The Road to the World Baseball Association

[BallFan]

CHUCK SPRAWLINGS WRITES FROM MANCHESTER:
Oct. 22, 1926

This Cricket Ground is called Old Trafford, also the name of the local soccer (or "Football" as they call it here) stadium. A rather disappointing 11,461 crowd came to watch the exhibition. Those who did come, however, got to see Richmond's Carlos Silva throw a gem, allowing only three hits and one run as he embarrassed the Newark Bricklayers, leading the Virginians on a 2-1 victory.

Apparently some of the English did not quite know what to make of this, however, and on at least one occasion referred to him as a "bowler" and wondered and at times others seemed shocked by the fact that such a "rabble" was tearing the grounds apart with their running, diving and sliding. Cricket, apparently, is a more "gentlemanly" game, and they think that baseball is more on the level of a glorified type of Rounders, a game they have children play. Bah, I say! Some of those Englishmen who attended seem to have already made up their minds before they attended this game, perhaps because they are envious of an America that has come of age!

Thankfully, these people were in a minority, as many seemed interested in or at least politely silent about our game. And all seemed to appreciate the athleticism of Harrison Devaux legging out a triple- and gleefully noting that, as a Canadian, Devaux is under the King!

The next stop for the Virginians and Bricklayers is London, where games will be played at Lord's Cricket Ground and the Kennington Oval.

[BallFan]

Oct. 24, 1926:

"Today was a miserable day, not because of any problem with the 7,230 curious English, or because of the game, but because of the fact it was raining all day long, at one point forcing the teams to stop playing for up to 90 minutes in the third. Once the game got started again, Richmond won 6-0, as Harrison Devaux went 2-5 with a triple and Jose Soberano went 3-4 with only a home run short of the Cycle......"

[BallFan]

From "Baseball Around the World: A Look from the Beginning to Now" by Hiro Dotsawa:

"The second game in Lord's went down to the final inning, with Richmond- acting as the Home Team again, leading 9-6. Harrison Devaux again had been the star, going 3-5 with 3 RBIs, a steal and a double, but the Newark Bricklayers still were in striking range as Jose Lopez took to the mound to try and finish the game, after coming in during the Seventh.

Aurelio Ortiz led off with a single, and Lopez then pegged Hernandez in the back, leading to cat-calls from the English fans, who knew this was a dishonorable and unsportsmanlike practice. Salazar hit a long fly ball that may have been out in a real baseball stadium, but the extremely spacious Lord's Ground allowed for Olson to get it, although Ortiz got to third, and then was singled in by Nunez to make the game 9-7.

Lopez continued to be wild, and soon the bases were loaded, at which point he was replaced by Pierre Le Guen. Wayne Hill popped into a sac fly that made it a one-run game, but then Le Guen got Reijssen, a pinch-hitter, to ground out to end the game."

...

[BallFan]

CHUCK SPRAWLINGS after the final games:

After Richmond won the two final games in England- one in the Oval at Kennington and another back in Manchester- it is time to consider what occurred during the trip there. As I have stated early, most of the English were nothing if not polite, although there were some vile creatures, although none that were of the same level as my brother, Frederick.

In general, it appears that while the Britons appeared to enjoy the game, it didn't seem to be something that they will pick up. Still, you never know, as who knows what might one day occur on the playing fields of England. Of course, I think we'll need better airplanes and dirigibles first....

[BallFan]

1926-27 Offseason news roundup:

The Japanese have begun a College League, and reportedly are trying to get a TBL team to tour sometime in the next few years.

Daniel Church, the Pitching Coach for Richmond's TRL team, has filled a vacancy with Buffalo as a Bench Coach. Carlos Bernal is now the hitting coach for Boston.

The idea of having a "wild card" has once again been kicked down the road, mainly because the Imperials aren't winning every damn year anymore.

After a rather scary-sounding speech by Frederick Sprawlings, noted criminal, xenophobe, con-man and evil brother of Journalist/Booster Chuck Sprawlings, TBL has decided to place a 24-man foreigner limit on all rosters, to ensure that "no American baseball team will be American-less". After the vote, the Sprawlings brothers had a bare-knuckles boxing match.

