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joefromchicago · 04-04-2012, 10:44 PM

1928 FINAL

The pennant races in the DA both came down to two teams. In the EL, Liverpool had a comfortable five-game lead over Newcastle when play resumed after the all-star break. Eddie Allard (27-9, 3.41 ERA), a cast-off from both Westminster and Glasgow, pitched magnificently for the Argonauts. He was joined by Euan Riach (17-9, 3.73 ERA), coming off an injury-plagued season in 1927, and Nick Fernyhough (12-4, 2.38 ERA), who missed all of June and July with a sprained ankle, to form one of the best pitching staffs in the BA. The offense, on the other hand, was not up to the standards set by previous Argonaut squads. Their .281 team batting average ranked only eighth in the League, even though the lineup boasted four .300 hitters, among them R.J. Hemphill (.343, 1 HR, 76 RBI), who missed all of September with a strained muscle, and home-run king Francis Pethick (.303, 21 HR, 96 RBI). As the second half began, Liverpool played uncharacteristically bad baseball, losing six straight and eight of their first ten. That gave Newcastle a chance to move up. The Greys boasted the League's best hitter in French third baseman Jean-Louis "Rhino" Bourgeois (.369, 15 HR, 97 RBI). He was joined by Robbie Keith (.337, 4 HR, 77 RBI) and Fionn McPaul (.302, 9 HR, 89 RBI) in the vanguard of an attack that hit a major-league leading .300. On the mound, the tandem of Stephen MacPherson (22-13, 4.06 ERA) and John Ruscoe (22-11, 4.00 ERA) formed the core of the starting rotation. In contrast to Liverpool, Newcastle played well after the midsummer hiatus, and, at the end of July, actually pushed aside the Argonauts and emerged briefly atop the standings. Their triumph, however, would be short-lived. The Argos regrouped at the beginning of August, winning nine of fourteen before sweeping a three-game set at Newcastle that effectively stymied the Greys' pennant aspirations. Although Newcastle continued to shadow Liverpool through September, they never again mounted a serious challenge to the Argonauts, who clinched their sixth-straight League flag in the last week of the regular season. Nottingham climbed the ladder along with Newcastle in the wake of the All-Star Game, but like Newcastle faded in August and finished a distant third. Catcher David Radway (.325, 6 HR, 57 RBI) led an offense second only to Newcastle's, but the Foresters were beset with injuries to key players, including Wayne Lewise (.318, 16 HR, 105 RBI), who spent much of September on the DL, and aptly named rookie Samuel Sluggett (.428, 7 HR, 47 RBI), who was having a fantastic season until he was knocked cold in a late-July game against Birmingham and was sidelined for the rest of the year. London played solid baseball in the second half behind the pitching of Alexander Ferguson (19-9, 2.99 ERA). The offense benefitted from the addition of Finley Badman (.297, 6 HR, 59 RBI), acquired from Liverpool at the trade deadline, but the absence of slugging star Colm Catlow (.364, 5 HR, 39 RBI), who spent most of the second half on crutches after tearing his ankle ligaments, crippled the Bulldogs' chances of finishing in the money.

