THE BASEBALL ALLIANCE: Baseball in the British Isles

[joefromchicago]

This is a league that I started as a result of my frustrations arising out of version 12's problems with the world_default.xml file (documented here). I figured if it was too difficult to have a US-based league the way I wanted it, I'd have that league based somewhere else. I chose the United Kingdom, which, until 1921, included Ireland.

The premise of this league is that baseball replaced association football and cricket as the sport of choice among the British sporting "fancy" in the 1860s. That popularity was cemented when Harry Wright's Cincinnati Reds toured Great Britain in 1868, which spurred the establishment of native British clubs. These clubs then formed rival leagues that coalesced into the Base Ball Alliance, which started formal competition in 1870.

I've tried to incorporate as many Britishisms into the reports as I can to give them a certain flavor, but I freely admit that I'm an American, and so the reports will look very much like an American making a poor attempt at sounding vaguely British. I draw the line, however, at adopting British spelling. It's center field, dammit, not "centre field." There will be three reports per season: one at the all-star break, one at the end of the season, and one during the off-season. There will also be decade-end reviews of all the teams and special reports when necessary.

My general views on playing OOTP are outlined here. I will be leading the Westminster Peers, and I'll include a review of the Peers' performance in each off-season report. I've only set two limits on myself as general manager/owner: (1) I will only sign free agent rookies to minor league contracts, and I won't bid on any veteran free agents; and (2) I won't start any season with the highest team payroll in the major leagues. That's as much for my own enjoyment as for competitive balance. I will also use the 2-8 ratings scales for player evaluations, along with the complete scouting system.

I use my own schedules, based on major league schedules but modified for OOTP play and my own preferences. I have used Cooleyvol's historical name set for the US, greatly augmented by me. The rest of the names are based on the OOTP names files, again heavily modified by me. Foreigner percentage is set at 50 percent. The baseball programs of England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, the US, and Canada are rated as "excellent." Australia and New Zealand are "good." South Africa (representing Cape Colony and the Boer republics), the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, and the Bahamas are rated as "average." Most of the rest of Europe west of Russia is rated as either "fair" or "poor," while the only Latin American country rated above "non-existent" is Cuba, which is rated as "fair." India and Pakistan are also rated "fair," reflecting the alternate reality that baseball has replaced cricket in those imperial possessions as well. Baseball in the rest of the world is "non-existent." Those nation ratings, of course, will change over time, as will ethnicities. Although there is no formal "color line" in the Baseball Alliance, the talent pool is drawn almost exclusively from areas with an overwhelmingly white European demographic, and that will probably remain the case until after 1945.

Reserve clause rules will be in effect until the 1970s. There will be no rookie draft until then. Right now, only star players can receive multi-year contracts, although that might change. There is no revenue sharing or salary cap. The financial coefficient starts in 1870 at 1.00 and is increased by .01 at the beginning of every pre-season until 1890, when it is increased by .02 every season. That also will change after 1920, but I haven't decided on the post-1920 values yet.

Team market sizes are based on census data that I have compiled. The largest market team is London at 20. The smallest markets in 1870 are Newcastle and Salford at 5 each. Market values will change to reflect population changes over time. Fan interest and fan loyalty are left to the AI. I use my own financial values for average attendance and salaries. Average attendance will increase by 100 every year until 1890, after which it will increase by 225 until 1920. Player salaries remain a work-in-progress for me, and I will make adjustments whenever I deem it necessary. Given the enormous size of London in comparison to the rest of the country, it will host multiple teams based in some of its more populous boroughs. No other city will have more than one team, although certain large urban areas, such as Manchester-Salford and Leeds-Bradford, will have teams in neighboring cities.

Stadium capacities are initially set to correspond to market sizes: each stadium is 200 times larger than the team's market size. Thus London's park, the Cannon Street Grounds, seats 4000, while Newcastle's Gallowgate Field seats only 1000. Thereafter, at the beginning of each pre-season (except the first), the best teams are rewarded with increased stadium seating capacities based on their finish the previous season. The top four teams get additional seats up until 1890, after which the top five will receive bonus capacity. Starting in 1895, teams will be allowed to buy modern concrete-and-steel stadiums. The details of that process are still being worked out.

Roster sizes are initially set at 15 per team, and will be increased whenever the length of the schedule increases. Roster enlargements will be noted in the league news sections of the off-season reports. The trade deadline is July 31. The roster expansion and playoff eligibility date is September 1. Players can refuse a minor league assignment. There is no minor league free agency, and the Rule 5 draft will be disabled until some future, still-undetermined date.

Each team will have one triple-A minor league affiliate in the Second Tier. In 1881 a Third Tier will be added. The top teams in each major league play in a best-of-seven playoff, the Cup Finals Series. The minor leagues will each play a best-of-five championship series. The last-place team in each league receives the proverbial wooden spoon. I will choose the MVP of the Cup Finals Series, based on my own highly subjective and idiosyncratic views. The rest of the awards will be left to the AI, although I reserve the right to complain about those choices when I disagree with them.

[joefromchicago]

SPECIAL REPORT: THE FORMATION OF THE ALLIANCE

LONDON -- The rise in popularity of base ball in Great Britain has taken the kingdom's sporting classes by surprise. Although scores of British youths had been playing the game since its introduction by American missionaries in the 1850s, most of the public were still unfamiliar with this American import, and the older generation compared it unfavorably to the native game of rounders, a diversion fitter for girls and callow youths. That all changed in 1868, when Sheffield native Harry Wright brought his plucky squad of red-stockinged base ballists to these shores from the wilderness settlement of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The effect was electric, and soon the masses were abandoning the staid, leisurely joys of cricket and the rough-and-tumble of association football, not to mention the recent innovations on the latter that have been popularized at Rugby School, for the geometric joys of base ball. Wright's venture was so successful that he would bring his touring nine to the United States the following year, conquering North America as he had done in his native Britain. Meanwhile, Graham Crowley, emulating Wright's model, formed his own all-British nine to take on all-comers for the championship of this realm, and his club, dubbed the London Bulldogs, soon became the darlings of the masses as well as the sporting set.

The financial titans of our age, sensing a need among the spectating public that far exceeded the power of travelling squads to supply, resolved to start a regular series of competitions among native nines. Meeting in late 1869 at the venerable Anglo-Indian Club in London's fashionable Belgravia section, a dozen or so giants of industry, called together by Crowley, resolved to form a league base ball clubs, to be known as the Empire League, composed of some of the finest talent from both sides of the Atlantic. But the decision to restrict membership in this elite association to eight clubs left some erstwhile owners on the outside looking in. This faction of the disappointed and dispossessed, headed by Manchester cotton baron and keen sportsman Shane Hambleton repaired to the nearby Reactionary Club, where they gathered a like number of notables to form their own organization, to be called the Dominion Association.

At first the competing factions brazenly poached one another's talent, enticing players to abandon contracts with the ink still wet upon the paper to "jump" to another team for a slightly higher annual stipend. Such shameful displays of mercenary behavior did little to endear the public to these so-called sportsmen, and served only to cut into the future profits of the sixteen magnates who had invested in assembling the teams and building resplendent palaces of base ball for the expected crowds of the game's enthusiasts. In early 1870, cooler heads prevailed and a hastily called meeting between the two sides yielded an agreement to end the player raids and regulate the relations between the two leagues. The result was a supervisory body, called the Base Ball Alliance, to be run by a three-man commission composed of Crowley and Hambleton, representing the owners, and chaired by Viscount Tadpoole, a lion of the turf but a relative newcomer to games of ball. All are confident, however, that his lordship's renown for fair play and good sportsmanship will act to cool the heads of those so recently inflamed by the recent unpleasantness.

The two leagues will field clubs across the British Isles, including Ireland and Scotland, although four of the sixteen will be located in London, as befits the status of this imperial metropolis. The "line-up" of teams is as follows:

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Birmingham Blue Stockings
Bradford Badgers
Dublin Shamrocks
Liverpool Argonauts
London (City) Bulldogs
Newcastle Greys
Salford Bees
Westminster (London) Peers

DOMINION ASSOCIATION

Belfast Unions
Bristol Dockers
Glasgow Gaelics
Islington (London) Owls
Lambeth (London) Lambs
Leeds Ironsides
Manchester Millers
Sheffield Steelers



Each team has also set up an affiliate in what is to be known as the Base Ball Alliance's Second Tier. These Second Tier teams, it is anticipated, will act as the testing ground for aspiring base ballists and supply talent to the parent clubs.

The Base Ball Commission decreed, in one of its first acts, that each team would compete in 70 contests starting in mid-April and continuing to late September, and that the champions of the respective leagues would meet in a seven-game series to determine who will be entitled to call themselves champions of the realm -- Lady Tadpoole graciously donated a silver loving cup that will serve as the trophy to which all will aspire. That gives but little time to the clubs as they prepare for the season ahead. And so all eyes are now turned to the brave men and plucky lads who will soon battle for possession of the Base Ball Alliance Cup.

