Out of the Shadows: The Eclipse League

[luckymann]

... a lovely day at the plate for Luis.

[luckymann]

It's a sign of a team that is on the right track when, in times of intense pressure, your main guys step up and do what's needed.

If the West was to have any chance of catching the Giants in the FC National, one would think that a sweep of this home series would be essential. They start on a positive tip with a win in the opening game, but then the Giants big names come to the fore and they take the next two, almost certainly killing off the challenge.

[luckymann]

... a big game by the Crawfords outfielder to help Pedro Dibut lock down his 20th win of the year.

[luckymann]

The Grays are still hanging on for grim death, ahead of the Elite Giants by 2.5 in the Weldy American with 20-odd to play, but this one will sting.

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

Unlike their New York neighbours the Lincoln Giants, who are mathematically eliminated this same day, the BYs are still in it up to their eyeballs in the FC American, just 4 games adrift of archrivals Brooklyn. But with only 20 games to play they'll need more performances like this one from their undisputed ace.

[luckymann]

... is quickly becoming The Pride of Cleveland and, while it's been a so-so first year for the Buckeyes in which they are hovering around 500 and entrenched in the WC National cellar, they'll enter 1969 feeling pretty good about their chances moving forward with Dolf, Chuck Smith and Lewis Hampton heading the rotation and Jon Nunnally banging out plenty of stitched souvenirs for the fans and Bobby Abreu still on the up.

They'll get a decent enough pick in the upcoming Draft, let's hope they use it wisely. A solid IF would be nice, as they are really weak around the diamond.



This is undoubtedly Dolf's best outing to this point.

[luckymann]

Minimal game time and a resultant lack of statistics led me to deem Alabama native Jack Bruton unfit of a full profile. His rookie year performance in the EL, however, deems him more than fit to be honoured with an OotS feature.

There is some confusion among my sources as to whether "Dizzy" Bruton should be regarded as a pitcher or hitter. Seamheads shows him as having pitched sparingly (a total of 114 IP) over 3 seasons at the major league level in the late 30s / early 40s , but to have also only had 131 PA over 5 seasons. They have him nominally as a pitcher. Jim Riley on the other hand, in his single paragraph on Bruton that appears on pp129-30, focuses more on his hitting.

While I didn't do a full profile for Dizzy, my notes show that I did tinker with his ratings a bit, which were nerfed in the usual way for fringe players: off the charts stuff with little by way of control or movement ratings. Perhaps in hindsight, given his career ERA of 5.68, I was a bit generous. If so, I don't think by a huge amount and I don't really mind. There have been plenty of worse pitchers going around.

You judge for yourself:




In the EL, having been selected in the 30th Round by the ABCs, he has begun as a reliever but has both the stamina and pitch profile to eventually spot start.

And what an astute 591st overall pick he has proven to be. In 59.1 IP (cue Scooby Doo music...), he has gone 7-1 with a 1.21 ERA. 25 BB v 20 K,along with negative WAR, a FIP- of 114 and a WHIP of 120 suggest Dizzy has had a fair bit of luck on his side, but you make your own and all that jazz, so good luck to him.




The Indy club has shown flashes of brilliance but have been unable to sustain it for long periods, and at 8 games out of first with 18 to play have little chance of playoff action. Still, they'll almost certainly finish with a winning record to build on for the future and much of that is because of the bullpen's WC-best 1.94 ERA. Here's hoping Dizzy plays some part in that future. We'll check back along the way to see if he has.

[luckymann]

Dolf Luque has never really come on in any of my other saves in which he's appeared, but he looks set to be an absolute beast in this one. He certainly quelled a few big bats here.




Ryan Bowen doesn't profile quite as strongly, but has still put together a peachy rookie season for the AGs and was dominant in this 2-hitter with 7 K against the LGs.

[luckymann]

The Giants make a real statement with a road sweep of the East, the third win of which clinches top spot in the FC National.

It's a different story for the Cuban Stars. They now lead the WC National by just 4 1/2 games from Detroit, who seem to have their tails up at the moment. The AGs are also still right in the mix. This could get interesting.

[luckymann]

Only one of the Association races still up for grabs, with the Giants and Grays having clinched and the East's MN down to 1.

That leaves just the Fleet American, where the Royal Giants are still just in first place, 2 clear of the Black Yankees with 6 to play. I'll keep you posted.

• FC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Juan Soto (West) 302 / 7 HR / 18 RBI.
• FC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Odell Jones (West) 6-1 / 3.36 / 51 K / 56.1 IP.
• WC BATTER OF THE MONTH: Willie Stargell (Athletics) 339 / 7 HR / 24 RBI.
• WC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Pablo Lopez (Athletics) 5-1 / 1.59 / 39 K / 56.2 IP.

A comprehensive wrap after the season is done with updates as necessary until then.

[luckymann]

No post-season action this year for the AGs, but plenty of positives to build upon including a really solid rookie campaign from Ryan Bowen. This is a fine exclamation point on it.



Meanwhile, the Cuban Stars East are officially playoff-bound after they clinch the WC National with a 3-2 win over Detroit.

[luckymann]

Paul Lekakis ain't got nothing on Willson...

[luckymann]

And so, with this win by the Brooklyn Royal Giants to clinch the FC American, we now have know all four participants in the playoffs.

