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THE 1875 NATIONAL BASE BALL ORGANIZATION PREVIEW

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (May 12, 1875) – Today begins Year Nineteen of play in the National Base Ball Organization

Last year, Utica was up to the task of defending its cup title as they went 50-20, but Portland & Susquehanna entered the playoffs as cup favorites with their league-best 53-17 records. It was Susquehanna that won out, brushing aside Portland over four games in the N.E.L.C.S. before sweeping surprise N.Y.L. champs Metropolitan in the Tucker-Wheaton Cup final.

All three of last year’s 50-game winners are expected to come back to the pack, with only Susquehanna favored to win their region and even then with an increase of ten losses over last year. This year’s projected #1: Trenton United, whom the Writers Pool thinks has what it takes to win 50+ games and take the Tucker-Wheaton Cup for the first time.

Two regions are expected to be a fight to the bitter end in 1875. The two are Upstate New York and New England, in which the top four teams are projected finish just 2-3 games apart. In New York City the projected spread is larger than in previous years, with 3rd & 4th place predicted to finish 6-8 games behind the leaders.

Two teams are expected to see an increase of 10+ losses this year: Susquehanna, as mentioned, and Portland, whom the pool thinks will lose fourteen more games. On the other hand, Scranton has been picked for a fifteen-win improvement.

There is no shortage of quality Greenhorns that will take to the field this year. There are three five-star Pitchers: Walt Harper of Sportsman’s, Will McMahon of Bedford, & Jacob Wesolowski of Syracuse. There are a number of Greenhorn P’s rated 4.5 stars, and two batsmen as well: 1B Jesse Craig of Sons of the Ocean & 3B William Rockford of Frontier. In addition, there is a further handful of four-star Greenhorns, and in the end this could be the best Greenhorn class ever.

1875 is expected to be a season in which some regions will see one team dominate and others will have a free-for-all at the top of the standings, and it is one in which the star power of the incoming pitchers could mean that the projections for the upcoming season don’t come close to matching the reality as it plays out.

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

NATIONAL BASE BALL ORGANIZATION PROJECTED FINISH

Brooklyn Championship
• Favorites: Eckford of Greenpoint at 47-23 (+135 RD)
• Empire & Marathon 10 GB; Atlantic & Continental 11 GB

New York City Championship
• Favorites: Metropolitan at 43-27 (+75 RD)
• Mutual 4 GB, Union 6 GB, N.Y.A.C. 8 GB

Upstate New York Championship
• Favorites: Syracuse at 43-27 (+75 RD)
• Utica 1 GB, Frontier & Minuteman 2 GB

Coastal Championship
• Favorites: Trenton Utd. at 51-19 (+200 RD)
• Quaker St. 12 GB, Pt. Jersey 14 GB, Maryland 15 GB

Inland Championship
• Favorites: Susquehanna at 43-27 (+120 RD)
• Scranton 4 GB, Merrimack 5 GB, Pioneer 7 GB

New England Championship
• Favorites: Sons of the Ocean at 40-30 (+60 RD)
• Portland & Quinnipiac 1 GB, Cantabrigians 3 GB

Tucker-Wheaton Cup favorites: Trenton United B.B.C.

BROOKLYN – 3x defending Brooklyn champs Eckford have every notable regular back except SS Jake Johnson, but they’ve replaced him with respectable veteran Tracy Spencer and they have a new #1: former American backup William Barnhill. With that in mind the Writers Pool thinks they’ll simply overpower the rest of the Brooklyn field.

NEW YORK CITY – Metro is replacing from within at 3B (Tiarnan Fitzgerald for Leon Freeman) & RF (John Norris for George Brown). However, the team returns its best players and as a result they’re expected to be a bit better than Mutual & Union in the always tough New York City Championship.

UPSTATE – Syracuse added former A.P.B.L. regular Lon Duffy at RF, and they replaced departed All-Star #1 Richard Frazee with five-star Greenhorn Jacob Wesolowski. With the roster ranking in the top ten at five positions, the Writers Pool thinks they’ll get the better of Utica and make it back into the playoffs for the first time since 1872.

COASTAL – Quaker St. lost SS Jonathan Richards to the NBBO and replaced him with Brede Wilhelmsen at a 2.5-star downgrade. They now have two big weak points in the batting order, and to the pool that means it’s Trenton United’s year as CF Manuel Romeiras & SS Earl Seals should be the most valuable 1-2 lineup punch in the NBBO.