[joefromchicago]

1869-70 OFF-SEASON

LEAGUE NEWS

As the regular season approached, the teams of the BA scrambled to secure the services of the best players, and the purse strings were surprisingly loose. Infielder Roy Jeffcoat was the first major free agent acquisition, signing a three-year contract with Birmingham for a total of $3,315.* Leeds and Lambeth jumped into the free agent pool with both feet early on. Leeds owner Jesse Duke handed over $5,673 to five free agents in January, while Lambeth's James Emmott spent less lavishly in February, adding four rookies for the bargain price of $2,078.

In order to test the mettle of the raw recruits and aging veterans, the Alliance instituted a training period in the spring, during which the clubs would play each other in a series of friendly matches. For Dublin's star infielder Craig Esslemont, however, it was anything but friendly when he went down with a muscle pull that will sideline him for at least six weeks. That was quickly followed by Steven Deane, expected to be the primary starter for the Shamrocks, who went down with an injured shoulder that will put him out of action for the rest of the season. Leeds likewise lost former classics scholar-turned-starting pitcher Michael "Chaucer" Mitchell to shoulder miseries. He will be out seven weeks. The biggest blow, however, fell on the Londons, who will be without he services of star hurler Fergus Fairless for twelve months after he "felt something pop" in his arm while pitching a spring training game against Bristol.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

Owner George Kirkup made the headlines when he announced the trade of highly compensated pitcher Stewart "Deek" Spencer to the Manchester Millers in exchange for infielder Douglas Blanchard. The move stunned the Westminster supporters who had grown to love the hard-working Spencer, but Kirkup remained stolid in the face of criticism. "We only need one starter on this team, and I've decided that's going to be Bert Dunstone," said Kirkup. "You can't really expect me to pay for two starting pitchers, can you?"


*The Base Ball Commission decided, early on, to adopt the American dollar as the BA's official currency, even though all of the teams are located in Great Britain, where the pound sterling reigns. The rationale for this decision remains clouded in mystery.

[joefromchicago]

1870 MID-SEASON

The balloon went up on the inaugural season of the Base Ball Alliance, with Viscount Tadpoole, whom the sporting fancy are referring to as the "tsar of all the base balls," tossing out the ceremonial first pitch before the premiere tilt between the Salford Bees and the Westminster Peers at the latter's home pitch, Vincent Square Park. The Bees soon swarmed over the hapless Peerage, sweeping the three-game series on their way to an eight-game winning streak to open the League season. The Salfords were led by their star hurler Lyndon Spokes, who went 13-3 in the first half, and infielder Clancy Stogdon, who paced the League with 40 RBI. But the Bees were bitten by the injury bug, as starting infielders George Pixley and John Davies were sidelined before the midyear break. Replacing Salford at the top of the ladder were Bradford, which had a League-low .268 team batting average but who also boasted the circuit's best pitching staff, helmed by starter James "Kiki" Black. A sore knee hobbled Black in May, but Kinnard Nock proved an able substitute, and the Badgers went on a four-game win streak on the eve of the break that put them solidly in first place. Birmingham, languishing with an 8-11 record at the beginning of June, went on an 11-3 run and found itself in thick of things in July. The otherwise anemic offense was propped up by first baseman Lewis "Rube" Miller's .331 average.

In the Association, Leeds held an early lead by virtue of a 9-3 record in May and the second-best hitting attack in the circuit. Right fielder led the team with a .323 mark at the break. The Ironsides, however, fell by the wayside in June, to be passed by Bristol, who fashioned an eight-game winning skein to start the month. The Dockers featured the sharp pitching of John Padbury and the timely hitting of Austrian import Helmut Waldheim at shortstop. As Bristol was climbing the ladder, though, the Islington Owls were right behind. Despite a six-game losing streak to start the season, the Owls persevered, and, in June, started a fifteen-game string of victories that was only stopped by Belfast on the last game before the midsummer hiatus. Starter Oscar Quarton was the star hurler for the Owls, winning thirteen of those games to boost his win total to nineteen, tops in the majors, while first baseman Ross Boase led all Islington hitters with a .369 average. Lambeth could claim the best team batting in the Association, with right fielder Hugh Burton leading the charge, but the Lambs also had the second-worst pitching in the DA, which doomed them to a fourth place tie with Glasgow. The Gaelics featured the Association's best pitching staff, captained by Canadian right hander Eric Gueguen, but it was not enough to overcome a rash of injuries that bedevilled the starting lineup.



In an inspired move, newspaperman Archibald Warde of the London Tuppenny Illustrated Graphic, saw that the schedule contained a three-day gap in the middle of July and proposed to fill it with an exhibition game between a select squad of premier base ballists from each league. This "all-star" game, held at Birmingham's Exhibition Park before a capacity crowd of 2,550, saw the visiting Dominions score eleven runs in the first three innings, and then hang on for a 12-8 triumph over the home team Empires. Islington outfielder Cameron MacIntyre and Manchester second baseman James Granger each had three hits for the winning side, with MacIntyre picking up the game's most valuable award by virtue of his two RBI. Westminster right fielder Henry Pond went three-for-three in a losing effort.

[joefromchicago]

1870 FINAL

It was a game of musical chairs atop the Dominion standings in the second half. Islington, at the DA pinnacle emerging from the all-star break, immediately went into a 1-9 funk and dropped out of the lead. Bristol, on the strength of a solid pitching staff headed by John Padbury (30-31, 2.53 ERA) briefly took charge, but they also slumped, and it was a scramble for the Association's summit. Leeds, with four regulars in the starting lineup batting over .300, could have overtaken the leaders, but the lack of any reliable starting pitching behind Michael Mitchell (14-14, 2.61) consigned the Ironsides to third place. Instead, it was the surprising Lambeths that charged into the breach, winning nine straight coming out of the midyear break. The Lambs boasted an Association-leading .301 team batting average, fueled by right fielder Hugh Burton (.365, 1 HR, 62 RBI) and shortstop George Tyson (.328, 2 HR, 52 RBI). Lambeth's high-powered offense and dependable defense (only 412 errors) was enough to overcome what was essentially a mediocre pitching staff led by starter John Browning (30-21, 2.44 ERA). But Lambeth's hold on first place would not be uncontested. Islington righted their ship in August, winning eleven of fifteen games. Lambeth, meanwhile, lost three straight going into the final series of the year. Both London rivals were tied at the apex of the standings with two games left -- Lambeth hosting seventh-place Belfast and Islington at last-place Sheffield. Not surprisingly, the two pennant contenders swept their cellar-dwelling opponents, and so it was necessary to arrange a one-game playoff to decide the championship. At Lambeth's Riverside Park, the visiting Owls jumped to a quick 5-0 lead, then coasted to an 8-5 triumph behind the pitching of Oscar Quarton (32-15, 2.66 ERA).

It was a different story in the League. Bradford, up by 2 1/2 games at the halfway point, maintained its solid hold on first place. Starter Kinnard Nock (18-13, 3.08 ERA) continued to lead the pitching corps, but the real story in the second half was the emergence of Matthew Muir (12-2, 2.97 ERA), who started the season as a spot starter but who was pressed into rotation full-time due to injuries to James "Kiki" Black (14-8, 1.96 ERA), who returned to the team in late September after a knee injury but then went down for good with a sore arm in mid-September. The Badgers needed all the pitching help they could get, as their meager .282 team average trailed the rest of the League. Salford, within hailing distance of the Bradfords at the midpoint, played well coming out of the break. The Bees had a potent sting, with four regulars batting over .330, including team leader George Pixley (.337, 0 HR, 49 RBI), but their pitching was second-worst in the League, and the team fell apart in September, going 2-9 down the stretch to fall to third place. Replacing them were Birmingham, led by first baseman Lewis "Rube" Miller (.358, 2 HR, 62 RBI). But the Blue Stockings' 18-8 record over the final two months of the season couldn't compensate for the team's slow start and the Bradfords' established lead.



Resting a tired Quarton, who started the last five regular season games for the Owls, Islington skipper John Burdon went with Joe Colson (3-10, 3.82 ERA), who had spent most of the regular season in the bullpen. Burdon must have had a hunch, though, because Colson pitched a masterful four-hitter and shut out the League pennant winners by the score of 5-0. Muir took the loss for the Badgers. Game two promised a duel of the staff aces, Quarton and Nock, but it was not to be. Instead, the Badger bats came out swinging, and the Owls committed seventeen miscues in the field to hand the home team a 16-5 triumph. Bradford first baseman Cameron Ainslie (.322, 1 HR, 64 RBI) had three hits, drove in two runs, and crossed the plate three times for the victors. The scenery changed to Islington in game three, but the Owls continued their poor showing in the field and ended up with sixteen errors as Muir defeated Islington's Beckan McPait (3-1, 2.98 ERA) by the final score of 19-7. Ainslie once again collected three hits, as did right fielder Jack Millar (.327, 1 HR, 32 RBI) and Muir, who also had three RBI to help his own cause. Islington enthusiasts clamored for Quarton, but Burdon tabbed yet another pitcher, Stuart Sears (0-1, 9.39 ERA), to start game four. "I have a feeling," said Burdon before the contest. It turned out to be a case of the vapors. The visiting Badgers broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh with a single run, then added three more in the eighth en route to a 9-5 victory. Millar had three safe hits and scored thrice for the Badgers. With their backs to the wall, the Owls went with their ace Quarton against Nock in game five. Bradford surged to a 6-0 lead, but the home town Owls didn't give up, crawling their way back with six tallies of their own to knot the score after eight innings of play. In the ninth, though, the Badgers bunched together three singles and two stolen bases around a wild pitch to put across two runs, and the home team was unable to respond in their half of the inning, and so the Badgers, sweeping the Owls at Essex Street Park, claimed the first BA Cup. Millar, compiling a .458 average for the Finals, claimed the MVP honors.

