The Big Bang: A Larger Baseball Universe Starting From Nothing in 1857

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MISCELLANEOUS

SEASON RECORDS

• Portland tied the 1865 Knickerbocker team for best opening half with a 31-4 record.
• New York A.C. P’s set new records for Strikeouts with 357, K/9 Ratio with 5.2, & K/BB Ratio with 6.0.
• New York A.C. P Charles Rhodes became the first N.B.B.O. with 200+ Strikeouts in a season.
• New York A.C. P Charles Rhodes set a new record for Strikeouts with 204.
• New York A.C. P Charles Rhodes set a new record for Pitching WAR with 12.9.
• New York A.C. P George Cerven set a new record for K/9 Ratio with 5.79.

STATISTICAL LEADERS (New York League & Northeastern League)

• Average: .382 by Chester Alexander (2B, Syracuse) & .404 by Leroy Moore (RF, Philadelphia B.C.C.)
• On-Base: .441 by Wilbur Graff (1B, Mercury) & .436 by James Burke (CF, Philadelphia B.C.C.)
• Slugging: 558 by Francis Smith (CF, Metro) & .581 by James Burke (PBCC)
• OPS: .936 by Francis Smith (MET) & 1.016 by James Burke (PBCC)
• Home Runs: 5 by Ed Barnett (1B, Eckford) & 7 by Elwin Zajac (LF, Scranton)
• Runs Batted In: 69 by Thomas Robinson (C, Eagle) & 94 by Leroy Moore (PBCC)
• Runs: 88 by Jack Anastasio (RF, New York A.C.) & 92 by James Burke (PBCC)/Frederick Pike (2B, PBCC)
• Hits: 128 by Francis Smith (MET) & 126 by Leroy Moore (PBCC)
• Doubles: 31 by Isaac Kelly (3B, ECK)/MacKenzie Wilson (RF, ATL) & 35 by James Burke (PBCC)
• Triples: 22 by Jack Anastasio (NYAC) & 18 by Lorik van Unen (3B, Pioneer)
• Extra-Base Hits: 43 by Herb Verrett (LF, Atlantic) & 47 by James Burke (PBCC)
• Bases on Balls: 48 by Wilbur Graff (MER) & 35 by Edward Donovan (1B, Portland)
• Stolen Bases: 58 by Jack Anastasio (NYAC) & 58 by James Poindexter (LF, Trenton Utd.)
• Total Bases: 188 by Francis Smith (MET) & 180 by James Burke (PBCC)
• Zone Rating: +23.6 by Frank Morrison (SS, MET) & +33.2 by Earl Seals (SS, Trenton Utd.)
• Win Prob. Added: 5.5 by Wilbur Graff (MER) & 5.4 by Leroy Moore (PBCC)
• Batsman WAR: 5.3 by Francis Smith (MET) & 5.7 by James Burke (PBCC)

• Wins: 30 by Charles Rhodes (New York A.C.) & 32 by William Burrow (Philadelphia B.C.C.)
• Losses: 28 by Edward Shore (Nassau Co.) & 27 by Joseph Cobb (Lake Erie)
• ERA (175+ IP): 2.30 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 2.18 by Elbert Kidd (Green Mtn.)
• Strikeouts: 204 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 194 by Francis Molinari (Portland)
• Innings: 356.0 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 348.2 by Ben Lauppe (National)
• Complete Games: 32 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 28 by Ben Lauppe (NAT)/Francis Molinari (PORT)
• Shutouts: 2 by Calvin Randazzo (BED)/Emmanuel Wyatt (MUT) & 2 by William Hawk (Susquehanna)
• BB/9 (175+ IP): 0.5 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 0.4 by William Hawk (SUS)
• K/9 (175+ IP): 5.8 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 5.5 by Finley Drew (Maryland)
• K/BB (175+ IP): 11.3 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 9.4 by William Hawk (SUS)
• WHIP (175+ IP): 1.03 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 1.10 by Francis Molinari (PORT)
• Pitcher WAR: 12.9 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 9.8 by Francis Molinari (PORT)
• Pitcher rWAR: 11.1 by Charles Rhodes (NYAC) & 8.4 by Francis Molinari (PORT)

ACHIEVEMENTS & NOTABLE EVENTS

• May 12: Mercury 1B Wilbur Graff has a HR & 5 RBI on Opening Day in a 9-7 win vs Mutual.
• May 13: Mutual CF Manuel Romeiras hits 2 Home Runs (both I.t.P.) in a 5-9 loss at Mercury.
• May 19: Diamond St. LF Sam Young draws 4 Bases on Balls in a 7-8 loss vs Trenton Utd.
• May 19: Oceanic P Joseph Hayes pitches an N.B.B.O. record 11 Bases on Balls in a 10-11 loss at Quinnipiac.
• May 27: Bunker Hill SS John Harmon bats 5/5 with 10 Total Bases in a 9-6 win vs Brighton.
• May 29: The season-long Hitting Streak of Reading A.C. LF Lucas Becton ends after 34 Games.
• May 30: Seven Batsmen record 3+ Hits in the game between P.B.C.C. & Maryland. P.B.C.C. wins 19-9

• June 2: 3B Isaac Kelly records his 1,500th career Hit, all while playing for Eckford.
• June 3: N.Y.A.C. P’s George Cerven & Charles Rhodes record 17 Strikeouts over two games at Baltic, both wins.
• June 5: Atlantic & Eckford contest the season’s first 1-0 game. SHO: ATL P Thomas Onstad (6 H, 3 BB, 4 K)
• June 5: Susquehanna SS Stephen Barley hits for the Cycle (4/5, 10 TB) in a 7-14 loss at Lancastra.
• June 10: Mercury P Rob Wolford has 11 Strikeouts in a 4-6 loss vs Union.
• June 10: Frontier P Carl Bancroft pitches a 12-0 Shutout (5 H, 0 BB, 6 K) at Columbia at the age of 45.
• June 11: Cantabrigians C John Boulton bats 5/5 with 5 RBI in a 20-6 win at Granite.
• June 12: Victory has two Batsmen (J. Holder, H. Nabors) with 5 Hits in a 20-4 win at Syracuse.
• June 18: Baltic has two Batsmen (S. Blalock, L. Roberts) with 5 Hits in a 16-6 win at Hilltop.
• June 19: Hilltop P Jack Jacobs has 11 Strikeouts in a 3-2 win vs Baltic.
• June 23: Bedford & Eckford contest the first Extra Inning 1-0 game in baseball history. Bedford wins.
• June 23: Bedford P Calvin Randazzo pitches the first 10-inning Shutout (7 HA, 1 BB, 2 K) in baseball history.
• June 24: S.o.t.O. scores 8 Runs over the 7th & 8th to take a 17-13 win vs Cantabrigians.
• June 24: Utica has two Batsmen (W. Shallit, H. Smith) with 5 Hits in a 14-7 win at Columbia.
• June 25: Union LF Karl Ilkin bats 4/6 with 5 Stolen Bases in a 12-5 win at Baltic.
• June 26: Atlantic LF Herb Verrett hits 3 Triples in a 7-8 loss vs Marathon.
• June 27: Portland P Francis Molinari has 10 Strikeouts in a 16-2 win vs Granite.
• June 28: Portland finishes the first half with a 31-4 record that equals 1865 cup winners Knick for best ever.

• July 3: Eckford P Colin Dearth pitches a One-Hitter (SHO, 1 BB, 5 K) in a 9-0 win vs Marathon.
• July 8: Eight Batsmen record 3+ Hits in the game between P.B.C.C. & National. P.B.C.C. wins 17-13
• July 9: Hilltop P Harry Miller has 11 Strikeouts in a 5-1 win vs Mutual.
• July 16: P.B.C.C. CF James Burke bats 4/5 with 5 Stolen Bases in a 10-6 win at Maryland.
• July 18: Portland LF Albert Noyes hits 3 Triples in a 9-10 loss vs Salem.
• July 18: Bunker Hill 3B Oliver Johnson has 5 Stolen Bases in an 11-6 win at Brighton.
• July 21: Seven Batsmen record 3+ Hits in the game between Utica & Syracuse. Syracuse wins 19-15.
• July 21: Quinnipiac LF Francis Edwards bats 6/6 with 10 Total Bases in an 11-2 win at Granite.
• July 21: Merrimack RF Michael Wolff has 5 Runs & 6 RBI in a 19-1 win vs Scranton.
• July 21: Lord Balt. CF Francis Beckham hits 3 Triples in an 8-9 loss at National.
• July 22: CF Francis Smith records his 1,500th career Hit, all while playing for Metro.
• July 22: Portland P Robert Dressen hits an Inside the Park HR during a 15-8 win at Green Mtn.
• JulY 26: The N.E.L. wins their 6th straight A.S.G., 11-9. M.V.P: Chester Dudek (2B, NAT). HOST: Empire.
• July 28: Victory LF Harvey McKie bats 6/6 in an 11-inning win vs Syracuse (SYR 9-10 VIC).
• July 30: Columbia has three Batsmen (H. Cotner, J. Cramer, W. Vickers) with 4+ Hits in a 17-3 win at Frontier.
• July 30: Union has three Batsmen (W. Cook, K. Ilkin, S. Johansen) with 4+ Hits in a 19-11 win vs Mercury.
• July 30: Lancastra has three Batsmen (P. Little, W. White, W. Zimmerman) with 4+ Hits in a 20-18 win vs Reading.
• July 30: Lancastra 3B Phillip Little bats 6/6 with 4 Runs in a 20-18 win vs Reading A.C.

