THE BASEBALL ALLIANCE: Baseball in the British Isles

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1987 FINAL

EMPIRE LEAGUE

At the halfway point, it looked like the only EL race that might be close was in the Northern Division. Nottingham had a three-and-a-half-game edge over Edinburgh as the BA shut down for the All-Star Game. The Foresters, who last appeared in the post-season in their Cup-winning 1968 campaign, featured an attack that led the League in almost all offensive categories. Foremost among the team's big hitters was undoubtedly Morrigan Tustian (.288, 63 HR, 169 RBI), the bargain free-agent first baseman who smashed the single-season record for home runs. He was joined by left fielder Fionn Mote (.293, 36 HR, 102 RBI) and second baseman John Dobson (.306, 32 HR, 95 RBI) on a lineup that smashed 244 homers, another BA record. Even the team's lead-off hitter, Wayne Jones (.290, 27 HR, 66 RBI), hit over twenty home runs. With that kind of firepower, the pitching staff could get away with being only slightly better than mediocre. John Balloch (20-6, 2.94 ERA) was superb, but the rest of the rotation was undistinguished, and it was frequently left to Andrew Horsey (4-3, 41 SV, 1.25 ERA) to pull them out of jams. Nottingham won nine of their first twelve games after the resumption of play and just kept getting hotter, while second-place Edinburgh fell further and further behind. Rookie catcher Dylan Ramsay (.338, 27 HR, 103 RBI) boosted the Chieftans' fortunes, while first baseman Tom Wulf (.275, 28 HR, 108 RBI) proved a valuable addition to the lineup. The pitching, however, was ripped by injuries, which made closer Jeff Weber's (6-3, 37 SV, 1.00 ERA) contributions all the more valuable. Last year's champs Bradford never really competed. The Badgers ranked next-to-last with a .263 team average despite the efforts of Callum Russel (.325, 30 HR, 99 RBI) and Jack Cotgrove (.303, 45 HR, 151 RBI), and ranked dead last with a 4.86 staff ERA.

London held a commanding lead in the EL South going into the second half. Unlike Nottingham, the Bulldogs could count on solid pitching to complement their offense. Monro Meads (21-9, 3.29 ERA) and Graham Digges (19-7, 2.61 ERA) helmed the rotation as Nick Turgoose (8-6, 3.63 ERA), last year's outstanding pitcher in the EL, began the season on the DL and didn't start for the Bulldogs until mid-June. At the plate, free-agent acquisitions Jack Jones (.309, 24 HR, 86 RBI) and Keith Parrish (.266, 23 HR, 96 RBI) powered the offense, while second baseman Eddie "Cyclone" Mullet (.282, 21 HR, 73 RBI) provided speed at the top of the lineup with fifty-two stolen bases. Cardiff made a valiant attempt to catch up to London by posting the division's best post-break record, but they ultimately ran out of time, and it proved small consolation that this year's Whitecaps posted the most victories in franchise history. Tim Stainton (22-11, 3.91 ERA) and Andrew Westhead (18-8, 2.84 ERA) headed the mound corps, while third baseman Brassal Derwentwater (.304, 12 HR, 84 RBI) and right fielder Pat Roberts (.302, 19 HR, 79 RBI) led an attack that, with only 164 home runs, missed out on the power surge that swept over the rest of the Alliance. Portsmouth relied primarily on their pitching to stay in the race. Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr (20-14, 2.48 ERA) won the ERA crown, while closer Tiernan Fleming (3-3, 44 SV, 1.39 ERA) appeared in a League-high sixty-nine games. In contrast to the pitching staff, which led the loop with a 3.36 ERA, the Voyager offense registered only a .264 average, trailing all but four clubs. Marvin Eyston (.317, 25 HR, 95 RBI) paced the attack, but Sean Friend (.242, 24 HR, 56 RBI), obtained from Dublin in the off-season after hitting thirty homers for the Shamrocks, missed the final month of the season with a strained hamstring.

DOMINION ASSOCIATION

In contrast to the EL, the Association witnessed two divisional races that came down to the wire. In the DA South, Islington, Bristol, and Stoke came out of the all-star break bunched at the top of the standings. The Owls boasted the DA's best pitching staff, which recorded a collective 3.36 ERA. Donall Peace (21-8, 2.62 ERA) and Anthony Rutley (18-10, 3.34 ERA) headed the hilltoppers, assisted by Leo Oldreave (2-2, 42 SV, 2.05 ERA) in the late innings. Islington proved more adept at preventing runs than scoring them, as the offense hit the ball at an anemic .256 tempo. Left fielder Henry York (.340, 17 HR, 68 RBI) stood out among his teammates despite missing four weeks of action with various ailments, while former 1983 first-round draft pick Nick Smith (.257, 32 HR, 87 RBI), in his first year as a regular, supplied the muscle. Bristol kept pace behind the brilliant mound work of southpaw Michael Cuber (25-8, 3.45 ERA) and closer William Cayzer (5-5, 43 SV, 1.97 ERA). John Pither (.297, 29 HR, 98 RBI) and Marmaduke Spencer (.307, 27 HR, 93 RBI) were joined at the forefront of the offense by rookie catcher Rudolf Sohn (.279, 19 HR, 73 RBI). Stoke had no trouble scoring runs behind an attack led by Theo Fellick (.324, 28 HR, 100 RBI) and Bert Garton (.293, 31 HR, 97 RBI), but there wasn't much pitching talent backing staff ace Joe Atherol (20-12, 3.30 ERA), and the Potters fell out of the race by August. That left Islington and Bristol, who traded places throughout the summer. The Dockers went into September with a two-and-a-half-game advantage over the Owls, but they dropped four of five games to Islington in the first half of the month, which gave the Owls a slim lead. Bristol trailed by two games with two games left, and although Islington lost to Southampton, the Dockers were defeated by Sunderland, which allowed Islington to back into a post-season berth, their first since 1978.

Four teams had a shot at the top rung of the DA North ladder. Manchester headed the pack on the strength of their pitching contingent, which ranked third in the Association with a 3.73 ERA. Youngsters Robbie Dougan (16-11, 2.87 ERA), Sheen Speake (17-6, 3.35 ERA), and Whip Cormack (16-9, 3.45 ERA) headed the Miller rotation. The offense, however, ranked next to last with a combined .250 average, and only outfielders Jerry Peternek (.319, 20 HR, 84 RBI) and sophomore Bill Callaghan (.279, 18 HR, 90 RBI) distinguished themselves. Defending champs Glasgow got strong performances from the bottom half of the rotation, as Bob Getchell (15-9, 3.64 ERA) and Cedric "Rabbit" Cutting (14-7, 3.65 ERA) supplanted Fraser Reilly (15-14, 3.89 ERA), who continued to see his numbers plunge from his glory days in Lambeth. Free-agent pick-up Pepe Rivera (.296, 57 HR, 150 RBI) and "Smiling" John Barrowcliff (.337, 30 HR, 97 RBI), meanwhile, provided plenty of pop in the middle of the Gaelic order. Leeds got good value for the money they spent on free agent Tony Rios (17-7, 3.56 ERA), who joined Charlie "Blitzen" Westaby (14-10, 2.65 ERA) at the top of the rotation, while Layne Bruce (.324, 45 HR, 91 RBI) powered the Ironside lineup. In Belfast, the efforts of first baseman William Littlechild (.277, 35 HR, 117 RBI) and George Wicksted (16-9, 3.36 ERA) gave hope to the long-suffering Union fans. As September dawned, Glasgow led the race, with the other three contenders within three games of the top. Manchester then went on a hot streak, winning thirteen of their next fifteen contests, including a three-game sweep of Leeds and four wins against Glasgow. That gave the Millers the cushion they needed to win the divisional flag for the first time in nine years.



EL CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: NOTTINGHAM v. LONDON

The question going into the series was whether London's pitching could shut down Nottingham's explosive offense. In game one, the answer was "yes," as Bulldog hurler Nick Turgoose gave up only six hits over eight innings to gain the 3-1 victory. The Foresters built up a 5-2 lead going into the eighth inning of game two when London staged a four-run rally, capped off by "Cyclone" Mullet's three-run homer, which gave the Dogs a 6-5 win. London finished up their sweep by compiling fourteen hits against four Forester pitchers and supporting starter Graham Digges with eight runs. That allowed Digges to go the distance in an 8-4 win. Home run king Morrigan Tustian hit two return-trippers for Nottingham.

DA CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: MANCHESTER v. ISLINGTON

Islington scored four runs in the first two innings of the opener and then hung on for a 5-3 win. Game two saw the opponents tied 2-2 in the tenth inning when Miller infielder Juan Jose Garcia (.271, 10 HR, 28 RBI) hit a solo homer that stood up as the difference in Manchester's 3-2 victory. The Millers took the lead in the series as Whip Cormack and two relievers combined for a 3-0 shutout in game three, but Islington pulled even the next day. After Manchester rallied from a 5-1 deficit to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Owls scored a run in the tenth off reliever "Cheerful" James Moffat (2-2, 7 SV, 2.17 ERA) and went home with a 6-5 triumph. Islington looked like they would take the decisive fifth game when they went into the late innings with a 5-0 lead, but Manchester scored three runs in the eighth and another three runs in the ninth off ace reliever Leo Oldreave, shocking the Owls with a 6-5 win that sends the Millers to the Cup Finals for the first time since 1978.

1987 BA CUP FINALS SERIES: LONDON v. MANCHESTER

London, seventeen games better than Manchester during the regular season, came into the Finals a heavy favorite despite a century-long Cup-less streak. Bulldog left fielder Jack Jones broke a 2-2 tie in the third inning of the opener with a two-run homer off Manchester starter Whip Cormack. It was all London after that, as the home team scored four more runs while starter Graham Digges held the Millers to five hits and struck out six en route to an 8-5 complete-game victory. Right fielder Arthur Hastings (.297, 9 HR, 65 RBI) and first baseman Keith Parrish had three hits each for the winners. Manchester ambushed London starter Monro Meads the next day, as shortstop Albert Diplock's (.253, 11 HR, 41 RBI) two-run homer and a sacrifice fly by center fielder Cesar Hernandez (.255, 17 HR, 66 RBI) made it 3-0 before the Bulldogs had a chance to bat. RBI-singles by Jones and Bill Maloney (.305, 12 HR, 35 RBI) in the bottom of the frame cut the visitors' lead to a single run, but Miller catcher Eric O'Neill's (.283, 5 HR, 77 RBI) solo homer in the sixth gave starter Robbie Dougan some breathing room. "Cheerful" James Moffat took the ball in the ninth and retired the home side in order to save Manchester's 4-2 triumph. London turned the tables on the Millers when the scene switched to Manchester for game three. "Cyclone" Mullet led off the match with a home run off Sheen Speake, and things only got worse. By the time Larry Deakin (.246, 14 HR, 43 RBI) finished the scoring with a three-run homer, the Bulldogs had shocked the home crowd by pushing six runs across the plate. Speake was knocked out of the game the following inning, but four Miller relievers could do little to stem the bloodletting, and the Bulldogs finished with a convincing 11-6 victory. London center fielder Garvin Shakescraft (.263, 18 HR, 99 RBI) had three hits, and Deakin, with two return-trippers, finished the day with five RBI. Flachna Hutcheson got the call to start game four for the Millers, but he left the game in the second with a back injury. Ed Horwood (5-4, 5.38 ERA) had to come on for the depleted Miller bullpen, but he and four subsequent hurlers held London's imposing lineup to a single hit over the next seven-and-two-thirds innings, as Manchester evened the Series with a 2-0 shutout win. Right fielder Jerry Peternek went four-for-four at the plate for the home team and drove in both runs. Manchester took a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning of game five when London catcher Pat Dumble (.311, 18 HR, 79 RBI) smacked a two-out home run to tie the contest. With southpaw closer George Henson (5-4, 39 SV, 2.05 ERA) on the mound for London in the bottom of the frame, Cormac Leton (.197, 7 HR, 37 RBI) led off with a double. Two outs later, Diplock came to the plate and drove a ball to the warning track in righ-center field that dropped for a double, scoring Leton with the winning tally. Dumble ended the day with three hits, as did Manchester second baseman Jay Ash (.221, 9 HR, 53 RBI). The teams returned to London's City Stadium for game six, and Jones started things off for the home club with a three-run blast in the opening stanza off Dougan. Manchester got two of those runs back in the fifth, but that's all they could manage against Meads, who scattered seven hits over eight innings to gain the 6-2 victory. That set up a decisive seventh game for the second year in a row. Manchester's batters came out swinging against London starter Nick Turgoose, as they bunched four hits, a walk, and a hit batsman together to score four runs in the top of the first. The home team cut the lead in half with a two-run second inning and then, in the sixth, sent ten men to the plate and scored four times against Speake to take the lead. Manchester catcher Pat Stendall (.267, 9 HR, 33 RBI) scored after leading off the next inning with a rare triple to make the score 6-5. That's where the score stood when Henson took the mound in the ninth. He retired the first two Miller batters, and when first baseman Juan Jose Garcia lofted an easy fly ball to Shakescraft in center field, 49,862 Bulldog fans gave vent to a century's worth of pent-up jubilation as London captured their first BA Cup since 1887. Jack Jones, who led all batters with eight RBI and had a .619 slugging percentage with two homers and a double in six hits, went home with the MVP award.

