Base-Ball World: A Stupidly Ambitious Dynasty

[Trebro]

Hi all,

So I've decided what I like best in OOTP is just watching the years go by and the stats compile and careers made and ended.

Which means--dynasty time!

Now, I should have done something simple, but instead I took several hours and built up a new American baseball world, with plans to craft an alternative history of the game.

I'm not completely anal retentive, so certain things are just going to have to occur, like having owners that aren't very realistic for the 1870s (I replaced them with more historical names/a few real life folks, and found once I started playing, the team owners I'd created were cast aside.) or fictional players with surnames that are from all over the baseball-playing world, even though I set the foreign percentages to be extremely low (5%, I think)

Other work that I did:

--Created the original 9 National Association teams, filled them via draft with historical players. This is part of the Professional League and will eventually have a second Professional-level League.
--Created 2 Semi-Pro Leagues, the Eastern and Western. Each have two regional sub-leagues. I used teams that would later join the National Association as well as cities chosen from a list of the top 100 per 1870 US Census Data, thinking realistically about who might group together. Some of these teams will eventually move to the pro league.
--Took out all media funding.
--Charged .25 for pro games and .10 for semi-pro. Attendance average is 3K for pro and 1K for semi-pro.
--Made a sliding market size scale, going from 10 (500K pop and above) down to 1 (under 20K).
--Used historical settings for strategy.
--Set 15 man rosters.
--Got a few history-related owners to stick, so the league has original Boston and Chicago owners, as well as M. Burns running the Springfield franchise. Could not get most others to stick.
--Seasons are 28-32 games for the first year. This will change as # of teams does.

I am unsure how often I will move franchises. In the 1870s, the pro teams dropped in and out. This will depend on how well/poorly teams are doing at their level.

This is something I plan to play on my old OOTP13 until OOTP hits a sale (so probably Summer). I'm not sure how often I will sim (thinking maybe 14 days a night, so eventually about a year a week) and I am not sure how often to post yet. (Seems like it can be anything from monthly to yearly, depending on the person)

I'm going to try to extend out to around 1900 or so and see a) if i'm still interested b) if anyone else is still interested and c) if I am ready to move to OOTP15 at that point. I'd like to have a second set of pro leagues by then (Perhaps the Union Association and the Players Association), another set of semi-pro leagues (maybe PCL and a Texas/Mexico one), and a pro-level Cuban league by then. I'd also expect most of the really tiny market teams (Ft. Wayne, Erie, et all) to have moved by my hand--I turned auto-expand off, as I want control of this.)

I wasn't kidding when I said this was ambitious!

I figure if I can figure out what works here on 13, when I go to do this again on 15 (I love love love historical baseball--I'm not sure I'd ever create a modern-starting dynasty), I'll be able to make an even better version and see if folks like Ross Barnes have a different career path when I try again.

Comments welcome! A few starter pages coming shortly!

[Trebro]

Here are the Predictions for the 1871 Season. Let's see how close they come to being correct!

[Trebro]

Here's the mid-season update for the Pro League:

[IMG][/IMG]

It's a study in market contrasts, as the #1 and #2 teams are in the smallest and largest markets respectively. I wonder if Boston's manager will be able to finish out the year?

George Wright of Philly is the only major player injury. He was hitting over .300 when he went down.

Ross Barnes is clobbering the Association pitching:



He is on 11 of the 15 leadboards for offence, and given one of them is negative (Ks), it's really 11 of 14. He's also got a 15 game hitting streak, which is a record as of now.

Pitching is a bit more spread out. George Zettlein of the Mutuals leads with 7 wins and 15Ks, another Mutual (Andrew Stephens) leads in ERA and WHIP, but is splitting duty between SP and relieving. Even still, a .48 ERA and .66 WHIP are pretty amazing. But it's Bill Stearns of the White Stockings with a 2.7 WAR, so it's pretty open-ended.

Tom J. Carey hit for the cycle on April 9, 1871. He went 4/5 overall.

Can Ft. Wayne beat the odds and finish first? And can they keep it going given the market size issues? Only time will tell.

