The Liberty League, Est. 1876

[Questdog]

[Questdog]

August 1882

On August 2, Rufus Lee of Detroit shut out New York, 3 to 0. He allowed 6 hits, walked 2 and struck out 2.

On August 4, Charlie Morlock of Boston shut out Utica, 4 to 0. He allowed 4 hits, walked 3 and struck out 2.

On August 5, Worcester beat Cincinnati, 8 to 7. C Al Cannon had a double, a home run and a 2-run, 2-out triple in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. He scored twice and had 4 RBIs.

On August 14, Utica beat Detroit, 9 to 8, in 10 innings. 1B John Demick, an ex-Haymaker, led off the bottom of the 10th with a home run to win the game. He had 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBIs.

On August 23, Troy beat Boston, 9 to 7. John Bendickson won the game, his 200th Liberty League victory. He gave up 13 hits and struck out 4. It was his 5th win in a row and over his last 14 starts, he is 11-3.

On August 26, Charlie Morlock shut out Troy, 2 to 0. Each team had 8 hits and neither team made an error. Morlock walked one and struck out one. Harry Lamb did not walk a batter and struck out 2.

On August 30, Harry Lamb of Troy shut out Cincinnati, 4 to 0. He allowed 2 hits, walked one and struck out 6. He also had 2 hits with a double and scored a run.

[Questdog]

[Questdog]

September 1882

On September 2, Jim Murphy of Louisville shut out Worcester, 3 to 0, only allowing them a single hit in the 6th inning. He walked 2 and struck out 6.

Also on the 2nd, Bill Gordon of Boston hit a home run in his second game in a row to give him 8 on the season now. That is the all-time Liberty League record.

On September 6, Willis Kornfield of Utica shut out Worcester, 9 to 0. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 4. He also hit 2 doubles, scored a run and had an RBI.

On September 9, Harry Lamb and Troy beat New York, 8 to 3. Lamb allowed 7 hits and struck out 7. He now has 235 strikeouts on the season, breaking Charlie Morlock's record of 231 set in 1880. Morlock has 225 so far this season, so he will likely break his own record, as well, and it is no given that Lamb will still be in possession of the record at season's end. Boston now has a 2-game lead over Troy, by the way, with 9 games to play.

On September 18, Fred Barrow of Kansas City shut out Pittsburgh, 8 to 0. He allowed 4 hits and struck out 4. The win put the Cowboys in first place, 1 game ahead of Pittsburgh and Brooklyn. Providence began the season in first place, but lost their ace, Abe Everette, for the season and faded from contention. Pittsburgh and Tom Adams then took over the top spot, but Adams has been injured and Pittsburgh is fading.

On September 20, Jack Roberts of New York shut out Louisville, 1 to 0. He allowed 6 hits, walked 3 and struck out one.

Also on the 20th, Tom Marshman of Utica shut out Boston, 1 to 0. He allowed 5 hits, walked 4 and struck out one. The loss drops Boston back into a tie for first with Troy with 4 games to play!

On September 23, Lee Sprague of Louisville shut out New York, 3 to 0. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 2. Jack Roberts only allowed 5 hits and struck out 5, but New York made 7 errors to Louisville's 1.

Also on the 23rd, Boston won and Troy lost to put the Red Caps a game up with 3 to play. Troy lost at Detroit, 2 to 1. Harry Lamb only allowed 4 hits and struck out 4, but the Haymakers could only get 4 hits off William Rose.

Also on the 23rd, Brooklyn won and Kansas City lost to put the two teams in a tie for first with 3 to play. Pittsburgh won to stay one game behind those two.

On September 25, Harry Lamb of Troy shut out Louisville, 4 to 0, only allowing 2 hits. He walked one and struck out 5. Boston lost against Cincinnati, so the two teams are once again tied with 2 games to play. In the Grand National Association, all 3 principals lost to maintain the status quo.

On September 27, New York beat Worcester, 17 to 5. The Gothams rapped out 28 hits. 2B Ed Glass became the first Liberty League player ever to have 6 hits in a game. He had 2 doubles and a triple, scored 3 runs and knocked in 2. New York had 13 hits for extra-bases. Also, Boston and Troy both won to stay tied with 1 game to play.

Also on the 27th, Brooklyn beat Pittsburgh, 9 to 5, to eliminate the Stogies from the Pennant Race. Kansas City lost to Chicago, 8 to 7, so Brooklyn is a game up with 1 to go.

On September 29, Boston beat Cincinnati, 7 to 4, and Lee Sprague of Louisville shut out Troy, 5 to 0, to make Boston the Liberty Champions for 1882! Sprague allowed 5 hits and struck out 3.

Also on the 29th, Fred Barrow of Kansas City shut out Chicago, 6 to 0, allowing 6 hits and striking out 3. However, Brooklyn beat Pittsburgh, 6 to 4, to claim the first Championship of the Grand National Association. Only 6 games separated the first place Gladiators from the last place Philadelphia Quakers.

[Questdog]

[Mike45]

any thoughts of having an exhibition game between the 2 league champions

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Mike45

any thoughts of having an exhibition game between the 2 league champions

In real life, the two champions played 2 games before the AA threatened to kick the Reds out if they kept playing. But Cincinnati (AA) had a better record than Chicago (NL). My thinking is that with Brooklyn only winning 43 games, that there would not be any interest in such a match up. If Abe Everette had stayed healthy and the Haymakers had prevailed, then I think people would have paid to see a Providence-Troy showdown.

