Omaha Reynolds' Fictional Baseball Project

[OmahaReynolds]

1871: The Beginning

Baseball’s transformation from regional amateur pastime to a major league professional sport was thanks to a Florida-born newspaper magnate named Harry DeMille. Harry moved to Manhattan as a young man and began his ascent in the newspaper world, investing in various business ventures along the way. He witnessed firsthand the rise in the popularity of the sport and saw the beginnings of professionalism with star players being payed “under the table.”

In the fall of 1870, DeMille pitched his ideas for a professional league to a group of businessmen, and after plenty of back-and-forth a framework had been agreed upon. The new league would be called the Metropolitan Baseball Association.

The MBA was confined to a rather narrow geographic area. The Brooklyn Eagles, Jersey City Hudsons, New York Empire Citys (DeMille’s team) and Newark Stars would all play within a few miles of each other. Up the Hudson were the twin cities-esque teams the Albany Dukes and Troy Trojans. And over in Connecticut were the Hartford Colonials and New Haven Mill Rivers.

Two key rules were put into place to ensure the league’s stability. First, the league had a fixed number of 8 franchises. If someone wanted to own a team, they would have to buy a franchise from a current owner. Likewise if someone wanted out, they would have to sell their team or forfeit the team for the league to put to auction. There were already plans to move franchises to larger markets further away if the inaugural season proved successful.

The second rule concerned competitive balance. Harry DeMille was aware that there were a handful of “super teams” that dominated the independent circuit, obviously by luring star players with lucrative jobs or under the table deals. To make sure a team couldn’t buy their way to dominance in the MBA, they would have an inaugural draft before the 1871 season kicked off. And each June, they would have a draft to select the best up-and-coming talent in the country.

In January of 1871, the league set off to make history with the first Inaugural Draft in the history of professional sports. Where the league went from here, nobody could predict. This was uncharted territory.

[OmahaReynolds]

Jersey City Hires Elijah Craig as General Manager

Here’s where my story starts. I had my pick of jobs with this brand-new league. All 8 teams were willing to take a chance on me. In the end, I went with the best combination of a patient owner who would let me do my job and a scout I could count on. It came down to two teams: Brooklyn and Jersey City. Personally, Brooklyn seems more of an interesting place. But Jersey City had a slight edge on them with a great team trainer and a more patient owner. So Jersey City it was. I’m going to be leading the Hudsons to many championships. I hope. Getting fired is always a possibility.

The first order of business is the Inaugural Draft. Now, a little note about team-building in 1871. Not that I’m an expert. But a few things just don’t matter in these early years. First is home runs. They don’t really exist yet. Power hitters are guys who hit doubles and triples. On the other side of the coin, pitching seems to be almost meaningless. The “3 True Outcomes” almost never happen in 1871. It’s a pitch-to-contact game. And there are also A LOT of errors.

My general strategy for building this team is going to be contact, gap power, speed and defense. I’ll probably grab the best overall hitter first, and then start looking for up-the-middle defensive players with good contact ratings. I’m going to try to avoid any players with good power ratings unless they also have high contact ratings since I noticed the AI will bench contact hitters in favor of power hitters that will never actually hit home runs. Low contact, high power guys are to be avoided like the plague.

I’ll probably pick up a pitcher in round 3 or 4.

Before I get into the draft, here’s the settings I’m using:

Incorporate Stats in Scouting Reports: Yes (something I’m trying for the first time)
Scouting Accuracy: Low
Current Ratings: 20 to 80
Potential Ratings: 20 to 80
Other Ratings: 20 to 80
Overall Rating: Values 20 to 80 (Increments of 5)
Potential Rating: Values 20 to 80 (Increments of 5)
Show Ratings > Max: NO, cut off

NO Owner Goals
NO Injury Ratings

Trading Difficulty: Hard
Trading Preference: Neutral

Active Roster Size: 15 Players
Amateur Draft Number of Rounds: 3
Reserve Clause Era Financial Rules

[OmahaReynolds]

1871 Inaugural Draft, Rounds 1-5

Round 1, 4th overall
2B Thomas Kling, 29

Kling is a little old for a first round pick, but he is hands down the best hitter available. He’s got extremely good bat skills. I could see this guy winning a couple batting titles. He’s also got some power to back it up, and with his blazing speed could also lead the league in triples and stolen bases. Defensively, he’s a little above average at second. His biggest selling point is that he’s perfected the art of the double play, which should hopefully help keep us out of trouble. He’s a switch hitter and he does have some platoon splits, but I don’t think there’s going to be too many lefty pitchers in the league this season. The age is still a concern, but I think I’ll get a good 5-6 years of MVP-level production here.

