The Road to the World Baseball Association
 

Do you remember it? Way back in 1901, when the top teams of the various baseball leagues formed up into "The Baseball League". It was a different time, before the idea that anybody outside of America would have a baseball league. THE Baseball League, made up of the Old Conference- made of the oldest teams in the nation, and the newest teams in the New Conference. And the rather amazing idea that came about, to have the leftover players make up a minor "Reserve League".

You do remember, correct? Reading in the history books, how the mysterious founder of TBL somehow convinced the various owners to put aside their prejudices and allow ballplayers, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, to play, and even sent ships across the globe to pick some of the finest in such farflung places as Japan to come in those early days? And how, as time went on, even the founder couldn't sustain that, and the number of internationals shrank, only to grow again starting in the 1950s?

And you certainly remember the teams that made up the first 20 teams of that league:
The Original Conference was made up of the Buffalo Upstatesmen, the Boston Beantowners, The Philadelphia Patriots, the Washington Monuments, the Brooklyn Bums, the Richmond Virginians, Pittsburgh Bridgemen, Chicago Columbians, Cincinnati Pros and St. Louis Pioneers. With the exception of the Virginians, now in Atlanta, all of them remain.

The New Conference, however, has always been the more volatile of the two: more movement, more expansion, the league that invented the Designated Hitter rule. The first ten in the NC were the NY Imperials, Baltimore Birds (who won the first two NC pennants, including a defeat of Boston in the first Big Series), Cleveland Sox, Detroit Wolves, Albany Sportsmen (now in Dallas), Kansas City Westerns (so named because they were the farthest west of the original 20), the Indianapolis Independents, Newark Bricklayers (now in Los Angeles), Manhattan Unions (now in San Francisco) and Massachusetts Hubsmen (now in Seattle).

Oh, how long ago it was....

--

OOC: Okay, basically, for my first big dynasty league, I'm going to be simulating this world from 1901 to somewhere in the 2000s. Along the way, I'm going to add baseball leagues in other countries (and expanding the TBL), and by the time I take over a team (probably the Buffalo Upstatesmen), I'll be forming a association of basically all of the summer leagues so that the Upstatesmen won't just be fighting for a TBL title- having to overcome the fact that Buffalo is a small market in a league- but a World Baseball Association title. Along the way, I'll lampshade some of the weird mistakes or flukes of OOTP (for example, the talk about how TBL was integrated and had international players from the start is chalked up to the mysterious billionaire founder- what happened was I forgot to make the foreign player percentage low until about 1907, so I figured maybe the mysterious founder figured out how bad an investment it was around then and began only to look for the cream of the cream of international talent).

So, comment if you want, and feel free to give advice to me in this, my first big history.

Very interesting start, BallFan, looking forward to more of this.

SPRAWLINGS' BASEBALL GUIDE 1910-Excerpt, by Chuck Sprawlings
 

<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> SPRAWLINGS' BASEBALL GUIDE 1910-Excerpt, by Chuck Sprawlings

In America's grand game of Baseball, no league has been as great as our current league, our Baseball League, THE Baseball League. From Boston to Kansas City, every fan of our grand old game in the Year of the Lord 1910 follows it, reading tales of greats like the Spanish-blooded Carlos Bernal, the strategic generalship of Melvin Robinson, the highly mustachioed Gentleman Jim Randolph, and the heavy wallop of Bob Mason, who's 10 home runs last season were one of the greatest in the League's short but already highly distinguished history. And what a history it has been!


