1967 - Harned Wins NCABL Title

League survives near crash!

1967 was the league's first season, and the Eastern League race resembled that of the Major's American League as Knarro and Harned battle to the end, with Knarro taking the league by a game with a 106 wins season. Harned earned a wild card berth and the two met in the playoffs. A distant third was Foxboro, in the race until a mid-season "disappearance" of their manager sent the team into a slump. Mt. Holly and Columbus also made a casual run at 2nd place, but never really got close.

In the Western League, the hit and run Malibu Waves finished 7 games ahead of Snowflake, 10 ahead of California. Snowflake's Brock, McCarver and Clemente were too much for the Waves as they won the Western League playoffs to go to the NCABL World Series.

In a matchup of wild card teams, Harned took Snowflake in 5 games to wear the NCABL's first crown.

We almost didn't make it!

The original founder had the best of intentions, but time suddenly became short and rather than try to do things with a half-hearted effort, he decided to refund our money and put the league on a back burner. Walt Appleton stepped in and assumed the role of commissioner while Chuck McMath took over the newsletter and statistician duties and we were back in business! Thanks guys, because of your initial efforts we are able to enjoy a great league today!

Every new league goes through it's share of growing pains, and the NCABL was no different. During the first year one manager ran into some home difficulties and disappeared in the middle of the season - we still haven't heard from him. Four others (including Champ Dave Pawl) resigned at the end of the season, leaving us with 5 vacant franchises! Fortunately two of the replacements are still with us in 1972 - Chuck Bennett and Jeff Brandt. Walt stepped down as commissioner at the end of the 1967 season and controls were taken over by Jesse Elicker.

Individual Stars

Knarro's Carl Yastrzemski was the Eastern League's MVP as he repeated his 1967 major league feat by winning the triple crown. Yaz' .330 average nipped Harned's Matty Alou by a single point, while his HR (56) and RBI (139) totals easily outpaced the nearest competitors (Foxboro's Killebrew, 43 HR and Harned's Tommy Davis, 128 RBI). Yaz also led the league in runs (125), hits (203), slugging (.643) and on base percentage (.414). Bert Campaneris of Louisville stole 34 bases while Mt. Holly's Al Kaline had a 29 game hitting streak.

The Harned pitching staff boasted four 20 game winners. Earl Wilson (24-10, 1.81) won the Cy Young award. His fellow hurlers Mickey Lolich (20-7, 3.06), Ralph Ortega (20-10, 3.09) and Gary Peters (20-10, 1.83) round out the fantastic four. Knarro's Denny Lemaster (20-8, 1.71) led the league in ERA, while Peters led in strikeouts with 297. Ferguson Jenkins of Columbus tossed a league high 9 shutouts and three pitchers tied with 31 saves - Hoyt Wilhelm of Foxboro, Dave Baldwin of Harned and Moe Drabowsky of Mt. Holly.

The Western League had its share of impressive numbers as well. Roberto Clemente of Snowflake hit .361 to lead all NCABL hitters. His teammate Lou Brock (.327, 30 HR, 101 R, 93 RBI, 36 SB) was the MVP and was the only 30-30 player. Tim McCarver chipped in with a .303 average and Ernie Banks led the league in RBI (117) as Snowflake had one of the leauge's top lineups. Malibu didn't do badly with the hitters either, boasting Curt Flood (.345), Jesus Alou (.330), Maury Wills (.325, 61 SB) and Tony Gonzalez (.303) in the top 10. Clete Boyer drove in 109 and had 26 HR while Felipe Alou had 99 RBI and lead the team in slugging at .461. California was the other big player in the West, with HR leader Jim Wynn (43, 117) and Orlando Cepeda (25, 110). Jim Ray Hart hit .298 with 84 RBI for the Dreamers.

Pitching was dominant in the West. California's Joel Horlen won the Cy Young with a 24-6, 1.70 record. His partner Dean Chance (23-13, 1.96) provided a solid 1-2 punch, keeping the Dreamers in the race for the playoffs all year long. Milt Pappas of Snowflake (23-4) and Jim Bunning of San Diego (20-10) also won 20 games. Horlen and Giant Rich Nye each tossed 9 shutouts; Bunning took the strikeout title over Houston's Gaylord Perry, 289-281. Ted Abernathy of California was the top reliever with 27 saves.

