Let's have a look at the Union Pacific Baseball League Adam's division at the start of the 1875 season. There isn't a single player from the Central League.
Atlanta Grays
Owner: Sean Frontera, a plantation owner who made significant financial contributions to the brief insurrection of the Confederate States.
Manager: Chad May, whose successful stint with Central League’s Buffalo Stampede ended poorly, has been lured in Georgia to build a winning team and a winning culture.
Key Players: Jared Sealey, a 22 year old pitcher promised to a great future, and
John Scovell a lanky 23 year old left-handed batter who knocked back offers from Central League’s Toronto Squirrels to sign a more lucrative deal with Atlanta.
Ballpark: Grays Field
Chicago Ravens
Owner: Ian Farmer made his fortune in the gold trading business. Now at 62 years of age, he wants to be the owner of the first Chicago team to win a professional baseball pennant.
Manager: Roger Poste has been given the reigns of another team after being sacked by his father-in-law following three poor years at the helm of Central League’s Louisville Scouts.
Key Players: 30 year old
Josh Burkert who came to the game of baseball after spending three years in a state penitentiary for robbery, and
Casey Stalder a 19 year old outfielder with blinding speed.
Ballpark: Ravens Park
Cincinnati Flyers
Owner: Ryan Flowers, the senior partner in the biggest Cincinnati law firm, Flowers, Beckenridge & Talbott Associates, already owns a team in the Ohio Valley Baseball League, the Portsmouth Packers
Manager: John Goddard, a rather unknown Californian with limited managing experience for Flowers’ Portsmouth team.
Key Players: Kaden Biedenbender, a 26-year old pitcher who throws a powerful fastball, and
Nick Wilson, a 23-year old outfielder widely recognized as the best player in the struggling Carolina Baseball League.
Ballpark: Flyers Ballpark
Indianapolis Tigers
Owner: The son of Joseph L. Neil, the founder of the Indianapolis Times,
Larry Neil is the senior editor of the newspaper. He knows next to nothing about baseball.
Manager: Justin Brittian is a former coach in the NABBP. Unable to land a contract in the Central League, he moved to California for a while, keeping away from baseball, before jumping on the Union League opportunity.
Key Players: David Grantham, a 24-year old pitcher who earned his contract by beating Justin Brittian at a poker game, and
Nick Joseph, a 23-year old outfielder who hit for a .398 average in his only Ohio Valley Baseball League season.
Ballpark: Tigers Stadium
Nashville Bears
Owner: Nate Buchan, the famous tycoon who built the Buchan Heights, a 12-storey building in downtown Nashville, is the wealthiest man in Tennessee and a former state governor.
Manager: Danny Evenson rejected several Central League teams offers before he was finally lured out of his Tennessee home to manage the Bears. During his 5-year managing career in Ohio and Carolina, he has won the pennant 4 times.
Key Players: Bill Van Dusen, the 23-year old cousin of ‘Dutch’ Van Hout is a southpaw blessed with great movement and control, and
Troy Davis, a 21-year old infielder who, in spite of being a relative unknown, has received the team’s richest contract.
Ballpark: Bears Park
St. Louis Pioneers
Owner: Jordan Thomas is the founder and chairman of the Missouri Premium Bank.
Manager: Gil Pinson comes from the Lys de Montréal team, which is the powerhouse in the sole professionnal baseball league in Québec.
Key Players: ‘The Giant’
Jaylen James a 34-year old pitcher standing at 6”7’ who started playing baseball in 1874, and
Steve Pitt, a 27-year old journeyman infielder who happens to be the brother-in-law of Jaylen James.
Ballpark: Pioneers Grounds