All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal

[tward13]

We're kind of switched around. The Gothams are in Queens and the Imperials in northern Manhattan.

[Tiger Fan]

OCTOBER 8, 1975

FIVE RUN FIRST FUELS FIRST EXPANSION FORAY IN FINALS

Flipping the script, it was the Los Angeles Suns who scored first, and for some Atlanta Copperhead fans, they weren't even in their seat before the visitors got on the board. It took one pitch for a baserunner, as the consistently injured Eddie Kellum (.284, 2, 27, 12) kicked things off with a single. The next at bat needed more pitches, and after working Howie Burt (16-7, 3.39, 114) full, Larry Hurlbutt (.269, 12, 44, 10) laced a doubled to quickly plate the first one.

Almost everything was working in the first for the Suns, even if Tom Lally (.319, 31, 107, 9) wasn't part of it, as after an unlikely 2-run homer from Bill Anderson (.309, 5, 27, 5), all five runners that reached base ended up scoring. And with Heinie Schmidt (16-11, 3.07, 147) on the mound, five runs is usually enough.

To Atlanta's credit, they didn't give up, as they didn't want to be remembered as just the team with the most FABL wins. They wanted to be remembered as the 1975 World Champions.

No runs were scored in the first, but Jim Duchesne (.267, 15, 87) got them on the board in the second with a solo shot, and his single in the 4th scored the speedy Jack Blair (.334, 17, 114, 37), who reached on an error and stole second. But for the most part, Schmidt put up zeros, and got one more run of support in the 6th.

Atlanta's last chance came in the 8th, when Gus Richards (.320, 10, 49, 15) and John Newton (.305, 13, 68, 29) kicked things off with a single apiece, bringing up the heart of the dangerous Copperhead order. Schmidt did get a ground out from former Whitney winner Al Hubbard (.333, 13, 75, 25), but Hubbard avoided a double play by beating the return throw to first. This bought up the speedy Jack Blair, who lined a double down the right field line. Hubbard tried to score, but was cut down by Sam Forrester (.281, 27, 116, 43) in right, killing what looked to be a big rally. Now with two outs, Schmidt was able to lock back in, getting an easy ground out to put his team three outs away from their first pennant.

LA didn't add anything in the 9th, but they still brought Schmidt out to finish things off. He got two quick outs, a ground out and strike out, but after walking reserve catcher Jack Abasi (.289, 4, 23, 6), they turned to FABL save leader Ron Clark (6-4, 40, 2.32, 81). Like he did so often during the season, he got a strikeout to end it, as the West Coast visitors were able to celebrate on their opponents home field.

Rookie outfielder Larry Hurlbutt was named series MVP, as after going 1-for-5 with an RBI double in the finale, he finished 10-for-21 with a homer, 4 runs, and 7 RBIs. Overshadowed by some of the stars on his team, the 25-year-old was worth 3 WAR in 104 games, batting .269/.327/.406 (103 OPS+) with 16 doubles, 12 homers, and 44 RBIs.

This now sets up not only a new champion, but out first expansion champion, as two of the four clubs established before the 1962 season will meet in an unlikely World Championship Series. Defeating two juggernauts with well over 100 wins, the Los Angeles Suns and New York Imperials have made baseball history, giving us an unlikely showdown that should be just as exciting and exhilarating as the Kings/Copperheads matchup nearly everyone expected.

SHOCKTOBER, COURTESY OF THE KIDS

I have covered enough Octobers to know one thing: when the script looks tidy, the game reaches for a match.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Shocktober. The Atlanta Copperheads won 112 games. One hundred and twelve. That ties a FABL record and usually earns you a parade permit in advance. The Seattle Kings won 107 and carried the polished glow of defending champions.

Both are now polishing their golf clubs.

Instead, the 1975 World Championship Series will feature the 84-78, black-and-blue, ice-pack-on-every-limb New York Imperials and the upstart, sunburned, nobody-invited-us-but-we-came-anyway Los Angeles Suns.

If you predicted that, please report to your nearest carnival and collect your stuffed bear.

*** The Imperial Improbability ***

Let’s start in Seattle, where the Imperials were supposed to provide four evenings of polite resistance before the Kings returned to their regularly scheduled coronation.

Instead, New York won the series in four games.

Four.

This from a club mocked for having the worst regular-season record ever to reach the postseason. This from a roster that looked like it had been assembled from the trainer’s waiting room.