In 1901, the first season of The Baseball League, much was made of how well the Original Conference would hold up against the younger teams of the New Conference. And, indeed, it was a year for the greenhorns. The New Conference ran rampant over the “Old Coots” in the inaugural All-Star game, and then saw their champion, the Baltimore Birds, win the inaugural Big Series, defeating the Boston Beantowners in 6 games behind the pitching company that included old war-horse Chris Bailey, NC Newcomer of the Year Haley Stark, and the 25-game winning Texan, Gustavo Barea. The year of our lord 1901 did not turn out to be a total loss for the Original Conference in it's interconference squabble with it's young brother, however, as the Chicago Columbians saw their Reserve League club, the Des Moines Goldfinch, defeat Detroit's Toledo club in a 3-1 Reserve Series. The Original Conference could also take solace in the fact that it produced the most talked about baseballist of the first decade of this twentieth century: Carlos Bernal.


Of Spanish descent, the Glens Falls native's debut with the Boston Beantowners had been widely anticipated, as he had been named the number eight prospect in America before that inaugural TBL season, before a nasty stomach bug during spring training made his stock fall to merely being number ten. It has been almost completely forgotten who one through nine were on that list, although occasionally certain gentleman who claim allegiance to Newark will sigh and reminisce about “Bluto” Martinez, the number 2 prospect who won the 1902 NC Newcomer of the Year Award and who had thrown a No-Hitter while in Hackensack, only to see his promising career dethroned by injuries.


There are two reasons why only Bernal is often remembered from that list: the first is that the archives of Sprawling Brothers Sports Publications were heavily damaged by the subterfuge of my wicked brother, Frederick, who set fire to it early last year. The second reason is that Bernal has been inarguably the greatest hitter of our age (only Cade Batey and Augusto Lopez come even close!). He holds the Baseball League's record in career batting average at .335, has the most hits at 1918, and he has been named batter of the years four times, including in his first season, where he also won the Original Conference's Newcomer of the Year award. This coming season, Bernal will be in his first full season with the Indianapolis Independents, who acquired him from the unwise Cleveland Sox last season, who had previously snatched him in Free Agency from his original team in Boston. No doubt Bernal's greatness will continue in his new city.

(OOC: Bernal's Spanish ancestry is due to the fact he has a Spanish language name but looked pretty Caucasian to me.)

Winners of the Big Series and Reserve Series, 1901-1909 (current year is 1910):

1901: Baltimore Birds over Boston Beantowners, 4-2 (Reserve League: Des Moines [CHI] over Toledo [DET], 3-1)
1902: St. Louis Pioneers over Baltimore Birds, 4-3 (Reserve League: Columbus [CLE] over Springfield [STL], 3-2)
1903: Chicago Columbians over New York Imperials, 4-2 (Reserve League: Pittsfield [MASS] over Altoona [PIT], 3-2)
1904: Chicago Columbians over Cleveland Sox, 4-3 (Reserve League: Columbus [CLE] over Altoona [PIT], 3-0)
1905: New York Imperials over Buffalo Upstatesmen, 4-2 (Reserve League: Columbus [CLE] over Lawrenceville [Richmond], 3-1)
1906: Manhattan Unions over St. Louis Pioneers, 4-1 (Reserve League: Columbus [CLE] over Springfield [STL], 3-2)
1907: Manhattan Unions over Philadelphia Patriots, 4-1 (Reserve League: Springfield [STL] over Columbus [CLE], 3-2)
1908: Massachusetts Hubsmen over Chicago Columbians, 4-2 (Reserve League: Troy [ALB] over Central Islip [BUMS], 3-1]
1909: Brooklyn Bums over Manhattan Unions, 4-0 (Reserve League: Pawtucket [BOS] over Fort Wayne [INDY], 3-2)

Chuck Sprawlings previews the 1910 BIG SERIES
 

Huzzah! 1910 was another brilliant year for the grand old game. We saw Henry Clune throw his third career no-hitter, Carlos Bernal continue to reign as TBL's greatest hitter with another batting title (his fifth!) and hits lead (his eighth!), and a thrilling pennant race in the Original Conference, where the Boston Beantowners beat out Washington, Brooklyn, Cincinnati and Buffalo. In fact, to defeat Washington they had to go one more game, where they eliminated Washington thanks to the clutch hitting of Ron Price and the mighty cannon he used to smite young Denny Gibson as he attempted to come home to tie the game. Now, however, those same Beantowners must face the mighty Manhattan Unions, who, despite claims of coming penny-pinching by their owner, Richard Lee, won the New Conference for the fourth time in five years. The Unions hold home field for the series, which is sure to be a great one!


