed by William Whitney. Let's instead look at some more recent data. Perhaps we should call it the "Modern Era" of baseball. For argument sake, let's start this so-called Modern Era seven years ago, beginning with the 1926 season. Why 1926? Well, that was certainly a watershed moment in FABL history as that was the year the AI, after building up a rich history full of many wonderful backstories, stepped aside and gave way to human intervention as each of the 16 clubs became the domain of human General Managers. Since then there has been some turnover with several clubs, but the majority of the teams are still run by the same person who assumed the reigns more than 7 seasons ago.
So how did these human GM's do so far? Here is a look at the cumulative standings for both the Continental and Federal Associations from 1926 until the end of the 1932 campaign. It is important to keep in mind the GM's were certainly not on an even playing field when they assumed their positions, as some FABL teams were left by the AI much better prepared for success than others. With that caveat it is clear to see that no matter how you slice it the Philadelphia Sailors are, at least so far, the class of the "Modern Era" of FABL baseball. The Sailors lead the big leagues in Wins, Pennants won and, along with the New York Stars, are the only teams to win two World Championship Series in that timeframe.
1926-32 Cumulative Standings for the Continental Association and Federal Association ballclubs.
The New York Stars are certainly nipping right at the Sailors heels and may well pass them this year. The Sailors are paying the price of 3 straight pennants and the lower drafting position that comes with it as they have seen their record fall each of the past 4 seasons to the point where last year they finished with a 76-78 record. It was the first time the Sailors were under .500 in the Modern Era. The Stars, meanwhile, had a run of three straight pennants from 1924-26 and are coming off a title this past season. New York is trending the opposite way of the Sailors as the Stars win totals the past 3 seasons have gone from 78 to 84 to 99 last year.
In the Federal Association it is perhaps fitting the Philadelphia Keystones and Detroit Dynamos are so close in the standings. Those two teams hold the distinction of playing the only tiebreaker in the Modern Era after both finished with identical 90-63 records in 1927. The Dynamos would win that game and then go on to beat the other Philadelphia team, the CA's Sailors, in the World Championship Series denying us the first all-Philadelphia series in FABL history. I should note there also has never been a championship series between the two Chicago teams and only once have the two New York squads met in October. That matchup is courtesy of the Modern Era and the human GM's as it occurred in the first season of that era - 1926. The Stars prevailed in 5 games for their third straight World Championship Series victory - becoming the only team ever to win 3 straight World Championships.
The New York Gothams came up short in that 1926 series against their cross-city rivals but the Gothams, despite going 0-for-3 in World Series in the modern era, do lead the Federal Association in pennants during that time. There seems to be little middle ground for the Gothams of late. They are either really good with pennant wins in 1926, 1930 and 1931 or really bad with last place finishes in 1929 and 1932. The other two seasons (1927 and 1928) they finished in 6th place so if the Gothams are in the race expect them to win it, but if they aren't it will be lean times for the Bigsby family's club.
So what does the future hold for our FABL franchises? Will the Brooklyn Kings or Cleveland Foresters ever win a World Championship Series? Will the two Canadian clubs ever get back on track and challenge for a pennant? Will the Sailors and Stars continue their domination of the Continental Association? And what of the Fed? It has a much tighter cumulative record after 7 years then it's counterparts in the CA but there is still a clear divide between the 4 upper division squads and the lower quartet? Washington has new management? Will the nation's capital get to celebrate it's fourth title some day soon? For St Louis is there life after Max Morris? Will long suffering Boston, once the class of the baseball universe with 5 straight pennants at the turn of the century but now a city that has not had cause for celebration since 1915, finally earn another title? The first seven years of FABL were a wild ride full of great stories, dramatic wins and crushing losses and only time will tell what the next seven years, and beyond, have in store for baseball fans.