The New Zealand Sporting Society: A History

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CRICKET SCANDAL SHOCKS COUNTRY

This was the headline that rang out across the country on the 23rd of September 1919. The revelation that secret societies within the world of New Zealand cricket ran lucrative black market operations designed to exploit and intimidate the working class.

The scandal was felt throughout society, revelations continued for days as names were exposed to have their fingers in the pie. Various members of the Reform Party were exposed, which destroyed their chances in the December elections (an election they were tipped to win handsomely, the Reform Party never recovered and was eventually put down in 1926).

The New Zealand appetite for sport didn't go away though, a variety of sports started to grow in popularity that summer; the wave of immigrants that New Zealand had accepted since the Gold Rush days meant there was a wide array of alternatives to fill the vacuum left behind by cricket. Surprisingly, it was the American sport of Baseball that seemed to capture the hearts and minds of New Zealanders. Cricket grounds were quickly converted into baseball diamonds and exhibition matches were played throughout the competition -- attracting unprecedented crowds. No one ever picked up a cricket bat again while Baseball truly become a national phenomenon that summer.

But this was only the start.

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Edit

[mrbucket]

Hmmm, I made another post about 24 hours ago and was told that it was "awaiting approval". I suppose it has something to do with me being new and/or using images.

Does anyone know the best person to contact to see what happened?

[Hankyu Braves]

Interesting idea.

To answer your question regarding images, I encountered the same problem when I started my dynasty and decided to use imageshack, photobucket and the likes to upload images.
Never had any trouble ever since.

[joefromchicago]

Go Christchurch Christians!!

[mrbucket]

Originally Posted by Hankyu Braves

Interesting idea.

To answer your question regarding images, I encountered the same problem when I started my dynasty and decided to use imageshack, photobucket and the likes to upload images.
Never had any trouble ever since.

Thanks, I'm using photobucket at the moment and it seems to work fine. The problem was, when I submitted my second post, it said that it was "awaiting moderator approval". The same thing happened to my first post but it was up within 20 minutes. It's now been over 36 hours since I posted my second post but it seems to have been lost to the nethers.

It's a bit frustrating since I didn't make a backup of that post (silly me). Does anyone know which moderator to contact? I'm keen to move on.

[mrbucket]

In 1841, Da-Xia Song slid out of his mother almost unnoticed in a Guangzhou opium den. Or so the story goes -- opium dens were hardly known for their meticulous keeping of records.

With two addicts for parents; Song was left to fend for himself on the streets of Guangzhou but Song seemed to thrive on adversity. When it comes to Song's time in China, it becomes hard to untangle the boy from the myth -- the story goes that Song emerged as one of the leaders in the Chinese underworld by the age of twelve. His position secured when he killed his main rival (a man twice his size) with his bare hands.

With his meteoric rise built on the top of strength and terror; it was inevitable that he will soon fall once someone bigger and more terrifying established themselves. The fateful day came in 1861, twenty men stormed the building where Song lived and took him out. Song barely made it out alive and left with nothing, he stowed away on the first ship he could find. It's destination: Port Chalmers, New Zealand.


Port Chalmers, gateway to the Central Otago gold rush.

The Central Otago gold rush was in full swing when Song arrived and the area was screaming for labour. It's unknown how Song managed his fortune -- the chances of him making an honest living seem unlikely. Some speculate that he cornered the markets in opium and gambling. What is known, is that Song emerged as one of the wealthiest men in the country by the end of the 1870's.

Song barely made a ripple in New Zealand for the next 50 years: he fashioned himself as a Businessman and was never seen without his trademark three-piece suit. From his home base of the West Coast, he established significant connections in the world of politics and business. It wasn't until the rise of Baseball in 1919 that Da-Xia Song found himself the focus of the nation's attention. Soon after the Cricket scandal hit, Song (now 78) attended a baseball game in the town of Greymouth (where he had made his home). The entire town (almost) had come out to watch the game and Song was struck by the passion that the fans bought to the game and the pride that the players played with. Profit was to be made.

He immediately got in contact with as many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as he could (his 14 children insured a large network). Their job was to get in contact with as many business leaders as they could. The goal was to establish a team in every market across the country and form a nationwide competition. It was an ambitious plan but Song didn't believe in half-measures. Soon, he had 24 teams (including one owned by himself in the West Coast) signed up. Everything was coming together nicely -- but there were a few bumps in the road to come before the season kicked off in 1920.

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After a busy meeting of the Business Roundtable (the collection of owners with interests in the league (now called the New Zealand Sporting Society in an effort to obscure the blatant profit motive behind the league). The precise format of the league was agreed to.