On the mound, the two teams seem almost equal. Manhattan's team ERA is 2.64, while the Bostonians had their ERA only slightly higher, at 2.65. Many of the other metrics tell similar stories. However, the Beantowners are clearly the tougher bunch, with 106 complete games to the wimpy 88 of the Unions. A man, as we all know, must be prepared to finish what he starts, otherwise, it could be said, he is not truly a man. Daniel Church, the 34-year old righty for Boston, threw 11 innings in one game this season without giving up an earned run! Can any Union hurler match such unflappability?

At the plate, it is also even. The two teams have the same batting average of .259, and are close in several other categories, including runs. However, Manhattan is far swifter than the Boston nine, with other 50 more stolen bases. Such honest thievery shows the cleverness of Manhattan's manager, Alden Rogers, who I hereby dub "Fox" for his cleverness. I must wonder, however, whether this is not some master generaling, but actually cowardly actions, not unlike those often taken by my satanic brother, Frederick Sprawlings, who as you are all aware is currently under investigation for his aid to Charles Ponzi. After all, we know from the lack of pitching perseverance that the Unions are less manly, and thus may be trying to win through subterfuge.

They shall not! For I predict that the Boston Beantowners will win this series in six games! Ask not why, know merely that I know this in my gut!

-Chuck Sprawlings

Game 1 of the 1910 Big Series
 

From Before San Francisco: Remembering the Manhattan Unions, written in 1997:

Game 1 was, as expected, a pitching duel between Boston's Dan Church and the Unions' Minh Tranh-Dinh. Although Boston had gotten out to an early lead with Ron Price's first-inning RBI single, Manhattan never let them get any further ahead. However, Church was masterful. No position player, it seemed, could get a run off of him, just as a cocky Mike Williams (OOC Note: the catcher for Boston) had said. But, like the warning that Macbeth would be safe unless Birnham Wood moved to Dunsinane Hill, there was a loophole.

That loophole was Min Tranh-Dinh, who led off the bottom of the eighth against Church. Church knew he didn't have anything to fear: Tranh-Dinh was a career .156 hitter in TBL, and was a poor power hitter even for a pitcher, even in the dead-ball era. The first pitch was sent right by Min, the descendant of migrants who had helped build the Intercontinental Railroad. The second pitch, however, was something unexpected: a fat pitch that Tranh-Dinh sent over the Right-Center fence of Manhattan Fields to tie the game.

Williams was still right: no position player had gotten a run off Church. Tranh-Dinh wasn't a position player. He was a pitcher. And now the game was tied.

Game 1 of the 1910 Big Series, continued
 

From Before San Francisco: Remembering the Manhattan Unions, written in 1997:

The Beantowners went quietly in the top of the ninth, with John Simmons getting picked off at first for the final out. And so, with the threat of extra innings looming, the Unions came up in the bottom of the ninth. Church, continuing to show how "manly" that Chuck Sprawlings had called him, remained on the mound. Edward Long led off a with sharp single. Church then struck out Wes Wilcock. And then, with Molina up, Long took off for second, only to be gunned down by Williams. Nobody ever recorded what Sprawlings said about this, but no doubt he smiled at the Unions and their failed, cowardly, subterfuge.

Molina grounded out to end the inning. It was no longer a threat: Game 1 was headed to extra innings.

After a scoreless tenth inning (which saw both Boston and Manhattan see runners caught stealing at second), Church went down quietly. John Sanders, the softpaw center-fielder for Boston, wasn't so respectful. He slammed a ball to deep-right field. Many in the stadium groaned, believing the ball to be destined for a home run destination. But it remained in the stadium, falling away from a desperate Yamada. By the time the ball was coming in, Sanders was on his way to a triple. There was only one out.

