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GROVER WRIGHT GOES 10 INNINGS FOR WIN #300
LEGEND BECOMES 1ST TO DEBUT AFTER INAUGURAL SEASON TO REACH 300 N.B.B.O. WINS

NEW BEDFORD, MASS. (May 15, 1875) - Longtime New England foes Portland B.C. & Sons of the Ocean faced off in Massachusetts, and it took ten innings to find a victor:

After seven innings S.o.t.O. was in control, ahead 6-3 behind eight base hits and seven Portland fielding mistakes. Then, CF Jonathan Ovaska tied the score in T8 with a three-run Triple, and after an inning and half of scoreless baseball it was time for extra innings.

In the top of the 10th Ovaska drove in another run with a Single and he was followed with a two-run Single by SS Louis Beane to put Portland ahead 9-6. Grover Wright, who held S.o.t.O. hitless over the final three innings, had an easy time retiring the home team in B10 and the 4x defending New England champions had the victory.

For Wright, it was his 300th victory in the NBBO, making him the third pitcher to reach the milestone after Rainer van der Hout and Carl Bancroft.

Wright was the most dominant pitcher of the very early years of the N.B.B.O., and it was thought he would remain just that for the entirety of his career after the historic 1861 season that saw him become the first New York League pitcher to earn Most Valuable Player. However, Wright sensationally left Kings County, for whom he had a 93-42 record and 2.89 ERA, for Niagara after winning both M.V.P. and the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, and he’s been merely quite good ever since.

Grover Wright is a 2x time N.B.B.O. champion, 5x All-Star, 2x Team of the Year nominee, and a 3x Golden Glove winner in addition to being the 1861 New York League M.V.P. The Brooklyn native hopes that what is likely to be his final season in competitive baseball will end with his ninth trip to the playoffs and his first cup triumph in fourteen years.

For Wright, win #300 cements his status as one of the sport’s greatest pitchers.