Into the Mythic

[legendsport]

INTO THE MYTHIC

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the "Into the Mythic" dynasty thread. By way of introduction I'd like to say that this league is an "alternate universe" take on the already fictional Figment League. This league will operate in much the same way that Figment does, but where Figment had a fifty season "pre-play" period to generate some history before the human GMs took over for the 1926 season, Mythic will use the first ten seasons of the aforementioned pre-play as the jumping off point for a divergent history. While some familiar names may crop up occasionally, it's far more likely that they won't. Mythic's 1886 debut season predates the formation of Figment's FABL baseball organization. In 1886, the Federal and Continental Associations did not exist; instead their precursors, the Century League and Border Association respectively, are in the midst of a war for the hearts and minds (and wallets) of the kranks (or fans) of baseball.

This dynasty will be a collaborative effort. The GMs of the participating teams will be encouraged to post news about their teams here. This will present multiple perspectives and lessen the load on any one person, since many of us, including me, are already authoring other dynasty threads. The reader is encouraged to peruse the first 16 posts of the "Figment League Baseball - A Fictional History of Baseball" thread as that covers the shared history of Mythic and Figment through the winter of 1885-86 which is where Mythic's own history branches off into uncharted territory....

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Excerpt from Morton's Illustrated History of Baseball, published by Throckmorton House, New York, NY, 1977:

The fallout of the Century League "rebellion" was largely cosmetic. Certainly, the resignation as Century President by founder William Whitney was big news and the feelings of many of the Century club owners were mixed on this. Of the so-called "Bigsby Clique" that instigated the change in leadership only Whitney's wartime friend Jefferson Edgerton of Philadelphia and Providence's Andrew Burton remained in the organization. Miles Bigsby had folded his Brooklyn club and his good friend Jason Kirkham had done likewise with the Boston club, leaving merely six clubs in a league that was now, on paper at least, under the leadership of Edward "Ned" Wilson.

These six clubs were the defending champion New York Gothams, Whitney's own Chicago Chiefs, the Washington Eagles, the financially-strapped St. Paul Crusaders and the aforemention Philadelphia and Providence clubs. First order of business for Mr. Wilson were replacing the Brooklyn and Boston clubs, which had finished seventh and eighth (or last) in the 1885 season. Wilson, with some urging from his former boss William Whitney, placed one club in Quebec, to compete more directly with the Border Association's Montreal franchise and another in Buffalo, New York. The latter was done largely to cut off one potential outlet for a Bigsby/Kirkham-led third league, rumors of which dominated the winter of 1885-86.

The formation of that third league did not occur and whether Bigsby desired one remains a mystery. This was because of an accident which occurred on January 4th, 1886. Miles Bigsby was leaving his club on 85th Street in Manhattan, when stepping off the curb to cross the street he was struck in the temple by the right hoof of a rearing livery horse. In what must be viewed as an apochryphal story, the driver of the hansom cab claimed that the horse had been spooked by a butterfly landing on its ear. The police constable who interviewed the driver, claimed the man must have been drunk: it was January and the temperature was in the 20s and butterflies were exceedingly rare even in Manhattan even during the warm months. Nevertheless the driver stuck to his claim and regardless of the veracity of his admittedly far-fletched claim, Miles Bigsby was struck dead on the cobblestones of 85th Street and he would play no role in the future of the sport of baseball.

City Seeks Demolition of Bigsby Oval - from the New York Herald January 29, 1886:

City Council yesterday tendered a proposal to demolish the Bigsby Oval, the fifteen-year-old racetrack turned base ball venue on Broadway. Rumors that the push to destroy the home of the Century Base Ball League's New York club come at the behest of Border Association New York club owner Nathan Horan are "hogwash" according to City Councilman Theodore Thomas. "It is in the city's best interest to not have two base ball venues existing across the street from one another," Thomas explained. "We will work with Mr. Treanor to find new accomodations for his club." The aforementioned Mr. Paul Treanor is the owner of the New York Gotham Base Ball Club, the current tenants of the Bigsby Oval. The Oval itself was owned by Charles and Miles Bigsby of this city. Charles is currently serving a life sentence in Sing Sing Prison and Miles was killed by a horse earlier this month. The current owner of the Oval is Mrs. Matilda Bigsby, the wife of the late Miles and she has expressed her disinterest in managing the wooden base ball park.