THE MINORS

The Leicester Leopards, Dublin's minor affiliate, needed a one-game playoff win against Liverpool's Brighton Lions farm club to get into the Second Tier playoffs. There, they fell to the Kingston-upon-Hull Kings, Islington's farmhands, in four games.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .368 Clyde Shirley, Dublin
HR: 6 Logan Crosby, Salford
RBI: 74 Sean Angus, Newcastle
R: 89 Wade Studs, Liverpool
SB: 50 Lewis Malloch, Bradford
Pitching
W: 19 Bert Dunstone, Westminster
L: 21 Eddie Cullimore, London
K: 29 Bert Dunstone, Westminster
ERA: 1.91 James "Kiki" Black, Bradford
SV: 4 Samuel Bowra, Liverpool

Dunstone led the League in wins and strikeouts, despite the fact that he didn't pitch at all after 8 August.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .402 Finnegan Singleton, Islington
HR: 5 Adam Eckhard, Lambeth
RBI: 69 Colman McLarty, Islington
R: 81 Hugh Burton, Lambeth; George Tyson, Lambeth
SB: 32 John Rainford, Sheffield
Pitching
W: 32 Oscar Quarton, Islington
L: 31 John Padbury, Bristol
K: 32 Finnan Boyton, Sheffield
ERA: 2.11 Eric Gueguen, Glasgow
SV: 3 five players

Singleton missed sixteen games with an injury, but still had more than enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. He also had a .409 average in the Cup Finals Series. John Browning (Lambeth) and John Padbury (Bristol) also had 30 wins.

[joefromchicago]

1870-71 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Sean Angus, Newcastle (.361, 4 HR, 74 RBI, 20 2B, .500 SLG)
Pitcher: Bob Herrick, Dublin (18-20, 2.68 ERA, 342.1 IP)
Manager: Fraser Reed, Bradford (45-25, 1st place)

Dominion Association
Hitter: Finnegan Singleton, Islington (.402, 0 HR, 47 RBI, 13 3B, .550 SLG)
Pitcher: Oscar Quarton, Islington (32-15, 2.66, 440.1 IP)
Manager: Nigel Dimbleby, Lambeth (40-31, 2nd place)

Clancy Stogdon (.333, 0 HR, 71 RBI) of Salford and Eric Gueguen (23-19, 2.11 ERA) of Glasgow were also named rookies of the year, but, since everyone was technically a rookie, these awards are considered unofficial. Although Herrick's choice as best pitcher was somewhat controversial, given his losing record, there was simply no single dominant pitcher in the EL comparable to Quarton in the DA.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Birmingham right fielder William Cory hit two home runs in a 9 August game against Newcastle. He finished the season with three home runs total. Luke O'Gribben of Bristol also hit a pair of homers in a 27 June game against Manchester. Those were the only home runs he hit all year. On 4 July, Newcastle's Sean Angus hit for the cycle against Salford.

ALLIANCE NEWS

Liverpool wasted no time in dipping their toes in the free agent pool, signing catcher Robert Burman to a three-year deal worth $7,420. That, however, proved to be the only free agent signed for more than $2,000 during the off-season.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

It was a disappointing finish to the year as the Peers limped home in seventh place. Westminster had climbed as high as fifth place in August, but then Bert Dunstone went down with a torn shoulder muscle on 8 August, and the Peers went a miserable 7-14 the rest of the year without him in the pitching box. "There are going to be some changes around here," intoned owner George Kirkup darkly as the regular season drew to a close, and so there were. On 26 September, Liam MacKinley, who groused about his limited playing time all season, was shipped off to Islington for minor league catcher Keehan Gaball. On the same day, the Peerage bade farewell to catcher Albert Gwynne and relief pitcher Lenny Hilson, who went to Belfast in exhange for minor league hurler Thomas "Miner" Biddick. Three days later, it was first baseman Stephen Pinhay who left, this time to Salford, to be replaced by another prospect, pitcher Jeffrey Perry.

There were some bright spots. The pre-season trade that brought Douglas Blanchard to the team from Manchester in exchange for Stewart "Deek" Spencer worked out very well indeed. Blanchard hit .307 with 18 doubles and 21 triples, and also stole 42 bases, second-most in the League. Spencer, meanwhile, went 16-20 with a 3.21 ERA for the Millers.

[joefromchicago]

1871 MID-SEASON

In the Empire League, Dublin threatened to run away with the pennant. The Hibernians posted an 11-2 mark in June, and led at one point by 5 1/2 games over second-place Westminster. Led by second baseman Arthur Topping's .386 average, the Shamrocks hit at a .306 clip, second only to Newcastle's .313. In the box, Luhern Ensworth, a spot starter last year, helmed the pitching corps in 1871 and responded with a 17-8 record at the halfway mark. The Peers, however, continued to dog Dublin's steps. Keeran Kittle, shifted from the outfield to first base in the preseason, showed his appreciation by hitting .358. Bert Dunstone again carried the pitching load, starting all but one of the Peers' 37 games and chalking up a 17-15 record. On 31 May, the Peerage beat Dublin and briefly occupied first place before settling back into second. Birmingham, behind the hot hitting of second baseman Michael Barnstable, vied for second place with Westminster, but Barnstable was sidelined with a leg injury on 21 June and will likely be out for the rest of the season, putting the Blue Stockings' pennants hopes in grave peril. Defending Cup holders Bradford had the League's best pitching staff, captained by Kinnard Nock, but inconsistent hitting meant that the Badgers couldn't rise above the .500 plateau.

In the Association, Leeds started the season with six straight wins and then steadfastly refused to give any ground to their pursuers. David Hockey and his .335 average led the steady, if unspectacular, Ironside attack, but it was the pitching that kept Leeds at the top of the ladder. Michael Mitchell handled the lion's share of the hurling duties, starting 36 games and going 22-11. Manchester bobbed up to second place on the strength of a solid offense, topped by shortstop Arthur Edney's .392 average. Barrington Coatsworth, assuming the mantle of starter during the preseason, rewarded his manager Albert Francombe's confidence with a 16-15 record. Sheffield rounded out the top three at the midsummer caesura, but its Association-worst hitting destined it for no better than a .500 record. Islington, which represented the DA in last year's Cup Finals, lost their collective way in 1871. The club led the Association in hitting with a .305 average and also committed the fewest errors with only 200. But the pitching was off from last year, exemplified by Oscar Quarton, who was nagged by a preseason ankle injury and, at the break, had compiled a paltry 5-7 mark combined with a monstrous 3.23 ERA.



The All-Star Game travelled to Sheffield's Hart's Head Field, where a capacity crowd of 1,765 saw the Alliance's best hitters conduct a batting clinic against their pitching counterparts. The visiting Empires collected 21 hits, including five off the bat of Newcastle catcher Sean Angus, who played the entire game behind the plate. The Dominions were only slightly worse, putting up fourteen hits, including four triples, against eight different EL hurlers. Manchester's James Granger went three-for-three before being replaced in the sixth. The teams also combined for twenty errors. An 8-8 tie was broken in the seventh when the Empires sent eleven men to the plate and scored six times, the big blow coming on a two-run double by Liverpool rookie Robert Burman. When the dust had cleared, it was the visitors 18-11 over the home team Dominions. As befitted a contest where no pitcher covered himself in glory, the most valuable laurels were taken home by Newcastle's Angus.

[joefromchicago]

1871 FINAL

It came down to two teams in the Empire League as Dublin and Westminster battled it out down to the wire. The Shamrocks possessed the most potent offense in the League, with seven regulars batting over .300. Third baseman Paul Eddowes (.341, 0 HR, 42 RBI) missed three weeks with a bad back but still led all club hitters, while second baseman Arthur Topping (.338, 0 HR, 66 RBI) stoked the fires with his team-leading RBI total. In the pitcher's box, Luhern Ensworth (30-16, 2.66 ERA) became one of the BA's premier hurlers after a lackluster 1870. The Hibernians played at a .588 clip in the second half, and they needed every victory as Westminster shadowed them all the way. The Peers had Bert Dunstone (34-27, 2.80 ERA) start all but three of the team's games, and he responded by leading the league in victories, while oufielder Henry Pond (.373, 1 HR, 51 RBI) paced all Peer hitters. But the 32-year old Pond proved surprisingly fragile, missing fifteen games as a result of six different injuries, and the Westminsters couldn't compete with Dublin's torrid hitting. In mid-September, with the Peers trailing Dublin by 1 1/2 games, the two rivals met in Shamrock Park for a crucial two-game series. Any hopes that the Peers had of winning their first pennant quickly vanished as the home team swept them convincingly, winning 9-7 and 17-8, which all-but insured that the Shamrocks would go on to take the flag. The other teams were simply not a factor in the second half. Sean Angus (.374, 2 HR, 74 RBI) topped the League's hitters, but it wasn't enough to move Newcastle higher than third place.

