1896-97 OFF-SEASON
AWARDS
Empire League
Hitter: Logan "Sugar" MacLay, Edinburgh (.360, 8 HR, 82 RBI, 87 R, 25 3B, 38 SB, .473 OBP, .579 SLG)
Pitcher: Eric "Hacker" Farnsworth, Portsmouth (27-9, 2.68 ERA, 333 IP, 71 K, 32 CG)
Manager: Michael Hartshorne, Birmingham (91-63, 1st place)
Rookie: Freddie Trafford, Bradford (.314, 4 HR, 67 RBI, 70 R, 34 SB, .443 SLG)
Dominion Association
Hitter: Mick Eccles, Leeds (.380, 6 HR, 96 RBI, 110 R, .411 OBP, .466 SLG)
Pitcher: Brody Leshane, Hull (28-8, 3.11 ERA, 336 IP, 98 K, 31 CG)
Manager: Burt Guyatt, Leeds (93-61, 1st place)
Rookie: Casey Pidcock, Kensington (18-12, 2.57 ERA, 297 IP, 87 K, .270 OAVG)
It was a changing of the guard at the annual awards banquet, as none of the players chosen had been honored before. Eccles was an easy choice for outstanding hitter with his .380 batting average, but he accomplished that mostly with singles: of his 237 hits, only 23 were for extra bases. Christopher Mytton (.352, 11 HR, 104 RBI) of Glasgow finished in the top five in all of the triple crown categories, was second to Eccles in WAR (9.1 to 8.3), and won the gold glove at catcher, which is also Eccles's position.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The doors of the Hall of Fame opened wide for James Granger, the fourteen-time all-star who played for Manchester, Leeds, and Bradford during his twenty-one-year career. The ironman infielder played ten straight seasons (1870-79) without missing a game, and played in eight Cup Finals Series. He received three gold gloves and was named the DA's outstanding hitter in 1872. Granger retired with 2,651 hits, 1,232 RBI, and 1,598 runs scored, career marks which are still unsurpassed.
Three pitchers joined the three-hundred wins club this year. Andrew Gunton of Westminster entered the select fraternity of pitchers on 25 July after beating Camberwell 6-2, and teammate William Isaacs joined him on 18 September by defeating Bradford 6-4. Just down the road, London's Albert "Old Stubblebeard" Courtier notched his three hundredth win when he defeated Birmingham 7-6. Christopher Mytton became only the second player to reach the 2,000 hit plateau when he singled off Lambeth pitcher Eric Walker. Mytton also scored his 1,000th career run later in the season.
Catcher Pat Mecham (.347, 4 HR, 72 RBI) of Lambeth hit safely in forty-four consecutive games, setting a BA record that eclipsed the previous mark of 39 games set in 1873 by Cian McDermott. The streak began on 28 May and ended on 29 July, when Mecham went 0-5 against Kensington's Casey Pidcock. The next day, Mecham started another hitting streak that lasted for twenty-one games.
ALLIANCE NEWS
The mania for modern stadiums continued, as the owners of Hull, Stoke, and Bradford announced plans to build new ballparks in time for the 1897 season. A day before the season opener, Glasgow's Argyle Street Grounds were consumed in a giant conflagration that consumed the entire park. Team owner Dante Carafa announced that the team would play at a local public school grounds while construction began on a new ballpark, to be ready by the 1898 season.
As teams prepared for the annual rite of spring training in advance of the 1897 season, Belfast pitcher Conor Walden, the BA career leader in losses with 373, suffered a torn shoulder muscle that doctors predict will keep him out of action for four months. This may or may not be good news for the Unions.
WESTMINSTER NEWS
The Peers were hit by twin thunderbolts when William Isaacs sprained his ankle on 9 April and then, two days later, Paul Rushworth hurt his back. Isaacs came back in four weeks and Rushworth stayed out of the lineup for only three weeks, but Westminster never seemed to get untracked after those injuries. Perhaps even more serious was the injury suffered by Joe Allbutt. The hard-working youngster had won a spot in the starting rotation during spring training, and his 5-2 record and 2.45 ERA portended better things ahead, but on 17 May he suffered a torn back muscle that refused to heal properly, and Allbutt, on 3 August, decided to call it quits. The loss of Isaacs and Allbutt, combined with the season-long slump of "Midget" Gunton, highlighted the lack of pitching depth on the Peers' staff. Michael Bucknell finished with a woeful 19-20 record and a 3.74 ERA, while Sean Dawes and Grady Phillipp were both tried in the fourth spot and found wanting. Meanwhile, the less said about the bullpen the better. The relief corps combined for a 5.72 ERA, worst in the League. Michael Battersby, the team's relief specialist, injured his elbow in a 23 May game and missed the remainder of the season.
On the eve of the season opener, the Peers traded utility infielder Sherman Woodland to Bradford for first baseman/outfielder Cedric Uren, who was then immediately dealt to Camberwell for minor league starter Bevis Hurley. The twenty-five-year old Hurley, who shuttled between Camberwell's Second and Third Tier affiliates for the past three years, was immediately placed in the Westminster rotation. All of these front office machinations raised one question: who is making these deals? With owner Ambrose Redlaw, Jr. perpetually on vacation, the day-to-day operations of the team have fallen to Barnaby Heep, a shadowy figure who has taken the responsibilities of running the team in the owner's absence.