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1848:

Like all the years before it, 1848 probably doesn’t register on many a baseball fan's radar. The clubs were not real teams yet, they represented districts and professions and not cities, and the game still looked much different. The reality though, is that the events of 1848 alone could fit into a book entirely on its own. We will do our best to give this momentous year the justice it truly deserves.

Harry Edwards: The Death of a Forefather

The Governor of the Cherry Arch Baseball Club and the man who deserved the lion’s share of credit for the creation of the N.A.B.L was dead at the age of 44. Edwards passed on January 3rd 1848 from what was called “consumption” at the time. Today we know that consumption is pulmonary tuberculosis which is a bacterial infection that normally attacks the lungs. What people didn’t understand in the 19th century was how the bacteria was passed, although they were well aware of how deadly it was for those who became infected. Although none of Edwards' writings hinted at any health issues, it would be hard to imagine he didn’t have some idea what was happening to him. What is a more plausible explanation was that Edwards may have tried to hide his symptoms (he was no longer an active player) from others. People with consumption were often locked away in sanatoriums at this time but a man with means, like Edwards, was clearly able to avoid that fate as he died in his own home. In life, Edwards was a successful lawyer that worked to protect the interests of “Edwards Shipping”, one of the largest shipping lines in all of Normington. As successful as he was in his field of endeavor, it is his contributions to the game of baseball that Edwards may have been most proud of. Not only was Edwards the inaugural Governor of the Cherry Arch Baseball Club, he set up the first meeting of clubs back in February of 1840 that codified the first set of playing rules. Edwards was also responsible for creating the first Cherry Arch Cup Tournament and creating the trophy that is awarded to the winner of the tournament. In 1845, with the help of Charles Brewster, Edwards helped to establish the N.A.B.L. and continued to act as its unofficial commissioner until the time of his death. When it comes to measuring those who have impacted the game of baseball and were responsible for its growth and success, Edwards would have to rank pretty high on such a list. Harry Edwards was interned at St. Whelan’s cemetery in a family crypt in Ipsen, Ironhorse.

The Battle of Redpenny:

Although Normington is a united country at this juncture in history, it does not mean that such a union was stable. Tensions between Ironhorse and Folmer over trading rights in the Indigo Ocean had been an issue for years. Without getting too deep into the minutia of the myriad of connecting issues related to these tensions, we will just stick to the basics when it comes to the battle of Redpenny.

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Poor Redpenny. Thanks to geographical positioning they are named for a battle where not a single shot was fired in their city. Or the state of Alborne for that matter. Redpenny became famous for the simple fact that their city was used as a line of demarcation when it came to shipping rights between Ironhorse and Folmer. Everything West of the line was considered the Endless Ocean which was Ironhorse territory and everything East was considered the Indigo Ocean which Folmer owned the rights to. One can immediately see the problem. A line on a map creates serious confusion when it is applied to a physical surface. Vessels from both states frequently crossed over into another's territory. Both states agreed to a zone of acceptance where as long Folmer ships didn’t cross over Egerton in the West and Ironhorse ships past Morion in the East then all would be well. The zone of acceptance was never part of any treaty however and when it was discovered that better hauls existed in the Indigo Ocean all sorts of shenanigans materialized from companies out of Ironhorse. Angry words led to rash decisions. Companies began hiring privateers to act as protection which inevitably led to shots being fired. Whether those shots were fired in defense or in aggression is a matter of perspective and interpretation. What it did lead to was a trade embargo and a closing of the borders between Ironhorse and Folmer. This would have major implications for the game on the field.

N.A.B.L:

While it may seem the fallout of the Ironhorse/Folmer border closing wouldn’t have too large of an impact on the NABL, they would lose arguably one of their top clubs. West Town was the disputed champion from a season ago and always put together a competitive side. The loss of such a strong club threatened to upset the balance of the whole league. Furthermore, with the passing of Edwards the league as a whole was in serious trouble of continuing. Who would be the 6th club to round out the schedule that Edwards had originally created? It was a pivotal time for the league and thankfully Charles Brewster of Moon Lodge did his best to fill the void of Edwards’ leadership. Brewster as you know was a man that embraced the dramatics and his first and last conversation was with Paul Barnes of the Butcher Boys. Barnes needed little convincing and the Butcher Boys became the newest and youngest team in the N.A.B.L. Some of the other clubs were less than happy with Brewster for approaching the Butcher Boys. Some felt like an older club with more tradition was a better fit for the league. Brewster held firm though as he knew that after last season's “Battle for Ipsen” the Butcher Boy’s fanbase would be much larger than it currently was. Every game they were involved in would be an opportunity for money to be made. To Brewster, it was a no-brainer.

Breakdown of Clubs:

With the borders between Ironhorse and Folmer closed, baseball in Normington took on a regional flair in 1848. In the West you had the six team N.A.B.L which consisted of:

Westgate
Moon Lodge
White Bridge
Cherry Arch
Stormtown
Butcher Boys

Also in the West these ten independent clubs were in operation:

West Port
Clover
Cour’s Green
Groves
Pearl Crossing
Ivy Lawn
Pearlhill
Tailorsfield
Haygreen
Highfield

In the East these clubs dominated the circuit:

West Town
Bright Steps
South Town
Sunset Gate
North Gate
Forges
Amich’s Bridge
Woolgrove
Iron Grove
Summergate

As it has been noted before these were not the only 36 clubs in all of Normington. These are just the 36 where we have found some rough evidence as being at a slightly higher tier (and have recorded information for) than other club names we have run across in our research.

The popular theory is that with the border closed travel time between opponents was significantly shorter in many instances allowing for clubs to fit a few more games into their competitive schedules. Here is how the season played itself out.

