1971 Baseball Season

 

Highlights:

The 1971 season started with a record setting performance and ended with a league first.  Henry Aaron became the first 3RBLer to reach 3,000 hits when, on April 8th, he smacked a two-run homer in the 1st inning against Delmarva's Dick Bosman.  It was also the 576th homer of his career and on he became the first 3RBLer to reach the 600 homer mark when  he homered against John Strohmayer of the Providence Grays on July 21st.  

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The season finished with a fantastic pitching performance by West Deer's Wilbur Wood who, in his first season converting from the bullpen to a starting role, turned in an iron man performance as he pitched in 7 of the final 9 games for West Deer, hurling a no-hitter, winning four, losing one and recording two saves.  Along the way he also passed the 30 win mark becoming the third 3RBLer to do so and the second in as many seasons as West Deer snatched the final Wild Card spot by a single game over Pittsburgh.

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Not surprisingly,, Aaron, who led the league in homers (53) and RBI (132) was voted the MVP while Wood (30-9) won the Cy Young Award.  Philadelphia's Joe Grzenda (37 Saves - 1.77 ERA) broke West Deer's five year stranglehold on the Fireman of the Year award while Philly's Ken Forsch (20-6 2.59) was voted Rookie of the Year.

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The record setting performances carried into the post season as the Crimson Fire won their third 3RBL championship, tying Philadelphia and Highland, as they came back from a 3-0 deficit in the final series against Highland to win the crown.

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Presley Division:

Due in large part to the pitching performances of Grzenda and Forsch, the Philadelphia Freedom won their sixth Presley Division title and first since 1968.  In the 17 season of the league Philadelphia has won the Presley title the most times with the Pittsburgh and Meadowbrook franchises tied for second most at four while Meadville has three.

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Philadelphia tied with Pittsburgh for best  team batting average and were third in runs scored per game again behind Pittsburgh and Highland.  First baseman Lee May led the team with 39 homers and 108 RBI but he had plenty of help as Billy Williams (28 HRs and 93 RBI), Rusty Staub (21 and 94) and Willie Horton (21 and 69) formed a powerful quartet.  Tommy Harper (14 HRs, 104 Runs and 15 SBs) was a threat to score at any moment atop the order and Bert Campaneris (.251 27 SBs) was a steady presence both in the field and at bat.

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As evident by their award winners, pitching was a strong component for their winning combination.  Forsch and Grzenda were the top pitchers on the staff.  Forsch's 20 wins matched Freedom workhorse Ferguson Jenkins (20-14 2.94) while Stan Bahnsen (18-10 3.64) and Mike Hedlund (10-13 3.47) rounded out the rotation.  The bullpen was strong as Scherman (4-3 2.75), York (3-2 3.04) and Abernathy (5-2 3.09) provided depth.

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Brando Division:

Crimson and Mars Hill have dominated this division and this season was no different as the two teams jockeyed for position.  A late season rush by Crimson enabled them to win their tenth division title, leaving Mars Hill with the first Wild Card position.  Mars Hill ranks second with five titles overall while Lansing and Providence have won once.  Mars Hill had the league's top pitching staff with a 2.54 team ERA and fewest runs allowed while averaging 3.9 runs scored and the third best overall defense.  Crimson was second in team pitching with a 2.67 team ERA and second in runs allowed.  They were the fourth best team in runs scored at 4.0 but were a less than average defensive team.

 

It was easy to see how Crimson's pitching staff carried the team as Mickey Lolich (26-10 2.47) set a new 3RBL record for games started (45) and innings pitched (368).  Long time Crimsonite, Juan Marichal (19-14 2.66) hurled two no-hitters during the season while Pat Dobson (16-13 2.53) and Dick Drago (17-14 3.09) completed the rotation.  Joe Hoerner (4-2 1.42 17 Saves) and Dick Kelley (2-0 1.93) led a strong bullpen while Tommy John (7-1 1.97) was outstanding in limited work.

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The offense, on the other hand, was surprising in that they cobbled together a fourth best runs per game offense without a big power hitter.  While the team had eight hitters with double figures in home runs, the only one to top 20 was Rico Petrocelli whose 24 was matched with a .224 batting average and 85 RBI.  The star of the team was Lou Brock who batted .302 in 632 at bats, scored 124 runs, walked 92 times, stole 90 bases and had power numbers of 32-10-11.  Joe Rudi (.298 10 HRs) and Joe Pepitone (.306 10 HRs) provided a core around Brock although they batted only 426 and 454 time respectively.  Given their late season surge and Brock's overall play, the team can truly be said to have "stolen" the division title.  

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Mars Hill paired the league's best pitching and third best defense to compensate for a below average offense and win the first wild card spot in the post season.  

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Don Wilson (22-9 2.28) and Fritz Peterson (21-11 2.55) formed a right-left punch to the rotation while Dave McNally (13-10 2.63) and Rick Wise (17-14 2.65) delivered the knockout blows from a starting staff that dominated offenses.  Relief Ace Bob Miller (3-2 1.06 26 Saves) made certain the opponent stayed down for the count as he pitched 63 games and allowed only an astounding 34 hits in 92 innings of work.  

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As was the case with Crimson, the Mules had to piece and offense together.  Deron Johnson and Jay Johnstone led the team with 24 homers each but Johnson batted .274 with 72 RBI while Johnstone batted .204 with 63.  Mickey Stanley (.294-11-63) was the most consistent hitter on the team with support from Johnson, Bill Freehan (.264-13-71) and Jim Northrup (.260-18-74).  Beyond that it was mix and match as the team led most of the season until fading at the end.

