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1860 NEW YORK LEAGUE REVIEW

NORTHEASTERN SEASON SUMMARY

The 1860 Northeastern League Season offered up no surprises in two of its three subdivisions, as the Coastal & New England championships saw the same winners and placements near the top as they did last year. The Inland was different, as Alleghany B.C. slid all the way down to sixth place and let the smaller clubs vie for the pennant. Once again, the N.E.L. was the more offensive of the two leagues, with the batters hitting .301 (.707 OPS), the teams scoring 6.8 runs per game, and the league producing the only pair of .400 hitters in the N.B.B.O.

The Coastal Championship started off with Newark red-hot, in first place as the start of June with a 15-8 record. By the middle of the month defending champions Shamrock B.C. caught up, and in mid-July Newark & Shamrock were still tied for first. However, Newark were 3-12 over the final three weeks and let Shamrock take the pennant, with Massachusetts Bay finishing second for the second season in a row.

The Inland Championship saw Scranton go 16-7 in May, and even though there were constantly teams just a few games behind them the Pennsylvanians were able to use that first month to propel them to the Inland championship by four games over Pioneer & Susquehanna, and five games over Reading. Pittsburgh-based Alleghany, by far the biggest club in the Championship, stunningly fell from first place to sixth with a 32-38 season.

The New England Championship once again went to St. John’s B.C., but they had to sweat for it. They were 16-7 in May but Green Mountain were 15-8, and that set up a pennant chase that lasted the rest of the season. St. John’s won seventy percent of their games again (49-21) but they only finished three games ahead of Green Mountain and a late-surging Sons of the Ocean.

The Northeastern League Semi-Final looked like one that favored the Coastal champs even though Scranton B.C. had home field advantage, but Shamrock fell victim to late miscues that led to a sweep at the hands of Scranton.

• Game One was in Scranton, and after seven innings it appeared that the hosts had the victory almost in hand thanks to a 4-1 lead. However, Shamrock scored five times in the eighth to take a 6-4 lead. Scranton scored once in the eight and ninth to force extra innings, and in the bottom of the tenth Harrison LaCasse singled in Roy Jacobson to give Scranton a 6-5 win in the opener.

• Game Two saw Scranton jump out to another lead, and this time it was too big for Shamrock to overcome. The home team was up 6-0 after five innings, and while Shamrock scored five in the top of the sixth to pull to within a run Scranton responded with three in the bottom half to put the win away and go up 2-0.

• Game Three in South Boston was back-and-forth. Thanks to a rally in the top of the third, Scranton were up 3-1 after three innings. It was 3-2 after six, but Shamrock scored twice in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead. They were in a good spot, but the usually reliable Joe Cunningham & the defense wilted in the ninth, allowing three runs to Scranton while committing three errors. A 1-2-3 Shamrock ninth gave Scranton a 6-4 win and a sweep.

Scranton had a relatively easy time of it in the semi-final, so that aided their hopes to beat St. John’s – once again the league’s dominant team – in the Northeastern League Championship Series.

• Game One was a stunner in Providence. St. John’s scored four runs but they were held to just five hits, and the fastest team in the N.B.B.O. were unable to take any extra bases off the Scranton defense. The visitors were ahead 4-3 going into the eighth, where they scored three times to guarantee that they would win the opener.

• Game Two again saw the St. John’s offense struggle a bit, but they were able to turn eight hits and one Scranton error into five runs and they held the lead going into the ninth inning. However, R.B.I. singles by Eugene O’Neill & Roy Jacobson turned a 5-4 St. John’s lead into a 6-5 deficit. The hosts could only get a runner to second base in the bottom half, and Scranton exited Providence having incredibly won the first two games.

• Game Three saw Providence take a turn at late heroics. Periodic tallies by both teams left the game 4-4 after nine innings, and it took until the twelfth to find a winner. In the top half, St. John’s substitute Moses Tucker singled in Konrad Jensen to put St. John’s up 5-4, and a 1-2-3 bottom half meant they were still alive.

• Game Four had no such drama. With the score 1-1 after three innings, St. John’s scored three runs in the top of the fourth and that was more than satisfactory as they strolled to a 9-1 win to force a finale back in Providence. The St. John’s 3-4-5 hitters were 9/15 with five Runs and five R.B.I.

• Game Five was where St. John’s used their big-game experience to close out the series. They picked away at Scranton, scoring in the second, third, fourth, and fifth to take a 5-0 lead. After Scranton plated a lone run in the top of the sixth, the hosts scored six more times to win 11-1 and spare themselves a second straight dramatic playoff exit.

