The New United Baseball Association- A fictional alternative

[ashantewarrier]

Inspired by the original UBA dynasty of ryanivr (http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...sociation.html), I have decided to create my version of the United Baseball Association. This dynasty will initially have actual teams Union Association and Federal League teams with fictional players.

My version will feature the old Union Association which lasted only one season in 1884, and the Federal League which lasted two seasons from 1914-1915. In this fictional version the Union Association and Federal will survive and thrive past their actual end dates before merging to form the UBA. As both leagues evolve, I will also add some fictional teams as well.

Names, uniforms and appearances will be authentic to the era. The early history of the league will not have ballplayers of color reflecting the unfortunate segregated era. Integration, expansion, relocation and free agency will eventually take place as the dynasty evolves.

Please note, that my dynasty is in no way a replacement or intended to be a copy of ryanivir's fine and exceptional UBA dynasty which ran last year. Other than the use of the UBA league name and Federal League teams, the leagues will be quite different from each other.

I hope all who follow enjoy and feel free to make comments and suggestions!

[ashantewarrier]

THE NEW YORK TIMES

PITTSBURGH Sept. 12, 1883- Delegates representing Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Indianapolis, and St. Louis met at the Monongahela House to-day and organized the "Union Association of Base-ball Clubs."


THE UNION
Officers were elected and constituiton and by-laws of the American Association with a few changes were adopted:

Resolved, That, while we recognize the validity of all contracts made by the National League and American Association,
we cannot recognize any agreement whereby any number of bad-players may be reserved for any club for any time beyond the terms of their contracts with such club.


Secretary White is confident of the success of the new association. In an interview this evening he said "we are certain to succeed. We commence with a cash capital of $100,000 and there will be no difficulty in securing more money if necessary. Our refusal to be bound by the "eleven men reserve rule: assures us of the good will of every player in the country for the stand we have taken is directly in their interest. it will enable every man to obtain just as much salary as his services are worth which is more than the old association are willing to concede, We do not intend to declare war on either the National League or American Association, but if wither of the old associations declares war in us we will not sit idly by. I do not anticipate any trouble, however. I recently received what I consider as good as an official declaration from a National League officer that the League meeting to be held at the Riggs House it will be decided to abandon the eleven-men rule."

[David Ball]

Originally Posted by ashantewarrier

The New York Times

PITTSBURGH Sept. 12, 1883- Delegates representing Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Indianapolis, and St. Louis met at the Monongahela House to-day and organized the "Union Association of Base-ball Clubs."

Attachment 207673
The Union

Officers were elected and constituiton and by-laws of the American Association with a few changes were adopted:

Resolved, That, while we recognize the validity of all contracts made by the National League and American Association, we cannot recognize any agreement whereby any number of bad-players may be reserved for any club for any time beyond the terms of their contracts with such club.


Secretary White is confident of the success of the new association. In an interview this evening he said "we are certain to succeed. We commence with a cash capital of $100,000 and there will be no difficulty in securing more money if necessary. Our refusal to be bound by the "eleven men reserve rule: assures us of the good will of every player in the country for the stand we have taken is directly in their interest. it will enable every man to obtain just as much salary as his services are worth which is more than the old association are willing to concede, We do not intend to declare war on either the National League or American Association, but if wither of the old associations declares war in us we will not sit idly by. I do not anticipate any trouble, however. I recently received what I consider as good as an official declaration from a National League officer that the League meeting to be held at the Riggs House it will be decided to abandon the eleven-men rule."

A real life comment: I had seen similar reports on this meeting, but never this exact item, with the comment about the National League being expected to give up the reserve rule. That is rather interesting, and I wonder what (if anything) there really was behind it.

It didn't happen, of course, and with anyway more or less all the prospective members of the UA in cities already occupied by teams in the established leagues, there was no possibility of peaceful relations between the Union and the other leagues, even if there was no conflict over reserved players.

[ashantewarrier]

Originally Posted by David Ball

A real life comment: I had seen similar reports on this meeting, but never this exact item, with the comment about the National League being expected to give up the reserve rule. That is rather interesting, and I wonder what (if anything) there really was behind it.

It didn't happen, of course, and with anyway more or less all the prospective members of the UA in cities already occupied by teams in the established leagues, there was no possibility of peaceful relations between the Union and the other leagues, even if there was no conflict over reserved players.

I believe that the NL did not view the UA as a serious threat. The financial stability of the league was in doubt from the start and most baseball officials were of the opinion that the league was not going to last beyond one season. Confirmation of this was when Altoona folded early on in the season which would become a trend as several clubs would fold thereafter.

[ashantewarrier]

Now that I think about it, what if the UA had began play or survived a few years later? The league could have become a viable alternative to the NL and AL as many players began to revolt against the Reserve Clause in the late 1880's. The player revulsion against the Reserve Clause would lead to the Players League. However, the Players League would only survive one season as well and the RS would remain firmly in place.

