After a brief hiatus to simulate 52 years of history, we return to baseball!

While the modern-day Monti Bizarro league was reborn in the year 2003, its roots actually go back much further, back to more than a century ago.  Monti Bizarro baseball was born in 1900, with 32 teams (16 per league) compromising most of the geographic United States, including teams from Alaska, Honolulu, and even Puerto Rico.

1900-1916: The Early Years
The league’s inaugural season was an exciting one, and electrified the nation into what would become one of the defining cultural phenomena of the early 20^th century.  Starting out with a random draw of players, all teams were evenly matched throughout the whole season – the best team was .593, and the worst was .401, and a full 12 teams were between .480-.520.  The Salt Lake City Jazz of the NL Central, the league’s best team at .593, ended up winning the championship over .525 San Antonio of the AL South in a 4-3 duel.  Several players emerged in the inaugural season, who would dominate and define much of the league’s early period.  1B Mitchell Thomas of Fresno almost won the batting line crown, posting a .367 AVG, .444 OBP to lead the league, and narrowly missing the slugging crown with a .678 SLG.  The biggest story of the year, however, was Leonard Bowers of Green Bay, a young 2B slugger who set the bar at 64 homeruns in his rookie season, far and away above the second highest total, 45 HR by Fresno’s Mitchell Thomas.  On the pitching side, Raleigh’s John Deleon dominated the league with a 2.39 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, en route, not to mention 22 wins and 286 K’s – 1 K shy of a triple crown.  Over in the NL, a mix of players topped the headlines – Fayetteville’s Rory Smith, a fantastically young RF, projected to be the golden boy of baseball’s era, had a strong first season, and Albany’s Bill Coleman played the role of dominant veteran hitter, putting up a .305-.452-.603 line.  Los Angeles’ Juan Lamere, the steady OBP machine, topped the league with a .454 OBP.  The inaugural season also saw Indianapolis’ Robert Tookes win the pitcher of the year award with a 2.51 ERA and 0.98 WHIP, while St. Cloud’s Lee Turner began a streak of four seasons leading the league in strikeouts.

The team to beat in the first few years was Fayetteville.  Already adorned with baseball’s golden child, Rory Smith, they also saw the steady rise of SS Kevin You, who started with the team in 1900 as a scrawny defensive SS and steadily developed into one of the best contact and power hitters in the game.  Fayetteville, led by the Smith-You duo, won back-to-back championships in 1903 and 1904, but an injury late in the season sidelined You, and the Fayetteville Musketeers declined to sign him for the following season.  Even without You, Fayetteville went on to win the championship again the following year, this time with Smith joined by surprise Triple Crown winner Blake Yelle, who overwhelmingly won the Pitcher of the Year and Triple Crown (tops in wins, K’s, and ERA) that year.  The magic would run out soon after that however – the team managed to muster a rousing 100-win season in 1907, led again by strong performances from Smith and Yelle (another Cy Young for Yelle).  They would lose to Los Angeles 4-2 in the league series, and staff ace Yelle would leave in the offseason for Johnson City while Rory Smith began a steady decline after 1908 and Kevin You emerged as the best player in the league for league rival St. Cloud, and the Fayetteville Musketeers faded back to the mean, but not before securing their place as the first dynasty team – the league would not see another such team until the Fresno and Elmira powerhouses more than a decade later.  How much longer their run could have lasted had they retained Kevin You, however, will never be known – certainly an uninjured You in 1905 would have won the championship, and a Smith-You-Yelle combination would have assuredly dominated for the 1907 season.

