A baseball league on here? You have my attention

Team Introductions and 1922 Pre-Season Overview

Team lineups/rotations will be spoiled as to not take up too much space. All player ratings based on 2-8 grading scale and all lineups are based on RHP matchups. 


  
Finally, a baseball team that will properly represent Baltimore/Maryland’s flag. The newest team in the league, having been formed only two years ago in 1920, in the two seasons they spent in the Atlantic Association of Baseball they went 201-88, winning both championships in those years. Led mostly by their dominant pitching rotation led by Matt Hays, Adam Christian, Brad Karl, and August Showers. Offense on the other end, has a lot more holes. While it may have been serviceable in the Atlantic Association, many question how effective it will be going against the offensive monsters in New York. For jerseys, Baltimore sports the only chequered uniform in the league, with black stripes on their home uniforms with a yellow Balto across the chest. Roads are just grey with Baltimore in block text. Black caps for both.

Bishops 1922 Lineup/Rotation
1. R Johnny Woodward 2B, 27, 4.5
2. R Keith Berner 1B, 31, 4
3. L Bill Rudisill LF, 31, 5
4. R Jason Bratt SS, 26, 5
5. L Mike Hill RF, 33, 3.5
6. R Phil Lee 3B, 30, 5
7. S Josh Burton CF, 28, 4.5
8. R Jon Benoit C, 35, 4.5
9. pitcher

1. RHP Matt Hays, 31, 6
2. RHP Adam Christian, 29, 6
3. LHP Brad Karl, 29, 6
4. RHP August Showers, 30, 5.5
5. RHP Zach O'Connor, 32, 2

Revolutionaries 1922 Lineup/Rotation
1. R Courtney Mitchell 1B, 30, 4.5
2. R Tony Faicon RF, 29, 6
3. L Ryan Rizo SS, 35, 7
4. L Alpha Johnson LF, 32, 6.5
5. R Dan Ellison 3B, 3, 5.5.
6. R Justin Flowers 2B, 28, 6
7. R Andy Locasto CF, 26, 5
8. R Ken Graham C, 25, 4.5
9. pitcher

1. RHP Trevor Jacob 36, 5.5
2. RHP Connor Cortez 33, 4.5
3. RHP Brian Graft 25, 3.5
4. LHP Henry Day 31, 3
5. RHP Mike Bedard 28, 4

  
Does this count as alliteration? Colt Hart, co-owner of Hart Firearms Corp. has dipped his hand into multiple sports, his biggest being his prized baseball club, which he even named after himself. Overall one of the most solid of the eight original clubs. Led by rising star SS Tony Blanchard and RHP Ralph White. Their most notable feature is their relative youth. With most of their stars all under 30, they may not be as competitive right away like Boston or New York, but will definitely compete throughout the rest of the decade. Both home and road have a semi-script block text HART over the players hearts and hats in the same dark red.

 Harts 1922 Lineup/Rotation
1. R Troy Silverman CF, 32, 5
2. R Brian Samsel 2B, 27, 6
3. L Tony Blanchard SS, 24, 8
4. L Mark Badillo RF, 25, 4.5
5. R Denny Chadwick LF, 26, 4.5
6. L Jeremy Welch 1B, 27, 4
7. R Cody Jarvis 3B, 25, 4
8. R Nate Siewert C, 33, 4.5
9. pitcher

1. RHP Ralph White 27, 5.5
2. RHP Tony Steele 28, 5
3. RHP John Strangis 29, 4.5
4. LHP Joe Hall 22, 2
5. RHP Matt Connelly 29, 2 

