Other Victorian Baseball League

[Pie 4 Life]

Imagine if 119 years ago, the powers to be had of had more of an American influence on what would become Australia's national game? While at that stage in 1897, it was yet to be declared a nation, Australian Football was well entrenched in the country's culture. However, what if it had taken a different turn? What if baseball became the sport of choice following the arrival of the Americans from the gold fields in the 1860s. In this sim, I try and recreate that historical path with the same teams and see if certain teams are more successful than others. I will sim a season at a time beginning in 1897, and see what happens. Hope you enjoy

April 1, 1897

The new league is upon us with seven teams from the Melbourne area and one further down the peninsula in Geelong. A draft took place to decide which players will go where and which club can begin an early dynasty. Will it be working class sides Fitzroy or Collingwood? Will it be the upper class Melbourne? Or could Geelong spring a surprise? Welcome to the Victorian Baseball League.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1897

While much talk was centred around the likes of Collingwood, Fitzroy and Melbourne in the pre-season, it was the lesser known sides Carlton and St Kilda that would show their early dominance. The two sides led the league from start to finish, with Carlton registering a 95-66 win-loss ratio to claim the first minor premiership. St Kilda was just three wins behind and arguably had the better finish, winning six of the last 10 games.

South Melbourne claimed third, but had been described in the Argus as having "scraped into their position" after having won just three of the last 10 games and some critics wondered if the side could produce anything worthy of finals baseball. Essendon finished fourth and seemed a more likely prospect to upset the raging top two facourites, having entered the finals series on a high, winning seven of the last 10 games and finishing 12 wins ahead of fifth placed Fitzroy.

There was not much between Fitzroy (74 wins), Geelong (73) and Melbourne (70) with all three sides competitive on their day, but not consistent enough to worry the top couple of teams. Collingwood claimed the first wooden spoon finishing bottom with a 65-96 win-loss ratio.

1897 Ladder:

1. Carlton (95-66) .590
2. St Kilda (92-69) .571
3. South Melbourne (89-72) .553
4. Essendon (86-75) .534
---
5. Fitzroy (74-87) .460
6. Geelong (73-88) .453
7. Melbourne (70-91) .435
8. Collingwood (65-96) .404

Top players:

South Melbourne's Rowan Cusack was recognised as the outstanding hitter heading into the finals series. He topped the batting average, slugging percentage, on-base and slugging rating, hits, triples, runs batted in, extra base hits and total bases and equalled home runs in the league in an impressive debut season. Carlton's Phil Blume was another top player with the equal most home runs and most isolated power, finishing top three in a number of other areas with his partner in crime Jing Choi. It was no surprise why Carlton topped the table.

Essendon's fourth place finish was mostly on the back of some superb pitching from Brock Griffin who had been the only player to record four shut outs and had the lowest hits per 9 IP and opponents average, while taking part in the most wins. St Kilda's Richard Herbert was the other pitcher to come close to Griffin, with a 2.76 earned run average, just 0.01 less than Griffin, but the two were the clear standouts in 1897.

Finances:

To no-one's surprise, Carlton had the biggest fanbase of all by the end of the season, charging 13 cents more per ticket, they recorded a total attendance of 465,436 for the season, more than 600 ahead of nearest rivals St Kilda. In comparison, Collingwood had a woeful 306,230.

The Blues' fan interest was at an all-time high with good loyalty and an interest of 98. Despite being on the bottom, Collingwood fans also had good loyalty in their small numbers, but just 59 fan interest in the year. Geelong had the smallest fan base of all clubs and the lowest fan interest of just 52. St Kilda's fan loyalty was great as was Melbourne's despite a poor season. Carlton however was the raging favourite heading into the 1897 playoffs given its strong year.

Playoffs:

Wednesday October 6, 1897

With a best-of-five series, Carlton held the first home game in its clash with the red-hot fourth placed Essendon. In a shock to the baseball world, the Bombers claimed the early lead with a 6-4 win to put them one up. The home Carlton fans were stunned. But they were less stunned than the cocky St Kilda fans who travelled to their home diamond expecting a huge win. Instead, South Melbourne belted the Saints 7-1 to leave the crowd stunned and baying for Blood.

That would only become worse when South made it two upsets in a row, knocking the Saints off 5-1 at St Kilda's home meaning the Swans would have two home games back-to-back needing to win just one to advance to the grand final. Essendon meanwhile did likewise thumping Carlton into submission 12-1 and would have its two home games ahead. All of a sudden it looked like third and fourth would playoff for the premiership.

Both the top two teams managed to regroup in the third game away from home, with Carlton producing its best performance in some time, belting the Bombers 13-4 with a must-win clash at the Bombers' home the next day. St Kilda also kept its chances alive, bouncing back to win 6-4 and remain in the hunt to advance to the grand final.

St Kilda levelled the scores with a thriller against the Swans, winning 5-4 to make it 2-2 and head to a fifth game at home the following day. For Carlton however, it was curtains as Brock Griffen led the Bombers to a stunning 3-1 win to guarantee they had knocked off the minor premiers and move through to the grand final.

If anyone doubted St Kilda's ability to fightback from adversity, it was soon diminished as the Saints belted South Melbourne 13-1 in front of their home fans to advance to the grand final. The chants were circulating around the ground as the fans cheered their heroes, who had been villains just a week earlier.

However when the big dance came along, it would be more tears than cheers as Essendon would smash St Kilda to a straight sets win in a best-of-seven clash. The Saints rarely looked like winning as the fourth placed Bombers won 7-2, 7-3, 6-2 and 7-3 with Griffin and Chin doing as they pleased, proving pitching was the key to victory.

Elijah Carr made eight runs across the four series in an impressive display, with St Kilda's Edwin Ambrose the top Saints hitter with just three. It was a series to celebrate for the Bombers, having come good at the right time of year and stormed home from fourth to win the inaugural Victorian Baseball League premiership.

Essendon's premiership list:

Top performers:

Brock Griffin (28 year-old pitcher from Sydney who had a competition-low ERA of 2.77)
Jiu-ling Chin (32 year-old pitcher and Griffin's partner in crime. Knew how to move the ball)
Elijah Carr (27 year-old short stop who made 65 runs and a home run in 114 games)
Kent Dennis (32 year-old right fielder who scored 26 runs and two runs in 80 games)
Vince Lindner (26 year-old short stop who scored 40 runs from 82 games)
Dylan Oakley (27 year-old catcher who scored 68 runs and an equal team-high seven home runs in 145 games)
Brodie Russell (33 year-old third baseman who scored 80 runs in 154 games)
Robin Vernon (25 year-old centre fielder who scored the equal most runs of any player with 93 and home runs (seven) in 134 games)
Troy Woods (35 year-old left fielder who scored an equal 93 runs and one home run in 137 games)

Others:
Andy Baldwin
Zi-jing Ban
Karl Bendeich
Austin Brewster
Rodney Bricknell
Mike Foley
Stephen Grant
Peter Hoolahan
Mark Humphrey
Burt Jiang
Victor Kingman
Jerry Mekville
Quentin Quine
Toyozo Seki
Rich Slater
Malcolm Smythe
Keiran Throsby
Clancy Walls
Jordan Wedemeyer
Vinne Whalley
Alan Willis
Shou-chien Zhang

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Rowan Cusack (South Melbourne) 150 games, 112 runs, 9 home runs
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Brock Griffin (Essendon) 53 games, 115 strikeouts, .265 opposition batting average 2.77 ERA
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Patrick Carr (St Kilda) 25 year-old, 124 runs and nine home runs.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1897 Off-Season

The biggest switch of the off-season was former Carlton centre fielder Phil Blume who was considered one of the best hitters of last season, to South Melbourne. While Carlton was aware of his age (at 35 years-old), the Swans had no issues signing the free-agent on a record free agent contract of $3500 over two years. It paled in comparison's to Geelong's massive offer to 30 year-old pitcher Troy Ahernfeld. The Cats rated him as an underrated pitcher at South Melbourne, snapping him up with a deal he could not refuse. Geelong offered him $12,040 over seven years, a remarkable deal considering salary caps.

Lowly sides St Kilda and Geelong had the best pre-seasons, with reigning premiers Essendon as well as Fitzroy winning the least practice matches. It would mean little once the season started of course as all sides were keen to establish themselves early in 1898.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1898

Geelong's fearless recruiting paid off over the off-season, rising from outside the top four last year to minor premiers with a 95-67 win-loss season. St Kilda was the bridesmaid again with 92-70, an identical year to the previous one. Melbourne (89-73) and South Melbourne (86-76) rounded out the top four, finishing well ahead of reigning premiers Essendon.

The Bombers were unable to get close to a top four place, winning less than half their games, and finishing just five wins from the bottom. Carlton (71 wins), Collingwood (70) and Fitzroy (70) were neck and neck at the tail of the ladder for most of the season. The Magpies' head-to-head ratio against the Lions was the difference in avoiding a second consecutive spoon.

1898 Ladder:

1. Geelong (95-67) .586
2. St Kilda (92-70) .568
3. Melbourne (89-73) .549
4. South Melbourne (86-76) .531
---
5. Essendon (75-87) .463
6. Carlton (71-91) .438
7. Collingwood (70-92) .432
8. Fitzroy (70-92) .432

Top players:

Collingwood's Brett Kelly was the shining light in an otherwise dull season for the Magpies. The big hitter smashed his way to a .370 batting average, .454 on-base percentage and .530 slugging percentage, while also topping the triples and bases on balls. Rohan Cusack was again prominent as he had been in the inaugural year, finishing top three in most of the awards while Geelong's Jason Tolmie and Roy Hanscombe were key hitters in the Cats' rise up the ladder.