Overall, the first few years in the league were a tumultuous one – many of the players who had entered, especially in the inaugural season, tended to have shorter careers, and the quality of pitching was extremely erratic.  Several players settled down, however, and cemented their place as the founding fathers of the league:

Rory Smith (inducted into Hall of Fame 1914), Fayetteville Musketeers Rightfielder: Projected as the face of Monti League baseball from the start, the 24-year-old rightfielder failed to disappoint in a steady career that spanned 14 seasons.  He stayed with his original team, the Fayettevile Musketeers, for his entire career as their franchise player, and led the club to championships in 1903 and 1906, while winning the Batter of the Year award in 1905.  He retired with a .278-.417-.582 line in over 1,975 games after the 1913 season, as one of the best and most consistent players in his generation.

Shawn Whitcher (inducted into Hall of Fame 1915), Lake Charles Regals Leftfielder: The switch-hitting leftfielder had very humble beginnings.  He was the first ever non-inaugural year player, being the first pick of the 1901 rookie draft.  He broke into the big leagues that same year, playing 68 games and accumulating 222 at bats to a .266-.337-.387 line.  From there, Whitcher would begin a steady pace of development, breaking out with 28 homeruns and .344-.415-549 line in his first full season the next year, and continuing a power climb to 34, 41, 47, 52, and finally 63 homeruns in 1907.  Whitcher would top 50 homers four times, and top 60 homers twice, en route to winning the 1908 Batter of the Year award.  Despite this individual success, Whitcher was never able to lead the Regals to success – the team often dipped below .500 and never came close to making the playoffs.  Nonetheless, Whitcher remained with the team and retired with the second highest career HR total at the time with 552, along with a .297-368-.573 line.

Leonard Bowers (inducted into Hall of Fame 1916), Greenville Vikings Second Baseman: The unlikely Leonard Bowers burst onto the scene in the first 1900 season, smacking a .318-.387-.717 line with 64 homeruns en route to winning the first Batter of the Year award.  The Roger Maris of the early era, after this amazing one-year performance, Bowers quickly settled down to normal levels, perhaps accelerated by the mysterious power drought of 1901.  He came back roaring in 1902, with a .336-.417-.659 season and another Batter of the Year award (becoming the first ever two-time winner), but never reached the same level of production after that.  Unable to reach the same raw homerun levels, Bowers subsequently remade himself into one of the most consistent doubles hitters in the game – over 14 full seasons he failed to reach 40 doubles only three times, and retired as the career leader in doubles with 630 (he also had 490 homeruns), along with a nice .295-.377-.560 line.

Juan Lamere (inducted into Hall of Fame 1916), Los Angeles Jams Second Baseman: A completely different brand of hitter, Juan “Scoops” Lamere played a steady and calculated ball.  Over the course of 16 full seasons (only 13 of them full), he hit a steady stream of homeruns, although he only surpassed 40 twice, but remarkably led the league in walks six times, and never placed lower than 3^rd.  He also led the league in OBP seven times, and never placed lower than 6^th in his career.  He won the Batter of the Year award in 1903, and finished far and away the league leader in walks and OBP, and while playing the Los Angeles was a consistent playoff contender (making the playoffs 10 out of 16 seasons), although they never won a championship (bittersweetly, the Jams would finally go on to win the championship in 1916, the year Lamere retired.  Lamere retired with a .299-.452-.529 line, and never had an OBP under .400 until his last three (all part time) seasons.

Daniel Burpo (inducted into Hall of Fame 1917), Austin Cowboys Leftfielder: While few could have predicted it, the quiet and steady-hitting Daniel Burpo, over his long career, would become far-and-away the all-time career home run leader.  He retired after the 1916 season having accumulated 661 homeruns, more than 100 more than his closest peer.  Surprisingly, however, he led the league in homeruns only once in 1910, although he placed in the top 5 consistently (12 times in 15 full seasons).  He also placed in the top 5 of slugging 12 times, and the top 5 in OPS 9 times, won his only championship with Pittsburgh (his first team) in 1905, and was selected as Batter of the Year three times in 1907, 1910, and 1912.  He retired with a .294-.399-.587 line.