• Aug 6: Maryland C John Isenhour bats 6/6 with RBI in a 17-7 win vs Trenton Utd.
• Aug 6: Trenton Utd. CF Jonas Simmelink has 3 OF Assists in a 7-17 loss at Maryland.
• Aug 7: Union 1B Charles Lack hits 2 Home Runs in a 10-6 win at Metro.
• Aug 11: Susquehanna has two Batsmen (S. Lyons, K. Valentine) with 5 Hits in a 20-2 win vs Reading A.C.
• Aug 13: N.Y.A.C. P Charles Rhodes becomes the first N.B.B.O. P with 200+ Strikeouts in a season.
• Aug 14: Eckford RF Ed Barnett hits 2 Home Runs in a 7-6 win vs Bedford.
• Aug 15: N.Y.A.C. P Charles Rhodes earns his 30th Win of the season.
• Aug 16: N.Y.A.C. P Charles Rhodes earns the Pitching Triple Crown (30 W, 2.30 ERA, 204 K)
• Aug 16: P.B.C.C. RF Leroy Moore is the first Batsman in three years with a final Average over .400 (.404).

• Sep 6: Atlantic (1st title) wins the Tucker-Wheaton Cup Final in four games over Portland.

PERFORMANCES OF THE SEASON (by Game Score)

• #1: 111 by Maryland C John Isenhour vs Trenton Utd. on Aug. 6 (6/6, 4 R, 5 RBI, SB)
• #2: 99 by Granite CF Chris Becker at Green Mtn. on July 15 (4/6, 2 2B, 3B, 4 R, 6 RBI, BB)
• #3: 97 by Lancastra 3B Phillip Little vs Lancastra on July 30 (6/6, 4 R, 3 RBI, SB)
• #4: 94 by Merrimack RF Michael Wolff vs Scranton on July 21 (3/6, 5 R, 6 RBI, BB)
• #5: 92 by Cantabrigians C John Boulton at Granite on June 11 (5/6, 3 R, 5 RBI)
• #6: 91 by Mercury 1B Wilbur Graff vs Mutual on May 12 (4/5, HR, 2 R, 5 RBI, BB)
• #7: 91 by Union C William Cook vs Mercury on July 30 (4/5, 3 R, 6 RBI, SAC FLY – 1/1 CS)
• #8: 90 by Quinnipiac LF Francis Edwards at Granite on July 21 (6/6, 2 2B, 3B, 3 R, 3 RBI, 10 TB)
• #9: 89 by Lord Balt. 1B James Colquitt vs National on June 6 (4/5, 3B, 4 R, 4 RBI, BB)
• #10: 89 by Eckford P Jonathan Dearth vs Marathon on July 3rd (SHO, 9.0 IP, 1 HA, 1 BB, 5 K)

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1880 AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE REVIEW

FINAL A.P.B.L. STANDINGS





PER-TEAM STATISTICS

1880: 5.7 R/G, .271, .667 OPS, 898 H, 175 2B, 56 3B, 10 HR, 128 SB, 3.11 ERA, 129 BB, 255 K, 4.2 E/G, .905 FLD%


FOUNDERS CUP X

St. John’s (8th top-level title; 3rd in A.P.B.L.) defeats Knickerbocker 4-2.

GAME 1: KNI 3-4 StJ – StJ P William Hoy: CG W, 4 HA, 3 R/1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – 1/3 (HR), 1 R, 1 RBI
• St. John’s P William Hoy hit GW Home Run in B8
GAME 2: KNI 2-5 StJ – CF Rudolph Decker (StJ): 2/4 (3B), 1 R, 1 RBI, SB, 4 TB
GAME 3: StJ 2-7 KNI – RF Callum Murray (KNI): 2/4 (2B), 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 TB
GAME 4: StJ 3-6 KNI – 1B Gerald Burns (KNI): 2/3 (2B), 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 TB – GW HIT
GAME 5: StJ 4-3 KNI – LF Joseph Evans (StJ): 2/3 (both 1B), 2 R, 1 RBI, BB, 2 SB
GAME 6: KNI 4-8 StJ – RF Nelson Townsend (StJ): 3/4 (all 1B), 2 R, 3 RBI, K, SB

SERIES M.V.P.: LF Joseph Evans (StJ) – .522 (12/23), 3 R, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 5 SB, 14 TB, 0.6 WPA, 1x P.o.t.G.

WRITERS POOL OBSERVATIONS

After last year saw offense shoot up across the board, this year became the “Year of the Pitcher” and offense came crashing back down. Numerous pitching records fell and seven of the ten best performances of 1880, by Game Score, were from Pitchers – unheard of in the A.P.B.L. or any other league for that matter. Will next year swing back in the other direction?

ALLEGHANY: Their pitching & fielding remained stellar, but their offense was easily the league’s worst. How weak was their attack? They scored more than half a run per game less than any other team, and new #1 William McMahon had a 2.96 ERA over 334.2 innings but finished with a record of 15-26. Retooling is needed.

M.V.P: 1B Cormack Alexander – .307, .803 OPS, 54 R, 98 H, 21 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 39 RBI, 36 BB, 2.6 WPA, 3.0 WAR

AMERICAN: Not as far down in the standings as predicted, but still under .500. 12x All-Star Franklin Petty isn’t an elite Batsman anymore. 1B William Busby looked his age after a great start. SS William Carrigan saw his average fall 65+ points. N.B.B.O. Harold Heffron was a bust a RF. This team may need to go in a completely different direction.

M.V.P: P Jimmy Everhart – 24-20, 2.70 ERA, 373.0 IP, 31 CG, 2 SHO, 130 K, 3.8 K/BB, 1.23 WHIP, 7.3 WAR

EXCELSIOR: Looked good at the end of June, but then their offense fell off a cliff. Multiple-time All-Stars Elijah Hill & Troy Oberst were their only regulars who hit above .300, while everyone else except SS J.B. Chessman struggled to varying degrees. They need upgrades at C, 1B, and possibly CF.

M.V.P: LF Troy Oberst – .313, .796 OPS, 76 R, 121 H, 19 2B, 14 3B, 2 HR, 54 RBI, 15 BB, 3.0 WPA, 3.3 WAR

FLOUR CITY: They finished third?!? Their roster ranked 14th-16th/16 at four positions – 1B, 2B, SS, & LF – but they somehow put together an over-500 season after being picked to finish last by the Writers Pool. Jesse Noss was great, 3x All-Star CF Ernest Dugas was his old self again, RF Ashley Hearns had a much better year, and #1 Willie Gray was a stunning surprise.

M.V.P: P 3B Jesse Noss – .333, .803 OPS, 66 R, 129 H, 17 2B, 9 3B, 3 HR, 65 RBI, 12 BB, 4.0 WPA, 3.1 WAR

GOTHAM: Close, but no cigar. They were right there with Knick for much of the season until a 6-9 August became their undoing. Still, going from 7th place to 2nd deserves praise. Babe Johnson led the team again, while #1 Alex Ward was much better than last year’s Greenhorn campaign and #2 Everett Huggard is starting to turn his five-star potential into actual talent.

M.V.P: 2B Babe Johnson – .341, .901 OPS, 61 R, 117 H, 38 XBH, 1 HR, 56 RBI, 38 BB, 24 SB, 3.0 WPA, 4.8 WAR

KINGS COUNTY: Even .500 with an RD that suggested 48-42 would have been a fairer finish. Their 3rd-ranked offense saw five regulars bat over .300, with Garfield Koonce, naturally, leading the way. P Hugo Dos Santos looked much better in Year #2 as a regular. The big worry: 1879 All-Star SS Clarence Anderson saw his OPS plummet 267 points – what happened??

M.V.P: 1B Garfield Koonce – .335, .841 OPS, 65 R, 125 H, 31 2B, 6 3B, 74 RBI, 31 BB, 2 SB, 2.9 WPA, 3.6 WAR

KNICKERBOCKER: Another pennant, but another Founders Cup loss because they ran into an invincible St. John’s team. Albert Stoffers was brilliant again. Promoting Gerald Burns to 1B duty proved a wise decision. Clive Strachan’s elite bat returned. Louis Dyke was a marvelous defender at CF. Robert Goodman & Bert Landreth were a deadly Pitching Duo. Their main issues: Anthony Mascherino finally looks his age (41), and it might be time for C Everett Schreiber to retire.

M.V.P: P Bertram Landreth – 25-10, 1.89 ERA, 318.1 IP, 29 CG, 1 SHO, 137 K, 4.2 K/BB, 1.03 WHIP, 7.1 WAR

MASSACHUSETTS BAY: Looked alright when they won but terrible when they lost, due to some ghastly fielding outside of the Middle Infield pairing of Arthur Fisher & Jonathan Quarles. RF Kevin Duke had his best season. 1B Gerhardt Berg was back above .350. P Theo Knapp had a nice Greenhorn campaign. However, they have major issues at C, 3B, & CF.

M.V.P: 1B Gerhardt Berg – .358, .823 OPS, 63 R, 135 H, 21 2B, 3 3B, 59 RBI, 16 BB, 7 SB, 3.0 WPA, 2.8 WAR

NEWARK: Survived until their 3-12 August. John Ratican hit his All-Star potential in Year #3. Jacob Kaulback became an All-Star at age 34. CF Thomas Fetterman had his best year. 1B William Trowbridge was a nice signing. The bad: Their #2 – Andrew Lowden – finished the year with a 3-22 record while SS Jonathan Richards & RF Will Valentine played their 35+ ages.