In the DA, it was a duel between Kensington and Manchester. The Knights, looking for their first pennant, were buoyed by the pitching duo of Griff Hicken (19-8, 2.80 ERA), who won the Association ERA title, and rookie Kirby Sambrook (19-12, 3.01 ERA). Richard "Lucky" Hobbes (11-8, 3.61 ERA), who won nineteen games last year, wasn't so lucky this year, as a fine season was cut short when he strained an elbow ligament in late July.At the plate, left fielder Maurice "The Governor" Chenoweth (.327, 22 HR, 91 RBI) captured the home run crown. Cleanup hitter Chenoweth, batting behind catcher Anthony Lavergne (.312, 18 HR, 80 RBI), helped to form the most potent batting combination in the majors. Holding a slim lead over Manchester and Glasgow at the halfway point, Kensington played only slightly above .500 the rest of the way. That should have provided an opening for their rivals, but Manchester and Glasgow actually played worse. Manchester were located in the middle of the pack in just about every offensive category, and the only regular who broke the .300 barrier was right fielder Albert Coultrip (.304, 15 HR, 95 RBI). The mound corps was not able to cover for the offense's deficiencies, as Jeff Schmerber (17-11, 3.70 ERA) and Bob "Jobber" Wolfe (18-14, 4.15 ERA) performed well but not well enough to take advantage of Kensington's uninspired play in the second half. Glasgow, in second place at the break, looked like the championship teams of years past in the aftermath of the All-Star Game, winning ten of their first eleven and climbing into first place. But season-ending injuries to Joshua Ing (.299, 5 HR, 46 RBI) and Orren Skeeles (.277, 6 HR, 57 RBI) on consecutive days in early August plunged the team into a funk from which they would not recover, and they slipped into third place. Hull played four games below .500 for the second half, but that was good enough to climb one position into a third-place tie with Glasgow. Twenty-three-year old rookie right hander Woodrow Silver (21-14, 2.89 ERA), signed to a one-year contract at the start of spring training, made an immediate impact, leading the DA in wins and finishing third in the ERA derby. Sophomore first baseman Pat Root (.330, 10 HR, 56 RBI) paced the offense, but the team was without the services of shortstop William Watson (.339, 2 HR, 26 RBI) and third baseman Andrew Noden (.273, 12 HR, 68 RBI), who both succumbed to injuries and missed the last month of the schedule. Stoke managed to survive the loss of Allan "Big Stick" Milborn (7-7, 3.52 ERA) to finish in a fifth-place tie with Leicester. Second baseman William Hepple (.332, 19 HR, 114 RBI) and center fielder Callum Winsor (.306, 21 HR, 63 RBI) led the Potter attack. The Leopards rebounded from a tenth-place finish in 1927 behind the double-play combination of second sacker Morrigan Witmore (.360, 15 HR, 98 RBI), who captured the batting crown in his second big-league season, and shortstop Rick Keefe (.342, 11 HR, 107 RBI). Defending champs Lambeth dropped into a three-way for seventh place, in large part due to the season-long slump of Billy Byette (.285, 9 HR, 74 RBI), who dropped 125 points off his major-league leading .410 average of 1927.

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1928 CUP FINALS SERIES: LIVERPOOL v. KENSINGTON

