Out of the Shadows: The Eclipse League

[luckymann]

Just when it looked like there'd be little to report from the final day of the EL's 1973 regular season, with three of the races over and the BYs - one ahead of Brooky and easily leading their game against the BGs - seemingly on the verge of locking down the FC American, this happens:

A monumental, very against type collapse by New York as Hilton Smith and then Octavio Dotel fall to pieces. I say that, but what with last season's late fadeout, perhaps it's not so "against type" any more.

Still, the RGs need to win their game against the LibStars just to force a tiebreak. They make heavy work of it but eventually get it done in 11.

Two days later, the RGs get their first playoff appearance since the inaugural 1968 season behind a fine outing from Jesse Houston.

[luckymann]

And so the final standings look like this:

Batting titles to Rod Carew and Bob Chance. Big Papi tails off a bit, but still manages to finish with an EL-high 37 HR and 120 RBI. He also finishes third with a 309 BA and must stand some chance of winning his first MVP, although Hank Thompson would be the favourite.

Dave Brown, Gene Collins and Lefty Holmes tie for the most wins with 23, while Collins' 266 K lead either league. Ramon Ramirez locks down 48 saves to pace the league and set a new EL mark.

Juan Samuel also raises the bar with 80 SB.


Here are the final Top 20s:

Hitters - Overall

Hitters - NeLers

Pitchers - Overall

Pitchers - NeLers

And the final news and leaders for the season.

[luckymann]

Fleet Conference

Birmingham Black Barons (100-62) v Brooklyn Royal Giants (89-74)

Best of seven, Black Barons with home-field advantage.

• In perhaps the most extraordinary EL playoff series yet, all seven games are won by the visiting team, with Brooklyn eventually triumphing with an emphatic 10-3 Game 7 victory.
• Game 1 can only be described as ridiculous, with more twists and turns than a mountain road as the two sides combine for 21 runs on 35 hits in a seesawing tussle.
• Game 4, which needs 12 innings to be decided, isn't far behind as a pitching duel explodes late into a slugfest.
• Brooky superstar Ken Singleton hits 357 and drives in 9 runs to earn the MVP gong.

Weldy Conference

Cleveland Buckeyes (93-69) v New York Lincoln Giants (87-75)

Best of seven, Buckeyes with home-field advantage.

• The Buckeyes show no mercy to a horribly overmatched Black Yankees, dispatching them in four straight.
• Cleveland Catcher Bob Watson is named MVP.

[luckymann]

Cleveland Buckeyes v Brooklyn Royal Giants

Best of seven, Buckeyes with home-field advantage.

And so the EL is guaranteed of a first-time Champion after two CC Series that could not have been more different. Who will that benefit more? The Buckeyes are well-rested and have their rotation aligned but have had a lot of time to get inside their own heads, while the RGs are battle-hardened but could also be war-weary.

Either way I think this will be one for the ages. Buckeyes in seven for mine, especially with ShoTime back in action.

Sadly, this matchup never realises anywhere near its full potential as it seems the Brooklyn boys leave their best baseball in that previous series and the Buckeyes do it easily in five.

After a very quiet series against New York, 2B Ketel Marte comes alive big time, winning the MVP as he goes 11-for-20.

Game 1





Game 2





Game 3





Game 4





Game 5

[luckymann]

GRANT MEDAL (MOST VALUABLE PLAYER)

STOVEY MEDAL (PITCHER OF THE YEAR)

WHITE PLATE (RELIEVER OF THE YEAR)




FOWLER MEDAL (ROOKIE OF THE YEAR)




GARRETT BUTTON (MANAGER OF THE YEAR)

FC: Danny Carpenter, Black Barons
WC: Minoru Imamura, Buckeyes


KINDLING AWARD (SILVER SLUGGER)
FC / WC




SLICK AWARD (GOLD GLOVE)
FC / WC

[luckymann]

In addition to the Rookie Draft, a smaller group of players are now entering the EL each year as FAs. Rather than draw attention to them at this point in time, they'll eventually feature in the Opening Day reports for each club.

As far as the rookie class is concerned, Rube Foster and Dave "Impo" Barnhill are the Cat-A NeLers, while big MLB names include the mighty El Tiant, John Mayberry, Ryan Howard and Vida Blue.

Here are Rounds 1 & 2 in their entirety:

So Mayberry goes 1st overall to the East, while Baltimore picks up both Rube Foster and Bill McCall to really solidify their staff.

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Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

Brooklyn Royal Giants

Newark Dodgers

New York Black Yankees

Pittsburgh Crawfords

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Birmingham Black Barons

Cuban Stars West

Kansas City Monarchs

Memphis Red Sox

St. Louis Giants

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Baltimore Elite Giants

Hilldale Athletic Club

Homestead Grays

New York Lincoln Giants

Philadelphia Liberty Stars

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Chicago American Giants

Cleveland Buckeyes

Cuban Stars East

Detroit Motown Stars

Indianapolis ABCs

[luckymann]

Another EL season is upon us and I am so looking forward to see what's in store. Here are the usual OD reports for your perusal.

Another tight race expected in the FC American and a big season for the MeSox.

