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THE SOUTHEAST GETS A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN!

With the Northeast and Midwest now covered by professional baseball, the growing amateur and semi-pro game in the Southeastern United States decided it was time to turn professional as well. In the winter of 1884, leaders from six of the best amateur clubs in the southeast got together to form the Southeastern & Atlantic League of Baseball, which quickly became known as the SEAL. The clubs involved, and the new names they took:

• Armory Baseball Club, which became the Charleston Battery
• Atlanta Baseball Club, which became the Atlanta Flames
• Cumberland Baseball Club, which became the Nashville Bobcats
• Mississippi River B.C., which became the Memphis Showboats
• Savannah Baseball Club, which became the Savannah Schooners
• Tobacco Growers Guild of Richmond, which became the Richmond Rollers

Their identities:











The SEAL league was going to have the same roster rules & regulations as the two existing professional leagues, but its aims were a bit lower. The southeast had smaller metro areas and thus smaller markets, meaning that it couldn’t match the kind of pay the APBL and MWBA offered – about 2/3 of the APBL and maybe 3/4 of the MWBA.

In the meantime, what it could be was a professional league that let players in the Southeastern United States become full-time professionals while allowing overlooked players in the other two pro leagues a chance to become everyday starters, or perhaps even stars, in a new home. And unlike the other two leagues, the SEAL played its ball in pitcher-friendly environments that led to batting average, power output, and ERAs that were noticeably lower than elsewhere. To wit, in that inaugural season teams averaged only 5.4 runs per game and the league batting average was just .253, a good 20-25 points lower than the other two pro leagues.

The inaugural season of the SEAL was tighter than any pennant chase baseball had seen – pro, semi-pro, or amateur – up to that point, with five of the league’s six teams finishing within two games of eventual champions Richmond:

Richmond Rollers: 54-46
Charleston Battery: 52-48 (2 GB)
Memphis Showboats: 52-48
Nashville Bobcats: 52-48
Savannah Schooners: 52-48
Atlanta Flames: 38-62 (16 GB)

As you can see, there was a four-way tie for second place that league executives didn’t anticipate at all, so they came up with a tiebreaker in which the teams were placed in the standings based on their season-long run differential. Charleston finished second because theirs was a +24, Memphis in third at +16, Nashville in fourth thanks to a +7, and Savannah was the only one of the four 52-48 teams with a negative RD (-8) so they finished in fifth.

BATSMAN OF THE YEAR & MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Henry Duncan – CF, Nashville Bobcats

100 G, .306/.358/.397, .755 OPS (151 OPS+), 86 R, 135 H, 11 3B, 48 RBI, 175 TB, 47 SB, 4.50 WPA, 5.0 WAR (8.1/162)

Duncan didn’t have the highest average or OPS in the first season of the SEAL. Those honors went to Pearl Drury of Savannah (.331 AVG, .776 OPS). However, Duncan led the league in numerous other offensive categories while finishing close to Drury in the most basic batting statistics. Also, Duncan leading the six-team league in both WPA and WAR made him the obvious choice for not just BotY but also MVP.

HURLER OF THE YEAR

Charles Davis - Richmond Rolllers

385 IP, 25-20, 2.20 ERA, 48 G, 45 GS, 32 CG, 60 BB, 186 K, 3.1 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 12.3 WAR (7.2/225 IP)

Charles Davis won HotY even though he managed to both win and lose 20 games, but he was clearly the league’s best pitcher given that he was the ace of champions Richmond, led the SEAL in multiple important pitching categories and his WAR (12.3) was nearly four full points higher than that of anyone else who took to the mound.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

P: Charles Davis (RICH) – 385 IP, 32 CG, 25-20, 186 K, 3.1 K/BB, 12.3 WAR, HotY, champion
C: Earl Parham (RICH) – .312 AVG, .719 OPS (139 OPS+), 106 H, 47 RBI, 41.4 RTO%, 2.38 CERA, 3.11 WPA, 2.7 WAR, champion
1B: Joseph Elmore (MEM) – .255 AVG, .637 OPS (112 OPS+), 6 HR, 48 RBI, 1.0 WAR
2B: Pearl Drury (SAV) – .331 AVG, .776 OPS (158 OPS+), 132 H, 59 RBI, 2.94 WPA, 2.5 WAR
3B: Hewitt Miller (ATL) – .300 AVG, .756 OPS (151 OPS+), 125 H, 29 XBH, 40 RBI, 2.87 WPA, 4.5 WAR
SS: Turner Yates (RICH) – .257 AVG, .604 OPS (101 OPS+), 114 H, 70 R, 2.4 WAR, champion
OF: Beauregard Kemp (ATL) – .303 AVG, .752 OPS (150 OPS+), 76 R, 125 H, 55 RBI, 19 SB, 2.62 WPA, 3.3 WAR
OF: Henry Duncan (NASH) – .306 AVG, .755 OPS (151 OPS+), 86 R, 135 H, 11 3B, 48 RBI, 175 TB, 47 SB, 4.50 WPA, 5.0 WAR, BotY, MVP
OF: David Chisolm (SAV) – .308 AVG, .727 OPS (142 OPS+), 132 H, 27 2B, 65 RBI, 2.05 WPA, 2.4 WAR