Welcome to the Alternate History Baseball League - Page 3

matttb324 · 11-02-2022, 05:20 PM

Okay that makes sense. Yeah I have not played too much with the financials, afraid to mess anything up. I did change some things at the beginning when rebranding such as making market sizes roughly match small cities like Worcester and Louisville and changing market sizes for Chicago/NY very large. Also, played with fan interest and loyalty to make Washington low interest, Brooklyn high interest and some other alterations.

I do have the reserve clause on now but I am thinking of changing to free agency after this year to mix things up a bit as rosters are (accurately) very static.

Sorry one more question. I think you helped me earlier change the settings so Negro Leaguers would instead join the league. Do you know which year they should begin to appear in the draft?

Really appreciate your help, this has been a blast so far. I have been reading some books on Deadball baseball while playing the seasons to become familiar with more than just the HOF types.

"Read" "Tales from a Deadball Era" by Mark Halfon on Audible while driving around the past couple weeks and halfway though Frank Deford's book on McGraw & Matthewson. I recommend both although they are very different in style.

matttb324 · 11-02-2022, 05:25 PM

In the Wheaton League, Southside's Honus Wagner and Louisville's Rube Waddell continue their excellence. Wagner has now won the MVP all 5 seasons of play (1903-1907). Amazing dominance. The Ace Award (our renamed Cy Young award after Cy Young won his own award in 1903...duh) has gone to Waddell in 4 of 5 seasons. Eddie Plank of the world champion Jazzcats managed to take the 1906 award.

luckymann · 11-02-2022, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matttb324

Okay that makes sense. Yeah I have not played too much with the financials, afraid to mess anything up. I did change some things at the beginning when rebranding such as making market sizes roughly match small cities like Worcester and Louisville and changing market sizes for Chicago/NY very large. Also, played with fan interest and loyalty to make Washington low interest, Brooklyn high interest and some other alterations.

I do have the reserve clause on now but I am thinking of changing to free agency after this year to mix things up a bit as rosters are (accurately) very static.

Sorry one more question. I think you helped me earlier change the settings so Negro Leaguers would instead join the league. Do you know which year they should begin to appear in the draft?

Really appreciate your help, this has been a blast so far. I have been reading some books on Deadball baseball while playing the seasons to become familiar with more than just the HOF types.

"Read" "Tales from a Deadball Era" by Mark Halfon on Audible while driving around the past couple weeks and halfway though Frank Deford's book on McGraw & Matthewson. I recommend both although they are very different in style.

My pleasure, enjoying seeing it all come together. SABR Bio is another great source for tales and whatnot from this era, while the Forgotten Heroes and Pioneers sections here are fantastic for NeLers.

So you need to have historical minors ON for the NeLers to come into the league, as well as the color bar OFF. If you have both, they'll start appearing immediately, but only after 1920 will they feature more prominently.

matttb324 · 11-03-2022, 06:06 PM

The New Orleans Jazzcats with stars like Nap Lajoie, Eddie Plank and Big Ed Walsh have won four straight titles (1904-1907) but now in July of 1908, they are in second place and 8 back. The team that is trying to beat them is the St. Louis Explorers. I am rather surprised that St. Louis is doing so well. They have been a mediocre to poor team in the first 5 seasons and the roster is not overwhelming. Rookie Fred Snodgrass is playing well along with Dave Brain. Their pitching has been excellent behind Cy Falkenberg and Long Tom Hughes. Wild Bill Donovan has been out of the bullpen but not that effective. But they definitely don't have the Hall of Famer names that a number of other clubs like Cambridge, Worcester, Mahattan and New Orleans has. I could definitely see a scenario where N.O. comes back.

matttb324 · 11-04-2022, 06:24 PM

Huge seasons from Cy Falkenberg and Fred Snodgrass continue to keep the Explorers ahead. Their lead over Four-time champion New Orleans is now at 10 games. Falkenberg is 16-6 with a leadgue leading 1.60 ERA while Snodgrass is hitting .318 with an OBP near 400. The team is now 61-33.

matttb324 · 11-05-2022, 06:23 PM

I was never a believer that St. Louis could really win the pennant. They might just yet but the Louisville Sluggers have made a furious comeback and have cut the lead to just 3 and a half with a month to go.