One can't help but wonder if Mr. Thomas has an ulterior motive. The councilman represents the Bronx and it is believed would suggest to Mr. Treanor that a good site for his club's new ballpark would be on the eastern bank of the Harlem River in the borough represented by Mr. Thomas. Whether Mr. Treanor, a native of Manhattan, would consider taking his club out of the city's pre-eminent borough is an open question.

Kirkham Involved In New Great Lakes Base Ball Circuit? - from the Cleveland Daily Intelligencer February 3, 1886:

Is Jason Kirkham ready to return to the business of base ball? The erstwhile operator of the Century League Boston ball club is rumored to be a backer of the new circuit whose membership includes a club on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The Great Lakes Base Ball organization, a debutante in the world of professional sport, is slated to take its place among the base ball organizations of this country in April. The clubs in the new circuit include one here in Cleveland, but also in Detroit, Duluth Minnesota, Erie Pennsylvania, Grand Rapids Michigan, Hamilton Ontario, Madison Wisconsin and Syracuse New York. Though none of these clubs list Mr. Kirkham as having any involvement, financial or otherwise, he is thought to be watching the Great Lakes organization closely.

The supposition is that Mr. Kirkham was working with Mr. Miles Bigsby of New York on a third so-called "major" league to compete with the Century League and Border Association (themselves actively seeking to destroy each other). These unverified plans were scotched last month when Mr. Bigsby was killed in an accident on the streets of New York. Mr. Kirkham, based in Boston, is believed to be still seeking a new opportunity and sees the Great Lakes League as a potential partner. The new circuit does boast two cities with "major league" pedigrees in Cleveland and Detroit. That the clubs in both these cities failed is expected not to be an issue for Mr. Kirkham who comes from "old money" and treated his former club as a personal hobby.

James B. Tice: "Century League Asking for Trouble" - from the Cincinnati Evening Times February 10, 1886:

The owner of the Cincinnati Monarch Base Ball club, Mr. James Bernard Tice, operating in his capacity as the President of the Border Base Ball Association, today stated in no uncertain terms his feelings on the Century League placing a club in Canada. "They are asking for trouble," Tice said, noting that the Border Assoc. operates two clubs in Canada: the Toronto Provincial Club and the Montreal Saint Lawrence club (known colloquially as the "Saints"). "Canada belongs to the Border Association and we will brook no competition from those scalliwags in the Century outfit." It is noted that Mr. Tice was an erstwhile member of the Century outfit, but after a falling out with then-Century President William W. Whitney, Tice took his club and formed the Border Association around it.

The Century League suffered two defections this winter with the Brooklyn and Boston clubs disbanding in protest of Whitney's influence over the organization. The Century's new President, Edward "Ned" Wilson of Chicago, replaced those clubs with one in Quebec City, Canada and one in Buffalo, New York.

Additional ire was raised when both the Quebec and Buffalo clubs signed contracts with players belonging to various Border Association clubs. This practice is common, however, and both circuits regularly undertake "raids" on their competition's players.

NOTE: Into the Mythic is an online league and is about to begin play. If you'd like to participate as a GM, please let me know. We have one possible opening right now and are also looking for potential replacement or part-time GMs to possibly run independent clubs.

Thanks for following along - if this turns out to be even half as good n experience as Figment is, it will be great fun.

[Tiger Fan]

Just as I do in the original Figment Universe I will be running the Brooklyn Kings in the Alternate history of Figment. You can read about the exploits of the modern day (1936 presently) Kings here

The modern version of the Kings have never won a World Championship Series but did win two titles in the short-lived Border Association in 1889 and 1891. Our greatest player in the early days also turned out to be our greatest nemesis as Ferdinand Hawkins- an original King in 1884 - won 191 games in 9 years in Brooklyn before being abruptly released from the team at the age of 28. Some say he cursed the franchise upon his dismissal, vowing the team will never win another championship. While Brooklyn did win 3 Continental Association pennants in the ensuing four and a half decades, as Hawkins is said to have predicted they lost in the World Championship Series on each of those 3 occasions and have been victimized by injuries and bad luck ever since. But all of that is in the other timeline.

