Bringing Baseball To Kansas City: An American Cicuit Online League Dynasty

[Tiger Fan]

BRINGING BASEBALL TO KANSAS CITY: An Amereican Circuit Online League Dynasty

I have done dynasty reports about my OOTP leagues and teams going all the way back to OOTP2. For most of those 20 years the dynasty's I have written focused on solo projects but over the past 2 years I have suddenly become hooked on playing in an online league. It started with a league called Figment Baseball and I am one of several league GM's who have team dynasty reports going on this board. What I love about that league other than the fact it presents a unique challenge in being stats only with no visible ratings, is the great backstory and universe history created by it's founder.

I have recently been admitted to another league which, while it has some key differences from Figment, it shares what for me is the key element to get my interest in participating in an online league. That element is an outstanding backstory and league history. The league called The American Circuit is a great adventure in story telling with a rich history. Up until joining Figment I had little interest in online league play but it's story and the history that is being shaped as we play has me hooked so when the opportunity to add the American Circuit to my online play came up I jumped at it.

Unlike Figment which is where my Brooklyn Kings dynasty comes from, the American Circuit is not stats only, ratings are visible and there are no scouts or coaches in this league. There is also no minor leagues, only the big league teams and a reserve roster. So it will certainly take some adjusting for me as even in leagues I play with ratings visible, Figment had prompted me to completely ignore the ratings and focus on the stats but I will need to readjust somewhat for this one.

The second challenge I have here with The American Circuit is, unlike in Figment when I got in on the ground floor so to speak and was a GM in the first online league season after 50 odd years of pre-history were played out, I will be walking into a league that has a decade of online play plus many years of pre-online league simmed history already under it's belt. It will take some time to familiarize myself with the league as while in historical leagues you can jump in any time and have a pretty good idea about the players, joining a fictional league mid-stream is a whole new ballgame.

Fortunately I have that time as I will be taking over an expansion team as the American Circuit prepares to expand from it's current 20 to 24 teams by adding 2 clubs next season and 2 more the following year. What that means is my team will not start play until the 1955 season and the league has currently just completed opening day 1954. This will give me an entire season (couple of months real time) to follow the league from a slight distance as I learn who the top teams and players are as well as look back at the rich history.

I have found dynasty writing really helps me 'discover' things about my leagues and familiarize myself with them so the plan is to do a semi-regular dynasty here to help flesh out the plan for my expansion Kansas City franchise. As I wait for the expansion draft I will initially just write about some of the interesting players and stories I see in the league history - which traces back to 1876 - to help me get up to speed. I will intersperse comments and plans for my Kansas City club as they come up and once we reach the off-season the focus will shift to being primarily team based. I hope you find it interesting and feel free to chime in with any comments or suggestions to help me run my club.

[Tiger Fan]

TEAMS OF THE AMERICAN CIRCUIT

While the actual details of the expansion draft format or where my Kansas City club (and fellow 1955 expansion partner Washington) will be slotted in the amateur draft have not yet been finalized I am expecting a fairly long period of very minimal success as I try to build my team from the ground up into a contender. My first step as we are in the opening sim of the 1954 season is to familiarize myself with the teams.

The league itself is made up of National Baseball League which has existed since 1876 and the American Baseball League which began in 1946. It is actually the second incarnation of the American Baseball League as a loop with the same name played as a rival to the NBL for a decade starting in 1882. It eventually folded in the 1890s with several ABL teams joining the NBL expanding that loop to 12 teams. Baseball remained with just 12 major league teams until the ABL's revival in 1946 when it was formed as an 8 team compeitor to the NBL. It was ground breaking as the ABL opened it's doors to stars of the Negro Leagues and the NBL had to quickly follow suit. Unlike in the 1880's when the two leagues were immediately at war, this time around there was an uneasy peace right from the beginning as the loops played a World Series in that first year. That first World Series was won by the senior circuit champion Philadelphia Quakers as they knocked off the ABL pennant winning San Francisco Seagulls in 6 games.

The twenty teams are presently (opening day 1954) aligned as follows:


The 20 team loop prospered in the early 1950's and by the winter prior to the 1954 season plans were officially announced to grow from 20 to 24 teams over the next couple of years. Kansas City (my team) and Washington will join for the 1955 campaign with Minneapolis-St Paul and Milwaukee coming on board for 1956.

My Kansas City squad will join the NBL Western Division along with the Buffalo club which is relocating to Dallas. The Cleveland Bobcats will move to the Eastern Division to replace the departed Beavers while Washington will also join the East.

The plan calls for further shifting in 1956 when the other new teams arrive. My Kansas City club will stay put but Detroit will leave the NBL West for the ABL East while expansion Milwaukee will join me in the NBL West. So once the dust is settled my NBL West rivals will be the Chicago Traders, Cincinnati and St Louis from the current Western Division as well as the transplanted Buffalo to Dallas franchise and expansion Milwaukee. I can see us immediately developing rivalries with our expansion brethern Milwaukee and also St Louis as a natural geographic rival.

[Tiger Fan]

EXPANSION: BIG LEAGUE BALL IS BACK IN KANSAS CITY

The announcement that Kansas City and Washington will get National Baseball League expansion franchises for the 1955 season brings back some memories of major league baseball's first visit to the Gateway to the Southwest. Kansas City will not be making it's first appearance as a big league city in this universe. The original incarnation of the All-American Baseball Association lasted for a decade beginning in 1882. A number of teams came and went during it's run including a brief two year stay for the Kansas City Cowboys.

The Cowboys did not enjoy much success, winning just 39 of 126 games in their debut season of 1886. They were slightly better the following year, going 53-73 and finishing in 6th place in the 8 team loop but that would be the last hurrah as the club folded and was replaced by a team in Milwaukee the following season. Interestingly enough Milwaukee will follow Kansas City into the NBL this time around as they will get an expansion team in 1956 and both clubs will be NBL Western Division rivals.


There are very few highlights from Kansas City's brief stay at the pinnacle of baseball. An interesting story is that of Bertie Albaugh. An 18 year old who was clearly not ready for the top level of baseball at the time, Albaugh would pitch in 49 games and post a record of 4-39 that first season. Only one pitcher in history has ever lost more games in a season than Albaugh did - Chris Jones who went 18-42 as a 32 year old for St Louis of the NBL in 1876. As for Albaugh he improved to 15-23 in his final season with Kansas City and he was obviously not too scarred by his experience as a Cowboy as Albaugh went on to pitch for 9 seasons and compile a 101-151 career record, even surpassing the 20 victory mark twice in his career.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

As of this writing a name has not been officially selected for my Kansas City club. The Bulls, Mules and Cowboys have been bandied about as popular options. With the Buffalo team rumoured to be using the moniker Wranglers when they move to Dallas that seems to rule Cowboys out because they are fairly similar. We are also not overly fond of Cowboys because the original version of the ABL had a Kansas City Cowboys franchise that was just awful. It appears the team is leaning towards being known as the Bulls but nothing has been announced officially.



