A journey through the history of baseball.
 

After reading 2 different dynasties yesterday on OOTP about baseball beginning in 1871, I have decided to take my own crack at it. The first year (1871) will mirror the real lifes as all players will be put on their initial teams. For the proceeding years, (1872, 1873, etc etc) all the rookies will go their original teams they started their careers with.

I will be following the league changes as they happened in real life and using the real life schedules (ie 1871, Boston plays 30 games and Fort Wayne played 19 games.) As for the stats, I will try to have them mirror as closely as I can.

Free agency will be 1 year because back then alot of players jumped teams each year. Abitration is off, injuries are very low and fatigue is low.

I hope this will help you (the reader) and me learn more about the some of the great players of this era.

Next up, I'll post a little about each team.

*duplicate*

Boston Red Stockings
SP: Al Spalding
C: Cal McVey
1B: Charlie Gould
2B: Sam Jackson
3B: Ross Barnes
SS: George Wright
LF: Fred Cone
CF: Harry Wright
RF: Harry Schafer

Chicago White Stockings
SP: George Zeittlein
C: Charlie Hodes
1B: Bub McAtee
2B: Jimmy Wood
3B: Ed Pinkham
SS: Mart King
LF: Fred Treacey
CF: Joe Simmons
RF: Tom Foley

Cleveland Forest City
SP: Al Pratt
C: Deacon White
1B: Jim Carleton
2B: Gene Kimball
3B: Ezra Sutton
SS: John Bass
LF: Charlie Pabor
CF: Art Allison
RF: George Ewell

Fort Wayne Kekiongas
SP: Bobby Mathews
C: Frank Selman
1B: Jim Foran
2B: Tom Carey
3B: Henry Kohler
SS: Wally Goldsmith
LF: Harry Deane
CF: Joe McDermott
RF: Bill Lennon

New York Mutuals
SP: Rynie Wolters
C: Dick Higham
1B: Joe Start
2B: John Hatfield
3B: Charlie Smith
SS: Bob Ferguson
LF: Dan Patterson
CF: Dave Eggler
RF: Charlie Mills

Philadelphia Athletics
SP: Dick McBride
C: Fergy Malone
1B: Wes Fisler
2B: Al Reach
3B:Levi Meyerle
SS: John Radcliff
LF: Ned Cuthbert
CF: George Heubel
RF: George Bechtel

Rockford Forest City
SP: Cherokee Fisher
C: Ralph Ham
1B: Denny Mack
2B: Chick Fulmer
3B: Cap Anson
SS: Bob Addy
LF: Al Barker
CF: Scott Hastings
RF: Gat Stires

Troy Haymakers
SP: John McMullin
C: Mike McGeary
1B: Clipper Flynn
2B: Bill Craver
3B: Steve Bellan
SS: Dickie Flowers
LF: Steve King
CF: Tom York
RF: Lip Pike

Washington Olympics
SP: Asa Brainard
C: Doug Allison
1B: Everett Mills
2B: Andy Leonard
3B: Fred Waterman
SS: Davy Force
LF: Harry Berthrong
CF: George Hall
RF: John Glenn

Top 5 players in the National Association.
 

1. Ross Barnes: The 20 year old native of Michigan looks to be one of the top players in the newly formed National Association. He makes excellent contact with the ball, has power to drive to the ball to the gaps and has above average speed on the bases.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...oss_Barnes.jpg


2. Jimmy Wood: Excellent contact and a good gap hitter.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...Jimmy_Wood.jpg

3. Adrian "Cap" Anson: This rowdy 19 year old from Marshalltown, Iowa comes to the National Association in hopes of being able to continue his competitiveness. But, in the past 3 years, his behavior has been the question as he's spent the last 3 years at various boarding schools for behavior. No one doubts that Adrian Anson, can play ball at the utmost level.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b.../Cap_Anson.jpg

4. George Wright: This 24 year old speedster from Yonkers, New York is the younger brother of Harry Wright, who coincidently is playing for the Red Stockings also. Back in 1868, Wright played SS for the first fully professional baseball known as the Cincinnati Red Stockings.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...rge_Wright.jpg

