Baseball Premier League

[NYY #23]

While pitching seemed to dominate the year there were still some impressive seasons from hitters, with Charlie Hickman of the Arizona Wrens leading the way in his first year in the Premier League. Hickman didn't miss a game for Arizona while hitting .343 with a .368 on-base percentage, adding 14 home runs, 143 RBI, and 129 runs scored.



For the second straight year Dan Potts of the Las Vegas Aces finished second in the Batter of the Year voting.



Coming in third place was 35 year old George Treadway of the Sacramento Grizzlies.

[NYY #23]

While he's still only 25 years old James Drohan has already had an interesting career. Drohan had his contract purchased by the Salt Lake City Bees from the Omaha Farmhand before the 1901 season. At that point in his career Drohan was 43-89 in his career with a 4.41 ERA, but Salt Lake saw something that they liked, and Drohan made his debut in League A with a 25-10 record and 1.58 ERA, which earned him Rookie of the Year, and runner up for the Pitcher of the Year Award. Drohan and Salt Lake City moved up to the Premier League this year and went 32-10 with a 1.50 ERA and was named both Pitcher of the Year, and also Rookie of the Year.



Teammate and Spalding Cup Most Valuable Player Addie Joss finished second.



Jack Chesbro came up short once again against Addie Joss and the Bees and finished in third place.

[NYY #23]

With year two of the Premier League officially in the books it's almost time to shift focus to 1903. Before I do that I wanted to wrap up the year and talk about a few things that I've noticed. 1902 was a bit of a transition year in my mind, for a couple of reasons. The league levels are still stabilizing I think, because I don't expect two teams to be promoted and be competitive right away like what happened this year with Salt Lake City and Arizona. That's the hazards of breaking apart leagues and putting them back together the way I did, and I was definitely surprised by the strength of certain teams.

Second, all of the leagues are now down to 22 teams. 22 teams was always the plan, but I guess that's what I get when I go off script. The changes also delayed some of the plans that I had, at least temporarily. At some point in the near future I plan to introduce a NABA Cup. I keep going back and forth on the format and number of teams to include, but ultimately I'd like to use the first round to automatically schedule the promotion/relegation series.

Just a couple more things that I wanted to go over. What I like to do when I follow a league like this is to shortlist players as I talk about them in the dynasty report. That allows me to do a couple of things - get notifications when players on the shortlist are in the news so I can keep tabs on them, and eventually close the loop when the player retires. It helps me keep an eye on things that I could have otherwise missed, and I'm usually better about adding a player to the shortlist than I am about taking them off a shortlist. Since I started shortlisting players in 1871 I'm now up to almost 300 players, a large number of them have now retired. So I'll be taking some time, and paring down the list.

With all that said, if there is a player that you'd like to either follow along when they make their debut, or would like to stay up to date on let me know and I would be happy to do that.

I plan to start sprinkling some "features" at the end of the year. Those could be updates on players that are on the shortlist, key retirees, milestones, accomplishments, comparing how a player did at the end of their career to real life, and maybe some player spotlights on certain players. I still plan to move year to year fairly quickly, so I'll see how that works out. Some years there could be one, or some years there could be more.

[Sundance]

I'm enjoying this dynasty so far! Keep up the good work...I look forward to seeing what you have in store for the future

[NYY #23]

With over thirty years of history for some teams and players, and just two years of history in the Premier League I've been thinking about how to best honor players. I've already retired one number (Jumbo McGinnis for the Worcester Hearts), and there are some players who deserve to be honored at some point. So I'm planning on doing the following:

1) Retired Numbers - this will be the easiest to obtain, and really is completely subjective. A player will need to play the bulk of their career for a team, and did something special that deserves to be honored, their number will be retired.
2) NABA Hall of Fame - this will the middle level, but a place to honor players based on their total achievements within NABA if they were done before the Premier League. If a player wins 575 games, they should be honored somehow, even if they've achieved those numbers across multiple levels.
3) Premier League Hall of Fame - this will be the ultimate honor, and look at what a player did in the Premier League only. I'm not ready to even think about this one, except to know that it will be out there.

