40: A Baseball Lover's Challenge

Inspired by this & this.... (I think the D'backs still lose, tho.:p)

Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it...is to a) start professional baseball as soon as possible after the first organized game in Ontario in 1838; b) have the pro league, by whatever name, incorporate as many other leagues (such as the Federal & Continental Leagues) as possible, rather than destroying them; c) have teams stay where they were founded (Boston Pilgrims, Brooklyn Dodgers, so forth); d) have a 40-team league in 2009. Bonus points for every Canadian team. Extra bonus points for incorporating Negro Leagues players (teams!) before 1947.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
Whoof. My head's spinning. I'm going to have to think on this one for awhile. It's going to take something big to integrate the leagues, like when the football teams in the US were uniting during the Second World War.

So you're looking for more Canadian teams than just Toronto and Montreal (R.I.P.)? Ottawa, maybe...and Vancouver...my gears are turning. Let me think on this for awhile. Did you have any ideas bouncing your noggin?
 
So you're looking for more Canadian teams than just Toronto and Montreal (R.I.P.)? Ottawa, maybe...and Vancouver...my gears are turning. Let me think on this for awhile. Did you have any ideas bouncing your noggin?
I'm looking for any or all the above, whatever pleases you.:D (I notice this should probably be in pre-1900, too.:eek: Oops.) Cities? Vancouver &/or Victoria seem likely. Calgary or Edmonton? I'm not sure what the minimum city size would be. (Not a baseball fan myself, see... I offer this for those who are.) I didn't suggest it, but I wouldn't rule out Puerto Rico, either. Also, I wouldn't leave out early/greater numbers of Latins, tho if you manage the Negro Leagues, that may get butterflied.

For me, the biggie is how credible the 40 team league looks, but I'd also like a look at how early it might get done, if it's even possible. I look at the likes of the Fed League & think they'd never have been formed if there wasn't a demand there. (Also, I gotta say, I'm a sucker for some of the old team names, so I'd love to see 'em survive.:))

One other thing crosses my mind, but not a requirement (tho if somebody wants to try it on, by all means:cool:): what about a profit-sharing arrangement? All the teams put all their income into a League fund & split evenly, with the idea of not having any 1 (or few) rich teams teams (Yankees...:p) being able to buy a league title every year. My thought is, this would allow teams to be more even, keep play more even & competitive (between more even teams), & as a result, actually encourage fans to come out (who wants to see a blowout every game?), & enable more overall profits. Am I full of shat?
 

MacCaulay

Banned
For me, the biggie is how credible the 40 team league looks, but I'd also like a look at how early it might get done, if it's even possible. I look at the likes of the Fed League & think they'd never have been formed if there wasn't a demand there. (Also, I gotta say, I'm a sucker for some of the old team names, so I'd love to see 'em survive.:))

The more I mull it over, the more I can only see something like that happening if the Canadian leagues were larger, and then World War II came around. That way, when the the troops were drafted, the Canadian teams would try to coalesce into with the American teams in the 1940s.
After the war ends and the troops come home, then the US and Canada could put their teams back in order and possibly start playing each other. You could have 50+ teams by that point.
Perhaps around the 1960s, with baseball clubs costing more money, some will probably end up folding, but it may move the Canadian and American clubs into making a unified baseball league.

That's the rough idea. I might be able to make a timeline, but it would be REALLY rickety. But it is really interesting to think about sports AH.
 
In an earlier version of "If Baseball Integrated Early," which I deemed too far-fetched, I I had the majors stay at 20 teams rather than suffer because of the Depression, and thengo back to 16. Then, Jack Kent Cooke got his native Toronto a team in 1952. As it is, it's pretty much just the normal way Canada got its teams.

So, you have a problem even after you shorten the Civil War and have baseball integrated from the beginning. You're going to have to keep these leagues going through the Great Depression, without contraction.

One thing that helped baseball move beyond the New Yorks and other places was the Civil War, so perhaps that can be earlier. Let's say George Washington lives, and through butterflies Jefferson is also a bit richer so he can also free his slaves, and in 1820, as a testimony to Washington's efforts (he dies shortly before), gradual abolition is passed in Virginia. It continues in other states but the Deep South continues to balk. Slave revolts are butterflied away, and slavery is due to be out in Virginia by 1850. Van Buren, who has grown to dislike slavery (a Free Soil candidate 4 years later) wins election in 1844, and the Deep South states, after numerous problems, secede when Van Buren won't pursue war with Mexico to expand slavery.

A Civil War 12-15 years earlier can allow the forerunners of baseball to spread its interest, and you might get only a 1-2 year war, with only the Deep South seceding. then, with slavery being abolished about 1850 by Van Buren (who has run for and won a 3rd term), an adventurer with a lot of money might try to finance a professional team that tours in the early 1850s, going out to the independent California Republic, with the dual purpose of trying to get them to merge with the U.S..

Perhaps a couple of Candadians can be on the team, too. This could let there be organized leagues by 1860, and if Canada has a more established set of rules, a Canadian team could have been invited to join the National Association in 1860.
 
Just where do you expect to find the talent. Especially in the pithing rotations?IMO there are too many MLB teams for the talent pool now.
 
You can have teams all over the continent by 2009. There would be a problem of travel before the mid-1950's: teams traveled by rail, since jet airplane flights were not universally available. Look at the map. The westernmost team was St. Louis in 1954 and Kansas City in 1955. Same for the south: St. Louis, Cincinnati and Washington were as far south as the teams went. Sure, Ontario and Quebec would have been good options since they had rail connections.
 
Just where do you expect to find the talent. Especially in the pithing rotations?IMO there are too many MLB teams for the talent pool now.
Actually, based on population (not even allowing for more Latin, Cuban, Mexican, & Japanese players now) the number of teams is way below what the talent would allow (compared to the #teams/%pop in the '30s & '40s), which is why I picked a 40-team league, which is what the U.S. pop alone would support. I'd say it could go higher...
 

MacCaulay

Banned
Just where do you expect to find the talent. Especially in the pithing rotations?IMO there are too many MLB teams for the talent pool now.

I've got to agree with Pacific on this one. Cuba's got a great program, and they're dirt poor.

Besides, if baseball's more popular, then more folks are going to want to play.
 

Xen

Banned
Perhaps a different MLB format? I've read in Europe they have various levels of professional teams, not too indifferent from our minor leagues in the US & Canada, but rather than having teams relocating or leagues expanding poor performing teams (think the St Louis Browns of yesteryear) get demoted into a lower ranking league while a better performing team (Baltimore Orioles of yesteryear) get promoted to take their place. If those teams want to become top level again they have to perform really, really well and prove they are a top level team. That might make American/Canadian sports a little more competitive and more fun to watch.
 
The MLB expands to have the Asian League, the Central League, and the American National League.

The playoffs will have two teams represented from each league and two wild cards. Placement on the tree will not depend on location on the planet but solely by stats (WP, taking into the account the difficulty of opponents and decisiveness of games.)
 
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