Round 2, 13th overall
LF William Day, 25

Day’s another high-contact, high-gap power hitter who should fit into the 3 or 4 spot in the lineup. He doesn’t have the speed of Kling, but his instincts are good enough that he’s still an outstanding base stealer. As a lefty, he has similar platoon splits as Kling but I’m not concerned about my guys being average against lefties. He can play all three outfield spots, but he’s going to better in the corners. It’s good to have those options, though. And at 25, I’m hoping for a good 10 years of production out of him.

Round 3, 20th overall
SP Charles Edmondson, 22

What do you do when your two best hitters have a tough time hitting lefties? You draft the best left handed SP in the draft. I believe that pitching does not matter at all in 1871. Take a look at Baseball Reference’s individual pitching stats for 1871. You’ll see 9 guys who are pretty much the same. Charles is only rated as a 45/80 pitcher overall, but I’ll bet the farm he ends up doing just fine. I think the top pitchers are going to be determined by the skills of their fielders. Edmondson has an 83-85 MPH fastball to go with a curve, slider and changeup. He’s slightly below average in stamina, which might backfire on me, but I plan on getting a second SP to back him up.

Round 4, 29th overall
CF Jim Farr, 32

Jim Farr is not a center fielder. He’s a first baseman. His outfield abilities are just a little below average, but his bat is something to behold. He’s sort of the last of the elite contact hitters in this draft and I took a chance despite him being over 30. He’ll probably end up being the leadoff hitter (him or Kling). With his speed he should rack up triples and stolen bases throughout the season.

Round 5, 36th overall
2B Joseph Cuff, 25

I decided to shift gears this round and get someone to help the defensive aspect of the club. Cuff can play second and short, and with Kling only knowing how to play the keystone position Cuff is going to be our shortstop. His bat isn’t great. He’s an average contact hitter and he’ll probably only hit singles. He does have some base stealing skills which will help stretch his value a bit. I might have been able to wait another round or two on him, but I really don’t want to get stuck with a bunch of bad fielders up the middle. So I took a chance here. He’s also young and with good personality ratings so maybe I’ll luck out and get a talent boost.

[OmahaReynolds]

1871 Inaugural Draft, Rounds 6-10

Round 6, 45th overall
CF Joe Ryder, 26

Here we go. After locking up a shortstop, I figured I might as well get centerfield taken care of before I try to hail mary one more good bat. Ryder’s a lefty hitter, so he’s slight above average at getting the bat on the ball against righties. He’s got plus gap power and the speed to steal some bases. And he’s a great defensive centerfielder who rarely ever makes an error. Happy with this pick.

Round 7, 52nd overall
C Larry Fogg, 23

Fogg’s a plus defensive catcher with great behind the plate skills and an average arm. At the plate, he’s an average contact hitter with a little extra-base pop in his bat. At this point in the draft I figured I needed to pull the trigger on a catcher, and getting one who was a defensive asset who could at least hold his own at the plate was a big plus for me.

Round 8, 61st overall
LF Steve Martin, 31

Martin has a bat that’s good enough to make up for some not-so-great defense as a corner outfielder. He’s got plus contact and gap power, and he’s the first player I drafted who projects to be a home run hitter. He’ll probably hit like 4 tops but we’ll see what happens. He has no speed whatsoever.

Round 9, 68th overall
2B Edgar Haney, 30

Edgar Haney is sort of a super utility guy who is going to get the start at the hot corner this season. He’s got average bat skills. But he can play second, third, short and left. Down the road if I manage to upgrade at third, he’ll make a great off the bench guy.

Round 10, 77th overall
SP John Goodfellow, 32

Here’s a guy who’s underrated because of a low movement score. I’m not too worried about him giving up many home runs. He throws a cutter/slider/changeup combo, with his cutter sitting at 84-86. He’s also got good stamina and can control the running game. He’ll be the stopper, backup pitcher.

[OmahaReynolds]

1871 Inaugural Draft Rounds 11-15

Round 11, 84th overall
2B Fred Humphries, 25

I almost picked this guy several times over the previous few rounds. He can play every single position except catcher (he doesn’t have a rating at first but I’m sure he could pull it off). He’s a slap hitter with above-average contact ability and can steal bases with ease.

