Out of the Shadows: The Eclipse League

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Birmingham Black Barons

Cuban Stars West

Kansas City Monarchs

Memphis Red Sox

St. Louis Giants

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Baltimore Elite Giants

Hilldale Athletic Club

Homestead Grays

New York Lincoln Giants

Philadelphia Liberty Stars

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Chicago American Giants

Cleveland Buckeyes

Cuban Stars East

Detroit Motown Stars

Indianapolis ABCs

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Wednesday 5th April, 1972 – Memphis Red Sox (3-2) @ Pittsburgh Crawfords (5-0)

7.05pm ET, Gus Greenlee Field, Pittsburgh PA

The Crawfords have come out red-hot with five straight wins to begin the 1972 EL season, including back-to-back shutouts in this series with the Red Sox, which concludes tonight in Pittsburgh with our first Featured Game of the year. This game is a bit of a "toofer" for me, which is why I chose it, with a couple NeLers taking the mound to duke it out.

Up for the home side is Gready McKinnis, who only played a short while during the 1940s and didn't really distinguish himself all that much. According to SH, he finished with an 11-22 record and an ERA+ of just 85, while the MLEs afford him 5 WAR over his five NeL seasons. After a long break, Lefty reappears briefly in the 1950s playing parts of three seasons in the Florida League as he hit his 40s. Again, he didn't shine, going a combined 9-17 before hanging them up for good in 1955.

Here in the EL, he was a late-round pickup for the Crawfs in the 1968 Draft, who nabbed him with the 585th overall pick. It has so far proved an astute selection. After a couple of years spent idling on the Reserve Roster, Laymon finally got the call-up last year and certainly grabbed his opportunity with both hands, posting a fine 20-14 season. He was a true workhorse, leading the league with his 44 GS and 337.2 IP, and ending up with an ERA+ of 105, a FIP- of 87 and a lovely 6.9 pWAR. It will be most interesting to see what he comes up with tonight.




His opponent in this one will be Laymon Yokely, whose IRL career was a fair bit longer and slightly more auspicious. "Corner Pocket", as Laymon was known (Jim Riley also mentions "The Mysterious Shadow"), was a mainstay of the great Baltimore Black Sox teams of the late-1920s and allegedly the boyhood idol of future great Leon Day. He was also one of the most popular players in the league, which according to Jim Riley may have resulted in him being overused in the early years of his career. There is certainly a vast dropoff in his IP (SH shows more than 60% of his career IP were thrown in his first five seasons) and performance from 1930 onwards. Eric Chalek has him on his to-do list so I don't have any MLEs for him, but Seamheads log him at 56-67 with a 104 ERA+ and a little over 6 WAR for his career.

Like Gready, Laymon saw little action in the first two seasons after entering the EL in that same Inaugural Draft but moved to a more prominent role last season, in which he went 17-21. Control was his main hurdle, with him issuing an EL-high 188 walks over 289 IP, a rate of 5.8 per 9. That is something he'll need to work on if he wants a long EL career at the top level.




The Red Sox were pretty active with regard to their roster management over the offseason after another year of underperformance in 1971, but stuck with their longer-term strategy by drafting mainly prospects. It has, to say the least, been a rough start to 1972 for their top pick from the previous year Barry Bonds, with his only hit so far in 16 AB a 2-run HR.

The Crawfords' early fire has been mainly on the back of their pitching (1.57 Starter ERA so far, the EL's best), and with Jose Rijo now working as their SP1 and the addition of Joe Black and Steel Arm Tyler to the pen, there's no doubt their staff looks much improved. The addition of 1B Donn Clendenon to what was already a pretty spunky offence is another move I like the look of, and I think the Crawfs are ready to really push the BYs and Dodgers this time around.

Here are tonight's lineups:




A nice crowd of just over 20000 in attendance on a bit of a blustery night which should keep the outfielders on their toes.

Let's get into it, then.


The visitors open the scoring - their first run of this series - in the 2nd when Bob Johnson doubles and eventually scores on a two-out hit by Jim Clark. The Crawfords answer immediately, however, as Yokely gives up walks to Coggins and Dihigo, and a long double by James Loney brings them both in.

