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Notes on 1944-45 All-Braeland Team

Starting Pitcher

Some fine performances in the United Leagues from the pitchers this season, but it essentially came down to the two Satchel Paige Award winners: Brunswick's Matthew Monroe (22-6, 2.51 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 144 ERA+, 6.1 WAR) and Sherburn's Roberto Taváres (20-8, 2.33 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 156 ERA+, 6.9 WAR). But for me, the easy choice was the 26-year old Taváres.

He led the Western League in Wins, ERA, GS (34), IP (285.2), HR/9 (0.1) and WAR (among pitchers). Monroe's numbers were very similar to last season, when he was runner-up as well.

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Catcher

Danny Trowbridge (.340/.419/.492, 14 HR, 83 RBI, 96 R, 74 BB, 7.8 WAR, .976 fielding %) won his fourth consecutive berth onto the All-Braeland Team, and it isn't hard to see why; he had perhaps the finest season a catcher has ever had in the United Leagues. This past season saw Mr. Trowbridge set all-time marks for catchers in OBP (.419), OPS (.911) and WAR.

Also enjoying fine seasons behind the plate were:

• Hespeler's Aaron Skidmore (.262/.390/.424, 18 HR, 65 RBI, 65 R, 102 BB, 6.5 WAR, .973 fielding %)
• Fort Richmond's Heung-su Park (.312/.373/.466, 13 HR, 63 RBI, 70 R, 44 BB, 5.2 WAR, .967 fielding %)

Incidentally, both Skidmore and Park would be involved in separate trades later in the off-season.

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First Base

After being in the running in 1941-42 and 1942-43, and then enduring a injury plagued season in 1943-44, Brunswick's Stuart Bentham (.316/.427/.471, 20 HR, 67 RBI, 95 R, 109 BB, 5.1 WAR, .991 fielding %) put it all together this past season to earn his first nod to the All-Braeland Team. Bentham led the Eastern circuit in HR, BB, and OPS (.898).

Kingston’s Dean Bishop (.269/.358/.462, 24 HR, 112 RBI, 87 R, 83 BB, 5.9 WAR, .987 fielding %), who was named to the team last season and won a Top Fielder Award this year, was also a worthy candidate.

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Second Base

Two 2B stood out this season as deserving candidates for the All-Braeland Team:

• Balmoral's Allen Cattanach (.294/.374/.394, 4 HR, 80 RBI, 87 R, 76 BB, 4.7 WAR, .965 fielding %)
• Fort Richmond’s Neil Boyle (.285/.361/.364, 0 HR, 44 RBI, 56 R, 61 BB, 4.9 WAR, .983 fielding %).

Boyle won a Top Fielder Award this season with a jaw-dropping defensive performance, but I went with the top-rated 2B Cattanach, as he held his own defensively and was a more complete offensive player than Boyle. Cattanach was a runner-up last season.

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Third Base

He's a 6-time all-star and winner of 5 Top Fielder Awards in addition to a Rookie of the Year Award, but Braeland City's 32-year old Adam Ashley (.319/.363/.412, 3 HR, 58 RBI, 89 R, 41 BB, 14 SB, 5.0 WAR, .963 fielding %) had never made the All-Braeland Team until this season. He came close in 1941-42 though, playing primarily at SS. This season saw him play the majority of his games at 3B for the first time. And no wonder – he is rated as the top 3B in the ULB.

Otton Overbeek (.313/.341/.459, 7 HR, 70 RBI, 64 R, 18 BB, 4.5 WAR, .979 fielding %), who made the team last season for Balmoral, again had a fine season. He too was traded in the off-season and is penciled in as Braeland City's new SS – to play alongside Adam Ashley.

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Shortstop

The top-four rated shortstops in the ULB put in performances this past season that were worthy of the All-Braeland Team:

• Kingston's Katsunan Chikafuji (.334/.393/.476, 13 HR, 108 RBI, 90 R, 61 BB, 15 SB, 8.0 WAR, .968 fielding %)
• Balmoral's Francisco Rodríguez (.303/.349/.437, 6 HR, 75 RBI, 75 R, 40 BB, 5.6 WAR, .961 fielding %)
• Embro's Gary Watkinson (.337/.435/.411, 1 HR, 72 RBI, 90 R, 104 BB, 6.6 WAR, .974 fielding %)
• Stratford's Jake Walker (.328/.425/.462, 7 HR, 69 RBI, 81 R, 95 BB, 5.7 WAR, .930 fielding %)

Some fine offensive performances produced by that group, but overall, Chikafuji was just a bit better. Combined with his award-winning defensive performance this season, the choice was clear.

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Leftfield

There were three candidates for LF on the All-Braeland Team this season:

• Pulberry's Bruno Lapthorne (.286/.338/.464, 17 HR, 95 RBI, 85 R, 45 BB, 15 SB, 4.2 WAR, .979 fielding %)
• Cambria's Nicky Willis (.307/.399/.473, 15 HR, 97 RBI, 107 R, 97 BB, 5.1 WAR, .978 fielding %)
• Embro's Yoshino Ito (.293/.382/.406, 6 HR, 61 RBI, 118 R, 92 BB, 37 SB, 4.7 WAR, .978 fielding %)

Tough call, as all three had their strong points. Lapthorne was the strongest defensively, as Willis and Ito did not have particularly strong defensive years. Ito led the East in PA (730), AB (628), runs and stolen bases, while Willis led the West in runs and doubles (50). I went with Willis, but it was not an automatic choice this time around.

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Centerfield

This selection has been going back and forth between Jon Moreau and Terence Durney over the past few season and this year was no different. For the record, there were four I considered:

• Queensland's Jon Moreau (.338/.368/.525, 11 HR, 80 RBI, 76 R, 26 BB, 7.1 WAR, .959 fielding %)
• Embro's Terence Durney (.299/.383/.410, 8 HR, 101 RBI, 78 R, 83 BB, 6.3 WAR, .991 fielding %)
• Kingston's Jaimie Couch (.323/.365/.396, 3 HR, 85 RBI, 95 R, 42 BB, 6.7 WAR, .981 fielding %)
• Brunswick's Harry Chatwin (.324/.379/.452, 6 HR, 62 RBI, 77 R, 47 BB, 15 SB, 5.2 WAR, .976 fielding %)

Moreau led the East in AVG, SLG and WAR; Durney in RBI. In the West, Couch led in PA (713), AB (657) and hits (212). Ultimately, I went with Moreau for both his fine offensive and defensive performances (he picked up his second Top Fielder Award).

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Rightfield

For the second straight year, Balmoral's Carlton Broadbent (.345/.401/.535, 22 HR, 109 RBI, 105 R, 63 BB, 6.9 WAR, .974 fielding %) made this selection rather automatic. Aside from winning his second-consecutive Babe Ruth Award, he also put together his first solid performance in the outfield in years. For good measure, Broadbent led the Eastern League in hits (212), HR, RBI, AVG, SLG and OPS (.936).

But a couple of other players had fine seasons as well:

• Brunswick's Mark Elston (.279/.395/.456, 20 HR, 99 RBI, 92 R, 106 BB, 5.1 WAR, .976 fielding %)
• Downie's Ricardo Castellanos (.296/.359/.433, 10 HR, 61 RBI, 75 R, 53 BB, 13 SB, 5.4 WAR, .962 fielding %)