1871 - Present (Take 4)

Vyper · 03-10-2009, 05:51 PM

Hey all,

It's been 7 years since my first attempt at this, and two years since my last, but I think I'm finally ready once again. This dynasty will cover a complete replay of baseball history from 1871 until the present (whenever the present might be once I get there). I know my first few attempts kind of petered out after a few years, but after purchasing OOTP 9 a couple weeks ago, and lots of testing, I think it's finally possible to do this now. And believe me, it's become one of my great goals in life... to finally re-sim a complete history of professional baseball using OOTP. Yeah... I don't have many goals

As much as I appreciate Markus' efforts, and as much as I love (and hate) this game, unless I see significant improvement on historical sims with v10, I will be sticking with OOTP 9 for the foreseeable future.

I won't be pounding through season after season here, it's going to take a while to achieve what I want. The goal of my replays are to use real players, real teams, real trades, reassignments, rookies, schedules, retirements, etc... I look for accuracy as well as sustainability, and that's not an easy process, so I ask that you give this some time to develop naturally.

Finally, please take a look at the following sites. A lot of the chronology I will include here and use to make this league possible is taken from them, and will help me take you back to a time over 130 years in our past. This league would not be possible otherwise.

BaseballLibrary.com
MrBaseball.com - Home
Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Baseball Statistics and History
Baseball1.com - Home
Capital Region Baseball Time Line, 1819-1899
1871 in baseball - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History
On Saint Patrick's day, March 17, 1871, at Collier's Cafe on Broadway and Thirteenth Street in New York City, representatives from some of the best baseball clubs in the land gathered together to form the very first professional baseball league. They named their new creation; the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players.

Unfortunately the National Association turned out to be an embarrassment to all those who were associated with it. It was a loosely knit organization renowned for it's rowdiness, erratic schedule, open gambling on games, liquor selling in parks, bribery and other forms of chicanery.

The league, which was in fact, run by the players, lasted for only five years. The N.A. was characterized by such things as: teams that would not honor their schedules late in the season when it meant traveling far from home, players that would jump from club to club (sometimes in mid-season) and a lack of control of the games by umpires who were usually unpaid. There was a constant turnover of clubs in the five years that the league existed, and one team (Harry Wright's Boston Red Stockings) was so powerful that it totally dominated all opposition, winning the league championship four out of five years.

Up Next: 1871 Pre-Season

Vyper · 03-10-2009, 08:10 PM

1871 Pre-Season
January 20, 1871 - The Boston Red Stockings are founded and incorporated by Ivers Whitney with $15,000 and the help of Harry Wright, in Boston

March 17, 1871 - The National Association of Professional Baseball Players if formed in New York. Playing rules will be the same as the amateur players’ with the exception of player compensation. Teams represented at the convention are the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Forest Citys, Fort Wayne Kekiongas, Rockford Forest Citys, New York Mutuals, Washington Olympics and the Union Club of Troy, known as the Haymakers. Also present, but not playing games this season are the Brooklyn Atlantics, Brooklyn Eckfords, and Washington Nationals.

The Fort Wayne Kekiongas win a coin flip and will host the first ever professional baseball game when the Cleveland Forest Citys come to town on May 4, 1871.

Top 10 Prospects
SS Ross Barnes (Boston)
CL Bill Stearns (Washington)
3B Cap Anson (Rockford)
SP Bobby Mathews (Fort Wayne)
SP Al Spalding (Boston)
CL Frank Fleet (New York)
SP Al Pratt (Cleveland)
SP John McMullian (Troy)
3B Levi Meyerle (Philadelphia)
SP Dick McBride (Philadelphia)

The Teams
Boston Red Stockings: The first Boston Red Stockings baseball club was established in 1871, and was Boston's first professional team. They dominated the National Association, finishing second once and then first four times. The club became a charter member of the National League in 1876 and plays today as the Atlanta Braves. They enjoyed great success in Cincinnati (1866-1870), Boston (1890s), Milwaukee (late 1950s), and Atlanta (1991 to date).