Johnny Hutchings (inducted into Hall of Fame 1918), Enid Bandits Leftfielder: One of the most prolific power hitters of the era, Hutchings had a relatively short career, spanning only 11 full seasons.  He won the rookie of the year award in 1905, with an impressive .305-.351-.541 debut.  He proved the following year that his standout rookie season wasn’t any kind of fluke – he exploded with a .317-.373-.633 season, just reaching the 50 homerun plateau, and winning the Batter of the Year award.  From then on, Huchings went on a rampage, hitting 50 homeruns for SIX consecutive seasons, and once more in 1913, a feat that didn’t come close to being equaled until the power era decades later.  He was named Batter of the Year a then-record five times from 1906 to 1913, and placed either first or second in homeruns eight times over his 11-season career.  Despite such a stellar career, Hutchings retired having never won a championship, losing in consecutive years in 1913 and 1914.   His career effectively finished after 1916, and he retired at 34 with 514 homeruns and a .298-.373-.577 line.

Kevin You (inducted into Hall of Fame 1919), St. Cloud Angels Shortstop: Baseball’s second golden child, Kevin You rose to prominence as Rory Smith’s side-kick in the Fayetteville organization.  You started out slowly, hitting a quiet .236-.304-.334 as Fayetteville’s shortstop in 1900.  From there, he began to rise steadily, and by 1903 the team knew it had another potential superstar on its hands.  That season You hit .368-.470-.602, mostly on the strength of singles (only 35 doubles and 29 homeruns) Combined with Rory Smith, Fayetteville proceeded to dominate the next season, winning its second consecutive championship, while You emerged as the postseason hero (Smith was injured late in the season) and Batter of the Year, and arguably an even bigger star than franchise player Smith.  With momentum going into the 1905 season, and a healthy Smith, big things were predicted.  You was proceeding onto another career season when he was sidelined with a shoulder injury in early May, and Fayetteville failed to repeat its championship streak.  In perhaps the most shocking move in the history of the league, Fayetteville allowed You to enter the free agency market, where he signed a $25.7 million per year deal with St. Cloud.  The move proved fatal for both Fayettevile and You – after a surprise resurgence, Fayetteville would plunge in the standings with more free agent departures and the steady decline of Rory Smith.  You, meanwhile, finally had his definitive season in 1906, when he hit .360-.468-.719 and 56 homeruns and 162 RBIs to win his second Batter of the Year award.  His St. Cloud teams, however, partially burdened by the enormity of the $25.7 million contract, could never muster the ability to compete – he would go to the playoffs only twice with them in 1906 and 1912.  After 1911, as new talent washed in, You began to struggle, and he faded into the obscurities of washed-up veterans for his final six seasons.  Over his career, You won two championships with Fayetteville, won three Batter of the Year awards, and led the league in AVG four times.  Discounting his final few years, You also carried one of the highest career batting averages ever, topping .360 four times.  He finished with a .306-.408-.528 line, with 530 homeruns, 3078 hits, and 2049 runs (career leader at the time).

Clayton Sing (inducted into Hall of Fame 1919), Enid Bandits Starting Pitcher: A rarity in the early era, Clayton Sing began in the 1905 season and emerged as perhaps the only consistently dominant pitcher in the era (he’s the only one in the Hall of Fame).  From 1906-1912, Sing absolutely dominated the league, leading the league in ERA four times and leading the league in WHIP six times, while never placing worse than 2^nd.  Like Hutchings, however, Sing was stuck on mediocore Enid teams throughout his career, and as a result led the league in wins only once, and won only two Pitcher of the Year awards in this span.  He retired after 1918, after a short 13 full seasons, with a 230 wins, 3.30 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 3000 K’s in 3408 innings.

Warren Brown (inducted into Hall of Fame 1920), San Antonio Hombres Leftfielder: Playing for three teams (San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Boston) over his career, Brown never brought particular dominance in any aspect of his game.  What he brought instead, however, was a five-tool act that could both hit for power and speed along the basepaths.  Brown’s .278-.371-.527 was good, but not great, but along with his 515 homeruns Brown also successfully stole 442 bases.  He never won the Batter of the Year, nor any championships, and retired in 1920.

