1988 FINAL
EMPIRE LEAGUE
It was a surprising end to the EL North race. Bradford, at the summit of the standings halfway through the season, boasted the League's most prolific run-scorer in Jack Cotgrove (.282, 32 HR, 126 RBI), who benefitted from hitting behind Callum Russel (.290, 17 HR, 73 RBI). On the hill, free agent acquisition Tony Rios (17-14, 3.45 ERA) proved to be a good investment. The Badgers started the second half by dropping a three-game series to Nottingham, which put the Foresters in first place. The Foresters relied on a solid attack to boost them into the top spot. Morrigan Tustian (.271, 37 HR, 116 RBI) didn't win any home run titles, but he, along with "Quiet" John Dobson (.275, 28 HR, 105 RBI) provided the foundation for a hard-hitting offense that ranked second in runs scored with 720. Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Finn "Trojan" MacCulloch (21-8, 3.40 ERA), who had a 10-7 record at the break, won eleven of his next twelve decisions to lead the rotation, while southpaw closer Andrew Horsey (9-5, 39 SV, 2.70 ERA) appeared in sixty-seven games. Edinburgh provided an unexpected challenge to Nottingham in August by winning seventeen of their twenty-six games in the month. Starting pitchers Jim Townes (16-8, 3.00 ERA) and Nicholas Bubb (15-11, 3.24 ERA) helped spark the revival, while catcher Dylan Ramsay (.277, 26 HR, 72 RBI) and first baseman Tom Wulf (.267, 16 HR, 77 RBI) led a somewhat anemic attack. As the race entered September, Nottingham and Edinburgh were tied at the top of the ladder, and they remained that way through the first week. Edinburgh, however, suffered a grievous blow when Ramsay fractured his elbow in an 8 September contest, which robbed the lineup of its best hitter. Without him, the Chieftans lost eight of their next ten games, including four out of five matches against Nottingham, which allowed the Foresters to squeak by with their second-straight divisional flag.
There was precious little drama in the Southern Division race. London amassed a thirteen-game lead at the midsummer break and then lapped the field in the second half, winning their fourth consecutive divisional title by a whopping twenty-nine lengths while falling just shy of the BA record of 114 wins in a season. The League's best pitching staff boasted starters Graham Digges (21-4, 2.06 ERA), Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr (22-6, 2.63 ERA), and Nick Turgoose (15-7, 2.59 ERA), who bounced back from a case of bursitis in April. Left-handed closer George Henson (2-3, 46 SV, 1.54 ERA) led the loop in saves and helped the Bulldogs to a 31-11 record in one-run games. The offense managed to survive a rash of injuries to post an EL-best .270 average. Shortstop Bill Maloney (.306, 24 HR, 78 RBI) played only a hundred games but still paced the club in home runs and RBI, while first baseman Keith Parrish (.299, 15 HR, 68 RBI) spent four weeks on the DL with a sprained thumb but came back to lead all regulars in hitting. Highly paid free agent Jack Jones (.343, 11 HR, 54 RBI) wasn't so lucky, as a shoulder injury kept him out of most of the second half, and he and Eddie "Cyclone" Mullet (.298, 21 HR, 71 RBI), a victim of bad ankle, will likely miss at least the first round of the playoffs. Plymouth made a half-hearted bid at challenging the London behemoth behind the hitting of first baseman Michael Tyerman (.299, 32 HR, 88 RBI) and the pitching of Quentin Evans (21-8, 2.41 ERA). The Voyagers, however, lacked the offensive punch to keep up with the Bulldogs, and their 5-9 season record against London did them no favors either.
DOMINION ASSOCIATION
If there was one team that could stand on the same level as London this season, it was Stoke. The Potters held a slim five-game lead over Southampton at the all-star break, but blazed through the schedule in the second half, winning forty-five times and running away with the Southern Division crown. First sacker Theo Fellick (.355, 27 HR, 156 RBI) took the RBI title and finished second in the batting race, while Leon Williams (.352, 4 HR, 87 RBI) and lead-off man Shane Baring (.302, 5 HR, 38 RBI) contributed to a DA-best .285 team average. The mound corps was no less accomplished, as the starting trio of Jimmy Burden (19-9, 2.44 ERA), Joe Atherol (18-7, 2.54 ERA), and sophomore Isaac Brembridge (18-4, 3.04 ERA) helped the Potters register an Association-leading 3.11 staff ERA. Going into the post-season, however, Stoke will be without William Beattie (16-6, 3.73 ERA), who pitched well in the first half but suffered a rotator cuff injury at the beginning of September. Southampton would have earned a berth in the post-season if they had been in the northern half of either league, as their ninety-six wins were the best of any non-playoff club. Colombian first baseman Jose Moya (.311, 12 HR, 80 RBI) had trouble finding a spot on the roster but still led the club in RBI, while speedy left fielder Teague Ennis (.311, 6 HR, 71 RBI) was moved to the number three slot in the order but still stole forty-six bases. Nick Hobhouse (20-10, 2.76 ERA) topped the rotation, and free agent Gareth Bignold (19-9, 3.15 ERA), picked up for a relative bargain in April, won eight straight decisions after the midsummer hiatus and finished with his best record since 1979. Bristol caught fire in the second half, posting a 47-20 post-break record to lead the Alliance. Michael Cuber (25-5, 2.47 ERA) led the DA in wins for the second-straight time, while Marmaduke Spencer (.316, 20 HR, 91 RBI) and off-season acquisition Auggie Gill (.251, 30 HR, 97 RBI) powered the offense.
