THE SPORTING TIMES
AUGUST 14th, 1911
RICHMOND CLINCHES 1911 EL PLAYOFF BERTH
For the fifth consecutive season, and to the chagrin of most of the league, Manager John “Pop” Barrows will lead his team to compete for their 5th Eastern League Cup.
In a season of massively increased offensive production across the league, the bat-heavy Rifles spent almost the entire season behind rivals Philadelphia and Brooklyn before surging to the top spot in late July. While pitching flagged across the board, the offensively-driven Richmond lineup rallied behind a young, contact-hitting outfield and veteran infielders Dwight Ford and Scud Stranton.
Despite an inconsistent late summer, longtime Catcher Celestin “The Machine” Robley is putting up his best offensive production in years, driving in 40 from the back end of the order and hitting .290. Sophomore Center Fielder Caleb Williamson is among the top hitters of his position this season with 58 RBIs and 60 Stolen Bases.
A young, fast, and hard-hitting cadre of recent draftees added significant potency to the Rifles outfield. 1909 3rd Round Pick John Creighton, who can play above-average just about anywhere on the diamond, replaced team leader Tennessee Mears at Right Field mid-season and hit .286/.369/.802, driving in 41 in just 77 games. 1910 #16 pick Owen Brown, who can play all three outfield positions above average, hit .279/.337/.797 with 28 RBIs across 58 starts. LF Delmer Moore, a 4th round pick in 1909, came in as a fourth outfielder and hit /287/.383/.743 with 30 RBIs in 50 starts.
Richmond’s young, sprightly outfield was supplemented by the leadership and experience of a veteran infield led by 3B Dwight Ford. In his fifth year with the Rifles, Ford is hitting .304 with a team-high 65 RBIs. He is also near the top of all qualified EL Third Basemen in defensive efficiency. Fan Favorite SS Scud Scranton is also enjoying a 48-RBI season and significantly improved defensive statistics from last year at age 37. Despite being moved to First Base in favor of the younger guns, longtime Richmond hero Tennessee Mears has driven in 50 and slashed .296/.385/.409, in a migration from the outfield to the “put-to-pasture” position of First Base.
While Richmond’s utility infielders offered little more than a reliable glove on off-days, the only real offensive disappointment of this season is sophomore infielder Emory “Go-Go” Golafre, one of the top hitters in his 1910 rookie season. Go-Go posted an abysmal start to the season and spent the rest of the year crawling back to a .254 average. Still, his above-average glove was critical to the defensive efficiency of the Rifles.
Despite an increased run environment in 1911, Rifles Ace “Jellybean” Jacks already has a career-high 9.4 WAR in 1911, only slightly behind Baker superstar Robert Batkin. Young gun Justin “Lizard” Little showed drastic improvement this year, managing a 3.49 ERA (3.01 FIP, 95 FIP-) and improving his stats across the board from 1910, despite the high-run environment. Only lefty Garret Dixon truly flagged this season, despite improving his K/9. Reliever price Thompson was a fitting pair with the team’s two-right handers and posted an ERA close to 2.00.
Richmond’s defense also significantly improved this season, registering the fewest total errors in the Eastern League and currently 6th in Defensive efficiency. Tennessee Mears was moved from his long tenure in Center Field last season for Williamson, and then out of the outfield altogether for rookies Owen Brown and John Creighton. The Rifles executed far more infield shifts and depth alignments than in previous seasons, adopting a far more strategic outlook on the infield. The Rifles’ baserunning is also greatly invigorated, thanks to their fresh, young outfield; the typically conservative team is second in EL Baserunning and has 30 more Stolen Bases than last year with one week of play remaining.
Richmond’s late-season magic is partially due to some disastrous bad luck dealt to their former Divisional Rivals. Veteran superstar and 40-year-old Leo McKenzie was injured throwing from the outfield against the Whales on July 19th, in the middle of a late-career surge that was sure to be his best in years. Left Fielder Arnold Hill fractured his rib a week later against Providence. With two of their top offensive players out, the Brewers completely collapsed at the end of July, posting a 9-19 record after the July break. Brooklyn’s current 8-2 streak is even more impressive when you consider they’ve won seven games straight without their starting Center Fielder and Third Baseman (both injured last week). The Brewers, Bakers, and Kings are all locked in 3rd Place at 60-54 headed into the last week of regular season play, and despite the technical possibility of a Brooklyn collapse, the EL Cup looks to be the Whales against the Rifles for the fifth consecutive year.
Riding the high of clinching the top seed on a 13-game road trip, the Rifles face Boston and the Kings to round out the regular season and will hope for initial home field advantage against, in all likelihood, their longtime enemies from Brooklyn. Richmond is 11-6 against Brooklyn this season and famously swept the Whales last season enroute to their fourth Legacy Cup. Over in the West, Pittsburgh’s dominant young lineup with compete against a scrappy and surging Reds organization. Despite two EL Cup losses to Brooklyn, Richmond has never lost a Legacy Cup series.
Only the Whales have the honor of a Legacy Cup “three-peat;” Pop Barrows hopes to top off a dominant half-decade with one more ruby in the Richmond crown.