[BallFan]

From "An Irreverent History of Baseball":

In 1927, the New York Imperials returned to the Big Series and beat the Boston Beantowners in 6. And, as the 1928 season went along, it became clear that, yes, they were probably going to win the Big Series. Or at the very least was going to make it.

Something had to be done. And since the Wild Card idea was stalled, the answer would, somehow, have to come from outside TBL.

The first idea was to perhaps try to get the Cuban Professional League play a "World Series", but Cuba's league wasn't in season at the time so would probably be rusty. To have the TBL champ play the TRL champ was just plain stupid as anything except perhaps a gag. The Japanese were too far away given the technology of the day, and had only a College level anyway. So, the only semi-respectable league that could maybe face the TBL champion and maybe not get blown to kingdom come was the Californian League, which had gotten it's act together after the "lost playoffs" debacle and was now in the third season of it's resurrection. Hands were shaken, legal papers were signed, and a best-of-seven series was planned between the champions of TBL and the Californian League.

And so, in mid-October, the first CHAMPIONSHIP OF AMERICA began. On one side, the visiting NY Imperials (the CAL.L. was given home-field as a concession for the lower level of play), who had just finished beating the Washington Monuments like they were rented mules in a 6-game victory (OOC:which was originally a 5-game victory, but then my game crashed and started over in early October!). On the other side, a well-rested-but-probably-out-of-their-league Los Angeles Coliseums, managed by local hero Aaron Jones, best known for his dramatic home run during the 1923 TBL tour of California. Jones, still the subject of an urban legend that he celebrated by spending the night with Clara Bow, had had his career cut short by an injury, so now was manager of the Coliseums, who went 73-55 and won the 2nd half title of the CAL.L before sweeping Sacramento in 3 in the California Series.

The Coliseums probably could have mopped the floor with most TRL teams, but they were about to face the Imperials, and, suddenly, just before the game, everybody up in the boxes was starting to feel like this was going to prove to be a very, very bad idea.

[BallFan]

Game one, indeed, was a blow-out: Juan Garza went 3-5 with 4 RBIs, while Scott Campbell went 7 innings for the win, giving up 6 hits and two runs, neither of them earned.

[BallFan]

Game 2 was more of the same. The star in this game was Eric Latimer, who went 2-5 but had 5 RBIs thanks to a home run.

[BallFan]

Los Angeles made it close in Game 3, but it wasn't enough.

(Also, I kept having trouble with crashing during this series, so I've learned that apparently Association playoffs can be finicky at times, so I'm going to have to save after every game)

[BallFan]

L.A. again showed some fight in Game 4, forcing extra innings, but a Jim Jenkins double in the bottom of the 13th finished the sweep.

[BallFan]

Ultimately, it was decided that, while it was an interesting exhibition and the CAL.L. Champion showed some fight, the Championship of America would just be a one-time thing. It would have to be up to the TBL teams to try and stop the Imperials.

[BallFan]

In 1929, the Imperials won. Again. This time beating the Pittsburgh Bridgemen in 4. What was truly remarkable, however, were the Richmond Virginians, who finished the season... 43-119, the worst in the history of TBL to this point, and possibly for all time.

How bad were the Richmond Virginians? Well, for one, they ended the season 60 games back. In July they went 4-22! They were in the bottom three of the Original Conference leaderboards in every category except for Home Runs Allowed.

Their batting average leader (of those qualified for a title), Roberto Otero, hit .257. Jose Guerrero, the team's HR leader, had only 12 dingers. The lowest ERA, by Carlos "Dog House" Silva, was 4.87! Silva, by the way, went 7-27. Randy Shelton, the wins leader, was 12-21. Their TRL team went 49-105!

A truly atrocious season.

[BallFan]

Well, as we enter the mid-1930s, some updates on the broader Universe:


A new "Liga Mexicana" will begin in 1935 in Mexico. Estimates have placed it at AAA/TRL level of play. Similarly, Puerto Rico is also planning a league, although it will likely be a "Winter League".

Chuck Sprawlings has announced his retirement and has moved to Hawaii. Before he left, however, he expressed his regret that there is no team in Cooperstown, which he believes (despite evidence to the contrary) is the birthplace of Baseball. There is now discussion of having a team play in Cooperstown in 1938, which will be the 100th anniversary of Abner Doubleday apparently inventing the game. After that season, the team would move back to it's usual location. Albany is a leading candidate, since it is the team closest to Cooperstown. His brother, Frederick, said to have been "cured" of his insanity thanks to some medical procedures, remains in America.

