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tm1681 · 06-06-2023, 08:15 PM

MILBURN HAS BEST SEASON YET, BUT PITCHING & SPEED TRUMP HITTING IN THE APBL AS PROVIDENCE WINS FIFTH CUP IN A ROW!

Going into the 1896 APBL season, it looked like the President’s Cup was the Pennsylvania Quakers’ to lose. During the previous season, it took a 17-2 run at the end of the season run for Providence to move past two other teams to reach P.C., and the Quakers front office reacted to the shocking sweep at the hands of the Saints by adding even more star power to the lineup. They let regular shortstop Joseph Tally (1.0 WAR over the previous two years) go and replaced him with three-time MWBA Golden Glove winner and one-time WAR leader Robert Driscoll. They also let quality center fielder George Hedges (11.9 WAR from 93-95) leave for the Knickerbockers and replaced him with the best middle outfielder in the league: Rochester’s Thomas Paulari (18.8 WAR, 301 SB in four years w/ ROCH).

The Northeastern punditry had two major predictions for the 1896 APBL season: first, that the Quakers would easily be the league’s most dangerous team; second, that Providence would finally be evicted from the Colonial Conference penthouse, likely by Buffalo. The Quakers’ offensive attack certainly lived up to what the public had in mind for them, as their batsmen collectively led the league in the following over the 132-game season:

Runs – 722
Hits – 1,486
Runs Batted In – 634
Doubles – 223 (tied w/ Brooklyn)
Total Bases – 1,969
Batting Average – .314
On-base Percentage – .375
Slugging Percentage – .416
On-base + Slugging – .791
OPS Plus – 108
Win Probability Added – 13.43
Wins Above Replacement – 40.0

Also, they were second in home runs (26) and walks (426). Their pitchers weren’t bad either, finishing third in runs allowed (458), fourth in ERA (2.76), and they were able to boast of having the APBL’s Hurler of the Year in Jurgen Schultz (33-11, 2.36 ERA). Not surprisingly, they easily had the APBL’s best Run Differential (+264), scoring exactly two runs per game more more than the opposition.

Of course, their attack was led by Jacob Milburn, who put in arguably his finest season at the age of 36. After taking a year to get used to the superior pitching in the APBL, he proceeded to crush the league and finish with the following stat line:

He didn’t lead the league in a dozen offensive categories like he did in his 1891 MWBA season – only ten this time. What made his season arguably more impressive was that he did it in the APBL, where the batting average and OPS are normally 20 and 40 points lower, respectively, than they are in the MWBA each season. He won the batting title by more than 50 points (George Bixby: .377) and led on-base percentage by more than 50 points (Bixby: .450), total bases by 40+ (Lindsey Christianson: 259), and OPS by an absurd 198 points (Mogens Markert: .906). As a result, his WAR was nearly a full point higher (10.1) than it was during 1891 (9.2). He was the unanimous Batsman of the Year.

Over in the Colonial Conference, Buffalo couldn’t live up to preseason predictions and fell just a bit short of a trip to the President’s Cup (5 GB), meaning Providence, whose record shot back up 90-42, was going to try to take the cup home for the fifth year in a row. The Saints made it there the same way they had in each of the previous four years. They had excellent pitching from what was now “The Three Charlies”: Charles Wilkerson (29-13, 2.00 ERA), Charles Carlyle (27-14, 2.54 ERA), and offseason signee Charles Clinton from Pittsburgh (29-13, 2.62 ERA). Once again, they had a league-leading defense led by APBL Most Valuable Player Charley Rankin (11.6 WAR). Also, they also had one of the better batting lineups in the league.

