Baseball Premier League

[NYY #23]

The Brooklyn Dodgers represent one of two large markets in the Premier League depending on population at the time, and maybe you could even say three. The Premier League hasn't shaped up to what it was expected to look like, but if there history is any indication the Dodgers would have never fallen into danger of being relegated. They also didn't have as much success as expected either, with just two first place finishes.



1B John Ganzel won the Rookie of the Year award in 1896 when he hit .339 with 91 RBI, but struggled the next two seasons to the point he lost his starting job after hitting .185. Ganzel didn't get a single at-bat last year, but came back strong this season with a .300 batting average, 8 home runs, 100 RBI, 25 stolen bases, and 90 runs scored, leading the Dodgers in each of those categories. A pair of young part time players look like they will be able to help Ganzel and the Dodgers next year, with SS Kevin Wright hitting .319 in 276 at-bats, and CF Brian Nerbonne hitting .350 in 366 at-bats.



At 30 years old Tom Lipp moved past 200 career wins this year with a 25-19 season for the Dodgers. Lipp struck out 154 batters in 385 1/3 innings to go along with a 2.66 ERA.

[NYY #23]

The Wisconsin Badgers had the big moment in their history when they captured the NABA Championship in 1895. Before and after the Badgers could accurately be described as a middle of the road team, but the Badgers finished high enough this season to qualify for the Premier Baseball League, and if their history is any indication they've managed to avoid really bad seasons and have a career winning percentage of .505.



In the course of two seasons young shortstop Louis Runkel was traded twice before landing with the Badgers, and this season Runkel is finally starting to produce like a star, leading the team with a .311 batting average and stealing 38 bases which was good for third on the team behind Monte McFarland (53) and Ernie Sepulveda (50).



The 31 year old veteran, Ezra Lincoln went 31-12 with a 2.39 ERA this year while capturing his first Pitcher of the Year Award. Lincoln was one of three Badgers with 20 or more wins with Adonis Terry (29) and Tim Olivarez (22) each getting more than 20.

[NYY #23]

As one of the original professional baseball franchises the Chicago Cubs started off poorly, and their poor play would continue until they hit rock bottom in 1885 when the Cubs had one of the worst years in the history of professional baseball, going 35-95 for a .269 winning percentage. They began a slow ascent, and had their first winning season in 1893 when they went 73-57 for the season. Things would continue to improve for the Cubs, who won the Great Lakes League for the first time in 1897, won the NABA Championship in 1898, and will be heading to the Premier League in 1901.



With six of their eight starting hitters over the age of 30 years old the Cubs made a big trade with the Raleigh Tigers to acquire 1B Danny Davis, who was coming off a season in which he hit .379. Until this season the 25 year old has hit over .300 since being acquired, and his down year this season produced a .291 average, 3 home runs, 56 RBI, and 69 runs scored. As the youngest position player on the team the Cubs will need Davis to bounce back and step up his production.



When the Cubs signed then 18 year old Fred Beebe before the 1899 season they wasted little time inserting him into the rotation, and Beebe delivered with a 17-3 season with a 3.02 ERA which earned Beebe the Rookie of the Year Award. Beebe followed up with a 28-13 season and 2.92 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 373 innings and has become the Cubs ace, joining 27 year old Danny Friend (20-23, 3.26) and 29 year old Art Herman (27-15, 3.02) in the rotation.

[NYY #23]

Taking a brief interlude from the introduction of the Premier League teams I wanted to talk about Jumbo McGinnis briefly. In real life McGinnis went 102-79 in six seasons with a 2.95 ERA, but in this universe McGinnis turned into the all-time career win leader with 571.

There is a divide between the Premier League stats, and pre-Premier League stats, and unfortunately for the Worcester Hearts they've fallen all the way down to League B after going from 1871-1893 while never finishing lower than 4th place. McGinnis was a big part of that success, and while I haven't decided exactly how to handle pre-1901 players at a minimum I figured I should honor him with a retired jersey(even though there really wasn't uniform numbers back then) -



I'm sure when the Hall of Fame opens he'll warrant some more conversation, but that's a way off.

Jumbo's stats -

[NYY #23]

The Dallas Tycoons were one of the original teams in the Texas League before the Texas League merged with the Central League. Dallas was never one of the top teams in the league, but has been on the rise for the past five years with a solid all around team.



No player has played in more games for the Tycoons than 35 year old shortstop Dan Shannon. He's the career leader for virtually every offensive category for the Tycoons, along with the leader on and off the field. Shannon has been the leader both on and off the field for Dallas, and while injuries and age have limited his production Shannon still hit .280 with 3 home runs and 30 RBI last year. Shannon is the only starter older than 24 years old, and even 23 year old Peaches Graham made more starts last year, putting Dallas in good position for their future.