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Cal McVey (8)
1B: Charlie Gould
2B: Sam Jackson
3B: Harry Schafer
SS: Ross Barnes (2)
LF: Fred Cone
CF: Harry Wright
RF: David Birdsall
SP: Al Spalding (4)

Chicago White Stockings: Chicago's first professional club, established 1870, played in the National Association for the 1871 season, resumed play in 1874-75 after the Great Chicago Fire, and joined (actually initiated) the National League in 1876. Called the White Stockings through 1889, they are now the Chicago Cubs.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Charlie Hodes
1B: Bub McAtee
2B: Jimmy Wood (3)
3B: Ed Pinkham (6)
SS: Ed Duffy
LF: Fred Treacey
CF: Tom Foley
RF: Joe Simmons
SP: George Zettlein (6)

Cleveland Forest Citys: A short lived Major League Baseball team in the National Association. The team only existed two years, from 1871 to 1872, and their home games were played at the National Association Grounds in Cleveland, Ohio. They were most famous for losing the first recorded game ever played to the Fort Wayne Kekiongas by a score of 2-0. The club's record over the two years was poor, winning 16 and losing 35.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Deacon White (17)
1B: Jim Carleton
2B: Joe Quest
3B: Ezra Sutton (14)
SS: John Bass (10)
LF: Charlie Pabor
CF: Art Allison
RF: Elmer White
SP: Al Pratt (10)

Fort Wayne Kekiongas: Have the notable distinction of winning the first professional game of baseball ever played on May 4, 1871. Paid attendance at their games was poor, and players were poorly paid, if at all. A number of homesick players from Baltimore returned home and by mid-season, the team had fallen apart. The last game was played on August 29, giving the Kekiongas 7 wins for the year.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Paddy Quinn
1B: Jim Foran (20)
2B: Tom Carey
3B: Frank Selman
SS: Jimmy Hallinan
LF: Harry Deane
CF: Joe McDermott
RF: Pete Donnelly
SP: Bobby Mathews (3)

New York Mutuals: The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. It was a charter member of both the first professional league in 1871 and the National League in 1876. Failing on the field and in the coffer, it declined to make its last western trip of the inaugural National League season. For the transgression it was expelled in December, and soon found itself defunct.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Charlie Mills
1B: Joe Start
2B: Dick Higham (15)
3B: Bob Ferguson
SS: Dickey Pearce
LF: John Hatfield
CF: Dave Eggler (19)
RF: Tom Patterson
SP: Rynie Wolters (8)

Philadelphia Athletics: Philadelphia had been a baseball town from the earliest days of the game, fielding amateur teams since at least the early 1830s. In 1860 James N. Kerns formed a club, simply named "Athletic Base Ball Club", that soon dominated amateur play in the area. The Athletics were one of the most successful National Association teams, winning the first pennant with a record of 21 wins and 7 losses (.750), two games ahead of the Boston Red Stockings and Chicago White Stockings.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Fergy Malone (16)
1B: Wes Fisler
2B: Al Reach
3B: Levi Meyerle (1)
SS: John Radcliffe
LF: Ned Cuthbert
CF: Count Sensenderfer
RF: George Bechtel
SP: Dick McBride (2)

Rockford Forest Citys: Rockford, which was the westernmost club in the National Association, had faced significant financial hardship during the 1871 season including travel cost and did not make a profit. Additionally, star Cap Anson decided to take a $1,250 a year offer from Philadelphia for the 1872 season. So the club folded after its one and only season.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Scott Hastings
1B: Denny Mack
2B: Cap Anson (5)
3B: Ralph Ham
SS: Pony Sager
LF: Al Barker
CF: George Bird
RF: Gat Stires (18)
SP: Denny Mack

Troy Haymakers: The Haymakers were a member of the National Association, the first professional baseball league, in 1871 and 1872. Their home games were played at Haymakers' Grounds in Troy, New York. During their two-year existence the Haymakers won 28 games and lost 25 for a winning percentage of .528.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Mike McGeary
1B: Clipper Flynn
2B: Ed Beavens
3B: Steve Bellan
SS: Dickie Flowers (20)
LF: Steve King (15)
CF: Tom York
RF: Lip Pike (7)
SP: John McMullin (11)

Washington Olympics: Like Troy, the Olympics also played only the first two National Association seasons. Their home games were played at Olympics Grounds in Washington, D.C. During their two-year existence the Olympics won 17 games and lost 22 for a winning percentage of .436.

Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses)
C: Doug Allison
1B: Everett Mills
2B: Andy Leonard
3B: Fred Waterman (10)
SS: Davy Force
LF: Harry Berthrong
CF: George Hall (19)
RF: Henry Burroughs
SP: Asa Brainard (6)

Up Next: 1871 Season

BaseballMan · 03-11-2009, 06:49 PM

First of all good luck.
2nd how are you planning on handling the years of odd # of teams? One thing you might want to check for 1871 is the
strikeouts. I had to lower mine from 1.00 to .500 because pitchers who had maybe 30 ks were getting 130.

Vyper · 03-12-2009, 07:04 PM

Thanks BaseballMan

As far as years with an odd number of teams, I could be wrong, but I'm not sure it will be an issue as long as I handle expansions myself. I created my league with the 8 teams (4AL / 4NL) that came with the game, then deleted everyone, modified Lahman 5.6 (changed NA to NL), manually created the correct 9 teams in one NL league, manually signed all players to the correct team, added the schedule, and simmed. I think if I can play the first year with an odd number of teams, I won't have a problem.

At the end of 1871, If a player is on a 'defunct team' and didn't play for someone else in 1872, I'll release them to free agency. 12/1/71, add new teams, move players that had a different team in '72 (this might wait until 1/1/72) and delete defunct teams. Continue to '72 to import rookies. I haven't tested this fully yet, but I think it should work.

Here are my settings for 1871. Numbers are real life 1871 vs my simmed stats adjusted for the same amount of at bats. I like to keep my totals within 5%, so some of these are a little high/low, but all fell within 5% during my test runs, so I am ok with them for my purposes.

Hits: .935 (3101 vs 3147 +1.46%)
Doubles: .655 (434 vs 471 +7.81%)
Triples: 2.973 (239 vs 234 -2.00%)
Home Runs: .676 (47 vs 45 -4.12%) this is the hardest one to keep in line because of the small number.
Walks: .931 (393 vs 412 +4.53%)
Strike Outs: .112 (175 vs 154 -13.86%) as you can see, this is much lower than I'd have liked, but my last 4 replays all had this within 3 or 4%, so the "real one" was an anomaly.
Stolen Bases: .802 (441 vs 444 +0.802%)

03-10-2009, 05:51 PM	#1
Vyper Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 114	1871 - Present (Take 4) Hey all, It's been 7 years since my first attempt at this, and two years since my last, but I think I'm finally ready once again. This dynasty will cover a complete replay of baseball history from 1871 until the present (whenever the present might be once I get there). I know my first few attempts kind of petered out after a few years, but after purchasing OOTP 9 a couple weeks ago, and lots of testing, I think it's finally possible to do this now. And believe me, it's become one of my great goals in life... to finally re-sim a complete history of professional baseball using OOTP. Yeah... I don't have many goals As much as I appreciate Markus' efforts, and as much as I love (and hate) this game, unless I see significant improvement on historical sims with v10, I will be sticking with OOTP 9 for the foreseeable future. I won't be pounding through season after season here, it's going to take a while to achieve what I want. The goal of my replays are to use real players, real teams, real trades, reassignments, rookies, schedules, retirements, etc... I look for accuracy as well as sustainability, and that's not an easy process, so I ask that you give this some time to develop naturally. Finally, please take a look at the following sites. A lot of the chronology I will include here and use to make this league possible is taken from them, and will help me take you back to a time over 130 years in our past. This league would not be possible otherwise. BaseballLibrary.com MrBaseball.com - Home Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Baseball Statistics and History Baseball1.com - Home Capital Region Baseball Time Line, 1819-1899 1871 in baseball - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia History On Saint Patrick's day, March 17, 1871, at Collier's Cafe on Broadway and Thirteenth Street in New York City, representatives from some of the best baseball clubs in the land gathered together to form the very first professional baseball league. They named their new creation; the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. Unfortunately the National Association turned out to be an embarrassment to all those who were associated with it. It was a loosely knit organization renowned for it's rowdiness, erratic schedule, open gambling on games, liquor selling in parks, bribery and other forms of chicanery. The league, which was in fact, run by the players, lasted for only five years. The N.A. was characterized by such things as: teams that would not honor their schedules late in the season when it meant traveling far from home, players that would jump from club to club (sometimes in mid-season) and a lack of control of the games by umpires who were usually unpaid. There was a constant turnover of clubs in the five years that the league existed, and one team (Harry Wright's Boston Red Stockings) was so powerful that it totally dominated all opposition, winning the league championship four out of five years. Up Next: 1871 Pre-Season Last edited by Vyper; 03-10-2009 at 05:56 PM.

