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PLAY BALL! THE 1869 NBBO PREVIEW

NORTHEAST USA (May 5, 1869) – Season number thirteen for the National Base Ball Organization beings today, when Newark plays at American at Glenwood Field in Philadelphia just after noon. Those two will be followed shortly by Hilltop at Orange, Sons of the Ocean at Green Mountain, Eagle at Niagara, and Utica at Binghamton.

Orange BBC are the ones defending the cup this year but they are expected to return to their 1867 form, with Gotham & Knickerbocker the favorites in New York City. A new champion looks very likely.

The two most talented teams going into 1869, and thus the two favorites to hoist the cup, are Alleghany & St. John’s. Alleghany made tweaks after losing Inland last year, and they now have an irresistible lineup with outstanding defense in the middle of the infield. St. John’s responded to losing the cup on the final day by bringing back an old favorite, and they look like – on paper – they will be the first team to score 700+ runs in a season.

The Northeastern League is expected to be where the offense is – not a surprise given that many of the NBBO’s most talented batsmen reside there while the New York League has more of the pitching talent. Aside from Edward Huntley (KNI) the NEL has a monopoly on the most talented batsmen in the sport, and it should lead to some wild afternoons.

Pitchers finally have their own award to look forward to, with the “Pitcher of the Year” being handed out to the best #1 in each league for the first time in 1869.

A record amount of newcomer batsmen are expected to start for NBBO teams in 1869, but it is P Ross Gill for Quaker State who is considered likely to make the biggest impact of any new player in the competition.

With traditional powerhouses expected back on top of the standings in 1869, the only thing for the neutral fan to do is to wait for the games to play out and hope that the unexpected happens once again this season. Anything can happen and a team could pull another Susquehanna, and it is time to play ball!

Only one of six regional favorites, St. John’s, made the cup last year. The other five favorites have all been to the postseason multiple times, with Knickerbocker & Shamrock having won the cup twice each.

WRITERS POOL GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

When asked for other observations about the upcoming season, here were the main talking points offered up by the 48-member N.B.B.O. Writers Pool:

•The most talented batsmen in both leagues at each position (*represents newcomer):

NYL – C: Everett Schreiber (25 y/o, ORA), 1B: Mario Fusilli (31 y/o, SYR), 2B: Leslie Arnett (31 y/o, GOT), 3B: Isaac Kelly (23 y/o, ECK), SS: Edward Huntley (33 y/o, KNI), OF: Clive Strachan (26 y/o, GOT), CF: Taliesin Buckley (32 y/o, NIA), OF: Francis Smith (24 y/o, MET)

NEL – C: C: James Simon* (25 y/o, SHA), 1B: William Busby (26 y/o, AME), 2B: Anderson MacGyver (35 y/o, STJ), 3B: Samuel Kessler (33 y/o, ALL), SS: Anthony Mascherino (30 y/o, SHA), OF: James Burke (28 y/o, SHA), CF: Franklin Petty (27 y/o, L.E.), OF: Konrad Jensen (29 y/o, STJ)

• The ten most talented pitchers in the NBBO (*represents newcomer):

Jim Creighton (28 y/o, EXC), Tom Ricks (30 y/o, SHA), James Goodman (31 y/o, F.C.), Ross Gill* (28 y/o, Q.S.), Raynard Cordell (29 y/o, ORA), Fred Richards (33 y/o, S.o.t.O.), Earl Quinn (28 y/o, CON), Elmer Seabold (25 y/o, SUS), William Tighe (31 y/o, MUT), Tom Hauser (27 y/o, AME)

• The ten best newcomers in the NBBO:

Ross Gill (28 y/o P, Q.S.), James Simon (25 y/o C, SHA), William Chapman (29 y/o SS, M.B.), Fox Ellis (24 y/o SS, UTI), Arthur Fisher (22 y/o SS, N.C.), Lou Sturgeon (28 y/o P, STJ), Isaac Sterling (24 y/o P, REA), Callum Stone (29 y/o P, PIO), Henry Williams (25 y/o P, M.B.), Edward Johnson (27 y/o CF, K.C.)

• The ten best reserve squad prospects in the NBBO:

Frank Bulger (22 y/o 2B, SHA), Troy Oberst (22 y/o OF, MET), William Hatch (21 y/o P, GRA), George Cerven (23 y/o P, GOT), Daniel Zook (23 y/o 1B, KNI), George Burroughs (20 y/o P, P.J.), Howard Burns (19 y/o P, STJ), Lorik van Unen (23 y/o SS, KNI), Hal Brinks (23 y/o C, S.o.t.O.), Roy Reed (24 y/o 1B, NEW)

• Once again, upper-level offensive talent is concentrated in the Northeastern League. In the poll of the Writers Pool, nine of the top ten batsmen and sixteen of the top twenty play for NEL teams, the highest concentration of premier talent in one league seen to date. Conversely, the WP has declared that the NYL has thirteen of the NBBO’s top twenty pitchers.

• As the number of strikeouts has crept up year after year, and especially after Jim Creighton fanned nearly 200 batsmen last season, teams around the league are instructing their players to dial back their swings a bit. Expect fewer strikeouts this year, but at the same there will very likely be fewer extra-base hits.

• Excelsior has been named the Brooklyn favorites almost solely due to the presence of Jim Creighton. They have notable weaknesses at C, 2B, one OF spot, and an overall lack of batsman depth. They are beatable.

Overall, Brooklyn is should be competitive. Defending champs Kings County are expected to fall to 4th because, aside from 1B Koonce & P Peters, their lineup looks good but not great. Atlantic has improved their lineup at a number of positions. Continental brings back the same brilliant pitching duo of Quinn & Wright. Eckford will be led by 23-year-old Isaac Kelly, one of the best young players in the sport.

• New York City looks like a two-team race – the old guard of Gotham & Knickerbocker the clear favorites. Surely the Knick team will not have another nine-game losing streak this season, and Gotham is adding the most talked about new regular in the NBBO to their lineup. Orange brings back all eight regular batsmen and their #1 pitcher from last year, but the Writers Pool thinks their performance in 1868 was a one-year surprise.

• The two big Upstate clubs, Flour City & Niagara, should be the two best in the region – a surprising rarity. Bringing in James Goodman from Minutemen has made F.C. the favorites, while champs Niagara return almost the same lineup while also adding an excellent newcomer at C in Joseph Hines.

• Shamrock should be back on top in Coastal, as the recruitment of C James Simon and the promotion of James Johnson from the reserve unit, which allowed William McCrory to move to the outfield, now means that the team has top-five players at five positions.

American returns all of their stars, but unlike Shamrock they have weaknesses at C, SS, & LF. Massachusetts Bay has added the best new SS in the NBBO and decent CF Leininger from Kings Co. Quaker St. is projected 37-33, but new P Ross Gill could immediately be among of the five best #1’s and all of their best players are back.

• Alleghany has added 1B Collin Henderson & C Dag Nielsen, with seven All-Star Games between them, to an already potent lineup. Combine that with the exodus from Susquehanna following their stunning pennant last year and the Writers Pool thinks Alleghany has a slim chance to become the first team ever to win 60+ games in a season. Pioneer & Sportman’s have decent lineups, but not anything close to Alleghany’s in quality.

• St. John’s responded to last year’s cup disappointment by bringing back MacGyver, giving them clearly the most talented team in the NBBO – the odds-on favorite to take their twelfth New England pennant in thirteen years. Oceanic has a nice lineup, but they are not going to keep up with the perennial kings of New England.