[Trebro]

The Eastern Association Standings


One trade in the league, the first in this world:

The Blue Coats have reached a deal with Providence, sending 34-year-old minor league second baseman Will Martin and 16-year-old minor league starting pitcher Mike Rogers to the Pilgrims in exchange for 30-year-old minor league left fielder Joe Parsons.

Parsons was hitting over .300 when traded, he's gone cold since, batting only in the low .200s.

Christian Boone has an 18 game hitting streak.
Dustin Greene hit for the cycle April 1st.

Western Association Standings


Dave Donaldson and Tom Mayfield of Erie both knocked out 6 hits in the same game against Indianapolis. Erie won the game 39-7. Yikes!

Not much else to report in the West.

Overall, it looks like Cincy and Hartford are good candidates to move to the Pro level. Certain other bigger cities (Baltimore and Pgh) may have to wait. No way they'd get invited to dance, given their current records.

On to the rest of the season!

[dynaboyj]

Originally Posted by panelpatter

So I've decided what I like best in OOTP is just watching the years go by and the stats compile and careers made and ended.

What a coincidence--that's what I like best, too! Not big into historical dynasties, especially historically-accurate dynasties, but I might be reading this.

[joefromchicago]

I like your set-up. I'll be interested to see how this develops.

[Trebro]

Originally Posted by dynaboyj

What a coincidence--that's what I like best, too! Not big into historical dynasties, especially historically-accurate dynasties, but I might be reading this.

Yeah, I didn't want to do something that was 100% historically accurate. That's boring! I'll just go read a book. But creating something that starts roughly at the time of professional baseball and then paving my own way, now that's fun!

Hope you enjoy!

[Trebro]

It was a really close race, but in the end, New York's two star pitchers (Zettlein and Stephens) were just too much for Fort Wayne:



I really dig that thanks to having 9 teams, we got a little bit of a lopsided schedule. Also, look at that 10-0 streak Cleveland ended the season on! Can they make it come together in 1872?

As expected, the firings have started. Philly canned their GM, Jack Childress as soon as the season ended. I'm honestly shocked Boston stayed put.

Scott Hastings really drove Cleveland at the end, and managed to get past Barnes and take the batting title by .001, hitting .395. He also snagged the slugging, OPS, and doubles crowns as well. Barnes still was on the leader board for 10 of the 15 options.



Levi Meyerle of Washington hit 4 HR to lead the league. In a 162 game season, that projects out to 23. Other leaders of note: Cal McVey of Fort Wayne had 9 triples and Andy Leonard had 15 SB.

On the pitching side, Arthur Stephens had a well-rounded year, playing in 17 games and starting 10 of them. He finishes as the leader in ERA, WHIP, and Saves. He pitched the entire game in all of his 10 starts, giving a quality start 9 of those ten times. What a complete package!



Other pitching stats of note: Zettlein led in wins with 14 out of 20 starts and strikeouts with 20. Steve Wood of Cleveland had the league's only shutout.

Notable achievements:

--John Hatfield had a 20 game hit streak for Fort Wayne, a new record.
--Mike Cooper of Boston commits 101 errors at SS, a position it desperately needs to upgrade (and I will do for them if they don't by start of 1872 season). Cooper is a 2 at SS, and it shows, but there was no one else on the team higher than a 3, making it a moot point. Given he hit .235, this is not a case of the bat beating the glove. The runner-up in errors was Pat Turner, Boston's 3B, with 51.
--Rockford's Frank Abercrombie went 6 for 6 on April 25th against Troy, in a game they won 17-13. He only had 15 other at bats all year in back-up duty, netting only 2 other hits for the year.

Awards:

Best Batter: Scott Hastings, Cleveland Forest Citys
Best Pitcher: George Zettlein, New York Mutuals
Best Greenhorn (rookie): George Zettlein, New Yok Mutuals
Best Manager: Joel Madden, New York Mutuals

The Steady Hands Team:
Pitcher: Asa Brainard, Washington Olympians
Catcher: Deacon White, Cleveland Forest Citys
First Baseman: Joe Start, Rockford Forest Citys
Second Baseman: Ross Barnes, Chicago White Stockings
Third Baseman: Bob V Ferguson, Troy Haymakers
Shortstop: Mike Payne, Washington Olympians
Left Fielder: Tatsuya Murayama, Cleveland Forest Citys
Center Fielder: Dave Eggler, New York Mutuals
Right Fielder: Joe Simmons, New York Mutuals

Now it's time to move into the off-season. None of the initial 9 teams has opted to fold, though Boston's situation is precarious at this point. Discussions will be held on whether or not to add a 10th team for the 1872 Season. Original candidates Brooklyn, Washington, and Baltimore did not distinguish themselves. Hartford is a candidate, however, given it won over 75% of its games in 1871.

