[John C]

Going into the final weekend of the 1901 season, all four leagues in the Association have pennant races. In the NBC, Milwaukee (82-69) leads KC by two games; Houston is all but out at three games back. Salt Lake City (87-64) has led wire-to-wire, and leads Denver by two heading into the final weekend.

In the ABC, however, the Perfectos, at 86-65, lead by a game over the surging New York Stars. The Stars, who were 43-40 at the end of June, have gone 42-26 since, and find themselves one game back heading into the final weekend. Meanwhile, their cross-town brethren, the Gothams, find themselves reeling...and tied with Boston. The Pilgrims, who were favored in the preseason to win it all, have struggled after flying out of the gate; they are 22-24 since August 1st. Team-wise, they are decidedly average; they rank middle of the pack offensively, and while their pitching is solid (2nd in the NA in ERA, first in hits allowed, 2nd in BABIP), they are simply not a team you fear. They will have Martin Taylor (19-17, 2.54) and Joe Emery (19-15, 2.53) throwing the final two games of their season, whereas the Gothams, without Pitcher of the Year candidate Tim Glover (24-10, 1.92) and starting battery mate Karl Maloney, are forced to rely on seldom-used Wayne Lucas (7-6, 3.82) in one of their games. The calling card of Boston is their consistency; all four of their starters have won at least 19 games.

On the final day of the season, the Perfectos and Pilgrims sat one game up on the New York teams. The Stars simply could not keep St. Louis from winning, while the Gothams could not stop losing (six straight heading into September 22nd). Meanwhile, in the Midwest League, Kansas City caught Milwaukee; worse for the Brewers, the last two losses occured in Kansas City...the site of their final game of the year. Salt Lake City clinched in beating Oakland.

And so, on September 22, 1901, the Brewers went into Kansas City, and knocked their heads off. Behind Jeremy Jackson's (23-14) stellar pitching (CG, 4 H, 3 K), and a steady offense--every starter had at least one hit--the Brewers clinched the ML with a 9-2 win.

In the ABC, St. Louis made things easy with a 10-4 victory over Boston. That clinched the Fed title for the Perfectos. However, they'll have to wait to see who they play. The Gothams needed some late-game heroics...they got it, and some hysterics. With the Barrons leading 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Edgardo Medellin tripled with one out. Lou Bennett walked, followed by a Carson Williams double that scored Medellin. Barron pitcher got Albert Thurman to ground out to second, not allowing Bennett to score the tying run. Armando Chavez coaxed a walk, however, bringing up starting pitcher Donald Laverty...with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Gothams sent their pitcher to the plate. A curious decision, but perhaps Duane Roger had a hunch. Either way, he was right. Fisher walked Laverty, scoring Bennett to tie it.

Two pitches later, a passed ball scored Williams, giving the Gothams a 5-4 win. That, combined with Pittsburgh's 1-0 win in Boston, set up a one-game playoff for the NA title.

In that game, the Clarence Jones scored the tie-breaking run on Medellin's single with two outs in the eighth, giving the Gothams a 4-3 win over the Pilgrims. Medellin went 4-4 with 3 RBI; Jones also went 4-4, scoring two runs. Lucas, the goat a few days before, outpitched Jim Gilmore (23-14) with a seven-hitter, en route to the win. Boston star Michael Thomas was hurt during the game, which no doubt affected the Pilgrims.

Thus, the matchups for the Association Playoffs are:

St. Louis Perfectos (Federal, 89-65) vs New York Gothams (National Assoc, 88-67)
Milwaukee Brewers (Midwest), 83-71 vs Salt Lake City (Pacific, 89-65)