January 10, 1946: Project Diana bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proving that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the space age.


ANNOUNCING: The opening of the Space Age Progressive League - 1946 to the present

Rules

Our first season of play will be 1946. We are essentially a single season progressive, and will move ahead in time one season at a time from 1946. If we play 5 seasons in a real world year, our league will go till the RL world year 2026 (when I should be ready to retire, so I will have the time to start something else !) and play 80 full seasons.

The league will have 24 teams in a standard 4/4/4 format with a wildcard. We will be able to do this because in addition to those players on the MLB teams in the AL and NL in the seasons we are playing up to 1962 (when baseball expanded by 4 teams from 16 to 20) and possibly all the way to 1969 when baseball went to 24 teams, we will use a secondary pool of players from other sources who will be drafted separately at the end of our normal preseason draft of AL and NL rookies and free agents. These secondary players will not advance in time, nor can they be used as keepers, but will be a permanent pool available each season to fill rosters, provide sufficient players, pitchers, PA and IP at each position. Therefore, we can begin with a 24- team, 6 division format that maximizes the opportunities for making the playoffs right from the start. This should also level off the playing field some between the best and worst teams as well, since no team will be scrounging for enough players just to take the field.

But only the players drafted from the AL and NL and who are playing in the current season we are in (1946 on) are available to be held as keepers. There are no limits on the number of keepers a team may have. There is no salary cap, no DH, no WW, no AAA, no clones. Trades are encouraged and even the secondary  players may be traded but neither team may hold them as keepers after the current season. They always return to the secondary draft pool.

We will be using 35 player rosters – owners may draft up to 35 players each season including secondary players. This enables teams to draft future regular players who may not be able to play full time for a few seasons and still keep them while fielding a full team. It allows for a sort of “farm system” strategy, and for long-term planning.

Under no circumstances may any computer generated AAA players be used. Only the drafted or traded for players from AL and NL teams from the current season and the secondary players listed may be used. Any use of other players results in forfeit of any game in which they are used. Nor may computer generated AAA players be traded, only the current season MLB and secondary players.

Draft picks may be traded up to two seasons from the next draft. Example: we are playing in 1946 and so the next upcoming draft will be 1947. Owners may trade up to their 1949 draft picks, but not any beyond that.

Owners that trade future draft picks but leave the league without a convincing explanation before those draft picks have come up risk being listed on the progressive league hall of shame forum thread.

 

Draft Rules

We will utilize a few innovations intended to reduce the obsession with draft order, to make tanking unlikely or ineffective, but at the same time to avoid some of the negative aspects of commonly used systems intended to prevent tanking such as random order (which makes rebuilding more difficult), or those systems based on wins vs. expected wins based on salary (which ignore the specifics of different kinds of players – you may have a big budget for position players and have pitchers with a lot of IP but who are lousy and so expected wins will not reflect baseball realities even WIS baseball).

Our draft system will work as follows:

Our initial, founding draft will consist of as many rounds as are needed for owners to draft any and all of the American or National League players from 1946 that they wish to AND stadiums (and therefore cities for their teams) may be drafted IN ANY ROUND but count as that owner’s pick for that round as though they were drafting a player. (see the list of available stadiums and cities and rules for team names below).

The NL players for 1946 will be drafted first, then when we finish that draft, the AL players for 1946 will be drafted. Stadiums may be drafted in any round as an owner’s pick for that round in either of the two league player drafts.

Draft order will be determined randomly but separately for each of the two league drafts. However, should any of the same owner or owners appear in the top 4 positions in the first round draft order, these will be moved to positions 20-24 beginning from the end, so as to spread out the better drafting positions to as many teams as possible, the rest of the order remaining as generated randomly.

After round 1 of each of the two league drafts, we will follow the classic serpentine order so that the team that had last pick in round 1 of either the AL or NL drafts will have first pick (A through X in round 1, X through A in round 2) and then these two orders will alternative for all successive rounds (A through X in round 3, X through A in round 4 etc.).

 

 ADDENDUM: After we have completed the draft of AL and NL players for 1946, we will complete our initial rosters for our first season with our first ever draft of our Secondary players (see pool of available players below). These players, from very specific sources, allow us to go up to 35 players per team, without seriously altering the overall balance in the league, and without seriously compromising its essential character as a single season progressive league (see below for further explanation and details). 

Drafts before 1950:

After our initial draft to start the league, but before we have completed four full seasons, draft order will be randomly assigned, using a table of random numbers, but separate draft orders, and random assigned position in the draft order will be produced for the AL and the NL MLB player drafts which will take place separately.