Round 12, 93rd overall
3B John Kling, 19

Is this Thomas Kling’s brother? Now seemed like a good time to get a head start on our “farm system (reserve roster).” Kling projects to have plus contact ability with top of the charts power and a cannon for an arm in the infield. He’s very intelligent and I just have a feeling he’s going to develop into our 3B of the future.

Round 13, 100th overall
2B Bill Kiernan, 2B

The 5th second baseman drafted by Jersey City. This pick was solely based off the fact he looks like the best hitter remaining in the draft. He can only really play second, where he’s actually pretty good. But it’s good to have a pinch hitter available in the late innings and if someone goes down I can probably shift some guys around and get him into the lineup.

Round 14, 109th overall
3B Charlie Kelly, 19

Another 3B prospect. Kelly projects a lot like John Kling, except with slightly lower contact and a little more pop. He has the same arm build to play the hot corner. He also has great personality scores, with high intelligence, adaptability, work ethic and loyalty. Perfect for doing Charlie work.

Round 15, 116th overall
C Joe Millett, 26

Here’s our backup catcher. Or starting catcher if our manager decides it. He’s above average defensively, with solid behind the plate skills and a good arm. He has very good plate discipline and some contact ability. Surprisingly, he has some baserunning game.

[OmahaReynolds]

1871 Inaugural Draft Rounds 16-17

Round 16, 125th overall
1B Mark Flazenor, 26

Lefty hitter who should get some pinch hits for us. He has great contact skills against right handed pitching and can hit for extra bases. Not great defensively.

Round 17, 132nd overall
LF Pete Nicol, 37

You gotta have an old man on the bench. Pete’s actually got a pretty good bat to go with some below average corner outfield skills. He’s good at hitting lefties, so if there’s a chance for a big hit in the late innings with a lefty on the mound he’ll be the perfect weapon.

[OmahaReynolds]

Preseason depth and prospect signings

1/7 - 3B William France, 24 ($150)
France can only hit right handed pitching, and he’s slightly below average defensively at both corner infield spots. Hopefully we don’t have to use him. He’ll be on the reserve roster.

1/7 - CF John Smiley, 20 (MiL)
Another prospect pickup. Projects to be an average hitter with some speed and good defensive skills. Probably won’t be on any top prospect lists.

1/ 8 - C Ed Buckheart, 27 (MiL)
A glove-only 3rd catcher for some depth.

1/14 - LF Varney Lalor, 30 (MiL)
Some corner outfield depth for the reserve roster. Can’t hit lefties.

1/17 - C Ira Turner, 19 ($100)
Ira’s just intriguing enough to be a prospect I wanted to go after. He should be a good defensive asset and it looks like he could pull it together at the plate with his personality ratings.

1/23 - CF John Bowers, 18; 2B George Corcoran, 18; LF Ed Virtue, 18 (MiL)
A trio of young prospects who may or may not pan out. I wanted to get my reserve roster up to 10 players, and there wasn’t much veteran talent so I figured why not roll the dice on some youngsters. They all have good personality ratings so I’m hoping one of the three get some talent boosts. Bowers is probably the most talented out of the 3.

[OmahaReynolds]

1871 Jersey City Hudsons Opening Day Preview

A look at our team going into Opening Day:

Starting Lineup
L Joe Ryder, CF
R Fred Humphries, LF
S Thomas Kling, 2B
L William Day, RF
R Jim Farr, 1B
L Joe Millett, C
R Edgar Haney, 3B
R Joseph Cuff, SS
-

Bench
R Larry Fogg, C
L Mark Flazenor, 1B
R Bill Kiernan, 2B
R Steve Martin, LF
R Pete Nicol, LF

Pitching Staff
SP L Charles Edmondson
ST L John Goodfellow

I’m pretty happy with this team. The predictions have us finishing 3rd, just 2 games back from the favorites the New York Empire Citys. We have some depth on the reserve roster but we have no 3rd pitcher. So if Edmondson or Goodfellow have any sort of serious injury I’m going to have to make a trade.