[StLee]

I have a similar mega dynasty that has been in the works for three years that I will probably finally get off the ground for ootp 15. My set up is a little more in modern times, but I have 128 professional international teams (different sense of professional than the current MLB setup) and a large scattering of independent and/or minor league teams.

[Trebro]

Cool, that should be fun to follow when it happens! Part of why I am doing this now is to work out the kinks before I move to 15 in the summer (presumably), as I expect to have 15 for 2 years, just like I did 13. (Love the game, but don't see the need to pay $30-40 every year.)

[Trebro]

Let's take a quick look at the semi-pro leagues for 1871, starting with the Eastern Association:



Atlanta, owned by the savvy Confederate-turned-Reconstructionist James Longstreet. wins by one game in the Southern Circuit. Meanwhile, Hartford's .786 win percentage blew everyone away in the Eastern group. They look like a good candidate to move up in the world, should the National Association vote for expansion in the off-season.

Top Confederates:
Best Batter: Dustin Greene, Norfolk (.425, 7 doubles, 5 triples, 1 home run, 25 RBIs)
Best Pitcher: Pat Koch, Norfolk (10-3 record in 14 starts, 7K, 8BB, 2.55 ERA).
Best Greenhorn: RP Dan Hunt, Atlanta
Manager of the Year: Eric Randall, Atlanta

Top Easterns:
Best Batter: Leland Johnson, Jersey City (.325, 7 Doubles, 14Triples, 25 RBIs.
Best Pitcher: Richard Jackson, Hartford (11-1 record and a 1.99 ERA, 4K, 7BB).
Best Greenhorn: SP Richard Jackson, Hartford
Manager of the Year: Randy McCullough, Hartford

Notable Events:
--Gary Jenkins of Norfolk went 6 for 6 on April 20th, helping them beat Petersburg, 13-2.
--Christian Boone had a 20 game hitting streak for Charlston.

Offensive Leaders:
Ave: .435 (Jason Higgins, Atlanta). 1 other player hit over .400
OPS: 1.089 (Dustin Greene, Norfolk). Only player to hit that mark.
Triples: 14 (Leland Johnson, Hartford) 1 other player had 10 or more.
HR: 3 (William Elmore, Brooklyn)
RBI: 35 (Mark Ware, Hartford) 2 other players with 30+.
SB: 18 (George Thomas, Washington) 3 other players with 15+.

Pitching Leaders:
Wins: 11 (Richard Jackson, Hartford) 1 other with 10+.
IP: 133 (Joseph Warren, Jersey City) 2 others with 125+.
K: 12 (Joseph Warren, Jersey City) 1 other with 10+.
ERA: 1.79 (Duane Willis, Brooklyn) 3 others under 2.00.
WHIP: 1.03 (Richard Jackson, Hartford) 1 other under 1.10.
S: Tons of people with 1 save each.

Fire in the Hole!
The Semi-Pro teams in the EA had no issues with canning people:
--The Richmond Rivers fired GM Ben Nixon after placing dead last.
--New Orleans fired GM Chris McGee.
--Cambridge fired GM Mike Watts.

No team was bad enough to consider calling it quits. If Hartford moves up, the Eastern Association may need to find another team, so they are talking to owners in Newark, Albany, and perhaps even a semi-pro team in Philly.

[Trebro]

And now for the Western Semi-Pro League:



Cincinnati, a rumored candidate in National Association circles, wins the first pennant of the Midwestern, narrowly beating out Erie and Columbus by one game. Meanwhile, Des Moines walked away in the Northwestern, winning by a safe 5 games and sweeping post-season awards. Grand Rapids did very poorly, and rumors are circulating of its falling apart.

