What Might have Been?

[Alan T]

I put this together a while back, but shelved it because of other stuff going on. I decided to pull this article back out in the slow lull between the season and the Classic.

Back in 1966, after the season it was decided that some of the teams would disgrace the baseball gods and dirty the pure game with the implementation of a designated hitter. The Baseball gods punished those teams by forcing them into a league together and not allow them to win a Fool Classic for more than 5 years. This is all besides the point of this article however, as we will discuss here what might have been if not for the realignment that occured between the 1966 and the 1967 seasons.

The 1966 season leagues were setup as:

CL:

New York Highlanders
Brooklyn Brownstones
Hartford Harpooners
Ann Arbor Wolverines (San Diego)
Boston Settlers (Long Island)
Baltimore Terrapins
Charleston Chew (Atlanta)
Long Beach Island Atlantics (Toronto)

RL:

Colorado Rancheros
Texas Copperheads
Compton Brothers
Valdosta Peanuts
Seattle Supersonics (Columbus)
El Paso Alligators (New Orleans)
Rio Grande Roadrunners
Chicago Comets



Teams that moved cities listed with what the current team is in parenthesis..

If these leagues had stayed the same, what would have been different? The initial first observation is that obviously both Valdosta and Colorado would not have both been able to continue their team dynasties that dominated the majority of the post-realignment era. What other teams would have stepped up? Would some new dynasty have been formed in the CL?

[Alan T]

Below is a listing of what the actual seasonal records were for every year, with below being a listing of what the league champions would have been in Blue without realignment.


1967:
CL: Valdosta 99-55 , Rio Grande 82-72, Texas 79-75, New York 79-75
RL: Ann Arbor 98-56, Colorado 80-74, Boston 80-74
Champ: Ann Arbor


oldCL: Ann Arbor 98-56
oldRL: Valdosta 99-55

1968:
CL: Rio Grande 98-56, Brooklyn 89-65, Valdosta 83-71
RL: Colorado 97-57, Ann Arbor 85-69, Boston 84-70
Champ: Rio grande

oldCL: Brooklyn 89-65
oldRL: Rio Grande 98-56

1969:
CL: Brooklyn 97-57, Valdosta 95-59, New York 91-63
RL: Compton 95-59, Ann Arbor 90-64, Hartford 86-68
Champ: Brooklyn


oldCL: Brooklyn 97-57
oldRL: Compton 95-59, Valdosta 95-59

1970:
CL: Valdosta 99-55, Rio Grande 85-69, Atlanta 82-72
RL: Compton 95-59, Ann Arbor 90-64, Colorado 87-67
Champ: Valdosta


oldCL: Ann Arbor 90-64
oldRL: Valdosta 99-55

1971:
CL: Valdosta 108-46, Atlanta 81-73, Brooklyn 80-74
RL: Colorado 88-66, Compton 85-69, Ann Arbor 85-69
Champ: Valdosta


Old CL: Ann Arbor 85-69
Old RL: Valdosta 108-46

1972:
CL: Valdosta 106-48, Atlanta 86-68, Brooklyn 84-70
RL: Colorado 96-58, Compton 83-71, Quad City 80-74, Boston 80-74
Champ: Valdosta


oldCL: Atlanta 86-68
oldRL: Valdosta 106-48

1973:
CL: Atlanta 97-57, Baltimore 91-63, Valdosta 90-64
RL: Colorado 90-69, Boston 89-70, Quad City 85-69
Champ: Colorado

oldCL: Atlanta 97-57
oldRL: Valdosta 90-64

1974:
CL: Valdosta 98-56, Atlanta 92-62, Rio Grande 81-73, Baltimore 81-73
RL: Quad City 90-64, Columbus 86-68, Hartford 79-75
Champ: Valdosta


oldCL: Atlanta 92-62
oldRL: Valdosta 98-56

1975:
CL: Toronto 93-61, Valdosta 91-63, Rio Grande 80-74
RL: Chicago 89-65, Columbus 85-69, Boston 80-74
Champ: Chicago


oldCL: Toronto 93-61
oldRL: Valdosta 91-63

[Alan T]

Now obviously you can't just assume the records would have been the same without realignment having happened as the competition levels differ between leagues and a team in one league may not faire as well or may do better in the other league. This is a fun exercise though for what may have been as you can obviously see some notable differences between history and what may have been.

The biggest difference that we notice is two different FOOL Champions wouldn't have even made the postseason in the old league format. 1973 FOOL Champion Colorado and 1975 FOOL Champion Chicago would both have ended up taking a back seat to a better record in their league.

Speaking of Colorado, they had going into this season the most postseason apperances in FOOL history with 7 (a number tied this season by Valdosta with their CL Championship). Without realignment, Colorado could have very well be in the shadows of Valdosta and been the all time bride's maid as their 1968, 1971, 1972 and 1973 postseason apperances would have all been topped by someone else in the old RL (Rio Grande in 1968 and Valdosta the other three years).

Valdosta's dynasty appears to not only have stayed on track with this alternate universe exercise, but it is hard to believe that they actually appeared in the playoffs even more with this setup. Valdosta failed to make the playoffs in 1968, 1969, 1973 and 1975 in FOOL history, but with this pre-realignment format, Valdosta ends up tied with Compton in 1969 for the best record, and would have won the 1973 and 1975 RL crowns for a run of 1969-1976 of making the playoffs.

Other teams that would have been helped with the old league format include Ann Arbor who would not have had to climb over Colorado and would have made the playoffs in both 1970 and 1971. Also Atlanta in the other league would have replaced the classic early 1970s FOOL Classic showdowns between Colorado and Valdosta with a new series of classics between Atlanta and Valdosta for the years 1972, 1973 and 1974.

Of course none of this really ever happened, and if things hadn't changed it is very probably that many of the team records and events would have been entirely different as well... It still is fun to wonder though, what might have been.

[muns]

Another awesome read Alan. Thanks for taking the time out to show us that stuff as well. I know i say it all the time and Ill say it again, this league is the king of all leagues. love this kida stuff

[Young Drachma]

That is really awesome.