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1857 NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE REVIEW

NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE STANDINGS

NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS

BATSMAN OF THE YEAR

WILLIAM JOHNSON – 23 y/o Corner Outfielder, St. John’s Baseball Club

• .370/.411/.482, .894 OPS, 83 R, 115 H, 27 2B, 4 3B, 0 HR, 61 RBI, 42 SB, 3.1 WPA, 3.0 WAR
• Hit 23/52 (.442) with a 1.021 OPS, 13 R, 18 RBI, and 5 SB during the playoffs (11 games)
• S. Kessler (SotO – .379, .896 OPS, 18 XBH, 48 RBI) 2nd, J. Williams (QS – .377, 121 H, 156 TB, 43 RBI) 3rd

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

JOHN ANDERSON – 33 y/o Pitcher, Scranton Baseball Club

• 30-8, 2.30 ERA, 37 GS, 28 CG, 3 SHO, 309 IP, 41 BB, 25 K, 1.20 WHIP, 5.0 WAR/9.2 R9WAR
• Credited with six more wins than any other pitcher in the entire N.B.B.O.
• C. Bowman (MB – .345, 42 RBI, 3.7 WPA) 2nd, S. Topps (REA – .348, 56 RBI, 3.4 WPA) 3rd

GOLDEN GLOVES

P: Clarence Griffiths (CAN), C: Jimmy Reardon (TRE), 1B: Arthur Holton (MB), 2B: Willard Krone (QUI), 3B: Fred Whatley (GM), SS: Anthony Mascherino (GM), OF: Eugene Cruise (SotO), CF: John Terry (SPO), OF: Clive Wise (StJ)

TEAM OF THE YEAR

P: John Anderson (SCR) – 30-8, 2.30 ERA, 28 CG, 3 SHO, 309 IP, 41 BB, 25 K, 1.20 WHIP, 5.0 WAR/9.2 R9WAR
C: Joe Feuerstein (PORT) – .280/.311/.364, 47 R, 80 H, 22 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 42 RBI, 3 SB, 0.4 WPA, 1.6 WAR
1B: George Blair (ALL) – .325/.384/.384, 50 R, 88 H, 13 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 50 RBI, 2 SB, 3.6 WPA, 1.6 WAR
2B: Daragh Adams (SHA) – .372/.396/.479, 56 R, 105 H, 21 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 52 RBI, 4 SB, 3.1 WPA, 2.6 WAR
3B: Sam Kessler (SotO) – .379/.432/.463, .896 OPS, 63 R, 103 H, 13 2B, 5 3B, 0 HR, 48 RBI, 21 SB, 2.9 WPA, 3.1 WAR
SS: John Williams (QS) – .377/.390/.486, 61 R, 121 H, 25 2B, 5 3B, 0 HR, 43 RBI, 11 SB, 2.6 WPA, 2.5 WAR
OF: Will Johnson (StJ) – .370/.411/.482, 83 R, 115 H, 27 2B, 4 3B, 0 HR, 61 RBI, 42 SB, 3.1 WPA, 3.0 WAR
CF: Curtis Bowman (MB) – .345/.381/.416, 83 R, 111 H, 23 2B. 0 3B, 0 HR, 42 RBI, 21 SB, 3.7 WPA, 2.6 WAR
OF: Ray Clough (SCR) – .355/.387/.469, 76 R, 113 H, 21 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 55 RBI, 13 SB, 4.1 WPA, 2.6 WAR
MGR: Mike Hackney (SCR) – 51-19; Scranton 12 wins better than projections, 1 GB for Inland Championship

NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE SEASON SUMMARY

While the Northeastern League had tight pennant races and teams that offered major surprises in their quality of play, in the end the three regional champions were the same three predicted by the press before the start of the season: Shamrock B.C. in the Coastal, Alleghany B.C. in the Inland, and St. John’s B.C. in New England. In fact, the intelligentsia’s win-loss projections were only a game off for both Shamrock (43-27 proj. vs 42-28 actual) & Alleghany (51-19 proj. vs 52-18 actual).