Top Midwesterners:
Best Batter: Maartin Pal, Columbus (.391, 8 doubles, 10 triples, 33 RBIs)
Best Pitcher: Lee Good, Erie (10 wins, 127 IP, 8K, 7BB, 3.05 ERA)
Best Greenhorn: SP Lee Good, Erie
Manager of the Year: Pedro Madrid, Cincinnati

Top Northwesterners:
Best Batter: Kevin MacChoiter, Des Moines (.393, 10 doubles, 5 triples, 1 home run, 23 RBIs, and 41 runs.)
Best Pitcher: Dave Parker, Des Moines (8 wins, 96.2 IP, 2.79 ERA)
Best Greenhorn: CF Kevin MacChoiter, Des Moines
Manager of the Year: Luis Corona, Des Moines

Notable Events:
--Nico Cocos of Pittburgh went 6 for 6 on April 24th against Springfield.
--Greg Nance of St. Louis had a 16 game hitting streak.

Offensive Leaders:
AVE: .426 (Johnny Olson, Kansas City) 1 other over .400.
OPS: 1.011 (Maartin Pels, Columbus) No others hit 1.000 or more.
Triples: 10 (Maartin Pels, Columbus) No others with 10 or more.
HR: 3 (Junior McMurray, Omaha)
RBI: 38 (Carl Burns, Milwaukee) Multiple others with 30+
SB: 19 (Kevin MacChoiter, Des Moines) 4 others with 15+

Pitching Leaders:
W: 10 (Lee Good, Erie) No others with 10 wins.
ERA: 1.94 (Brant Harris, Cincinnati) 2 others under 2.00.
WHIP: .91 (Joe Allen, St. Louis) No others under 1.00
K: 11 (Donovan Mullen, Kansas City) 2 others 10+.
IP: 128.2 (Luigi Pittoni, Buffalo) 4 others 120+
S: 3 (Masami Kitchida, Des Moines and Pepe Magana, Cincinnati)

New Sheriffs in Town:
--Pittsburg, after a horrible year, is bought by Jeffrey Thompson.
--Milwaukee changes hands to Tom Steward.

Swinging the Axe:
--Indianapolis fires GM Bill King.
--Grad Rapids tosses GM Vincent Davis after their rancid year.
--Grand Rapids also fires Manager Steven Kruit.

Grand Rapids will have a chance to fix itself up, but needs to get better fast. Between that and the rumors about Cincinnati, the Western Association is looking at a few cities, such as a semi-pro team in Chicago, Louisville, Rochester, and St. Paul.

[Trebro]

So on the one hand, I want this Dynasty to about what happens when I stay mostly hands off. On the other hand, I want it to progress and make changes. On yet a third hand, I kinda want to simulate how it might work with others making choices.

Enter Ken White's Coin Flipping Page!

I am going to use this when I want to make a decision. If it's a league-wide decision, I will flip multiple coins for yes or no. If it's a "Does this team want to fold or move?" kind of decision, I'll flip one coin.

It's random, sure, but it means I can come up with options--but I'm not wholly in control of them. Makes it kinda like having League Evolution on, but without it doing stupid things like deciding to disband half the National Association after one year, as it did when I was testing the set-up.

Sure, I can impose my will. If I really want Fort Wayne to always be a Major League City, I can do that. Part of what makes OOTP so great. But while I want to be Commish, I don't want to be God. This makes it a bit harder to put everything my way, but I think that will be more fun in the long run.

The first decisions to be made have been hinted at if you read carefully. They'll be in the off-season reports, which might come tomorrow, might not. I've been spending a lot of time on this league, I do have a life.

Hope you all are enjoying it! Any speculation on if and where the NA expands?

[Trebro]

The Association Sees Red

Meeting together in New York City, the owners of the National Association got together and voted to expand to a 10th member, as originally planned in 1871 but did not materialize. They voted 6-3 to do so, but did not go for the obvious choice of the Hartford Dark Blues. While proposed by nearby Boston for easy travel, the Association nixed it by a narrow 5-4 vote. Instead, also voting 6-3, the group accepted the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who also won in their first year but not by as wide a margin.

Cincinnati agreed, with owner Pedro Cota happy to raise his ticket prices accordingly.

With the move to having 10 teams, the Association will play a 45 game schedule.

