My Buck O’Neil Project

I have had this blog project on my “Someday/Maybe” list for a long time, and I am happy to let you know that I am about to launch the Buck O’Neil Project. I have always wondered how the great players from the Negro Leagues would have performed versus members of baseball’s Hall of Fame. I also wanted to share the stories of these legends. This blog/simulation project will address both of these goals.

I will be simulating a baseball season of 112 games using Strat-O-Matic’s Negro Leagues and Baseball Hall of Fame card sets. The Negro Leagues card set includes 103 legends. I divided those players among 8 teams, then supplemented 153 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Technically 152, but I will discuss that in a post on Roster Construction.)

Each team will have two lineups, one will play on the road and the other will play at home. Each lineup will have 4 Negro League position players and 4 Hall of Fame position players. There will be a DH for each lineup. Teams will play 4 games per week, so there will be 4 starting pitchers and these will be evenly split from both card sets.

Each day I will share the results of the simulated games, as well as tell the story of one of the Negro Leagues legends. Since there are 103 legends and 112 games, I will add stories of 9 other legends. (Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, …)

In the days leading up to opening day (Thursday April 9) I will be sharing posts that get into the details of roster construction, my inspiration for this project, resources, etc. I hope you enjoy this, and I hope it inspires you to learn more about these legends.

– George