Out of the Shadows: The Eclipse League

[luckymann]

Far lower incidence of this feat than I expected given the talent and playing style of so many in this league with that combination of power and speed.

On further investigation, Ronald's is just the 24th cycle in the EL's 17 seasons to date.

Ozzie Albies, Hurley McNair, John Henry Lloyd and Alex Johnson has each managed to do it twice.

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

Nice and early this season for the Cuban Stars meeting, which for the second year in a row is weather-affected with the final two games played as a DH after a rainout.

And thanks in a large part to offseason acquisition SS Dave Wyatt, it is another win to the West, putting the running series score now at 13-4 in their favour.

[luckymann]

Plenty going on early in the EL so far, much of it out of the ordinary...

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

Eclipse League

The Buckeyes will enter May riding an unbroken 10-game win streak and, other than a slow start by Hilldale, all else is as per expectations.

Monthly Award Winners

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Warren Cromartie (Black Yankees) 389 / 5 HR / 11 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jose Fernandez (West) 4-0 / 1.72 / 29 K / 36.2 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Leon Wagner (Royal Giants) 300 / 10 HR / 18 RBI.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Al Smith (Buckeyes) 352 / 5 HR / 22 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Edgar Chatman (Liberty Stars) 4-0 / 2.12 / 6 SV / 15 K / 17 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Tom Richardson (Buckeyes) 1-1 / 2.12 / 9 SV / 14 K / 17 IP.

Points of Interest

• Ahhh the best-laid plans… the BYs lose Hurley McNair for a month in the season’s first week.
• Art Pennington signs a 1/1400 deal with the Dodgers.
• A very short season for ABCs hurler Pop Andrews, who’ll miss almost a full calenday year with a UCL tear.
• ShoTime finally makes his long-awaited return but it seems only as a 1B and not pitching.

Transit League

Nothing really out of the ordinary yet here, either, although we do get a rare double with two cycles achieved on the same day—by Jason Bourgeois for the Tigers against the Wolves and Milwaukee’s Percy Wilson against Washington. Jacksonville’s Jose Moreno also clips Dayton for one near the end of the month.

Monthly Award Winners

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Devon White (Red Caps) 413 / 2 HR / 17 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Charlie Beamon (Marcos) 4-0 / 2.55 / 29 K / 35.1 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Armando Rios (Tigers) 338 / 6 HR / 20 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jose Acosta (Black Sox) 3-1 / 2.45 / 23 K / 33 IP.

[luckymann]

This one would have been fun to be in the crowd for.

[luckymann]

Known as one of the premier NeL knuckleballers of all time, Barney "Big Ad" Morris was born in Shreveport LA on June 3, 1910 and made his first appearance with the Monroe Monarchs of the Negro Southern League in 1932.

Jim Riley claims Ad's knucksie was more like a fastball so hard did he throw it and that he mixed it with a strong array of other off-speed pitches. Effectively so, it would seem, with Seamheads crediting him with a 49-49 record and a fine 117 career ERA+ over his 13 seasons (including one with Monterrey in Mexico), earning him just under 12 career WAR by their calculations. Eric Chalek expands that to 17 seasons for his MLEs and credits Barney with 200 Wins and nearly 40 WAR over that span.

IRL he is most closely aligned with the New York Cubans, where he played the last 7 of those campaigns, and the Crawfords, where he earned the first of his two East-West Game nods in 1937 (the other being in '44 with the Cubans). He was also a member of the 1947 Cubans that went on to win it all that year.

He died in 1962.

Barney came into the EL via the 1977 Draft, where he was taken 11th overall by the Buckeyes and he spent the next 6 seasons there, winning 101 games against just 70 losses (including a career best 23-8 in his walk year) and was on the 1978 Championship side as a rookie. He signed a big-money 6-year contract with the Red Sox at the beginning of last season and has excelled there as well, including a second no-hitter in 1984 to go with his one of the previous season. At the time of posting, Barney's career mark sits at 123-87 with an ERA of 3.78 (108 ERA+) and he is approaching the 40 rWAR level.

As always, we'll follow him along his EL journey until it ends.

[luckymann]

Carlos is the all-time leader.

[luckymann]

Eclipse League

After a couple clubs looked like they were forging a break, things have tightened right back up again with the LibStars' 3 1/2-game lead in the WCA the widest of the four.