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Dean Division:

Highland overcame their sixth best pitching and fielding status with the top run producing offense to win their third consecutive Dean division crown and their ninth in the history of the league.  Surf City is second with five titles while the New York franchise has won twice and West Deer once.

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When your team boasts the homer champ, RBI champ and MVP it does give a team an advantage offensively.  Henry Aaron was that man as he won his second MVP award the other being in 1959.  Henry batted .299, scored 122 runs, drove in 132 and had power numbers of 20-3-53 walked 69 times while striking out only 70 times all in 140 games.  Joe Torre (.311-21-91) batted behind him while Merv Rettenmund (.282-12-107 Runs) and Ken Henderson (.266-18-97 Runs) set the table in front.  The rest of the offense was hit or miss but when they did hit, they hit them far as Bob Robertson (.227 - 27 HRs), Dick Green (.224-21 Hrs) and Dave Duncan (.206-23 HRs) were liable to go deep in any at bat.

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The mound staff was led by Clyde Wright (24-9 2.26) and Joe Coleman (21-12 2.94) with Mike Cuellar (15-13 3.03) and Claude Osteen (15-16 3.73) completing the rotation.  Mel Queen 8-4 2.04 8 Saves) led a makeshift bullpen as he topped five relievers who served at some point as the closer for the club.

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As mentioned earlier, West Deer snuck into the final Wild Card spot with a furious finish spurred in large part by their ace, Wilbur Wood.  Wood led the fourth best pitching staff to overcome the second worst defense and fourth worst offense in the league.  Wilbur's 30-9 record and 1.89 ERA was matched with 46 games and 356.6 innings pitched to account for one-fourth of the total innings pitched by the Wanderers.  Mel Stottlemyre (16-11 2.33) was the number two man in the rotation while Jim Palmer (15-16 2.86) saw his luck change as he fell from a 30 game winner in 1970 to a losing record in 1971.  Skip Lockwood (13-15 3.81) completed the rotation.  Bart Johnson (6-5-2.98 16 Saves) was the closer in the pen but with Wood pitching one-quarter of the teams starts and innings, his 75% complete game rate did not provide many opportunities.

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As seems to be the West Deer style, the offense is built on power and the team had four batters with 25 or more homers.  Reggie Jackson (.281-34-82) led the team in batting, homers and RBI but his 82 ribbies told a tale as he also led the team with 86 runs scored.  Strikeouts were their bugaboo as the team fanned 1,079 times, the most in the league and well above the average.  Jackson (169), Frank Howard (134) and Bobby Bonds (132) were all in the 25 plus homer club but their strikeouts frustrated many a West Deer rally.  Harmon Killebrew, the other member of the 25 plus club, struck out 99 times in the season. 

 

The team, however, may well be turning to a new approach as Joe Morgan (50), Bonds (33) and Jackson (23) were also in double digits in stolen bases.

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Holly Division:

The Cincy Pops won their second consecutive Holly division crown, in this the third season of existence, but this time were not apologetic for it.  The Pops posted winning records against three of the four divisions with only a 15-17 mark against the Dean division as a sub-.500 performance.  The Pops matched the third best pitching staff with the fourth best batting and fielding team to register 95 wins and a 26 game margin of victory over the second place Eskimos.

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The rotation was led by ERA champ Dave Roberts (18-6 1.50) while Gary Gentry (15-9 2.43), Dock Ellis (13-9 2.46) and Jim Kaat (13-11 3.79) completed the quartet.  The club boasted a left-right pair of closers in Jim Brewer and Clay Carroll.  Brewer, a former Fireman of the Year with West Deer in 1965, posted a perfect 10-0 record in relief with 17 Saves and a 2.11 ERA.  Clay Carroll, on the other hand, was as good but not as lucky as he posted a 2.10 ERA with 16 Saves but a 4-8 record.

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Belying their name, the Pops had the fourth fewest team home runs (100) as only cleanup man Graig Nettles (.239-24-95) was a power threat.  Vada Pinson (.308-11-64) was the lead offensive player along with Cesar Cedeno (.233-11-59).  Carlos May (.304-2-31) and Chris Chambliss (.238-7-37) showed promise in part time play.

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Post Season:

Highland and Crimson were the #1 and #2 seeds in the post season and drew byes in the first round.  Presley champ Philadelphia drew #2 Wild Card West Deer and the two battled through seven games before Philadelphia won its first post season series from West Deer as Fergie Jenkins bested Wilbur Wood to advance.  Cincy took on #1 Wild Card Mars Hill and while both teams carried strong starters into the series it was the bullpens that decided the games.  The starters accounted for only 4 of the 12 pitching decisions in the six game series with Dave Roberts' 6-2 win over Fritz Peterson in the final game accounting for two.

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Philadelphia battled back from a 3-1 deficit to Crimson in the semi-finals but fell in the seventh game as Mickey Lolich won his third game of the series.  Highland and Cincy alternated wins for the first four games of their series before the Flyers took off and won the final two to advance.

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In the finals, Highland held a 3-0 lead in games before Crimson made a change in the lineup and committed to Orlando Cepeda at first base.  The 1958 Rookie of the Year, no longer the full time player he once was, had 8 hits in 16 at bats over the final four games, drove in 8 runs and hit three homers as the Crimsonites caught fire and swept the final four to win the series.

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Individual game box scores and play-by-play scripts can be found on the Record Book page.