Federal League Twist (FULL - waitlisting) Topic

This is one for the baseball history enthusiasts...

In 1914 and 1915 the Federal League played as a third major league.  This was the last effort to start a major league that actually played games.  The Federal League was comprised of eight teams.  In 1914 there were franchises in Baltimore, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Pittsburg, and St. Louis.  In 1915 the only change was the Indianapolis franchise moved to Newark.  The various Fed franchises managed to sign a fair number of players who had MLB experience and also signed players from the upper minor leagues who would go on to play in the AL and NL after the Federal League collapsed – so we should be able to put together reasonable twist teams, which is the goal here. 

The baseball-reference.com page for the Federal League is here.
 
We will run the 1914 and 1915 seasons as the two leagues in a 16 team WiS season.  There will be no interleague play so the seasons will be independent of one another until the two pennant winners face off in the World Series.  I’ll use the sim-league option that has two four team divisions in each league with the division winners facing off in the LCS.  Alignment will be based on the order teams finished in the actual Federal League season, top 4 records in the East division, bottom 4 records in the West. 
 
Assignment of season/franchises will be random.  Once we fill I’ll use random.com to assign franchises.  Since the two seasons will run independently owners are welcome to have a team in both seasons if they choose.  I will ensure no one who plays a team in both seasons ends up with the same franchise in ’14 and ’15.  When you sign up please indicate if you want one franchise or two
 
Beyond that this will be a standard twist league.  Draft a roster of guys who appeared for your franchise/season, choosing any major league season of their career.  The WiS database includes Federal League seasons, so you may use one of those seasons if you wish, or an AL or NL season.  
  • No clones, DH, WW, or trades
  • $80 mil salary cap
  • AAA will be 6/4 average
  • $200K exemption:  Allowed to draft three $200k position players and two $200k pitcher from any season; these players cannot appear in games/must be replaced with AAA
  • Draft a minimum of 5500 PAs and 1350 IP
Stadiums:  The WiS database does not include most Federal League stadiums.  The Chicago and Pittsburgh franchises played stadiums used by other ML teams in other seasons, so obviously those franchises will play there.  [Interesting historical note…Wrigley Field was built by the Chicago FL franchise and originally called Weeghman Park.  At the time the Cubs played in a stadium on the west side of Chicago and moved to Wrigley after the FL collapsed.]  Beyond that I've assigned stadiums below.  I have used stadiums that were contemporary and geographically close.  When I had options I tried to match hitter friendly-ness/pitcher friendly-ness with the way bb-r characterizes the actual Federal League parks the teams played in.  Here are the stadium assignments:

Baltimore Terrapins             Griffith Stadium
Brooklyn Tip Tops                 Washington Park III
Buffalo Blues                         League Park II (Cleveland, OH)
Chicago Whales                     Wrigley Field
Indianapolis Hoosiers           Comiskey Park I
Kansas City Packers              Robison Field
Newark Pepper                     Polo Grounds V
Pittsburgh Rebels                 Exposition Park
St. Louis Terriers                   Sportsman’s Park III
6/11/2014 1:43 PM (edited)
Owners:
  1. sevenfifty5 - 2 teams
  2. 2chair
  3. fatboydad54 - 2 teams
  4. contrarian23 - 2 teams
  5. magicdreamer
  6. dbrom
  7. tdoak
  8. specsman
  9. tribe_fan_09
  10. alice
  11. bronxcheer
  12. Drawdexer
  13. Galveston
Owner list: sevenfifty5; 2chair; fatboydad54; contrarian23; magicdreamer; dbrom; tdoak; specsman; tribe_fan_09; alice; bronxcheer; Drawdexer; Galveston

6/16/2014 7:35 AM (edited)
Team draw:

1914 Season – National League
 
East
Indianapolis               88-65             contrarian23
Chicago                      87-67             alice
Baltimore                    84-70             Drawdexer
Buffalo                         80-71             Galveston
 
West
Brooklyn                     77-77             fatboydad54
Kansas City               67-84             sevenfifty5
Pittsburgh                  64-86             bronxcheer
St. Louis                     62-89             dbrom
 
1915 Season – American League
 
East
St. Louis                      87-67             fatboydad54
Chicago                      86-66             tdoak
Pittsburgh                   86-67             specsman
Kansas City                81-72             tribe_fan_09
 
West
Newark                       80-72             magicdreamer
Buffalo                        74-78             contrarian23
Brooklyn                     70-82             2chair
Baltimore                   47-107           sevenfifty5
6/16/2014 7:39 AM (edited)
I will try one team
6/7/2014 9:41 AM
I like this idea a lot. I will take two teams.
6/8/2014 1:22 AM
Have always wanted to do an FL theme.  I'll take 2 teams as well.

I haven't looked too closely at the rosters, but some look pretty lean in terms of total # of players - are you sure all 16 teams can create a 25-man roster using the rules you've outlined?
6/8/2014 9:44 AM
Glad to have you contrarian.  I've built quick teams for about half of the squads, mostly the sub .500 finishers, to make sure this is possible.  I have not stumbled across a team that doesn't build a reasonably competitive twist team.  Is there a particular team that looks like it might be a problem?  I wouldn't mind expanding the $200k exemptions if there is.
6/8/2014 1:58 PM
I'll take one team
6/8/2014 9:14 PM
I'll take a team.  Sounds like a lot of fun
6/8/2014 9:32 PM
I will take a team, too.
6/8/2014 9:36 PM
i'll take one
6/9/2014 5:53 PM
I will take one team.
6/9/2014 10:41 PM
I am in for one.
6/10/2014 1:00 PM
i'll take a spot
6/12/2014 4:22 PM
OK. I'll play.
6/14/2014 2:23 PM
12 Next ▸
Federal League Twist (FULL - waitlisting) Topic

Search Criteria

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.