Yet, with a short season and pitchers who weren't strictly sure what the hell a "curveball" was, it paid dividends.
The #PetrolerosPEÑ :petroleros: made the playoffs as a .632 wild card, because they were in the same division as the #EléctricosGUA :electricos:, who captured the best record in Betances on their own potent offense.
The #ChupacabrasCAN :chupacabras:, the LNP's hitting team par excellence in the early 1870s, won their division comfortably.
Life was good.
So who were these four teams bucking the trend? Let's look at the three shortstops:
- 1/9: the #PetrolerosPEÑ :petroleros: take 26-year-old shortstop Jorge Peña, impressed by his plate discipline. More on him later.
- 1/47: the #PicudosCEI :picudos: take 25-year-old shortstop Josué Salgado, a good hitter and excellent fielder.
- 1/71: the #IngenierosRIN :ingenieros: (you knew they'd be here) take 33-year-old shortstop Omar Contreras. He loses the starting job by 1875 and retires by 1879.
Readers of previous volumes already know that the #PetrolerosPEÑ :petroleros:, for whom Peña played his entire career in the Liga Novata, are rather unconventional.
They began the 1885 season without a bullpen, having not signed a pitcher for an entire decade.
But really, that's to be expected.
The LNP held its first draft in 1871, to celebrate its inauguration.
In the first round, 74 of the 78 teams took a pitcher.
The four exceptions, as you may have guessed, included the Petroleros.
The Eléctricos and Petroleros shared a division, a similar energy-based motif, and, in the 1880s, incredible, balls-out offensive output.
Your :lnp: Game of the Day for 4/22:
#EléctricosGUA vs. #PetrolerosPEÑ:
LF G. Gómez (PEÑ): 3-3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, draws 211st career walk (4th all-time).
1B D. García (GUA): 4-6, 2B, 5 R, RBI.
CF J. Rosales (GUA): 4-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 SB.
CF A. Ortiz (PEÑ) hits inside-the-park, 2-run HR (bot 9th).
GUA wins, 17-13.