In the pitching stakes, Melbourne and Geelong dominated with Harry Wigmore and Russell Tibbles holding the Dees up, while new Cats recruit Troy Ahernfeld and team-mate Arthur Lovett were also among the top pitchers. Owen Devereux, a South Melbourne pitcher was the player more often than not splitting the four apart on the stat sheets.

Finances:

Carlton had received a windfall from the league and its members after its minor premiership the year before with a big market size and a budget that was the envy of all other clubs. The Blues had $65,000 in their coffers with just $26,266 spent. Geelong was the poorest club, spending just $16,456 from its $42,200 budget yet had topped the ladder, leading to Blues fans questioning how their money was being spent.

The team in arguably the best position financially was Melbourne, who had a big market size and great fan loyalty. With $25,890 on the payroll and $63,000 overall, the Dees had a solid season off-the-field and hoped they could cap it off with a win in the playoffs. Melbourne also had the highest attendance rate, 100,000 more than the previous year, and 12,000 more than any other side.

Playoffs:

They were the poorest team with the least amount of pay contributed to their players. In fact, their new recruit Troy Ahernfeld was about six per cent of their entire payroll. South Melbourne was far from poor, more middle-of-the-road and with Rohan Cusack starring all year and Owen Devereux impressive with the ball, it would be certainyl a challenge they would be up for against the minor premiers.

Travelling to Geelong held no fears for the Swans despite a 8-15 win-loss ratio. Everyone expected the clash to be a high scoring one with both teams ranked in the top two for runs scored, while Geelong was second for lowerst runs against. Travelling to Geelong for the opening two games could not have gone closer, with South Melbourne emerging 4-3 and 2-0 victors stunning the home fans. Geelong had every tight ot be nervous heading to the Swans' home base. A 6-7 loss later and their finals campaign was over, in a similar fashion to last year's minor premies Carlton. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the only non-metropolitan team. South Melbourne was through to the grand final.

Second placed St Kilda was still filthy on missing out on the premiership the year before nad they had a point to prove against the Demons. A fiery first round encounter saw the Saints belt Melbourne 8-1 at home and their fans were already rejoicing. "We cannot be beaten," they were chanting. The next day it was a different tune as Melbourne turned it around to grit out a tight 3-2 victory and level the series.

Two away trips to Melbourne had the Saints a little nervous knowing they would need to win at least one to get another crack at a home match. They had a point to prove and they proved it, belting the Demons 10-1 in a stunning victory. A day later the Saints managed to hold on in a low-scoring affair to defeat Melbourne 3-2 and advance through to the decider against South Melbourne.

South Melbourne 3 defeated Geelong 0 | St Kilda 3 defeated Melbourne 1​

The playoff final was best of seven and with both sides showing good form in the semi-finals, it was expected to go down to the wire. St Kilda held the first two games at home, but it was South Melbourne that struck first. The Swans won a tight 3-2 victory and then backed it up with a 9-7 win in the second game.

Two days later the sides had travelled to South Melbourne, and whether it was the road trip comaraderie or just a desperation to not let this opportunity slip, St Kilda banded together and amazingly levelled the series at 2-2. The Saints won 9-4 and 12-9 in consecutive days, but the effort sustained wore them down. The third day saw the Swans victorious 5-4 and head to the final round of matches 3-2 up.

Two back-to-back home games would be there for St Kilda, but lose one and it was all over. Unfortunately for the Saints, that is exactly what happened. Late in the innings it was 5-5 and the Swans were two down with Terry Aston coming to the crease. With extra time seemingly destined to occur and Aston not considered the greatest hitter, he would not have had much expectations placed upon his shoulders. In 105 games to that point, he had made just 23 runs and no home runs. But on that day, he did the unthinkable.

A perfect strike saw the ball sail over the outfield and into the crowd. Aston had just won South Melbourne the premiership with his only home run of the season. It was unbelievable and the fans came from everywhere. South Melbourne were premiers and St Kilda would sink to second again, so close, yet so far.

South Melbourne 4 defeated St Kilda 2​

Essendon's premiership list:

Top performers:

Owen Devereux (35 year-old pitcher who had a super season for the Swans)
Jiu-ling Chin (33 year-old pitcher who crossed from the Bombers at the start of hte season and must be a lucky charm - a rare dual premiership player)
Leo Alcock (30 year-old short stop who only played 76 games but made 40 runs and hit two home runs)
Terry Aston (35 year-old bit-part player who managed 106 games at first base and hit the famous premiership-winning run)
Phil Blume (35 year-old centre fielder who hit 104 runs and two home runs in 137 games)
Nigel Considine (23 year-old up-and-coming short stop who hit 66 runs in 116 appearances)
Rowan Cusack (29 year-old who starred in his second season after being the Outstanding Hitter of the Year last season)
Nathan Hackworth (Stalwart of the season with 145 games, producing 60 runs and six home runs)
Clancy Neumann (One of two brothers in the side, Clancy hit 74 runs from 124 appearances)

Others:
Rowan Alport
Shou-feng Bashford
Bailey Brooks
Walter Bruce
Charlie Bryant
Bradley Crutcher
Bradley Cummins
Brian Cusack
Randy Frew
Andrew Gadsden
Jarod Glider
Will Guiney
Randall Harney
Edward Hill
Brendan Jenkins
Burt Jiang
Rodney Juhl
Malcolm Kraft
Felipe Macias
Timothy Main
Xavier Mills
Arthur Neumann
William Opie
Karl Pinney
Marcus Roneberg
Ethan Taintey
Rodney Walcott
Roderick Watkins
Roderick Woollett

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Brett Kelly (Collingwood) 156 games, 130 runs, 3 home runs
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Harry Wigmore (Melbourne) 54 games, 120 strikeouts, .249 opposition batting average 2.16 ERA
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Roy Hanscombe (Geelong) 23 years-old, second base with 87 runs and one home run from 144 games

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1898 Off-Season

Fitzroy kicked off its off-season signings taking in Phil Blume, South Melbourne hitter. But it was Geelong that drew all the praise, bringing in Essendon trio Robin Watters, Quentin Addicott and in a shock move, star pitcher Brock Griffin. Geelong traded out most of its bull pen in a high-risk, high-reward off-season. But acquiring Griffin and Watters in particular, the latter of whom was 29 and coming into his prime.

Disappointed at missing out on two flags, St Kilda's Marshall Lawman crossed from St Kilda to Collingwood to be the biggest trade of the off-season. The Cats and Magpies were deemed clear winners of the off-season period. St Kilda while disappointed with losing Lawman had not fought too hard as South's Owen Devereux was available after the Swans decided his 36 years would work against them. The swap would not have been ideal, but at least St Kilda broke even in the off-season. The Bombers and Swans were considered the losers of the off-season.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1899

The off-season dominance equated to dominance on the field with the top four movers and shakers finishing in the top four with Melbourne scoring a remarkable 100-win season, including eight of the last 10 leading into finals. For the third consecutive season, St Kilda finished in second with 95 wins, while last year's minor premiers Geelong remained among the hunt in third. Collingwood's big off-season helped the Magpies squeeze into fourth just one win ahead of Fitzroy.

The top five were well ahead of the bottom three, with former premiers Essendon and South Melbourne joining Carlton with 64 and 66 wins each. The off-season had hurt the Swans with their key players leaving without geunine replacements. They dropped 22 more games to go from premiers to wooden spooners.

1899 Ladder:

1. Melbourne (100-61) .621
2. St Kilda (95-66) .590
3. Geelong (86-75) .534
4. Collingwood (85-76) .528
---
5. Fitzroy (84-77) .522
6. Essendon (66-95) .410
7. Carlton (64-97) .398
8. South Melbourne (64-97) .398

Top players:

For the first time in the Victorian Baseball League, there was no shortage of genuine good hitters. The top players included Geelong's Jason Tolmie, Fitzroy's Tristan Tipping and St Kilda's Patrick Carr. The battle for the Outstanding Hitter of the Year was intriguing.

Geelong's Tony Ahernfeld, new St Kilda recruit Owen Devereux and Melbourne's Russell Tibbles were all among the top pitchers once again. Brock Griffin had a solid debut season for the Cats, but was not in the same class as he had been in 1897, or even last year.

Finances:

Melbourne was quickly catching up to Carlton in the rich stakes. The Demons were just $5000 behind Carlton overall and had plenty more attendance throughout the season. Carlton fans had to be commended after two poor seasons and no finals wins yet they still stuck by them. But their interest was waning.

St Kilda was enjoying a healthy season as wel with its fans once again optimistic it could finally break through for a maiden premiership. After two grand final losses, the fans were getting desperate.

Playoffs:

In the first final, the rapidly improving and dominant Demons were up against the Magpies who were quickly impressing after a big off-season. The Demons had been there and done it before. They hosted the Magpies in the first play-off game and got up in a thrilling 3-2 victory. Collingwood returned the favour a day later to level the scores with an impressive 5-1 win.

Heading to Collingwood, it was Melbourne that would stun the Magpies and show why they had won the minor premiership with 100 wins for the year. A 9-1 victory followed by a nailbiting 8-7 win helped Melbourne to the victory and ensured they would make the decider.

