"Rounders".....draft underway...taking wait list. Topic

Ok, so I watched most of the Ken Burns' documentary "Baseball" on MLB Network during the holidays.  And, I got to thinking that one progressive we haven't seen in a while would be going back to the very beginning, when they called the game "base" or "rounders".  For we WIS afficienatos, that would be 1885!

Here's the proposal, I need 15 other owners eager to go back 2 centuries and start a 16-team progressive.  The initial season would be made up of players whose 1st year in the WIS database is between 1885 and 1889.  By my rough calculation, that would give us  498 "rookie" seasons available.  In a 16-team league we would need 400.   In each subsequent season, our players would progress one year like any other progressive league.  The rookie class for each new season however would be from 2 years.  Example:  season 2 would be 1890 & 1891 rookies, season 3 would be 1892 & 1893, etc.

Edit:  The players will progress 1 season at a time.  For example, players selected in the initial draft who were 1885 rookies, will be in their 1886 season in year 2.  If they were 1887 rookies, they will be in their 1888 season in year 2.  Players selected in the 2nd season draft will be either 1890 or 1891 rookies and progress to their 1891 or 1892 seasons respectively in year 3.

The reason for doing it this way is that it will give us more to choose from once the old American Association disbands in 1893.  It also marches us through time in double time, and by using multiple yet contiguous years, it gives us a bit of variety from the anticipated results.

Just for general information.  There are 498 "rookie" seasons available from 1885-89, 400 of which will be selected.  The second year draft with 1890-91 players will have a total of 190 "rookies" because 1890 has 171 by itself.  But from 1891 through 1900, the average number of rookies is 42, which only gives us two drafting rounds per team.  That was the reason for suggesting we use a 2-year pool of players.

Below is a listing of some of the rules that I'm suggesting we play by, but it will be a democracy and owners will have a chance to amend them if and when we see fit(majority rules).
1/12/2014 10:52 AM (edited)
Teams:
16-team format....2 leagues...2 divisions per league...4 playoff teams.
No WW, AAA, DH, or injuries.
No inter-league play during the regular season.
Yes to trades.  When dealing draft picks, only one year in advance.
Salary cap:  TBD...not sure if we will need one or should have one.  I'm open to suggestions from ownership along these lines.

Draft:
Initial draft will be serpentine, order determined by random.org.  26 rounds, one of which you will select your city & ballpark.  Looking at 1/2 hour slots so we will have 2 rounds per day and can complete the deal in 13 days.
Subsequent drafts will be worst-to-first based on CAREER wining percentage of the franchise.  This should prevent dynasties being promulgated and help bad teams get better in due time.
Players left undrafted will progress one year and be placed on a "supplimental list" and can be selected in subsequent drafts.
Teams will be considered whole when they reach their 25th player.  There will be no over-drafting or stockpiling of talent.

Ballparks:
This is the one area a little off the historical trail.  We will use 16 unique fields from the 40's, 50's & 60's.  I thought it would be a good idea to put these players in those baseball shrines we grew up reading about.  We also get to have exclusive parks, plus I am 100% sure they are all available in the WIS database.
We had a suggestion from one perspective owner that we use any of the franchise's available parks up through 1950.  I am amenible on this issue.  Again, I want the parks and cities to be exclusive, plus I want to make sure the parks exist in the WIS.  But I don't want a ballpark to be a deal breaker for any owner.

Team Names:
I won't waver on this.  The corresponding city name must be used, plus a "creative" nickname.  That means you can't name the team after an existing major league club.  If you wish to use a former name like the Cleveland Spiders or Pittsburgh Alleghenys, that is acceptable.  Keep them clean...you know the drill.