  
Built to guard the Queens. On paper, they are probably the favorites to win it all. With debatably the second or third offense, they also post the second or third best rotation. The team is headed by stars such as SS Joe “Jungle Jim” Junge, RF Jim “Rooster” Ready, 2B Joseph “Junior” Young, CF Curtis “Sliggo” Maxwell, LHP Brent “BaBy” Bailey, and LHP Bruce “Rook” Castle. Owner George Herman expects his talent to succeed and turn massive profits. He also has plans to build the largest baseball specific stadium in the world by 1925. Mr. Herman went all out on the uniforms for the inaugural season, with black pinstripes, a knight helmet over the chest, black hats with an interlocking NY (ala NY Giants), and the uniforms placket is dark green with NEW YORK down the center (similar to the 1909 Cubs uniforms). Only thing they’re missing is the kitchen sink. Their road unis are much more mundane, with just New York across the chest in black.
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Knights 1922 Lineup/Rotation
1. L Mark McDonald CF, 24, 5
2. L Curtis Maxwell RF, 32, 5.5
3. R Joe Junge SS, 28, 7.5
4. L Jim Ready LF, 30, 5.5
5. R Joseph Young 2B, 31, 5
6. R Henry Ellsworth 1B, 31, 4
7. R Tyler Peake C, 25, 5
8. R Matt McCauley 3B, 28, 4
9. pitcher

1. LHP Bruce Castle 33, 5.5
2. LHP Brent Bailey 28, 5.5
3. LHP Mike Henzler 34, 5.5
4. LHP Steve Hartz 27, 4
5. LHP Andrew O'Connors 29, 3.5 

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What’s hotter than Giants? Flames. Founded by Chris Mathews, a former pitcher for the New York Giants in 1913 full of veteran players to help foster the game to inner city kids. The Flames would dominate in their early history, though their age has caught up to them, causing them to hard rebuild. Luckily their early success helped garner much fan support and as of late they have garnered many young stars 3B John Duffy, SS Nick “Timbs” Timms, LF Jason Bouse, LHP Steve “Goob” Gober, all of whom are under age 28. Tied together by the ever temporal Randy Denissen as their skipper. Both red caps have no designs on them, but the home uniform has a cursive M decorated the front while the roads spell out Manhattan with an underline underneath doing its best to simulate a flame.

Flames 1922 Lineup/Rotation
1. R Bobby Pillar RF, 27, 4
2. L David Richardson 1B, 28, 4
3. R Nick Timms SS, 26, 7
4. L Jason Bouse LF, 26, 7
5. R John Duffy 3B, 28, 5.5
6. L Luke Norris 2B, 26, 5.5
7. R Brandon Freeman CF, 32, 5
8. R Shawn Barton C, 27, 3.5
9. pitcher

1. LHP Steve Gober 28, 5.5
2. LHP Mike Guthmiller 32, 5.5
3. LHP Andrew Grenier 23, 3.5
4. RHP Jason Hess 40, 2
5. RHP Dave Wilfong 40, 2

 
Wait, does Newark even border the ocean? Founded in 1903, which puts them as one of the oldest teams in the league. The Atlantics, despite not being in the city, have played their entire history in the New York Association, with the most titles with 5 (tied with Brooklyn Gardens). Mostly known for their speed, but due to the age of old stars such as RF Kyle Knapp and 3B Guy Harris (only player representing Canada in the league) the team has since attempted to bolster their pitching by purchasing players from out west such as RHP Dave Thompson from the Detroit Peninsulas and RHP Art Thomas from the Ft. Wayne Turtles. The Atlantics also look to have some of the most promising young prospect infielders Brett Curtin and A.J. “Mason” Dixon. Light blue caps adorned with a golden yellow A. Both home and road feature NEWARK across the chests in light blue with yellow outline, a rarity for the time. 

Atlantics 1922 Lineup/Rotation
1. L Jason Williams LF, 26, 4.5
2. R Brett Curtin 2B, 24, 4.5
3. R Jason Clarke CF, 27, 4.5
4. R Kyle Knapp RF, 36, 4
5. S Guy Turner 3B, 34, 4.5 CAN
6. R Mike Harris SS, 25, 5
7. R Jim Hartman 1B, 32, 3
8. L Matt Close C, 30, 4.5 (throws right, I was scared for a second when I saw a lefty catcher)
9. pitcher

1. RHP Dave Thompson 29, 5.5
2. LHP Ryan Murphy 37, 5.5
3. RHP Art Thomas 29, 5.5
4. LHP Ben Shook 22, 4.5
​5. RHP Willis Rizo 30, 3 

