1885 MID-SEASON
It was another three-way fight for first place in the Dominion Association, as Manchester, Islington, and Lambeth sought a firm place atop the slippery pole. Lambeth came out of the gates first, headed by second-year pitcher John Taylor and the hitting of Patrick Nisbet. But injuries to Nisbet, Callum "Satchelfoot" Pegg, and William Gurston, acquired in the off-season from London, slowed the Lambs' forward momentum, and they were overtaken by Islington, who won sixteen of their first nineteen games in June. The story in Islington, as always, was the performance of left hander George Carrudders, who had a 25-8 record at the all-star break. The rest of the Owls' pitching staff, however, was nowhere near as good as Carrudders, and Manchester were able to keep pace with their solid offense, led by the seemingly ageless Connor "Plumber" Ayling, but the Millers' path hit a detour when Harry Kerry went on the disabled list in late June with a hamstring injury. Belfast's pitchers led the Association but they had little to show for it, as the Unions' lineup was the Association's worst, which meant that the team could not rise higher than fourth place.
Newcastle took the early lead in the League. Led by the hitting of George Warr and Ted Collingridge, the Greys won fifteen of their first twenty games and continued their winning ways through the end of May. In June, however, the Greys' advance stalled. Oufielder Graham Hodgkins broke his elbow on the last day of May, ending his season, and then veteran shortstop "Big" Toirealach Riseley was sidelined with a bad back. As the Greys tumbled in the standings, London ascended. Always at or near the top of the list of the BA's biggest payrolls, the Bulldogs had little to show for the free spending ways until this year. Sophomore right fielder Ciaran Chedsey led the team with a .338 average at the break, while veteran pitcher Robert Turnock was having one of the best years of his long career, winning twenty-three of his thirty-three decisions. The Bulldogs started June with an eleven-game winning streak and swept the Greys in a three-game set on the eve of the midsummer hiatus to solidify their hold on first place. Dublin had one of the best all-around players in outfielder Daniel Eridge, but lackluster pitching behind right hander Ivan Laverock relegated the Shamrocks to a distant third. A rash of injuries and inconsistent pitching saw the defending pennant winners Westminster struggle to reach the .500 plateau.
Belfast played host to the 1885 All-Star Game, and the 1,711 assembled spectators witnessed a high-scoring affair. The lead see-sawed back and forth until the bottom of the sixth, when, with the score tied at six apiece, the home team Dominions put four runs across the plate. Each team added another run before it was all over, and the Dominions won for the second-straight year, this time by the score of 11-7. Sheffield's Joel Inglis and Glasgow's Charlie "Wagon Tongue" Shield each had thee hits for the winners, and Islington's Tobias Purcell knocked in three runs. Shield, who also had three RBI, was named the game's most valuable player for the third time.