 

PLEASE NOTE: THE SEPARATE AL AND NL PLAYER DRAFTS REFERS TO THE TEAMS THAT THOSE PLAYERS PLAYED WITH IN THEIR ROOKIE OR FREE AGENT SEASONS WHICH WE ARE CURRENTLY DRAFTING FOR – NOT TO THE LEAGUE IN WHICH OWNERS AND TEAMS IN OUR WIS PROGRESSIVE LEAGUE ARE PLACED. OWNERS MAY AND INDEED USUALLY WILL NEED TO DRAFT PLAYERS FOR THEIR TEAMS FROM BOTH THE AL AND NL DRAFTS. THE PURPOSE OF SEPARATE DRAFTS IS TO “SPREAD THE WEALTH” OF GOOD DRAFT PICKS AROUND.

 

For the first four seasons and for our initial draft, we will select the NL players first and then draft the AL players, in recognition of the NL’s prior existence to the AL. Any player that played in both leagues in the current season we are drafting for will be considered eligible to be drafted only for the league in which he played more often as determined by PA numbers for a partial season or IP for the same. HOWEVER, if that player has not been drafted by any team in the draft that takes place first, he will remain available for the following league draft as well.

 

Teams may use any partial or full/combined season that a player drafted in AL or NL drafts playing in that current season (1946 on) has listed in the WIS database for that same season. But they must use only the specific seasons listed as available for Secondary players as identified by number of PA or IP (though they may use either team version of the same player from that same season with that identical PA or IP).

 

Drafts from 1950 on:

1)    From 1950 on, our draft system will use cumulative won-lost records over the preceding four seasons, and then go on a worst to first basis. Some owners may be willing to tank four straight seasons, and $50 of their own money, but we are betting this is not very likely.

 

2)    We will draft players from the AL and NL current upcoming season as rookies and free agents in two separate drafts – AL and NL players drafted separately.

 

3)    The team with the worst overall W-L record will draft first. That owner will announce which league – NL or AL – they want us to begin the draft for the upcoming season with. All owners and teams will then draft rookies and free agents from that league only until no team wishes to draft any remaining players. The order will be worst overall 4-year record to best.

 

4)    The other MLB league players available will then be drafted, but this time the order will begin with the team with the 5^th worst overall record, followed by the team with the 6^th worst overall 4-year record, and run through the 16^th worst, then begin again with the worst 1-4 teams, followed by the 4^th best overall W-L cumulative record (that is the 21^st worst) to the best in order.

 

5)    AFTER we have completed the AL and NL drafts, each team MUST have a minimum of 16 players on their roster before the upcoming Secondary draft. Should any team(s) not have 16, the Commissioner may examine their roster and place those players remaining unpicked from the AL and NL drafts that he or she thinks best meet those team’s needs, so that the team or teams in question may then participate in the drafting of the Secondary players to complete their roster up to 35 players.

 

6)    Teams are not obligated to participate in the Secondary player draft if they have already reached 25 players by this point. Nor are teams required to have more than 25 players on their roster if they do not wish to have any more players. But all teams are allowed to draft up to 35 players between the NL and AL and the Secondary draft pool players each season. NO AAA may be used at any time.

 

7)    The draft order for the Secondary player draft will be based strictly on the number of roster spots needed to fill to reach 35, from most picks still needed (even if the team has no intention of drafting up to 35) to least, regardless of won-lost record. Should there be a tie in the number of roster spots still open and picks still needed, the team to draft first of those tied teams will be the one with the BETTER cumulative won-lost record over the previous 4 seasons.

 

Tanking in order to gain draft order position is strongly discouraged. Should 3 or more owners come to believe that it is possible that a team is losing on purpose in order to gain a more favorable draft pick position, as expressed by sitemails to the commissioner, by message board expressions of concern or the same on the league forum, the commissioner will examine the situation and if s/he finds that there is good reason to think that the charges are true, any game lost by such a team will be counted as a win for purposes of draft position.

A LEAGUE IS A SMALL REPUBLIC, A COMMON GOOD BELONGING ULTIMATELY TO ALL ITS MEMBER OWNERS. OWNERS ARE EXPECTED TO DO THEIR BEST AT ALL TIMES IN THE INTEREST OF THEIR TEAMS, BUT ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO BE GOOD CITIZENS AND PART OF A COMMUNITY IN THIS LEAGUE.

 

Finally, any owner taking over a below .500 team (in the previous season) whose owner has left the league will be allowed an additional pick at the end of the first round of the first league draft (AL or NL) held to aid in the effort to rebuild a team that is on hard luck through no fault of that new owner’s.

Available Ballparks and cities, and team name rules for 1946 Progressive League teams

Any stadium not listed may be used as an alternative site if in existence BEFORE 1946. Other stadiums will become available in the years that they came into use historically. Likewise, teams may move to cities that are not currently listed in the seasons when those cities originally had major league baseball teams after MLB expanded (e.g. Seattle, Denver, Arizona, San Diego, Toronto etc.)

Teams may move from a current city and stadium to any of those listed below that are not currently in use at the time.

