Premise:
In 1886, American workers carried out a national strike demanding the 8-hour workday as the normal legal working day. While it would take another 54 years before their demand became the standard (the Wages and Hours Law of 1940, which also provides for time and a half pay for over 40 hours a week), we commemorate that historic movement with a new Progressive League:
The 8-Hour Progressive League will be a 12-team league starting in 1886. We will use WIS league format D, which allows for two leagues of 6 teams with inter-league play.
In 1886 there are in the WIS Database 181 position players with full or combined seasons, essentially full individual seasons (188 full or combined player seasons, with 7 repeats that I found, so 181 actual players available). This is 15 per team in a 12 team league.
There are 76 pitcher seasons that are full or combined, of which 6 repeat giving us 70 pitchers, or 71 actual pitchers. This comes to 6 and one-third pitcher per team.
So we would be about 5 players per team short of 25. We will fill our rosters by drafting 200k players in the Draft Center (which may also be used) and with 6/4 Below Average AAA.
The player numbers go up around the turn of the 20th century, so at some point we will discuss expansion to 16 teams when it becomes feasible, and it may be that before that we can do without the 200K and AAA players.
Draft Rules:
The 1886 Founding Draft will be random order and serpentine. Subsequent Drafts will for the first 3 seasons - 1887-9, use W-L record to determine draft order in round 1 (the team with the worst record drafting first) and then be serpentine in order. From 1890 on, the cumulative W-L record over the previous 4 seasons will be used to determine draft order, with the team with the fewest wins over that 4 year period drafting first in round 1 and again using a serpentine order for all subsequent drafts.
Ball Parks and Teams:
Two rules to give our league a good sense of fake authenticity
:
1. NO MAJOR LEAGUE FRANCHISE CITIES: all teams must have a city or region name but these must not be the cities or states that have been represented by MLB in the 20th and 21st centuries.
So let's have Newark, Syracuse, Louisville, Durham, Terre Haute, Austin, Homestead, Little Rock, Mobile, Burlington and other places represented by teams. Team names can be what owners like but anything that reflects the origin era ("the industrials", "the beaneaters", "the white stockings" etc.) will be more fun.
2. We will use almost only very early stadiums for the first decades of our league. A list of parks will be posted after dinner time in Italy, cause I have to put chicken and potatoes in the oven now.
More later.
"Friendly neighborhood italyprof".
Okay, I am back with enough time before the chicken cooks to post the list of available ballparks:
American League Park I Washington 1901-2
American League Park II Washington 1903-10
Baker Bowl Philadelphia 1895-1938
Bennett Park Detroit 1901-11
Braves Field 1915-1952
Columbia Park Philadelphia 1901-8
Comiskey Park Chicago 1910-90
Cubs Park Chicago 1920-25
Ebbets Field Brooklyn 1913-1957 - taken
Exposition Park III Pittsburgh 1891-1909
Forbes Field Pittsburgh 1909-1970
Griffith Stadium Washington 1911-1960
Hilltop Park New York 1903-1912
Huntington Avenue Boston 1901-11
Jefferson Street Ground Philadelphia 1871-1891
League Park I Cleveland 1901-09
League Park II Cincinnati 1890-1901
Lloyd Street Grounds Milwaukee 1901-11
National League Park II Cleveland 1887-90
Navin Park Detroit 1912-37
Oriole Park Baltimore 1901-2
Palace of the Fans 1902-11 taken
Philadelphia Baseball Grounds Philadelphia 1887-1894
Polo Grounds IV 1891-11
Redland Field Cincinatti 1912-33
Robison Field St. Louis 1893-1920
South End Grounds III Boston 1894-1914
South Side Park III 1901-1910
Sportsman's Park II St.Louis 1902-08
Washington Park III Brooklyn 1898-1912
Weeghman Park Chicago 1916-19
West Side Grounds Chicago 1894-1915
OBVIOUSLY THE TEAMS, BEING IN SMALL CITIES NOT REPRESENTED HISTORICALLY IN MLB, WILL BE FROM DIFFEERENT CITIES THAN THE PARKS THEY PLAY IN AS THEIR HOME FIELDS.
SIGN UP
1. italyprof
2.mini157 -
Eastern Idaho Potato Pickers. Palace of the Fans
3.bluecrewfan -
Ebbets Field Brooklyn
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