1884 MLB Championship Series
22nd August 1884
The fans of the Brooklyn Atlantics are celebrating hard tonight as their team took their second MLB Championship title, their first since the inaugural season in 1871. The series itself was hard fought as it went the full seven games with the Atlantics bringing home the title in the last game.
Game 1 saw the Atlantics take an early lead in the series after a 4-3 win over 12 innings. Pitcher Mickey Welch picked up the star player award after giving up only 1 earned run over the 12 innings. Third Baseman Fred Corey also had a good game as he managed 3 hits 1 run and 1 RBI.
The second game saw the Atlantics extend their lead in the series to 2-0 after picking up a 5-3 win. The team jumped to an early lead with 3 runs in the 3rd inning to lead 4-1 that would see them home. The star player was pitcher Jim Whitney who gave up only 1 earned run in 9 innings. Catcher Jim O'Rourke also had a good game as he claimed 2 hits, 1 run and 3 RBI's including a home run in the 3rd inning.
Game 3 saw the Atlantics pegged back to a 1 game lead as they were blown away 3-11 in the first road trip of the series. The pitching was very mixed as The Only Nolan picked up the loss on 4 innings pitched where the team let go 9 runs none of which were credited against him. The pitching didn't turn up and this also reflected in their fielding as they gave up 8 errors in a bad game.
The Atlantics bounced back from their game 3 drubbing by winning a tight fourth game 6-5 over 10 innings. This game was won on an excellent 6th inning with 4 runs scored and a wonderful save in inning 10 from The Only Nolan with the game on the line. This save gave The Only Nolan the star man award for the game. The 6th inning surge was led by a home run scored by pitcher Mickey Welch.
The Atlantics failed to capitalise on this win in game 4 as they went down 4-5 in the 5th game. The team were in line to take this game and the series right up until the 9th inning when the enormity of what they were about to achieve saw them crack under the pressure. The team gave up 3 runs in the 9th inning to lose the game. The loss went to pitcher Jim Whitney. The batting was steady as they gained 9 hits for their 4 runs.
The Affects of the late loss in game 5 were still evident in the Atlantics play in game 6 as they lost 6-11 to be hauled back to level in the series. The Atlantics managed to keep the game close through 6 innings as the game went to a 4-5 scoreline before they again threw it away in the later innings by giving up 6 runs. The loss was awarded to Denny Driscoll who managed only 7.1 innings. The batting was a team affair.
The Atlantics finally got hold of their nerves in the final game of the series to get themselves over the line and win the Championship. The game itself was a very tight affair as in all the others right up until the 8th innings when the Atlantics finally broke free with 6 unanswered runs to take the game. Mickey Welch picked up his 3rd win of the series and another star man award. The team scored the 6 runs in the 8th inning from only 2 hits and 4 errors by the opponents.
22nd August 1884
The fans of the Athletics are crying into their beers tonight as they saw their team narrowly miss out on another MLB Championship. The team went down 3-4 over the seven game series that was hard fought.
The first game saw the Athletics lose a close fought affair over 12 innings 3-4. George Derby picked up the loss for 11.2 innings pitched with 4 earned runs against him. The batting didn't really turn up as they managed only 5 hits over the whole game.
Game 2 saw the Athletics fall 2 games behind in the series as they went down 3-5 in a game where they gave the Atlantics an early 1-4 lead that they could never get back. The loss went to Tim Keefe as he gave up 2 earned runs in his 8 innings pitched. The batting again failed to show with another 5 hit game.
The Athletics roared back into the series with a wonderful 11-3 win at home. This superb scoreline was led by star man pitcher Pud Galvin who gave up only 9 hits and 2 earned runs from his 9 innings pitched for the win. As for the batting, they went wild in innings 3 and 4 as they scored 9 unanswered runs. These wonderful innings were a team affair as they picked up 4 hits and 4 runs in the 3rd and 5 runs and 3 hits for the 4th.
After getting themselves back into the series in game 3, the Athletics let it slip again in game 4 by losing another tight game 5-6 after 10 innings. This loss can be put down to a bad 6th inning and also not being able to close the game out when it was on the line in the 10th. The loss went to Pud Galvin as he failed to gain the save in the 10th inning after relieving starter George Derby. The batting was again a team affair.
With the series on the line the Athletics managed to get themselves a second win in the series. They took it to the wire as they won the 5th game of the series 6-5 with a 3run blast in the 9th inning. This comeback win was all down to the strong pitching of Tim Keefe to keep them in the game and a wonderful triple scored by Paul Hines.
The Athletics gained confidence from their late win in the fifth game to push forward in the 6th game to tie the series at 3 apiece. They won the game 11-6 in what was a close game until the late innings. The team were only 5-4 up after 6 innings before they blew the game open in innings 7 and 8 with 6 runs. The win was awarded to Left Fielder George Wood who managed 3 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI's in his 5 at bats. The win went to Henry Boyle.
Game 7 saw the Athletics throw the title away as they blew their chance in a bad 8th inning of a 1-7 loss. The team was on its way to a possible title as both teams were tied 1-1 after 7 innings only to see the fielding collapse as they gave away 6 runs in the 8th. The team gave up 4 errors and 2 hits in the 8th seeing 6 runs scored against them. The loss went to Pud Galvin while the batting had a bad game.