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THE 1873 NATIONAL BASE BALL ORGANIZATION PREVIEW

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (May 14, 1873) – It is a little later than usual thanks to the change of Opening Day to the second Wednesday in May, but the 1873 NBBO season is upon us!

Last year, the field didn’t catch up to Quaker State during the season but Portland delivered a historic upset in the NEL Championship Series, coming from 2-0 down to stun a team that had the NBBO’s best record for the second consecutive season. In the aftermath, Eckford of Greenpoint claimed the Tucker-Wheaton Cup in its first ever playoff appearance, and some semblance of uncertainty was finally restored to the NBBO.

Quaker St. is again expected to finish the season with the NBBO’s best record, but for the first time in a number of years none of the 48 teams are expected to win 50+ games, and on top of that none are expected to lose 50+. No teams are expected to have a Run Differential better than +200. Either four or five regional pennants are expected to change hands, depending on how the projected tie atop Brooklyn shakes out, and for the first time in a while only one region is expected to be decided by more than a handful of games.

No team in the New York League is expected to have a significantly improved record, but the Writers Pool is looking for Trenton United to be at least a dozen wins better than they were last year after the team signed All-Stars Manuel Romeiras & Earl Seals along with 3.0-4.0* star Greenhorns Jelmar Keereweer (3B) & Thomas Koch (#2 P).

From a collective standpoint, this year’s most competitive regions are expected to be New York City & New England, with both projected to have at least five teams finish fewer than ten games behind 1st place. Meanwhile, it looks like Brooklyn & Coastal will consist of a top two and then six other teams far back in the standings.

Finally, it is expected that after one year under the new pitching rules batsmen will have made adjustments and offense will take a step back up in 1873.

And with that, it’s time to play ball!

NATIONAL BASE BALL ORGANIZATION PROJECTED FINISH

Brooklyn Championship
• Favorites: Atlantic & Eckford at 46-24 (ATL +150 RD, ECK +140 RD)
• Marathon 10 GB, Empire 11 GB, Nassau Co. 12 GB

New York City Championship
• Favorites: Mutual at 42-28 (+150 RD)
• Union 1 GB, Metropolitan 4 GB, Harlem 6 GB

Upstate New York Championship
• Favorites: Utica at 46-24 (+165 RD)
• Syracuse 3 GB, Minuteman 7 GB, Frontier 8 GB

Coastal Championship
• Favorites: Quaker State at 49-21 (+165 RD)
• Trenton Utd. 3 GB, Port Jersey 13 GB, Maryland 15 GB

Inland Championship
• Favorites: Merrimack Mills at 45-25 (+130 RD)
• Lancastra 6 GB, Susquehanna 8 GB, Sportsman’s 11 GB

New England Championship
• Favorites: Sons of the Ocean at 43-27 (+90 RD)
• Portland 2 GB, Cantabrigians 3 GB, three teams 8 GB

Tucker-Wheaton Cup favorites: Quaker State BC

BROOKLYN – Atlantic fell from repeat champions to 3rd last season, but the offseason signings of TotY members Henry Neal (Syracuse) & Herb Verrett (Maryland) have put them right back up at the top. They also have four-star Greenhorn Michael Kapral as their new #2 P. Defending cup winners Eckford decided that a championship-winning roster couldn’t really be improved upon, only making a change at C, where Frederick Chervenak (Frontier) replaces Scott Keys. Aside from the top two, the rest of Brooklyn isn’t expected to contend for a spot in the cup playoffs.

NEW YORK CITY – Mutual, 3rd place last year at 2½ GB, is expected to take top spot after signing reigning NYL Pitcher of the Year George Layman (Marathon). Union, last year’s champs, lost both middle infielders but appear to have found adequate replacements, and they’ve made an upgrade at 1B, signing William Simpkins (Tiger). Metropolitan’s power trio of Troy Oberst, Jerald Peterson, & Francis Smith, should have that team in the mix, while 3-4 offseason reinforcements look to give Harlem an outsider’s shot at taking 1st place in spite of the loss of All-Star CF Manuel Romeiras.

UPSTATE – Utica’s signing of everyday APBL 2B John Baddley (St. John’s) has given the team the most talented infield in the NYL, while their OF trio of Felix Brand, Will Buschmann, & the ageless James Heilman (43 y/o) is also very strong. 2x defending champs Syracuse lost Henry Neal but replaced him with BotY Chester Alexander, and they return the stalwart pitching duo of Ashley Atkins & Richard Frazee. Minuteman should again have fine pitching from Ernst Hermann & William Tighe, but their lineup is a bit iffy. Frontier lost Charles Rhodes but replaced him with the legendary Carl Bancroft.

COASTAL – Quaker St. should reign supreme again. 1B has seen a major upgrade thanks to the signing of Gerhardt Berg (S.o.t.O.), but 3B has taken a major hit with Moses Barnes taking over from Will Dickerson. What will worry Q.S. is Trenton Utd., whose offseason overhaul that included Earl Seals (Marathon) & Manuel Romeiras (Harlem) has turned them into a legitimate contender on paper. Trenton has excellent pitching & defense, so 45+ wins is doable. The rest of Coastal appears to be little more than cannon fodder for the projected top two.