Key Retirements



George Keefe of the Nashua Huskies retired following the season. Keefe was just 7-13 with a 5.80 ERA in the Premier League, but had a career record of 215-157 in NABA, all with the Huskies. He definitely saw more success than he did in real life where Keefe was 20-48 with a 5.05 ERA.

NABA: 215-157, 3.19 ERA, 3.64 FIP, 3228 2/3 IP, 1014 K, 1.33 WHIP
RL: 20-48, 5.05 ERA,4.44 FIP, 616 1/3 IP, 213 K, 1.75 WHIP

Cupid Childs retired from the Grand Island Prairie Dogs with a .306 batting average, although Childs managed to go to the plate just 156 times. Childs fared much better in real life:

NABA: .306/.367/.366, 41 H, 20 RBI, 20 R,
RL: .306/.416/.389, 1721, 743 RBI, 1214 R

Retired Numbers

The newest member of the Premier league honored a link to their past when they announced that the Boston Pilgrims retired Ed Clark's number:



Compare and Contrast

Jumbo McGinnis

With 10 Pitcher of the Year Awards, 10 career no-hitters, 571 career wins, and 5977 career strikeouts for the Worcester Hearts Jumbo McGinnis was the best pitcher in any league so far. While the competition wasn't the Premier League, McGinnis did pitch in the highest level league at the time and won 20 or more games 16 straight years. Even at the age of 39 McGinnis delivered a 17-17 season.

While the number of games per year was higher in NABA than it was in real life, which will inflate the number of players reaching certain milestones, We'll see another pitcher who finished with four more wins, but I don't think we'll see another better pitcher. Because of that I'll be doing two things - 1) Naming the Pitcher of the Year Award in the Premier League the Jumbo McGinnis Award, and 2) Making McGinnis the first player inducted in the NABA Hall of Fame.



NABA: 571-198, 1.90 ERA, 2.36 FIP, 6815 1/3 IP, 5977 K, 0.98 WHIP
RL: 102-79, 2.95 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 1603 2/3 IP, 562 K, 1.16 WHIP

Nat Hudson



There are still certain magic numbers in the PBL. 300 wins, 3000 hits, 500 home runs, they all more or less mean the same as they do in real life. However, I don't view 300 wins as an automatic anything. Nat Hudson had the durability to win 322 career games for the Milwaukee Bisons, but he also had the durability to lose 378 games. His career ERA of 4.00, ERA+ of 93, FIP of 3.46, and WPA of -102.3 tell a different story. Because of that Hudson will not be inducted in the NABA Hall of Fame, or have his number retired for his team. He'll have to take comfort that at least he did better than real life -

NABA: 322-378, 4.00 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 5906 2/3 IP, 4269 K, 1.51 WHIP
RL: 48-26, 3.08 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 694 1/3 IP, 258 K, 1.18 WHIP

Sam Kimber



I started keeping tabs on Sam Kimber when he was 25 years old and went 30-8 with a 2.47 ERA to finish third in Pitcher of the Year voting for the Springfield Rifles. Unfortunately injuries took a big toll on Kimber, who injured his shoulder at the age of 29, which effectively ended his career. For Kimber it is more about what could have been if he was able to stay healthy.

NABA: 168-94, 2.88 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 2392 IP, 2017 K, 1.20 WHIP
RL: 18-21, 3.97 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 369 1/3 IP, 126 K, 1.23 WHIP

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Sundance

I'm enjoying this dynasty so far! Keep up the good work...I look forward to seeing what you have in store for the future

Thank you!

[NYY #23]

Player Spotlight: Who is John Baker?



John Baker of the Arizona Wrens has come out of nowhere to win 21 games last season in League A, and go 30-14 with a 3.02 ERA in the Premier League. He's 26 years old, and has gone from a reliever in 1898 to a pitcher that went 7-9 with a 3.40 ERA to a 30 game winner and a pitcher that's never lost a postseason game.