THE MINORS

Edinburgh fell short of a playoff berth, but their farm club, the South Shields Vikings, won the Northern Conference crown and went on to defeat the Greenwich Admirals, Bradford's affiliate, in a five-game set to capture the Second Tier title.

The Blackburn Weavers of the Plymouth organization won a spot in the Third Tier championship series by winning the Britannia Conference flag. They faced the Rotherham Mutuals, Hull's affiliate, and prevailed in five games.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .348 Oscar Tomkins, Edinburgh
HR: 63 Morrigan Tustian, Nottingham
RBI: 169 Morrigan Tustian, Nottingham
R: 135 Daniel Robertson, Westminster
SB: 67 William Armitage, Bradford
Pitching
W: 22 Tim Stainton, Cardiff
L: 20 Cillian O'Looney, Dublin
K: 219 Cillian O'Looney, Dublin
ERA: 2.48 Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, Plymouth
SV: 44 Tiernan Fleming, Plymouth

It was an unprecedented power explosion in the EL, as four batters hit fifty or more homers. Tustian not only broke the single-season home run mark, set by Bert Pomeroy in 1970, but also set the single-season record for RBI by besting the 160 runs batted in by Declan Morris in 1894. Robertson became the first player to hit fifty or more homers in consecutive seasons since Arthur Tuckett did it in 1973-74.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .374 Carleton Dempsey, Wolverhampton
HR: 57 Pepe Rivera, Glasgow
RBI: 150 Pepe Rivera, Glasgow
R: 127 Layne Bruce, Leeds
SB: 47 Teague Ennis, Southampton
Pitching
W: 25 Michael Cuber, Bristol
L: 20 Freddy MacWilliam, Hull
K: 254 Alex Scroggs, Lambeth
ERA: 2.62 Donall Peace, Islington
SV: 45 Robin Angwin, Belfast

Rivera hit eight return-trippers in the final week of the season to win the home run crown. Dempsey won his second-straight batting title and fourth overall.

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1987-88 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Daniel Robertson, Westminster (.323, 53 HR, 138 RBI, 135 R, 26 2B, 111 BB, 28 SB, .429 OBP, .658 SLG)
Pitcher: Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, Plymouth (20-14, 2.48 ERA, 276 IP, 181 K, 1.15 WHIP, .229 OAVG)
Manager: Albert Allardyce, Nottingham (96-58, 1st place)
Rookie: Dylan Ramsay, Edinburgh (.338, 27 HR, 103 RBI, 80 R, 30 2B, .394 OBP, .599 SLG)

Dominion Association
Hitter: Pepe Rivera, Glasgow (.296, 57 HR, 150 RBI, 124 R, 30 2B, 85 BB, 21 SB, .396 OBP, .671 SLG)
Pitcher: Michael Cuber, Bristol (25-8, 3.45 ERA, 287 IP, 172 K, 1.32 WHIP, .259 OAVG)
Manager: Edmund Fear, Manchester (83-71, 1st place)
Rookie: William Homer, Hull (.302, 29 HR, 77 RBI, 54 R, 22 2B, .409 OBP, .624 SLG)

Murmurs of discontent were heard upon the announcement of Robertson as the EL outstanding hitter, as Morrigan Tustian had just finished a season in which he broke both the home run and RBI marks, but there was little dispute that Robertson was a better all-around player. Venezuelan import Rivera became the first player from Latin America to win a post-season award.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In a year when the offense dominated, it was perhaps unexpected to see two no-hitters thrown in the BA. On 17 May, Bradford lefty Chris O'Sullivan blanked Cardiff, striking out three and giving up five free passes. To add insult to injury, the Badgers won the game 15-0. On 22 September, with the regular season winding down, Bevis Punchardon earned one of his sixteen wins with a no-hitter against Coventry. The Plymouth southpaw gave up two walks and struck out four in the 5-0 Voyager victory.

ALLIANCE NEWS

With batting averages up by more than five points over last year's totals and home runs flying out of ballparks at an unprecedented rate, the Alliance had to start taking seriously the persistent rumors of drug usage by players. Commissioner Ben MacGregor took a hard line stance against what he called "the scourge of performance-enhancing pharmaceuticals." His office announced a series of escalating penalties for any player caught with illegal drugs in his system, although it is unknown exactly how enforcement of the program will be carried out.

The rich keep getting richer. London, historically the BA's biggest spender, opened the vaults once again, this time to snag Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, who earned the EL's outstanding pitcher honors with a 20-14 campaign with Plymouth. The right-hander will be making $19.8 million over the next five seasons with the Bulldogs. "Chicken" Sam MacWatters didn't have a very good season with Aberdeen, hitting only .247 after hitting above .290 in each of his four previous campaigns, but London were willing to take a chance on the center fielder, paying him $15.6 million over five years for his services. Hard-hitting outfielder Wayne Jones, who slammed twenty-seven homers and batted .290 for Nottingham, received a similar deal from Islington, who will be paying Jones $15 million spread over the next five years to keep him in an Owls uniform. Islington further beefed up its offense with the acquisition of first baseman John Bertrand, who hit fifty-one homers and hit .319 for Aberdeen. He'll be cashing paychecks worth $3.2 million per year through the end of 1991. And the Owls concluded their spending spree by signing shortstop Kain Crump to a three-year pact worth $7.7 million. Crump, a two-time gold-glover, hit .311 in 117 games for Sunderland. Luke Williams, who has two EL batting titles to his credit in his six seasons with Dublin, inked a four-year deal with Reading that will earn him $2.6 million per year. Veteran Panamanian righty Tony Rios will be playing for his fourth team in four years after signing a two-year contract with Bradford worth $2.8 million per annum. Rios was 17-7 for Leeds with a 3.56 ERA. Left-hander Jimmy Burden parlayed his 19-11 record for Hull into a three-year deal with Stoke worth $3.3 million per year. Andrew Westhead, who has compiled a 42-25 record over the past three seasons with Cardiff, was acquired by Sunderland for $11.4 million spread over the next three years.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

A promising start to the season was quickly forgotten in the wreckage of a dismal second half. In retrospect, the Peers' season was effectively finished when starter Andrew Spurrell suffered an elbow injury in only his third start of the season. That put him on the sidelines for the rest of the season, which deprived Westminster of their best pitcher. Worse still, it started a rash of injuries to the organization's pitchers that, at one point, saw ten hurlers on the disabled list. As a result, the Peers' rotation ended up looking a lot like triple-A Oldham's rotation, as minor leaguers Jacob Dipple, David Moffat, Michael Brown, and Geaney Daile all took a shot at starting for the big club. In addition, forty-year-old southpaw Stephen Geddes, originally slated for bullpen duties, had to be pressed into service as a starter after returning in September from a shoulder injury. His 0-4 record and 8.55 ERA convinced the veteran port-sider, who holds the major-league record of four no-hitters, to call it a career. He retires with a 228-175 record.

The bright spot in the season, of course, was the performance of left fielder Daniel Robertson. Acquired from Coventry in exchange for pitcher Anthony Rutley in the middle of the 1985 campaign, Robertson quickly developed into Westminster's premier batsman, taking over that role from Evan Urquhart. In addition to his fifty-three homers, a club record, he drove in 138 runs and led the League with 135 runs scored. He capped off his impressive season with the EL's outstanding hitter award, the first for a Westminster batter since Harry Irby won it in 1965.

SPRING TRAINING 1988

Edinburgh will climb back into the driver's seat of the EL North according to pre-season prognosticators, while London will demolish the competition in the Southern Division. In the DA, Glasgow appear to have the inside track in the Northern Division race, and Stoke look ready to claim their first DA South title.

There were no major injuries to report from spring training.

Islington and Southampton broke camp with identical 17-7 records to share the spring derby, while Plymouth and London were the cream of the EL crop, winning sixteen tune-up contests each.

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1988 MID-SEASON

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Going into the season, London's payroll exceeded $50 million, which was a first for the BA. That ranked almost $10 million more than Islington, the next club on the list, and the standings at the halfway point in the EL South certainly showed it. The Bulldogs rolled over the opposition with an all-star roster that compiled both the League's best team average (.272) and the best staff ERA (2.92). The starting trio of Graham Digges, Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, and Monro Meads posted a collective 34-9 record, which made the loss of Nick Turgoose for seven weeks to a shoulder ailment almost unnoticeable. The deep bench also helped on offense, as injuries to Keith Parrish and Jack Jones, key members of London's Cup-winning club of last year, barely slowed the Bulldog juggernaut. Shortstop Bill Maloney led all regulars with nineteen homers and sixty-six RBI. Second-place Plymouth could only look with envy at the Northern Division, where their record would put them at the top of the ladder instead of thirteen games back of rampaging London. Quentin Evans, with a 12-4 record and a 2.00 ERA, appears on his way to his best season in his twelve-year career, while sophomore first baseman Michael Tyerman paced the attack with a .304 average and twenty-two return-trippers. On the other hand, center fielder Marvin Eyston saw his average dip thirty-nine points to .268, and the Voyager offense continued to lag behind the competition. Last year's runners-up Cardiff drifted to fourth place despite a strong lineup featuring first baseman Pol Ahmuty and his .324 average. Tim Stainton performed well at the top of the Whitecap rotation, but the rest of the staff dragged down the team ERA to a League-worst 4.78.

Newcastle established an early lead in the EL North, boosted by the torrid hitting of outfielder Martin de Koning, whose .361 average gave him the inside track to win his second batting crown. On the mound, young right-hander Nicholas "Kitty" Hankin, a sixteen-game winner last year, continued to impress with a 10-4 record and a 2.45 ERA, but a weak bullpen slowed down the Greys in May and allowed Edinburgh to pass them. The Chieftans, despite strong pitching from Nicholas Bubb, who won ten of his sixteen decisions in his first season as a regular member of the starting rotation, were passed in turn by Bradford and Nottingham. The Badgers, after a slow start, moved to the top of the ladder by winning seventeen games in May behind the pitching of Tony Rios, a free-agent acquisition in the off-season from Leeds, and Harvey Milburn, who together accounted for twenty-three of Bradford's victories. At the plate, Jack Cotgrove led the circuit with eighty RBI while hitting .300. He joined outfielders Aaron Wakeling and Callum Russel, who batted over .300 as well, to lead the Badger offense. Nottingham, who won the divisional flag last year behind a barrage of home runs, were particularly stung by the power outage that affected the entire Alliance. Morrigan Tustian clouted only twenty-one homers at the halfway point after walloping a record-breaking sixty-three last year, while John Dobson and Fionn Mote, who together accounted for sixty-eight return-trippers a year ago, were limited to twenty this time around. Without the same level of offensive support, the pitching staff suffered, and John Balloch, a twenty-game winner in 1987, managed only an 8-8 record before an arm injury in early July ended his season prematurely.

DOMINION ASSOCIATION

The Northern Division, long regarded as the BA's worst, continued true to form this year, as a handful of clubs battled to claim the title of least mediocre. Belfast and Sunderland topped a crowded field early on. The Unions relied on the hot hitting of first baseman William Littlechild, who led the club in average, home runs, and RBI. Center fielder Samuel Cudlip, meanwhile, set the plate by hitting a dozen homers and stealing twenty-two bases at the top of the order. The pitching duties were handled by youngster George "Jughandle" Povey, the first player chosen in the 1985 amateur draft, and veteran George Wicksted, who combined for twenty-one wins in thirty-five decisions. Sunderland's Liam Dow won the starting shortstop assignment in spring training and responded by hitting .310, but the Swifts slowed down in May as their starting pitching, apart from free-agent pick-up Andrew Westhead, proved weak. Glasgow moved into contention in June with an offense built around the long ball. Pepe Rivera saw his average drop to .230 after hitting .296 last year, but he still led the Gaelics with eighteen homers and seventy RBI, while fellow outfielder "Smiling" John Barrowcliff contributed thirteen circuit clouts and forty-three RBI. Veteran hurlers Dwane Wait and Fraser Reilly topped the rotation, but their records suffered as a result of a weak bullpen that posted a positively inflammatory 4.46 ERA. Last year's pennant winners, Manchester, struggled to reach .500 after losing ace starter Sheen Speake to free agency. Outfielders Jerry Peternek and Bill Callaghan hit over .300 and formed the core of the offense, but the Millers ranked twelfth in the DA with only fifty-three home runs.

