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AMERICAN BASEBALL MAY RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 1, 1875) – The opening month of the baseball season is done and dusted, and here is how each of baseball’s three competitions look as the calendar turns over to June.

APBL STANDINGS (24 of 90 games played)

COLONIAL – The conference consists of five teams currently running neck-and-neck with only Flour City struggling, although they had a positive Run Differential and eight one-run losses. Shamrock has been the conference’s best team over the past ten games at 7-3. St. John’s looks extremely frail due to their sub-500 record and conference-worst RD, but three-double digit losses make up most of that -38.

METROPOLITAN – Excelsior, with the league’s best pitching and a top-three defense, won the month. American, with six straight wins and their league-best offense, is right behind. Gotham, Knickerbocker, & Orange are at arm’s length, with Orange making up serious ground after their 1-9 start. Kings Co…well…their 5-5 start seemed like a sign of a much-improved season to come, but they’re 3-11 since then.

APBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
James Burke (CF, AME) – .425, 1.025 OPS, 25 R, 48 H, 7 2B, 5 3B, 25 RBI, 4 BB, 16 SB, 1.8 WPA, 1.9 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Jim Creighton (GOT) – 8-3, 2.55 ERA, 102.1 IP, 9 CG, 1 SHO, 35 K, 4.4 K/BB, 1.16 WHIP, 2.5 WAR, 1.9 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Simeon DiStefano (P, MB) – 8-3, 2.35 ERA, 99.2 IP, 7 CG, 9 K, 1.3 K/BB, 0.6 BB/9, 1.14 WHIP, 1.8 WAR, 2.3 rWAR

James Burke hit .538 (1.369 OPS) and racked up nearly a full point of WAR over the last week of May, and that clinched BotM for the legendary outfielder. However, he didn’t lead the league in batting. That honor went to Albert Stoffers (1B, Mass. Bay) who hit .430 but with a lower OPS (.957), fewer Hits (46), fewer RBI (24), and only two Stolen Bases.

It’s PotM award number eight for Creighton, who picked up right from where he left off in 1874 with more astounding pitching for APBL-best Excelsior. There were two other pitchers that won eight games: Mass. Bay’s Tom Hauser, who had a lower ERA (2.50) but nothing close to Creighton’s other numbers, and American’s Simeon DiStefano, who took a different award.

Charles Burton of Knickerbocker had a lower ERA at 2.18 but his record was 6-6, and that is why DiStefano took home GotM for his debut month in the A.P.B.L. DiStefano showed good pitching acumen while letting American’s incredibly rangy outfielders do the job for him, and he was rewarded with an eight-win month that matched PotM Jim Creighton.

APBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .430 by Albert Stoffers (1B, Mass. Bay)
OPS: 1.025 by James Burke (CF, American)
Runs: 36 by Franklin Petty (RF, American)
Home Runs: 3 Bill Lewis (RF, Excelsior) & Troy Oberst (LF, Excelsior)
Runs Batted In: 29 by John Meier (LF, Alleghany)
Stolen Bases: 23 by Franklin Petty
Batsman WPA: 2.6 by Albert Stoffers
Batsman WAR: 1.9 by James Burke

ERA (50+ IP): 2.09 by Jack Doherty (Kings Co.)
Wins: 8 by three different pitchers
Complete Games: 9 by Jim Creighton (Excelsior) & Nicholas Banfield (Excelsior)
Strikeouts: 35 by Jim Creighton
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.14 by Simeon DiStefano (American)
Pitcher WAR: 2.5 by Jim Creighton
Pitcher rWAR: 2.3 by Simeon DiStefano

NBBO REGIONAL LEADERS (15 of 70 games played)

BROOKLYN: Atlantic, Continental, & Eckford at 10-5 (Empire 2 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: Metropolitan at 11-4 (Mutual 0.5 GB, Mercury & Union 3 GB)
UPSTATE NY: Frontier, Utica, & Victory at 10-5 (Minuteman & Syracuse 1 GB)
COASTAL: Quaker State at 14-1 (Pt. Jersey 4 GB, Newark & Trenton Utd. 6 GB)
INLAND: Scranton at 11-4 (Pioneer 1 GB, Lake Erie 2 GB, Merrimack & Susquehanna 3 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Cantabrigians, Quinnipiac, & Susquehanna at 9-6 (Granite & Oceania 1 GB)

Three of the six regions – Brooklyn, Upstate, & New England – currently have a three-way tie at the top. Those three will eventually sort themselves out, but in the meantime that should mean there will be plenty of exciting baseball ahead for at least half of the competition if not more, since two of the other three regions have numerous teams 3-4 games from 1st.

So much for Quaker State falling to mere contender status this year. Their 14-1 record and +66 Run Differential are both the best in the N.B.B.O. after one month, with the team scoring the 2nd-most runs in the N.E.L. while allowing the fewest runs out of all 48 teams. The only thing keeping them from 15-0? A one-run loss at Olympic on May 20th.

