1871 - Major League Baseball Begins

[guamyank]

November 1st, 1872 - Here are the final standings for the 1872 season, showing only the teams that did not withdraw.



Also, the website has been updated:

1871 - Major League Baseball Begins

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Can I ask what you're doing to keep things like the teams, players and schedules historically accurate? I've done it by hand in past versions, which always leads me to get tired of the work sometime in the 1880s.

[guamyank]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Can I ask what you're doing to keep things like the teams, players and schedules historically accurate? I've done it by hand in past versions, which always leads me to get tired of the work sometime in the 1880s.

Of course. Yes. I'm doing pretty much everything manually. I don't allow teams to make transactions. Injuries are off. I change primary fielding positions based on most games played at position. As each season progresses I'll have to pay closer attention to players that transfer teams midseason.
Off-season free agents import automatically and then I assign them to the correct team. I try to get stadium dimensions right, but there isn't a lot of data for these early years so I don't sweat it too much.
Bottom line, it is a lot of manual work , but if you follow a pattern it isn't too bad. This is all a bit of a piecemeal explanation...at some point I might try and put it together better. One thing I found that helps for assigning players off-season us to make a shortcut to the player list page.
Anyway, thanks for the interest and let me know if you have any more questions or suggestions!


***I import the historical schedules that come with the game, but at a certain point they may not work as well so I may have to improvise a bit***

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Thanks. I've done something similar with past versions. The 1880s generally took me about 2-3 hours per offseason, and, well, I've had more than one league stall out in 1884.

[guamyank]

Ya, this isn't my first go either. I've made some mistakes in past attempts, and hopefully I've learned enough that I won't make a critical error here. A big thing I've learned, which seems basic, is to backup my league every year. That way if I do make a mistake I can start over from that year. It's the basics that will get you!

Also, there will be some situations where I deviate from real life. Example, I believe it was 1902 (?) where there was no world series. I'll be having a world series. Anyway, we'll see how it goes! I'm not a baseball historian by any means so a big part of the fun here is learning a lot of the things that happened IRL, and of course not knowing how it will play out this time around.

[guamyank]

January 1st, 1873 - The Brooklyn Eckfords have withdrawn from the league, becoming the 6th team to do so since the start of the 1872 season.
However, the good news is that there are 4 new teams joining the league in 1873. These teams are as follows:

Baltimore Marylands
Elizabeth Resolutes (New Jersey)
Philadelphia White Stockings
Washington Blue Legs

This means 9 teams will take the field in 1873. Here's to a more stable season than last year.

[guamyank]

February 26th, 1873: Cy Bentley, who pitched for the ill-fated Middletown Mansfields last year, has died of consumption in Middletown, Connecticut. Cy, age 22, worked as an iron moulder after the Mansfields collapsed. He will be interred at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown.

Here are Cy's combined batting and pitching stats from 1872:

[guamyank]

March 1st, 1873: Al Pratt, pitcher for the Cleveland Forest Citys for the past 2 seasons, announced his retirement today. Pratt led the league in batting average for 2 straight seasons, batting .455 in 1871 and .524 in 1872. Pratt wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers at the plate, and while his ERA was 4.60 in 1871, he improved to 2.47 in 1872.

"I love baseball," said Pratt, "But it isn't for me right now. I got some other avenues I want to explore." It seems hard to believe we've seen the last of Al Pratt, but that's where it stands. Here are his final statistics:

[guamyank]

March 4th, 1873 - Ulysses Grant has been sworn in for his second term as the United States President.

[guamyank]

April 14, 1873 - The new season is about to begin today as we start off with 2 new teams facing off: the Washington Blue Legs vs. the Baltimore Marylands. Here's a look at where each team stands for the new season:

Baltimore Canaries - They've swapped their triple crown winning pitcher Bobby Mathews to the New York Mutuals for pitcher Candy Cummings. It's a loss at the position but Candy is still a solid hurler, as he posted a 2.89 ERA last season. Newcomer Cal McVey arrives as the catcher from Boston; Cal has a .371 career batting average. RF Lip Pike and LF Tom York form one of the most ferocious pair of batting outfielders in the league. This team has a weakness at second base, so if they can get some production out of Tom Carey, they might have another shot at the pennant.

Baltimore Marylands - Frank Sellman (.325) and Wally Goldsmith (.356) are the only bright spots on this team. It's going to be long, tough season for these Marylands.

Boston Red Stockings - Despite winning the pennant the past 2 season, there are some weak spots on this roster. Harry Wright, CF, batted only .254. Dave Birdsall, RF, batted .167. And third baseman Harry Schaffer batted .232. The team however has picked up Deacon White and Jim O'Rourke, and of course, they still have Al Spalding. Boston remains the team to beat this season.

Brooklyn Atlantics - While the Atlantics don't have many superstars on their team, they do have a lot of decent hitting veterans and a consistent pitcher in Jim Britt. They may not win the pennant, but look for them to improve on their 11-18 record from last year.

Elizabeth Resolutes - The new team from New Jersey has a lot of problems in their lineup. Doug and Art Allison are the strengths, and rookie pitcher Hugh Campbell looks promising, but there isn't much to cheer for after that. Expect the Resolutes to struggle in their first season.