Team names must begin with the city, state or region (such as “New England”, “Southern California”, “Great Lakes”, “Ohio Valley” etc.) but owners may then choose any team name they wish so long as they avoid profanity or explicitly vulgar names. But otherwise anything goes – baseball culture is nothing if not kitsch !

 

National League Stadiums that may be used:

 

Park                                      City                                       

Baker Bowl                         Philadelphia      

Braves Field                       Boston                

Atlanta Fulton County   Atlanta                               

Candlestick Park              San Francisco                   

Colt Stadium                     Houston

Crosley Field                     Cincinnati

Ebbets Field                      Brooklyn

Forbes Field                      Pittsburgh

Polo Grounds                   New York

Sportsman’s Park III       St. Louis

Wrigley Field                     Chicago

County Stadium               Milwaukee

Memorial Coliseum        Los Angeles

Jarry Park                           Montreal

 

American League Stadiums that may be used:

 

Cleveland Stadium         Cleveland

Comiskey Park                 Chicago

Fenway Park                     Boston

Griffith Stadium               Washington

Memorial Stadium          Baltimore

Metropolitan Stadium  Minneapolis

Shibe Park                          Philadelphia

Briggs Stadium                 Detroit

Yankee Stadium I            New York

Municipal Stadium          Kansas City

Sportsman’s Park II        St. Louis

Arlington Stadium           Dallas

Oakland Coliseum           Oakland

Anaheim Stadium           Los Angeles

 

Secondary draft available players

Players available for the secondary draft

Here is the list of secondary players that will be available to fill rosters and allow us to being the league with 24 teams and therefore with 6 divisions, two wildcards and so 8 playoff teams right from the start in 1946.

These players are drawn from four sources: The American Association teams of the 19^th century; the Players League which lasted only two seasons; the Federal League of 1914-15; and those players who played ONLY during the World War II seasons 1943-45. To be eligible for this last group, players must not have played MLB at any time (at least must not have a presence in the WIS database) before 1942 or after 1945, and only their 1943-5 seasons will used here. +

The parameters I used to find these players were the following:

For position players, for the American Association and Federal League, players had to have a minimum of 200 PA and a maximum of 400 PA and a batting average of .299 or lower. No .300 hitters among secondary players. For the Players League, the maximum was raised to 550 PA but the other parameters were the same as for the AA and the FL. For the World War II players, I used a minimum of 200 PA and a maximum of 500 PA, and the same max of .299 batting average.  I relaxed these criteria and made exceptions only for two or three Shortstops here and there to insure enough of this key position to go around. There seem to be an unusually large number of catchers. Remember that many of these players have secondary positions as well, which can sometimes make them valuable to a team in our league.

For pitchers, for all leagues and time periods I used the same criteria: a minimum of 50 and maximum of 200 IP and a minimum WHIP of 1.35. No cookies.

The basic standard I kept in mind was this – Would this player or type of player alter significantly the competitive balance in the league or be likely to decide a divisional race ?

These players are intended to be used as bench players, platoons where you have a half time starting regular, as pinch- hitters, as starting players where there are not enough players in our league season with full time PA, as fourth or fifth, or where we are desperate third and fourth starting pitchers, long and middle relievers, and in at least a few cases, though less often as defensive subs. Some of them are good enough to be starting players and you may use them as you like, many are just awful. You may trade them, but no team may keep them beyond the currently played season. They ALL return to the secondary draft pool after each season to re-drafted anew.  We will use them until baseball itself expanded in real life so that we can already begin to reduce the use of them perhaps as early as 1962, reduce them significantly in 1969 and by the following expansions eliminate their use altogether.

These players will be available for all of our secondary drafts, following our ordinary, annual draft of new players and free agents from the American and National Leagues. These players will NOT advance in time, only these player seasons will be available to help fill rosters and positions needed.  Only the specific season listed – identified by the number of PA/162 or IP/162 -  may be used for the player involved.

 Players with more than one available season may be drafted only in one player-season iteration in any given draft – thus if Scott Stratton 1889 has been drafted already, Scott Stratton 1888 MAY NOT also be drafted for that same league season, but may be drafted in any other season if another Stratton year has not been previously drafted, in which case the other Stratton seasons are unavailable to also draft for that same season of play. Likewise if the OF version of Famer Vaughn has been drafted already, the Catcher versions of Farmer Vaughn are no longer available for drafting for that season, and vice versa.

Players who played with more than one team in the same season (the definition of a “partial” season) likewise may only be drafted once in any given draft as well –once drafted by one owner and team, that player is no longer available for that season of our league play.

YOU MAY USE ONLY THE PLAYER SEASON WITH THE PA/162 LISTED HERE FOR THAT PLAYER, AND NOT ANY OTHER OF THE SAME SEASON OR ANY OTHER SEASON.

No clones will exist in our league. There will be only one version of any player in the league at any one time in any of our seasons, though which version it is may vary from season to season.