All Star Teams

The Eastern Leauge's Harned and Knarro had 3 starters each while in the West, California produced 5 starters and Snowflake 3. The league's best in 1967:

Eastern League All Stars

Pos

First Team

Stats (avg, power, other)
C

Joe Torre, Knarro

.280, 24-1-23, 83 rbi
1B

Harmon Killebrew, Fox

.279, 34-0-43, 102 runs, 114 rbi, .562 slug
2B

Pete Rose, Louisville

.279, 32-5-10, 90 runs
SS

Bud Harrelson, Knarro

.282, 22-3-0, .351 on base
3B

Ron Santo, Columbus

.327, 42-5-35, 98 runs, 122 rbi
OF

Tommy Davis, Harned

.325, 40-1-25, 105 runs, 128 rbi, 201 hits
OF

Carl Yastrzemski, Kna

.330, 25-0-56, 125 runs, 139 rbi, .643 slug
OF

Henry Aaron, Mt. Holly

.303, 43-0-32, 95 runs, 100 rbi, .530 slug
SP

Earl Wilson, Harned

24-10, 1.81, 7 shutouts, 220 strikeouts
SP

Gary Peters, Harned

20-11, 1.83, 5 shutouts, 297 strikeouts
RP

Hoyt Wilhelm, Foxboro

3-4, 31 saves, 2.02

Pos

Second Team

Stats
C

Randy Hundley, Harned

.273, 37-4-15, 89 rbi
1B

Willie McCovey, Virginia

.281, 25-4-36, 86 rbi
2B

Julian Javier, Knarro

.250, 20-4-20, 81 runs
SS

Richie Allen, Harned

.268, 26-10-18, 80 rbi
3B

Brooks Robinson, Fox

.293, 37-9-18, 81 rbi
OF

Al Kaline, Mt. Holly

.297, 36-3-30, 103 runs
OF

Matty Alou, Harned

.329, 34-7-3, 86 runs
OF

Frank Robinson, Harned

.302, 24-4-22, 90 rbi, .406 on base
SP

Ferguson Jenkins, Col

22-13, 2.12, 293 strikeouts
SP

Denny Lemaster, Knarro

20-8, 1.71, 8 shutouts
RP

Moe Drabowsky, Mt. Hol

2-8, 31 saves, 2.14

Western League All Stars

Pos

First Team

Stats
C

Tim McCarver, Sno

.303, 28-3-27, 102 runs
1B

Orlando Cepeda, Cal

.329, 45-0-25, 101 runs, 110 rbi
2B

Joe Morgan, Durango

.265, 36-6-6, 90 runs, 45 steals
SS

Maury Wills, Malibu

.325, 14-9-1, 61 steals
3B

Jim Ray Hart, California

.298, 35-3-23, 103 runs
OF

Lou Brock, Snowflake

.327, 28-3-30, 101 runs, 93 rbi, 36 steals
OF

Jim Wynn, California

.241, 26-3-43, 101 runs, 114 rbi
OF

Roberto Clemente, Sno

.361, 16-8-22, 90 runs
SP

Jim Bunning, San Diego

20-10, 1.53, 289 strikeouts
SP

Joel Horlen, California

24-6, 1.70, 9 shutouts
RP

Ted Abernathy, Cal

2-1, 27 saves, 1.04

Pos

Second Team

Stats
C

Bill Freehan, Oak Ridge

.264, 25-1-18
1B

Don Mincher, Mont

.293, 29-2-28, 96 rbi, .504 slug
2B

Rod Carew, Malibu

.276, 29-7-10
SS

Jim Fregosi, Houston

.283, 23-4-11
3B

Tony Perez, Oak Ridge

.284, 31-6-25, 90 rbi (two teams)
OF

Jesus Alou, Malibu

.330, 17-6-7
OF

Curt Flood, Malibu

.345, 37-3-3, 97 runs
OF

Rusty Staub, Durango

.314, 47-1-13
SP

Dean Chance, California

23-13, 1.96, 252 strikeouts
SP

Milt Pappas, Snowflake

23-4, 2.45
RP

Turk Farrell, Mont

3-1, 24 saves, 1.08

Other notes

Standings

Eastern League
W
L
PCT
GB
HOME
AWAY

Knarro
106
56
0.654
-
55-26
51-30

Harned
105
57
0.648
1
57-24
48-33

Foxboro
90
72
0.556
16
39-42
51-30

Mt. Holly
88
74
0.543
18
32-49
56-25

Columbus
87
75
0.537
19
44-37
43-38

Louisville
70
92
0.432
36
36-45
34-47

Virginia
66
96
0.407
40
37-44
29-52

Mechanicsburg
51
111
0.315
55
23-58
28-53

Western League
W
L
PCT
GB
HOME
AWAY

Malibu
106
56
0.654
-
59-22
47-34

Snowflake
99
63
0.611
7
54-27
45-36

California
96
66
0.593
10
46-35
50-31

Montgomery
82
80
0.506
24
43-38
39-42

San Diego
77
85
0.475
29
40-41
37-44

Oak Ridge
64
98
0.395
42
33-48
31-50

Durango
55
107
0.34
51
20-61
35-46

Houston
54
108
0.333
52
21-60
33-48

Playoffs Series

Eastern League
Western League
Harned over Knarro, 3 games to 1
Snowflake over Malibu, 3 games to 1

NCABL League Championship
Harned Heroes over Snowflake Giants, 4 games to 1

Statistics, Leaders