Due to the fact that far more pitchers than hitters have been placed into the Hall of Fame, a special committee has begun to place some old-time hitters in, who did not meet today's standards but who were great for their time, or who made their contributions mostly with fielding instead of hitting. Bob Mason, Augusto Lopez, Archie Perry, 6-time Glove Wizard SS Alex Martinez and 7-time Glove Wizard outfielder Jorge Hernandez were the first to be added to the HOF this way, elected at the All-Star Break of 1934.

[BallFan]

(BTW, I'm sort of in a low right now as far as the storytelling, but it'll pick up again probably after WWII, until then, I'll just be making notes here and there for big things, but you won't be seeing any of the post-season barnstorms or anything)

[BallFan]

JAPANESE LEAVE LEAGUE

(1938)- Japanese players have left The Baseball League as well as all other leagues due to the war between Japan and China in order to partake in military service. While there had been some talk of banning the Japanese in protest of the atrocities being reported from China, the decision by Japanese Government has rendered such discussions moot.

[BallFan]

THE ALBANY SPORTSMEN MOVE TO JERSEY!

(1939)- Chaos reigned today as the Sportsmen ownership group announced that the team- which played in 1938 as the Cooperstown Centennials as part of TBL's 100th Anniversary of Baseball Celebration- will be moving the team to Jersey City's Roosevelt Stadium, where they will become the New Jersey Sportsmen.

"Albany has been outgrown by the Baseball League," said owner Joe Robinson Jr., "We will, however, be keeping our TRL team in nearby Troy as a tribute to our roots."

Although the owners of the other New York, Newark and Philadelphia teams have voiced their displeasure, none voted against the move, perhaps indicating a want to move the smaller market teams into larger markets as the economy slowly improves from the Depression.

"If I'm a fan of the Virginians, I'd be worried right now," said Pop Pennywise, whimsically named analyst.

[BallFan]

As war raged across the seas, the people in America were more focused on one of the biggest, closest pennant races in history: Going into the final day, the Bums were but a game away from the Beantowners in the Original Conference, while the Imperials were a game away from the Birds.... and the Imperials and Birds were due to play on the final day.

Would there be a chance of two playoff games?

[BallFan]

The three games would all be going on at the same time.....

[BallFan]

But I'll be focusing on Imperials vs. Baltimore....

[BallFan]

To the mound for Baltimore was right-hander Ken "Looney" Griffin, who had been received from Brooklyn near the trade deadline. An All-Star back in 1932, the 32-year-old veteran had always been pretty good, but rarely great.

On the flip-side, for New York, was an opposite of him, Wilson Guzman. Guzman was only 21-years-old, a lefty who had only recently been called up from the TRL, where he had gone 27-6 with a 2.23 ERA in 1939 with Scranton, including a no-hitter he had thrown in late July. Pena liked what he had, and since Guzman would be unfamiliar to the Baltimore hitters, he went with him.

The first two innings saw both sides go scoreless, but then, in the top of the third, the Imperials struck. Wilson Guzman, the pitcher, got a double to lead off, and later in that inning a two-out double by SS Curt Holliday, a 5-time All-Star and fan favorite, brought him home to make the score 1-0.

Then the Young Gun took over to hold back the Baltimore Birds, while the Imperials padded the league in the fifth, as Holliday hit a solo home run and Steve Richter drove in another to make it 3-0.

It was not until the 8th that the Birds finally got into the run column. After Griffin flew out, Diego Gonzales jumped on a 3-0 pitch for a single. Then, Alan Pittman got a double. Gonzales was able to score on a Mario Meza groundout, and then Pittman scored on a double by Sergio Sanchez. However, they lost their chance to tie when RF Mal Barker went after the first pitch of an at-bat and flew out for the final out.

It would cost Baltimore dearly, as New York slammed around Griffin (and his replacement, Mario Marquez) for 5 more runs in the top of the ninth. The final score was 8-2.

Meanwhile, Boston's win over St. Louis and Brooklyn's loss to Pittsburgh ended the OC pennant race. Only the NC would be in dispute in a playoff game.