INLAND – The signing of APBL 1B Julius Bailey (Flour City) & All-Star SS Bertram Zahn (Trenton Utd.), along with the continued development of 21 y/o CF Chuck Barrett, makes Merrimack the team to beat. Defending champs Susquehanna brought in ten-year Shamrock regular Will Gillette to play 2B, but their lineup has holes at SS & RF that will likely cause the team to finish a handful of games behind. Lancaster has two new quality P’s – Ralph Dodson (Pioneer) & John Faulkner (Trenton Utd.) – and that should allow their defense-heavy lineup to stay competitive.

NEW ENGLAND – This is the region where it looks like anything can happen. S.o.t.O. lost All-Stars Gerhardt Berg (1B) & Fred Richards (P), but the Writers Pool believes the team’s defensive strength will see them finish in front, although only just. Portland has a fine Greenhorn CF in Jonathan Ovaska, but weaknesses at C & RF are expected to scupper their attempts to take a third consecutive New England pennant. Cantabrigians returns every member of the lineup & pitching duo except at 3B, where they brought back Hoyt Woodford after one year with Merrimack. That is expected to see the Cambridge men finally crack the top three. The rest of New England is expected to be close but not quite good enough.

NBBO AWARD FAVORITES

NYL Batsman of the Year: Isaac Kelly (3B, Eckford) – projected .375/.395/.462, 1 HR, 74 RBI, 3 SB
NEL Batsman of the Year: Elijah Hill (3B, Green Mtn.) – projected .396/.417/.512, 0 HR, 74 RBI, 12 SB
NYL Pitcher of the Year: George Layman (Mutual) – projected 26-13, 2.50 ERA, 19 K in 331.2 IP
NEL Pitcher of the Year: Ross Gill (Quaker St.) – projected 30-9, 2.10 ERA, 28 K in 342.2 IP
NYL Most Valuable Player: William Buschmann (CF, Utica) – projected .358/.395/.490, 1 HR, 48 RBI, 41 SB
NEL Most Valuable Player: Ned Morganti (CF, Quaker St.) – projected .390/.424/.523, 1 HR, 73 RBI, 32 SB
NYL Greenhorn of the Year: Michael Kapral (26 y/o P, Atlantic)
NEL Greenhorn of the Year: Walt Proctor (27 y/o P, Green Mtn.)

NBBO TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

NEW YORK LEAGUE – P: George Layman (Mutual), C: Cale Jones (Union), 1B: Jerald Peterson (Metro), 2B: Chester Alexander (Syracuse), 3B: Isaac Kelly (Eckford), SS: Henry Nabors (Victory), OF: Troy Oberst (Metro), OF: William Buschmann (Utica), OF: Herb Verrett (Atlantic)

NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE – P: George Burroughs (Pt. Jersey), C: Joseph Steele (Pioneer), 1B: Gerhardt Berg (Quaker St.), 2B: Lennon Haley (Lancastra), 3B: Elijah Hill (Green Mtn.), SS: Earl Seals (Trenton Utd.), OF: Manuel Romeiras (Trenton Utd.), OF: Ned Morganti (Quaker St.), OF: George Black (S.o.t.O.)

MOST TALENTED GREENHORNS (by position)

P: Walt Proctor (27 y/o, Green Mtn.) at 4.5*, C: Henry Robertson (28 y/o, Scranton) at 3.0*, 1B: Callum Tait (28 y/o, S.o.t.O.) at 2.5*, 2B: James Lanagan (24 y/o, Trenton Utd.) at 3.5*, 3B: Peter James (23 y/o, N.Y.A.C.) at 3.0*, SS: Edward Davis (28 y/o, Utica) at 3.5*, OF: Jonathan Ovaska (28 y/o, Portland) at 3.5*, OF: Herman Kramer (26 y/o, Lake Erie) at 3.5*, OF: Harold Durand (21 y/o, Olympic) at 3.0* w/ 5.0* pot.

MOST TALENTED RESERVE PROSPECTS (by position)

P: Howard Shepherd (21 y/o, Cont’l) at 2.5*/5.0*, C: Carl Nevers (21 y/o, Olympic) at 1.5*/4.5*, 1B: Thomas Beane (22 y/o, Newark) at 2.0*/3.0*, 2B: Lucas Maxwell (23 y/o, Susquehanna) at 2.5*/3.5*, 3B: John Shoemaker (22 y/o, Pt. Jersey) at 2.5*/3.5*, SS: Jules Thomas (21 y/o, Minuteman) at 2.0*/5.0*, OF: William Reed (18 y/o, Pioneer) at 1.5*/4.5*, OF: Thomas Fetterman (21 y/o, Newark) at 2.0*/4.5*, OF: Jonathan Nabors (21 y/o, Susquehanna) at 2.0*/4.5*