1902 offseason:
CHICAGOOOOOO! CHICAGOOOOOOO!:
 
Chicago came in a close second in the pennant race, but it didn’t matter. The ultimatum had been set, and the squad failed to live up to the expectations of the athletic club. Thus, they would either have to be sold or disbanded. But try as the must, the Windy City’s top flight professional team can’t find a buyer. The upper crust of society can’t look past the Tom Viar fiasco, and as many potential buyers in the area would have already put in money through SA Chicago, it’s extremely unlikely that any Chicago-based buyer would come forward.
                The team, threatened with disbanding, looked around the world for a solution, and they found one. Taking inspiration from Spanish soccer clubs, manager Rob De Jong introduced the idea of a team without a principle owner to the highest level of baseball. As soon as the season ended, the squad took out a page in the Tribune calling for fans to buy shares in the club, who would then elect a president of team operations (like a gm type job). The team would have as many ‘owners’ as needed to keep the team from going under without the backing of the athletic club, and would formally adopt the nickname “Republics” in honor of the 1893 world’s fair, the fan support, and now the new ownership structure. The Association’s committee has to form once again to discuss whether or not to let them continue as Chicago’s top baseball organization. Their options are to vote for the acceptance of the Chicago Republics, or deny them entry and pick either a new city or Chicago team to take their place.

                In a vote almost completely split along division lines, the acceptance of the Republics was approved. The main detractors were obviously from the West, but Cleveland owner Edwin Cole lobbied heavily against the acceptance of Chicago as an ownerless team. He firstly preferred Chicago to be without a top league team, but more importantly, Cleveland’s semi-pro and barnstorming teams had recently begun to form similar ownership structures to stay afloat. Cole, a savvy enough businessman, sees that if the precedent is set for the “million owners” structure and his team stays terrible, then the Association might look at some of the successful Cleveland teams and begin to wonder about swapping Cole’s squad for one of those, regardless of the ownership structure of the club.
                The Republics proceeded to buy back their old field from the owners, and renamed it “Ballpark of the Republic”. They’re hoping to create the world’s first steel and concrete stadium on the site in the near future, although its possibility is still unclear.
 
FIVE YEAR PLAN, YEAR ONE:
 
                With the Chicago situation out of the way, the committee was led into negotiations by Campbell to attempt to make them think that the idea of merger or a relegation system is possible. With high hopes and vague promises in hand, the league presidents of the Colonial Baseball League, midwestern league, and the Association met in December.
                Things did not go to plan.
                The Colonial League and Midwestern league representatives simply did not believe in the Association’s ability to live up to its promises. They left the meeting coming instead to a partnership between each other, stating they could not steal players from the other league, but the Association remained fair game. A super league, if you will, with the Colonial League and Midwestern League is rumored of forming under a single organization who would then compete for a single championship. With the Association scrambling, the three largest leagues in the United States may be coming to a serious crossroads in the next few seasons. It’s now possible for the two “minor” leagues to hold power in negotiations with the Association, which has forced the members in baseball’s major league to seriously consider the ides of promotion/relegation.
                The Association, after the negotiations went poorly, proceeded to up the service requirement to 11 years before free agency, something that the other leagues then followed suit in.
 
PLAYER MOVEMENT:
 
Cleveland Owner Edwin Cole, fearing the Association might seriously consider another Cleveland team, finally decides to spend cash in the offseason. With his eyes on the prize, Cole went out and got himself two star pitchers, signing away both Brandon Harden of Baltimore and former Brooklyn pitcher Warner Buckman to massive deals, over $2,000 a year for both players. Buckman’s contract, however, is a one-year deal, while Harden’s is for 4 years. Absurdly enough, Buckman’s season ended short last year because of injury, and won’t end up pitching for Cleveland until July at the very earliest. Cole is an idiot.
                Milwaukee decided it needed to add pieces for its 1902 run for the pennant, grabbing aging (but productive) veterans Zion Thermidor and Manny Wright each for over $1,300 a piece. Milwaukee, with this added star power, looks to make a serious run at the West this year and hopefully beyond.
 