[ashantewarrier]

Proceeding of The Union Association of Base-Ball Players

Philadelphia, Dec. 18- The constitution, by-laws and playing rules of the American Association were adopted with revisions. A majority vote now elects- no exhibition games will made with association clubs and managers will not hereafter be engaged by writen contract. The championship is to be decided by the number of games won. An alliance clause was adopted and the initiation fee was placed at $10. The following clubs have been accepted as charter members of the Association:


Altoona Mountain Citys

Baltimore Monumentals

Boston Reds

Chicago Browns

Cincinnati Outlaw Reds

[ashantewarrier]

The remaining 3 teams that round out the charter members:

Keystones of Philadelphia

Washington Nationals

St. Louis Maroons


The Union Association will uphold a strict rules for game fixing and wagering. The Cranks have doubts if the league will in fact succeed.

[ashantewarrier]

For the first 25 years of the Association I will be doing an annual summary. I want to get through those years rather quickly....

THE SPORTING NEWS 1884
The inaugural season the Association was tenuous to say the least. The shenanigans of St. Louis owner Henry Lucas and the instability of several ball-clubs (which lead to the unwanted nickname "the Onion League") placed the Union Association in a state of purgatory. Was the Association going to survive and play another year or would they fold?


Henry A. Lucas, Owner, St. Louis Maroons

Maroons owner, Henry Lucas, stocked his team with the best ball players and dominated the league with a 76-38 record, claiming with U.A. Championship. The Boston Reds were a very distant second place with a 65-46 record. Without competitive balance spectators became disinterested and attending the games. Some Union officials believed that Lucas was positioning his team for the rival National League. Is magnate Lucas fully committed to the Union or is he using the Maroons as a way to gain entry to the National League?

Several ball clubs folded or suspended play during the season. Four different franchises folded during the season, forcing the league to scramble to replace them from lower classification leagues or from scratch. The Altoona team was the first to fold in May, and was replaced by a newly-formed team in Kansas City. After the Philadelphia franchise suspended play in August, the Unions recruited the Wilmington Quicksteps from the Eastern League; the Quicksteps lost many of their best players, and dropped out of the Association in September. The Chicago franchise intended to move to Pittsburgh in August, but suspended operations instead, and Wilmington disbanded around the same time, both teams were replaced by two teams from the disbanding Northwest League, Milwaukee and St. Paul.

A meeting has been scheduled for January 15, 1885, to discuss if the Union Association will remain in existence.

FINAL STANDINGS


BEST BAT AWARD

The 27-year-old third baseman put up a .389 average and a .418 on-base percentage, piling up 171 hits, 36 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 50 RBIs and 56 runs scored.

HURLER AWARD and AMATEUR AWARD

Joe McCsker excelled with an impressive 22-14 record in 38 starts. In 351.2 innings he yielded 308 hits and 52 walks, while striking out 47 and compiling a fine 2.15 ERA.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Jimmy Harrison, St. Louis Maroons 76 wins 38 losses, U.A. Championship

[mjj55409]

Are you running this in conjunction with a National League and American Association? Are you planning on giving us peeks into the larger baseball world?

Love it so far!

[ashantewarrier]

Originally Posted by mjj55409

Are you running this in conjunction with a National League and American Association? Are you planning on giving us peeks into the larger baseball world?

Love it so far!

Thanks MJ!

I'm actually running it as a stand alone league, but the National League and American Association do exist in my universe. However, in this fictional world both leagues will eventually cease to exist and the Union will be the only Baseball league in existence. That is until the rival Federal League shows up. I will provide details as I go along.

Your dynasty has inspired mine. I still plan to run a fictional MLB but yours is the gold standard as far as I'm concerned!

[ashantewarrier]

The New York Times

New York, January 12, 1885- At the UNITED ASSOCIATION meetings magnates and the U.A. Board of Trustees met to decide on critical items that would save the league.
The remaining ball clubs were in attendance as well as Henry Lucas. Lucas, magnate and owner of the St. Louis Maroons stated his intent to remain in the Union despite overtures from the rival National League.

In regards to the issue of solvency of ballclubs it was decided that the Chicago and Philadelphia franchises would resume play beginning in 1885. This was made possible when shadow investors contributed $125K to the U.A.

The U.A. Board of Directors have restated their commitment to not enact a Reserve Clause and that players will be allowed to offer their services to the highest bidder. Therefore, we in turn will not honor the Reserve Clause in the Association. This would present the Association as an alternative to the more restrictive National League and American Association with Reserve Clauses. The National League has not honored its stated intent to revisit the 11-man Reserve Clause.

In replacing the Altoona and Wilmington, New York and Pittsburgh have been awarded franchises. This would keep expand the league to 12 teams, making a championship playoff possible. The two teams with the most wins at the end of the season will play each other in a 9 game playoff U.A. Championship series.

[ashantewarrier]

I'm planning on rebooting this effort. I got sidetracked a bit by family life and my laptop crashing on me. Look for it soon!

[No Pepper]

Looking forward to your return!