In 1994, baseball went crazy. No, I'm not talking about that whole didn't play a World Series for the first time since 1904 thing. I'm talking about the 4th team making the playoffs (if they would have happened) as a Wild Card team.

What if...the Wild Card had always existed? This theme is designed to determine which Wild Card team from history was the best and just never had a chance to prove themselves in a playoff series.

Select any team from 1903-1993 that would have qualified as the Wild Card team (highest winning percentage team that did not win the division). You can choose either the AL or NL Wild Card team from these seasons. (I'm working on a list for this).

This will be a direct replay. Use the "Load All Eligible Players From Historical Team" option when loading your team. That means no twisting, no players from the past/future, no AAA or anything like that. If the team you select has a player who played for multiple teams in a season, you can only use the portion of the season that he played for your team.

If the team you choose does not have 25 WIS players, you must fill your roster with sub-225K players from 1885-1899. If the team you choose has more than 25 WIS eligible players, you can choose who to leave off your 25 man roster.

Rules:
Cap - $100 million (but I don't think anyone will hit it - I think the 1927 New York Yankees are the most expensive team at $98 million).
AAA - Nope
DH - Since it didn't exist for all seasons, it won't exist here
Home Stadium - Must be the one your team played at in real life
WW - No
Trades - No
Clones - No
We will use the 24 team standard WIS format with Wild Cards for this league
Alignment - Will be based on seasons with the oldest teams selected in the NL East and the newest teams selected in the AL West

Future seasons - All teams that make the playoffs will be blacklisted.

Signups

1. frazzman80 - 1992 Milwaukee Brewers
2. crazystengel - 1930 Washington Senators
3. specsman - 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers
4. poddy - 1932 Philadelphia Athletics
5. italyprof - 1967 Minnesota Twins
6. midknight - 1920 Chicago White Sox
7. fillies - 1965 San Francisco Giants
8. national - 1905 Chicago White Sox
9. gees51 - 1978 Boston Red Sox
10. vinman300 - 1964 Chicago White Sox
11. wahoo54 - 1964 Cincinnati Reds
12. forte4him - 1923 Cincinnati Reds
13. greenmissile - 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers
14. frankallen - 1963 St. Louis Cardinals
15. rswift30 - 1933 New York Yankees
16. bublooo - 1980 Baltimore Orioles
17. gyrene - 1968 Baltimore Orioles
18. scottharra - 1935 St. Louis Cardinals
19. elsa - 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates
20. razorclams - 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers
21. discodemo - 1941 St. Louis Cardinals
22. national - 1967 San Francisco Giants (team 2)
23. mebyst - 1949 Boston Red Sox
24. mebyst - 1952 Cleveland Indians
25. Waitlist - elmerk

MLB115530

Smail List: frazzman80; crazystengel; specsman; poddy; italyprof; midknight; fillies; national; gees51; vinman300; wahoo54; forte4him; greenmissile; frankallen; rswift30; bublooo; gyrene; scottharra; elsa; razorclams; discodemo; mebyst; cmcafeeky

Eligible "Wild Card" Teams (Red means team has been selected - BIU teams are blacklisted since they made the playoffs in a previous season)