In the other semi-final, St Kilda recovered from the worst finals loss on record to date to defeat Geelong in four games. The Cats belted the Saints in the first game 12-1 to look all but home in the series despite only being one-up. But St Kilda turned it around to win the next three games 4-1, 8-2 and 5-2 and move through to its third consecutive grand final. Could they finally win the big one?

Melbourne 3 defeated Collingwood 1 | St Kilda 3 defeated Geelong 1​

The playoff final had a fairytale element to it. The champions of the year in Melbourne were taking on the perrenial grand finallists St Kilda. While St Kilda fans held out hope they could finally break the drought, defeating the champs would be far from easy.

Melbourne kicked off proceedings with the tightest of wins in a 5-4 struggle. Little did anyone know, this would become the tone of the series. The Demons would etch out a 6-5 win in game two before backing up with a 4-3 victory away from home. Down 3-0 and all but gone, the Saints managed to battle their way back to a 9-8 win and draw the series out an extra game.

Their efforts would prove tiring however, as Melbourne managed to secure the premiership with a 5-1 game five victory and denied St Kilda a flag. Saints fans were devastated and wondering how long they could maintain their stint at the top-of-the-table. They were the only side to have made every finals series.

Melbourne 4 defeated St Kilda 1​

Essendon's premiership list:

Top performers:

Damon Crawford (24 year-old short stop who has plenty left in his career and had a career-best year of 86 runs and three home runs from 154 games)
Li Filby (34 years-old. In 140 games, Filby hit 54 runs and six home runs)
Russell Tibbles (Another strong season for Tibbles who had an ERA of 2.45 to be a dominant player with Wigmore)
Harry Wigmore (In 46 games, Wigmore finished with an impressive 2.88 ERA)
Brendan Higgins (A 34 year-old veteran, Higgins hit 70 runs and four home runs from 145 games)
Rob Ivory (One of the biggest up-and-coming stars in the competition. At just 22 years of age, Ivory scored 75 runs and five home runs from 121 games)
Chia-liang Kang (28 year-old second baseman, he hit 74 runs and a home run from 136 games)
Mitch Makepeace (A huge haul of 84 runs and five home runs from 146 games)
Andre O'Connell (The first baseman smashed 102 runs from 157 games in a team-high run-scoring effort)
Jing-shuan Xian (Scored 70 runs and two runs from 123 games)

Others:
Liam Appleby
Roger Ayliffe
Teddy Bansfield
Stefan Barber
Bradley Coles
Rhys Costello
Ryan Cox
Bradley Cummins
Rex Donahue
Brock Duncalf
Blake Franks
Brad Franks
Brenton Frost
Bernie Gault
Terrry Gillett
Bailey Hendricks
Paul Lee
Jack McMullen
Ethan Moss
Ke-yue Ng
Sterling Penfold
Brendan Pengilly
Richard Purcell
Augusto Silva
Marcus Stretton
Angus Thomas
Tim Vankrimpen
Roderick Woollett

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Jason Tolmie (Geelong) 138 games, 88 runs, 8 home runs
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Owen Devereux (St Kilda) 57 games, 121 strikeouts, .285 opposition batting average 3.18 ERA
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Willem Moy (South Melbourne) 24 years-old, centre fielder with 104 runs and eight home runs from 151 games

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1899 Off-Season

It was a relatively low-key off-season compared to others. South Melbourne bounced back to be judged the best, but it was hard not too given they had a massive amount of losses the year prior. They finished ahead of rich boys Carlton, while every other club recorded a negative rating for their period. Geelong had the worst after a couple of good off-seasons.

Marshall Lawman joined the Blues after a season at Collingwood to be at his third club in four seasons. They also picked up pitcher Harris Pang who had found his way to South Melbourne mid-season after a stint with the Pies, but only played three games and was delisted at season's end. South Melbourne premiership player Jiu-Ling Chin crossed to the Pies after a 10-game stint with the Cats last season. Despite having the highest rating, South Melbourne picked up lesser knowns to strengthen its squad and whether that was the right tactic or not was yet to be seen.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1900

Death, taxes and St Kilda finishing second on the Victorian Baseball League ladder are the only certainties in life. For the fourth consecutive year since the league began, the Saints made their way to second, finishing five wins behind top-of-the-table Geelong. It was the closest year in sometime however, with nine wins separating third from seventh.

Reigning premiers Melbourne snuck into third by head-to-heads just in front of last year's cellar dwellers South Melbourne.. Carlton again missed the finals, but crept closer just two wins short of a top four spot. Collingwood fell out of the top four to make way for the Swans, while Essendon sat in seventh two wins behind the Magpies. Fitzroy, the only team yet to make finals won its second wooden spoon with a disappointing 61-100 season.

1900 Ladder:

1. Geelong (98-63) .609
2. St Kilda (95-66) .590
3. Melbourne (84-77) .522
4. South Melbourne (84-77) .522
---
5. Carlton (82-79) .509
6. Collingwood (71-90) .441
7. Essendon (69-92) .429
8. Fitzroy (61-100) .379

Top players:

Carlton's Tristan Tipping was the star hittier, leading the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and hits. He, along with new team-mate Brett Kelly who had crossed to the Blues from Collingwood had formed a formidable duo. Geelong's Jason Tolmie finished top three in most of the key stat categories and will hope to add a premiership to his illustrious career soon.

Essendon's Vinnie Whalley, an up-and-coming pitcher of just 25 years of age was among the top players despite bing a rotation player which displeased him greatly. Arthur O'Flaherty of St Kilda had an unbelievable earned run average of 2.07, while Geelong's Troy Ahernfeld was also impressive during the season.

Finances:

It was no surprise to the two sides that led the league in the money stakes with Carlton and Melbourne continually showing off their wares off-the-field. Despite a small fan base, the Cats faithful continued to show their support at games, while Saints fans hoped it would be fourth time lucky for the club this year. South Melbourne's fan base was growing and they were optimistic of upsetting the apple cart in the finals series.

Playoffs:

With no luck in finals thus far, many Geelong fans rocked up to the minor premiers' semi-final with more hope than anything else. They were playing the reigning premiers who had albeit not been as dominant as the year prior. However they were still a threat and the Cats fans were wary.

They had every right to be wary though despite hosting the Demons for the opening two games in Geelong. Melbourne turned up to play, having beaten them 12 times during the year to the Cats' 11. The Demons won the first game in a nail-biter 3-2 before an easier 5-1 win meant Melbourne skipped to a 2-0 series lead.

Geelong bounced back away from home in the third game with a big 8-2 victory, however it was Melbourne that turned it around the next day defeating the Cats 7-4 and handing their fans more heartbreak and another finals loss. Melbourne was going to the decider to try and win its second consecutive flag.

In the other game, perrenial bridemaids St Kilda were desperate to finally break through for a maiden flag after three grand final losses. It was a shaky start as the Swans gritted their teeth to win 6-5 away. St Kilda fans were ruthless in their appraisal of the club's performance and could not have made a bigger statement the next day with a thumping 12-1 win to level the series.

St Kilda travelled to South Melbourne in hopes of at least breaking even, but instead they won both games to book another grand final spot. A high-scoring 10-8 win was backed up by a low-scoring 4-3 victory to win the series 3-1 and book a grand final rematch with Melbourne.

Melbourne 3 defeated Geelong 1 | St Kilda 3 defeated South Melbourne 1​

Surely three losses was enough to prepare the Saints for this grand final, their fans thought. To date the three previous winners were all different but the only similarity in their wins had been that it was over the Saints. While they loved the fact their team was always competitive, it was making them sick to the stomach making grand finals and not winnig them.

The opening game at St Kilda showed the Saints wanted to reverse the trend against the reigning champs. The Saints scored eight runs to seven to get away to a 1-0 start in the best-of-seven series. Unfortunately for the Saints, Melbourne upset them in game two with a 10-5 win and the Saints fans were nervous knowing Melbourne had three consecutive games back-to-back-to-back from October 11-13.

Both sides battled it out in game three but it was the Demons' who were victorious 7-5 despite two home runs from St Kilda short stop Patrick Carr. The next day was the game that broke the proverbial camel's back. Melbourne thumped St Kilda into oblivion 12-4 and the Saints fans were resigned to yet another grand final loss. The next day their fate was sealed as Melbourne ran out 8-1 winners and became the first team to win two premierships and of course, back-to-back flags. St Kilda had lost four grand finals in a row, a feat that would be hard to match in any era.

