Preview: OWNES I: The National Game

Signup posted.

Edit: Goddamnit, NK. You messed up my bio.

Reserving a spot here.

Arrow Gamer said:

Signup posted.

Edit: Goddamnit, NK. You messed up my bio.

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Sorry. Let's schedule some exhibition games so you can feel better about it.

@ArrowGamer - would you mind moving to the Federal Association? I don't think it makes much sense for 2 teams from the same league playing in the same city. You may have to change some of your backstory around. My recommendation would be the FA putting a team in Chicago in the early 1900s to compete directly with the NA, although it's entirely up to you.

Assuming you switch - these are the leagues so far:

Federal Assocation

1. Providence Blues
2. New York Americans
3. Richmond Rebels
4. Washington Smokes
5. Chicago Railers
6. Philadelphia Warriors

National Association

1. New York Mohawks
2. Albany Half-Moons
3. Chicago Foxes
4. Omaha Barons

2 spots available in the FA and 4 in the NA. Boston, St. Louis, Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Detroit still have not been claimed by anybody. All of those cities boast populations of over 200,000.

Here's a visualization, thanks to NK for drawing it up:



Again, let me reiterate: poor Ohio/Detroit/Western Pennsylvania/Massachusetts

Hmm. I'll have them move from Pittsburgh, which is also how he managed the deal with Carnegie (old contacts).

Otherwise, I could just stick in Pittsburgh.

Which do you think would be better?

Again, let me reiterate: poor Ohio/Detroit/Western Pennsylvania/Massachusetts

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My personal suggestion for people joining (assuming Arrow stays in place):

Feds go to Boston and either Pittsburgh or Cleveland

Nats go focus in the Midwest, go to Detroit for certain, pick up the Eastern Midwest city the Feds don't go for, and maybe do Baltimore.

Being a Fed team is going to cost a lot less travel money, but the Nats have better reputation according to Owen, so it should balance out.

EDIT: I'd suggest Arrow goes to Pittsburgh because a Fed team that far out from the rest is going to be a travel nightmare for the other Fed teams /is being a hypocrite

I'm assuming Sam is going to start a Boston team.

(I remade the map with some additional stuff.)

Yeah, claiming a Boston team. I just need to actually do this at a reasonable time, so I can think straight

Arrow Gamer said:

Hmm. I'll have them move from Pittsburgh, which is also how he managed the deal with Carnegie (old contacts).

Otherwise, I could just stick in Pittsburgh.

Which do you think would be better?

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I think if you want to stick with the National Association you'd have to be in Pittsburgh (or Cleveland); if you switched to Federal you could definitely compete with me in Chicago.

Team Name: The Twin City Loons
City: Minneapolis, Minnesota, and St. Paul, Minnesota
League: National Association
Owners: Eugene Q. Claireau and Henrik Bjarnesson

The tale of the Twin City Loons is one of the most popular stories that the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul tell to confused (and probably lost) passerby.

The rivalry between the Minneapolis Miners and the St. Paul Statesmen was, as everyone knows, the rivalry that had transfixed the state for decades. It was made worse by the fact that the Miners were composed exclusively of Scandinavian Protestants, while the Statesmen were entirely made up of French, German, and Irish Catholics. Many fans thus supported their team of choice based on religious or ethnic identity, rather than their city of origin. The two would play each other every year in the famous Twin Series, which attracted tens of thousands of people to purpose-built stands for the occasion. These grew in intensity and passion throughout the 1880’s and 1890’s, becoming the sporting event of the year for the whole of Minnesota.

But tragically, the infamous disputed fifth game of the 1901 Twin Series ended in a massive outbreak of fighting and a stampede killing dozens, while the subsequent riots (the so-called Baseball War of 1901) torched entire blocks of property. The result was a call up of the state militia and a gubernatorial resolution disbanding both teams. In the wake of the disaster, players from the Miners and the Statesmen decided to form one team as a sign of brotherly love and tolerance. Naturally, they named their newly formed team after the noble Loon, the state bird and unofficial mascot of proud Minnesotans everywhere.

However, this resulted in a somewhat schizophrenic management arrangement as the team was composed of an ownership committee of two: Eugene Q. Claireau, an upper-crust St. Paul financier and scion of one of the oldest families in the state capital, and Henrik Bjarnesson, a self-made man who emigrated to Minneapolis as a boy and worked in the iron mines for decades before making a fortune in the brewing industry. The two were the respective owners of the Statesmen and the Miners before the formation of the Loons.

This arrangement has somehow lasted for two years despite Claireau and Bjarnesson being at each other’s throats, and several embarrassing losses to the amateur St. Cloud Saints. Despite the team’s difficulties with integration - One popular Minneapolis joke being that attending a Loons game was the best deal in town, since one got to watch three baseball teams play for the price of two – the Loons and their owners are now resolved to join the National Association and make a name for themselves at any cost.

---

Uniforms to come, watch this space.

North King said:

I think if you want to stick with the National Association you'd have to be in Pittsburgh (or Cleveland); if you switched to Federal you could definitely compete with me in Chicago.

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Yeah, this. Moving over from Pittsburgh would actually be really interesting. It could be the opposite of Ban Johnson having the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis to compete directly with the National League's Cardinals. It helps that the Pittsburgh Pirates historically had difficulty drawing crowds at this time. If you want to stay in Pittsburgh, that works too, however.

I think that Chicago is a little far from the entire rest of the FA, so the Feds urging a team to go there wouldn't make much sense. I'd think they'd want to consolidate on the North East, rather than have one team double their travel time.

I think I'll move to Pittsburgh.