Monthly Award Winners

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Tony Abreu (Bacharach Giants) 311 / 9 HR / 22 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Pedro Martinez (Black Yankees) 4-0 / 3.08 / 49 K / 49.2 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Leon Wagner (Royal Giants) 330 / 5 HR / 21 RBI.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Jim Rice (Grays) 337 / 9 HR / 30 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Edgar Chatman (Liberty Stars) 3-0 / 1.15 / 8 SV / 14 K / 15.2 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Tom Williams (Lincoln Giants) 3-0 / 2.15 / 26 K / 46 IP.

Points of Interest

• The Motown Stars acquire 1B Wayne Cage from the Mons in exchange for OF Juan Rivera and P George Mitchell.
• Edwin Jackson earns Win #250.

Transit League

The Stars (20-8 in May) and Clowns (19-9) have each made a strong move.

Monthly Award Winners

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: George Handy (Black Crackers) 400 / 7 HR / 24 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jack Marshall (Stars) 5-1 / 4.24 / 41 K / 46.2 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Luis Terrero (Hornets) 412 / 4 HR / 25 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: John Roper (Clowns) 5-0 / 3.86 / 34 K / 44.1 IP.

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

He didn't get there first, but he got there!

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

Eclipse League

Not sure it could be any closer.

The Grays, it is fair to say, have been busy. They have a 12-game win streak and not long after release veteran Martin Dihigo, who is quickly picked up on a minors deal by the Red Sox. They also lose P Omar Daal on the Waiver Wire to the CSE.

After a slow start and despite losing Oscar Charleston for a short while, Hilldale has got a wriggle on of late and loom ominously.

Monthly Award Winners

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Willie Bobo (Black Barons) 3360 / 7 HR / 18 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Pedro Martinez (Black Yankees) 4-2 / 2.62 / 45 K / 48 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Mitchell Page (Black Yankees) 337 / 6 HR / 18 RBI.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Kal Daniels (Lincoln Giants) 337 / 7 HR / 20 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Hulon Stamps (Liberty Stars) 5-0 / 2.01 / 34 K / 40.1 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Tom Williams (Lincoln Giants) 5-0 / 2.25 / 30 K / 44 IP.

Points of Interest

• Newark’s Dick Allen has a 5-for-5 game – all of them doubles – against the Giants.
• Don Newcombe earns career Win number 200.
  The Buckeyes lose SS Al Smith for the better part of two months to back problems.
• Bacharach Giants star Monte Irvin is done in for 3 months by a broken hand.
• Some trades:

Top 20s - overall




Top 20s - NeLers




Transit League

Harlem and Indy looking strong this year and have handy breaks, with the other two races still tight.

Monthly Award Winners

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Darrin Jackson (Blue Birds) 418 / 9 HR / 20 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Barney Brown (Red Caps) 4-1 / 2.00 / 28 K / 45 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: David Peralta (Black Sox) 295 / 9 HR / 23 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Carlos Eduardo Hernandez (Clowns) 5-1 / 1.50 / 38 K / 48 IP.

[luckymann]

Well, I said in the season preview that rookie Square Moore was one to watch but not even I expected this!

[luckymann]

George Scales holds his place as the number 1 prospect, with the ABC's farm system heading the midseason list.

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

Call me Ishmael...

One faces many changes when trying to rate NeLers for use in the game of OOTP. Some are completely external to it; sparse stats and an understanding of QoP, for example. Others are entirely to do with how the game interprets the data you provide it with and turn them into ratings.

In my many years now in this quest, some players have become what I consider to be the NeL "black whales". Players that, for whatever reason and usually more than one of them, the game simply doesn't handle well. Doesn't "like" them, if you will.

Cool Papa Bell is probably the ultimate example of the "black whale" in my experience. The only decent version of him I have seen was in a recalc save in v24 where he has come in as a 2WP, although he is still young in that timeline and I am yet to see his career in its entirety.

This was CPB's Eclipse League output:

And that, despite my having re-entered the input data a number of times. For him, it is all about the "imprint" that I have written about elsewhere. This has improved to a certain degree in the past couple versions of the game but is still prevalent.

