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AMERICAN BASEBALL JULY RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (Aug. 1, 1874) – The busiest month of the baseball calendar has finished. With APBL teams having played 26-27 games in July and NBBO/PCBL teams 23 each, the season is now in its closing stages. Here are how things stand with just a few weeks left to play.

APBL STANDINGS (75 of 90 games played)

COLONIAL – Alleghany treaded water during July, and that will probably be good enough to prevent the rising St. John’s team from catching them unless the Pittsburgh men really collapse hard during the last 2.5 weeks of play. James Goodman is back after a three-week injury layoff, so it’s possible Flour City could put a scare into Alleghany as well. Niagara & Shamrock have fallen off the pace and are no longer a worry. Massachusetts Bay had a decent July, but it’s still very likely that they’ll finish in last place.

METROPOLITAN – Orange & American were only around .500 during July, so that meant good months from the old hands, Gotham & Knickerbocker, have turned the Metropolitan into a four-way race for the stretch run. At this point, any of the top four teams could take the pennant. Excelsior was just okay again in July, the same as in May & June, with their main goal from here to see if Jim Creighton can make it to 30 Wins for the first time. There are no words for Kings County.

APBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Elijah Hill (3B, EXC) – .384, .867 OPS, 32 R, 48 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 28 RBI, 3 BB, 3 SB, 1.8 WPA, 1.4 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Blake Lively (GOT) – 10-3, 2.54 ERA, 102.2 IP, 8 CG, 0 SHO, 2 K, 0.3 K/BB, 1.28 WHIP, 1.7 WAR, 1.9 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
I.A. Butler (P, MB) – 7-5, 3.57 ERA, 103.1 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 5 K, 0.6 K/BB, 1.45 WHIP, 1.7 WAR, 0.7 rWAR

Hill didn’t lead the APBL in Average (James Burke at .407), OPS (Declan Brice at .977), RBI (Edward Huntley with 33), or WAR (Royal Altman with 1.5) in July, but the first-year APBL man had the best overall month by any batsman. He is actually on pace to best his final NBBO season in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, H, HR, RBI, WPA, & WAR. Between Hill and Troy Oberst, Excelsior was two-for-two with two homers on their NBBO imports this year.

Lively had a 4.34 ERA in May and was 5-5 with a 4.92 ERA in June, so naturally he had a ten-Win July while cutting the previous month’s ERA in half. After nearly two seasons in the APBL, it looks as if Lively is finally living up to the billing he was given when Gotham signed him from independent ball. Howard Burns (StJ) also won ten games during July, but he had an extra loss (10-4) and a much higher ERA (4.61).

Butler overcame a 3-15 record with an ERA well over 4.00 during the first two months to have a pretty good July and show off the talent that led Mass. Bay to sign him from independent ball to be part of their revamped pitching duo with Washington Kihlstedt. May GotM Tomoharu Mukai (NIA) was 3-9 with a 3.52 ERA, and June winner Eamonn Todd (StJ) hit .309 (.681 OPS) with 21 Runs & 26 RBI.

APBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .368 by William Busby (1B, American)
OPS: .864 by William Busby
Runs: 100 by Clive Strachan (RF, Gotham)
Home Runs: 3 by four different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 89 by Babe Johnson (2B, Gotham)
Stolen Bases: 68 by James Burke (CF, American)
Batsman WPA: 5.97 by Elijah Hill (3B, Excelsior)
Batsman WAR: 4.3 by Gerald Strong (SS, Alleghany)

ERA (150+ IP): 2.52 by Tom Ricks (Shamrock)
Wins: 26 by Jim Creighton (Excelsior)
Complete Games: 23 by Raynard Cordell (Alleghany) & Jim Creighton
Strikeouts: 116 by Jim Creighton (Excelsior)
WHIP (150+ IP): 1.21 by Jim Creighton
Pitcher WAR: 6.9 by Jim Creighton
Pitcher rWAR: 8.0 by Raynard Cordell

NBBO REGIONAL LEADERS (58 of 70 games played)

BROOKLYN: Atlantic & Eckford at 37-21 (Star 5 GB, Bedford & Continental 6 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: Mercury, Metropolitan, & Union at 33-25 (Harlem & Mutual 3 GB)
UPSTATE NY: Utica at 40-18 (Syracuse 5.5 GB, Minuteman 6 GB, Frontier 7 GB)
COASTAL: Trenton Utd. at 40-18 (Quaker St. 2 GB, Maryland 5 GB, Pt. Jersey 9 GB)
INLAND: Susquehanna at 44-14 (clinched championship)
NEW ENGLAND: Portland at 43-15 (S.o.t.O. 9 GB)

BROOKLYN – The two powerhouses, Atlantic & Eckford, have separated themselves at the top, but there are still teams lurking. Eckford has the schedule advantage in that their final series is at home against last-place Nassau Co. (19-39).

NEW YORK CITY – Of course New York City is in a three-way tie with just over two weeks to play. On top of that, Baltic & N.Y.A.C. are sitting six games behind in addition to the Harlem & Mutual pair that are three games back. This is the most exciting region in the NBBO year in and year out.

UPSTATE – It looks as if Utica has a pretty firm grip on their second straight pennant thanks to a strong June. After Syracuse, their final two series are at Eagle (23-35) and vs Binghamton (25-33), so a collapse looks unlikely.