Next up I am going to start to take a look at the teams that will become my opponents in the National Baseball League. First will be the St Louis Explorers, who are certain to become a strong geographical rival for my expansion team.

[DD Martin]

Looks like a good fun league, good luck. You’ll be a good addition for them as a GM. You’ve help make Figment and AA fun.

[Tiger Fan]

OUR FUTURE RIVALS - ST LOUIS EXPLORERS

While it most certainly will be one-sided for at least the first few seasons I expect our biggest rival in the National Baseball League's Western Division will be our nearest opponent geographically. The St Louis Explorers have a rich history that traces all the way back to 1882 and the start of the American Base Ball Association. That is the same league that the previously mentioned Kansas City Cowboys participated in for two very unsusccesful seasons. The Explorers, known as the St Louis Perfectos at that time were one of four teams (Baltimore, Brooklyn and Cincinnati were the others) to be invited to join the National loop when the ABBA ceased operations following the 1892 season. The move expanded the National Base Ball League into 12 teams consisting of a pair of 6 team divisions.

The name change to the current Explorers occured prior to the 1897 season but whether they were known as either the Explorers or the Perfectos there were a lot of lean seasons in the early days for the St Louis club. Over their first 33 years they never finished higher than 3rd place and were never closer then 5 games out of first when the curtain came on the season.

That finally changed in 1915 when the Explorers earned their first division title. It came as a surprise to say the least as they had lost 100 games just 6 years early and had finished 16 games back each of the previous two seasons. However the club, which had never reached as many as 90 wins in a season in their previous 33 years, finished with a 101-57 record to put them 21 games ahead of second place Cincinnati. It was the heart of the deadball era so pitching was key and the Explorers had 3 strong pitchers that season in Hampton Bunker (27-16, 2.19), Orlando Nolan (21-10, 2.56) and a 22 year old future Hall of Famer by the name of Edgar Bath (21-11, 2.84). St Louis would beat the Eastern Division champion New York Knickerbockers in 6 games to win their first World Series. A decade later the Explorers and Knickerbockers would be the class of the league and wage a number of October battles.

1915 was the beginning of the Golden Era of St Louis baseball as the Explorers would win 12 division titles and 5 World Series during the ensuing 16 years. It would also establish that aforementioned rivalry with New York but the Gotham side would get the best of the Explorers more often than not. From 1924 to 1928 they met in the World Series 5 straight years with New York coming out on top in 4 of them. St Louis had much more success against other Eastern clubs, beating Brooklyn in both 1921 and 1923 and topping Buffalo in the 1930 Fall Classic.

Brooklyn was not only kind enough to lose the World Series twice to St Louis but they also hand delivered the man who would go on to be the face of the Explorers franchise and arguably the greatest pitcher in NBL history.

Brock Rutherford made his big league debut as a 20 year old with Brooklyn in 1918. He went 15-5 the following season and then as a 22 year old he won 25 games to help Brooklyn reach the World Series where they would fall to Detroit. In 1921 Rutherford won the pitching triple crown and again led Brooklyn to the Series, but St Louis would be waiting and won in 6 games despite Rutherford tossing an 11-inning complete game 1-0 victory in his only start.

Both Brooklyn and St Louis failed to win their respective divisions in 1922 despite another strong season by Rutherford. In the fall of 1922 this happened:

In one of the head-scratching-est trades in league history, Brooklyn sent their young pitching phenom, Brock Rutherford, and a good outfielder, Antony Shipman, to St. Louis for a minor league outfielder and Emery Connelly, a 36-year-old pitcher who had not started a big league game since 1908.

*reprinted from the official history of the American Circuits.

Both clubs bounced back in 1923 and won their respective divisions with Rutherford (27-11) winning his second career pitching triple crown. The Series went the distance with St Louis prevailing despite Rutherford losing both of his starts. It was the first of 8 straight World Series appearances for the Explorers but they would win only 2 more of them. Rutherford would pitch until he was 43 years old and help St Louis to two final World Series wins late in his career when they won back to back titles over New York in 1937 & 1938. In all, Rutherford led the club to 10 division titles and 5 World Championships.

When it was all said and done Rutherford won 544 games in his career, a total only surpassed by turn of the century pitcher Royal Ricketts' 635 career victories. The pitcher of the year award, named after Ricketts, was not awarded until 1937 otherwise Rutherford would have had a boatload of them. He did win the first two with back to back 28-5 seasons at age 39 and 40. Rutherford retired following the 1941 season after winning 8 pitching triple crowns. Only one other pitcher won as many as four. He is also the career leader in strikeouts, shutouts and winning percentage as well as post-season complete games. His 13 wins were also a post-season record until surpassed by Joe Shannon of Houston but Shannon had the benefit of an extra playoff round after the addition of a second league.

So it is obvious any discussion about the history of the St Louis Explorers starts and ends with Brock Rutherford. St Louis did reach the World Series one more time after Rutherford left, falling in the full 7 games to their long-time rivals from New York but that is the only post-season appearance for the franchise since Rutherford's retirement.

The past two years St Louis has finished 3rd in the 5 team National Baseball League Western Division but they were 87-75 last year and just 5 games back of Chicago with Detroit sandwiched in between the two of them. Looking at the current (1954) version of the Explorers they have managed a pretty quick start, sitting atop the division with an 8-4 record. They have a great pitcher in 28 year old lefthander Swanee Lee (22-6, 3.00 last year) who has had 4 straight twenty-win seasons and is off to a 2-1 start this year. Their strength a year ago was their offense led by 28 year old third baseman Rod Seals (.308,25,109).

I will continue introducing you to the other franchises that Kansas City will compete against in the Western Division of the National Baseball League in the near future.

[Tiger Fan]

WHAT THE KANSAS CITY OPENING DAY ROSTER COULD LOOK LIKE

The exact terms of the expansion draft have not yet been finalized but I thought it would be interesting to do a mock draft in order to allow me to get a rough idea of just how challenging things will be with a new expansion club.