Melbourne 4 defeated St Kilda 1​

Melbourne's premiership list:

Top performers:

Damon Crawford (25 year-old short stop now a dual premiership player, backed up a good season last year with 87 runs and three home runs from 150 games)
Harry Wigmore (No surprise the veteran pitcher had another strong season and is pivotal to Melbourne's success. Lost partner in crime Tibbles but was joined by three players to replace him.)
Rob Ivory (23 years-old and already a dual premiership player. Ivory hit 76 runs and a home run from 128 games)
Chia-liang Kang (Another dual premiership player who hit 72 runs from 141 games)
Mitch Makepeace (Another great season in the red and blue with 66 runs and two home runs from 137 games)
Andre O'Connell (Joins the rare list of dual premiership players and earned it with 67 runs and two home runs from 126 games)
Angus Thomas (Lesser known dual premiership player who took his game to another level this year with 71 runs and two home runs from 133 games)
Roderick Woollett (Catcher who went from reserve to starter in season 1900, scoring 38 runs and one home run in 135 games)
Jing-shuan Xian (The celebrations were not even done when Melbourne announced it had traded its dual premiership veteran to St Kilda. Played in a grand final and traded in the same day. 130 games for 55 runs and two home runs)

Others:
Quentin Addicott
Teddy Allomes
Edwin Auty
Roger Ayliffe
Teddy Bansfield
Rhys Costello
Paul Courcha
Connor Danvers
Brock Duncalf
Blake Franks
Brenton Frost
Kenkichi Fukuda
Terrry Gillett
Brent Harrison
Bailey Hendricks
Paul Lee
Ling-lai Ling
Domenic Morrow
Ethan Moss
Juan Moya
Sterling Penfold
Dale Ratcliffe
Augusto Silva
Marcus Stretton
Mitchell Upchurch
Tim Vankrimpen

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Tristan Tipping (Carlton) Scored 26 runs in 51 games with Fitzroy before a mid-season trade to Fitzroy saw him score 67 in 107. A whopping 156 games for 93 runs and eight home runs.
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Arthur O'Flaherty (St Kilda) Finished the season with a record-breaking 2.07 ERA in 45 starts and held opposing teams to a .256 average.
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Norm Loetzsch (St Kilda) 26 year-old who came of age in the big leagues this season with 59 runs and six home runs and a batting average of .357.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Managers

Thought I'd update people with the managers as I had not really done so at this point. Here's the short list I'll add to over time and there have been plenty of changes regardless of success.

Beau Carson - Bench coach with Carlton before full-time manager in 1900

Rowan Forbes - Pitching coach with South Melbourne before full-time manager in 1900

Arthur Parker - Bench coach with Geelong before manager in 1900

Rex Stone - Won flag with Melbourne then was sacked and joined Collingwood as a bench coach in 1900

Vaughan Vincent - Took over from Stone as Melbourne manager to win the flag having come from St Kilda as a successful bench coach.

Carlton
1897: Rhett Newbold (96-66) .593 PCT | 1st | Semi-Final loss
1898: Rhett Newbold (71-91) .438 PCT | 6th
1899: Rhett Newbold (64-98) .395 PCT | 8th
1900: Beau Carson (83-79) .512 PCT | 5th

Collingwood
1897: Li Trewartha (65-97) .401 PCT | 8th
1898: Ben Stranaghan (70-92) .432 PCT | 7th
1899: Ben Stranaghan (85-77) .525 PCT | 4th | Semi-Final loss
1900: Ben Stranaghan (71-91) .438 PCT | 6th

Essendon
1897: Beau Carson (86-76) .531 PCT | 4th | Premiership
1898: Beau Carson (75-87) .463 PCT | 5th
1899: Lance Jervis (67-95) .414 PCT | 6th
1900: Lance Jervis (18-31) .367 PCT | 8th // Wally Wigley (51-60) .459 PCT | 7th

Fitzroy
1897: Ben Blackwell (75-87) .463 PCT | 5th
1898: Jay Rafferty (70-92) .432 PCT | 8th
1899: Jay Rafferty (84-78) .519 PCT | 5th
1900: Jay Rafferty (41-68) .376 PCT | 8th* // Rhett Newbold (19-33) .365 PCT | 8th

Geelong
1897: Scott Wonnocott (74-88) .457 PCT | 6th
1898: Scott Wonnocott (95-67) .586 PCT | 1st | Semi-Final loss
1899: Scott Wonnocott (87-75) .537 PCT | 3rd | Semi-Final loss
1900: Arthur Parker (99-63) .611 PCT | 1st | Semi-Final loss

Melbourne
1897: Rex Stone (70-92) .432 PCT | 7th
1898: Rex Stone (89-73) .549 PCT | 3rd | Semi-Final loss
1899: Rex Stone (101-61) .623 PCT | 1st | Premiership
1900: Vaughan Vincent (84-78) .519 PCT | 4th | Premiership

St Kilda
1897: Logan Urry (93-69) .574 PCT | 2nd | Grand Final loss
1898: Logan Urry (92-70) .568 PCT | 2nd | Grand Final loss
1899: Logan Urry (95-67) .586 PCT | 2nd | Grand Final loss
1900: Logan Urry (96-66) .593 PCT | 2nd | Grand Final loss

South Melbourne
1897: Wally Wigley (89-73) .549 PCT | 3rd | Semi-Final loss
1898: Wally Wigley (86-76) .531 PCT | 4th | Premiership
1899: Wally Wigley (65-97) .401 PCT | 7th
1900: Rowan Forbes (85-77) .525 PCT 3rd | Semi-Final loss

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1900 Off-Season

There were three manager changes to sides that all missed finals action last year with Essendon fans undoubtedly having raised eyebrows over their managerial appointment. No-one had heard of him and rightly so. The other two had at least been coaches in the League.

Collingwood: Justin Twomey - 43 year-old replaced Ben Stranaghan and his first manager gig after four years as bench coach at Fitzroy
Essendon: Gerry Foley - 47 year-old odd choice who had only coached at Horsham as a hitting coach in the AAAA division
Fitzroy: Will Budd - Experienced 61 year-old who was a bench coach at Carlton the last two seasons.

South Melbourne had a solid off-season to continue their upward trend, picking up three first-class pitchers with Brock Griffin (Geelong), Richard Herbert (St Kilda) and Roland Vankrimpen (Collingwood) all signing on with the Swans to have their fans druelling at the pitching posibilities. They lost Vern Hughes and Marcus Roneberg but were not as concerned considering the ins.

St Kilda's loss of Herbert and trading of Owen Devereux was made slightly better by signing Geelong pitcher Marcello Quinn. Melbourne was the beneficiary of picking up Devereux who was at his third club now and the reigning dual premiers would only get stronger by his arrival. Melbourne had only traded out depth in return.

Geelong were the big losers of the off-season, losing their two key strikers while only pickin up a couple of okay signings in the process. By all reports, South Melbourne and Melbourne were predicted to storm the league in 1901 on the back of the off-seasons and there would be some gap to the rest of the field.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1901

To absolutely no-one's surprise, South Melbourne dominated the league off the back of its strong recruiting drive. The Swans won 100 of their 162 matches to seize top by a massive 10 games ahead of Carlton and Geelong on 90 wins. It would be Carlton's first playoff appearance since it topped the league and bowed out in the semi-final in 1897.

Melbourne, the team many predicted to finish second placed fourth with 87 wins, comfortably ahead of St Kilda who missed its first finals series since the competition began, and Essendon in sixth. Likewise it was little suprise that perrenial disappointments Collingwood and Fitzroy rounded out the lader.

1901 Ladder:

1. South Melbourne (100-62) .617
2. Carlton (90-72) .556
3. Geelong (90-72) .556
4. Melbourne (87-75) .537
---
5. St Kilda (77-85) .475
6. Essendon (72-90) .444
7. Collingwood (67-95) .414
8. Fitzroy (65-97) .401

Top players:

Carlton's Tristan Tipping looked more than good of going back-to-back in the Outstanding Hitter Award leading teh batting percentage, on-base percentage, doubles and bases on balls. When Tipping wasn't topping the charts, teammate and future star Marshall Coutts was - leading the slugging percentage, hits and triples. Remarkably, in some categories they even had the top three with Brett Kelly another to impress. Outside of Carlton, Stefan Barnett from Collingwood easily had the most strikeouts with 101, 22 ahead of the next nearest player.

Unsurprisingly, South Melbourne and Geelong players dominated the top pitchers. Swans Brock Griffin, Richard Herbert and Roland Vankrimpen all impressed with three of the five lowest earned run averages and prominant across other areas. For the Cats, Troy Ahernfeld continued to be among the top pitchers along with teammate Vinnie Whalley. St Kilda's Marcello Quinn had another good season after a solid one last year.

Finances:

With its first successful home and away season since 1897, Carlton easily surged past the $100,000 in the coffers. Melbourne and South Melbourne were also impressive, with both sides having the highest payrolls. At the other end of the scale, Fitzroy was struggling financially, while Geelong was surviving based on its performances because its supporter base was still much smaller than other sides. Melbourne's fan base however was at an all-time high, with the Demons searching for their third consecutive flag, topping the attendance rate for the third year in a row.

Playoffs:

South Melbourne was the dominant team all year, but Melbourne was teh finals specialist. The Demons had won the past two flags and wanted a third. The fact they had finished fourth meant little as they had come from the same position last year to win the premiership. They would just have to do it again.

Travelling to South Melbourne for the first two games, they believed they could win and had the wood over the Swans. South Melbourne had dominated them during the season with 15 wins to eight, but the faith was never lost. The Dees fans proved they had a right to be optimistic as their team upset the Swans 5-2 in the opening game then stunned the home fans 8-6 in the second game. Full of confidence heading into game three it was clear Melbourne had all the confidence in the world, and led by Harry Wigmore and Russell Tibbles, the Demons knocked off the favourites in a thumping 8-1 third game.

In the other match it was clear history would be made one way or another, with neither Carlton nor Geelong having won a playoff final before. Both teams had won 90 games this season, with the Cats winning 14 of the 24 encounters. Statistical Carlton were superior in hitting, ranked a clear first for runs scored, while Geelong were most known for their pitching, reducing opposition teams to just 708 runs for the season.

The Cats fans were clearly outnumbered in support, even at their home ground to open proceedings. Carlton's massive fan base had travelled down the peninsula to see the clash and would no doubt cause some trouble upon entering Geelong. On the field however, Geelong looked the better side, winning the first game 4-1 to take a crucial lead.