The Sluggers are actually a pitching club. They are second to last in runs but they do have Smoky Joe Wood, Rube Waddell and Doc Crandall in the rotation and they may all end up with 20 wins. We'll see if they can catch the Explorers.

matttb324 · 11-06-2022, 05:20 PM

The St. Louis Explorers are headed to the World Series. A strong comeback from Louisville was derailed when Rube Waddell went down late in the year. Neverthless, the Explorers played .614 ball and won the pennant by a full 9 games. The Jazzcats finished 10 out and their 4-year championship run is over.

The Cambridge Schooners won the Cartwright League for the second straight year and are headed back to the series. They certainly appear to have a dynasty in the works with a roster that includes a 21 year-old Ty Cobb, a 20 year-old Walter Johnson, and a 24 year-old Eddie Cicotte.

matttb324 · 11-06-2022, 06:44 PM

The first championship for the St. Louis Explorers came via a 4-2 series victory over Cambridge. Ty Cobb won the series MVP but St. Louis took home the trophy - quite a run for the Explorers. Following the season, they also took 3 gold gloves (Brain at 3B, Wallace at SS and Mitchell in RF)

matttb324 · 11-08-2022, 12:57 PM

The first year of free agency is here and there was quite a bit of team-switching. The top hitter and top pitcher of the past few seasons both have new ballclubs. Honus Wagner, six-time Wheaton League MVP, inked a deal with the Brooklyn Eagles, leaving the Southside Strikers, 1903 champs. Rube Waddell who could never make Louisville a champion despite 4 Ace Awards is headed for Manhattan. Lots of other top talent such as Cy Seymour, Cy Young, Ginger Beaumont and Jesse Tannehill also have new clubs. So far in 1909 it has not hurt St. Louis who did not make many major moves in the offseason - as they are 20-5 to start the year as they try to defend their title.

matttb324 · 11-09-2022, 07:18 PM

A lot of the award winners in the AHBL have been predictable (Honus Wagner, Rube Waddelll, Christy Matthewson). But the 1908 Ace Award went to a different Rube, not nearly as well known. St. Louis Explorer Rube Kroh took home the big prize with a 21-11 season and a 1.85 ERA in 301 innings. Amazingly, in real life the guy only won 14 games in a 6 year career.

matttb324 · 11-14-2022, 12:20 PM

It's interesting to consider both what could have been and what might never have been. Consider 1906 Ace Award winner and 4-time World Champion, Eddie Plank, who won 300 games in MLB and pitched until 1917. Here in the AHBL he is done after 1907 with a career-ending arm injury. Makes one think of all the pitchers who might have won 300 or reached the HOF if they hadn't had similar injuries.

matttb324 · 11-17-2022, 06:32 PM

In the days before interleague play there were times when one league seemed well ahead of the other. Such has been the case in the AHBL where the Wheaton League has beat the Cartwright League in the championship all six years 1903-1908. Again this year, St. Louis seems to again have an edge if they reach the Series, especially if they match up against New Jersey.

matttb324 · 11-18-2022, 03:12 PM

After New Jersey held the lead in the Cartwright for most of the season, the last 10 days featured a fantastic pennant race between Cambridge and Worcester. Both teams won their final games sending the season to a one-game playoff. Cambridge will host and send Walter Johnson to the hill while Worcerster counters with Three Finger Brown. Doesn't get much better than that.

matttb324 · 11-20-2022, 07:29 PM

The St. Louis Explorers have repeated as champions, making it 7 straight titles for the Wheaton League over the Cartwright. St. Louis beat the Cambridge Schooners, who have won the last 3 Cartwright titles but lost in the series all three times. Cambridge had to win a one-game playoff from Worcester. Walter Johnson won the game 2-1 after Worcester loaded the bases in the 9th inning but could not push a run across.