John Budd strikes again. The gajillionaire known as John Budd desires nothing more than notability. Having already owned one of the nations best soccer clubs, in 1910 he crafted his very own baseball team. Keeping his solid idealism of modernity and modesty, the team is basically colorless (unlike their silver soccer counterparts) though ironically are the only team to wear a non-white jersey. The Nines have been somewhat fruitful during Budd’s reign, but with the prosperity of the Quicksilver, the Nines have taken a backseat in Budd’s mind as of late. Despite that, they sport several talented individuals, including the ageless LF Chris Sheppard, defensive mastermind SS Brett Hampton, and C Cory Daigle who might be the best catcher in the league. Pitching wise Philly can seem unconventional as they actually have a strict closer, RHP Dwight Wall, though how effective he will be in this league is to be determined. Homes have that slight off-white color that Budd decided to allow. Both jerseys have PHILA across the chests in a darkened white (also known as black). Hats are the same color with a 9 sewn to it. Luckily nobody wears jersey numbers yet.

Nines 1922 Lineup/Rotation
1. S Jeremy Sohn 1B, 30, 4.5
2. R Brett Hampton SS, 22, 5.5
3. R LF Chris Sheppard LF, 37, 5
4. R Garrett Bearden 2B, 26, 4.5
5. R Sean Vance RF, 33, 4
6. R Evan McDonald 3B, 29, 4
7. R Cory Daigle C, 32, 5
8. L Kyle Banach CF, 30, 3.5
9. pitcher

1. RHP Chad Wood 29, 5.5
2. LHP Tim Carlton 27, 4.5
3. LHP Gavin Kaczynski 29, 4
4. RHP Joey Bogert 36, 3
​5. RHP Brock Garton 26, 2.5 

Their logo is whichever president is in office at the time. Unlike DC FC, owner Bill Phillips actually attempted to hand-craft this team. Through ten seasons in the Atlantic Association the Prez only had 3 seasons above .500 and 1 title, but Phillips’ notoriety helped him gain this spot in the Federation. Despite having several solid starters, their average age is above 30, with the oldest, and best, being 40 year-old LHP Jaime Gould. On offense there’s MVP candidate RF John Winn and a surprisingly young star in 2B Chris Anderson, though aside from that there’s not much to write home about. Home kits are nothing out of the ordinary either. White with Prez across chest and thin, black button stripes down the middle. Their road uniforms will be the first colored jerseys in the league, all black, hats and pants included, with WASH across the chest in an almost cursive font.
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Presidents 1922 Lineups/Rotation
1. L Chris Anderson 2B, 24, 6
2. R Pat Dowsett 3B, 35, 5
3. R John Winn RF, 34, 6
4. L Justin Edrington LF, 26, 5
5. R Jamie Walter 1B, 27, 3.5
6. R Art Alderson C, 33, 4.5
7. L Jamie Lane CF, 29, 4
8. R Nelson Taylor SS, 35, 3.5
9. pitcher

1. LHP Jaime Gould 40, 5.5
2. RHP Jeff Clearly 32, 5
3. RHP Dave Ray 32, 4.5
4. LHP John Etzel 27, 4
5. RHP Dustin Russell 25, 4

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Similar to the PSL, I’m going to try to have each team have a designated sports writer to “write” the pre-season overviews. To suggest sports writers just comment with their name, age, preferred team, and personality. I will try to include them all, but probably not all at once. Also, since players had some funky nicknames back then, make sure to suggest them I can’t come up with all of them myself. Also, if there's any other stats or info you want me to add to the pre-season team lineup/rotation overviews just mention it and I'll consider it

Sorry for the slight delay to this, I've been having a ton of issues getting the formatting to work on the forums, and even then it still won't work correctly. Im also going to delay the inaugural season, I just saw that OOTP 22 has many more interesting features and decided to upgrade to that version and its going to take me a day or 2 before im fully comfortable running on that program. 

Last edited by master BDoof (CodeG) (3/31/2021 9:13 pm)

Another interesting start!

I think so far the Baltimore Bishops and Newark Atlantics were my favorites to visualize for now.  I think I'm gonna root for Baltimore as my primary team, which is nice because I think they've got a real shot at the championship with that great pitching, (I usually predict teams with the best rotations to be the most likely contenders.  Probably a trait I picked up on as a spoiled 90's Atlanta Braves fan).

