Here's an idea for a progressive league that would kick off by going through my own personal favorite decade of baseball, the 1970s. If we have great group of owners I wouldn't mind seeing it continue past that because there was still plenty of big hair and plastic grass in the 80s too.
I've been reading Dan Epstein's great book
Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A funky ride through baseball and America in the swinging 70s. It gives a season by season recap of all the great baseball from the decade with a focus not just on the big stars and historic moments, but also all the unique characters who populated the game during that era. Like the author of the book, 70s baseball was my introduction to the national pastime, and those players have always held a special place in my heart.
With the right owners, this should be a fun league, one with an active league forum and lots of chatter about the players from the 70s that are near and dear to our hearts.
How it would work:
20 team league, 4 divisions, no inter-league play, DH in AL only starting in 1973.
The following cities will be represented, you can "draft" your ballpark during any round of our regular 1970 draft. Team names must begin with your city/location, but can be creative and clever 70s references are encouraged.
AL EAST
Baltimore
Boston
Cleveland
Detroit
New York AL
AL WEST
California (Anaheim)
Chicago AL
Kansas City
Minnesota
Oakland
NL EAST
Chicago NL
New York NL
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
NL WEST
Atlanta
Cincinnati
Houston
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Ballparks have to be the actual ones used by the real-life counterpart to your team (so, for example, whoever takes New York AL will play in Yankee Stadium I from 1970-73, Shea Stadium from 1974-75, then Yankee Stadium II from 1976 on).
Our first draft will consist of every 1970 player and the 20 ballparks. Draft order will be randomly selected and the format will be serpentine. It will run for 28 rounds - 25 regular players per team, plus a ballpark, and two additional rounds where everyone selects four players to place in AAA.
Future drafts would follow a straight format and they'll be ordered based on w-l record with a 30 win minimum by the 120 game mark, with the four worst teams placed in an NBA-style weighted lottery to determine the first four spots in the draft.
If you're interested, sign up here, and you just want to talk 70s baseball, feel free to join the discussion. I'm not 100% sure of the start-up timeline for this yet, I want to make sure I schedule it so it doesn't conflict with the next draft in my 1946 post-war league. As we see how long it takes for us to get 20 owners, we'll work out the schedule specifics.
7/13/2010 2:57 PM (edited)