Dallas didn't have high expectations last year for 19 year old rookie Dad Hale, so he easily surpassed those expectations when he went 14-12 with a 3.58 ERA in 26 starts. This year Hale was even better when he went 33-8 with a 2.17 ERA for the Tycoons.

[NYY #23]

The Texas Longhorns franchise began out of the necessity of filling the Texas League, and as a team put together quickly the Longhorns faced long odds those early years. They also were a team without a true home, playing games in Galveston, Houston, Waco, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio, often times splitting their time between multiple "home" cities in a year. Life on the road wasn't easy for the Longhorns, but it did have the benefit of building a fan base around the state.

The Texas Longhorns settled in Dallas in 1892, but the three years that followed were the three worst years in the history of the franchise as the Longhorns went 46-84, 45-85, and 50-80. With the Tycoons outperforming the Longhorns every single year the Texas Longhorns moved on to Austin, where a number of things came together and the Longhorns had six winning seasons in a row with four second place finishes.



Jack O'Neill came over to the Longhorns in a trade with the Houston Oilers after making just four starts his first year. O'Neill became the starting catcher the next season and hit .311 for the Longhorns, and over the next six years O'Neill became the leader of the Longhorns both behind the plate and with his bat. Last year O'Neill hit .363 for the Longhorns with a .439 on-base percentage.



The success of the Texas Longhorns coincided with the arrival of then 19 year old Vic Willis. That first year Willis came out of nowhere to win 26 games to go along with a 3.11 ERA and won the Rookie of the Year Award. The next three years Willis would win 25, 22, and 22 games before winning the Pitcher of the Year Award in 1899 when Willis went 29-4 with a 1.98 ERA. In a season that sent the Longhorns to the Premier League Willis won 30 games for the first time in his career and is 155-69 for his career at the age of 24.

[NYY #23]

Nashville was one of the first professional baseball teams playing in the south, and was a charter franchise of the Southern League, playing as the Nashville Americans. In the beginning the Americans played to nearly empty crowds, but Nashville developed a reputation of fielding a competitive baseball team year in and year out, changed their nickname to the Vols, but they've never finished higher than second place.



Ten years ago 18 year old 3B Fred Raymond signed on with the Nashville Vols and for the first five years Raymond didn't even make a start for the team, and stepped to the plate just 30 times. Nashville never had high expectation for Raymond, and when the Vols needed a third baseman in 1897 Raymond got his first chance and hit .266 in 41 games.

It wasn't a big debut, but it was enough for the Vols to give him another shot the next year, and Raymond has improved each season since. Last year Raymond led all hitters with his best season to date, hitting .339 with 62 runs scored and 52 RBI.



The Nashville pitching staff is led by 39 year old Sean Williams, who last year went 22-10 with a 2.39 ERA. Williams is joined in the rotation by 37 year old Charlie Parson (21-8, 3.79), and Bill Walker (13-16, 3.77).

Pitching is definitely going to become a concern for the Nashville Vols because of age and better competition. They'll need to move quick and find some pitching or their stay in the Premier League will be short lived.

[NYY #23]

The Virginia Mariners would love to forget any part of their history before 1895 because it wasn't too positive for Virginia. 1895 was a big step forward for the long suffering franchise though when the Mariners went 53-43, and they haven't finished lower than first place since. How that recent success in the small Atlantic League will be hard to tell, but at least for 1901 the Virginia Mariners are one of the top 22 teams in professional baseball.



28 year old Mark Frey broke in with Virginia as a 20 year old and has manned third base ever since. Frey didn't miss a game this past season and hit .300 with a .347 on-base percentage, 4 home runs, and 32 RBI. He's been solid with the glove for Virginia and has been the team's best player. Frey has been healthy throughout his career, but Frey and his teammates will be tested moving from the 96 game Atlantic League schedule to the more demanding 168 Premier League schedule



28 year old Billy Ging won 22 games for the Mariners last year and led the team with a 3.01 ERA. It was the third time Ging won 20 or more games for the Mariners in his career.

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The further down you get on the baseball food chain the more fictional or fringe baseball players make an impact. There is no draft in this world, and the prestige rating for the league goes down each step of the rung, and I've always viewed the Southern League and Atlantic League as the lowest rungs on the baseball ladder prior to 1901. That's part of the reason why the best players on the Mariners are either fictional or fringe players. Ging played in just one game in the majors, not enough to get rated well, but sometimes with opportunity comes results.

I *think* the Mariners may be in for a rude awakening, but they do have the offseason to adjust.

[NYY #23]

The Sacramento Grizzlies never finished first in the Pacific Coast League until this season, which will send them to the Premier League. The Grizzlies have a career .445 winning percentage, and have never had back to back winning seasons until 1896 and 1897. Of course the Grizzlies haven't had a losing season since.