City: Boston, Massachusetts
League: Federal Association
Owner: Sean O'Brien
Team Name: The Boston Minutemen
Backstory/Bio:
The Boston Minutemen were one of the teams brought in with the official creation of the Federal Association. Three teams - the Nantucket Whalers, the Boston Braves (one of the original 12 of the Federal Association), and the New Bedford Riders - decided to merge together when they heard about the official decision to make the Federal Association. With three teams merging together, each with its own owner, the teams decided to have 3 joint managers, each with equal power and requiring to consult the other two before acting. This, logically, caused many problems, and although the Minutemen managed to stay together through all of the trouble, they were in danger of breaking apart by 1900.
Along comes Sean O'Brien. Sean was the son of James O'Brien, a wealthy merchant who immigrated from Ireland in 1875 to start a new life, one which ultimately succeeded. Sean had been living in Sandwich, Massachusetts since he was 5, and always had loved baseball. After following in his father's footsteps, he had amassed a large amount of money from being a captain of his own merchant ship, and saw the suffering Boston Minutemen as a very risky investment with high potential. He bought the team in 1901, at just 31, and replaced the old ownership. Despite the turmoil of the following years, he helped repair the Boston Minutemen, and put them in position to be a winning team. The team mainly relies upon solid pitchers and amazing defensive players to shut down the opponent, and although it has average hitters, they can still produce wins.

@NK and the others who did this, how did you make those uniform templates/where did you get them?

I copied the file from Lucky's post and edited it in paint.

(Use Lucky's file rather than mine, btw, his is way easier to edit).

Arrow Gamer said:

I think that Chicago is a little far from the entire rest of the FA, so the Feds urging a team to go there wouldn't make much sense. I'd think they'd want to consolidate on the North East, rather than have one team double their travel time.

I think I'll move to Pittsburgh.

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That's more or less what the AL did to the NL, only moving from the Midwest into the Atlantic, rather than the opposite way.

Owen Glyndwr said:

That's more or less what the AL did to the NL, only moving from the Midwest into the Atlantic, rather than the opposite way.

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The AL was also the newer one of the two, and decided that they had an economic interest in moving eastwards to directly compete with the NL. The NL was already established at its time, and already existed long enough to have some reputation in its host cities. The AL simply had more economic interest to move east than the NL had to move west. Plus Arrow raises a good point about travel distances, and it would look neater on the map.

Plus, there's a team in Omaha and Albany. I don't think Pittsburgh would be too hard compared to them.

EDIT: Will there be NPC teams we have to compete with?

One more team and the Feds have a full league. GOOOOOOOOOOOO FEEEEEEEEEDS!~

If we keep our Chicago team, then a Pittsburgh team would be perfect. Otherwise, a Baltimore team?

A Detroit team could do well in the National League?

Omega124 said:

The AL was also the newer one of the two, and decided that they had an economic interest in moving eastwards to directly compete with the NL. The NL was already established at its time, and already existed long enough to have some reputation in its host cities. The AL simply had more economic interest to move east than the NL had to move west. Plus Arrow raises a good point about travel distances, and it would look neater on the map.

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meh, doesn't matter.

EDIT: Will there be NPC teams we have to compete with?

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If we can't fill all 16 spots then the rest will be NPC'd. Minor leagues will be npc'd and if you're trying to buy minor leaguers' contracts you will have to negotiate with npcs.

Sorry Arrow Gamer, but I live here and I am not letting you have it

A question: will OTL historical events outside of sports happen as OTL? So, for example, will WWI break out in Europe in 1914.

City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
League: Federal
Owner: Joshua Calvert
Team Name: The Pittsburgh Kings
Background:

To understand the Pittsburgh Kings, one must first understand Calvert Steel. It was founded by James Calvert (1837-1897), an poor Englishman who immigrated with his parents to New Jersey in 1834. After moving between bit jobs and after some good investments, in 1864, James opened his first steel mill along the Delaware River near Trenton, New Jersey, with a partner. The chemistry between the two never really gelled, and the mill began failing, but James was smart enough to pull out within a year. Moving to Western Pennsylvania, he founded a second, more successful, steel mill in 1870. This expanded into an steel empire within a decade. By the 1890s, James Calvert was one of America's richest individuals.

When James passed away from an unfortunate fall in 1897, his entire empire fell into the hands of his son Joshua (1876-). Joshua was recognized from an early age as brilliant. However, he is both somewhat of a recluse and quite lazy. It's clear to the few people who know him that the eccentric youngster never actually cared very much about Calvert Steel, much to the chagrin of his father. Indeed, it is uncertain why James gave Joshua the company to begin with. Joshua has by and large left its management to others and preferred to pursue his other, quite diverse interests, among which where the aforementioned Pittsburgh Kings.

The Pittsburgh Kings have their origins as a local club founded towards the end of the War Between the States by one Corporal Willard Taylor who had lost an arm during the Battle of Vicksburg, and initially played locally in impromptu games against similar local clubs. Their early rosters mostly consisted of unemployed war veterans, with Taylor acting as a unique one-armed pitcher, and were good enough. The Kings by 1875 had become Pittsburgh's premier baseball team. After merging with and/or absorbing several other local clubs and years of petitioning, 1881 was the Kings' first season in the Federal Association, and they performed but due to poor spectator turnout and a resulting lack of adequate funding the team struggled through most of its first decade and a half in the FA. That changed in 1894. Joshua Calvert had for several years developed an interest in the team that was quite literally playing in his backyard, and in 1894, he purchased the team with his father's money, possibly to spite James, and with the sudden influx of cash the team was able to rapidly climb to the top of the FA, even winning a pair of FA championships in 1897 and 1899. The increased success brought increased crowds, and to cope Calvert built the Kings a new stadium - Century Field - in Pittsburgh's South Side, which opened in 1900.

Uniforms: To come at a later time

OOC: I am pretending that Andrew Carnegie does not exist.