Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs (1961-)

[gskweres9]

New York, Monday, October 16, 1972

INDIANS MLB'S LATEST CASUALTY

Major League Baseball has lost another franchise, as the Cleveland Indians announced today that they will not participate in the 1973 season. The Indians become the fourth team to fold since the Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs formed in 1961, joining the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Athletics, and Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals came back as a member of the Continental League just two seasons after their demise in MLB.

The Cleveland Indians are one of MLB's oldest franchises, forming in 1871 as the Cleveland Forest Citys. They've appeared in three World Series in their 101 seasons, winning twice. However, they haven't appeared in a World Series since 1954, and haven't won since 1948.

In recent years the Indians have faced a cross town rival in the Continental League's Cleveland Spiders, who moved to Cleveland from Memphis. The excitement around the Continental League mixed with the struggles of the Indians led to the Spiders becoming the city's main attraction. In 1972 the Indians finished second to last in attendance in MLB, drawing just 800,000 fans. Meanwhile the Spiders, who play 10 less games than the Indians, drew slightly over 1.2 million fans.

With the Indians folding, MLB and the Continental League each have twelve teams. If MLB doesn't make changes, then they risk being completely overrun by the CL.

[gskweres9]

New York, Tuesday, January 2, 1973

CL TO EXPAND TO 14 FOR '74

The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs will add two more teams for the 1974 season, as the owners unanimously approved expansion.

"We believe it is time to add two more franchises to the mix," league president William Shea said. "We've been hesitant recently because some of our expansion teams hadn't had much success, but with the success of the Angels and Alligators, we feel it is time."

The California Angels became the first ever team to repeat as champions in Continental League history, winning titles in 1971 and 1972. They joined the Continental League as an expansion club in 1967. The New Orleans Alligators were part of the round of expansion in 1963, and they struggled mightily out of the gate, but they made their first Continental Cup appearance in 1972, where they were swept by the Angels.

The expansion will give the Continental League 14 teams, which will make them the largest professional baseball league in the United States of America. They will be the third largest professional sports league behind the National Football League, which has 25 teams, and the National Basketball Association, which has 17 teams.

The cities that have reportedly applied for a franchise are plentiful. On the West coast, San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland, and Seattle have all applied for franchises. In the Midwest Indianapolis, Kansas City, Omaha and Oklahoma City have applied for franchises, and on the East coast, Montreal, Philadelphia, Long Island, Orlando, Miami, Tampa Bay, and Nashville have all applied for franchises.

The owners will reportedly narrow the list from 15 to five during their next meetings, deciding on two by the league's all-star break in June.

[gskweres9]

New York, Thursday, April 26, 1973

METS RETIRE STUART'S NUMBER

The New York Mets honored the career of Dick Stuart on Wednesday, hanging his number 17 in the rafters. He becomes the second Met to have their number retired, joining Paul Toth.

Stuart played for the Mets from 1964-1972. Stuart busted onto the scene in '64 with the Mets after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates, blasting 40 homers, driving in 104 runs, and hitting .335 that year, finishing second to Tony Conigliaro in MVP voting, and helping lead the Mets to their second Continental League title.

Stuart finished second in MVP voting again in 1965 after he hit a league leading 41 homers, drove in 92 runs, and batted .288, but Luis Tiant had a masterful year on the mound and won both the MVP and Pitcher of the Year Awards. Stuart finally broke through and won the MVP in 1966, hitting 41 homers yet again, driving in 105 runs, and batting .337.

After his MVP season at the age of 33, Stuart's skills began to deteriorate ever so slightly. He won his second title with the Mets and had another fine season, hitting .260 with 30 homers and 87 RBIs. In 1968 Stuart hit .240 with 27 homers and 65 RBIs, his worst season to date.

"I seriously thought about retiring after that year, but something told me I wasn't done yet" Stuart said.

He certainly wasn't done yet, as he would return in 1969 to win his third title in a Mets uniform. He hit .278 with 34 homers and 103 RBIs that season. In 1970 at the age of 37, Stuart would hit 40+ homers for the last time, slugging 42 of them while batting .254 and driving in 102 runs.

Stuart would hang around for two more seasons, but was a shell of his former self by then. In '71 Stuart hit .241 with 26 homers. He would return in 1972 with the hope that he would reach 300 career Continental League homers, needing 19, but he would only bat .215 on the year and hit just 15 homers, four shy of the 300 mark.