There are both fictional players and real players in this universe, and John Baker is a real player. But I had trouble locating a John Baker that wasn't a catcher for the Cubs playing in 2014. I had trouble finding any link to John Baker, so I turned to the master.csv file and located John Baker in the PCL:

John Baker Minor League Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

The mystery was partially solved, but I couldn't find anything else about John Baker who played for the Sacramento Senators in 1903 in the Pacific Coast League going 11-15 with a 5.88 ERA before jumping around the majors. I found some information about some of his teammates that would have made a better story, but nothing for Mr. Baker. So for now he's just a pitcher who caught lightning in a bottle, and found some unexpected success.

[NYY #23]

It's Opening Day in the Premier League today with a full slate with a full slate off 11 games scheduled. The defending Spalding Cup Champion Salt Lake City Bees are on the road to start the season against the Las Vegas Aces with James Drohan on the mound. The Arizona Wrens will also be on the road taking on the Scranton Electrics with John Baker on the mound.

While the regular season is set to begin, both Arizona and Salt Lake City have already played one game this year as the unofficial start to the season in The Charity Cup. The Charity Cup was one of two new Cups that NABA President Al Spalding introduced, which were inspired by his trips to London and The Football League.

The Charity Cup crowned the first champion when the Salt Lake City Bees defeated the Arizona Wrens 7-3 on March 20th -



As the defending Spalding Cup Champion they were invited to participate in the first Charity Cup, which will feature the previous year's Spalding Cup winner. The opponent will be either the champion of the new NABA Cup, or the Spalding Cup runner up. Since the first NABA Cup will be played following this season, the Arizona Wrens were selected as their opponent.

The Wrens would sent John Baker to the mound, who looked like he was shaking off some rust with a 7 inning outing in which he allowed 8 hits and 7 runs, although just 2 of those runs were earned. It looked like the Arizona defense was also shaking off some rust as well. Baker did strike out 8 batters while only walking one.

Harry Davis was the offensive hero for Salt Lake City today with a single and home run in four at-bats with three RBI and two runs scored. The Bees also had to be encouraged by the pitching of James Drohan, who went the distance while striking out 8 and allowing 3 runs on 7 hits. The Bees add to their Cup total with their second overall cup, tieing the Las Vegas Aces who won both the Premier League and Spalding Cups in 1901.

-----

The other order of business is the NABA Cup, which will take place following the season. Just a note, but I struggled with the format of this one for way to long. I wanted two things with this, a way to handle the promotion/relegation series, and a tournament featuring all of the different levels of NABA. This led to two things to make this work, the independent leagues that I've had were rolled into NABA, and three of the independents will gain entry into League C. I'm really not going to focus on them though, unless they are promoted to League C, but they have disadvantages that will make it tougher, although not impossible.

The potential 3 up and 3 down between the Leagues will result in 24 teams playing in the first round to determine promotion/relegation, and the twelve winners will join the 20 teams with a bye until a winner is crowned. Those 20 teams will include the Premier League's 1-8, and spots 4-7 in Leagues A, B, and C. Not perfect, but it should serve its purpose. I'll continue to post the results of the Premier League/League A promotion/relegation series, give an update on who is moving between the leagues, and the final series, but I don't intend to go into too much depth. For now it's out there, I'll see how it works, and adjust accordingly if needed.

[NYY #23]

Buchanan Injury Derails Grizzlies



Jim Buchanan started out the year well for the Grizzlies, going 6-1 in April with a 1.43 ERA, then 3-1 in May with a 1.76 ERA and the Grizzlies were enjoying life at the top of the Premier League standings. That's when things started going downhill for the Grizzlies when they found out that Jim Buchanan would miss the rest of the year with an injury, and the Grizzlies would have to play the rest of the year without their ace and winner of the 1901 Jumbo McGinnis Award.

Veteran Nate Bishop did a decent job coming out of the bullpen and stepping into the rotation, finishing 19-13 with a 3.47 ERA, but the Grizzlies fell to second, then third, then fourth, before finally into fifth place after a disappointing 11-18 August. They weren't able to recover, and will be sitting home during the Spalding Cup for the first time in three years.