For this exercise I decided each existing team would protect 20 players and that there were no limits as to how many players could be selected from any one team. I did a best guess at the protected list for each team and then alternated selecting players by position for 2 expansion teams. Afterwards, I used a coin flip to decide which of those two teams was mine so here is a far too early look at your 1955 Kansas City Bulls. I imagine a few of the guys who made my list will be protected so would not be available in the draft but here is a rough look at what the quality might be for one of the expansion teams next year. I drafted 20 players for each expansion team and we will get 5 players each from the amateur draft. We will be forced to round out our teams with signings off the free agent heap (we are playing reserve clause era rules since it is the mid-1950s so there will not be much help in free agency.

At the bottom of this post are images showing the current ratings, career stats and 1953 stats (since the season is just 3 weeks in to the 1954 season at this point). Here is a bit of information on each of the players who comprise this "Mock" Kansas City Bulls team.

Note- I should add Bulls has not been officially announced as the club's nickname but I am expecting it will be the choice.

TOM MICUCCI - 27 year old from St Louis. 35-26 lifetime record with a 3.37 career ERA.
Micucci is a guy I could really see on an expansion club. He still has pretty good ratings and 3 solid pitches but has stamina is practically non-existent after numerous injuries. He was a former fifth overall pick who had an outstanding 10-1 sophomore campaign in 1950 despite missing 3 months of it with injury. He has pitched very little the past year and a half and is certainly injury prone but just the kind of player an established team can't afford to protect and an expansion team could take a shot on.

RICHARD MCCARTHY- 26 year old from Pittsburgh. 30-33 lifetime record with a 3.63 career ERA. A back end rotation piece at best on most teams, he might be the opening day starter for KC. He had back to back 10 win seasons for Seattle at the start of the decade but like Micucci has battled injuries the past couple of years.

KURT SCHOTT- 25 year old from Chicago Hawks 60-73 lifetime record with 4.56 career ERA. May not be exposed by Chicago as he is currently the number two starter on their team and off to a good start this year but they will have some tough choices on who to protect. Schott is a former first round pick who went 14-11 for the Hawks in 1949 and won 16 games in 1952. Had a rough 1953 season as his era ballooned and record fell to 8-14 but is off to a good start this year.

GEORGE STANLEY- 37 year old from Cincinnati. 49-45 lifetime record with a 3.43 career ERA. Stanley was part of the group that broke the color barrier in 1946 with the formation of the ABL. He started his career north of the border with Toronto before moving to Cincinnati in a 1947 trade. Stanley has not pitched much recently due to an injury plagued 1953 season. Has made a pair of All-Star game appearances.

ANGEL PIERCE- 29 year old from Buffalo. 62-72 lifetime record with a 3.89 career ERA. Most of the pitchers available are there because of past injury troubles and Pierce is no different, having missed most of the 1951 season after undergoing elbow surgery. He did start 28 games a year ago, posting a 10-15 record and the Beavers likely have a decision to make on whether to protect Pierce or Ray Underwood. Let's go with them protecting Underwood allowing Pierce to move from the bottom of the rotation in Buffalo to a mid-rotation spot in Kansas City.

WILLIE ZARATE- 27 year old from San Francisco. 76-72 lifetime record with 3.98 career ERA. The Seagulls will choose to keep younger arms like Fred Bridges and Marvin Cooper over Zarate letting the inconsistent starter be exposed. Inconsistency really does sum up his career. Zarate seems to be content to alternate between very strong seasons and losing campaigns, going 10-14, 20-10, 11-13, 17-14,12-13 over the past 5 years.

CHUBBY COPELAND- 35 year old from Chicago Traders. 25-22 lifetime record with 40 saves and a 3.10 career ERA. Copeland gets a chance to be the closer with an expansion team after having been a part of 4 World Series winners in Chicago.

ART ROBINSON- 29 year old from LA Pobladores. .245 career hitter in 537 games. Has been a backup in LA most of his career but his work ethic, decent throwing arm and leadership skills will make him a good fit to help bring the young pitchers along in Kansas City.

JESUS LUNA- 25 year old from St Louis. .226 career hitter in 107 games. Never had much of a chance to play in St Louis sitting behind 2-time all-star Walter Marshall. Decent defense and pretty patient at the plate but won't provide any power.

FRED CRUMLEY- 36 year old from LA Pobladores. .298 career hitter with 246 homers in 1149 games. Crumley would certainly be the player with the most name recognition. Another of the former Negro League stars who joined the ABL when it debuted in 1946, Crumley led the league in homers three times including 1950 when he hit a record 57 round trippers. He currently has 246 round trippers for his career and it may take an expansion team for him to become the just the fifth player to reach the 250 milestones as it appears his power has deserted him and he may not get a lot of playing time this season. He was a legend for a time in Philadelphia but has been a reserve since moving to Los Angeles for the 1953 season, hitting just .214 with 9 homers in 89 games. He is 2-for-12 with no homeruns as primarily a pinch-hitter this season. In Kansas City, Crumley's main job would be to look good in batting practice and hit some longballs, giving the fans something to cheer about, as they won't have much to cheer for most games.

PHIL CASTRO - 25 year old from Brooklyn. .222 career hitter in 76 games. Can play first or third but really needs to learn to hit more to be pencilled in the lineup for either position consistently.

CHUCK OLSEN - 24 year old from San Francisco. .210 career hitter in 256 games. With Bill Rodriguez and Ernie Oliver ahead of him on the middle infield depth chart, the Seagulls leave Olsen exposed. Terrific defense at either second or short, but like much of this roster, he may struggle at the plate.

GENE HOFF - 24 year old from Baltimore. .182 career hitter in 58 games. The Lords have some young talent in the middle of their infield and they can't protect them all so Hoff ends up moving to Kansas City. Will provide outstanding defense at second base and good leadership skills but likely won't hit a lot.

BUDDY SLAYTON - 29 year old from Montreal. .266 career hitter in 433 games. Can play shortstop or first base and was a .298 hitter in 75 games last season so might be one of the Bulls better hitters, which says more about their lack of talent than it does about Slayton's ability.

TONY CARTER - 25 year old from Brooklyn. .224 career hitter in 196 games. Second infielder the Bulls take from Brooklyn. Carter would likely be the starting third baseman and bat near the middle of the order as one of the few guys with a bit of power on the team.

JEFFERSON SALMON - 24 year old from Chicago Hawks. .251 hitter in 281 career games. Maybe a long shot the Hawks leave him exposed but Salmon looks like a perfect lead-off man for the expansion club. Very little power but exceptional speed and strong defense in centerfield, the Bulls will just need him to get on base enough to use that speed.