Teams would play 162 games over the course of the season which would kick off (to use the rugby term) on the 1st of October that year. The teams were split into two leagues: the Pohutukawa Championship (based in the upper half of the North Island) and the Kowhai Championship (based in the lower half of the North Island and the entire South Island. From there, the teams will be divided into divisions of six -- again, based on geography.

Pohutukawa Championship
SKY DIVISION
Auckland Ducks
Counties Manukau Steelhounds
North Shore Sea Dogs
Waitakere Bandits
Northland Titans
Waiheke Voodoo

RIVER DIVISION
Waikato Spartans
Bay of Plenty Steam
King Country Volcanoes
Taranaki Thunderbirds
East Coast Emeralds
Thames Valley Miners

Kowhai Championship
CAPITAL DIVISION
Wellington Mad Hatters
Hutt Valley Demolition
Hawke's Bay Vikings
Manawatu Generals
Kapiti Coast Kings
Wairarapa Bush Fighters

MOUNTAIN DIVISION
Canterbury Bulls
Otago Wizards
Tasman Hops
Central Otago Cowboys
Southland Saints
West Coast Gold Sox

Excitement was building across the country as New Zealand headed into the cold harsh winter of 1920. All anyone could think of was the spring and the baseball it would bring with it.

[mikezone13]

Nice start, I'll be reading with interest as a former Christchurch boy now living in Sydney.

I have made a similar attempt at trans-tasman leagues too. Nice back story to get this one moving along.

Are you also from NZ, or do you just have an interest in the place?

[chucksabr]

Nice creation story. Are you "God", or a GM of one of the teams? What are some of your league settings?

[mrbucket]

Originally Posted by mikezone13

Nice start, I'll be reading with interest as a former Christchurch boy now living in Sydney.

I have made a similar attempt at trans-tasman leagues too. Nice back story to get this one moving along.

Are you also from NZ, or do you just have an interest in the place?

Yeah, I am from New Zealand -- and using this project to research my own country's history a little more thoroughly. I'm hoping to have significant events in New Zealand history intersect with the league. You'll notice that some of the names (or colours) don't really mesh with the regions that well -- I wanted to avoid using real life team names. Some of that was deliberate. Some not. I also got great amusement from giving Auckland the nickname Ducks.

Originally Posted by chucksabr

Nice creation story. Are you "God", or a GM of one of the teams? What are some of your league settings?

I'm "God", though I was thinking of taking over as a GM of a side once we hit the present day (if I ever get that far).

League settings, I actually decided to jump straight into the 1950's. I think I picked 1951 as my strategy and financial settings. I turned on automatic evolution and I hope that we end up somewhere unique. I put on the financial modifier of 0.1 to make the financials a little more realistic.

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CENTRAL OTAGO SIGN BRUCE FROM MANUKAU

Before a single pitch was pitched, New Zealand baseball was twisting in directions that no one had forecast.

The story was this: Central Otago owner Eryx Ballios was unsatisfied with the talent he could find locally. So he hired a team of scouts and sent them all around the country with the task of finding the best players they could. It took a few weeks but one morning when he was eating his breakfast of whiskey and eggs, a telegram arrived: a most beautiful telegram.

It described Harry Bruce, of Counties Manukau. A "monster" at 2.04m and 121kg (6'7" and 267 pounds) who could hit the ball further than the eye could comprehend. He sent a telegram back instructing the scout to secure the services of Bruce immediately. By any means necessary.

So Bruce was offered a $8100 contract for one year.

Considering that Harry Bruce had never earned more than $500 in any given year; he took it.

Over in the West Coast, this upset Da-Xia Song. He never intended for the players to actually get paid. He was just planning on giving them some per diems when they were on the road -- but to actually pay them on top of it all, for playing a game had never crossed his mind, it was unthinkable. He thought on how he could stop this but it was too late, the bull had bolted the pen.

The news spread quickly; owners realised that a better team will mean a bigger attendance which would mean more profit and the players realised that they were actually worth something. No one (apart from Bruce) had signed an actual contract with anyone just yet. So every team sent out some scouts to secure the best talent they could. It wasn't long before every player had a contract. Most players didn't make Bruce money but it was a huge step above what they bringing in before. This was a unique anomaly in New Zealand -- sports had been strictly amateur until now. The country wasn't sure how to react to this but interest in the upcoming competition was reaching a frenzy point.

[OmahaReynolds]

Mr. Bucket, I had the honor of being able to live in Dunedin for a year on a working holiday visa, and I gotta say that New Zealand is one of my favorite places in the world. I'm an Otago Wizards fan now, sir. I wonder if Jimmy's mince and cheese pies have been invented yet?

[mrbucket]

Originally Posted by OmahaReynolds

Mr. Bucket, I had the honor of being able to live in Dunedin for a year on a working holiday visa, and I gotta say that New Zealand is one of my favorite places in the world. I'm an Otago Wizards fan now, sir. I wonder if Jimmy's mince and cheese pies have been invented yet?