UNIFORM CHANGES:
 
On a serious note, this is hard! The amount of time I’ve spent in researching uniforms from the past to draw inspiration from while still coming up with fresh ideas is exhausting. Teams barely keep identities at all during the first 30 years in baseball history, and I’m trying to replicate this as much as I can.
 
                Brooklyn, again having a poor season in 1901, decided to switch things up even further and introduce a grey away jersey, replacing the iconic all-blue garb worn in seasons past. It’s unknown if or when they will switch back to blue, but Manager Moishe Lipp stated “it’s all dependent on fan reaction”.
 
                New York City Athletic once again finds themselves with mew uniforms, this time bringing back the beloved 5-stripe look used during the 1898 season. In the win-now year, NYCA might find themselves a new classic uniform.
 
                Cincinnati, looking to shed some of the bad weight of last year’s defeat to Federal Athletic, grab a new set of uniforms to wear for the 1902 season. The home uniform features a white hat with red trim at the bottom of the crown, while the jersey and pants are white as well, paired with red socks. The aways also feature red socks, although a grey jersey and pants with “CINCINNATI” arched across the front.
 
                Milwaukee, looking to turn the corner, feature new uniforms as well, with an Old English M on the sleeve, and a weird hat to match. The aways are cream to feel more connected to Nick McCormick’s brewery.
 
TL;DR: Chicago wasn’t sold to anyone, so the team borrowed the La Liga ownership structure and applied to continue existing in the Association. They were admitted into the West with this new “ownerless” structure, and a new team president will be voted on before the season starts. Cleveland owner Edwin Cole is super scared of that because Cleveland’s best minor league teams feature a similar structure, and if enough people think Cleveland is bad enough, the Association might swap Cole’s team for another in the city.
 
TL;DR: The Association failed in year one of their five year plan. The Colonial League and Midwestern league simply don’t buy the Association’s malarkey, and will begin a partnership saying that they can’t steal players from each other, and talks are swirling about a potential merger. This is forcing the Association to seriously think about a promotion/relegation system for the future. The minimum team control for a player is now at 11 years.
 
TL;DR: Cole got scared and signed Brandon Harden and an injured Warner Buckman to the Cleveland squad, and hopes it’ll bring him out of the western cellar. Milwaukee added aging stars Zion Thermidor and Manny Wright as the team heads into the year hoping to make a playoff push.

So much for the 5 year plan

Sorry for the late comment, but cmon Cincy, that should've been championship numero dos! Oh well were still pretty talented, let's run it back next year.

The off season was interesting! I'll be trying to pay attention and see what happens with the Association and how they compete with other leagues. The research you've done to replicate the era appropriate meetings like that are astounding and something I wish I had the patience to do with my leagues. All in all I would love to see the potential super league happen, maybe a super super league could happen down the line where a merge happens between them and the Association too.
The new uniforms looks great, again, you've done your research and it shows. The hardest thing, but probably also the most fun thing for me when doing my league was changing each teams uniform so often. It was exhausting but it was a fun challenge too. You've done a great job so far and I can't wait to see where some of the more unique styles, NYCA in particular, develop down the road.

Thehealthiestscratch wrote:

Always can get behind those 5 stripes for the Moles. It puts the nickname right on the jersey without spelling it out!

Section30 wrote:

What an offseason, the uni changes are nice and make this whole thing seem a lot more realistic

NYCA using the 5 stripes is just too good, I could see the stripes shrinking a bit in the future but I think that Athletic has found their "look" at least at home

I'm also a big fan of the cream alternate for Milwaukee, I would love to see this get promoted to primary with maybe a blue or gray away, but overall I'm a big fan

Thank you! I have things planned out quite a bit ahead in terms of uniforms, and I was thinking the same thing. Problems with jersey templates become an issue eventually, but as long as I can fit the 5 stripes on, there will be 5 stripes on NYCA's home uniforms. Also, with Milwaukee, I'm really thinking about making the creams the primary and I'm glad you like the idea!

