July 1, 1909 – by Ronald Schmidt The 1909 draft is over, and the Brewers faithful look at the results with mixed feelings. Last season’s draft left a bitter taste after two first-round picks left unsatisfying results. Philadelphia always stared at the draft with suspicion. Successful seasons meant lower positions in the draft order. But…
Protests Distract Whales, Delay Ballpark Construction
During the 1909 off-season, the GM/Manager of the Brooklyn Whales, Marques Williams, made the calculated decision to trade star centerfielder Hyman Rickward to the Western League. The decision may have made sense from a baseball perspective–CF Elroy Soame has dazzled with the glove in his debut as a regular starter in Brooklyn–but one group of…
Kensington Jones calls it a career
Kensington Jones calls it a career Twin City Empire’s GM John Meeker sat in his seat , looking out the window of the lounge car of the train as the countryside went by. Opening Day 1909 had come and gone, and the Empire was off to a 4-3 start, and were on their way to…
St. Louis Reds 1909 Preview
HI Folks! It has been awhile but it is Harry Musgrave back once again to shed some light on 1909 St. Louis Reds. They had a surprisingly good season last year, one in which they finished with the second best record in the Western League but a quite a distance behind Cleveland. If it had…
The League vs The Brewers
When the OSA published their annual preseason predictions, most Brewers fans raised their eyebrows: Bottom last of the division with a 49-71 record. But it was strange that they were almost correct in their assumption. The Preseason October 1907 had two significant events for the Brewers. Outfielder Arnold Hill signed a contract worth nearly $67,000….
Winds of Change Sweeping Through Detroit
On June 14th, 1908, a crowd of about 3,000 spectators witnessed a comeback victory for the Chicago Doves over Great Lakes Division rival Detroit at The Old Grounds. The famous baseball stadium, at less than half-capacity, was missing an unmistakable energy. An energy that was once familiar to The Old Grounds and the city of…
Victory Bread
(Written by Steve M.) Victory BreadBy Moe Nash Dear Mr. Henri,It was with regret that I retired from the Legacy Baseball League at the youthful age of twenty-six years.It became clear that my rookie season at age 20 was a happenstance of luck more than skill as mynumbers would never come close to the .726…
A Captain’s Duty
It had been four straight years of playoff disappointment, but the streak looked like it could extend to half of a decade. For the second consecutive year, Brooklyn and Richmond had battled to a standstill in the Eastern League Cup 2-2. The Western League Champion–a familiar foe from 1901 and 1902–had already been declared with…
New Face on the Allegheny – Pittsburgh Oilers Welcomes Mr. Saylor as New General Manager
As the 1908 Legacy Baseball season came to a close with the Brooklyn Whales defeating the Twin Cities Empire five games to one, the Pittsburgh Oilers had finished in a respectable 3rd place in the Frontier Division of the Western League, with an even 60-60 record. The Oilers’ owner, Chester Colfax had decided a new…
New Cranes Take-Off
With the 16th pick of the 1908 amateur draft, the Brooklyn Whales selected 18 year old outfielder Erwin Ford. Ford, a tall and slender switch hitter with a sweet swing had proven himself to be an excellent hitter in the Legacy Baseball Academy League with a career slash line of .278/.409/.524 (152 wRC+) with 47…