Memphis squares it up again in the next on an RBI groundball by Billy Sample, and it stays knotted over the middle innings as the pitchers finally settle into their rhythm.




The hosts finally get something going in the bottom 6th, and again Loney is in the middle of it, knocking in the go-ahead run with a double. A McKinnis sac fly adds another one to make it 4-2 and they eventually leave the bags full.

Yokely is lifted for a PH in the 7th and relieved by southpaw Robert Pipkins, who immediately gives up a run on 3 hits for the Crawfords to go further ahead.

McKinnis impresses mightily, going the distance while striking out 7 and allowing just 5 hits to move to 2-0 as the Crawfords keep their unbeaten record alive. This was a very controlled win that reinforces my earlier comments that these guys should be right in the mix this year.

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The 1972 TL season is off and running, as is Columbus outfielder Ralph Bryant by the look of this performance. Given how poorly the parent club BGs are travelling, he might find himself getting another chance at the top level if he keeps this up.

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Apart from the poor old Bacharach Giants, who kick off the new season 1-13 to enter May at 7-20 and an already imposing 13 games off the lead, April is a fairly even month. At the time of writing, every team in the WC American has a losing record and just 2 games separates first from last.

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Ken Singleton (Royal Giants) 381 / 9 HR / 27 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Ismael Valdez (Black Barons) 5-0 / 1.47 / 46 K / 49 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Ossie Brown 2-2 / 1.96 / 7 SV / 11 K / 18.1 IP.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Rod Carew (ABCs) 386 / 2 HR / 12 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Charles Hudson (Motown Stars) 4-1 / 1.59 / 38 K / 45.1 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Leon Day (Grays) 4-1 / 3.13 / 23 K / 46 IP.

Similarly in the TL things are nice and tight with one glaring exception: the 6-19 Marcos. The NY Cubans, at 7-18, are also struggling to get it together in the FRC American.

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Eddie Zambrano (Blue Birds) 424 / 10 HR / 17 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: German Marquez (White Sox) 5-2 / 3.83 / 40 K / 56.1 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Akinori Iwamura (Clowns) 345 / 4 HR / 19 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Tavo Alvarez (Clowns) 6-0 / 0.36 / 26 K / 49.1 IP.

Top 20s





News & Leaders

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Wooooooweeeee is this 1972 EL season looking the goods. I wouldn't be surprised to see all four races go right down to the wire, it looks so even. Only early, I know, but let's hope this is how things play out.

Charles Hudson has started the year with his hair on fire, and moves to 7-1 / 1.52 with this 10-inning peach against the East.

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Saturday 13th May, 1972 – Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (11-26) @ Brooklyn Royal Giants (21-16)

7.05pm ET, Dexter Park, Brooklyn NY

NB In lieu of any in-depth team-by-team analysis this season, we'll be seeing all 20 EL teams in action over the course of the year in ten Featured Games.


Coming to you tonight from downtown Brooklyn where the home team Royal Giants are playing host to the Bacharach Giants in an FC American Association rivalry game.

It has been a tough old run for the RGs since that excellent 1968 season that saw them make the playoffs, with three consecutive fourth-place finishes in the years intervening. And, while they find themselves in exactly that spot entering this game, I think they'd be happy with how things are going. To be fair, they are actually tied for third with Pittsburgh and just five off the pace set by Newark. More importantly, they are finally playing good, consistent baseball and look to have their squad headed in the right direction once more after that early misstep.

The addition of Roberto Alomar via this year's Draft is already paying dividends as they look much more solid around the diamond, and his DP partnership with Elvis Andrus should be one of the league's best for many years if they can keep them together. Last year's first-rounder Ken Singleton has in just one season and a bit become one of the absolute guns of the EL, and they now possess one of the more potent lineups in the league.

Their pitching is what is holding them back, with their Starter ERA of 3.79 currently 9th. Tonight's starter Shawn Chacon projects as the best of their current staff, but it's a fairly steep dropoff from there. None of their present rotation are dreadful, but neither are they the types who strike fear into hitters or dominate games on a regular basis. Young Ule Mahoney is an interesting type for sure, but the jury is still out as to whether or not he has what it takes.

