The 1905 Southern Union Baseball season was the eleventh season of professional baseball within the Southern Union. It was the second season of the Durand Rules and the last season before the expansion of the I-League to 12 teams.

Domestic Baseball

Koana Islands

Super Ligan

Vizhune IS (44-5-17) moved to the top of the Super Ligan standings at the mid-point of the season and lost just 7 more times on their way to a dominating 16-point advantage over reigning Champions Omfattandestad BoIS (36-5-25). After an atrocious start by Titaner, Vizhune IS battled with newly-promoted BK Embleton (33-3-30) and Sandford Stad BF (26-7-33) for much of the first half of the year to clinch their 5th Super Ligan title, and first since 1902. For the Bulldoggar, who were second after 33 games, 22 losses in the second half of the year had them slump to a 9th place finish.

In the battle for survival Nyhaven SK (19-11-36) put up little resistance, occupying a relegation spot the entire time to eventually confirm their relegation from the Super Ligan for the first time ever with four game still to play. Joining them in Division Ett next season is Uckford Gemenskap (22-5-35) who only gained promotion to the top flight last year. Many predicted the club to finish mid-table but the league-worst home record of 8-3-22 condemned them straight back down unlike Jordnot Kanjon BK (30-11-25) who stunned the baseball fanbase by finishing 4th having been pre-season favourites for the drop following reports of off-field dramas at the start of the year.

Division Ett

After the indignity of an immediate return to Division Ett following relegation last year, Portlethen Måndag (47-12-19) romped to victory to have a second crack at the Super Ligan next year. After a slow start to the season where they languished 8th after 20 games, The Mariners won 14 of their next 19 fixtures to sit top the table at the half-way point and never ceded the place, eventually finishing 7 points clear of second-placed Conneaut (43-13-22) who return to the Super Ligan after a 2-year absence.

Körsbärstad IF (34-10-34) – relegated last year – lost twenty of their remaining 40 games to drop from 2nd to 7th and consign the club to another year in Division Ett. They finished behind IK Förenta Saffron (36-12-30) who shook off consecutive 9th places finishes the last two years.

At the bottom of the table, Prestons-Grenada (24-9-45) suffered the stress of their first re-election process; which they narrowly won, with fingers being pointed at aging club owner Hans Gustafsson who signed an overpriced, aging free agent against the wishes of the Manager. They were joined by Ruysdael Akademisk (23-13-42) on the ballot, who survived their second-straight re-election and third in history.

Günsovölk

Baseball Meisterschaft

Having never won the Baseball Meisterschaft despite finishing as runners-up in 1900 and 1902, Blau-Weiss Ruigoord (55-8-27) finally tasted success by winning their first league title. In a thrilling 4-way battle for much of the season, Blau-Weiss saw off defending champions Rasensport Sorgenfrei (51-10-29) and early favourites BV Küstestadt (45-13-32) by clinching the title with three games to spare following a 6-6 draw at home to BSG Geldstadt. Ducibus BV (43-11-36) were second at the mid-point of the season, but 500-ball for the latter half of the year saw them slip down the table to finish 7th; an improvement from 12th the previous year.

BSG Geldstadt (44-10-36) and SG 1632 Schönheit (39-14-37) made major improvements on their 1904 campaigns with Geldstadt’s shrewd front office moves paying dividends on the field. Things weren’t so good for Druten Stadt SV 91 and VfB Andacht who both finished with a record of 24-10-56. The two clubs were put up for re-election for the second straight year, successfully winning the vote despite sitting 11 points off the pace of Viktoria Grosstadt SV (25-19-46) who finished 14th.

Ianoia

I-League

With a vastly superior budget compared to the rest of the league, Blenkinsopp Town (38-4-12) were rarely troubled as they retained the I-League title for the third straight time.

With the other 9 teams beating each other senseless, Blenkinsopp wrapped up the championship with 5 games to spare despite closest challenger Tyrant-Ilford (28-9-17) defeating McCutchen City (25-11-18) – who had their best ever finish in third – on the same day.

Chatteris United (15-13-26) and Donyatt-Burstwick (12-11-31) won little favour with their peers, finishing 9th and 10th respectively after both finishing in the bottom two places the year before. In the 6 years of the I-Leagues existence, both teams have seemingly taken it turns to occupy last place on the table.

With growing unrest at the inequality of the Championship from the top and bottom teams, a vote was successfully passed in October at the Annual Owners Meeting to expand the competition by 2 to 12 teams after enviously observing the success of Günsovölk’s Baseball Meisterschaft expanding to 16. Following deliberation throughout November, Racing Welford and Sporting Cuckney were formally given places in the I-League to begin play the following year. Keeping in line with other competitions within the Southern Union, the bottom-placed team will be put up for a re-election process to ensure competitiveness moving forward.

Houtmansland

Topklasse Divisie

After winning the Topklasse Divisie in 1903, HHV (28-13-19) finished dead last in 1904. With the owner spending big to put the team back where they belong, HHV turned around and won their second title in three years in spite of winning two less games than defending champions KBO Armweide (30-7-23). They had RKC Mesch (28-11-21) to thank for the trophy after they beat Armweide on the final day 6-5, meaning HHV’s 6-6 draw with Bos Aan Zee was more than enough to win the league. At the bottom of the table, SHC Koedijk (21-5-34) finished 6th for the first time behind Bos Aan Zee (23-9-28) who had never finished lower than 4th before.

At the Annual Owners Meeting, the 6 teams agreed the league needed to be expanded to ensure the leagues competitiveness, especially with the start of the Centaurus Cup starting up in 1906. A vote was had with expansion to 8 teams agreed to by 4 votes to 2 for the 1907 season.