But hope seemed to spring when the next batter, pinch-hitter Todd Fisher, popped up on the infield, forcing Sanders to remain at third. Tran-Dinh was but an out away from escaping. But to the plate was Bob Mason, the 7-time All-Star and perennial home run champion (he tied at the top of the leaderboard in 1910 with 8). Mason didn't hit a home run, but he did his job. A blooping shot to center dropped safely to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Tran-Dinh, obviously shaken, then gave up a double to Rob Maily. There were now two men in scoring position. Today, Dinh would have been long gone- he was now at 155 pitches, according to some estimates- but still he remained. Somehow, he found something inside himself, and struck out John Simmons to escape the inning without further damage.

Church also remained, and began the bottom of the 11th with a strike-out of Michael Cox (who was pilloried in the press the next day for swinging at a bad pitch in a 0-2 count). Yamada and Brown went down quietly with groundouts.

They'd given their all, they'd had their pitcher hit a home run, but the Unions were now down 1-0 in the Big Series.

(OOC: The Beantowners won game 2 as well, but that was a 5-2 game that wasn't as interesting, so I'm not writing stuff up about that. Same goes for Manhattan's 4-1 win in game 3.)

Game 4+ of the 1910 Big Series
 

From Before San Francisco: Remembering the Manhattan Unions, written in 1997:

Mike Williams had remained correct. Dan Church still hadn't given up a run to any position players. And now, in Game 4, he three outs away from giving his team a 3-1 lead in the Big Series. There was no margin for error, the score was just 1-0.

Up first for the Unions was Mike Mills. Church struck him out in three pitches. Brown and Long grounded out.

The Unions were now a game away from losing their second straight Big Series. Ramon Ochoa was due to start against Boston's Adrian Bennett. If they could win, they'd force the game back to Manhattan Fields.

If.

Game 5 did not begin well. The top of the first saw Michael Cox get a 1-out double only to be cut down on the next play when he tried to get home on a Mills single (Mills took second during the chaos, but went no further). Boston then drew first blood in the bottom of the second (after rather uneventful bottom of first and top of second), as Juan Salinas brought Ron Price home with a one-out single.

Thankfully for the Unions, Adrian Bennett was no Daniel Church. Knox led off the top of the third with a double, then was moved to third with a sacrifice bunt by Ochoa. Edward Jackson then brought him home to tie the game with a single.

It was then that the "subterfuge" started to work, as Jackson stole second, allowing him to score- and give Manhattan the lead- on a Cox single. It was 2-1 Unions. At least, it was for a short period of time, as the Beantowners immediately tied it up with a Rob Maily double in the bottom of the third.

What ensued was one of the more high-scoring contests of the Big Series that year. Manhattan again grabbed the lead in the top of the fourth, and then extended the lead in the fifth when Cox scored on a fielders' choice play.

And then, much like earlier, the Beantowners again stormed back. Rob Maily again struck at the hopes of Manhattanites, hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth. Ron Price then reached on a error. Consecutive hits by Williams and Salinas then gave the Beantowners the lead once again at 5-4.

It would remain that way. The Unions never were able to truly threaten again. Chuck Sprawlings thought that Boston would win in 6. He underestimated them. They finished off the Unions in 5.


(OOC: I'm not going to do this with every series, only when I kind of feel like it'd be interesting, dipping in at times to give some flavor and history to the league as it moved through time towards the point where I'll take over. If anybody has any questions, let me know.)

1914: A Changing of the Guard Approaches
 

Sprawlings' Baseball Guide (1914 Preseason Edition):

As the 1914 season approaches, so to does the end of the careers of some of TBL's greatest players ever: Daniel Church and Carlos Bernal. Church has, since the very beginning, been synonymous to pitching, and Bernal, hitting.