As I mentioned, Shawn Chacon is up for them tonight. After a rocky rookie year, he has struggled again so far in '72 and comes in tonight at 3-6 / 5.94. Brooklyn can take some heart from the fact that his per-9 stats have each moved in the right direction so far this season, but that 292 OBA and 1.53 WHIP show that he isn't throwing too many pitchers past the hitters, at least not enough. His curve is elite, but he lacks any other plus pitches to help set it up properly, and that's something he'll need to keep working away it if he wants prolonged and continuous success at the major league level.

What can I say about the visiting Bacharach Giants? I called them "a club in disarray" in my midterm report card last year, and in fact it appears I grossly understated how badly the rot had set in. They have gone 45-73 since I wrote that, including their woeful start to this season, which even with us only in mid-May is looking forlorn to say the least.

Of course, the flip-side to their horror run is high Draft picks, and they did well this time around in taking Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas first overall, with handy ensuing picks as well in pitchers Tyson Ross and Ray Burris. With Thomas on board, they also did OK with their trade of incumbent 1B Donn Clendenon by picking up reliever Vet Barnes to bolster their really weak BP, and a couple other moves in the new year are a sign that the club's management is getting its you-know-what together. Unless things change in the most dramatic fashion, they'll get another whack at the piñata this December as well. But until these acquisitions get some experience under their belts and start developing as hoped, the BG faithful are likely going to see their fair share of ugliness in the box scores.

Their starter tonight, William Ross, played 7 seasons in the NeL spanning 1917 thru 1930 and had about as average a career as possible, going 48-48 lifetime with an ERA+ of 98.

Given his fairly ordinary pitch repertoire, he is obviously a gamer as his performance in the EL since joining last season (drafted 74th overall) has been fairly decent, with already more than 4 pWAR to his credit. He enters tonight with a 3-3 record and a sparkling 2.21 ERA.

So forget about the standings and keep an eye out for the array of talent on show tonight, I think this will be one of those games that might not look like much on paper but turns out an excellent contest.

Here's who'll be taking part in it for the two clubs:

No Thomas in the BGs starting lineup tonight, but hopefully we'll see him at some point. Time for the first pitch.

The hosts take a 2nd-inning lead on a passed ball by AC catcher Hal Jones and narrowly escape giving it straight back in the next after an error by 1B Jerald Clark puts them under the pump. They do so, however, in the 4th as James Lynch triples and Jones atones with a single to bring him home. Another error, this time by Andrus at short, goes unpunished.

The pitchers remain in control and it is still 1-1 entering the bottom 6th. But more iffy defence opens the door for trouble as BGs shortstop Jerry Kenney throws one into the stands and the home side loads the bases with one out. A sac fly by Fred Rico gets Brooklyn's noses in front and a two-out single by Luis Arraez makes it 3-1.

Emery Adams takes over on the mound for Brooklyn in the 7th and Thomas does enter the game, singling with one out. Yet another error sees him get all the way to third but the AC bats can't do their job and he is left there.

LaTroy Hawkins enters the game and Andrus boots another one - the RGs' fourth error of the game - to bring the tying run to the plate, one down. Once again, however, the visitors fail to capitalise.

And that's the last chance the BGs get, as Hawkins sends them down in order to lock down a fairly unconvincing win.

Still plenty of work to be done for the Royal Giants, but they were too good tonight. As I said at the top, Atlantic City fans best get used to being at the short end of the scoreline as they have done in this one.

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No redux of last year's dream season so far this year for the 17-27 Liberty Stars, with this unrequited effort by Bob Watson fairly representative of how things have been going for the boys from Philly.

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The TL leaderboards are making for interesting reading at the moment with Junior Felix, Felix Jose and Jose Cruz featuring prominently. My poor old eyes are buggin' out...

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Friday 26th May, 1972 – Newark Dodgers (34-14) @ New York Black Yankees (29-19)

7.05pm ET, Hinchcliffe Stadium, New York NY

I like to try and maintain some variety with these games and I am aware these two clubs were featured against one another last season, but they have renewed hostilities in the FC American and once again look among the EL's main contenders, so here we are. Plus, this game is one in which two NeL pitchers are facing off - one of whom I am yet to do an OotS spotlight on.

