August 1980 Recap
 

Things remain tight in the WC National, with Hilldale and Philly flip-flopping top spot on almost a daily basis and look set to continue doing so for the duration.

While not stone dead, the other three races are close to being so, with the Crawfords, Red Sox and MoStars holding firm for the time being - although the Royal Giants are having a nice run to keep Pittsburgh honest and make them earn it. The imminent return of Edgar Wesley will help the Crawfs no end.



Monthly Award Winners

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: David Ortiz (West) 385 / 10 HR / 22 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Bill Drake (Royal Giants) 6-0 / 2.47 / 35 K / 51 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Bob Harvey (Royal Giants) 374 / 3 HR / 23 RBI.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Ken Singleton (American Giants) 402 / 5 HR / 20 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Lefty Moses (Athletics) 3-0 / 0.00 / 7 SV / 9 K / 14 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Jermaine Van Buren (Buckeyes) 3-3 / 2.48 / 39 K / 40 IP.

Points of Interest

• Cristobal Torriente, David Ortiz, Hulon Stamps and Gene Collins each has a chance for Triple Crown glory this season.
• Big Papi also needs just 8 homers to pass Hank Thompson and Barry Bonds for the single-season record.

Top 20s - overall


Detroit and Brooklyn enter September with single-digit magic numbers, while the other two divisions remain up for grabs.



Monthly Award Winners

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Curtis Granderson (Black Crackers) 366 / 9 HR / 26 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Talmadge Richardson (Browns) 3-0 / 1.42 / 1 SV / 14 K / 25.1 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Oswaldo Arcia (Wolves) 385 / 8 HR / 27 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Ray Burris (Black Sox) 5-0 / 3.12 / 23 K / 49 IP.

Out of the Shadows: Bob and Bill Harvey
 

Something a bit different for what will be our final OotS for 1980: a Double Out of the Shadows Feature!

Bob Harvey and Bill Harvey were not related, but their NeL careers did overlap in the mid-1940s and they are being reunited in the simulated world of the 1980s Eclipse League. So I felt they both deserved their moment in the spotlight, and that this moment should be shared.

David William "Bill" Harvey was born 1908 in Clarksdale MS and entered the pro ranks, and then the NeL major league ranks, as a member of the 1932 Red Sox. He was a bit of a wanderer during his time in the league, playing for no less than 9 clubs in his 14 NeL seasons.

He was primarily a pitcher, but his handiness with the bat (Jim Riley has him hitting 3 homers in a game at Yankee Stadium and Seamheads gives him a career 241/330/379 slash line) also saw him put in a good number of games either at 1B or as a pinch-hitter. His pitching stats aren't overly impressive, with SH putting his career record at 32-53 with a poor ERA+ of just 81. Still, he must have been doing something right to last so long at the top level of the game, and his stint in organised baseball ended all the way out in 1950 (four years after his final season in the NeL) with a relatively unsuccessful year at Youngstown of the Mid-Atlantic League.

Robert Alexander "Bob" Harvey was a decade younger than his namesake and enjoyed a much shorter time at the top echelon of the game. His NeL career - which began in 1943 and ended in 1948 - was spent almost exclusively as a member of the good Newark Eagles sides of that era, whose charge to the 1946 Championship broke the Homestead Grays' run of 9 straight Negro National League pennants along the way.

Bob played in the outfield, with RF his preferred spot, and was a more than capable contact hitter who Seamheads has down for a 311/376/418 line with just 9 home runs. He was also a football star in his college days at Bowie State in Baltimore, and he died in 1992 at the age of 74.

And so onto their EL avatars, with both entering the league in the most recent Draft.

Bob was taken 5th overall by the Royal Giants and sent immediately to the big club. He has so far acquitted himself very well indeed, with a 21-game hitting streak and Rookie of the Month award to his credit already. At the time of writing, his rookie season sits with him comfortably leading the FC with a 347 batting average - seemingly set to deny David Ortiz his Triple Crown - and he has belted 9 HR and driven in 66 runs, good enough for nearly 3 bWAR. This should put him in the top part of the RoY ballot come season's end.



Bill's EL career has started off in slightly more circuitous fashion. The ABCs took him 28th overall and he has spent 1980 dominating the Transit League. Only with the bat, however - with his BA sitting at 341, and his 39 HR and 119 RBI at or near the top of the TL class with only a handful of games to go. He has struggled on the mound, going 6-12 / 7.01 ERA with the wildness he struggled with IRL making itself manifest here as well. Still, he is only young and profiles to see a strong improvement in this element of his game. He looks likely to be a major factor in the EL once he gets up there. Looking forward to seeing what he can do when he makes it.



As I said, this will be the last of these features for 1980 and so, as always, here are the career stats for all those still active and featured so far.



More to come in '81!!

Notes from the Transit Lounge: end of 1980 regular season
 

An unusually low-key finish to the TL this season, with the CAC National the only race that looked in doubt til the end.



Here are the final leaders and Top20s, with both Curtis Granderson and Bill Harvey just missing out on a Triple Crown by a few BA points:



And so a long-awaited first playoff appearance for the New York Cubans, among some other more familiar clubs at this stage of the season.