(NOTE: I don't like career ending injuries, especially in 27 year olds, and Buchanan's was a career ender, but the benefits of playing God in the PBL allow me to miraculously heal him after missing a year. He'll be stuck with an injury prone label with maxed out proneness ratings, but he's at least got a shot to make a comeback in 1905. I've got no rooting interest in seeing Sacramento succeed, but I'd do the same for any of the league's other stars.)

McIntyre Makes an Impact

The Reading Railers first season in the Premier League started off the same way that last year's promoted teams started out, with a 18-10 April that saw them jump into first place early. They couldn't keep up their hot pace though, and ultimately would finish with a 85-83 record in the middle of the pack.



Reading's promotion to the Premier League did introduce the league to Marty McIntyre, a 23 year old right fielder who turned heads after leading the league with a .358 batting average, .452 on-base percentage, 232 hits, 77 stolen bases, and 7.6 WAR. McIntyre is one of the leading candidates for Batter of the Year after his impressive performance.

The Rise of the South?

League A Standings:



Two of the three teams playing for promotion into the Premier League will be from the south this year, with the Charlotte Champions and New Orleans Crescents attempting to play their way into the Premier League along with the Massachusetts Generals.



Strong pitching has been one of the keys to promotion, at least in the early stages, and the Crescents fit that profile well with pitching that allowed the fewest runs in League A. Harry McIntire is the team's ace, with a 21-17 record and 2.27 ERA. Still just 24 years old McIntire looks to have his better days ahead of him. Button Briggs (23-10, 1.92), Luke Fields (15-18, 3.46), and Ernie Simants (11-7, 3.35) join McIntire in the rotation.

The Champions scored more runs than any other team in the league, but their pitching and defense have some big question marks.



Veteran Ollie Smith led the Champions with a .325 batting average and 5 home runs and the 37 year old is looking to return to the Premier League, although this time it would be with a different team. Smith was a member of the Manchester Mills team in 1901 and part of 1902 before being traded to Charlotte.

The Massachusetts Generals are the final League A team playing for promotion. The Generals are hoping that their ace Bob Blewett is motivated to return to the Premier League after being traded from the Scranton Electrics midway through the season. Blewett was 6-4 with a 3.35 ERA for the Generals, but has allowed just 5 earned run in his past 5 starts, heating up at the right time.

[StLee]

All right! The Crescents are rising!

And I really like the name Button Briggs I just looked him up and see he died really young in real life (35).

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by StLee

All right! The Crescents are rising!

And I really like the name Button Briggs I just looked him up and see he died really young in real life (35).

I figured you would like that. I like the name of Button Briggs too. He did die really young in life, and I've always wondered what the cause of death was.

[NYY #23]

Bees Capture First Premier League Cup

With 122 wins the Salt Lake City Bees captured their first Premier League Cup after winning the Premier League by 13 games. They once again did it with strong pitching and defense, and an offense that scored the second highest runs in the league.



22 year old Doc Scanlon made just 4 starts last season, but after joining the Bees rotation as their fourth starter this season it would be Scanlon who would set a Premier League record with 37 wins this season against just 5 losses to go with a 1.64 ERA. When the Bees fourth starter pitches like an ace, and joins a rotation featuring James Drohan (26-15, 2.07), Rip Ragan (27-16, 2.14), and Addie Joss (31-10, 2.33) that make the Bees a tough team to beat. Center fielder Harry Davis led their offense with a .338 batting average, 11 home runs, and 117 RBI while swiping 52 bases.

Mallards and Moose Set to Make Spalding Cup Debut



Five years ago Christy Mathewson made the trip from Factoryville, Pennsylvania to Minot, North Dakota to join the Minot Mallards, and each year he's shown improvements, and the Mallards keep moving up Leagues. In his first year in the Premier League Mathewson was 30-10 with a 2.44 ERA, and helped the Mallards to a second place finish, and a spot in the Spalding Cup.



The Portland Moose finished just one game ahead of the Sacramento Grizzlies to claim the final spot in the Spalding Cup. 26 year old George Cooper is Portland's candidate for the Jumbo McGinnis Award after going 28-14 with a 1.51 ERA.

