1871 re-imagined

[RMc]

The perennial champions from Cleveland slipped into third place in '82, but you couldn't blame Jim Creighton: the 42-year-old again lead the National with 27 wins, while batting .410. However, their southern neighbors from Cincinnati had their best season since their legendary undefeated squad of thirteen years earlier, claiming their first league pennant, seven games clear of defending champions Athletic:



The Tri Mountain-Athletic quarterfinal was something of a bore, with Boston ahead, 1-0, after six innings. Then in the seventh, Tri Mountain broke open the game with five runs -- only to see Philly storm back with six of their own, then take the lead in the eighth. Boston jumped ahead again with two in the ninth...and then, Jimmy Buck lashed a two-run single to put Athletic in the semifinals, 8-7.

In the other quarterfinal, Eureka of Newark, four-time American Cup champion, made their first Centennial Cup playoff. Unfortunately, they would be facing Cleveland and You-Know-Who. Bid McPhee managed a two-run triple off Big Jim in the fourth, but that was all they could get as Paul Hines drove in a pair of runs in Forest City's 5-2 win.

In Game 1 of the semis, Philadelphia's Jim Whitney, who had sat out the entire 1881 season due to whooping cough and scurvy (but won 22 games in '82) held Forest City to five hits in a 2-1 win. The second game was all Big Jim, as Creighton hit a long, two-run homer in the second inning, then allowed Athletic only six hits in a 7-3 triumph, evening the series.

The rubber match quickly became a pitcher's duel between Whitney and Forest City's John Riley, the goat of last year's Cup Final. Both men were magnificent, with only a single tally: in the fourth, the A's Joe Quest was safe on a fielder's choice, stole second, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on George Lines' single. But Cleveland just couldn't get anything going against Whitney, who allowed only a single runner past first base all day. When Whitney struck out Tom Forker swinging to end the game, the crowd at Centennial Park went wild, while the handful of Forest City fans realized that, for the first time in five years, their team would not play for the Cup.



The first game of the newly-extended Centennial Cup Final was the wildest on record: 22 runs, 24 hits, 13 errors -- all Cup Final records -- and a reported five heart attacks in the overflowing crowd of 23,571 at the Palace of the Fans. The Reds held a 10-7 lead going into the ninth, but three hits and three errors later, Athletic stormed to a 12-10 advantage. "Change" pitcher Bobby Mathews -- who came over from Fort Wayne late in the campaign -- set Cincy down in order, and the A's had a shocking road win to take 1-0 series lead.



If the Red Stockings faithful were shocked at the outcome of the first game, they were horrified after the second contest. Jim Whitney continued to be brilliant, garner in as many starts in the playoffs by allowing only three runs -- while driving in two with a pair of triples. The A's now had an improbable 2-0 series lead, with the Cup Final headed to the City of Brotherly Love.



Since the Cup was now a best-of-seven affair, Cincinnati wasn't technically a game away from elimination; still, they played as if their backs were against the wall, as they got three hits from Cal McVey in a 5-3 win. The Reds also took advantage of five A's errors; only two of the five runs allowed by Athletic pitcher Tim Keefe were earned. Still, Philly lead, 2-1, with the next two games in Centennial Park.

[szathkey]

Originally Posted by szathkey

Love the premise.

I too also like to start in 1871 and am curious what you did to set this up with those players. Did you extend the excel sheet backward and import? Did you manually add?

If you added pre-1871 stats I'm assuming you used excel to add all these players and would be interested in the actual process of how you set up the world...More importantly, if you would be able to share those resources as a "mod" of sorts.

Hi there! Don't want my post to get lost...Love what you are doing...looking to do something similar.

Thanks in advance!

[RMc]

Guy Hecker has exploded onto the scene as the National's newest star. The Red Stockings' rookie pitcher/first baseman won 26 games in '82, as well as batting .347. In Game 4 of the Cup Final, he pulled Cincy even with a brilliant performance, scattering five hits in a 4-1 win, to even the Final at two games apiece.



The fifth game of the Cup Final was also the last contest to be held in Philadelphia for the season, and it was looking like the Red Stockings would complete a three-game sweep in Centennial Park, abusing Bud Fowler and racing to a 6-2 lead in the fifth. But the A's fought back with two in the bottom of the fifth, then cut the lead to 6-5 in the seventh as Andy Parker singled, advanced on a passed ball, moved to third on a groundout, then scored on an error. In the ninth, Jim Whitney (playing left field to-day) knocked a ball over George Gore's head and came all the way around to score, tying the game at six! Free base ball!