Would they face the 87-45 Quakers? Incredibly, no! Pennsylvania was pipped to the Metropolitan Conference title by the completely revamped Excelsior Knights, who signed or traded for the following players in the offseason:

George Patterson, two-time defending APBL Hurler of the Year (32-11, 1.87 ERA in 1895)
Hawk Nielsen, 1895 SEAL Hurler of the Year (34-7, 2.36 ERA for Atlanta)
Wyszemir Pawlak (1B/LF), four-time SEAL TotY Member and 1890 Batsman of the Year (.914 OPS, 4.79 WPA, 3.7 WAR in 1895)
Samuel Mayer (2B/SS), two-time Golden Glove winner & Team of the Year member (.974 OPS, 4.99 WPA, 5.2 WAR in SEAL in 1895)
Sean Crane (3B/SS/CF), twelve-year APBL veteran (.767 OPS, 3.34 WPA, 2.2 WAR in 1895; 35.2 career WAR)
Levi Carmichael (3B), Buffalo’s regular third baseman each of the previous four seasons

The addition of Crane to a lineup already featuring Mahon Bailey and Bernard Evanson gave the Knights by far the fastest team in the league. They stole more than two bases per game (273) at a roughly 75% success rate, they swiped 105 more bases than any other team, and Excelsior had all the top three base stealers in the APBL (Evanson: 66, Crane: 62, Bailey: 58). The addition of two HotY winners to go with 1895 ace Redmond Krebs gave the Knights a pitching staff that led the APBL in numerous categories:

Runs Allowed – 381
Earned Run Average – 2.14
Shutouts – 18
Walks – 237 (1.8 BB/9)
Strikeouts – 524 (3.9 K/9)
Pitching WAR – 27.9

Because of that and a 9-1 record over the season’s last ten games, the Knights matched Providence’s 90-42 record and earned a spot in the President’s Cup. From there, the Providence team that had already been through the cup experience four times before made quick work of the strikingly similar Knights team, winning the 1896 President’s Cup four games to one. Series MVP Charles Carlyle allowed one run over eighteen innings, and thus he got to lead the cup on yet another parade through the city. It was the fifth year in a row Providence took it home, and it made people wonder when, or if, the cup would ever leave the country’s smallest state.

