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THE 1877 AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (May 1, 1877) – It’s time to begin the seventh season of the A.P.B.L., with professional baseball action taking place across the Northeast this afternoon. Defending champs American are looking to become the first team at any level to win three titles in a row, as well as their fifth in six years. However, offseason moves mean that Excelsior, Knickerbocker, & St. John’s will have plenty to say about that. It should be an exciting, wide-open 1877 season.

Projected standings and the offseason summaries for each team:


COLONIAL CONFERENCE

• Favorites: St. John’s at 53-37 (+105 RD)
• Shamrock 4 GB
• Niagara 9 GB
• Alleghany 10 GB
• Mass. Bay 11 GB
• Flour City 13 GB

METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE

• Favorites: Knickerbocker at 55-35 (+115 RD)
• Excelsior 2 GB
• American 5 GB
• Gotham 13 GB
• Kings Co. 15 GB
• Orange 23 GB

ALLEGHANY – Alleghany tried to upgrade at CF & #2 P but weren’t able to, so they’ll go into the season with Robert Golden back at CF and former substitute William Haney in the pitching duo. They replaced Jerald Peterson at 1B with Mass. Bay’s William Trowbridge – a good move. They’ll have the best infield defense in the league again, but not a lot else.

AMERICAN – Tempted with the possibility of signing George Burroughs or Joseph Evans, instead they stood firm and all ten regular batsmen & pitchers are back after winning their fourth title in five years. However, with the core of their lineup all 33-34 now the Writers Pool thinks a couple will start to show their age, and that will result in a fall from 1st place.

EXCELSIOR – The team booted its replacement-level middle infield pairing – 2B Bert Wagner & SS Marcel Bresciani – and brought in two highly-rated Greenhorns – 3.5* Sam Jackson at 2B & 4* J.B. Chessman at SS – with both projected as hefty upgrades. They also replaced the retired Taliesin Buckley with 3* Greenhorn Boyd Myers at CF. That has the Writers Pool thinking Excelsior will go back to being in serious contention for a Founders’ Cup place, assuming the Greenhorns can adjust quickly.

FLOUR CITY – The team had issues at a number of positions last year but wasn’t able to sign the upgrades they wanted, and because of that they go into Opening Day raked 10-12/12 at 3B, SS, LF, & RF. There’s still Ernest Dugas, James Goodman, & Samuel Kessler so the team won’t be terrible – maybe 40-50 – but Flour City projects as a last-place team.

GOTHAM – Tough offseason but shouldn’t be the worst team again, presuming Babe Johnson stays healthy. Lost longtime star Clive Strachan to main rival Knick and didn’t have the money on hand to get an equal replacement, so their new RF is 2* William Pinnock and Royal Altman has been moved back to LF. They’re also going with 2* Enos Pfannenstiel at 3B after moving Jonathan Quarles to SS. They signed 3* James Dressman, who had 20+ Wins in all seven of his N.B.B.O. seasons, to be their new #1, so that’s another potential weakness. Still, there’s enough top-end talent to finish 3rd in the Metropolitan.

KINGS COUNTY – The team purchased 4* 2B Herman Stanley & 3* C Carl Nevers over the winter, so they finally have, on paper, decent talent in most of their lineup spots. However, CF & RF remain major weaknesses, and that has the Writers Pool of the opinion that Kings Co. will remain the 4th-best team in the Metropolitan Conference.

KNICKERBOCKER – Everything broke right for Knick this winter. They opted against spending the big money on Evans, instead taking Strachan away from their archrivals and guaranteeing they’ll have the best defensive OF in the league. They were also able to bring Cormack Alexander back, sign Hugh Harris as a stopgap at 3B, and see 23-year-old P Robert Goodman spend training time developing into a 4.5* talent. The result: they’re tipped to have the league’s best record.

MASSACHUSETTS BAY – All eight lineup members are back, although word is that Henry Gaul has been replaced at RF by Kevin Duke. They did see #2 P Tom Ricks leave for American, and he’s been replaced with good-looking Dutch Greenhorn Drees Hobbelink. The Writers Pool thinks Mass. Bay will slip just a bit and end up around 42-48.

NIAGARA – No love from the Writers Pool for the Colonial champs. They felt the team should’ve moved Sweeney Martin from 1B to LF – his natural position – to upgrade 1B with Cormack Alexander or Mario Fusilli, and also make an upgrade at CF. Instead, they made lateral moves, purchasing 3B Charles Barrow & CF James Baird from the N.B.B.O., and signing Orange P George Sturgis. That means the W.P. sees last year as a fluke, and Niagara will fall to 3rd place.

ORANGE – The Writers Pool doesn’t see anything good happening for Orange this season. They have two Greenhorn pitchers, there are questions about legendary C Everett Schreiber after his 1875 season, and they failed to do the necessary thing and upgrade 1B. Their projected record of 32-58 is eight games worse than any other team.

SHAMROCK – They won the winter’s second-biggest prize: Pt. Jersey P George Burroughs, who should be a big upgrade over 9-27 Donal Hagan. They fixed the SS position by transferring Robert Jessup from the N.B.B.O, signed Charles Washer from Knick to take over LF, and Greenhorn John Bosarge should be a decent CF. This is the Colonial’s second-best team.

