Introducing the Footnote League

[luckymann]

What if there were no Ruths, Mantles, Johnsons or Trouts hogging the headlines, the limelight, the leaderboards and the payrolls?

What if, by some strange quirk of fate, the zeroes suddenly became the heroes?

What would the baseball world look like with the underdog as the ubermensch?

Speculate no more, baseball fans. I present to you the Footnote League.

Come on down, lesser lights, for now it is your time to shine!

Step right up, little guy, for now you are the big man on campus!

Grab a bat, Moonlight Graham. It's two down in the 9th and the winning run is on third. Go knock that sucker in and cover yourself in the glory that was never afforded you the first time around!

EDIT: For those of you who have stumbled across this league some time after its inception but who don't have time to go through every post, I will be updating this first post with links for the recaps for each season, offering you the Cliff Notes version to catch you up more expeditiously.

Seasons 1901 thru 1903 just have a summary of the respective seasons. From 1904 onwards - at which point I went a little on the overkill side of things and created my OOML website - the page will merely list all of the posts relating to that season.

1901 1902 1903 1904

1905 1906 1907

[luckymann]

OK, let's get the boring stuff out of the way before we begin.

The Footnote League will commence in 1901 as per the league structure of the day. It will expand as per history.

It will be populated entirely with historical players at random debut dates. None of these players will have either an OVR or POT rating of more than 50 at the time they join the league.

Scouting, Coaching, Financials, Storylines, Owner Goals, Suspensions, Personalities & Morale will all be ON.

Trading: permitted / hard / favour prospects.

Injuries: low, occasional delayed diagnosis.

Player Dev ON, ageing / dev set to 1 / talent randomness set to 200.

Player eval at 55 / 27 / 13 / 5. 5-year recalc / ratings based on real stats / POT based on peak seasons / fielding & pitcher stamina based on entire career.

All other settings as per 1901 defaults and rolling out each year.

Sabermetric lineups.

Historical Schedule and Playoff format.

Inaugural Draft and then a Supplementary Rookie Draft before Season 1901 begins to ensure all teams have 40 players and there are sufficient FAs to cover injuries etc.

Minors TBA (see next post).

I will have no dog in this fight, merely acting as Commissioner to ensure the league runs as smoothly as possible. At least that's my plan. Mice and men and all that jazz...

[luckymann]

OK, so this is my first toe in the Historical League water, so I'd love some insights from the more dab hands about anything that comes to mind. I'm sure I've already made some horrendous rookie errors in the setup phase. I'd love to nip those in the bud and minimise the number of blunders and missteps I make moving forward, so fire away!

I'd especially like some thoughts on how to proceed with the minors. I want them from the beginning, but am unsure of what flow-on effect, if any, such a diversion from history will wreak.

I'd also love you to suggest some of your favourite "footnote" players from history for inclusion. If they are eligible I'll happily import any and all of them into the following season's Draft so you can follow their progress.

Thanks in advance.

[luckymann]

It has been a hectic lead-up to the debut season of the Footnote League with the Drafts having been conducted, squads assembled, personnel hired and Spring Training played out.

The Inaugural Draft saw P Ed Head taken as the first overall pick by the Athletics, while the Reds snapped up 1B Sam Horn with the top pick in the Rookie Draft. The two “lucky lasts” were, respectively, relievers Jamie Walker and Bob Myrick.

Then followed a quite ferocious period of Free Agent signing as clubs endeavoured to plug holes and build depth in their squads. SP Ron Schueler was one such signing, with the Boston Beaneaters snapping him up for a league record $670. But it was the Orioles who ended up with the league’s biggest payroll, with their squad set to cost them just shy of $17,000. That’s quite a jump from the Washington Senators, the backmarker in this regard with a squad setting them back a little over $11,700 for season 1901.

As is so often the case, Spring Training raised almost as many questions as it answered, with a fairly even spread of results across the board and no team really emerging as a force. One player who shone brightly was the Reds’ CF Joe Pepitone, who treated opposition pitchers with disdain, driving in 31 runs while batting at a torrid .369 clip. Cincinnati may have unearthed another superstar in SS Dale Sveum, who nearly matched Pepitone’s ribbie mark with 27. Undoubtedly the Reds hope both can replicate that form when it counts. Brooklyn Superbas fans will be wondering if the pre-season hitout was worth it, with the club losing SP Dennis Ribant for 5 months with a torn meniscus. Same goes with supporters of the Americans and Pirates, both of whom lost a key reliever to a shoulder injury for the season.

[luckymann]

The air is thick with anticipation as the national pastime heads into a new era. Last night, the pundits released various analyses of how they see the season panning out. if they are to be believed, we are in for an exciting year, with the Senators, Orioles and Blues their main hopes in the AL, while they see the Cards, Orphans and Pirates fighting for the NL pennant.

With regard to individual performances, they are looking for big offensive years from O’s cornerman Wid Conroy and Athletics RF Glenn Wilson in the AL, while they see Joe Pepitone continuing his hot Spring Training form into the regular season in the NL. And they are expecting breakout years from Cleveland Blues ace Gary Peters and Cardinal Flint Rhem.

The player rankings see Tigers OF Del Howard top the position players with #1 Draft pick Ed Head rated best hurler.

They’ve spotted some potential stars of tomorrow as well. Keep an eye out for SP Moose Haas from the Giants and Senators second baseman Wally Backman to make their mark at some point.

Ahhh I love the smell of pine tar in the morning. Let’s play ball!

[luckymann]

Team picture.

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Team picture.

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Team picture.

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Team picture.

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Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.

[luckymann]

Team picture.