Trades of Note

Jimmy Wood gets a chance with a new team: After putting the finishing touches on a blockbuster deal, the Boston Red Stockings and Fort Wayne Kekiongas toasted their success earlier today. The deal involves 26-year-old first baseman Fergy Malonelayer and 16-year-old shortstop Ron Wall, who joined the Red Stockings in exchange for 27-year-old second baseman Jimmy Wood.

The first inter-league trade occurs: The Baltimore Canaries and New York Mutuals have put the finishing touches on a deal that was weeks in the making. Baltimore will part with 34-year-old minor league second baseman Jed Case and 19-year-old minor league catcher Pete Jones, while the Mutuals have dealt 37-year-old third baseman Ivan Vogelsang.

Sox Get Shorty

The Red Socks sign new player Jim Holdsworth, with a SS rating of 11, avoiding Commissioner interference.

Other Signings

--Jim O'Rourke finds himself a New York Mutual. Can he have as successful career as he did in real life?
--Count Gedney signs with Cleveland Forest City for his first year.

[Trebro]

Eastern Association
The Confederate States vote 5-3 to add a team, but deadlock on Memphis at 4-4. They vote Savannah, GA 6-2, but the city says no. They then vote 5-3 to shelve the idea for another day.

The Eastern Association also voted 5-3 to expand, but has similar voting problems. By 6-2, Newark is rejected. Then by 5-3, Portland, Maine is denied. Lastly, Wilmington stalls 4-4, and in the end, a 5-3 vote shelves this for another year.

The Eastern Association schedule will not change for 1872.

Western Association
The remaining members of the Midwestern Association, quite annoyed at Cincinnati's departure, held a grumbling meeting in Buffalo, NY. They argued for a bit about revenue, but got nowhere. In the end, replacing Cincinnati will need to wait a year, as they vote 7-1 AGAINST replacing the team. They will play a 36 game schedule.

Meanwhile, the Northwestern Association was extremely busy. They vote 4-2 go expand to 7, then 4-2 again to offer a team to St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Paul eagerly accepts. They then vote 4-3 to expand out to 8 teams.

That's where things get messy.

Chicago is proposed, but loses 4-3.
St. Joseph's, Montana is defeated 6-1.
Finally, Peoria, Illinois is accepted 5-2, but the city says no!

A last 4-3 vote shelves further expansion for now.

The Northwestern circuit will also play a 36 game schedule. There is talk of perhaps having a playoff between the two groups in the near future, if travel can be arranged and proper profit made.

There are no notable player moves among the trades made in either of the semi-pro leagues.

[Trebro]

Let's look at the standings at just under the halfway mark:



As you can see, the Red Stockings, who were absolutely horrible in 1871, made quite a few changes and are now just a game out of first place. Similarly, Philadelphia, which was less splashy in its moves, has moved to the top.

Meanwhile, despite having the National Association's best player in Ross Barnes, the White Stockings are the dregs of the group.

Cincinnati is holding its own despite mostly using the same line-up it had in the semi-pro leagues.

Based on their record and the trades made by Troy, they look to be giving up on the year. Troy's long-term survival as a pro team is looking bad, though they remain profitable.

Ross Barnes, the highest paid player in all of pro baseball, is earning his keep:



Jim Britt is a huge part of why Boston has improved. Look at that WHIP and ERA:



Dave Eggler of the New York Mutuals now has the longest hitting streak in history, with a 30-game mark that stretched across two seasons. He's a pretty good player overall:



Trades and Transactions:
--New York trades with New York, as the Mutuals reach out to the semi-pros again, grabbing a solid-hitting 1B, Diego Roman. He's hitting .300 so far for the Mutuals, who gave up a middling outfielder and catcher for Roman.
--Steve King moves from Troy to Washington, with the Olympians giving up a 15 year old catcher with some potential.
--Cementing their rebuild/slide, Troy also ships off Bob Ferguson, who was hitting over .400 when the deal was made for a pair of "prospects" who don't look very good to my eye. I think Troy got robbed on this one.

With 6 teams out of 10 still within striking distance, this is going to be an interesting 1872. National Association officials are very pleased with their progress as a so-called "major" league and do not expect to make any changes for 1873, save perhaps to examine just how many "foreigners" are playing in the league, as xenophobic tendencies run high in the big cities.