"I guess that just wasn't meant to be, but I had an amazing career with an amazing franchise. I can't complain," Stuart said.

Stuart finished his Continental League career second in league history with 296 homers. He's also second in league history in RBIs with 780, although he will probably be passed shortly by his former teammate, Jim Lefebvre, who has 770.

Stuart is the franchise's all-time leader in Homers and RBIs, and is second in Games, At-Bats, Hits, and Runs.

Stuart will be an interesting Hall of Fame case. Since he joined the Continental League at the age of 31, he doesn't quite have the league counting stats that you would expect of a Hall of Famer, but he does have three championships, a MVP, and four all-star appearances. Combined with his stats from MLB, Stuart finished his professional baseball career with 2,097 hits, 472 homers, and 1,261 RBIs. The 2,097 career professional hits would place him 16th amongst first basemen in the history of professional baseball, just ahead of MLB Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, and ahead of other Hall of Fame first baseman Charlie Comiskey and Hank Greenberg. The 472 homers places him 10th all-time in professional baseball, 21 shy of Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, and nine behind future Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

Should Stuart be penalized because his stats are split between the two leagues? His stats as a player in Major League Baseball certainly aren't enough to qualify him for their Hall of Fame, and his stats in the Continental League are borderline, but if they were combined he would surely be a lock. We'll see how the voters treat him when his name comes along on the ballot.

STANDINGS

Eastern Division
1) New Orleans Alligators (15-9)
2) Atlanta Pilots (14-10)
3) Cleveland Spiders (13-11)
4) Toronto Maple Leafs (12-12)
5) New York Mets (9-15)
6) Buffalo Lakers (8-16)

Western Division
1) Dallas Texans (17-7)
2) California Angels (15-9)
3) Minneapolis Millers (11-13)
4) St. Louis Cardinals (11-13)
5) Houston Apollos (10-14)
6) Denver Buffaloes (9-15)

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Why not bring back the Phillies and Athletics and Indians, at least? You did so with the Cardinals, after all. Just wondering, that's all. CD out.

[raptorman415]

Whats the MLB looking like at the moment concerning divisions?

[gskweres9]

Originally Posted by raptorman415

Whats the MLB looking like at the moment concerning divisions?

I'll give a quick MLB rundown I guess. I haven't done that in a long time and haven't done as good a job as I wanted delving into that league.

American League:

Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
New York Yankees
Washington Senators

National League:

Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Los Angeles Dodgers
Milwaukee Braves
Pittsburgh Pirates
San Francisco Giants

The White Sox have been the class of the American League. They won six straight pennants from 1965-1970, however only won two World Series during that time (66,70). The Tigers earned the AL Pennant in '71, but the White Sox were right back on top in '72, winning both the Pennant and the World Series.

During that same time period, the Giants, Reds, Pirates, and Dodgers have all made World Series appearances. The Giants appeared twice and won twice, the Reds appeared once and won, the Pirates appeared once and lost, and the Dodgers have currently appeared in four consecutive World Series, winning two of those times.

Since the White Sox and the Dodgers have kind of been the class of the league, I'll go over their star players.

Pete Rose has been a superstar for the White Sox ever since he debuted. At the age of 32 he has 1,637 hits and a career average of .318. He's formed maybe the best double play combo in history with Luis Aparicio, who's now 39 and in the twilight of his career. Luis has 2,577 career hits and a career .273 average. He's an 11x Gold Glove Award winner.

The White Sox's best player, however, is a fictional pitcher named Juan Cruz. Remember when I created that Cuban League to be a pipeline of talent for the CL? Well, the White Sox purchased probably the best player to ever come from there in Cruz. Cruz is now 31, but he's won 3 Cy Young Awards and 2 MVP's. He has a career 103-37 record and a 2.28 career ERA in 187 career starts. He and Gaylord Perry, who the White Sox traded for in 1969, have formed a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation.

As for the Dodgers, their best player is probably Juan Marichal, who is now 35. Marichal has won the ERA crown four times in a Dodgers uniform, and last season led the league in both wins and ERA. He has won 5 NL Cy Young Awards in a Dodger uniform. Frank Howard is still going strong for them at the age of 36 anchoring down 1st base. He has 2,011 hits and 351 career homers. The highlight of his career is probably winning the NL MVP Award in 1971. Aside from Marichal and Howard, the Dodgers have also gotten a lot out of Lee May, Ron Fairly, and Ron Hunt.