[Questdog]

Has anyone else ever had a tie for the batting title? It is the first time it has ever happened in any league I have played going back to my Sherco II leagues when I was 12!

[Mike45]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Has anyone else ever had a tie for the batting title? It is the first time it has ever happened in any league I have played going back to my Sherco II leagues when I was 12!

Not like you had no...same AB/Hits.

I've had ties to the thousandth, but there was a difference/winner in the ten-thousandth decimal. I.E. .3284 vs .3282

[Questdog]

[Mike45]

Hey Questdog, taking a little break or has the Liberty League gone south

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Mike45

Hey Questdog, taking a little break or has the Liberty League gone south

Just a break.....setting up 1883 took longer than any other season and then I went on vacation. We should be back by the end of the month.

[Mike45]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Just a break.....setting up 1883 took longer than any other season and then I went on vacation. We should be back by the end of the month.

Enjoy your vacation, looking forward to when you start back up, hopefully you decide to take over a team

[RANGER11JP]

Hi Questdog,

Which uniform set are you using and how do you make those great summary pages?

Nice work as always!

Regards,

JP

[Questdog]

Okay....I am entering the Bethesda Rehab Center* this week and if my recovery goes well, the Liberty League should see a resumption of activities in the not too distant future.

*The Bethesda Rehab Center specializes in curing addiction to the games of the Bethesda Softworks company. I am optimistic of my chances at a full recovery and look forward to a life free of this heinous addiction (at least until they release Fallout 4 or Elder Scrolls VI).

I am currently in the process of converting the Liberty League to OOTP 16 and hope to have it going by the game's official release.

For 1883, I will be taking control of an expansion team in the Grand National Association, the Omaha Mutuals.

[Westheim]

First; you mind if I burn the evil games for you?

Second; has it really been six months??

Third; I'll be all over those Muskets! Mustangs. Muppets. Whatever! I'll be there. Unless admission is more than 25c.

[Questdog]

Fall 1882

The Louisville Eclipse and the Worcester Ruby Legs both joined the Liberty League in 1879 and after 4 futile seasons, they have both folded. They finished 7th and 8th in the 8 team league this past season and neither team will be much missed in their hometowns as very few paid to see them play. The St. Louis Maroons and the Washington Nationals will take their spots. The Maroons are owned by 46-year-old John Kelly and the Nationals are owned by 53-year-old Levi Mayer. By most accounts, Mayer has but one virtue and that is his bank account. He's from South Carolina and reportedly has gotten into the baseball business because he can't own slaves on his cotton plantation anymore. Only Providence's Bill Cox rivals Mayer's reputation for meanness, but Cox looks like a lady school teacher next to Mayer.

All 6 teams of the Grand National Association will return for 1883 and the circuit will expand to 8 teams by adding the Baltimore Orioles and the Omaha Mutuals. The Orioles are owned by 56-year-old Aaron Collier, who, in contrast to Washington's Mayer, is reported to be one of the most pleasant gentlemen to ever own a club. Omaha is owned by 52-year-old Eddie Therrien, who is a pretty nice fellow himself according to most observers.

The Annual B League Draft was held in December. Here are the results of the first round, along with the rest of the picks by Omaha:

[Questdog]

Spring 1883

At the annual Rules Committee meeting, the Liberty League adopted the following changes for 1883:

A foul ball must now be caught on the fly to be an out instead of on one hop. The Grand National Association will keep the old rule.

A balk will be called and all runners will advance a base if a pitcher raises his arm above his shoulder during his delivery.

The Grand National Association hired 4 men as permanent umpires to work their league's games.

Both leagues decided to expand their schedules to 98 games.

Two new B Leagues will operate this season: The Connecticut State League and the Massachusetts State Association. Each will play an 84 game schedule to determine their champion.

The Connecticut State League teams and their managers:

Team - Manager (age,career minor league W-L,pct.) last job
Bridgeport Giants - Dave Carlson (43,49-115,.299) 1882 Washington - Eastern Association
Hartford Babies - Frank Allison (42,89-79,.530) 1881-82 Toledo - Northwestern League
Meriden Maroons - George Jarrell (48,67-77,.465) 1879 New Bedford - National Association
New Britain Perfectos - Bill Craine (41)*
New Haven Nutmegs - John Cusick (42)*
Rockville Rams - Lemuel Cross (43)*
Waterbury Roughriders - Jerry Notte (44,157-132,.543) 1878-80 Syracuse - International Association
Williamantic Colts - Sadie Cochran (41)*

The Massachussetts State Association:

Haverhill Hustlers - Noodles Morrow (47)*
Holyoke Paperweights - Tony Green (40)*
Lawrence Indians - Frank Hubbard (42)*
Lowell Magicians - John Newby (45,135-159,.459) 1882 Rochester - Eastern Association
Lynn Lions - Tom Pouncey (42,85-83,.506) 1881-82 Fort Wayne - Northwestern League
Salem Fairies - Sparrow Smith (41)*
Springfield Ponies - Paul Richards (42)*
Worcester Grays - Josh Barton (37)*

* - First-time manager in the high minors.

On February 17 at a meeting in New York's Fifth Avenue Hotel, the Liberty League and the Grand National Association signed an agreement to cooperate with one another and honor each others player contracts.

[darkcloud4579]

Wow those graphic team capsules are impressive. Just really nice and clear and well-presented.

[Questdog]