While it was a two-team duel in the League, it was a one-horse race in the Association as Leeds continued their methodical destruction of the DA competition. The Ironsides, with a four-game lead at the all-star break, were never in danger of losing their place at the top of the standings, maintaining that same lead throughout much of the second half. Leeds were far from having an overpowering offense, despite the contributions of shortstop Scott Campbell (.326, 0 HR, 42 RBI) and slugging catcher Ambrose Scholes (.316, 7 HR, 55 RBI), who led the majors in home runs. Rather, it was the Ironsides' exceptional pitching that buoyed them during the season. Michael Mitchell (40-21, 1.96 ERA) started all but three of his club's games, and became the first hurler to reach the forty-win plateau on his way to winning the DA's triple crown in pitching. Manchester remained a safe distance behind in second. First baseman Arthur Edney (.337, 4 HR, 53 RBI) was the hitting star for the Millers, while Barrington Coatsworth (28-28, 2.58 ERA) handled the starting pitching duties, but the Manchesters lacked the kind of stellar performer of Mitchell's caliber that was needed to challenge the Leeds dominance. The Millers had their best month in August, when they went 9-5, yet they could only gain 1/2 game on the leaders. The story was the same in Belfast, where the Unions compiled a 12-2 mark in August yet could only manage to finish a distant third. Injuries were the dominant theme in Ulster, with star offensive contributors Thomas Cranfield (.372, 1 HR, 70 RBI) and Michael Beales (.372, 1 HR, 68 RBI) spending a total of 22 games on the bench with various aches. Last year's leaders, Islington and Lambeth, were thwarted by bad pitching and execrable fielding, respectively.



It was Ensworth in the pitcher's box for the visiting Shamrocks against surprise starter Mike Minthorn (2-3, 2.05 ERA) in game one of the Cup Finals Series. The surprise, however, was on the home team, as the Dublins scored every time they came up to the bat en route to a 17-2 thrashing of the Ironsides. Arthur Marden (.320, 0 HR, 61 RBI) had four hits and as many RBI for the visitors, including a two-run triple in the ninth. The Ironsides contributed to the lopsided score by committing seventeen errors. Leeds manager Wade Mawer made sure that Mitchell was in the box for game two, but "Chaucer" wasn't around when the Ironsides came back from a 10-8 deficit to score four runs and win the game by the final tally of 12-10. Dylan McNaughton's (.432, 0 HR, 7 RBI) two-run single proved to be the game-winner. Minthorn got the call in game three at Dublin, and once again the beleaguered hurler gave up seventeen runs, losing 17-10 to Ensworth. Eddowes and Topping each collected three hits for the victors, and once again Leeds had a bad case of the dropsies, committing fourteen miscues in the field. A rare low-scoring contest followed the next day, but again the visiting Ironsides came out on the short end, losing 5-4 to Dublin. Harry Lynch (11-9, 2.77 ERA) out-dueled Mitchell, scattering ten hits for the triumph. In game five, the Hibernians sensed the opportunity to do something that they were unable to accomplish in the 1650s -- defeat the visiting Ironsides -- and so they came out swinging. With the game tied at one apiece in the bottom of the second, the Shamrocks sent ten men to the plate and scored six times, and they went on to prevail by a final score of 10-3. Cleanup hitter Beckan O'Tracy (.327, 1 HR, 49), who hit .435 and drove in ten runs for the victors, was named the most valuable player in the Series, although some credit should go to the Leeds defense, which booted 67 chances during the five-game set.

THE MINORS

The Northern Conference's Bolton Rovers, Belfast's apprentices, swept the Brighton Lions of the Liverpool farm system to capture their first Second Tier crown.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .374 Sean Angus, Newcastle
HR: 5 Jonathan Meaden, Birmingham; Lewis "Rube" Miller
RBI: 74 Sean Angus, Newcastle; Carl Summerfield, Westminster
R: 92 Gregory McMichael, Birmingham
SB: 44 Keeran Kittle, Westminster
Pitching
W: 34 Bert Dunstone, Westminster
L: 28 Ambrose Jonas, Liverpool; Kinnard Nock, Bradford
K: 38 Ambrose Jonas, Liverpool
ERA: 2.52 Kinnard Nock, Bradford
SV: 4 Michael Burne, Westminster

Angus prevailed over Henry Pond (.373, 1 HR, 51 RBI) by one point to claim the batting crown.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .372 Thomas Cranfield, Belfast
HR: 7 Arthur Scholes, Leeds
RBI: 70 Thomas Cranfield, Belfast
R: 82 Ryan Baikie, Sheffield
SB: 46 Ryan Baikie, Sheffield
Pitching
W: 40 Michael Mitchell, Leeds
L: 28 Barrington Coatsworth, Manchester
K: 46 Michael Mitchell, Leeds
ERA: 1.96 Michael Mitchell, Leeds
SV: 7 Stewart "Deek" Spencer, Manchester

Cranfield beat out his teammate Beales by .0005 for the batting laurels in the DA.

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1871-72 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Gregory McMichael, Birmingham (.354, 2 HR, 65 RBI, 92 R, .527 SLG)
Pitcher: Bert Dunstone, Westminster (34-27, 2.80 ERA, 521 IP, 32 CG)
Manager: Tobias Priestner, Dublin (45-25, 1st place)
Rookie: John Cantrill, Newcastle (.350, 2 HR, 53 RBI, 55 R, .493 SLG)

Dominion Association
Hitter: Thomas Cranfield, Belfast (.372, 1 HR, 70 RBI, 70 R, 35 SB)
Pitcher: Michael Mitchell, Leeds (40-21, 1.96 ERA, 501.2 IP, 46 K)
Manager: Wade Mawer, Leeds (46-24, 1st place)
Rookie: John Stansfield, Leeds (.301, 1 HR, 64 RBI, 66 R, 27 SB)

In a bit of surprise, the voters ignored Sean Angus and picked McMichael as the League's outstanding hitter. Neither player, however, led the League's batters in VORP -- a usually reliable predictor for the award. That honor went to London infielder Murray Bignall (.363, 2 HR, 62 RBI).

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Befitting a season in which the combined League average was .292 and the Association was not far behind at .284, 1871 was the year of the hitting streak in the BA. William Speake of Belfast topped the list with 37 straight games, followed by Michael Barnstaple (Birmingham - 35 games), Douglas Blanchard (Westminster - 34 games), and Cameron McIntyre (Islington - 32 games). Barnstaple's string started in 1870 and extended into the beginning of 1871.

ALLIANCE NEWS

The eve of the 1872 season proved to be a busy time at South Dublin Union Hospital. Clyde Shirley, the regular left fielder for Dublin and an important cog in their Cup-winning machine, broke his elbow in a late spring training game. Physicians estimated that Shirley would be out of action for five or six months -- if he didn't die first, that is. Four days later Harry Lynch, the backup starter for the Shamrocks, also suffered an elbow injury. This one will likely keep Lynch on the sidelines for the entire year.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

The Peers had a lot to be pleased about at the close of the 1871 season. They improved by eleven games and five spots on the ladder over their finish in 1870. Bert Dunstone took home the outstanding pitcher award in the EL. And the "Run Run Peers" had more stolen bases (145) than any other team in the majors, with Keeran Kittle (44 SB) and Douglas Blanchard (35 SB) finishing one-two in that category in the League tables.

But there was still room to improve. Dunstone started the overwhelming majority of the Peers' games in large part because there was no one else who was good enough to take his place, and the all-star hurler was clearly weary as the season drew to a close. Henry Pond starred at the plate, but only when he was healthy. And although it was exciting to see the team steal 145 bases, that must be viewed in light of the 135 times the young speedsters were caught stealing.

As he attempts to address these deficiencies, owner George Kirkup renewed his quest to find talent on the cheap. Kirkup had to contribute $3,575 to the team's coffers during the year to pay the bills, and he has made it clear he's not inclined to be so generous in 1872. "I'm not running a system of outdoor relief for ball players," said Kirkup. "This venture will make a profit or I'll go back to knackering horses."

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1872 MID-SEASON

It was a game of musical chairs in the Empire League as six different teams spent time at the top of the standings in the first half of the season. Defending champs Dublin had been ravaged by injuries in the pre-season, but they still managed to climb to the top of the pole in May, only to slide back down in June. Starter Luhern Ensworth, a thirty-game winner last year, broke a finger sliding into a base on 13 April and missed four weeks, but the Shamrocks still managed to put up the second-best pitching numbers in the league, as Canadian Edouard Bernard came out of the bullpen to handle the starting chores. London, boasting the best offense in the League, started strong with four straight wins, but then fell apart, losing ten of their next eleven games. Going into the all-star break, however, the Bulldogs were riding a six-game win streak, including a three-game sweep of Dublin on the road. Bradford and Westminster battled it out for first in June, but both teams flagged in the latter half of the month. Instead, it was Newcastle which carried the lead into the mid-year holiday. The Greys started the year with a six-game skid, but patiently put together a 20-10 record thereafter. Starter Evan Spalding shone for the Newcastles, going 13-4 in the first half and leading the League's best box staff. Left fielder Elton Paget continued his solid hitting for the Greys, batting .368 in the early going.