matttb324 · 11-23-2022, 07:19 PM

Tough times for managers. After a couple losing seasons John McGraw is fired as manager of the New Orleans Jazzcats. But on his resume isfour world championships in the previous four years as well as four manager of the year awards. But it was not enough.

matttb324 · 11-29-2022, 07:24 PM

This is quite a leaderboard. Basically Ty Cobb leads in every offensive category in the Cartwright League in 1910. He has already won the MVP in 1907, 1908 and 1909. His Cambridge Schooners are also looking for their 4th straight pennant and are a game and a half up.

matttb324 · 12-03-2022, 06:09 PM

In 1901, Nap Lajoie hit .426 which is the highest average in the modern era. As we head into August 1st in 1910 in the AHBL, Ty Cobb is currently at .448, nearly 100 points higher than his nearest competitor (the surprising Jay Kirke, having a big year for Louisville). We'll see if Cobb can keep it up for the last two months of the year.

matttb324 · 12-05-2022, 07:28 PM

Cambridge heads into September with a 5 and a half game lead over second-place Worcester as they look for their 5th straight pennant. There are definitely some aging players on the team with Sam Crawford, Irv Young, Jack Pfiester, Mike Donlin and Roger Bresnahan all over 30. On the other hand with a 23 year-old Ty Cobb and a 22 year-old Wlater Johnson, perhaps the Schooners can keep winning. Cobb is at .443 heading into September. It looks like New Orleans may make it back to the series as they have a lead in the Wheaton League of 4 and a half games.

matttb324 · 12-08-2022, 06:20 PM

The Ty Cobb show continued to the end of the season as he finishes with a .434 average. Worcester's Tris Speaker took the RBI title by 101-100 margin. Now it's on to the Series as Cambridge plays New Orleans again as they did 1907.The Jazzcats are looking for their 5th title in 7 years..

matttb324 · 12-08-2022, 07:14 PM

Cambridge came in heavy favorites in the 1910 World Series but it did not play out that way. Despite going 97-43 on the year (compared to 791-61) New Orleans, the Jazzcats made quick work of Cambridge, winning in 5 games. They knocked around the league's first 30 game winner, Walter Johnson, in Games 1 and 4.
For Johnson it was an amazing year and a terrible series.

11-02-2022, 05:25 PM	#42
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	May 1908: Award Domination In the Wheaton League, Southside's Honus Wagner and Louisville's Rube Waddell continue their excellence. Wagner has now won the MVP all 5 seasons of play (1903-1907). Amazing dominance. The Ace Award (our renamed Cy Young award after Cy Young won his own award in 1903...duh) has gone to Waddell in 4 of 5 seasons. Eddie Plank of the world champion Jazzcats managed to take the 1906 award.

11-03-2022, 06:06 PM	#44
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	June 1908: The Team to Stop the Streak The New Orleans Jazzcats with stars like Nap Lajoie, Eddie Plank and Big Ed Walsh have won four straight titles (1904-1907) but now in July of 1908, they are in second place and 8 back. The team that is trying to beat them is the St. Louis Explorers. I am rather surprised that St. Louis is doing so well. They have been a mediocre to poor team in the first 5 seasons and the roster is not overwhelming. Rookie Fred Snodgrass is playing well along with Dave Brain. Their pitching has been excellent behind Cy Falkenberg and Long Tom Hughes. Wild Bill Donovan has been out of the bullpen but not that effective. But they definitely don't have the Hall of Famer names that a number of other clubs like Cambridge, Worcester, Mahattan and New Orleans has. I could definitely see a scenario where N.O. comes back. Last edited by matttb324; 11-04-2022 at 06:15 PM.

11-04-2022, 06:24 PM	#45
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	July 1908: Falkenberg and Snodgrass Huge seasons from Cy Falkenberg and Fred Snodgrass continue to keep the Explorers ahead. Their lead over Four-time champion New Orleans is now at 10 games. Falkenberg is 16-6 with a leadgue leading 1.60 ERA while Snodgrass is hitting .318 with an OBP near 400. The team is now 61-33.