The final spot in the Spalding Cup goes to the Arizona Wrens, who finished in third place with a 107-61 record. Arizona again featured a solid rotation with John Baker (29-10, 1.66 ERA) leading the way.

Missing the Cut





29 year old shortstop Kevin Wright had a breakout year for the Brooklyn Dodgers, hitting .293 with a .340 on-base percentage while driving in 71 runs and scoring 95. Wright helped lead a rejuvenated offense for the Dodgers, who scored the third highest amount of runs in the Premier League, but fell two games short of missing the Spalding Cup.

On the bottom end of the standings the Wisconsin Badgers finished with an identical record to the Scranton Electrics, but won the tie-breaker against Scranton by beating them 6 of 8 games to avoid a relegation series.

The Electrics weren't as lucky, and they'll be facing off against the Massachusetts Generals, with the San Antonio Bullets taking on the Charlotte Champions, and the Macon Peaches taking on the New Orleans Crescents in the three promotion/relegation series.

[NYY #23]

A look at the Premier League Batting Leaders:

[NYY #23]

It looks to be a close race for the Jumbo McGinnis Award this year, with several worthy candidates:

George Cooper, Portland: 28-14, 1.51 ERA, 2.53 FIP, 0.97 WHIP, 386 1/3 IP, 250 K, 15 WAR
Gus Thompson, Las Vegas: 22-17, 2.52 ERA, 2.27 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 367 1/3 IP, 253 K, 14.9 WAR
Doc Scanlan, Salt Lake City: 37-5, 1.64 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 0.99 WHIP, 389 1/3 IP, 154 K, 11.8 WAR
John Baker, Arizona: 29-10, 1.66 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 0.95 WHIP, 368 1/3 IP, 236 K, 13.4 WAR
Hooks Wiltse, Boston: 28-16, 2.39 ERA, 2.64 FIP, 1.10 WHIP, 381 IP, 190 K, 13.9 WAR

[NYY #23]

Portland Moose (99-69) vs. Salt Lake City Bees (122-46)

Game 1

The Salt Lake City Bees came into the series as the heavy favorite, winning 23 more games during the regular season and winning the season series against Portland, but at least for Game 1 it was the Moose who would dominate with a 5-1 victory.

George Cooper would out-pitch James Drohan of the Bees with a complete game 5 hitter while holding Salt Lake to just 1 run while the Moose pounded out 10 hits against Drohan, including two hits apiece from Bobby Taylor, Samir Smith, Glen Jaffa, and Philip Lovendahl.

Game 2

With Portland starter Jimmy Wiggs a late scratch because of a wrist injury the Moose would give the ball to Game 1 starter George Cooper and ask him to pitch two days in a row. For the second day in a row he'd pitch a complete game and allow just one run, allowing just 3 hits today as the Moose went up two games to none with a 3-1 victory. Not a bad couple days for Cooper. Scott Hermans drove in a pair of runs for the Moose while Rip Ragan took the loss for the Bees.

Game 3

Down two games to none the Salt Lake City Bees gave the ball to Addie Joss, who held the Moose to 1 run on 6 hits as the Bees won 4-1. It was Mike Jacobs who drove in 2 runs, both on sacrifice flies and RBI doubles by Pete Hill and Greg Sample that would account for all of the Bees' runs.

Jimmy Wiggs returned from his wrist injury to take the loss, striking out 10 in the game, but also showing signs of wildness with 7 walks.

Game 4

The Portland Moose moved within one game of upsetting the Bees with a 7-2 win. Both Bobby Taylor and starting pitcher Ad Brennan drove in a pair of runs for Portland. Brennan would strike out 7 while allowing just one earned run in the complete game victory.

James Drohan would lose his second game of the series and has now given up 12 runs in 16 Spalding Cup innings.

Game 5

The Bees got strong pitching early from Rip Ragan, and survived a shaky ninth inning in which Ragan allowed 3 runs on 4 hits to hold on for a 4-3 victory. Pete Hill was the offensive hero for the Bees with a home run, single, and two RBI.

Gary Cooper returned to the mound for the Moose and picked up his first loss of the series. The Moose still lead the series 3 games to 2.

