My 1908 Replay
Getting to Know the Second Project
My 1908 Replay
I’ve got a confession to make.
I’ve been cheating on you.
Well, okay, it’s not quite that dramatic. I’ve been “cheating” in the sense that I’ve been playing another project at the same time as my 1949 replay. I’ve been playing it with another game, and I’ve been doing so without telling this blog about it.
Now, if you’ve been following the YouTube channel, you already know about this replay. I’ve shown a few of these games on camera.
I decided to start playing games on camera largely to keep myself honest. I started this replay at the same time as the 1949 replay, but had a hard time making sure that I was actually playing games at a steady pace.
Part of this is because I planned on hiding this replay from the blog until we were through with April. I thought I’d make it into a big surprise, that it would give me some extra content when 1949 stopped feeling so fresh and exciting, and that I could draw from a new audience all at the same time.
My mistake, though, was forgetting about just what a compelling season 1908 is.
NPIII
I’m playing this with the Skeetersoft NPIII game.
I don’t have time here to do this game justice. I consider NPIII to be the pinnacle of baseball board simulation. It’s what we might call an “APBA derivative,” though it deviates significantly enough from APBA to be an original game in its own right. It’s also quite accurate for a game that can be played in 15 minutes or less.
We’ll get into the history of APBA and NPIII as time goes on. I’ll warn you, though: it’s going to take a few months to get everything out. There’s a lot of baggage here, as well as a lot of really interesting insights.
Standings
Enough with the chit-chat, though. Let’s see how the season is going so far.
We’ve played a total of… two games for each team:
I told you that I haven’t done much with this replay!
I should also note that I’m playing this one with the original as-scheduled schedule, not the as-played one that most people use (and that comes standard with NPIII). There are numerous reasons for this, as I explained here. Of course, in 1908 this is even more important, due in large part to the crazy things that took place in the final few weeks of the National League season; more on all that later.
I’m also using my own lineups, which means you’ll get upset with me when you see the boxscores. Feel free to curse at me over on Twitter, or, if you’re generous enough, to sign up for a paid account to throw rotten fruit at me in the comments section of these posts.
Seriously, though, you’re going to be happy that I’m doing this season alongside 1949. 1908 is one of the greatest seasons in baseball history, and it’s about more than just dominating pitching. This is going to be a lot of fun, and we’re going to learn a lot of great baseball history together.
Plus, the old newspapers are simply amazing. I mean, just check out this shot of Hilltop Park from the New-York Daily Tribune:
If that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will.