In the American Cup playoffs, three of the four teams that squared off to face Fall River in the A Cup Final were from the Buckeye state -- including one legendary club, who faced a side from just a few miles to the north: Cincinnati versus Dayton. In Game 1, Cincy's Bud Black was strafed for six Dayton runs in the fourth, keyed by a two-run double by Charlie Briggs. But Black stayed in the box, and the Reds struck back with five tallies in the fifth to tie the game at six. Still tied at seven, Black got his revenge at the plate in the seventh, lashing a two-run double of his own, and the Red Stockings went on to win, 10-7. (Surprisingly, the crowd at the Palace of the Fans was shockingly thin: barely three thousand were in attendance.)
In the second game, the Reds jumped to a 7-1 lead through four, and held a 9-4 advantage after six and a half, before the Vets struck back with five in the seventh. In the eleventh, though, it looked like Cincy had clinched the game and the best-of-three series by taking an 11-9 lead. But with two out in the bottom of the frame, Dayton knocked three straight hits off little-used reliever Scott Stratton, with Billy Myers driving in the winning run. 12-11, series tied.
But the decider looked like it would go to the Reds, grabbing a 3-1 lead in the eighth, before Dayton closed the gap to a single run on a sac fly by Ed Whiting. In the ninth, the Vets were again one out away from elimination, until Briggs' RBI double forced extras. And in the tenth, with two on and (again!) two out, Jesse Burkett was the hero with an RBI single. Hail to the Veterans!
In the other quarterfinal, the Active club of Reading went into Toledo and cleaned the Blue Sox, 7-0, as Bill Hawke scattered ten hits in the shutout. Not to be outdone, the Sox went into Reading and won, 6-4, as Germany Smith drove in four runs. The third and final game was a tight one: Reading held a 3-2 lead after eight innings, before the Blue Sox hurler Adonis Terry scored from second on a single (and outfield error) to force extras. Both teams threatened in the tenth, but in the eleventh winning pitcher Hawke was again the hero, driving in John Irwin with the winning run.
The A Cup semifinal was a wild one, as forty men crossed the plate in the first two games in Pennsylvania: Reading won the opener in ten innings, 9-8, as pinch-hitter John Shaw raced home with the winning run on an error, and Dayton took game two, 13-10, mashing no fewer than
22 hits, including five from Jesse Burkett. Whew!
In Game 3, Charlie Briggs -- the only Vets batter without a hit in the previous contest -- sent two Bert Alley pitches over the wall, including a three-run blast in the sixth, as Dayton won, 12-5. But -- not so fast! -- the Actives lived up to their name by taking the fourth game, as 100-RBI man Eddie Burke had three hits in an 8-3 win. Series tied!
After no fewer than 68 runs were scored by the teams in the first four games, the tone of the final game was obvious: a pitcher's duel. Dayton's Win Kummel held off Reading for eight innings, shutting them out on four hits, while Heinie Pietz and Kellum himself scored single runs in the third and fourth frames to make it, 2-0. But Reading would not give up: Henry Jones drew a walk, and Eddie Burke lined a triple to cut the lead to one, with the tying run just ninety feet away. But Bill Hassamaer ground out to short, and Dayton would meet the Marksmen for the Cup.