At the end of the game, Geelong players huddled together making a pact that they would not let these "rich bastards" take their chance for finals glory away. In what would become a stunning feat, the Cats backed up with the largest ever finals win 12-0, before continuing to smash the Blues at Calrton with a 12-3 victory and a clean sweep of the series. Geelong was through to its first playoff grand final.

Melbourne 3 defeated South Melbourne 0 | Geelong 3 defeated Carlton 0​

As fans headed into the ground for the opening game at Geelong, there were many jokes thrown Geelong's way from the Melbourne fans. The Demons saw this series as a bit of a joke and thought Geelong never realistically had a chance of beating them in a final. They had won the past two and Geelong had only just won their first final.

Geelong fans hoped the over confidence would be their downfall for indeed Melbourne was the superior team. Having added pitcher Owen Devereux to the side without losing much else, the trio of Devereux, Harry Wigmore and Russell Tibbles was as good as most.

The Cats faithful had reason to celebrate early as they won the opening game at home 5-4 in a nailbiter. They knew they deserved to be here and wanted to stick it up the reigning premiers. The next day was a different story with Melbourne gritting out a 4-2 victory to return serve. Both teams were up for the the fight.

Heading to Melbourne, the Demons asserted their dominance with a low-scoring encounter 2-0. Geelong fired back to win 7-6 and level the scores once again and at 2-2 in the seven-game series, both teams were still in with a chance. Melbourne capitalised on its final home game of the series with a comfortable 8-3 victory.

The sixth game was back in Geelong and the Cats fans knew it was victory or death now. They had to win or Melbourne would win its third flag. The Dees fans, impressed by the fact Geelong had challenged them at home, almost had a mutual respect for the Cats. Almost. But unfortunately the fairytale narrative would be crushed that day as Melbourne won 5-3 to become remarkable three-time premiers and move two premierships ahead of any other side.

Melbourne 4 defeated Geelong 2​

Melbourne's premiership list:

Top performers:

Damon Crawford (26 year-old short stop now a triple premiership player, finishing the year with 80 runs and three home runs from 154 games)
Harry Wigmore (The veteran just keeps going strong, winning his third flag and recording a season ERA of 2.85)
Owen Devereux (Recruited at the end of last season, Devereux proved a revelation pitching for the Dees, recording a 3.08 ERA)
Russell Tibbles (34 year-old veteran pitcher who has maintained his form across the three years)
Rogery Ayliffe (Stepped up this year with 68 runs and four home runs from 113 games)
Rob Ivory (At 24 years of age, Ivory is already the youngest triple premiership player and continues to hold his place with 47 runs and one hoe run from 94 games.
Mitch Makepeace (Three flags and another strong contribution with 47 runs from 123 games)
Juan Moya (The player with the biggest improvement, having stepped up from bit-part player last year to score 81 runs and two home runs from 125 games)
Dylan Oakley (Impressive new recruit who was a solid player having scored 46 runs from 145 games)
Alexander Yeatman (Second baseman who scored 57 runs and three home runs from 119 games)

Others:
Teddy Bansfield
Gordon Casey
Rhys Costello
Brodie Crossingham
Brock Duncalf
Rory Faulkner
Vern Frawley
Kenkichi Fukuda
Dermott Galpin
Bailey Hendricks
Edward Hill
Rodney Jacobsen
Joel Kell
Timothy Main
Domenic Morrow
Rhys Moule
Brodie Russell
Nigel Ryan
Rick Sellick
Tristan Sheelah
Augusto Silva
Seb Stapleton
Rodley Walcott
Roderick Woollett
Dylan Wyatt

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Tristan Tipping (Carlton) Back-to-back awards for Tpping who scored 95 runs and three home runs with a .328 average ahead of teammates Marshall Coutts and Brett Kelly.
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Brock Griffin (South Melbourne) Second award for Griffin after winning it in 1897. Remarkable ERA of 2.32.
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Noel Tucker (Collingwood) 28 years of age, a newcomer to the league, produced a season of 2.75 ERA making many pundits wondering why he had not been playing at the level earlier.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1901 Off-Season

Collingwood's poor season saw Justin Twomey gone and replaced by Traralgon pitching coach Sean Chappell ahead of the 1902 season. The Bombers experiement with Horsham's Gerry Foley did not pay off and he too got the flick, replaced by Axel Braddock having been the pitching coach in the successful Geelong colours. The roundabout of coaches at Fitzroy continued hoping something different might occur, replacing Will Budd with Carlos Calleson who ironically had managed Horsham ahead of Foley a few years back before spending 1901 with Fitzroy as a bench coach. The biggest shock was the replacement of Arthur Parker from Geelong following a narrow grand final loss. 56 year-old Clint Reed had crossed from Melbourne having been a bench coach in the three flags. Alexander Degruchy took over the head role of South Melbourne manager after being a bench coach having also been a bench coach at the Pies in the first three seasons. The most unlucky swap would have to be Nicholas Kline stepping up from St Kilda bench coach to take the manager role off four-time grand final coach Logan Urry. They also picked up Parker from Geelong as bench coach to be a formidable line-up.

New managers:

Collingwood: Sean Chappell
Essendon: Axel Braddock
Fitzroy: Carlos Calleson
Geelong: Clint Reed
South Melbourne: Alexander Degruncy
St Kilda: Nicholas Kline

For the first time since the beginning of the league, Fitzroy fans had a reason to smile, They had overwhelmingly added to their squad with three key free agent signings including Willem Lovett (St Kilda), Edwin Auty (Carlton) and Nelson Chatfield (Carlton), having lost no-one of note. South Melbourne's Richard Herbert joined his third club in as many years, switching to Collingwood in a shock move. The Pies would need him after the loss of Bert DeYoung to Melbourne.

But of all the quality over quantity signings, it was hard to go past St Kilda. New manager Nicholas Kline helped bring in triple premiership player Harry Wigmore and Geelong pitcher Arthur Lovett to lead the Saints attack. At the other end of the scale, Carlton's losses of Auty and Charfield listed them as the big losers of the off-season. DeYoung was the only key signing for Melbourne and he will have big shoes to fill replacing Wigmore.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1902

Despite all the pre-season hype of some of the lower clubs, last year's grand finallists were celebrating the hardest at the start of the pre-season. Geelong had just registered the greatest season on record, with 105 wins from 162 games. Melbourne, still with a respectable season, was some 15 games behind with a 90-72 record. Collingwood bounced back into the finals series with an 85-77 record ahead of South Melbourne who won just less than half of its games.

Remarkably St Kilda remained outside the four despite the big pitching recruits in the off-season, level with Carlton on 78 wins while Essendon had 73 wins, still well ahead of the woeful Fitzroy. All the pre-season hype amounted to nothing as the Lions only added to their kitchen cupboard with yet another wooden spoon.

1902 Ladder:

1. Geelong (105-57) .648
2. Melbourne (90-72) .556
3. Collingwood (85-77) .556
4. South Melbourne (80-82) .525
---
5. Carlton (78-84) .481
6. St Kilda (78-84) .481
7. Essendon (73-89) .451
8. Fitzroy (59-103) .364

Top players:

A mid-season trade of Brett Kelly from Carlton to Geelong saw the Cats form a phenomenal hitting group with Andre O'Connell and Roy Hanscombe, not to mention Eljiah Acheson of whom still managed to finish top five in a number of categories. It was certainly the season of the Cat as Geelong eyed off its first premiership and bouncing back from the disappointing defeat at the hands of Melbourne last year.

For the first time since the beginning, the one team controlled both the pitching and hitting categories. Harris Fang, Nelson Chatfield (who transferred to the Cats mid-season), Troy Ahernfeld and Vinnie Whalley were all in the best players. Others that could hold their heads high were Collingwood's Richard Herbert and South Melbourne's Brock Griffin.

Finances:

Despite still being the poorest of the eight teams, Geelong's success was holding them up. Remarkably they dropped in attendances this year despite a huge record season. Melbourne and St Kilda had the somewhat audacity to raise the ticket price from 66 cents per game to 73 cents per game, angering the poorer fans. With clubs like Collingwood, Essendon and Fitzroy will on 60 cents game, it was quite a difference in the long run.

Fitzroy coach Carlos Calleson had not lasted more than 52 games before he was sacked and the Lions brought in Queanbeyan pitching coach Craig Eissens who finished with a 43-67 record from 110 games. Fitzroy owner Raymond Davies was unmerciful and continued to be furious that the club was not winning on or off the field. It had the second lowest budget but had the second highest player payroll.

Playoffs:

In the first playoff final, South Melbourne set about the task of needing to upend the team with the greatest regular season record to date - the Cats. Geelong had won 16 of 23 in the regular season and had been clearly the benchmark all year. But the Swans of all teams knew that any side was beatable after having sunk to defeat last season in the semi-final having been unbackable favourites.

Heading down to Geelong, South Melbourne had to make a strong start against the favourites. They did just that, with both sides producing a highlights filled game early before the Swans stunned the Cats 7-2. Geelong, not to be outdone in its own territory, bounced back the next day with a close 5-3 victory over the Swans. Travelling to South Melbourne a couple of days later for game three, the Cats were wary of how important the first game away was. For South Melbourne, they simply had to win to put themselves in prime position for a grand final berth.

South Melbourne did just that in a low-scoring entertaining contest, to win 3-2 and move a game in front of the series. Needing just one win to move through to the grand final and with the home crowd support behind them, South Melbourne produced its best performance of the season to smash the Cats 12-1 and win throughto the decider.