Now, however, Church is 38, and is by some accounts going to be turned into a reliever, a horrible idea for which I have challenged Buffalo Manager Jimmy Jones over. Church is far too manly to be expected to merely relieve other pitchers. No no, he must start and then go forward until he has been knocked out of the game or his arm falls off. With Church, of course, I presume he would then switch to his other arm and continue throwing. Some had thought Church done as he bounced from Buffalo to Chicago to Boston to Buffalo again, but he continues, and he continues to win. His 293 wins are more than anybody else, and he has a true chance to become the first man to win 300 games in history, which he should achieve at some point of this season. Even more remarkably, he has done this consistently, each season a marvel, winning the Outstanding Pitcher award for the fifth time last season when he went 25-9 with a 1.75 ERA.

Church's success only makes the bad 1913 campaign of Carlos Bernal inexplicable. The great hitter began in Indianapolis once again, but soon found himself on the bench for reasons unexplained. A mid-season trade to Buffalo brought him only slightly more playing time, both at third but also first base and even outfield. In a measly 62 at-bats last season, Bernal hit .210. I am sure that all rooters, regardless of team, hope that Bernal will find his old success now that he will be in Cincinnati.

Interestingly, another old-timer has moved on to the next part of his career: Bob Mason, one of the great home run hitters of the first decade or so of TBL, is now a hitting coach at Buffalo's reserve team in Rochester.

[end excerpt]

Church and Bernal retire
 

From the DAILY BASEBALL:

Oct. 15, 1915: The first era of The Baseball League came to an end today, as telegraphs came in within minutes of each other that confirmed what was long rumored: Daniel Church and Carlos Bernal have retired. The two, who are expected to be elected into the "Hall of Fame" when they have been retired five years, have their names written upon the record books more than perhaps any others.

Bernal, 38 and a veteran of 15 seasons split between Boston, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Buffalo and brief one-game stints in Cincinnati and Newark, remains the TBL leader in career batting average, at .335. His 2511 hits are hundreds more than his next closest competitor, and his single-season mark of 237 in 1904 also still stands. Although never one with power- the vast majority of his hits were singles- he still had the ability to come up in the clutch, and he is fifth in career RBIs at 810. In his final seasons, he became more of a bench player, rarely seen. The Buffalo Upstatesmen signed him late in 1915- he had remained unsigned- as an attempt to boost up attendance for the bottom-rung team and as a way to give Bernal one more shot to prove himself. Although he went a disappointing 8 for 54, few will forget the chills as he doffed his cap to the appreciative masses during his final game. Bernal, who was named to 11 All-Star Games, 6 Outstanding Hitter awards and the 1901 OC Newcomer of the Year awrd, is reportedly considering going into coaching.

Unlike Bernal, who he was teammates with briefly for the 1913 Buffalo Upstatesmen, Church never truly lost his edge, and only retired after this season due to a UCL tear that ended his season, where he had been pitching with Cleveland. He finishes his career with a 324-216 record, a 2.15 ERA, 456 complete games, 59 shutouts and 2241 strike outs. He hold a record in most of these categories and is in the conversation for the others. An 8-time All-Star and 5-time Outstanding Pitcher Award winner (there is already some discussion of renaming the award after Church), Church also won the Big Series in 1910 while with Boston, fulfilling the prediction of his catcher, Mike Williams, that he would not give up an earned run to any position player (Manhattan pitcher Min Tranh-Dinh hit a solo home run).

Church, 40, is also expected to become a coach.

From SPRAWLINGS' MAGAZINE, April 1919:

Reports from Cuba say that the Cubans have begun their own Professional Baseball League, 4 teams playing a 54 game schedule between January and March. In the first season, the team from Santa Clara defeated Matanzas in the championship. Problems may already be forming for the league, however, as most of the players reportedly have abandoned the league in search of better-paying employment- money problems reportedly caused some owners in the league to pay their players as little as one dollar. Proving Barnum correct, however, there are some reports that the businessmen running the Cuban Professional League may try a similar practice next year until they find out how to make the league profitable.

