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It all depends on when you wanna start your historical association. I wish we had a utility that revealed how many players are available for each year of the Lahman database.

For my given era, I've found that a 1946 draft will import 860 players, which is more than enough for creating an association with 50-man rosters. Now, certain positions may be overpopulated (lots of catchers, but damn that an exceptionally demanding position to play so I can understand it given that time period).

Given that, a few scrubs may end up being generated to fill roster slots, but within one or two years the entire rosters of every team can be filled by real players.

However, the further back you go, the more difficult this becomes. This is another reason why I think the post-WWII era is just the right time to begin a history. It's the start of the post-war baby boom, the vets ( including many players who served in the war) have mostly come home, and baseball shatters all previous attendance records.

So, I would argue that historical associations, regardless of time period, should go with 50-man rosters. I like the balance, and this also allows one to balance out the distribution of minor-leaguers and maximize the youngsters' potential for development.

Here is the total debuts per year

1871 115
1914 236
1960 104 1872 64
1915 178
1961 112 1873 34
1916 100
1962 147 1874 30
1917 92
1963 132 1875 84
1918 76
1964 130 1876 28
1919 99
1965 117 1877 18
1920 136
1966 103 1878 21
1921 119
1967 115 1879 56
1922 137
1968 108 1880 38
1923 149
1969 183 1881 21
1924 123
1970 140 1882 94
1925 116
1971 113 1883 79
1926 96
1972 122 1884 358
1927 108
1973 131 1885 49
1928 112
1974 144 1886 75
1929 109
1975 130 1887 74
1930 98
1976 106 1888 75
1931 102
1977 159 1889 71
1932 93
1978 148 1890 192
1933 70
1979 123 1891 78
1934 113
1980 145 1892 55
1935 115
1981 146 1893 56
1936 101
1982 142 1894 63
1937 110
1983 158 1895 85
1938 109
1984 132 1896 62
1939 127
1985 125 1897 59
1940 104
1986 164 1898 83
1941 120
1987 155 1899 81
1942 110
1988 141 1900 21
1943 146
1989 150 1901 131
1944 153
1990 169 1902 138
1945 124
1991 192 1903 98
1946 107
1992 162 1904 92
1947 98
1993 203 1905 114
1948 114
1994 114 1906 109
1949 92
1995 247 1907 99
1950 105
1996 194 1908 124
1951 110
1997 180 1909 158
1952 114
1998 208 1910 155
1953 100
1999 210 1911 188
1954 121
2000 204 1912 221
1955 137
2001 199 1913 201
1956 89
2002 204


1957 96
2003 182


1958 107
2004 208


1959 91
2005 206

Sorry about that    The format turned out really terrible

Hey, that's great, man, once you can sort them in order.  That's part of what I was looking for.

Lets see if this is any better

1871 115 1872 64 1873 34 1874 30 1875 84 1876 28 1877 18 1878 21 1879 56 1880 38 1881 21 1882 94 1883 79 1884 358 1885 49 1886 75 1887 74 1888 75 1889 71 1890 192 1891 78 1892 55 1893 56 1894 63 1895 85 1896 62 1897 59 1898 83 1899 81 1900 21 1901 131 1902 138 1903 98 1904 92 1905 114 1906 109 1907 99 1908 124 1909 158 1910 155 1911 188 1912 221 1913 201 1914 236 1915 178 1916 100 1917 92 1918 76 1919 99 1920 136 1921 119 1922 137 1923 149 1924 123 1925 116 1926 96 1927 108 1928 112 1929 109 1930 98 1931 102 1932 93 1933 70 1934 113 1935 115 1936 101 1937 110 1938 109 1939 127 1940 104 1941 120 1942 110 1943 146 1944 153 1945 124 1946 107 1947 98 1948 114 1949 92 1950 105 1951 110 1952 114 1953 100 1954 121 1955 137 1956 89 1957 96 1958 107 1959 91 1960 104 1961 112 1962 147 1963 132 1964 130 1965 117 1966 103 1967 115 1968 108 1969 183 1970 140 1971 113 1972 122 1973 131 1974 144 1975 130 1976 106 1977 159 1978 148 1979 123 1980 145 1981 146 1982 142 1983 158 1984 132 1985 125 1986 164 1987 155 1988 141 1989 150 1990 169 1991 192 1992 162 1993 203 1994 114 1995 247 1996 194 1997 180 1998 208 1999 210 2000 204 2001 199 2002 204 2003 182 2004 208 2005 206

Nope   not muct better

How about this ?