It was a two-team race in the DA South, as Stoke and Southampton battled for the lead. Like London in the EL, Stoke topped both the team batting (.284) and pitching (2.90 ERA) categories. First baseman Theo Fellick ranked first with a .360 average and also headed the RBI list with ninety-seven, while shortstop Leon Williams chipped in with a .340 mark. On the hill, free-agent acquisition Jimmy Burden joined veteran Joe Atherol and youngster William Beattie to form the loop's best starting threesome. The trio combined for a 35-12 record, and Burden's 2.25 ERA ranked best in the Association. Southampton stayed close on Stoke's tail through June, buoyed by their own starting troika of Nick Hobhouse, "Dandy" Patrick Byard, and Gareth Bignold, who helped the Spitfire staff record a 3.15 ERA, second only to Stoke. First baseman Jose Moya, who hit .335 and drove in ninety-three runs last season, led the offense until being inexplicably optioned to triple-A Burnley on the eve of the all-star break at the same time that the club picked up outfielder Wayne Jones from Islington to bolster the attack. Stoke finally put some breathing room between them and Southampton in the final weeks before the All-Star Game by winning eleven of fourteen games in July. Defending champs Islington slipped to fourth as they saw their once-dominant pitching staff fall apart. Callum Skene, a fifteen-game winner last year, suffered a season-ending elbow injury in his second start, while Donall Peace and Anthony Rutley, who combined for a 39-18 mark a year ago, could only manage a 14-14 record this year while both registered ERAs north of 4.00. Leicester outfielder Lester Angwin, who hit forty-one long balls in 1987, defied the general decline in homers by knocking thirty-three into the seats this year, which helped the Leopards climb out of the divisional cellar into a tie with the Owls.



1988 ALL-STAR GAME

The midsummer classic returned to Nottingham after a sixty-year absence. The game was tied at one run apiece until the fourth, when the visiting Dominions pushed three runs across the plate against Birmingham southpaw Mike Mullins courtesy of a triple by Stoke third baseman Dean Hasting and a two-run base hit by Bristol backstop Rudolf Sohn. In the fifth, Hastings added to the lead by slamming a three-run homer off Graham Digges. The EL all-stars made it close in the seventh with their own three-run rally, but Sohn put the game out of reach the next inning by knocking a 2-1 fastball from Dublin's Cillian O'Looney into the bleachers in left-center for a three-run blast, as the DA prevailed by a final of 10-5. Sohn, who played the entire game and accounted for six RBI, was the easy choice for the MVP honors.

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1988 FINAL

EMPIRE LEAGUE

It was a surprising end to the EL North race. Bradford, at the summit of the standings halfway through the season, boasted the League's most prolific run-scorer in Jack Cotgrove (.282, 32 HR, 126 RBI), who benefitted from hitting behind Callum Russel (.290, 17 HR, 73 RBI). On the hill, free agent acquisition Tony Rios (17-14, 3.45 ERA) proved to be a good investment. The Badgers started the second half by dropping a three-game series to Nottingham, which put the Foresters in first place. The Foresters relied on a solid attack to boost them into the top spot. Morrigan Tustian (.271, 37 HR, 116 RBI) didn't win any home run titles, but he, along with "Quiet" John Dobson (.275, 28 HR, 105 RBI) provided the foundation for a hard-hitting offense that ranked second in runs scored with 720. Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Finn "Trojan" MacCulloch (21-8, 3.40 ERA), who had a 10-7 record at the break, won eleven of his next twelve decisions to lead the rotation, while southpaw closer Andrew Horsey (9-5, 39 SV, 2.70 ERA) appeared in sixty-seven games. Edinburgh provided an unexpected challenge to Nottingham in August by winning seventeen of their twenty-six games in the month. Starting pitchers Jim Townes (16-8, 3.00 ERA) and Nicholas Bubb (15-11, 3.24 ERA) helped spark the revival, while catcher Dylan Ramsay (.277, 26 HR, 72 RBI) and first baseman Tom Wulf (.267, 16 HR, 77 RBI) led a somewhat anemic attack. As the race entered September, Nottingham and Edinburgh were tied at the top of the ladder, and they remained that way through the first week. Edinburgh, however, suffered a grievous blow when Ramsay fractured his elbow in an 8 September contest, which robbed the lineup of its best hitter. Without him, the Chieftans lost eight of their next ten games, including four out of five matches against Nottingham, which allowed the Foresters to squeak by with their second-straight divisional flag.

There was precious little drama in the Southern Division race. London amassed a thirteen-game lead at the midsummer break and then lapped the field in the second half, winning their fourth consecutive divisional title by a whopping twenty-nine lengths while falling just shy of the BA record of 114 wins in a season. The League's best pitching staff boasted starters Graham Digges (21-4, 2.06 ERA), Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr (22-6, 2.63 ERA), and Nick Turgoose (15-7, 2.59 ERA), who bounced back from a case of bursitis in April. Left-handed closer George Henson (2-3, 46 SV, 1.54 ERA) led the loop in saves and helped the Bulldogs to a 31-11 record in one-run games. The offense managed to survive a rash of injuries to post an EL-best .270 average. Shortstop Bill Maloney (.306, 24 HR, 78 RBI) played only a hundred games but still paced the club in home runs and RBI, while first baseman Keith Parrish (.299, 15 HR, 68 RBI) spent four weeks on the DL with a sprained thumb but came back to lead all regulars in hitting. Highly paid free agent Jack Jones (.343, 11 HR, 54 RBI) wasn't so lucky, as a shoulder injury kept him out of most of the second half, and he and Eddie "Cyclone" Mullet (.298, 21 HR, 71 RBI), a victim of bad ankle, will likely miss at least the first round of the playoffs. Plymouth made a half-hearted bid at challenging the London behemoth behind the hitting of first baseman Michael Tyerman (.299, 32 HR, 88 RBI) and the pitching of Quentin Evans (21-8, 2.41 ERA). The Voyagers, however, lacked the offensive punch to keep up with the Bulldogs, and their 5-9 season record against London did them no favors either.

DOMINION ASSOCIATION

If there was one team that could stand on the same level as London this season, it was Stoke. The Potters held a slim five-game lead over Southampton at the all-star break, but blazed through the schedule in the second half, winning forty-five times and running away with the Southern Division crown. First sacker Theo Fellick (.355, 27 HR, 156 RBI) took the RBI title and finished second in the batting race, while Leon Williams (.352, 4 HR, 87 RBI) and lead-off man Shane Baring (.302, 5 HR, 38 RBI) contributed to a DA-best .285 team average. The mound corps was no less accomplished, as the starting trio of Jimmy Burden (19-9, 2.44 ERA), Joe Atherol (18-7, 2.54 ERA), and sophomore Isaac Brembridge (18-4, 3.04 ERA) helped the Potters register an Association-leading 3.11 staff ERA. Going into the post-season, however, Stoke will be without William Beattie (16-6, 3.73 ERA), who pitched well in the first half but suffered a rotator cuff injury at the beginning of September. Southampton would have earned a berth in the post-season if they had been in the northern half of either league, as their ninety-six wins were the best of any non-playoff club. Colombian first baseman Jose Moya (.311, 12 HR, 80 RBI) had trouble finding a spot on the roster but still led the club in RBI, while speedy left fielder Teague Ennis (.311, 6 HR, 71 RBI) was moved to the number three slot in the order but still stole forty-six bases. Nick Hobhouse (20-10, 2.76 ERA) topped the rotation, and free agent Gareth Bignold (19-9, 3.15 ERA), picked up for a relative bargain in April, won eight straight decisions after the midsummer hiatus and finished with his best record since 1979. Bristol caught fire in the second half, posting a 47-20 post-break record to lead the Alliance. Michael Cuber (25-5, 2.47 ERA) led the DA in wins for the second-straight time, while Marmaduke Spencer (.316, 20 HR, 91 RBI) and off-season acquisition Auggie Gill (.251, 30 HR, 97 RBI) powered the offense.

The question in the DA North wasn't who would win the BA's weakest division but who wanted to win. Belfast had the advantage at the start of the second half, but the efforts of first baseman William Littlechild (.302, 32 HR, 97 RBI) and right-hander George Wicksted (17-14, 3.50 ERA) couldn't prevent the Unions from losing eleven of their first fifteen matches after the All-Star Game and falling to third place. Glasgow and Sunderland struggled for the lead after that, but neither could gain much ground due to their overwhelming mediocrity. The Gaelics got strong performances from starters Dwane Wait (16-11, 2.90 ERA) and Fraser Reilly (18-11, 2.97 ERA), who were a combined 15-5 in the second half. Left fielder "Smiling" John Barrowcliff (.277, 31 HR, 80 RBI) spearheaded the attack, but Pepe Rivera (.248, 23 HR, 88 RBI) was vexed by injuries all season and played in only 107 games. A solid pitching staff helped Sunderland overcome a weak offense. Rick Moore (18-12, 4.18 ERA) led the rotation, but the real star was closer Ryan Millar (6-4, 41 SV, 1.95 ERA), who appeared in sixty-three games. Left fielder Derek Rushworth (.278, 22 HR, 77 RBI) sparked the attack from the lead-off slot, while Liam Dow (.298, 15 HR, 72 RBI) played well in his first full season as the club's shortstop. Going into September, Glasgow held a slim two-game lead over Sunderland, but the Swifts swept a crucial three-game set at Glasgow in the middle of the month to take over first place. The Glaswegians staged a late rally, winning seven of nine to come within a game of Sunderland, but a loss against Sheffield coupled with a Swift victory over Leeds on the eve of the regular-season finale gave Sunderland their first divisional flag.



EL CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: NOTTINGHAM v. LONDON

Nottingham scored eight runs in the first six innings and then survived a ninth-inning London rally to win the opener by a final of 8-7. The Bulldogs gave Neil Storr a 2-0 lead in game two, but "the Silver Fox" couldn't hold it, as the visiting Foresters scored once in the sixth and twice in the seventh to mount a 3-2 comeback victory. Unexpectedly on the ropes, London fought back with a 9-2 victory in game three behind the pitching of Nick Turgoose. The next day, Nottingham broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh on Fionn Mote's (.236, 15 HR, 58 RBI) two-run homer, and Andrew Horsey came on in the ninth to save the game for "Trojan" MacCulloch, as the Foresters upset the heavily favored Bulldogs to capture the EL pennant with a 3-1 win.

DA CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: SUNDERLAND v. STOKE

Andrew Westhead (14-15, 3.68 ERA) gave up only six hits in eight innings to lead Sunderland to a 4-0 win over Stoke in game one, but the Potters' offense came alive in game two, pounding out eleven hits against five Swift pitchers to win 11-5. Stoke went out to a 3-0 lead in game three and then overcame a two-run homer by Derek Rushworth in the eighth inning to win by a final tally of 3-2. Stoke could only manage three hits against Sunderland, but they made them count, as Jimmy Burden scattered six hits over eight innings to lead the Potters to a 3-0 pennant-clinching victory. For the Potters, it marked their first DA flag since 1962.