The kid who saved them? Twenty-three-year-old rookie Brian Miller, pressed into duty by late injuries and apparently unaware he was meant to be overmatched. Seven runs batted in. Continental Association Championship Series MVP. The boy hit like he had a subway schedule to catch. And on the mound, no fairy tale — just excellence. Two-time All-Star Jim White, 19-game winner in the regular season, delivered two gems against Seattle. Calm. Efficient. Ruthless.

Meanwhile, the Kings’ vaunted arms developed October allergies. Moe Lowery, a 21-game winner, was merely human. Swede Hawkins was worse than that. The royal procession turned into a stumble.

*** The Sunset Surprise ***

Out west in the Federal Association, the Suns had a more respectable 96 wins, but they were still cast as the warm-up act for Atlanta’s victory speech.

The Copperheads were baseball’s steamroller — until they weren’t. Los Angeles won the decisive fifth game, 6-3, and sent 112 victories into storage.

The heroes arrived from unlikely addresses.

Larry Hulbert, a 25-year-old outfielder who began the season in the minors, batted .476 in the series and walked off with the Federal Association Championship Series MVP as if he’d been doing this since Little League.

Gene Meadows? He didn’t play a single regular-season game. He was on the roster because injuries demanded a body. All he did was hit a game-winning homer to steal Game Three. That’s not a résumé — that’s a movie script.

Across the diamond, Atlanta’s decorated pitching cracked. Four-time Allen Award winner Marco Middleton labored. Fellow laureate Howie Burt was battered in both starts, posting an ERA north of seventeen. Seventeen! That’s not an ERA, that’s a bus route.

*** Expansion Brothers, First-Time Guests ***

Here’s the lovely symmetry: both the Imperials and the Suns entered the league together in 1962, alongside the Minneapolis Millers and Dallas Wranglers. It has taken thirteen seasons and a mountain of second-guessing to get here.

Neither club has ever reached the World Championship Series before. Now one of them will win it.

Los Angeles has watched the Los Angeles Stars collect four titles and eight playoff trips over the past decade. New York has mostly collected skepticism.

There will be no rematch of last year’s Atlanta-Seattle epic. No familiar villain. No defending giant.

Just something new.

*** So Who Wins? ***

You’re asking the wrong man.

After watching 219 combined regular-season victories exit through the side door, only a fool would offer certainty.

Are the Imperials a team of destiny — stitched together, overlooked, and fearless? Or are the Suns finally ready to step out of the Stars’ long shadow and claim their own October spotlight?

I will say this: when unlikely heroes start multiplying and favorites start blinking, baseball is telling you it has plans of its own.

We asked for a coronation. We got a revolution.

And somewhere, a rookie with grass stains on his uniform is about to become immortal.

Monthly Awards: Federal

• Houston may not have managed to pass the Suns, but after a nice 17-10 September, two of their players were awarded for their performance. 31-year-old outfielder John Edwards saved his best month for last, taking homer Batter of the Month by slashing .289/.378/.536 (149 OPS+) with 6 doubles, 3 triples, 4 homers, 14 walks, 19 RBIs, and 24 walks. The 9-Time All-Star did not have the greatest first full season with the Arrows, hitting just .259/.374/.403 (113 OPS+) in 679 trips to the plate. While not bad, his 113 OPS+ and 120 WRC+ were both the lowest marks he produced since 1963, a season he started when he was just 18. Edwards did draw 104 walks, his seventh time walking 100 or more times, and gave his new team 27 doubles, 6 triples, 14 homers, 88 RBIs, and 106 runs scored.
• On the pitching side, it was #2 Johnny Blackburn, who should receive consideration for the Allen award. Blackburn was a perfect 4-0 in 6 September starts, finishing with a Fed high 20 wins in 35 starts. Blackburn held a 1.77 ERA (219 ERA+) and 1.12 WHIP, striking out 24 in 45.2 innings pitched. One of the top pitchers in the game, he started 35 or more game for the fifth consecutive season, working to a 2.70 ERA (144 ERA+), 3.30 FIP (84 FIP-), and 1.14 WHIP. The 27-year-old struck out 153 with 80 walks in 257 innings pitched, and currently ranks as the 3rd best pitcher in FABL.
• The only non-Comet to come home with an award came from an unlikely source, as Eagles starter-turned-stopper Don Eddy saved his best for last. 1975 was not easy for the lefty, but his 1976 fortune could be improved by the way he finished his year. September was his second month in the pen, where he made 14 appearances and threw 21.2 innings for the 5th place Eagles. Eddy worked to a 1.66 ERA (232 ERA+) with 6 saves, though more walks (12) then strikeouts (10) led to an elevated 1.38 WHIP. Command has been an issue for the former 8th Rounder all season, as he walked 97 hitters in 150.2 innings, finishing 6-12 with 14 saves, a 4.60 ERA (84 ERA+) and 1.69 WHIP.

