Introducing the Footnote League

[luckymann]

MVP

• American League: Solly Hemus CWS
• National League: Joe Ferguson CIN

Cy Young Award

• American League: Melido Perez DET (unanimous)
• National League: Dave Dravecky STL

Reliever of the Year

• American League: No award given
• National League: No award given

Rookie of the Year

• American League: George Stone CWS (unanimous)
• National League: Joe Ferguson CIN (unanimous)

Manager of the Year

• American League: Jim Manning WAS
• National League: Patsy Donovan STL

Platinum Stick
American League

• P: Micah Owings WAS
• C: Wayne Nordhagen CWS
• 1B: Mike Lum SLA
• 2B: Eric Young BOS
• 3B: Eric Soderholm NYY
• SS: Solly Hemus CWS
• LF: George Stone CWS
• CF: Homer Smoot BOS
• RF: Glenn Wilson PHA

National League

• P: Doc Crandall PIT
• C: Joe Ferguson CIN
• 1B: Pete Runnels PHI
• 2B: Jim Gantner BRO
• 3B: Sean Burroughs BSN
• SS: Ivan de Jesus PHI
• LF: Greg Gross CHC
• CF: Chris Owings STL
• RF: Mike Shannon BRO

Gold Glove
American League

• P: Jake Weimer WAS
• C: Buck Rodgers BOS
• 1B: Art Howe PHA
• 2B: Danny O’Connell NYY
• 3B: Eric Soderholm NYY
• SS: Orlando Arcia WAS
• LF: Solly Hemus CHW
• CF: Reed Johnson PHA
• RF: Vic Davalillo DET

National League

• P: Harry Gumbert STL
• C: Frank Snyder CHC
• 1B: Ray Sanders STL
• 2B: Woody Woodward CHC
• 3B: Bill Pecota STL
• SS: J.T. Riddle PIT
• LF: Gates Brown BSN
• CF: Todd Dunwoody CHC
• RF: Mike Shannon BRO

[luckymann]

MVP

• PSL American League: John Vander Wal, Wilmington
• PSL National League: Mark Teahan, Reading (unanimous)

Pitcher of the Year

• PSL American League: Rollie Naylor, Waterloo (unanimous)
• PSL National League: Norwood Gibson, Bridgeport

Reliever of the Year

• PSL American League: Jimmy Wiggs, Newark (unanimous)
• PSL National League: Sergio Santos, Jersey City (unanimous)

Rookie of the Year
No award given

Manager of the Year

• PSL American League: Mike Weathersby, Chattanooga
• PSL National League: Mike Martin, Harrisburg

Platinum Stick
PSL American League

• P: Bruce Hurst (Fort Worth)
• C: Bruce Bochy (Shreveport)
• 1B: Hank Arft (Chattanooga)
• 2B: Josh Barfield (Williamsport)
• 3B: Bobby Adams (Newark)
• SS: Sam Bohne (Chattanooga)
• LF: Gerald Perry (Chattanooga)
• CF: Alex Sanchez (Fort Worth)
• RF: John Vander Wal (Williamsport)

PSL National League

• P: Norwood Gibson (Bridgeport)
• C: Al Spohrer (Houston)
• 1B: Alex McKinnon (Wichita Falls)
• 2B: Dale Sveum (Cedar Rapids)
• 3B: Colin Moran (Cedar Rapids)
• SS: Wayne Causey (Harrisburg)
• LF: Ryan Raburn (Wichita Falls)
• CF: Jerry Browne (Harrisburg)
• RF: Mark Teahan (Reading)

Gold Glove
PSL American League

• P: Red Embree (Waterloo)
• C: Dan Jansen (Newark)
• 1B: Marv Blaylock (Newark)
• 2B: Irv Hall (Waterloo)
• 3B: Tim Johnson (Wilmington)
• SS: Chico Fernandez (Newark)
• LF: Russ Morman (Shreveport)
• CF: Luis Melendez (Newark)
• RF: Solly Hofman (Chatttanooga)

PSL National League

• P: Sammy Ellis (Bridgeport)
• C: John Hicks (Bridgeport)
• 1B: Zeke Bonura (Harrisburg)
• 2B: Dutch Meyer (Harrisburg)
• 3B: Greg Pryor (Wichita Falls)
• SS: Rico Rossy (Reading)
• LF: Hersh Martin (Bridgeport)
• CF: Steven Duggar (Jersey City)
• RF: Mark Teahan (Reading)

[luckymann]

None of note

[luckymann]

• P Art Ditmar (35)
• C Jimmy Archer (35)
• P Wilbur Wood (37)
• P Freddy Garcia (36)
• 2B Jeff Reboulet (37)
• LF Dom Dallessandro (34)

[luckymann]

There have been no organisational changes in the offseason between the 1903 and 1904 Footnote League seasons.

Talk of a designated hitter in the NL had no basis in fact.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by luckymann

There have been no organisational changes in the offseason between the 1903 and 1904 Footnote League seasons.

Talk of a designated hitter in the NL had no basis in fact.

Good. The DH is a Deal with the Devil.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Good. The DH is a Deal with the Devil.

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=321405

[Brad K]

Yea, I saw that thread. Glad you got the game sorted out.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Yea, I saw that thread. Glad you got the game sorted out.

Well I haven't really, as I have no idea why it happened or what could happen in future. Makes no sense.

[Brad K]

Art Howe would never get a gold glove anywhere other than 1B. Nice to see Vic Davalillo pick up one for RF. How old is he?