35 year old catcher Frank Zinn is playing for the third team in his career, but his first full year with the Grizzlies coincided with Sacramento's streak of winning seasons (1896). Zinn is a standout defensively behind the plate, although his seasons in Sacramento with the bat have been hit or miss. Zinn has hit .310, .303, and .301 in the good years, and .239 and .247 in the down years. He's still the leader of the Grizzlies though, and has worked well with the Grizzlies young staff.



Jim Buchanan also made his debut with the Grizzlies in 1896 and went 11-13 with a 4.08 ERA. Buchanan would cut down on his walks, increase his strikeouts, and finish with a 7-15 record the next year with a 3.60 ERA. The next year Buchanan would win the Pitcher of the Year in the Pacific Coast League with a 21-4 record and 1.32 ERA. Buchanan would miss almost all of the 1899 season with injury (8-1, 1.32 ERA), but would return this year with a 28-8 record and 1.36 ERA to win his second Pitcher of the Year award.

[NYY #23]

The Albuquerque Locos captured just their second Great Plains League title this season to qualify for a spot in the Premier League, the first time since 1890.



George Van Haltren has manned center field for the Albuquerque Lobos for 15 years after coming to Albuquerque in a trade, the second time Van Haltren was traded in a span of two months. The Lobos definitely came out ahead in that trade, as Van Haltren has hit .297 for his career with a .360 on-base percentage, 47 home runs, and 395 stolen bases.

14 of those years Van Haltren has manned the outfield with Ed Delahanty, who also came over in a trade and has hit .327 during his career with the Lobos with 51 home runs and 415 stolen bases.



Five years ago the Albuquerque Locos completed two trades over the span of two months in which they sent three players who have combined to play 32 games in the four years since for Rube Waddell, who took home the Pitcher of the Year Award after going 25-10 with a 2.37 ERA this year, and is 71-40 with a 2.87 ERA.

The Lobos seem to have the knack at trading to improve their team. 26 year old Bill Duggleby also came over in a trade and finished this year with an 18-15 record and 3.79 ERA. He was traded for 39 year old Mike Hatem, who didn't do quite as well (8-24, 4.76).

[NYY #23]

The Providence Whalers have had a long history of success in the Northeast League, and have had the fortune of having one of the best pitchers in history, Al Spalding, pitched for the Whalers. Since the Spalding retired the Whalers have hovered around .500, and 1900 continued that trend, but they did manage to turn a 66-64 season into 7th place, and got hot when it counted knocking off two teams to capture a spot in the Premier League.



Catcher George Yeager is 26 years old and finished a season in which he hit .287 with 3 home runs and 64 RBI while scoring 81 runs.



35 year old Dick Conway is the second pitcher in the history of the Providence franchise to win 300 career games, but that milestone for Conway is mainly credited to his durability. Conway has made 656 starts in his career and has a 313-303 record.

[NYY #23]

Only three teams have finished with a worse winning percentage in their history than the Hartford Owls and their .454 winning percentage. One of those teams is the Portland Moose, who will be joining Hartford in the Premier League in 1901, and there are a lot of parallels between the two teams. Hartford broke a streak of 16 straight losing this year, but still needing to get through two teams to make it to the Premier League.



26 year old 2B Hobe Ferris is the offensive leader of the Owls, hitting .290 with 8 home runs, 75 RBI, 82 runs scored, and 35 stolen bases in his sixth year with the Owls after coming over in a trade with Worcester. Also coming over in the trade, his double play partner, 24 year old SS Larry Battam, who hit .252 this year with a .332 on-base percentage. In exchange for their middle infield the Owls sent reliever Casey Lofton to Worcester, who is 4-7 with a 3.90 ERA in 171 innings since the trade.



26 year old Kaiser Wilhelm took home the Pitcher of the Year Award in the Northeast League this year after going 31-10 with a 1.78 ERA with 183 strikeouts in 384 1/3 innings. Those were all career highs for Wilhelm, who improved to 143-116 in his career with a 3.23 ERA.

[NYY #23]

The Michigan Wolverines have been one of the top teams in the Central League, and NABA. The Wolverines have captured one NABA Championship, and have lost four NABA Championship finals. From 1888-1896 the Wolverines finished first in the Central League seven times. While the Wolverines haven't been as good the past four years they have still finished towards the top of the Central League.



34 year old Charlie Hamburg was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1893 season, and since coming over to the Wolverines Hamburg has turned into a star. This year Hamburg hit .335 with 4 home runs, 72 RBI, 118 runs scored, and 36 stolen bases.

As the veteran on the team Hamburg has also taken the young Wolverines under his wing, and CF Burt Hart, SS Jim O'Brien, and 2B Mario Sanchez look like they are ready to lead the Wolverines going forward.