Fantastic. I lived in Dunedin for years -- absolutely loved it. Lived in Wanaka before that. Man, I miss the South Island!

I'm hoping that Otago or Central Otago get to produce some dominant teams though I won't be doing anything to influence that.

Jimmy's Pies? Sorry, according to this video you'll need to wait until 1960! And probably have to travel to Roxburgh to gorge yourself.

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23,000 EXPECTED FOR LANCASTER PARK MATCH

The opening of the New Zealand Sporting Society was by all accounts a huge success. Fields across the country were packed to the brim. New Zealanders had fallen hard for the game of Baseball.

Experts across the country argued and pontificated on who will emerge as the inaugural champion. Opinion was severely divided — largely driven by the fact that no one had seen what these teams could do. We have evidence of all 24 teams being tilted as the favourite by one pundit or the other but two consensus picks did emerge from the rabble: the Canterbury Bulls (Kowhai Championship) and the North Shore Sea Dogs (Pohutukawa Championship).


Christchurch, home of the Canterbury Bulls.

CANTERBURY BULLS
The Bulls are home to one of the most dedicated batters in the game in Francis van der Woerdt (RF). The weekly circular Baseball Witness named him the best batsman in the country. He is the kind of player you can build a team around. Throw in the likes of Sayyid Atil (2B) and Paulie Ebbutt (SS) and you have an offense that will deliver a mass of runs. They’re not lacking in the pitching department either; Max Williams can deliver a punch. Baseball Witness predicted a 99-63 record.

NORTH SHORE SEA DOGS
The North Shore is an unexpected place for a potential champion team. The area is so close to the bustling city of Auckland (you can see the towers of Queen Street from Devonport), but remains predominantly rural since it’s only accessible by ferry (though you could always take the option of taking a meandering journey through Waitakere). The Devonport stadium is known for two things — first the beautiful Harbour views it offers and the deadly pitches of Ehitikapura Ena and Dietmar Siedler. Two of the most effective pitchers in the game. Offensively, they offer one of the dynamos of the game in Riley Candlin. You can expect a lot of home runs from this man. Baseball Witness predicted a 101-61 record.

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HARRY BRUCE ROARS

[WTO]

How do you start a 162-game season in October? The game allows this?

[mrbucket]

Originally Posted by WTO

How do you start a 162-game season in October? The game allows this?

Indeed, a season starting in April would be terrible in New Zealand! OOTP seems to handle things fine with an October start. The season runs until May with the All Star game happening in January.

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TSAI STRIKES OUT 18 STEAMERS

In an otherwise unremarkable season for Manchu Tsai, he pulled this game against out of thin air when the Thames Valley hosted their regional rivals the Bay of Plenty Steam.

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TITANS FINISH WITH 103 WINS

The first season of the New Zealand Sporting Society passed without major incident or surprise. King Country (River Division), Manawatu (Capital Division), and Canterbury (Mountain Division) all performed the role of divisional favourite well. Things played out differently in the Sky Division however as the North Shore Sea Dogs failed to live up to expectations — losing their best batsman (Riley Candlin) and pitcher (Ehitikapura Ena) for the entire season proved to be too much for them as they were forced to accept a 78-84 record, 25 games off the pace. Things would only turn out worse for the Sea Dogs, as they would lose Candlin to free agency.

Taking their place was the Northland Titans, who emerged as the pitching powerhouse of the league. Their star pitcher, 38 year old Kekila Kuupauolealoha stood an impressive 2.02m tall and his 22 wins and 326 strikeouts were a league best. He was backed up by John Nisbet, Veit Reiter, and reliever Nord Koremans. Offensively they were nothing special, Left Fielder Bob Stafford was a star but he was the only one.

The final wildcard spot in the Kowhai Championship went right down to the wire: West Coast and Wairarapa Bush finished the regular season with identical records. A game to determine the winner was played out, it went right down to the 12th inning until the West Coast Gold Sox were able to break the stalemate and book themselves a place in the playoffs.

The first rounds of the playoffs all went down to the fifth game. The biggest shock happened down in the South Island as the highly favoured Canterbury side were sent packing by the West Coast Gold Sox. After the excitement of the opening round though, the Championship battles turned into a dominant affair. The Northland Titans crushed the King Country Volcanoes 4-0 while the Wellington Mad Hatters did the same to the Gold Sox.

This set up the first ever Premiership battle. The Northland Titans against the Wellington Mad Hatters. The only problem? Northland had to start on the back foot — their star pitcher Kekila Kuupauolealoha had managed to injure himself in the last series against King Country, the eight month injury would mean that he'll miss the Premiership -- and the start of the next season.