In the DA, Bristol started fast out of the gate, going 12-6 to start the season. But the Dockers' weak hitting caught up with them in June, and the team plunged into the second division. Sheffield took Bristol's place at the top of the ladder, led by pitcher Alexander Sewell, who had spent all of last season on the disabled list with a torn muscle. Sewell showed few ill effects of his injury in putting together a 22-14 record for the Steelers. Rapidly approaching from behind, however, were Belfast, who went on a seven-game win binge on the eve of the all-star party to catch up to the Steelmen. The Unions relied on their Association-best pitching staff, with Henry Hemingway's 20-10 record leading the way. Defending batting champ Thomas Cranfield started the season on the DL after hurting his shoulder in spring training, but he came back strong, batting .357 to lead the team. Manchester stayed close to the top with its Association-leading offense. Australian import Marco Dryden spearheaded the attack with a .367 average. At the bottom of the standings, Glasgow set a record for futility that may stand the test of time. Starting with a 31 May loss to Leeds, the Gaelics proceeded to lose every single game thereafter, going 0-13 in June and 0-6 in July before the all-star break put a temporary halt to the carnage. The Gaelics will try to end their twenty-game skid after play resumes.



Newcastle's Gallowgate Field hosted the all-star classic this year. The visiting Dominions started the scoring with a single tally in the fifth, and then broke the game wide open in the sixth against Westminster starter Michael Burne. The Dominions sent twelve men to the plate and scored six of them with the aid of four base hits, five errors, and a passed ball. The Empires struck back with four runs in their half of the inning, but it was not enough. The final score: DA 10, EL 6. Islington first baseman and Düsseldorf native Anton Klosterman, who played shortstop for the Dominions, collected four hits in five trips to the plate to earn the most valuable player award.

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1872 FINAL

The Empire League featured a nail-biting finish, as three teams battled it out to the last day. London was on fire after the All-Star Game, racking up seven wins in their first eight games after the break. The Bulldog offense continued to lay waste to opposition pitching, with seven regulars, led by shortstop Robbie Haye (.350, 2 HR, 47 RBI), finishing over the .300 mark. But London's fielding was the shame of the League, as the City dropped 555 chances. Westminster, in contrast, boasted the League's best defense, and that, along with timely hitting from veteran Henry Pond (.353, 0 HR, 55 RBI) and solid pitching from Michael Burne (28-19, 2.14 ERA), allowed the Peers to chip away at the London lead. The two intra-city rivals met at London's Cannon Street Grounds on 5 September for a two-game set, each team sporting identical 33-26 records atop the League standings. The visitors swept the series, and it looked like the Peers were well on their way to their first flag. But Westminster split the next four games and then dropped three straight at Bradford. London, meanwhile, hung on to win four of its next seven to pull even with the Peers again with two games remaining -- a rematch at Westminster's Vincent Square Park. Bradford, in the same span, won seven out of eight games. Matthew Muir 24-19, 1.97 ERA) pitched magnificently down stretch, winning seven straight at the end of the season, including three shutouts -- two against Westminster -- to pull the Badgers within one game of the leaders. In the final series, Westminster took the first game against London by the score of 11-8. In the final game of the regular season, Burne pitched a masterpiece, scattering seven hits en route to a 5-2 complete game victory and the pennant. Bradford, sweeping two games at Birmingham, slipped into second place.

There would be no such dramatics in the Association. Manchester, led by the hitting of Marco Dryden (.344, 2 HR, 59 RBI) and the starting pitching of a rejuvenated Stewart "Deek" Spencer (29-17, 1.93 ERA), pulled away from the pack after the midsummer break, collecting seven wins in their first eight games. After that the Millers played just well enough to stave off challenges from Belfast, Bristol, and Lambeth. The Unions, behind their star hurler, Henry Hemingway (33-24, 1.64 ERA) and the Association-best hitting of William Speake (.357, 1 HR, 45 RBI), tried to keep pace with Manchester in the second half, but a five-game losing streak at the end of August sealed their fate. Bristol made a run at the Greys in August, winning eight of nine in the second half of the month, including two of three at Manchester. The Dockers, however, faded in September and fell to fourth place. Lambeth made their move in September, winning seven of their last eleven, but it came too late to threaten Manchester's hold on the lead. Cellar-dwelling Glasgow stopped its losing streak at 21 with a win against Islington, and actually played well in the second half until dropping eight of their last ten games in September.



1872 CUP FINALS SERIES: WESTMINSTER v. MANCHESTER

2,875 spectators crowded into Manchester's Fairfield Park for the first game of the Cup Finals Series. The Peers scored first with three runs in the top of the third, but the Millers came back to score two in the bottom half of the frame and one more in the fourth. In the sixth, with the score knotted at three, the Peers put three more runs on the board, with the decisive blow a two-run single by pitcher Burne, and the visitors held on to win 6-3. It was a slugfest in game two. The Peers scored four runs in the top of the first, and the score stood at 11-8 in favor of the visitors after seven innings. In the top of the eighth, the Peers added five more runs, and it looked bleak for the home squad. In the bottom of the inning, however, the normally reliable Westminster defense fell apart, committing four errors and a passed ball, while Manchester's bats came alive with five hits, as the Millers put seven runs across the plate to cut the Westminster lead to a single run. In the bottom of the ninth, Miller left fielder John Enfield came up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs. He hit a sharp grounder that skipped past third baseman Bramwell Tremain (.314, 0 HR, 26 RBI), and the Millers triumphed 17-16. At Vincent Square Park, the rivals met for game three. This time Manchester held a 7-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. The first four Peer batters reached base on hits, scoring twice. Four batters and two runs later, Keeran Kittle (.285, 1 HR, 48 RBI) came to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third. Kittle hit a line drive over the shortstop's head, and the home team snatched a victory away from the Millers by the final tally of 8-7. Manchester came back the next day to even the series with a 6-4 win by Barrington Coatsworth (7-6, 4.50 ERA). Light-hitting shortstop Arthur Edney (.253, 0 HR, 36 RBI) had three hits for the victors. It looked promising for the Greys in game five as they scored eight runs in the first inning. But no lead was safe in this series, and the Peers clawed their way back. In the seventh, trailing 9-6, the home squad scored four runs, keyed by George Catterson's (.280, 1 HR, 36 RBI) bases-loaded triple, and the Peers went on to win 10-9 to take a one-game lead in the Finals. Back to Manchester and another come-from-behind win, this time by the Millers. Down 7-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the Manchesters batted around and scored five times, with the winning run scoring on an error by center fielder Quentin Bewick (.310, 2 HR, 41 RBI). It all came down to a game seven matchup between the two staff aces, Burne and Spencer. With the score 4-1 in favor of Manchester, the Peers came to bat in the fifth inning. The visitors proceeded to bunch four hits around three errors and a walk to score seven times. Burne allowed only two more hits the rest of the way, and the Peers prevailed with a score of 8-4 to capture their first BA Cup. Burne, with a 3-0 record, walked away with the most valuable player trophy.

THE MINORS

The Northern Conference champion Kingston-upon-Hull Kings, Islington's minor league club, swept their Southern Conference counterparts, the Kensington Knights from the Sheffield system, for the Second Tier title.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .362 Arthur Marden, Dublin
HR: 4 Carl Summerfield, Westminster
RBI: 66 Bramwell Waterhouse, London
R: 81 Fritz Cashman, Dublin
SB: 29 Adam Cleary, London
Pitching
W: 28 Michael Burne, Westminster
L: 28 Ambrose Jonas, Liverpool
K: 43 Ambrose Jonas, Liverpool
ERA: 1.61 Fergus Fairless, London
SV: 4 Edouard Bernard, Dublin; Eddie Cullimore, London

Marden fractured his foot and didn't play a game after 28 August, but still led the League in hitting.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .355 William Speake, Belfast
HR: 3 three players
RBI: 60 Luke O'Gribben, Bristol
R: 78 Charles Risdale, Bristol
SB: 34 Ryan Baikie, Sheffield
Pitching
W: 33 Henry Hemingway, Belfast
L: 33 Carl Mills, Glasgow
K: 41 Alexander Sewell, Sheffield
ERA: 1.35 George Vann, Bristol
SV: 6 Jack Bell, Belfast

Between 29 May and 17 July, Carl Mills lost fourteen straight decisions. He was reportedly "very unhappy" at the conclusion of the season.

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1872-73 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Robert Burman, Liverpool (.356, 1 HR, 61 RBI, 67 R, .421 SLG)
Pitcher: Michael Burne, Westminster (28-19, 2.14 ERA, 416.1 IP)
Manager: Shaun Bowmer, Westminster (39-31, 1st place)
Rookie: Robbie Haye, London (.350, 2 HR, 47 RBI, 52 R)

Dominion Association
Hitter: James Granger, Manchester (.323, 1 HR, 59 RBI, 64 R, 33 SB)
Pitcher: Henry Hemingway, Belfast (33-24, 1.64 ERA, 498.1 IP)
Manager: Nigel Dimbleby, Lambeth (39-31, 2nd place)
Rookie: Ralph Chaytor, Islington (.294, 0 HR, 43 RBI, 30 SB)

Rookie Eric Frude hit .341 for Sheffield and represented the Steelers in the All-Star Game. Chaytor was batting .251 at the all-star break and wasn't invited.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dublin left fielder Fritz Cashman became the first player to collect seven hits in a single game -- six singles and a double. He did it in a nine-inning game on 11 September against Birmingham.

