National Baseball League: A 3-D view

Only one double-header was played last Sunday, which was the first game day after the renaming of the National League to the National Baseball League (NBL). The Croydon Pirates and the Bracknell Blazers split the series; Croydon (now 2-14) took game one 7-3, while Bracknell (2-12) hit back with a 9-4 victory in the second game). These two teams are in a battle to avoid a cellar finish.

At the other end of the table, it is difficult to see the London Mets (16-0) playing .500 or worse over their remaining eight games, and so it would appear that they will win the division ahead of the Richmond Flames (10-4), who look set to take the other finals berth. The main question left is whether or not the Mets can go unbeaten, a feat Croydon achieved last year in the south. It should be noted that only six of the Pirates’ wins came against National League opposition (the rest were forfeits or against teams from the division below), whereas London have so far played and won 16 games against National League opposition. Of course, at the same time, the Pirates were only able to defeat teams that the schedule sent their way.

There is now a three-week break from competition in the NBL South. This break provides a good opportunity to examine current player statistics in the division, and so I’ll be looking at batting on Thursday, pitching on Friday, fielding on Saturday, and base-running on Sunday.

While it looks like the Pirates and the Blazers are no longer in contention for a place in the finals, both games were still enjoyable to watch, not least because Bracknell fielded a number of players from the Great Britain roster for the upcoming European Junior Qualifying Tournament. Max Flajsner was one of these players, and he took to the mound in the sixth inning of game two, with Bracknell holding a 1-run lead. He walked the first two batters on full counts, but then showed great composure to hold the Pirates scoreless and pick up the save.

Another reason why the games were enjoyable for me was that I was sitting with the “Three D’s”, a group of fans that has been a common sighthing at NBL South games in 2008. There’s no shortage of conversation if you sit with them as they represent an excellent cross-section of the types of baseball fans that exist.

Dennis enjoys the minor and major statistical feats that crop up. For instance, one of the highlights of Sunday’s play for him was a 9-pitch inning from Croydon’s Kieran Clackett in which he struck out three batters.

David takes pleasure in the game’s many visual and tactical subtleties, such as the dust that flies up from the catcher’s glove when hit by a hard-thrown ball, or the coded signals emanating from the coach at third base.

Danny loves to see high-scoring (ideally close) games, as long as the runs score on hits (ideally of the extra-base variety) rather than walks or errors.

I am about 60% Dennis, 30% David, and 10% Danny, and I suspect that most fans can be measured on this “3-D” scale. Of course, the real Dennis is not “100% Dennis” on the scale, and the equivalent can be said for David and Danny – I would not want to suggest that they were one-dimensional fans!

No NBL North sides were in action because the Liverpool Trojans (the only team schedule to play) forfeited a double-header against the Halton Jaguars. As the league-specified penalty for this, the Trojans also had a win converted to a loss, so they went from having a 3-4 record at the start of the week to sitting 2-7 by the end of it. They are now at the foot of the table, behind the Menwith Hill Patriots (the Patriots have also had a win turned to a loss this season because of forfeiting games). The Manchester Eagles are on top with a 9-2 record, and they are scheduled to host Liverpool in a double-header this Sunday.