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KCRoyals15 · 12-21-2024, 11:52 AM

1965

Skipper Jr. continued his speed run through the Texas League, going one-and-done after his surprise Texas League title in Tulsa in 1964. He departed the Oilers to go back across the Red River. Following his revival of the Dallas Lone Stars in ’63, it was time to go to the other side of the Metroplex to breathe new life into the Fort Worth Panthers.

The Northern Conference saw the defending champion Manhattan Yankees hold off the Philadelphia Quakers, as those two earned the New England League playoff spots. In the Midwest Association, the Chicago Whales won a franchise-record 106 games, easily clearing Detroit, who took second place and with it, a playoff spot.

In the postseason, Philadelphia scored a major upset of the Whales in a seven-game thriller in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Manhattan took down Detroit in five games. The Quakers then turned the tables on the Yankees, setting down Manhattan in a five-game series to win the North.

In the Southern Conference, the Eastern League saw an extremely competitive race in Florida, as Jacksonville won 105 games, edging out Miami by two games, though both teams comfortably earned playoff spots. In the Western League, St. Louis won 111 games, earning their fifth straight pennant and their fourth straight 100-win season. New Orleans finished a distant second, 26 games back, and took the second playoff spot.

In the first round, St. Louis dispatched Miami (EDITOR’S NOTE: the screenshot says a 5-2 series. Given every other series being best-of-seven, I have NO clue what happened there. I’m guessing a weird glitch and the actual result was 4-2 or 4-3), while Jacksonville got all they could handle from New Orleans, but got past the Pelicans in a seven-game tilt. The Tars were no match, though, as St. Louis comfortably took a five-game Conference Finals.

The Pacific Coast League saw defending champion Seattle take the pennant in comfortable fashion, finishing 15 games above second-place Sacramento. Hollywood took third, then Los Angeles slipped into fourth, reaching the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. San Diego just missed out on the postseason, spending October at home for the first time since 1952 after 12 straight trips to the playoffs.

In the first round, Sacramento dueled Hollywood for seven games, but they turned out the lights on the Stars, while Seattle slid past Los Angeles in a six-game series. The Rainiers then took down the Solons in another six-game series, clinching the second straight PCL title for Seattle.

Once again, a Texas League team saw an immediate improvement after bringing Skipper Jr. aboard, and the Fort Worth Panthers were the beneficiary, winning the North for their first division title in nine years. Dallas rankled some in the Metroplex by opening new Turnpike Stadium in the suburb of Arlington—located between Dallas and Fort Worth, which they christened by edging Tulsa by a game for the second playoff spot in the North.

The South saw the Galveston Hurricanes returned to the top of the division for the first time in four years, as they were the only Texas League team with even 90 victories, winning 102 games. San Antonio then edged out Houston by two games for the last playoff spot.

Like Dallas, Houston also opened a new facility, the Harris County Domed Stadium—quickly coined the “Buffalodome” by the press and fans—becoming the second team (after Brooklyn) to play under a roof. Brooklyn had attempted to soldier on with natural grass, but was running into issues. Seeing this, Houston contracted with Monsanto to revolutionize indoor sports with a new plastic-base playing artificial playing surface. This too would gain a Houston-themed nickname: BuffaloGrass.

Dallas pulled an upset against their cross-town rivals, knocking off Fort Worth in five games. Meanwhile, San Antonio pulled off a bigger one, knocking out Galveston in six games. In the Lone Star Series, the Missions continued their march, defeating Dallas in six games for the Texas League title. The Missions won ten Texas League titles (more than anyone else) during the TL’s minor league era, but this championship was their first since 1951 and their first as a big-league club.

In the national tournament, the overwhelming favorites did not disappoint early on, as the St. Louis Browns (SOU) defeat the Philadelphia Quakers (NOR), while the Seattle Rainiers (PCL) defeat the San Antonio Missions (TL). In a matchup of probably the two strongest teams in the entire USBF, Seattle was a little stronger, as the Seattle Rainiers (PCL) defeat the St. Louis Browns (SOU), 4-1 to win their third National Championship and their first since 1950.

For the fourth time in six years and the second in a row, Manhattan outfielder Cory Gilmore continued his dominant run in Northern Conference MVP voting. The 28-year-old slashed .309/.358/.528 with 181 hits, 84 runs, 25 doubles, 29 home runs, and 104 RBI, while stealing 14 bases.

His teammate, righty Glenn Clark, also repeated as Pitcher of the Year. The 27-year-old went 18-12 with a conference-best 2.09 ERA, while also leading the conference in starts (36) and strikeouts (258) over 271.1 innings to take the hardware home once more.

A pair of legends reached notable milestones as Philadelphia’s Felipe Meneses crushed his 400th home run on April 22, becoming the second EBF player to reach that mark. On June 3, Milwaukee’s Aaron Vergara one-upped him with his 3,000th hit, becoming the first EBF player since 1943 to hit that benchmark.