But, hold on: the Reds took the lead in the tenth as the Freshest Man on Earth, Mr. Arlie Latham, singled and later came home on Gore's hit. But...hold on some more! Ed Duffy led off the bottom of the frame with a triple, followed by a game-tying double by Andy Parker. Two batters later, Wes Fisler hit an easy ground ball to Cincy 2B George Wright...but the legendary 35-year-old booted the ball, allowing Athletic to win, 8-7, putting Philly in the driver's seat with a 3-2 Cup Final lead.



Game 6 at the Palace of the Fans, with another record crowd, and Whitney facing Hecker. It was quiet for four innings, until both teams put a trio of runs on the scoreboard, thanks to two-run doubles by Fowler (Philly) and Gore (Cincy). The A's went ahead in the seventh on George Lines' RBI single scoring Ed Duffy, and maintained that 4-3 lead until the bottom of the ninth.

Now, with their backs truly up against the wall, the Reds had to respond. The tiring Whitney promptly gave up a leadoff double to Jim O'Rourke and a game-tying single by Cal McVey. Three batters later, the bags were loaded with McVey at third and Hecker batting. Whitney proceeded to uncork a wild pitch, giving the Red Stockings a 5-4 win and forcing a seventh game.



And what a finale it was! Everyone was thrilled with Game 7 -- except the hurlers, Tim Keefe for Athletic and Hugh Campbell for the Red Stockings, both of whom were cashiered before the contest ended, as both team's batters put on a show. Through five and a half, Athletics was on top, 8-6, but in the bottom of the sixth, Keefe came completely apart before being replaced by Bobby Mathews. But Mathews was no help, allowing a bases-clearing triple to Gore to give Cincy a 12-8 lead. Athletic's George Lines cut the lead to 12-10 with a two-run double, and Jimmy Buck got on in the ninth, but the Reds' James McDermott -- the 37-year-old who'd spent most of his career with the woeful Kekionga club -- struck out Ed Duffy to give Cincinnati the Cup! What a series! What a comeback! What a glorious game, this sport of base ball...!

[RMc]

Jim Creighton wins his eighth MVP award, but not his eighth PoY; that honour goes to young Tim Keefe:




Meanwhile, the American adds two new teams: the Worcester Ruby Legs and the Syracuse Chiefs. (Editor's note: Apparently, the Worcester club was never called the Ruby Legs, but was misidentified as such years later. I don't care.)

[RMc]

Love the premise.

I too also like to start in 1871 and am curious what you did to set this up with those players. Did you extend the excel sheet backward and import? Did you manually add?

If you added pre-1871 stats I'm assuming you used excel to add all these players and would be interested in the actual process of how you set up the world...More importantly, if you would be able to share those resources as a "mod" of sorts.

Thanks!

I identified about 120 players who played for real professional teams in 1869-70 but not in the real National Association, then created fictional players and painstakingly gave them correct names (sometimes having to make up first names) as well as positions and stats. The big exception, of course, is Jim Creighton, a legendary player who actually died at age 21 in 1862; he was considered both the best hitter and best pitcher (by a wide margin) at the time of his passing. (You'll find that Creighton often gets resurrected in these early baseball simulations, cuz nobody can ever resist!) I thought Jim would have a solid but short career in my simulation, as he was already 30 years old in 1871, but he's still going strong into his forties!)

I do have (very) rudimentary stats [basically, a homemade version of OPS+ and little else] going all the way back to 1857, but I don't know how to create a database from them, or how to "staple" them to the front of the current database.

Thanks for reading!

[szathkey]

I also add Jim Creighton back into every play through. He fights out MVP voting with Ross Barnes or Cap Anson most of the time.

You didn’t happen to save the beginning of your league as a QuickStart did you? I would love to be able to play around with this, and I am so very interested in this playthrough.

If not, I know you said don’t ask for the stats…but I’d love the stats! The only difference between what you are doing and what I’m doing is that I’m actually GMing from 1871 on.

Like I said, big fan of this.

[RMc]

I wanted to upload the quickstart, but I can't figure out how: it won't let me upload entire folders, just individual files. (Li'l help?) And I wanted to upload the NABBP stats, but the xls file is more than 1 MB, and that's apparently the limit. Grr.

