Though founded formally in 2003, Polo Grounds Baseball can trace its roots back as far as 1984, with the formation of an unnamed face-to-face keeper league in a suburban Minneapolis basement. The new start-up would feature four future PGB managers before splintering after five years and re-structuring around a more unified core of managers. Playing a similar face-to-face format, the re-structured league endured for another 13 seasons, notably playing the bulk of games at the Godfather’s Pizza party room in Brooklyn Park, MN, and boasted eleven future PGB managers. Upon near-dissolution of that league, the Polo Grounds Athletic Club was founded in early 2003 as a computer-based Autoplay league, for the first time adding managers scattered across North America. With today’s lineup of Groundouts forming as strong and passionate core as ever, Polo Grounds Baseball remains firmly positioned as an organization inextricably linked to the wellness and security of citizens from around the globe. 

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THE COSMIC ERA

March 1984: After a decade of toiling with stock MLB and old-timers leagues, a ragtag collection of ten ne’er-do-wells began their first voyage into the underworld of keeper leagues, drafting 330+ AL players over two Saturdays in March. The top five draft picks were Alan Trammell, Cal Ripken Jr., Robin Yount, Rickey Henderson, and Julio Franco.

1984-1988: Although nobody really used the term, the league became loosely known as Cosmic Table Entities. A recent Google search yielded the following AI summary, which is a surprisingly accurate depiction of the league: “Cosmic Table Entities likely refers to lists of powerful, often primordial beings from fictional universes, rather than a single scientific or philosophical concept.” Although short-lived, CTE set the wheels in motion for what would eventually morph into PGB.

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THE MAYFLOWER ERA

1988: Due to creeping malaise, an energetic and visionary wing of CTE branched off, replacing six managers, re-forming as the new 12-team Mayflower League. Many of the current PGB rules and practices were first formed during this period, in what became known as “The Great Revolution.”

1989-2002: Despite a wide variety a gaming experience, many Mayflower managers would eventually graduate to PGB, including Tom Tingblad, Russ Young, Mike Walsh, Jeff Meyer, Scott Benson, Matt Bentz, Jim Peterson, Jeff Swenson, Izzy Perez, Johnny Walbert  and David Meyer.

1991: In the second-ever issue of The Mayflower Beat, Liberace makes his debut appearance as an Strat analyst, a role he continues to make periodically.

2002: Due to evolving interests, several managers pulled out of The Mayflower League. While it would finish out another season, it effectively served as the final death blow for the once-mighty enterprise.

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THE GROUNDOUT ERA

2003: Many of the departing Mayflower alumni re-circled and rallied around the idea of an online web-based league, thus allowing 14 geographically scattered managers to unite, and formed the foundation of the modern-day PGB. In addition to nine Mayflower managers, newcomers to the world of Strat included Mike Mihelich, Jeff Burkett, Justin Burgoine, Scott Hennessey, and Dale Olson. The core founding principles of the Polo Grounds Athletic Club were drafted and distributed, and that document remains the backbone of today’s operation. Play begins in March.

2003-2004: Daily results are played at PGB headquarters with results emailed daily. 

2005: Groundouts begin sharing the gaming duties, but results are still transmitted via daily email.

2006: The league’s first website (polo-grounds.com) goes live for the first time.

2006: GoCon 1 held at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City, MO, with four managers in attendance.

2007-2010: New managers trickle in as Paul Johnson replaces Burgoine, Nick Wallace replaces Perez, and Chuck Tinkler replaces Brian Johnson.

2008: Our first expansion phase gets underway as Brian Johnson, Tim Tingblad, Sean Britt, Gil Smith, Chad Boysen, Dave Spurrier, Matt Bentz, Dick Driscoll, Sam Bentz, Keith Gallus, Dave Bruneau, and Dwight Nelson are ushered in over the next decade. 

2008: The pink logo is introduced as a playful badge of shame, awarded to PGB prognosticator Liberace’s most under-performing team each season. The popular web icon was presented for six seasons before falling out of favor.

2010: GoCon 2 held at Target Field in Minneapolis, MN, with ten managers in attendance.

2012: Groundout Radio airs its first podcast, recorded in the bowels of the Bethel University Student Center.

2012: Jeremy Johnson takes controlling interest of Santa Barbara franchise after Tinkler temporarily departs; Ken Simone assumes management for Sean Britt; Paul Henderson replaces Scott Hennessey.

2012: Party-crasher Jim Pardee quickly derails several franchises with a rapid series of suspect transactions before resigning from the league without ever playing a game. Tinkler emerges from a brief respite to restore order.

2013: GoCon 3 held at Miller Park in Milwaukee and US Cellular Field in Chicago with seven managers in attendance.

2014: Polo Grounds Winter League plays one year. Bid-style draft took longer than the actual season and the experiment is pulled.

2014: Scott Curtis replaces Bruneau.

2015: Polo Grounds really goes out on an offseason limb and plays one winter of Polo Grounds Hockey, but succumbs under its own weight after Penguins defenseman Olli Maata is inadvertently drafted four times.

2016: For the first time, Groundouts begin delivering daily results via uploading scores directly to league website.

2017: Many Groundouts begin to question PGB’s aggressive expansion and heavy reliance on recruitment from StratFan Forum alumni. As these disengaged SFF managers begin to… well, disengage, PGB adopts a revised strategy of personal recommendations and invitations only. Contraction occurs organically as PGB seeks to reduce quantity in favor of quality. 

2019: GoCon 4 held at Spring Training in Phoenix, AZ with seven managers in attendance.

2019: PGB receives heartbreaking news of Matt Bentz’s passing; franchise is co-managed for a season before being assumed by his son, Sam.

2020-2021: Contraction is allowed to occur organically as PGB reduces itself down to a manageable size of 18 teams. Port Aransas, Newark, Covington, and South Street are escrowed and eventually released into the Annual Draft pool.

2022: Ryan Williams replaces Paul Johnson as Johnson assumes control of the vacated Warwick team.

2024: GoCon 5 is again held at Spring Training in Phoenix with four managers in attendance.

2025: Groundout Radio airs its 100th podcast.

2026 : GoCon 6 is once again scheduled for February in Phoenix AZ with an anticipated attendance of 10-12 managers.

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