Barry Bonds remains the top-ranked position player, while Baltimore rookie Deacon Meyers has rocketed to the top of the pitchers' list.

Meyers is also the highest-rated prospect, while the Crawfords' larder is the fullest.

Finally, all the clubs are looking fairly healthy, financially-speaking. Interesting to see the BBs have topped out and the Buckeyes are close as well.

FWIW, I think this is the ABCs' year, with them and the Red Sox kicking off their rivalry in earnest here.

[luckymann]

Some way to start the season for Baltimore's Hurley McNair, who hits for the cycle in game number two against Hilldale - thereby providing me with the perfect chance to shed some light on him.

Not exactly an obscure figure from NeL history like some of the others I flush and flesh out with these features, Allen Hurley McNair was born in Marshall TX in 1888. His 20-season career spanned 1910-1937 and was mostly spent with the KC Monarchs. Seamheads puts his lifetime NeL slash at 321/391/461 with an OPS+ of 140, while Eric Chalek's MLEs allot him a princely 72 WAR. Jim Riley makes note of his poise in the clutch, claiming he once hit a grand slam with a mistakenly-grabbed fungo bat, and also mentions Hurley's post-playing career as an umpire.

In the EL, "Bugger" was drafted 6th overall by Baltimore in 1971 and has held his own without ever dominating in the time since. At the time of writing, his career slash sits at 266/335/395 with 26 HR and 128 RBI in just over a thousand ABs, good for 4 bWAR so far. The trajectory of his career makes me think there'll be plenty more to follow.

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A far more sedate month than the corresponding period a year earlier and already you get the feeling that the teams on the way down and the teams on the way up are set to meet about the midpoint and tussle this one out in that vicinity. At least that's what I'm hoping is on the cards. A surprisingly slow start for the Mons, but fans will be happy that the club has extended star SS Fernando Tatis jr for another season.

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Bobby Abreu (Dodgers) 301 / 3 HR / 15 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jesse Houston (Royal Giants) 5-0 / 1.24 / 14 K / 50.2 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Maceo Broadnax (Black Yankees) 4-0 / 0.00 / 8 SV / 13 K / 14 IP.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Lloyd Moseby (East) 394 / 6 HR / 21 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Yovani Gallardo (American Giants) 4-1 / 0.61 / 28 K / 44 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Dave Barnhill (Grays) 3-2 / 2.23 / 23 K / 48.1 IP.

Not sure what's going on with Louisville, who are travelling poorly after winning 90 last season. Luckily they have loads of time to sort it out.

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Gary Redus (Black Crackers) 468 / 6 HR / 18 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Manny Aybar (Eagles) 5-1 / 2.76 / 32 K / 42.1 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Mickey Rivers (Bears) 453 / 2 HR / 16 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Bobby Jones (Bears) 5-0 / 2.02 / 31 K / 49 IP.

News and Leaders

[luckymann]

His procurement of the Rookie award in the month just past has set up an opportune moment to familiarise y'all with Dave Barnhill.

"Impo" Barnhill - the nickname stems from his early-career stint with the Indy Clowns - can perhaps consider himself one of the unluckiest figures in Black Baseball. But, then again, all those who preceded Jackie and were good enough to at least try their hand in the bigs fall into the same category. He, along with Roy Campanella and Sammy Hughes, had a tryout with the Pirates reneged upon in 1946 and never got another look-in.

Having grown up playing in the sandlots of NC against the likes of Ray Dandridge and Buck Leonard, Dave spent almost all of his NeL career in the 1940s with the New York Cubans. A diminutive guy (listed at just 5-6), Dave's lack of size did not affect his talent on the mound, with Seamheads crediting him with 36 wins and a career ERA+ of 131, while EC's MLEs allot him just under 50 WAR and an extrapolated 211-176 record. He also spent many successful seasons around the various leagues south of the border.

Both he and Dandridge were eventually signed by the Giants and helped the AAA Minneapolis Millers win the American Association in 1950, but that shot simply never materialised for either of them. Dave finished out his career playing in the Florida league with various clubs before calling it quits in 1953. He died in Miami, aged 70 in 1983.

No such machinations for Dave in the EL, where the Grays took him 8th overall in the most recent Draft and set him straight to work. As that monthly award will tell you, he has done well so far - 3-3 with a 2.37 ERA (161 ERA+) in 57 IP over 7 starts. Let's hope he can continue along those lines.

[luckymann]

Baltimore's String Bean Williams delivers the EL's first no-hitter in nigh on two years. Fair to say it has come out of the blue, given Bean's lifetime 19-37 mark and sparse usage over recent seasons. I doubt, however, that will make too much difference to him at this moment. Nor, for that matter, should it.

[luckymann]

Hot on the heels of SBW, Fergie Jenkins delivers another no-no against the LibStars at Comiskey Park in front of nearly 30000.

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The AGs lock down all-time HR leader Jose Abreu on a deal that may well see him end up being a one-club player.

The deal is set to pay him $740k next season, which as it currently stands, would make him the league's highest-paid player.

[luckymann]

The AGs look back to their best so far this year and some key offseason pickups like Oddibe McDowell seem to be one of the main reasons why. He's hit 10 HR after this special game, the same number he hit all of last season.