The Southern Conference was once more ruled by Jacksonville’s Steve Bishop, who won his third straight MVP and fifth overall. Bishop slashed .303/.378/.575 with 179 hits, a conference-high 117 runs, 24 doubles, 42 home runs, 130 RBI, and 39 steals, adding a Great Glove to his award shelf as well.

The St. Louis Browns continued to churn out pitching, and the latest was 26-year-old rookie lefty John Richards, who went 17-9 with a 2.14 ERA, striking out 195 batters in 261.0 innings. He earned Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards. He posted a similar season in 1966, then missed 30 months (nearly three entire seasons) due to a major arm injury, the start of several major arm injuries that loomed over the last decade of his career.

In the Pacific Coast League, hard-hitting Seattle shortstop Joseph Miller slashed .263/.340/.541 with 192 hits, and a league-leading 123 runs. For the second year in a row, though, he led the PCL in homers and RBI, blasting 54 homers and 148 RBI to win his second MVP in a row. Miller also set history on March 16 vs. Sacramento, becoming the first player in PCL history and just the second in major league history to hit four home runs in a game.

For the first time in five years, the PCL crowned a new Pitcher of the Year, as second-year Hollywood righty Kevin Corbett went 19-11 with a league-leading 2.59 ERA, also leading the PCL with 43 starts and striking out 203 batters in 316.2 innings.

A couple of home run milestones were reached as well in the PCL, as Oakland’s John DeNoia became the fourth PCL hitter to reach 400 home runs, doing so on April 28. On May 11, Los Angeles’ Marcus Hale also reached that milestone.

In the Texas League, Phoenix right fielder Dave Langone won his first home run title the prior season, then one-upped it by also leading the TL in all three triple-slash categories, slashing .366/.463/.670, also topping the loop in hits (204), scoring 110 times, hitting 21 doubles, and leading the league with 10 triples and 43 home runs, while driving in 106, taking home a well-deserved MVP award.

For a third year in a row, Oklahoma City righty Roy Hendricks dominated the league, going 17-12 with a league-best 2.26 ERA, and leading the league with 37 starts and eight shutouts, while adding 282.2 innings, 198 strikeouts, and 16 complete games.

For the first time in 14 years, the Pacific Coast League elected a player to the Hall of Fame:

CF Victor Loza (1946-58), 77.4%

---

The American Baseball League featured a pair of competitive races, as the West saw Austin and Spokane each won 99 games to earn the two playoff spots in that division. Meanwhile, the East saw New Haven win the division, while Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Newark all tied for second. Pittsburgh came away with the tiebreaker, reaching the postseason for the first time since winning the first Midwest Association pennant in 1900. Their run ended quickly, though, as Spokane knocked them out in the first round in five games. New Haven, meanwhile, took down Austin in seven games, before Spokane turned the scales, edging New Haven in seven games to earn their fourth ABL title.

For the second year in a row, Spokane outfielder Chris Juliano earned MVP honors, slashing .295/.402/.554 with 168 hits, 104 runs, a league-high 46 doubles, 33 homers, and 120 RBI. Austin right-hander Chris Wallace won the ABL pitching Triple Crown, as the 30-year-old went 23-6 with a 1.71 ERA and 368 strikeouts, also leading the league with 37 starts and logging 278.2 innings.

---

The Minor League landscape also grew as the Mountain West and Canada gained more representation with the establishment of the Big Sky League:

Big Sky League

Minor League Champions
Southeastern League: Jackson Junebugs, 99-55, defeats Chattanooga
Colonial League: Syracuse Chiefs, 78-63, defeats Pittsfield
River Valley League: Peoria Distillers, 82-58, defeats Des Moines Demons
Rocky Mountain League: Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 76-50, defeats Ft. Collins
Coastal League: Macon Peaches, 87-67, defeats Winston-Salem
Northern League: Quad Cities Trappers, 80-60, defeats Fargo-Moorhead
Great Lakes League: Akron Rubbermen, 85-55, defeats Youngstown (2nd straight)
Southwest League: Santa Barbara Foresters, 82-72, defeats Long Beach
Southern Association: Shreveport Captains, 82-58, defeats Joplin
Northwest League: Reno High Rollers, 92-48, defeats Yakima
Can-Am League: Manchester Monarchs, 69-57, defeats Waterbury
Mid-Atlantic League: Asheville Tourists, 80-61, defeats Roanoke
Lone Star League: Abilene Prairie Dogs, 89-51, defeats San Angelo
Great Plains League: St. Paul Saints, 91-49, defeats Salina (3rd straight)
Florida Coast League: St. Petersburg Saints, 84-56, defeats Columbus
Big Sky League: Idaho Falls Fireballs, 72-60, defeats Ogden

