VRFL

The Bill Virdon Retro Fantasy League

Our longest season will start up for the tenth time in mid-October and run until March 2026. It is a lot of fun, a great history lesson, a way to support the league, and get your baseball fix all winter on the website as games run nightly for 22+ weeks. Ask for more info at the field and own your own classic team and set of Hall of Fame players this winter. Draft and coach your team to the pennant and win the annual prize package!!!

Rules and Rosters 2025/2026

Commissioner Sillavan will submit seven random dates between the 1st and 31st each week. The National league teams (less the Braves) will each submit a year between 1913 and 1953 each week on one of the seven days (to be assigned). The American league teams (less the Browns) will submit a month (April to September) each of the seven days. The combination will make a complete date in history and from there we will visit box scores. After 11 weeks the National league teams will switch to picking months and the American league will pick the years. The season runs 22 weeks total, seven days a week for a total of 154 games (the original MLB season).

There must be at least 6 teams in action in each league or we will move to the next date in the month. If it is the final day of the month we go back to the first of that same month until we reach a day with at least six teams playing in each league. The two remaining teams if not playing will play each other and start with a 0-0 score. The other matchups start with the final score of their game that day. No date will be repeated, so if we fall on a date already used we will skip to the next day. If a double-header was played, only stats from the first game played that day count.

Any runs or RBIs by any of the seven players count for one added run.

Any win by a pitcher counts for five bonus runs. New this year: any pitcher credited with a save in the box score gets 1 bonus run.

Federal league games played in 1914 & 1915 will count for players on any of those teams.

Final scores and recaps will be listed on the VRFL Scores & Standings page and will show game scores and bonus runs in separate tallies. There will be some ties remember as in past baseball history. Once a team gets a second tie, they will be listed the next day as a win and a loss to help keep standings easier to follow. I will list each day the randomly generated date so owners can verify no mistakes have been made. You can see box scores for every date on Baseball Reference.com.

There are separate drafts for both the AL & NL with players who played primarily in those leagues during their careers (with one or two exceptions).

When drafting player groups, you are looking for players who not only have large career totals in wins, RBIs, or runs, but those who supplement certain time periods where your team may be weaker. When picking years, most owners will pick years where their team had a good record to maximize the chance of a good starting score before bonus runs are added. You may also want to pick years where you have the most players in action. You will never know your opponent before the day starts so there is no point in trying to play against a particular team.

The World Series will take place during the 23rd week with all teams submitting part of a game date except the two teams competing who will be replaced by the Browns and Braves if necessary.

Prize to the winner is two league caps from stock, two new wood baseball bats, and a Championship plaque. The team that loses the World Series will now receive one bat and one cap from stock.

Results & Awards History

2016/2017 Standings

  • White Sox defeat Dodgers 4-3 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Shelton (Dodgers) 13-5-4
  • Executive of the Year: Zarechi (Browns) 338 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Babe Ruth, Cardinals 157 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Goose Goslin, Yankees 95 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Lefty Grove, Reds 13 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Grover Alexander, Browns 14 wins

2017/2018 Standings

  • Yankees defeat Giants 4-2 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Burnell (Red Sox) 16-4-2
  • Executive of the Year: Mulbery (Indians) 393 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Mel Ott, Braves 127 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Lou Gehrig, Athletics 168 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Earl Whitehill, Reds 13 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Lefty Grove, White Sox 13 wins

2018/2019 Standings

  • Giants defeat Yankees 4-3 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Shelton (Dodgers) 16-5-1
  • Executive of the Year: R. Smith (Giants) 378 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Lou Gehrig, Phillies 157 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Babe Ruth, White Sox 139 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Carl Hubbell, Pirates 12 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Grover Alexander, Yankees 12 wins

2019/2020 Standings

  • Yankees defeat Giants 4-3 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Eisenhour (Cardinals) 16-4-2
  • Executive of the Year: Ginocchio (Braves) 401 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Rogers Hornsby, Cardinals 114 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Babe Ruth, Athletics 127 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Burleigh Grimes, Phillies 9 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Lefty Grove, Tigers 15 wins

2020/2021 Standings

  • Yankees defeat Cardinals 4-2 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Walker (Yankees) 14-6-2
  • Executive of the Year: Gumersell (Indians) 405 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Pie Traynor, Braves 107 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Lou Gehrig, Tigers 135 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Burleigh Grimes, Giants 11 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Ted Lyons, Senators 12 wins

2021/2022 Standings

  • Yankees defeat Giants 4-2 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Eisenhour (Cardinals) 14-6-2
  • Executive of the Year: Wheatley (Browns) 410 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Mel Ott, Pirates 114 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Babe Ruth, Browns 133 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Carl Hubbell, Cubs 11 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Herb Pennock, Browns & Earl Whitehill, Indians 9 wins

2022/2023 Standings

  • Reds defeat Yankees 4-3 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Eisenhour (Reds) 15-6-1
  • Executive of the Year: Romano (White Sox) 423 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Rogers Hornsby, Reds 98 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Babe Ruth, Red Sox 139 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Grover Alexander, Cubs 15 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Sad Sam Jones, Senators 14 wins

