BDWL Power Index
July 1974
     
For a History of the Final Power Index's: click here  
Current Ranking Previous pre- Through July 1974 Power
Rank# offense pitching Rank# + / - Rank# Division W - L Win% Index Diff.
1 1 2 1 0 2 Burbank Barnstormers Martin 64 - 38 0.627 101.27 -3.05 - not a great month record wise 14-13 but moved up to #2 in Pch & holds top spot.
2 4 4 6 4 4 Sleepytown Dukes Anderson 63 - 42 0.600 93.99 5.17 - big jump as Pch & Off both improv from #6 to #4, in weaker Div so could make run at top.
3 9 2 3 0 1 San Diego Conquistadors Martin 65 - 38 0.631 91.33 -1.56 - 18 wins puts them at top of Div but still holds at #3 as Off drops a notch.
4 3 8 4 0 3 Dallas Hilltoppers Alston 64 - 40 0.615 90.02 0.84 - Moret, Reed & Longborg combine 12-2 only 16 ER in 15 GS as Pch imprv from #10 to #8.
5 4 8 2 (3) 11 Cincinnati Chilis Weaver 62 - 42 0.596 88.54 -9.15 - Pch free falls from #4 to #8 as Tiant goes 0-5. Is this a blip or trend … Aug important month.
6 8 7 5 (1) 9 St. Louis Shrikes Anderson 58 - 45 0.563 87.27 -1.84 - 14-14 stops the bleeding after terrible June. May not catch SLD but has lock on #1 WC spot.
7 17 1 9 2 5 Wellington Boots Weaver 59 - 43 0.578 83.30 2.03 - 18 wins despite Ryan getting hit hard. 2.90 ERA in JUNE … imagine if they could hit?
8 2 15 7 (1) 7 Fremont Indians Martin 61 - 42 0.592 82.99 -2.98 - Schueler 6-0 rest of staff 9-11, Pch still a ?. Only hit .255 but .348 OB% drives Off. 
9 13 5 10 1 6 Northern Great Whites Weaver 50 - 54 0.481 80.71 1.88 - 16 more wins but 7 win May still haunting them. S/b .500+ by end of season but no playoffs.
10 6 15 8 (2) 15 Savannah Shoeless Joes Alston 50 - 54 0.481 77.00 -4.64 - seems to be running out of steam as hold on WC is weakening. Needs to regroup in Aug.
10 10 12 11 1 10 Atlanta Crackers Alston 45 - 59 0.433 77.00 1.70  - we wrote them off last month but sinking SSJ has opened door for playoff push.
12 12 14 12 0 12 Oregon Pioneers Anderson 48 - 55 0.466 73.65 4.92 -they smell SSJ blood despite Koos 1-6 in July. May get WC with sub .500 record.
13 14 10 15 2 16 Asbury Park Rockers Martin 48 - 56 0.462 71.66 6.48 - great Pch in July 2.57 ERA leads to surprising 16-12 July. Impv from #14 to #10 in Pch.
14 6 18 13 (1) 14 Cooperstown Double Days Weaver 46 - 56 0.451 71.01 2.79 - 2nd great month in a row 15 wins gives them chance to not finish in Div cellar for 1st time.
15 14 12 14 (1) 8 Texas Fire Ants Weaver 45 - 58 0.437 69.97 2.99 - someone turned the calendar back to 1970 on them. Jenkins/Bly combined 18-27 for season?
16 18 5 16 0 13 Chicago White Stockings Alston 43 - 58 0.426 68.97 3.98 - sad to waste playoff quality Pch but lack of hitting is killing them despite Rose .376 in July.
17 10 20 17 0 17 Pittsburgh Crawfords Anderson 45 - 61 0.425 62.14 0.00 - Same PI, same rankings, same result of 11 wins for 3rd straight month … all not so good.
18 14 19 18 0 18 Florida Elks Anderson 38 - 65 0.369 58.06 -3.09 - both Off & Pch fell this month but they ecked out 12 wins which ain't bad for Elk these days.
19 20 10 20 1 19 Wisconsin Snow Goblins Alston 39 - 66 0.371 55.57 0.60 - battle with TCR to avoid #20 continues with WSG moving to #19 this month.
20 18 17 19 (1) 20 Toronto Crown Royals Martin 41 - 62 0.398 51.59 -6.04 - WSG & TCR are only franchises to finish at #20 and one should be there again this year.
Top 5 Recap
We have our 1st repeat #1 ranking this season, as Burbank despite a -3.05 drop on their PI retains the top spot due primarily to the fact that the June
#2 and #3 teams couldn’t take advantage as their PI's also dropped. Sleepytown returns to the top 5 after falling to #6 in June thanks to a +5.17 in PI
to take the #2 spot … their highest ranking this season. San Diego stays at #3 and Dallas holds at #4 and Cincinnati finishes at #5 a drop of 3 spots.
St. Louis who was #9 in Preseason, but took #1 in April but fell to #2 in May and then #5 in June continues to slid as they fall out of top 5 at #6.
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 a 3rd straight time. Here is 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 #10 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 June 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: Sleepytown up 4 spots (#6 to #2) and Wellington (#9 to #7) & Asbury Park (#15 to #13) both up 2 spots.
Team heading south: Cincinnati down 3 spots (#2 to #5) and Savannah down 2 spots (#8 to #10).
CLICK HERE for Summary & Explanation of Calculations.
Prior BDWL Power Index's
June 1974
May 1974
April 1974
PreSeason 1974
Final 1973
Final 1972
Final 1971
Final 1970