Harbor Athletic Club:
One of the oldest clubs still existing in baseball, Harbor Athletic went through a stretch of extremely rough years around the turn of the century, and thus weren’t picked to become members of the Association. However, after their stint in the doldrums of the Chesapeake League, club owners and directors dumped obscene amounts of money into the organization. They enjoyed a massive run of success in the first half of the Eastern Premier League after escaping the second tier in just the first year of Pro/Rel, but recently diverted from their winning ways. Before the stoppage, their team slowed down tremendously in terms of production, yet always found a way around relegation. They’re traditionally called the Harbors, but due to the team’s underperforming nature over the last decade, many opposing fans (and even some of their own) have given them the nickname of “Hacks”. 

They’re managed and operated by a limited company, the Harbor Athletic Club, which is split in ownership between the extremely large, vocal  Hack fanbase and the Baltimore-based multinational shipping giant Ameritime’s owner Jacob Connor. Oftentimes these two groups are in harmony, but don’t expect the peace to stay for long if the team keeps on losing. 

And lose they might! This team is bad in all senses of the word. Without a solid development system in place, many of the team’s best players are back from war in their 30’s. Right Fielder Nate Smith is the player to keep your eye on, as he might be the best chance this team has at an all-star on their roster. Over the hill players second baseman Brian King and first baseman Sandy Rodriguez anchor the right infield, while third baseman Damien Callis and shortstop Joe Mickelson round out the left. The youngest player in the starting lineup, left fielder Nate Duniven, is 26. Catcher Zach Guidry is 36, while centerfielder Bobby Marinelli is 34. The starting pitching corps, led by Kellen Sears, is all around or just under the 30 mark. Mike Williams, Brad Bainter, Elijah Perkins, and Steve Wakefield finish up the starting rotation, while the bullpen is anchored by 40-year old Jimmy McKim. This team will need to flip some trades and develop through the draft soon, but the prospects of this year are not encouraging.
 

Last edited by H-Town1141 (7/19/2021 12:34 pm)

Boston Bees Baseball Club:

One of the three Eastern teams from the Association coming back around, Boston’s squad has had a very steep shot up the totem pole. In a crowded region with rabid local fanbases, the Bees have been able to drown out the noise since their disappointing Association efforts and were able to regularly sit atop the New England league for their post-TA, pre-EPL days. Owner Robert Payne sold off the team through the first few years of the Eastern Premier League, and the supporters’ new board of directors let the squad run itself. It paid off, as the team never finished below tenth in a single season’s standings (which occurred last year, in 1946). Boston’s top team, financed by many of the rich white anglo-saxon protestants in the city (hence the WASPs nickname), have developed an attitude of arrogance that is admittedly deserved.

The biggest thing going on with the team is the stadium situation. Run out of the south side of the city by bitter rival North End and their rowdy blue collar fans, the Bees have set up shop across the river from Cambridge, another bitter rival. They’re in a pissing contest with a bunch of Harvard alums at this point to make the biggest, grandest baseball palace imaginable, with the hope that one runs out of money before the other. With the draft soon approaching and rookie amateurs looking for big major league deals, it is to be seen whether Boston will take their pedal off the gas and put the money where it matters.

However, much of that dominance was due to pitching that has since retired from the 1941 season. First Baseman Brandon Madden is the classic slugger archetype and possibly the second best all-star hopeful for the team, behind right fielder Chris Errico. Evan Stafford is in the 4 spot, while the left side of the field is covered by the energetic shortstop Allen Nicholson, third baseman Luke Bullock, and Left Fielder Alan Muro. Steve Fixmer is behind the plate, with Brian Mckernan, the 32 year old starter coming off of a worrying season in the EPL, is the team’s best pitching option going into ‘47. The rest of their rotation looks pitiful, as Jim Culbertson and Guy Woods are too old to be effective, while Kevin Olson and Paul Lawler are too young to have developed solid control over their breaking pitches. The bullpen might be the thing that saves this team from being dead last, but relying on the relievers to do heavy lifting is just a recipe for disaster.

Last edited by H-Town1141 (7/19/2021 12:34 pm)

Brooklyn Baseball Club:

The Juggernaut continues its march onward. Originally dominant in the New York League, then the Association with the greatest pitcher of all-time, then back in the New York League, and then in the EPL with arguably the greatest hitter of all time. This team has become the most steeped in a history of success, and has become the most obnoxious fanbase in baseball because of it. Many from the borough are devoted yet pleasant, yet as the Eastern Premier League has grown in popularity, so have the Jays for their constantly cocky attitude and the organization’s goofy antics, but most importantly their winning. Brooklyn, coming into 1946, had won 6 of the 20 EPL championships. Then they won another. The nine stars on their uniform each represent a major league championship (their New York League championships are numerous, but Hirsch said publicly in 1923 that the “State Leagues are child’s play.”), 2 Association victories and 7 EPL titles.

Brooklyn, due to their massive fanbase, was the first to create a strange rule in their members association ownership. To become a shareholder of the team, you have to prove current or former residence of either the borough of Brooklyn or the surrounding area. As such, the team’s fans populate nearly every corner of the city, and encapsulate the diversity of New York in a unique way.