On the farm system side of things, our system is ranked first in the league. There are only 47 prospects in the entire league, and we have a good chunk of them:

SP Charles Edmondson, 7th
RF William Day, 10th
3B Charlie Kelly, 16th
3B John Kling, 17th
LF Fred Humphries, 22nd
SS Joseph Cuff, 30th
C Larry Fogg, 32nd
3B William France, 35th
C Ira Turner, 36th
CF John Smiley, 39th
2B George Corcoran, 43rd
CF John Bowers, 45th
LF Ed Virtue, 47th

Now it’s time to start the season. In 1871, the MBA will have a 28-game season, one game per week. We start the season at home against the Troy Trojans.

[OmahaReynolds]

April 1st, 1871 - Troy Trojans (0-0) @ Jersey City Hudsons (0-0)

Troy Trojans
L Ernest Wills, CF
R Redleg Morgan, SS
R Ed Flowers, 3B
R Frank Farrell, RF
L Bill Kerwin, 2B
R Will Holmes, 1B
R August Daupt, LF
R Ernie Enslow, C
R Hal Kaufman, P

Jersey City Hudsons
L Joe Ryder, CF
R Fred Humphries, LF
S Thomas Kling, 2B
L William Day, RF
R Jim Farr, 1B
L Joe Millett, C
R Edgar Haney, 3B
R Joseph Cuff, SS
L Charles Edmondson, P

What a way to start the season. We struck at the Trojans early, putting up 4 runs in the 1st and following it up with a run in the 2nd and SIX RUNS in the 3rd. Going into the top of the 7th we were up 15-0, thanks in no small part to 10 Troy errors and probably a handful of wild pitches. But things started getting shaky. Troy had some big late innings, but we were able to hold down the win. William Day picked up the PotG nod with a 2-5 night, including 2 runs, 4 RBI and a walk. Humphries, Farr, Millett and Haney each had a pair of RBI. Edmondson pitched a complete game despite allowing 14 hits and 9 runs (3 earned). He struck out 3 batters in the game.

Troy 9, Jersey City 16
W: Charles Edmondson (1-0, 3.00)
L: Hal Kaufman (0-1, 15.43)

Player of the Game

RF William Day, Jersey City
2-5, BB, 2 R, 4 RBI

Around the MBA
Hartford 12 (0-1), New Haven 13 (1-0)
New York 18 (1-0), Newark 11 (0-1)
Albany 4 (1-0), Brooklyn 2 (0-1)

[OmahaReynolds]

April 8th, 1871 - New Haven Mill Rivers (1-0) @ Jersey City Hudsons (1-0)

New Haven
R Ed DeMontreville, 2B (.333)
R Eugene Falch, CF (.200)
L Lip Eichler, LF (.200)
R Leslie Vance, C (.400)
R Red Creegan, 3B (.400)
L Jack Gilbert, RF (.200)
R Dave Eason, 1B (.250)
L Jim Bradley, SS (.600)
R Bill Honeyman, P (0-0, 7.71)

Jersey City
L Joe Ryder, CF (.000)
R Fred Humphries, LF (.400)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.400)
L William Day, RF (.400)
R Larry Fogg, C (.000)
R Jimm Farr, 1B (.250)
R Edgar Haney, 3B (.333)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.500)
L Charles Edmondson, P (1-0, 3.00)

This was a back-and-forth battle with the lead changing several times. My theory that low movement pitchers won’t have issues in this league might be wrong. Edmondson and Goodfellow each let one get out of the park. In the end, we managed to battle just hard enough to win this one in the 8th inning. Fred Humphries was the big hero, going 5-6 with a double, 2 RBI and 2 SB. Ryder, Kling and Farr each had two hits. The player of the game was New Haven’s Eugene Falch, who went 3-5 with a 2-run HR, a double, 3 runs and 4 RBI.

New Haven 11, Jersey City 12
W: John Goodfellow (1-0, 6.00)
L: Jim Fulmer (1-1, 11.25)

Player of the Game

CF Eugene Falch, New Haven
3-5, 2B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI

Around the MBA
Brooklyn 11 (0-2), Troy 13 (1-1)
Newark 6 (1-1), Albany 4 (1-1)
Hartford 10 (1-1), New York 6 (1-1)

[OmahaReynolds]

April 15th, 1871 - Jersey City Hudsons (2-0) @ Newark Stars (1-1)

Jersey City
R Fred Humphries, LF (.636)
R Jim Farr, 1B (.375)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.400)
L William Day, RF (.300)
R Edgar Haney, 3B (.273)
L Joe Ryder, CF (.273)
L Joe Millett, C (.143)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.333)
L Charles Edmondson (1-0, 4.80)