The Washington Presidents have an interesting idea too, with the changing logo depending on who the President is, (though I'll critique that having the word "Prez" on the home jersey really doesn't feel very era appropriate, though I could be wrong).   I'd also love just a bit more detail on some of the teams uniforms, (knowing what color hat the Knights of New York wear would help visualize them more, not to mention potentially make more sense of the green button stripes, as an example).  The soccer teams in the other league all had very easy to visualize teams.  That kind of attention to detail isn't missing per say, but could be juuuuuust a bit more complete for a few of these teams.  

Still, I think this also has a lot of promise and I'm excited to see how this plays out!  This PSC idea is really cool!

Last edited by Stickman (3/31/2021 5:25 pm)

master BDoof (CodeG) wrote:

Stickman wrote:

Another interesting start!

I think so far the Baltimore Bishops and Newark Atlantics were my favorites to visualize for now.  I think I'm gonna root for Baltimore as my primary team, which is nice because I think they've got a real shot at the championship with that great pitching, (I usually predict teams with the best rotations to be the most likely contenders.  Probably a trait I picked up on as a spoiled 90's Atlanta Braves fan).

The Washington Presidents have an interesting idea too, with the changing logo depending on who the President is, (though I'll critique that having the word "Prez" on the home jersey really doesn't feel very era appropriate, though I could be wrong).   I'd also love just a bit more detail on some of the teams uniforms, (knowing what color hat the Knights of New York wear would help visualize them more, not to mention potentially make more sense of the green button stripes, as an example).  

Still, I think this also has a lot of promise and I'm excited to see how this plays out!

Thankyou so much for the in-depth response!! Baltimore and Newark also happen to be 2 of my favorite identities too (at least for their current ones). While Baltimore definitely has a stacked pitching rotation, their offense may not be enough to pull them through (despite 3B Phil Lee being a personal favorite of mine)

Honestly, I wrote Washingtons descriptions much to haphazardly, and I forgot to re-read all of the uniform descriptions due to how annoying the forums formatting was making my preview attempts (took me 2 days to get it to look somewhat decent). So I didn't notice that "PREZ" may not be in date yet, however I looked it up and according to Merriam-Webster, Prez was first used in 1686, and was used prominently in the 1800s, though it did have a dip in the early 1900s before it came back in recent times, so I think for now it fits. As for their logo changing... im probably going to have to think of what to do once assassinations and the political landscape begin to change. 

I Honestly feel bad now that I didn't even notice that I didn't mention what color hat the Knights wear. It is black with an intersecting NY on it similar to the old Giants. As for their button stripes, I just wasn't sure how to explain them, but its supposed to be based off of what the Cubs wore in 1909 but with it saying New York instead of Chicago (which is another detail I forgot, and will add it onto the explanation once im finished writing this)
 

I honestly didn't know Prez was in use for so long!  That actually really interesting to find that out! 

But yeah, don't feel bad by any means about the Knights of New York critique!  I do point out a lot of things when I comment on projects that I find worth noting, good or bad.  But it's not to shoot this down by any means!  I just love to see these kinds of projects be the best that they can be, due to their potential.  And this project absolutely has a lot of potential to be a great read for the entire community!  So yeah, definitely don't take my comments to heart!  Also, looking up the 1909 Cubs, I really like what I can visualize the Knights looking like, very nice idea!

Last edited by Stickman (3/31/2021 5:45 pm)

Sorry for the delay, life happened and I didn't have much down time recently. 

