We're back! Please check the Pre-season post for this year, as I've updated it. I've also merged the two divisions in GBM into one, I was a bit hasty to have two sub-leagues I think. Enjoy!
VII. 1898 REGULAR SEASON
SUPER LIGAN
The 1898 Super Ligan season was the fourth season of professional baseball within the Koana Islands. It began on 28th of March 1898 and concluded on the 19th September the same year. It was the first season of the Uckford Ducks who had relocated from Viksida during the off-season. The schedule was unchanged from the previous year, with teams playing 154 games; 14 games each (7 at home and 7 away) against all other teams within the league.
After a slow start to the season, the Blidområde Wild secured their third consecutive Super Ligan title, finishing three games clear of Vizhune, with a record of 110-44. The Wild broke the record for most wins in a season, eclipsing the previous record of 105 they set last year, whilst Vizhune also broke the record in a frustrating season for the pre-season favourites.
Blidområde had a dominant season from their Starter Leo Angstrom (24-3, 1.21 ERA, 208.0 IP, 0.75 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 8.6 WAR) who collected the Pitcher of the Year award at seasons end with 9 first place votes, beating out André Westermark who led the league in innings pitched (228.1), strikeouts (331), WHIP (0.70), BB/9 (0.7) and WAR (11.2). It was Angstrom’s recording setting wins in a season (24) and earned run average (1.212) over the course of the year that gave him the honour.
Halvar Nilsson was narrowly voted as Most Valuable Player for 1898, with the 30-year-old Blidområde 3B scorching the opposition with a .362 average, picking up 225 hits, 45 doubles, no triples, 38 home runs and 124 RBIs, while scoring 111 runs. He finished the season with the most doubles (45) and highest batting average (.362), but only just out-scored Humoor’s CF Carl Ahlquist (.359/.422/.601) who finished with a league-leading 15 triples.
Vizhune, runners-up for only the first time in their history, have some positives in a disappointing season. Rookie defensive stud CF Ricard Almström played 84 games for a decent slashline of .254/.299/.356 whilst fellow rookie Dennis Pollak (, a switch hitting 3B hit for the cycle on the 14th of May. It was also another productive year for 1B Mats Hultman, who finished runner-up in Home Runs with 49 whilst leading the league in On-Base Percentage (for the second straight year) and Slugging, to finish the year .342/.443/.678. Although not everything is positive, with Lage Gulliksson (22-5, 2.12 ERA, 220.2 IP, 0.85 WHIP, 12.4 K/9, 8.9 WAR) entering free agency at the end of the year.
Jonestan had a slight improvement over the previous year, but their lack of quality at the plate continues to hold them back. Veteran Petter Solheim (11-6, 2.58 ERA, 164.0 IP, 0.90 WHIP, 13.9 K/9, 5.9 WAR) was a rock as always, but rookie Ove Almkuist’s breakout year was the reason he won Rookie of the Year in a unanimous decision. The 22-year-old starter registered a 17-7 record this season in 32 starts. Over 207 innings he gave up 147 hits, struck out 221 and issued 47 walks as he held the opposition to a .199 batting average and fashioned a 2.65 ERA.
Elsewhere, Sandford Stad finished third with CF Simon Falk (.326/.367/.428) leading the league in ABs with 669. The 27-year old leads the league in career At-bats (2592), Hits (877), Singles (643) and Triples (69) but Simon Moen (.258/.348/.539) was also productive, leading the team in Homers and RBIs with 38 and 108 respectively. Unfortunately, it’s a tough off-season approaching for Doggies fans, as RF Torkel Koch (.316/.377/.530) is looking increasingly likely to test Free Agency again.
Omfattandestad’s slow building process continued unabated, although they will go down in history for two things this season. On the 16th of April, Alf Bergsson pitched the Super Ligans first ever perfect game when they defeated the Vizhune Vipers, 4-0. The 30-year old struck out 4 in 9 innings and is a free agent at the end of the season. The Titans also became the first team to complete a trade with a team from the Günsovölk Baseball Meisterschaft when they sent Catcher Olof Bbjornstrand to the Otters for Reliever Hastings Meyerbeer. In a cruel twist of fate, Meyebeer’s season came to an end 10 days and 3 appearances later when he ruptured a tendon in his finger.
The Ducks first season in Uckford was a frustrating endeavour as they equalled their worst ever finish with a 9th place. July saw a whole host of trades as they looked to rebuild with youth for the future, which included offloading star 2B Otto Alenius to Vizhune. However, some reasons for optimism include #3 ranked prospect Alfie Breinholst and power-hitting youngster Alastair Ewart who should both make their debuts next year.
Conneaut had a season to forget with star LF Alfons Boden spending much of the year on the sidelines through injury. The 29-year old made just 65 starts for the Centurions, but rookie 1B Bengt Ericksson (.227/.258/.404) shows good promise for the future and Liam Maloney (.211/.268/.282) from Ianoia smashed the record for stolen bases in a season with 47; 7 more than the record that was set by Lage Jensen in 1895.
The 1898 Baseball Meisterschaft season was the first season of professional baseball in Günsovölk. It began on the 18th of April 1898 and concluded on the 17th September the same year. The Shoof Pirates won the offense-heavy season, finishing 18 games clear of the Schönheit Anglers.
Shoof went into the inaugural season as potential favourites but didn’t pull clear until mid-June when they went on an 8-game winning streak to hover around 6 games clear of the Jueman Windmills whose 14-game losing streak at the end of August saw them eventually slip down to 4th in the Standings at the end of the season. The lone highlight of Jueman’s season was Oskar Mann (.340/.394/.489) becoming the first player to hit for the cycle in the Baseball Meisterschaft on the 23rd of April against the Küstestadt Boxers.
So dominant was Shoof’s season, they wrapped up the Pitcher of the Year through Pankratz Pohl (14-4, 3.09 ERA, 192.1 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 5.0 WAR) whilst Waggoner Barth claimed Rookie of the Year and MVP compiling a .326 batting average to go with a .415 on-base percentage. The native of Apeldoorn, Günsovölk also added 48 doubles, 5 triples, 41 home runs, 146 RBIs and 137 runs scored. Barth only just won the MVP title ahead of Hüll Clippers 1B Marc Wanneck who finished with a slashline of .341/.465/.721.
The Clippers had a great run at the end of August (the polar opposite to Jueman), winning 13-straight games to patch over what was a mildly-disappointing season where they languished in the bottom half of the table for much of the year. The season also saw a horrific injury to LF Marquart Shafer who broke a bone in his elbow on the 9th of August. The 35-year old becomes a free agent at the end of the season.
Unsurprisingly, Ahnüü Otters starting pitcher Rocky Kohler led the league in innings pitched (201.1) strikeouts (210), WHIP (1.11), K/9 (9.4) and WAR (6.2), but their offense was poor, ranking 7th in most categories, with 2B Ruben Schaefer (.286/.351/.484) leading the team in HRs (18), RBIs (75) and WAR which was an iffy 1.9. Catcher Olof Bbjornstrand – the first player traded from the Super Ligan – found the adjustment to life in the new league difficult, batting just .203/.321/.232 for the Otters, down from his .325/.413/.479 line at Omfattandestad.
Mehmet Dorn’s (.330/.396/.520) league-leading 56 Doubles made little difference to Ledigstadt who collapsed to a 12-43 record through the months of July and August to become the first team to finish last in the league. A lack of base-runners became more and more evident as the season progressed, with the Mustangs stealing just 9 bases all year, 12 less than the next lowest (Hüll) whilst also hitting the least amount of Home Runs, Triples and Runs.