ST. JOHN’S – They took home the Grand Prize: Joseph Evans, who will bat 2nd in their retooled lineup, one fearsome enough that Team of the Year 3B Eamonn Todd will bat 6th. Konrad Jensen could see a resurgence now that he doesn’t have to run around the outfield. Former SS George Pugatch and his Golden Glove defense are back. Also, reports indicate that #1 P Howard Burns looks better than ever. St. John’s is back to being the team to beat in the Colonial Conference.

A.P.B.L. AWARD FAVORITES

Batsman of the Year: James Burke (CF, American) – projected .381/.416/.521, 3 HR, 83 RBI, 99 SB
Pitcher of the Year: Harold Burns (St. John’s) – projected 25-16, 3.16 ERA, 81 K over 356.0 IP
Most Valuable Player: Cormack Alexander (1B, Knick) – projected .357/.419/.476, 3 HR, 85 RBI, 8 SB
Greenhorn of the Year: Joseph Evans (LF, St. John’s) – projected .340/.398/.474, 1 HR, 71 RBI, 16 SB

A.P.B.L. TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

P: Jim Creighton (EXC), C: Lane Garvin (MB), 1B: Konrad Jensen (StJ), 2B: Anthony Mascherino (KNI), 3B: Eamonn Todd (StJ), SS: Martin Prince (AME), OF: James Burke (AME), OF: Ernest Dugas (FC), OF: Clive Strachan (KNI)

KEY SIGNINGS & PLAYER CHANGES

P: Acie Collins (35 y/o, 2.5*) from Pt. Richmond (PCBL) to American on Dec. 18.
P: Jack Doherty (5-5, 3.74 ERA, 15 K, 1.0 WAR) from Kings Co. to Knick on Dec. 12.
P: Hugo dos Santos (22 y/o, 2.0/3.0*) from Syracuse (NBBO) to Kings Co. for $1,500 on Nov. 25.
P: James Dressman (32 y/o, 3.0*) from Portland (NBBO) to Gotham on Mar. 20.
P: Drees Hobbelink (26 y/o Greenhorn, 3.5/3.5*) to Mass. Bay on Nov. 8.
P: Everett Huggard (20 y/o Greenhorn, 2.0/4.0*) to Gotham on Nov. 8.
P: Andrew Miller (22 y/o Greenhorn, 4.0/4.0*) to Orange on Nov. 9.
P: Frank Nicholas (35 y/o, 2.5*) from Mercury (NBBO) to Flour City on Dec. 12.
P: Tom Ricks (19-17, 2.81 ERA, 55 K, 4.6 WAR) from Mass. Bay to American on Nov. 14.
P: Thomas Russett (26 y/o Greenhorn, 3.0/3.0*) to Flour City on Nov. 11.
P: George Sturgis (12-25, 4.16 ERA, 40 K, 2.8 WAR) from Orange to Niagara on Dec. 9.
P: Bjarne Svensson (29 y/o Greenhorn, 3.5/3.5*) to Orange on Nov. 1.

C: Carl Nevers (25 y/o, 3.0/3.0*) from Olympic (NBBO) to Kings Co. for $1,250 on Nov. 26.
1B: William Trowbridge (.320, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 0.6 WAR) from Mass. Bay to Alleghany on Jan. 13.
2B: Sam Jackson (23 y/o Greenhorn, 3.5/3.5*) to Excelsior on Nov. 10.
2B: Herman Stanley (24 y/o, 4.0/4.0*) from Queen Village (PCBL) to Kings Co. for $2,100 on Nov. 20.
3B: Charles Barrow (25 y/o, 3.5/3.5*) from Hilltop (NBBO) to Niagara for $1,250 on Dec. 5.
3B: Hugh Harris (.282, 54 RBI, 41 SB, 1.1 WAR) from Flour City to Knick on Nov. 8.
3B: Werner Verstegen (.321, 31 RBI, 0.7 WAR) from Knick to Flour City on Jan. 6.
SS: J.B. Chessman (25 y/o Greenhorn; 4.0/4.0*) to Excelsior on Nov. 14.
SS: Robert Jessup (24 y/o, 2.5/2.5*) from Empire (NBBO) to Shamrock for $1,250 on Dec. 6.
SS: George Pugatch (.232, 33 RBI, +14.4 ZR, 1.2 WAR) from Gotham to St. John’s on Dec. 6.

LF: Joseph Evans (24 y/o; 5.0/5.0*) from Frankford (PCBL) to St. John’s for $5,000 on Dec. 30.
LF: Clive Strachan (.319, 24 RBI, 64 SB, 2.6 WAR) from Gotham to Knick on Dec. 28.
LF: Charles Washer (.301, 50 RBI, 21 SB, 1.4 WAR) from Knick to Shamrock on Mar. 1.
CF: James Baird (27 y/o, 2.5/2.5*) from Oceanic (NBBO) to Niagara for $950 on Dec. 14.
CF: John Bosarge (25 y/o Greenhorn, 2.5/2.5*) to Shamrock on Dec. 28.
CF: Charles Hormel (.186, 1 HR, 33 RBI, 0.2 WAR) from Shamrock to Kings Co. on Jan. 15.
CF: Boyd Myers (25 y/o Greenhorn, 3.0/3.0*) to Excelsior on Oct. 24.
RF: William Pinnock (26 y/o Greenhorn, 2.0/2.5*) to Gotham on Oct. 8.
RF: Franklin Skaggs (33 y/o, 2.5*) from Mass. Bay to Flour City on Mar. 12.