M.V.P: P John Ratican – 27-18, 2.91 ERA, 381.0 IP, 34 CG, 165 K, 2.8 K/BB, 3.9 K/9, 1.20 WHIP, 6.8 WAR

NIAGARA: Break even on the season due to excellent pitching that was supported by the 14th-ranked offense. 1B William Norman, CF Charles Barrett, & LF Reginald Roper all had fine years, but the rest of their Batsmen had issues hitting the ball. That meant consistent, quality pitching by Edward Jenkins & Tomoharu Mukai frequently went to waste.

M.V.P: CF Charles Barrett – .327, .803 OPS, 77 R, 125 H, 31 XBH, 1 HR, 73 RBI, 22 BB, 22 SB, 3.4 WPA, 4.1 WAR

ORANGE: Things are finally looking up! Tipped to finish 7th in the Metro, they instead finished 3rd with their first over-500 record in six years. Jonathan Cobb is close to a five-star player at RF. Charles Whitehead had his best season in 3-4 years. 1B Byron Cross continued to improve. SS Walter Carrow was a quality Greenhorn. Now, to improve further.

M.V.P: 2B Charles Whitehead – .349, .853 OPS, 72 R, 132 H, 31 2B, 5 3B, 72 RBI, 23 BB, 12 SB, 3.3 WPA, 4.6 WAR

PORT JERSEY: Lost the lead they had over the Colonial at the midway point, but really through no fault of their own. Samuel Eastman has become the best Batsman in the sport. The other Batsmen they developed – Vincent Dixon, Art Kanellopoulos, & Jaake Romkes – all played well. Charles King has become a consistent #1. Only issue: they could use a new 1B.

M.V.P: 3B Samuel Eastman – .392, .987 OPS, 79 R, 146 H, 33 2B, 9 3B, 1 HR, 67 RBI, 32 BB, 5.6 WPA, 6.7 WAR

QUAKER STATE: They were over .500 at the end of May…were. The season was a disaster after that. Old hands Ross Gill (P1), Ned Morganti (CF), & Matthew Williams (C) all did a fine job, but it’s now clear that William Wimple isn’t a lineup-quality LF and they had serious pitching issues aside from Gill. A couple of smart signings could right the ship.

M.V.P: CF Ned Morganti – .299, .807 OPS, 79 R, 116 H, 47 XBH, 1 HR, 61 RBI, 24 BB, 27 SB, 4.5 WPA, 3.8 WAR

SHAMROCK: Down from 50+ wins to .500 because some of their veterans struggled. 8x All-Star C James Simon hit .245, 4x All-Star 2B Harold Groves hit .257, and RF Leonard Noble hit .248. On the plus side, George Burroughs had his best A.P.B.L. season and Henry Jost has become a star at CF. It’s hard to say what needs fixing.

M.V.P: P George Burroughs – 25-17, 2.53 ERA, 395.0 IP, 32 CG, 1 SHO, 175 K, 2.7 K/BB, 1.15 WHIP, 7.5 WAR

SAINT JOHN’S: Not much else that can be said at this point. Something happened after their 53rd game that turned them into the most terrifying pro baseball team ever assembled. They had the best bats in the league, the most dangerous baserunners anywhere, and record-breaking Pitchers. The big question: will they play like their second half selves all year in 1881?

M.V.P: P Howard Burns – 34-8, 2.49 ERA, 386.2 IP, 36 CG, 219 K, 5.9 K/BB, 5.1 K/9, 1.14 WHIP, 10.7 WAR

TIGER S.C.: In the bottom half of the standings all year. Fielding was good. Pitching was adequate. Offense had problems. Emerging 2B Griffin Gray was their only regular to hit over .300, while LF Howard Boley saw his Average fall from .297 to .222. Martin Prince remains their best player, and Tiger needs to keep working on surrounding him with quality talent.

M.V.P: SS Martin Prince – .284, .703 OPS, 65 R, 110 H, 26 2B, 7 3B, 39 RBI, 16 SB, +10.6 ZR, 2.6 WPA, 2.9 WAR

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AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS
Career totals include awards from pre-1871 N.B.B.O.

BATSMAN OF THE YEAR: Samuel Eastman (3B, age 24) – Port Jersey; 1st career B.o.t.Y.

• .392/.450/.538, .987 OPS, 79 R, 146 H, 33 2B, 9 3B, 1 HR, 67 RBI, 32 BB, 14 SB, 200 TB, 5.6 WPA, 6.7 WAR
• Led league in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, H, TB, WPA, & WAR; Hit .538 (35/65) w/ 17 R, 10 XBH, & 17 RBI in August
• Joseph Evans (LF, StJ) 2nd – .328, .848 OPS, 84 R, 126 H, 25 2B, 12 3B, 1 HR, 62 RBI, 33 BB, 33 SB, 4.8 WPA, 4.6 WAR
• Babe Johnson (2B, GOT) 3rd – .341, .901 OPS, 61 R, 117 H, 24 2B, 13 3B, 1 HR, 56 RBI, 38 BB, 24 SB, 3.0 WPA, 4.8 WAR

When Pt. Jersey signed five-star prospect Samuel Eastman ahead of their debut season in the A.P.B.L., they weren’t sure which Infield position he’d play. In Year One they parked him at 1B as a 22-year-old, and Eastman had a decent season (1.0 WAR). In Year Two they continued to play 23-year-old Eastman at 1B while he worked on his fielding at other positions in pre-game training, and he became an All-Star. In Year Three they felt he was ready to man 3B, and Eastman responded with a campaign that crowned him as undebatably the most technically gifted Batsman in the sport.

Evans & Johnson had excellent seasons in their own right, but Eastman put up the second-highest Batsman WAR in league history, behind only Nelson Townsend’s historic campaign during the inaugural season. He won the Batting Title by 34 points while leading the league in On-Base Pct. by 44, Slugging by 42, and OPS by a whopping 86 points. In the end, Eastman was the only man to consider for B.o.t.Y.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Howard Burns (age 31) – Saint John’s; 2nd career Po.t.Y. (1879-80)

• 34-8, 2.49 ERA, 386.2 IP, 36 CG, 219 K, 5.1 K/9, 5.9 K/BB, 9.4 H/9, 1.14 WHIP, 10.7 WAR, 9.2 rWAR
• Set A.P.B.L. records for Wins, K, K/9, & WAR; Led league in WIN%, QS, K/BB & rWAR; 2nd straight P.o.t.Y.
• Bertram Landreth (KNI) 2nd – 25-10, 1.89 ERA, 318.1 IP, 29 CG, 1 SHO, 137 K, 4.2 K/BB, 1.03 WHIP, 7.1 WAR, 7.7 rWAR
• Willie Gray (FC) 3rd – 25-18, 2.47 ERA, 386.2 IP, 35 CG, 2 SHO, 121 K, 1.6 K/BB, 1.26 WHIP, 5.4 WAR, 9.1 rWAR

Setting records for Wins, Strikeouts, & Pitcher WAR meant Howard Burns was going to repeat as P.o.t.Y. He was absolutely incredible and finished the season in peak form, going 16-3 after July 1st before helping St. John’s win the Founders Cup for the third time. He recently turned 31, so it’s possible Burns could bring his record-setting pitching right back next year.

Landreth, who found himself strangely out favor last year after taking P.o.t.Y. in ’78, was astonishing over the second half of the season – 16-5 with a 1.66 ERA after July 1st while setting new records for ERA & WHIP. Gray was the comeback story of the season, having pitched just 78+ innings for Alleghany last year before he was unceremoniously cut loose.

FIELDER OF THE YEAR: Frank Doherty (3B, age 36) – Alleghany B.C.; inaugural F.o.t.Y.

• 342 TC, 67 PO, 229 AST, 9 DP, 46 E, .865 FLD%, 3.48 RNG, 1.162 EFF, +19.2 ZR, +20.2 FldRV
• Led Third Basemen in FLD%, Efficiency, Zone Rating, & Fielding Run Value; led league in Efficiency & Zone Rating
• Jonathan Quarles (SS, MB) 2nd – 323 AST, 23 DP, 44 E, .908 FLD%, 5.00 RNG, 1.114 EFF, +18.9 ZR, +23.0 FldRV
• Peter Jones (SS, GOT) 3rd – 152 PO, 358 AST, 49 DP, 64 E, .889 FLD%, 5.78 RNG, 1.084 EFF, +14.1 ZR

This was originally going to be a fairly ho-hum award given to the best 2B or SS in the A.P.B.L. Then Frank Doherty went and became the first Corner Infielder to lead the entire A.P.B.L. in Zone Rating and Defensive Efficiency in a season. Doherty was so good in the field, in fact, that he finished 1880 with 1.5 Batsman WAR even though he hit .211 with a .525 OPS.

GREENHORN OF THE YEAR: William Hoy (P, age 25) – Saint John’s

• 21-17, 2.37 ERA, 375.2 IP, 32 CG, 5 SHO, 125 K, 2.0 K/BB, 9.6 H/9, 1.22 WHIP, 5.8 WAR, 5.9 rWAR
• Pitched Shutout in debut; Set league record for Shutouts in a season; 2nd straight St. John’s G.o.t.Y.
• Walter Carrow (SS, ORA) 2nd – .289, .737 OPS, 73 R, 106 H, 31 XBH, 2 HR, 54 RBI, 22 BB, 34 SB, 3.3 WPA, 3.2 WAR
• Theobold Knapp (P, MB) 3rd – 20-22, 3.08 ERA, 367.2 IP, 32 CG, 104 K, 2.6 K/BB, 1.24 WHIP, 5.8 WAR, 3.7 rWAR

Hoy pitched a Shutout in his career debut, and he gradually added four more to join Gotham’s Alex Ward in setting a new record with five Shutouts in a season. He was truly outstanding for St. John’s, and he also went 3-1 (2.08 ERA) in the Founders Cup thanks to more excellent pitching.

