1927 MID-SEASON
Kensington, one of only two teams never to have won a pennant, made a bid to erase that legacy of futility by taking an early lead in the DA pennant race. The Knights, led at the plate by outfielders John "Moonbeam" Sanford and Maurice "The Governor" Chenoweth, raced out to a 20-5 record in April and established a commanding lead. On the mound, Aidan Stuart, who bounced between the Knights and triple-A last season, stuck around this time by going 13-5 with a 3.15 ERA, while Richard "Lucky" Hobbes lived up to his nickname with a 12-7 record. In fact, Kensington management were so confident of their starting duo that they felt safe in trading away Cuban import Dani Martinez and his 13-9 record to Leicester for backup first baseman Trey Follett on the eve of the all-star break. By that time, however, Kensington's hot streak had cooled considerably, and they were nudged off the top spot by Belfast. The Union pitching staff boasted a solid starting foursome in Albert "Skipper" Freegard, Nino François, Caleb Houlbrook, and Charley "Gibby" Taylor, who were largely responsible for the team's 3.33 ERA, second-best in the Association. Joe Maddy and Robert Crober anchored the lineup and ranked two and three in the batting race. Glasgow, seeking a return to the head of the table after a one-year hiatus, made a run at Kensington in May, but dropped seven of eight games to Belfast in June and fell back in the standings. Eric "Scissors" Morris performed well, winning twelve of seventeen decisions, and the rest of the mound corps was solid if not spectacular, but the offense dropped off considerably. Defending Cup champs Lambeth started off slowly and didn't gain any momentum until June, when they put together a 13-4 run and moved up into contention. Left fielder Billy Byette got hot in May and never cooled down, finishing the first half with a DA-best .399 average. The pitching, on the other hand, was erratic, and management obtained Barden "Biscuit Pants" Rowley from Bradford at the end of May to shore up the rotation. That proved to be an inspired move, as Rowley responded with a 5-1 record in June and was named pitcher of the month. After finishing in tenth place last year, no one expected much out of Sheffield, but the Steeler offense, ranked fourth in the DA with a .290 batting average, propelled the team into contention. Catcher Adam Rowde and second-year outfielder Tarquin "Yappy" Bickle spearheaded the ferocious attack, which masked some of the inadequacies of a pitching staff that, apart from Dave Hodgson and his 12-4 record, was mediocre at best.
The punters who put their money on Liverpool to repeat as EL champions were already making plans to spend their winnings as the Argonauts dominated the competition in the first half of the season. Behind the League's best pitching staff, topped by a healthy Nick Fernyhough and featuring Sean Alker, also coming off an injury-shortened 1926, and Eddie Allard, obtained from Glasgow in the off-season, the Argonauts charged into first place by winning their first eleven games. Even the loss of veteran starter Euan Riach, who left a 7 June game with a torn triceps muscle and is not expected back before the end of the campaign, did not slow Liverpool down. Fraser MacInnes led the offense with a .345 average and an EL-best thirteen home runs, while fellow outfielder Francis Pethick paced the loop with seventy RBI. Against this Liverpudlian onslaught, the rest of the League was helpless. Dublin, attempting to improve on their third-place finish of a year ago, started strong, winning fifteen of their first twenty-three games, with newly acquired catcher Sebastian Meadmore leading the way with a .365 average. On the mound, lefty starter Aiden "Coroner" MacRuer, a twenty-three-game winner last year, continued to perform well at the top of the rotation, but the rest of the pitching staff was not up to his standards, and the Shamrocks faded as spring turned into summer. Birmingham kept pace with Dublin through May and passed them in June. The Blue Sox featured a balanced attack led by Italian outfielder Emeril Tapanelli and second baseman Tim Fulk. Cathal Pannier, in his third year in the big leagues, topped the pitching staff with a 15-5 record and a 3.35 ERA, but aging star Shamus Scanlan dropped to 8-10 with a 4.34 ERA. Westminster started sluggishly before a sixteen-game winning streak in May propelled them into contention. The lineup contained four regulars hitting over .300, including catcher Johan Zippro, who spent much of last season on the DL, and outfielder Devin Mabson, staging a comeback of sorts at the age of thirty-six. The mound corps was helmed by Dave Sledge, who won thirteen of twenty-one decisions, while Jerry Parker, who missed the first month of the season with a strained muscle, came back strong and compiled a 10-2 record. The Peers, however, could not maintain their momentum after May, and fell behind as Liverpool surged. Newcastle maintained a steady tempo, climbing up to fourth place on the strength of the League's best offense. Fionn McPaul batted .363 to lead the team. Jean-Louis "Rhino" Bourgeois, last year's home run leader, fell off his slugging pace but managed a respectable .303 average while driving in forty-three runs. Sophomore hurler John Ruscoe led the mound corps with a 12-6 mark and a 3.62 ERA. The Greys, however, were stung with a series of injuries that kept them from putting together a sustained drive.
Islington played host to the All-Star Game for the second time in seven years, and it turned out to be an exciting back-and-forth affair that wasn't decided until the final at-bat. The Dominion all-stars led 5-2 in the sixth when the Empires pushed three runs across on doubles by Liverpool's R.J. Hemphill and Salford's Marmaduke "The Great" Taylor. The Dominions recaptured the lead on Sheffield catcher Adam Rowde's solo homer in the bottom half of the inning, but the Empires came right back with two runs in the seventh, sparked by Emeril Tapanelli's RBI-triple. The home team responded with two runs in their half of the seventh and another run in the eighth on Glasgow first baseman Michael Stoppard's home run. In the top of the ninth, trailing by two, the Empires put a run on the board when Hemphill hit his second double of the day, but he was left stranded on second when Hull reliever Brian Sandeman induced McPaul to pop out to second base for the final out, preserving the Dominions' 9-8 victory. Hemphill, with three hits and three RBI, was named the MVP.