The question in the DA North wasn't who would win the BA's weakest division but who wanted to win. Belfast had the advantage at the start of the second half, but the efforts of first baseman William Littlechild (.302, 32 HR, 97 RBI) and right-hander George Wicksted (17-14, 3.50 ERA) couldn't prevent the Unions from losing eleven of their first fifteen matches after the All-Star Game and falling to third place. Glasgow and Sunderland struggled for the lead after that, but neither could gain much ground due to their overwhelming mediocrity. The Gaelics got strong performances from starters Dwane Wait (16-11, 2.90 ERA) and Fraser Reilly (18-11, 2.97 ERA), who were a combined 15-5 in the second half. Left fielder "Smiling" John Barrowcliff (.277, 31 HR, 80 RBI) spearheaded the attack, but Pepe Rivera (.248, 23 HR, 88 RBI) was vexed by injuries all season and played in only 107 games. A solid pitching staff helped Sunderland overcome a weak offense. Rick Moore (18-12, 4.18 ERA) led the rotation, but the real star was closer Ryan Millar (6-4, 41 SV, 1.95 ERA), who appeared in sixty-three games. Left fielder Derek Rushworth (.278, 22 HR, 77 RBI) sparked the attack from the lead-off slot, while Liam Dow (.298, 15 HR, 72 RBI) played well in his first full season as the club's shortstop. Going into September, Glasgow held a slim two-game lead over Sunderland, but the Swifts swept a crucial three-game set at Glasgow in the middle of the month to take over first place. The Glaswegians staged a late rally, winning seven of nine to come within a game of Sunderland, but a loss against Sheffield coupled with a Swift victory over Leeds on the eve of the regular-season finale gave Sunderland their first divisional flag.
EL CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: NOTTINGHAM v. LONDON
Nottingham scored eight runs in the first six innings and then survived a ninth-inning London rally to win the opener by a final of 8-7. The Bulldogs gave Neil Storr a 2-0 lead in game two, but "the Silver Fox" couldn't hold it, as the visiting Foresters scored once in the sixth and twice in the seventh to mount a 3-2 comeback victory. Unexpectedly on the ropes, London fought back with a 9-2 victory in game three behind the pitching of Nick Turgoose. The next day, Nottingham broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh on Fionn Mote's (.236, 15 HR, 58 RBI) two-run homer, and Andrew Horsey came on in the ninth to save the game for "Trojan" MacCulloch, as the Foresters upset the heavily favored Bulldogs to capture the EL pennant with a 3-1 win.
DA CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: SUNDERLAND v. STOKE
Andrew Westhead (14-15, 3.68 ERA) gave up only six hits in eight innings to lead Sunderland to a 4-0 win over Stoke in game one, but the Potters' offense came alive in game two, pounding out eleven hits against five Swift pitchers to win 11-5. Stoke went out to a 3-0 lead in game three and then overcame a two-run homer by Derek Rushworth in the eighth inning to win by a final tally of 3-2. Stoke could only manage three hits against Sunderland, but they made them count, as Jimmy Burden scattered six hits over eight innings to lead the Potters to a 3-0 pennant-clinching victory. For the Potters, it marked their first DA flag since 1962.
