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NEWARK PAINTS 30-RUN MASTERPIECE V NATIONAL
MIDDLE OF LINEUP & PITCHER RATICAN CLUB BALL ALL OVER THE FIELD V HOPELESS VISITORS

NEWARK, N.J. (June 29, 1877) - National & Newark met at Ironbound Park in New Jersey for the third game of their series on Friday, and it was a nine-inning party for the hosts as they ran up the score:

There’s not much to say about the proceedings. It was 4-3 to National after the top of the third inning, but from that point on Newark scored TWENTY-EIGHT UNANSWERED RUNS to take the biggest win in team history and keep them at arm’s length from the Coastal Championship competition.

Nearly every member of the Newark lineup had a grand old time against National:

• NEW #1 Jacob Kaulback (LF): 1/4 (2B), 4 R, 0 RBI, 2 BB, SB
• NEW #2 William Ioffe (3B): 3/7 (2B, 4 TB), 4 R, 3 RBI, SAC BUNT
• NEW #4 Thomas Fetterman (RF): 4/8, 3 R, 2 RBI
• NEW #5 Gus Carlson (CF): 4/7 (HR, 7 TB), 4 R, 3 RBI
• NEW #6 Mikael Strijbis (SS): 3/7 (2B, 3B, 6 TB), 2 R, 3 RBI
• NEW #7 Robert Greer (2B): 1/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
• NEW #8 Henry Robertson (C): 1/5, 2 R, 0 RBI, 2 BB

You’ll notice that two members of the lineup were left out. That’s because they had even better performances than the other seven men who started for Newark.

First up, P John Ratican, who had a fine game with the ball and a great one with the bat:

• NEW #9 John Ratican (P): 5/6 (2 2B, 7 TB), 4 R, 5 RBI, SAC BUNT, 99 GMSC
• NEW P John Ratican: CG (15-6, 1.63), 7 HA, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 67 GMSC

What made Ratican’s day remarkable is that he’s far from known for his batwork. A career .196 hitter (.432 OPS), Ratican’s 5/6 performance raised his 1877 Average to a comparatively robust .235 (.503 OPS, 43 OPS+).

Incredibly, Newark 1B Charles Laczkowski managed to be even greater with the bat than Ratican:

• B1: 1-run Single to CF off B. Lauppe (R)
• B2: Fly Out to CF (3 out)
• B4: Single past 2B off B. Lauppe (R)
• B4: 2-run Single past 2B off F. Skiff (R)
• B5: Reached via Error by 2B C. Dudek (R)
• B6: 1-run Single past 1B off A. Herrin (R)
• B7: 2-run Single to LF off A. Herrin
• B8: 1-run Single past 2B off J. Bettis
• TOTAL: 6/8 (all 1B), 5 R, 7 RBI, 124 GMSC (season high)

Laczkowski’s seven Runs Batted in tied the N.B.B.O. season high that had already been set by two other players, and his 124 Game Score set a new season high, with his day at Ironbound Park already the tenth this season with a 100+ Game Score. His average now sits at .339 (.816 OPS) with 38 RBI through 38 games.

The above in mind, putting together John Ratican’s pitching performance with his batting performance gives him a total game score of 166, which would EASILY be the season high if the N.B.B.O. took two-way efforts from Pitchers into account.

The win kept Newark four games ahead of Port Jersey atop the Coastal Championship standings with a record of 28-10. National is 14-23 (13.5 GB), currently in seventh place.