LARRY DRAKE - 29 year old from Los Angeles Pobladores. .235 hitter in 963 career games. Spent a number of years as a starter in Toronto before moving west and becoming a backup. Might be one of the Bulls better hitters but there will be concerns about his defense in the Kansas City outfield.

CAL RAINEY - 25 year old from Detroit. .250 hitter in 44 career games. Plucked off the Detroit reserve roster, Rainey has a strong arm in right field and may hit for some power. He will need to cut down on strike outs to play regularly however.

JOHN MIDDLETON - 25 year old from Seattle. .190 hitter in 50 career games. Hard worker looks to do a lot of things right but never got a chance in Seattle. Defense is perhaps a concern but might be one of the club's best hitters.

HUB ANDERSON - 32 year old from Houston. .265 hitter in 978 career games. With a number of good young corner outfielders on the way up the Drillers leave Anderson exposed and the Bulls are glad to take his experience from winning 4 World Series titles during his time with the Chicago Traders. Does not possess a lot of speed but is smart on the bases and solid as a corner outfielder. Never a power hitter - he hasn't homered since 1952 - but should be able to get on base.



So there you have it. An idea of what the Kansas City Bulls expansion draft might look like. This team would play pretty solid defense but will struggle at the plate and be very thin on pitching, especially if injuries again hit their mostly fragile pitching staff. The good news is, while not officially finalized, it appears the Bulls and their expansion cousin from Washington will pick at the top of the draft order meaning at least one and hopefully two if the draft class is deep enough major league ready players will join the fold.

I will likely do a second version of the mock draft after the trade deadline and it will be interesting to see what, if any effect a couple of expansion drafts coming up the next two off-seasons, have on existing teams and how they view trades.

Here are the current ratings and stats of these Mock Kansas City Bulls.

[Tiger Fan]

Here is a look at a little of the history of the American Circuits

1955 EXPANSION WILL NOT BE THE FIRST MAJOR SHAKE-UP OF THE NATIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE

The decision to expand the American Circuits from 20 to 24 teams over the next two seasons, giving birth to my Kansas City franchise, is just the latest in an ambitious plan of growth for major league baseball. A couple of posts earlier in a discussion about my potential rivals in St Louis I touched on the fact that there was a rival league to the NBBL that played in the 1880s and 1890s with 4 of those teams joining the NBBL upon the new league's demise. In 1893 the National Base Ball League expanded from 8 to 12 teams and would remain in that structure and enjoy great success until after WWII.

In 1946 the All-American Baseball Conference was created as a rival to the NBL (which had long ago shortened it's moniker from NBBL by reducing Base Ball to just one word). The AABC had eight teams initially and relied on NBL castoffs but also broke the color barrier by signing a number of top stars from the Negro Leagues. The NBL quickly followed suit and the leagues developed a peaceful co-existence almost as partners right from the beginning. That partnership included allowing the AABC winner to play in the World Series as a true championship between the winners of the two leagues. In addition an annual all-star game between the two leagues was instituted beginning with the 1947 season.

The two leagues took the next step in their partnership in 1949. Up until that point the NBL had kept it's same two division, 12 team alignment first established in 1893 but with the two leagues working together and the American loop only having 8 members it made perfect sense to move two NBL clubs to the ABL. But who would move? In the end it was the Boston Terriers and Baltimore Lords who agreed to switch leagues. The Terriers were an original team from the NBBL's first season of 1876 and one of only 3 teams that could claim that distinction (along with the Chicago Traders and New York Knickerbockers). The Lords were part of the old AABC beginning in 1882 and joined the NBBL in 1893. The 1955 expansion, which my Kansas City team will be a part of, and 1956 will each add two teams bringing both leagues to 2 divisions of 6 teams.

QUITE A DISCUSSION IN BOSTON AT THE TIME I IMAGINE

As I pour through some of the league history I have to say I find the 1949 team movement interesting and imagine there must have been some contentious discussion (not necessarily from online GM's but from fictional team owners I am thinking). I expect Boston in particular would have had some very mixed emotions before agreeing to switch leagues, although I am sure the opportunity to finally get out from under the Knickerbockers shadow really helped make the decision easier as did the likelihood of championship opportunities in the new loop. Still, I figure there must have been a lot of staunch traditionalists in New England wanting to cling on to their history as one of just 3 original teams - along with the Traders and Knickerbockers - from the original National Base Ball League. To some it probably seemed like heresy to even consider such a move to an upstart new league.

I was trying to think of some real world examples and we really don't have any in baseball. The Terriers were an original team, dating back to the NBBL's inception in 1876 - granted, not a very successful one with just 2 titles in 73 years - so you can't compare them to the real-life Brewers or Astros moves. Perhaps it would be like the Cubs instead of the Astros switching in 2013 but even that it does not quite compare because the real-life AL had well over 100 years of history where in this world the American Baseball League was only 3 years old.

I think to find the closest example of the Boston switch, along with the Baltimore Lords who had been in existence since 1882 but unlike Boston began play in an upstart league before being absorbed by the NBBL a decade later, we have to look to the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and then Baltimore Colts swapped leagues in 1970 when the NFL and AFL merge. It was technically more a swap of conferences as the NFL absorbed the AFL at that time but the Steelers with a rich but ultimately very unsuccessful history in an established league just like our Boston Terriers, seem to be the closest comparison to the Terriers flip to the ABL. Interestingly, the Baltimore Colts could nicely sub in for the Baltimore Lords to further this analogy as the Colts, like the Lords, had their franchise beginning in upstart league - in this case the All-American Football League - before being granted membership in the established NFL when the AAFC folded.

Turning back to the Terriers, I imagine there were also many in Boston who welcomed the switch. The Terriers had long been the poor step-sisters of the NBL Eastern Division and the whipping boys of the New York Knickerbockers in particular, but also to a lesser extent the Brooklyn Bluebirds. New Englanders have long hated the Yankees in real life but I imagine it must have been even worse in this universe with two metro New York teams to despise.

From 1893 when the merger occurred and the Brooklyn Bluebirds joined the Eastern Division of the league along with Boston and the New York Knickerbockers, the Bluebirds won 10 division titles and 5 league championships compared to just two divisions and two league titles for the Terriers. If the Terriers felt overshadowed by the Bluebirds just imagine the inferiority complex they had when it came to the Knicks. Both entered the league in 1876. Between 1876 and 1948 Boston finished first in the division a grand total of 2 times. The first came in 1889 when the league still had only 8 teams and was battling with the AABC and Boston won the pennant by two games over the second place Knickerbockers. The second came in 1913 when the Terriers won the East and beat the Cincinnati Packers in 7 games to win their first World Series. It was also one of only two times from 1893 thru 1948 that the Knickerbockers finished last in the 6 team division. One still has to wonder what brought a bigger smile to Bostonians faces - a Terrier title or the Knicks in the cellar? The Knickerbockers, on the other hand, were the class of the NBL, winning 24 division titles and 13 World Series between 1893 and 1948 to go along with 3 more titles won prior to the creation of divisions in 1893.

