1928 MID-SEASON
It was a scramble at the top of the DA ladder. Belfast established an early lead behind the hitting of left fielder Joe Maddy, who topped the Association with a .377 average, and the pitching of Albert "Skipper" Freegard. The Unions, however, followed a 12-5 record in April with a dreadful 8-21 plunge in May, and Belfast dropped out of sight as far as the competition went. Manchester took advantage of Belfast's fall, winning twenty of twenty-nine contests in May and climbing to the top of the standings. Outfielder Albert Coultrip and catcher John Mountford paced the Miller attack, while Jeff Schmerber anchored the pitching staff. But Manchester found its perch just as precarious as Belfast did, and a 12-13 June opened an opportunity for Glasgow and Kensington to mount their own challenges for the lead. Glasgow started the season with the disheartening news that veteran pitcher Eric "Scissors" Morris, who looked good going 3-0 in the early going, would miss the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff. The Gaelics rebounded from that setback, relying on the hitting of infielders Michael Stoppard and Joseph Roskilly and the pitching of Danny Smith, who had been obtained at the trade deadline last year from Westminster and who, in Morris's absence, helmed the staff with a 12-8 record. Kensington overcame a slow start and climbed the ladder with the aid of outfielders Maurice "The Governor" Chenoweth and Michael Armstrong, who contributed to a DA-best .293 team batting average. On the hill, sophomore Griff Hicken and rookie Kirby Sambrook combined for a 23-9 mark and formed the core of a pitching staff that registered a collective 3.42 ERA, best in the loop. The Knights rose steadily through the ranks, and won nine of their final thirteen games before the all-star break to take over the Association lead. Stoke played steady, if uninspiring baseball during the first half, paced by the hitting of second baseman William Hepple, a career .298 hitter in eight previous seasons who went into the all-star break hitting .362. The Potters, though, received devastating news when reigning DA outstanding pitcher Allan "Big Stick" Milborn suffered a torn rotator cuff in a 5 July game against Bristol. Doctors fear that Milborn will not only miss the rest of this season but perhaps all of next season as well.
In contrast to the confusion atop the DA standings, only two teams in the EL battled for the lead. Liverpool, in what is becoming an increasingly common occurrence, lost one of their star players in the early going. This year, it was ace pitcher Nick Fernyhough, who sprained an ankle in a 14 May game at Bradford. Initially it was thought that the southpaw would be out for two months, but his return date was pushed back twice. If that gave hope to the rest of the League that the Argonauts' five-year pennant reign would end, they were sorely disappointed. In a testament to the depth of the Liverpool organization (and the large amounts of money spent by management), Liverpool shook off Fernyhough's loss and rose to their accustomed place at the head of the League table. In large part, that was due to the pitching of Eddie Allard, who compiled a 17-3 record in the first half and a 3.32 ERA. At the plate, outfielders R.J. Hemphill, who sat atop the hitting category with a .364 average, and "Tacky" Fraser MacInnes led the way, while catcher Brian Johnson topped the League with 58 RBI while batting .354. Newcastle were the only club who mounted an effective challenge to Liverpool's dominance. The Greys relied primarily on their offense, which featured five regulars hitting over .300. Jean-Louis "Rhino" Bourgeois and Robbie Keith formed the nucleus of an attack that combined for a .298 batting average, second only to Nottingham. Newcastle's pitching, on the other hand, was in the bottom half of the League with a 4.05 ERA, and only Stephen MacPherson, with a 13-5 record, pitched with any great distinction. Nottingham shot up to third place by virtue of an 11-3 run leading up to the all-star break. The Foresters led the majors with a .302 team batting average, due in large part to the efforts of third-year left fielder Wayne Lewis and his .340 mark. Samuel "Pal" Buttery, who won twelve of his eighteen decisions, helmed the pitching staff, while relief specialist Eric "Blue Moon" Cooper notched a dozen saves. London were the only other team to finish the first half above .500. The Bulldogs, coming off a tenth-place finish last year, ascended into the League's top ranks through superior pitching. Alexander Ferguson and Michael Hakin, acquired on the eve of the season opener from Westminster, each collected ten wins, and the staff as a whole registered a 3.42 ERA, the best in the circuit. The offense, in contrast, ranked only seventh with a .287 average, and the situation was not helped when Colm Catlow and Henry Mackaness sat out with lengthy injuries. Westminster, last year's runners-up, suffered a blow when infielder Tad Packham suffered a torn shoulder muscle that forced him into retirement. Without him, the Peers tumbled into the second division.
Nottingham was chosen as the site of the 1928 All-Star Game, and more than 26,000 fans saw the visiting Dominions stake out an early 3-0 lead, capped off by a solo homer in the fourth by Belfast's Nick Metherall. The Empires struck back in the bottom half of that inning with a single tally, and then cut the deficit to one run in the fifth when local favorite Wayne Lewis hit a return-tripper for the home town fans. That set the stage for the sixth inning, when the Empires punished Manchester reliever Graig "The Great" Borden for six runs, with the crucial blow coming on Bradford's "Wobbly" George Marshland's grand slam. It was all-Empire after that, as the home team collected fifteen hits en route to a 12-4 victory. Liverpool's Brian Johnson, playing the entire game behind the plate, had two hits and four RBI, which earned him the MVP honors.