Newark
R Davy Genegal, CF (.500)
L George Doyle, SS (.300)
R Maurice Parrado, 2B (.400)
L Jack Dorgan, 1B (.400)
R Jack Coleman, C (.222)
R Jim Zay, LF (.125)
R Thomas Shelton, RF (.400)
R Fred Hoster, 3B (.000)
R Frank Curry, P (1-0, 4.50)

We managed to strike first with William Day’s RBI-triple in the first inning. But Newark’s big 3-run outburst in the 2nd set us back. After some back-and-forth one-run innings from both teams, we were able to put together a little rally in the top of the 8th, with both Jim Farr and Thomas Kling knocking in runs. We were on top 7-5. Things came crashing down in the bottom half of the inning, with Newark putting up 3 runs to seal the deal and slip by us 8-7. Jim Farr had the best day at the plate, going 3-5 with a triple, 2 runs and an RBI. Kling, Haney, Ryder and Millett each had a pair of hits. Worse than the loss was Thomas Kling getting injured running the bases in the 8th. Charles Edmondson had another shaky start, giving up 5 earned runs over 8 innings with 8 hits, 3 walks and 2 strikeouts.

Jersey City 7, Newark 8
W: Frank Curry (2-0, 4.05)
L: Charles Edmondson (1-1, 5.09)
SV: Frank Dwyer (1)

Player of the Game

2B Thomas Kling, Jersey City
2-3, 2B, 3B, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB

NOTE: Thomas Kling is day-to-day for a week with knee tendinitis.

Around the MBA
Hartford 6 (2-1), Albany 2 (1-2)
Troy 8 (1-2), New York 11 (2-1)
New Haven 3 (1-2), Brooklyn 5 (1-2)

[OmahaReynolds]

April 22nd, 1871 - Brooklyn Eagles (1-2) @ Jersey City Hudsons (2-1)

Brooklyn
R Ernie McGlone, RF (.533)
L Steve Keller, 1B (.250)
R John Young, 3B (.500)
R Poindexter Servis, LF (.308)
R Johnny Gray, 2B (.333)
R John Forred, CF (.286)
R Ed Lackey, SS (.083)
R Fred Jordan, C (.100)
R Harry Hennegas, P (1-1, 2.74)

Jersey City
R Fred Humphries, LF (.467)
L Joe Ryder, CF (.313)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.462)
L William Day, RF (.267)
R Jim Farr, 1B (.462)
L Joe Millett, C (.273)
R Edgar Haney, 3B (.313)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.231)
L Charles Edmondson, P (1-1, 5.09)

Things got off to a bad start pretty quickly in this one. Edmondson gave up 4 hits, a walk and 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning. We bounced back a little in the bottom of the frame, with Fred Humphries getting a leadoff single and advancing to second on an error. Joe Ryder reached on error, scoring Humphries. Thomas Kling followed that up with a single to make it 3-2 going into the 2nd.

Edmondson managed to cruise through the 2nd inning but ran into trouble again in the 3rd, giving up a another 2 runs. Jim Farr hit a run-scoring triple in the bottom half to get us a little closer, making the score 5-3 Brooklyn going into the 4th.

The 4th is where it all went to hell. Edmondson gave up another 3 runs. We turned to John Goodfellow to try and salvage the game. Forget everything I said about low-movement pitchers. Goodfellow gave up 2 home runs over the next two innings along with 6 runs total. Going into the bottom of the 7th we were down 20-5. 3 position players - Fogg, Kiernan and Flazenor - got turns on the mound. This game was brutal to say the least.

The lone bright spot was Thomas Kling, who went 4-5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs and 3 RBI.

Brooklyn 20, Jersey City 8
W: Harry Hennegas (2-1, 3.38)
L: Chares Edmondson (1-2, 7.18)

Player of the Game

C Fred Jordan, Brooklyn
3-4, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2-R HR

Around the MBA
New Haven 8 (1-3), Troy 9 (2-2)
Newark 8 (3-1), Hartford 3 (2-2)
Albany 4 (1-3), New York 9 (3-1)

[OmahaReynolds]

April 24th, 1871

After that beatdown Brooklyn gave us, I started thinking about how to improve this pitching situation. Our manager William Heath already decided to shake things up in his own bizarre way, moving Charles Edmondson to the stopper role and putting John Goodfellow down as the starting pitcher. To me, that was a big red flag that I needed to trade for a pitcher immediately.