New York Mutuals - Upgrading to Bobby Mathews at pitcher wasn't the only move made by the Mutuals. Dick Higham (C/.388) returned after spending a year in Baltimore. Jim Holdsworth (SS/.421) arrives from the defunct Cleveland Forest Citys. Count Gedney (LF/.286) was acquired from the Brooklyn Eckfords. This is a really solid team and they have a legimate shot at knocking Boston off the top of the food chain.

Philadelphia Athletics - Despite losing several players to the Philadelphia White Stockings, the Athletics have an excellent lineup that makes them a contender with Boston. The question mark is pitcher Dick McBride, who's ERA is trending up. (2.62 in 1871, 2.97 in 1872) If McBride can keep his ERA below 3.00, Philadelphia will challenge for the pennant.

Philadelphia White Stockings - Wow, what a lineup this new team has. With many of the Athletics jumping ship to the Whites, they are yet another contender this season. George Zettlein (pitcher) may be the weak link. After shifting from Troy to Brooklyn last year, his ERA was 3.89 in the Big Apple.

Washington Blue Legs - Outfielders Paul Hines and John Glenn are the strength of this team. That isn't enough. The Blue Legs do not have a legitimate chance at breaking .500 this season.

[guamyank]

June 1st, 1873: Well it looks like the Red Stockings have their hands full this season, as there are currently 5 teams ahead of them. It's hard to judge this early in the season by the actual standings, but perhaps the run differential is a sign of things to come. If so, the Canaries are in great shape with their +57 differential.

[guamyank]

July 1st, 1873 - It is officially a 5 team race with Boston lurking 2 1/2 games behind the Mutuals and Athletics, who are tied for first. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the Brooklyn Atlantics who, though improved from last year, may not have been expected to play this well so far. The Philadelphia White Stockings have failed to perform, mostly due to starting pitcher George Zettlein's 4.34 ERA.

[guamyank]

July 11th, 1873 - The Baltimore Marylands have folded at 0-6. With arguably the worst roster in the league, and having to compete in the same city with the Canaries, the writing was on the wall.

[guamyank]

July 24th, 1873 - The situation had been building all day in New York as the Mutuals hosted the Baltimore Canaries in a key matchup. Bob Ferguson (Brooklyn Atlantics) was umpiring the game as a substitute. Nat Hicks, Mutuals catcher had expressed his displeasure throughout the game on Ferguson's interpretation of the strike zone (from the dugout), amid other calls. The altercation reached a head as the game ended and the Mutuals lost by one run. Hicks, unleashed a verbal barrage on Ferguson, and Ferguson picked up a bat and hit Hicks in the right arm. Hicks' arm was broken in two places.

The New York crowd seemed stunned at first, but then came to life and threatened to charge the field. Some of the more boisterous fans did rush the field, and Ferguson was escorted off under police escort for his own safety.
Hicks, the backup catcher for the Mutuals, is expected to be out of action for at least 2 months. Here are the current standings.

[guamyank]

September 1st, 1873 - The Philadelphia Athletics have built themselves a 3 game lead and have pulled slightly ahead of the pack. However, the pack of 4 following teams is right there just waiting for them to falter. Philadelphia's batting has done well enough to support Dick McBride's 3.44 ERA. Philly has really played well at home (16-4) this season.

[guamyank]

October 1st, 1873 - The Athletics continue to hold to a 2 1/2 game lead as all teams except for the Canaries are starting to slip away. It looks to be an interesting race as we head down the home stretch!

[guamyank]

October 16th, 1873 - The Baltimore Canaries defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 5-4 by scoring 2 runs in the 9th inning. The 2 teams are now virtually tied for 1st place, with Philadelphia having a slightly better winning percentage. Tom York's big 2 run homer in the ninth was the difference in the game. Meanwhile, the Red Stockings have climbed to 2 games behind the two leaders.

Here's the box score of the critical game:
Baltimore Canaries vs. Philadelphia Athletics Box Score

Current Standings

[guamyank]

November 1st, 1873 - A final day win over the Washington Blue Legs was all it took for Philadelphia to win its first pennant, barely beating out the Baltimore Canaries by a slight winning percentage. Here are the final standings.



And here are the champion 1873 Philadelphia Athletics

[BaseballMan]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Thanks. I've done something similar with past versions. The 1880s generally took me about 2-3 hours per offseason, and, well, I've had more than one league stall out in 1884.

It use to take me a long time to setup everything but now it might take me 30 minutes. I've got it pretty streamlined now. I started a league last month from 1871 and i'm already at 1890 using actual rosters. Would be even farther along but ive been building a titanic model and playing other games.

I'm working on a guide. Maybe how i do it might help or give others ideas.
Like you can have the same expansion as the real thing with the exact teams and players coming as rookies to their real teams.
But 1884 and 1890 will still take a little longer to play. Once you hit 1893 its smooth sailing.

[guamyank]

January 1st, 1874 - The Elizabeth Resolutes and the Washington Blue Legs have joined to Baltimore Marylands on the list of teams that will not be returning next season. Two new teams, the Hartford Dark Blues, and the Chicago White Stockings (finally recovered from the Great Chicago Fire) will be joining the league, bringing the league total to eight.