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THE 1875 AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (May 4, 1875) – The American Professional Baseball League is ready to begin Season #5, with First Pitch taking place this afternoon in six cities across the Northeast. The two favorites this season are the two teams who made the Founders’ Cup last year: Alleghany & Orange. However, one team is expected to give Orange an extremely tough battle for the Metropolitan pennant and, as always, St. John’s will be fighting with Alleghany for Colonial bragging rights to the very end of the season.

A summary of the offseason for each team:

ALLEGHANY – Alleghany returns every regular from last year’s Colonial champions, and they upgraded an outfield spot by signing the #1 indy ball batsman: four-star LF John Meier. As a result, the writers expect them back in the Founders’ Cup with the same record they had last year.

AMERICAN – They tried to make a big signing to replace Willie Davis over the winter but ultimately had to replace from within, with Sidney Crowder (2.0*) the new LF at a big downgrade. The rest of the batsmen are back. They also have two Greenhorn P’s and a number of prospects at the position, so a potential revolving door there has American expected to finish the season at .500.

EXCELSIOR – After Jim Creighton’s finest APBL season Excelsior wasn’t able to sign any big names over the winter, but they did bring in Bill Lewis to be their RF to ensure that they should have an elite defense once again. With Elijah Hill & Troy Oberst having an APBL season behind them and Nicholas Banfield reportedly looking more talented than before during spring games, Excelsior is projected to be just as good as Orange and possibly go to the Founders’ Cup for the first time.

FLOUR CITY – They replaced one aging 1B – Hawk Peterson – with another, but Samuel Kessler isn’t a standard 38-year-old. They’re hoping backup Alfred Suber has a better season than the departed Lon Duffy at RF, and after James York’s shock retirement at age 30 in December they’ve made Greenhorn Daniel Gibson their new #2 at a downgrade. Still, they should finish safely above .500

GOTHAM – All of their regular batsmen except average CF Edward Johnson are back and they replaced Howard Budd with Knick stalwart Peadar Daly, but the Writers Pool doesn’t like Gotham because once again their defense looks poor on paper. Their new CF Gerbrand Boonstra is a career APBL backup but grades at 2.5* and will be a defensive upgrade. Still, they’re projected to finish 4th.

KINGS COUNTY – After the retirement of legendary SS/3B Edward Huntley, this will be a transition year. The team tried to land star SS Jonathan Richards from the NBBO but missed and instead will have 2.5* Greenhorn Arthur Groff there, a BIG downgrade from Huntley. They also lost Leonard Noble but have replaced him with Charles Washer, who should at least be good in the field. The big plus: their two P’s are 5.0* Bert Landreth and 4.5* Greenhorn Charles Burton. Still, they’re projected to finish last.

KNICKERBOCKER – One change to the regular setup over the winter, as they let Ed Donovan leave for Flour City and replaced him from within, making outfield defensive specialist Henry Jost their new LF after two seasons as a backup. Aside from that, Bert Landreth should become their new #1 now that Peadar Daly is on the wrong side of 35.

MASSACHUSETTS BAY – After another last-place finish they did some sensible things over the winter. William Trowbridge was moved from SS, where he racked up a -65.7 ZR over two seasons, to 3B, where the .350 hitter should be much less of a defensive negative. In at SS is Jonathan Richards, good for 3.6 WAR and +13.5 ZR in the NBBO last year. They also signed 2x All-Star Henry Gaul from Shamrock. With the previous taken into account the team shouldn’t be the Colonial doormat this year.

NIAGARA – Charles Barrett, now 23, should be great with bat & glove at LF. The problem: that might be more than cancelled out by Ernest Lewis & Obelix Tsiaris both being 37 and losing range at important positions. Aside from Reginald Roper the rest of their batsmen are just okay, and the Writers Pool thinks that spells out a last-place finish for Niagara in 1875.

ORANGE – The champs are expected to have the same record as last year. They lost Samuel Kessler but replaced him with Walter Dudley, an All-Star 1B for Orange before they signed Kessler. Every other regular is back. The only major worry is that 9x All-Star Taliesin Buckley is 38 and noticeably losing range at CF. Can Corner OF’s Isaac Holm & William Valentine help him out?

SHAMROCK – They lost regulars over the winter but didn’t upgrade or downgrade any position. 3.0* star RF Henry Gaul moved across Boston, and they signed 3.0* Leonard Noble to replace him. 2.5* CF Hiram Majors retired, and they signed 2.5* Charles Hormel to replace him. 3.0* P Henry Tallman left, and 3.0* John Henry will replace him. The result: a projected repeat 42-48 finish.

ST. JOHN’S – Every regular is back except Theo Kohlberg, who was replaced with Greenhorn Gerald Hathway, a 2.5* Greenhorn expected to provide excellent defense and good baserunning. Everything else remaining the same means they should have the Colonial’s best offense, good pitching, decent defense, and another 50-40 finish.