Timothy Gagnier (inducted into Hall of Fame 1921), Fayetteville Musketeers Centerfielder: Over a fairly long 15 year career, the multi-talented Timothy Gagnier put together an impressive collection of stats.  Most notably, he would break Leonard Bowers doubles records, and grab the steals title by a very large margin.  He entered the league in 1904, and after several years in Austin, settled with Fayetteville in 1911 as the team’s new franchise player, just around the time of Rory Smith’s decline. Over his career, he won Batter of the Year twice in 1909 and 1914, and hit 3079 doubles, 754 doubles, 220 triples (to this day the career leader), 444 homeruns, and collected 684 steals while putting up a .299-.349-.544 line.

1917-1933: The Pitchers’ Golden Era
Beginning in 1916, and coming full force in 1917, a dramatic shift in the game occurred.  For most of baseball’s early era, the balance had been evenly matched between batters and pitchers.  In 1916, however, Barry Staub of the Los Angeles Jams  posted the first-ever sub-2.00 ERA season, with a 1.93 ERA.  The following year, Anthony Rakestraw led the league at 2.16 ERA, while Staub and two other players all rounded out the top four with ERA’s in the 2.30s.  What followed was an unprecedented 11 seasons with at least one leading pitcher’s ERA under 2.00, and was highlighted in 1922 when four pitchers posted sup-2.00 ERAs, including Bradley Hawkin’s record 1.08 ERA for Honolulu.  The era would also see several dynasty teams founded on the dominant pitching of the era.  In particular, both Elmira and Albuquerque had strong three-peat teams (Elmira from 1919-1921, Albuquerque from 1926-1928), while Fresno was one of the best teams throughout the whole era, winning 5 world series and losing another 2 from 1915-1929.

A record 6 starting pitchers were admitted into the Hall of Fame during this era, compared to only one (Clayton Sing) before and two (Gilbert Doney, Robert Carmichael) in the years after.

Booker Bateman (inducted into Hall of Fame 1925), Alaska Oilers Shortstop: One of the most prolific power hitters of his era, the longtime Alaska shortstop hit 564 homeruns in a career that overlapped much of the pitcher-dominant era.  He began his career in 1905, but it wasn’t until 1915, coincidentally the start of the pitcher’s era, that Bateman really emerged.  He would lead the league in slugging and OPS for the next four consecutive years, and over his career he would lead the league in homeruns five times, with such low totals as 44 in 1918, 36 in 1919, and 42 in 1920.  Disappointingly, the low budget Oilers were never competitive – Bateman played in the playoffs only twice in 1909 and 1912, before he really emerged as a difference maker. Nonetheless, he won four Batter of the Year awards in 1915, 1916, 1918, and 1920, and retired with 564 homeruns and 2847 hits in a late-blooming career, while putting up a .284-.394-.525 career line.

Scottie Smith (inducted into Hall of Fame 1925), Nashville Guitars Leftfielder: Often paralleled with Timothy Gagnier, the multi-talented Scottie Smith was a talented leftfielder who could both hit and steal.  He also ultimately endured far longer than Gagnier, something which enabled him to become the league’s all-time hits leader with 3756 hits and the league’s all-time steals leader (by a large margin) with 917 steals.  He finished with a .291-.364-.430 line.

Daniel Briner (inducted into Hall of Fame 1926), Raleigh Colonists Leftfielder: A consistent power hitter his whole career, the hard-hitting Briner never flashed huge homerun numbers (he only led the league twice), but by the time he retired was #2 all-time on the HR list, despite playing a significant portion of his career in the post-1916 pitching climate.  Briner dominated as the best hitter for much of the 1910’s – from 1911-1920 he led the league in slugging eight times, and was never out of the top 10 (a streak he actually maintained from 1910-1921).  He also led the league in OPS 7 times in that same span.  Briner finished with a .297-.370-.534 record, and won four Batter of the Year awards and the 1909 championship with Raleigh.