03-10-2009, 08:10 PM	#2
Vyper Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 114	1871 Pre-Season January 20, 1871 - The Boston Red Stockings are founded and incorporated by Ivers Whitney with $15,000 and the help of Harry Wright, in Boston March 17, 1871 - The National Association of Professional Baseball Players if formed in New York. Playing rules will be the same as the amateur players’ with the exception of player compensation. Teams represented at the convention are the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Forest Citys, Fort Wayne Kekiongas, Rockford Forest Citys, New York Mutuals, Washington Olympics and the Union Club of Troy, known as the Haymakers. Also present, but not playing games this season are the Brooklyn Atlantics, Brooklyn Eckfords, and Washington Nationals. The Fort Wayne Kekiongas win a coin flip and will host the first ever professional baseball game when the Cleveland Forest Citys come to town on May 4, 1871. Top 10 Prospects SS Ross Barnes (Boston) CL Bill Stearns (Washington) 3B Cap Anson (Rockford) SP Bobby Mathews (Fort Wayne) SP Al Spalding (Boston) CL Frank Fleet (New York) SP Al Pratt (Cleveland) SP John McMullian (Troy) 3B Levi Meyerle (Philadelphia) SP Dick McBride (Philadelphia) The Teams Boston Red Stockings: The first Boston Red Stockings baseball club was established in 1871, and was Boston's first professional team. They dominated the National Association, finishing second once and then first four times. The club became a charter member of the National League in 1876 and plays today as the Atlanta Braves. They enjoyed great success in Cincinnati (1866-1870), Boston (1890s), Milwaukee (late 1950s), and Atlanta (1991 to date). Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Cal McVey (8) 1B: Charlie Gould 2B: Sam Jackson 3B: Harry Schafer SS: Ross Barnes (2) LF: Fred Cone CF: Harry Wright RF: David Birdsall SP: Al Spalding (4) Chicago White Stockings: Chicago's first professional club, established 1870, played in the National Association for the 1871 season, resumed play in 1874-75 after the Great Chicago Fire, and joined (actually initiated) the National League in 1876. Called the White Stockings through 1889, they are now the Chicago Cubs. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Charlie Hodes 1B: Bub McAtee 2B: Jimmy Wood (3) 3B: Ed Pinkham (6) SS: Ed Duffy LF: Fred Treacey CF: Tom Foley RF: Joe Simmons SP: George Zettlein (6) Cleveland Forest Citys: A short lived Major League Baseball team in the National Association. The team only existed two years, from 1871 to 1872, and their home games were played at the National Association Grounds in Cleveland, Ohio. They were most famous for losing the first recorded game ever played to the Fort Wayne Kekiongas by a score of 2-0. The club's record over the two years was poor, winning 16 and losing 35. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Deacon White (17) 1B: Jim Carleton 2B: Joe Quest 3B: Ezra Sutton (14) SS: John Bass (10) LF: Charlie Pabor CF: Art Allison RF: Elmer White SP: Al Pratt (10) Fort Wayne Kekiongas: Have the notable distinction of winning the first professional game of baseball ever played on May 4, 1871. Paid attendance at their games was poor, and players were poorly paid, if at all. A number of homesick players from Baltimore returned home and by mid-season, the team had fallen apart. The last game was played on August 29, giving the Kekiongas 7 wins for the year. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Paddy Quinn 1B: Jim Foran (20) 2B: Tom Carey 3B: Frank Selman SS: Jimmy Hallinan LF: Harry Deane CF: Joe McDermott RF: Pete Donnelly SP: Bobby Mathews (3) New York Mutuals: The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. It was a charter member of both the first professional league in 1871 and the National League in 1876. Failing on the field and in the coffer, it declined to make its last western trip of the inaugural National League season. For the transgression it was expelled in December, and soon found itself defunct. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Charlie Mills 1B: Joe Start 2B: Dick Higham (15) 3B: Bob Ferguson SS: Dickey Pearce LF: John Hatfield CF: Dave Eggler (19) RF: Tom Patterson SP: Rynie Wolters (8) Philadelphia Athletics: Philadelphia had been a baseball town from the earliest days of the game, fielding amateur teams since at least the early 1830s. In 1860 James N. Kerns formed a club, simply named "Athletic Base Ball Club", that soon dominated amateur play in the area. The Athletics were one of the most successful National Association teams, winning the first pennant with a record of 21 wins and 7 losses (.750), two games ahead of the Boston Red Stockings and Chicago White Stockings. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Fergy Malone (16) 1B: Wes Fisler 2B: Al Reach 3B: Levi Meyerle (1) SS: John Radcliffe LF: Ned Cuthbert CF: Count Sensenderfer RF: George Bechtel SP: Dick McBride (2) Rockford Forest Citys: Rockford, which was the westernmost club in the National Association, had faced significant financial hardship during the 1871 season including travel cost and did not make a profit. Additionally, star Cap Anson decided to take a $1,250 a year offer from Philadelphia for the 1872 season. So the club folded after its one and only season. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Scott Hastings 1B: Denny Mack 2B: Cap Anson (5) 3B: Ralph Ham SS: Pony Sager LF: Al Barker CF: George Bird RF: Gat Stires (18) SP: Denny Mack Troy Haymakers: The Haymakers were a member of the National Association, the first professional baseball league, in 1871 and 1872. Their home games were played at Haymakers' Grounds in Troy, New York. During their two-year existence the Haymakers won 28 games and lost 25 for a winning percentage of .528. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Mike McGeary 1B: Clipper Flynn 2B: Ed Beavens 3B: Steve Bellan SS: Dickie Flowers (20) LF: Steve King (15) CF: Tom York RF: Lip Pike (7) SP: John McMullin (11) Washington Olympics: Like Troy, the Olympics also played only the first two National Association seasons. Their home games were played at Olympics Grounds in Washington, D.C. During their two-year existence the Olympics won 17 games and lost 22 for a winning percentage of .436. Starting Players (Player Ranking in parentheses) C: Doug Allison 1B: Everett Mills 2B: Andy Leonard 3B: Fred Waterman (10) SS: Davy Force LF: Harry Berthrong CF: George Hall (19) RF: Henry Burroughs SP: Asa Brainard (6) Up Next: 1871 Season Last edited by Vyper; 03-10-2009 at 08:13 PM.

