Welcome to the Alternate History Baseball League - Page 2

matttb324 · 10-20-2022, 01:59 PM

It looked like Boston had the pennant but Manhattan made a nice comeback beating Boston head to head and taking the crown by 2 games. The difference maker during the year was Hall of Famer Elmer Flick. Flick won the triple crown in the Cartwright League, tying Mike Donlin in batting average .339, tying Harry Lumley in HR (8) and winning the RBI title (90).
In real life he was the man who Cleveland would not trade for Ty Cobb and he was elected to the Hall in 1963.

matttb324 · 10-20-2022, 07:21 PM

The 1905 World Series will certainly rank among the great postseason championships of all-time when looking back at the AHBL. New Orleans looked like they were going to sweep the series. Up 4-0 in a best of 9, they then blew their lead. Manhattan came all the way back to tie the series up 4-4. Back in New York, New Orleans had a 5-2 lead in Game 9 and the Skyliners tied it up. They went up 7-6 in the 5th and Manhattan tied it up again. Finally in the 10th inning of Game 9, New Orleans broke through for their second straight championship. Now that's a Series!

matttb324 · 10-21-2022, 02:01 PM

After championships in '04 and '05, the Jazzcats are playing .800 ball again this year. Boston is also in top form again behind Christy Matthewson. New Orleans has a rotation of Ed Walsh, Jimmy Dygert, Eddie Plank and Bob Wicker. Fred Glade has been moved to the pen. Harry Bay, Nap Lajoie, Socks Seybold, Sport McAllister and Ed McFarland lead the offense.

matttb324 · 10-21-2022, 06:22 PM

While back-to-back champion New Orleans continues to lead in the Wheaton League, Boston is completely dominating the Cartwright. As seen here Boston is either first or second in every pitching and hitting category.

Meanwhile in the draft, Worcester and Cambridge continue to add future Hall of Famers. The Hearts now have Tris Speaker to compliment Eddie Collins, Three Finger Brown, Addie Joss and Sam Crawford. Cambridge adds Walter Johnson to a team that features Ty Cobb and Mike Donlin - assuming they sign. Worcester is finally up over .500 at 25-23 an their future is bright.

matttb324 · 10-23-2022, 03:28 PM

Not exactly a household name, Cy Falkenberg pitched the second no-hitter in league history (Bill Hogg had the first) as a starter for the St. Louis Explorers in 1906. At 11-6 with a 1.97 ERA, Falkenberg has had a strong season for the 3rd place St. Louis club. He never pitched a no-hitter in real life and according to SABR he did not really have his best years until he was 32 in 1913 and developed an "emery ball."

matttb324 · 10-24-2022, 12:08 PM

If he had not fallen (or been pushed?) to his death at Niagra Falls would Delahanty reached 3,000 hits? According to the AHBL he would have, indeed. At the Age of 38, Delahanty, playing for the Cleveland Catamounts reached the 3,000 hit plateau in 1906.

matttb324 · 10-24-2022, 07:21 PM

Honus Wagner won the Wheaton League MVP in 1903, 1904 and 1905. In 1906 he has won the Triple Crown so it looks like it will be 4 in a row. Wagner led with a .322 average, 11 HR and 83 RBI, winning all three categories easily. He also led the league in Slugging OPS, WAR and Total Bases.

matttb324 · 10-25-2022, 07:09 PM

It was another amazing World Series. Last year, New Orleans won the first four games, lost the next four to Manhattan and won it all in Game 9. This year, New Orleans was down 4-3 and took the final two games against Boston to win the series in 9. That's three straight championships for John McGraw's Jazzcats. Even more amazing, New Orleans beat Christy Matthewson's Bayonets without the services of either Nap Lajoie or Sport McAllister, both of whom were injured.

matttb324 · 10-26-2022, 01:51 PM

Ty Cobb did not win the Rookie of the Year Award for the Cartwright League in 1906, he was beaten by Joe Ward of the New Jersey Elysians. Ward hit .266 with a .303 OBP, stealing 12 bases while playing 3B. Meanwhile, Cobb hit .321 (.370 OBP) and stole 41 bases for Cambridge. A strange decision...

CubMariner · 10-26-2022, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matttb324

Ty Cobb did not win the Rookie of the Year Award for the Cartwright League in 1906, he was beaten by Joe Ward of the New Jersey Elysians. Ward hit .266 with a .303 OBP, stealing 12 bases while playing 3B. Meanwhile, Cobb hit .321 (.370 OBP) and stole 41 bases for Cambridge. A strange decision...