Anyway, the universe is about to explode with lots more leagues and teams -- the number of available players will double in 1884 and double again in 1887 -- so I'm going to take a wider view and try not to get tied up in too much minutiae.

[RMc]

Despite another brilliant season from Jim Creighton (29 wins, .383 AVG), Cleveland Forest City couldn't deliver a pennant in 1883 -- in fact, they weren't even the best team called "Forest City":



In the AA, Elizabeth took their fourth straight pennant, while the new club from Syracuse beat Providence in a one-game playoff to take the final playoff spot:



American Cup playoffs

Syracuse 6, Washington 0 (Jake Seymour: 5-hit shutout)
Brooklyn 6, Baltimore 5 (11 innings; wild pitch allows go-ahead run)

Brooklyn 7, Syracuse 3 (BKN: 4 runs in 8th)



In the American Cup Final, George Derby scattered seven hits as Resolute took their first Cup in seven years with a 5-1 win.

[RMc]

In the quarterfinals, Rockford jumped to a 5-0 lead after three innings and cruised to a 9-3 win over Atlantic, while Cleveland made it an all-Forest City semifinal by crushing Athletic, 9-0. Ezra Sutton had a home run and a double, driving in five runs.

In the beat-of-three Semifinals, it was case of Chick Fulmer and the Lucky Sevens. Fulmer homered in each game as Forest City put up seven tallies in each contest: enough to down Rockford 7-4 and 7-2, with You-Know-Who getting the win in the second game.



The Cup Final was yet another incredible base ball battle. In game 1 in Cincinnati, the two clubs tallied 21 runs on 30 hits through 8 1/2 innings...but it wasn't enough, not until Dan Brouthers' two-run single gave the Red Stockings a 12-11 win. Forest City and Creighton got revenge in the second game with a 9-4 victory, knotting the series and sending it to Cleveland. In the third game, the Reds' Guy Hecker drove in two runs and allowed only one in a 7-1 triumph.

Then came Game 4...ah, Game 4, which may well be the greatest game in Jim Creighton's -- or anybody's -- base ball career.





No, your eyes don't deceive you: the Red Stockings sent 27 men to bat, and all 27 came back to the dug out frustrated. It was literal perfection...the first perfect game in Centennial Cup history, and only the second in NA history (Bobby Mitchell had twirled one for St. Louis against the Mutual Club back in '79). And what did Big Jim have to say about his amazing feat? "All it does is tie the series. We still have work to do!"

The work continued the next day in Game 5, and when Forest City scored three runs in the opening inning, many fans thought that Cincy would simply roll over...but the Red Stockings had other ideas, scoring four runs in the top of the eighth to turn a 4-1 deficit in an eventual 5-4 triumph, and a 3-2 series lead. Creighton was back in the pitcher's box for the sixth game, and although he wasn't perfect, allowing three runs on eight hits, Cleveland took advantage of seven Cincy errors to pull out a 4-3 win. Diamond Jim helped his own cause with three hits and a run scored.

[RMc]

The seventh game of the 1883 Centennial Cup Final was held in front of a packed house at the Palace of the Fans, and the Red Stockings put up runs in the first and third innings off Forest City starter Joe Blong. Cleveland finally broke through in the ninth with RBI hits by Frank Selman (double) and Tom Barlow (triple), then went ahead 4-2 in the sixth on Harry Stovey's two-run blast.

But Blong began to tire in the bottom of the sixth, allowing three runs to put Cincy back on top. Then in the seventh, speedy George Gore singled, raced to second on a bobble in the outfield, took third on a groundout, then made it 6-4 on Charley Mills' single. Creighton finally entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth, but grounded out and then headed to his semi-regular spot in left field.

Forest City would not give up; in the ninth, Stovey and Selman each slammed triples, then Selman came home on a passed ball to knot the game at six. Reds fans held their breaths, wondering if Big Jim would come in to pitch the ninth; instead Blong took his place on the mound...and promptly walked Sam Lake on four pitches. Gore grounded to third and Lake was put out at second. Up came Dan Brouthers, who grounded to Selman, but the second baseman failed to come up with it, putting runners at first and second.

If Jim Creighton's perfect game just a few days earlier was a stunner, what happened next was perhaps even more so. Mills met a 2-1 pitch from Blong and sent it out to left field. Gore rounded third, trying to score the Cup-winning run. Creighton reached for the ball, ready to toss it homeward with his legendary arm, and..it skipped through his legs. Gore (unnecessarily) slid into home plate, then was mobbed by his teammates and several thousands fans at the Palace. The Red Stockings legend had been extended, with their third Centennial Cup and second in a row.

