[Rocketdawg2016]

1871

In the offseason before the 1871 season, Manchester once again made headlines. Josh Truskowski, the reigning Colonial League MVP, inked a deal with the Eagles for seven years at a clip of $282 per season for a total of $1,864. Many pundits considered this the start of a long dynasty for Manchester, as they had now added two MVP's in back-to-back offseasons.

Despite this addition, Manchester did lose the reigning CL Pitcher of the Year in Billy Stewart, as he found a new home in Philadelphia, boosting up their lackluster pitching corps. On the opposite side in the Atlantic League, the former Pitcher of the Year winner for 1870 ALSO inked a new deal elsewhere. J.J. Darrow decided to take his talents from Philadelphia to Washington, boosting an already elite pitching corps and potentially throwing the Senators in the mix for yet another pennant in the Atlantic League.

The Eagles once again ran away with the Colonial League pennant, clinching on August 12th, the earliest in league history. They clinched with 16 games remaining in the season and were 17 games up on the next best team, Providence.

In the Atlantic League, however, the pennant race was tight as it could be. Three teams were in the mix for the pennant with seven days left in the regular season, those being Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore. Unfortunately for Washington, injuries began to mount up late in the year, as they had lost their starting 2nd basemen, left fielder and pitcher. Baltimore closed the gap and overtook both Washington and Philadelphia, clinching the Atlantic League with 5 games to go in the regular season.



The 1871 National Championship Series was a re-match of two years prior, when the Eagles and Red Wings met for the first ever championship. Despite the classic battle of two "rivals," it was the Eagles who manhandled the Red Wings from the jump. Manchester dropped six runs on the Red Wings in the first game and never looked back, sweeping the Atlantic League pennant winners in three games to capture their third straight title. In three seasons of NOBB, Manchester has build a baseball powerhouse, winning three titles with the hopes of more as the years go on. Once again, the Manchester pitching unit dominated, and Josh Reichard won National Championship MVP. Pitching almost 20 innings, 2 strikeouts, a 0.92 earned run average and going 2-0.

Season Awards
CL Most Valuable Player: Jim Dimeglio, Manchester Eagles - .379 AVG|93 RBI|30 2B|16 3B|
AL most Valuable Player: David Ewing, New York Battalion - .362 AVG|178 H|62 RBI|22 2B|

CL Pitcher of the Year: Evan Burns, Manchester Eagles - 42-21|2.85 ERA|49 K|
AL Pitcher of the Year: John Hillman, Baltimore Red Wings - 31-28|2.92 ERA|44 K|