A hundred years from now, historians will look back at the early days of baseball, and two names will stand above all: Jim Creighton and Forest City.
Creighton and Cleveland were nothing short of incredible in 1878: the 38-year-old hurler had an amazing 29-1 record (his only defeat coming in Chicago in June), while Forest City was 72-16...wow!
The rest of the loop wasn't too shabby, either: the defending champion Red Stockings won over two-thirds of their games, while the Mutuals of New York put together a late run to place third.
The Tri Mountains needed to beat Troy, 5-3, just to grab the last playoff spot. They made the most of it, upsetting Cincinnati, 2-1, to reach the Centennial Cup semifinal against in New York, who knocked out Rockford, 12-2. In the Semifinal, Mutual scored four times in the fourth -- all they needed in a 4-1 win to advance to the Cup Final.
And, wow, what a Cup Final!
In Game 1 in New York, Creighton won his 30th of the season, holding Mutual to four hits (and driving in a run himself) in a 4-2 victory.
Back in northeast Ohio, the two teams scored twelve runs in the first three innings, only to have the pitchers too regain control in the second half of the contest. Dick Higham's RBI single gave Mutual a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth, but Cleveland loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame, looking to nab the Cup. Alas, Bob Ferguson, who had already driven in a pair of runs earlier, popped up to give New York the win.
For the first time ever, the Centennial Cup Final was going to a third and decisive game...and Jim Creighton was on the mound, looking for his record-smashing 31st victory. But Mutual was not going down easy, notching runs in the second, third, fifth and seventh. Forest City scored three markers of their own, but going into the last of the ninth, it was 4-3, New York.
Mutual hurler Tommy Bond bore down, retiring the first two Cleveland batters. Charley Jones worked Bond to a 2-2 count, putting New York just one strike from the summit. And then Jones swung from his heels, smashing a double down the right field line, making him the potential winning run. And up stepped Jim Creighton, he of the .417 batting average.
The obvious thing to do here was to simply give Creighton the empty base -- obvious to everyone in the ballpark except Tommy Bond. Pride, they say, cometh before a fall, and Bond reared back and tossed Diamond Jim his most devastating fastball. Creighton slapped into left field, Bond scored the Cup-winner, and Forest City was on top again!
