[tm1681]

GOTHAM RETOOLS; FIVE-STAR STRACHAN THE KEY
FOUR BATSMEN & TWO PITCHERS BROUGHT IN; HENDERSON RECRUITED FROM ST. JOHN’S

NEW YORK CITY (Dec. 12, 1867) – Ever since the dominance of Knickerbocker BBC began in 1865 Gotham BBC, the oldest club in the NBBO, has had to play Second Fiddle in the New York City Championship, which they had won twice and had finished top-three in from 1860 to ’64. Gotham finished just two games behind Knickerbocker in 1866, but that season was sandwiched between two seasons of mediocrity, with Gotham going 36-34 in 1867 and finishing eighteen games from first.

Knowing that their standard philosophy of recruiting fine young players and developing them was not working, the Gotham front office has been hard at work bringing in a mix of extremely talented newcomers and highly respected veterans in an effort to give the team a much better chance at keeping up with the 3x defending NYC champions in 1868.

The centerpiece of Gotham’s recruitment so far during the offseason has been, not surprisingly, an NBBO newcomer: 24-year-old Clive Strachan, an Englishman whose services were in very high demand after he decided to make the switch from cricket, where he was a very highly regarded player in New York City.

The Writers Pool’s observations – attributes are on a 1-10 scale – of Strachan make him seem like an almost dead ringer for 1867’s most famous and heavily recruited newcomer: Shamrock’s James Burke…

CLIVE STRACHAN – 24 y/o, 5’9”, 175 lbs. from Silverstone, England – OF, B/T: L/L – 4.5 stars

• BATTING: Contact 10 (BABIP 9, Avoid K 10+), Gap 8, Eye 4
• DEFENSE (OF): Range 8, Error 6, Arm 7
• POSITIONS: LF 6/10, CF 5/7, RF 9
• OTHER: Speed 10, Stealing 10+ (Agg. 10, Ability 10+), Baserunning 10+, Bunting 9 (Sac. 8, Hit 10)
• PERSONALITY: High Adaptability, Outspoken

There are a few areas in which Strachan is not quite on the level of Burke. He is not as patient at the plate, his power to the gaps is a tick below, and his baserunning, although 10+, is not as intimidating. Hence an almost dead ringer for Burke.

Strachan is not the only good-looking newcomer Gotham has signed on for 1868. They have recruited an outfielder from just north of the Bronx to play in their other corner outfield spot:

CHARLES HORMEL – 25 y/o, 5’8”, 165 lbs. from Mt. Vernon, NY – OF, B/T: L/L – 3.0 stars

• BATTING: Contact 9 (BABIP 6, Avoid K 10+), Gap 8, Eye 5
• DEFENSE (OF): Range 9, Error 6, Arm 7
• POSITIONS: LF 9/10, CF 7/8, RF 6/9
• OTHER: Speed 9, Stealing 8.5 (Agg. 8, Ability 9), Baserunning 8, Bunting 4 (Sac. 6, Hit 2)
• PERSONALITY: Very high Work Ethic, very low Adaptability & Intelligence

Hormel has plenty of raw talent, but there are questions about how well he can grasp lessons from his coaches even though he works extremely hard.

There are four veterans Gotham has already secured the services of for 1868. The key member of the group is 1B Collin Henderson, who left St. John’s after a decade with the team and three cup wins. Henderson has been recruited because, as he did for years in Providence, he will be asked to bat fourth in the lineup behind three gifted outfielders. Henderson played the role extremely well for St. John’s, batting over .330 for ten seasons and crossing the 80-RBI mark three of the past four. His significant work ethic, high intelligence, and championship pedigree should do nothing but improve Gotham.

The other notable batsman who has joined Gotham is CF Hiram Majors, who spent his first eight seasons in the NBBO all in Brooklyn with Atlantic. He is a 2x All-Star who has also won two Golden Gloves and has stolen an average of thirty bases per season during his career. His defense in center field is rated 9/10, with maybe a few in the position better than him.

Gotham has also signed two highly respected veteran pitchers after their 1867 pitching duo of Daniel Flynn & Ralph Dodon both saw their ERA’s increase by a full 1.50 and their opponents hit thirty points higher against them.

Gotham’s new #1 is Carl Bancroft, a 6x 20-game winner who has made four All-Star games and is two wins shy of 200 for his career. He is second on the career Pitching WAR leaderboard with 51.8, and he is the only pitcher in NBBO history with more than 3,200 innings to his name. Their new #2 is Rainer van der Hout, the man who is second on the career innings list with 3,023. He brings four years of postseason experience with one championship, and a career record of 193-140. Gotham is van der Hout’s fifth team, but he is known for his high intelligence & work ethic and has been well liked at every stop.

If all of the new pieces fall into place properly, 1868 could end up being a banner year for Gotham BBC, the grand old men of organized base ball.