At the end of May it looked like Carrow would be the man to beat. A rough June brought him back to the pack, but he still had a great Greenhorn campaign. Knapp wasn’t spectacular, but he was consistent as a part of Mass. Bay’s Pitching Duo.

GOLDEN HANDS

• P: Robert Goodman (KNI; 1st) – 44 PO, 67 AST, 1 DP, 14 E, .888 FLD%, 1.120 EFF, +5.6 ZR
• C: Joseph Nalley (StJ; 2nd) – 94 AST, 3 DP, 9 E, .981 FLD%, +7.7 ZR, 38 PB, 50.0 CS%, 2.50 C-ERA
• 1B: Frank Bulger (SHA; 8th) – 880 PO, 113 AST, 36 DP, 22 E, .978 FLD%, 1.109 EFF, +7.4 ZR
• 2B: Burton Ellerby (MB; 1st) – 182 PO, 342 AST, 50 DP, 49 E, .914 FLD%, 5.99 RNG, 1.064 EFF, +12.7 ZR
• 3B: Frank Doherty (ALL; 7th) – 67 PO, 229 AST, 9 DP, 46 E, .865 FLD%, 3.48 RNG, 1.162 EFF, +19.2 ZR
• SS: Jonathan Quarles (MB; 2nd) – 112 PO, 323 AST, 23 DP, 44 E, .908 FLD%, 5.00 RNG, 1.114 EFF, +18.9 ZR
• LF: Reginald Roper (NIA; 4th) – 8 AST, 2 DP, 17 E, .914 FLD%, 2.31 RNG, 1.049 EFF, +6.5 ZR/ARM
• CF: Louis Dyke (KNI; 5th) – 19 AST, 1 DP, 21 E, .934 FLD%, 3.70 RNG, 1.072 EFF, +11.5 ZR/ARM
• RF: Jonathan Nabors (ALL; 1st) – 16 AST, 1 DP, 26 E, .893 FLD%, 2.61 RNG, 1.049 EFF, +8.8 ZR/ARM

TEAM OF THE YEAR

• P: Howard Burns (St. John’s, age 31; 1st)
34-8, 2.49 ERA, 386.2 IP, 36 CG, 219 K, 5.1 K/9, 5.9 K/BB, 9.4 H/9, 1.14 WHIP, 10.7 WAR, 9.2 rWAR
• C: Joseph Nalley (St. John’s, age 23; 1st)
.325, .763 OPS, 37 R, 102 H, 26 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 54 RBI, 10 BB, 14 SB, 3.0 WPA, 3.0 WAR, 50.0 CS%
• 1B: Garfield Koonce (Kings Co., age 35; 4th)
.335, .841 OPS, 65 R, 125 H, 31 2B, 6 3B, 0 HR, 74 RBI, 31 BB, 2 SB, 2.9 WPA, 3.5 WAR
• 2B: Babe Johnson (Gotham, age 34; 8th)
.341, .901 OPS, 61 R, 117 H, 24 2B, 13 3B, 1 HR, 56 RBI, 38 BB, 24 SB, 3.0 WPA, 4.8 WAR
• 3B: Samuel Eastman (Pt. Jersey, age 24; 1st)
.392/.450/.538, .987 OPS, 146 H, 33 2B, 9 3B, 1 HR, 67 RBI, 32 BB, 14 SB, 200 TB, 5.6 WPA, 6.7 WAR
• SS: Martin Prince (Tiger S.C., age 30; 3rd)
.284, .703 OPS, 65 R, 110 H, 26 2B, 7 3B, 0 HR, 39 RBI, 10 BB, 16 SB, 2.6 WPA, 2.9 WAR, +10.6 FldRV
• OF: Joseph Evans (St. John’s, age 28; 3rd)
.328, .848 OPS, 84 R, 126 H, 25 2B, 12 3B, 1 HR, 62 RBI, 33 BB, 33 SB, 4.8 WPA, 4.6 WAR
• OF: Jonathan Cobb (Orange, age 24; 1st)
.326, .843 OPS, 81 R, 126 H, 33 2B, 8 3B, 3 HR, 67 RBI, 19 BB, 11 SB, 3.1 WPA, 4.9 WAR
• OF: Charles Barrett (Niagara, age 28; 2nd)
.327, .803 OPS, 77 R, 125 H, 19 2B, 11 3B, 1 HR, 73 RBI, 22 BB, 22 SB, 3.4 WPA, 4.1 WAR

MISCELLANEOUS

SEASON RECORDS

• Alleghany set a new record for fewest Runs Scored with 423 (4.7 R/G).
• Knick set new records for Runs Allowed (4.5 RA/G) & WHIP (1.07).
• St. John’s set new records for team ERA (2.41) & Strikeouts (358; 4.0 K/G).
• Gotham & Kings Co. set a new record for team Shutouts with 7.
• St. John’s P Howard Burns set new records for Wins (34), Strikeouts (219), K/9 Rate (5.10), & WAR (10.7).
• Knick P Bertram Landreth set new records for ERA (1.89), WHIP (1.03) & Opponents’ OPS (.568).
• Knick P Robert Goodman set a new record for Complete Games with 38.
• Knick P Robert Goodman tied the record for Innings Pitched with 396.0.
• P’s William Hoy (St. John’s) & Alex Ward (Gotham) set a new record for Shutouts with 5.
• Tiger S.C. P Alfred Parker tied his own record for Bases on Balls with 104.
• Tiger S.C. P Alfred Parker set a new record for HA/9 Ratio with 8.02.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Average: .392 by Samuel Eastman (3B, Pt. Jersey) (Gerhardt Berg [MB] 2nd with .358)
• On-Base: .450 by Samuel Eastman (Babe Johnson [GOT] 2nd with .406)
• Slugging: .538 by Samuel Eastman (Kevin Duke [MB] 2nd with .496)
• OPS: .987 (180 OPS+) by Samuel Eastman (Babe Johnson [GOT] 2nd with .901)
• Home Runs: 7 by William Busby (1B, American)
• Runs Batted In: 78 by Konrad Jensen (1B, St. John’s)
• Runs: 100 by Rudolph Decker (CF, St. John’s) (Jaake Romkes [PtJ] 2nd with 86)
• Hits: 146 by Samuel Eastman
• Doubles: 41 by Albert Stoffers (3B, Knick)
• Triples: 19 by Henry Jost (CF, Shamrock)
• Extra-Base Hits: 47 by Ned Morganti (CF, Quaker St.)
• Bases on Balls: 38 by Babe Johnson (2B, Gotham)
• Stolen Bases: 70 by Rudolph Decker
• Total Bases: 200 by Samuel Eastman
• Zone Rating: +19.2 by Frank Doherty (3B, Alleghany)
• Batsman WPA: 5.6 by Samuel Eastman
• Batsman WAR: 6.7 by Samuel Eastman (Henry Jost 2nd with 5.0)

• Wins: 34 by Howard Burns (St. John’s)
• Losses: 28 by Elmer Seabold (Excelsior)
• ERA (200+ IP): 1.89 by Bertram Landreth (Knick)
• Strikeouts: 219 by Howard Burns (George Burroughs [SHA] 2nd with 175)
• Innings: 396.0 by Robert Goodman (Knick)
• Complete Games: 38 by Robert Goodman
• Shutouts: 5 by William Hoy (St. John’s) & Alex Ward (Gotham)
• BB/9 (200+ IP): 0.6 by Everett Arrington (Mass. Bay) & Andrew Miller (Orange)
• K/9 (200+ IP): 5.1 by Howard Burns
• K/BB (200+ IP): 5.9 by Howard Burns
• WHIP (200+ IP): 1.03 by Bertram Landreth
• Pitcher WAR: 10.7 by Howard Burns (Robert Goodman [KNI] 2nd with 7.6)
• Pitcher rWAR: 9.2 by Howard Burns

ACHIEVEMENTS & NOTABLE EVENTS

• May 4: St. John’s P William Hoy pitches a Shutout (5 HA, 1 BB, 4 K) in his career debut (StJ 6-0 MB).
• May 12: Niagara P Edward Jenkins sets a new record with 15 Innings Pitched in a 7-9 loss vs Quaker St.
• May 18: The season-long Hitting Streak of Niagara 1B William Norman ends after 39 Games.
• May 21: Orange wins 15-14 vs Kings Co. The teams combine to total 36 Hits.
• May 21: Flour City SS Ralph Knight has 6 RBI in a 15-5 win at Mass. Bay.
• May 28: St. John’s P Howard Burns pitches a No-Hitter (0 BB, 7 K) in a 10-1 win at Pt. Jersey.
• May 28: St. John’s P Howard Burns is the first to allow any Runs in a No-Hitter.

• June 6: Gotham wins vs American in the year’s first 1-0 game. SHO: Alex Ward (3 HA, 3 BB, 2 K).
• June 11: American 1B William Busby becomes the first Batsman since 1875 with 5+ Home Runs in a season.
• June 12: Newark P John Ratican has 10 Strikeouts in a 4-1 win vs Alleghany.
• June 15: Excelsior P George Scott pitches a One-Hitter (SHO, 0 BB, 5 K) in a 3-0 win vs Alleghany.
• June 18: Three of eight games end in Shutouts (NEW 0-5 SHA, StJ 5-0 FC, EXC 3-0 AME).
• June 24: Pt. Jersey CF Arthur Kanellopoulos has 6 RBI in a 22-2 win vs Gotham.
• June 25: Mass. Bay RF Kevin Duke has 5 Hits, 4 Runs, & 4 RBI in a 13-4 win at St. John’s.
• June 27: Tiger S.C. P Alfred Parker pitches a record 10 Bases on Balls in a 5-9 loss at Orange.