Baseball writers already disliking Cobb...

matttb324 · 10-28-2022, 11:07 AM

The New Orleans Jazzcats have won the AHBL World Series in 1904, 1905 and 1906 and now in 1907 they are playing .700 baseball and have a 12 game lead over Southside.

What does a three-peat, possibly four-peat, championship team look like in 1907. Here is the current lineup and rotation:

matttb324 · 10-30-2022, 11:46 AM

The Schooners are enjoying their first good season and now have a 7-game lead over Worcester heading into August. As seen here, they are beginning to dominate the league statistics as well. Ty Cobb, Wakter Johnson and Eddie Cicotte definitely gives them a good core group going forward. The other Massachusetts team on the rise is second-place Worcester which now boasts a roster with Sam Crawford, Addie Joss, Three Finger Brown, Eddie Collins and Tris Speaker. These could be the two teams of the future.

matttb324 · 10-31-2022, 12:39 PM

We have not seen the big win totals that MLB had in 1903-1907 so far in the AHBL. Jack Chesbro won 41 in 1904, Ed Walsh won 40 in 1908 and Joe McGinnity won 35 in 1904. But so far leaders in wins in AHBL have been in the 25 range. Here are the leaders in 1907 with a month to go...

Rube Waddell continues to put up big numbers season after season for a team that just cannot hit the ball.

luckymann · 10-31-2022, 04:49 PM

You'll probably find this is due to the rotation settings you are using. I see that Rube only started 29 games for those 22 wins.

matttb324 · 11-01-2022, 10:02 AM

Oh that makes sense, okay I might play with those, thanks

matttb324 · 11-01-2022, 01:03 PM

It was quite a race down the stretch between the New Orleans Jazzcats (three-time champions) and the Southside Strikers (1903 champs). On July 3, New Orleans had a 12 game cushion but Southside slowly worked away and actually had a 1/2 game lead with a chance to clinch the pennant against Pittsburgh. However, the Strikers lost the game, forcing a playoff.

matttb324 · 11-01-2022, 01:04 PM

New Orleans has done it again. A 5-0 sweep of Cambridge to win its fourth straight championship (1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907). What a run!

luckymann · 11-01-2022, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matttb324

Oh that makes sense, okay I might play with those, thanks

Here's a handy guide I use for rosters over the years. You don't have to 100% stick with these but they are a good reference point if you want accuracy v the historical.

1871-1880 2 SP, 0 RP, 12 position players, 1 open
1881-1884 3 SP, 0 RP, 11 position players, 1 open
1885-1887 3 SP, 0 RP, 12 position players, 1 open
1888-1889 4 SP, 0 RP, 12 position players
1890-1893 4 SP, 0 RP, 12 position players, 1 open
1894-1900 5 SP, 0 RP, 12 position players, 1 open
1901-1904 5 SP, 0 RP, 13 position players, 1 open
1905-1914 6 SP, 0 RP, 13 position players, 1 open
1915-1919 6 SP, 1 RP, 13 position players, 1 open
1920-1923 6 SP, 1 RP, 14 position players, 1 open
1924-1928 6 SP, 1 RP, 15 position players, 1 open
1929-1933 6 SP, 1 RP, 14 position players
1934-1938 6 SP, 1 RP, 14 position players, 1 open
1939-1941 6 SP, 2 RP, 14 position players, 1 open
1942-1945 6 SP, 2 RP, 14 position players
1946-1951 6 SP, 2 RP, 14 position players, 1 open
1952-xxxx 5 SP, 3 RP, 14 position players, 1 open

14 position players for all seasons with position player fatigue set to High as this tends to minimize teams not assigning a substitute at certain positions, but that will still happen. If you look at your season records after playing many seasons and check batter strikeouts you will find good players who strike out 300 times in a season because they played 162 games without a substitute. With 14 position players that gives you 6 substitutes, so you can figure a catcher, 1B, two infielders to covers 2B/3B/SS, and two outfielders with at least one who can play CF so that you will always have a substitute when players are fatigued.

For rotation and relievers

1871-1881: 2 SP, 2 RP, Strict, Stamina Very High
1882-1903: 3 SP, 2 RP, Strict, Stamina Very High
1904-1910: 4 SP, 2 RP, Strict, Stamina High
1911-1919: 4 SP, 3 RP, Strict, Stamina High
1920-1935: 5 SP, 3 RP, Highest Rested, Stamina High
1936-1960: 5 SP, 4 RP, Highest Rested, Stamina Normal
1961-1976: 5 SP, 5 RP, Highest Rested, Stamina Normal
1977-1992: 5 SP, 6 RP, Highest Rested, Stamina Normal
1993-2020: 5 SP, 7 RP, Highest Rested, Stamina Normal

matttb324 · 11-01-2022, 05:50 PM

Awesome thanks. Probably a dumb question but where would I adjust that league-wide?
Also, another question...about team finances. I noticed that every team in the league is in the green and even teams like Washington and Pittsburgh that have struggled seem to be doing OK in finances. I may not just be looking at it closely enough but curious, is the game subtle enough that finances can get dicey for a club if they don't win?