THE PLAYERS LISTED HERE MAY BE NOT REMAIN ON THE TEAMS DRAFTING THEM AS KEEPERS, BUT RETURN TO THE POOL OF AVAILABLE SECONDARY PLAYERS BEFORE EVERY NEW DRAFT. ONLY THE AMERICAN LEAGUE AND NATIONAL LEAGUE MLB PLAYERS FROM THE SEASON WE ARE PLAYING CURRENTLY MAY BE LISTED AS KEEPERS FOR SUCCESSIVE SEASONS.

NO COMPUTER GENERATED AAA MAY BE USED OR TRADED, THOUGH THESE SECONDARY PLAYERS MAY BE TRADED, PROVIDED IT IS REMEMBERED THAT NEITHER TEAM CAN HOLD THEM AS KEEPERS FOR SUCCESSIVE SEASONS.

AL and NL available players – why we need another available pool:

 

Available Position players

Our League begins in the 1946 season. The available players from MLB for 1946 number:

1946 – American League  -160

1946 – National League -  159

MLB 1946 Total -  319

Further:

There is a low point at the start of the Korean War in 1950:

1950 – AL (138)  plus NL (134)  players  = 272 divided by 24 teams = 11.33 per team.

 

Available Pitchers

1946 American League – 102

1946 National League – 107

MLB Total 1946 – 209

Low point:

1950 – AL 107 pitchers, NL 90 – MLB total 197 – divided by 24 teams comes to – 8.20 pitchers per team

 

Secondary Draft Players

 

Position Players

All seasons

Players League min 200 up to max 550 PA/162 and max .299 BA  - 37

Federal League min 200 up to max 400 PA/162 and max .299 BA - 66

American Association min 200 up to max 400 PA/162 and max .299 BA – 199

AL/NL 1943-45 only min 200 up to max 500 PA/162 and max .299 BA - 55

 

Total available – 357 plus 272 MLB in 1950 = 629 position players divided by 24 = 26.2 player/yrs. per team

 

Pitchers

Players League min 50 IP up to max 200 IP with WHIP 1.35 and up – 13

Federal League min 50 up to max 200 IP and with WHIP 1.35 and up – 42

American Association min 50 up to max 200 IP and with WHIP 1.35 and up – 114

AL/NL 1943-45 only min 50 up to max 200 IP and with WHIP 1.35 and up - 57

Total available 189 plus 1950 MLB total of 197 pitchers =386 div. by 24 teams = 16.1 pitcher/yrs per team

 

 

 

Secondary Draft Pool

 