And Jim Creighton? He became a ghost, slipping away from the ballpark and back to his home in Brooklyn, talking to no one.

[RMc]

No one was surprised when Big Jim Creighton won his ninth MVP and his eighth Pitcher of the Year trophies...




What was surprising was that Creighton was not there to accept them. In fact, the peerless star of the Forest City club has not been seen anywhere since his boner at the end of the final Cup game. Visits by reporters to his home in Brooklyn have been fruitless, and his sister has merely said "Go away! Jim went somewhere out west!"

Will the 43-year-old Diamond Jim be back for the '84 season? Or will he retire? Will he enter politics, perhaps even run for president? Don't stay tuned...radio still hasn't been invented yet...!

[szathkey]

Originally Posted by RMc

I wanted to upload the quickstart, but I can't figure out how: it won't let me upload entire folders, just individual files. (Li'l help?) And I wanted to upload the NABBP stats, but the xls file is more than 1 MB, and that's apparently the limit. Grr.

Anyway, the universe is about to explode with lots more leagues and teams -- the number of available players will double in 1884 and double again in 1887 -- so I'm going to take a wider view and try not to get tied up in too much minutiae.

You would just need to put it on a site like Dropbox, box, etc. Make it available to anyone with the link. Then just post the link.

Hope to see it soon!

[RMc]

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/097ej...=efsxxn7v&dl=0

And here is the quickstart: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/3wc08...=tmk2h8mb&dl=0

[RMc]

On January 15, 1884, a young St. Louis millionaire named Henry Lucas announced the formation of a third "major" base ball league: the Union Association.

The UA would have 12 teams:



To meet the threat, the National and American loops each added two more teams: The National added the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets (to take on the new UA club in that city) and the Jersey City Skeeters. Meanwhile, the American Association also expanded to sixteen teams with two teams in Ohio: the Columbus Buckeyes and the Toledo Blue Sox.





All three leagues will use the usual five-team playoff (the new league will compete for the "Union Cup") and the season will be extended to 120 games.

[szathkey]

Love it so far! Thank you!

[RMc]

It wasn't until spring training until Jim Creighton finally reappeared in the public eye. "This will be my last season," he said, "if we win another Cup!"

Even at the age of 43, Big Jim proved he was still the best as a batter (.383 AVG) and as a pitcher (1.12 ERA)...what more can he do?

In the pennant race, it was Red Stockings on top, with Forest City coming in third. The real surprise was the expansion Jersey City Skeeters, who came in fourth and made the Cup playoffs in their first season:



In the American, Resolute won their fifth straight pennant. Meanwhile, no fewer than four teams tied for fifth place and the final playoff spot, including both of the first-year teams in Toledo and Columbus. After a series of playoff game, the Syracuse Chiefs qualified for the American Cup playoffs:



In the brand-new Union Association (or, as some snarky writers called it, "The Onion"), the St. Louis Cardinals lapped the field -- probably because St. Louis owner (and UA founder) Henry Lucas nabbed a number of star players who had somehow slipped to the reserve rosters of established teams. Henry Stovey, Paul Hines, Cal McVey and Guy Hecker (among others) switched to the Cardinals and grabbed the first Union pennant.

[RMc]

UNION CUP

Kansas City 9, Wilmington 7 (WIL: 5-run 8th; KC: 6-run 8th)
Chicago 3, New York 1 (CHI: Laurence Farley 2 RBI; Milo Lockwood: 8-hitter)

Kansas City 7, Chicago 2 (KC: Robinson, Dwight, McKee 2 RBI each)

In the Final, the Cowboys and the heavily-favoured Cardinals, split the first two games, with St Louie winning, 7-1 at home and KC taking a 9-4 victory at their park. In the decider in St. Louis, the Cowboys' Frank McKee broke a 3-all tie in the top of the ninth by knocking a single, stealing second and third, then coming home on a Candy Nelson single. Rookie hurler Frank Beck sent the Cards down in order in the bottom of the inning, and base ball's most western outpost claimed the Union Cup.