Where it hurts players most is for the pre-1920 guys. They get the double whammy of their stats not being included in the "major league" categorisation and those stats being from the deadball era. From 1920 onwards, any OOTP save is going to favour the power game to varying degrees and leave these early guys looking pretty poor in quality by comparison. When you throw in the minors stats category it is nearly impossible for guys such as Grant "Home Run" Johnson, Julian Castillo and the subject of this feature to be any good in an OOTP context. At least guys like Cobb, Keeler, Shoeless Joe et al get the full merit of their contact hitting in the MLB; not so for these guys, who see their main attribute discounted heavily by the game, rendering them almost as scrubs.

They are the true "black whales".

It is for this reason that the Eclipse League save remains and will forever remain on v23. As a dev only save, it has proven the absolute "Goldilocks Zone" to this point in which, while not invariably but more often than not, players have responded well to the input data and reproduced in the manner I had hoped and expected they would. Long may that continue!

Carlos Moran is one player from this era who has so far defied the trend and turned out exceedingly well in this timeline.

As is the norm for NeLers of his era, little is known of his early life other than his being born in Matanzas, Cuba in 1878 and that he had two brothers Francisco and Angel who would also play the game. Like most players with an Asiatic countenance he was known as "Chino". These sorts of racial epithets are frowned upon these days and I avoid them as a rule, although given some of the other things these guys had to endure being called, "Chino" almost seems a complement in comparison.

There is some controversy about Carlos's handedness, with various sources claiming he threw with his left. Of course, this is almost unheard of for a 3B and if you try and use that in OOTP his defensive rating at that position is almost non-existent.

His rookie campaign was in 1899 and he spent most of his 17-season career in Cuba, with the occasional US foray. SH has his slash line at 280/410/330 with an excellent 151 OPS+ but just 3 HR in total. In EC's MLEs, that total "skyrockets" to 8 and he earns nearly 40 career WAR by his calculations.

He was elected to the Cuban Baseball HoF in 1945.

His EL avatar was taken 3rd overall in the 1979 Draft by the Elite Giants, with whom he would spend his first four years in the league. He was traded to the BBs prior to the 1984 season for Andrelton Simmons and Vic Harris and then signed a 4-year deal with the Buckeyes as a FA before the season currently in progress.

Sadly, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in July.

His career stats to this point in the EL aren't too far off his IRL marks, with a 271/355/319 line and 18 HR. That has earned him nearly 20 career WAR and his exemplary D has so far earned him 4 Slick (Gold Glove) Awards.

Here's hoping he makes a speedy recovery and is back in action soon. We'll check in on him regularly.

PS Happy 119th birthday to another EL success story - Martin Dihigo, born on this day in 1905!

[luckymann]

Eclipse League

Always dangerous to make big calls with so many games still to be played but one has to think the Grays current 10-game win streak has put them in control of the WC American and that the MoStars also look fairly comfortable in the WCN.

Things look slightly lass clear-cut in the Fleet Conference although the BYs have made a strong move going 19-4 in July to just pull away from the pack a bit.

Finally, the FC National is a race in two between arch-rivals Kansas City and Memphis and looks to be the most likely source of late season fireworks this year.

Monthly Award Winners

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Derrek Lee (Royal Giants) 372 / 6 HR / 18 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Frank Blake (Black Yankees) 3-0 / 1.72 / 9 SV / 12 K / 15.2 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Ellis Valentine (Crawfords) 311 / 2 HR / 13 RBI.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Tino Martinez (Elite Giants) 338 / 5 HR / 21 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Juanelo Mirabal (Athletics) 4-0 / 1.62 / 20 K / 39 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Square Moore (Grays) 2-1 / 1.75 / 43 K / 46.1 IP.

Points of Interest

• As I mentioned in his recent OotS feature, the Buckeyes lose 3B Carlos Moran for the year to a knee injury.
• Here are the trades of note before the Deadline:

Transit League

All four races looking fairly cut and dried entering August.

Monthly Award Winners

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Yasmany Tomas (Blue Birds) 363 / 9 HR / 27 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jose Munoz (Black Crackers) 5-0 / 3.89 / 28 K / 41.2 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Barbaro Garbey (Wolves) 417 / 8 HR / 20 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Lynn McGlothen (Grays) 4-1 / 2.56 / 27 K / 31.2 IP.