• July 7: Alleghany 1B Cormack Alexander hits 2 Home Runs, including a Walkoff HR, in a 7-6 win vs Flour City.
• July 9: Knick 2B Anthony Mascherino has 6 RBI in a 13-0 win at Mass. Bay.
• July 13: St. John’s P Alex Hoy becomes the first Pitcher with 5+ Shutouts in a season.
• July 18: St. John’s P Howard Burns has 10 Strikeouts in an 11-1 win at American.
• July 20: St. John’s 13-game Winning Streak ends with a 3-4 loss vs Pt. Jersey.
• July 22: Knick P Robert Goodman is the first P with a 100+ Game Score & has 14 IP vs Quaker St. (QS 2-3 KNI).
• July 23: Kings Co. has the season-high margin of victory of 26 in a 27-1 win vs Newark.
• July 23: Kings Co. has two Batsmen (F. Bartholomew & C. Nevers) with 5 Hits in a 27-1 win vs Newark.
• July 23: Kings Co. LF Fred Bartholomew has 5 Hits, 5 Runs, & 4 RBI in a 27-1 win vs Newark.
• July 25: Gotham P Alex Ward pitches his 5th Shutout of the season to tie William Hoy for the league lead & record.

• Aug 2: The Metro wins 3rd straight A.S.G. (11-8). M.V.P.: Troy Oberst (LF, EXC). HOST: Alleghany
• Aug 11: St. John’s P Howard Burns becomes the first in baseball history with 200+ Strikeouts in a season.
• Aug 11: St. John’s P Howard Burns earns his 30th Win in a 5-2 victory at Niagara.
• Aug 19: Gotham CF Alexander Hammond hits 3 Triples in a 6-13 loss at Orange.
• Aug 22: Howard Burns sets a new all-leagues record for Wins with 34 in an 8-7 win at Kings Co.
• Aug 23: St. John’s finishes the season with a 32-5 record over their last 37 games.
• Aug 31: St. John’s (3rd title) wins the Founders Cup in six games over Knickerbocker.

PERFORMANCES OF THE SEASON (by Game Score)

• #1: 100 by Knick P Robert Goodman vs Quaker St. on July 22 (CG W, 14.0 IP, 7 RA/2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K).
• #2: 96 by Mass. Bay RF Kevin Duke at St. John’s on June 25 (5/5, 4 R, 4 RBI, SB, SAC FLY – OF AST)
• #3: 95 by Kings Co. LF Fred Bartholomew vs Newark on July 23 (5/7, 3 2B, 5 R, 4 RBI)
• #4: 92 by St. John’s P Howard Burns at Pt. Jersey on May 28 (NO-HITTER, 1 R/0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K)
• #5: 91 by Excelsior P George Scott vs Alleghany on June 15 (CG SHO, 1 HA, 0 BB, 6 K)
• #6: 88 by Knick P Robert Goodman vs Quaker St. on July 20 (CG SHO, 3 HA, 0 BB, 7 K)
• #7: 87 by St. John’s P William Hoy vs Newark on July 8 (CG SHO, 2 HA, 0 BB, 4 K)
• #8: 86 by Niagara P Tomoharu Mukai vs Quaker St. on May 11 (CG SHO, 3 HA, 0 BB, 5 K)
• #9: 86 by Newark 3B Charles Ramer vs Flour City on July 22 (4/4, 2B, 4 R, 3 RBI, BB)
• #10: 85 by Knick P Bertram Landreth vs American on July 7 (CG W, 2 HA, 1 R/0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

[tm1681]

EVERETT SCHREIBER, NELSON TOWNSEND RETIRE
DOUBLE DIGIT ALL-STARS & MULTI-TIME CHAMPS END THEIR CAREERS AFTER STRUGGLES IN 1880

PROVIDENCE, R.I. & MANHATTAN, N.Y. (Sep. 14, 1880) - Two weeks after the end of the Founders Cup, two of the most well-known players to take part have decided to retire: Knickerbocker C Everett Schreiber & St. John’s RF Nelson Townsend.

EVERETT SCHREIBER

Everett Schreiber signed with Orange B.B.C. as a 22-year-old in November of 1865. After backing up Norris Bartlett during his Greenhorn season, Schreiber became Orange’s Catcher in 1867 and never looked back. After taking one season to adjust to playing every game, he was an N.Y.L. All-Star and Team of the Year member as part of the Orange team that won the Tucker-Wheaton Cup in 1868. Two years later Schreiber set a top-level record for WAR by a Catcher with 4.7 that has yet to be equaled, even with the A.P.B.L. playing seasons that are twenty games longer.

Schreiber transitioned seamlessly to professional baseball, earning a place in four of the first seven editions of the A.P.B.L. Team of the Year after he made the move with Orange for the league’s inaugural season in 1871. By the time of the last of his seven career Team of the Year selections in 1877, Schreiber had been the best Catcher in baseball for a full ten seasons. During that time, he also earned the second championship of his career when Orange beat Alleghany in Founders Cup IV.

Unfortunately, while Schreiber’s defense never wavered he experienced a sharp dropoff in production with the bat during the 1876 season, and was never quite the same Batsman after that. Having once hit .399 in the N.B.B.O. before the league split and .353 in the A.P.B.L., Schreiber’s best batting mark during the last four years of the 1870s was exactly .300, and for that reason Orange let him leave after the 1879 season had been completed.

When tasked with finding a new team Schreiber decided to stay in Manhattan, signing with Knickerbocker last November. As their regular Catcher in 1880 he hit just .259, the second worst mark of his illustrious career, and he had a career-low 32 Runs Batted In. Schreiber also struggled in Founders Cup X, batting 4/24 without driving in any Runs.

It was due to those issues that, after taking two weeks to think about his future, Schreiber decided to retire from baseball at the age of 37. While he struggled during the latter years of his career, Schreiber’s résumé is still unparalleled for a Catcher.

• 2x Champion (NBBO: 1868; APBL: 1874)
• 11x All-Star (NBBO: 1868-70; APBL: 1871-77, 79)
• 7x Team of the Year (APBL: 1868-70; NBBO: 1871, 74-75, 77)
• Only Catcher with 10+ career All-Star Game appearances
• Career record holder for WAR by a Catcher (39.7)
• Record holder for single-season WAR by a Catcher (4.7 in 1870)

Schreiber will be approached about going into coaching, for with the ability he had behind the plate he’s likely be excellent at working with younger Catchers, and a semi-pro club would certainly be willing to work with Schreiber if he wanted to have a job outside of baseball at the same time.

Schreiber didn’t have a career as long as some of the sport’s greats but life as a Catcher is physically & mentally taxing, so being the best at that position for a decade places him among the best players ever to put on a uniform.

NELSON TOWNSEND

In similar fashion, long-time St. John’s RF Nelson Townsend has retired after being part of their senior roster for the last twenty years, one as a backup and nineteen as a regular.

In the summer of 1860, Townsend, then still a teenager, became the most sought-after prospect in the sport while he was playing independent baseball in his home state of New Jersey. The consensus among the Writers Pool was that he had five-star potential, this when the N.B.B.O. was still the only game in town, and it led to every notable team vying for his services. It was St. John’s who won Townsend’s signature, and the rest is history.

It was presumed that Townsend, although a significantly talented prospect, would take the usual 19-year-old’s path of needing at least four years of development time before becoming part of the St. John’s lineup. Townsend developed rapidly enough that he was brought into the senior roster for some Pinch-Hitting duty toward the end of the 1861 season, and he then became the St. John’s RF at the start of the 1862 season, just months after he turned 21.

In Townsend’s Greenhorn season he hit .348 (.868 OPS) with above-average work at RF, and in the process Townsend made the first of his fifteen top-tier All-Star Games. He was just getting started. Over the next two seasons, Townsend hit .380 (.868 OPS) in 1863 as a 22-year-old and then .398 (.935 OPS) in 1864 while still only 23. Townsend’s 1864 marked the first of nine consecutive seasons in which he finished with 4.0+ Batsman WAR in either a 70-game or 90-game season, firmly establishing him as the sport’s premier Right Fielder. Townsend’s high mark in the N.B.B.O. came in the last year before the league split (1870) when he hit a career-high .408 (.996 OPS) with 64 Stolen Bases, 5.6 WPA, & 5.5 Batsman WAR, winning N.E.L. Most Valuable Player. Quaker St. star William Dickerson’s historic .418 season at age 23 earned N.E.L. Batsman of the Year.

The inaugural season of the American Professional Baseball League (1871) was when Townsend had his greatest campaign:

• .404/.462/.613, 1.076 OPS, 118 R, 162 H, 24 2B, 24 3B, 4 HR, 88 RBI, 44 BB, 52 SB, 246 TB, 6.1 WPA, 7.0 WAR

As a 30-year-old who should have been right at the peak of his abilities, Townsend was just that. He led the league in eleven offensive categories – all of the above plus OPS+ and Extra Base Hits – and six of the high marks he set in that first season of pro baseball still hold up as A.P.B.L. records after a decade of play: On Base Pct., Slugging Pct., OPS, Triples, Total Bases, & Batsman WAR. His .404 average was also the league record until Niagara 1B William Norman hit .405 last year. To top it off, St. John’s defeated Orange four games to one to win Founders Cup I even though St. John’s were the underdogs against the 61-29 Metropolitan Conference champions.

