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THE 1873 PHILADELPHIA CITY BASEBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW

PHILADELPHIA (May 14, 1873) – After months of preparation, it’s time for the inaugural season of the Philadelphia City Baseball League to begin! All eyes will be on Franklin Field at 1:20, where Keystone takes on Sons of Ben in the first game in PCBL history. The other seven games will start between 2:10 and 4:15.

The Philadelphia Writers Pool has put their minds together, and they’ve decided that Frankford Arsenal will be the best of a very-tightly packed East Philadelphia bunch, while in the more powerful West Philadelphia half of the competition Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club – no surprise – is expected to field the strongest team in the competition with the other “B.C.C.” teams in the spots behind them.

While the B.C.C. clubs might have the strongest rosters in the city, Mercantile’s Benjamin Warnock has been declared by the W.P. to be the best batsman in the competition, at least based on preseason prognostications. However, the projected #1 Pitcher belongs to Philadelphia B.C.C. – Arthur Lipscomb – and the projected Most Valuable Player – OF Harrison Comstock – is a member of Germantown B.C.C.

Indeed, the B.C.C. batsmen dominate the W.P.’s initial charts of most talented players in the PCBL. In the first listing of the top twenty batsmen eight of the top ten play for Germantown, Merion, or P.B.C.C., and 14/20 overall ply their trade for the power trio. While P.B.C.C. has the projected #1 pitcher, the Top Pitcher listings are more of a mixed bag since there are only two per team, and while Lipscomb is expected to win Pitcher of the Year the W.P. thinks that Sons of Ben’s 23-year-old #1, Paul Krueger, is actually the most talented man with the ball. Still, seven of nine projected Team of the Year members are expected to come from the B.C.C. trio of teams.

Given that this is the first season of the PCBL there are no Greenhorn prospects, but if one were to take stock of the best young players in the league then at the top would be Frankford’s 20-year-old CF Joseph Evans, who is expected to start in the middle of their outfield even though he’s barely old enough to call himself a man. Evans is rated a 3.0*/5.0* talent relative to the competition, and he should quickly improve given the veterans that surround him.

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

PHILADELPHIA CITY BASEBALL LEAGUE PROJECTED FINISH

East Philadelphia
• Favorites: Frankford Arsenal at 40-30 (+105 RD)
• Minerva 1 GB, Spartan 2 GB, Yorktown 4 GB

West Philadelphia
• Favorites: Philadelphia B.C.C. at 45-25 (+125 RD)
• Merion 6 GB, Germantown 7 GB, Mercantile 9 GB

Liberty Bell Classic favorites: Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club

EAST PHILDELPHIA – Frankford Arsenal is the favorite to take the East Philadelphia pennant, but just barely. Their lineup has no superstars but grades 2nd-7th out of sixteen at every position, so it’s Frankford’s depth that should carry them to 1st place. Conversely, Minerva has a top-heavy roster that features the PCBL’s best SS: Wilford Janoff. However, that means they could as easily be 2nd or 7th. Spartan has a weak infield but East Philadelphia’s best corner outfielder in Joseph Sizemore, and his star power should keep them very close to top spot. Yorktown is the smallest club in the competition, but the quality of their middle infield is expected to keep the neighborhood club very competitive.

WEST PHILADELPHIA – It should come as little surprise that the biggest & oldest club in the competition is projected to finish with the best record in the PCBL’s inaugural season. They grade at #1/16 at three positions – C, 2B, & 3B – and in the top five at four others: 1B, LF, RF, & P. It should also come as little surprise that the other two moneyed Baseball & Cricket clubs are expected to contend. Merion has talent everywhere, and they have the PCBL’s best CF in Clifford Martin. Germantown has the best batsman duo in the PCBL: 1B Jonathan Bagwell & LF Harrison Comstock. Mercantile is top-heavy, featuring the single best batsman in the PCBL – 1B Ben Warnock – and the second-best set of middle infielders: 2B John Henry George & SS Sidney Boothe. However, they lack the depth that the three “B.C.C.” clubs enjoy.

PCBL AWARD FAVORITES

Batsman of the Year: Benjamin Warnock (1B, Mercantile) – projected .368/.401/.498, 1 HR, 70 RBI, 10 SB
Pitcher of the Year: Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.) – projected 21-11, 2.46 ERA, 30 K in 278.0 IP
Most Valuable Player: Harrison Comstock (LF, Germantown) – projected .315/.349/.461, 3 HR, 61 RBI, 53 SB

PCBL TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

P: Jonathan Atkins (Merion), C: Harrison Hearst (P.B.C.C.), 1B: Benjamin Warnock (Mercantile), 2B: Frederick Pike (P.B.C.C.), 3B: Charles Hunt (P.B.C.C.), SS: Wilford Janoff (Minerva), OF: Harrison Comstock (Germantown), OF: Clifford Martin (Merion), OF: James Cray (Merion)

PCBL TOP YOUNG LINEUP MEMBERS (by position)

P: Paul Krueger (23 y/o, Sons of Ben) – rated 5.0*/5.0*
C: Barry Cohen (25 y/o, Germantown) – rated 3.0*/3.0*
1B: William Norman (22 y/o, Merion) – rated 4.0*/5.0*
2B: Frederick Pike (23 y/o, P.B.C.C.) – rated 5.0*/5.0*
3B: James Traywick (24 y/o, Keystone) – rated 2.5*/2.5*
SS: Herman Stanley (21 y/o, Queen Village) – rated 2.5*/5.0*
OF: Joseph Evans (20 y/o, Frankford) – rated 3.0*/5.0*
OF: Clifford Martin (23 y/o, Merion) – rated 3.5*/5.0*
OF: Edward Smith (23 y/o, Germantown) – rated 3.0*/5.0*