5. Levi Meyerle: A tall lanky 6 foot 1 inch player that hails from the rough city of Philadelphia, Levi is a pure hitter and also is blessed with great speed. Oddly enough, Levi is playing for his hometown team, the Philadelphia Athletics.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...vi_Meyerle.jpg

1871 End of May Update
 

Standings as of May 31, 1871

Team……………………................W-L.....GB……Streak
Boston Red Stockings……...............5-2…...----…….....L2
Cleveland Forest City……...............5-3…….0.5……......W1
Rockford Forest City……................5-3…….0.5……......W2
Washington Olympics….................5-4…….1.0…….......L1
Chicago White Stockings..............3-3…….1.5……......W1
Troy Haymakers…….....................3-3…….1.5……......W2
Philadelphia Athletics……..............0-1…….2.0……........L1
New York Mutuals………................0-2……..2.5…….......L2
Fort Wayne Kekiongas…...............0-5…...4.0……........L5


League Leaders
Average: Wes Fisler (PNA) .750 (3-4)
Hits: 3 tied with 15
HR: 5 tied with 1
RBI: Scott Hastings (ROK) 12
Runs: George Hall (OLY) 12
SB: George Wright (BSN) 8


ERA: Cherokee Fisher (ROK) 0.95
Wins: Cherokee Fisher (ROK) 5
Losses: Bobby Mathews (KEK) 5
K's: Al Spalding (BSN) 5
WHIP: Cherokee Fisher (ROK) 0.92

Final 1871 Standings: Boston tops all other teams
 

Team…………………….........W-L.........GB
Boston Red Stockings…….........22-9….....----
Rockford Forest City……..........16-10……..3.5
Cleveland Forest City…….........17-12……..4.0
Washington Olympics…...........17-13……..4.5
Chicago White Stockings........14-14……...6.5
New York Mutuals…….............16-17.......7.0
Fort Wayne Kekiongas……........6-13……...10.0
Philadelphia Athletics……….......10-17……..10.0
Troy Haymakers…..................7-20…......13.0

Behind the masterful pitching of Al Spalding, the Red Stockings were the class of the league in the inaugural season of the National Association. As for the offense, 36 year old Harry Wright led the league with 54 hits while hitting for a .375 average and teammate Ross Barnes finished fourth in the Association with 51 hits.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...AlSpalding.jpg
Al Spalding

1871 Batting Leaders
 

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...1Batting-1.jpg
EDIT: Why does the image start so far down the page? Can anyone help me out there?

1871 Batting Leaders
 

These are the 1871 Pitching Leaders
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...71Pitching.jpg

1871 Wrapup and 1872 Team by Team Preview
 

With three teams having left the Association in Fort Wayne, Rockford, and Chicago. Chicago has departed because of a devastating fire which has destroyed their stadium. Fort Wayne and Rockford have left because of financial troubles. In their place, the National Association will welcome 5 new teams. They will be the Atlantics of Brooklyn, the Mansfields of Middletown, the Eckfords of Brooklyn, the Nationals of Washington, and the Canaries of Baltimore.

Baltimore Canaries: A new entry team that will struggle to compete with the elites of the Association. They did grab young pitcher Bobby Mathews along with Dick Higham and Denny Mack.

C: Dick Higham (.281, 22 RBI with NY Mutuals last yr)
1B: Denny Mack (.320, 18 RBI with Rockford last yr)
2B: Tom Carey (.235, 8 RBI with Fort Wayne last yr)
3B: Bob Ferguson (3-11 with NY Mutuals last yr)
SS: Ed Duffy (.315, 18 RBI with Chicago last yr)
LF: Harry Berthrong (.243, 5 RBI with Olympics last yr)
CF: Joe McDermott (5-14, 5 RBI with Fort Wayne last yr)
RF: Pete Donnelly (6-24, 2 RBI with Fort Wayne last yr)

SP: Bobby Mathews (6W-13L, 2.39 ERA)

Boston Red Stockings: They not only kept the core nucleus of last years championship winning team but also add National Association MVP Jimmy Wood to an already stacked lineup. With Wood's arrival in Boston, Ross Barnes will shift to SS meaning George Wright will have to play at 1B, a position he has very limited experience at in his career. Also, they sign a excellent backup catcher in Doug Allison from the Olympics of Washington.