SINCE 1949

While old-timers might still grumble about tradition the switch of leagues it appears for the Boston Terriers it was the best thing that could have happened to the franchise. The Terriers, instead of being the lovable loser that could never get past New York, suddenly became the class of it's division winning three straight pennants and a pair of World Series titles. The streak would end in 1952 but the Terriers looked to start a new one last year with another pennant, their fourth in 5 years in the American Baseball League. It has not been easy as their average margin of victory in the four winning seasons was by just 2 games but Boston was suddenly a winner. Of course, Boston fans would be very quick to point out that since they left the NBL, their old foes in New York have failed to win a pennant. New York you see, unlike Boston suddenly, can't quite get over the hump. The Knickerbockers finished second three times in the past five seasons - finishing on average over those 3 years, 2 games back - same as Boston's average margin of victory in the other league over that span. Are the tides turning and the Terriers about to replace the Knickerbockers as baseball's dominant team?

I am not so sure about that last sentence as at the time of this writing - May 10, 1954 - both the Terriers and Knickerbockers lead their respective divisions. Imagine the excitement- and decades of feeling like second class citizens- a Terrier win over the Knickerbockers in a World Series could do for the psyche of the Boston sports fan.

[Tiger Fan]

KANSAS CITY CONNECTION TO AMERICAN CIRCUITS

I have already mentioned there very briefly was a team based in Kansas City during the 1880s so there is a little bit of a background for big league baseball in the city. A longtime Negro League team and also a few different minor league clubs also flourished in Kansas City but surprisingly I have discovered there have been very few American Circuits baseball players come from the area. Just 5 in fact with 3 coming from the east side of the Missouri river and two others who were born in Kansas City, Kansas.

Dan Charles would be the better known of the two retired Kansas City natives. The lefthander actually led the NBL in appearances in both 1934 and 1935. He appeared in 560 games during a career with Baltimore that stretched from 1926 thru 1942 but he worked out of the bullpen for all but 36 of those appearances, compiling a 59-65 record with a 4.53 career era. Charles made his only all-star appearances at age 41 in the final season of his career.

Erastus Beckman was an outfielder from Kansas City who spent parts of 4 seasons in the NBL. A centerfielder, Beckman only played in 96 games during that time and hit under his weight at .173. He was with Pittsburgh from 1904-06 and then resurfaced for 18 games with Buffalo in 1911.

The other three are still active and perhaps one or more will find their way into a Bulls uniform in the future.

Fred Phelps, like Beckman and Charles, hails from the Missouri side, and is now a 34 year old relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Quakers. He joined the Quakers in 1942 and has a 56-60 career record in 587 appearances but only 9 starts. He is a two-time all-star and was a member of the Quakers World Series winning 1946 club, tossing 3 and a third innings of scoreless relief in that series. He also pitched in the 1948 and 1951 World Series.

Both Leo Beckwith and Sal Chambers come from the Kansas side of the border. The 26 year old Beckwith is still trying to find his way in the league with the New York Knickerbockers, who selected him in the 4th round of the 1949 draft. He made his Knick debut in 1952 and the shortstop has appeared in 41 career games batting an impressive .395. He is on the Knickerbockers roster this season but has been rarely used, going 2-for-9 on the year.

Chambers is a much travelled 28 year old lefthander who was originally drafted by St Louis after playing his college ball locally at UMKC. He pitched briefly in parts of two seasons for the Explorers before being released following spring training 1950. Toronto signed him and he pitched his first (and only to-date) shutout for the Hurons in 1950 when he went 4-5. Chambers split 1951 between Toronto and Philadelphia, going 5-4 with a 6.46 era before moving on to the Montreal organization. He is presently in the minors (reserve roster) but did pitch for the Habitants last season, going 1-4 with a 5.47 era. Career numbers for the now 27 year old are 12-18 with a 5.09 era.

Ideally, I would like to have at least one of the local products on the field when the Bulls debut next April.

[Tiger Fan]

AMATEUR DRAFT POOL REVEALED

September 13, 1954

It has been a bit since my last update as I have really not had much to do but observe as the league plays out the 1954 season in advance of my Kansas City Bulls joining as an expansion team in 1955. I have done a few more mock drafts as I try to get a handle on the type of players I expect to be available but with the details of the draft format still not finalized (How many players each of the 20 established teams can protect being the big question mark) it is all very much just guesswork from me at this point as I have no idea exactly who will be available to join the Kansas City Bulls.

That has changed today, at least in a small part. While the expansion draft details are still a ways away the first-year player draft pool has been finalized and released. My Bulls and our expansion brethren from Washington will pick first and second in each of the five rounds. I believe the plan is a coin flip type option to determine which of us picks first in the expansion draft with the other team picking first in the rookie draft. Either way, I know the Bulls will choose no worse than second in the amateur draft.

Unfortunately, the early word I am hearing is this is a pretty weak crop of rookies, at least at the top end as there does not seem to be a dominant player or two. I am not certain how it compares to past drafts as I have not seen previous draft classes in this league, and the only other fictional online league I play is stats-only with no visible ratings so this will be a new experience for me. I can say that my initial thought when looking at the pool was my first pick will not be as good a player as I had hoped.

NARROWING DOWN CANDIDATES TO BE MY FIRST PICK

I spent sometime this weekend going through the draft pool and I believe I have narrowed my choice down to 1 of 4 players. I don't mind sharing that here as I know none of the four will survive the first round and at this point I honestly have no idea which of the four I should be leaning towards taking.

Before the pool was released my thinking going in was I want the best pitcher in the draft. I figure it is much easier to fill position player needs than it will be to get a true number one starter. The problem is this draft does not really have that. There are two pitchers I like and both are on my shortlist of four candidates to be my first rounder but each has some negatives to him. There are no 5-star talents in this class with the closest being two pitchers that are 4-star guys. One is a reliever with only 2 serviceable pitches so I ruled him out immediately but the other one is very intriguing. There are also a pair of shortstops that look impressive and the top guy in the mock draft is a centerfielder. I am thinking I will drop the centerfielder from contention for some reasons I will outline below but here is a look at him and each of the 4 players I am considering at this point.