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1922 NBF Regular Season

​The season would begin April 17th, 1922 with the Manhattan Flames playing the Philadelphia Nines. Philly would score 4 in the 9th but it wouldn't be enough as the Flames won 5-4. The result of this game would also be the result of the regular season. Philly would go on to start their season 0-8, their first twenty went 4-16. This losing ways would mostly continue throughout the season, winning a few, losing a lot. For the entire season Philly would be in sole last place. Manhattan would go the other way, starting the season 17-3, winning their first 6, and sweeping New York in a series where they outscored them 17-1. While their form was impossible to hold, they continued to have an above .700 winning percentage until late June. However, a month earlier they lost their ace Steve "Sbeve" Gober to a torn UCL, he was 6-1 with a 2.39ERA. While this wouldn't have a drastic effect on the team, it did hamper them later in the season as they could only realistically rely on Mike Guthmiller during the tough games.
Also in May, Boston were 13-14, rather unimpressive as they were going into the season as favorites, but they would go on a 12 game winning streak putting them at 25-14, only finally losing in a 12th inning marathon against Hartford. This would help propel Boston to number 2 in the standings as a dogfight between them and Baltimore would ensue for the second spot in the standings.
In June, Philly lost 11 games in a row at one point, while Manhattan dropped six, this allowed Baltimore and Boston to creep up into the standings and turn it into a fight between the top three teams. While the rest of the teams rested in mediocrity, Hartford and Newark decided to throw some rookies into the fray. Newark transitioned rookie Brett Curtin to SS to allow A.J. Dixon more time at 2nd. They would end up staying in these spots for the rest of the season, while Curtin only managed a .200 average, his 13HRs were good for 8th in the league. Dixon would hit no homers, but would qualify and win the batting title with a .343/.368/.469 slash. Hartford had rookie CF David Seibert who only hit .235 but was showing so much potential they moved him to the lead-off spot for most of the last half of the season.
Going into the final full-month of the season, New York, Newark, and Hartford looked to end the season on a positive note, however, only the Knights would do so, lead by ace Bruce Castle who lead the league in wins (21). While Boston looked to finally pull clear into second place. Manhattan finally seemed to cool off when on August 15th, Boston eclipsed them for first place, while it would only last for a few days, it gave the Revs one final breath to push even harder. Suddenly, Manhattan, Boston, and even Baltimore were pushing were gunning for the championship series.
It would come down to the final week of play in September, with none of the top 3 teams facing each other and all three separated by only 3 games, they would have to rely on luck and prayers in order to make it to the championship. Boston won their first 4, automatically qualifying them for the championship. Leaving Manhattan and Baltimore to battle for second. both would end up going 1-2 in their final series, which means Manhattan, who were barely up in the standings would clinch the second seed and the chance to fight Boston in the Championship. 
Before the series would start, the Flames would announce that their starting CF Jason Bouse and 2B Luke Norris would both be out with a pair of leg injuries suffered in the last week of the season. While Boston's only major injury was for SS Ryan Rizo, who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in mid-September, though his replacement, Zach Szabo is considered better than Bouse and Norris' replacements. 

 



1922 NBF Championship Game
Game 1: MNH Jason Hess (10-4, 3.19) v BOS Connor Cortez (8-4, 2.61)
The first Championship Game in NBF history would go down as a classic pitching duel between Hess and Cortez. Boston would score singular runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th, scoring off of mistakes from the fielders and Hess. In the end, this would just barely be able to edge out Manhattan. Strangely enough, after going down 2-1, Manhattan would substitute Hess with team ace Guthmiller, who would pitch 2 innings in relief, giving up 1 run. Final score, 3-1, Boston.

Game 2: MNH Rich Barteaux (8-9, 3.93) v BOS Trevor Jacob (20-9, 2.53)
Despite Jacob being the obvious favorite, it would be Barteaux that would have the better performance on the mound. Barteaux would limit Boston to only 4 hits all afternoon. With their only run coming from a 1B Courtney Mitchell 7th inning home run. Manhattan would put up 3 thanks to a 3-hit game by 3B John Duffy. Final score, 3-1, Manhattan.

Game 3: BOS Brian Graft (7-8, 3.54) v MNH Andrew Greiner (14-8, 3.48)
Game 3 would prove to be a proving game, not just for both teams, but also Graft and Greiner as both are young talents that hope to have long careers. In a much-interesting fashion, both studs came to play, by the 9th inning the game was 2-1 in favor of Greiner and the Flames. In a strange move, the Flames would opt to put the 9th inning in the hands of ace Mike Guthmiller who would make his second relief appearance this series. This would seal the game and the win for Manhattan. MNH RF Bobby Pillar would go 4-4 with a home run on the docket as well. Final score, 2-1, Manhattan.