luckymann · 11-01-2022, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matttb324

Awesome thanks. Probably a dumb question but where would I adjust that league-wide?
Also, another question...about team finances. I noticed that every team in the league is in the green and even teams like Washington and Pittsburgh that have struggled seem to be doing OK in finances. I may not just be looking at it closely enough but curious, is the game subtle enough that finances can get dicey for a club if they don't win?

Settings>Stats & AI

Look, finances are tough to replicate with regard to the historical and tricky to tailor with regard to the workable.

The default settings are, for want of a better word, macroeconomic in nature. They consider only the ecosystem as a whole when comparing it to its historical equivalent, not its constituent parts. The rest of it is sort of left to how the save plays out and is very much driven by things such as market size, fan interest and ticket prices all working in conjunction. Things get even more convoluted when - as I think you have done here - you take historical franchises and "rebrand" them. IE Using the Chicago Cubs for one of your league's fictional teams still makes that fictional club the Chicago Cubs behind the scenes in areas such as financial properties - market size and the like.

The reason all clubs are in the green during this early section is because you are using historical salary settings, which greatly favour the clubs over the players - even if you are using FA rather than the Reserve Roster.

To get it working more realistically requires tinkering every season and you need to be really careful when you do so, lest you totally upset the balance to the other side. Even I don't bother with this apart from some small changes - it is why many of us are forced to use "House Rules" such as the ones I have applied for the Bucs save. Doesn't help you here, though, as you aren't running a team. In the end, my advice is to simply leave it be. The Draft should provide you with some element of parity.

10-20-2022, 01:59 PM	#21
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	September 1905: Elmer Flick Makes the Difference It looked like Boston had the pennant but Manhattan made a nice comeback beating Boston head to head and taking the crown by 2 games. The difference maker during the year was Hall of Famer Elmer Flick. Flick won the triple crown in the Cartwright League, tying Mike Donlin in batting average .339, tying Harry Lumley in HR (8) and winning the RBI title (90). In real life he was the man who Cleveland would not trade for Ty Cobb and he was elected to the Hall in 1963.

10-20-2022, 07:21 PM	#22
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	October 1905: A World Series for the Ages The 1905 World Series will certainly rank among the great postseason championships of all-time when looking back at the AHBL. New Orleans looked like they were going to sweep the series. Up 4-0 in a best of 9, they then blew their lead. Manhattan came all the way back to tie the series up 4-4. Back in New York, New Orleans had a 5-2 lead in Game 9 and the Skyliners tied it up. They went up 7-6 in the 5th and Manhattan tied it up again. Finally in the 10th inning of Game 9, New Orleans broke through for their second straight championship. Now that's a Series!

10-21-2022, 02:01 PM	#23
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	May 1906: Jazzcats On Fire Again After championships in '04 and '05, the Jazzcats are playing .800 ball again this year. Boston is also in top form again behind Christy Matthewson. New Orleans has a rotation of Ed Walsh, Jimmy Dygert, Eddie Plank and Bob Wicker. Fred Glade has been moved to the pen. Harry Bay, Nap Lajoie, Socks Seybold, Sport McAllister and Ed McFarland lead the offense.

10-21-2022, 06:22 PM	#24
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	June 1906: Utter Dominance While back-to-back champion New Orleans continues to lead in the Wheaton League, Boston is completely dominating the Cartwright. As seen here Boston is either first or second in every pitching and hitting category. Meanwhile in the draft, Worcester and Cambridge continue to add future Hall of Famers. The Hearts now have Tris Speaker to compliment Eddie Collins, Three Finger Brown, Addie Joss and Sam Crawford. Cambridge adds Walter Johnson to a team that features Ty Cobb and Mike Donlin - assuming they sign. Worcester is finally up over .500 at 25-23 an their future is bright.

10-23-2022, 03:28 PM	#25
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	July 1906: No Hitter for Falkenberg Not exactly a household name, Cy Falkenberg pitched the second no-hitter in league history (Bill Hogg had the first) as a starter for the St. Louis Explorers in 1906. At 11-6 with a 1.97 ERA, Falkenberg has had a strong season for the 3rd place St. Louis club. He never pitched a no-hitter in real life and according to SABR he did not really have his best years until he was 32 in 1913 and developed an "emery ball."