12-21-2024, 11:52 AM	#75
KCRoyals15 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2020 Location: A lot of them Posts: 123	Rain on a Brown Parade 1965 Skipper Jr. continued his speed run through the Texas League, going one-and-done after his surprise Texas League title in Tulsa in 1964. He departed the Oilers to go back across the Red River. Following his revival of the Dallas Lone Stars in ’63, it was time to go to the other side of the Metroplex to breathe new life into the Fort Worth Panthers. The Northern Conference saw the defending champion Manhattan Yankees hold off the Philadelphia Quakers, as those two earned the New England League playoff spots. In the Midwest Association, the Chicago Whales won a franchise-record 106 games, easily clearing Detroit, who took second place and with it, a playoff spot. In the postseason, Philadelphia scored a major upset of the Whales in a seven-game thriller in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Manhattan took down Detroit in five games. The Quakers then turned the tables on the Yankees, setting down Manhattan in a five-game series to win the North. In the Southern Conference, the Eastern League saw an extremely competitive race in Florida, as Jacksonville won 105 games, edging out Miami by two games, though both teams comfortably earned playoff spots. In the Western League, St. Louis won 111 games, earning their fifth straight pennant and their fourth straight 100-win season. New Orleans finished a distant second, 26 games back, and took the second playoff spot. In the first round, St. Louis dispatched Miami (EDITOR’S NOTE: the screenshot says a 5-2 series. Given every other series being best-of-seven, I have NO clue what happened there. I’m guessing a weird glitch and the actual result was 4-2 or 4-3), while Jacksonville got all they could handle from New Orleans, but got past the Pelicans in a seven-game tilt. The Tars were no match, though, as St. Louis comfortably took a five-game Conference Finals. The Pacific Coast League saw defending champion Seattle take the pennant in comfortable fashion, finishing 15 games above second-place Sacramento. Hollywood took third, then Los Angeles slipped into fourth, reaching the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. San Diego just missed out on the postseason, spending October at home for the first time since 1952 after 12 straight trips to the playoffs. In the first round, Sacramento dueled Hollywood for seven games, but they turned out the lights on the Stars, while Seattle slid past Los Angeles in a six-game series. The Rainiers then took down the Solons in another six-game series, clinching the second straight PCL title for Seattle. Once again, a Texas League team saw an immediate improvement after bringing Skipper Jr. aboard, and the Fort Worth Panthers were the beneficiary, winning the North for their first division title in nine years. Dallas rankled some in the Metroplex by opening new Turnpike Stadium in the suburb of Arlington—located between Dallas and Fort Worth, which they christened by edging Tulsa by a game for the second playoff spot in the North. The South saw the Galveston Hurricanes returned to the top of the division for the first time in four years, as they were the only Texas League team with even 90 victories, winning 102 games. San Antonio then edged out Houston by two games for the last playoff spot. Like Dallas, Houston also opened a new facility, the Harris County Domed Stadium—quickly coined the “Buffalodome” by the press and fans—becoming the second team (after Brooklyn) to play under a roof. Brooklyn had attempted to soldier on with natural grass, but was running into issues. Seeing this, Houston contracted with Monsanto to revolutionize indoor sports with a new plastic-base playing artificial playing surface. This too would gain a Houston-themed nickname: BuffaloGrass. Dallas pulled an upset against their cross-town rivals, knocking off Fort Worth in five games. Meanwhile, San Antonio pulled off a bigger one, knocking out Galveston in six games. In the Lone Star Series, the Missions continued their march, defeating Dallas in six games for the Texas League title. The Missions won ten Texas League titles (more than anyone else) during the TL’s minor league era, but this championship was their first since 1951 and their first as a big-league club. In the national tournament, the overwhelming favorites did not disappoint early on, as the St. Louis Browns (SOU) defeat the Philadelphia Quakers (NOR), while the Seattle Rainiers (PCL) defeat the San Antonio Missions (TL). In a matchup of probably the two strongest teams in the entire USBF, Seattle was a little stronger, as the Seattle Rainiers (PCL) defeat the St. Louis Browns (SOU), 4-1 to win their third National Championship and their first since 1950. For the fourth time in six years and the second in a row, Manhattan outfielder Cory Gilmore continued his dominant run in Northern Conference MVP voting. The 28-year-old slashed .309/.358/.528 with 181 hits, 84 runs, 25 doubles, 29 home runs, and 104 RBI, while stealing 14 bases. His teammate, righty Glenn Clark, also repeated as Pitcher of the Year. The 27-year-old went 18-12 with a conference-best 2.09 ERA, while