This reboot, or Mythic Baseball as it is called, will give me an opportunity to right that wrong. As we take over as GM's in advance of the 1886 season, Ferdinand Hawkins is a 21 year old pitcher on the verge of stardom, winning 35 games and losing just 23 over the previous two seasons for what has been a middle of the pack ballclub.

It is the third year for the young Brooklyn franchise, as we joined the upstart Border Association started by Cincinnati's James Tice two years after it's formation. One nice thing is this year I will have the borough of Brooklyn to myself as the Century League's Brooklyn Unions folded up shop and left town after a dispute between Unions owner, the now-deceased Miles Bigsby and league founder William Whitney. I still have a pair of New York clubs to contend with for fans in the Border Association's Stars and the Century League's Gothams but, at least for now, Brooklyn is all mine.

I say for now because the GM's have all been warned that Mythic will see some franchise movement and it will not mirror the evolution of the original Figment timeline. There is no trading off vets to rebuild in this league or you may find your team folded because lack of fan support as the commissioner has warned us teams can and will fail. The best medicine to keep your franchise active is to attract fans by winning ballgames. There is also no draft - this is the late 1800s after all - so I eagerly await the league file and rules (which should come any day now) to learn how we acquire new talent. There will be several minor leagues we can purchase players from and I believe we can also continue what has become a tradition of both the Century League and Border Association of raiding rival clubs for talent.

Figment was the first online league I have joined in over 15 years (I dabbled in 1 or 2 in the early days OOTP3 or 4) and it remains by far my favourite league. I expect Mythic will be right up alongside it. If you have been following any of the Figment dynasty reports (and there are a lot) on the boards you owe it to yourself to touch base with Legendsport and check this one out. You do not have to contribute written material to this league but are more than welcome to and there is a lot of friendly banter and league talk on our slack channel. In short, it is a great group and has won me over from being a solo dynasty writer/player only to a huge fan of online league play.

THE HISTORY OF THE BROOKLYN KINGS (entering the Mythic Timeline)

To get you up to speed on my club here is a brief history of the first two seasons of the Brooklyn Kings Border Association club:

1884

It began in 1884 when the Border Association adds two new clubs including the Brooklyn Kings in advance of it's third season as a major league. The new Brooklyn squad would have to compete for fans with the Brooklyn Unions of the more establish Century League but a strong debut season that saw them finish 3rd in their circuit helped the Kings outdraw their borough rivals.

Brooklyn finished the season with a 59-31 record, just 5.5 games behind league champion St Louis. The Kings were led by 22 year old righthander Jim Cox, who went 23-7 with a 2.14 era. Cox' only previous experience was coming out of the pen for New York two years prior. His career would be quite successful but very short-lived. Cox would go 23-13 for the Kings the following season and then disappear from the game - never to pitch again.(at least not in the original timeline. Who knows here in the alternate history world of Figment/Mythic Baseball)

The offensive leader was Samuel Higgins, a 25 year old second baseman who started the season in Indianapolis but after one game jumped to the Kings. Higgins would hit .373 and lead the club in rbi's and runs scored. His stay in Brooklyn was also quick as Higgins jumped to St Paul of the Century League the following season.

One player who did get his start that season and remained a King for several years was pitcher Ferdinand Hawkins. Just 19 years old in 1884, Hawkins won 19 games that season while fanning 197 batters. He would spend 9 years in Brooklyn until being waived by the club following the 1892 season. His 191 career victories remain the most all-time in a Kings uniform (Figment Timeline).

Catcher Harvey Reese was a 20 year old rookie in '84. He had a strong debut season for the Kings but would leave for Providence of the Century League. In the other timeline Reese is best known as a Cleveland Forester, where he played for a decade, but Reese did finish his stellar career with 4 seasons in Brooklyn before retiring at the age of 40 after 1827 games and 1872 career big league hits.

1885

The Border Association dropped from 10 teams to 8. The Kings survived but their expansion partners from last year, Indianapolis, did not with Washington also dropping out. For the Kings, it was another solid season as the club finished with a 63-47 record, good enough for fourth place as they sat 14 games behind the champion Cincinnati Monarchs.