One team to watch, for unfortunate reasons, is Eagle, who just finished the N.B.B.O.’s first ever winless month with a 0-15 May. Their RD of -91 means they are being outscored by six runs per game (5.3 R/G, 11.4 RA/G), and as of right now it looks quite likely that they will have the worst season in N.B.B.O. history.

NBBO MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: William Buschmann (CF, UTI) – .391, .976 OPS, 22 R, 27 H, 6 XBH, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 5 BB, 6 SB, 1.4 WPA, 1.1 WAR
NEL: Gerhardt Berg (1B, QS) – .472, 1.179 OPS, 27 R, 34 H, 4 2B, 5 3B, 18 RBI, 4 BB, 232 OPS+, 1.7 WPA, 1.2 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Rudolph Fowler (UTI) – 7-2, 2.28 ERA, 79.0 IP, 9 CG, 0 SHO, 5 K, 5.0 K/BB, 1.16 WHIP, 1.3 WAR, 3.2 rWAR
NEL: Ross Gill (QS) – 7-0, 2.60 ERA, 72.2 IP, 6 CG, 1 SHO, 3 K, 3.0 K/BB, 1.18 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 2.4 rWAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Jacob Wesolowski (P, SYR) – 6-3, 3.00 ERA, 78.0 IP, 8 CG, 0 SHO, 11 K, 2.2 K/BB, 1.27 WHIP, 1.9 WAR, 2.3 rWAR
NEL: Devon Clark (LF, NAT) – .365, .906 OPS, 17 R, 23 H, 5 XBH, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 5 BB, 1 SB, 1.0 WPA, 0.9 WAR

NBBO STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .472 by Gerhardt Berg (1B, Quaker St.)
OPS: 1.179 by Gerhardt Berg
Runs: 27 by Gerhardt Berg
Home Runs: 3 by Lon Duffy (RF, Syracuse)
Runs Batted In: 24 by Ned Morganti (CF, Quaker St.)
Stolen Bases: 12 by three different batsmen
Batsman WPA: 1.7 by Gerhardt Berg
Batsman WAR: 1.2 by four different batsmen

ERA (50+ IP): 1.29 by Frazer Richardson (Metro)
Wins: 7 by four different pitchers
Complete Games: 9 by Rudolph Fowler (Utica)
Strikeouts: 12 by William Clayberg (Scranton)
WHIP (50+ IP): 0.98 by Frazer Richardson
Pitcher WAR: 1.9 by Jacob Wesolowski (Syracuse)
Pitcher rWAR: 3.2 by George Burroughs (Pt. Jersey)

PCBL LEADERS (15 of 70 games played)

EAST: Frankford Arsenal at 11-4 (Minerva 1 GB, Queen Village 3 GB, three teams 4 GB)
WEST: Philadelphia B.C.C. at 13-2 (Independence, Merion, & Penn 4 GB)

EAST – Death, taxes, and Frankford is atop the East Philadelphia standings. They have played extremely well in tough contests, going 4-0 in one-run games while winning both times they’ve gone to extra innings. One surprise is that it’s Minerva (finishes: 7th & 6th) that is right behind them thanks to a top-five offense and the league’s best baserunning. Another is that Queen Village (finishes: 6th & 7th) is alone in 3rd thanks to a marvelous opening three weeks by #1 P Oscar Downs.

WEST – At 13-2 and outscoring opponents by seven runs per game (11.5 R/G, 4.5 RA/G), this was the P.B.C.C. team everyone feared they would see ahead of the inaugural season. Apparently, it just took them a couple of years to get there. Their offense has been unquestionably brilliant, their pitching has been outstanding, and their defense has been the best in the league. The good news for everyone else: there are still eleven weeks of games left, and a lot can change.

PCBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
William Norman (1B, MBCC) – .408, .976 OPS, 16 R, 31 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 20 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB, 2.2 WPA, 0.8 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Arthur Lipscomb (PBCC) – 6-2, 2.33 ERA, 76.2 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 7 K, 1.4 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 1.2 WAR, 2.4 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Sam Winkler (SS, SPA) – .389, .852 OPS, 15 R, 21 H, 4 2B, 0 3B, 9 RBI, 0 BB, 2 SB, 1.4 WPA, 0.5 WAR

PCBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .412 by Roger Thomas (C, Frankford)
OPS: .976 by William Norman (1B, Merion)
Runs: 26 by Frederick Pike (2B, P.B.C.C.)
Home Runs: 2 by six different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 24 by Walter Kirby (LF, P.B.C.C.)
Stolen Bases: 9 by Timothy Sheehan (SS, Pt. Richmond)
Batsman WPA: 2.2 by William Norman
Batsman WAR: 1.4 by Moody Steiger (SS, P.B.C.C.)

ERA (50+ IP): 1.44 by Oscar Downs (Queen Village)
Wins: 6 by Warren Leonard (P.B.C.C.) & Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.)
Complete Games: 6 by Warren Leonard & Arthur Lipscomb
Strikeouts: 10 by Otis Brown (Minerva) & Timotheus Memminger (Schuylkill)
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.04 by Oscar Downs
Pitcher WAR: 1.5 by six different pitchers
Pitcher rWAR: 2.5 by Warren Leonard