In the Coastal Championship, Port Jersey looked like they were going to run away with the pennant by mid-June thanks to a 23-7 record over the first six weeks of play, which gave them a six-game lead over American, Mass. Bay, Shamrock, & Trenton Utd. However, their form crashed and Port Jersey was 13-27 over their last forty games, leaving them six games out by the end of the season. By the fifty-game mark Port Jersey had given up the lead to Shamrock and the surprising Trenton United, both 30-20. The two teams would remain neck-and-neck over the final four weeks but Boston always managed to stay a game or two ahead, while cross-town rivals Massachusetts Bay were never able to close to within more than a few games of first. It was a very competitive division, with seven of eight teams finishing within a dozen games of first place.

The Inland Championship was a tale of two teams: Alleghany and Scranton, with the former being the clear preseason favorite and the latter being the biggest surprise of the N.B.B.O.’s inaugural season. By the end of May both teams had opened up a 3-4 game lead over the rest of the Inland pack, and from there the gap became cavernous. How superior were the pair? Third-place Sportsman’s B.C. finished EIGHTEEN games behind at 33-35. The two traded the Inland lead multiple times over June & July, with Scranton enjoying a two-game lead over Alleghany with ten games to go. Over those final ten Alleghany went 9-1 while Scranton was 6-4, which meant the Pittsburgh-based club was able to rally their way to the Inland pennant and the #1 seed for the N.E.L. playoffs.

St. John’s was projected to go 50-20 and basically be able to lollygag their way to the New England pennant. That didn’t happen. At the end of May they sat in fourth place at 11-9, with Granite, Green Mtn. & Portland ahead of them – no easy stroll to be had. By the middle of June there was no less than a four-way tie atop New England – Green Mtn., Portland, Quinnipiac, & St. John’s – at 17-13, with Granite one game back and Sons of the Ocean two. It was over the last two weeks of June that St. John’s took control by going 7-3 as others faltered, and after that they held onto first place for the rest of the season.

In the N.E.L. Semi-Finals St. John’s against Shamrock was a great matchup on paper, but in reality it was anything but. The Providence club advanced in a three-game sweep, winning Game One 11-4 by scoring all eleven runs in the fourth inning, taking another 11-4 victory in Game Two thanks to nine runs in the sixth, and ending the series at home with a 7-6 result where a rally over the seventh & eight advanced them to the League Championship Series.

The N.E.L. Championship Series was a fantastic five-game thriller. Alleghany struck first in Game One by scoring seven runs over the first three innings in a 10-5 win – James Scanlon hitting 4/4 with three RBI. St. John’s evened the series in Game Two with a 12-10 win in which the teams combined for 31 hits. The series lead went to St. John’s in a crushing 14-4 win in Game Three, but Alleghany stayed alive with a 12-7 win in Game Four that featured another Player of the Game performance from Scanlon (4/4, 3 R, 4 RBI). Alleghany was in control after the early innings of Game Five thanks to a 5-2 lead, but St. John’s chipped away with single runs in the 5th, 6th, & 7th before taking the lead with two in the eighth and holding on from there for a 7-6 win – a win they got away with despite nine fielding errors.

From there St. John’s went up against surprise N.Y.L. champions Victory B.B.C. for the first Tucker-Wheaton Cup, and they took it in a sweep. This might only be the first season of organized baseball, but a Providence team winning a championship somehow feels familiar…

At the top of the list of individual performances, the game of the season must go to Scranton outfield Raymond Clough, who became the first player to get six hits in a game on June 13th at Reading. He was 6/6 – all singles – with three runs and three RBI on the historic day. (Game Score: 90).

Not being content with just one piece of history, Scranton was also responsible for the first Cycle in N.B.B.O. history when John Nelson pulled off the trick as part of a 4/5 day with four runs and an RBI in the team’s 13-6 win at Merrimack Mills.

Sportsman’s third baseman Thomas Cowan had another memorable performance, when he hit the N.B.B.O.’s first Grand Slam as part of a 4/5 afternoon with three runs, six RBI, and a stolen base in his team’s home game against Pioneer B.C. on July 11th (Game Score: 96).