[tm1681]

FANS WATCH 15-INNING HURLER’S DUEL IN CHICAGO
HANCOCK & NOWITZKI GO HEAD-TO-HEAD FOR MORE THAN A GAME & A HALF AT SOUTH SIDE PARK

CHICAGO, ILL. (June 20, 1882) - The St. Louis Saints took a train to Chicago so they could visit the South Chicago Griffons at South Side Park for the start of their series on Tuesday afternoon. What unfolded was the best Hurler’s Duel in the young history of the M.W.B.A.

For fans of tense, defensive baseball, this game was as good as it gets.

The Saints scored in the opening inning, with star CF Oscar Kress sprinting home from 2nd on a Single by 3B Colonel Hammond. Two batters in and it was 1-0, but little did the fans know that was all the scoring they would see until the bottom of the seventh, when the Griffons tied the game on a Triple by 2B Stanislaw Kowalczyk.

The final two innings went by without a Run, and it was time for Extra Innings with the game still even at 1-1. Then the tenth inning went by scoreless…and the eleventh…and the twelfth…and the thirteenth…and the fourteenth. Incredibly, both starting Hurlers, Robert Hancock for S. Chicago and Frank Nowitzki for St. Louis, were still in the game.

Then, the Saints took their bats for T15 and, after the first two men hit Singles, 2B Benjamin Buckler cracked a Triple to the gap in Right Center Field that sent both baserunners in and put the visitors ahead 3-1. In B15 The Griffons would advance a man to First Base but no further, and the St. Louis Saints had won both the longest game and greatest Hurler’s Duel to date in the M.W.B.A.

The final lines on both Hurlers:

• StLS P Frank Nowitzki: CG W (4-1, 0.72), 15.0 IP, 10 H, 1 R/1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 198 PIT – 90 GmSc (P: 1st)
• SCHI P Robert Hancock: CG L (5-7, 2.53), 15.0 IP, 17 H, 3 R/3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 217 PIT – 74 GmSc (P: T-21st)

One interesting thing about the game is that there was no shortage of hitting. The teams combined for 27 Hits (StLS: 17, SCHI: 10) and 42 total Baserunners (8 BB, 1 HbP, 6 E), but aside from the Herculean efforts by the Hurlers both teams’ fielders excelled as well, totaling six Double Plays, three Outfield Assists, and throwing out both men who tried to steal bases.

For the 2,593 in attendance at South Side Park, all were witness to a game that will be remembered for some time.