Turns out New Haven had a couple of hurlers on their reserve roster that could both easily start for us. They expressed interest in 3B William France, our 8th best prospect and depth corner infield reserve roster player. My only concern in trading France was losing that depth, as I don’t have another infield bat on the reserve roster that can play in the majors.

After some back-and-forth, I arrived at the following deal:

To Jersey City
28-year-old pitcher Pat Murphy, 30-year-old pitcher James Wood, and 34-year-old third baseman Red Creegan.

To New Haven
24-year-old third baseman William France (#35 OSA) and 19-year-old catcher Ira Turner (#36 OSA).

What did this trade do? It depleted our farm system a little, but we should still have the top system in the league. It gave us TWO pitching options, allowing us to send Goodfellow to the reserve roster. And it gave us Red Creegan who, despite his age, is considered one of the top hitters in the league (he’s slashing .389/.450/.611 with 1 HR and 6 RBI). His defense isn’t great (45/80 at 3B) but his bat should help us out.

I sent RP John Goodfellow and and 1B Mark Flazenor to the reserve roster. Red Creegan has been put into the starting lineup at 3B and SP Pat Murphy has been given the starting pitching assignment. Edmondson is going to spend some time in the bullpen.

Our next game is against the first place New York Empire Citys.

[OmahaReynolds]

April 29th, 1871 - New York Empire Citys (3-1) @ Jersey City Hudsons (2-2)

New York
L Kid Hard, CF (.389)
L Frank Callahan, RF (.333)
R William Crowley, 3B (.300)
L George Tierney, LF (.263)
R Lou Johnstone, 1B (.200)
R Joseph King, C (.200)
R Jack Ramp, SS (.444)
R John Burns, 2B (.316)
R Mike Williams, P (3-0, 1.93)

Jersey City
R Fred Humphries, LF (.450)
R Jim Farr, 1B (.438)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.556)
R Red Creegan, 3B (.389)
L William Day, RF (.222)
L Joe Ryder, CF (.286)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.176)
L Joe Millett, C (.250)
R Pat Murphy, P (0-0, 0.00)

The new-look Hudsons got to work early in this one. New York managed to put a clean run on the board off new pitcher Pat Murphy in the first, but we answered back with 6 runs in the bottom of the frame. We put up three more in the 2nd and another in the 3rd to make it a 10-1 game going into the 4th. New York put up another run in the 5th, and we came back again and plated 6 more in the inning. The Empire Citys put up a couple small rallies late in the game but we managed to shut them down, 17-7.

Jim Farr, William Day and Joe Millett each put up 4 hits, and Thomas Kling hit two triples before leaving the game with an injury (again). Pat Murphy was great in his Hudsons debut, pitching a complete game and only being charged with 1 earned run despite allowing 7.

New York 7, Jersey City 17
W: Pat Murphy (1-0, 1.00)
L: Mike Williams (3-1, 3.08)

Player of the Game

1B Jim Farr, Jersey City
4-6, 2 2B, 3B, 4 R

Around the MBA
Newark 3 (3-2), New Haven 5 (2-3)
Troy 6 (2-3), Albany 11 (2-3)
Hartford 1 (2-3), Brooklyn 7 (3-2)

[OmahaReynolds]

April 1871 Recap

The first month of 1871 is in the books. Our offense has been firing on all cylinders and we’re top in the league at almost every category. Pitching is where this team is having trouble. I still believe that pitchers don’t really matter in this time period, everyone is pretty much pitching to contact, but I’ll admit my theory about movement seems to be wrong. Running out a 30/80 movement pitcher is a bad idea no matter what year it is. Now that we’ve got a few solid arms to work with, I think we can improve our run prevention game. I think this team has a legit shot at winning the league.

One thing that has me worries is Thomas Kling. He's already has two day-to-day injuries. It's only been 5 games. Too early to call him injury prone, but I'm starting to get a little nervous about his ability to stay on the field. He's without a doubt our best player.