ALLIANCE NEWS

Manchester, smarting over its Cup Finals loss, signed American rookie second baseman Jesse Zucker to a three-year contract worth $6,936. The Millers then went on to acquire outfielder Connor "Plumber" Ayling for the munificent sum of $7,711 spread over three seasons.

The lethal rite of spring claimed another victim as Michael "Chaucer" Mitchell, a 40-game winner for Leeds two years ago, was sidelined with arm strain after a game on 4 April. Doctors are not optimistic that Mitchell will pitch again before September.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

Church bells rang and the inhabitants of this ancient city made a good deal of noise themselves as they celebrated the BA Cup Finals victory of the Peers. As a special sign of favor, local factory owners gave the children in their employ fifteen minutes off to display their enthusiasm. A procession of carriages transported the diamond heroes down Victoria Street to a rally at Parliament Square. Prime Minister William Gladstone was persuaded to give a short speech lasting approximately ninety minutes, in which he displayed a much keener grasp of the Irish question than of the hit-and-run play. Henry Pond, the idol of the base ball fancy, held aloft the Cup for the masses to gaze upon and marvel. And Michael Burne, on whose mighty right arm the fate of the team rested, promised the crowd that the Peers would do their best to defend the crown so recently won.

Owner George Kirkup, described as "ecstatic" over his team's performance, rewarded his charges by opening a wallet that one anonymous player remarked was usually "closed tighter than a bear trap." Pond was the biggest winner, receiving $3,387 for the upcoming campaign, making him, at the time, the third-highest paid player in the BA. Others fared better only relatively. The Westminsters, who started the season with the lowest team payroll, went into the 1873 preseason with the third-lowest. Kirkup's munificence was truly enormous.

George Hesketh, on a scouting expedition to North America, was impressed by the play of a left-handed outfielder by the name of Kevin Hoover during an amateur game in Palmer, Alaska, and signed him to a minor league contract. Hoover, who has never been more than fifty miles from his home, was understandably confused when he was told he would be headed for England. "Can I see that from Alaska?" he asked.

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1873 MID-SEASON

The big story in the first half of the season came from the Dominion Association, where the Manchester Millers dominated the opposition. At the start of May, the Millers went on a nine-game winning streak, and followed that with a seven-game streak in June. In all, Manchester went 23-3 between 2 May and 30 June, leaving their competition in the dust. In addition to superior pitching and fielding, the Millers led the majors with a team batting average of .316. Outfielders John Enfield (.385) and Marco Dryden (.373) led the attack. Indeed, the only starter not batting .300 or better was first baseman Arthur Edney, with a mere .297. Highly touted, and highly compensated, rookies Jesse Zucker and Connor "Plumber" Ayling were placed directly in the starting lineup and performed well, batting .304 and .353 respectively. In the box, Stewart "Deek" Spencer, with his legendary fastball, ravaged opposing lineups, going 21-6 in the first half. The other teams, in contrast, were hardly a factor. Bristol tried gamely to keep up the pace, but a six-game losing streak at the end of June hobbled their chances of competing. Sheffield went 6-1 on the eve of the all-star break, but that streak was only good enough to put it into third place.

In the Empire League, it seemed like the lead changed hands more often than a vicar's watch at a public hanging. London and Birmingham battled it out for the lead in the early going. Right hander Weiner Schellenberg, the pride of Saxony and a backup starter in the previous three seasons, was handed the primary starting role by the Blue Stockings, and he responded by leading the League's best pitching staff with a 12-5 record in the first half of the season. London, meanwhile, relied on the potent bat of first baseman Murray Bignal, who was second in the circuit with a .371 batting average. Coming up from behind were defending Cup holders Westminster, paced by outfielder Henry Pond's .349 average. At the beginning of June, only a half-game separated these three rivals at the top of the standings. The Bulldogs were the first to stumble, going 3-8 in their first eleven games in June, before righting itself at the end of the month. Birmingham and Westminster continued to fight it out before a 7-2 run by the Peers allowed them a precarious perch at the pinnacle of the standings. Neither the stellar first half by Newcastle right fielder John Cantrill, who led the league with a .373 average, nor the slugging of Liverpool catcher Robert Burman, were enough to lift their teams out of sixth place.



Lambeth hosted the 1873 All-Star Game at Riverside Park, and the 2,553 assembled enthusiasts saw the Dominion Association beat the Empire League for the third time in four attempts. The home team broke open a 6-2 contest with six runs in the seventh inning, the crowning blow coming off a two-run triple by Belfast first baseman William Speake. The Dominions then coasted to victory by a final score of 12-3. Speake, with two hits in as many trips to the plate and three runs batted in, was awarded the most valuable player laurels.

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1873 FINAL

Once again, the Empire League race came down to the last game. In the second half, London, Birmingham, and Westminster continued their fight for first place. Birmingham's pitching staff, led by Weiner Schellenberg (18-17, 1.87 ERA), carried the team through July, but, on the 31st of the month, the Blue Stockings started a thirteen-game losing skein that saw them lose every game in August. That left Westminster and London at the top of the ladder. Westminster held a tenuous half-game lead at the all-star break, led by a League-best pitching staff helmed by Michael Burne (20-18, 2.23 ERA). But the hitting wasn't on the same level, and when Keeran Kittle (.332, 3 HR, 44 RBI) was felled by a back injury on 5 July and went on the disabled list for the second time in 1873, the weak-hitting Peers could only manage a 4-7 record without him. That opened a gap for London, and the Bulldogs were not slow in exploiting it. London featured a potent offense, with first baseman Murray Bignal (.367, 0 HR, 54 RBI) and catcher Edward Dale (.337, 3 HR, 48 RBI) leading the attack. The pitching duties were ably handled primarily by Fergus Fairless (23-17, 2.26 ERA). The Bulldogs racked up an 11-3 record in August, and were six games ahead of second-place Westminster at the beginning of September. But then the London express hit a road block, losing eight of their next ten games, including being swept in a two-game series at home by the Peers. Meanwhile, the Peers went 7-3 in that stretch, and suddenly Westminster was only a single game behind London with two games remaining. The Peers won their first game against Liverpool, while London kept pace by beating Bradford. On the final game of the season, though, the Argonauts played the spoilers, defeating Westminster 4-3, which made London's loss to Bradford that day meaningless. The Bulldogs had survived a scare to win their first League pennant.

Manchester continued its domination of the Dominion Association in the second half. The Millers' .308 team batting average again topped the majors, and youngsters Jesse Zucker (.310, 0 HR, 64 RBI) and Connor Ayling (.359, 0 HR, 67 RBI) were a big part of that formidable attack, but it was veteran right fielder Marco Dryden (.377 3 HR, 59 RBI) who led all Manchester hitters. With such an overwhelming offense, the Millers didn't need a spectacular box staff, and indeed the statistics show that they were in the middle of the pack when it came to pitching prowess, but Stewart "Deek" Spencer (34-16, 2.61 ERA) was good enough to lead the Association in victories. The only bump in the Manchesters' road to the pennant occurred in late August, when they went into an uncharacteristically extended seven-game losing streak. The Millers quickly recovered, however, and won six of their remaining seven games. Sheffield, by virtue of some solid hitting and the best pitching corps in the Association, helmed by Alexander Sewell (30-24, 2.27 ERA), made a run at the leaders in late August, and got as close as six games behind Manchester on 8 September. But the Steelers ran out of time as the curtain fell, and they had to be content with second place. Islington's Finnegan Singleton (.423, 0 HR, 44 RBI), led the majors in hitting, but he also missed 21 games with injuries and couldn't carry his team higher than third place. Glasgow, attempting to raise itself out of the cellar, accumulated the second-highest payroll in base ball -- and it worked. Instead of finishing last, the Gaelics managed to finish in seventh.



