Standings:
Blackburn and Wolverhampton dominated all year long, unsurprisingly. Newcomers Darwen had a terrible season while Sunderland managed only 2 more wins in their second season.
Community Shield
Wolverhampton's offense collected a massive 15 hits and Sam Brown pitched a complete game, 7 K performance to give the Wolves their second championship. Wolves defeated the Rovers 9-3.
Awards
Young Player of the Year
West Brom's 21-year-old shortstop becomes the first drafted player to win the Young PoTY award. After being drafter 3rd overall in the 1889 draft, Johnston finally went on to make his debut this year, and what an impressive debut season it was. Daryl played in 18 games for the Baggies this season, collecting 16 hits, 3 doubles and 2 triples. He also used his speed on the bases to steal 7 bases. The West Midlands outfit hope the shortstop will continue to develop and eventually become more of a star than what he showed in his rookie season.
Pitcher of the Year
Playing in his 4th season for the Rovers, Mitchell managed a career low in ERA and a career high in strikeouts and wins. His record of 19-6 paired with his ERA of 2.00 and 163 K led Blackburn to a second straight Community Shield appearance and a pitching award.
Player of the Year
Everton's highlight of the season after being welcomed back to the BL, Jackson managed to keep his batting average above 400 (.443), leading the league in this category as well as OBP(.500), wOBA(.470) and OPS+(187). This came as a surprise to most everyone as the second-baseman had only appeared at the plate 9 times in his previous two seasons.
League Accomplishments and Records
Arguably the best pitcher in the league, Reece Mitchell gave us the first no-hitter in history.
Records
After 4 years the recordbook looks like this:
Season Batting
Damien Jackson - .443 AVG in 1891
Bailey Blackburn - 41 hits in 1891
Joshua Ward - 10 doubles in 1890
Paddy Scott - 11 triples in 1891
Chris Nunn - 6 homers in 1891
Whelan Scott - 28 stolen bases in 1888
Evan Meagher - 26 strikeouts in 1891
Career Batting(Minimum 100 PA)
Michael East (1888-89) - .348 AVG
Brian Adams (1888- ) - 92 games
Finley Moss (1888- ) - 128 hits
Fergus Jenkins (1888- ) - 22 doubles
Finley Moss - 18 triples
Jack Black (1888- ) - 9 home runs
Evan Meagher (1888- ) - 86 stolen bases
Eamon Beck (1888- ) - 67 strikeouts
Season Pitching
Sam Brown - 1.92 ERA in 1888
Reece Mitchell - 19 wins in 1891
Scott Beacham - 21 losses in 1891
Jorge Payne - 4 saves in 1891
Louis Anderson - 21 complete games in 1891
Morgan Martin - 4 shutouts in 1890
Reece Mitchell - 163 strikeouts in 1891
Andy Mercer - 98 walks in 1891
Career Pitching(Minimum 100 IP)*
Eamonn Quinn (1888- ) - 2.48 ERA
Sam Brown (1888- ) - 61 wins
Matthew Sturgess (1888- ) - 42 losses
Jorge Payne (1888- ) - 6 saves
Sam Brown - 74 complete games
Morgan Martin (1888- ) - 9 shutouts
Reece Mitchell (1888- ) - 466 strikeouts
Reece Mitchell - 309 walks
*Sidenote: In the game record book, for career pitching there is a minimum of 35 IP which I think is bs, to be honest. So I looked up all pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings in the league since 1888(Jorge Payne has only thrown 50.1 at the time of writing this, but he is the all-time save leader. Only six saves as a result of me turning down "Hook SP", "Use of relievers", "Use of closers" and turning "Pitcher stamina" all the way up.