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.