St. John’s was back where they wanted to be, but in the Tucker-Wheaton Cup they were facing a Kings County team that had, at the conclusion of their N.Y.L. Championship Series sweep, won nineteen consecutive games. They scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to take Game One, but that was all K.C. gave them as the kings of Brooklyn won the next three games – Game Four by scoring four times in the bottom of the ninth – to lift the cup.

In mid-season it looked like Anderson MacGyver was going to win his second straight Batsman of the Year award, but he faded a bit and it opened the door for the man who has become the N.B.B.O.’s most talented player: Susquehanna CF Willie Davis. Davis, last year’s M.V.P., hit .403 but was beaten by American’s William Rich (.413) for the Batting Championship. Still, Davis led the N.E.L. in Hits, Doubles, Extra-base Hits, Total Bases, Slugging, & O.P.S., placed in the top five in several other categories, and that meant he was B.o.t.Y. Scranton C Roy Jacobson, who hit .398, finished second, and MacGyver finished third.

Discussion for Most Valuable Player came down to two candidates: Davis and Green Mountain SS Anthony Mascherino. Davis had an amazing season and won a Golden Glove, but Mascherino was incredible in his own way. He hit .342 with 60 R.B.I. and a Zone Rating (+32.6) that was nearly four times that of any other N.E.L. shortstop. He lead the league in W.A.R. at 4.9, and he won the M.V.P. vote. Davis finished second, and St. John’s RF Konrad Jensen finished third.

There was no shortage of quality candidates for Newcomer of the Year, but the vote came down to a pair of Inland All-Stars: Reading C Dag Nielsen and Pioneer P Oscar Hall. Nielsen hit .350 with solid defense, while Hall won twenty games with a top-ten E.R.A. It was a close vote, but Nielsen finished first and Hall second. Heavy hitter Paul Kronenberg of Sportsman’s finished third.

Another N.E.L. season and another St. John’s pennant, but this time they couldn’t finish the job in the Tucker-Wheaton Cup.

NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE STANDINGS





NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

SEMI-FINALS: #2 Scranton B.C. defeats #3 Shamrock B.C. 3-0

• Game 1: SHA 6-7 SCR (10 Inn.) – P.o.t.G.: R. Jacobson (C, SCR) – 5/5, 2B, 3B, 3 R (scored winning run), RBI
• Game 2: SHA 7-9 SCR – P.o.t.G.: W. McQuaid (SS, SHA) – 4/5, 2B, 2 R, RBI
• Game 3: SCR 6-4 SHA – P.o.t.G.: R. Clough (RF, SCR) – 3/4, 2B, R, RBI
• M.V.P.: Roy Jacobson (C, SCR) – 7/14 (.500), 2B, 3B, 4 R, 4 RBI
• NOTABLE: Scranton won 2/3 games with runs in the 9th inning or later

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP: #1 St. John’s B.C. defeats #2 Scranton B.C. 3-2

• Game 1: SCR 7-4 STJ – P.o.t.G.: R. Jacobson (C, SCR) – 3/5, R, RBI
• Game 2: SCR 6-5 STJ – P.o.t.G.: R. Kenton (CF, STJ) – 2/4, 2B, 3B, R, 3 RBI
• Game 3: STJ 5-4 SCR (12 Inn.) – P.o.t.G.: J. McGowan (P, STJ) – CG, 10 H, 4 R/2 ER, 1 K, 155 PIT
• Game 4: STJ 9-1 SCR – P.o.t.G.: C. Henderson (1B, STJ) – 4/5, 2 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI
• Game 5: SCR 1-11 STJ – P.o.t.G.: W. Johnson (LF, STJ) – 4/5, 3 R, RBI
• M.V.P.: Collin Henderson (1B, STJ) – 8/20 (.400), 2 2B, 6 R, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 4 SB
• NOTABLE: St. John’s never trailed Scranton in Game Four or Game Five

TUCKER-WHEATON CUP: St. John’s B.C. defeated by Kings County B.B.C. (N.Y.L.) 3-1

• St. John’s allowed five runs over their two home games and seventeen runs over the two games at K.C.

