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NATIONAL BASE BALL ORGANIZATION JUNE RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (July 1, 1869) – The end of June sees the National Base Ball Organization part of the way done with Week Nine of the 1869 season. Here is how the competition looks a little more than halfway through:

REGIONAL LEADERS (41 of 70 games played)

• BROOKLYN: Atlantic & Kings Co. at 24-17 (Eckford & Excelsior 1 GB, Continental 3 GB, Nassau Co. 4 GB)
• NEW YORK CITY: Knickerbocker at 29-12 (Gotham 1 GB)
• UPSTATE NY: Flour City at 33-8 (Binghamton & Utica 10 GB)
• COASTAL: Shamrock at 33-8 (Mass. Bay 8 GB)
• INLAND: Alleghany at 28-13 (Sportsman’s 1 GB)
• NEW ENGLAND: St. John’s at 27-14 (Cantabrigians, Portland, & S.o.t.O. 5 GB)

Bedford has fallen off the pace, but Brooklyn is still incredibly tight. Interestingly, the team with the most favorable remaining schedule might be the team with the worst Run Differential: Eckford. This is because they have played only 16 games at home compared to 25 away.

Knickerbocker has soared to the top of NYC thanks to an ongoing thirteen-game winning streak, but Gotham is still right behind them.

Flour City is in total control of Upstate New York after an 18-3 June. Similarly, Shamrock has likely conquered the Coastal Championship for the eighth time after a 17-4 June that looked completely dominant.

Alleghany is 7-3 over the last ten games but still just in front of the surprising Sportsman’s, who is being led by the pitching of first-year senior player Washington Kihlstedt and a stout defense.

St. John’s went from four games back at the start of June to five games clear in New England, thanks to 16-5 June and an offense that is scoring 9.8 runs per game. Granite went from 15-5 in May to 3-18 in June.

BATTERS OF THE MONTH

• NYL: Garfield Koonce (1B, K.C.) – .470 AVG, 1.211 OPS, 32 R, 47 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 39 RBI, 3 BB, 0 SB, 3.0 WPA, 1.8 WAR
• NEL: Samuel Kessler (3B, ALL) – .464 AVG, 1.132 OPS, 38 R, 45 H, 13 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 36 RBI, 10 BB, 5 SB, 2.0 WPA, 1.6 WAR

Koonce’s brilliant June puts him squarely in place to have a better sophomore season than his All-Star worthy debut in 1868. Meanwhile, 9x Team of the Year member Kessler finally took his first BotM honor as part of Alleghany’s incredible offense.

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH

• NYL: James Goodman (F.C.) – 11-2, 1.77 ERA, 116.2 IP, 11 CG, 1 SHO, 5 BB, 46 K, 0.99 WHIP, 4.0 WAR, 6.2 rWAR
• NEL: Washington Kihlstedt (SPO) – 11-1, 2.69 ERA, 113.2 IP, 10 CG, 1 SHO, 13 BB, 11 K, 1.21 WHIP, 2.3 WAR, 5.3 rWAR

No surprise in New York: Goodman took PotM again with pitching that was as spectacular in June as it was in May. Over in the NEL, it was the stunning newcomer Kihlstedt and his 11-1 June for Sportsman’s that beat the league’s best for PotM.

NEWCOMERS OF THE MONTH

• NYL: Charles Hodges (SS, MUT) – .366 AVG, .873 OPS, 23 R, 34 H, 8 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 20 RBI, 4 BB, 0 SB, 1.3 WPA, 0.6 WAR
• NEL: Washington Kihlstedt (P, SPO) – NEL Pitcher of the Month

Hodges has proven himself a fine winter addition for a much-improved Mutual team, and he has been rewarded accordingly. Given that Kihlstedt was the NEL’s Pitcher of the Month, he had to be their Newcomer of the Month as well.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Average: .436 by Reginald Roper (OF, F.C.)
• OPS: 1.119 by Franklin Petty (CF, L.E.)
• Runs: 67 by Royal Altman (OF, ALL) & William Johnson (CF, STJ)
• Home Runs: 7 by William Busby (1B, AME)
• RBI: 59 by Garfield Koonce (1B, K.C.)
• Stolen Bases: 40 by Manuel Romeiras (CF, HAR)
• Batter WPA: 4.5 by Isaac Kelly (3B, ECK)
• Batter WAR: 2.7 by Edward Huntley (SS, KNI)

• ERA: 1.79 by James Goodman (F.C.) over 226.1 IP
• Wins: 22 by James Goodman (F.C.)
• Complete Games: 22 by James Goodman (F.C.)
• Strikeouts: 84 by Jim Creighton (EXC)
• WHIP: 0.98 by James Goodman (F.C.) over 226.1 IP
• Pitcher WAR: 7.4 by James Goodman (F.C.)
• Pitcher rWAR: 11.6 by James Goodman (F.C.)