Quote:
Originally Posted by Lukas Berger
Is the Fed League thing a change from how it was previously? I didn't think we even particularly included the Fed League. Though I can always get a little confused which leagues we do and don't include in the early years, there are so many  |
The players from the National Association, the American Association, the Union Association, and the Players League are all fully done statistically, in the database. The stolen bases were the final piece for the AA from 1882-1885, and the UA in it's one year of existence. IBB, SF, and RBI aren't there for some early seasons, but those numbers are completely non-essential, and quite cosmetic. Filling in the gap, for the sake of filling in the gap if you get my drift. The Federal League players stats are kind of one sixth in there already (half the defensive stats, with nothing else), and all of the players are in the Master.csv file. Let me emphasize that I am not in favour of changing the league structure to get any of these four leagues in the game,
at all. I'm merely in favour of giving the players their full statistical profiles.
I would say the FL was a more competitive league than the UA was, and it was
much more stable. Freddy Dunlap absolutely hammered the UA with his bat, in 1884. In terms of league stability, the NA was terrible,
but, we need the players from it, to get back to 1871, so there's no doubt they should be there. The AA was very stable, as upstart leagues go, so it's players definitely belong. The UA was a jumbled mess of in season departures, foldings etc, and folded after a year, but it's players are in there. The PL was stable, until the owners broke it after the first year. I believe it was the players' first attempt at forming a union, under Monte Ward, but the owners blew it up real good. Can't remember how. If anything, it's the player numbers from the Union Association that should be out, but I wouldn't want that, and they're already in there anyway.
My memory's fuzzy, but, like you, I seem to recall something to do with the FL being left out as a design decision. Now that I think about it, I think it was
the league structure being left out, which is absolutely the right call.
The thing is, the FL (more specifically FL only) guys are all still in the Master.csv file, so they enter...Well...Statistically naked, OF defense aside. How to cut them out is a very tough nut to crack. What do you do with the straddlers of the AL/NL and the FL, like Dutch Zwilling, Bernie Kauff, Joe Tinker, Mordecai Brown, and many others? Can't cut them out altogether. You'd need to alter the Master.csv file, but you'd have to be really, really careful about who you yank, and who you leave in. Again, my argument would be that the league structure should never change from having the two subleagues (AL and NL), but I think the FL players should be fully equipped to compete.
It's no skin off my nose, as I'll painstakingly fill guys stats in for my games, but others may not be happy with that, even if they don't notice it right now. I am a completist by nature, but if that's the design decision, so be it. Viva les FL players (just not the structure)!!!
Just as an aside, is it a sign that I might need help, given that I was able to remember all this stuff off the top of my head, without using any sources? Whoa! *Exit stage left, running from the folks with the straight jackets, screaming "You'll never take me alive!"*