1916 FABL Season Recap

The 1916 FABL season gave us two very different pennant winners: one clear Federal League heavyweight in the New York Gothams, and one battle-tested Union League survivor in the Toronto Beavers.

Then October did what October does. It took the cleaner regular-season story, roughed it up, dragged it through seven games, and handed the crown to Toronto on the arm of Amos Brantley.

The Beavers defeated the Gothams 4 games to 3 in the World’s Championship Series, winning Game 7 by a 1-0 score. That is not a championship. That is a stress test with bunting.

Federal League: New York takes control

The New York Gothams were the class of the Federal League, finishing 95-59, nine games ahead of the St. Louis Pioneers.

New York’s championship bid was built first on run prevention. The Gothams allowed only 455 runs, best in the Federal League, while scoring 517, third in the circuit. They did not win with overwhelming offense. They won by making opponents drag every run uphill through wet concrete.

The lineup was led by Ron Thiel, who authored one of the best all-around seasons in recent FABL memory. Thiel hit .290/.368/.387, scored 103 runs, stole 60 bases, and produced a massive 12.1 WAR. He led the Federal League in stolen bases and WAR, which is a nice way of saying he spent the year making everyone else look a little slow and poorly organized.

New York also got a major year from Ted Thomsen, who led the FL with 91 RBI and hit 13 home runs, and Mike Hartmann, who drove in 80 runs and stole 45 bases.

The pitching staff was deep and dangerous. Jack Pette went 24-10 with a 2.04 ERA, 193 strikeouts, and 7.8 WAR, leading the FL in strikeouts and pitching WAR. Glenn Lantz and Joe Perez gave the Gothams more quality arms, while Mike Goodwin was part of the postseason rotation.

This was a complete club. The kind that wins 95 games and makes everyone assume the WCS is theirs if the baseball gods are in a decent mood. Spoiler: they were not.

St. Louis and Philadelphia remain contenders

The St. Louis Pioneers finished second at 86-68, led again by the brilliant James Schlader, who had a monster year:

.330/.389/.475, 5 HR, 80 RBI, 87 R, 33 SB, 11.4 WAR

Schlader won the Federal League batting title, led the league in OPS at .864, and finished second in WAR. He was the best hitter in the league and very nearly the best player.

The defending champion Philadelphia Keystones finished third at 85-69, ten games back. They did not repeat, but they were hardly a one-year wonder. Bob Foust produced 8.9 WAR, while Steve Ryan won 27 games and gave the club another heavy-workload ace season.

Philadelphia was still dangerous. The league simply moved on without asking permission.

Cincinnati’s odd bright spot

The Cincinnati Monarchs finished under .500 at 76-78, but they had one of the season’s most fascinating individual stories in Roger Rainville.

Rainville was listed among the Federal League batting leaders, hitting .317/.374/.482 with an .855 OPS, while also posting a 1.81 ERA on the mound. That is a proper two-way season, not a novelty act. He was one of the rare players who could hurt you with a bat, then come back the next day and ruin your lineup from the mound.

Very annoying. Very valuable. Very 1916 in the best possible way.

Union League: Toronto rises above a crowded field

The Union League race was tighter and messier than the Federal League, with the Toronto Beavers taking the pennant at 88-66.

Toronto scored 534 runs, fourth in the league, and allowed 476, second best. The Beavers were not a great offensive club, but they had elite pitching and enough offense to survive.

The centerpiece, once again, was Amos Brantley.

Brantley went 24-10 with a 1.72 ERA, 340 innings, 204 strikeouts, and 9.5 WAR. He led Union League pitchers in WAR and continued his run as one of the defining arms of the era. By this point, Brantley is less a pitcher and more a municipal infrastructure project. Every year, Toronto builds the season around him and hopes the bridge holds.

In 1916, it held all the way to a championship.

Detroit, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland chase

The Detroit Lancers finished second at 82-71, getting a huge season from Justin Chipman, who went 20-13 with a 1.68 ERA and 9.0 WAR. Chipman led the Union League in ERA and was one of the best pitchers in baseball.

The defending 1914 champion Boston Beacons finished third at 80-73. They remained loaded with elite talent. Owen Gill led the Union League with 10.4 WAR, while Jake Toler followed closely at 9.8 WAR and led the league with a .904 OPS. Toler’s line was another beauty:

.299/.444/.460, 171 OPS+, 9.8 WAR

His 1914 breakout was not a fluke. At this point, Toler is simply one of the best players in baseball, full stop.