Bookmakers stopped taking bets on Liverpool, as the odds were stacked heavily in their favor as the Series opened in Merseyside Park. The Argonauts got on the board with a run in the first, and added three more in the second, with the key blow coming on a two-run triple by Craig Watt (.285, 4 HR, 56 RBI). Liverpool coasted after that behind the six-hit pitching of Nick Fernyhough, who went the distance for a 6-2 victory. R.J. Hemphill and Ed Bousquet (.302, 11 HR, 61 RBI) finished the day with three hits apiece for the winning side. Kensington took their revenge the next day against Eddie Allard, scoring seven unanswered runs before Liverpool could dent the scoring column with a pair of runs in the sixth. Dave Horne (.285, 4 HR, 39 RBI) and Maurice Chenoweth homered for the Knights, and Neil Riding (.217, 2 HR, 11 RBI) had four base hits in five at-bats as Kensington, behind starter Kirby Sambrook, evened the Series with a surprising 9-5 triumph. Bousquet added three more hits to his total, and Brian Johnson (.295, 18 HR, 94 RBI) homered for the home squad. The Series shifted to London, and 23,402 fans packed into Notting Hill Park for the first post-season game in Kensington history. The home team erased an early 1-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the first inning off Fernyhough. Liverpool came back with one tally in the fourth, followed by a five-run outburst in the fifth started by a two-run double by William "Bummer" Houlbrook (.298, 7 HR, 61 RBI) after Griff Hicken had walked the bases full. Hicken was knocked out of the game in the next inning when Michael Bligh (.278, 7 HR, 76 RBI) hit a two-run triple, but the damage had been done, and the Argos waltzed to a 10-6 victory. Knight first baseman John Schute (.301, 0 HR, 63 RBI) had three doubles in a losing cause. Game four saw a classic pitchers' duel between Allard and Sambrook, as both hurlers carried shutouts into the ninth inning. In the top of the final stanza, Hemphill led off with a shot down the left field line that just barely cleared to the right of the foul pole for a home run. In the bottom of the inning, the Knights put runners on first and second with only one out, but Allard bore down and got the next two batters out to preserve the 1-0 win. Kensington took a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning of game five when Jack "Duke" Campbell (4-6, 10 SV, 3.21 ERA), pitching in relief of Kyle Moncreiffe (5-12, 4.33 ERA), gave up a leadoff homer to "Tacky" Fraser MacInnes (.324, 8 HR, 77 RBI). That sent the game into extra-time. In the top of the twelfth, Liverpool put men on second and third with two outs. R.J. Hemphill's base hit drove home a run, but Bousquet, the trailing runner, was gunned down at the plate by right fielder Michael Armstrong (.333, 8 HR, 58 RBI). In the bottom of the twelfth, Horne led off with a walk and moved to second on a Riding sacrifice. With two outs, Schute drove a grounder through the gap between second and third. Horne ran through the third-base coach's stop sign and headed for home, where he was preceded by Hemphill's throw from left field. Brian Johnson deftly applied the tag, and Liverpool pulled out an exciting 3-2 triumph and their second consecutive Cup championship. Hemphill finished up with a .455 average, a home run, and six RBI as well as the defensive play of the Series to win the MVP trophy.

THE MINORS

Lambeth fell short of the pennant, but their triple-A team, the Sunderland Swiftsures, captured the Northern Conference flag and then defeated the West Bromwich Oaks of the Dublin organization in a five-game series for the Third Tier title.

Cross-city rivals Westminster and Camberwell battled by proxy for the Third Tier championship, as the former's Hackney Mudlarks bested the latter's Cambridge Dons in four games.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .369 Jean-Louis "Rhino" Bourgeois, Newcastle
HR: 21 Francis Pethick, Liverpool
RBI: 105 Wayne Lewis, Nottingham
R: 127 Francis Pethick, Liverpool
SB: 54 Ed Bousquet, Liverpool
Pitching
W: 27 Eddie Allard, Liverpool
L: 23 Dermot Iddeson, Portsmouth
K: 133 Sean Alker, Liverpool
ERA: 2.63 Rhys Loveridge, Salford
SV: 20 Rhys Loveridge, Salford

Bousquet defied the trend toward fewer stolen bases. His fifty-four thefts were the most since 1919. Loveridge is the first pitcher to win the ERA title without starting a single game. Loveridge pitched exactly 154 innings -- the minimum necessary to qualify for the title -- in 78 appearances for the Bees.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .360 Morrigan Witmore, Leicester
HR: 22 Maurice "The Governor" Chenoweth, Kensington
RBI: 123 Hogan Orme, Bristol
R: 125 Hogan Orme, Bristol
SB: 32 Angus Black, Bristol
Pitching
W: 21 Woodrow Silver, Hull
L: 22 Richard "Major" Parsons, Islington/Sheffield
K: 140 Danny Smith, Glasgow
ERA: 2.80 Griff Hicken, Kensington
SV: 14 Eamonn Peasnall, Kensington

Orme had the best season for a player who, because he played for tail-enders Bristol, nobody heard of. Silver was the only twenty-game winner in the DA. Parsons made his major-league debut in 1917 with Glasgow. He spent the next eight years knocking around the minor leagues before re-emerging with Bradford in 1926. He dropped out of sight in 1927, then popped up with Islington at the beginning of this season.