Since last we left: The Imperial Empire
 

The vacuum that emerged with the retirement of Church and Bernal was quickly filled, not with any single player, or even certain group of players, although certainly some stars such as Edmundo Soto, Darby Scott, Hilton Haffner and Dave Matthews did emerge. Instead, it was a team, the New York Imperials. They had made the playoffs in 1903 and won the Big Series in 1908, but beginning in 1914 they began to win the New Conference.... and only they were winning the New Conference. As they moved to the Polo Grounds- which they shared with the Manhattan Unions- their attendance also exploded, and they began to win. And win. And win.

In 1914, led by Matthews, Dan Meija and Fungo Aviles, the Imperials charged to a 101-61 record (11 over the second-place finisher), then defeated Richmond in 7 games.

In 1915, the Imperials went 95-90, only to fall 4-3 to their cross-town rival, the Brooklyn Bums, in the Big Series.

The Imperials would get their vengeance upon the Bums in 1916 (105-57 and then sweeping the Bums) and '17 (108-54 and defeating the Bums in 7). Then, in 1918, the Imperials, led by Matthews (who won the Outstanding Hitter award), Arturo Davila (outstanding pitcher) and Jose Hernandez (newcomer of the year), they beat the Boston Beantowners in 6. By the time the Imperials won their sixth straight NC pennant in 1919, almost half the country was said to be rooting for the Chicago Columbians, including even the fans of their rivals, the St. Louis Pioneers, and the people of Chicago poured into the streets to celebrate when the Columbians defeated the Imperial scourge in five games. So shocking was the development that some speculated that the Imperials had thrown the series, although this was never proven....

(OOC: I want a bad guy franchise in this. The Imperials, being the obvious Yankee analog, made the most sense. So how did I orchestrate this? Well, during the drafts I gave the picks of some of the teams doomed to move elsewhere to the Imperials. This worked... too well.)

The Chicago Columbians again triumph!
 

HAIL TO NAVARRO, THE GREAT IMP-SLAYER!

Chuck Sprawlings, Sprawlings' Magazine: Not since I personally defeated my brother Frederick in a hot-air balloon duel has the city of Chicago seen such a site, as the Chicago Columbians won their second straight Big Series and fourth overall, as Game 6 of the 1920 series saw Ivan Gallegos hit a game-tying home run in the ninth and then saw Roberto Navarro hit a walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the tenth to win it all....

Church, Bernal and Benjamin enter the HOF


From the Cooperstown Cooper:
Pity poor Jack Benjamin. The 8-time all-star ace of so many Kansas City Western clubs, and winner of 223 games, was but the third wheel of the 1920 HOF inductions, entering alongside Daniel Church and Carlos Bernal.

"I don't feel bad," Benjamin said, "I'm honored, in fact, simply to be in the same club as them."

While this is not the first class to enter the Hall, the Great War and the Spanish Flu had put dampers on previous ceremonies. In stark contrast, this year saw thousands come to watch the inductions, including many Church fans from Buffalo, who touted sandwich signs that said things such as "Time for Church", "Dan's our Man" and "The Greatest".

Taking time to recall Mike Williams' infamous "no position player will get a run off of him" comment from his time with the 1910 Boston Beantowners, Church shocked all in attendance by revealing that he actually had thrown batting practice to Minh Tran-Dinh during the time they had spent together in Buffalo.

"I guess I never should have done that, it gave him a read on me."

The final speaker of the day, however, was Carlos Bernal, who had not traveled that far from his home in Glen Falls for the ceremony. Thanking his family and teammates, he also revealed that he had finally gotten his first coaching job, and will be managing the Indianapolis Reserve League team in Fort Wayne beginning next season. The announcement drew widespread cheers from the crowd, many, no doubt, who are hoping that one day they may yet see him in a TBL uniform, albeit as a coach or manager.