1873 CUP FINALS SERIES: LONDON v. MANCHESTER

For the second year in a row, the Cup Finals Series opened in Manchester. To the surprise of many, London out-hit Manchester 12-7, but the Millers made their hits count more. In the eighth, leading 4-3, the home team put three runs across the plate, and went on to win by the score of 7-3. Ayling for the winners and Arthur Telfer (.365, 0 HR, 20 RBI) each collected three hits. London jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the next game, and led 8-4 going into the fifth inning. But Manchester put together four runs in their half of the inning to tie the game, and then scored another four-spot in the eighth, where the decisive blow was struck by James Granger's (.340, 1 HR, 78 RBI) two-run base hit. The Bulldogs attempted a comeback in the ninth, but the Millers hung on for a 12-10 victory. Game three saw London's Cannon Street Grounds host its first postseason contest. For the third straight time, the Bulldogs gathered more hits than the Millers, but this time the outcome reflected the difference as the home team prevailed 8-7. London broke a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the ninth when Telfer led off with a triple and, two batters later, was driven home by a double* off the bat of left fielder Peadar Piddocke (.297, 1 HR, 54 RBI). London ambushed Manchester starter "Deek" Spencer in game four, sending eleven men to the plate and scoring seven times in the first inning. All the runs came with two outs. That was all London needed, as starter Eddie Cullimore (13-7, 2.69 ERA) held the visitors to four runs the rest of the way, and the Bulldogs evened the series with a 7-4 triumph. It was Spencer against Fairless in game five, but the much anticipated pitchers' duel did not develop. Instead, the City team broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the fifth by scoring ten runs on eight hits, four errors, two passed balls, and a hit batsman. William Chal (.277, 0 HR, 54 RBI) had two hits and three RBI in the inning. It proved too deep of a hole out of which to climb for Manchester, who dropped their third straight by a score of 15-9. The punters were getting nervous as the heavily favored Millers returned to Manchester trailing three games to two. It was Spencer again in the box for the home squad, but again London manhandled him, scoring nine runs before the Millers could put any runs on the board in the fourth. By that point, however, Spencer had been pulled by manager Albert Francombe, desperate to find some way to salvage the crucial contest. Cullimore, though, silenced Manchester's potent bats, giving up only nine hits en route to a complete game 12-5 victory and the Bulldogs' first BA Cup. Telfer, with a staggering .517 batting average for the series, was the unanimous choice for MVP.

*One suspects that the official scorer was a relative of Mr. Piddocke's.

THE MINORS

The Northern Conference continued to dominate postseason competition in the Second Tier, as the Preston Wasps of the Newcastle system defeated the Dublin-affiliated Leicester Leopards in four games.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .372 Robert Burman, Liverpool
HR: 3 three players
RBI: 68 Cameron Ainslie, Bradford
R: 75 Douglas Blanchard, Westminster
SB: 38 Lodovico Frugoni, Birmingham
Pitching
W: 23 Fergus Fairless, London; Evan Spalding, Newcastle
L: 31 Ambrose Jonas, Liverpool
K: 35 Ambrose Jonas, Liverpool
ERA: 1.45 Henry Scholes, Newcastle
SV: 5 Henry Scholes, Newcastle

Frugoni is one of eleven Italians in professional base ball. For the second year in a row, Jonas led the League in losses and strikeouts.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .423 Finnegan Singleton, Islington
HR: 3 four players
RBI: 78 James Granger, Manchester
R: 88 Jesse Zucker, Manchester
SB: 44 Cameron MacGachan, Bristol
Pitching
W: 34 Stewart "Deek" Spencer, Manchester
L: 28 Cameron Gadd, Glasgow
K: 36 Stewart "Deek" Spencer, Manchester
ERA: 1.47 Dennis Brockelbank, Bristol
SV: 5 Andrew Graham, Lambeth; Henry Hemingway, Belfast

Singleton had hitting streaks of 24 and 20 games.

[joefromchicago]

1873-74 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Robert Burman, Liverpool (.372, 2 HR, 56 RBI, 61 R)
Pitcher: Evan Spalding, Newcastle (23-19, 1.83 ERA, 369.1 IP)
Manager: George Freebody, London (42-28, 1st place)
Rookie: Jeffrey Perry, Westminster (13-9, 1.67 ERA, 205.1 IP)

Dominion Association
Hitter: Connor "Plumber" Ayling, Manchester (.359, 0 HR, 67 RBI, 80 R, 13 3B)
Pitcher: Stewart "Deek" Spencer, Manchester (34-14, 2.61 ERA, 468.1 IP)
Manager: Albert Francombe, Manchester (49-21, 1st place)
Rookie: Connor "Plumber" Ayling (.359, 0 HR, 67 RBI, 80 R, 13 3B)

Burman started all seventy games behind the plate for Liverpool.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Lambeth's Liam Broughton collected nine RBI in a single game against Belfast on 4 July. Broughton had five singles and a home run in seven trips to the plate as the Lambs destroyed the Unions 30-6. Newcastle's Cian McDermott had a 39-game hitting streak stopped by London on 18 July.

ALLIANCE NEWS

In December, the owners, meeting at the somewhat disorganized Pell Mell Club, voted to increase the schedule from 70 to 84 games for next season. "To increase spectator interest," stated Viscount Tadpoole. "To increase owner profits," retorted the cynics, who noted that, while the number of games would go up by 20%, player salaries would not. Rosters, however, would be increased from 15 to 16 players to reflect the anticipated need to carry an extra pitcher.

Birmingham copped the first big free agent acquisition of the off-season when they signed outfielder Jack Inglis to a one-year pact for $2,101.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

If it wasn't bad enough coming in second by a single game, the Peers came in second by a single game to hated rivals London. Westminster didn't make it any easier on themselves by going 4-6 against the Bulldogs. Team owner George Kirkup vowed changes, and he started even before the final pitch was thrown in the Cup Finals Series. Michael Burne, who had carried the pitching duties since the beginning of the 1872 campaign, was unimpressive in 1873, and Kirkup saw an opportunity to unload Burne's large salary and open a place for Jeffrey Perry, the up-and-coming right hander who captured the League's rookie of the year award. So he arranged with Bradford to send Burne and minor league outfielder Neil Shaklady in exchange for highly touted minor leaguers Louis Prowse and Henry Yirrell. Before that, Westminster also traded inexplicably popular journeyman minor league pitcher Fergus Atwater to Bristol for youngster Keverne Anstey, a twenty-two-year old right-handed starter with a lot of potential. A few days later, backup outfielder Wayne Roden was dealt to Birmingham for infield prospect Fionnbar O'Kinneally. And finally, catcher Jack Clifford, whose disappointing .230 batting average was blamed by some for Westminster's slide into second place, was shipped off to Newcastle, along with minor league pitcher Michael Wichett, for twenty-one-year old outfielder Michael Broughall.

[joefromchicago]

1874 MID-SEASON

As the 1874 season dawned, there was little doubt that London City were determined to defend their status as reigning BA champions. The Bulldogs started the year by winning fourteen straight games, and it looked like it was all over in the League before it had even begun. London relied on the surprising performance of Joe Colson, a spot starter with Islington who was claimed off waivers by London at the start of the season and immediately slotted at the top of the starting rotation in place of Fergus Fairless, who had suddenly lost his touch. Colson responded by winning seventeen of his twenty-eight decisions. But Birmingham and Westminster played well, and when London's hot streak cooled off in May, the Blue Stockings and Peers were ready to make their moves. Birmingham came within two games of the lead at the beginning of June, but then fell off the pace. Westminster stayed close behind the pitching of sophomore star Jeffrey Perry, but a 1-8 record against London prevented them from closing on the leaders. Instead, all of these contenders were overtaken by Newcastle, who put together a 12-3 run starting on 30 May. The Greys possessed the League's best pitching, with Evan Spalding's stellar 24-9 record leading the way. That was enough to compensate for a fairly mediocre offense, paced by veteran third baseman Jon Shore. The Greys were shaken, however, by an injury to John Cantrill in mid-June. Cantrill, batting .333 at the time, fractured his wrist, and is expected to miss at least five weeks of action. It remains to be seen whether the teams trailing Newcastle will be able to take advantage of that opening.

In the Dominion, the early season shocker was the play of Glasgow, who have inhabited the Association's nether regions for the past two years. The Gaelics started 14-6 and climbed into the unfamiliar precincts of first place, largely on the strength of Cameron Gadd's pitching. Glasgow, however, stumbled in late May, and fell as far as fourth place before climbing back into contention on the eve of the all-star break. Taking Glasgow's place at the top of the standings were Bristol, whose offense was fired by the speedy oufielder Cameron MacGachan. Defending champions Manchester, still sporting the biggest payroll in the Association, had trouble out of the gate, but their awe-inspiring offense soon had the Millers back in the hunt. Connor "Plumber" Ayling led the attack with a .379 average in the early going, while manager Albert Francombe experimented with a two-man pitching rotation of Steve Knapp and Robert Young. Sheffield boasted the best pitching in the Association, highlighted by Alexander Sewell's 1.42 ERA, but weak hitting meant that the Steelers could climb no higher than fourth place.



Spectators who flocked to Eccles Park in Salford to witness the All-Star Game saw a closely fought contest between the picked squads of the rival circuits. The home team Empires were trailing 4-2 in the fourth when they scored six runs off Islington reliever Beckan McPait. The key play in the inning came with the bases loaded, when Lambeth third baseman Gene Rennie allowed a ground ball pass through his legs, which permitted two runs to score. The Dominions fought back, with Bristol's Neil Hendricks and Glasgow's Charlie "Wagon Tongue" Shield each collecting thee hits, but, in the end, it was not enough to overcome the Empires' lead, and the home team prevailed by the final score of 9-7. Shield, who added two RBI to his three hits, garnered the MVP honors in a losing cause.

[Eugene Church]

Good premise, fine writing and coverage.

A very well done dynasty.

It's a good read.

[joefromchicago]

Thanks, I appreciate that. Glad you're enjoying it.