Brooklyn, headed by Adam Hirsch, the team president for over four decades, is set up for success beyond his passing. The team was able to secure funds over the course of the war to scout quality young talent, both for players at home playing amateur ball and those overseas, playing on military bases. In the amateur circuit the team found Brooklyn native Brian Rosenberg, a corner outfielder with a daredevil streak in him on the basepaths. It s said that his biggest inspiration was Eastern Premier League superstar Jeremy Schreiber, who once stole 94 bases in the EPL’s 76 game season, batting .375 with 14 home runs. While scouting ballplayers overseas, Jays scouts found Center Fielder Noel Kelley, Third Baseman Justin Kovacs, and raw teenage pitchers Gary Hansen and Matt Rhodes. Mike Kulp occupies the other outfield spot, as first baseman Matt Box and shortstop Ryan Babb fill out the infield. Mike Germain, another youngster at 23, is the catcher for some of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Tim Vogt, who came onto the scene at 21 and threw heaters past the EPL’s best bats, lost four years of prime opportunity and hopes to remain dominant on the mound. Mike Walsh and Jonathan Schuckman are the other starters, while Matt Clemens anchors a solid bullpen. This team is going to be dominant, and anything less than a MABL Championship Series victory is a disappointment.

Last edited by H-Town1141 (7/19/2021 12:35 pm)

Manhattan Baseball Club:

Manhattan’s history is possibly the strangest of all. The organization began as a response to the “race mixing” of NYCAC, and began as the “All-White, All-American Boys in Blue”, an option for the sh-t people of Manhattan and the Bronx to come together and be the worst. The blue part of their original slogan only lasted a game, as the team’s launderer threw some red clothes in with the load and accidentally created the squad’s iconic indigo coloring. Originally forced to play outside of the Eastern League system due to discrimination practices, the squad finally desegrated in 1926 under intense pressure from the Eastern Premier League, who saw the benefit of having 3 competitive, well-funded New York squads.

They got the nickname “Giants” from a quote by owner Theodore “Ted” Newsome, who said when asked about how competitive his team would be were iit to play against Brooklyn, “If they’re considered men amongst boys, we’re giants amongst men”.

Held at Newsome Park in Upper Manhattan, the first series between Manhattan and Brooklyn consisted of a 21-3, 17-1, and 24-8 victories in favor of the Jays.

Newsome is a tycoon in his own right, a titan of industry who will use his power, money, and influence to change the world how he sees fit. The team has gotten away from the racism that once defined it, but yearly face off against Harlem’s “Black Giants”, an impressive squad formed in protest to the acceptance of Manhattan into the Eastern League system.

The team certainly has quality players, many of whom were around for a run from 1937-1941, featuring multiple second place finishes in the Eastern Premier League. The team looks to come off a poor showing by their standards in the 1946 EPL season, placing 8th in the standings. Left fielder David Fassett and second baseman Pat Sprang, both players of color, are the best players on the team. Center fielder Brian Dyck and right fielder Howie McGregor finish out the outfield, while first base Justin Manson, shortstop Ben Derringer, and third base Dan Hasty cover the basepaths alongside Nick Gross, a catcher who debuted at 18 and has started every game since. Sadly for the Moneybags, the cost of quality pitching allowed it that only one pitcher came back to the Giants after the war. Sam Coffman, a very good player by all accounts, is leading a starting rotation that doesn’t deserve to be named (Nick Powers, Matt Stocker, James Fossen, and Kurt Seeman [yes, really]). Paul Gillihan and Brooks DuMont lead a bad bullpen, as well. It’s a miracle that this team isn’t projected to be last in the standings come October with how poor this pitching is.

Last edited by H-Town1141 (8/02/2021 4:47 am)

Centennial Baseball Club:

Philadelphia’s oldest team got left out of the Association due to a similarly timed stretch of poor seasons in the regional league, seeing a team ten years their junior take the spot instead. However, just like Baltimore, the 76s proved post Association that they were the best team for the region, and it wasn’t particularly close. Philadelphia’s former Association team wasn’t able to keep up, and Centennial was able to quickly establish themselves as the premier Penn/Jersey team. And despite only one EPL championship, coming toward the beginning of the League’s establishment, they never fell below 12th (which they reached only once, in 1940).

This team was originally owned by a single man, Chris Struve, but he sold the team to the supporters long ago, assuming that the team would fall by the wayside and float away with the sands of time. SIKE! The board of directors were able to keep the team’s head above water and then some, although team president Harry Shuster is a bit in over his head on this one.

The prospects of this year turning out well for this team are slim. The 26 year old second baseman Nolan Meyer is the best player on this team, albeit he only has one year of pro ball under his belt. First baseman Kevin Cattarinussi and Right fielder Joe Jones aren’t much to write home about, but aren’t going to hurt the order or defense any. Continuing the average, shortstop Freddie Raffety and third baseman Chris Reesman line the left side of the infield. The outfield has some fun young guys in Jeff Brodbeck and Javon McLoed playing left and center, while the aging Jared Banks sits behind home plate as the catcher. The Opening Day starter for Centennial is young ace Prince Jones, thought to be one of the best pitchers in the game. Alan Gragson, Bobby Champagne, Jarod Crowley, and Jeremy Cannon round out an otherwise average starting lineup, while Zach Albrecht is the main reliever for the club. As long as they’re not last, the middle of their order will hopefully get their sea legs and Philadelphia is going to be fine.

Last edited by H-Town1141 (7/19/2021 12:36 pm)