The 1954 Championship Series once again saw the Manchester Elephants and Croydon Capitals facing off, as had the previous two seasons. The Elephants looking to avenge their 1953 defeat, the Capitals looking to assert their dominance over baseball in Britain.
Game One – The Elephants built up a 2 run lead with 1 in the third and fifth, the Capitals offense knocked the usually dominant pitcher Jimmy O’Toole out of the game in the sixth. Racking up 4 runs, notably Croydon first baseman Thomas O’Hanrahan, knocking in a run with a powerful double. The Elephants replied with 1 in the eighth and securing the first win of the series with 3 in the ninth. Outfielder Eddie Ireland and 1B Adonis Millar contributing with a double and RBI each to show for it.
Game Two – The Croydon Capitals overpowered the Elephants in game 2, consistently tallying up runs to tie the series with a 10-3 victory in Croydon. Two big two-run home runs played a big part in Croydon’s dominance, 3B Rich Rainey with one in the fifth, and Thomas O’Hanrahan in the sixth with his.
Game Three – The Elephants came out swinging, lead off man Teague Doyle opened the bottom of the first with a solo-home run. The Capitals will rue the expansive outfield of Belle Vue Stadium, a triple in the first with the bases empty would’ve been a home run in almost every other ballpark, lead-off man Aiden Iles also going for a bases empty triple in the eighth, a sac-fly from Robbie Cowley getting Iles home, giving the Capitals their only run in the game, as a solo-home run from Teague Doyle, and 2-run home runs from Millar and McCaffrey saw the runs mount as the Elephants marched to an 8-1 victory.
Game Four – 3 time Pitcher of the Year James O’Toole was absolutely rocked by the Capitals yet again this series. Maybe for the first time in his career O’Toole looked out of his depth, in 4.2 innings he gave up 11 hits, 8 runs, 6 earned, 4 walks, 1 home run, fanning 3 batters. The Capitals put up 7 in the fifth as O’Toole and the Elephants crumbled. The Manchester crowd was silenced as the lead continued to grow with another 4 runs in the sixth as the Capitals romped to a 15-2 win.
Game Five – Again the Elephants look helpless in the face of the Capitals offense. Of their 11 hits 7 were doubles in an incredible display of quality in the batter’s box, as Billy Walsh marched to the win pitching all 9 innings, allowing only 2 runs and 7 hits. The Elephants looked bewildered, their only scoring efforts coming from star man Millar, a solo-home run in the sixth and a run scoring double in the eight.
Game Six – The Elephants refused to go out without a fight, the Capitals took the lead with a double from Rainey in the second, the Manchester club responding with a 2-run home run from McCaffrey in the fourth. Croydon would immediately respond with 1 in the fourth, a run scoring double from Edward Taylor. The Elephants retook the lead in the fifth and again the Capitals showed they wanted to end the series that day, replying immediately. The sixth stayed scoreless with the game tied, it looked like it could go either way, until the Capitals broke through with a run scoring triple from Taylor. Another run for insurance and the Croydon club saw it out to win 5-3.
The Croydon Capitals win the series, 4-2.
Player of the Series, Thomas O’Hanrahan.