C: Cal McVey (.358, 20 RBI, 15 SB)
1B: George Wright (.242, 14 RBI, 15 SB)
2B: Jimmy Wood (.386, 18 RBI, 16 SB with Chicago last yr)
3B: John Radcliff (.289, 22 RBI with Philadelphia last yr)
SS: Ross Barnes (.375/.418/.493, 19 RBI)
LF: Frank Barrows (0-2 last yr)
CF: Harry Wright (.375, 1 HR & 19 RBI, 13 SB)
RF: George Heubel (.245, 14 RBI with Philadelphia last yr)

SP: Al Spalding (22W-9L, 3.29 ERA)

Brooklyn Atlantics: Another new entry to the Association will struggle mightily to compete. Basically, this team is a bunch of rookies.

C: Denny Clare (rookie)
1B: Charlie Gould (.193, 12 RBI with Boston last yr)
2B: Jim Hall (rookie)
3B: Jack Burdock (rookie)
SS: Tom Barlow (rookie)
LF: Al Thake (rookie)
CF: Jack Remsen (rookie)
RF: Herb Worth (rookie)

SP: Jim Britt (rookie) At 16, Can he handle the challenge of facing big time hitters?

Brooklyn Eckfords: Basically, this team has limited experience in baseball.

C: Joe Bestick (rookie)
1B: Bill Allison (rookie)
2B: John Hatfield (.287, 14 RBI with Mutuals last yr)
3B: Jim Clinton (rookie)
SS: Jim Snyder (rookie)
LF: Count Gedney (rookie)
CF: Candy Nelson (rookie)
RF: Dick Hunt (rookie)

SP: Martin Malone (rookie)

Cleveland Forest City: Whoa, maybe this is finally a team that can actually compete with that juggernaut known as Boston. They add Lip Pike who spent last season with Troy and LF Ned Cuthbert from the Athletics. They already have Ezra Sutton who can swing the bat with the best of them.

C: Dave Birdsall (.277, 11 RBI with Boston last yr)
1B: Everett Mills (.258, 21 RBI with Olympics last yr)
2B: Lip Pike (.339/.352/.500, 17 RBI with Troy last yr)
3B: Ezra Sutton (.272, 26 RBI, .690 OPS)
SS: John McMullin (.202, 6 RBI with Troy last yr, was a pitcher whole yr)
LF: Ned Cuthbert (2-16, 4 RBI with Athletics last yr)
CF: Joe Battin (didnt appear in a game last yr with CLE)
RF: Gat Stires (.254, 9 RBI with Rockford last yr)

SP: Al Pratt (17W-12L, 2.49 ERA)

Middletown Mansfields: If you thought the Eckford club were BAD, look at the Mansfields team.

C: John Clapp (rookie)
1B: Jim O'Rourke (rookie)
2B: Eddie Booth (rookie)
3B: George Fields (rookie)
SS: Ham Allen (rookie)
LF: Jim Tipper (rookie)
CF: Frank McCarton (rookie)
RF: Frank Buttery (rookie)

SP: Cy Bentley (rookie)

New York Mutuals: With newcomer Candy Cummings joining the team, Rynie Wolters will be tested for his job as the starting pitcher. This team just doesn't have enough pieces to make a push this year.

