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AMERICAN BASEBALL MAY RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 1, 1873) – The first month of play in the first season in which three formal competitions are taking place has been completed, and here are how things stand as the calendar turns over from May to June:

APBL STANDINGS (23 of 90 games played)

COLONIAL CONFERENCE

		 W	 L	 GB	  RD
Niagara		16	 7	 --	 +15
Flour City	13	10	  3	 +33
Shamrock	11	12	  5	 +5
St. John’s	11	12	  5	 -14
Mass. Bay	10	13	  6	 -1
Alleghany	 8	15	  8	 -38

METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE

		 W	 L	 GB	  RD
American	16	 7	 --	 +66
Knick		16	 7	 --	 +42
Orange		11	12	  5	 -13
Excelsior	10	13	  6	  -7
Gotham		10	13	  6	 -29
Kings Co.	 6	17	 10	 -59

Niagara had a wonderful May, with their previously questionable offense now occupying top spot in the APBL in both Average & On-Base. Flour City is in their familiar home of 2nd place with what is once again shaping up to be a solid overall team. The surprise here is St. John’s, who sits in 4th place due to an offense that is playing far from its best – their #1 batsman sporting only a .330 Average.

American is at the top of the Metropolitan as they should be, although Willie Davis & Franklin Petty are struggling a bit. Knick at 16-7 is a surprise, but Huntley’s offense has returned as has the stroke of new 3B Verstegen. Kessler & Valentine adapted well to their corner OF roles for Orange, Excelsior continues to be all-Creighton or nothing, and Gotham is struggling as expected. Everyone knew Kings Co. was rebuilding, but still their May was worse than anticipated.

APBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Reginald Roper (RF, NIA) – .395, .895 OPS, 31 R, 45 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 28 RBI, 2 BB, 4 SB, 1.89 WPA, 0.9 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
John Henry (AME) – 10-1, 2.86 ERA, 6 K, 91.1 IP, 7 CG, 1 SHO, 1.12 WHIP, 1.2 K/BB, 2.1 WAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Bertram Landreth (P, KNI) – 9-0, 3.16 ERA, 6 K, 88.1 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 1.29 WHIP, 0.7 K/BB, 1.1 WAR

Roper didn’t have the highest Average or OPS – both went to American 2B Peter Boyce (.419 AVG, .931 OPS) – but his combination of Average & OPS to go with high Hits & Runs totals for the surprising Niagara team made him Batsman of the Month. Edward Donovan of Knick, who led all batsman with 1.3 WAR, also had a good argument for the award.

Henry was the month’s only ten-win Pitcher, and he did so with a fine ERA, so he was the natural pick for PotM. Landreth was almost as good, James Goodman was 8-2 with a 2.21 ERA, Jim Creighton was only 7-5 but with a 2.84 ERA and 41 K’s, and new Niagara #1 Carlton Dempsey was 9-3 with a 3.70 ERA.

Landreth didn’t quite earn PotM, so he had to settle for GotM instead as he was every bit as good as Knickerbocker staff had hoped. Niagara’s Dempsey was a close 2nd with his aforementioned 9-3 May. The best Greenhorn batsman was American SS Martin Prince, who hit .320 (.723 OPS) with 15 RBI and 0.7 WAR.

APBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .419 by Peter Boyce (2B, American)
OPS: .931 by Peter Boyce
Runs: 37 by Clive Strachan (RF, Gotham)
Home Runs: 2 by three different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 32 by Daniel Wiley (2B, Mass. Bay)
Stolen Bases: 28 by Konrad Jensen (LF, St. John’s)
Batsman WPA: 2.13 by Garfield Koonce (1B, Kings Co.)
Batsman WAR: 1.3 by Edward Donovan (LF, Knickerbocker)

ERA (50+ IP): 2.21 by James Goodman (Flour City)
Wins: 10 by John Henry (American)
Complete Games: 10 by James Goodman
Strikeouts: 41 by Jim Creighton
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.11 by James Goodman
Pitcher WAR: 2.0 by James Goodman
Pitcher rWAR: 3.6 by James Goodman

NBBO REGIONAL LEADERS (14 of 70 games played)

BROOKLYN: Empire & Star at 10-4 (Atlantic 2 GB, Bedford & Continental 3 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: Mercury at 10-4 (Harlem 1 GB, Mutual 2 GB, Baltic & Union 3 GB)
UPSTATE NY: Minuteman at 11-3 (Frontier 2 GB, Syracuse 3 GB, Columbia 4 GB)
COASTAL: Maryland, Newark, Quaker St., Tiger, & Trenton Utd. at 9-5
INLAND: Susquehanna at 12-2 (Lake Erie & Sportsman’s 4 GB, Merrimack 5 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Oceanic at 10-4 (Portland 1 GB, Cantabrigians & Green Mtn. 3 GB)

Star, projected to finish last, shares top spot with perennial mediocrities Empire – surprising to say the least. Defending Brooklyn champs & cup winners Eckford are in 6th at 6-8, but preseason co-favorites Atlantic are just a couple of games off the pace. Nassau Co. at 3-11 are the only notable strugglers.

Mercury was not expected at the top of NYC after a winter of upheaval, but there they are. Preseason favorites Mutual & Union are close behind. The only real surprise in NYC is that preseason #3 Metropolitan is in last place at 4-10, with star OF Troy Oberst batting barely over .300 to start 1873 after two straight seasons over .400.

Minuteman has started hot thanks to the NYL’s #1 defense, and thanks to that both main P’s have an ERA of 2.24 through 50+ innings. Frontier is looking good thanks to solid offense and the signing of Carl Bancroft. 2x defending champs Syracuse are close. Columbia is in the top half thanks to the NYL’s #6 offense.