Townsend’s 1871 remains the most dominant ever seen from a pure batting standpoint. At the end of play that season, Townsend became the first, and still only, Batsman ever to hit 7.0 WAR in a season. Two players have come close – St. John’s LF Konrad Jensen with 6.6 in 1872 and Pt. Jersey 3B Samuel Eastman with 6.7 this past season – but Townsend’s 1871 broke a barrier that no other Batsman has been able to pass through.

Townsend remained one of the A.P.B.L.’s best Batsmen in 1872, but after that he went through a run of 4-5 years where he was merely an above-average hitter instead of a great one. In 1878 Townsend’s old form came back, which saw him set A.P.B.L. records for Runs (136) & WPA (8.2) while earning the A.P.B.L. Most Valuable Player award.

After batting .384 while leading the league in OPS (.972) and Total Bases (234) in 1879, Townsend had the worst season of his career in 1880: a .274 Average (.747 OPS) with just 48 Runs, 73 Hits, and 0.8 Batsman WAR, all career lows, and he also missed nearly twenty games due to three different nagging injuries suffered during the course of the season. Townsend performed well as St. John’s won Founders Cup X – 7/20, 6 RBI, & P.o.t.G. in the series finale – but after taking two weeks to think things over once the series ended Townsend felt that it was time to transition away from playing.

Nelson Townsend’s career in summary:

Postseason Stats:

• 122 G: .351/.387/.491, .878 OPS, 145 H, 190 H, 57 XBH, 1 HR, 100 RBI, 31 BB, 94 SB, 8.5 WPA, 6.5 WAR
• Played in postseason in 15 different years (NBBO: 1861-64, 66-70; NBBO: 1871-73, 77-78, 80)

Top-level Accomplishments:

• 6x Champion (NBBO: 1863-64, 70; APBL: 1871, 77, 80)
• 2x Most Valuable Player (NBBO: 1870; APBL: 1878)
• 1x Batsman of the Year (APBL: 1871)
• 15x All-Star (NBBO, 1862, 64-70; APBL: 1871-75, 78-79)
• 9x Team of the Year (NBBO: 1862, 64, 67, 69-70; NBBO: 1871-72, 78-79)
• 1x Golden Hands at RF (APBL: 1876)
• 2x .400 Hitter (NBBO: 1870; APBL: 1871)
• 2x 1.000 OPS (NBBO: 1867, APBL: 1871)
• Only Batsman ever with 7.0 WAR in a single season (1871)

• 5th all-time in Career Slugging Pct. (.480)
• 5th all-time in Career OPS (.874) & OPS+ (154)
• 4th all-time in Career Hits (2,369)
• 3rd all-time in Career Extra Base Hits (644)
• 3rd all-time in Career Home Runs (24)
• 5th all-time in Career Runs Batted In (1,172)
• 2nd all-time in Career Bases on Balls (862)
• 3rd all-time in Career Stolen Bases (970)
• 4th all-time in Career Batsman WPA (112.84)
• 5th all-time in Career Batsman WAR (70.2)

Townsend’s retirement almost certainly marks the end of St. John’s famous “Hydra”, which began when he joined the St. John’s Outfield with Konrad Jensen and William “the Sparrow” Johnson in 1862, continued when Rudolph Decker replaced the retired Johnson ahead of the 1872 and immediately became an All-Star at CF, and kept going when St. John’s won the Joseph Evans sweepstakes and Jensen moved to 1B for the 1877 season.

All totaled, it was NINETEEN CONSECUTIVE SEASONS in which at least one St. John’s Outfielder was an All-Star and all three had been All-Stars previously, and on multiple occasions all three went to their league’s All-Star Game. No other team in any league has come remotely close to that having that level of success and talent in one part of the field for that long.

Townsend’s popularity, work ethic, and leadership ability (Personality Class: Fan Favorite) makes him a likely target for a Bench Coach job or even to become a team’s Field Manager straight out of retirement. The St. John’s coaching staff is already filled with former players and none are likely to leave after a title-winning season, so it’s considered probable that Townsend will take a job elsewhere in New England to begin his post-playing career.

In any event, one of the most brilliant playing careers in baseball history has come to an end.

[tm1681]

EXCELSIOR’S ONLY PRESIDENT STEPS DOWN
LORENZO PACE HAD BEEN THE CLUB’S CHIEF OFFICER SINCE ITS FOUNDATION IN 1854

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Sep. 29, 1880) - The only President in the history of Excelsior Base Ball Club announced that he is stepping down from the role and going into retirement this afternoon.

Lorenzo Pace, a 78-year-old born and raised in New York City, was elected the first President of Excelsior when it was founded on December 8th of 1854 at Florence’s Hotel on Broadway. He guided the club as one of the founding members of the National Base Ball Organization, and he remained in the role even though Excelsior had its worst-ever year in 1860, finishing 19-51 and 35 games behind first-place Kings Co.

Club members remained confident in Pace’s stewardship of the club in spite of its on-field struggles – Excelsior finished last in the Brooklyn Championship in 1858, ’59, & ’60 – and that faith soon paid off as Pace and new General Manager John Hatfield convinced a five-star prospect named Jim Creighton to join the club. In 1861 the team doubled their win total to finish 38-32, and two years later (1863) they took the first of three Brooklyn pennants in four years as Creighton had a historic Triple Crown season (29-4, 2.29 ERA, 69 K, 6.4 WAR) that put him and the club on the proverbial map.

After those three straight last-place finishes, Excelsior never finished worse then third in Brooklyn over the last ten years they were in the N.B.B.O. before the league split. The team struggled during the inaugural season of the N.B.B.O., finishing with the league’s second-worst record (35-55) before slowly working its way to .500 in 1874. After a memorable pennant race saw them finish one game behind American with a 56-34 record in 1875, they finally earned a place in the Founders Cup in 1877 after going 57-33 and besting Knickerbocker by one game in another memorable pennant fight. Excelsior lost Founders Cup VI to St. John’s in five games, but at least they and Jim Creighton had the chance to play for the professional baseball title.

Creighton retired following the 1878 season, and the team has struggled to find an identity over the two years since. With that in mind, Pace decided it was time for new leadership, and Stephen Ross, a 46-year-old New Yorker who owns a shipbuilding company, has taken over the reigns in the Excelsior President’s office.

Ross is regarded as a demanding, but hands-off, businessman who will likely run Excelsior in the same fashion while expecting the club to remain in the black numbers financially so as not to need any injections of cash. It remains to be seen whether Ross will make major changes to club personnel, but any such moves are likely to take place soon.

Two years after the end of a significant era for Excelsior on the field, a major era has ended for the club off the field as well.

[tm1681]

Alright, so I think that now it's time to get weird...

Previously when I've done this fictional universe I've introduced baseball elsewhere in the country in standard fashion. I don't feel like it this time, and here's why...

Throughout the 1880s and 1890s in the real-life baseball world there was a whole bunch of tinkering with the rules & regulations, especially when it came to pitching:

• During the 1880s, the number of balls to a walk went from "Eh...take your base", to nine, to eight, to seven, to six, and then to the four that is still the standard today.
  
  
• Also during the 1880s, the rules regarding how a pitcher could deliver the ball went from "underhand only, locked arm, wrist could be used" to "sidearm deliveries could be used" in 1881 or '82, to "Oh what the hell do whatever you want - underhand it, sidearm it, sling it, throw it, whatever - as long as you still take just one step" in 1884, which is still in place today.
  
  
• Another set of changes during the 1880s & 1890s: pitchers went from having to deliver the ball from a line 45 feet in front of home plate, to pitching from 50 feet away in either 1881 or '82, to the modern standard of 60 feet & 6 inches in the early 1890s.
  
  
• On top of that, during the late 1800s pitchers went from delivering on flat ground to discovering that they could get more speed on the ball striding downhill, so for about a decade from the 1890s to the early 1900s pitchers could throw the ball from mounds of any height, with the original maximum height of 15 inches set around 1901 (1902? 1903??).

Those changes led to big fluctuations in offense & pitching during the 1880s & 1890s in real life - we're talking things like the Strikeout Rate going up or down by 20% from season to season. When I previously played out those years in a fictional universe and the real-life statistical variations were imported into the League Totals each year, it led the game engine to do some wonky Auto-Calc things and I'd end up with ENORMOUS outliers: guys who hit .400 for their career, pitchers who struck out 450+ batters in 300 innings in the mid 1880s, etc.

So, what I've decided to do this time is have the Northeast stick with the kind of baseball they're currently playing, while the next region to be introduced plays a "different" kind of game: the kind played after all of the changes & tweaks were done being made by 1900 or so.

It'll work akin to how in the early days of Gridiron Football that sport was popular on the East Coast while Rugby Football was more popular in the West, and it came down to a matter of which one of the two won out nationwide. Of course, it was the gridiron game.

What I'm going to do is use the current statistical totals for each of the Northeastern leagues for the League Totals in "Stats & AI" and park them there, while likely using the last real-life season before the start of the Dead Ball Era as the base for the new leagues that come in.

For the in-game universe, this will start after the end of the next season, 1881, and go into effect for 1882.