1988 CUP FINALS SERIES: NOTTINGHAM v. STOKE

Nottingham, making only their third trip to the Cup Finals, were once again the underdogs as they met Stoke for the first time ever. The Foresters went out in front in the curtain-raiser on Fionn Mote's two-run homer in the fifth off Joe Atherol and led 2-1 in the seventh when Stoke rallied for four runs on homers by Theo Fellick and Alex Wright (.250, 11 HR, 68 RBI). The Foresters, however, came back with three runs in the top of the eighth on successive run-scoring doubles by Albert Crook (.299, 17 HR, 61 RBI) and Mote, and the two sides ended regulation tied five all. In the twelfth, Nottingham loaded the bases with three-straight base hits, and "Quiet" John Dobson scored the lead runner with a sacrifice fly. Doug Cobby (2-3, 2 SV, 3.93 ERA), in his second inning of relief, made that count, as he retired the Potters in order in the bottom of the frame to earn the 6-5 victory. Rookie center fielder Alexander Campbell (.308, 6 HR, 55 RBI) had four hits for the visitors, while Shane Baring had three hits at the top of the Stoke order. Home runs by Crook, Morrigan Tustian, and Finlay MacAlonie (.299, 3 HR, 50 RBI) helped put Nottingham ahead 6-0 in game two. Stoke broke through the scoring column with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Tustian put the game out of reach with his second homer of the day as the Foresters, behind the pitching of Gavin Dannatt (7-6, 3.41 ERA) walked away with an 8-2 triumph. MacAlonie finished the day with four hits in five at-bats. It was scoreless until the top of the sixth inning of game three, when Nottingham starter "Trojan" MacCulloch walked two batters and then watched helplessly as Stoke catcher Andrew Vivian (.310, 5 HR, 38 RBI) smoked a 1-1 slider into the seats for a three-run homer. Jimmy Burden, meanwhile, shut down the Foresters on two hits over eight innings before turning the ball over to Hallinan Quodling (4-1, 8 SV, 0.84 ERA), who survived a rocky ninth to save the game and give the Potters the 3-1 win. The next day, Stoke jumped out to a two-run lead in the first against Nottingham starter Carolan Delmar (12-14, 4.01 ERA), and Fellick's solo homer in the third made it 4-1 in favor of the visitors. Stoke hurler Isaac Brembridge took over from there, limiting the Foresters to five hits over eight innings to earn the 4-1 victory and level the Series at two games apiece. The score in game five was 1-0 in favor of Stoke in the bottom of the sixth when Nottingham loaded the bases with two outs. Joe Atherol's balk let the lead runner score, and the followers came home on Crook's double to put the home team ahead. Three straight hits to lead off the bottom of the seventh led to three more Forester runs, and Nottingham weathered a late Potter rally to take the Series lead with a 6-4 win. Fellick went four-for-four with a homer and three RBI in a losing effort. Home runs by MacAlonie and Dobson gave Nottingham an early 4-2 lead in game six, and Dobson's second return-tripper of the day, a three-run shot in the fourth, sent Stoke starter Angus Cunningham (4-10, 4.68 ERA) to the showers. The Foresters were up 9-4 in the bottom of the ninth when the Potters pushed two runs across the plate, but Andrew Horsey came on with a runner on and two outs and caught left fielder Wright looking on a third strike to close out the 9-6 Nottingham win and the Foresters' improbable march to the BA Cup. John Dobson finished the day with five RBI, capping off a Series in which the Nottingham second baseman hit .364 and drove in nine runs. That performance earned him the MVP award.

THE MINORS

Nottingham had similar success with their minor league club, the Rochdale Pioneers, who captured the Northern Conference title. They met the Crawley Ducks, Wolverhampton's affiliate, who were making their first trip to the triple-A finals, and defeated them in a six-game series.

The Peterborough Paladins, Sunderland's double-A franchise, returned to the Third Tier championship series after a one-year hiatus. The Cambridge Dons of the Cardiff system, however, sent them down to defeat in a four-game finals series.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .337 Martin de Koning, Newcastle
HR: 48 Daniel Robertson, Westminster
RBI: 126 Jack Cotgrove, Bradford
R: 110 Pol Ahmuty, Cardiff
SB: 65 Ted Oddie, Edinburgh
Pitching
W: 22 Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, London
L: 19 Finlay Bannatyne, Westminster
K: 207 Graham Digges, London
ERA: 2.06 Graham Digges, London
SV: 46 George Henson, London

Digges missed the triple crown by one victory, as his teammate Storr won nine of his final ten decisions. Oddie, who led the DA in stolen bases from 1981 to 1986 with Islington, won his first EL title after signing with Edinburgh prior to the 1987 campaign.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .367 Carleton Dempsey, Wolverhampton
HR: 42 Lester Angwin, Leicester
RBI: 156 Theo Fellick, Stoke
R: 126 Leon Williams, Stoke
SB: 48 Bill Callaghan, Manchester
Pitching
W: 25 Michael Cuber, Bristol
L: 18 Eddie Belsey, Hull
K: 228 Alex Scroggs, Lambeth
ERA: 2.44 Jimmy Burden, Stoke
SV: 44 Harry "Tap" Barge, Sheffield

Dempsey wins his fifth batting title and third in a row. Barge, a career reliever who broke into the big leagues in 1973, became the saves leader for the first time in his career at age thirty-seven.

[joefromchicago]

1988-89 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Pol Ahmuty, Cardiff (.311, 41 HR, 110 RBI, 110 R, 32 2B, .394 OBP, .594 SLG)
Pitcher: Graham Digges, London (21-4, 2.06 ERA, 267 IP, 207 K, 0.97 WHIP, .208 OAVG)
Manager: Floyd Major, London (113-41, 1st place)
Rookie: Alexander Campbell, Nottingham (.308, 6 HR, 55 RBI, 58 R, 37 2B, .341 OBP, .465 SLG)

Dominion Association
Hitter: Theo Fellick, Stoke (.355, 27 HR, 156 RBI, 105 R, 34 2B, .411 OBP, .564 SLG)
Pitcher: Michael Cuber, Bristol (25-5, 2.47 ERA, 273.2 IP, 183 K, 1.13 WHIP, .235 OAVG
Manager: Brian Keats, Stoke (106-48, 1st place)
Rookie: Donall Rowatt, Wolverhampton (.286, 23 HR, 75 RBI, 65 R, 23 2B, .339 OBP, .533 SLG)

Cuber won his second DA pitcher award in a row. The rest of the recipients were first-timers, although Fellick made a previous appearance at the awards ceremony in 1982 as the DA rookie of the year. Keats, whose contract was up after the playoffs, was expecting an extension and a substantial raise after leading the Potters to the Cup Finals. Instead, he was shown the door, as management, miffed at losing to Nottingham, chose not to renew his deal. Hull immediately snagged Keats to lead their struggling club.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The doors of the Hall of Fame swung wide for Michael Upshaw, the sole inductee of the class of 1988. The southpaw starter debuted with Leicester in 1967 and played his entire fifteen-year career for the Leopards. A seven-time twenty-game winner, he led the DA in ERA four times and helped Leicester to a divisional title in 1979. A tireless worker in an era of increasing reliance on relievers, Upshaw led the Association in innings pitched five times and finished over forty-five percent of his starts.



On his way to winning the EL's outstanding pitcher award, London hurler Graham Digges also collected the ninth perfect game in BA history. His achievement came on 6 July at Coventry, where he struck out five en route to his perfecto. Patrick Donelan's no-hitter wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for the Bristol rookie, who went 11-2 with a 2.64 ERA in his debut season. Donelan shut down Manchester on 26 August, striking out three while issuing four walks and hitting a batter in a 9-0 victory. Stoke left fielder Bert Garton may have been overshadowed by the performance of teammate Theo Fellick, but on 22 June he stood alone in the spotlight as he set a major-league record with ten RBI in a game against Islington. Garton had two homers and three doubles in six at-bats in a wild contest that Stoke won by a final score of 21-11.

ALLIANCE NEWS

The free-agent pool was fairly shallow this year, but that didn't prevent London from diving in head-first. After failing to convince Nick Turgoose to stick around, the Bulldogs found a replacement in Nicholas "Kitty" Hankin, who went 16-9 for Newcastle with a 2.64 ERA. Hankin will be pulling in $9.9 million over the next three years. Turgoose, the EL's outstanding pitcher in 1986, has spent a good deal of time since then on the DL, and only started twenty-four games for London last year, but he'll be making a new start with Glasgow after signing a six-year pact worth $18.6 million. The Gaelics also lured shortstop Jason White away from nearby Edinburgh with the promise of $20.5 million spread over six years. White hit .304 in 146 games for the Chieftans while nicking forty-one bases. Catcher Liach "Biff" Quaile put his signature on a four-year, $11 million deal with Manchester after hitting .291 and driving in ninety runs for Birmingham.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

There was no way of sugar-coating the results of the 1988 season for the Peers. Their .390 winning percentage was the team's worst since 1878, when Westminster finished last in the eight-team League with a 37-61 record. That was also the last time the Peers were awarded the wooden spoon, which they only barely managed to avoid this year by winning seven of their final eight games. About the only highlight was the performance of Daniel Robertson, who again wore the EL home run crown after clobbering forty-eight return-trippers. His average, however, plunged from .323 to .269, which mirrored the offense's descent into the League cellar with a collective .234 batting mark.

Owner Patrick Redlaw, Jr. did not even wait for the end of the playoffs to start unloading players. Discontented veterans Finlay "Steeplejack" Bannatyne and Kyle MacNaughton were granted their wishes and traded to Islington and Stoke respectively. A host of other under-achievers were sent packing in the season's waning days, as the front office started stockpiling young talent. Redlaw, however, resolutely refused to participate in the free-agent market, which he has likened in the past to an "unseemly spectacle."

The front office's warning to expect several lean years ahead as the club rebuilds has taken some of the pressure off skipper Errol Smith, who was criticized during the season for his team's poor performance. Some blame Smith for Westminster's unaccustomed absence from the post-season, a hiatus that is now going on its fifth year, but he also helmed the team to its last Cup Finals victory in 1980 and has won two EL managerial awards in his nine seasons as the field leader of the Peers.

SPRING TRAINING 1989

London proved an easy choice for their fifth-straight EL South flag, but Bradford surprised many as the consensus pick to unseat Nottingham from their two-year stay in the Northern Division's top perch. The betting classes preferred Glasgow in the DA North race, but they couldn't make up their minds between Stoke and Wolverhampton at the head of the DA South.

Edinburgh middle reliever Reinaart van Dam appeared in seventy-one games for the Chieftans in 1988, but the Belgian left-hander will miss the first half of 1989 after being diagnosed with an inflamed shoulder. George Haley started twenty-two games and was 10-7 for Southampton in his freshman season. He'll have to wait four months to make his sophomore debut after tearing a back muscle in a late-spring contest.

Bristol and Stoke emerged from training camp with identical records of 16-8, while three clubs -- London, Cardiff, and Coventry -- shared the EL honors with fifteen wins apiece.

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1989 MID-SEASON

EMPIRE LEAGUE

The race in the Southern Division turned out to be surprisingly close, as once-dominant London faced competition from both Plymouth and Birmingham. The Bulldogs, who last season became the first team to break the $50 million payroll barrier, came into the season as the first club to exceed the $60 million mark. First baseman Keith Parrish rebounded from his .299 average last year, finishing the first half with a team-best .327 mark and fifty-three RBI. Gold glove second baseman Eddie "Clyclone" Mullet, however, saw his average drop forty-seven points to .251 amid a first half vexed by injuries, and the team as a whole witnessed their team average dip to .268, second in the League. Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr and Graham Digges combined for a 25-10 record on the mound, but free-agent acquisition Nicholas "Kitty" Hankin posted a disappointing 3.39 ERA after registering a 2.64 mark with Newcastle last year. Last year's runners-up Plymouth proved a persistent foe, as first sacker Michael Tyerman led the loop with twenty-nine homers and sixty-five RBI and left fielder Marmaduke Dumbrell batted .336 at the top of the order. Birmingham hovered around the .500 mark for most of the spring before embarking on a 16-3 streak that only ended with the midsummer stoppage of play. Starting pitchers Coffey Amary, signed as a free agent in the off-season, and Ciaran McPatrick won two-thirds of their twenty-seven starts and topped the Blue Sox rotation, while third baseman Michael Kerridge powered the offense with nineteen home runs and fifty-nine RBI.

Aberdeen took an early lead in the EL North race. Right-handers Brad Tobias and Paul Whitton boasted identical 10-5 records to lead the mound corps, but David "Cannonball" Stewart, a thirteen-game winner with the sixth-place Chieftans last year, went down with an arm injury in early July and will likely be out for the remainder of the schedule. By that point, Aberdeen had already dropped out of contention, to be replaced by Dublin, who went 17-10 in May to vault into first place. The Shamrocks, who finished a game ahead of Aberdeen last season, were boosted by the hitting of catcher Logan Gow, who batted .327 and drove in fifty-nine runs. It was the pitching, however, that put Dublin in the driver's seat, as starters Sean Armstrong and Cillian O'Looney won twenty-three of their thirty-six decisions and posted ERAs below 2.40. Defending Alliance champs Nottingham kept up with Dublin before falling off the pace in June. Morrigan Tustian, who blasted sixty-three homers two years ago, saw his playing time curtailed severely after registering a .191 average and only seven return-trippers. Finn MacCulloch, a twenty-one-game winner a year ago, still topped the rotation with a 9-3 record, but he suffered from a lack of bullpen support. Newcastle challenged for the lead as the Hibernians slowed down in June. The Greys were sustained by the efforts of second baseman Joe Gates, who led the offense with a .305 average, and closer Dylan "The Crab" Fraser, a free-agent pick-up from Leeds who saved twenty-three games and gave up only 0.44 earned runs per nine innings.