AMERICAN CUP

Syracuse 4, Baltimore 0 (SYR: Jake Seymour 3-hit shoutout)
Middletown 7, Providence 0 (MID: Larry Corcoran 6-hit shoutout)

Middletown 5, Syrause 2 (MID: John Cahill 2 hits, RBI)

In the Final at Waverly Grounds, it was all about Resolute's 28-game winner George Derby. Middletown managed unearned runs in the second and fourth innings, but Elizabeth tied it in the bottom of the fourth on Jackie Hayes' home run. The New Jersey boys went up for good as Gene Kimball and Derby scored on a pair as passed balls, giving Elizabeth its third Cup and fourth championship.



CENTENNIAL CUP

Newark 2, Philadelphia 0 (NWK: Charlie Geggus 5-hit shutout)
Jersey City 4, Cleveland 2 (In the upset of the season, the first-year Skeeters touched Creighton for ten hits, and three runs in the first three innings. Forest City had multiple opportunities, but could only score twice on JC hurler Bob Barr. When asked if this meant he'd be back in 1885, Big Jim had a quick "No comment!")

Newark 3, Jersey City 2 (NWK: Pud Galvin CG, 6 hits, 1 earned run)
Jersey City 8, Newark 1 (JC: Ezra Sutton 4 hits, 3 RBI)
Newark 10, Jersey City 4 (NWK: McCormick CG, 2-for-4, 3 RBI)



And so, the Eureka Club of Newark, four-time Cup winners in the American Association, were looking to add a Centennial Cup to their collection -- but to do it, they'd need to get past the already-legendary Red Stockings!

[RMc]

In the lid-lifter in Cincinnati, Eureka struck for single runs in each of the first three innings, while the Reds countered with two of their own. It stayed 3-2 Newark until Dan Brouthers knocked home a pair of runs to make it 4-3 Cincinnati, which was the final score. Reds rookie Bob Black was brilliant in Game 2, tossing a six-hit shoutout, winning the game 2-0 and giving Cincy a 2-0 lead in the series.

The Cup Final shifted to New Jersey, and Game 3 was a wild one; tied 4-4 after eight when pinch-hitter Black nubbed a single, then came around on a wild pitch, a groundout and an error. But in the bottom of the frame, Charlie Jones also scored on a passed ball, then Orator Shafer came home on a Charlie Bennett single, giving Eureka a badly-needed 6-5 win.

But the Cup Final would not leave the Garden State. Bob Black was the hero again in Game 4, holding Newark to four runs then slashing a go-ahead 2 RBI single in the ninth to ensure a 6-4 Reds victory; and the Red Stockings wrapped it up in Game 5 when things again turned Black for Newark: Bob smashing a bases-clearing pinch-hitter double in the eighth to help Cincy claim the Cup, 8-3.

[RMc]

Yeah, it was Creighton again. Unanimously, for both. But will he be back in '85?





Meanwhile in the AA, John O'Rourke of Elizabeth took the MVP, while Andy Allen of the Marylands took Pitcher of the Year honours.

And in the Union, Harry Stovey won the MVP, with six St. Louis players finishing in the top six in voting; while John Ryan of the Maroons won Pitcher of the Year. Wait a minute...Maroons...?

Yes, indeed. St. Louis owner Henry Lucas was so upset that his club lost the Cup that he declared the "Cardinals" name "bad luck" and had new uniforms made with the name "Maroons". So, Maroons it is! [Editor's note: The real-life UA team was called the Maroons, which I like better than 'Cardinals', and besides as a Tigers fan I hate the Cardinals anyway. So, I fixed it. That's it. Thanks for reading.]

[RMc]

In January 1885, the National Association and the American Association sat down to hammer out an agreement for "a new day for baseball". For one thing, they agreed to spell it "baseball", one word. For another, they would unite and "crush the Union".

Both leagues would expand to 20 teams by adding four new clubs; in the National, the new squads would be the Detroit Tigers (opposing the UA's Detroit Wolverines), Rochester Red Wings, Richmond Rebels and Minneapolis Millers (right across the river from the St. Paul Saints of the Union).



The AA would add the Albany Dutchmen, Paterson Silk Sox, Fall River Marksmen and Scranton Miners.



And that wasn't all: the two associations would experiment with something called "promotion and relegation", in which the bottom three teams in the NA standings each year would move to the AA, while the top three in the American would join the National. [Editor's note: I'll probably introduce some exemptions, so big cities can "buy" their way out of relegation.]

Also, with the popularity of the Cup competitions, both leagues will alter the quarterfinals into a best-of-three and the semifinal into a best-of-five, while both Cup Finals will be best-of-seven affairs. (The UA will follow suit.)

Ready? Let's play ball!