[tm1681]

CHAMPIONSHIPS VERY CLOSE AT HALFWAY MARK
FIVE OF SIX CITY & REGIONAL LEADERS TIED OR AHEAD BY 1-2 GAMES

NORTHEASTERN U.S.A. (June 15, 1861) – The 48 member clubs of National Base Ball Organization have finished seven weeks of play, and that means the 1861 season is half-finished. Even though teams have played 35 games, most of the league’s six city & regional championships could not be much closer:

In Brooklyn Kings County is expectedly in first place with a 22-13 record, but once again they are looking at a stiff challenge from Atlantic B.B.C., who are just one game back. Four more teams – Bedford, Continental, Eckford, & Excelsior – are within a week’s worth of games.

In New York City the standings are almost as tight. Metropolitan are currently the surprise leaders at 22-13, but Gotham B.B.C. & Orange B.B.C. are two games back with Knickerbocker three behind. The surprisingly competent Hilltop of Yonkers, who have finished 7th, 7th, 7th, & last over the N.B.B.O.’s four seasons, are only four games behind Metro. Defending champions Mutual are six games out.

Upstate New York is surprisingly top-heavy. Typically a verifiable Conga Line in the standings, Syracuse B.B.C. & Utica B.B.C. are tied at the top at 23-12 but the only other team over .500 or within five games of the pair is mighty mites Eagle B.B.C. at four games back. Flour City, the defending Upstate champs, are seven games behind.

In the Coastal Championship there are two teams tied and in the clear at the top of the standings – not a surprise. What is a surprise: they are not Shamrock & Massachusetts Bay. Instead, it is Port Jersey & Trenton United who are 24-11 and five games ahead of third place. T.U. have finished in the top half of the Coastal three times, but Port Jersey have failed to do it since the inaugural season. Mass. Bay is the third-place team, while defending champions Shamrock are eight games back.

The Inland Championship is currently under control of Alleghany B.C., who are making up for last year with a 25-10 record - best in the N.B.B.O. - and a four-game lead over Susquehanna. Tied for third are Writers Pool favorite Merrimack Mills & Reading, both five games back. 1860 champions Scranton are just 14-21, eleven games out of first place and with one eye on next season.

It should surprise nobody that St. John’s B.C. are in first place in the New England Championship. However, they are currently tied for first with Green Mountain – both have 23-12 records. Sons of the Ocean are just two games back, and Oceanic B.C. – 7th, last, 6th, & 7th over league history – are an extremely surprising 19-16, placing them four games behind G.M. & STJ. It appears that this will be St. John’s’ toughest road to the New England Championship since the N.B.B.O.’s first season.

There are seven weeks left in the 1861 season, and it is still anyone’s guess as to who will be the six teams still standing to compete in the playoffs.