[Trebro]

Eastern Association



Holy Crap, look at those Nails. They're hammering the competition!



Even one of the pitchers is hitting .262!

No one on that team is a superstar (given that .400 is a top BA), but overall, they're very complete. It will be interesting to see how much of that team is able to stay together for 1873 or if the pros will come raiding somehow. Nashville is pretty glad for the Reserve clause, but finance are another matter.

In other CSA news, Atlanta's Jason Higgins is up to a 25 game hitting streak, blazing the other teams with a .424 average. His overall team, however, has not seen last year's success.

Also of note, Mike Norton, who was named the #1 prospect in the Eastern Association, is batting a mediocre .299 for the Chews. Sometimes scouting can only go so far, but he is only 19 and has a lot of years ahead of him.

Citizens of New Orleans are very concerned that their team cannot seem to get better. Will there be another round of firings?

Meanwhile in the East, Hartford, while still good, is not the freaks of nature they were in 1871. Baltimore, on the other hand, is trying to make the National Association regret overlooking them last year. If they can keep it up, perhaps they'll make the leap in 1874, especially if Troy continues to fall apart.

Things look bad for Janistha Gilab, who at 38 is going to need to recover from a major knee sprain. A shame, because his average of .380 made him one of the better player for "NY3" as the Bronx team has been tagged.

Vince Smith now has the Base-Ball Word record for a hitting streak, as the Canaries' catcher went 31 games before getting stopped. He's "only" hitting .330 for the year (gotta love early baseball stats).

Western Association:


Erie is showing that last year wasn't a fluke, led by Lee Good:



The Western Association's top prospect, Victor Coat of the Alleghenies, is their lone bright spot. He's batting over .400, but has more CS(18) than SB(12) so still has a lot to learn. At just 18, the young man has a bright future.

Though things aren't a lot better for the Glory, they do have one player they can count on, Rodger Bailey. He's even better this year than he was in his rookie season. Can the Glory keep him, and will Bailey regret the "gentlemen's agreements" that keep him from going to the highest bidder?



Bailey's talented teammate, Pepe Cardinas, wasn't so lucky. He's 39 and suffered a intercostal injury that's not responding to treatment. Despite his age, he was hitting close to .400 at the time, following up a year where he hit .349, so he'll be another cut short, it looks like.

Des Moines isn't giving up to Milwaukee without a fight, in a battle expected to rage all year.

As the talk turns to the trade deadline, it will be interesting to see what deals if any occur between now and the end of the season.

[Trebro]

So a question for those following along: What interests you? Are there things I'm missing that belong in a dynasty report? Are there enough player screen caps? (Those take the most work, as I have to cap, then crop, then upload, then post about.)

Should I be giving more about league leaders? More team profiles? Are the semi-pro leagues of any interest at all, or should they be background noise with only a few notes and do more on the pro league?

As we move further, there will be more leagues to cover, as my ambitious world expands. I'd like to get a good feel on what makes sense to share and what doesn't, because as you all know, these things take time to create and I want to be interesting to others!

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by panelpatter

So a question for those following along: What interests you? Are there things I'm missing that belong in a dynasty report? Are there enough player screen caps? (Those take the most work, as I have to cap, then crop, then upload, then post about.)

Speaking for myself, I'm particularly interested in how the independent minors interact with the majors. But you should present your dynasty in a way that works for you.

[Trebro]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

Speaking for myself, I'm particularly interested in how the independent minors interact with the majors. But you should present your dynasty in a way that works for you.

So far, there has not been a lot of movement, other than my vote to move the Redstockings into the National Association. There was only one trade between the semi-pro and pro leagues in 1871, which I referenced.

This year, however, featured more trading between the two. It looks like the best players in the semi-pro teams are going to get sent off to the pro teams for prospects, which, actually, is what I was hoping would happen. I am wondering what to do if a good player never moves over. Is getting, say, 200 wins in the semi-pros (aka proto-minors) worth anything vs 200 in the pros?

Anyway, thanks for the comment. I'm definitely doing what interests me, and I am hoping to provide a bit more content now that I don't have to screen shot everything. I'm more stats oriented than photo-oriented anyway.