That pitcher is Rube(n) Curry, who'll be going for the home team tonight. The BYs acquired Rube in the offseason via a trade with the ABCs for OFs Jimsey Roussell and Cheo Ramos, but he originally entered the EL in the first draft, where Indy took him 31st overall. He did OK during his time at the ABCs, posting a 43-49 record with an ERA+ of 94. His control was a problem early on, not great when you are a finesse pitcher as Rube certainly is, but each season has seen his BB9 head in the right direction. This trend has continued so far during his brief stint with the BYs, for whom he has walked a career low 2.4 per 9, and he enters this game 4-5 with a 3.74 ERA / 90 ERA+ and a nice FIP- of 87.

IRL, Rube played for 11 seasons around the 1920s, with the Monarchs the team he is most aligned with. Seamheads has his career record at 104-67 with a 112 ERA+, and Jim Riley extols Rube's greatness in his entry on him. Eric Chalek's MLEs apportion him a little over 16 WAR.

Rube's opponent tonight is Connie Rector, who appeared in that previous featured game of which I spoke. So if you want to know more about him, go HERE.

After going 7-21 in 1970, Connie bounced back with a sensational 21-win 1971 campaign that saw him finish runner-up in the FC Stovey Medal voting and has continued his sparkling form this year, going 6-2 with a 2.47 ERA, which equates to a 134 ERA+. He must now be regarded as one of the EL's best hurlers and the Dodgers will be pinning a lot of their hopes of success on his back.

I'm a bit worried that the Black Yankees' management has let all of the club's success these past two Championship seasons go to their heads. They made some really questionable trades in the offseason, dealing away gun prospects such as Valentin Dreke and solid club men such as Pearl Webster for iffy returns, although it must be remembered that - despite their name and location - the BYs are only a medium-sized club in this league, not one of its financial powerhouses and so these may have been necessary moves to keep the payroll under control. Once again, however, their Scouting Dept should be commended, as they Drafted really well with Mickey Rivers as well as a couple of lower picks who look likely types for them. And with a strong core of top-notch players such as Thompson and Baylor still on their books, don't expect the BYs to disappear from view just yet.

1971 was obviously an eye-opener for the Dodgers. After setting the pace early, they faded down the stretch to finish 3rd and 5 GB their opponents tonight. Close, but nowhere near close enough. This set management into action and they were kind of the opposite of the BYs during the break, offloading a bunch of prospects for some players who had already proven themselves such as 1968 Championship winner Jose de Jesus, 3-time White Plate recipient Sixto Sanchez, and relievers Arthur Rhodes and Mychal Givens. These have proven to be astute moves indeed, with Newark 2nd in the league in ERA, with their rotation giving up just a measly 2.66 per nine. Their offence has done its bit as well, and with Frank White and Jorge Soler still to come up the future looks pretty rosy for the boys in brown and blue.

This all adds up to what should be a fierce contest, and here's who'll be taking part in it:

Let's get things underway.

A shaky 1st for Curry sees the Dodgers go ahead on a single by Cliff Floyd, but he gets things back under control and keeps the damage to just that run. The home side responds immediately, tying it up in the bottom half on a Baylor SF.

More strife for Curry in the 3rd, as a call of catcher's interference, a HBP and then a double steal put two into scoring pos with no outs, and Buck Leonard then delivers an RBI single to restore the Dodgers' lead. Another hit to Floyd makes it 3-1 and the visitors are off to the races, scoring another one on an error by BYs shortstop Franchy Cordero and going 5-1 up on a wild pitch as the home side crumbles. A run-scoring single by Cliff Johnson continues the rout and ends Curry's evening far earlier than they would have even remotely thought possible. Reynaldo Lopez finally ends the frame with the BYs in a massive hole and the notoriously impatient home fans already restless.

Newark gets it going again in the next, as a two-out 2-run homer to the opposite field by Floyd makes it an ugly 8-1.