Rumors that the Outstanding Pitcher Award would be renamed after Church (who will be coaching in the Richmond system this coming season) were unfounded, although there is some talk that it will still happen and was just delayed out of respect to Bernal and Benjamin, neither of whom would be receiving similar honors.

Dan Church Award named
 

Feb 2, 1922: It was announced today that the Outstanding Pitcher Award will be renamed after Hall of Famer Daniel Church, beginning this season.

Church, now a coach in the Richmond system, will be handing out the awards at the year end banquet to the winners of the OC and NC winners. He still owns the career record for wins, complete games, shutouts and innings pitched.


(OOC: What does everyone think of this, naming the TBL equivalent of the Cy Young Award after the TBL's first great pitcher? And what are your impressions of these little preludes so far?)

.400
 

Throughout the history of TBL, no man has hit .400. Now, however, two, possibly are aiming to do it with about a week left go in the 1922 season:

In Indianapolis, the shock of the season has been Randall Clark. The lefty 1B, only 24, is currently hitting .416. His highest average at any level of pro ball was a .376 BA with Fort Wayne last season before he was called up. His season has been fantastic, to say the least: in April he hit .457, in May he hit .429, June saw him hit "only" .396, but July saw him hit .494, but since then he has hit only .364 in August and is hitting "only" .355 in September. Can Clark do it? It's just about the only thing keeping Indianapolis fans interested in the last-place team...

Meanwhile, Stephen Cain of the Detroit Wolves is at .401 and is qualified to win the batting title, despite the fact he has had two stints of injuries this season. Detroit, like Indianapolis, is far down in the standings, and only Cain is bringing people to the stands.

Finally, there is Jose Ramos of the Manhattan Unions, who at .391 has a shot at getting to .400 with a good week.

The following posts are about this final week and a race for .400.

9-25-1922:

Baltimore beats Detroit 18-2. Cain 2-4. BA now at .402.
Manhattan beats NY Imperials 12-9. Ramos 1-4. BA now at .388.

9-26-1922:
Albany beats Indianapolis 8-6. Clark 3-5. BA now at .418
Detroit beats Baltimore 6-5 in 21 innings (!). Cain is 3-8. BA now at .401.
NYI beats Manhattan 11-9 in 11 innings. Ramos 0-4. Now at .386.

9-27-1922:
Albany beats Indianapolis 10-9. Clark 1-3. BA at .418.
Baltimore beats Detroit 5-2. Cain 1-3. BA is .401.
NYI beats Manhattan 11-4. Ramos is 3-5. BA now at .387.

9-28-1922:
Indianapolis beats Albany 8-6. Clark is 2-4. Clark at .418.
Detroit beats Baltimore 10-7. Cain is 1-3 and now at .400.
Newark beats Manhattan 8-6. Ramos 1-4 and now at .387 (at this point I stopped following Ramos)

9-29-1922:
Baltimore beats Indianapolis 9-6. Clark is 1-3. Still at .418.
NYI beats Detroit 16-0. Cain is 2-3 and now at .402.

9-30-1922:
Baltimore beats Indianapolis 7-3. Clark is 1-3. BA is .417. (After the game, the evening paper in Indianapolis blared out: "HE'S GOING TO DO IT!")
Detroit beats NYI 5-1. Cain is 0-3 and is now at .400 .

With Randall Clark seemingly destined to get over the .400 mark, much of the attention fell to the Detroit Wolves vs. NY Imperials game and Stephen Cain. The Imperials, as always, had already booked their ticket to the Big Series (again), and had a 112-49. The Wolves, however, had had a far less impressive season, 72-89. Interest in the Detroit area, however, was high enough that, for the first time ever, a local radio station decided to broadcast the game to the fortunate few who had radio sets.


To the mound for the Imperials was Ken French. He was 17-7 since getting called up from Scranton that season, and finally had gotten a permanent spot in the rotation.