PAUL JABLONOWSKI - CF Sonora (CAL) HS. 18 years old Mock Draft #1
Jablonowski tops the mock draft and seems like a pretty safe bet to be a very good major league outfielder. He has outstanding speed so I expect he can be a plus-defender in center field for years to come. Not sure he will get on base enough to be a lead-off man but should be decent player. My concern is with a first or second overall pick I want more than just a decent player, I want a future star and while I think Jablonowski will be good, I have my doubts that he will be great. Jablonowski has no high school stats to assess as I expect he was a player added to the poll late to increase the class size to account for the two expansion clubs.


JERRY SCHONFELD - SS Florida State 21 years old Mock Draft #4
The defensive skills are what draw me to Schonfeld. Likely won't be a great hitter but I always try to build my teams around a great defensive shortstop and Schonfeld fits that bill. Might have a bit of pop in his bat when he matures as well. He hit 15 homers and batted .258 in his second season of college ball.



MIKE JACKSON- SS Marist College 22 years old Mock Draft #5
Looks to be very comparable defensively to Schonfeld but with perhaps a little better batting average and much less power. Jackson hit better in college than Schofeld (.312 batting average and a .406 OBP) plus stole 36 bases, although his competition at Marist would have been much lower than the teams Schonfeld faced at Florida State.


BILLY NEAS - LHP University of Arizona 20 years old Mock Draft #13 (#1 pitcher)
A 20 year old who is in this draft despite only being in his sophomore season at Arizona. He has no college stats so he was one of the players our commissioner needed to add to the draft pool to fill it out because extras were needed due to the two additional teams. He is rated 4-star potential - tops in the draft - and I love everything about him except I get a big red flag when I see his 45 stamina rating. How will that affect his ability to be a top flight starting pitcher? Otherwise, he has 3 very strong pitches plus a mediocre change up and really strong potential for stuff, movement and control.



EARL ALTON - RHP Georgia Tech 24 years old Mock Draft #19 (#2 pitcher)
Alton has great numbers at Georgia Tech this season, 7-3 with a 2.60 era and a 1.19 WHIP to go with a 9.7 K/9 while walking just 33 in 93 innings of work. I know it means nothing in the game but Georgia Tech must have been a power this season in college ball as Alton is one of 4 Yellow Jacket starting pitchers in the draft pool. The others are Jeff Butler (6-3,2.77), Chuck Porter (6-2, 2.44) and Bruce Wilmoth (6-6, 4.29). Butler and Porter are both projected as second round talents.
As for Alton, he has 3 very good pitches already and a change up that may or may not develop. He has a better stamina rating then Neas but seems to fall just below him in upside potential with each of his pitches and his stuff/movement/control. One other big different between them is age. Alton is 24: 3 and a half years older than Neas. Not sure if that should matter much but does drafting Neas buy me two or three more seasons on the back end of his career? Neas also has a personality rating that indicates he is a hard worker while Alton seems to be a more reserved, keep to himself type player. Again, not sure if that matters. What I do find does matter to me is Neas is a groundball pitcher, something I look for while Alton is more neutral.

SUMMARY

Those are the guys I am considering. Anyone reading this who wants to weigh in with an opinion please do so. I am hoping the expansion draft occurs before the first year player draft as who I get in that might steer me towards or away from the two shortstops. I was leaning pitcher right from when I joined the league. I just wish there was a one with no questions marks. Had Neas been given a stamina rating of 60-65 I think he would be a no brainer for me to select, but he has a 45 and that scares me a bit.

My next update will likely not be until the expansion draft rules are finalized and the available players revealed. Thanks for following along and I would love to hear which prospect you think I should take.

[DD Martin]

Man your right that really isn’t a great class. For men the 24 year old pitcher would be out for me on an expansion team. Odds are you are going to have to build a good young development core (actually this is a scenario I’d have loved to get) and take your lumps. For that reason I’d be looking at the Marist SS and the other SP. Not sure what the others in the top 10 in the mock look like, but based on the 5 you threw out that’s where I’d be looking.

[kq76]

I normally hate picking a P high, but in this situation I'd have to go Neas. The 45 stamina doesn't worry me that much.

After that I'd go Schonfeld. I like his defense too, but I love work ethic. Even if they don't work out, at least I can say, well, it wasn't because of the work ethic.

Lastly, I don't think you're giving Jablo enough credit. If his contact (and gap!) turns out, who cares about the eye. His defense should improve and you can't teach speed. My worry is that low intelligence and that low current ability.

[Clemente21PIT]

I hope you're able to have an expansion draft before this amateur draft too -- given that you don't know what you need for the team yet, it's extra hard for you to make a good decision here and I don't envy you.

I always build my teams around pitching and defense in my solo games. I like SP Neas and SS Schonfeld for those reasons, but with no one on the roster yet, I'd probably take Neas over Schonfeld because in my opinion, good young pitching is harder to find (similar to what you mentioned your views were). Both Neas and Schonfeld are the younger members of your shortlist (outside of Jablonowski) and have personality traits that I seek in drafts myself (work ethic). It doesn't hurt that Neas is a groundballer and you have a stated interest in building defensive-minded lineups. For Schonfeld, something in his favor is his defensive versatility. I could see him as a good power plus plate discipline second-baseman actually (and at 5'7" he reminds me of Dustin Pedroia), but his versatility in the outfield can't hurt either. You may be in situations as an expansion team where the best players available via trade or what have you play shortstop, so being able to move Schonfeld to another position easily could be a great benefit.

[Tiger Fan]

September 27, 1954

KC GM IS A TRADER- OR A TRAITOR IN KANSAS CITY PAPERS

A major development has caused quite a turn for me in the American Circuits online league. I had mentioned to DD Martin, who is also in Figment Baseball with me, that the Chicago Traders might be coming up. He was tops on the waiting list and was to be offered the team. He mentioned to me he was looking forward to it but wished he was getting an expansion team instead. So, I offered to switch and as a result I am no longer preparing to stock my Kansas City Bulls club in the expansion draft but instead focusing on creating a protected list for my Chicago Traders.

I really liked the idea of building with an expansion team but what first caught my interest about the American Circuits was it's rich history, and there are few teams in baseball with a richer history than the Chicago Traders. Only the mighty New York Knickerbockers have been more successful than the Traders and both clubs were charter members of the league dating back to 1876. Originally known as the Haymakers, the Chicago franchise won the first ever National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs pennant and have added 14 more titles since then, including 4 World Series titles and 5 pennants in the past 8 years.