Game 6

A ninth inning walk off single by Hans Lobert gave the Bees the walk off 4-3 victory to even up the series at 3 games apiece. Addie Joss was today's winner, while Jimmy Wiggs fell to 0-2 in the Spalding Cup for the Moose.

Game 7

For Game 7 the Portland Moose would be sending Ad Brennan to the mound against James Drohan of the Bees. This year's Spalding Cup hasn't been kind to Drohan, and today the Bees' ace took his third loss of the series after surrendering 5 runs on 8 hits as the Moose beat the Bees 5-3 to advance to the Spalding Cup finals.

Brennan would pitch 8 innings while allowing 12 hits and striking out 5, but managed to hold the Bees to 3 runs (1 earned). Glen Jaffa and Bobby Taylor each drove in a pair of runs for the Moose.

[NYY #23]

Arizona Wrens (107-61) vs. Minot Mallards (109-59)

Game 1

The Mallards have had the Wrens number this year winning 6 of 8 games played, and that jumped to 7 of 9 after a 4-2 win to kick off the second Spalding Cup Semi Finals. Christy Mathewson would start the game for the Mallards and allow 2 runs and 6 hits in the complete game win, striking out 5 and walking 2.

Oliver Myrick and Sam Crawford would each pick up 3 hits for the Mallards. John Baker would get the loss for Arizona.

Game 2

Sylvester Loucks would turn in a dominating pitching performance on the mound for the Mallards as he pitched a complete game four hit shutout as the Mallards went up 2 games to none in the series with a 6-0 win over the Wrens.

The Mallards would knock Arizona starter Jack Chesbro out of the game after six innings and hand him the loss. It would be Sam Crawford that would pick up 3 hits for the Mallards today, with Truck Egan driving in a pair of runs with a 5th inning double.

Game 3

Truck Egan would triple home the first run of the game for the Mallards with a second inning triple, and the Mallards would score two more runs in the third when Chick Hartley connected on a triple on the way to a 4-2 win over the Wrens. It would be Ed Barry's turn for a complete game victory for the Mallards, who moved to within one win of advancing to the Spalding Cup finals.

Game 4

Sloppy defense would almost prove costly for the Wrens, but they would hold on for a 6-4 victory to avoid the sweep and win their first game of the series. It would be John Baker who earned the win after allowing just one earned run while striking out six in a rematch of Game 1 starters with Christy Mathewson picking up the loss.

Joseph Herr would pick up three hits in the game for Arizona while driving in three runs.

Game 5

Arizona continues to refuse to go down without a fight as they pounded out 10 runs on 14 hits while Jack Chesbro would strike out 7 in a complete game shutout as the Wrens won 10-0 and narrowed their series deficit to 3 games to 2.

Every Arizona starter would pick up at list one hit in the game with Harry Keener and Drew McIndoe each driving in 2 runs in the blowout win.

Game 6

With the series shifting back to Minot it would be Ed Barry who would send them to the Spalding Cup finals with a 5-1 win over the Wrens. Tom Higgins and Lew Drill would each drive in a pair of runs for the Mallards, while Ed Walker lost his second game of the series.

Minot will be facing the Portland Moose in the Spalding Cup.

[NYY #23]

Portland Moose (99-69) vs. Minot Mallards (109-59)

The 1903 Spalding Cup would feature two first time participants as the Moose and Mallards squared off. The Moose finished in fourth place this year, their highest showing in three years, and were one of the original Premier League teams, while the Mallards hope to follow in the path of the Salt Lake City Bees, who captured the Spalding Cup the first season after being promoted to the Premier League.

Game 1

While the Moose won 10 games less than the Mallards this season, they did beat the Mallards in 5 of the 8 games they played this season, and the Spalding Cup got underway with a dominating complete game five hitter by George Cooper for Portland. Cooper allowed just 1 unearned run while striking out 3 and walking 2 while picking up his 3rd win in the Spalding Cup as Portland won 4-1.

It would be Christy Mathewson who would take the loss for the Mallards after giving up 4 runs on 12 hits. Offa Neal, Bobby Taylor, Ryan Hughes, and Louis Runkel would each pick up two hits for the Moose, who take an early 1 game to 0 lead.