1988 CUP FINALS SERIES: NOTTINGHAM v. STOKE
Nottingham, making only their third trip to the Cup Finals, were once again the underdogs as they met Stoke for the first time ever. The Foresters went out in front in the curtain-raiser on Fionn Mote's two-run homer in the fifth off Joe Atherol and led 2-1 in the seventh when Stoke rallied for four runs on homers by Theo Fellick and Alex Wright (.250, 11 HR, 68 RBI). The Foresters, however, came back with three runs in the top of the eighth on successive run-scoring doubles by Albert Crook (.299, 17 HR, 61 RBI) and Mote, and the two sides ended regulation tied five all. In the twelfth, Nottingham loaded the bases with three-straight base hits, and "Quiet" John Dobson scored the lead runner with a sacrifice fly. Doug Cobby (2-3, 2 SV, 3.93 ERA), in his second inning of relief, made that count, as he retired the Potters in order in the bottom of the frame to earn the 6-5 victory. Rookie center fielder Alexander Campbell (.308, 6 HR, 55 RBI) had four hits for the visitors, while Shane Baring had three hits at the top of the Stoke order. Home runs by Crook, Morrigan Tustian, and Finlay MacAlonie (.299, 3 HR, 50 RBI) helped put Nottingham ahead 6-0 in game two. Stoke broke through the scoring column with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Tustian put the game out of reach with his second homer of the day as the Foresters, behind the pitching of Gavin Dannatt (7-6, 3.41 ERA) walked away with an 8-2 triumph. MacAlonie finished the day with four hits in five at-bats. It was scoreless until the top of the sixth inning of game three, when Nottingham starter "Trojan" MacCulloch walked two batters and then watched helplessly as Stoke catcher Andrew Vivian (.310, 5 HR, 38 RBI) smoked a 1-1 slider into the seats for a three-run homer. Jimmy Burden, meanwhile, shut down the Foresters on two hits over eight innings before turning the ball over to Hallinan Quodling (4-1, 8 SV, 0.84 ERA), who survived a rocky ninth to save the game and give the Potters the 3-1 win. The next day, Stoke jumped out to a two-run lead in the first against Nottingham starter Carolan Delmar (12-14, 4.01 ERA), and Fellick's solo homer in the third made it 4-1 in favor of the visitors. Stoke hurler Isaac Brembridge took over from there, limiting the Foresters to five hits over eight innings to earn the 4-1 victory and level the Series at two games apiece. The score in game five was 1-0 in favor of Stoke in the bottom of the sixth when Nottingham loaded the bases with two outs. Joe Atherol's balk let the lead runner score, and the followers came home on Crook's double to put the home team ahead. Three straight hits to lead off the bottom of the seventh led to three more Forester runs, and Nottingham weathered a late Potter rally to take the Series lead with a 6-4 win. Fellick went four-for-four with a homer and three RBI in a losing effort. Home runs by MacAlonie and Dobson gave Nottingham an early 4-2 lead in game six, and Dobson's second return-tripper of the day, a three-run shot in the fourth, sent Stoke starter Angus Cunningham (4-10, 4.68 ERA) to the showers. The Foresters were up 9-4 in the bottom of the ninth when the Potters pushed two runs across the plate, but Andrew Horsey came on with a runner on and two outs and caught left fielder Wright looking on a third strike to close out the 9-6 Nottingham win and the Foresters' improbable march to the BA Cup. John Dobson finished the day with five RBI, capping off a Series in which the Nottingham second baseman hit .364 and drove in nine runs. That performance earned him the MVP award.
THE MINORS
Nottingham had similar success with their minor league club, the Rochdale Pioneers, who captured the Northern Conference title. They met the Crawley Ducks, Wolverhampton's affiliate, who were making their first trip to the triple-A finals, and defeated them in a six-game series.
The Peterborough Paladins, Sunderland's double-A franchise, returned to the Third Tier championship series after a one-year hiatus. The Cambridge Dons of the Cardiff system, however, sent them down to defeat in a four-game finals series.
ALLIANCE LEADERS
Empire League
Hitting
BA: .337 Martin de Koning, Newcastle
HR: 48 Daniel Robertson, Westminster
RBI: 126 Jack Cotgrove, Bradford
R: 110 Pol Ahmuty, Cardiff
SB: 65 Ted Oddie, Edinburgh
Pitching
W: 22 Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, London
L: 19 Finlay Bannatyne, Westminster
K: 207 Graham Digges, London
ERA: 2.06 Graham Digges, London
SV: 46 George Henson, London
Digges missed the triple crown by one victory, as his teammate Storr won nine of his final ten decisions. Oddie, who led the DA in stolen bases from 1981 to 1986 with Islington, won his first EL title after signing with Edinburgh prior to the 1987 campaign.
Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .367 Carleton Dempsey, Wolverhampton
HR: 42 Lester Angwin, Leicester
RBI: 156 Theo Fellick, Stoke
R: 126 Leon Williams, Stoke
SB: 48 Bill Callaghan, Manchester
Pitching
W: 25 Michael Cuber, Bristol
L: 18 Eddie Belsey, Hull
K: 228 Alex Scroggs, Lambeth
ERA: 2.44 Jimmy Burden, Stoke
SV: 44 Harry "Tap" Barge, Sheffield
Dempsey wins his fifth batting title and third in a row. Barge, a career reliever who broke into the big leagues in 1973, became the saves leader for the first time in his career at age thirty-seven.