Barry Staub (inducted into Hall of Fame 1926), Los Angeles Jams Starting Pitcher: One of the pioneers at the start of the Golden Era, Staub posted the first ever sub-2.00 ERA season in 1916, and for that fact alone he might be enshrined into the Hall of Fame.  Staub broke into the league in 1908, was sent back down to the minors for 1909, and finally made his way back up in 1910.  In his first four seasons, he posted ERAs of 6.00, 5.89, 4.18, and 4.04.  He finally broke out in 1913, however, with a 2.65 ERA, 1.22 WHIP season.  From 1913-1922, Staub would lead the league in ERA 7 times, and also led the league in WHIP five times from 1916-1922.  He left his original team Defiance in 1915, and started with the Los Angeles Jams in 1916, the same season where he broke out with a 1.93 ERA and led the Jams to their first championship (the year after Juan Lamere’s retirement).  Staub ended his career with 242 wins and a 2.86 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, along with 3275 K’s in 3525 innings, while winning the Pitcher of the Year award four times.

Bradley Hawkins (inducted into Hall of Fame 1929), Honolulu Surfers Starting Pitcher: One of the better pitchers of his era, Hawkins was a workhorse pitcher (leading the league 7 times in inning pitched, and finishing with 4529 innings) who had sporadic eras of dominance.  In 1919 he broke out with a 1.43 ERA while winning 30 games, and in 1922 he posted the league record 1.08 ERA.  He won the Pitcher of the Year award four times (1915, 1919, 1920, 1922) and led the 1924 Honolulu Surfers to the championship.  He retired with 335 wins and a 2.67 ERA, 1.16 WHIP in 4529 innings.

David Roles (inducted into Hall of Fame 1930), Honolulu Surfers Third Baseman: The latter era’s Juan Lamere with power, David Roles put together a long 20 year career.  While winning batter of the year only once and winning the 1924 championship with Honolulu, Roles put together a combination of power (three slugging crowns, four homerun crowns, and 588 career homeruns (#3 at the time)) and patience (consistently top 5 OBP, walks leader five times) to become one of the most well-rounded batters of the era (six OBP leads from 1915-1925).  He retired with a .257-.398-.511 line and broke Lamere’s walk record with 2350 of his own.

Gary Trudell (inducted into Hall of Fame 1931), Merced Swordfish Starting Pitcher: While never a WHIP or ERA pitcher (he led the league twice in 1915 and 1924 in both categories), Trudell was the most prolific strikeout pitcher of all-time, amassing 5008 K’s over 4904 innings, although he only led the league three times.  He won the Pitcher of the Year award in 1924, and won a championship in 1922 with Merced.  He retied with 317 wins, a 3.24 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 5008 K’s in 4904 innings.

Anthony Rakestraw (inducted into Hall of Fame 1932), Fresno Cornhuskers Starting Pitcher: Hands-down the most dominant pitcher ever, Rakestraw starred throughout his career, winning the Pitcher of the Year award 6 times.  He led the league in ERA seven times, WHIP ten times, and K’s eight times.   From 1922-1927, Rakestraw posted not only six consecutive seasons  with a sub-2.00 ERA, but also six consecutive seasons with a sub-0.90 WHIP.  Rakestraw cornerstoned the Fresno dynasty that dominated throughout the era, winning 6 championships (including the 1913 championship that isn’t even a part of this era).  He retired with 345 wins, a 2.41 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 4801 K’s in 4687 innings.