While the other teams were battling it out in Geelong, triple reigning premiers Melbourne was hosting Collingwood. Despite losing a number of its key pitchers, Melbourne was thereabouts again and keen to win number four. It was a remarkable feat just to get to the finals, but a win would move them further into immortality than they already were. But Collingwood had other ideas.

For the first ever time, Collingwood held Melbourne scoreless in a final, not once, but twice. The Magpies travelled to the city and came home winning 3-0 and 5-0 in the first two games to head into their home leg 2-0 up in remarkable fashion. The reigning champions were on their knees. Collingwood just had to finish the job at home. But Melbourne would not relent easily.

A 4-3 win to Melbourne kept its four-peat hopes alive, but not for long as Collingwood managed to breathe a sigh of relief when it topped the Demons 2-1 in game four to officially secure a grand final spot against South Melbourne and more importantly, end Melbourne's stranglehold on the competition over the past few years.

South Melbourne 3 defeated Geelong 1 | Collingwood 3 defeated Melbourne 1​

The unlikely grand finallists headed to the ground unsure of who deserved to be favourites. South Melbourne had toppled the champions of the season who had been unbackable favourites heading into hte clash. Collingwood had beaten the three-time reigning premier, but most had been surprised the Demons had been able to get as far as they did considering they were ageing and had lost their star pitcher Harry Wigmore.

In the opening games, the fans of both sides travelled to Collingwood keen to see which side would get off to the better start. South had won a flag, all the way back in 1898, and along with Essendon, was the only other side to have not been Melbourne to claim ultimate glory. They started the seven match series on the best of notes, winning 4-1 to get early bragging rights.

It did not take Collingwood long to make its mark on the series, smashing the Swans over the next two games 8-1 at home and more remarkably, 10-1 away. It was an impressive few days from the men in the black and white. But the results did not sit well with the proud South Melbourne group. Heaing back home for game four, the Swans were determined to turn it around. And turn it around they did.

A 3-2 victory in game four was backed up by a 5-2 win at home in game five to suddenly have the Swans in pole position. They led 3-2 and were just one win away from glory. But they would have to travel to Collingwood to take the title from the Magpies.

The best match of the series took place in game six with both sides having opportunities to win in a see-sawing contest. But those who had been there before rose highest with South Melbourne recording a 5-4 victory over Collingwood to be declared champions. Rich Rae was particularly impressive, batting in four runs with an average of .360 to lead the Swans to glory.

South Melbourne 4 defeated Collingwood 2​

South Melbourne's premiership list:

Top performers:

Stefan Barber (Solid pitcher assisting Vankrimpen who finished with an ERA of 3.80)
Marcello Bristcoe (26 year-old right fielder who hit 61 runs and a massive 10 home runs from 126 games)
Jayden Burrows (37 year-old veteran who is probably the unluckiest bloke, trasnferring from Melbourne to South in the year after Swans won the flag, only to miss out on the Dees three consecutive flags. Finally wins one)
Vic Creswell (28 year-old third baseman who hit 85 runs and two home runs in 108 games this season)
Willem Moy (27 year-old centre fielder who hit 69 runs and two home runs in 120 games. Began his career in 1899 so missed the 1898 flag)
Roland Vankrimpen (His season was not as spectacular as last season, but still had a solid year with 3.35 ERA and leading the Swans pitching attack)

Others:
Eddie Addicott
Noah Addicott
Dean Albrecht
Edwin Ambrose
Clint Bentley
Bailey Brooks
Blair Cartwright
Nigel Considine
Sebastian Crabtree
Tristan Fairbank
Brent Foley
Gareth Ford
Ben Garland
Keiran Gault
Adam Gladstone
Brendan Jenkins
Bert Juhl
Andrew Kadow
Brian Lovett
Wes Meehan
Bryce Mekville
Hang-fu Ming
Harold Mullet
Rich Rae
Brody Ratcliffe
Toyozo Seki
Xiao-mei Shih
Samuel Sturges
Rick White
Roderick Woollett
Jian Xiang

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Roy Hanscombe (Geelong) scored 93 runs and three home runs with a .335 batting average and .365 on-base-percentage.
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Troy Ahernfeld (Geelong) Another imrpessive year with 2.68 ERA and proved doubters wrong with many calling for the "old man" to retire at 35.
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Clint Warner (St Kilda) At 27 years of age, he played one game last season before establishing himself this year as a valuable pitcher, recording a 3.06 ERA with 69 strikeouts.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Interesting fact: Roderick Woollett has now won FIVE of the six possible premierships, having been a member of the winning team every year from 1898-1902 now. Starting off with Carlton he was picked up by South Melbourne in 1898, won a flag from just 20 games before he was dropped to AAA level. Melbourned decided to pick him up and he played 79 games in 1899 in his second flag. His career best season of 135 games occured in 1900 with flag number three before dropping back to just 37 games in 1901 for number four. This year he played just one game but still gets a premiership medallion. At 33 years of age, he has won five flags in 400 games at an average of one every 80 games. Remarkable that with the exception of 1900, he has far from been a star in any of the premiership teams.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1902 Off-Season

Six of the eight clubs made managerial changes in one of the biggest league-wide upheavals since the competition began. In the off-season, Carlton, Melbourne and Collingwood made the biggest moves while Geelong suffered the greatest losses. Carlton picked up William Kesterton (Essendon), Xiang-ling Mei and Harris Fang (both Geelong).

Collingwood brought in wiley veteran Owen Deveruex as well as well as former player Marshall Lawman who had stints at Melbourne and Carlton in the past few years. Essendon might have lost a couple, but took Russell Tibbles from the Demons as a free agent. Melbourne signed free agent Jiu-Ling Chin, now 38 years of age as a starting pitcher from Essendon.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1903

The year 1903 will best be remembered as teh most even year on record. Just 16 wins separated top from bottom and with Collingwood all but looking set to claim the minor premiership, dropped nine of the last 10 matches to slip to second. Essendon, who had not won a flag since the first year, claimed top with an 8-2 last 10 games record and 89-73 overall.

St Kilda claimed third head-to-head behind Collingwood an South Melbourne slotted into fourth with an 83-79 record. Geelong narrowly missed out on a finals berth and Carlton were just two wins behind. The ladder was rounded up by the least and most successful teams with Fitzroy in seventh and Melbourne in eighth.

1903 Ladder:

1. Essendon (89-73) .549
2. Collingwood (86-76) .531
3. St Kilda (86-76) .531
4. South Melbourne (83-79) .512
---
5. Geelong (79-83) .488
6. Carlton (77-85) .475
7. Fitzroy (75-87) .463
8. Melbourne (73-89) .451

Top players:

Experienced first baseman Gary Gahan was the top hitter with a batting average of .329 and an on-base percentage of .427. Carlton's Tristan Tipping topped the on-base percentage and most doubles, while South Melbourne's Elbis Bobrova was a big slugger with the most triples. The Outstanding Hitter of the Year Award was well and truly open.

Consistent pitcher Troy Ahernfeld looks likely to add to his trophy cabinet with a super 2.15 earned run average, while his teammate Vinnie Whalley kept the Cats' opponents to the lowest average in the league of .231. Others that impressed included St Kilda's Marcello Quinn and Melbourne's Jiu-Ling Chin who produced career-best seasons.

Finances:

Collingwood and St Kilda were the big movers off-the-field, moving ahead of Melbourne and behind only Carlton. Geelong was the only club yet to crack a six-figure budget, with the rich Blues having a $152,000 budget and a large fan base. Melbourne's fans suffered through a poor year but understood the club was rebuilding so they were willing to stand by them. Fitzroy fans were growing restless and there was a high level of discontent among the membership.

Playoffs:

Reigning premiers South Melbourne travelled to minor premiers Essendon in the first semi-final playoff. The Swans were confident of equalling Melbourne's three premierships and were more concerned about the Bombers than either of the other two sides. The Bombers had a 17-7 home and away record against them and would go in as favourites. But South were more than capable of an upset.

The opening game proved just that with South Melbourne getting the upper hand with a 4-2 victory on the road before a home run to Jarrod Dunlop in the second game helped the Swans to a 7-4 win and a 2-0 series lead. South was on top of the world needing just one of the next three games to secure a grand final spot.

Essendon was not going to lie down, desperate to appease its fans after claiming top spot late in the season. Unfortunately, despite a 6-4 game three victory away from home which featured two home runs, the Bombers went down in game four 5-2 and would ultimately exit the finals series to what some believed to be prematurely. The minor premiers were out and the reining premiers were very much alive.

Across the city, Collingwood and St Kilda were doing battle in what was expected to be a tough encounter. The Magpies had lost to South last year and believed they had the cattle in 1903 to go one better. As for the Saints, they had missed the finals the past two season after playing in every grand final, albeit without a premiership.

Despite many pundits expecting it to be the closest series of the lot, it was a black and white success story. While each game was close, the Pies had the Saints' measure on every occassion. Collingwood won 3-2 and 6-5 at home before scrounging out a 2-0 win away from home. The 3-0 victory might not have been as comprehensive as it could have been, but it was more than enough to book a spot in the decider and force a grand final rematch with the Swans.

South Melbourne 3 defeated Essendon 1 | Collingwood 3 defeated St Kilda 0​

If the 1903 season was considered the most even of all time, then its grand finale was undoubtedly the king pin from what anyone had witnessed before. It had as many momentum swings as any other finals series and culminated in a fantastic display of skills and speed. There were plenty of runs and exciting baseball throughout the seven-game series and it was one to remember.

