1914 North Carolina State League — Player Awards
NCSL Batting Champion
Zachary Taylor, a right fielder with the Winston-Salem Twins, nearly won this honor last year, finishing second in the league in hitting. This year, he claimed the batting title, hitting .325. Interestingly, the left-handed hitter struggles against lefty pitchers and often sat out those games (he was 11 of 45 against southpaws, not too bad I guess). He bats second going up against righties. For the season, Taylor had 124 hits in 382 at-bats, with two homers and 52 RBIs.
Most Outstanding Hitter Award
Greensboro 1B
Randy Downs provided a lot of highlights for a franchise that otherwise was in the shadows of rivals from Raleigh, Durham and Winston-Salem. Downs batted .305 with 60 RBIs, four home runs, eight triples and 19 doubles. Like Anthony Watson of Durham, Downs is an “old guy” at age 35. He hails from Eastlake, Ohio. Downs batted .259 in 1913, so he showed some improved pop in year two of his play in the NCSL.
Most Outstanding Pitcher Award
In a close vote, Raleigh’s
Oliver “Skull” Jenkins, also in his mid-30s, got the nod as the NCSL pitching ace for 1914. Skull went 17-7, with an ERA of 2.47. He threw 233.2 innings with 143 strikeouts as the team’s No. 1. It will be interesting to see what Jenkins can do next year. He showed fatigue as this season went along, and his ERA climbed from 1.65 for May up to 3.42 for August and 3.38 in the playoffs…
Rookie Of The Year Award
Charlotte fans are still shaking their heads over losing catcher
Vincente Nieves, who became Raleigh’s starting backstop and won the league’s Rookie of the Year award for 1914. Nieves batted .294 in 105 games with three homers and 61 RBIs. His RBI tally was fourth in the league.
Glove Wizard Awards
Pitcher: Miguel Ruiz (Charlotte Hornets)
Catcher: Vincente Nieves (Raleigh Capitals) -- nice year for him!
First Baseman: Randy Downs (Greensboro Patriots) -- double awards for him, too
Second Baseman: John Brown (Charlotte Hornets)
Third Baseman: Ken Stephens (Charlotte Hornets)
Shortstop: Fred Belcher (Charlotte Hornets) -- hey the Hornets had some good fielding!
Left Fielder: James Price (Greensboro Patriots)
Center Fielder: Joey Fisher (Asheville Mountaineers)
Right Fielder: Hollis Bailey (Asheville Mountaineers)
Most Valuable Player Award
OK, so maybe I went with my heart on this one, crowning Durham Bulls infielder
Anthony Watson as the repeat MVP winner. But it was just hard to overlook him taking the Bulls on his back, at age 35, and carrying them to an NCSL championship. He came up with three big hits in Game Two of the playoff series with Raleigh, then pounded the game-clinching two-run single in the 10th in Game Three. He led Durham in batting, with a .303 average and a team-best 56 RBIs.
Interestingly, Watson changed positions this year, moving over to third base full time after being the starting second baseman in 1913. Bill Ross, 26, took over at second base, batting .246. Watson didn‘t mind. He‘s just glad to be on the field and hopeful for some more good years ahead…
League Leaderboards
BATTING
Code:
Batting AVG
Z. Taylor WSA .325
B. Robbins RAL .320
R. Travis WSA .317
J. Price GRE .305
R. Downs GRE .305
Slugging PCT
R. Downs GRE .422
E. Conner DUR .417
H. Bailey ASH .416
R. Travis WSA .415
J. Price GRE .412
VORP
R. Downs GRE 32.2
C. Rodríguez WSA 28.3
B. Robbins RAL 27.1
R. Travis WSA 26.5
A. Watson DUR 26.1
Hits
R. Travis WSA 153
J. Price GRE 146
A. Watson DUR 138
B. Robbins RAL 137
J. Sherman RAL 136
Home Runs
T. Parker ASH 7
H. Bailey ASH 6
J. Price GRE 6
R. Franklin WSA 5
F. Mathis RAL 5
Runs Batted In
S. Alonso WSA 69
H. Knapp WSA 67
H. Bailey ASH 62
V. Nieves RAL 61
J. Pérez ASH 61
Stolen Bases
R. Travis WSA 60
E. Conner DUR 59
T. Riley RAL 57
J. Stewart RAL 57
A. Arévalo DUR 50
PITCHING
Code:
ERA
O. Jenkins RAL 2.47
A. Owens RAL 2.60
J. Pérez GRE 2.70
B. Bergeron CHA 2.74
J. Parker RAL 2.75
Wins
A. Owens RAL 18
O. Jenkins RAL 17
M. Smith RAL 16
M. McNeill ASH 15
J. Olivares DUR 14
Losses
M. Ruíz CHA 16
R. Young CHA 16
K. Davis DUR 15
B. Bergeron CHA 14
G. Lee DUR 14
Saves
J. Jones RAL 14
E. Becker DUR 12
J. Britt GRE 12
A. Ríos RAL 12
V. Dale CHA 11
Strikeouts
O. Jenkins RAL 143
J. Parker RAL 121
G. Lee DUR 117
M. McNeill ASH 113
A. Owens RAL 99
LEAGUE BATTING
Code:
Team R/G R G AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Raleigh 5.0 602 120 4175 1152 146 73 19 426 429 244 .276 .342 .360 .702
Winston-Salem 4.5 542 120 4198 1105 165 65 15 444 457 106 .263 .333 .344 .677
Greensboro 4.4 533 120 4322 1100 171 56 31 419 508 64 .255 .322 .342 .663
Asheville 4.4 530 120 4108 1033 157 63 21 401 448 214 .251 .322 .336 .658
Durham 4.2 502 120 4189 1112 178 73 9 420 418 225 .265 .335 .349 .684
Charlotte 3.7 444 120 4093 989 150 55 22 387 519 175 .242 .308 .321 .629
Totals 4.4 3153 720 25085 6491 967 385 117 2497 2779 1028 .259 .327 .342 .669
Average 526 120 4181 1082 161 64 20 416 463 171
LEAGUE PITCHING
Code:
Team R/G R G CG SHO SV ERA IP HA HRA BB K WHIP OAVG BABIP
Raleigh 3.7 448 120 34 7 29 2.61 1075.2 977 18 347 520 1.23 .237 .268
Greensboro 4.3 518 120 25 9 26 3.18 1094.0 1108 17 405 444 1.38 .263 .290
Winston-Salem 4.5 541 120 26 5 16 3.47 1069.1 1089 19 470 439 1.46 .261 .288
Charlotte 4.5 543 120 25 7 16 3.35 1062.0 1118 18 449 403 1.48 .268 .293
Asheville 4.6 547 120 23 8 23 3.39 1068.2 1112 31 419 444 1.43 .267 .292
Durham 4.6 556 120 40 2 26 3.49 1083.2 1087 14 407 529 1.38 .257 .291
Totals 4.4 3153 720 173 38 136 3.25 6453.1 6491 117 2497 2779 1.39 .259 .287
Average 526 120 29 6 23 1076 1082 20 416 463