[joefromchicago]

1875 FINAL

All of the drama in the second half of the season was confined to the Dominion Association pennant race. Sheffield had the whip hand at the break, with the pitching duo of Finnan Boyton (22-25, 1.44 ERA) and Alexander Sewell (20-13, 1.91 ERA). But Boyton became mysteriously ineffective in the second half: he fell from a 17-11 record before the break to a 5-11 mark in the second half, losing his last seven decisions. And as Boyton went, so went the Steelers, going 5-11 in August and tumbling out of first place. Islington, which battled Sheffield in a tight race before the hiatus, was the initial beneficiary of Sheffield's travails. The Owls relied on 26-year old Gareth Ceriton (34-24, 1.15 ERA), who, in his first season as a regular starter, emerged as one of the BA's pitching stars, while shortstop Kieran Maxwell (.297, 1 HR, 70 RBI) became the team's premier hitter and hit the team's only home run. Islington's reign as the Association's top team, however, would prove increasingly insecure, as Bristol came storming out of the pack with an eleven-game winning streak in the wake of the mid-year holiday. First baseman Ivan Boreman (.327, 0 HR, 46 RBI) was foremost of the Docker hitters and defied the general trend by adding over fifty points to his batting average from last year. George Vann (23-14, 1.36) and George Behan (11-10, 1.68 ERA) shared the pitching chores, although Bristol released Behan on 11 August for having a "bad attitude." Islington and Bristol entered the final month of the season with identical 45-28 records. Islington dropped three games to a Manchester squad who, if they were not able to repeat as Association champions, could at least enjoy the role of spoiler, while Bristol easily dispatched Sheffield and then went on to claim the flag by a comfortable two-game margin.

No such fireworks in the Empire League. Newcastle continued to dominate the opposition, with a superior box staff of Darren Caunce (19-10, 1.35 ERA), Henry Scholes (17-13, 1.67 ERA), and Evan Spalding (12-9, 1.29) comprising an innovative three-man rotation. The Grey hitting, in contrast, was anemic. "Big" Toirealach Riseley (.333, 0 HR, 31 RBI) missed twenty-seven games with a variety of ailments. In his absence, Newcastle had to rely on catcher Matt Whitworth (.267, 1 HR, 44 RBI) to carry the team. Fortunately for Newcastle, it was enough to buoy the club in this year of the pitcher. Birmingham kept pace through July, but faltered badly in August, winning only five of seventeen contests. The Blue Stockings depended on the talents of Barrington Coatsworth (28-16, 1.33 ERA), who pitched magnificently, but the rest of the staff were not up to his level of play. At the plate, Andrew Oldreive (.292, 1 HR, 60 RBI) led the team. Salford and Bradford, in the third and fourth positions, never contended for the title. Indicative of their performance for the year was Bradford's Matthew Muir (32-34, 1.62 ERA), who led the League in both wins and losses. Defending champion London only reached the .500 plateau by winning their final three games. The team's poor performance cost 1874 outstanding manager George Freebody his job at the beginning of August.



1875 CUP FINALS SERIES: NEWCASTLE v. BRISTOL

Bristol's Westbury Field hosted the initial matchup between the League and Association pennant winners. Newcastle starter Caunce aided his own cause with two hits as the Greys built up a 6-0 lead. In the seventh, Bristol finally got on the board with a run, and then, in the eighth, put across five more with the aid of four Grey errors and a bases-loaded triple by Ewan Simpson (.333, 0 HR, 30 RBI) to tie it up. Bristol then won it in the bottom of the ninth when Henry Maddock (.278, 0 HR, 30 RBI) scampered home on an error by center fielder Cian McDermott (.240, 0 HR, 31 RBI). In game two, Bristol could only manage five runs despite collecting sixteen hits. Starter Vann, however, held Newcastle to just five hits and three runs for the Docker victory. Boreman had four hits for the home team. A change of scenery for game three didn't improve Newcastle's fortunes. Bristol scored five times in the first, and Vann held on for an 8-7 win. Maddock and Neil Hendricks (.273, 0 HR, 53 RBI) each had three hits to help the winning cause. The Dockers scored twice in the early innings of game four, but the home team Greys came back to take the lead with four runs of their own. The score stood at 4-2 in the ninth when Bristol came to the bat against starter Henry Scholes (17-13, 1.67 ERA). Bristol proceeded to score four runs on four singles, two errors, a passed ball, and a balk, all of the damage coming with two outs. A dispirited Newcastle side could only manage a McDermott single in its half of the ninth, and the Bristols completed their sweep of the Greys with a come-from-behind 6-4 triumph. Maddock, with a .412 average for the postseason, gained the acclaim of the sporting press, who bestowed upon the second baseman their MVP accolades.

THE MINORS

The Norwich Terriers, Bristol's farm club, became the first Southern Conference pennant winner to win the Second Tier championship when they defeated the Hull Kings, Islington's minor league franchise, in four games. This marked the second year in a row where a single organization won the major and minor premierships.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .310 Samuel MacGachan, London
HR: 3 Robbie Haye, London; Fred Montalbetti, Dublin
RBI: 60 Edward Dale, London; Andrew Oldreive, Birmingham
R: 72 Cameron Ainslie, Bradford
SB: 39 Lodovico Frugoni, Birmingham
Pitching
W: 32 Matthew Muir, Bradford
L: 34 Matthew Muir, Bradford
K: 75 Franklin Trenwith, Liverpool
ERA: 0.85 Henry Wright, London
SV: 4 Theodore Knight, Salford

MacGachan was the only player qualified for the batting title who hit over .300.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .360 Hugh Burton, Lambeth
HR: 3 Jesse Zucker, Manchester
RBI: 70 Kieran Maxwell, Islington
R: 76 Neil Hendricks, Bristol
SB: 48 James Lukies, Belfast
Pitching
W: 34 Gareth Cheriton, Islington; Michael "Chaucer" Mitchell, Leeds
L: 29 thee pitchers
K: 68 Michael "Chaucer" Mitchell
ERA: 1.31 Dave "Midget" Garner, Bristol
SV: 6 Dave "Midget" Garner, Bristol

Bristol pitchers occupied the top three spots in the ERA list.

[joefromchicago]

1875-76 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Samuel MacGachan, London (.310, 0 HR, 51 RBI, 52 R, 14 SB)
Pitcher: Joe Colson, London (31-30, 1.32 ERA, 519 IP, .233 OAVG)
Manager: Luke Pitchford, Newcastle (51-33, 1st place)
Rookie: William Hogarth, Westminster (8-10, 1.20 ERA, 150.1 IP, .230 OAVG)

Dominion Association
Hitter: Hugh Burton, Lambeth (.360, 1 HR, 53 RBI, 64 R, .446 SLG)
Pitcher: Michael "Chaucer" Mitchell, Leeds (34-29, 1.74 ERA, 548 IP, 68 GS)
Manager: Tierney Pine, Bristol (53-31, 1st place)
Rookie: Sebastian Wilford, Islington (9-3, 1.74 ERA, 129.2 IP)

Mitchell continued his mercurial career by winning his second outstanding pitcher award. Mitchell leads the majors in both career wins (140) and losses (139).

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Jonathan Greenfield of Leeds set a BA season mark when he managed to strike out 31 times.

ALLIANCE NEWS

In a post-season meeting of owners in Brighton, all the talk was of the sudden dearth of hitting that had struck the BA in 1875. Team batting averages plunged to .259 in the Association and a frightful .242 in the League, down from .273 and 269 respectively. Some suggested outlawing gloves, an increasingly popular accoutrement for the sore-handed fielders, but that would undoubtedly meet with player resistance. Others recommended that the BA enforce more firmly the rule that requires pitchers to maintain a straight arm while pitching the ball. And some even called for moving the pitcher's box back from 45 to 50 feet, or even farther, to give the hitters more time to react. All of the changes were referred to a committee, which is expected to issue its report before the start of next season.

Dublin were the big spenders in the free agent market. $2,499 purchased the rights to outfielder George Johnson for one year, while it took $3,486 to obtain the services of second baseman Michael "Uncle" Minto.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

"The wheels have come off the omnibus," said manager Shaun Bowmer cryptically in answer to press questions regarding Westminster's plunge from a Cup championship in 1873 to a last-place finish in 1875. The much-heralded youth movement proved to be disastrous. John Clymo, a highly touted rookie right hander, was given the job as premier starter in spring training. He proceeded to go 3-11 before he was relegated to the bullpen in favor of Jeffrey Perry, who fared little better. Meanwhile, the Peer offense collapsed. If fingers were pointed, they were generally aimed in the direction of Keeran Kittle, who went from hitting .301 in 1874 to an appalling .191 in 1875. Kittle, despite his baffling popularity among the Westminster fancy, was traded away at the end of the regular season to Newcastle for minor league second baseman Jeff Murch.

About the only players to distinguish themselves were Henry Henwood and William Hogarth. Henwood, playing 71 games behind the plate, hit .293 and was second in the League in on-base percentage and slugging. Hogarth, meanwhile, spent the first half of his rookie season in the bullpen before being drafted into a starting role when Clymo and Perry failed. He responded with an 8-10 record, including winning three of his final four starts and a 2-2 record against Newcastle. His performance earned him the League's rookie of the year award.

As the pre-season began, Westminster jettisoned another of its scapegoats when it traded Perry, along with utility infielder Conor Oppy and minor league starter Donovan Steers, to Bradford for right-handed outfielder Charles Judson and minor league pitcher Marmaduke Kirkman. Observers noted a slight increase in fan interest at the news of Judson's acquisition.