The 1908 Southern Union Baseball season was the fourteenth season of professional baseball within the Southern Union. It was the first time the Houtmansland Topklasse Divisie consisted of 8 teams with the introduction of SAE Zwingelspaan and Atletisch Bath. It was also the first professional season for Glenton Kullar BbK in Koana Islands and Käseplatz SSV in Günsovölk, having replaced Hamnområde BK in Division Ett and Druten Stadt SV 91 in Baseball Meisterschaft respectively after they were both voted out of their respective leagues by their peers.

Domestic Baseball

Koana Islands

Super Ligan

In a season for the ages, AIF Thomassmåstad held off a fast-finishing Omfattandestad BoIS to clinch their first ever Super Ligan title having joined the inaugural competition in 1895. Languishing in 5th place after 30 games, ten points behind the defending champions, Thomassmåstad went on a 15-game undefeated streak, 14 of which were victories, to move into 2nd place before Omfattandestad lost four on the bounce, including a sweep at the hands of Sandford Stad BF to spend the next 4 weeks locked on points with AIF Thomassmåstad. Taking a two-point advantage into the final day, Thomassmåstad were beaten 4-3 by BK Salau, but a superior run difference over Omfattandestad BoIS was enough to win the title on the final day after they finished equal on points.

Vizhune IS finished third for the first time since 1901 thanks in large part to a 6-game winning streak to end the season, which included a sweep of BK Humoor 1893 who went from 2nd to 4th in the final 3 games as a result. Sandford Stad BF finished 6th, equal on points with BK Embleton who spent much of the year trailing Sandford Stad having both made major improvements from last season.

BK Salau led the bottom half of the league in 7th for the final third of the season, finishing 19 points adrift of the teams ahead of them, with Ny Aucklanda IF tucking in behind to finish 8th, despite a change of ownership bringing in a new manager who focused on a more offense-only style approach.

Newly-promoted 1890 Ängelar SK finished 9th, having a season-long battle with Portlethen Måndag GK who finished 3 points behind in 10th. Neither side was at risk of relegation despite early predictions to the contrary, with the latter’s strong start to the year helping to keep them clear of the final two places for the entire season.

BF Oberoendestad’s 8-year stay in the top flight came to an end following a 6-4 away loss to Vizhune IS with 5 games to spare. A 9-game losing streak early in the season saw them drop to last, prior to a change in fortunes at the mid-point briefly gaving the club hopes of survival before they went on a 17-game winless streak – which started with 10 straight defeats – to end the year on a whimper. Joining them in Division Ett next season is IF Blidområde who made an immediate return to the second tier, having moved into last place on Matchday 35, midway through a 13-game losing streak. Their poor season was compounded with a record setting 2-3-28 away record for a paltry 0.106 winning percentage.

Division Ett

For the second time in three years, Nyhaven SK made an immediate return to the Super Ligan, romping to their first Division Ett title holding first place for all but three Matchdays throughout the season. A 9-game winning streak to start the year propelled the club to the top of the table where they remained except for a brief blip which saw the team draw twice against Atletisk Nyhamn allowing SK Ryttare to leapfrog to the top by a single point, who will also return to the Super Ligan following a 7-year absence.

Bryankeld Förenta BK finished third on their return to Division Ett having spent the last 6 years in the Super Ligan. After a poor off-season saw them ravaged by injuries, it was sweet relief when the club moved clear of other teams at the mid-point of the season to remain in third for the rest of the year. IK Förenta Saffron came in fourth off the back of a 9-game undefeated streak towards the end of the season pushed them clear of Centurio Conneaut and newcomers Glenton Kullar BbK who squabbled and swapped places with Körsbärstad IF and BK Randia for the entire season, with the latter two teams losing 9 of their last 13 and 14 games respectively to finish 7th and 8th.

Jordnot Kanjon BK had a burst of form in the middle of the season to close the gap and finish 9th, but the final standings flatters their performance having spent most of the year at least 6 points behind 8th place. Atletisk Nyhamn finished 10th but struggled with consistency of any sort whilst Uckford Gemenskap’s 6-game winning streak, including a sweep of SK Ryttare, saw them hold 11th place without any trouble.

Rovaniemi Förenta and Prestons-Grenada both battled hard, swapping places multiple times throughout the year, but the latter ultimately succumbed to being put up for re-election, not helped by the 13-game losing streak at the midpoint of the season. Ruysdael Akademisk IF had their own troubles, struggling with injuries and picking up just 7 points in 32 games at one point to finish dead last. Both Prestons-Grenada and Ruysdael Akademisk IF successfully argued for re-election for the 1909 baseball season, with the latter being put on notice for poor performances.

Günsovölk

Baseball Meisterschaft

Rasensport Sorgenfrei dropped just 6 points (2 losses and 2 draws) out of their first 30 games to decisively win their fifth Baseball Meisterschaft title and first since 1904. After moving to the top of the table following Tapfer Concordia SV’s first loss of the season on Matchday 5, Sorgenfrei never relinquished top spot, at one point holding a 20-point lead over defending champions BV Küstestadt with only a third of the season remaining.