[tm1681]

BASEBALL IN THE MIDWEST: A DIFFERENT SPORT
MANY WEST OF PENN. PLAYING BASEBALL, BUT IT LOOKS FOREIGN COMPARED TO NORTHEAST GAME

MIDWEST U.S.A. (Oct. 1, 1880) - Four and a half years ago, a dispatch from Chicago detailed the efforts of a local businessman and amateur baseball player named Albert Spalding, who opened the largest baseball-only shop in the United States on Madison Street in response to the rapidly increasing popularity of the sport.

At the time, there were numerous highly formal but amateur clubs spread amongst the largest cities in the region – Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, & St. Louis. There were also many informal clubs operating in growing cities across the region. The sport’s popularity has only grown since then, and in many cities & towns near or west of the Mississippi River there are friendly games between amateur nines to be played or spectated every weekend.

However, the version of baseball these men play would look absolutely bizarre to the seasoned veterans in the Northeast. Perhaps owing to the somewhat more rugged nature of life in the “Northwestern United States”, the name the region is still called by many, as the sport’s popularity rose the increasing number of people who took part put their own spin on the game, resulting in playing rules and field oddities that would make a player in the A.P.B.L. or N.B.B.O. wonder just what in tarnation they were looking at:

• PITCHERS DON’T PITCH. THEY “HURL” THE BALL: As clubs filled with amateurs gathered together on the weekends to play, those who had less training in the fine art of pitching would take the ball and make a mess of it, with the most frequent problem being that they couldn’t keep their arm straight. At some point one club official or player had a thought: “Why don’t we just let the Pitcher throw the ball and remove the guesswork in judging whether or not he made a legal straight-arm delivery?” It took off, and by the end of the 1870s Pitchers in the Midwest became “Hurlers” who threw the ball underarm and sidearm and overarm and with varying degrees of speed, but…

• “HURLERS” THROW THE BALL FROM 60+ FEET AWAY: When it was communally decided that the man who had the ball could throw it to the batter instead of lob it underhand, an immediate problem arose: the speed at which the ball flew to Home Plate quickly became overwhelming. Moving the Pitcher’s Area back from 45 to 50 feet wasn’t enough, so with further experimentation it was decided that an exact distance of 60 feet, 6 inches from “Hurler” to Home Plate would give the Batsman a fair amount of time to react to the ball before it flew past.

• A MOUND WHERE THE “HURLER” STANDS: After the Pitcher became the Hurler and began throwing the ball toward Home Plate from sixty and one-half feet away, one discovered through another process of experimentation that he could throw the ball harder if he was striding downward instead of on flat ground. His club built a raised mound of dirt to throw from, and after it proved to be an instant success these mounds became the norm across Midwestern baseball grounds. Originally varying in size & height, it was later agreed for the sake of consistency and fairness that a uniform mound height of fifteen inches would be used at the venues of all formal clubs.

• NO PITCHER’S AREA. ONLY A PIECE OF RUBBER: Instead of a box marked out in the middle of the Infield where the Pitcher could deliver from, in the Midwest there was a 24” x 6” strip of rubber at the apex of the mound from which the “Hurler” had to start his motion. It meant there was less variety in terms of where the action of a play started, but it was a fair tradeoff considering the much greater strategic variety that throwing the ball offered.

• FOUR BALLS TO A FREE BASE PUTS THE “HURLER” ON NOTICE: While there were numerous quirks to Midwestern baseball that gave advantages to the man previously known as the Pitcher, there was one change from the Northeastern game that evened the proverbial score. While delivering from 60+ feet away, the “Hurler” could only misfire four times before the Batsman was awarded a Base on Balls. This was done because many felt it was both dull and unfair that handfuls of wayward deliveries could be made while forcing the Batsman to wait for a good-looking ball to cross the plate. Some wanted to make it even, with three balls to a Base on Balls and three strikes to a Strikeout, but four was the amount settled on due to the distance from the delivery point to Home Plate.

• CATCHERS COULD USE LARGE MITTS: With “Hurlers” being able to throw the ball, the act of catching whatever was delivered to Home Plate became a much more dangerous adventure for the man behind it. Because of that, the Catcher was permitted to use a large mitt specifically designed for the job, typically stuffed with felt or cotton, so he didn’t end the season with five broken fingers on his catching hand.

• FIRST BASEMEN COULD USE MITTS TOO: The one man tasked with catching the ball more than any other player on the field except the Catcher was the First Baseman. A few years after the Catcher’s Mitt caught on in the Midwest, it was agreed that the man covering first base should be allowed to use a “catching glove”, making it easier to snag deliveries from his fellow Infielders. Some argued that giving First Basemen gloves cheapened outs and that drops are part of the game as they are in cricket, but safety won out.

• BASEBALL GROUNDS AREN’T JUST LARGE FIELDS: In the Northeast, the original baseball venues, like The Elysian Fields, were placed in open areas, with the seating for fans going from First Base around Home Plate and over to the Third Base side and fences arbitrarily built a hefty distance from Home Plate to keep prying eyes from watching games for free. In the Midwest, because the sport started to become popular later than in the Northeast, the venues were built wherever they could be fit: a residential neighborhood, an industrial area, a city center, etc. That meant fields were shorter, Ground Rules stranger, and, most importantly, there were more over-the-fence Home Runs to be had for any man who could hit the ball hard.

The above is a lot to take in. What it all meant was that the Midwesterners were playing something called baseball, but to a purist it was baseball in name only. Those from the Northeast who found themselves in places like Chicago for business or pleasure who watched games typically found “Midwestern Ball” uncouth, ungentlemanly, and too combative in nature. The locals saw it as pure snobbery, while the travelers felt there was no reason for the sport to have been altered so much.

In traditional baseball, the Pitcher was seen as a facilitator who started the action, with the Batsman deciding what pitch to attack. All parts of the field came into play. Baserunning and base stealing weren’t risky propositions. Run scoring was a given. It was taken for granted that there would be mistakes. Batsmen swung for contact, and Pitchers let fielders do the work.

The Midwestern Game didn’t work that way:

• BASEBALL AS A TACTICAL BATTLE: Every play began with the Hurler throwing the ball almost as hard as he could to a Batsman who, not infrequently, had to fend off tricky deliveries and might not see anything easy to hit all afternoon. Runners had to be choosy about when to pilfer a base because the ball made it to Home Plate much faster, and that meant the odds of successful steals were lower. In turn, that meant the Field Manager might be the one to decide when it’s time to attempt things like lay down a bunt, steal a base, or try to swing big for an Extra Base Hit.

• MISTAKES MUST BE MINIMIZED: Four balls to a Base on Balls meant the Hurler couldn’t mess around and lob balls to the plate that were out of the range of the Batsman – he had to put the ball over the plate. The Batsman might only get one good ball to swing at during his Plate Appearance, and that meant he had to make his swings count – no speculative shots. The C & 1B being able to wear mitts meant fewer errors were committed, and that put pressure on the other fielders, even if functionally bare-handed, to ensure they were doing everything they could to secure they ball. It all combined to place in the minds of players the idea that any mistake, whatever form it came in, was costly.

• THE HOME RUN AS A VALID PLAY: Smaller fields meant shorter fences, shorter fences meant more Home Runs, and more Home Runs meant that a Batsman just might decide to go for one on purpose. Such a strategy was almost non-existent in the Northeast aside from at a few stadiums that had fences that measured under 300 feet at the foul poles, but in the Midwest many fields were comparatively shorter everywhere, and that meant if a Batsman with sufficient ability came up with the bases full then he just might try for a Grand Slam.

• THE “ROTATION”: The underhand delivery meant teams in the Northeast only needed two regular Pitchers, and those two could deliver 250+ pitches in a game if needed. Throwing the ball put far more strain on the arms, elbows, & shoulders of the Hurlers in the Midwest, and that meant if an amateur side played on Friday-Sunday they’d give the ball to three different men, the same three in the same order each time they played a three-game series. This “Three Man Rotation” was common among the bigger clubs, and it also meant specialized Hurlers were a larger part of teams’ rosters.

Midwestern Ball even looked different…

• TWO SETS OF UNIFORMS: The larger amateur clubs would occasionally travel to other cities and states to play matches against clubs of similar stature. In those games, the visitors would eschew the shirts they normally wore, which were typically set in team colors, and instead wear a white top with the club’s city or name on it as a reminder of who they were representing.

• THE TEAMS HAD NICKNAMES: The larger clubs had enough people supporting them that either the members or the fans would refer to the team by a nickname, something not seen in the Northeast. There were clubs whose teams were referred to as the North Stars, the Lakers, the Oaks, the Riders, the Saints, the Lumberjacks, the Gales, and so on. For the support, those names made the games they attended, as well as the sport itself, feel more inclusive than referring to the clubs by their proper names, with the term “club”, to some people, signaling something meant to be secretive and difficult to get into.

When players from the Northeast watched Midwestern games during their travels, some were taken aback, some were amused, some were entertained, and some were fascinated by this new version of the sport they were seeing. One afternoon, when asked his opinions on Midwestern Ball upon the conclusion of taking in a game in Chicago after the end of an A.P.B.L. season, Jim Creighton was quoted as saying: “They play a game with which I am not familiar.”

Indeed, the version of baseball played in Chicago, St. Louis, and other notable cities a thousand miles or more away from where game had its origins hardly felt like baseball at all. Nonetheless, the people have quickly made it the main sporting pastime of the Midwest, and word on the street and in the clubs is that it should only be a year, two at the most, before the region has organized leagues to call their own. When that happens, it will be fascinating to see which version of the sport – the traditional game or Midwestern Ball – wins out.