Game 2

Sylvester Loucks would hold the Moose to 2 runs in a complete game 3-2 victory to even up the series. After winning 28 games this season Jimmy Wiggs would fall to 0-3 in the Spalding Cup after allowing just 3 unearned runs.

Frank Keffer, Tom Higgins, and Truck Eagan would each drive in a run for the Mallards.

Game 3

The Mallards would take a 2 games to 1 series lead as their bats pounded out 10 hits in the 6-3 win over the Moose. It would be Tom Higgins who would pick up 2 hits and drive in 3 runs, and Frank Keffer who homered, singled, and drove in two runs to lead the way.

Ed Barry would pick up the win after holding the Moose to 3 runs in the complete game, with Ad Brennan given the loss after allowing 5 runs in 7 innings.

Game 4

Gary Cooper bested Christy Mathewson for the second time in the Spalding Cup as the Moose tied the series at 2 games apiece with a 4-1 win over the Mallards. Charlie Atherton would drive in 2 runs for Portland, with Bryan Matich picking up 3 hits.

Game 5

The Mallards would score 4 runs early and continue to add to their lead in their 8-1 win over the Moose. Sylvester Loucks would go the distance while allowing 6 hits and 1 run to earn his 3rd win of the Spalding Cup, with Jimmy Wiggs dropping to 0-4 in the Spalding Cup after allowing 6 runs on 9 hits in 8 innings.

Loucks, Tom Higgins, and Joel Greeley each drove in 2 runs for the Mallards, who are now one win away from winning the Spalding Cup.

Game 6

It was Ed Barry who would win the final game of the Semi Finals to send the Mallards to the next round, and Barry again who would win the final game of the Spalding Cup with a complete game 3 hitter, allowing 2 runs in the 5-2 win.

Tom Higgins continued his big series with 4 hits, 2 RBI, and a run scored for the Mallards. Chick Hartley would add three hits. Ad Brennan would take the loss for the Moose.

Congratulations to the Minot Mallards on their first Spalding Cup.

[NYY #23]

Charlotte Champions vs. San Antonio Bullets

Game 1

The San Antonio Bullets would send Mysterious Walker to the mound for Game 1 of the Promotion/Relegation Series to try and fend off the challenge by the Charlotte Champions. This season Walker was 9-11 with a 3.42 ERA, but tonight it was Walker who went the distance in a 10 inning 7-4 extra inning win over the Champions. Walker would allow just 4 hits in the game, and the Bullets would get key RBI from Tyler Nies, Adam Mazzaglia, and Josh Keith in the tenth.

(As a side note, every time I see the name Mysterious Walker he sounds like he belongs on the Walking Dead.)

Game 2

Dave Brain drove in 2 runs for the Bullets as Winthrop Cutter held the Champions to 1 run on 4 hits as the Bullets won the game 5-1, capitalizing on 5 errors by Charlotte, and are now just one win away from returning to the Premier League next season.

Game 3

Down 10-6 heading into the 8th inning it appeared the Charlotte Champions were destined to return to League A next season, but Snapper Kennedy doubled home a run in the 8th for the Champions, and another two runs in the 9th that allowed the Champions to tie the game at 10 and send it to extra innings.

While the Champions would take the lead in the 10th, their lead would be short lived as the Bullets tied the game again in the bottom of the tenth. It would remain tied until the 12th when Mike Burns drove in the go ahead run as the Champions won 12-11.

Snapper Kennedy had a big day for the Champions going 3-6 with 3 RBI and a run scored, and teammate Frank Foutz added three hits and 4 RBI. Steve Larson picked up the win with 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief for Charlotte.

Game 4

A baseball game doesn't get much better than this one after Eli Cates and Mysterious Walker took a scoreless pitching duel into extra innings. The game would remain scoreless until the top of the eleventh when Frank Foutz singled home the go ahead run in Charlotte's 1-0 win to tie up the series. Eli Cates picked up the win for the Champions with 11 innings pitched, 6 hits, and no runs allowed. While Mysterious Walker took the loss, his 11 innings pitched with allowing just 1 run was an impressive performance.