Stat Check: BB
 

Notes from the Transit Lounge - 1980 Conference Championship Series
 

While the Black Crackers sweep aside Brooklyn, the Cubans keep their dream season alive by fighting back from 0-2 down to knock out 3-time Champs Detroit in five games.

Notes from the Transit Lounge: Safe Crackers
 

In an epic seven-game series, the Cubans take a 3-2 lead back to NYC but can't close it out as Atlanta wins two from two to take their third TL title. Curtis Granderson is named series MVP.

Brewer Droops
 

Some guys have all the luck. Not so Chet Brewer in this unusual game that sees him allow no hits over 9 but walk 5 and give up an earned run all the same, then watch his Dodgers lose to the EGs 2-1 in 13.

EL September 1980 Awards
 

Happiness for some but heartbreak for others, some amazing individual performances and even a touch of late-season drama. All will be revealed from another fascinating Eclipse League season in the upcoming 1980 recap.

For now, here are the award winners for September.

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Leon Durham (Crawfords) 390 / 6 HR / 26 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Oil Can Boyd (Crawfords) 5-0 / 2.03 / 32 K / 48.2 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Felix Diaz (Giants) 3-1 / 3.53 / 30 K / 43.1 IP.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Cristobal Torriente (Motown Stars) 359 / 7 HR / 21 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jim Missouri (Athletics) 5-1 / 3.00 / 25 K / 48 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: John Lindsey (East) 458 / 5 HR / 12 RBI.

Stat Check: pWAR
 

https://i.imgur.com/7pTc3nA.png


The Dandy is the all-time leader as well.

1980 Transit League Major Awards
 

1980 EL Regular Season Summary
 

OK, so I may have spoken prematurely a couple posts back about there being late drama. Or just flat out lied - hard to tell, really.

Whatever the case, there wasn't any. Hilldale put paid to that hope with a withering 24-13 finishing run to blow past the fading Liberty Stars and win their 4th WCA title going away.



That 103-win effort by the Crawfs ties the 1970 Black Yankees for most ever in the FC (the '75 Buckeyes have the most of all with 106).

The two main individual achievements in the 1980 EL season belong to Cristobal Torriente and David Ortiz. Cristo recorded the EL's first ever Triple Crown by hitting 325, belting 34 HR (including one on the final day to break a tie with Minnie Minoso) and driving in 122, tied for the most in either league with Leon Durham. Meanwhile, Big Papi - who is also the all-time career leader in the category with 384 - set a new single-season HR record with 46, eclipsing the 44 of Hank Thompson ('71) and Barry Bonds ('79).

337 earned Bob Harvey the other batting title, while Delino DeShields swiped the most bases of all with 75.

In the pitching arena, Gene Collins' 23 wins were the most, just pipping Hulon Stamps' 22 and the little lefty also led both leagues with 278 strikeouts. Robert Poindexter had the low ERA with 2.64, Lefty Moses the most saves with 43.

1980 EL Conference Championship Series
 

1980 Eclipse League World Series
 

1980 Housekeeping
 

1980 Retirees
 

Once again, I don't really see any HoFers among this year's retirees, although three of the bigger NeL names are among them.

1980 Awards
 

1980 EL Free-Agent Class / Rookie Draft
 

Another high-quality intake of players for the EL this year.

The Cat A NeL Draftees for 1980 are Bill Holland and Walter Ball, while the mighty Satchel Paige enters the league as a Free-Agent.

Among the MLB ranks, some of the bigger Draftee names include Frank Robinson, Camilo Pascual, Bert Campaneris and Hideki Matsui, with Esteban Loaiza and Billy Beane favourite Ricardo Rincon among the FAs.


Once again it is the Giants with the first pick, which they wisely use on Frank Robinson.

Rounds 1 and 2 in full:

EL 1981 Opening Day
 

EL Season 1981 is upon us and looks set to be just one more fascinating iteration of this amazing league.

Here are the nett WAR moves over the break:



A somewhat more subdued trade / FA market over the recent break, but still a number of key adds and moves to announce:




Four tight races on the cards if the BNN mob is to be believed.



One of the biggest points of note is Barry Bonds' continued slide. The former top-ranked player has fallen all the way out of the Top 20 and his ratings have tanked as well, despite him being in just his age-33 season. 1980 was one of his worst campaigns, with him hitting just 254 with a career-low 18 HR. Will be very interested to see if this avatar of him enjoys the "second wind" of its IRL counterpart.



Frank Robinson sits atop the PP - somewhat surprised to see Satch down at 5.



Club finances and current injuries:



Disaster for the Dodgers with key offseason signing Dave Brown lost for the season to a labrum tear.

Let's get it on!

1981 Janus Report: FC American
 

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

Brooklyn Royal Giants

Newark Dodgers

New York Black Yankees

Pittsburgh Crawfords

1981 Janus Report: FC National
 

Birmingham Black Barons

Cuban Stars West

Kansas City Monarchs

Memphis Red Sox

St. Louis Giants