However, even though they are less than a year removed from their most recent championship, I will have my work cut out for me in the Windy City. A retooling of sorts was started by my predecessor last winter when 7 time Royal Ricketts Award winner Joe Shannon was dealt to Houston in a blockbuster deal. Shannon, now 34, is still going strong as he has posted a 25-10 record for the Drillers with a week remaining in the 1954 campaign. It is the 11th consecutive year that Shannon has won at least 20 games. While we lost our ace in the deal, the Traders did get a solid young lefthander in 23 year old Thornton Shadwell in return as well as a couple of other players and Houston's first and second round draft picks which should aid in the retooling.

Shadwell is 14-14 for us so far this year, a season which has been a disappointing season for the Traders. At 74-82 as of this writing, it will be the first season the club has finished below .500 since 1946 and just the second time since 1929 the Traders will have lost more games than they won.

Our biggest star is also nearing the end of the line. Melbourne Trench who is the American Circuits career homerun leader with 393 is now 38 years old and this season he will post the lowest batting average of his incredible career that dates back to 1935. Trench is hitting .256 this year and is surely a first ballot Hall of Famer one day. He owns 5 World Series rings and is an 8 time all-star. As long as he does not retire over the winter, Trench will be back and looking to hit his milestone 400th homer in a Chicago Trader uniform.

I do have a lot of decisions to make on my protected list and to start looking forward to the draft, where I will own 4 of the first 35 or so picks including a pair likely in the middle of the first round.

So this dynasty focus will shift slightly in that it will now revolve around continuing the great tradition of winning that Chicago fans have come to expect from the Traders. Who knows, maybe DD Martin will stop in to keep us informed on how things are unfolding in Kansas City. Either way, we will see plenty of the Bulls as they will be joining my Traders in the NL West Division next season.

[DD Martin]

I haven't decided yet if I will continue the KC story here. Tiger Fan gave me permission to continue the thread he started. I will cover at least a few things.

The Kansas City Times

The new Kansas City Baseball Club has announced their new team name as voted on by the fans. There were several quality submissions including the Monarchs, Bison, Renegades and Blues. But the winner of the name the team contest goes to Cynthia A McIntosh of Kansas City who was one of many who submitted the name of the Kansas City Bulls. So the Bulls will now be running wild in the streets of KC at Independence Park.

The Kansas City Times

Bulls Pick 1st in Expansion Draft

The Bulls had the 1st overall pick in the expansion draft as they and their expansion cousins in Washington DC attempt to fill out their rosters. With the 1st pick in the draft, the Bulls selected former St. Louis OF Orlando Gutierrez (25). Gutierrez was originally drafted in the first round of the 1951 draft (#16 overall) by the Explorers. After about half a season he took over the starting 1B job and hit 280 with 5 homeruns and 43 RBI's. He continued at 1B in 1953 hitting 286 with 21 home runs and 87 RBI's. This last season he moved to the outfield and primarily played LF. He came into his own as well being named to the All-Star team and hitting 336/391/923 with 21 home runs and a career high 98 RBI's. He will immediately slot into LF and bat 4th in the expansion team's lineup.

The Washington team then selected 2 players and then it was KC's turn once again. KC had been eyeing both players taken by Washington as they took OF Jimmy Crawford and C Bill LaFleur both from Brooklyn.

KC then took someone who many were surprised that was available in SP Harry Vickers (Boston) and little known SS John Mincks (19). Many scoffed at the Mincks pick and he is a bit of a project, but KC management likes him for the long term. KC then selected 2 more St Louis Explorers in SP Doug Hansen and RP Ray McGuire.

Below are the players that were taken by KC in the expansion draft by position.

Pitchers -
Harry Vickers (29) Boston
Doug Hansen (24) St. Louis
Ray McGuire (27) St. Louis
Rick Welle (20) Toronto
Paul McCullough (22) Seattle
Jimmie Johnson (27) Montreal
Stan Collier (21) Baltimore
Ed McDermott (23) Cleveland
Manny Garter (22) Cleveland
Milo Crowell (29) Chicago Traders

Catchers
Joe Benjamin (27) Chicago Hawks
Eddie Tobin (20) Pittsburgh

Infielders
IF Ray Jones (30) Cleveland
SS John Mincks (21) LA
3B Phil Castro (26) Brooklyn
SS Stan Thompson (28) LA
1B Roy Dunphy (21) San Francisco
2B Larry Salt (22) Chicago Traders
3B Phil Martin (19) San Francisco
2B Al Campbell (30) Pittsburgh

Outfielders
OF Orlando Gutierrez (25) St. Louis
OF Bob Femire (21) San Francisco
OF/3B Robin Fry (28) Montreal
CF Alex Saucedo (26) Detroit
*CF Will Troy (28) Toronto

The Kansas City Times
Expansion Team announces first trade

The Bulls announced after the expansion draft that OF Will Troy who was drafted in the 9th round of the expansion draft from Toronto will be sent to
the Dallas Wranglers for a 3rd round draft pick. The deal appears to have been agreed too by both parties prior to the draft. Dallas 3rd round pick will be the #4 pick in the 3rd round (#48 overall).

[Tiger Fan]

Looking forward to seeing the Bulls progress and can't wait to find out who Kansas City selects with the second pick in the rookie draft.

[Tiger Fan]

While I encourage DD Martin to keep us informed on the Bulls progress I will pop in now and then with an update on their soon to be division rivals to the north. As you may recall from above I moved to the helm of the Chicago Traders when that team opened up and DD took over my old spot building the expansion Kansas City Bulls.

I also posted earlier I thought I had picks 8 and 10 in the first round of the draft but it turns out my predecessor in Chicago dealt both of those picks for the guy who's player page is attached below.

The deal, done in spring training a year ago had sent two first round picks (which turned out to be 8th and 10th overall) and a marginal third baseman from my team to the cross-town Chicago Hawks in exchange for this pitcher and a third round pick.

Now, I don't have the experience in this league to judge this trade as I am told injuries are rampant among pitchers so durable guys like Vanderveer trade at a premium and I am also told my predecessor with the Chicago Traders did an excellent job of trading. I will say there was no way I would deal two first round picks for a pitcher like this but time will tell how he turns out.

As a result I did not own the 8th and 10th pick as expected. I did not have a first rounder but I did have two second round picks which I packaged to Toronto in order to move up and get the 18th pick of the opening round. I had been trying to get as high as I could with my limited resources because there was a catcher in the draft I really wanted. I did not get him as he went 8th -(Uggh. In the spot that originally would have been mine had the deal for Vanderveer not been made).