Player                                   PA/162

Catchers

Nick Allen 1915                      254

Kid Baldwin 1886                   382

Kid Baldwin 1888                   335

Kid Baldwin 1889                   270

Claude Berry 1915                 356

Walter Blair 1915                  333

Frank Bowes 1890                  393

Jack Boyle 1888                     328

Jack Boyle 1890                     495

Jim Brennan 1890                  312

Drummond Brown 1915        265

Willard Brown 1890               302

Doc Bushong 1887                 257

Doc Bushong 1888                 301

Harry Chapman 1914                        215

Harry Chapman 1915            229

Bob Clark 1886                      339

Bob Clark 1887                      224

Bob Clark 1889                      248

Spider Clark 1890                  348

Paul Cook 1887                      284

Paul Cook 1888                      233

Paul Cook 1889                      364

Paul Cook 1890                      288

Paul Cook 1891                      228

Amos Cross 1886                   391

Lave Cross 1887                     261

Lave Cross 1888                     221

Lave Cross 1889                     260

Lave Cross 1890                     318

Con Daily 1890                       226

Law Daniels 1887                   209

Dell Darling 1890                   300

Tom Dolan 1886                    228

Jim Donahue 1887                 296

Jim Donahue 1889                 323

Jim Donahue 1891                 396

Tom Dowse 1891                   256

Jack Doyle 1890                     376

Ted Easterly 1915                  358

Bob Finley 1944                     324

Chris Fulmer 1886                 396

Chris Fulmer 1887                 286

Chris Fulmer 1888                  224

Mike Garbark 1944                344

Mike Garbark 1945                215

Jocko Halligan 1890               285

Bill Hallman 1890                  488

Grover Hartley 1914              250

Jackie Hayes 1885                  210

Bill Holbert 1885                    315

Bill Holbert 1886                    213

Bill Holbert 1887                    320

Charlie Hoover 1889              342

Jim Keenan 1885                    203

Jim Keenan 1887                    224

Tom Kinslow 1890                  312

Grover Land 1914                  373

Grover Land 1915                  324

Deacon McGuire 1888           213

Dave McKeough 1890            318

Doggie Miller 1885                249

Jocko Milligan 1885               395

Jocko Milligan 1886               387

Jocko Milligan 1888               286

Jocko Milligan 1890               321

Dee Moore 1943                    233

John Munyan 1891                 273

Morgan Murphy 1890           327

Jack O’Brien 1885                  362

Jack O’Brien 1888                  257

Paddy O’Connor 1915            256

Tom O’Rourke 1890               222

Frank Owens 1914                 207

Frank Owens 1915                 379

Jimmy Peoples 1885              261

Jimmy Peoples 1887              349

Herman Pitz 1890                  388

Tom Quinn 1889                    257

Tom Quinn 1890                    288

Charlie Reipschlager 1886    291

Charlie Reipschlager 1887    301

Wilbert Robinson 1887          340

Wilbert Robinson 1888          321

Wilbert Robinson 1889          331

Harvey Russell 1914              200

Jack Ryan 1891                      319

Harry Sage 1890                    376

Ken Sears 1943                      212

Mike Simon 1914                   327

Pop Snyder 1885                    230

Pop Snyder 1886                    278

Pop Snyder 1887                    362

Pop Snyder 1888                    300

Pop Tate 1889                                    326

Pop Tate 1890                        386

George Townsend 1888         203

George Townsend 1890         339

George Townsend 1891         275

Jim Toy 1890                          282

Sam Trott 1887                      395

Al Unser 1945                        233

Farmer Vaughn 1890                         218

Farmer Vaughn 1891             308

Joe Visner 1889                      397

Chief Zimmer 1888                288

 

 

 

First Basemen

Joe Agler 1915                       368

Hugh Bradley 1915                260

Charlie Comiskey 1890          466

Paul Cook 1886                      324

Dell Darling 1890                   300

Buck Etchison 1944                367

Clyde Engle 1914                   295

Kerby Farrell 1943                 321

Kerby Farrell 1945                 464

Jim Field 1885                                    335

Jim Field 1890                        279

Guy Hecker 1888                   274

Max Macon 1944                   400

Joe Mack 1945                       323

Al McCauley 1891                  286

Bill McGhee 1944                  324

Mox McQuery 1891               342

Hap Myers 1914                    380

Tom O’Brien 1890                 391

Cy Rheam 1914                      251

Otto Schomberg 1886            364

Milt Scott 1885                      317

Vince Shupe 1945                  326

Skyrocket Smith 1888            290

Harry Swacina 1915               336

 

 

Second Basemen

Sam Barkley 1889                  226

Al Bridwell 1915                    221

Jack Burdock 1888                 395

Tony Daniels 1945                 263

Jim Delahanty 1914               269

Tom Downey 1915                 337

Jack Farrell 1915                    275

Joe Farrell 1886                     388

Tom Forster 1885                  347

Tom Forster 1886                  329

Gid Gardner 1885                  271

Frank Hankinson 1888           204

Bill Higgins 1890                    344

Otto Knabe 1915                    392

Charlie Letchas 1944             462

Jack Lewis 1915                     266

Tim Manning 1885                307

Bill McClellan 1888               370

John Meister 1886                 228

John Misse 1914                    388

Yank Robinson 1890               528

Taylor Shaffer 1890               358

Dan Shannon 1890                 527

Ben Steiner 1945                   362

Pete Sweeney 1890                335

Dasher Troy 1885                  279

Fred Vaughn 1945                  313

 