The opening game was to be held at Collingwood. The Magpie fans were sure to let the Swans supporters know who owned the territory, throwing empty beer cans at the passing cars that gave any indication they were supporting South Melbourne. On-the-field, the Pies started in the best possible way, winning 5-3 in the opening game to have the home fans up and about. South Melbourne returned the favour the next day however, with former Pies pitcher Roland Vankrimpen inspirational in the 7-6 victory to level the series.

The next three games would take place in South Melbourne as the Swans fans were in full voice at the Pies supporters giving them as good as they received out at Collingwood. It worked in the first game, winning 4-3 before the Pies hit back with their best form. A 7-5 win and 10-2 thumping resulted in Collingwood taking an exciting 4-2 lead into game six. With two home games to come, the Pies fans were over confident they could get the job done and secure revenge against South for last year.

With Collingwood having belted South Melbourne by eight runs in the last contest, it was hard for even the most optimistic Swans fan to expect to head home with any other result than a loss. But to the Swans credit, they climbed off the canvas and smashed their way to an equally impressive 10-2 victory to level the series. For the first time, the grand final playoff was going to a seventh match. Eight days after the first game, the crowd gathered in huge numbers to wath the final game.

Five innings in and the teams are yet to score. Collingwood then took control of the game, scoring a run in each of the next three innings to take a 3-0 lead. Then South hit their straps. Two runs down and South looked likely to level the scores, but a crucial third out saw the Magpies home and hosed. The home fans were in jubilation. The Magpies had won their first flag!

Collingwood 4 defeated South Melbourne 3​

Collingwood's premiership list:

Top performers:

Gary Barnes (28 year-old scored 52 runs and four home runs in 101 games)
Mick Beggs (32 year-old pitcher likely to take on the main role soon after his strongest season yet)
Stefan Barnett (Highest run scorer on the team with 81 from 141 games)
Travis Brewster (Impressive run scorer with 65 runs and four home runs from 144 games, just 24 years of age)
Stewart Bryant (28 year-old centre forward scoring 55 runs and four home runs from 101 games)
Norberto Cisneros (28 year-old second baseman scored 54 runs and two home runs from 151 games)
Marshall Lawman (A story for the ages at 37 years of age and six clubs across seven seasons, Lawman finally wins his first premiership)
Randolph Kennedy (28 year-old third baseman who scored 37 runs and a home run from 131 games)
Burt Rigbye (23 year-old short stop who made 56 runs in 117 games)
Roderick Warner (23 year-old who produced a sensational 91 run and one home run season from 146 games)

Others:
Daniel Abbey
Craig Adamczak
Leo Alcock
Rodney Bricknell
Simon Coutts
Ethan De San Miguel
Richard Delgado
Kent Dennis
Owen Devereux
Rex Donahue
Stephen Fang
Ralph Fyfe
Steven Gerlach
Jai Glatz
Pablo Gonzales
Alexander Kay
Brayden Kimpton
Rupert Kyle
Neil Ough
Timothy Parker
Kelvin Reed
Warren Sturges
Lou Throsby
Ju-yi Tse
Hsien-feng Tsou
Roger Tucker
Roderick Warner
Jing-shuan Xian
Xing-yun Zhuo

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Tristan Tipping (Carlton) Another sensational season by Tipping with a .317 average, 94 runs and four home runs. It was his remarkable fourth Outstanding Hitter Award, joining previous wins from 1899, 1900, 1901 and now 1903.
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Marcello Quinn (St Kilda) In 48 starts he produced an earned run average of 2.49 and kept opposition hitters to .251.
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Yong-zhan Xiang (Essendon) The 22 year-old pitcher showed he has a bright future after having a .235 opposition batting average ad a 2.72 ERA.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1903 Off-Season

South Melbourne made the biggest signing of the pre-season, recruiting Geelong's Vinnie Whalley. Throw in former Melbourne turned Essendong pitcher Russell Tibbles and the Swans had been active over the pre-season. Veteran Harry Wigmore joined the Pies from Carlton in the other big move of the off-season. South Melbourne was deemed the big winner of the off-season, while Geelong was the biggest loser. After the closest season of all-time, the eighth season was predicted to provide fans with much of the same.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1904

In 1904, Essendon broke records for all the wrong reasons. They were the first club to win the wooden spoon following the minor premiership the previous year, and they won the least amount of games in the league's history with just 56 victories. On top of the table, Carlton dominated the season in its best year on record, winning 98 games. Collingwood and St Kilda again mirrored each other's seasons with 90-71 win-loss ratios to face off in the semi-final for the second consecutive year.

Geelong finished fourth, ensuring South Melbourne missed out on making a third consecutive grand final, while regular bottom four finishers Fitzroy followed, with Melbourne and Essendon filling out the bottom two spots.

1904 Ladder:

1. Carlton (98-63) .609
2. Collingwood (90-71) .559
3. St Kilda (90-71) .559
4. Geelong (85-76) .528
---
5. South Melbourne (80-81) .497
6. Fitzroy (74-87) .460
7. Melbourne (71-90) .441
8. Essendon (56-105) .348

Top players:

A new star was born in 1904, with 23 year-old Canadian Adel Fritsch starring for St Kilda in his debut season, finishing with a .315 average and .384 on-base percentage. Fitzroy's Nick Hornby was another impressive player, while the usual suspect Tim Tipping again performed strongly.

St Kilda's Marcello Quinn looked all but locked in to a second Outstanding Pitcher Award with an earned run average of 2.00 and had seven more wins than any other pitcher. South Melbourne recruit Vinnie Whalley and Geelong's Troy Ahernfeld were others that stood out during the season.

Finances:

South Melbourne's recent success had seen its membership boom and unfortunately for Geelong, its shrunk with the lack of finals success at all. Carlton was still by far the richest club and the fact it had finished on top of the table made it the envy of every other club. Collingwood moved to outright second on the rich list ahead of St Kilda. Both sides had well and truly surpassed Melbourne and now South had levelled with the Demons.

Playoffs:

In the first semi-final, it was built as the rich versus poor. Carlton was the ultimate dollar sign while as Geelong were the tiny underdogs who while they had made more finals series than the Blues. Many of the neutral fans were on Geelong's side.

It was the Cats that started off in fine form, winning the first game 4-0 and ensuring they would get at least two finals. Unfortunately for them the boys in navy blue hit back with a 5-4 win to level the series at one-apiece.

Heading to Geelong, Carlton got on top in game three, winning 3-1 in a thrilling contest. The Blues were only one win away from the decider and did it in style, destroying the Cats in the final game, 14-3 in a blistering fifth game.

In the other semi-final, St Kilda was hoping to reverse the result of last year's semi-final against the Magpies. The Magpies were favourites, but this year the Saints had a 13-10 advantage over them. In game one, it was Collingwood who blitzed the Saints with a stunning 8-0 win. It only took a game for the Saints to reverse the momentum with a narrow 4-3 win over Collingwood and level the series.

When game three rolled around, the Magpies fans were in full voice to see their home side roll St Kilda 5-3. But ensuring the game would go to a fifth game and ultimate decider, St Kilda won 3-0. Then, against all expectations, St Kilda forged a superb game to win 5-4 at home and move into the decider. Magpie fans were filthy they did not get the three home games as they had finished higher on the ladder. Saints fans could not care less as they moved through to their fifth grand final, hoping they could finally achieve that long-awaited premiership.

Carlton 3 defeated Geelong 1 | St Kilda 3 defeated Collingwood 2​

If 1903's final decider was deemed a thriller, than 1904 was every bit as good. The two sides starved for success fought over seven games which produced ups and downs and an almighty comeback. At the end, a well deserved champion was crowned.

Excitment had built for the first game at Carlton. The Blues fans were confident and the Saints fans were nervy. They had been here before, but not since the turn of the century. Carlton were up and about much like the fans and put in a strong 4-3 victory in the opening game. St Kilda turned around with a 3-1 victory in game two to level the series before heading to their home pitch.

Now the Saints fans were confident. Thye just needed to win their home games to secure victory. But a 6-17 win-loss record against Carlton during the season meant nothing was a certainly. They ha every right to be nervous as it turned out with Carlton snatching 9-7 and 2-1 wins to move 3-1 up in the series and just one win away from ultimate glory.

Even a game five 5-2 win against the Blues could not keep the Saints fans happy. They had been here before, they knew where thi led. Defeat and another year gone by. Two games at Carlton to end the series, how could they possibly win? But they did.

An 8-4 victory in game six suddenly brought live to the series at 3-3 and against all odds, the Saints put on their best performance in teh deciding seventh game to win 3-0 and celebrate a remarkable 4-3 series win and finally snatch their drought-breaking premiership. While Carlton was yet to win one, the Saints had come agonisingly close and they had finally achieved glory.