DOMINION ASSOCIATION

Close races featured in both halves of the DA. In the Northern Division, five teams vied for the top spot. Sheffield, last year's wooden spoon recipients, claimed the early lead behind the hitting of center fielder Luhern MacGill, the first player chosen in the 1984 draft, who hit .283 and knocked out sixteen home runs. The pitching staff, however, was rocked by an injury to top starter Max Cleverdon, who was put on the shelf in late June with a shoulder ailment, and the Steelers fell out of first. Manchester emerged from a three-team dogfight as the divisional leaders, as southpaws Whip Cormack and Robbie Dougan paced the mound corps while free-agent catcher Liach "Biff" Quaile, snatched from Birmingham over the winter, and center fielder Bill Callaghan powered the attack. Incumbent division champions Sunderland suffered the loss of ace pitcher Rick Moore, an eighteen-game winner last year who found no takers as a free agent, but received a strong performance from Andrew Westhead, who recorded a 1.99 ERA while winning eleven of twenty decisions. The offense, on the other hand, was beyond anyone's help, as it posted a dismal .238 average and ranked next-to-last with 304 runs scored. The aptly named William Homer led the Hull attack with thirteen return-trippers and fifty-six RBI, and port-sider Zachary Tompkins helmed the rotation with a 7-4 record and 2.99 ERA, but the Kings stayed in the race more because of the generally mediocre quality of the competition than their own inherent strengths.

Islington were expected to contend for the crown in the DA South, and they initially looked like they might dethrone Stoke after jumping out to a 15-10 mark in April. Veteran right-handers Anthony Rutley and Donall Peace topped the rotation, winning twenty of thirty decisions and posting sub-3.00 ERAs, while a hard-hitting line-up, responsible for a DA-best 84 home runs, rested on the efforts of left fielder Johann Finkel and first baseman John Bertrand. Henry York, who hit .308 last season, suffered a groin injury in April that kept him out of action through the midsummer break, and the Owls slumped badly in the weeks leading up to the All-Star Game to fall into third place. That left Stoke and Bristol to fight for the top spot. Defending champs Stoke were led by southpaw Jimmy Burden, who went 13-3 while posting a DA-best 1.98 ERA. He was joined by William Beattie, who won eleven of his sixteen decisions, and Hallinan Quodling, who saved twenty-three games, atop the loop's best pitching staff. Incumbent outstanding hitter Theo Fellick headed the attack once again, hitting .309 while belting a dozen homers and driving in sixty-two runs, while twenty-three-year-old outfielder Alex Wright slapped the ball at an Association-leading .343 tempo while toting up fifty-eight RBI. Bristol trailed the leaders until they went on a sixteen-game winning streak in the weeks leading up to the all-star break that put them in the middle of the competition. Right fielder Auggie Gill boosted the offense with fourteen home runs and forty-nine RBI, while shortstop Brendan "Shufflefoot" Quennell, the second player chosen in the 1983 amateur lottery, topped the club with a .300 average. Two-time outstanding pitcher Michael Cuber registered a 2.28 ERA while posting a 9-4 record, and veteran reliever Guaire Swanncott, signed in the off-season to bolster the bullpen, saved twenty-three games in thirty-seven appearances.



1989 ALL-STAR GAME

Islington's War Memorial Park provided the setting for the midsummer classic, which turned out to be a tense pitchers' duel. The visiting Empire all-stars got on the board in the third when Cardiff slugger Pol Ahmuty doubled off Sheffield reliever Harry "Tap" Barge and came home on a single by Westminster left fielder Daniel Robertson. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the EL until the bottom of the eighth, when "Biff" Quaile drove in the Dominions' first run with a sacrifice fly. In the ninth, Luhern MacGill led off with a triple against Dylan "The Crab" Fraser. After an intentional walk to Theo Fellick, Fraser managed to retire the next two batters, but Manchester's Bill Callaghan grounded a single through the hole to score MacGill with the winning run, as the DA prevailed by a final of 2-1. Robertson, with two hits on the day, took home the MVP award for the second time in four years.

[joefromchicago]

1989 FINAL

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Dublin entered the second half with a narrow edge over Newcastle and Nottingham in the EL North race. The Shamrocks boasted a solid offense, featuring batting champ Logan Gow (.322, 21 HR, 79 RBI) and third baseman Eddie Love (.292, 16 HR, 79 RBI). On the hill, Cillian O'Looney (19-9, 2.68 ERA) and Sean Armstrong (17-13, 2.84 ERA) led the rotation, but the staff lacked depth, and management tried nine different pitchers in a starting role over the season. Newcastle, only two-and-a-half games back of the leaders at the halfway point, fell off the pace in August despite the efforts of keystone man Joe Gates (.306, 4 HR, 69 RBI). Taking the Greys' place were defending champs Nottingham, who came alive in the second half after finishing the first half of the season only one game above .500. Although the Forester offense ranked seventh in the League with a .254 team average, they scored an EL-best 704 runs with the assistance of catcher Marc Anderson (.264, 16 HR, 87 RBI) and clean-up hitter Alexander Campbell (.297, 5 HR, 53 RBI), who returned to the team in mid-July after breaking a finger in June. On the mound, Finn "Trojan" MacCulloch (19-5, 2.19 ERA) led the starters, aided by Carolan Delmar (14-8, 3.57 ERA). Dublin and Nottingham battled through August, leaving the rest of the division behind. The Shamrocks led by a game going into the final month, but they lost six of their first seven contests and dropped out of the lead, and Nottingham held on down the stretch to repeat as divisional champions despite the loss of RBI-leader "Quiet" John Dobson (.233, 27 HR, 105 RBI) to a fractured ankle.

In contrast to previous EL South races, London faced some serious challengers as the second half started. The Bulldogs held a three-game edge over Plymouth at the halfway point, but an 18-8 surge in August put a good deal of daylight between London and the rest of the division. Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr (22-7, 1.94 ERA) and Graham Digges (20-12, 2.87 ERA) topped the rotation, while veteran reliever Robert "Sassafrass" MacCaw (2-4, 47 SV, 1.98 ERA), nabbed from Hull as a free agent in the off-season, led the League in saves. The offense compiled a .260 average, second-best in the loop, but a lack of punch left them with only the eighth-best run total. Keith Parrish (.306, 15 HR, 78 RBI) led the way, with shortstop Bill Maloney (.266, 10 HR, 72 RBI) contributing some timely hitting. Plymouth got good performances from Henry Hogarth (15-7, 2.75 ERA) and home run leader Michael Tyerman (.292, 44 HR, 101 RBI), but a twenty-loss August dragged the Voyagers down to fourth place. Birmingham closed out the first half four-and-a-half games behind the leaders, boosted by a pitching staff headed by starter Ciaran McPatrick (17-9, 2.68 ERA) and lefty closer Conor Moss (4-5, 42 SV, 3.20 ERA). The offense, however, hit a collective .245, with only Michael Kerridge (.311, 26 HR, 78 RBI) distinguishing himself. With three teams battling over second place, London breezed to their fifth-straight divisional flag by a dozen lengths, although they entered the post-season without first baseman Parrish, who was questionable for the first round after missing all of September with a strained hamstring.

DOMINION ASSOCIATION

Both divisions had tight contests at the break, but only one remained close at the end. In the Northern Division, Manchester held a slim lead over the competition as five teams were bunched at the top of the ladder. The Millers featured a solid hill corps led by southpaws Whip Cormack (16-8, 2.31 ERA) and Robbie Dougan (13-12, 3.14 ERA), while the lineup featured Association batting champ Bill Callaghan (.319, 18 HR, 95 RBI) and backstop Liach "Biff" Quaile (.286, 10 HR, 58 RBI). The Mancunians built up a four-game cushion at the top of the division standings by the start of September, but Sheffield suddenly caught fire in the final month, winning nineteen games behind a torrid attack led by rookie right fielder Jim Garvock (.284, 26 HR, 95 RBI) and center fielder Luhern MacGil (.300, 27 HR, 85 RBI). On the last day of the season, Manchester clung to a one-game lead over the surging Steelers. The Millers dropped a 10-7 decision to Glasgow at home, giving Sheffield a chance to force a playoff. But the Steelers lost a heart-breaker in Sunderland when the defending divisional champs pushed a run across in the tenth to win the finale 1-0. The Swifts dropped to fourth place after a rash of injuries knocked out some of the key players who took them to the post-season last year, including Steve Gray (.299, 7 HR, 56 RBI), who missed the second half of September with a broken finger, and Liam Dow (.298, 7 HR, 52 RBI), who spent five weeks on the sidelines with various ailments.

Stoke enjoyed a tenuous game-and-a-half edge over Bristol at the break, but the Potters turned on the after-burners in the second half and blew away the competition in the DA South. Stoke boasted the DA's best team offense (.267) and pitching staff (2.87 ERA), which helped them to their second consecutive hundred-win season. The rotation was topped by left-hander Jimmy Burden (23-5, 2.13 ERA), the Association's only twenty-game winner, and talented youngster William Beattie (16-5, 2.31 ERA). The bullpen, a weak spot for last year's club, was reinforced by veteran Hallinan Quodling (4-2, 35 SV, 1.48 ERA), who took over the closer role after being acquired in the middle of 1988 from Leicester. The offensive duties were shared by first baseman Theo Fellick (.312, 22 HR, 111 RBI), who won the RBI crown, and left fielder Alex Wright (.308, 16 HR, 80 RBI). Against that onslaught, Bristol, despite a record that would have easily led the DA North, had no chance of keeping up. Marmaduke Spencer (.302, 23 HR, 77 RBI) and Auggie Gill (.283, 25 HR, 84 RBI) led the formidable Docker attack, which pounded out 134 home runs. Apart from incumbent outstanding pitcher Michael Cuber (17-10, 2.92 ERA) and closer Guaire Swanncott (6-6, 36 SV, 2.75 ERA), though, Bristol lacked depth on the mound, and the fourth-starter spot was a problem that the club never solved. After a spectacular July that saw the Dockers win twenty-three of their twenty-six contests, the team slumped in the second half, and Stoke turned a close race into a laugher by winning twenty-seven of their final thirty-eight games. Islington jumped to third place on the strength of their pitching staff, led by Anthony Rutley (16-9, 2.37 ERA) and Donall Peace (16-7, 2.86 ERA). The offense, on the other hand, managed only a collective .242 batting average, placing them tenth in the loop.



EL CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: NOTTINGHAM v. LONDON

These rivals met for the third-straight year in the EL championship series. Nottingham took the opener 8-7 in eleven innings after scoring five times in the top of the ninth to tie the game. London came back the next day to win 4-0 behind the pitching of Nicholas "Kitty" Hankin (13-9, 3.18 ERA), and London shut down Nottingham again in game three as Graham Digges and "Sassafrass" MacCaw combined for a 3-0 whitewash. The Bulldogs wrapped it up with a 4-2 game four victory, giving London their third pennant in four years.

DA CUP SEMIFINALS SERIES: MANCHESTER v. STOKE

Shortstop Leon Williams (.292, 7 HR, 87 RBI) gave heavily favored Stoke a 3-2 victory in the curtain-raiser with his tie-breaking homer in the sixth. Manchester came back the following day, prevailing 4-1 behind the pitching of Robbie Dougan (13-12, 3.14 ERA). Stoke, boosted by two Theo Fellick home runs, went back out ahead with an 8-6 win in game three, but the Greys stayed alive with an 11-4 clobbering of the Potters in game four. The series finale saw Stoke lead-off man Alex Wright hit a bases-loaded double in the second that plated all three runners, which was enough for starter Bob Getchell (14-7, 3.03 ERA), who scattered seven hits over seven innings to pick up the 4-2 victory that sent Stoke to the Cup Finals for the second consecutive year.