06-06-2023, 08:15 PM	#46
tm1681 All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 1,428	MILBURN HAS BEST SEASON YET, BUT PITCHING & SPEED TRUMP HITTING IN THE APBL AS PROVIDENCE WINS FIFTH CUP IN A ROW! Going into the 1896 APBL season, it looked like the President’s Cup was the Pennsylvania Quakers’ to lose. During the previous season, it took a 17-2 run at the end of the season run for Providence to move past two other teams to reach P.C., and the Quakers front office reacted to the shocking sweep at the hands of the Saints by adding even more star power to the lineup. They let regular shortstop Joseph Tally (1.0 WAR over the previous two years) go and replaced him with three-time MWBA Golden Glove winner and one-time WAR leader Robert Driscoll. They also let quality center fielder George Hedges (11.9 WAR from 93-95) leave for the Knickerbockers and replaced him with the best middle outfielder in the league: Rochester’s Thomas Paulari (18.8 WAR, 301 SB in four years w/ ROCH). The Northeastern punditry had two major predictions for the 1896 APBL season: first, that the Quakers would easily be the league’s most dangerous team; second, that Providence would finally be evicted from the Colonial Conference penthouse, likely by Buffalo. The Quakers’ offensive attack certainly lived up to what the public had in mind for them, as their batsmen collectively led the league in the following over the 132-game season: Runs – 722 Hits – 1,486 Runs Batted In – 634 Doubles – 223 (tied w/ Brooklyn) Total Bases – 1,969 Batting Average – .314 On-base Percentage – .375 Slugging Percentage – .416 On-base + Slugging – .791 OPS Plus – 108 Win Probability Added – 13.43 Wins Above Replacement – 40.0 Also, they were second in home runs (26) and walks (426). Their pitchers weren’t bad either, finishing third in runs allowed (458), fourth in ERA (2.76), and they were able to boast of having the APBL’s Hurler of the Year in Jurgen Schultz (33-11, 2.36 ERA). Not surprisingly, they easily had the APBL’s best Run Differential (+264), scoring exactly two runs per game more more than the opposition. Of course, their attack was led by Jacob Milburn, who put in arguably his finest season at the age of 36. After taking a year to get used to the superior pitching in the APBL, he proceeded to crush the league and finish with the following stat line: He didn’t lead the league in a dozen offensive categories like he did in his 1891 MWBA season – only ten this time. What made his season arguably more impressive was that he did it in the APBL, where the batting average and OPS are normally 20 and 40 points lower, respectively, than they are in the MWBA each season. He won the batting title by more than 50 points (George Bixby: .377) and led on-base percentage by more than 50 points (Bixby: .450), total bases by 40+ (Lindsey Christianson: 259), and OPS by an absurd 198 points (Mogens Markert: .906). As a result, his WAR was nearly a full point higher (10.1) than it was during 1891 (9.2). He was the unanimous Batsman of the Year. Over in the Colonial Conference, Buffalo couldn’t live up to preseason predictions and fell just a bit short of a trip to the President’s Cup (5 GB), meaning Providence, whose record shot back up 90-42, was going to try to take the cup home for the fifth year in a row. The Saints made it there the same way they had in each of the previous four years. They had excellent pitching from what was now “The Three Charlies”: Charles Wilkerson (29-13, 2.00 ERA), Charles Carlyle (27-14, 2.54 ERA), and offseason signee Charles Clinton from Pittsburgh (29-13, 2.62 ERA). Once again, they had a league-leading defense led by APBL Most Valuable Player Charley Rankin (11.6 WAR). Also, they also had one of the better batting lineups in the league. Would they face the 87-45 Quakers? Incredibly, no! Pennsylvania was pipped to the Metropolitan Conference title by the completely revamped Excelsior Knights, who signed or traded for the following players in the offseason: George Patterson, two-time defending APBL Hurler of the Year (32-11, 1.87 ERA in 1895) Hawk Nielsen, 1895 SEAL Hurler of the Year (34-7, 2.36 ERA for Atlanta) Wyszemir Pawlak (1B/LF), four-time SEAL TotY Member and 1890 Batsman of the Year (.914 OPS, 4.79 WPA, 3.7 WAR in 1895) Samuel Mayer (2B/SS), two-time Golden Glove winner & Team of the Year member (.974 OPS, 4.99 WPA, 5.2 WAR in SEAL in 1895) Sean Crane (3B/SS/CF), twelve-year APBL veteran (.767 OPS, 3.34 WPA, 2.2 WAR in 1895; 35.2 career WAR) Levi Carmichael (3B), Buffalo’s regular third baseman each of the previous four seasons The addition of Crane to a lineup already featuring Mahon Bailey and Bernard Evanson gave the Knights by far the fastest team in the league. They stole more than two bases per game (273) at a roughly 75% success rate, they swiped 105 more bases than any other team, and Excelsior had all the top three base stealers in the APBL (Evanson: 66, Crane: 62, Bailey: 58). The addition of two HotY winners to go with 1895 ace Redmond Krebs gave the Knights a pitching staff that led the APBL in numerous categories: Runs Allowed – 381 Earned Run Average – 2.14 Shutouts – 18 Walks – 237 (1.8 BB/9) Strikeouts – 524 (3.9 K/9) Pitching WAR – 27.9 Because of that and a 9-1 record over the season’s last ten games, the Knights matched Providence’s 90-42 record and earned a spot in the President’s Cup. From there, the Providence team that had already been through the cup experience four times before made quick work of the strikingly similar Knights team, winning the 1896 President’s Cup four games to one. Series MVP Charles Carlyle allowed one run over eighteen innings, and thus he got to lead the cup on yet another parade through the city. It was the fifth year in a row Providence took it home, and it made people wonder when, or if, the cup would ever leave the country’s smallest state. Last edited by tm1681; 06-07-2023 at 02:48 AM.