The Pittsburgh Mechanics finished 80-74, helped by young slugger Mike Bombardier, who hit .302, and ace Robert Mitchell, who struck out a Union League-best 223.

The Cleveland Grays, league champs just three years earlier, went 79-75, still respectable but drifting back toward the pack.

The Baltimore Cannons, last year’s Union League pennant winner, crashed to 65-88. From WCS participant to last place in one year. Baseball is a warm and sentimental game, assuming your idea of warmth is a stove thrown through a window.

Major Batting Stars

Top position-player seasons

The Federal League had the two biggest WAR seasons, with Ron Thiel and James Schlader turning in MVP-caliber campaigns. Thiel was the total package, while Schlader was the best pure hitter in the league.

In the Union League, Owen Gill, Joe Allman, and Jake Toler formed the top tier. Gill’s value pushed Boston into contention, Allman remained an elite all-around star for the New York Stars, and Toler continued building what is starting to look like a Hall of Fame-level prime.

League offensive leaders

Federal League

Union League

Major Pitching Stars

Top pitching seasons

The pitching leaderboard was loaded, but Brantley was the headliner because he combined regular-season excellence with October immortality.

Al Clark remained Boston’s ace, winning 27 games, tying for the Union League lead in wins, and producing 9.3 WAR. Justin Chipman had the best ERA in the UL at 1.68, while Robert Mitchell led the circuit with 223 strikeouts.

In the Federal League, Jack Pette was the best pitcher by WAR, while Steve Ryan won 27 games for Philadelphia and Roger Rainville led the league in ERA at 1.81.

League pitching leaders

Federal League

Union League

1916 World’s Championship Series

Toronto Beavers defeat New York Gothams, 4 games to 3

The World’s Championship Series opened with the Federal League champion New York Gothams looking ready to validate their 95-win season. They won the first two games, both with strong pitching, and put Toronto in immediate trouble.

Then the Beavers fought back. And when the series became a battle of nerves, Toronto had the one man New York could not solve: Amos Brantley.

This was not a hitters’ series. It was a dark alley with box scores.

Toronto won three games by one run, including two 1-0 victories behind Brantley. New York actually looked like the better club for stretches, especially after taking Games 1 and 2, but the Beavers won four of the final five.

Brantley’s masterpiece

Amos Brantley was named Series MVP, and there is no argument.

His WCS line:

2-0, 28.0 IP, 15 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 12 K, 0.00 ERA

That is one of the great World’s Championship Series pitching performances. He won Game 4 to even the series, then came back in Game 7 and beat Jack Pette again, 1-0, with the championship on the line.

Pette was excellent for New York, going 28 innings with a 0.64 ERA, but somehow went 0-2. That is cruel, but it is also the purest possible Deadball Era outcome. Pitch your heart out, lose twice, and get a handshake from fate that feels suspiciously like a slap.

Toronto’s bats did just enough

The Beavers did not hit much, but they hit enough.

Lee Parker had the biggest power moment, homering in Game 3 and slugging .556 for the series. Doc Hemminger reached base at a .400 clip, while Doc Coughlin and a few others chipped in just enough to keep the games from disappearing into the abyss.

Toronto scored only 14 runs in the seven games, but New York scored only 17. The difference was timing. Toronto’s runs came in exactly the right miserable little clusters.

New York falls short

For the Gothams, this was a brutal finish to an otherwise excellent year.

They won 95 games, dominated the Federal League, allowed the fewest runs in the circuit, and had major star seasons from Ron Thiel, Ted Thomsen, and Jack Pette. But October punished them.

George Hunt hit .333, Ted Thomsen hit .333 with a .519 slugging percentage, and Mike Hartmann reached base at a .400 clip, but New York could not produce the one extra hit it needed in the Brantley games.

Their final three losses were by scores of:

6-3, 1-0, 3-2, and 1-0

Okay, that is four losses, but you get the point: death by paper cut, except the paper is made of Toronto pitching.

Final Word

The 1916 season will be remembered for the rise of the New York Gothams, the continued greatness of Ron Thiel and James Schlader, and another brilliant year from Boston’s Jake Toler.

But the championship belongs to the Toronto Beavers.

They were not the league’s most dominant regular-season team. They did not have the flashiest offense. They did not overwhelm the Gothams.

They had Amos Brantley, timely pitching behind him, and just enough offense to steal the series one tense inning at a time.

1916 belongs to Toronto.