11-05-2022, 06:23 PM	#46
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	August 1908: Here Comes Louisville! I was never a believer that St. Louis could really win the pennant. They might just yet but the Louisville Sluggers have made a furious comeback and have cut the lead to just 3 and a half with a month to go. The Sluggers are actually a pitching club. They are second to last in runs but they do have Smoky Joe Wood, Rube Waddell and Doc Crandall in the rotation and they may all end up with 20 wins. We'll see if they can catch the Explorers.

11-06-2022, 05:20 PM	#47
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	September 1908: Cambridge Building a Dynasty The St. Louis Explorers are headed to the World Series. A strong comeback from Louisville was derailed when Rube Waddell went down late in the year. Neverthless, the Explorers played .614 ball and won the pennant by a full 9 games. The Jazzcats finished 10 out and their 4-year championship run is over. The Cambridge Schooners won the Cartwright League for the second straight year and are headed back to the series. They certainly appear to have a dynasty in the works with a roster that includes a 21 year-old Ty Cobb, a 20 year-old Walter Johnson, and a 24 year-old Eddie Cicotte.

11-02-2022, 05:20 PM	#41
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	Okay that makes sense. Yeah I have not played too much with the financials, afraid to mess anything up. I did change some things at the beginning when rebranding such as making market sizes roughly match small cities like Worcester and Louisville and changing market sizes for Chicago/NY very large. Also, played with fan interest and loyalty to make Washington low interest, Brooklyn high interest and some other alterations. I do have the reserve clause on now but I am thinking of changing to free agency after this year to mix things up a bit as rosters are (accurately) very static. Sorry one more question. I think you helped me earlier change the settings so Negro Leaguers would instead join the league. Do you know which year they should begin to appear in the draft? Really appreciate your help, this has been a blast so far. I have been reading some books on Deadball baseball while playing the seasons to become familiar with more than just the HOF types. "Read" "Tales from a Deadball Era" by Mark Halfon on Audible while driving around the past couple weeks and halfway though Frank Deford's book on McGraw & Matthewson. I recommend both although they are very different in style.

11-06-2022, 06:44 PM	#48
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	October 1908: St. Louis Wins it All The first championship for the St. Louis Explorers came via a 4-2 series victory over Cambridge. Ty Cobb won the series MVP but St. Louis took home the trophy - quite a run for the Explorers. Following the season, they also took 3 gold gloves (Brain at 3B, Wallace at SS and Mitchell in RF)

11-08-2022, 12:57 PM	#49
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	May 1909: Free Agents! The first year of free agency is here and there was quite a bit of team-switching. The top hitter and top pitcher of the past few seasons both have new ballclubs. Honus Wagner, six-time Wheaton League MVP, inked a deal with the Brooklyn Eagles, leaving the Southside Strikers, 1903 champs. Rube Waddell who could never make Louisville a champion despite 4 Ace Awards is headed for Manhattan. Lots of other top talent such as Cy Seymour, Cy Young, Ginger Beaumont and Jesse Tannehill also have new clubs. So far in 1909 it has not hurt St. Louis who did not make many major moves in the offseason - as they are 20-5 to start the year as they try to defend their title.

11-09-2022, 07:18 PM	#50
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	June 1909: Rube Who? A lot of the award winners in the AHBL have been predictable (Honus Wagner, Rube Waddelll, Christy Matthewson). But the 1908 Ace Award went to a different Rube, not nearly as well known. St. Louis Explorer Rube Kroh took home the big prize with a 21-11 season and a 1.85 ERA in 301 innings. Amazingly, in real life the guy only won 14 games in a 6 year career.

