1971

Hackbart Division				Shiloh Division
Long Island	106	56	...	Newmarket	94	66	...
Bergen	83	79	23	Wilderness	89	73	6
Hyde Park	79	82	27	Cleveland	76	85	19
South Starrucca	74	88	32	Mimosa	72	90	23

Gorney Division				Brown Division
Boulder Bluff	88	74	...	Fortney	90	71	...
Bradenton	68	94	20	Gettysburg	88	73	2
Mexicali	67	95	21	Birch Inn	83	79	8
Waukesha	65	97	23	Norfolk	71	91	20

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Comments –

Stu McCorkindale - The year 2001 was a momentous one for Barfly fans as the team captured its first ever TCBA championship. The 1922 edition of the club rode a team record batting attack and just enough pitching to the GOLD winner's circle. The YESTERDAY version of the Barflies also had success, winning the Hackbart Division for the first time since 1974 and also setting some new marks for individual accomplishments along the way.

Harmon Killebrew poked 53 homers for the '65 Barflies to beat the team record of 51 shared by teammate Hank Aaron and Bob Horner. Aaron was not to be denied as he added to his all-time mark for home runs and now stands as the team leader with 378 in his ten year career with the club. Aaron also continued to be the Bergen pace setter in stolen base percentage with a .862 mark based on 125 steals in 145 attempts. Finally, Dean Chance set a team record with 26 straight wins - a mark that may also be an all-time TCBA best.

The TCBA Champion 1922 Barflies set several club and individual marks. Bergen combined to hit .324 and score 927 runs, which are new high water marks for a single season. Harry Heilmann became the team's first .400 hitter and bumped Keith Hernandez (.398 in 1980) from the top spot in that category with a .413 average. On the flip side, pitcher Dolf Luque set a new team record for hits allowed with 308 despite winning twenty games for the Barflies.

Hernandez, who holds most of the Barfly career batting records, was a bit disturbed to lose his team batting title to Heilmann. "At least Harry won the league batting title when he set his record. I came in second to Fred Lynn and lost my shot at a .400 average in the last week of the season. Now this is gone too."

But baseball historian James Bill has a different take on the situation. "These records from the retro leagues have more appeal to the baseball purist than many of the marks set in TCBA TODAY. First of all the rules of the game have evolved through the league's history and many of those records could not be replicated today if the season was replayed using current rules."

"For one thing those guys didn't have to deal with AIM or long term injuries. They just showed up to play a seven game series secure in the knowledge if they had a J-0 or J-1 in their pocket they were free to go about business without fear of fatigue or injury."

Bill went on to say, "The one third minimum usage rule is also a factor that nowadays costs players at bats or innings they otherwise did not have to share with teammates. And it's common knowledge that before the salary cap was forced down their throats, TODAY tended to bunch all the best pitching and hitting on a few select teams. Oftentimes the best hitters only saw the best pitchers when they showered together since they were all on the same team."

While some may differ with Bill's viewpoint, it is hard to argue against the success of YESTERDAY and GOLD in terms of balance and realism. With both leagues on the verge of starting new seasons it will be interesting to see if more Bergen milestones go by the boards with the likes of Aaron, Killebrew and Heilmann back on the job.

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