03-11-2009, 06:49 PM	#3
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 6,545	First of all good luck. 2nd how are you planning on handling the years of odd # of teams? One thing you might want to check for 1871 is the strikeouts. I had to lower mine from 1.00 to .500 because pitchers who had maybe 30 ks were getting 130.

03-12-2009, 07:04 PM	#4
Vyper Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 114	Thanks BaseballMan As far as years with an odd number of teams, I could be wrong, but I'm not sure it will be an issue as long as I handle expansions myself. I created my league with the 8 teams (4AL / 4NL) that came with the game, then deleted everyone, modified Lahman 5.6 (changed NA to NL), manually created the correct 9 teams in one NL league, manually signed all players to the correct team, added the schedule, and simmed. I think if I can play the first year with an odd number of teams, I won't have a problem. At the end of 1871, If a player is on a 'defunct team' and didn't play for someone else in 1872, I'll release them to free agency. 12/1/71, add new teams, move players that had a different team in '72 (this might wait until 1/1/72) and delete defunct teams. Continue to '72 to import rookies. I haven't tested this fully yet, but I think it should work. Here are my settings for 1871. Numbers are real life 1871 vs my simmed stats adjusted for the same amount of at bats. I like to keep my totals within 5%, so some of these are a little high/low, but all fell within 5% during my test runs, so I am ok with them for my purposes. Hits: .935 (3101 vs 3147 +1.46%) Doubles: .655 (434 vs 471 +7.81%) Triples: 2.973 (239 vs 234 -2.00%) Home Runs: .676 (47 vs 45 -4.12%) this is the hardest one to keep in line because of the small number. Walks: .931 (393 vs 412 +4.53%) Strike Outs: .112 (175 vs 154 -13.86%) as you can see, this is much lower than I'd have liked, but my last 4 replays all had this within 3 or 4%, so the "real one" was an anomaly. Stolen Bases: .802 (441 vs 444 +0.802%)