COASTAL – Trenton Utd. & Quaker St. remain the clear top two, although Maryland remains just within arm’s length at five games back. Trenton Utd. has the tougher remaining schedule after this week: vs Pt. Jersey and at Maryland.

INLAND – It’s hard to believe that a team based in a town of around 15,000 people, Wilkes-Barre (Penn.), has put such a stranglehold on the region, but here Susquehanna is with the NBBO’s best record and their third pennant in four years.

NEW ENGLAND – A 14-9 month by Sons of the Ocean means that Portland still has to work a bit to take their fourth straight New England pennant, but their next seven games are against teams currently under .500 so Portland's lead looks quite safe.

NBBO MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: Robert Wolf (RF, MUT) – .398, .949 OPS, 28 R, 47 H, 13 XBH, 1 HR, 34 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB, 1.4 WPA, 1.0 WAR
NEL: Gerhardt Berg (1B, QS) – .430, 1.007 OPS, 29 R, 46 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 29 RBI, 7 BB, 0 SB, 1.4 WPA, 1.4 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Edward Koch (UNI) – 10-4, 2.38 ERA, 117.1 IP, 9 CG, 1 SV, 9 K, 1.8 K/BB, 1.15 WHIP, 2.2 WAR, 3.3 rWAR
NEL: Ross Gill (QS) – 10-4, 2.68 ERA, 121.0 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 8 K, 1.3 K/BB, 1.19 WHIP, 2.0 WAR, 4.2 rWAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Fritz Schuster (P, VIC) – 7-7, 2.26 ERA, 111.2 IP, 8 CG, 0 SHO, 9 K, 2.2 K/BB, 1.13 WHIP, 1.8 WAR, 2.2 rWAR
NEL: Alfred Williams (3B, PORT) – .339, .880 OPS, 27 R, 37 H, 7 2B, 7 3B, 26 RBI, 2 BB, 6 SB, 1.8 WPA, 1.0 WAR

NBBO STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .401 by Gerhardt Berg (1B, Quaker St.)
OPS: .922 by Ned Morganti (CF, Quaker St.)
Runs: 83 by John Schultz (CF, Susquehanna)
Home Runs: 4 by Alexander Grimes (3B, Nassau Co.)
Runs Batted In: 72 by William Winters (3B, Empire)
Stolen Bases: 49 by Manuel Romeiras (CF, Trenton Utd.)
Batsman WPA: 5.5 by Robert Basalyga (LF, Lancastra)
Batsman WAR: 3.4 by Ned Morganti

ERA (150+ IP): 1.93 by William Hawk (Susquehanna)
Wins: 26 by William Hawk
Complete Games: 26 by James Dressman (Portland) & Olaf Sorensen (Atlantic)
Strikeouts: 40 by Earl Quinn (Maryland)
WHIP (150+ IP): 1.11 by William Hawk
Pitcher WAR: 5.1 by Charles Rhodes (N.Y.A.C.)
Pitcher rWAR: 9.2 by William Hawk

PCBL LEADERS (58 of 70 games played)

EAST: Port Richmond at 34-24 (Keystone 1 GB, Frankford 2 GB, Spartan 4 GB)
WEST: Merion at 35-23 (Schuylkill 2 GB, P.B.C.C. 3 GB, Mercantile 4 GB)

EAST PHILADELPHIA: This is still a very tight race with a bit more than two weeks left, with any of the top four teams still having a good chance to take the pennant. In addition, Queen Village (28-30) is six games back so a red-hot finish by the neighborhood team will see them right in the mix.

WEST PHILADELPHIA: Almost a carbon copy of the East: the top four teams separated by four games, with a fifth team, Overbook (29-29), lurking six games behind the leaders. However, 6th-place Independence (28-20; 7 GB) finishes with series against the bottom two teams, Penn (22-36) & Germantown (22-36), so there’s a chance they could climb the standings.

PCBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Joseph Evans (LF, FA) – .369, 1.010 OPS, 34 R, 41 H, 12 2B, 7 3B, 30 RBI, 6 BB, 4 SB, 2.8 WPA, 1.5 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Casper Shultis (MERC) – 8-4, 1.59 ERA, 118.2 IP, 10 CG, 0 SHO, 10 K, 2.0 K/BB, 1.21 WHIP, 2.4 WAR, 3.3 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Franklin Decker (LF, YORK) – .390, .966 OPS, 23 R, 41 H, 6 2B, 6 3B, 31 RBI, 2 BB, 4 SB, 2.6 WPA, 1.4 WAR

PCBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .355 by Albert Taylor (RF, Pt. Richmond)
OPS: .881 by Joseph Evans (LF, Frankford)
Runs: 75 by Arlington Guest (2B, Yorktown)
Home Runs: 3 by four different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 68 by Franklin Decker (LF, Yorktown)
Stolen Bases: 37 by Joseph King (CF, Independence)
Batsman WPA: 4.3 by Franklin Decker
Batsman WAR: 2.9 by Franklin Decker

ERA (150+ IP): 1.66 by John Shaw (Queen Village)
Wins: 22 by Acie Collins (Pt. Richmond)
Complete Games: 24 by Casper Shultis
Strikeouts: 34 by Charlie Greiner (Frankford) & John Shaw
WHIP (150+ IP): 1.11 by Albert Cave (Merion)
Pitcher WAR: 6.0 by John Shaw
Pitcher rWAR: 7.3 by Casper Shultis