In the 1887 Offseason we had some big moves, news, expansion teams and some teams changing looks. So lets get right into it!  
First there was an important announcement made by the Generals not long after they got swept by Hamilton. Owner and coach Jack Henry had died of the deadly tuberculosis. He was 52 years old. With the passing of Henry, Covington intended on putting his brother, who had been the interim coach for the last game, in Jack's position. But he declined. So they looked for Jack's son. Who reluctantly agreed. Rumors are he'll fold the team or relocate it to his home, Cincinnati. 
Speaking of Cincinnati, the Rivermen Owner has decided 1887 will be the teams final season. "For undisclosed reasons"- said Owner deKorte. It wasn't much of a mystery however. Only 2 days after that announcement he filed for bankruptcy, spending team earnings whilst gambling and betting on his teams games. 
The drama also continues in the NEBL with the selling of the Springfield Deacons, the team however will stay in Springfield. But the team plans on renaming themselves and rebranding. Any changes would happen next offseason. 

 Now for some player moves or pickups. Brandon Nutt made headlines as he was the first player to transfer leagues. After playing for Worcester the past 2 seasons, hes packed up and decided to play for Covington. This news shocked other teams in the NEBL. In fear of losing their players to other leagues they demanded for a rule to be implemented. However the Commissioner has yet to comment on the issue. There were 2 other big moves made this offseason, the Louisville Stallions picked up two players; P Trevor Schlagel and CF Adam Brock, both from a minor league team in Louisville. The other big move came from Manchester, who traded for SS Jim Files in order to boost their roster to make a push for the championship. 

 Next up we had one team joining each league! Welcome to the USBL the Evansville Railers, and Welcome the Brooklyn Dutch Lions to the NEBL!Here are their looks: The Lions look is simple. They join their neighbors; the Bulldogs, as some of the only teams to have two colors. The adorn blue and orange for the dutch heritage of NewYork City.
 Next the Railers. Who have an E for Evansville as their primary. The crowning feature is their hats (get it?) which have 4 horizontal stripes.


 Lastly we have some teams changing their looks up.In the USBL, the reigning champion Hamilton AC make another change to their uniform. Replacing their H logo and adding it to their jerseys.
In the NEBL we have Providence make a slight change to their uniforms adding their P logo to the front of the jerseys.

 And that's the 1887 offseason! C&C and comments highly appreciated. 1887 season should be up soon 

Now for the 1887 Championships! 
In the NEBL we had the second rematch of the Valentines vs the Sugarmen, it was a bit more exciting than the first. Game 1 was a close one that ended in a Sugarmen walk off. Boston went into the 9th inning down 1. With a man on first. Irvine knocked one right up the middle, through the pitchers legs. And as CF Bobby Ralph botched the grounder for Worcester, he overthrew the third basemen, allowing Irvine to advance to second and advancing the runner to third from first. Cleanup hitter CF Steve Lemon socked one down the right field line. Getting two home in a walk off fashion.Game 2 ended just as exciting as the first, P Jalen Herrod shut down the Valentines offense in the clutch and another walk off thanks to an RBI double by C Joe Rehkopf gave the Sugarmen a 2-0 lead heading to Worcester. Game 3 was again another walk off. This game was stuck in extras, tied at 4 after 9. The top of the 10th was a quick three and out by Stephens and crew for the Valentines. With two outs and everybody preparing for another inning. Thomas sent one over the leftfield wall. “The hit heard ‘round the world” as the fans in Worcester called it. It gave them the win as the looked to even things up 2-2 in game 4. They wouldn't do that however. Game four played the same tune as the previous games. Both teams taking shots at each other and following it up with some pretty well rounded pitching. As the Valentines walked into the ninth, it looked as though they had it in the bag. Until Irvine blasted the first one he saw to the outfield to give him a triple. A sac fly later and the game is tied up. After Till closed the ninth for Boston they came out and scored quickly in the 10th. The lead held and they took a 3-1 series lead.After choking the lead in game 4, the Valentines came out determined and had the first real convincing win of the series, winning 5-2 after denying Boston a hit until the 7th inning. This momentum didn't carry over though, as the traveled back to Boston to lose 5-2 in an uninspiring performance.
In the USBL and Louisville’s first ever championship appearance they failed to realize they were even playing in the championship. Or at least it seemed like that. After the AC won the first 3 in convincing fashion, with phenomenal performances by the likes of Klingel, Bracewell, Winston and crew. It looks as Hamilton would sweep the championship again. Then the Stallions finally woke up. In game 4 Schlagel had one of his best pitching performances. Stopping the AC offense that had scorched them all series. Shutting out Hamilton in front of the Louisville Crowd at Churchill Park. A 2 run homerun by Brock in the 7th sealed the deal in a game where Louisville started actually looking like Louisville. Game 6 followed suit, Stallions pitcher Justin Swanson pitched almost as good as Schlagel did the night before. Holding the Hamilton offense to 2 runs off 3 hits. The only mistake was that they pulled him in the 7th. With a 2 run lead Louisville got comfortable. Too comfortable. Hamilton rallied and came back to tie it in the 9th. It looked to go into extras. Until a sac fly and an error sent Brock all the way from first to home, winning the Stallions the game! Looking to continue the comeback, Louisville made a valiant effort but couldn’t keep up with Winston Reynolds and the AC offense. Who had 13 hits in the game. The 3 runs scored in the 1st had the Stallions playing catch up all game. They win the series 4-2. Hopefully your guys’ teams did good! Hopefully i’ll have the 1887-88 offseason out sooner then my last few posts! C&C wanted!

Last edited by MyTeamIsDr.Pepper (5/21/2019 11:45 am)

Stickman wrote:

Great start to this story!  I've actually been following this league since this was on the other site, so I do have an idea on how the next couple seasons go.  I'm definitely interested to see how things go with the 2 league format,whether they eventually merge or one of them eventually fails while the other become the MLB of this story.  Keep up the great work man!

You're really gonna be surprised with the outcome. Neither of your ideas will actually happen, well sort of.

Out of curiosity, will you still be enlisting Balu for help for this series?

The Championship Series are here! Lets see what went down.
In the NEBL we had the Millers, in making their first appearance, they played pretty well. Holding Worcester under 6 runs for the entire series. Whilst their defense was good, led by P Matt Williams, who won their only two wins, their offense couldn’t keep up. Only scoring over 2 runs once, in a 9-2 rout of Worcester in game 5. The Valentines, who played great, were lead by their own pitcher,  Jamie Brady. Who went 3-0 in the championship, shutting out the Millers twice. This incredible performance was backed by Thomas who also had a great series. Having had 9 hits in 25 appearances. The best of either team. In the end Worcester came out on top 4-2 to claim their first ever title.
In the USBL we had a rematch of last year's championship, it was a very familiar series of events. Much to the dismay of the fans, Louisville once again started off slowly, giving up 16 runs in the first 2 games. Schlagel giving up 10 of those in his first ever championship appearance. Schlagel in general put out a very uninspiring series, losing both his games. But he wasn’t the only one who played poorly. Brock only had 3 hits in 15 appearances. The Stallions were actually led by 2B Dan Hagar. Who knocked two homeruns in his 13 hits. This was a completely different story for Hamilton, who came out on fire. Reynolds and Trevino played their part, but the player to watch was Bracewell, who had 11 hits and 8 RBIs and played fantastic on the field. Helping the AC quickly jump to a 3-1 lead with his best performances in game 1 and 3 where he hit at everyone of his 4 at bats both games. The AC wins the series easily, 4-2.
C&C Appreciated, let me know how your team did, don’t be afraid to comment.