Monthly Awards: Continental

• Nick Parker firmly established his Whitney candidacy, as after taking the August Batter of the Month off, he won his third Batter of the Month in September. Joining his nominations in June and July, the 2-Time All-Star hit an astronomical .420/.549/.705 (243 OPS+) with 7 doubles, 6 homers, 23 runs, 27 RBIs, and an absurd 22-to-8 walk-to-strikeout ratio. "Healthy" enough to appear in 154 games, Parker hit a robust .345/.448/.565 (177 OPS+) while leading the Conti in hits (193), homers (29), RBIs (110), walks (105), OBP, slugging, OPS (1.013), WRC+ (176), wOBA (.431), and WAR (7.3). Add in 34 doubles and just 49 strikeouts, it's hard to find a better seasonal production in his association, and he's more then earned my vote for the Whitney. While not as obvious as the Fed race, the only other guys I can sort of see getting votes are 20/20 catcher Fred Tollefson (.289, 24, 88, 22) and the injured Imperial breakout star Woody Richardson (.347, 13, 82), but almost every important offensive category was led by the Wrangler's first basemen.
• Despite finishing a game short, the Arrows can't blame Pitcher of the Month Jim Hart for them missing the postseason, as their almost 28-year-old stopper was key in their last attempt for the division. Hart threw 21.2 innings across 12 appearances, finishing 4-1 with 4 saves, a 1.66 ERA (233 ERA+), 2.19 FIP (55 FIP-), and 0.97 WHIP. Paired with a 15-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, he was as efficient as he was dominant, but the offense didn't give him enough opportunities to close games. On the year, he was 9-10 with 23 saves, a 2.40 ERA (162 ERA+), 2.64 FIP (67 FIP-), and 1.13 WHIP. The second year stopper struck out 87 in 112.2 innings, but unlike September he did allow free passes. There were 40, and his 8.6 BB% was actually an improvement from the following season. Walks aside, he's a dominant back-end arm, and was rewarded with his first All-Star selection this Summer.
• For the first time since ERA leader Bill Bartlett's (13-5, 2.14, 72) June debut, the Continental Rookie of the Month went to another player. In part due to Bartlett making just four starts, one of which saw him beat down for 7 runs in 3.2 innings, but he still held a 2.93 ERA and 1.08 WHIP and was an error away from two shutouts. But to Lew Cross' credit, he was dangerous for pitcher's facing the Sailors, batting .312/.330/.542 (139 OPS+) with 4 doubles, 6 homers, 13 runs, and 21 RBIs. Now 28, this increase the first basemen's season line to .296/.342/.448 (118 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 11 homers, 34 runs, and 41 RBIs in 84 games. A former 13th Rounder, just getting to San Francisco was a big achievement, and hopefully after Bartlett's Hall of Fame career ends, he can take pride in knowing he was the only Continental rookie to prevent him from winning Rookie of the Month.

The DAY That Was
Current events making headlines on October 8, 1975

• President Ford made a pitch for his $28 billion tax cut, matched by an equal reduction in federal spending. The President also expressed concern about natural gas shortages across the country.
• The President's tax cut was deemed "an impossible one" according to the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, noting the President is asking the Committee to put a ceiling on a budget it hasn't seen.
• Ronald Reagan unofficially launched his Presidential campaign, declaring for the New Hampshire primary and telling supporters "I must be able to demonstrate the ability to stand on my own two feet" with a challenge to President Ford in the first primary election of 1976.
• Nervous police in guerrilla-harassed Barcelona opened fire on a carload of innocent passersby and a police jeep, killing 3 civilians and two of their own officers. It raised the death toll to eight policemen and four civilians in seven days of political violence.
• Leading doctors claimed yesterday that Britain's 27 year-old socialized medicine system is headed for collapse dur to an exodus of doctors seeking better pay in other countries.
• A cornered bank bandit took 10 hostages in New York and demanded as the price for freedom the release of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst. The gunman was captured 8 hours after the siege began, and the last of his captives was freed unharmed.