BDWL Power Index
August 1974
     
For a History of the Final Power Index's: click here  
Current Ranking Previous pre- Through August 1974 Power
Rank# offense pitching Rank# + / - Rank# Division W - L Win% Index Diff.
1 1 3 1 0 2 Burbank Barnstormers Martin 84 - 46 0.646 97.69 -3.58 - 20 wins despite drop in PI as Pch dropped from #2 to #3 thx to strong Aug winds at the Stick.
2 3 5 5 3 11 Cincinnati Chilis Weaver 78 - 50 0.609 93.21 4.67 -Strong Aug  proved July was blip not trend as Pch recovered from #8 to #5.
3 5 5 2 (1) 4 Sleepytown Dukes Anderson 78 - 52 0.600 90.33 -3.66 - Pch & Off each dropped 1 spot as they stumble on road 6-7. SLS is closing in!
4 11 2 3 (1) 1 San Diego Conquistadors Martin 79 - 49 0.617 89.73 -1.60 - Off cools off scoring only 4.2 rpg contributes to 6-9 road record as they give up Div lead.
5 2 10 4 (1) 3 Dallas Hilltoppers Alston 80 - 48 0.625 89.45 -0.57 - Pch collapes 4.59 ERA but Off 6.1 rpg  keeps them winning. Not typical DLH formula.
6 16 1 7 1 5 Wellington Boots Weaver 73 - 55 0.570 89.36 6.06 - mystery why only 14-12 as they played very well this month. Could be missed opportunity.
7 5 9 6 (1) 9 St. Louis Shrikes Anderson 74 - 53 0.583 86.79 -0.48 - Off imprvs from #8 to #5 with 6.1 rpg as they also win despite poor Pch. Has shot at Div.
8 14 3 9 1 6 Northern Great Whites Weaver 64 - 68 0.485 80.71 0.00 - 3-10 road record ruined month & could have been worse as they took 2 of 3 at Fremont.
9 3 16 8 (1) 7 Fremont Indians Martin 75 - 56 0.573 80.00 -2.99 - 14-14 as Off & Pch each took 1 step backwards. In dogfight with WLB for #2 WC spot.
10 9 12 10 0 10 Atlanta Crackers Alston 58 - 73 0.443 78.62 1.62 - came back from dead in Jul but 13-14 Aug sends them back to grave. Not enough Pch this yr.
11 10 12 12 1 12 Oregon Pioneers Anderson 65 - 66 0.496 77.00 3.35 - big month 17-11 as both Off & Pch imprv. They should end up with #2 WC spot now.
11 7 15 10 (1) 15 Savannah Shoeless Joes Alston 61 - 68 0.473 77.00 0.00 - it was a nice run but as predicted they are running on fumes. Nice progress this season!
13 13 12 15 2 8 Texas Fire Ants Weaver 58 - 72 0.446 71.91 1.94 - 13th ranked Off just seems wrong for a TXF team. +23 run diff but still losing record in Aug.
14 15 10 13 (1) 16 Asbury Park Rockers Martin 62 - 68 0.477 71.66 0.00 - 30 wins over last 2 mos is darn good for tm that looked dead. Now has shot at .500.
15 18 7 16 1 13 Chicago White Stockings Alston 57 - 71 0.445 67.38 -1.59 - 11-4 at home but only 3 road wins. Overall though 14-13 is nice month despite -15 run diff.
16 7 20 14 (2) 14 Cooperstown Double Days Weaver 52 - 78 0.400 66.87 -4.14 - bottom falls out as they win only 6 of 28 with -60 run diff. looking for strong finish to nice yr.
17 11 19 17 0 17 Pittsburgh Crawfords Anderson 55 - 77 0.417 63.46 1.32 - just about the same for 4th straight mos except one less win … Pch continues to kill them.