1989 BA CUP FINALS SERIES: LONDON v. STOKE

In the first meeting between these two clubs, London sent ace Neil Storr to the mound to face Stoke's Willem Esmonde (17-9, 3.11 ERA). Stoke took an early lead with a run in the bottom of the second, but Storr proved not only masterful on the mound but potent at the plate. In the fourth, the "Silver Fox" came up with the bases jammed and hit the second of two doubles on the day, driving in two runs. That proved to be the game-winner, as "Sassafrass" MacCaw came on in the ninth to pick up the save in London's 4-2 win. A two-run homer by Theo Fellick in the fourth inning of game two put Stoke ahead 2-1, and the Potters padded their lead on catcher Andrew Vivian's (.255, 8 HR, 55 RBI) run-scoring double in the fifth. Southpaw hurler Jimmy Burden, meanwhile, held the Bulldogs to five hits over eight innings before handing the ball over to Hallinan Quodling, who gave up a solo homer to Pat Dumble (.257, 9 HR, 58 RBI) but still saved the 3-2 win for the Potters. In London's City Stadium for game three, the Stoke lineup jumped all over Bulldog starter Graham Digges, who gave up four runs in the first three innings and then fell apart completely in the fourth, yielding six runs, including a grand slam to Fellick. Reliever Monro Meads (0-0, 5.21 ERA), consigned to the bullpen this season after eighteen years as a starter with London, came on to staunch the bloodbath, but it was far too late for the Dogs, who fell by a final score of 15-2. Fellick ended the day with four hits and four RBI, while Vivian, Alex Wright, and third baseman Dean Hastings (.221, 10 HR, 67 RBI) collected three hits apiece for the victors. It was a scoreless tie in the fourth inning of game four when London erupted for six runs on six singles and two walks against Esmonde. The Bulldogs added four more runs, while Stoke could only manage a single tally against Storr, who yielded four hits over seven innings for his second win of the series in London's 10-1 victory. Canadian lead-off man Sebastien Guillot (.281, 6 HR, 41 RBI) had three hits for the home squad. Burden returned to the mound for the visitors in game five, but it was London starter Michael "Comet" Lymer (5-6, 2.49 ERA), a twenty-three-year-old spot starter taking the place of "Howling" Jamie Collins (8-7, 3.87 ERA) in the post-season rotation, who stole the spotlight with a four-hit performance over seven innings, as London took the lead in the series with a 5-1 triumph. Shortstop Bill Maloney (.266, 10 HR, 72 RBI) had three of London's eleven hits, while William Smith (.232, 4 HR, 39 RBI) hit safely three times for Stoke. The Potters, facing elimination, got unexpected help from fourth starter Isaac Brembridge (10-7, 4.92 ERA), who handcuffed the London lineup in game six. Brembridge limited the Bulldogs to five hits before leaving the game after the eighth inning. By then, Stoke had built up a 5-0 lead, which is how the final score stood after Quodling hurled a scoreless ninth. Center fielder George Lyre (.297, 9 HR, 54 RBI) picked up three hits and drove in a pair of runs for the winners. For the third time in four years, London faced a decisive game seven in the Cup Finals, and the Bulldogs called on Storr to start for the third time in the series. Maloney put the visitors on the board in the second with a solo homer off Stoke starter Getchell, and they added another tally in the fourth to lead 2-0. Hastings finally broke the shutout in the seventh with a home run, and, in the eighth, Leon Williams hit a clutch two-out single off Storr that sent Wright home with the tying run. That sent the game into extra frames. In the top of the eleventh, with Quodling on the mound for Stoke, pinch hitter Bob Evans (.174, 2 HR, 7 RBI), a journeyman infielder who had been claimed off waivers from Southampton in August, drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a passed ball, and, on a recklessly daring play, broke for third base. Catcher Andrew Vivian, caught completely unawares, threw wildly in an attempt to catch Evans, who scampered home when the ball sailed into left field. "Leaping" Nathan Annable (5-4, 2 SV, 2.10 ERA) came on in the bottom of the eleventh and induced second baseman Bert Jeffcoate (.266, 11 HR, 47 RBI) to fly out to left with the tying run on base to end the game, giving London their second Cup in three seasons. Neil Storr, who started three games for the Bulldogs and who finished the series with a 2-0 record and a 1.21 ERA, was the unanimous pick for the MVP honors.

THE MINORS

The Huddersfield Bens, Leicester's top farm team, last appeared in the Second Tier finals in 1921 before capturing the Southern Conference crown this year. They then capped off their improbable success story by defeating the Dudley Tigers, Manchester's club, in a seven-game set for the triple-A championship.

Manchester's double-A franchise, the Derby Lancers, had better luck in the Third Tier finals, where they prevailed over Birmingham's youngsters, the York Whitecoats, in five games to claim the title.

ALLIANCE LEADERS

Empire League
Hitting
BA: .322 Logan Gow, Dublin
HR: 44 Michael Tyerman, Plymouth
RBI: 105 "Quiet" John Dobson, Nottingham
R: 107 Daniel Robertson, Westminster; Michael Tyerman, Plymouth
SB: 55 Ted Oddie, Edinburgh
Pitching
W: 22 Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, London
L: 18 Nicholas Bubb, Edinburgh/Dublin
K: 226 Brad Tobias, Aberdeen
ERA: 1.94 Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, London
SV: 47 Robert "Sassafrass" MacCaw

Storr, with 183 strikeouts, missed out on the pitching triple crown. Twenty-five-year-old first baseman Tyerman claimed the home run title in only his second full season in the majors.

Dominion Association
Hitting
BA: .319 Bill Callaghan, Manchester
HR: 41 Lester Angwin, Leicester
RBI: 111 Theo Fellick, Stoke
R: 101 Brendan "Shufflefoot" Quennell, Bristol
SB: 49 Derek Rushworth, Sunderland
Pitching
W: 23 Jimmy Burden, Stoke
L: 19 Wes "Dots" Potter, Lambeth; Nick Hobhouse, Southampton
K: 211 Alex Scroggs, Lambeth
ERA: 1.92 Gareth Bignold, Southampton
SV: 45 Harry "Tap" Barge, Sheffield

Angwin, who has clouted 124 home runs over the past three seasons, was the only player in the DA to hit forty homers. He was also the only player to hit thirty homers. Two hitters finished second with twenty-seven return-trippers. Bignold, a nineteen-game winner last year for the Spitfires, started the year in the bullpen for Southampton before moving back into the rotation permanently in early July.

[joefromchicago]

1989-90 OFF-SEASON

AWARDS

Empire League
Hitter: Daniel Robertson, Westminster (.317, 40 HR, 102 RBI, 107 R, 23 2B, .402 OBP, .578 SLG)
Pitcher: Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr, London (22-7, 1.94 ERA, 268.2 IP, 183 K, 1.02 WHIP, .224 OAVG)
Manager: Floyd Major, London (92-62, 1st place)
Rookie: Shawn Barton, Birmingham (12-7, 3.75 ERA, 172.2 IP, 86 K, 1.52 WHIP, .277 OAVG)

Dominion Association
Hitter: Bill Callaghan, Manchester (.319, 18 HR, 95 RBI, 86 R, 34 2B, 16 K, 48 SB, .374 OBP, .490 SLG)
Pitcher: Jimmy Burden, Stoke (23-5, 2.13 ERA, 253.1 IP, 136 K, 1.06 WHIP, .223 OAVG)
Manager: Nick Heler, Sheffield (81-73, 2nd place)
Rookie: Jim Garvock, Sheffield (.284, 26 HR, 95 RBI, 84 R, 31 2B, .338 OBP, .522 SLG)

The big question at the awards ceremony was who would win the outstanding hitter trophies. In the EL, Robertson missed out on the batting and home run crowns, but he led the League in runs scored as well as slugging percentage and on-base percentage, which earned him his second award as the loop's best hitter. In the DA, Theo Fellick of the pennant-winning Potters led the majors with 111 RBI, but Callaghan's batting title, along with his forty-eight stolen bases, clinched the Association's honors.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The Alliance saw a trio of no-hitters recorded for the first time since 1985. John Balloch, who has fallen on some hard times since winning forty-one games for Nottingham over the 1986-87 seasons, blanked Plymouth 9-0 on 21 August. The right-hander, who missed five weeks with back spasms and finished the campaign with a 9-6 record, gave up no walks, but his teammates committed three errors to ruin an otherwise perfect pitching performance. Two days later, Neil "The Silver Fox" Storr put an exclamation point on a superb season by shutting down Liverpool's lineup, yielding only one walk and an unearned run in a 5-1 triumph. Stoke hurler Bob Getchell completed the trifecta with a 4-0 victory over Leeds on 2 September. Acquired from Dublin on the eve of the trade deadline, Getchell struck out five and walked one in his masterpiece.

ALLIANCE NEWS

It was a shallow free-agent pool this year. Right-handed pitcher Sean Armstrong, a seventeen-game-winner in each of the last two seasons for Dublin, made a splash with a $9.5 million deal that will have him in a Bristol uniform for the next five years. Aberdeen took a three-year, $6.8 million gamble on Garvin Shakescraft, who has patrolled London's center field for the last six years but who has hit only .257 in that time. Southpaw starter Milo Emerson will be trading his Southampton duds, which he has worn for the last nine campaigns, for Dublin green after signing a five-year, $9.7 million pact. Veteran third baseman Behellagh McCrane will be taking his .302 career batting average to Dublin after signing a two-year deal worth $4.7 million. McCrane hit .305 with sixty-six homers during his four-year stint with Bristol.

WESTMINSTER NEWS

After their dismal finish in 1988, even seventy-four wins looked good to the Peers, who continue their rebuilding efforts. Daniel Robertson continued to tear up the League with his slugging and carried off his second outstanding hitter award. Twenty-two-year-old Toby Mitchell contributed 94 RBI and settled into his position at first base. The rest of the lineup, however, was a disappointment, and the Peers only managed a collective .241 average, good for thirteenth out of the League's fourteen teams. The pitching, on the other hand, didn't even reach that level, falling all the way to the basement with a 4.07 staff ERA. Jordan Nairn tried to hold the rotation together, but his 14-16 record and 4.27 ERA wasn't enough. The one bright spot was the bullpen. Andrew Spurrell, ending a six-year experiment as a starter, appeared in forty-two games and saved twenty-four, while right-handed youngster Harry Conway notched a microscopic 0.71 ERA in thirty-four trips to the mound.

The plan now is to wait for Venezuelan phenom Ismael "Cy" Valdes to mature enough to crack the starting rotation. The twenty-one-year-old right-hander, the second pick overall in the 1989 rookie draft, swiftly advanced through the minors and is expected to battle for a spot on the major-league roster in spring training. There's no comparable help coming up from the minors on the offensive side of the ledger, however, which leads some observers to think that any help will have to come from the open market.

[joefromchicago]

1980s IN REVIEW

EMPIRE LEAGUE



Decade record: 750-790, .487 (18 of 28)
Best finish: 1985 (86-68, 2nd place)
Worst finish: 1984 (60-94, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1984)
Market size: 4 (1980-87), 3 (1988-89)
Attendance: 12,488,651 (25 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: John Bertrand (1981-87): .297, 161 HR, 536 RBI
Best pitcher: David "Cannonball" Stewart (1981-89): 108-82, 3.47 ERA



Decade record: 742-799, .482 (20 of 28)
Best finish: 1984 (90-65, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1987 (57-97, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1984)
Pennants: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1987)
Market size: 19
Attendance: 14,902,475 (19 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Daniel Elsmore (1984)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Liach "Biff" Quaile (1982-88): .301, 106 HR, 461 RBI
Best pitcher: Max Cleverdon (1980-84): 72-54, 3.19 ERA



Decade record: 782-758, .508 (11 of 28)
Best finish: 1986 (93-61, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1983 (75-79, 6th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1986)
Pennants: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 5
Attendance: 18,160,830 (6 of 24)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Callum Russel (1986)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Callum Russel (1984-89): .317, 160 HR, 586 RBI
Best pitcher: Eddie Rainey (1980-84): 57-47, 3.95 ERA



Decade record: 844-697, .548 (4 of 28)
Best finish: 1982 (92-62, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1980 (73-81, 4th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1982)
Pennants: 1 (1982)
BA Cups: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 5
Attendance: 16,745,757 (11 of 24)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Pol Ahmuty (1988)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 2 - Gary Fullerton (1982), Tim Stainton (1984)
Best hitter: Albert Smith (1980-87): .293, 75 HR, 448 RBI
Best pitcher: Tim Stainton (1980-89): 161-109, 3.40 ERA



Decade record: 723-817, .469 (24 of 28)
Best finish: 1984 (81-73, 4th place)
Worst finish: 1980 (58-96, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1980)
Market size: 6 (1980-88), 5 (1989)
Attendance: 9,579,530 (28 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Layne Bruce (1982)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Layne Bruce (1980-85): .306, 182 HR, 558 RBI
Best pitcher: Mick "Hindoo" Meyrick (1980-83, 1985-86): 16-27, 116 SV, 2.77 ERA

[joefromchicago]

1980s IN REVIEW

EMPIRE LEAGUE (cont.)