ZO82 wrote:

So much for the 5 year plan

I mean, kinda? With a roadmap laid out, Campbell and the Association are still in the better position, and honestly still use that advantage to coerce the minor leagues into respecting the Association contracts. They have better markets and more connections with advertisers, as well as the ability to dole out more cash if necessary to steal away the regional league players. It's all still up in the air, and it's possible for this story to break in a million ways.

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

Sorry for the late comment, but cmon Cincy, that should've been championship numero dos! Oh well were still pretty talented, let's run it back next year.

The off season was interesting! I'll be trying to pay attention and see what happens with the Association and how they compete with other leagues. The research you've done to replicate the era appropriate meetings like that are astounding and something I wish I had the patience to do with my leagues. All in all I would love to see the potential super league happen, maybe a super super league could happen down the line where a merge happens between them and the Association too.
The new uniforms looks great, again, you've done your research and it shows. The hardest thing, but probably also the most fun thing for me when doing my league was changing each teams uniform so often. It was exhausting but it was a fun challenge too. You've done a great job so far and I can't wait to see where some of the more unique styles, NYCA in particular, develop down the road.

Thank you! I might need your help with some of these designs at some point, because the amount of time I put into uniform research isn't smart for a full-time student with a job. I'm glad y'all are enjoying the authenticity of these uniforms, but know that the uniform culture of baseball shifts quite a bit over time.

1902 ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:

Game 1: After a hard fought pitchers' duel in which no one scored after the 3rd inning, Chris Meier finally has a chance to claim victory in an Association Championship Series game. Last year's pitcher of the year played extremely well, but it was for naught as the bats couldn't get going for the Reds. Athletic has taken homefield advantage away from Cincinnati, and the Burroughers look ahead to one more game in the Queen City before heading back to Polo Grounds.

Game 2: In an intense outing, Ryan Kuklinski and J.J. Mayweather held each others' teams to low scores like in game one, but the game remained tied 2-2 after 9. In the top of the 10th, Kurt Dahms stole 2 bases after a 1 out single, allowing Manuel Rojas to bat him in and put Athletic up 3-2. Because of his speed on the basepath, Dahms has picked up the nickname "The Bullet", to which he told reporters after the game, "a bullet might lose that race, you might have to think of something faster."

Game 3: In his first ACS start, Eric Manning got shelled. The bats came alive for the Reds, who were able to exploit the young pitcher's reliance on the fastball early in the count. After 4 innings of work and giving up 7 earned runs, he was pulled in the 5th after giving up 4 runs without an out to show for it. Chirs Noland, Weldon Hill, and Joe Watkins were the culprits of most of the damage, with all of them combining to provide all of the RBI for the Reds on the day. NYC still holds the advantage, however, and Polo Grounds is the favorite ballpark of a certain Chris Meier.

Game 4: Meier absolutely dominated once again, posting an ERA of 1.00 across 18 innings against the most formidable offense of all-time up to this point. The Reds are now on the brink of elimination, and Mike Rouse, although outstanding, simply can't get the run support he has needed to get Cincinnati past the Burroughers.

Game 5: Cincinnati was able to trudge through another poor hitting performance and stay in the Championship series. J.J. Mayweather dominated the day, and whose only run given up came off of a home run by a rotation player. Kuklinski also pitched well, but as in most of the games, the other side simply pitched better. "There's nothing more I can do, nothing more any of can do, except try to throw the ball out of its seams  and pray to God they don't hit it," Kuklinski said after the game.

Game 6: Finally, some offense! Both teams were set ablaze in their first game back in Cincinnati. Down 4-0 after 3, Athletic came alive and trounced Preston Ingram in the 4th and forcing 2 different pitching changes on the night, while Eric Manning was able to pitch his first complete game in the Championship series. A Phil Crabb home run in the 4th opened the door for an offensive attack that only subsided after a reliever came in in the 8th, while the Reds' offense stalled after the 3rd, only putting up one more run before the night was over.

There you have it! The New York City Athletic Club was able to claim their first championship and finally have something to rub in the face of their crosstown counterparts.