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THE 1875 PHILADELPHIA CITY BASEBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW

PHILADELPHIA (May 12, 1875) – It is time to begin the third season of the Philadelphia City Baseball League.

After a surprise in the inaugural season saw Mercantile B.C. take the first Liberty Bell Classic, Merion B.C.C. took the title last year, sweeping aside Frankford Arsenal in three games after winning out in a three-team playoff to decide the champions of the western half of the city.

This year, Frankford is expected to remain East Philadelphia’s only champions while it should be Philadelphia B.C.C.’s turn to take the West Philadelphia pennant for the first time, with their empty trophy case from the first two seasons surprising pretty much everybody.

Joseph Evans remaining in Philadelphia for another season means he probably already has one hand on the Batsman of the Year trophy, while the race for both Pitcher of the Year and Most Valuable Player should see a plethora of players put forth qualified resumés for consideration.

There are some extremely talented Greenhorns entering the league. The Writers Pool thinks Port Richmond’s new #1 Italian-born #1 Biagio Casagrande (5.0*) has the most natural talent of any pitcher in the league, with Schuylkill’s fellow pitching greenhorn Timotheus Memminger (5.0*) not far behind. Keystone has their own new #1 likely to star in Moses “Slappy” Smith (4.5*), and Independence’s Ward Jackson (4.5*) also appears to be a very good pitcher.

No first-year batsmen are expected to set the P.C.B.L. alight, but Port Richmond has a very promising CF in 23-year-old William Detmer (3.0/4.0*), 1B Ciaran Stewart (3.0*) should provide a fine bat for Sons of Ben, 2B William Edmonds (3.0*) is expected to give Merion some Golden Glove defense, and RF Roark Ellison (3.0*) has gone right to the middle of the Independence lineup.

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

PHILADELPHIA CITY BASEBALL LEAGUE PROJECTED FINISH

East Philadelphia
• Favorites: Frankford Arsenal at 42-28 (+115 RD)
• Spartan 1 GB, Sons of Ben 6 GB, three teams 8 GB

West Philadelphia
• Favorites: Philadelphia B.C.C. at 43-27 (+130 RD)
• Germantown 1 GB, Merion 3 GB, Schuylkill 7 GB

Liberty Bell Classic favorites: Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club

EAST PHILDELPHIA – Frankford is favored to wear the crown of East Philadelphia for the third straight year, but once again only just. Their outfield of Brown, Evans, & Howard is the best in the league, and Jonathan Toppin could be even better at 2B with a year in the PCBL behind him. Spartan doesn’t have Frankford’s richness of talent but star RF Joseph Sizemore should lead the team to another high finish, with the rest of the pack 6-12 games behind the projected leaders.

WEST PHILADELPHIA – As in the inaugural season, the three B.C.C. teams are projected to finish 1-2-3 in West Philadelphia with Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club coming out on top. The team has the league’s best C (Harrison Hearst), the best 3B (Charles Hunt), and they added the league’s best defensive player, SS Moody Steiger, over the winter. Germantown’s projected finish of 2nd is based on the idea that two years together will see the team’s collection of talented players – they rank top-five at C, 1B, LF, CF, & RF – create their first season of over .500 baseball. Defending champions Merion have the league’s most talented team, but the pool seems to think that it won’t add up to another 1st-place finish.

PCBL AWARD FAVORITES

Batsman of the Year: Joseph Evans (LF, Frankford) – projected .333/.382/.475, 2 HR, 70 RBI, 16 SB
Pitcher of the Year: Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.) – projected 26-11, 2.00 ERA, 30 K over 345.2 IP
Most Valuable Player: Frederick Pike (2B, P.B.C.C.) – projected .316/.332/.418, 1 HR, 69 RBI, 25 SB
Greenhorn of the Year: Biagio Casagrande (P, Pt. Richmond) – projected 21-18, 2.75 ERA, 27 K over 323.2 IP

PCBL TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

P: Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.), C: Harrison Hearst (P.B.C.C.), 1B: William Norman (Merion), 2B: Herman Stanley (Queen Village), 3B: Charles Hunt (P.B.C.C.), SS: James Hurt (Schuylkill), OF: Joseph Evans (Frankford), OF: Francis Brown (Frankford), OF: Sigmund Siemens (Germantown)