10-24-2022, 12:08 PM	#26
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	August 1906: Would Ed Delahanty Reached 3000 Hits? If he had not fallen (or been pushed?) to his death at Niagra Falls would Delahanty reached 3,000 hits? According to the AHBL he would have, indeed. At the Age of 38, Delahanty, playing for the Cleveland Catamounts reached the 3,000 hit plateau in 1906.

10-24-2022, 07:21 PM	#27
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	September 1906: Huge Year for Honus Honus Wagner won the Wheaton League MVP in 1903, 1904 and 1905. In 1906 he has won the Triple Crown so it looks like it will be 4 in a row. Wagner led with a .322 average, 11 HR and 83 RBI, winning all three categories easily. He also led the league in Slugging OPS, WAR and Total Bases.

10-25-2022, 07:09 PM	#28
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	October 1906: The Jazzcats Three-peat It was another amazing World Series. Last year, New Orleans won the first four games, lost the next four to Manhattan and won it all in Game 9. This year, New Orleans was down 4-3 and took the final two games against Boston to win the series in 9. That's three straight championships for John McGraw's Jazzcats. Even more amazing, New Orleans beat Christy Matthewson's Bayonets without the services of either Nap Lajoie or Sport McAllister, both of whom were injured.

10-26-2022, 01:51 PM	#29
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	May 1907: Rookie of the Year, Ward Over Cobb Ty Cobb did not win the Rookie of the Year Award for the Cartwright League in 1906, he was beaten by Joe Ward of the New Jersey Elysians. Ward hit .266 with a .303 OBP, stealing 12 bases while playing 3B. Meanwhile, Cobb hit .321 (.370 OBP) and stole 41 bases for Cambridge. A strange decision...

10-28-2022, 11:07 AM	#31
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	June 1907: Jazzcats Just Keep on Rolling The New Orleans Jazzcats have won the AHBL World Series in 1904, 1905 and 1906 and now in 1907 they are playing .700 baseball and have a 12 game lead over Southside. What does a three-peat, possibly four-peat, championship team look like in 1907. Here is the current lineup and rotation:

10-30-2022, 11:46 AM	#32
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	July 1907: Cambridge Dynasty Building The Schooners are enjoying their first good season and now have a 7-game lead over Worcester heading into August. As seen here, they are beginning to dominate the league statistics as well. Ty Cobb, Wakter Johnson and Eddie Cicotte definitely gives them a good core group going forward. The other Massachusetts team on the rise is second-place Worcester which now boasts a roster with Sam Crawford, Addie Joss, Three Finger Brown, Eddie Collins and Tris Speaker. These could be the two teams of the future.

10-31-2022, 12:39 PM	#33
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	August 1907: No Big Win Totals We have not seen the big win totals that MLB had in 1903-1907 so far in the AHBL. Jack Chesbro won 41 in 1904, Ed Walsh won 40 in 1908 and Joe McGinnity won 35 in 1904. But so far leaders in wins in AHBL have been in the 25 range. Here are the leaders in 1907 with a month to go... Rube Waddell continues to put up big numbers season after season for a team that just cannot hit the ball.

10-31-2022, 04:49 PM	#34
luckymann Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 13,012	You'll probably find this is due to the rotation settings you are using. I see that Rube only started 29 games for those 22 wins. __________________ HISTORICAL DO-OVERS A'S RED SOX DODGERS CUSTOM SAVES ECLIPSE LEAGUE MOON SHOT LEAGUE EVERYMAN LEAGUE GULF LEAGUE USBA

11-01-2022, 10:02 AM	#35
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	Thanks Oh that makes sense, okay I might play with those, thanks

11-01-2022, 01:03 PM	#36
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	September 1907: Jazzcats and Strikers Tie It was quite a race down the stretch between the New Orleans Jazzcats (three-time champions) and the Southside Strikers (1903 champs). On July 3, New Orleans had a 12 game cushion but Southside slowly worked away and actually had a 1/2 game lead with a chance to clinch the pennant against Pittsburgh. However, the Strikers lost the game, forcing a playoff.

11-01-2022, 01:04 PM	#37
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	October 1907: Jazzcats Dynasty New Orleans has done it again. A 5-0 sweep of Cambridge to win its fourth straight championship (1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907). What a run!

11-01-2022, 05:50 PM	#39
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	Awesome thanks. Probably a dumb question but where would I adjust that league-wide? Also, another question...about team finances. I noticed that every team in the league is in the green and even teams like Washington and Pittsburgh that have struggled seem to be doing OK in finances. I may not just be looking at it closely enough but curious, is the game subtle enough that finances can get dicey for a club if they don't win?