It's fair to say the BYs are shellshocked by this point, and more trouble abounds as Lopez starts the 5th with three straight walks to load them up, and Rector adds insult to injury with an RBI single - although Lopez does recover and keep it to that.

Rector looks to be cruising, but this New York lineup is one of the league's most potent and they mount a threat in the 6th, loading the bases with none out. Durazo singles in a pair but a fantastic play by North in CF guns down Thompson at home. Then Cordero singles one in with two out to make it 9-4 and suddenly the mood in Hinchcliffe Stadium has turned.

Southpaw Bob Romby takes over on the hill for New York to start the 7th and gives them a clean inning. But then in the next, an error by BYs 2B Ernie Riles puts a man aboard for the visitors and big Buck Leonard drills a 2-run homer to put this one to bed at 11-4.

The BYs bats never stop trying, however, and tag a tiring Rector for a deuce in the bottom half. Both sides threaten without scoring in the 9th and it ends 11-6.

I doubt either side would be happy with their performance tonight in a fairly untidy game. But the ferocity of this rivalry can do strange things to otherwise composed ballplayers. For now, the Dodgers are undoubtedly in the ascendancy with this win putting their lead out to six games, but this season still has a long, long way to go.

[luckymann]

It has, to put it mildly, been a disappointing start to the 1972 TL season for the Dayton Marcos, who sit at 20-31 and 11 games off the lead in the CAC National.

Still, if nothing else comes of this campaign they can at least lay claim to the league's first perfect game, courtesy of NeLer Otis Starks.

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The evolution of Martin Dihigo as one of the EL's aces has continued apace this season, following on from his 21-win 1971 campaign. I guess, with this masterpiece, you could say he has officially arrived. At the ripe old age of 23.

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The Dodgers continue to put pressure on their FC American rivals, who look to be just holding on for now. That said, the true surprise packet of the season so far is undeniably the Lincoln Giants, who have a small break atop the WC American at 31-23.

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Aaron Judge (Giants) 333 / 6 HR / 18 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Pat Scantlebury (Black Yankees) 6-0 / 0.88 / 20 K / 51 IP.
• FC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Alonzo Boone (Black Yankees) 2-1 / 2.02 / 5 SV / 9 K / 13.1 IP.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Bernie Williams (Lincoln Giants) 294 / 4 HR / 17 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Charles Hudson (Motown Stars) 6-0 / 1.60 / 42 K / 56.1 IP.
• WC ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Will Harris (ABCs) 2-1 / 3.86 / 5 SV / 11 K / 14 IP.

The TL is chugging along quite nicely.

• CAC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Edwin Rios (Keystones) 394 / 7 HR / 25 RBI.
• CAC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Sergio Valdez (Choo-Choos) 5-0 / 3.10 / 36 K / 52.1 IP.
• FRC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Felix Jose (Tigers) 327 / 5 HR / 18 RBI.
• FRC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Jeff Marquez (Clowns) 5-0 / 0.94 / 29 K / 47.2 IP.

Top 20s - overall





Top 20s - NeLers





News & Leaders

[luckymann]

Chino Smith is putting together another fantastic season after his Grant Medal-winning 1971 campaign and, while they currently trail the surprising Lincoln Giants in the WC National by three games, his Athletics would feel they are in a pretty good place as well.

Postalita's 5-hit effort against the LGs helps them get a key 4-3 road win in 16.

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It wasn't one of his better outings, but with this 7-4 win against the Red Sox, the big Black Yankees ace becomes the EL's first 100-game winner.

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Friday 9th June, 1972 – Chicago American Giants (33-27) @ Cleveland Buckeyes (35-24)

7.05pm ET, Buckeyes Ballpark, Cleveland OH

Another EL season and, it seems, another epic battle for the WC National Association title between the two teams playing tonight.

And as always it is a night of high excitement because it is SHOTIME here in Cleveland, with Ohtani-san on the mound for the home time.

While Shohei has never quite revisited the heights of that simply unbelievable rookie season in 1969, he has still been among the league's best performers year-in and year-out, fashioning a 72-47 career record on the mound along with a lifetime 277/367/480 line and 73 home runs - all up giving him just over 40 WAR combined.