[luckymann]

I'll be providing a full team-by-team recap in the offseason, but here's how things finished up at the end of the regular season.

With a 4-1 win over Newark in their final game, the Lincoln Giants finish at 63-99, meaning no team has a 100-loss season. The Giants, with 102, are the only club to make that mark in wins. In fact, the other three Conference Champions each finish at 90-72.



A late slump by Giants 3B Hiram Bocachica - he hits just 230 over September and October - hands the FC batting title to teammate George Scott, who finishes with a 325 BA. Jose Abreu of the American Giants locks down the WC title with a 330 mark.

Chito Martinez of the Bacharach Giants leads all players with 36 HR, while Hilldale's Willie Stargell tops the RBI count with 110.

Jaime Cocanower, another Giants player, logs the most wins with 26. The league's lowest ERA belongs to the West's Bryan Clark with 2.13. Juan Marichal is the King of K with 296. Shingo Takatsu of the Giants leads the league with 43 saves.

Andre Thornton of the Motown Stars finishes Top 3 in each of the Triple Crown Categories, with a 303 BA, 30 HR and 101 RBI.

The final slash line for the league is 242/304/347 while the ERA finishes at 3.18.

Here are the final Top 20 by WAR.

Overall - Hitters




Overall - Pitchers




NeL - Hitters




NeL - Pitchers




News and final leaders.

[luckymann]

St. Louis Giants (102-62) v Brooklyn Royal Giants (90-72)

Best of seven, Giants with home-field advantage.

Game 1





Game 2





Game 3





Game 4





Game 5





Game 6





Game 7





St. Louis wins series 4-3.

MVP: George Scott (St. Louis)

[luckymann]

Homestead Grays (90-72) v Cuban Stars East (90-72)

Best of seven, Giants with home-field advantage.

Game 1





Game 2





Game 3





Game 4





Game 5





Game 6





Homestead wins series 4-2.

MVP: Milt Thompson (Homestead)

[luckymann]

St. Louis Giants (102-62) v Homestead Grays (90-72)

Best of seven, Giants with home-field advantage.

No doubt whatsoever that any barnacles of complacency in the Giants camp will have been scraped off after their almighty scare against the Royal Giants. Which is a good thing because they are up against a Grays outfit that just seems to know how to win. Should be a gripping series, I’m tipping the Giants to prevail, but wouldn't be in the least surprised if Homestead proves me wrong one last time like they have all season.





Game 1





Game 2





Game 3





Game 4





St. Louis wins series 4-0
Series MVP: Hiram Bocachica (St. Louis)


More often than not quality wins out in these short series and the Giants have too much of it for the Grays, who give it their best shot but are simply outclassed in the end. A deserving result for clearly the best side in the league this season. No disgrace for Homestead despite being swept, and they'll be back and better next year for the experience.

[luckymann]

WALKER MEDAL (MOST VALUABLE PLAYER)

FC: Billy Sample, Red Sox [1]
WC: Ruppert Jones, East [1]


PITCHER OF THE YEAR

FC: Jae-weong Seo, Giants [1]
WC: Masahiro Tanaka, Grays [1]


RELIEVER OF THE YEAR

FC: Jose Jimenez, Crawfords [1]
WC: Deunte Heath, Liberty Stars [1] unanimous


ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

FC: No award given
WC: No award given


KINDLING AWARD (SILVER SLUGGER)

Fleet Conference

P: Martin Dihigo, Crawfords
C: Hank Conger, Giants
1B: George Scott, Giants
2B: Ernie Riles, Black Yankees
3B: Wilson Contreras, Black Barons
SS: Lourdes Gurriel jr, Monarchs
LF: Juan Soto, West
CF: Billy Sample, Red Sox
RF: Aaron Judge, Giants

Weldy Conference

P: Roberto Gomez, Grays
C: Miguel Montero, East
1B: Andre Thornton, Motown Stars
2B: Rod Carew, ABCs
3B: Eric Chavez, Athletics
SS: Tim Anderson, Motown Stars
LF: Willie Stargell, Athletics
CF: Ruppert Jones, East
RF: Rod Allen, East


SLICK AWARD (GOLD GLOVE)

Fleet Conference

P: Jaime Cocanower, Giants
C: Hank Conger, Giants
1B: George Scott, Giants
2B: Chin-Lung Hu, Giants
3B: Hiram Bocachica, Giants
SS: Todd Cruz, West
LF: Gates Brown, Black Barons
CF: Gary Pettis, Royal Giants
RF: Ender Inciarte, Royal Giants

Weldy Conference

P: Johnny Markham, American Giants
C: Ji-Man Choi, American Giants
1B: Jose Abreu, American Giants
2B: Chino Smith, Athletics
3B: Henry Blackmon, Buckeyes
SS: Jake Stephens, Athletics
LF: Felix Pie, Grays
CF: Albert Almora, Elite Giants
RF: Richard Hidalgo, ABCs

[luckymann]

I'll provide a full rundown of which players have gone where at a later date, but here is how the 1st Round of this year's EL Rookie Draft went down:



No real surprise that Rickey went first overall, but I am a bit shocked that Shotime didn't go until 9th. A nice pickup indeed for the Buckeyes.

The highest NeL player selected was Jim Gilliam, who went to Newark with the 5th pick.