Al Atkinson will turn 40 years old before the start of the 1901 season, but Atkinson has been around for all of the Wolverines success going 429-245 in his career with a 2.63 ERA. Atkinson ended this year with a 20-15 record and 3.95 ERA as the veteran of the Wolverines' rotation.

[NYY #23]

The San Antonio Bullets captured their only NABA Championship in 1897, but San Antonio just wrapped up their 11th straight winning season. The Bullets do have an older roster though, and they'll need to begin to bring some younger players aboard if their stay in the Premier League will last long.



The Bullets acquired catcher Bill Collins during the 1892 season in exchange for a pair of promising young players, but the Bullets wanted a veteran leader behind the plate, and Collins has performed even better than they could have hoped for. In his first full season Collins hit .321 with 14 home runs, 77 RBI, and 104 runs scored. He followed that up with a pair of seasons in which he won the Outstanding Hitter Award in 1894 (.416, 11 HR, 126 RBI) and in 1895 (.378, 10 HR, 96 RBI). This year Collins hit .341 with 10 HR and 61 RBI.



31 year old Scott Stratton went 29-14 with a 2.26 ERA this year to move past 300 career wins. Stratton has won two Pitcher of the Year awards during his career, and pitched a no-hitter and perfect game.

[NYY #23]

The Florida Rockets are the 19th team to qualify for the Premier League, winning the Atlantic League playoff. The Gators have a career winning percentage of .543.



23 year old Harry Steinfeldt has emerged as one of the top players for a young Florida Rockets team. Steinfeldt hit .282 with a .352 on-base percentage this year with 3 home runs and 42 RBI.



Brian Totten just finished his second year in the rotation with a 15-13 record and 3.73 ERA. Totten and 21 year old Oscar Jones (13-16, 2.22) are both expected to be in the Rockets' rotation for years to come.

[toxicavenger74]

I would love to see a complete layout of all your teams in each league.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by toxicavenger74

I would love to see a complete layout of all your teams in each league.

Sure, no problem. I should be able to go through the last few teams today and then I'll post the complete layout of all the teams in the league.

[NYY #23]

The Macon Peaches claimed the 20th spot in the Premier League after finishing third in the Southern League and winning the playoff over the Charleston Palmettos. With a .463 career winning percentage Macon has never finished higher than 3rd place.



At 32 years old Skyrocket Smith hit a career high .350 this season with 46 RBI and 76 runs scored in his seventh full season with Macon.



Pitching is not the strength of the Macon Peaches, but they hope that 23 year old Wiley Dunham can help change their fortune. Dunham just finished his third full season and went 15-16 with a 3.42 ERA in 266 innings.

[NYY #23]

The Las Vegas Aces finished just one game behind the Sacramento Grizzlies in the Pacific Coast League, but still were able to advance to the Premier League after winning a playoff series. Last year Las Vegas won the Pacific Coast League for the first time in their history, and also won their first NABA Championship.



In the two years that Tim Paul has been the starting centerfielder for the Aces they've won more games than any other team in the Pacific Coast League. This year the 25 year old hit .332 with 57 RBI, 60 runs scored, and 7 stolen bases.



The Las Vegas Aces have high hopes for 23 year old pitcher Gus Thompson. Thompson finished this year with a 23-12 record and 2.97 ERA, his third year as a starter.

[NYY #23]

The last team that will be playing in the Premier Baseball League is perhaps the most surprising, the Grand Island Prairie Dogs. The history of professional baseball began by a mistake, when Aaron Stites and his new professional baseball team left Sacramento, California on the Central Pacific Railroad en route to their final destination, Omaha, Nebraska. Mechanical problems caused the train to make an unscheduled stop in Grand Island, Nebraska, where Stites visited a vast village of prairie dogs, and it was then that Stites decided he wanted his team to play as the Grand Island Prairie Dogs.

After joining the Great Plains League the Prairie Dogs split their time between Omaha, Grand Island, and Cheyenne before settling in Grand Island in 1887. Their first full season was a success with the Prairie Dogs finishing with a 52-52 record. It would begin a stretch of mediocrity in the Great Plains League, but things started falling in place for Grand Island and the Prairie Dogs finished their fifth straight season in second place. The job is about to get harder for Grand Island, but they've been able to exceed expectations to this point.



34 year old catcher Duke Farrell has spent his entire career with Grand Island, and is the team's leader on offense and behind the plate. Farrell has hit .328 during his career with 58 home runs, 592 RBI, and 138 stolen bases.



30 year old Ben Murphy is a late bloomer, first pitching professionally in 1898 at the age of 27. His debut season with Grand Island Murphy produced a 12-8 record and 3.17 ERA. Uncovering talent like Murphy is what Grand Island needs to do to remain competitive, and Murphy has gotten better in each season, finishing with a 25-8 record and 3.16 ERA this year.