04-04-2012, 10:44 PM	#215
joefromchicago Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 3,707	1928 FINAL The pennant races in the DA both came down to two teams. In the EL, Liverpool had a comfortable five-game lead over Newcastle when play resumed after the all-star break. Eddie Allard (27-9, 3.41 ERA), a cast-off from both Westminster and Glasgow, pitched magnificently for the Argonauts. He was joined by Euan Riach (17-9, 3.73 ERA), coming off an injury-plagued season in 1927, and Nick Fernyhough (12-4, 2.38 ERA), who missed all of June and July with a sprained ankle, to form one of the best pitching staffs in the BA. The offense, on the other hand, was not up to the standards set by previous Argonaut squads. Their .281 team batting average ranked only eighth in the League, even though the lineup boasted four .300 hitters, among them R.J. Hemphill (.343, 1 HR, 76 RBI), who missed all of September with a strained muscle, and home-run king Francis Pethick (.303, 21 HR, 96 RBI). As the second half began, Liverpool played uncharacteristically bad baseball, losing six straight and eight of their first ten. That gave Newcastle a chance to move up. The Greys boasted the League's best hitter in French third baseman Jean-Louis "Rhino" Bourgeois (.369, 15 HR, 97 RBI). He was joined by Robbie Keith (.337, 4 HR, 77 RBI) and Fionn McPaul (.302, 9 HR, 89 RBI) in the vanguard of an attack that hit a major-league leading .300. On the mound, the tandem of Stephen MacPherson (22-13, 4.06 ERA) and John Ruscoe (22-11, 4.00 ERA) formed the core of the starting rotation. In contrast to Liverpool, Newcastle played well after the midsummer hiatus, and, at the end of July, actually pushed aside the Argonauts and emerged briefly atop the standings. Their triumph, however, would be short-lived. The Argos regrouped at the beginning of August, winning nine of fourteen before sweeping a three-game set at Newcastle that effectively stymied the Greys' pennant aspirations. Although Newcastle continued to shadow Liverpool through September, they never again mounted a serious challenge to the Argonauts, who clinched their sixth-straight League flag in the last week of the regular season. Nottingham climbed the ladder along with Newcastle in the wake of the All-Star Game, but like Newcastle faded in August and finished a distant third. Catcher David Radway (.325, 6 HR, 57 RBI) led an offense second only to Newcastle's, but the Foresters were beset with injuries to key players, including Wayne Lewise (.318, 16 HR, 105 RBI), who spent much of September on the DL, and aptly named rookie Samuel Sluggett (.428, 7 HR, 47 RBI), who was having a fantastic season until he was knocked cold in a late-July game against Birmingham and was sidelined for the rest of the year. London played solid baseball in the second half behind the pitching of Alexander Ferguson (19-9, 2.99 ERA). The offense benefitted from the addition of Finley Badman (.297, 6 HR, 59 RBI), acquired from Liverpool at the trade deadline, but the absence of slugging star Colm Catlow (.364, 5 HR, 39 RBI), who spent most of the second half on crutches after tearing his ankle ligaments, crippled the Bulldogs' chances of finishing in the money. In the DA, it was a duel between Kensington and Manchester. The Knights, looking for their first pennant, were buoyed by the pitching duo of Griff Hicken (19-8, 2.80 ERA), who won the Association ERA title, and rookie Kirby Sambrook (19-12, 3.01 ERA). Richard "Lucky" Hobbes (11-8, 3.61 ERA), who won nineteen games last year, wasn't so lucky this year, as a fine season was cut short when he strained an elbow ligament in late July.At the plate, left fielder Maurice "The Governor" Chenoweth (.327, 22 HR, 91 RBI) captured the home run crown. Cleanup hitter Chenoweth, batting behind catcher Anthony Lavergne (.312, 18 HR, 80 RBI), helped to form the most potent batting combination in the majors. Holding a slim lead over Manchester and Glasgow at the halfway point, Kensington played only