Chaos in the Green Cathedrals - An MLB alternate history

[Lee]

	Well now you know it all started with Chris Von Der Ahe. He was livid that Western League owners would not approve the move of the Baltimore franchise to St Louis, feeling it could not compete with the Cardinals when they relaunched as the American League in 1901. Von Der Ahe was a proud man and August Busch was beating him in the breweries and now Frank Robison, the man he had sold the Cardinals to was keeping him out of Baseball in his home town because American League owners did not think he could compete.
	Well, Chris Von Der Ahe was many unsavory things, but a quitter was not one of them. Instead of going through with his plan to buy the Baltimore nine, he balked on the deal, burnt any bridges he had with Ban Johnson and went about rousting up owners to start his own major league. He found his foils in a small time independent league called Union Association. Now this was not the same League that competed back in the 1880's, no sir, this was a league with teams in places like Homestead, Pennsylvania,Toledo and Newark. Bringing in partners for the existing teams with Von Der Ahe himself taking over the Kansas City franchise, he announced he would join Ban Johnson's Western League in declaring Major League status and would begin competing directly with the Johnson's upstarts and the entrenched clubs of the National League, relocating 6 of the 8 Union League clubs to current Major League Cities.
	He raided the top minor leagues from across the land, securing such players as Cap Anson, King Kelly and well, I suppose myself from places as far away as California, with intentions to raid existing National and the newly formed American League clubs as well. The owners in the National League knew him well enough to know he was hell bent on getting his way, even if it threatened to drive the game under and they eventually sued for peace. The result of course was what fans saw on opening day 1901 and what we continue to see to this day. The American and National League owners agreed to each take 4 teams from the Union Association and allow Von Der Ahe to own a franchise in Missouri, as long as it moved back to Kansas City and the other seven clubs all moved back to their original cities as well, or at least out of any city currently occupied by an American or National League team. Their feeling of course, is that the smaller cities would not be able to compete in terms of revenue and would eventually fold or be forced from the Major Leagues, restoring the leagues to eights teams apiece. Well, we all know how that turned out.
	'Grasshopper' Jim Whitney - Chaos in the Green Cathedrals, 1946

[Lee]

	Reading Chaos in the Green Cathedrals brings back not only the vision of the game for those of us who lived it, but also the smells and sounds of the game as it was played in that time as well. The feint, yet constant aroma of cigar smoke as it wafted across the diamond and mixed with the smell of freshly cut grass. The constant chatter of the opposing dugouts, which is seems was only silenced by the hearty roar of the throngs in attendence when something of note happened.
	It was a chaotic time indeed, but it was also a great time to be a fan of the national pastime. With the peace accord between the owners of the American League, National League and Union Associations, fans would not get to experience the thrill of Major League Baseball as played by 24 teams, 12 to a league and two divisions of 6 within each league. Not only would the winners of each division meet to determine a league champion, but the winner of those series would meet in the exalted Temple Cup, the winner of which would be hailed as the Champion of the world. In addition as part of Chris Von Der Ahe's concession to move his Union Teams out of American and National League cities, teams from the newly formed 12 team leagues would play limited games against foes from the other league during the regular season. Something that had never been done between two simultaneously existing leagues before . It was a great time to be a fan, but an even better time to be a General Manager and I could not wait for springtime in Homestread, Pennsylvania.
	Entry from the Diary of Anthony Lee - General Manager of the 1901 Homestead Grays - circa 1950

OOC - This is an alternate history diary using real players based on the premise that a third Major League sprung up at the beginning of the 19th century and was absorbed into the existing AL/NL structure. The "former" Union Association teams are made up of Historical teams imported from the 1884 season with the names changed some of the more successful franchises from the Negro Leagues. The Union teams are all small market and I will be the GM of the Homestead Grays.

Historical players will be imported, but they will go to the free agent pool to be signed by the highest bidder, which is as close as I can get to the way it was done at that time. Free agency will be available (as part of the peace agreement to prevent raiding) but only after a player has 12 years of major league service, with the reserve clause and automatic renewal being in place for all those with less than 12 years service.

[Lee]

	American League East	W	L	GB		National League East	W	L	GB
	Boston Americans	0	0	-		New York Giants	0	0	-
	New York Highlanders	0	0			Philadelphia Phillies	0	0
	Philadelphia Athletics	0	0			Newark Eagles	0	0
	Washington Senators	0	0			Pittsburgh Pirates	0	0
	Baltimore Orioles	0	0			Milwaukee Brewers	0	0
	Hilldale Giants	0	0			Brooklyn Superbas	0	0
	American League West	W	L	GB		National League West	W	L	GB
	Detroit Tigers	0	0	-		St Louis Cardinals	0	0	-
	Cleveland Blues	0	0			Louisville Black Caps	0	0
	Chicago White Sox	0	0			Kansas City Monarchs	0	0
	Indianapolis ABC's	0	0			Homestead Grays	0	0
	Birmingham Barons	0	0			Cincinnati Reds	0	0
	Memphis Elites	0	0			Chicago Cubs	0	0

The peace agreement places Homestead in the National League West, along with the two teams (St Louis and Kansas City) that will likely develop the fiercest rivalry in the league as the hatred that exists between Chris Van Der Ahe and Frank Robison is at a level rarely, if ever seen on the fields of sport.

