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DOMINANT PITCHERS ABOUND AROUND THE LOWER LEAGUES DURING 1896!

1896 was the year of the dominant ace hurler in semi-professional and international baseball, as there were multiple Pitching Triple Crown winners and near-winners outside of the main leagues of the American Baseball Association.

First up, in Canada young ace Cecil Richards of the Quebec City Voyageurs - 23 for most of the season - went 30-14 with a 1.80 ERA and 197 strikeouts, leading the CBL in all three major pitching categories. He also led the league in innings pitched (399.0), complete games (38), shutouts (8), K/BB ratio (2.1), WHIP (1.08), and pitching WAR (10.0). It was the third straight year he’d led the CBL in wins even though QC has never finished higher than fourth in the standings, and it was also the third straight year he led the league in innings pitched, complete games, and WHIP.

In the United States, Ralph Easterly of the Reading Athletics in the Northeastern League had perhaps the best season of any non-ABA pitcher. He finished the NEL season 34-5 with a 2.13 ERA and 228 Ks, easily earning the NEL Pitching Triple Crown as no hurler was very close to him in any of the three major categories. Somehow, Easterly didn’t lead the league in pitching WAR (George Bardi of Lancaster: 11.1), but that would have been of little concern to him. Over four seasons since leaving the Milwaukee Bavarians reserve team, Easterly is 115-42 for Reading with a 2.57 ERA and 23 shutouts.

In the New York League, Marathon Base Ball Club’s undisputed ace, Edward Lapley, led the NYL in both wins (30) and ERA (1.65) for the second consecutive year. As if that wasn’t enough, he topped the pitching WAR chart for the fifth straight year (11.4) while leading the league in both K/BB ratio (2.3) and WHIP (0.98) for the third year in a row. His record over the last two years: a measly 56-15.

In New England, Henry Danforth came extremely close to winning the NEBA’s Pitching Triple Crown, finishing 28-12 with a 1.97 ERA and 172 strikeouts. That last number put him second in the league – just four more Ks would have made him the strikeout king and Triple Crown winner. Danforth has been ridiculous in his three seasons with The Cantabrigians after nine years in Duluth. He’s led the NEBA in Pitching WAR, ERA, WHIP, BB/9, and K/BB ratio all three seasons while pitching his way to an 80-35 record for the Cambridge (MA) club.

Over in the Great Lakes Baseball Conference, Ajdir Kambuji of the Duluth Loons was five strikeouts away from earning the GLBC Pitching Triple Crown (27-9, 2.20 ERA, 171 Ks). The African-born mainstay of the GLBC took his fourth ERA title (1892, 94-96), led the league in K/BB ratio for the fifth year in a row (2.3), WHIP for the third year in a row (1.07), and was #1 in pitching WAR (9.0) for the sixth time in his eleven seasons as a GLBC player (1889, 91-92, 94-96).

Finally, in the Prairie League Spencer Phillips of the Sioux City Falcons was agonizingly close to earning a Pitching Triple Crown of his own, as with an ERA just two hundredths of a point lower (2.76 instead of 2.78) he would have led the PL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. As it was, he finished the season 24-11 with a 2.78 ERA and 183 Ks while leading the league in both complete games and innings pitched. Those 183 Ks earned him his sixth finish atop the PL strikeout charts in ten seasons with Sioux City (1890-93, 95-96).

One might wonder why these pitchers don't try their luck in the APBL, MWBA, or the SEAL. It's a complicated decision - both leagues still have three-man rotations and little use for bullpens, so if lower-league aces sign with a full-time squad and don't make the cut as a starter, not only will they see little pitching action but they'll likely be cut after a year and take a big pay cut to sign with a new team the next year. Thus, the money they can make playing as superstar semi-pros is more consistent and might actually be better in the long run in the baseball world of the late 1800s.