The 1902 Navegadores were built on brazen baserunning, praying for long line drives to fall early, and the bullpen from hell.

The 1903 Navegadores are much more conventional . . . but they're achieving pretty much the same result.

Monthly Awards

Batsman: Frank del Castillo. Although Diablo Rojo is usually in the 2- or 3-hole these days, which denies him the surfeit of base-stealing opportunities he had in 1902, his speed really came into display in June, when he slashed .348/.371/.598, largely on the back of almost half his hits going for extra bases, which helped him drive in 16 runs. That's the kind of situational hitting the Navegadores need.
Tenth Man: John Anderson. Honest John isn't used to sitting on the bench, and if his June is any indication, he won't be doing so much longer. Anderson slashed .290/.303/.581—so while he's not likely to get on base via walk, when he does, he tends to punish the hell out of the ball; fully half his hits were triples, and of the remaining five, one was a double.
Moundsman: Ted Balloon. Ted gave up his first two home runs of the year in June, but he was otherwise an absolute stud. Over 53.2 innings, he went 5-1 with a 1.17 ERA / 2.81 FIP / 0.80 WHIP slash line that finally looks like the ace the Navegadores want him to be, especially as he managed 24 strikeouts to just 9 walks. His refined changeup and careful forkball placement might be the final tools to fall into place. Remember when we all thought he was going to be a great second baseman?
Fireman: Héctor Varela. He saved another two games while pitching another three total outs.

Game of the Month: June 19th, at Aguadilla (box)

This game had the exact kind of tomfoolery you expect from this team, and it got there basically immediately. Against Epifanio Ruiz, Feaster singled, Frank del Castillo reached on error right after Feaster stole second, and after he stole third, Benji Valdez promptly scored both runners on a triple, reaching himself on an Etaoin Shrdlu RBI single, followed by a steal and his own score on a Pyotr Orlovsky single.

Benji would bring del Castillo in again in the second, and though the bats went quiet for a while, Naguabo remained ahead 5-1 into the 7th, when Balk and Stonehand got in on the fun, setting up a Rob Feaster two-run double that knocked Ruiz out of the game and set up another cavalcade of fun for the Naves' bats. Underwood's pinch-hit two-run triple in the 8th added a little frisson, and Balk's RBI groundout in the 9th was the final insult to an Aguadilla team completely unused to this lack of dominance over their division. Fantastic work all around.

Around the World, Around the World

🇨🇺 Cuba

Though still in its infancy, the 1903 Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Cuba seems to promise a parity its previous two seasons did not possess. A few months after winning the championship, the Tabacaleros have receded into unfortunate mediocrity; meanwhile, the Cocoteros, who have never even come close to the postseason, have surged ahead by promoting several of their top prospects to the everyday lineup. Santa Clara looks prepared to retake its traditional spot atop the leaderboard, while Nueva Gerona tries its hardest to secure both a division banner and a winning record.

🇲🇽 Mexico

In 1901, the 58-74 Ciudad México side tied for eighth place in an unforgiving Liga Sur; Oaxaca, who led the circuit, made it all the way to the national championship, where Culiacán beat them.

In 1902, with a revamped roster, they went 85-47 and . . . lost to the Córnicos in the pennant round, only to watch Culiacán sleepwalk their way to a second title over them. Obviously, this was unacceptable, but the Volcanes didn't seem interested in retooling; they simply trusted their existing roster to have an extra gear in them.

They've been rewarded with a 25-3 record—when every team, at the end of the month, had losses in the double digits. Oaxaca and Hidalgo are much less dangerous than they were last year, and in the Norte, Culiacán is off to a rather rough start. The capital of the country might finally have the baseball team it deserves.

🇨🇦 Canada

Royal Canadian Baseball League: Other than the Quebec City Dons, who've lost in the pennant round twice, the other teams are all at various levels of success: the Hammers, in particular, have so far become a nightmare to face for opponents.
Western & Plains League: Few surprises here: the Strikers and Mennonites are fighting for the top spot in the Plains again, while the Grizzlies continue to rule the West. The possible rise of the Hellfire, who have not been especially strong in the past two seasons, could be fun.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿/🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿/🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿/🇮🇪 British Isles

The four current division leaders have one playoff appearance between them, and that's the Bangor Bishops, who were there last year. As Puerto Rican players take more and more spots in the LBI, it's an open question how long it can last before it becomes simply an offshoot of the LNP.

🇺🇸 United States

Sundries

The current WAR leaders in each league are both seriously dominating the competition, which is hilarious, because neither of them is carrying much defensive value. In Betances, Dorado's Lorenzo Mendoza is starting games at left field and first base, and while he only has half a win on our beloved Benji, Juan Carlos of the Taínos de Gurabo, who would be on his way to the first Triple Crown of the 20th century if he could hit more dingers, is sitting on almost 6 WAR while playing slightly-above-average defense in LF. Impressive.
Betances' home run crown is currently between Eric Hollinger, 40, of Santa Isabel, and Mike Sharp, 39, of Morovis. The first true Puerto Rican slugger of the 20th century has yet to be discovered.
There were seven no-hitters in all of 1901, and two more in 1902—one of which, by former Coquí de Caguas and current Galán de Ciales Silvio Ramírez, would not be recognized under MLB guidelines due to the game being called after only six innings. There have been seven no-hitters in just the first three months of the 1903 season, by the following pitchers:
- April 15: Amadeo Jiménez, for the Tortugas de Culebra, against the Poetas de Toa Alta.
  - Longtime readers will remember this one, because as well as the first no-hitter of 1903, it was the fourth perfect game in LNP history and the first of the 20th century.
- May 2: Curro Terrazas, for the Eléctricos de Guayanilla, against the Guardacostas de Cataño;
- May 29: Pirro Arias, for the Cañeros de Vega Baja, against the Artilleros de Maunabo;
- June 11: Scott Conroy, for the Fieles de Lares, against the Mulos de Aguas Buenas;
- June 18: Gastón Serrano, for the Cafeteros de Maricao, against the Soles de Luquillo;
- June 21: Steve Berger, for the Esqueletos de Vieques, against the Capitanes de Mayagüez;
- June 30: Jacques Mollet, for the Galanes de Ciales, against the Chupacabras de Canóvanas.
  - The Galanes just love throwing no-hitters.

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