1913 North Carolina State League — Season Recap
Bulls claim inaugural regular season crown
The Durham Bulls and Raleigh Capitals proved the class of the North Carolina State League during the first two months of the season. The two teams were tied at the top of the standings much of the way, including on June 1.
While Durham kept up the pace during the back half of the season, the Caps could not. In fact, the Winston-Salem Twins surpassed Raleigh for second place — thus earning the other slot in the three-game championship playoff series.
Anthony Watson, the veteran second baseman/infielder from New York, led the North Carolina State League in several offensive categories. The Durham standout had the top batting average (.352), best slugging percentage (.462), best runs created/27 outs numbers (8.24) and best VORP. (47) He was second in on-base percentage (.432). An MVP type season for sure — and a nice pick-up for the Bulls.
Durham pitcher
Kenny Davis led the league with 18 wins (losing nine times). His ERA of 2.27 was second overall.
Raleigh’s
Oliver “Skull” Johnson certainly did his part to keep the Caps in contention. Mr. Hard Head struck out a league best 160, winning 16 times with a 2.39 ERA. He led the NCSL in a bunch of pitching categories.
Poor Charlotte (sorry Glenn). Tabbed by Baseball Carolina as the team to beat, the Hornets finished dead last. And they were pretty awful at 25 games back … Maybe next year … Or maybe the franchise will move to New Orleans or something…
Here are the standings from the inaugural season:
Code:
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Durham Bulls 71 49 .592 - 76-44 -5 34-26 37-23 8-10 15-19 Clinched W1 5-5
Winston-Salem Twins 65 55 .542 6.0 62-58 3 37-23 28-32 9-5 21-14 W2 8-2
Raleigh Capitals 63 57 .525 8.0 58-62 5 27-33 36-24 9-7 21-14 W3 5-5
Asheville Mountaineers 59 61 .492 12.0 64-56 -5 32-28 27-33 2-5 19-23 L2 5-5
Greensboro Patriots 56 64 .467 15.0 56-64 0 26-34 30-30 7-7 15-18 L3 3-7
Charlotte Hornets 46 74 .383 25.0 46-74 0 29-31 17-43 6-7 17-20 L1 4-6