C: Fergy Malone (.313, 11 RBI with Athletics last yr)
1B: Nat Hicks (rookie)
2B: Bob Addy (.246, 15 RBI with Rockford last yr)
3B: Frank Selman (.241, 15 RBI with Fort Wayne last yr)
SS: Bill Craver (.310, 12 RBI with Troy last yr)
LF: Art Allison (.351, 17 RBI with Cleveland last yr)
CF: Dave Eggler (.285, 21 RBI with Mutuals last yr)
RF: Bill Boyd (rookie)

SP: Candy Cummings (rookie)
SP: Rynie Wolters (16W-17L, 2.81 ERA)

Philadelphia Athletics: If your looking for a team to push Boston for the National Association crown, this Athletics club of Philadelphia could quite possibly do just that.

C: Bill Lennon (.221, 8 RBI with Fort Wayne last yr)
1B: Clipper Flynn (.286, 26 RBI with Troy last yr)
2B: Wes Fisler (.346, 19 RBI, .510 SLG)
3B: Levi Meyerle (.357, 18 RBI, .460 SLG)
SS: Jimmy Hallinan (.206, 3 RBI with Fort Wayne last yr)
LF: George Bechtel (.355, 15 RBI, 6 SB)
CF: Count Sensenderfer (.325, 8 RBI)
RF: John Glenn (.275, 23 RBI with Olympics last yr)

SP: Dick McBride (10W-17L, 2.51 ERA)

Troy Haymakers: Big spenders in the offseason were the Haymakers of Troy.

C: Scott Hastings (.270, 29 RBI for Rockford last yr)
1B:Cap Anson (.345, 14 RBI for Rockford last yr)
2B: Fred Waterman (.323, 12 RBI for Olympics last yr)
3B: Steve Bellan (.365, 25 RBI)
SS: Francis Abercrombie (1-2 last yr)
LF: Steve King (.350, 17 RBI)
CF: Fred Treacey (.339, 30 RBI for Chicago last yr)
RF: Harry Schafer (.238, 13 RBI for Boston last yr)

Washington Olympics: A couple holdovers are still with the club, but basically these are all new players.

C: Deacon White (.211, 13 RBI with Cleveland last yr)
1B: Bub McAtee (.192, 16 RBI with Chicago last yr)
2B: Tommy Beals (.212, 10 RBI)
3B: Henry Burroughs (6-22, 4 RBI)
SS: Andy Leonard (.369, 23 RBI, 9 SB)
LF: Al Barker (0-3 last yr)
CF: George Hall (.305, 24 RBI)
RF: Joe Simmons (.267, 5 RBI for Chicago last yr)

SP: Asa Brainard (15W-11L, 3.24 ERA)
SP: Bill Stearns (2W-2L, 3.40 ERA)

Washington Nationals:A few good players but no enough talent to threaten any team.

C: Charlie Mills (.313, 19 RBI for Mutuals last yr)
1B: Joe Start (.331, 23 RBI for Mutuals last yr)
2B: Al Reach (.329, 13 RBI for Athletics last yr)
3B: Gene Kimball (.303, 12 RBI for Cleveland last yr)
SS: Davy Force (12-29, 12 RBI for Olympics last yr)
LF: Charlie Pabor (.371, 16 RBI for Cleveland last yr)
CF: Tom York (.248, 17 RBI for Troy last yr)
RF: Bill Yeatman (rookie)

SP: Seem Studley (rookie)

1871 Wrapup and 1872 Team by Team Preview
 

a

Standings as of June 3, 1872
 

Team……………………................W-L.....GB……Streak
Troy Haymakers……......................10-5…...----……..W5
Boston Red Stockings……...............7-3…….0.5…….....L2
Cleveland Forest City……................8-4…….0.5…….....L1
*Washington Olympics….................6-3……1.0……....L1
Philadelphia Athletics.....................5-3…….1.5…….....L1
Washington Nationals……................5-5…….2.5……....W3
Brooklyn Atlantics…….....................2-3…….3.0…….....L2
New York Mutuals………...................6-7…….3.0……....W1
Brooklyn Eckfords….......................1-3…....3.5……......L3
Baltimore Canaries........................6-10.....4.5..........W1
Middletown Mansfields...................0-10.....7.5..........L10

FOLDED*

The first casualty of the 1872 season is the Olympics club in Washington as they have had to drop out due to financial issues. As for the players, they were all allowed to go seek employment with another team.