Coastal has certainly had the oddest May ever, as never before have five teams shared the regional lead after the first month of play. Quaker St. started 8-2 but are 1-3 so far in their series at preseason #2 Trenton Utd, who’ve looked every bit as dangerous as expected. Maryland has the NEL’s #2 defense, Newark has been led by .403-batting Brede Wilhelmsen, and early surprise Tiger has seen RF Harmon Card bat .364 with twenty RBI over just fourteen games.

So much for doubting Susquehanna. Their offense is #1 in the NEL in AVG, OBP, OPS, & WAR through nearly three weeks of play, and four members of their lineup are batting over .400: 2B William Gillette, 1B Joe Jurski, LF Ernest Keel, & 3B Bertrand Sargent. Preseason favorite Merrimack is 7-7, with their main issue being a 21st-ranked fielding crew.

Oceanic was projected .500, but they’ve started 10-4 thanks to excellent pitching from the five-star combo of Thomas Bishop & George Sturgis. The preseason #2-3 combo of Portland & Cantabrigians are right behind them. 4x All-Star Enda Reed is batting .410 for Portland, while C Jonathan Day is batting .343 with twenty RBI for Cantabrigians.

NBBO MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: Lucius Roberts (LF, SYR) – .385, .906 OPS, 25 R, 27 H, 1 2B, 4 3B, 13 RBI, 0 BB, 9 BB, 1.20 WPA, 0.8 WAR
NEL: Joe Jurski (1B, SUS) – .448, 1.068 OPS, 19 R, 30 H, 7 XBH, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 5 BB, 5 SB, 2.05 WPA, 1.0 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: William Tighe (MIN) – 7-1, 2.24 ERA, 4 K, 68.1 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 1.01 WHIP, 0.8 K/BB, 1.2 WAR
NEL: Francis Molinari (TU) – 6-2, 2.51 ERA, 5 K, 71.2 IP, 7 CG, 1 SV, 1.19 WHIP, 1.7 K/BB, 0.6 WAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Clarence Jones (CF, MER) – .375, .889 OPS, 16 R, 27 H, 6 XBH, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 0 BB, 9 SB, 0.76 WPA, 0.7 WAR
NEL: Harmon Card (RF, TIG) – 364, .896 OPS, 13 R, 20 H, 4 2B, 2 3B, 20 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB, 1.36 WPA, 0.5 WAR

NBBO STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .522 by Erwijn Groenland (LF, Cantabrigians)
OPS: 1.196 by Erwijn Groenland
Runs: 26 by Marion Longwill (LF, Sportsman’s)
Home Runs: 2 by Frank Rose (RF, Maryland)
Runs Batted In: 28 by Bertrand Sargent (3B, Susquehanna)
Stolen Bases: 19 by Walter Williams (CF, Syracuse)
Batsman WPA: 2.05 by Joe Jurski (1B, Susquehanna)
Batsman WAR: 1.3 by Isaac Kelly (3B, Mutual)

ERA (50+ IP): 0.69 by Lars-Bjorn Myhre (Empire)
Wins: 7 by William Tighe (Minuteman)
Complete Games: 7 by three different pitchers
Strikeouts: 12 by Washington Kihlstedt (Sportsman’s)
WHIP (50+ IP): 0.85 by Lars-Bjorn Myhre
Pitcher WAR: 2.2 by William Crane (Tiger)
Pitcher rWAR: 3.4 by William Crane (Tiger)

PCBL REGIONAL LEADERS (14 of 70 games played)

EAST: Frankford Arsenal at 10-4 (Spartan 1 GB, Keystone & Sons of Ben 2 GB)
WEST: Overbrook at 12-2 (Merion & P.B.C.C. 4 GB, Schuylkill 5 GB)

No surprise in East Philadelphia: Frankford is at the top of a tightly-packed group in which five of the other seven teams are within 3-4 games of 1st place. The leaders have been led by their 20-year-old CF Joseph Evans, who is batting .397 (.925 OPS) with 1.2 WAR.

What is going on in West Philadelphia??? Not only are none of the three B.C.C. teams atop the standings, but neighborhood team Overbrook is already four games ahead of everyone else. Overbrook #1 Fred Wertz is 4-1 with an 0.91 ERA through 59.2 innings, and RF Curtis van den Berg is batting .417 (.926 OPS) with both a Run & RBI per game (14 of each).

PCBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Andrew Bennett (3B, SoB) – .457, 1.065 OPS, 19 R, 32 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 19 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB, 1.84 WPA, 0.8 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Charlie Greiner (FA) – 7-0, 2.10 ERA, 3 K, 60.0 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 1.13 WHIP, 1.0 K/BB, 1.1 WAR

PCBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .457 by Andrew Bennett (3B, Sons of Ben)
OPS: 1.065 by Andrew Bennett
Runs: 24 by William Engholm (LF, Penn)
Home Runs: 1 by fifteen different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 19 by Andrew Bennett
Stolen Bases: 15 by Harrison Comstock (Germantown)
Batsman WPA: 1.84 by Andrew Bennett
Batsman WAR: 1.2 by Joseph Evans (Frankford Arsenal)

ERA (50+ IP): 0.91 by Fred Wertz (Overbrook)
Wins: 7 Charlie Greiner (Frankford Arsenal)
Complete Games: 6 by three different pitchers
Strikeouts: 11 by Jarvis Whitney (Yorktown)
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.04 by Fred Wertz
Pitcher WAR: 1.3 by Richard Johnson (Penn)
Pitcher rWAR: 2.4 by Fred Wertz