NEW YORK LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS

BATSMAN OF THE YEAR: Willie Davis – 23 y/o CF, Susquehanna Baseball Club

• .403/.428/.541, .969 OPS, 85 R, 129 H, 26 2B, 6 3B, 2 HR, 52 RBI, 42 SB, 173 TB, 4.5 WPA, 4.7 WAR
• Led Northeastern League in SLG, OPS, H, 2B, XBH, & TB; top five in AVG, R, SB, WPA, & WAR
• R. Jacobson (SCR: .398, 18 XBH, 57 RBI, 3.4 WAR) 2nd, A. MacGyver (STJ: .387, 26 2B, 73 RBI, 3.2 WAR) 3rd

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Anthony Mascherino – 21 y/o SS, Green Mountain Baseball Club

• .342/.374/.453, 83 R, 105 H, 21 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 60 RBI, 19 SB, 139 TB, +32.6 ZR, 3.4 WPA, 4.9 WAR
• Zone Rating of +32.6 at SS was nearly four times that of second-best SS (D. Coates, SCR: +8.4)
• W. Davis (SUS: .403, 26 2B, 173 TB, 4.5 WPA) 2nd, K. Jensen (STJ: .367, 90 R, 66 SB, 4.4 WPA) 3rd

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Dag Nielsen – 23 y/o C, Reading Athletic Club

• .353/.393/.430, .823 OPS, 53 R, 101 H, 20 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 33 RBI, 3 SB, 123 TB, 1.0 WPA, 3.0 WAR
• Only first-year catcher to make the All-Star Game
• O. Hall (PIO.: 20-11, 3.08, 22 CG, 4.6 WAR) 2nd, P. Kronenberg (SPO: .371, 27 XBH, 49 RBI, 2.5 WAR)

GOLDEN GLOVES

P: Walter Rose (Q.S.) – 72 TC, 1 DP, 4 E, 2.2 RNG, +7.0 ZR, 1.24 EFF
C: Clayton Gibbons (ALL) – 88 PB, 32.5 CS%, 4.32 CERA, +16.2 ZR, 1.01 EFF
1B: Doc King (PIO) – 795 TC, 32 DP, 13 E, +5.1 ZR, 1.08 EFF
2B: Lonnie Lester (M.B.) – 430 TC, 159 PO, 234 AST, 22 DP, 37 E, 6.3 RNG, +12.1 ZR, 1.11 EFF
3B: Samuel Kessler (S.o.t.O.) – 282 TC, 43 PO, 210 AST, 7 DP, 29 E, 3.7 RNG, +8.9 ZR, 1.10 EFF
SS: Anthony Mascherino (G.M.) – 466 TC, 106 PO, 311 AST, 34 DP, 49 E, 6.1 RNG, +32.6 ZR, 1.25 EFF
OF: William Johnson (STJ) – 203 TC, 5 AST, 3 DP, 16 E, 2.8 RNG, +7.9 ZR, 1.08 EFF
CF: Willie Davis (SUS) – 319 TC, 12 AST, 2 DP, 46 E, 4.0 RNG, +8.7 ZR, 1.05 EFF
OF: John Terry (SPO) – 233 TC, 5 AST, 2 DP, 26 E, 3.1 RNG, +8.8 ZR, 1.10 EFF

TEAM OF THE YEAR

P: John McGowan (STJ) - 23-12, 3.01 ERA, 295.2 IP, 27 CG, 4 SHO, 33 BB, 39 K, 1.22 WHIP, 5.7 WAR, 8.9 R9-WAR
C: Roy Jacobson (SCR) - .398/.417/.478, 57 R, 119 H, 13 2B, 4 3B, 1 HR, 57 RBI, 3 SB, 4.3 WPA, 3.4 WAR
1B: William Rich (AME) - .413/.441/.515, 57 R, 109 H, 17 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 44 RBI, 2 SB, 3.1 WPA, 2.9 WAR
2B: Anderson MacGyver (STJ) - .387/.424/.492, 67 R, 118 H, 26 2B, 3 3B, 0 HR, 73 RBI, 28 SB, 4.2 WPA, 3.2 WAR
3B: Samuel Kessler (S.o.t.O.) - .336/.398/.459, 81 R, 98 H, 23 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 44 RBI, 28 SB, 2.9 WPA, 2.9 WAR
SS: Anthony Mascherino (G.M.) - .342/.374/.453, 83 R, 105 H, 21 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 60 RBI, 19 SB, 3.4 WPA, 4.9 WAR
OF: Thomas Maloney (SHA) - .373/.405/.445, 77 R, 115 H, 14 2B, 4 3B, 0 HR, 55 RBI, 32 SB, 3.5 WPA, 2.7 WAR
CF: Willie Davis (SUS) - .403/.428/.541, 85 R, 129 H, 26 2B, 6 3B, 2 HR, 52 RBI, 42 SB, 173 TB, 4.5 WPA, 4.7 WAR
OF: Konrad Jensen (STJ) - .367/.453/.473, 90 R, 104 H, 25 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 52 RBI, 66 SB, 4.4 WPA, 3.3 WAR
MGR: Michael Hackney (SCR) - 45-25; Scranton won Inland after being predicted to finish 3rd, beat Shamrock in N.E.L. Semi-Final