With 3 of 4 games going into extra innings the promotion/relegation series will come down to a decisive game 5 where the winner will advance to the Premier League, and the loser head to League A.

Game 5

After being down 2 games to none the Charlotte Champions won their third straight game behind the arm of Carlos Rios, who pitched a complete game six hit shutout as the Champions defeat the San Antonio Bullets and advance to the Premier League.

Snapper Kennedy and Warren Zieglmeier each drove in two runs for the Champions, with both players joining Doc Curley and Carlos Rios with two hits apiece.

-----

I apologize for the slow updates to this dynasty. You learn things as you do a dynasty about what works well, what doesn't work well, etc. One thing I've learned in 1903 is that advancing a year at a time doesn't work for me too well, and it takes me longer to go back and figure out what happened. I tend to get a little bit lost and lost in the weeds. Ironically I did this to try and go faster through a year, but that just backfired on me and you live and learn.

[NYY #23]

New Orleans Crescents vs. Macon Peaches

Game 1

30 year old Luke Fields has never pitched a more important game than today's start for the New Orleans Crescents, and after a complete game four hit shutout he may never have pitched a better game. With Fields pitching the shutout in the Crescents 1-0 win over the Peaches the only run of the game was scored in the bottom of the second when Solly Hoffman connected on an RBI triple.

Game 2

Harry McIntyre was the ace this year for the Crescents going 21-17 with a 2.27 ERA as a 24 year old. Today McIntyre was victimized by 4 unearned runs caused by three Crescent errors as the Peaches tied up the series with a 5-3 win. Tom Hughes picked up the win for the Peaches.

Game 3

With the series tied at 1 game apiece the Peaches would get a big RBI sacrifice fly by Tuck Turner in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 3 and send it into extra innings. The game would remain tied at 3 until the bottom of the 13th when Harry Jansing connected on a solo home run to give the Peaches a walk-off win.

Frank Lange picked up the win in relief with 4 shutout innings, allowing just 1 hit. While Buttons Briggs took the loss for the Crescents he did go the distance pitching 12 1/3 innings.

Game 4

For the second straight game the Macon Peaches would walk off winners with an extra inning home run, today getting a solo shot from Ed McKean in the bottom of the 12th that would seal the Peaches 4-3 and give them the series victory, allowing them to return to the Premier League next season.

Ed Herr would take the loss for the Crescents after pitching all 11 innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits. Bob Cahill picked up the win for Macon with 12 innings, allowing 3 runs.

[NYY #23]

Massachusetts Generals vs. Scranton Electrics

Game 1



Otto Hess lost more games than he won this season (20-21) but pitched the Scranton Electrics to victory in game one of the third and final promotion/relegation series with 10 innings of 5 run ball in the Electrics 6-5 win over the Massachusetts Generals. It was Hess who added two hits at the plate, while driving in 3 runs for Scranton. Cowboy Jones took the loss for the Generals.

Game 2



Jerry Nops pitched a complete game to pick up the win for the Generals as they evened up the series with a 7-4 win. Mike Yaffee picked up 4 hits for the Generals with Doc Miller and Frank LaPorte each adding two hits and two RBI.

Dick Cogan took the loss for Scranton after allowing 7 runs on 13 hits in 6 innings.

Game 3

With the series tied at one game apiece and the game tied at 4 in the top of the eighth inning it was Mike Yaffee who stepped to the plate and reached on an error that allowed a pair of runs to score and put the Generals ahead 6-4 in what would turn out to be a 7-4 win to go up 2 games to 1 in the series.

Doc Miller led the Generals with 3 hits, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored with Bob Blewett picking up the complete game win.

Game 4

For the second straight game it was Mike Yaffee at the plate when the Generals would score the winning run, today with his third hit of the game that ended the series with a 2-1 win over the Electrics that will send the Massachusetts Generals to the Premier League next year.

Ham Iburg picked up the win for the Generals with a complete game 5 hitter, defeating Otto Hess and the Electrics.