Third Basemen

Billy Alvord 1889                    232

Billy Alvord 1891                    388     

Ollie Beard 1891                    345

Bill Bradley 1915                   233

Ted Cieslak 1944                    259

Gray Clarke 1944                   205

Ellis Clary  1943                     407

Jumbo Davis 1886                  284

Jumbo Davis 1889                  314

Jumbo Davis 1890                  290

Harry Fritz 1914                     214

Harry Fritz 1915                     283

Jack Gleason 1886                 392

Gil Hatfield 1890                    381

John Irwin 1890                      436

Heinie Kappel 1889                229

Bill Keuhne 1891                    321     

Enos Kirkpatrick 1914                        209

Enos Kirkpatrick 1915                        214

Art Kores 1915                       252

Ty LaForest 1945                    232

Arlie Latham 1890                 505

Hal Luby 1944                        407

John McGlone 1888               272

Phil Reccius 1887                   376

Len Schulte 1945                    499

Glenn Stewart 1944               439

George Strief 1885                267

Pete Sweeney 1889                326

Johnny Tobin 1945                 328

Ned Williamson 1890            361

Tex Wisterzil 1915                 375

Shortstops

Vic Barnhart 1945                  227

Charlie Bastian 1890             380

Ed Busch 1945                        495

Bobby Bragan 1944               303

Al Cihocki 1945                      343

Henry Easterday 1890           395

Jack Farrell 1889                    209

Frank Fennelly 1890               341

Wally Flager 1945                  260

Ed Gagnier 1914                    379

Al Glossop 1943                     265

Pep Goodwin 1915                 276

John Grim 1890                      259

Al Halt 1914                           293

Ray Hamrick 1943                 178

Ray Hamrick 1944                 340

Ed Herr 1888                          224

Joe Hoover 1944                    520

Joe Hoover 1945                    265

Sadie Houck 1886                  332

Arthur Irwin 1890                  495

Jimmy Macullar 1886                        395

Chippy McGarr 1886             334

Tom McLaughlin 1886           333

Bitsy Mott 1945                     339

Marr Phillips 1890                 355

Joe Quest 1886                      204

Johnny Rawlings 1914            309

John Richmond 1885              206

Roxey Roach 1915                 395

Jimmy Smith 1915                 362

Glenn Stewart 1943               401

Bobby Wheelock 1890           260

Bill White 1888                      250

 

 

 

 

Outfielders

Ed Andrews 1890                   536

Babe Barna 1943                   273

Ed Beecher 1891                    398

Steve Behel 1886                   297

Everett Booe 1914                 333

Ernie Burch 1887                   266

Oyster Burns 1888                 256

Scrappy Carroll 1887             291

Bob Caruthers 1888               384

John Cassidy 1885                  336

Spider Clark 1890                  348

Monk Cline 1888                    387

Cad Coles 1914                      220

Glenn Crawford 1945            368

Ervin Curtis 1891                   280

Law Daniels 1888                   289

Frank Delahanty 1914            332

Jim Donahue 1886                 239

Delos Drake 1915                  397

Billy Earle 1889                      236

Steve Evans 1915                   279

Jim Fogarty 1890                   514

Pat Friel 1890                                    359

Tom Gettinger 1890              298

Ed Glenn 1886                        349

Walt Goldsby 1888                 210

Mike Goodfellow 1888          348

Pete Gray 1945                      272

Ed Greer 1885                                   329

Ed Greer 1886                                   377

Jocko Halligan 1890               285

Bill Hallman 1890                  488

Charlie Hanford 1915                        210

Ned Harris 1943                     433

Paul Hines 1891                     285

Buster Hoover 1886               217

Charlie Hostetler 1944          308

Dick Johnston 1890                415

Charley Jones 1887                323

Al Kaiser 1914                                    228

Joe Kappel 1890                     282

 LaRue Kirby 1914                  230

LaRue Kirby  1915                  215

Lon Knight 1885                     320

Fred Kommers 1914              353

Art Kruger 1915                     278

Fred Mann 1887                    305

Max Marshall 1944               266

Babe Martin 1945                  218

Buster Maynard 1943                        449

Jimmy McAleer 1890             473

Tex McDonald 1914               302

Tex McDonald 1915               300

Jack McGeachy 1891             243

Bill McGhee 1945                  297

Jim McTamany 1885             203

Jim McTamany 1891             311

John Meister 1887                 214

Charlie Metro 1944               136

Charlie Metro 1945               246

Candy Nelson 1887                382

Hugh Nicol 1886                    326

Butch Nieman 1943               398

Butch Nieman 1945               311                 

Pat O’Connell 1886                221

Jack O’Connor 1891               284

Paul O’Dea 1944                    209

Paul O’Dea 1945                    280

John Pickett 1889                   254

John Rainey 1890                   240

Hardy Richardson 1891         383

Chief Roseman 1887              309

Mike Slattery 1891                278

Mayo Smith 1945                   264

Joe Sommer 1888                  374

Charlie Sprague 1890                        268

Scott Stratton 1888                322

Scott Stratton 1889                287

Joe Strauss 1886                    365

Lou Sylvester 1886                 289

Adonis Terry 1885                  397

Red Treadway 1944               194

Red Treadway 1945               266

Larry Twitchell 1890              549

Larry Twitchell 1891              291

Farmer Vaughn 1888             233

Curt Welch 1890                    377

Guy Zinn 1914                                    260

Guy Zinn 1915                                    378

 

 

