It's July 6th in Alt-1924. About a week ago in our timeline, Harry Sinclair was indicted for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal, which had been brewing for two years. After a long and sordid process, Sinclair served a 6-month prison sentence in 1929. He was an avid sports investor, owning horse farms and an interest in the Indianapolis Hoosiers. In 1915 he purchased the Hoosiers outright and moved them to Newark, ending that investment when the Federal League folded in 1915.
In Alt-1924, the relocation of the Hoosiers to become the Newark Peppers is one of the main points of departure (though see below) and in the world building (such as it is) was one of the things that led the AL and NL to settle with the FL and absorb 4 teams. Sinclair, who responded to the real-life end of the Peppers by trying to buy the Cardinals, would presumably enjoy his new status as a major-league team owner and would still be owner on July 6th, Alt-1924. By all accounts he enjoyed owning the real-life Peppers even as they lost money.
So, I think the (sort-of philosophical) questions that I'm Doylistically facing are:
- Is there a Teapot Dome scandal in Alt-1924? Is Harry Sinclair involved? Did he just get indicted?
- Is Harry Sinclair even the owner of the Peppers?
- Regardless any of that, does it matter if Sinclair did get indicted and he owns the Peppers?
- Regardless of any of that, does it make sense that the Peppers would move, which is kind of the only consequence I should be caring about or can keep track of?
To tackle #2 first--the rationale for saying no to any/all of these is that there have clearly been a lot of really important changes to make Alt-1924 different from our 1924 in one blazingly-bright important way: Black ballplayers take the field along white teammates in American League and National League games (as well as minor league ones). So, whatever happened to enable that (and I have some vague ideas but no concrete canon), and also whatever happened to enable me to pretend WWI didn't happen (or didn't involve the USA), and to wave away the Mexican Revolution and Prohibition and make Haiti more prosperous and... Well, with whatever happened to do those things, why would we expect Harry Sinclair to even exist let alone own the Peppers let alone be indicted in the Teapot Dome Scandal let alone think that scandal existed?
And I think the answer to that, in part, is that however my canon has been evolving based on various implications I've realized, Harry Sinclair has always been part of canon. As noted in the first sentence of the second paragraph, I considered Sinclair's move of the Hoosiers to Newark to be an important (baseball) event in this timeline. I put Sinclair Oil ads on the walls in Newark's home stadium and in other stadia through the Northeast. If I'm going to write Harry Sinclair out of the story, there's no particular reason to have real-life players in this simulation like Ty Cobb or Oscar Charleston.
Backing up to #1, it's less clear. The Teapot Dome Scandal was presumably a confluence of a bunch of things, and while Sinclair is clearly a part of canon, Warren G. Harding and his administration needn't be. This is especially true given that at least in my unwritten headcanon Lincoln served out his full second term, the Philippines are independent, etc. So, Sinclair could still be a well-regarded businessman enjoying his middle-age years by owning a (terrible) major-league baseball team. So maybe that makes sense. I'm trying to keep in mind that I want to do what's most fun for me and I'm also hoping to make things as happy for the people in this timeline as I can. :)
For #3, does it matter? Yeah, I think given the norms and expectations of the era, he's going to have to sell the team.
So, with the recognition that #1 is still unsettled let's tackle #4. The Peppers and their former-Fed cohort are halfway through their tenth season in the majors. Let's see how they've done so far:
- Baltimore: 669-871 .434 total, best record 81-81, best finish 6th, 3.22 million total attendance, $1.8M total balance, 6th-best current minor league system
- Buffalo: 694-844 .451 total, best record 83-79, best finish 4th, 3.99 million total attendance, $2.8M total balance, 14th-best current minor league system
- Kansas City: 687-854 .446 total, best record 91-71, best finish 3rd, 3.77 million total attendance, $2.5M total balance, 17th-best current minor league system
- Newark: 665-873 .432 total, best record 80-82, best finish 6th, 3.69 million total attendance, $2.2M total balance, 16th-best current minor league system
By these measures Buffalo looks like the most successful of the teams, though I'd actually give it to KC for their multiple finishes above .500 and 3rd place finishes--they're dragged down by some atrocious years c. 1916-1918. Whether Newark or Baltimore is worse isn't clear. Their overall records and best records are basically a tie, and Newark has out-drawn and out-earned Baltimore. Baltimore is in much, much better shape in terms of its minor league system and looking forward, though. Having said that, their pitching situation looks dire. Going one level (or two) deeper, Baltimore's AAA team has won a PCL pennant and finished 2nd in the PCL last year, and their AA team won last year's Southern League and AA championships, and both teams lead their leagues this year. Newark's minor league teams have never finished higher than 3rd.
Baltimore isn't going to move. Ned Hanlon is the owner (using similar logic as Sinclair, he's in canon), he lived until 1937, he had done multiple things since 1909 to keep professional baseball in Baltimore. It's tempting to compare some of the less-successful non-FL teams in this period as well and speculate about their futures (the Browns fare worse in all of the categories above than any of the ex-FL teams), but that's another post. This is a post about the Peppers and what they might do.
"Relocate the team" is certainly a reasonable idea for what they might do. As for where, I think that should be a second post since I think this one has gone on plenty long by now...