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CARL BANCROFT CALLS IT QUITS
45-YEAR-OLD PITCHED 200+ INNINGS IN EACH OF THE FIRST 24 YEARS OF LEAGUE BASEBALL

UTICA, N.Y. (Oct. 3, 1880) - Having spent a good six weeks after the N.B.B.O. season at his farm outside Utica, New York pondering his future, Carl Bancroft has decided to retire to the farm at the age of 45, having spent two dozen seasons as a regular at Pitcher for teams across the Northeast United States.

Carl Bancroft’s career began along with the life of the National Base Ball Organization. When the N.B.B.O. began play in 1857 the 22-year-old Bancroft was the #1 for his hometown club, Utica B.B.C., finishing with a 17-14 with a 3.41 ERA at the end of league baseball’s inaugural season. After a rough Sophomore season (13-19, 4.24 ERA), Bancroft made the inaugural All-Star Game in 1859, the first of his seven All-Star selection. He also finished the season with a 21-10 record, the first of four consecutive seasons in which he won 20+ games. At the end of those four seasons Bancroft left Utica having made the All-Star Game three times, and that began his life as a nomad who ended up playing for eight different clubs around the Northeast, in three different leagues.

Bancroft joined Empire in 1863, and while he mostly struggled over four seasons there he did go 21-11 with a 3.29 ERA in 1865. Bancroft then moved back Upstate and spent a year with Syracuse (1867), where he finished with a 21-13 record, 3.15 ERA, and earned his fourth All-Star Game appearance. Bancroft then joined Gotham for the 1868 season.

Bancroft’s first two seasons in Gotham marked his best two-year run in terms of Wins, going 24-12 (4.21 ERA) in 1868 and 24-13 (3.55 ERA) in 1869 while appearing in another All-Star Game. After a decent season in 1870, Bancroft moved to the A.P.B.L. with Gotham in 1871 and had a 19-18 record with a 4.20 ERA during the inaugural season of the league. He then joined Knickerbocker for the 1872 season and went 17-13 with a 3.74 ERA, but Knick didn’t invite him back for 1873.

After being let go by Knickerbocker, Bancroft moved back to the N.B.B.O. for his third stint in Upstate New York, this time with Frontier. He made the All-Star Game in his first season with the team, finishing 1873 with a 21-17 record and 2.96 ERA. He would spend three more seasons with Frontier, finishing all three well over .500 with ERA’s near 3.00.

Bancroft left Frontier after four seasons to join Trenton United for the 1877 season. It was with Trenton Utd. that Bancroft made the last of his seven All-Star Game appearances thanks to a 24-17 record and 2.60 ERA. Bancroft left Trenton after one season but stayed in New Jersey, joining Olympic for the inaugural season of the Coastal Conference. He proceeded to win Pitcher of the Year, going 22-13 with a 2.35 ERA and 9.2 WAR during his only season in the new league, while Olympic took the first Coastal Conference championship.

Bancroft then rejoined Frontier in 1879 and spent the last two seasons of his career there. Bancroft was a respectable 16-8 with a 3.76 ERA in 1879, but even though he became the first 45-year-old to pitch a Shutout on June 10th, Bancroft’s 1880 was the worst of his career from a Win-Loss standpoint: a 7-15 record with a 4.00 ERA, his first under .500 campaign since 1866. It was those struggles in 1880 that led Bancroft to conclude that it was finally time to retire.

• Utica B.B.C. (NBBO) 1857-62, Empire B.B.C. (NBBO) 1863-66, Syracuse B.C. (1867), Gotham B.B.C. (NBBO & APBL) 1868-71, Knickerbocker B.B.C. (APBL) 1872, Frontier B.B.C. (NBBO) 1873-76, Trenton Utd. (NBBO) 1877, Olympic B.C. (CBC) 1878, Frontier B.B.C. (NBBO) 1879-80

• TIER 1 (16 yrs): 299-229, 3.55 ERA, 4,761.2 IP, 324 CG, 8 SHO, 638 K, 0.9 K/BB, 1.35 WHIP, 73.7 WAR, 54.6 rWAR
• NBBO (7 yrs): 121-91, 3.17 ERA, 1,909.2 IP, 131 CG, 3 SHO, 392 K, 1.9 K/BB, 1.36 WHIP, 31.3 WAR, 30.8 rWAR
• CBC (1 yr): 22-13, 2.35 ERA, 314.0 IP, 26 CG, 1 SHO, 131 K, 4.0 K/BB, 1.21 WHIP, 9.2 WAR, 8.0 rWAR
• TOTAL (24 yrs): 442-333, 3.39 ERA, 6.985.1 IP, 481 CG, 12 SHO, 1,097 K, 1.3 K/BB, 114.3 WAR, 93.4 rWAR

• 7x NBBO All-Star (1859-60, 62, 67, 69, 73, 77)
• 12x 20-game winner (1859-62, 65, 67-69, 73, 75, 77-78)
• 1st all-time in number of seasons as a regular Pitcher (24)
• 1st all-time in Innings Pitched regardless of level (6,985.1)
• 2nd all-time in Wins regardless of level (442)
• 3rd all-time in Complete Games regardless of level (481)
• 3rd all-time in Pitcher WAR regardless of level (114.3)
• 4th all-time in Strikeouts regardless of level (1,097)

Carl Bancroft didn’t put up eye-popping numbers like Jim Creighton or James Goodman. Instead, he was a consistent and dependable winner with eight different teams. In 19/24 seasons Bancroft finished with a Win-Loss record over .500, and that included a streak of thirteen consecutive seasons (1867-79) with six different teams for whom he finished with a winning record. Every team that signed him knew exactly what they were getting.

While Bancroft won’t be remembered as one of the most talented Pitchers in the history of the sport, it’s his unparalleled consistency & longevity as a three-times-per-week Pitcher that has made him one of the most fondly remembered Pitchers in the early history of baseball. Now, may he enjoy life back on the farm.

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TOWNSEND HIRED AS TIGER FIELD MANAGER
LEGENDARY OUTFIELDER HAD RETIRED JUST WEEKS AGO; QUICKLY BECOMES MGR. AT HIGHEST LEVEL

PHILADELPHIA, PENN. (Oct. 4, 1880) - When legendary former St. John’s outfielder Nelson Townsend retired during the middle of September, it was presumed that he would go into coaching or management somewhere in New England after spending his entire playing career in Rhode Island. That will not be the case.

In a bit of a shock announcement, Tiger Social Club sent around telegrams this morning stating that Townsend will go directly from playing to managing at the highest level, for after a surprise offer Tiger has hired Townsend to be their new Field Manager on a four-year contract.

Tiger’s previous Field Manager was Arthur Waltrip, himself a 6x All-Star and 1x M.V.P. during his playing days, who was fired after the end of the regular season because of the team’s regression from 1879 to 1880. Waltrip was a conventional Field Manager whose in-game strategies stuck directly to the current norms of baseball, and he favored pitching & defense over speed & run production. In hiring Townsend it would appear that Tiger is going in a vastly different direction, because Townsend himself has stated that he wants to manage on the field like the man who guided his career: Todd Rogers.

What the above would mean is that Tiger can expect Townsend to be a tactically-minded field general who will demand that his players be patient at the plate, aggressive on the basepaths, and look for any opportunity to move players around the bases via Bunts, Sacrifices, or Hit & Run plays. It would also mean that Townsend will look for Offense, Speed, and the ability to get on base to be the team’s strengths going forward.

It will be interesting to see what kind of success another A.P.B.L. team has playing with the St. John’s philosophy on the field. In nothing else, there won’t be any dull games at the Broad Street Diamond next year.

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McKAY OUT AS SUSQUEHANNA MANAGER
HAD LED TEAM TO FIVE NEL TITLES & THREE TWC TRIUMPHS OVER ELEVEN SEASONS

WILKES-BARRE, PENN. (Oct, 10, 1880) - The end of the week has brought stunning baseball news with it, as 3x N.B.B.O. champions Susquehanna B.C. have announced that they are replacing Field Manager Callum McKay after eleven seasons in charge of the team.

McKay was named the Susquehanna manager in the winter of 1869-70, and after a .500 debut season the team took off:

Susquehanna had a Winning Percentage of at least .600 in each of the past ten seasons, and over that time they earned the following while being one of the smallest clubs in the N.B.B.O.:

• 8x Inland Championship winners (1871-72, 74, 76-80)
• 5x Northeastern League champions (1874, 76-79)
• 3x Tucker-Wheaton Cup champions (1874, 77, 79)

McKay’s 508 Wins rank 6th in N.B.B.O. history, with every Field Manager above him having 14-15 years of N.B.B.O. experience instead of his eleven. McKay’s Winning Percentage of .660 (508-262) is 2nd only to Todd Rogers among Field Managers with 10+ years of experience in the N.B.B.O., his eight playoff appearances rank 2nd behind only Rogers, and his three cup titles also rank 2nd behind only Rogers.

Why the change? McKay has let it be known that, even though he’s 56 years old, he’s not retiring. Apparently, the Susquehanna front office decided to let his contract run out and not bring him back for 1881. What makes the decision more of a head-scratcher is that he’s being replaced by David Roberts, a former All-Star Pitcher for Victory who hasn’t had any jobs in baseball since he retired from playing in 1867.

What does Susquehanna see in Roberts that meant McKay couldn’t manage the team any longer? The Writers Pool is collectively baffled, and those close to the club don’t seem to know either. The fans will be stunned at the change, and any players who were informed of the move this morning will likely be as well.

In any event, it’s the beginning of a new era in Wilkes-Barre, and given Roberts’ lack of any managerial history there are many unknowns to be fleshed out in the coming months.