Pitchers          189                  IP/162

Dan Adams 1914                    146

Willie Adams 1914                 60

Orie Arntzen 1943                 173

Al Atkinson 1887                    152

Bill Bailey 1914                      136

Jersey Bakely 1891                196

Lady Baldwin 1890                 77

George Bausewine 1889        68

Buck Becannon 1885             128

Ed Begley 1885                      173

Charlie Bell 1891                   102

Harry Billiard 1914                134

Jim Bluejacket 1915               174

Summer Bowman 1891         80

Chick Brandom 1915             54

Ad Brennan 1915                   113

Jack Brewer 1944                  58

Jack Brewer 1945                  171

Joe Brown 1885                     57

Mordecai Brown 1914           61

Cy Buker 1945                                    92

Harry Burrell 1891                 52

Will Calhan 1891                   131

Ben Cardoni 1944                  80

Arnold Carter 1944                157

Arnold Carter 1945                50

Ed Cassian 1891                     108

Rex Cecil 1944                                   65

Ben Chapman 1944               84

Ben Chapman 1945               64

Ken Chase 1943                     166

Dick Conger 1943                  58

Snipe Conley 1915                 91

John Conner 1885                  64

Dick Conway 1886                 95

Billy Cowell 1888                   196

Jack Creel 1945                      92

Cookie Cuccurullo 1944         113

Cookie Cuccurullo 1945         60

Bert Cunningham 1890          134

Ed Cushman 1885                  126

Hugh Daily 1887                    173

Bill Daily 1891                                   153

Frank Dasso 1945                   101

Walt Dickson 1915                 103

John Doran 1891                    149

Jesse Duryea 1891                 120

Frank Dwyer 1890                  82

Jack Easton 1891                    161

Zeb Eaton 1945                      57

Howard Ehmke 1915             58

Ed Eitejorge 1891                  74

Bones Ely 1886                       53

Slim Emmerich 1945             107

Bob Emslie 1885                    197

Duke Esper 1890                    177

Bill Fagan 1888                      175

Alex Ferson 1890                   88

John Fitzgerald 1890              101

Russ Ford 1915                       136

Tom Ford 1890                       84

Buck Freeman 1891               53

Charlie Fuchs 1943                120

Glenn Gardner 1945              58

Steve Gerkin 1945                  111

Bob Gilks 1887                       134

Hank Gornicki 1943               155

Ed Hanyzewski 1943              138

Ed Hanyzewski 1944              62                   

Ben Harris 1914                     166

Clem Hausmann 1944           145

Clem Hausmann 1945           132

Randy Heflin 1945                 108

George Hemming 1890         177

Hardie Henderson 1887         136

Don Hendrickson 1945           79

Pete Henning 1914                149

Ernie Herbert 1914                54

Ernie Herbert 1915                51

Frank Hoffman 1888              128

John Hofford 1886                 96

Byron Houck 1914                  109

Nat Hudson 1889                   72

Mickey Hughes 1889             181

Mickey Hughes 1890             133

Bill Husted 1890                     160

Chief Johnson 1914                149

Johnny Johnson 1945             76

Rankin Johnson 1915             61

Vic Johnson 1945                   90

Matt Kilroy 1891                    74

Matt Kilroy 1887                    128

John Kirby 1887                      128

Ed Knouff 1885                       154

Ed Knouff 1887                       136

Ed Lafitte 1915                       180

Jack Leiper 1891                    54

Ezra Lincoln 1890                   170

Bob Logan 1945                     200

Lou Lucier 1943                     79

Kid Madden 1890                   75

Dan Marion 1914                   94

Ed Mars 1890                         155

Rube Marshall 1915              64

Bobby Mathews 1887            71

Bert Maxwell 1914                76

Al Mays 1889                         165

John McCarty 1889                142

Mike McDermott 1889          99

Willie McGill 1891                 106

Jumbo McGinnis 1886           103

Tom McGuire 1914                139

Larry McKeon 1886               184

Jim Mertz 1943                      124

Bob Miller 1891                     51

Harry Moran 1914                 166

Ed Morris 1890                      183

Mike Morrison 1890              196

Frank Mountain 1885            68

Bill Mountjoy 1885                79

Bob Murphy 1890                  187

Con Murphy 1890                  171

Joe Murphy 1886                   101

Joe Neale 1887                      50

Dave Odom 1943                   58

Ed O’Neil 1890                       84

Emmett O’Neill 1943             62

Emmett O’Neill 1944                         160

Emmett O’Neill 1945             150

Joe Orrell 1945                      51

George Pechiney 1887           107

Charlie Petty 1889                 52

Lee Pfund 1945                      66

Abner Powell 1886                 75

Jim Powers 1890                    50

George Proeser 1888             73

Ewald Pyle 1943                     77

Ewald Pyle 1944                     173

Toad Ramsey 1889                165

Xavier Rescigno 1943            140

Xavier Rescigno 1944            132

Xavier Rescigno 1945            83

George Rettger 1891             111

Bill Sayles 1943                      57

Al Schultz 1914                       184

Billy Serad 1888                     62

Ed Seward 1890                     189

Frank Seward 1944                83

John Shaffer 1887                  137

Gus Shallix 1885                     133

Sam Shaw 1888                      63

Lev Shreve 1887                     192

Elmer Smith 1886                  96

Frank Smith 1915                   160

Phenomenal Smith 1889        53

Rudy Sommers 1914              87

Charlie Sproull 1945              138

General Stafford 1890           121

Charlie Stecher 1890             84

Tom Sullivan 1886                 90

Tom Sullivan 1889                 104

Bill Sullivan 1890                   54

Billy Taylor 1885                    76

Billy Taylor 1886                    90

John Tener 1890                    149

Yank Terry 1943                     175

Yank Terry 1944                     140

Yank Terry 1945                     60

Cannonball Titcomb 1887      127

Steve Toole 1886                   123

Steve Toole 1888                   113

Steve Toole 1890                   88

Sandy Ullrich 1945                 86

Bill Upham 1915                    129

Mysterious Walker 1914       184

Tommy Warren 1944            73                   

Doc Watson 1915                   143

Left West 1945                       80

Jim Whitney 1890                  50

Bill Whitrock 1890                 127

Stump Wiedman 1887           119

Ed Willett 1914                      188

Ed Willett 1915                      56

Walter Wilson 1945               75                

Pinky Woods 1943                  108

Pinky Woods 1944                  180

Pinky Woods 1945                  113

 