Roster Freeze Date:
Game 120 will be used for owners to submit their keepers for the next season.  Any player cut from a team's roster is gone from the league forever.  Owners will be 100% responsible for getting this list correct.  If you miss someone, you lose him.  Players without a current WIS season, but future seasons can be retained on a "reserve list", but they must be noted or they will be considered as cut.
The draft will begin on the Monday immediately following the end of the previous season's regular season.  Beginning with year 2, we will have 1-hour time slots.  The point of this is to keep things moving.
2/28/2014 3:18 PM (edited)
Available Ballparks (League is set up to allow teams to have exclusive parks, so when you chose a city, you choose a park):

NL East
Brooklyn-----Washington Park III or Ebbetts Field
New York NL-----Polo Grounds IV or Polo Grounds V
Philadelphia NL-----Philadelphia Baseball Grounds, Baker Bowl, or Shibe Park
Pittsburgh-----Exposition Park III or Forbes Field

NL West
Chicago NL-----West Side Grounds, Weeghman Park, Cubs Park or Wrigley Field
Cincinnati-----Redland Park, Palace of the Fans, League Park II(Cincy) or Crosley Field
Milwaukee-----Lloyd Street Grounds or County Stadium
St. Louis-----Robison Field or Sportsman's Park III

AL East
Baltimore-----Oriole Park IV or Memorial Stadium
Boston-----Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds or Fenway Park
New York AL-----Hilltop Park, Polo Grounds IV or Yankee Stadium I
Washington-----American League Park I, American League Park II or Griffith Stadiium

AL West
Chicago AL-----Southside Park III or Comiskey Park I
Cleveland-----National League Park II or League Park II(Cleve) or Cleveland Stadium
Detroit-----Bennett Park, Navin Stadium or Briggs Stadium
*Philadelphia AL-----Columbia Park, Jefferson Street Grounds or Shibe Park OR Municipal Stadium if you locate the team in Kansas City

* Owner has the option of locating the team in Philadelphia or Kansas City.

2/28/2014 3:13 PM (edited)
Sign-up List:

1-----thunderkat
2-----bottomlee
3-----keymaster
4-----crustydoc
5-----papabilly
6-----just4me
7-----bigjc
8-----ljemd
9-----cardsfan
10----yargespd1
11----dnmchill
12----dh0220
13----brian1648
14----funkybbfreak
15----Kings_Kid
16----eman7400

s-mail list:
bottomlee;keymaster;crustydoc;papabilly;just4me;bigjc;ljemd;cardsfan;yargespd1;dnmchill;dh0220;brian1648;funkybbfreak;Kings_Kid;eman7400
3/1/2014 9:47 AM (edited)
I like it...

Count me in, and I'd vote for no cap
1/10/2014 2:55 PM
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in, but I pose the same question as gratfoxx lets just start from 85!!
1/11/2014 12:01 AM
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i'd be interested if you end up going 1 season at a time. . .
1/11/2014 12:53 PM
Lots of great questions guys.  Here's how it works.  Your players progress 1 season at a time.  I'm using the 5-year period 85-89 to start up so we have enough players to go around.  But in year 2, any player you pick advances 1 year.  As for the 2nd season, again, they progress 1 season at a time.  The idea was to have plenty of players and not get into the fake AAA guys.  As far as my "march through time in double time" comment, we will move though the player pool faster as we have 2 seasons to choose from each year. 

So in answer to dh0220...yes we advance our players 1 year at a time.
In answer to sjstapleton, no we do NOT use the best year, we start with the rookie season and move 1 year at a time.
In answer to greyfoxx. your 1st year 2B from 1886 moves to 1887 in year 2.
In answer to keymaster, we just don't have enough players to go around to fill out the teams to simply start in 1885.  There are only something like 260 players total for 1885.  I wish we could, but that would mean we'd be looking for expansion owners in a couple of seasons and that's a whole other issue.

Really glad for all the interest guys.  I realize I didn't explain things well, but it will be a very simple league to follow.  I like simplicity.  Hope some of you decide to stay because I recognize the names as being great progressive owners.
1/11/2014 3:14 PM (edited)
All that said above....thanks bottomlee for making the commitment.  You're in as owner #2.

keymaster if you're still interested after my explanation above....welcome as owner #3.  Just let me know.
1/11/2014 2:50 PM
so basically we draft from 85-89 to fill teams, at some point, though we will go one year at a time? im in
1/11/2014 5:20 PM
welcome keymaster
1/12/2014 10:43 AM
In.
1/14/2014 9:22 AM
welcome crustydoc as owner #4
1/14/2014 3:18 PM (edited)
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