Gelb Kekerdom TuS finished as runners-up for the first time in their history following an 11-game winning streak to close out the season to overtake BV Küstestadt who held second place for much of the season to that point. SG 1632 Schönheit and BSG Geldstadt finished level on points but the former’s run differential proved the difference between the two clubs at the end of the season after BSG Geldstadt were swept by the eventual champions Rasensport Sorgenfrei. Tapfer Concordia BV had a fantastic start to the season, holding second spot as late as Matchday 33 before a string of 9 defeats in 12 games saw them drop to 5th. A run of form by SG 1632 Schönheit helped them overtake Tapfer soon after who were struggling with consistency due to a depleted bullpen.

Fortuna Juemen and Uelzenia Hüll had their own mini battle throughout the season, trading places between 7th and 8th after they broke away from 9th placed Blau-Weiss Ruigoord who were predicted to finish as low as 13th by some newspapers in pre-season after once again being rocked by meddling owners.

Mächtstadt VfL had another uneventful season in 10th with a sweep of Blau-Weiss Ruigoord in September keeping them clear of the 5-way tussle between 1. Trappen, Hafenstadt BV, Ducibus BV, Viktoria Grosstadt SV and newcomers Käseplatz SSV. With nothing really separating the five teams, 1. Trappen happened to benefit the most with their series win over Hafenstadt BV to finish out the year to claim 11th.

Viktoria Grosstadt SV in 14th had to enter the re-election process as Käseplatz SSV was given immunity due to it being their first professional season. They joined VfB Andacht who finished plum last; a spot they held from Matchday 11 but both were successfully re-elected for the 1909 baseball season.

Ianoia

I-League

Blenkinsopp Town regained the I-League championship for the fifth time, after being upset by McCutchen City in the 1907 baseball season. After moving in to top spot on Matchday 11, Blenkinsopp Town went on a 16-game winning streak before dropping two games to Oldstead Irish who maintained consistent form for much of the year to battle for top spot before being swept by the eventual Champions with six games to spare to slump to a third place finish. McCutchen City – seemingly out of the hunt to retain the title mid-way through the year despite sitting well clear of 4th placed Tyrant-Ilford – picked up form towards the end of the year, which included a victory and a draw to Blenkinsopp Town on the final weekend to move into top spot with a game to play. Unfortunately for the Myrmidons, Blenkinsopp Town won the final game 5-3 to move back into top spot by a single point, leaving City ruing what could’ve been after giving up a two-run lead late in the Saturday fixture the day before.

McCutchen City    0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0  3
Blenkinsopp Town  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

McCutchen City    0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 1  7
Blenkinsopp Town  0 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 2  7

McCutchen City    0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Blenkinsopp Town  0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0  5

With the top-3 checking out from the rest of the league early, the mid-pack finished with Juniors equalling their best ever finish of 4th despite sitting in 5th for much of the year prior to an unbeaten streak of 5 games in October saw them jump ahead of Tyrant-Ilford who claimed 5th. Byfleet Hawks finished the year in 6th, but truthfully never matched the teams above, regularly swapping places with Ulcombe United and Racing Welford for much of the year; the former saw a marked improvement from last season, having been up for re-election.

Chatteris United closed out the year in 9th after an uptick in form in the middle of the year lifted them up from 11th place where they spent the majority of the first half of the season. It was the opposite for Athletic Ivychurch who finished 10th for the second consecutive season, struggling for form throughout June and July before a couple of wins against Spartans of Martletwy who were in the middle of a 6-game losing streak consigned them to 11th.

It was a year to forget for Sporting Cuckney who occupied last place from Matchday 5 onwards, after a dreadful start to the season saw them collect just 4 points from a possible 34 with a solitary win against Tyrant-Ilford on Matchday 2. Thankfully, the team has avoided re-election with two 11th place finishes since joining the I-League in the 1906 baseball season, so they were comfortably re-elected for the following year.

Houtmansland

Topklasse Divisie

Two losses in 21 straight games helped propel Bos Aan Zee to their second title in three years. Predicted to win the title in pre-season, Bos Aan Zee had a slow start to the season, winning just two times in the opening 8 fixtures didn’t do much to stop them from slipping to fourth place, trailing defending champions – and league leaders at the time – KBO Armweide by 9 points after 18 games. An 11-game unbeaten streak, prevented from 11 straight wins by a 0-0 draw with RKC Mesch, saw them leapfrog SHC Koedijk and KBO Armweide up into 2nd place, behind Eikenheuvel HC. It wasn’t until the season had 6 Matchdays left that Bos Aan Zee moved into top spot, where they stayed despite being swept by SHC Koedijk to finish out the year.

Both Eikenheuvel HC and KBO Armweide will rue what could’ve been after they both had a dip in form at the end of the year, with the latter losing 7 of their last 8 games to finish 3rd behind the former. Atletisch Bath had an uneventful year, dropping into 5th place after 4 weeks and never threatening the top 4 or bottom three, holding a whopping 14-point lead over HHV in 6th at one point.

RKC Mesch finished last, and it was no-less deserved after a 12-game winless streak followed after their victory over the eventual champions on the first Saturday of the season. They briefly moved ahead of SAE Zwingelspaan who had their own losing streaks broken up by the odd win in the middle of the year prior to a strong final 3 weekends saw them go undefeated against RKC Mesch and included series wins over KBO Armweide and Atletisch Bath to finish 7th.