He enters this game at 5-7 / 3.00 and has slashed 264/338/431 so far with 8 homers and 26 RBI.

His opponent tonight is an NeLer we haven't seen before, who I thought was worthy of a bit of background information.

Frank "Lefty" Holmes played eight seasons mainly in the 1930s without making too much of a name for himself, ending up with an overall 18-21 record and an ERA+ of 102. He was a member of the 1934 Philadelphia Stars championship team, going 7-6, and his two saves for the same club the following year led the NNL. That was pretty much it for Lefty, who only pitched about 30 more innings over three seasons before stepping away from the game.

In the EL, he was Drafted in the '68 Inaugural Draft by the Lincoln Giants, where he stayed until being traded for four players in the middle of last season. His combined record between the two clubs in '71 was a fine 20-14 with a sparkling 123 ERA+ and 6.3 pWAR to his name, and he has continued that excellent form this campaign, carrying a 7-5 / WC-best 1.80 record into this game. While he doesn't have Shohei's blazing stuff, Lefty has a solid four-pitch arsenal and creates a ton of movement on the ball which means he concedes very few longballs - 0.5 per 9 over his career.

Despite coming up short last season, Buckeyes management held their nerve and only made some small changes to their group, while drafting for the future. It's a good enough squad that Cool Papa Bell is a bench player, so no arguments from me on that strategy, and it still looks to have a fair bit of upside with guys like Ketel Marte only young and some fair prospects down at the TL Hornets. Shohei leads a rotation taht is up there with the best, and the acquisition last year of Closer Octavio Dotel has really solidified their BP, whose 1.14 ERA is the WC's lowest at this point. They do have a wealth of catchers at their disposal, and I'd really like to see them use one of them to upgrade at 3B, where they are inarguably weak. Other than that, this is a well-rounded squad that looks to be going places.

While they have made two trips to the playoffs in the past three seasons, for a club as big as the AGs, there's no doubt they have underperformed so far. And once again, 1972 has seen them play well beneath where they'd want to be. The big problem as far as I see it for the AGs is that, unlike the Buckeyes, they've kind of topped out where they are and, with the exception of Bingo DeMoss, don't have anything in the larder either. It's the position players that are proving problematic, not their exemplary pitching which is going great guns again this season. A 9th-ranked team BA of 232 just won't cut the mustard, and the fact that they have neither a 300 hitter or a player with double-figure HR in the squad speaks volumes about their lack of zip. This offseason will, of course, be the first with a full class of FA declarations, so perhaps the plan is to use their financial might - which only the Grays and Monarchs can closely compete with - to buy the squad they are after. We'll just have to wait and see.

As I said, a real buzz in the air as is always the case when Shohei is on the mound, and a huge crowd of nearly 30000 in attendance. Here's who they'll be seeing in action:

OK, time for the first pitch.

A needless throwing error from Shohei gifts the AGs a run in the 2nd and he is lucky to escape the next without falling further behind as they leave the bags full.

He tries to get something going with a one-out double in the 4th but they fail to bring him in and it stays 1-0. The visitors then show them how it's done in the next, as Holmes leads off with a trip and comes in on a single by Jose Abreu.

Holmes is looking super sharp, giving up just 3 hits over the first 5.

Not much going right for the home side, as a Hernandez single to lead off the 6th is erased by a Martin GIDP, but they finally come alive in the 9th and Shohei himself drives in their first run of the game with a single. Eddie Vargas' third hit of the night ties it at 2 but once again the dreaded DP snuffs out an excellent chance for more runs.

After Shohei gets the Bucks a clean top 9th, Ronald Belisario comes on in relief of Holmes. Cleveland gets the leadoff man Gerald Perry aboard with a single, but for the third time a GIDP ends the inning and we go into spares.

When Ohtani gives up a leadoff hit to Ender Inciarte, that ends his night and he is replaced by Dotel. He promptly gives up a double and a single to the first two he faces and suddenly the AGs lead it 4-2.

Ugueth Urbina comes on to try and close it out, which he does on three harmless flyouts to give Chicago a hard-fought win.

A points decision to the AGs here, but still a lot of baseball left in this season.