Clifford Hare (inducted into Hall of Fame 1935), Fresno Cornhuskers Second Baseman: Perhaps the biggest victim of the pitcher’s era, Clifford Hare emerged in 1918 as the second baseman for the Fresno Dynasty.  He played only 15 full seasons, but in that span absolutely dominated the league by wide margins.  He led the league in slugging five times, topped the league in RBI’s five times, and led the league in homeruns eight times.  What is shocking is the sheer power Clifford Hare demonstrated during this era – he topped 50 homeruns three times in an era where the league leader often struggled to hit 40.  In 1924, for example, Hare led the league with 54 homeruns, while runner-up Darin Cooper hit only 38 (and the next-best AL hitter hit 33).  In 1930, Hare hit 53 homeruns while 2^nd place William Evans hit only 37.  Nonetheless, his dominance during this era won him a gaudy seven Batter of the Year titles, including four consecutive from 1922-1925, and he joined Rakestraw to lead the Fresno dynasty to three championships.  Despite his dominance, Hare ended his career with only 548 homeruns and a .280-.334-.518 line.

Matthew “Gasoline” Sheffer (inducted into Hall of Fame 1938), Seattle Waves Starting Pitcher: One of the most lights-out pitchers of the era, Sheffer not only challenged the all-time K record at 4902, but is undoubtedly had the best K rate – he pitched nearly 5000 K’s in only 4423 innings, making for a 9.97 K/9 innings career rate.  He also led the league five times, won the Pitcher of the Year award in 1926 (a hard feat among Rakestraw and Staub and Hawkins).

1933-1951: The Re-emergence of the Hitter
Radical changes began in 1933, as the league intervened to bring the hitting side of baseball back into balance.  Within the span of a few years, the balance shifted radically back to the side of the hitters – players such as Kenton McClinton and Thomas Harvey entered the league and began to pound away at pitching, resulting in a shattering of many of baseball’s hallowed hitting records and a complete havoc on many pitching staffs.  No team emerged to really dominate the era, and at the end of the 1940s, the rampant hitting and other-worldly statistics made obvious the pervasion of steroid use in the league.  With fans disgusted and the statistical conventions threatening to go haywire, the league folded after the 1951 season.

Gilbert Doney (inducted into Hall of Fame 1942), Lake Charles Regals Starting Pitcher: While he started his career in the Golden 20’s and was already very well-accomplished by the time that era ended around 1932, what separates Doney from the rest of the pack is his continued success after the Pitcher’s era and into the Hitter Re-emergence.  Doney led the league in wins four times between 1935-1939, and dominated the complete games category sporadically throughout his career.  He won a single Pitcher of the Year award during the Pitcher’s era (in 1927), but subsequently dominated with three Pitcher of the Year awards later in 1932, 1935, and 1937, all while well into his 30’s.  He also won championships with St. Cloud in 1925 and Lake Charles in 1938, and finished with 333 wins, a 3.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 3985 K’s in 4786 innings.

Kenton McClinton (inducted into Hall of Fame 1951), Lake Charles Regals Catcher: The hitter who came to epitomize the 1933-1951 Hitter’s era, McClinton broke onto the scene in 1935, right around the start of the period, and ignited the baseball world with an other-worldly .352-.443-.806 line, with 71 homeruns.  From then on McClinton proceeded to absolutely dominate the league – he won the Batter of the Year award 8 times, including a five-time span between 1935-1939.  He won the Triple Crown twice, and perhaps put up the most impressive season in history with his 1942 season: 203 RBI’s, 166 Runs, 88 Homeruns, 56 doubles, and a .396-.495-.993 line for an unheard-of 1.488 OPS.  Over his career, he led the league in AVG three times, OBP three times, SLG eight times, OPS seven times, homeruns seven times, and RBI six times.  He won three championships with Lake Charles, and retired with a .323-.419-.700 line and an astounding 944 homeruns.

League Records

Most World Series Apperances

* Denotes active player at the end of 1951

Most Batter of the Year Awards

Most Pitcher of the Year Awards

Career Hits

Career Homeruns

Career Doubles

Career Triples

Career Walks

Career Steals

Career Wins

Career Strikeouts