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J. NELSON TAPPAN SELLS EXCELSIOR TO GRANT INGRAHAM
TAPPAN HAD RUN THE KNIGHTS SINCE THEIR FOUNDATION IN 1854

(In real life, Jeremiah Nelson Tappan was the first President of the Excelsior of Brooklyn Base Ball Club when it was created in 1854, and he ran it until sometime in 1857 (LINK). He later became the Chamberlain/Treasurer of the city of New York (LINK). I put him in my fictional universe just for the heck of it since I saw his name on the Excelsior Wikipedia article, and I did not think at all that he would end up owning my fictional version of the team for 44 in-game years.)

BROOKLYN, NY – An important chapter of New York baseball history came to a close today, as Jeremiah Nelson Tappan sold the Excelsior Knights to New York City businessman Grant Ingraham. Ingraham, born in Wisconsin and having made his money in the beef and dairy industries, has big long-term plans for the club. He told gathered reporters that he plans on putting plenty of his own money into Excelsior operations, while at the same time claiming to have a six-year plan to see Excelsior both become the highest-attended of the four professional NYC-area clubs and have the best stockpile of young talent in the APBL.

At the same time, the career of one of New York’s longest-serving baseball executives has come to an end. Until today, Jeremiah Nelson Tappan has been the only president or owner that the Excelsior Knights have ever had, becoming their first President in 1854, running the club through its days as one of the founding clubs of the NBBO, through its initial snub by the APBL in 1870-71, through its dominant 1870s that led Excelsior to be invited to the APBL eight years later (1879), and all the way through to the start of the Twentieth Century. In total, Tappan was the head of the club for forty-eight years – nearly a half-century. By the final years of his tenure in the Excelsior owner’s suite, the club had won its first President’s Cup and become one of the dominant teams in the APBL. On top of that, after initially struggling to turn profits in professional baseball Excelsior could also boast of some of the most stable finances in the sport, thanks to consistent profits in the mid-to-high five figures in recent years.

Tappan, who is 78 years old, said that now was a good time to finally slow down and retire. The man has certainly earned the right to do just that.