	NL	AL
1903	NYG (.604)	PHA (.556)
1904	CHC (.608)	NYY (.609)
1905	PIT (.627)	CHW (.605)
1906	NYG (.632)	NYY (.596)
1907	PIT (.591)	PHA (.607)
1908	NYG or PIT (.636)	CLE (.584)
1909	CHC (.680)	PHA (.621)
1910	NYG (.591)	NYY (.583
1911	CHC (.597)	DET (.578)
1912	PIT (.616)	WSH (.599)
1913	PHI (.583)	WSH (.584)
1914	NYG (.545)	BOS (.595)
1915	BSN (.546)	DET (.649)
1916	PHI (.595)	CHW (.578)
1917	PHI (.572)	BOS (.592)
1918	NYG (.573)	CLE (.575)
1919	NYG (.621)	CLE (.604)
1920	NYG (.558)	CHW (.623)
1921	PIT (.588)	CLE (.610)
1922	CIN (.558)	SLB (.604)
1923	CIN (.591)	DET (.539)
1924	BRO (.597)	NYY (.586)
1925	NYG (.566)	PHA (.579)
1926	CIN (.565)	CLE (.571)
1927	STL (.601)	PHA (.591)
1928	NYG (.604)	PHA (.640)
1929	PIT (.575)	NYY (.571)
1930	CHC (.584)	WSH (.610)
1931	NYG (.572)	NYY (.614)
1932	PIT (.558)	PHA (.610)
1933	PIT (.565)	NYY (.607)
1934	NYG (.608)	NYY (.610)
1935	STL (.623)	NYY (.597)
1936	STL (.565)	DET (.539)
1937	CHC (.604)	DET (.578)
1938	PIT (.573)	BOS (.591)
1939	STL (.601)	BOS (.589)
1940	BRO (.575)	CLE (.578)
1941	STL (.634)	BOS (.545)
1942	BRO (.675)	BOS (.612)
1943	CIN (.565)	WSH (.549)
1944	PIT (.588)	DET (.571)
1945	STL (.617)	WSH (.565)
1946	BRO (.615)	DET (.597)
1947	STL (.578)	DET (.552)
1948	STL (.552)	BOS (.619)
1949	STL (.623)	BOS (.623)
1950	BRO (.578)	DET (.617)
1951	BRO (.618)	CLE (.604)
1952	NYG (.597)	CLE (.604)
1953	MLN (.597)	CLE (.597)
1954	BRO (.597)	NYY (.669)
1955	MLN (.552)	CLE (.604)
1956	MLN (.597)	CLE (.571)
1957	STL (.565)	CHW (.584)
1958	PIT (.545)	CHW (.532)
1959	MLN (.551)	CLE (.578)
1960	MLN (.571)	BAL (.578)
1961	LAD (.578)	DET (.624)
1962	LAD (.618)	MIN (.562)
1963	STL (.574)	CHW (.580)
1964	CIN (.568)	CHW (.605)
1965	SFG (.586)	CHW (.586)
1966	SFG (.578)	MIN (.549)
1967	SFG (.562)	MIN or DET (.562)
1968	SFG (.543)	BAL (.562)
1969	CHC (.568)	DET (.556)
1970	LAD (.540)	NYY (.574)
1971	STL (.556)	DET (.562)
1972	HOU (.549)	CHW (.565)
1973	LAD (.590)	BOS (.549)
1974	CIN (.605)	NYY (.549)
1975	LAD (.543)	BAL (.566)
1976	LAD or PIT (.568)	BAL (.543)
1977	PIT (.593)	BAL or BOS (.603)
1978	CIN (.571)	BOS (.607)
1979	MON (.594)	MIL (.590)
1980	LAD (.564)	BAL (.617)
1981	CIN (.611)	BAL (.562)
1982	PHI (.549)	BAL (.580)
1983	ATL (.543)	DET (.568)
1984	NYM (.556)	TOR (.549)
1985	NYM (.605)	NYY (.603)
1986	PHI (.534)	NYY (.556)
1987	NYM (.568)	TOR (.593)
1988	CIN (.540)	MIN (.562)
1989	SDP (.549)	KCR (.568)
1990	NYM (.562)	CHW (.580)
1991	LAD (.574)	CHW (.537)
1992	CIN (.556)	MIL (.568)
1993	SFG (.636)	NYY (.543)

Hold in case

From:

contrarian23

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 10:50:00 AM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

I will play again, and will keep the 1909 Cubs if they get shutout this time around.

From:

italyprof

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 10:52:00 AM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

I am in Frazier. Great compromise idea on your part.

I forget - any chance the 1974 NY Yankees - who finished just two games behind the Orioles - are a "wildcard that wasn't" team? If not how about the 1970 Yankees - who inexplicably won over 90 games?

Thinking about my next move, but the 1962 Dodgers have been fun and if our luck holds we might be one of the blacklisted teams, which is fine with me.

Happy New Year !


Holding the 1974 Yankees in case his current team is blacklisted.

From:

winnetka1

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 11:26:00 AM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

Frazier,
I liked the realism in the league. I'll go again but will take a different team this time.
Thanks,
Jim

From:

Poddy

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 11:40:00 AM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

I am in

From:

crazystengel

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 11:43:00 AM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

Yeah, I'll keep my team if I don't make the playoffs. If I do make the playoffs, I'll have to do some research...

From:

redwingscup

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 12:05:00 PM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

I'll go again.. Looks as if my '14 Bosox are a playoff bound team, but if they falter, I'd use them again and tweak things a bit. redwingscup

From:

frankallen

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 2:15:00 PM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

Good morning Frazier,

I would like to comeback for season 2 since my current team is completely done for season 1. I would change to a different franchise for season 2.

From:

roadhouse19

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 5:37:00 PM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

I'm in

From:

fillies

To:

frazzman80

Received:

1/7/2016 9:49:00 PM

Subject:

RE: What if the Wild Card Always Existed - Season 2?

Message:

I'm in for next season....not sure if I'll take the same team....

I am in for the 1974 Yankees. Thanks.