BDWL Power Index
September 1974
     
For a History of the Final Power Index's: click here  
Current Ranking Previous pre- Through September 1974 Power
Rank# offense pitching Rank# + / - Rank# Division W - L Win% Index Diff.
1 1 4 1 0 2 Burbank Barnstormers Martin 100 - 54 0.649 96.37 -1.32 -#1 & hit 100 wins, however last time they were here they didn’t get out of 1st rd.
2 3 4 2 0 11 Cincinnati Chilis Weaver 93 - 61 0.604 93.59 0.38 - pch continues to imprv, now at #4 which is good sign for playoffs. Preseason #11? Geez!
3 11 2 4 1 1 San Diego Conquistadors Martin 95 - 59 0.617 91.70 1.97 - their pch was as good as expected but Off kept them out of predicted #1 spot.
4 5 4 3 (1) 4 Sleepytown Dukes Anderson 92 - 62 0.597 90.65 0.32 - finished right were predicted but better PI thx to stronger off than expected.
5 2 10 5 0 3 Dallas Hilltoppers Alston 96 - 58 0.623 89.73 0.28 - Preseason ranked #5 in pch, but finishes #10 in pitchers park. SP maybe ? In playoffs.
6 5 7 7 1 9 St. Louis Shrikes Anderson 88 - 66 0.571 88.82 2.03 - pch finished strong combines with potent off, so could make noise in playoffs.
7 16 1 6 (1) 5 Wellington Boots Weaver 85 - 69 0.552 83.12 -6.24 - failed trade negotiation at deadline for bat did them in as they waste dominating pch.
8 14 3 8 0 6 Northern Great Whites Weaver 73 - 81 0.474 80.91 0.20 - we expected 80+ wins & PI supports that, just a hard luck season & time to rebuild.
9 9 13 11 2 12 Oregon Pioneers Anderson 78 - 76 0.506 78.66 1.66 - recovered nicely from 20-29 start to finish at 78 wins, exactly what we predicted.
10 7 14 10 0 10 Atlanta Crackers Alston 71 - 83 0.461 78.62 0.00 - we predicted 79 wins, PI supports that but they fell short at 71 which sends then golfing.
11 4 15 9 (2) 7 Fremont Indians Martin 88 - 66 0.571 78.55 -1.45 - predicted to be #7 & 83 wins , finished #11 & PI supports 79 wins but got 88. that’s a mgr!
12 13 12 13 1 8 Texas Fire Ants Weaver 73 - 81 0.474 75.26 3.35 - we thought they had 1 more playoff run in them, but looks like great run has ended for now.
13 14 10 14 1 16 Asbury Park Rockers Martin 71 - 83 0.461 71.52 -0.14 - got better pch & off than expected to finish better than expected … nice job.
14 9 16 11 (3) 15 Savannah Shoeless Joes Alston 66 - 88 0.429 70.75 -6.25 - looked like playoff tm 1st 1/2 of season but 27-50 finish killed that. Overall though not bad.
15 18 9 15 0 13 Chicago White Stockings Alston 69 - 85 0.448 67.38 0.00 - trade of Monday before season hurt off but could payoff big time in draft lottery.
16 7 20 16 0 14 Cooperstown Double Days Weaver 61 - 93 0.396 66.66 -0.21 - 29-22 June thru July but 32-71 rest of months, but still got 60+ wins for 1st time.
17 11 19 17 0 17 Pittsburgh Crawfords Anderson 65 - 89 0.422 66.21 2.75 - this should be rock bottom for franchise as too much talent to remain down here.
18 20 7 18 0 19 Wisconsin Snow Goblins Alston 63 - 91 0.409 62.82 3.96 - 15-9 to finish also gets them to 60+ wins fo 1st time and something to build on!
19 16 17 19 0 18 Florida Elks Anderson 56 - 98 0.364 57.19 0.00 - now 3 straight yrs under 60 wins after 2 playoff runs. Time to trade Tom Terrific? ;)
20 19 17 20 0 20 Toronto Crown Royals Martin 57 - 97 0.370 49.68 -1.91 -good news .. 57 wins is by far best in history but 3rd straight year at #20 not so good.
Top 5 Recap
Burbank's index dropped for the 3rd straight month, but they retain the #1 spot as no one else made a series run. Cincinnati did get pushed by San Diego
but they also held their ground finishing at #2 just 1.89 pts ahead of San Diego. This makes it 2 years in a row at #2 for Cincinnati. For San Diego this is the
best finish in franchise history and 1st time finishing in the top 5 as they jump over Sleepytown for the #3 spot. This is also the 1st time to finish in the top 5
for Sleepytown as they take #4 by 0.92pts over perennial top 5 team Dallas who grabbed the #5 spot. This makes 4 straight years finishing in the top 5 for
Dallas, but the 1st time at #5 (#3 in 1971, #4 in 1972 & #3 in 1973).
Other Items of Interest
* Wellington retains the #1 ranked pitching staff and Burbank retaines the #1 ranked offense.
* Burbank has now finished at #1 for the 2nd time as they 1st did it in 1972. This ties Texas who also has done it twice (1971 & 1973). Cincinnati is the only other team to finish #1 as they did it in 1970.
* 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 is 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.
  In 1974, going into the playoffs we have 4 teams that have shot to beat that mark (Cincinnati #11, St. Louis #9, Oregon #12 & Fremont #7).
* The best finish for a 72 Expansion team was #14 by Brookline (currently Savannah) in 1972 and they duplicated the feat again in 1974 finishing #14.
* 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 9 times (preseason 1972 through April 1972,  June 1972 through Sept 1972 and then May 1974 through September 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: Oregon up 2 spots (#11 to #9).
Team heading south Savannah down 3 spots (#11 to #14) and Fremont down 2 spots (#9 to #11).
CLICK HERE for Summary & Explanation of Calculations.
Prior BDWL Power Index's
August 1974
July 1974
June 1974
May 1974
April 1974
PreSeason 1974
Final 1973
Final 1972
Final 1971
Final 1970