Decade record: 728-812, .473 (23 of 28)
Best finish: 1985 (92-62, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1983 (56-98, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1985)
Pennants: 1 (1985)
BA Cups: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1983)
Market size: 10 (1980-84), 9 (1985-89)
Attendance: 14,221,905 (21 of 24)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Luke Williams (1982-87): .335, 114 HR, 451 RBI
Best pitcher: Cillian O'Looney (1980-89): 111-133, 3.90 ERA



Decade record: 798-742, .518 (8 of 28)
Best finish: 1982 (96-58, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1985 (58-96, 6th place)
Divisional titles: 4 (1980-83)
Pennants: 2 (1981, 1983)
BA Cups: 1 (1981)
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 8 (1980-88), 7 (1989)
Attendance: 17,024,853 (10 of 24)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 3 - Callum Russel (1980-81, 1983)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Jason White (1982-88): .300, 29 HR, 293 RBI
Best pitcher: Arthur "Hick" Boulter (1980-88): 100-73, 3.24 ERA



Decade record: 685-855, .445 (28 of 28)
Best finish: 1984 (81-73, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1985 (54-100, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1984)
Pennants: 1 (1984)
BA Cups: 1 (1984)
Wooden spoons: 4 (1985-86, 1988-89)
Market size: 10 (1980-84), 9 (1985-89)
Attendance: 12,981,419 (23 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Beckan Restalrig (1982-89): .317, 87 HR, 390 RBI
Best pitcher: Hallisey "Crash" MacPheidran (1980-88): 100-91, 2.66 ERA



Decade record: 883-657, .573 (1 of 28)
Best finish: 1988 (113-41, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1983 (73-81, 5th place)
Divisional titles: 5 (1985-89)
Pennants: 3 (1986-87, 1989)
BA Cups: 2 (1987, 1989)
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 20
Attendance: 19,811,511 (3 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 6 - Gary Fullerton (1980-81), Monro Meads (1985), Nick Turgoose (1986), Graham Digges (1988), Neil Storr (1989)
Best hitter: Eddie "Cyclone" Mullet (1985-89): .282, 97 HR, 332 RBI
Best pitcher: Monro Meads (1980-89): 154-79, 2.92 ERA



Decade record: 736-804, .478 (22 of 28)
Best finish: 1983 (80-74, 3rd place)
Worst finish: 1981 (67-87, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 4 (1980-88), 5 (1989)
Attendance: 15,548,338 (17 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Teague Ennis (1981-86): .278, 83 HR, 418 RBI
Best pitcher: Richard "Burgess" MacCome (1982-89): 30-28, 121 SV, 2.53 ERA

[joefromchicago]

1980s IN REVIEW

EMPIRE LEAGUE (cont.)



Decade record: 803-737, .521 (7 of 28)
Best finish: 1987 (96-58, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1982 (63-91, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 3 (1987-89)
Pennants: 1 (1988)
BA Cups: 1 (1988)
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 5
Attendance: 17,352,664 (9 of 24)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Fionn Mote (1985)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Albert Crook (1980-89): .284, 140 HR, 642 RBI
Best pitcher: Sam "Pepper" Bosanquet (1980-89): 130-104, 3.55 ERA



Decade record: 767-773, .498 (14 of 28)
Best finish: 1988 (84-70, 2nd place)
Worst finish: 1982 (59-95, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1982)
Market size: 4
Attendance: 14,570,050 (20 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 1 - Neil Storr (1986)
Best hitter: Jonah Madden (1981-89): .280, 124 HR, 547 RBI
Best pitcher: Quentin Evans (1984-89): 96-55, 3.11 ERA



Decade record: 721-819, .468 (25 of 28)
Best finish: 1982 (89-65, 3rd place)
Worst finish: 1981 (65-89, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1981)
Market size: 4 (1980-82), 3 (1983-89)
Attendance: 11,478,024 (27 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Robert Ballinger (1980-84): .274, 69 HR, 318 RBI
Best pitcher: Chad Langdon (1980-83): 48-42, 3.04 ERA



Decade record: 819-721, .532 (6 of 28)
Best finish: 1983 (97-57, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1988 (60-94, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 3 (1980-81, 1983)
Pennants: 1 (1980)
BA Cups: 1 (1980)
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 7
Attendance: 24,846,129 (1 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 2 - Daniel Robertson (1987, 1989)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 1 - Finlay Bannatyne (1983)
Best hitter: Daniel Robertson (1985-89): .297, 204 HR, 505 RBI
Best pitcher: Finlay "Steeplejack" Bannatyne (1980-88): 134-99, 3.64 ERA

[joefromchicago]

1980s IN REVIEW

DOMINION ASSOCIATION



Decade record: 688-852, .447 (27 of 28)
Best finish: 1987 (78-76, 3rd place)
Worst finish: 1984 (49-105, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: 3 (1980-81, 1984)
Market size: 6 (1980-82), 5 (1983-89)
Attendance: 12,262,727 (26 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: William Littlechild (1984-89): .287, 171 HR, 470 RBI
Best pitcher: George "Jughandle" Povey (1986-89): 43-38, 4.21 ERA



Decade record: 790-750, .513 (9 of 28)
Best finish: 1989 (90-64, 2nd place)
Worst finish: 1982 (63-91, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1982)
Market size: 8 (1980-83), 7 (1984-89)
Attendance: 15,906,921 (16 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 2 - Michael Cuber (1987-88)
Best hitter: Marmaduke Spencer (1985-89): .307, 117 HR, 424 RBI
Best pitcher: Michael Cuber (1984-89): 112-53, 3.41 ERA



Decade record: 850-693, .551 (3 of 28)
Best finish: 1982 (97-57, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1989 (78-76, 3rd place)
Divisional titles: 4 (1981-82, 1985-86)
Pennants: 2 (1982, 1986)
BA Cups: 2 (1982, 1986)
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 17 (1980-81), 16 (1982-83), 15 (1984-85), 14 (1986-88), 13 (1989)
Attendance: 21,562,057 (2 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 2 - Daniel Elsmore (1980), Pepe Rivera (1987)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 1 - Cedric Cutting (1984)
Best hitter: Aaron "Baron" Turriff (1980-89): .282, 112 HR, 579 RBI
Best pitcher: Dwane Wait (1980-89): 123-85, 3.38 ERA



Decade record: 774-767, .502 (12 of 28)
Best finish: 1984 (92-62, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1987 (61-93, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 2 (1983-84)
Pennants: 1 (1984)
BA Cups: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1987)
Market size: 6 (1980-84), 5 (1985-89)
Attendance: 18,246,920 (5 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Martin de Koning (1983)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 2 - Angus Cunningham (1981-82)
Best hitter: Martin de Koning (1982-86): .316, 47 HR, 289 RBI
Best pitcher: Angus Cunningham (1980-83, 1988): 68-41, 3.14 ERA



Decade record: 825-715, .536 (5 of 28)
Best finish: 1987 (90-64, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1985 (73-81, 6th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1987)
Pennants: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 7
Attendance: 18,669,193 (4 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 2 - David Wakefield (1981, 1984)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Henry York (1980-89): .313, 86 HR, 643 RBI
Best pitcher: Donall Peace (1980-89): 134-76, 3.00 ERA

[joefromchicago]

1980s IN REVIEW

DOMINION ASSOCIATION (cont.)



Decade record: 769-771, .499 (13 of 28)
Best finish: 1983 (97-57, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1989 (53-101, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 2 (1983, 1985)
Pennants: 2 (1983, 1985)
BA Cups: 2 (1983, 1985)
Wooden spoons: 1 (1989)
Market size: 9 (1980-87), 8 (1988-89)
Attendance: 16,227,923 (14 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Quincy Burman (1985)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 2 - Fraser Reilly (1983, 1985)
Best hitter: Henry Sellers (1984-89): .275, 123 HR, 450 RBI
Best pitcher: Fraser Reilly (1980-85): 96-38, 2.19 ERA



Decade record: 740-801, .480 (21 of 28)
Best finish: 1980 (91-64, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1989 (57-97, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1980)
Pennants: 1 (1980)
BA Cups: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 8
Attendance: 18,040,157 (7 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 1 - Charlie Westaby (1980)
Best hitter: George Ayling (1980-83): .291, 18 HR, 223 RBI
Best pitcher: Charlie "Blitzen" Westaby (1980-89): 148-102, 3.53 ERA



Decade record: 753-787, .489 (16t of 28)
Best finish: 1980 (81-73, 2nd place)
Worst finish: 1984 (68-86, 6th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 6 (1980-86), 5 (1987-89)
Attendance: 15,983,082 (15 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Alexander Benstead (1986)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 1 - Conry Wraggs (1986)
Best hitter: Alexander Benstead (1985-89): .334, 155 HR, 430 RBI
Best pitcher: Conry Wraggs (1982-89): 105-77, 3.04 ERA



Decade record: 755-785, .490 (15 of 28)
Best finish: 1987 (83-71, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1985 (64-90, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 2 (1987, 1989)
Pennants: 1 (1987)
BA Cups: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1985)
Market size: 8
Attendance: 16,409,709 (12 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Bill Callaghan (1989)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Jerry Peternek (1981-89): .286, 79 HR, 432 RBI
Best pitcher: Whip Cormack (1981-89): 109-84, 3.47 ERA



Decade record: 689-851, .447 (26 of 28)
Best finish: 1989 (81-73, 2nd place)
Worst finish: 1983 (56-98, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: 1 (1983, 1985, 1988)
Market size: 9 (1980-85), 8 (1986-89)
Attendance: 12,610,460 (24 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Travis Waller (1980-85, 1986-89): .277, 153 HR, 544 RBI
Best pitcher: Patrick Spokes (1984-89): 69-54, 3.64 ERA

[joefromchicago]

1980s IN REVIEW

DOMINION ASSOCIATION (cont.)



Decade record: 753-787, .489 (16t of 28)
Best finish: 1988 (96-58, 2nd place)
Worst finish: 1980 (66-88, 7th place)
Divisional titles: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 4
Attendance: 16,341,394 (13 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: John Littlechild (1982-89): .282, 125 HR, 557 RBI
Best pitcher: Freddy MacWilliam (1980-84): 74-51, 3.88 ERA



Decade record: 786-754, .510 (10 of 28)
Best finish: 1988 (106-48, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1981 (63-91, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 2 (1988-89)
Pennants: 2 (1988-89)
BA Cups: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 5
Attendance: 15,031,922 (18 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Theo Fellick (1988)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: 1 - Jimmy Burden (1989)
Best hitter: Theo Fellick (1981-89): .315, 193 HR, 739 RBI
Best pitcher:



Decade record: 750-791, .487 (19 of 28)
Best finish: 1988 (79-75, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1982 (70-84, 7th place)
Divisional titles: 1 (1988)
Pennants: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 4
Attendance: 13,458,973 (22 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: none
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Andrew Polkinghorne (1984-89): .271, 132 HR, 408 RBI
Best pitcher: Doug Wager (1982-87): 69-70, 3.49 ERA



Decade record: 861-679, .559 (2 of 28)
Best finish: 1981 (94-60, 1st place)
Worst finish: 1988 (67-87, 6th place)
Divisional titles: 5 (1980-82, 1984, 1986)
Pennants: 1 (1981)
BA Cups: none
Wooden spoons: none
Market size: 5 (1980-88), 4 (1989)
Attendance: 17,910,463 (8 of 28)

Outstanding Hitter awards: 1 - Carleton Dempsey (1982)
Outstanding Pitcher awards: none
Best hitter: Carleton Dempsey (1980-89): .337, 109 HR, 758 RBI
Best pitcher: Gilberto Reyes (1980-84): 76-44, 3.68 ERA

[joefromchicago]

THE BASEBALL ALLIANCE: A POST-MORTEM



A few final remarks about the Baseball Alliance:

First of all, this was all played in version 12, so my remarks are strictly to be understood in that context. In particular, some of the things that I will comment upon may have been changed in versions 13 or 14. I never purchased version 13, so I'm not aware of those changes.

