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THE 1874 AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (May 5, 1874) – The American Professional Baseball League is ready to begin Season #4, with the opening pitch taking place this afternoon in six cities across the Northeastern United States. American BC enters the 1874 season as the favorites to lift the Founders’ Cup for what would be the third year in a succession, while this could finally be the year that St. John’s is knocked off the top of the Colonial Conference and thus misses the postseason for only the second time in club history going back to 1857.

A summary of the offseason for each team:

ALLEGHANY – Their infield defense should easily be the best in the APBL as they now have, in terms of defensive rankings, two top-five C’s – Harry Thompson from Mass. Bay (5th) & Roel Woudenberg (3rd) – to go with the #1 2B in Burton Ellerby (in from Gotham), the #1 3B in Frank Doherty, and the #2 SS in Gerald Strong. NBBO imports at CF & RF – Ashley Hearns & Solomon Springs – should also help improve their fortunes. In addition, 9x NBBO All-Star Jerald Peterson has finally joined the APBL, and he should be at least a decent bat and glove at 1B even if he is 39 years old.

AMERICAN – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The 2x defending champs didn’t lose a single regular over the winter, with the most notable player they saw exit being backup OF and former NBBO All-Star Graeme Peel. They signed 2x All-Star John Brown from Excelsior to be their new #2, and the roster has so much depth that they have 5x All-Star Walter Dudley as a new backup at 1B/3B.

EXCELSIOR – The Jim Creighton Eighteen made some interesting moves over the winter. All-Star Gil Cappelletti has moved over to 1B to make room for NBBO star Elijah Hill, they’ve upgraded LF with the signing of 2x NBBO .400 hitter Troy Oberst, and former Gotham/Shamrock backup Charles Hormel has been brought in to provide defense at CF after Obelix Tsiaris left. If the NBBO signees perform to expectations then Excelsior could finally have a dangerous APBL team.

FLOUR CITY – The 3x Colonial Conference runners-up made one notable change over the winter, taking 6x All-Star Edward Donovan away from Knickerbocker after they lost LF Fred Bartholomew to Kings County. Aside from that, the Upstaters are going to enter 1874 with familiar faces and the attitude that sooner or later their continuity will be rewarded.

GOTHAM – Most of the regulars are back after an extremely disappointing 1873 season, but they do have two new faces among the batsmen. First is young NBBO star Jonathan Quarles, who has solid potential at 2B, 3B, or SS for the team though he’ll start as their regular 3B. The other is defensive whiz George Pugatch, who signed after four years as the regular SS for St. John’s.

KINGS COUNTY – The APBL’s repeat worst team has another year of player development behind them. Over the winter they added quality LF Fred Bartholomew from Flour City, veteran RF John Gaynor from Niagara, and they’ve brought in Fred Richards, winner of 20+ games seven times in nine NBBO seasons, to be their #2 at 38 years old. Will they exit last place for the first time?

KNICKERBOCKER – One change to the regular setup over the winter, as they let Ed Donovan leave for Flour City and replaced him from within, making outfield defensive specialist Henry Jost their new LF after two seasons as a backup. Aside from that, Bert Landreth should become their new #1 now that Peadar Daly is on the wrong side of 35.

MASSACHUSETTS BAY – The Colonial basement dwellers lost one regular over the winter: C Harry Thompson, who joined Alleghany. However, he’s been replaced by good-looking indy ball C Lane Garvin. They’ve made Warren Perkins their new 2B over the returning Daniel Wiley, who manned the position for two seasons. Charles Foster was signed from Kings Co. to be their new CF so 36-year-old Declan Brice can hopefully return to Golden Glove defense at RF. Also, the team has a new #1 after signing repeat NBBO Strikeout king Washington Kihlstedt from the NBBO just as he should be entering his peak seasons. Greenhorn I.A. Butler could be their #2, but he’ll be starting the season injured.

NIAGARA – As speculated on in the 1873 Recap, the team signed a new CF: 6x All-Star Obelix Tsiaris from Excelsior. However, they also decided to let Henry Card go instead of moving him to LF/RF. Instead, Charles “Boss” Barrett was signed from the NBBO with a bat good enough that he was a regular there at the age of 20. Shamrock SS Will Schumacher was recruited to upgrade SS, and they’ve replaced 1B Paul LaGuerre with NBBO vet Wilbur Graff. Finally, highly touted greenhorn Tomoharu Mukai will be their new #1.

ORANGE – Two changes were made to the batting lineup, with both expected. As predicted, Samuel Kessler has moved to 1B, with NBBO import Isaac Holm brought in to give the team better defense at LF while also having what should be a decent bat. The front office also signed NBBO All-Star P George Sturgis, who has reportedly beat out Paul Caldwell to become their new #1.

SHAMROCK – All of the team’s regulars are back except one: SS Will Schumacher, who moved to Niagara. The front office signed star NBBO 2B Harold Groves to replace him, with Arthur Fisher moving over to SS to fill the hole. Henry Tallman is back in the #2 role after beating out John Walker during the spring. Unfortunately, All-Star and 3x Golden Glove 1B Frank Bulger will miss the first week of play.

ST. JOHN’S – The 3x Colonial Conference champs lost one regular over the winter: SS George Pugatch to Gotham. They’ve moved Golden Glover Ben Gagliardi over from 3B and signed greenhorn Eamonn Todd to be their new 3B. Howard Burns starts 1874 as their #1 after he struggled last year, while C Falco van der Vaart could lose his spot to the developing Fred Drake if he starts ’74 poorly.