St Kilda 4 defeated Carlton 3​

St Kilda's premiership list:

Top performers:

Rob Barnett (With a massive 142 games, Barnett scored 69 runs and one home run)
Brandon Clark (27 year-old centre forward scored 43 runs in 108 games)
Adel Fritsch (The 23 year-old Canadian has starred this year with 74 runs, one home run in 138 games)
Antonio Gomez (119 games for 31 runs and a home run)
Seong-su Kim (23 year-old who scored 62 runs in 125 games)
Callum Lawman (The younger brother of Marshall scored 61 runs and a home run in 132 games)
Arthur Lovett (33 year-old starting pitcher with an ERA of 2.61)
Jaime Madrid (The youngest premiership player in history, the 19 year-old scored 63 runs from 126 games)
Marcello Quinn (Another star studded year by Quinn capped off with a premiership to go with his impressive 2.00 ERA)
Connor Shanahan (27 year-old catcher who scored 70 runs and a home run in 148 games)

Others:
Roland Annear
Teddy Bansfield
Mike Bransington
John Buckby
Blair Collier
Sebastian Crabtree
Carl Cusack
Aaron Duncalf
Harrison Fisher
Dermott Galpin
Marty Glynn
Stephen Grant
Luke Grenfell
Vinnie Guthrie
Randall Harvey
Richard Herbert
Brayden Hickey
Nicholas Hobby
Gavin King
Nigel Kraft
Jake Lawson
Jesus Nava
Cain Odgers
Stephen Pankhurst
Elijah Peacock
Warren Sturges
Jesus Tavares
Clint Warner
Toshikuni Yamamoto

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Elijah Acheson (Geelong) 25 year-old who finished the season with a .306 average with 79 runs.
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Marcello Quinn (St Kilda) Second year in a row Quinn has won the award, with an opposition batting average of .236 and ERA of 2.00.
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Walter Rickard (South Melbourne) A 23 year-old, he scored 103 runs and five home runs with a .235 batting average.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1904 Off-Season

Carlton had taken the grand final loss hard. It traded out veterans Tristan Tipping and Harris Fang in lieu of getting a mixe of pitchers and hitters including Bert DeYoung (Melbourne), Roland Vankrimpen (Collingwood), Callum Lawman (Collingwood) and Nicholas Davies (Essendon). Collingwood brought in Arthur Lovett from St Kilda to replace Vankrimpen, while the Saints had brought iin a few stars of their own.

St Kilda welcomed Geelong stars Troy Ahernfeld and Jason Tolmie as well as Collingwood's Mick Beggs. After the Blues, the Saints were considered the most successful off-season sides, while the Bombers and Magpies were the least.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1905

History is made. Fitzroy finally made the playoffs after eight seasons of bottom four finishes. The Lions secured third, equal with second placed Collingwood and two wins behind top-of-the-table South Melbourne. Carlton slotted into fourth ahead of reigning premier St Kilda - who Fitzroy replaced in the top four..

Melbourne finished sixth ahead of Geelong and Essendon who had another shocking season. Fitzroy's rise up the ladder did not come with classy recruiting, but instead, with decelopment and picking lesser known players to play roles. Now the competition could truly be even.

1905 Ladder:

1. South Melbourne (91-71) .562
2. Collingwood (89-73) .549
3. Fitzroy (89-73) .549
4. Carlton (88-74) .543
---
5. St Kilda (85-77) .525
6. Melbourne (82-80) .506
7. Geelong (65-97) .401
8. Essendon (59-103) .364

Top players:

St Kilda young gun Adel Fritsch produced another star season with a .309 batting average and .365 on-base percentage. Fitzroy's Nick Hornby was instrumental in Fitzroy's rise with a .318 batting average to top the league. He worked well with new teammate and veteran Tristan Tipping. Carlton's 22 year-old hitter Sergio Baltierrez also impressed with a .404 on-base percentage.

No surprises that Marcello Quinn was once again near the top of the statistics tables, but the two players ahead of the Saint were South Melbourne's Vinnie Whalley and Fitzroy's Craig Burrell. The Lions pitcher finished with a record low earned run average of 1.79.

Finances:

Nothing made the league happier than seeing Fitzroy in the playoffs. The Lions had moved past Geelong as the lowest club, which in itself was disappointing considering many Cats fans had become disenfranchised with the league and the membershio base was shrinking. Collingwood was outright second behind Carlton, with S Kilda then ahead of Essendon, South Melbourne and Melbourne. The Demons, who had been the richest club to start the competition were not only ahead of the minnows Fitzroy and Geelong.

Playoffs:

Carlton would play South Melbourne in the first semi-final, with the Blues hoping to get back into the grand final after the heartbreaking loss last year. They had been 3-1 up and conceeded the last three matches to go down 4-3. It was payback time.

The Blues looked like a side desperate to get in the decider from the word go, holding off a determined South Melbourne side 3-2 in the first game. The Swans hit back with a 7-5 win at home to level the series heading to Carlton. Giving their fans some hope, the Blues again managed to outsmart the Swans by nutting out a 3-2 win, before received some of their own tactics back with South Melbourne levelling the series once again at 4-3.

The final game was at South Melbourne and the ladder leaders were strong at home. Carlton had led the league in runs for, while South Melbourne led the league for least runs against. But on October 9, 1905, Carlton's firepower won out as the likes of Marhsall Coutts (four home runs against the Swans during the year) and Randy Speck caused all sorts of problems for the Swans.

The other semi-final was between Fitzroy and Collingwood. There were plenty of jokes run through the local rag that the Lions fans would not attend the game due to being on holidays during the playoffs - a gaff that would not go down well with the hard core Fitzroy faithful. They burned the papers out the front of Collingwood's home venue to show they were not afraid. The Pies only had one flag after all, and the Lions had nothing to lose.

What transpired over the week was simply sensational as the Lions secured a straight-sets victory in their first finals series. A 6-5 win at Collingwood was followed by a 3-2 victory in game two led by a sensational home run courtesy of Tristan Tipping. Back at home, the Lions were in party mode with a 4-0 win to advance through in a three-game series.

Carlton 3 defeated South Melborune 2 | Fitzroy 3 defeated Collingwood 0​

The final playoff series was bound to be memorable either in a good way or bad. Carlton was the richest side in the league and yet to add to their trophy cabinet. Fitzroy haad only won its first playoff final just a week ago and were staged as the lowest underdogs in histroy. Carlton had finished below the Lions on the ladder, had a negative win-loss ratio against them in 1905 but still went in raging favourites. Finals experience apparently counted for everyrthing. And so it did.

Carlton headed to Fitzroy was an almost indignant attitude that they refused to come away with anything other than a win. They had two games at that hell hole before three at their home ground. They were confident they could get the job done at home, but had to win at least one away. They did that early with an impressive 5-2 victory in game one.

A day later, Carlton posted a 6-3 win over the Lions and led 2-0 heading into their home stretch of games. When the rich folks narrowly got away with a 2-1 win in game three, the writing was on the wall. It was officially inscribed the next day as Carlton secured a 5-4 win and the first clean sweep of the seven-game playoff finals series. The Blues were premiers, finally.

It was a bittersweet day for Fitzroy fans. Their side had made the decider but not really shown up. While on one hand it was just an experience to see them there, the lack of competitiveness at times was frustrating despite the close results. Sustained success was a must to enable sustained survival of the club.

Carlton 4 defeated Fitzroy 0​

Carlton's premiership list:

Top performers:

Sergio Baltierrez (Big hitter with six home runs and 89 runs from 136 games. Up-and-coming star)
Andre Barlow (50 runs and one home run from 143 gaes)
Alfonso Chavez (Short shop who produced 36 runs and two home runs from 116 games)
Marshall Coutts (Star of the show with a massive 109 runs and a record 14 home runs in a sensational 152-game season)
Seb Dawson (25 year-old first baseman with 72 runs and four home runs to his name)
Bert DeYoung (Reliable pitcher who recorded an ERA of 3.16)
Randy Speck (24 year-old second baseman who scored 72 runs and three home runs from a mammoth 157 games)

Others:
Elliot Annear
Malcolm Ballard
Luke Birley
Wu-ji Chang
Tso-i Chin
Roderick Cobb
Nicholas Davies
Maurice Dewar
Harris Farriss
Jeremy Faulkner
Brent Harrison
Michael Hickey
Roland King
Leo Marris
Li Mulholland
Tommy Northard
Salvador Ornelas
Michael Pride
Benjamin Pyle
Jose Rea
Jose Rivera
Elijah Roach
Harris Rodda
Paddy Roneberg
Bill Shearer
Angelo Southey
Thomas Southey
Alejandro Torres
Gustavo Valdez
Mike Van Buizen
Li Wigmore
Jing-shuan Xian

Awards:

VBL Outstanding Hitter Award: Marshall Coutts (Carlton) No surprises with a .283 average, 170 hits, 23 doubles, 28 triples, 14 home runs and more than 100 runs it was a sensational season by Coutts.
VBL Outstanding Pitcher Award: Vinnie Whalley (South Melborune) At 30 years of age, Whalley has always been up the top of the pile for pitchers and he had another superb season with a 2.28 ERA and 298 strikeouts.
VBL Newcomer of the Year: Gerry Calleson (Collingwood) 25 year-old pitcher who had an ERA of 2.21 and held opposition batsmen to a .204 average.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

1905 Off-Season

The off-season was largely even across the board, with South Melbourne becoming a retirement home for past greats. The Swans picked up now 36 year-olds Rowan Cusack (who had previously been uncontracted at the Swans) and Brett Kelly as well as the still in form 34 year-old Marcello Quinn. Five years ago they would have been three of the top fve players, but they were slowly declining. In other moves, Collingwood traded Ethan De San Miguel and Noah Kinnear to pick up Roland Vankrimpen, Marcus Roneberg made the trip from Melbourne to Carlton and Brock Griffin left the Swans to join the Lions.

Vaughan Vincent, the man who led Melbourne to two of its three premierships was the key architect at Fitzroy for its rise to the grand final. While there was still work to be done, the 49 year-olld was clearly a strong mentor and the Fitzroy fans finally had a reason to hope.

 

[JT_the_Man]

This is pretty awesome.