THE DYNASTY: I'm not sure if I could have picked a more labor-intensive format for the reports. Although each season had only three reports, the format I chose was text-heavy, and I ended up spending two or three times as much time on writing reports as on playing the game. The MS Word file for this dynasty exceeds 700 pages and is 5.85 MB. If I do this sort of thing again, I'll probably adopt a different format that will rely more on stats than on text.

MY TEAM: 49 post-season appearances, 47 pennants, 30 BA Cup championships, a lifetime 10,045-7,263 record and a .580 winning percentage. What, you may ask, makes me such a baseball deity? I kept the trading difficulty at "normal," and I usually traded for prospects, who might be under-valued by the AI. That's not to say that I was uniformly successful in those trades, and the reports will show that I picked up a fair number of prospects who never panned out. Nevertheless, I expect that I will choose different settings if I do this again.

More importantly, though, there's a "cheat" available under the reserve-clause rules that is easily exploited. I wouldn't sign any rookie free agents until the first day of the regular season. I've found that, while the AI teams scramble for free agents in the immediate aftermath of the preceding season, they don't bother with anyone who is created after spring training begins -- and there are plenty of rookies who are created in that span. I signed hall-of-famers Paul Rushworth, Tim Savill, Dave Sledge, and William Isaacs this way, along with a score of other quality players who either played in a Westminster uniform (e.g. Gareth Jaggar, Daniel Brigg) or who were used as trade-bait to acquire players from other organizations.

My guess is that the game automatically creates rookies in advance of the rookie draft, even if there's no rookie draft at all (as is the case under reserve-clause rules). The AI teams don't sign those rookies because they'd be prevented from doing so if there were a draft, despite the fact that they're not prevented from signing rookies throughout the year under reserve-clause rules. That problem disappeared once the rookie draft was instituted, and, in general, the game handles the modern free-agent-rookie-draft model much better than the reserve clause.

It got so unbalanced that, about 1955, I decided to stop utilizing this "cheat" and drafted rookies only on January 1 of each year or during the season to fill holes in my minors. The enormous reservoir of talent on my roster, however, didn't dry up until about 1975 or so, as I was able to restock the pool by trading veterans for youngsters from other clubs. Everything finally fell apart in 1988 when I finished in last place, but that was about thirty years after abandoning my previous rookie acquisition model and about a decade of low draft picks.

I'll add that I initially set scouting values at 2-8, but later went to 1-5 as I found that even the limited range of the former system gave me too much of an advantage in evaluating talent. I hesitate, however, to adopt a stats-only approach, since I think there should be some way to scout a youngster's "tools" without relying completely on his stats. That might mean setting scouting accuracy below "normal."

FINANCIALS: Originally, I had hoped to use my experience with this league as the basis to create a reasonable financial system that I could use for any future dynasty. Unfortunately, I ended up improvising with the financials so much that I can only arrive at some very general conclusions:

(1) It's not easy balancing revenue and expenditures in the reserve-era financial system. Although players aren't receiving multi-million-dollar contracts, their contracts are renewed every year and they are paid according to their performance, which means good players keep getting raises and a good team's payroll is almost always higher than a bad team's. There are, in other words, no Charlie Comiskeys in the OOTP world who take advantage of the reserve clause in order to under-pay star players, and the AI doesn't exploit players in the same way that owners did in real life. The owner's "fiscal personality" should probably determine how generous or stingy he is with player contracts, but I don't think it does.

(2) Paradoxically, teams in my dynasty did much better financially in the free-agent era than in the reserve-clause era. That's because, while the top player salaries increased dramatically, players who weren't eligible for free agency got paid the league minimum. Meanwhile, teams not only benefitted from higher ticket prices but also national and local media contracts. As a result, revenues rose much faster than payrolls. Oddly, despite claims that all that idle cash would drive up free agent salaries, I didn't see that happening -- at least not at the same rate that profits were increasing, and certainly not to the point where small market clubs fell behind in the race for free agents.

(3) One of the things I wanted to test was whether teams in large markets would out-perform teams in small markets. In large part, that wasn't the case. Excluding my team (which was in a medium-to-small market), the most successful club was Leeds, a mid-level club which went to the post-season twenty-two times and won eleven championships. In contrast, London, with a market fixed at the benchmark figure of twenty for the entire period, managed to appear in the post-season only eleven times (including five times in the final five seasons) and won a mere four BA Cups.

(4) I used market size as a substitute for city size, although I realize that OOTP doesn't equate those things. Now, however, I think that fan interest is more important than market size, at least when it comes to determining attendance. Westminster's market size was in the lower half of the Alliance, but it consistently outdrew all other teams because fan interest remained in the 90s. To replicate the effects of a large population base on team attendance, therefore, I think equal attention must be paid to market size and fan interest.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

(1) Power numbers were way off in my dynasty. The first time anyone hit fifty homers in a season was in 1970, fifty years after it happened in real life. The first player to reach 400 career home runs was Kasey Mabbitt in 1964. In real life, Babe Ruth surpassed the 400 mark in 1927. I've said this before: I think OOTP's player-creation function tends to distribute talent along a normal bell curve, whereas, in reality, the curve has a long "tail" at the high end, where the superior players can be found. That's especially true in times of transition, such as the 1920s, when a handful of exceptional players hit a lot of home runs while everyone else's power numbers remained flat. In 1930, the year of the "big sticks," the top five home run hitters combined for 224 homers, and none hit fewer than 38. In my dynasty, the top five hit 159, and none hit more than 38. On the other hand, MLB teams averaged 97.8 homers that year while BA teams average 107.8. So while OOTP gets the average about right, it doesn't get the distribution correct.

The same, by the way, goes for stolen bases -- and, I believe, largely for the same reasons. Nobody in my dynasty ever stole over 100 bases. The highest single-season total was 96 in 1895. By that point in major league history, the century mark in stolen bases had been reached thirteen times. Likewise, while Maury Wills stole 104 bases in 1962 (a feat that, in many ways, was comparable to Ruth's 54 homers in 1920), the leader in my dynasty was Mike Springer with a rather ordinary 41. Part of that, however, may have been due to the AI's conservative base-running strategy.

(2) The AI goes nuts sometimes when it comes to releasing and re-signing players. I found this happened most often with mediocre relief pitchers for some reason. For instance, here's John Vanner:



Despite the whipsawing he endured in 1956, Vanner, a third baseman, broke into the majors in 1957 and ended up having a solid but otherwise largely undistinguished career. That same scenario played out dozens of times. In addition, the AI constantly put players on waiver that really shouldn't have been there, including some players who went on to have banner years. Those may have been instances of salary dumps, but trading those players would have, at least, brought somebody in return. Here's Michael Vipont, a reliever claimed off waivers eight times and traded seven times during his career:



I know this has been an issue for some time, and I don't know it has been addressed since version 12.

(3) The AI often gets into situations where a team won't play an aging veteran because his skills have deteriorated, but won't trade that player because he is a fan favorite. As a result, a number of players will hang around for two or three seasons and do nothing, yet the AI refuses to trade them.

(4) In 120 years, there were twenty-two sweeps in the Cup Finals Series. That was the most common outcome for the Finals. The second-most common result was a five-game series where the losing team won the second game (that happened sixteen times). No team ever came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the finals, although there were five times that the winning team came back from a 3-1 deficit to clinch the series. The first time that happened was in 1966.

[goroyals]

I'm going to start catching up on this; very impressive to go that many seasons. I was curious to hear a little bit more about your custom financial model. In your first post you talk a little bit about the system you were going to set up. Did you stick to that, or if you didn't, how were you handling things later on?

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by goroyals

I'm going to start catching up on this; very impressive to go that many seasons. I was curious to hear a little bit more about your custom financial model. In your first post you talk a little bit about the system you were going to set up. Did you stick to that, or if you didn't, how were you handling things later on?

I wish I had documented all of the changes that I made to my financial "system," but I didn't. In the early years, the main changes were to average salaries, as they didn't always mesh with income (I tended to make changes to the expenditure side rather than the income side -- I could have just as easily done it the other way around). Later on, after the introduction of free agency, income and expenditures got all out of line and I had to nudge salaries up to keep pace. If I had continued the dynasty, I probably would have made more changes by raising salaries again.

On the income side, I had a model for stadium improvements, on sort of a generational basis: i.e. the first generation of wooden stadiums (roughly 1870-95) would be replaced by the second (1895-1920) and third (1920-50) generations of steel-and-concrete stadiums, then replaced by the fourth generation of modern stadiums (1950-1990). That worked well in theory, but some teams never accumulated enough money to build newer stadiums (Salford, for example, was always in the red in the early years), so I had to arrange "loans" to help them out. On the other hand, some teams had so much spare cash (like, e.g. my team) that they could have built a new stadium every other year. So there was a lot of creativity in this area as well.

[goroyals]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

I wish I had documented all of the changes that I made to my financial "system," but I didn't. In the early years, the main changes were to average salaries, as they didn't always mesh with income (I tended to make changes to the expenditure side rather than the income side -- I could have just as easily done it the other way around). Later on, after the introduction of free agency, income and expenditures got all out of line and I had to nudge salaries up to keep pace. If I had continued the dynasty, I probably would have made more changes by raising salaries again.

On the income side, I had a model for stadium improvements, on sort of a generational basis: i.e. the first generation of wooden stadiums (roughly 1870-95) would be replaced by the second (1895-1920) and third (1920-50) generations of steel-and-concrete stadiums, then replaced by the fourth generation of modern stadiums (1950-1990). That worked well in theory, but some teams never accumulated enough money to build newer stadiums (Salford, for example, was always in the red in the early years), so I had to arrange "loans" to help them out. On the other hand, some teams had so much spare cash (like, e.g. my team) that they could have built a new stadium every other year. So there was a lot of creativity in this area as well.

That's really cool and something I'll have to keep in mind. As far as manually editing the finances, what I'm looking for my dynasty is importing the automatic settings every year for a base line then editing income/expenses to 1) make it so teams lose money more often and 2) the finances reflect my storyline (eg maybe during a period of rival leagues player expenses skyrocket). Based on your experience, do you think that's plausible? I know you used your own numbers throughout, but you've got to be like the sage of OOTP financials at this point

The stadium thing is also fascinating. I could defintely see that being tied into fan interest and "fund a new stadium or we move" scenarios in a modern American league.

Any plans for a new dynasty?

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by goroyals

That's really cool and something I'll have to keep in mind. As far as manually editing the finances, what I'm looking for my dynasty is importing the automatic settings every year for a base line then editing income/expenses to 1) make it so teams lose money more often and 2) the finances reflect my storyline (eg maybe during a period of rival leagues player expenses skyrocket). Based on your experience, do you think that's plausible? I know you used your own numbers throughout, but you've got to be like the sage of OOTP financials at this point

Those are some very good ideas (I might be asking you for advice on financials pretty soon ). I used the automatic settings, at least to begin with, but then modified the financial coefficient every year after that. At first I just boosted the coefficient by .01 every other year, then every year, then by .02 every year. After World War II, I boosted the coefficient by the inflation index for that year (I probably should have been doing that all along - the inflation numbers are easy to find on the net). Modifying the coefficient has the advantage of inflating everything -- ticket prices, salaries, media contracts, etc. -- but the disadvantage is that it boosts everything, including existing salaries that should be fixed. I'll need to work on that if I do this sort of thing again.

I'd like to duplicate the kind of inter-league salary wars that happened in the 1880s through the final peace with the American League in 1903, but I didn't attempt that in this dynasty. Others have suggested switching to a modified free-agent model for those years, where every player is eligible for free agency (no arbitration) - that would replicate the situation where every team is bidding on every player. I'm interested in testing that out to see if it works.

Originally Posted by goroyals

The stadium thing is also fascinating. I could defintely see that being tied into fan interest and "fund a new stadium or we move" scenarios in a modern American league.

Unfortunately, OOTP has no mechanism for building new stadiums, so it has to be handled entirely outside of the game. I used the "our stadium is too small" excuse to move a couple of teams, but in truth the markets were getting too small. I also used the "our stadium got bombed by the Germans" excuse to move a team - that may not work for you.

Originally Posted by goroyals

Any plans for a new dynasty?

I have some ideas tumbling around in my head, but nothing definite yet. I'm still kicking the tires on version 14.