A fairly even start to the 1977 Eclipse League season. The A's are slow out of the blocks, while the BYs look to be recovering from a similarly sluggish beginning. Their cause isn't helped by the loss of star 3B Hank Thompson for 6 weeks with a hernia and then OF Steve Henderson for a similar period with a groin strain. Their crosstown rival Lincoln Giants also suffer a big loss with red-hot 2B Bill Kindle out for 3 months after tearing ligaments in his ankle. To that point, he had hit a phenomenal 423. The West and Grays have both begun positively and share the league's best record of 17-9, a game ahead of the ABCs and the defending champs.
A few late adds as Newark signs P Hilton Smith on a 1/304 deal and OF Richard Hidalgo for 1/280, while the MoStars ink a 1/508 deal with Closer Octavio Dotel.
- FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Ender Inciarte (Giants) 381 / 4 HR / 22 RBI.
- FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Dave Barnhill (Black Barons) 4-1 / 1.27 / 25 K / 49.2 IP.
- FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Agustin Acosta (Crawfords) 3-1 / 1.19 / 23 K / 37.2 IP.
- WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Tommy Harper (ABCs) 372 / 3 HR / 22 RBI.
- WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jesse Houston (Grays) 5-1 / 2.42 / 22 K / 48.1 IP.
- WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Tommy Harper.
And here's how the TL has kicked off.
- CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Tommy Agee (Keystones) 357 / 5 HR / 24 RBI.
- CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Salvador Poree (Keystones) 4-0 / 3.24 / 19 K / 33.1 IP.
- FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Gerald Williams (Tigers) 386 / 6 HR / 17 RBI.
- FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Gerardo Ballesteros (Wolves) 3-0 / 1.16 / 28 K / 31 IP.