also leading the conference in starts (36) and strikeouts (258) over 271.1 innings to take the hardware home once more. A pair of legends reached notable milestones as Philadelphia’s Felipe Meneses crushed his 400th home run on April 22, becoming the second EBF player to reach that mark. On June 3, Milwaukee’s Aaron Vergara one-upped him with his 3,000th hit, becoming the first EBF player since 1943 to hit that benchmark. The Southern Conference was once more ruled by Jacksonville’s Steve Bishop, who won his third straight MVP and fifth overall. Bishop slashed .303/.378/.575 with 179 hits, a conference-high 117 runs, 24 doubles, 42 home runs, 130 RBI, and 39 steals, adding a Great Glove to his award shelf as well. The St. Louis Browns continued to churn out pitching, and the latest was 26-year-old rookie lefty John Richards, who went 17-9 with a 2.14 ERA, striking out 195 batters in 261.0 innings. He earned Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards. He posted a similar season in 1966, then missed 30 months (nearly three entire seasons) due to a major arm injury, the start of several major arm injuries that loomed over the last decade of his career. In the Pacific Coast League, hard-hitting Seattle shortstop Joseph Miller slashed .263/.340/.541 with 192 hits, and a league-leading 123 runs. For the second year in a row, though, he led the PCL in homers and RBI, blasting 54 homers and 148 RBI to win his second MVP in a row. Miller also set history on March 16 vs. Sacramento, becoming the first player in PCL history and just the second in major league history to hit four home runs in a game. For the first time in five years, the PCL crowned a new Pitcher of the Year, as second-year Hollywood righty Kevin Corbett went 19-11 with a league-leading 2.59 ERA, also leading the PCL with 43 starts and striking out 203 batters in 316.2 innings. A couple of home run milestones were reached as well in the PCL, as Oakland’s John DeNoia became the fourth PCL hitter to reach 400 home runs, doing so on April 28. On May 11, Los Angeles’ Marcus Hale also reached that milestone. In the Texas League, Phoenix right fielder Dave Langone won his first home run title the prior season, then one-upped it by also leading the TL in all three triple-slash categories, slashing .366/.463/.670, also topping the loop in hits (204), scoring 110 times, hitting 21 doubles, and leading the league with 10 triples and 43 home runs, while driving in 106, taking home a well-deserved MVP award. For a third year in a row, Oklahoma City righty Roy Hendricks dominated the league, going 17-12 with a league-best 2.26 ERA, and leading the league with 37 starts and eight shutouts, while adding 282.2 innings, 198 strikeouts, and 16 complete games. For the first time in 14 years, the Pacific Coast League elected a player to the Hall of Fame: CF Victor Loza (1946-58), 77.4% --- The American Baseball League featured a pair of competitive races, as the West saw Austin and Spokane each won 99 games to earn the two playoff spots in that division. Meanwhile, the East saw New Haven win the division, while Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Newark all tied for second. Pittsburgh came away with the tiebreaker, reaching the postseason for the first time since winning the first Midwest Association pennant in 1900. Their run ended quickly, though, as Spokane knocked them out in the first round in five games. New Haven, meanwhile, took down Austin in seven games, before Spokane turned the scales, edging New Haven in seven games to earn their fourth ABL title. For the second year in a row, Spokane outfielder Chris Juliano earned MVP honors, slashing .295/.402/.554 with 168 hits, 104 runs, a league-high 46 doubles, 33 homers, and 120 RBI. Austin right-hander Chris Wallace won the ABL pitching Triple Crown, as the 30-year-old went 23-6 with a 1.71 ERA and 368 strikeouts, also leading the league with 37 starts and logging 278.2 innings. --- The Minor League landscape also grew as the Mountain West and Canada gained more representation with the establishment of the Big Sky League: Big Sky League Minor League Champions Southeastern League: Jackson Junebugs, 99-55, defeats Chattanooga Colonial League: Syracuse Chiefs, 78-63, defeats Pittsfield River Valley League: Peoria Distillers, 82-58, defeats Des Moines Demons Rocky Mountain League: Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 76-50, defeats Ft. Collins Coastal League: Macon Peaches, 87-67, defeats Winston-Salem Northern League: Quad Cities Trappers, 80-60, defeats Fargo-Moorhead Great Lakes League: Akron Rubbermen, 85-55, defeats Youngstown (2nd straight) Southwest League: Santa Barbara Foresters, 82-72, defeats Long Beach Southern Association: Shreveport Captains, 82-58, defeats Joplin Northwest League: Reno High Rollers, 92-48, defeats Yakima Can-Am League: Manchester Monarchs, 69-57, defeats Waterbury Mid-Atlantic League: Asheville Tourists, 80-61, defeats Roanoke Lone Star League: Abilene Prairie Dogs, 89-51, defeats San Angelo Great Plains League: St. Paul Saints, 91-49, defeats Salina (3rd straight) Florida Coast League: St. Petersburg Saints, 84-56, defeats Columbus Big Sky League: Idaho Falls Fireballs, 72-60, defeats Ogden