 

           

 

 

That is my era. I will get you started. I am in.

Yeah ! I hadn't even finished posting the thread when erne6 you got us started - THANKS and Welcome !

I'll join as well.  You always support my leagues (whether they work out in the long run or not!) so I'm definitely gonna support yours.  

One thing that caught my attention, in the initial draft order:  

"Draft order will be determined randomly but separately for each of the two league drafts. However, should any of the same owner or owners appear in the top 4 positions in the first round draft order, these will be moved to positions 20-24 beginning from the end, so as to spread out the better drafting positions to as many teams as possible, the rest of the order remaining as generated randomly."

What if the order for the second phase was just serpentine to the first?  So if the NL starts 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.... then have the AL start 24,23,22,21,20,19...that guarantees that different owners are getting the top picks and takes away more of the "randomness".  Under the current format a team could still get a top 5 pick in both drafts, or be in the bottom 20 in both drafts.   Just my thoughts :)  

also - i missed the part where the 1st two owners to sign up get extra benefits as well...you should probably edit your rules to include it ;-)

I would like to join.

You've got an interesting idea here professor...count me in.

Chargingryno, I think the first few owners to sign up get lessons in italian from our esteemed commissioner.

Or we could hold the annual draft in Florence...

Posted by contrarian23 on 5/13/2013 12:22:00 PM (view original):
You've got an interesting idea here professor...count me in.

Chargingryno, I think the first few owners to sign up get lessons in italian from our esteemed commissioner.

Or we could hold the annual draft in Florence...

I'd be on board with holding the draft in Florence - though it might be necessary to get the Italian lessons first! 

Count me in, Professor!  

I've been wanting to get in on a league from this era starting from scratch, and even toyed with the idea of starting my own... but this sounds perfect.

If you hold the draft in Florence, Kentucky, then I'm right down the road...

Woo-hoo ! We are off to a great start - up to 6 already. And great owners every one. Welcome all. Florence, Kentucky - hmm, did the Shakers build a duomo we can hold it in ? 

Actually that's beautiful country will-prosper, trying to recall if I made it to that particular town. chargingryno, and contrarian23, hard to imagine a good prog league without you two. impaulster99, welcome, great to have you on board. 

I should have the available AL and NL 1946 players up by tomorrow. A little more grading of research papers that have been straggling in, and then I can give this project the attention it deserves and requires. 

Last time I looked by the way, Italy was ranked 7th in the world for baseball (based on the World Baseball Classic performance) and there is some good quality local baseball here - local team plays two games every Saturday. We are closer to Venice than Florence, but either can work. 

Here is a first Italian lesson: 

First, EVERY letter in Italian gets pronounced, unlike in English, French or Spanish. "ci" makes a "ch" sound as in Ciao. All vowels have only one possible pronunciation: A = ah, E = ey or ay, I = ee, O = oh, and U = oo. That pronunciation of the vowels never varies. 

Baseball - baseball
Stadium or Park - stadio
Inning - inning
hit - colpo
base - base (pronounced "BAH-ZAY")
pitcher - lanciatore (pronounced Lah-nch-ah-tor- ay)
1B - prima base 
2B - seconda base
3B - terza base
HR - fuori campo (campo is field, fuori means "out" or "outside" and is pronounced Foo-wor-ee)
out - fuori
strike - strike
ball - ball 
win - vincere (vin-chey-rey)
lose - perdere (pear-dey-ray)
season - stagione (stah-gee-oh-nay) OR campionata (cahm-pee-oh-nah-ta).

Owners committed to join and start the new league: 

1. italyprof
2. erne6
3.chargingryno
4.impaulster99
5.contrarian23
6.will_prosper
7.marcstuart
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

Can't pass up an opportunity to share the wit and wisdom of our esteemed Venetian Prof (by way of New Jersey if I'm not mistaken?)  Seriously IP, the first thing I look at in the NWP is the forum to see what you've got to say.  Knew you'd come up with an insightful draft and league.  What took you so long?   I'm number 7!

marcstuart, I am humbled by your comments, and those of the other very serious, esteemed people signing up for this league and commenting here. Wow. You are most welcome here sir as are all the rest of you. 

We are up to 7.