1914 Season Recap — Northern League
Payson, Flag run away from the rest
The Northern League was clearly a two-team race this season, with Payson cruising past everyone with 110 wins and Flagstaff leaving other contenders in the dust as well with 93. The next closest team was Prescott, which finished 81-81. Grand Canyon had a rare dip, winning just 61 games.
Payson had the perfect combination of pitching (first in ERA at 2.43 and first in opponent's average at .221) and hitting (second in batting average at .275). Centerfielder
Tris Speaker was his old self, posting a .303 average with 80 RBIs, seven homers and 54 stolen bases. His outfield mate,
Wilbur Good, was even better, statistically speaker. Good, a 29-year-old lefthander who plays in right, batted .325 with 85 RBIs. Left fielder
Ginger Beaumont was the third prong in the Longhorns' triple threat outfield, batting .262 with 76 RBIs.
But the real story of this team had to be the fantastic pitching performances by
Bill Burns, Charley Hall and
Tex Pruiett. Burns was 29-12 (best record in the NL). Both Hall and Pruiett were 25-15. You're not going to lose many pennants with those kinds of records. All three should get Top Hurler consideration.
Sam Crawford, he of nine Big Stick awards, continued to swing the heavy lumber for the Flagstaff Lumberjacks. The 34-year-old had a .298 average with seven HRs, 12 triples and 71 RBIs. He's pushed his career hit total over the 2,400 mark. Can he get to 3,000 before he retires?
Flag also had a pretty potent outfield, with
Watty Lee hitting .301 (64 RBIs) and CF
Lee Magee batting .292 (62 RBIs).
Fred Beebe nearly matched Payson's Burns from the hill, posting a 28-13 record. Ray Caldwell was 23-12. Ed Summers won 19 games and Hippo Vaughn won 18.
The NL championship series should be a delight, with both teams featuring solid pitching and strong hitting. Crawford vs. Speaker. Burns vs. Beebe. Ponderosa pines vs. more Ponderosa pines. Goosebump potential big time.
Here are the final Northern League standings. Sedona and Kayenta were just glad not to be at the very bottom for a change.
Code:
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Payson 110 52 .679 - 109-53 1 52-29 58-23 10-7 35-20 * W7 9-1
Flagstaff 97 65 .599 13.0 93-69 4 49-32 48-33 7-7 31-24 - L4 5-5
Prescott 81 81 .500 29.0 88-74 -7 41-40 40-41 8-8 26-33 - W3 5-5
Jerome 80 82 .494 30.0 79-83 1 40-41 40-41 4-11 26-23 - L1 4-6
Cottonwood 79 83 .488 31.0 80-82 -1 38-43 41-40 11-3 23-29 - L2 5-5
Kayenta 75 87 .463 35.0 76-86 -1 34-47 41-40 7-4 28-25 - W1 4-6
Sedona 65 97 .401 45.0 65-97 0 31-50 34-47 9-10 30-35 - W1 4-6
Grand Canyon 61 101 .377 49.0 62-100 -1 32-49 29-52 2-8 22-32 - L1 4-6