Olympics players that signed with other clubs
-BSN: Harry Deane, Henry Kohler, Nealy Phelps, Charlie Sweasy
-NNA: Bob Reach, Al Barker, Tommy Beals, Henry Burroughs
-NAT: Tom Foley, Deacon White, George Hall, Mike McGeary, Andy Leonard, Bub McAtee
-MAN: Asa Brainard, Bill Stearns
-ECK: Joe Simmons
-PNA: Tom Berry, Dick Hurley, Charlie Bierman, Val Robinson

Standings as of June 27, 1872
 

Team……………………................W-L.....GB……Streak
Boston Red Stockings……...............15-4…..----……...W3
Troy Haymakers…….......................14-6……1.5……....L1
Cleveland Forest City……................9-5…….3.5…….....L1
Philadelphia Athletics.....................9-5…….3.5……....W2
*Washington Olympics…................6-3…….4.0…….....L1
Brooklyn Eckfords….......................3-4…...6.0…….....W2
*Washington Nationals……..............5-6…….6.0……....L1
Baltimore Canaries.......................10-13....7.0.......W1
Brooklyn Atlantics……....................3-6……..7.0…….....L1
New York Mutuals………..................6-14…….9.5……...L7
Middletown Mansfields...................0-14.....12.5......L14

*FOLDED

The other Washington team, the Nationals have decided they don't have the funds to play out the remainder of their season. As for their players, they will be scattered out among the remaining teams in the Association.

Nationals Players that signed with other clubs
-TRO:Bill Yeatman, Joe Spencer
-MAN: Joe Miller, Dennis Coughlin, Oscar Bielaski, Seem Studley
-BOS: Paul Hines, Gene Kimball, Holly Hollingshead, Joe Doyle
-BRA: Tom Foley, Tom York, Deacon White
-ECK: Charlie Mills, Davy Force, Fred Cone, George Hall, Mike McGeary, Joe Start, Al Reach, Andy Leonard, Charlie Pabor, Bub McAtee

Final 1872 Standings
 

Team……………………................W-L.............GB
Boston Red Stockings……..............33-14…..........----
*Troy Haymakers……...................16-8…….........5.5
*Cleveland Forest City……............12-11............9.0
Philadelphia Athletics...................24-21…….......8.0
*Washington Olympics…...............6-3……..........8.0
*Brooklyn Eckfords…...................17-10…..........6.0
*Washington Nationals……............5-6……..........10.0
Baltimore Canaries.......................25-31...........12.5
Brooklyn Atlantics……...................16-24…….......13.5
New York Mutuals……….................25-31….........12.5
*Middletown Mansfields................2-22..............19.5

*FOLDED


For the second straight year, the club from Boston captures the National Association Crown. From the start of the year, it was clear the Red Stockings were the club to beat as they flew out of the gate with a 20-4 record to start off the year. Behind MVP Ross Barnes tremendous hitting and the superb pitching of Al Spalding, Boston easily sailed to its second straight championship.

Love the pics of the old-timers. Keep it up!

1872 Batting Leaders
 

For both leaderboards (batting&pitching), the reason some guys don't have a team is because I deleted those teams and they went to free agency before I took a pic of the leaderboard.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...ingLeaders.jpg

1872 Pitching Leaders
 

Thanks, I appreciate the comment.

This is good stuff!
I love the pictures, and it must be alot of work keeping track of who folds and then dividing up the players

Thanks. As for the players, I just release them all off the team that folds and just kinda let any team that wants to sign them. I really don't know how they did it back then when teams folded. I think what happened was one team just raided that team for their good players, so it really wasn't that fair in real life.

I have read a few cases of teams going out on western road trips and the team running out of money and the team not being able to get back home :D
The players would play for a local team for a few weeks for train fare back home

Baseball has come a long way from the day of shoe string teams poorly ran and not having enough money to go out on a 'western' road trip to chicago or cincinnati