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by luckymann

Well I haven't really, as I have no idea why it happened or what could happen in future. Makes no sense.

In my current game I've had multiple players retire and then unretire the next day and they're back in the minors with the team they broke in with. Its a big program. Lots of chances for goofy stuff.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Art Howe would never get a gold glove anywhere other than 1B. Nice to see Vic Davalillo pick up one for RF. How old is he?

Howe actually rates pretty solidly at 2B / 3B as well. He played 40 games in those positions vs 71 at 1B and spent some time down in the PSL as well.

Davallillo just finished his age 28 season. Washington traded him to Detroit mid-season and his combined slash was a solid .330 / .350 / .392 with 40 RBI. So he should be around a few years yet.

You're going to love some developments you'll be reading about in a post or two

[luckymann]

• 16/10: a big one between Boston and Chicago, with SS Mark Grudzielanek traded to the Cubs for pitcher Cy Morgan, catcher Jayhawk Owens and 2B Brent Butler.
• 01/11: pitcher Duane Pillette is shipped from the Giants to Brooklyn in exchange for pitcher Ed Hughes and catcher Sandy Martinez.
• 03/11: an interesting one, with gun reliever Ham Iburg being traded by the Phillies to the White Sox for 2B Adam Kennedy.

[luckymann]

Just a fantastic season filled with drama to the very end. The NL dominance continued, with the Senior Circuit now having won all three World Championships. Will the AL finally be able to snap their streak come season 1904? We’ll have to wait and see.

Plenty of individual highlights throughout the season. Solly Hemus and George Stone dominated AL pitchers. Rube Manning became the league’s first 25-game winner and Melido Perez was fantastic.

But the player I want to single out is Greg Gross, the Cubs’ second baseman. Greg won the NL batting title very quietly, hitting .358 and also led the league in SLG with .526, while posting the 4th best OBP with .408. He had a 4.7 WAR season and topped many of the advanced stats lists, such as OPS+ (169), wOBA (.426), wRC+ (157) and RC27 (8.3). All of this earned him 5th spot in the MVP voting and has now garnered him the 1903 Time to Shine Medal. Tempus effulgeo, Greg, be a beacon unto thyself.

To wind up a quick look at our Spotlight Players and where they’re at.

• Dickey Kerr put together another solid season, finishing 15-13 / 3.32 for the low-flying Naps.
• Ed Head also kept his form, but despite his 19-13 / 3.11 year he found himself sent down to Shreveport late in the year to give some prospects a bit of game time.
• Dave Rozema was another one who enjoyed a fruitful 1903, finishing 15-7 / 3.86.
• Raw Meat Bill Rogers was shipped from Brooklyn to the Cubs in mid-season for Richie Hebner), and had an OK year with limited usage, putting together a .320 / .371 / .421 combined slash.
• Arnold Hauser spent 1903 at Wichita Falls, where he had an OK season (.253 / 4 HR / 39 RBI).
• Curt Roberts, Arnold's teammate at the Spudders, hardly saw a pitch all year, going 2-for-3 with a ribbie.
• Otto Hess was released by Newark mid-season and quickly picked up by Houston, although he wasn’t used much there.
• And we lost another player to retirement, with Ray Starr calling it quits before the season even started.

[luckymann]

There may be just a short hiatus before the 1904 season gets underway, but I think it will be worth the wait.

Over the next few days I'll be connecting the Footnote League to Stats+, a hosting service that will give you live (well, as live as the latest upload) access to stats and reports for the Footnote League and all its players. Hopefully my tech unsavvyness won't make this process any harder than needs be and I'll be back in a few days with more FL action.

Over the past few months I have been working like crazy on my next little universe, a massive (100 team to begin with, expanding to 280 over the following 50 seasons!) NCAA-style college league known as the American Collegiate Baseball Association (ACBA) with MLB and three MiLB levels as well, commencing in 1950 with both real and fictional players. Tied in with this will be a couple of narrative threads to add a bit of a personal element to the whole (ad)venture. Once this is ready to go the ACBA will get underway.

I have also decided to take things to the next level and in the next few weeks will be launching a website that will serve as the hub for all of my OOTP goings-on.

Watch this space!

[luckymann]

Here's a little taster to whet your appetites and bide you over until season 1904. On this site you can wander around the inner workings of the Footnote League as much as you want.

FL STATS+ SITE

[Brad K]

Do you get confused when players of the same era have non correlating ages? I mean say Player 1 is five years older real life than Player 2 but in the game its reversed.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by luckymann

Over the past few months I have been working like crazy on my next little universe, a massive (100 team to begin with, expanding to 280 over the following 50 seasons!)

How many days will it take a PC to run a week?!?!?!?!?

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Do you get confused when players of the same era have non correlating ages? I mean say Player 1 is five years older real life than Player 2 but in the game its reversed.

Thankfully my knowledge of most of these players IRL is so small I don't have that issue. But I can see how it could be!

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Brad K

How many days will it take a PC to run a week?!?!?!?!?

Yeah, that is the worry. I'm on a new MacBook Pro, which should help. But further down the track it could become problematic. I toyed with the idea of no Facegens but couldn't do it. So I've just kept the logs and reports down to the barest minimum and hopefully that keeps the size manageable.

I've also kept the MLB teams to a lower number and only put 3 MiLB levels in. But at its full expansion the league will still have 400+ teams.

I'm more worried about how I'm going to be able to parse out and report what's important and interesting...