Here is how my draft went.
I will start by saying it was very interesting and something quite different for me that will take some adjustment. Despite playing OOTP forever that was the first fictional player draft with visible ratings I have ever done. My other online leagues are either historical, in which case I will glance at the star ratings but primarily draft players based on what I know of their careers, or stats-only. And in solo play when I do run a team instead of just simming as the commissioner I always turn ratings off and go only by stats and scouting reports.

So this one was a challenge and there is so much I need to figure out with perhaps the primary thing being to remember to look at ratings instead of college/HS stats and scouting reports. I will struggle for a while with things like which pitching ratings are most important (stuff, movement or control?) and can things like range, error or double play ratings improve or are they basically static. There will be a learning curve but, aside from a few wild discrepancies, most of the guys on my draft list were selected near where I had slotted them so perhaps the learning curve won't be as steep as I fear. But it was fun and with ratings visible or not I stil really had quite an internal debate over which out of 2 or 3 guys to select each time my pick came up. I was also very impressed how quickly we progressed through the draft so for that credit goes to all of the great GM's in this year. It is even more impressive it took only 3 days to complete when you consider New Years Eve fell right in the middle of the draft. These GMs are obviously dedicated which will likely make my job of trying to restore the tradition of exellence set by the Traders teams of the past.

BREAKING DOWN THE TRADERS DRAFT

1-18 RHP TOBY CHAMBERS: #16 on my draft board. I had traded up sending my two second round picks to the Toronto Hurons for this pick with the plan that I wanted catcher Jerry Bischoff. I had no idea if he would last that long (he didn't) but felt the high school product from Connecticut could be a great hitting (for his position) catcher. I have 7-time all-star Billy Hall but he will be 34 next season and could be starting to show signs of slowing down and beyond him I have no one on my roster I can trust as the backup catcher so the plan was Bischoff would fill that role and take over as Hall faded. My backup plan was to get a decent pitching prospect with Witt, Moser, Danvers, Chambers and Elsner all in the mix. Chambers would be the highest pitcher remaining on my board when my turn came up.

As for Chambers himself, the scouting report calls the high schooler out of Miami a potential #2 starter. He is just 18 so will be a project but has a pair of plus pitches in his screwball and sinker along with 2 others in a curve and slider. He is a groundball pitcher, which is something I always look for and my hope is he can become a very good middle of the rotation guy eventually. The one thing that scares me is he is a high school pitcher and in my other league high school arms often run into injury and do not pan out.

3-8 C DAVE WELSH: #72 on my draft board. I did not get the first round catcher I needed and felt no other backstop in the class was worthy of first round consideration so the decision was I would draft for need and take the best available catcher here. I had Castro, Estes and Potts in that order but all three went in the middle of the second round so I was in scramble mode. Welsh was a guy I initially put on my list because he hails from London, Ontario - a city I live 15 minutes from right now. He was right near the bottom of my list at 72nd and quite possibly would have been available when I next picked at 3-22 so I was heavily debating between him, SS Keith Fulmer and OF Walt Minnick. I figured I could not wait as there were no other catchers that made my list so I went with the hometown kid. Welsh is no future starter but hopefully can be a servicable backup. I need his eye to develop to the point where he can get on base enough to make up for a low contact tool. His arm is also below average but he is instantly my backup by default unless I can grab someone off the waiver wire.

3-22 1B JIMMY MCCOLLUM: #66 on my draft board. It is no secret Melbourne Trench is in the homestretch of his career and if the Traders get off to a poor start there is a good chance he will be traded shortly after he gets his 400th career homerun but before the end of July deadline. The Traders need to look for an eventual successor at first. I don't say replacement as it is clear that no one player can replace the most prolific homerun hitter in the game. Jimmy McCollum, a 21 year old out of Fresno State, will certainly not replace Trench but the hope is McCollum could develop his other tools enough so that his above average power can find a spot in our lineup, at least as a stopgap until we find someone else to replace Trench. There were several pitchers including my fifth round pick Johnny Baggs still available on my list when I drafted McCollum but I thought I would take a chance on the first baseman who hit 11 homers each of his 2 seasons of college ball. Only two players in the current draft class: Virginia's Bob Anderson and Long Beach State's Bill Marks hit more homers this season then McCollum. I likely would have taken Anderson over McCollum had he not been selected by Boston 5 picks ahead of me although I was very much debating it as my pick approached. I had Anderson well ahead of McCollum (30th) on my draft board due to his fielding skills and higher batting eye potential but McCollum feels like a slightly more finished prospect at this point. Marks, who would go a round later to Toronto, was not in the mix for me at this juncture of the draft.

5-8 P JOHNNY BAGGS: #57 on my draft board. Baggs was about the last man standing on the list I inputted into stats plus. Yes, his name seems more suitable for a middle man who delivers the cash for a group of mobsters but he is durable (and I tell my self that is great every time I think of Greg Vanderveer), has four pitching including what hopefully will become a very good curve ball and has great stamina. Unfortunately, it appears most of his pitches - perhaps even the curve - are a little too straight right now as he likes to serve up souviners for fans in the outfield bleachers a little too often for my tastes as his 13 homers allowed last season at the University of Minnesota were among the the most allowed in the NCAA a year ago.

That completes my first draft at the helm of the Chicago Traders. Overall it's not too bad I hope but certainly could have been much better, especially if we had been able to land Bischoff. What hurts even more with Bischoff is he went 8th to the Chicago Hawks - in the draft slot I would have had were it not for the infamous Vanderveer trade. (And Billy Ray, who was taken 10th by the Hawks with the other selection the Traders dealt was very high on my list as well).

I also wonder if I will regret not drafting one of shortstops Mike Jackson and Jerry Schonfield with my first round pick (note if you want to look at their player pages they are posted a little earlier in this thread when I was discussing who KC should take first overall). I was very high on both right from my mock drafts when I was still anticipating running the KC Bulls and I had each in my final draft list top 5 along with pitchers Neas and Alton and CF Jablonowksi, I really did not look at them closely in the final draft as the expectation was both would be gone when I picked at 18 and I was laser focused on Bischoff or the best pitcher I could get. As it turned out they both hung around very long and neither was drafted until the second round. As for Jablonowski I was looking at him again as my first round pick approached especially as Witt, Moser and Danvers fell off the board but the decision between Jablonowski - who was #1 in the mock draft - and an arm was made for me when St Louis took the outfielder 2 picks ahead of me at 16.