1878 FINAL
The duel between Newcastle and Birmingham carried over into the second half of the Empire League schedule. Newcastle featured an airtight defense, as they committed a mere 378 errors for a League-leading .909 fielding average. At the plate, "Big" Toirealach Riseley (.311, 1 HR, 65 RBI) managed to avoid injury to lead the team. It was, however, the pitching that carried the Greys, and rookie Rio Minns (41-20, 1.70 ERA) handled the burden like a veteran. Birmingham featured the League's best hitting, with first baseman Corey Lidgate (.346, 0 HR, 56 RBI) and Jack Inglis (.324, 2 HR, 37 RBI) leading the way. But the Blue Stocking pitching was not up to the task, and Jack Bell (24-22, 1.88 ERA) proved largely ineffective in the second half. The Birminghams trailed Newcastle by a half-game at the start of September, but Newcastle went on a 7-1 streak while the Blue Stockings went 3-6 in the same span to fall five games out, thus making the much-anticipated final three-game series at Newcastle, which the Greys swept, a meaningless affair. Salford and Bradford filled out the first division, but were so far back as to have no effect on the final outcome.
In the Dominion Association, Manchester continued their blistering pace as they marched to the pennant. Connor "Plumber" Ayling (.334, 3 HR, 73 RBI) paced the attack with help from infielders Danny Chambless (.318, 2 HR, 46 RBI) and Harry Kerry (.305, 1 RBI, 66 RBI). The pitching duties were shared by Robert Young (27-15, 1.85 ERA) and Stewart "Deek" Spencer (26-16, 1.54 ERA). Bristol, led by slugging third baseman Mattia Boccasino (.328, 5 HR, 46 RBI), and Islington, behind the Association-leading hitting of Ron Collins (.369, 0 HR, 49 RBI) and the pitching of rookie left hander George Carruders (27-13, 1.28 ERA), struggled to keep up with the Millers, but a 9-2 September by the Manchesters, including a 5-1 mark against the Owls, put paid to any notions that they might compete for the pennant. Charlie "Wagon Tongue" Shield (.287, 2 HR, 59 RBI), who signed a three-year, $12,882 contract with Glasgow prior to the 1877 season, distinguished himself at second base for the Gaelics, but the Glaswegians still couldn't break into the first division.
1878 CUP FINALS SERIES: NEWCASTLE v. MANCHESTER
A major controversy erupted on the eve of the Cup Finals Series. Newcastle general manager Paul Jeeps, in submitting his roster of postseason-eligible players to the Base Ball Commission, absent-mindedly omitted rookie hurler Minns from the list. When the mistake was discovered, it was too late. The Commission ruled that Minns, a 41- game winner in the regular season, would not be eligible to play in the Finals. It was a heavy blow to Newcastle, who had to make do with Jacob Negus (1-2, 2.52 ERA) to start the first game. The home team Millers, trailing 5-4 in the eighth, tallied twice, with the lead run scoring on a Jon Shore (.292, 1 HR, 46 RBI) error at third base. Miller hurler Young held the Greys scoreless in the ninth, and the Millers prevailed 6-5. In game two, the Millers scored seven runs against Henry Scholes (17-7, 1.87 ERA), and then held on for a 7-6 victory. Kerry collected three hits for the winners. The Millers scored five times in the top of the eighth in game three and carried a 7-4 lead into the ninth when the home team Greys scored three times to push the game into extra innings. In the eleventh, Riseley got a one-out base hit, stole second, and advanced to third on Quinn's throwing error. Miller starter Young intentionally walked the next two batters to set up the force play, but Shore hit a line drive single to right-center and won the game 8-7. Spencer started for the Millers in game four and scattered eight hits en route to a 6-2 victory. Kerry continued his hot hitting, collecting two singles in four at-bats. Game five pitted Young against Scholes, and it was Young, with a masterful five-hitter, who prevailed. Manchester built up a 5-0 lead going into the final frame before the Greys could get on the board with two futile tallies. The Millers triumphed 5-2, thus winning their third BA Cup. Harry Kerry, with eight hits and six runs scored, was selected as the most valuable player of the Series.
THE MINORS
The Edinburgh Caledonians repeated as Northern Conference champions and as Second Tier Trophy winners as they defeated London's representative in the Southern Conference, the Portsmouth Neptunes, in a four-game series.
ALLIANCE LEADERS
Empire League
Hitting
BA: .363 Michael Cluett, Newcastle/London
HR: 2 eleven players
RBI: 65 "Big" Toirealach Riseley, Newcastle
R: 86 Jack Inglis, Birmingham
SB:
Pitching
W: 41 Rio Minns, Newcastle
L: 30 Ambrose Jonas, Liverpool; Matthew Muir, Bradford
K: 199 George Templeman, Salford
ERA: 1.36 Harrison Maylam, Bradford
SV: 4 Franklin Trenwith, Liverpool
Minns's 41 wins tied the BA mark set in 1876 by Matthew Muir.
Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .369 Ron Collins, Islington
HR: 5 Mattia Boccasino, Bristol
RBI: 73 Connor "Plumber" Ayling, Manchester
R: 89 Henry Case, Manchester
SB: 31 Ryan Baikie, Sheffield
Pitching
W: 34 Danny O'Friel, Leeds
L: 42 Dwain Kennelly, Glasgow
K: 235 Albert Munn, Lambeth
ERA: 1.28 George Carruders, Islington
SV: 3 three pitchers
The longer season was only part of the reason that strikeout totals continued to explode. As pitchers ignored the seldom-enforced straight-arm rule and introduced a variety of bewildering trick pitches, Alliance batters found themselves increasingly swinging at the air. Munn's 235 whiffs nearly doubled the record set last year.