11-14-2022, 12:20 PM	#51
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	July 1909: Eddie Plank Retires It's interesting to consider both what could have been and what might never have been. Consider 1906 Ace Award winner and 4-time World Champion, Eddie Plank, who won 300 games in MLB and pitched until 1917. Here in the AHBL he is done after 1907 with a career-ending arm injury. Makes one think of all the pitchers who might have won 300 or reached the HOF if they hadn't had similar injuries.

11-17-2022, 06:32 PM	#52
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	August 1909: Wheaton League 6-0 In the days before interleague play there were times when one league seemed well ahead of the other. Such has been the case in the AHBL where the Wheaton League has beat the Cartwright League in the championship all six years 1903-1908. Again this year, St. Louis seems to again have an edge if they reach the Series, especially if they match up against New Jersey.

11-18-2022, 03:12 PM	#53
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	September 1909: Worcester And Cambridge Down to the Wire After New Jersey held the lead in the Cartwright for most of the season, the last 10 days featured a fantastic pennant race between Cambridge and Worcester. Both teams won their final games sending the season to a one-game playoff. Cambridge will host and send Walter Johnson to the hill while Worcerster counters with Three Finger Brown. Doesn't get much better than that.

11-20-2022, 07:29 PM	#54
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	October 1909 The St. Louis Explorers have repeated as champions, making it 7 straight titles for the Wheaton League over the Cartwright. St. Louis beat the Cambridge Schooners, who have won the last 3 Cartwright titles but lost in the series all three times. Cambridge had to win a one-game playoff from Worcester. Walter Johnson won the game 2-1 after Worcester loaded the bases in the 9th inning but could not push a run across.

11-23-2022, 07:19 PM	#55
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	May 1910: McGraw Fired Tough times for managers. After a couple losing seasons John McGraw is fired as manager of the New Orleans Jazzcats. But on his resume isfour world championships in the previous four years as well as four manager of the year awards. But it was not enough.

11-29-2022, 07:24 PM	#56
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	June 1910: Ty Cobb Leading Everything This is quite a leaderboard. Basically Ty Cobb leads in every offensive category in the Cartwright League in 1910. He has already won the MVP in 1907, 1908 and 1909. His Cambridge Schooners are also looking for their 4th straight pennant and are a game and a half up.

12-03-2022, 06:09 PM	#57
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	July 1910: In 1901, Nap Lajoie hit .426 which is the highest average in the modern era. As we head into August 1st in 1910 in the AHBL, Ty Cobb is currently at .448, nearly 100 points higher than his nearest competitor (the surprising Jay Kirke, having a big year for Louisville). We'll see if Cobb can keep it up for the last two months of the year.

12-05-2022, 07:28 PM	#58
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	August 1910: Cambridge Winning Again Cambridge heads into September with a 5 and a half game lead over second-place Worcester as they look for their 5th straight pennant. There are definitely some aging players on the team with Sam Crawford, Irv Young, Jack Pfiester, Mike Donlin and Roger Bresnahan all over 30. On the other hand with a 23 year-old Ty Cobb and a 22 year-old Wlater Johnson, perhaps the Schooners can keep winning. Cobb is at .443 heading into September. It looks like New Orleans may make it back to the series as they have a lead in the Wheaton League of 4 and a half games.

12-08-2022, 06:20 PM	#59
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	September 1910: The Year of Cobb The Ty Cobb show continued to the end of the season as he finishes with a .434 average. Worcester's Tris Speaker took the RBI title by 101-100 margin. Now it's on to the Series as Cambridge plays New Orleans again as they did 1907.The Jazzcats are looking for their 5th title in 7 years.. Last edited by matttb324; 12-08-2022 at 07:14 PM.

12-08-2022, 07:14 PM	#60
matttb324 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 325	October 1910: Jazzcats Upset Schooners Cambridge came in heavy favorites in the 1910 World Series but it did not play out that way. Despite going 97-43 on the year (compared to 791-61) New Orleans, the Jazzcats made quick work of Cambridge, winning in 5 games. They knocked around the league's first 30 game winner, Walter Johnson, in Games 1 and 4. For Johnson it was an amazing year and a terrible series.