Story Time

[Tram2Whitaker]

I'm not very skilled at writing, so this wouldn't be worthy of the Dynasty forums. Anyway, here it goes.

In 1894 with the American Association folding and the Western League struggling, the founders of what would have become the American League, decided to pursue a different avenue; they filed an anti-trust suit against the National League. The prolonged court battle eventually bankrupted both entities, and by 20 April 1896 the National League folded operations for good. That proved to be unfortunate timing for one Dale Rathbone.

The second son of iron magnate, Henry Rathbone III, Dale was not burdened by the yolk like his older brother, Henry "Hank" Rathbone IV; this allowed him to pursue his passion, the sport of baseball. Rathbone was a rather strapping, albeit short lad of 5' 8" and 160 pounds. He had played with many local and regional teams, before being discovered by the Pittsburgh Pirates. On 21 April 1896, the 20 year old shortstop was to make his major league debut; sadly, that day never happened for Dale.

Being the son of an iron baron, Dale was never in want of money. Growing up in a certain circle of friends, gave him the network he needed to make his dream, finally a reality. Rathbone got 64 of his closest associates, each to pony up $50,000 for their own major league franchise. The 64 teams would each be assigned territories across the United States and Canada; divided into 8 separate, regional leagues, each with 8 teams.

The 8 leagues began play on 1 May 1901. The New England Baseball League (NEBL), the Mid Atlantic Baseball League (MABL), the South Atlantic Baseball League (SABL), the Great Lakes Baseball League (GLBL), the American Central Baseball League (ACBL), the Southwest Baseball League (SWBL), the Pacific Coast Baseball League (PCBL), and the Canadian Baseball League (CABL). As the leagues grew in popularity, more investors came forward.

The league grew in popularity and in membership by 1917, when the United States became involved in the ongoing world war. This was a period when 1500 able bodied, right handed players, between 18 and 22 years of age simultaneously retired and went off to war. Even though there was only 1 known casualty, only 500 players returned.

Again the league grew and prospered. In October 1929, the American stock market crashed, sending the United States into the great depression. In a cost cutting move, the Canadian Baseball league was disassembled, with teams in Quebec joining the NEBL, teams in eastern Ontario joining the MABL, and teams in Western Ontario joining the GLBL; at the same time, the PCBL split into two leagues, with the northernmost teams joining Vancouver and Calgary in the new Northwest Baseball League (NWBL).

President Roosevelt, and his Canadian counterpart, as part of his New Deal, hired 200,000 Americans as well as 30,000 Canadians to renovate the existing stadiums. The U.S. congress declared this unconstitutional, before renovations were done. Fortunately, Henry had taught his sons to never trust the bank. Dale had been funneling away the profits from his venture into mason jars that he had buried in the backyard of the family compound; he financed the completion of the stadium renovations, keeping all 230,000 employees on his payroll until World War 2.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, 4,000 ballplayers ages 16 to 24 retired en mass to join the armed service. This time the U.S. Army was not picky; they took the lefties too.

With an obvious shortage of players and resources, as well as dwindling funds, Dale Rathbone created the New Major Baseball League. The new league would take the two winningest and most profitable teams from each league, and combine them into one ultra competitive league. Beginning 15 April 1942, the Hamilton Ocelots, Portland (ME) Razors, Manchester Blue Wings, and Manhattan Bowsers formed what would be known as the Eastern Conference, Northeast Division. The Detroit Black Diamonds, Grand Rapids (MI) Rockers, Tampa Ace, and Savannah Horsemen formed the Eastern Conference, Central Division. The Houston Sharpshooters, Las Vegas Birds, Long Beach Blitz, and Kansas City (MO) Maulers, formed the Western Conference, Southwest Division. The Salt Lake City Arsenal, Wichita Surf Dogs, Winnipeg River Kings, and Boise Fiends, formed the Western Conference Northwest Division.

Rathbone was forlorn. The selection committee had chosen these teams for their ability to win and make money, but there were several teams that did not make the cut; The Oklahoma City Firedogs who had won a staggering 13 SWBL championships, as well as the Philadelphia Charros who had 9 of their own, and several others. After the conclusion of the 1942 season, Dale decided that there was enough money and resources to promote these 2 teams to major league status; with Philadelphia joining the EC NE Division, and Oklahoma City joining the EC Central.

Since their rosters had been co opted by being minor league affiliates of the Manchester (Phi) and Wichita (OKC) organizations, the teams would have to start from scratch; and with all of the young and talented prospects fighting the third reich, their farm systems would be stocked mostly by washed up has-beens.

[jpeters1734]

This is actually a pretty cool idea. It's a little hard to read though. I would edit your post and add spaces between paragraphs.

I have never really thought of removing a generation of ball players like you did. It would be interesting. I look forward to reading some more.

[rpriske]

This should be in the Dynasty forum.