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NEED A PLAYER? LOOK OUTSIDE OF THE NBBO!
PLENTY OF PLAYERS ENTERING THE COMPETITION THIS SEASON HAVE THE TALENT TO SUCCEED

NORTHEASTERN U.S.A. (Mar. 21, 1870) – During the winter offseason the National Base Ball Organization goes through each year, the 48 member organizations see players come and players go, a natural part of the yearly baseball landscape as some players look to move to a bigger club, some players look for the chance to play regularly, and some players simply need to find a new place to play after being told they are spare parts by their former club of membership.

However, some of the best new players teams bring in each year are ones who weren’t even in the NBBO the previous season. These could be players who were previously part of NBBO clubs and took a year off, area amateurs well-known to club scouts who have decided it’s time to play at a higher level, or truly unknown “Scouting Discoveries” dug up by only the best talent evaluators in the sport.

The upcoming 1870 season appears to be offering up an unusually high amount of quality players that have been imported from the independent amateur ranks – enough talent to fill out a high-ranking lineup and pitching duo.

Below are ten players – two pitchers and one for every other position – who have been rated highly and are already expected to be regulars for their clubs this season.

CATCHER: Raynard Steinbach, Binghamton – 26 y/o from Germany; known to NBBO since last year
• CON: 7.5/10, GAP: 5/10, POW: 5/10, EYE: 4.5/10, SPD: 4/10, C DEF: 8.5/10, OVR: 3.0*

1ST BASE: Jackson Wright, Gotham – 27 y/o from Springett’s Manor, PA; known to NBBO since last year
• CON: 9/10, GAP: 7.5/10, POW: 6.5/10, EYE: 5/10, SPD: 5.5/10, 1B DEF: 7/10, OVR: 3.5*

2ND BASE: Huibrecht van der Laan, Eckford – 30 y/o from the Netherlands; known to NBBO since last year
• CON: 8/10, GAP: 9/10, POW: 5/10, EYE: 4.5/10, SPD: 8/10, 2B DEF: 9/10, OVR: 4.0*

3RD BASE: Dallas Campanelli, Portland – 22 y/o from Sharon, MA; Scouting Discovery by club
• CON: 8/10, GAP: 6.5/10, POW: 5.5/10, EYE: 4.5/10, SPD: 4.5/10, 3B DEF: 8/10, OVR: 3.0*

SHORTSTOP: Burton Ellerby, Gotham – 24 y/o from Parsippany, NJ; known to NBBO since last year
• CON: 9/10, GAP: 6/10, POW: 5.5/10, EYE: 4.5/10, SPD: 3.5/10, SS DEF: 10/10, OVR: 4.0*

LEFT FIELD: Fred Bartholomew, Flour City – 24 y/o from Norwalk, CT; known to NBBO since last year
• CON: 10/10, GAP: 6.5/10, POW: 5.5/10, EYE: 5/10, SPD: 8.5/10, LF DEF: 9/10, OVR: 4.5*

CENTER FIELD: Louis Dyke, Knickerbocker – 24 y/o from New York, NY; Scouting Discovery by club
• CON: 9/10, GAP: 7.5/10, POW: 5.5/10, EYE: 5/10, SPD: 8.5/10, CF DEF: 9.5/10, OVR: 4.0*

RIGHT FIELD: Charles Foster, Kings County – 27 y/o from Drexel Hill, PA; known to NBBO since last year
• CON: 8.5/10, GAP: 7.5/10, POW: 6/10, EYE: 5.5/10, SPD: 10/10, RF DEF: 8/10, OVR: 4.0*

PITCHER: Ernest Duncan, Shamrock – 26 y/o from Moon Township, PA; known to NBBO since last year
• VELO: Avg, STU: 4/10, MVMT: 8.5/10, CTRL: 10+/10, STA: 10+/10, P DEF: 6/10, OVR: 4.5*

PITCHER: Albert Dyer, Nassau County – 27 y/o from Greenbelt, MD; Scouting Discovery by club
• VELO: Above avg, STU: 3.5/10, MVMT: 9/10, CTRL: 10+/10, STA: 10+/10, P DEF: 5/10, OVR: 4.5*

None of the above ten players have any NBBO experience but, simply based on talent, if a team had those men in their senior squad then they would look a good bet to make the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, presuming those players adapt quickly enough to the increased rigor of formally organized baseball.

If nothing else, those ten players are a group who should definitely be monitored closely during the upcoming season, especially Ellerby & Dyke, whose defense should make them quality contributors for their teams immediately.

There are more greenhorns than just the above who may be big-name contributors to their teams this year. In particular, pitching seems to have produced a bumper crop as Grover Beveridge (M.B.), Clarence Dowd (HAR), John Faulkner (T.U.), William Weeks (SPO), & Edward Koch (UNI) have almost as much talent as the two pitchers listed above.

The newly renamed “Greenhorn of the Year” race for each league should be quite an exciting affair in 1870.