With the Mutuals failing (and the so-called Greater New York club being handed the wooden spoon in 1894, only to bounce back to mid-table in '95), the New York Giants were looking to become the Big Apple's top ballclub. After finishing fifth on the season, the Jints promptly dispatched second-place Wilmington in the quarterfinals, quickly stepping to 7-2 and 9-2 victories. In the other quarterfinal, 29-game winner Jack Stivetts and the Grand Rapids Shamrocks, determined to make it to the NA in 1896, dropped the opener of the best-of-three series to Lowell -- with Stivetts himself taking the loss. But the 'Rocks bounced back with a 7-3 win in western Michigan, then sent Stivetts to the mound for Game 3. Lawrence Farley and Ed Callahan each drove in three runs, and Stivetts did the rest, scattering ten hits in a 7-2 win.
At New York's Polo Grounds for the semifinal, the Giants stood tall, winning the opener, 8-2, as Fred Tenney mowed down the Shamrocks on six hits. In Game 2, with Stivetts starting for Grand Rapids, the clubs were tied at five going into the last of the ninth, with both teams scoring thrice in the seventh. In the ninth, 38-year-old Bill Phillips, who had spent most of his nineteenth pro season on the bench, was tabbed as a pinch hitter and lashed a triple. With Tom Morrison at the plate, Stivetts uncorked a wild pitch, giving NY a 6-5 win and a 2-0 series lead.
Back in Grand Rapids, the Shamrocks needed a Phenomenal game -- and they got it, as Phenomenal Smith fired a five-hit shutout in a 9-0 victory; the GR hitters helped, with 15 hits. In Game 4, Stivetts started again, and quickly revealed he had little left in tank, allowing a run in the first inning, two runs in the second and two more in the fifth. The Shamrocks fought back to make it 5-4, and put runners on second and third in the ninth, but the Giants held on to punch their tickets to the American Cup Final against Philadelphia.
More than a few ball fans think that the Richmond Rebels should've been named the "Elevators" -- with an extra-large DOWN button. An expansion team in the NA in 1885, Richmond promptly finished dead last and were dispatched to the AA -- and finished dead last again in 1887. Then they rebounded, taking the Union pennant and Cup in 1888 and an American Cup playoff spot in '89, but by 1891 they were back in the third tier.
In the Union Cup quarterfinals, though, a Rebel uprising was at hand. Ernie Burch slammed a three-run homer as Richmond took the first game, 7-5. In the second contest, the Pittsburgh Alleghneys
[EDITOR'S NOTE: That does it. I'm tired of trying to remember how to spell "Alleghneys". I'm changing their name next year. "Pirates"? Maybe. Dunno yet.] looked like they would even the series when they jumped to a 7-3 lead in the fourth, powered by six singles, three walks and a Charlie Abbey dinger.
But the Rebels fought on, scoring two in both the fourth and the fifth and one more in the eighth to tie the game at eight. In the bottom of the ninth, Charlie Pickering (one of six defensive replacements the Rebels made in the eighth inning) drew a walk, then tried to steal second; Tug Arundel then chopped the ball in front of home plate, causing him and Pittsburgh catcher Jerry Harrington. The ump called a catcher's interference on Harrington -- one of the rarest plays in baseball -- putting two runners on. After a groundout moved both runners up, rookie Ambrose McGann (another of the defensive replacements) knocked a single to plate the game-winner, 9-8.
[Now, I'll never have to type "Alleghneys" ever again! Huzzah! -- Ed.]
Once upon a time, the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois -- they got the name from the great Forest City of Cleveland club when the Ohioans came to town in 1868 and slaughtered the locals, 51-12 -- were an original franchise of the National Association. Led by the great Cap Anson, they played in six straight Centennial Cup playoffs from 1875-80, making it to the final game in '75, only to lose, 3-1, to their namesakes from Cleveland. After a second-place finish and another Cup playoff appearance in 1883, though, the club began to slide, slipping to near the bottom of the table in 1887. The newspapers and many fans decided the problem was their best player and manager, Cap Anson. On July 1, 1887, the Rockfords did the unthinkable -- they released Anson, saying the 35-year-old was "too slow". Anson promptly moved north and joined the Chicago Colts, batting .405 and leading them to a Union Cup title.
While "The Marshalltown Infant" remains a solid player at the age of 43 -- his 3,353 hits is a pro baseball record -- the Forest Citys have gone in the other direction, finishing last in the NA in 1888 and last again in the AA four years later. Now, with new blood like the great Negro shortstop Grant Johnson and solid veterans such as lefty hurler Peter Sommers, the Rockfords finished in second in the UA, guaranteeing a promotion to the AA for next year. In the playoffs, Rockford drilled the Scranton Miners (making their first Cup appearance) in two straight, 10-6 and 12-3, setting up a Rockford-Richmond
repechage
In the semifinal opener in Virginia, the Rebels attacked with four runs in the eighth to seal a 6-2 win, then opened up a 2-0 series lead as Burch slammed a bases-clearing triple in a six-run fourth inning, holding on to win, 9-7. Back in Rockford, it looked like a sweep was at hand when 22-year-old rookie sensation Jim Gardner was gifted a 4-0 lead in the second inning -- aided by Gardner's own RBI single -- but Rockford struck back to make it a 5-5 tie going into the bottom of the ninth. Gardner gave way to change pitcher Wil Calihan, who got the first two betters out but yielded a Jay Faatz single, followed by a Jack Brennan double to keep Forest City alive, 6-5.
The fourth game was another thriller: the clubs produced free baseball when they remained knotted, 5-5, after nine stanzas. Richmond looked to finally clinch the series when they scored two in the top of the 11th, thanks to rookie Jim Collopy (who had just 17 at-bats in the regular season), who hit a pinch-hit two-run single to make it 8-7. But...not so fast! With the bases loaded, two out and one run already in, 38-year-old John Morrissey slipped a single down the first-base line, scoring the winning runs and evening the series!
Unlike the Centennial Cup Final of the previous year, home teams had a perfect 4-0 record in this series, and Richmond looked to make it 5-0 when the deciding game was played on Mayo Island Park in Richmond. This time, the Rebs ensured there would be no last-minute heroics: Richmond scored four times, including Burch's two-run single in the third inning, and cruised to a 7-2 win...setting up a date with Fall River for the Union Cup!