2023/2024 Standings

  • Cubs defeat Yankees 4-2 in World Series
  • Manager of the Year: Elsenraat (Pirates)/Romano (Athletics) 15-4-3
  • Executive of the Year: Conner (Tigers) 439 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Rogers Hornsby (Cubs) 135 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Babe Ruth (Athletics) 143 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Grover Alexander (Reds) 11 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Walter Johnson (Yankees) 13 wins

2024/2025 Standings

  • Red Sox defeat Cardinals 4-2 in World Series.
  • Manager of the Year: Cook (Yankees) 15-6-1
  • Executive of the Year: Conner (Indians) 363 bonus runs
  • NL MVP: Grover Alexander (Cubs) 120 bonus runs
  • AL MVP: Babe Ruth (Indians) 133 bonus runs
  • NL Cy Young: Grover Alexander (Cubs) 20 wins
  • AL Cy Young: Walter Johnson (Yankees) 13 wins

2025/2026 Draft Order

AL: 1 Browns 2 Athletics 3 White Sox 4 Indians 5 Senators 6 Tigers 7 Yankees 8 Red Sox

NL: 1 Phillies 2 Braves 3 Dodgers 4 Giants 5 Cubs 6 Pirates 7 Reds 8 Cardinals

2025/2026 Owner List

  • Philadelphia Athletics (Dan Conner)
  • Cleveland Indians (Owen Bryson)
  • Chicago White Sox (Gregg Bates)
  • Washington Senators (RT Gumersell)
  • Boston Red Sox (Cook Family Consortium)
  • St. Louis Browns (The St. Louis Browns Historical Society)
  • Detroit Tigers (Erick Coe)
  • New York Yankees (Admiral Lanham)
  • Chicago Cubs (Richard Smith & Gang)
  • Boston Braves (Rob Ginocchio)
  • Philadelphia Phillies (The Mortimore/Gebhardt Syndicate)
  • Pittsburgh Pirates (Virdon/Elsenraat Family)
  • Cincinnati Reds (Matt O’Neill & Billy Hughes)
  • St. Louis Cardinals (Jason Williams)
  • Brooklyn Dodgers (Tim Eisenhour)
  • New York Giants (Dale Shelton)

Player Groups 2025/2026

AL Position Players

#1 Babe Ruth Al Simmons Jimmie Foxx Home Run Baker Joe Gordon SLB

#2 Ty Cobb Harry Hooper Ted Williams Luke Appling Lou Boudreau PHA

#3 Harry Heilmann Jimmy Dykes Joe Judge Bob Johnson Shoeless Joe Jackson BOS

#4 Goose Goslin Charlie Gehringer Joe Cronin Earle Combs Rick Ferrell WAS

#5 Bobby Veach Joe DiMaggio Heinie Manush Wally Moses Ray Schalk DET

#6 Tris Speaker George Sisler Joe Sewell Mickey Cochrane Vern Stephens CHW

#7 Eddie Collins Wally Pipp Bill Dickey Earl Averill Mickey Vernon NYY

#8 Lou Gehrig Sam Rice Tony Lazzeri Bucky Harris Bobby Doerr CLE

AL Pitcher Pairs

#1 Walter Johnson & Hooks Dauss BOS

#2 Lefty Grove & Lefty Gomez DET

#3 Bullet Joe Bush & Stan Coveleski WAS

#4 Red Ruffing & Red Faber CLE

#5 Herb Pennock & Tommy Bridges SLB

#6 George Uhle & Bob Feller NYY

#7 Ted Lyons & Mel Harder CHW

#8 Sad Sam Jones & Earl Whitehill PHA

NL Position Players

#1 Rogers Hornsby Chuck Klein Kiki Cuyler Stan Musial Al Lopez PHI

#2 Zack Wheat Gabby Hartnett Bill Terry Pee Wee Reese Ernie Lombardi NYG

#3 Cy Williams Joe Medwick Travis Jackson Phil Cavaretta Bob Elliott STL

#4 Frankie Frisch Paul Waner Dick Bartell Chick Hafey Leo Durocher PIT

#5 Edd Roush Dave Bancroft Pie Traynor Stan Hack Dixie Walker BRO

#6 Max Carey Mel Ott Johnny Mize Lloyd Waner Enos Slaughter BSN

#7 Hack Wilson Jim Bottomley High Pockets Kelly Freddie Lindstrom Ross Youngs CIN

#8 Rabbit Maranville Charlie Grimm Arky Vaughan Billy Herman Wally Berger CHC

NL Pitcher Pairs

#1 Grover Alexander & Paul Derringer CIN

#2 Burleigh Grimes & Bobo Newsom CHC

#3 Eppa Rixey & Carl Mays BRO

#4 Carl Hubbell & Robin Roberts STL

#5 Jack Quinn & Wilbur Cooper BSN

#6 Jesse Haines & Charlie Root NYG

#7 Dolf Luque & Waite Hoyt PIT

#8 Freddie Fitzsimmons & Bucky Walters PHI