[gskweres9]

ATLANTA, MONDAY, MAY 21, 1973

END OF AN ERA

The Atlanta Pilots have traded away starting pitcher Al Downing to the Cleveland Spiders. Downing has spent his entire career with the club, debuting in the Continental League's inaugural season in 1961 as a 19-year-old. He is the Continental League's all-time leader in Wins, Games Started, Complete Games, Innings Pitched, and Strikeouts. In return the Pilots have received 21-year-old outfielder Dwight Evans, 23-year-old minor league first baseman Cecil Cooper, and 24-year-old pitcher Brent Strom.

Downing had been relegated to bullpen duty in recent weeks and was reportedly unhappy with his role. Downing has appeared in ten games this year, starting seven. He has a 3-4 record with a 4.82 ERA.

"I'm looking forward to this new opportunity," Downing said.

With Downing's departure, Bert Campaneris becomes the team's longest tenured player. He is also the only player in the league that has been with the same team since the inception of the Continental League.

"I think you can say what we had was special," Downing said. "Bert and I were here for so long and Jimmy [Wynn] was here for a long time too, but things gotta change."

The Pilots hope the prospects they received will help them get back to the Continental Series, a place they haven't been since 1965.

"We think very highly of all the players we acquired," Pilots GM John Brizendine said.

Evans and Cooper will both report to the Pilots immediately. Evans batted .380 with four homers and 20 RBIs in 27 games with the AAA Charleston Spiders this season. Las year Evans played in AA, hitting .326 with 20 homers and 81 RBIs in 120 games. Cooper won't get much playing time in the early going as he will serve as the backup to Campaneris, but all signs point towards Cooper being Campaneris' successor. Cooper was batting .327 with 4 homers and 23 RBIs in 29 games in AAA.

Strom will report to the AA Nashville Vols. Strom was pitching in AAA in the Spiders system. He had a 4-2 record with a 3.04 ERA in six starts.


Downing in his last appearance as a Pilot

STANDINGS

Eastern Division
1) New Orleans Alligators (27-19)
2) Cleveland Spiders (24-22)
3) Toronto Maple Leafs (23-23)
4) Atlanta Pilots (23-23)
5) New York Mets (18-28)
6) Buffalo Lakers (15-31)

Western Division
1) Dallas Texans (30-16)
2) California Angels (27-19)
3) St. Louis Cardinals (25-21)
4) Minneapolis Millers (23-23)
5) Denver Buffaloes (22-24)
6) Houston Apollos (19-27)

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

We still need the Phillies, Athletics, and Indians, at least, back into things here, if possible, either for MLB or the CL, at least, I think, before this scenario closes. Don't the rest of you agree here, perhaps, folks? CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Still waiting to see what happens next with this thing here. Hope you can get back to it very soon, for sure. And hoping to see the Phillies, Athletics, and Indians eventually back in action as well, even though I'm a Cardinals fan, of course. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Bumping, to remind gskweres9 that I'm still interested in this thread, and I don't think that I'm the only one who would like to see this scenario for the Continental League continue, either. Hope he gets back to it soon, for I'd really like to see what happens, especially for the Phillies, Athletics, and Indians, of course.

Granted, I've never been a fan of any of those three teams, in real life. But they're all still historic MLB teams, so I'm hoping to learn more about them in this scenario, if possible, at some point, for sure.

Hope you are well, and all, gskweres9. Take care and all, I hope, then. CD out.

[gskweres9]

Originally Posted by Clovidequano Dovatha

Bumping, to remind gskweres9 that I'm still interested in this thread, and I don't think that I'm the only one who would like to see this scenario for the Continental League continue, either. Hope he gets back to it soon, for I'd really like to see what happens, especially for the Phillies, Athletics, and Indians, of course.

Granted, I've never been a fan of any of those three teams, in real life. But they're all still historic MLB teams, so I'm hoping to learn more about them in this scenario, if possible, at some point, for sure.

Hope you are well, and all, gskweres9. Take care and all, I hope, then. CD out.

Happy to hear you are still interested. I've heard that from a couple of others as well. For the time being, this is on hold. I got a little burned out doing it and don't have very much free time. I will pick this up again eventually, it just may be a little while longer.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Still waiting, just a reminder. Hope to see more of this soon. CD out.