slightly above .500 the rest of the way. That should have provided an opening for their rivals, but Manchester and Glasgow actually played worse. Manchester were located in the middle of the pack in just about every offensive category, and the only regular who broke the .300 barrier was right fielder Albert Coultrip (.304, 15 HR, 95 RBI). The mound corps was not able to cover for the offense's deficiencies, as Jeff Schmerber (17-11, 3.70 ERA) and Bob "Jobber" Wolfe (18-14, 4.15 ERA) performed well but not well enough to take advantage of Kensington's uninspired play in the second half. Glasgow, in second place at the break, looked like the championship teams of years past in the aftermath of the All-Star Game, winning ten of their first eleven and climbing into first place. But season-ending injuries to Joshua Ing (.299, 5 HR, 46 RBI) and Orren Skeeles (.277, 6 HR, 57 RBI) on consecutive days in early August plunged the team into a funk from which they would not recover, and they slipped into third place. Hull played four games below .500 for the second half, but that was good enough to climb one position into a third-place tie with Glasgow. Twenty-three-year old rookie right hander Woodrow Silver (21-14, 2.89 ERA), signed to a one-year contract at the start of spring training, made an immediate impact, leading the DA in wins and finishing third in the ERA derby. Sophomore first baseman Pat Root (.330, 10 HR, 56 RBI) paced the offense, but the team was without the services of shortstop William Watson (.339, 2 HR, 26 RBI) and third baseman Andrew Noden (.273, 12 HR, 68 RBI), who both succumbed to injuries and missed the last month of the schedule. Stoke managed to survive the loss of Allan "Big Stick" Milborn (7-7, 3.52 ERA) to finish in a fifth-place tie with Leicester. Second baseman William Hepple (.332, 19 HR, 114 RBI) and center fielder Callum Winsor (.306, 21 HR, 63 RBI) led the Potter attack. The Leopards rebounded from a tenth-place finish in 1927 behind the double-play combination of second sacker Morrigan Witmore (.360, 15 HR, 98 RBI), who captured the batting crown in his second big-league season, and shortstop Rick Keefe (.342, 11 HR, 107 RBI). Defending champs Lambeth dropped into a three-way for seventh place, in large part due to the season-long slump of Billy Byette (.285, 9 HR, 74 RBI), who dropped 125 points off his major-league leading .410 average of 1927. 1928 CUP FINALS SERIES: LIVERPOOL v. KENSINGTON Bookmakers stopped taking bets on Liverpool, as the odds were stacked heavily in their favor as the Series opened in Merseyside Park. The Argonauts got on the board with a run in the first, and added three more in the second, with the key blow coming on a two-run triple by Craig Watt (.285, 4 HR, 56 RBI). Liverpool coasted after that behind the six-hit pitching of Nick Fernyhough, who went the distance for a 6-2 victory. R.J. Hemphill and Ed Bousquet (.302, 11 HR, 61 RBI) finished the day with three hits apiece for the winning side. Kensington took their revenge the next day against Eddie Allard, scoring seven unanswered runs before Liverpool could dent the scoring column with a pair of runs in the sixth. Dave Horne (.285, 4 HR, 39 RBI) and Maurice Chenoweth homered for the Knights, and Neil Riding (.217, 2 HR, 11 RBI) had four base hits in five at-bats as Kensington, behind starter Kirby Sambrook, evened the Series with a surprising 9-5 triumph. Bousquet added three more hits to his total, and Brian Johnson (.295, 18 HR, 94 RBI) homered for the home squad. The Series shifted to London, and 23,402 fans packed into Notting Hill Park for the first post-season game in Kensington history. The home team erased an early 1-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the first inning off Fernyhough. Liverpool came back with one tally in the fourth, followed by a five-run outburst in the fifth started by a two-run double by William "Bummer" Houlbrook (.298, 7 HR, 61 RBI) after Griff Hicken had walked the bases full. Hicken was