INLAND – Susquehanna’s regulars are back with the exception of SS Raymond Fortney and #2 P Earl Henry, replaced by 3.0/3.5-star greenhorn Stephen Barley and 2.5-star backup Irving Noble. That will bring them back to the pack, but they still remain the favorites. The projected #2: Scranton, tipped to win fifteen more games than in 1874.

NEW ENGLAND – Portland replaced RF Luc Billon with the excellent Martin Craven, but the pool believes their 53-17 run last season was a one-off and that New England will be a fight to the finish. The favorites: Sons of the Ocean, who have a 4.5-star greenhorn (Jesse Craig) at 1B, the game’s premier defender in SS Peter Jones, steady pitching, and plenty of talent.

NBBO AWARD FAVORITES

NYL Batsman of the Year: Chester Alexander (2B, Syracuse) – projected .362/.387/.429, 1 HR, 67 RBI, 3 SB
NEL Batsman of the Year: Gerhardt Berg (1B, Quaker St.) – projected .405/.441/.499, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 SB
NYL Pitcher of the Year: William Tighe (Minuteman) – projected 23-14, 2.75 ERA, 35 K over 330.2 IP
NEL Pitcher of the Year: Francis Molinari (Trenton Utd.) – projected 26-12, 2.99 ERA, 31 K over 334.0 IP
NYL Most Valuable Player: Isaac Kelly (3B, Eckford) – projected .340/.370/.442, 2 HR, 65 RBI, 1 SB
NEL Most Valuable Player: Manuel Romeiras (CF, Trenton Utd.) – projected .303/.332/.419, 1 HR, 49 RBI, 62 SB
NYL Greenhorn of the Year: Jacob Wesolowski (P, age 24, Syracuse)
NEL Greenhorn of the Year: Jesse Craig (1B, age 29, S.o.t.O.)

NBBO TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

NEW YORK LEAGUE – P: Rudolph Fowler (Utica), C: Robert Borut (Eckford), 1B: Ezechiele Cornaro (Metro), 2B: Chester Alexander (Syracuse), 3B: Isaac Kelly (Eckford), SS: Henry Nabors (Victory), OF: Herb Verrett (Atlantic), OF: Francis Smith (Metro), OF: William Vickers (Cont’l)

NORTHEASTERN LEAGUE – P: Francis Molinari (Trenton Utd.), C: Bertrand Bosley (Green Mtn.), 1B: Gerhardt Berg (Quaker St.), 2B: Frank Thomas (Pioneer), 3B: Alfred Williams (Portland), SS: Earl Seals (Trenton Utd.), OF: Ned Morganti (Quaker St.), OF: Manuel Romeiras (Trenton Utd.), OF: Harold Durand (Olympic)

MOST TALENTED GREENHORNS (by position)

P: Jacob Wesolowski (age 24, Syracuse) at 5.0*, C: Alistair Cooper (age 28, Tiger S.C.) at 2.5*, 1B: Jesse Craig (age 29, S.o.t.O.) at 4.5*, 2B: John Kelly (age 28, Star) at 4.0*, 3B: William Rockford (age 29, Frontier) at 4.5*, SS: Ashley Stretton (age 28, Salem) at 4.0*, OF: Julius Tierney (age 25, Star) at 3.5*, OF: Christos Pappas (age 30, Marathon) at 3.5*, OF: Alexander Engels (age 25, Reading A.C.) at 3.5*

MOST TALENTED RESERVE PROSPECTS (by position)

P: Peter Dittmer (age 20, Maryland) at 2.0/5.0*, C: Mark Lehmann (age 23, Metro) at 3.0/4.0*, 1B: Chester Dudek (age 20, National) at 1.5/5.0*, 2B: Jerry Rockford (age 20, Trenton Utd.) at 1.5/4.0*, 3B: Earl McKeon (age 21, Maryland) at 1.5/3.0*, SS: Philip Little (age 19, Lancastra) at 1.0/4.0*, OF: Jonathan Nabors (age 23, Susquehanna) at 3.0/5.0*, OF: Jonathan Cobb (age 19, Granite) at 1.5/5.0*, OF: Arthur Capone (age 22, Maryland) at 2.0/4.0*