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THE 1882 MIDWESTERN SEMI-PRO BASEBALL PREVIEW

MIDWEST U.S.A. (May 12, 1882) – When the Saginaw game vs Toledo and the St. Joseph game vs St. Paul both start at 12:05 P.M. Central Time, the maiden season of semi-professional baseball in the Midwestern United States will set sail.

The two semi-pro leagues, the Great Lakes Conference & the Prairie League, look slightly different. While both have ten teams and a 108-game schedule, the G.L.C. has three “big” clubs – Columbus, Cook Co. (Chicago) & Toledo – and seven others having varying amounts of resources, where in contrast the P.L. four four “big” clubs – Kansas City, Minneapolis, Omaha, & St. Paul – a decent-sized club in Des Moines, and five smaller organizations.

In the G.L.C. it’s one of the “other” clubs expected to win the inaugural championship: the Fort Wayne Defenders, who have that league’s best group of Batsmen. Over in the P.L. it’s the big clubs who are expected to rule, with Kansas City, Minneapolis, & St. Paul the projected top three finishers for the inaugural season.

Even though these two competitions will be a level below the Midwestern Baseball Association, there will still be some fantastic talent on display. Perhaps the most intriguing player in either league is Toledo Badgers RF Goran Kihlstrom, a 21-year-old who already grades as a player who would be a 3.5* OF in the M.W.B.A. with five-star potential at the professional level. In the semi-pro game, he just might knock the cover off the ball. The best Hurler in either league during the inaugural season could well be the St. Paul North Stars’ Richard Levesque, who’s been projected to earn the P.L. ERA Title by more than half a run while having impeccable control of the ball.

There won’t be any unusually large venues to start the existence of Midwestern semi-pro ball. While there are 5-6 parks in the N.B.B.O. that hold over 10,000 spectators, those in the G.L.C. & P.L. are more modest in size. The largest belongs to the Cook County Railriders’ home in Chicago, the West Side Grounds, which has a capacity of 7,752. The average for leagues’ total of twenty venues is roughly 3,750, which is close to forty percent below the average capacity of an N.B.B.O. park.

While it feels like the dream for Midwestern Baseball has been building for years, it’s finally time to turn it into reality. Everybody’s ready, and it’s time to play ball!

GREAT LAKES CONFERENCE PROJECTED STANDINGS & ANALYSIS

• Favorites: Fort Wayne Defenders (63-45)
• Toledo 4 GB, Dayton/Evansville/Grand Rapids 5 GB
• Saginaw 9 GB, Cook Co. 10 GB, Columbus 12 GB, Youngstown 17 GB, Peoria 22 GB

Fort Wayne enters the G.L.C.’s inaugural season as the favorites to take the title thanks to a lineup featuring three batsmen ranked 1st or 2nd at their positions: 3B Murdoch Samson, SS Richard Scott, & LF Rudolph Andrews. Add in quality 2B Montgomery Larsen & CF Charlie Folger, and this team is expected to league the league in offense.

One of the two big clubs, Toledo, is the projected runners-up, because while they have two five-star prospects in 3B Bruce Wielander & RF Goran Kihlstrom their lack of fielding ability in the Outfield should bring them down. Dayton has four excellent batsmen – C Gottfried Recihmann, 1B Henry Busfield, 2B Truman Tulloch, & CF Elmer Faiman – but lacks talent elsewhere. Evansville has the league’s best collection of young batsmen, and it will take a year or two for them to get to full strength. Grand Rapids has the league’s #1 Hurler – Bertrand Picard – and a fine Outfield, but they also have poor Infielders.

Saginaw, expected to finish .500, has three quality batsmen – C James Waters, SS Teemu Skytta, CF Joseph Scheirer – but very little support for the threesome. The other big club, Columbus, has excellent Hurlers but a surprising lack of Batsman depth, and they’ll have a pair of two-star regulars as a result. Cook Co. has two of the league’s ten best Hurlers – Henry Barbaro & Fred Thompson – but are below average nearly everywhere else. Youngstown has a good Outfield that is, unfortunately, paired with the league’s weakest Infield. Peoria ranks 8th-10th/10 at five positions, so even though they have #1 C James Chambers they’ll struggle in year one.

AWARD FAVORITES

• Batsman of the Year: Murdoch Samson of Ft. Wayne (3B, age 27) – proj .352, .854 OPS, 68 RBI, 5 SB
• Hurler of the Year: Bertrand Picard of Grand Rapids (age 27) – proj 21-13, 2.71 ERA, 150 K over 315.1 IP
• Fielder of the Year: Elmer Faiman of Dayton (CF, age 28)
• Greenhorn of the Year:* Goran Kihlstrom of Toledo (RF, age 21)
• *Players who start the inaugural season age 25 and under will count as Greenhorns.

TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

• P: Bertrand Picard of Grand Rapids (age 27, 5.0/5.0*)
• C: James Chambers of Peoria (age 29, 3.0/3.0*)
• 1B: Jonathan Teel of Evansville (age 26, 4.5/4.5*)
• 2B: Curtis Harrison of Columbus (age 29, 3.5/3.5*)
• 3B: Murdoch Samson of Ft. Wayne (age 27, 4.5/4.5*)
• SS: Richard Scott of Ft. Wayne (age 28, 3.0/3.0*)
• OF: Goran Kihlstrom of Toledo (age 21, 4.5/5.0*; rated 3.5/5.0* relative to MWBA)
• OF: Elmer Faiman of Dayton (age 28, 3.5/3.5*)
• OF: Joseph Scheirer of Saginaw (age 27, 3.0/3.0*)

TOP GREENHORNS & PROSPECTS (by position)

• P1: Bailey Fleming of Ft. Wayne (age 22, 5.0/5.0*; rated 3.0/4.5* relative to MWBA)
• P2: Harold McKay of Columbus (age 23, 5.0/5.0*)
• P3: Benjamin Long of Youngstown (age 25, 3.5/3.5*)
• C: Jonathan Farr of Evansville (age 22, 2.5/4.0*)
• 1B: Charles Morgan of Toledo (age 23, 3.5/5.0*)
• 2B: Garrett Hickey of Grand Rapids (age 23, 2.5/3.0*)
• 3B: Bruce Wielander of Toledo (age 22, 3.0/5.0*)
• SS: Calvin Simpson of Evansville (age 22, 2.5/4.5*)
• OF: Goran Kihlstrom of Toledo (age 21, 4.5/5.0*; rated 3.5/5.0* relative to MWBA)
• OF: Wilford Hachigian of Ft. Wayne (age 21, 2.5/5.0*)
• OF: William Young of Evansville (age 22, 2.5/5.0*)

PRAIRIE LEAGUE PROJECTED STANDINGS & ANALYSIS

• Favorites: Kansas City Bulls (71-37)
• Minneapolis 11 GB, St. Paul 12 GB, Des Moines 15 GB, Lincoln 17 GB
• St. Joseph 20 GB, Omaha/Sioux City/Wichita 23 GB, Dubuque 24 GB

There are four “big” clubs in the P.L., but one of them enters the inaugural season with talent far superior to anyone else: Kansas City. They rank average or better at seven positions, and 1st-2nd at four: SS Charlie Davis, LF George Fields, CF Joshua Simmons, & P1 Charles Murdoch. They have far and away the #1 Outfield, and they’ll have far and away the #1 attack.

Minneapolis will bring the league’s #1 C (Ernest Borgvin) & #1 CF (Jonathan Haug) to the party, but even though their lineup rates excellently overall – above average at six places – their Hurlers rate as the league’s worst. St. Paul has a quality collection of talent and a lineup led by #1 3B Clay Wilkinson, but they won’t be able to keep up with K.C. Des Moines has very good hands & arms across their Infield, and that will keep them competitive. A fine Outfield led by #1 RF Franklin French should allow Lincoln to finish at .500 or slightly above.

St. Joseph has no shortage of batsmanship, but a serious lack of fielding ability will keep them below .500. The 4th big club, Omaha, has #1 players at 1B & 2B – James Collier & Thomas Lien – but a below-average Outfield and Hurlers that rank 8th/10. Sioux City projects to have the league’s weakest offense, and that will cripple them. Wichita has a couple of nice players, most notably RF Seamus Gray, but is very weak at numerous positions. Dubuque’s league-worst Outfield and poorly-rated 2B/3B pairing will likely cause them to finish in last place.

AWARD FAVORITES

• Batsman of the Year: George Fields of Kansas City (age LF, age 26) – proj .336, .973 OPS, 94 RBI, 16 SB
• Pitcher of the Year: Richard Levesque of St. Paul (age 27) – proj 23-12, 2.14 ERA, 132 K over 320.0 IP
• Fielder of the Year: Louis Macklin of Omaha (SS, age 27)
• Greenhorn of the Year:* Charlie Davis of Kansas City (SS, age 22)
• *Players who start the inaugural season age 25 and under will count as Greenhorns.

TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

• P: Richard Levesque of St. Paul (age 27, 5.0/5.0*)
• C: Ernest Borgvin of Minneapolis (age 27, 3.0/3.0*)
• 1B: James Collier of Omaha (age 29, 4.0/4.0*)
• 2B: Wallace Black of St. Joseph (age 37, 3.0/3.0*)
• 3B: Clay Wilkinson of St. Paul (age 23, 3.5/4.5*)
• SS: Charlie Davis of Kansas City (age 22, 3.5/5.0*)
• OF: George Fields of Kansas City (age 26, 4.5/5.0*)
• OF: Nathan Haug of Minneapolis (age 27, 4.5/4.5*)
• OF: Franklin French of Lincoln (age 31, 3.0/3.0*)

TOP GREENHORNS & PROSPECTS (by position)

• P1: Cleo Hammond of Sioux City (age 24, 4.0/4.5*)
• P2: Erik Hovland of St. Paul (age 21, 3.0/5.0*; 2.0/5.0* relative to MWBA)
• P3: Woodrow Falcon of Minneapolis (age 22, 3.0/4.5*)
• C: Henry Harris of Des Moines (age 24, 2.5/2.5*)
• 1B: Robert Shepherd of Lincoln (age 22, 2.5/4.0*)
• 2B: Paul Volkert of Wichita (age 25, 2.5/2.5*)
• 3B: Clay Wilkinson of St. Paul (age 23, 3.5/4.5*)
• SS: Charlie Davis of Kansas City (age 22, 3.5/5.0*)
• OF: Jared Looper of St. Paul (age 22, 3.0/4.5*)
• OF: Pete Shriver of Lincoln (age 22, 2.5/4.5*)
• OF: Laurent Bourgeois of St. Paul (age 22, 2.5/4.5*)