knocked out of the game in the next inning when Michael Bligh (.278, 7 HR, 76 RBI) hit a two-run triple, but the damage had been done, and the Argos waltzed to a 10-6 victory. Knight first baseman John Schute (.301, 0 HR, 63 RBI) had three doubles in a losing cause. Game four saw a classic pitchers' duel between Allard and Sambrook, as both hurlers carried shutouts into the ninth inning. In the top of the final stanza, Hemphill led off with a shot down the left field line that just barely cleared to the right of the foul pole for a home run. In the bottom of the inning, the Knights put runners on first and second with only one out, but Allard bore down and got the next two batters out to preserve the 1-0 win. Kensington took a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning of game five when Jack "Duke" Campbell (4-6, 10 SV, 3.21 ERA), pitching in relief of Kyle Moncreiffe (5-12, 4.33 ERA), gave up a leadoff homer to "Tacky" Fraser MacInnes (.324, 8 HR, 77 RBI). That sent the game into extra-time. In the top of the twelfth, Liverpool put men on second and third with two outs. R.J. Hemphill's base hit drove home a run, but Bousquet, the trailing runner, was gunned down at the plate by right fielder Michael Armstrong (.333, 8 HR, 58 RBI). In the bottom of the twelfth, Horne led off with a walk and moved to second on a Riding sacrifice. With two outs, Schute drove a grounder through the gap between second and third. Horne ran through the third-base coach's stop sign and headed for home, where he was preceded by Hemphill's throw from left field. Brian Johnson deftly applied the tag, and Liverpool pulled out an exciting 3-2 triumph and their second consecutive Cup championship. Hemphill finished up with a .455 average, a home run, and six RBI as well as the defensive play of the Series to win the MVP trophy. THE MINORS Lambeth fell short of the pennant, but their triple-A team, the Sunderland Swiftsures, captured the Northern Conference flag and then defeated the West Bromwich Oaks of the Dublin organization in a five-game series for the Third Tier title. Cross-city rivals Westminster and Camberwell battled by proxy for the Third Tier championship, as the former's Hackney Mudlarks bested the latter's Cambridge Dons in four games. ALLIANCE LEADERS Empire League Hitting BA: .369 Jean-Louis "Rhino" Bourgeois, Newcastle HR: 21 Francis Pethick, Liverpool RBI: 105 Wayne Lewis, Nottingham R: 127 Francis Pethick, Liverpool SB: 54 Ed Bousquet, Liverpool Pitching W: 27 Eddie Allard, Liverpool L: 23 Dermot Iddeson, Portsmouth K: 133 Sean Alker, Liverpool ERA: 2.63 Rhys Loveridge, Salford SV: 20 Rhys Loveridge, Salford Bousquet defied the trend toward fewer stolen bases. His fifty-four thefts were the most since 1919. Loveridge is the first pitcher to win the ERA title without starting a single game. Loveridge pitched exactly 154 innings -- the minimum necessary to qualify for the title -- in 78 appearances for the Bees. Dominion Association Hitting BA: .360 Morrigan Witmore, Leicester HR: 22 Maurice "The Governor" Chenoweth, Kensington RBI: 123 Hogan Orme, Bristol R: 125 Hogan Orme, Bristol SB: 32 Angus Black, Bristol Pitching W: 21 Woodrow Silver, Hull L: 22 Richard "Major" Parsons, Islington/Sheffield K: 140 Danny Smith, Glasgow ERA: 2.80 Griff Hicken, Kensington SV: 14 Eamonn Peasnall, Kensington Orme had the best season for a player who, because he played for tail-enders Bristol, nobody heard of. Silver was the only twenty-game winner in the DA. Parsons made his major-league debut in 1917 with Glasgow. He spent the next eight years knocking around the minor leagues before re-emerging with Bradford in 1926. He dropped out of sight in 1927, then popped up with Islington at the beginning of this season. __________________ American-Ethnic (and Canadian) Namesets Historical Minor League Schedules 1870s City/Team Nickname Randomizers "It's Usually Sunny in Philadelphia" weather mod Negro League Schedules Last edited by joefromchicago; 11-14-2013 at 04:36 PM.