A look at the league standings and my team's stats:

[OmahaReynolds]

May 6th 1871 - Jersey City Hudsons (3-2) @ Hartford Colonials (2-3)

Jersey City
R Fred Humphries, LF (.440)
R Jim Farr, 1B (.500)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.600)
R Red Creegan, 3B (.333)
L William Day, RF (.348)
L Joe Ryder, CF (.240)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.143)
L Joe Millett, C (.381)
R Pat Murphy, P (1-0, 1.00)

Hartford
R John Bagley, 2B (.130)
R David Treadwell, RF (.417)
R Cornelius Bell, CF (.261)
L Steve Wolf, LF (.333)
R Frank Flynn, 1B (.227)
R David Mohler, 3B (.409)
R Kid Eakin, SS (.350)
R Charles Williams, C (.294)
R Frank Donaghy, P (2-2, 3.03)

The bats and gloves showed up for this one. We managed to connect for 14 hits while ONLY committing 3 fielding errors. Joseph Cuff had a 3-5 day at the plate. Jim Farr, Red Creegan, William Day and Joe Millett each had 2 hits. Thomas Kling hit his 4th triple of the season (he’s slugging an incredible .923). On mound, Pat Murphy got the job done again, holding the opposition to 9 hits and 3 runs in a complete game.

Jersey City 11, Harford 3
W: Pat Murphy (2-0, 2.00)
L: Frank Donaghy (2-3, 3.66)

Player of the Game

C Joe Millett, Jersey City
2-5, 3 R, 3 RBI,

Around the MBA
Brooklyn 0 (3-3), New York 4 (4-2)
New Haven 19 (2-4), Albany 28 (3-3)
Newark 10 (4-2), Troy 4 (2-4)

[OmahaReynolds]

May 13th, 1871 - Albany Dukes (3-3) @ Jersey City Hudsons (4-2)

Albany
R John Keenan, CF (.321)
R George McHale, SS (.333)
R John O’Brien, 3B (.400)
R Henry Douglass, LF (.207)
R Fred Powell, 1B (.091)
R John McKenna, C (.440)
L Thomas Brady, RF (.308)
R Rasty Abbott, 2B (.333)
R Maurice Dillon, P (1-1, 2.89)

Jersey City
R Fred Humphries, LF (.414)
R Jim Farr, 1B (.481)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.500)
L William Day, RF (.357)
R Red Creegan, 3B (.360)
L Joe Ryder, CF (.207)
L Joe Millett, C (.385)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.231)
R Pat Murphy, P (2-0, 2.00)

Pat Murphy took the mound looking for his third straight win as a Hudson. John Keenan led off for Albany and reach base on an error. John O’Brien singled and Henry Douglass followed with another single, scoring Keenan. Fred Powell singled, scoring O’Brien and Douglass. With two outs, Thomas Brady doubled in Powell before Rasty Abbott finally grounded out to get us out of a nasty top of the first. Albany 4, Jersey City 0.

Jim Farr singled with one out in the bottom of the first, scoring after a Thomas Kling triple (Kling is the GOAT). We couldn’t do anymore damage in the first, but we struck again in the bottom of the third. Fred Humphries led off the inning and took one for the team, getting hit by a pitch. Jim Farr reached on error, and Kling hit a double to score Humphries and send Farr to third. William Day made the first out of the inning, and Red Creegan followed it up with a two-run single. Joe Millett walked but we didn’t score anymore. We did manage to tie it up, 4-4.

In the bottom of the 4th, Humprhies hit a one-out double, stole third AND home (after a throwing error by the catcher). Thomas Kling hit his SECOND TRIPLE of the game but no more damage was done. In the top of the 6th Albany decided to tie it up again, 5-5. We answered back with two more runs in the bottom of the frame.

We took our 7-5 lead into the 8th inning. Albany got their chance to add some runs. Fred Powell led off the inning by reaching first on a Red Creegan error. He went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a John McKenna single. Thomas Brady and Rasty Abbot singled, plating McKenna. Brady managed to steal 3rd and score on a fielder’s choice. We ended the inning by throwing out Keenan trying to steal 2nd, but the damage was done. Albany made it 8-7 in the 8th.

Bottom of the 9th. Jim Farr grounds out. Thomas Kling singles (his 4th hit of the day). William Day grounds into a fielder’s choice. Red Creegan singles! Pete Nicol gets intentionally walked after a passed ball. And with 2 outs, Bill Kiernen hits a long flyball to center, WHICH GETS DROPPED. William Day scores! Red Creegan scores! It’s a walk-off, 2-run outfield error. You can’t make this stuff up.

