The Virginia Mariners would love to forget any part of their history before 1895 because it wasn't too positive for Virginia. 1895 was a big step forward for the long suffering franchise though when the Mariners went 53-43, and they haven't finished lower than first place since. How that recent success in the small Atlantic League will be hard to tell, but at least for 1901 the Virginia Mariners are one of the top 22 teams in professional baseball.
28 year old
Mark Frey broke in with Virginia as a 20 year old and has manned third base ever since. Frey didn't miss a game this past season and hit .300 with a .347 on-base percentage, 4 home runs, and 32 RBI. He's been solid with the glove for Virginia and has been the team's best player. Frey has been healthy throughout his career, but Frey and his teammates will be tested moving from the 96 game Atlantic League schedule to the more demanding 168 Premier League schedule
28 year old
Billy Ging won 22 games for the Mariners last year and led the team with a 3.01 ERA. It was the third time Ging won 20 or more games for the Mariners in his career.
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The further down you get on the baseball food chain the more fictional or fringe baseball players make an impact. There is no draft in this world, and the prestige rating for the league goes down each step of the rung, and I've always viewed the Southern League and Atlantic League as the lowest rungs on the baseball ladder prior to 1901. That's part of the reason why the best players on the Mariners are either fictional or fringe players. Ging played in just one game in the majors, not enough to get rated well, but sometimes with opportunity comes results.
I *think* the Mariners may be in for a rude awakening, but they do have the offseason to adjust.