**Time Travel Game Parts are required to use this set**
The release of this set continues our tradition of creating leagues and seasons that are often times ignored in other games.
The Players League features some very interesting elements for a replay. The top 5 teams were separated by 10 games, which keeps pennant races interesting. The league also features one truly awful team in the Buffalo Bisons who went 36-96 and finished 46.5 games behind pennant winner Boston.
Mark Baldwin of Chicago won 33 games on the mound and had an amazing 53 complete games. He also struck out 206 batters. Pete Browning led the league with a .373 average and 40 doubles. Hardy Richardson of Boston drove home 146 batters. And Hugh Duffy scored an astounding 161 runs for Chicago.
Here is a bit more about the league:
The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (sometimes rendered as Players League), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. It emerged from the Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players, the sport's first players' union.
The Brotherhood included most of the best players of the National League. Brotherhood members, led by John Montgomery Ward, left the National League and formed the Players' League after failing to change the lopsided player-management relationship of the National League.
The PL lasted just the one season of 1890, and the Boston franchise won the championship. Although known to historians as the Players' League, newspapers often reported the standings with the shorthand titles of "League", "Association" and "Brotherhood". The PL was well-attended, at least in some cities, but was underfunded and its owners lacked the confidence to continue beyond the one season.
In 1968, a committee appointed by Major League Baseball Commissioner William Eckert ruled that the Players' League was a major league.
The Players League Triple Crown leaders were Hall-of-Famer Roger Connor with 14 home runs, Pete Browning with a .373 batting average, and Hardy Richardson with 146 RBI. For pitchers, Mark Baldwin had 34 wins, Silver King had a 2.69 ERA, and Mark Baldwin struck out 211 batters.
On June 21 King threw an unofficial eight-inning no-hitter.
Oddly, in its one season of operation, the Players League saw seven triple plays: the Giants on June 14, the Red Stockings on June 30, the Pirates on July 15, the Pirates again on July 30, the Burghers on August 15, Ward's Wonders on September 6, and the Bisons on September 29.
Below you'll find several samples from the game.
A Sample Ball Park Card:
A Sample Talent Card:
A Sample Error Card:
A Sample Pitcher Flash*Card:
A Sample Hitter's Flash*Card:
1979 Time Travel Brochure:
This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 19 July, 2016.
