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NATIONAL BASE BALL ORGANIZATION MAY RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 1, 1868) – The end of May means teams have completed Week Four of the 1869 NBBO season. Here is how the competition looks after the initial portion of the schedule:

REGIONAL LEADERS (20 of 70 games played)

• BROOKLYN: Excelsior, Kings Co., & Nassau Co. tied at 12-8 (Atlantic 1 GB)
• NEW YORK CITY: Gotham at 15-5 (Knickerbocker 3 GB)
• UPSTATE NY: Flour City at 15-5 (Niagara & Utica 3 GB)
• COASTAL: Shamrock at 16-4 (American 4 GB)
• INLAND: Sportsman’s at 13-7 (Alleghany 1 GB)
• NEW ENGLAND: Granite at 15-5 (St. John’s 4 GB)

Shamrock has the best record in the NBBO thanks to – surprise, surprise – the best pitching & defense in the competition. The three 15-5 teams are all near the top of their leagues in Runs Allowed. Granite’s 15-5 is a huge surprise given they were 30-40 last season. It’s hard to imagine them staying in front of St. John’s, whose defense has had bizarre struggles, all season.

Alleghany is not destroying the Inland opposition like the Writers Pool had predicted. Their offense has been disappointing – 8th in the NEL in Runs & 6th in Batting Average. Their defense has been worse – 15th in Efficiency & 18 in Runs Allowed.

It’s early but it looks like Brooklyn will be this year’s most exciting regional championship, especially when considering that Continental is in 5th place with a 9-11 record but a Brooklyn-best +45 Run Differential.

BATTERS OF THE MONTH

• NYL: Mario Fusili (1B, SYR) – .446 AVG, 1.062 OPS, 22 R, 37 H, 11 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 22 RBI, 8 BB, 2 SB, 0.5 WPA, 1.1 WAR
• NEL: Franklin Petty (CF, L.E.) – .447 AVG, 1.188 OPS, 28 R, 42 H, 10 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 27 RBI, 4 BB, 8 SB, 2.3 WPA, 1.6 WAR

Fusilli’s steady bat earns him BotM for the 1st time after leading the NYL in both Average & OPS over the first four weeks of the season. The defending Batsman of the Year has started 1869 very well.

Petty, also taking his first BotM honor, is somehow looking like he will improve on his 5.4 WAR season from last year after putting up one of the best opening months an NBBO batsman has ever had.

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH

• NYL: James Goodman (F.C.) – 11-0, 1-81 ERA, 109.2 IP, 11 CG, 0 SHO, 5 BB, 38 K, 0.97 WHIP, 3.4 WAR, 5.5 rWAR
• NEL: Tom Hauser (AME) – 8-4, 1.87 ERA, 105.2 IP, 11 CG, 1 SHO, 3 BB, 12 K, 1.07 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 3.7 rWAR

Goodman, who somehow had never won PotM before, finally joined a team that had an offense to back up his pitching, and the results were astounding. Eleven wins is a May record, and he nearly matched Jim Creighton strikeout for strikeout. After one month he leads the NBBO in Wins, ERA, CG, WHIP, WAR, & rWAR.

It is a bit of a surprise that neither Shamrock pitcher – Tom Ricks or Thomas Smith – took the NEL BotM honor, but Hauser won as many games as Ricks or Smith while having an ERA nearly a full run lower than either pitcher.

NEWCOMERS OF THE MONTH

• NYL: Ralph Knight (2B, F.C.) – .360 AVG, .827 OPS, 22 R, 32 H, 7 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 0 BB, 2 SB, +2.3 ZR, 1.1 WPA, 0.6 WAR
• NEL: Washington Kihlstedt (P, SPO) – 7-4, 3.51 ERA, 100.0 IP, 9 CG, 0 SHO, 9 BB, 15 K, 1.25 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 3.1 rWAR

Flour City has a second monthly award winner after Knight had a fine debut month, both offensively & defensively, for the Upstate leaders. He has already formed a steady middle infield partnership with Harold Price.

Kihlstedt spent five years in the Sportsman’s reserves developing and waiting for his chance to be a regular pitcher, and through four weeks the 23-year-old has made the most of it.


STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Average: .457 by Willie Davis (CF, AME)
• OPS: 1.188 by Franklin Petty (CF, L.E.)
• Runs: 35 by Willie Davis (CF, AME)
• Home Runs: 6 by William Busby (1B, AME)
• RBI: 30 by William Busby (1B, AME)
• Stolen Bases: 19 by Konrad Jensen (OF, STJ) & Manuel Romeiras (CF, HAR)
• Batter WPA: 3.8 by John Carlton (OF, GRA)
• Batter WAR: 1.9 by Willie Davis (CF, AME)

• ERA: 1.81 by James Goodman (F.C.) over 109.2 IP
• Wins: 11 by James Goodman (F.C.)
• Complete Games: 11 by James Goodman (F.C.) & Tom Hauser (AME)
• Strikeouts: 42 by Jim Creighton (EXC)
• WHIP: 0.97 by James Goodman (F.C.) over 109.2 IP
• Pitcher WAR: 3.4 by James Goodman (F.C.)
• Pitcher rWAR: 5.5 by James Goodman (F.C.)