Cain was originally going to be left out of the lineup, but asked on, saying he didn't want to get the .400 while sitting out the final game. So he was placed in left field, batting third.

Only certain excerpts of the game's radio broadcast exist, but they include all of Cain's at-bats. We pick up in the bottom of the first at Wolves Stadium.

"Latimer leading off for the Wolves here. It's 0-0 here in the final game of the 1922 season. The pitch from French and... oh what a shot! NO! Emery Lewis reaches up and grabs it. What a play by the Imperial second-basemen! One down.

(Cheering is heard in the background)

"Cain has just entered the on-deck circle. Pat Kemp is up now, hitting .310 on the year. The 8-time All-Star has been mentioned as a inspiration to the young Stephen Cain, and some are wondering if this might be Kemp's final season. What a final year it would be. And there's ball one from French. Kemp, of course.... [static- the rest of the at-bat was lost, but Kemp ended up being walked]"

"[static]- and here comes Cain. Listen to the crowd roar. They say it's only 5,012 here, but obviously they must just have stopped counting, because this place is packed! He currently stands at .400 on the nose... can the 25-year old stay there or surpass it, or will Randall Clark be the only man to do so?"

"The pitch.... and Kemp is running! That's strike one, and the throw is in time! Two outs. Cain still at the plate."

"Cain back in the box, he's ready. French's wind-up and pitch. Swung on and it... (roar of the crowd) a hard liner and it falls in to left field! Cain is on with a hit and his batting average is now... uh.... excuse me...."

"...It's .401!"

(For time constraints, we are jumping ahead to the bottom of the third, one out and none on, with the Wolves up 1-0)

"Here comes Cain again, he's 1 for 1 and at .401 in batting average. And here's the pitch... and a hard crack of the bat. It's going through and into center! There's another base-hit for Cain, who is now at .402!"

...

(Skipping over a walk by Cain in the 4th to his at-bat in the Bottom of the 6th, with 1 out, Eric Latimer on third and the Wolves trailing 5-3)

"And here's Cain. If he gets a hit here, he's almost assured of beating .400. First pitch... swing and a miss! Latimer is at third... and here's the second pitch.... and he gets a hold of it it but it goes foul behind him."

"Crowd is anxious, and another pitch coming up.... and... he gets it! It's going into right! Latimer scores, and the Wolves now trail by one and Cain is destined for history!"

(Bottom of the 9th, man on first, no outs, Wolves trail 8-4)

"And here comes Cain... and listen to the crowd roar!"

(1-1 count)
"And he... pops it up. But listen to that crowd! With a 3-4 day, Stephen Cain ensures a .403 batting average. Wow!"

1923 pre-season rumblings
 

Chuck Sprawlings writes.....

In the talk between owners and other mover-and-shakers, yours truly was there to hear and report on the rumors and gossip that emerged. While I may be getting up there in years (a healthy 55!), I can report the following:

The Imperials Problem. With New York now having won nine straight NC titles and five of the last nine Big Series, some are considering possible ways to increase the chances of stopping them, especially now that the Imperials are moving to a new 63,000 seat stadium in the Bronx. One owner has suggested that a "wild card" system be implemented, in which case the 2nd place team of each conference would get a chance to overthrow the team with the best record in a five-game-series. I find this idea POPPYCOCK! If a team has so profoundly beaten all comers during the season, why must they risk being upset by a team they had already defeated over the course of the season? Thankfully, this idea has seemingly been tabled. HUZZAH!

Another idea seems to be far better! In order to grow the game both here and abroad, it has been suggested that a barnstorming tour be done in order to spread the gospel of baseball. Although the idea of going abroad has been put aside until such a time that Aeroplane or dirigible will allow for quicker travel, a cross-country trip beginning in New York will likely be attempted- by teams to be determined. It will likely begin in Cincinnati and end in California. Yours truly will, of course, be along with whatever teams head there. Assuming, of course, that my brother Frederick does not break out of his asylum. Remain vigilant!