Game 4: BOS Mike Bedard (13-8, 4.38) v MNH Mike Guthmiller (18-5, 2.22)
In a surprise move, Guthmiller would elect to pitch in his scheduled start despite pitching the previous night. This would prove to be a potential series ending mistake. Though Guthmiller only gave up 2 runs, he had to get out early in the 8th for Ryan Townsend who gave up 3 runs. Out of all 5 runs given up, only 2 were earned as errors plagued Manhattans fielders. Thus despite a 3-run first by the Flames, Boston would get the surprise victory. Final score, 5-3, Boston.

Game 5: BOS Connor Cortez (8-4, 2.61) v MNH Jason Hess (10-4, 3.19)
Now that it's essentially a three game series, this is a must win game for both teams. This pressure seemed to light the slumbering fire underneath the bats of both teams as they combined for 20 hits. The game would be decided in the 8th after a 2-out, 2RBI, triple by Boston LF Alpha Johnson (against Ryan Townsend who lost the previous game). Final score, 6-4, Boston. 

Game 6: MNH Mike Guthmiller (18-5, 2.22) v BOS Trevor Jacob (20-9, 2.53)
In what would finally match both teams aces, Game 6 would go down as one of the best, yet controversial, games in NBF Championship history. By the sixth inning, it was 2-1, Manhattan, however a sudden, chilling downpour would halt the game for a little over and our, once it would return, both pitchers were too out of it to continue pitching thus both were replaced with relievers. For Boston it would be Jeremy "Radicle" Radford who had saves in Games 4 and 5. Manhattan would rely on Scott Mosley, who had the loss in Game 4. Radford was the also the leagues only predominant reliever during the season, racking up 16 total saves. The young Radford has also quickly gained a notorious reputation for wiping dirt from the mound on his cheek during appearances in close games, today was like no other. He smeared so much mud on his face that some say he looked like a pig in a pen. In 2.1 innings, Radford would only give up 1 run on 2 hits and would help his cause by hitting into an error to load the bases in the bottom of the 6th. Mosley gave up 2 runs nearly instantly, making it 3-2 after the rain fully cleared. After a wild pitch in the 7th, the game would be tied going into the final inning. Radford would be replaced by Mike Bedard, the starter of game 4. He would strike out the first batter he faced, but would give up back-to-back hits to pinch hitters, and would only get outs on fielders choices leading to the Flames going a run up in the 9th. Instead of substituting into Barteaux or even Greiner, the Flames would put in Ryan Townsend who previous chocked in the last two games. Luckily, Townsend would find his stride and retire the side on consecutive ground balls to win the game and force a game 7. Final score, 4-3, Manhattan. 

Game 7: MNH Andrew Greiner (14-8, 3.48) v BOS Brian Graft (7-8, 3.54)
The first Series would have to come down to the final game. This time the ball would be given to two young rising stars in the game who faced off earlier in Game 3, which was a tight pitching duel. Graft would be the first to show weakness as he gave up a lead-off home run to RF Bobby Pillar and a sac-fly by 3B John Duffy would score another. However, it would be Boston legend, Alpha Johnson who would steal the show in the following innings, 3 run home run in the 3rd and a solo in the 6th (both with 2 outs) he would also score on a wild pitch in the 5th to give him 3 runs on the day. Manhattan wouldn't go down without a fight, CF Brandon Freeman would hit a solo shot of his own and 1B David Richardson and LF Bobby McKenna would have 3 hit days of their own. However, it would not be enough as Boston SS Zack Szabo, starting for the injured Ryan Rizo, would hit an RBI single in the 6th to give Boston the winning run and would win the first ever National Baseball Federation Championship Series (they need a smaller name). Alpha Johnson would win the Series MVP for his 6 RBIs and .402 average in the series. Final score, 6-4, Boston.




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Season awards will be included in the off-season post, which will be following the PSLs off-season post and hopefully won't take as much time to post as this one did. Hope you enjoyed the first NBF season.