Homestead is managed by 44 yr old John Robinson and despite the fact that we have no money to bring in new faces at this time, we are still a young and formidable team led by veteran 1B Cap Anson and ace hurler John Clarkson. We finish spring training with a record of 14-9 (tied for second in the National League) and it is this that brings us hope for the inagural season of the newly formed Association of Major League Baseball Clubs.

[Lee]

OOC: While still early I have decided to go with a monthly update instead of weekly with the narrative switching between a local Homestead newspaper and entries from my 'characters' diary. The pace will be slower, but I am hoping more immersive.

[Lee]

	It is a bittersweet month for the teams of the old Union Association for though we have ventured off to a start good enough for second place in our division, there is no other team save Kansas City that has not lost more than they have won, and all four of the divisions feature a Union team in the cellar. Our nine is solid as I knew it would be, though I am not at all pleased with the gamesmanship of one Cap Anson.
	If the challenges wrought by his constant tomfoolery in regards to a contract have brought one thin to light however it is this. Those of us who lead the teams of the former Union Association are universally despised and it is my belief that it will stay that way for quite some time as not a single owner was willing to offer me fair worth for Anson in a trade. They look upon our teams as vagrant bands of gypsies and our players as second class citizens, which I suppose makes them no better than diseased Curs in the eyes of the refined public.
	Entry from the Diary of Anthony Lee - General Manager of the Homestead Grays May 1901

[Lee]

Words do not express my disdain at the mollycoddles that proclaim themselves the bold and powerful magnets of Baseball. Oh, we shall move our fences back and we shall still beat the rotten scoundrels into the foul ground on which they stand!

From the diary of Anthony Lee - GM Homestead Grays, June 1901

[kenyan_cheena]

Damn, 440 views in less than two days!!! This looks great, Lee, presented just like your recent TBCB thread with Jeannette, McVey and Langford. I shall be following along.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Damn, 440 views in less than two days!!! This looks great, Lee, presented just like your recent TBCB thread with Jeannette, McVey and Langford. I shall be following along.

Thanks KC, I wish I had the motivation to keep that boxing thread going, but I am going to need a new version to really get into TBCB again. This one however I will keep going.

[EMSoccerCoach]

Good to see another boxing guy venture in here. Speaking of that, it's been a while since I touched the boxing thread. Need to get back in there. But I've been on a roll with the PBL now, so this is where I've been.

Looking forward to seeing this out, Lee.

[Lee]

	Writers and Bugs from opposing teams squeal with indignity at the "blasphemous" total of home runs we have walloped. I choose to squeal with indignity at our League high 322 errors through June, nearly twice the number of the elegant fielding Brooklyn 9 who have but 169. I would gladly trade our blasphemy for a ballplayer who can field a damn ball!

Entry from the diary of Anthony Lee - July 1901

[Lee]

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[Terpripken]

Fantastic look and layout. Very well done. Looking forward to this one.

[Lee]

...

[Lee]

	We have been haunted by the grim shadow of fate this month and it has shown us no mercy. Lost due to injury or illness in August, Tom Burns out the entire month due to various maladies. Billy Sunday, three weeks with a finger injury. The heart and soul of our team Cap Anson, out the first three weeks of the month with a broken foot. And now, as the weather cools and September dawns we lose SS Fred Pfeffer for the rest of the season after a collision at 2nd base leaves his thumb with torn ligaments. We scarcely have enough active bodies at times to play to the major league level and I can only hope that Mr. Foster will loosen the purse strings so we may add at least four or five able bodied players to our roster prior to next spring. I have my eye on one in particular, a tall gangly righthander discovered in Wisconsin named Addie Joss, Though he reminds one of a human pinwheel, he is a formidable presence in the box. I can only hope that others do not catch wind of this lad and join us in courting his services.

From the diary of Homestead General Manager Anthony Lee - August 1901

[Lee]

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[Lee]

	Four teams remain and will continue to play until one lofts the Temple Cup. It is my truest belief that had our errors been less and our team injury free we could have been one of those teams. As those four teams prepare to play, I must now find help in the middle of our defense and a strong young arm to add depth and danger to the pitchers we have in place. March seems like an eternity away, yet any hesitation will impede our hope to bring the Cup to the good people of Homestead, so while others may relax and relive the 1901 season, my work has only begun.

From the Diary of Anthony Lee, Homestead General Manager - September 28th 1901.