Albany 8, Jersey City 9
W: Charles Edmondson (2-2, 6.91)
L: Arthur Irwin (1-1, 0.93)

Player of the Game

2B Thomas Kling, Jersey City
4-5, 2B, 2 3B, R, 2 RBI,

Around the MBA
New York 4 (4-3), New Haven 7 (3-4)
Troy 10 (2-5), Hartford 11 (3-4)
Newark 9 (4-3), Brooklyn 14 (4-3)

[OmahaReynolds]

May 20th, 1871 - Jersey City Hudsons (5-2) @ Troy Trojans (2-5)

Jersey City
R Fred Humphries, LF (.406)
R Jim Farr, 1B (.438)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.548)
L William Day, RF (.303)
R Red Creegan, 3B (.367)
L Joe Ryder, CF (.182)
L Joe Millett, C (.379)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.207)
R Pat Murphy, P (2-0, 3.12)

Troy
L Ernest Wills, CF (.333)
R Redleg Morgan, SS (.176)
R Ed Flowers, 3B (.429)
R Frank Farrell, RF (.303)
L Bill Kerwin, 2B (.385)
R Will Holmes, 1B (.267)
R August Daupt, LF (.345)
R Ernie Enslow, C (.276)
R Hal Kaufman, P (2-4, 4.62)

This one got off to a slow start with neither team doing any damage in the first two innings. We got on the board first in the top of the 3rd, with RBI singles from Fred Humphries and Thomas Kling. Jim Farr drove in another run for us in the top of the 5th, giving us a comfortable 3-0 lead. But Troy was able to chip away at us, putting up one run in each of the 5th-8th innings. Top of the 9th, we had our last chance to turn things around. With 2 outs and pitcher’s spot coming up, we turned to Steve Martin to pinch-hit, but he couldn’t make it happen.

Jersey City 3, Troy 4
W: Hal Kaufman (3-4, 3.72)
L: Pat Murphy (2-1, 2.91)

Player of the Game

SP Hal Kaufman, Troy
9.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, W

Around the MBA
Brooklyn 9, Albany 8
New Haven 28, Hartford 13
Newark 6, New York 10

[OmahaReynolds]

May 27th, 1871 - Jersey City Hudsons (5-3) @ New Haven Mill Rivers (4-4)

Jersey City
R Fred Humprhies, LF (.389)
R Jim Farr, 1B (.417)
S Thomas Kling, 2B (.543)
L William Day, RF (.270)
R Red Creegan, 3B (.324)
L Joe Ryder, CF (.189)
L Joe Millett, C (.364)
R Joseph Cuff, SS (.182)
R Pat Murphy, P (2-1, 2.91))

New Haven
L William France, 3B (.136)
L Buck Wright, 1B (.111)
R Ed DeMontreville, 2B (.265)
L Lip Eichler, LF (.486)
R Leslie Vance, C (.474)
R Eugene Falch, CF (.350)
L Jack Gilbert, RF (.231)
R Ed Welch, SS (.389)
S Bill Honeyman, P (2-1, 5.07)

Pummelled. That’s what the game says happened to us. I have to say, I don’t remember much because I was checked out before the end of the 5th. Pat Murphy’s pitching linescore should say it all: 3.2 innings, 13 hits, 11 RUNS! 5 earned. We got to enjoy the pitching of position players Larry Fogg and Bill Kiernan, who gave up a pair of runs each but still maintain perfect ERA because of our 8 fielding errors. Perhaps the only fun moment for us was watching Fred Humprhies steal 3 bases to bring his season total up to 10.

Jersey City 4, New Haven 15
W: Bill Honeyman (3-1, 4.45)
L: Pat Murphy (2-2, 3.82)

Player of the Game

SS EdWelch, New Haven
4-4, R, 3 RBI

Around the MBA
Albany 4, Newark 5
New York 11, Hartford 13
Troy 3, Brooklyn 4

[OmahaReynolds]

1871 May Recap

We played .500 ball this month, with a -3 run differential. Errors have been killing us, but that's a thing you just gotta deal with in these early years. It can make for some pretty tedious game-watching. I'm still bullish on this team, I think we have a solid lineup for the most part - Joe Ryder and Joseph Cuff have been disappointing with the bat but they both suffer from a BABIP below .200.

Next month will feature the first ever Amateur Draft, so I'll get a chance to add even more value to an already league-best farm system.