Jim Cox (23-13) was solid in what would prove to be the final season of his all too brief Brooklyn career. The number two starter was Frank Maroney (22-14). Maroney had won 14 games in the expansion year but this would be his last season as a King. He jumped to New York the following season and would go on to have a pretty good career, finishing with a 173-127 record. Ferdinand Hawkins, who would elevate to a more prominent role in the seasons to come, was 16-16 as the number 3 starter at age 20.

The offense was pretty much non-existent but the Kings did welcome shortstop Albert Davis to the organization. The 22 year old hit .273 as a rookie to start a long career with the Kings that would see him leave in 1898 as the club's all-time leader in games played.


1886 awaits and I will have a preview of your Mythic Baseball Brooklyn Kings in the next few days.

[ayaghmour2]

PROVIDENCE -- Last year was all about the New York Gothams, who ran away with a Century League pennant after finishing a whopping 70 games over .500 after an 89-19 finish. No one was within 20 games of those Gothams, but about two months in to the 1886 season, they're just three losses away from their total last season. Instead, it's all been about the second and third place teams from last season.

In first place for most of the season, last year's runner up the Washington Eagles started the season red hot and a 19-8 May gave them a nice little cushion. The Eagles boast the best rotation in the league, headed by arguably the best pitcher in the Century League and two other top five arms. Even scarier, all three are under 25. Righty Johnny Wallace is the ace of the staff, but he's just 6-4 with a 2.30 ERA (122 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP, 20 walks, and 75 strikeouts in his 10 starts. Rookie southpaw John Fenton has really broke out, 9-3 with a 1.63 ERA (173 ERA+), 1.02 WHIP, 23 walks, and 70 strikeouts in 12 starts. The last member of the rotation actually spent 1885 with the team the Eagles are tied with, but only tossed a few innings out of the pen. This year has been much different for lefty Eddie Boyd is 8-4 with a solid 2.34 ERA (120 ERA+), 1.22 WHIP, 33 walks, and 73 strikeouts in 12 starts of his own.

As good as the pitching is, the offense may end up costing the Eagles later in the season. Most of the lineup is hitting below .260, but they have a superstar outfielder in Elijah Hall who's second in the CL batting race. He's slashing .372/.392/.426 (152 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 23 RBI's, and 16 steals. He's a natural center fielder, but he's playing left with the soon to be 22-year-old Chick Futrell locking down center for years to come. An outstanding defender with excellent speed, he has a 5 (out of 5) rating for speed, stealing, base running, range, and error, along with of course his positional rating in center. He also hits, batting .259/.346/.357 (117 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 9 steals, and 15 RBI's. The only other hitter to give pitchers many fits is slugger Bill Williams who's launched three homers and drove in 19 despite hitting just .233/.268/.427 (112 OPS+). He's tripled 9 times, doubled twice, and added four steals in a strong campaign. He's one of the first "all-or-nothing" hitters, striking out 32 times in 36 games while on a 112 strikeout pace. He's tied for the league lead and one of just four players with 30 or more strikeouts.

Their toughest competition right now is your surging hometown Gems who have bashed their way to an impressive run. Providence has won 15 of their last 18 and have been helped with offseason acquisitions. The Gems ownership brought in a lot of the now defunct Brooklyn Union. A big one was 38-year-old vet Steve Airington. He's done a good job replicating an outstanding 1984, using a 29 game hit streak to fuel his outstanding .344/.371/.450 (156 OPS+) batting line. He's hit 7 doubles, 3 triples, a homer, and drove in 22. The Gems also brought in the leagues best first basemen Jim Jones who's actually "struggling" by his standards. In each of the past three seasons he's lead the league in average, OBP and slugging with an OPS+ of 212 or higher. The homers are down a bit, but he's still slashed .343/.396/.469 (169 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 3 triples, a homer, 5 steals, and 25 RBI's with a nice 14-5 walk-to-strikeout ratio. The adds keep coming with 31-year-old John Freeman, who like Jones, is having a "down" year comparatively. He's hitting a productive .260/.368/.389 (136 OPS+) with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, 7 steals, and 22 RBI's. The last piece was catcher turned outfielder George Johnson who is having a productive season at the plate. Not quite the career norms for the 30-year-old, but he still hit .307/.369/.346 (123 OPS+) with a homer, 4 steals, and 18 RBI's.