Cherry Arch Cup:

The summer had not been too kind to Westgate and by the time the Cherry Arch Cup was set to be played during the third weekend in September, the boys from Ipsen knew their only shot at glory was through the tournament they would host. It would be an uphill battle though as some of the best clubs in the West were on hand to battle for dominance. The tournament field was made up of the following eight clubs:

Butcher Boys (Ipsen)
Stormtown (Oldgate)
Moon Lodge (Ipsen)
Westgate (Ipsen)
Groves (Winterhalter)
West Port (Fenkell)
Ivy Lawn (Oxberry)
Clover (Ipsen)

All of the matches would be played at Westgate Field on the Wharton Grounds.

Quarterfinals:

Stormtown over the Butcher Boys 31-23
Moon Lodge over Groves 38-27
Clover over Ivy Lawn 27-26
Westgate over West Port 45-44

The opening round of action drew massive crowds to see the fan favorite Butcher Boys go down in a stunner to Stormtown. Sources would say that it was a perfect beginning to an amazing day of action to the well attended event. Moon Lodge needed a furious rally at the end of the match to clip Groves by a single run. In game three of the day Clover gave up the lead in the top of the last inning just to get it back in the bottom half to claim victory over Ivy Lawn. The day's finale featured host Westgate keeping their tournament hopes alive with a come from behind one run victory over West Port. With three of the four matches decided by a single run, and the Westgate as the host still alive, the crowds were sure to return the next day for the semifinal round.

Semifinals:

Stormtown over Moon Lodge 36-25
Clover over Westgate 38-30

It would have been hard for the high drama from the day before to be repeated for a second straight day. In the semifinals the favorites carried the day which would in fact end Westgate’s chances of winning consecutive Cherry Arch Cups. The Final would feature Stormtown against Clover, with the winner claiming their first ever Cherry Arch Cup.

Final:

One of the great early baseball traditions in Normington is the Cherry Arch Cup being played the same weekend as the annual fish festival that occurred annually in several Normington cities. Since 1841 the Final has taken place on the last day of the festival and has come to mark the unofficial end of the celebration. In 1848 the Final featured a strong Stromtown club from the city of Oldgate against Clover, one of the many clubs from Ipsen. By all accounts Stormtown had the better club in ‘48 but Clover had the crowd as the Westgate field in Wharton Grounds was located in Ipsen. Is this possibly an early example of club pride bleeding over into city pride? With the crowd firmly on the Clover side they were able to handle Stormtown with relative ease to win their first Cherry Arch Cup.

Clover over Stromtown 32-19

Mersey Invitational:

As previously noted, the Cherry Arch Cup was not the only tournament that would take place over the course of a baseball season. It was simply the largest, most prominent and kept the best records thanks to a variety of sources. Other tournaments were not so lucky. Still, the largest reason as to why the Cherry Arch Cup was covered in this work above all others is because it was conducted using the agreed upon rule set adopted by the N.A.B.L. For 1848 though, we would like to document another tournament that took place. The sealed border between Ironhorse and Folmer iced out all of the Eastern clubs that traditionally entered into the Cherry Arch Cup. While no replacement tournament was created for clubs out East, Lyndon Stevens from Forges, had an idea to host a four team invitational during the final week of October featuring four of the top clubs in the East. Of course, identifying the top clubs was completely subjective since all records were unofficial. Although, based on those unofficial records it looks as if they did a pretty solid job in selecting clubs. All of the matches were to take place at Bailey Grounds, the home field of the Forges Club.

Mersey Invitational:

Forges (Mersey)
Iron Grove (Claburn)
South Town (Millharbour)
West Town (Mersey)

Semifinal:

Forges over West Town 40-25
Iron Grove over South Town 49-48

Iron Grove needed to pull out all the stops to get past South Town to earn a spot to take on Forges in the Final.

Final:

Forges over Iron Grove 44-27.

Forges’ was clearly the most dominant club in the Eastern half of Normington in the 1848 season. There is no record if any trophy was presented or if the invitational was merely for bragging rights.

N.A.B.L.:

With the first round defeat in the Cherry Arch Cup behind them the Butcher Boys went right back to dominating their N.A.B.L. schedule. Based on the records available it looks as if the Butcher Boys finished the season with an impressive 25-5 record, five games better than Stromtown who finished in second position. While the Butcher Boys were clearly beatable on any given day, over the long haul of an entire season, they were arguably the best baseball club in all of Normington. Here is a look at the final standings.

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Not long after the leaves changed color in Normington did they begin to pull away from the branches they called home signaling the end of another baseball season. As a constant reminder, records for all other clubs outside of the N.A.B.L. are pure speculation. It is still very challenging at times to get an accurate account of match outcomes. These standings were compiled by our research team and in no way are they meant to imply such standings were kept in this manner in 1848.

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1848 Aftermath:

Cherry Arch Folds:

With the loss of club patriarch Harry Edwards, this may have been a foregone conclusion. Without Edwards, the club was really not the same. Harry Edwards was Cherry Arch and to a greater extent the N.A.B.L. Both were in his blood and although others made an attempt to step up and fill the void, the shoes were simply too big to fill. Even still, had Edwards lived the future of the N.A.B.L. was already in jeopardy. “The Good Old Boys” league (with emphasis on the word “old”) was aging out. Players were in their late thirties and early forties and the game was passing them by. This wasn’t a Cherry Arch problem alone, but a league wide issue that was exposed when the Butcher Boys, with their young energetic squad, ran through the league like some conquering heroes. Along with Cherry Arch, the White Bridge Club out of Jipson would also fold before the calendar would flip to 1849. With the N.A.B.L. down to four clubs, Charles Brewster had his work cut out for him if he wanted to see the N.A.B.L. survive in ‘49.