Results from the playoffs
16th October 1880
The city of Chicago is recovering from another blinding hangover today as the town partied until the small hours of the morning to celebrate a 5th MLB Championship and their 3rd consecutive win. The difference in this series came down to who's pitching staff was strongest. Our White Stockings showed that they had the best in Jim Britt, Bill McGunnigle and Candy Cummings.
The team lost the opening game by a score of 5-10. This was probably their worst showing on the mound as Cummings struggled through 5 innings for the loss, giving up 4 earned runs before being pulled. Ned williamson put up some fight from a batting perspective as he collected 5 hits and 2 runs along with 2 RBI's. He earned the star player for this performance in a losing effort.
Game 2 saw the White Stockings bounce back behind the arm of veteran superstar Jim Britt. Britt gave up only 2 earned runs in the White Stockings 7-3 win as he pitched all 9 innings and picked up the win and player of the game. The batting did enough to score 6 early runs so that the Blues were never in the contest. The best was Harry Stovey who picked up 3 hits for 2 runs and an RBI.
Game 3 looks like it was even more one sided than the second with a score line of 8-1. This though hides the fact that the teams were tied 1-1 going into the top of the 8th inning. The White Stockings batting then woke up and blew the Blues away with 3 runs in the 8th and 4 in the 9th. The pitching of Bill McGunnigle was solid all game as he pitched all 9 innings for the win. He saw only 1 run scored while he was pitching and that was not his fault. He was awarded star man. The hot bat in the game was Catcher Ned Williamson again with 3 hits and 3 runs.
The fourth game in the series saw the White Stockings pegged back to 2-2 in the series as they were all but shut down by the Blues. The team lost the game 1-4 and the batting was never in the contest as they were held to only 3 hits all game. The pitching of Candy Cummings was solid but he never had a chance at the win with the batting being so poor. He gave up 4 runs in the 8 innings he pitched.
Game 5 saw the White Stockings re-take the lead in the series with a wonderful 14-6 win. This scoreline though still flatters the White Stockings batters as they scored 8 of those runs in the 10th inning to take the game away from the Blues. The star of the show was again Catcher Ned Williamson as he claimed 4 hits and 4 runs along with 3 RBI's. He was player of the game for this work. The pitching of Jim Britt was steady if not spectacular as he pitched the win from 10 innings.
The final game of the series was a close affair as both teams pushed for the vital win. In the end the White Stockings just had enough to take the series with a 6-5 win. They started strong with 3 early runs only to see themselves behind 4-5 going into the 9th. They then managed a 2 run blast to finish the series and retain their MLB Championship. The batting was again led by Ned Williamson who had 2 hit along with 1 run and 1 RBI. The pitching of Bill McGunnigle was solid with 12 hits and 2 earned runs against him over the 9 innings.
16th October 1880
For a second season running the Blues fans saw their team come up short in the final series. The team tried its best but were no match for the White Stockings strong pitching line up. The only thing the fans can hope for now is for it to be third time lucky with a hope that the team will return again next year to earn the win.
Game 1 saw the Blues jump to an early 1-0 lead in the series behind some strong batting that scored 7 early runs in the first 4 innings to help win the game 10-5. The star with the bat was Third Baseman Roger Connor who picked up 2 hits to score 3 runs and 3 RBI's along with a home run. Lee Richmond was solid enough from the mound to pick up the win on 9 innings pitched with 5 earned runs given up.
The second game saw the Blues pegged back to level for the series as the White Stockings stopped the flow of runs behind the arm of their pitching. The Blues pitching itself had a tough game as they gave up 6 early runs in the 3-7 loss that never saw the team in the contest. The pitching that allowed the early slump was led by Jim McCormick who saw all 7 runs taken off of his pitching . The only good news for him was that only 1 of those runs was attributed to him in the 6 innings he pitched. First Baseman Michael Campbell was the only batter to put up any decent numbers in the line up with 4 hits and 1 run.
The scoreline from the third game may make it look like the Blues were blown away 1-8 but they were in the contest right up until the 8th inning when their pitching faltered. The score after 7 innings was tied at 1-1 before the White Stockings took 7 runs from our Blues team in the last 2 innings. Will White put up a good first 7 innings before tiredness, due to his long injury lay off this year, caused the teams down fall as he gave up 7 runs in innings 8 and 9. The batting had a tough day against the White Stockings pitching only picking up 7 hits all game.
The Blues managed to pick themselves up after the hard loss in the third game to post a very respectable 4-1 win in game 4 to tie the series back at 2-2. Lee Richmond had another excellent day on the mound as he allowed 0 runs from 3 hits in the 9 innings he pitched. He picked up player of the game for this work. The only run scored by the White Stockings was on an error by the fielding unit. The batting did enough to pick up 4 single runs in 4 different innings to give the team the win.
The Blues put up an excellent fight in game 5 to hold the game close until the extra innings as they lost 6-14. After 9 innings the Blues were tied at 6-6 with the White Stockings. The pitching then fell apart as they gave up 8 runs in the final inning. The loss went to reliever Tricky Nichols who pitched the final 2 innings to give up those 8 runs. The pitching was its steady self as they picked up 6 runs from 12 hits and kept the team close until the end.
The Blues tried their hardest to take the series to a final game decider but didn't have enough to get the extra wins needed. They lost game 6 by a score of 5-6 and could have won it but for a final 2 run blast from the White Stockings in the 9th inning. Will White gave his best from the mound pitching 8.2 innings and only giving up 9 hits with 0 earned runs against him. He was player of the game with this effort. The batting was solid all round with the best being Short Stop Jim Snyder with 3 hits and 2 runs scored.