Those guys are all nice, but even Jim Jones isn't the newest and shiniest star on the roster. That would be 26-year-old Freeman Rogers who was the hottest independent player on the market. He hasn't quite hit his stride, but Rogers was named the top player in the Century League before the season started. He's got colossal pop, and while he's not leading the league in homers, he's launched three already. Rogers is hitting just .281/.342/.424 (138 OPS+), but was projected to hit a league best .344/.402/.511. May was tough for the lefty, but he's off to a red hot June where he's hit .368/.400/.447. He's also hit much better at home (.353/.413/.515) opposed to the road (.211/.273/.338) and our park, the Providence Base Ball Grounds, is perfect for lefties, especially those with some pop..

Providence only had two productive regulars that started last season, but both Tommy Allen and Billy Williamson have really struggled compared to last season. Allen hit .308/.350/.475 (163 OPS+) last season compared to just .227/.303/.312 (92 OPS+). He's an outstanding defensive catcher, and considering his worst season was once where he hit .286/.315/.419 (124 OPS+) I have to imagine that he'll improve that line. Same for Williamson, who hit .340/.408/.431 (170 OPS+) last season compared to .238/.294/.340 (97 OPS+) this year. The only weakness is at shortstop, as all other batters have at least one homer and ten RBI's.

The pitching isn't quite that of the Eagles, but now that 22-year-old Pretzels Cronauer (the whole reason I picked the Gems, who wouldn't want a pitcher named Pretzels!) has started to heat up, things may start to change. He's already 4-0 in June and has a league high 12 wins in 13 starts and a relief outing. He's got an average 2.75 ERA (102 ERA+) and 1.16 WHIP to go with 35 walks and 83 strikeouts. His strikeouts are second to Nathan Watters' 121 and his 3.0 WAR second to Wallace's 3.6. Now George Payne has actually been more effective, but is an unlucky 5-6 with a 2.16 ERA (129 ERA+), 1.27 WHIP, 26 walks, and 62 strikeouts in 11 starts and a relief appearance. The third member of the staff, Jack Lopp, was picked up right before the season started in a trade with the Birmingham Iron of the Dixie League. We sent them a trio of position players, and while I thought all three would start for the Iron, just first basemen Monroe Young and catcher Harvey Reese have each played in all 29 games for them. Lopp has started 12 games for the Gems, going 7-4 with a 2.27 ERA (123 ERA+), 1.20 WHIP, 22 walks, and 69 strikeouts.

There is still a lot of baseball to be played, so perhaps St. Paul (18-17) or the defending champion Gothams (16-16) catch fire and rejoin the race. The Crusaders have an outstanding star shortstop in Jack Miller who boasts a 5 at all four infield ratings and is hitting an otherworldly .396/.452/.511 (198 OPS+) with 3 doubles, 5 triples, a homer, 20 steals, and 30 RBI's with a nice 14-4 walk-too-strikeout ratio. They also have a bright young 20-year-old ace in Jimmy Harewood who's just 6-6 despite a 2.14 ERA (131 ERA+) and 1.26 WHIP. His issue is the walks, already 53 with 55 strikeouts, but he's going to be someone to worry about. New York rocks a two man rotation, headlined by veteran Pete Hood who's 8-6 with a 2.15 ERA (131 ERA+), 1.04 WHIP, 20 walks, and 56 strikeouts, but like Harewood, not too much behind him. The lineup is filled with stars and scrubs, and some of those stars; Jason Young, Elmer Manuel, and Denny Fuller are all having outstanding seasons and they should be getting much better performance from Marsh Perry.

Head to Head Records:
Providence vs. New York (5-1)
Providence vs. St. Paul (5-1)
Providence vs. Washington (1-2)
Washington vs. St. Paul (3-3)
Washington vs. New York (3-3)
New York vs. St. Paul (3-2)