18 20 7 19 1 19 Wisconsin Snow Goblins Alston 48 - 82 0.369 58.86 3.29 - if WSG & CTD could combine rosters we would have a Off 7 & Pch 7 and playoff tm.
19 17 17 18 (1) 18 Florida Elks Anderson 45 - 83 0.352 57.19 -0.87 - imprv in Pch offset by drop in Off as tm drops to #19 & wrost record in BDWL.
20 19 17 20 0 20 Toronto Crown Royals Martin 49 - 80 0.380 51.59 0.00 - unfortunately looks destined to finish #20 for 2nd yr in a row, but will reach 50+ wins!
Top 5 Recap
Burbank for the 2nd month in a row saw their Index drop by over 3pts but retain the #1 spot since for the 2nd month in a row the #2 & #3 teams also had drops
in their Index. Cincinnati after falling to #5 last month returns to #2 as they take advantage of drops in Index's by Sleepytown (-3.66 pts) and San Diego (-1.60 pts) 
and Dallas (-0.57 pts). All three teams dropped a spot Sleepytown to #3, San Diego to #4 and Dallas to #5. Wellington with a +6.06 in their Index is making a 
late season charge to finish in the top 5 as predicted in the preseason. They are currently at #6 but only +.09 behind Dallas and +.37  behind San Diego.
Other Items of Interest
* Wellington retains the #1 ranked pitching staff and Burbank retaines the #1 ranked offense.
* The #1 ranked team at season's end has never won the BDWL championship. In 1970 its was #2 Florida, in 1971 it was #2 Fremont, in 1972 it was #4 Dallas and in 1973 #5 Fremont that has won the championship.
* In 1973, Fremont at #5 was the lowest ranked team at season's end to win the BDWL championship.
* In the history of the BDWL a team has finished with a PI over 100 only 6 times. Texas has now done it 3 straight times (1971 thru 1973). 1974 might be the 1st season since 1970 without a team over 100.
  Here is the list:
1. Burbank (1972) 116.00
2. Texas (1973) 110.58
3. Northern (1972) 106.80
4. Texas (1972) 106.04
5. Texas (1971) 105.80
6. Dallas (1972) 100.83
* Texas and Cincinnati become the 1st two teams from the same division to finish the season ranked #1 & #2.
* The biggest jump in BDWL history is 12 spots by San Diego in April 1973 from their preseason ranking.
* No team ranked below #6 in preseason has ever won the BDWL championship. Prior to 1972 when Dallas ranked #4 won it all, it had been the #6 ranked team to win in 1970 & 1971.
  In 1973, Fremont was ranked #5 in the preseason so it remains no team ranked lower than #6 or higher than #4 has ever won a championship.
* The best finish for a 72 Expansion team was #14 by Brookline in 1972. Brookline became Savannah in 1973 and they are currently #11 this season.
* In the history of the BDWL, there have only been 7 teams to hold the #1 spot and they are as follows:
1. Texas held it for 11 times (preseason 1971 through Sept 1971 and then June 1973 through September 1973)
2. Burbank held it 8 times (preseason 1972 through April 1972,  June 1972 through Sept 1972 and then May 1974 through August 1974)
3. Cincinnati held it 4 times (preseason 1970, August & Sept 1970 and then preseason 1973)
4. Fort Worth (now Pittsburgh) held it 4 times (April 1970 through July 1970)
5. Dallas held it 3 times (May 1972 & April 1973 through May 1973)
6. San Diego held it 1 time (Preseason 1974) 
7. St. Louis held it 1 time (April 1974)
Notes:
Teams on the rise: Cincinnati up 3 spots (#5 to #2) & Texas up 2 spots (#15 to #13).
Team heading south Cooperstown down 2 spots (#14 to #16).
CLICK HERE for Summary & Explanation of Calculations.
Prior BDWL Power Index's
July 1974
June 1974
May 1974
April 1974
PreSeason 1974
Final 1973
Final 1972
Final 1971
Final 1970