It has been several years since I left whatifsports and I'm glad to finally be back. I hope some of my old rivals will join me as I begin a brand new long-term progressive and I also look forward to meeting some of the newer owners whom I haven't yet played against.

When I started WIS' first ever single-season progressive, the Centennial League, we had to begin in 1969 because 24 team leagues were the only option available to us. I remember at the time wishing that I could go back further in baseball history and have a league with the classic 16 franchises. Since we're able to do that now, I definitely wanted my new league to be set further back in time than my original creation.

I considered a few different starting points, but the one I decided on was 1946. That was the year that the "boys came back home" en masse from World War II, so it is an appropriate starting point for my "homecoming" league here at WIS.

The Homecoming Progressive League:

Basics:

16 teams, 4 divisions. Alignment will be based on real-life NL/AL affiliation.

No AAA
No DH
No WW
Trades OK
H2H for current series only
255 M. cap

Ballparks/team names:

Teams must use the ballparks and team names that their corresponding real-life franchise used in 1946. They will have to change stadiums and relocate when their real-life franchises did (ie: the Braves will move from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953).

Initial Draft:

The initial draft will be run through the forums and will consist of all players in the sim for the 1946 season. The draft will run in a serpentine format (1-24, 24-1) and the order will be made randomly. Obviously, players will be exclusive to their teams. Draft picks may be traded, including during in-season play, or while in off-season mode. They can only be traded from the current season or the following season.

Future Drafts:

Future drafts will consist of all unprotected players and rookies for subsequent seasons and will be conducted in a straight format (1-24, 1-24). To prevent tanking, the worst four teams in the league at the 120-game mark will be entered into a draft lottery to determine who will have the first four selections in the rookie draft. The rest of the order will be determined by inverse order of regular-season record. If an owner misses their first round pick, the commish will make a pick for them at the end of the day so their team doesn't get behind. Subsequent rounds will be in inverse w-l record order.

Keeper Lists:

There are no restrictions on keeper lists, you may keep or cut as many players from your previous year roster as you want.

Injured Reserve:

If a player is not listed in the WIS database, he will be placed on the I.R. so he doesn't take up a roster spot. It is up to each owner to list any non-listed players on the IR list when they post their keepers. Any players not listed as IR will become free agents when they return to the sim.

Trading Draft Picks:

You may only trade draft picks from the current year or ones from the next year.

Player Positions:

A player may only play at positions he is rated at.

If you are interested:

Post here in the thread, and select your franchise/ballpark. They will be distributed first come/first serve, I will be playing in Shibe Park with the Phillies.

I am hoping to get a good group of committed owners who intend on staying in the league long-term.  I once had to leave suddenly myself, so I understand that things can happen, but I am fully committed to running this league for years to come and hope that I am lucky enough to find a strong group of core owners for what should be a great league.

Sign-up list:

1. seaphil - Philadelphia Phillies
2. chargingryno - Chicago Cubs
3. occsid - Detroit Tigers
4. jt111583 - Boston Braves
5. sinatra - Chicago White Sox
6. jeff4noles - Pittsburgh Pirates
7. Husker75 - Cincinnati Reds
8. cardinaldave - St. Louis Cardinals
9. ollym - Boston Red Sox
10. kermit - Philadelphia Athletics
11. tkcronin - New York Giants
12. verbal kint - Washington Senators
13. bigjc - New York Yankees
14. rsp777 - Cleveland Indians
15. crazyamos - Brooklyn Dodgers
16. robboogi - St. Louis Browns

sitemail list: seaphil; chargingryno; occsid; jt111583; sinatra; jeff4noles; husker75;cardinaldave; ollym; kermit; tkcronin; verbal kint; bigjc; rsp777; crazyamos; robboogi

Franchise/Ballpark list:

NL EAST:

Boston Braves (Braves Field) - jt111583
Brooklyn Dodgers (Ebbets Field) - crazyamos
New York Giants (Polo Grounds V) - tkcronin
Philadelphia Phillies (Shibe Park) - seaphil

NL WEST:

Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field) - chargingryno
Cincinnati Reds (Crosley Field) - Husker75
Pittsburgh Pirates (Forbes Field) - jeff4noles
St. Louis Cardinals (Sportsmans Park III) - cardinaldave

AL EAST:

Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park) - ollym
New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium I) - bigjc
Philadelphia Athletics (Shibe Park) - kermit
Washington Senators (Griffith Stadium) - Verbal Kint

AL WEST:

Chicago White Sox (Comiskey Park I) - sinatra
Cleveland Indians (Cleveland Stadium) - rsp777
Detroit Tigers (Briggs Stadium) - occsid
St. Louis Browns (Sportsmans Park III) - robboogi

I hope that no one considers it too bad of form for me to select my park first, but if I'm going to have a long-term franchise that I get to build from scratch, I really do want it to be the Phillies.

The Phils have been my team since birth, and my franchise in the original Centennial was in Shibe Park, so I must plead sentimentality...

welcome back seaphil!  I'll sign up with the Cubs and Wrigley Field - 

your Centennial progressive was my first full draft progressive, hopefully I have improved some since then!!  

Welcome back seaphil, I will take the Tigers in Briggs Stadium

I'd like to play. Boston Braves please.

Welcome aboard guys, glad to have 'ya!

allright, seaphil.  I started in the CL and I'll start in this one, too.  I'll once again take the White Sox.  I look forward to playing against you again.

I would like to plead that you consider easing on the "player may only play positions that they are rated at" rule.  especially in the 40s and 50s, that can become VERY difficult to do without severe fatigue issues.  I played in another progressive from this era and it was occasionally necessary to start a guy at 1B or OF that was not rated there.

I'm open to tinkering with that rule. Anyone else who has experience with late 40s/early 50s leagues and this issue, please offer your two cents.

Welcome to the league Sinatra!

I'd like to get in on this one and welcome back phil. I'll go with the Cincinnati Reds and Crosley Field.

I do agree with sinatra about easing up on the rated at rule. Some slots come up pretty short on ABs' and there are alot of players who played multiple positions during their tenure.

You got it Dave!