As the third season of the association was drawing to a close, James was feeling pretty good about what he had accomplished so far. Collegiate baseball was expanding in popularity and the universities and colleges in the association were seeing money roll in from the crowds. But on May 6th, James encountered a new issue. It seems as though two players had gotten into a fight during a game, causing the benches to clear and resulting in both players getting ejected from the contest by the umpire. James was told the hitter had taken offense to the pitcher throwing inside, nearly striking the hitter. Apparently, it was the last straw for the hitter, who then took his frustrations out on the pitcher.
James felt like he had no choice and had to use this incident to show the association members that this kind of behavior would not be tolerated. As a result, James suspended Mike Hartman of Fordham, a junior center fielder and Nick Pendleton, a sophomore relief pitcher for Lehigh. Both students were suspended for two games, but James advised both schools that further violations would lead to increased punishments.
Mike Hartman
On May 10th, Lafayette (35-14) became the first team to clinch their region, winning the Atlantic Region after 49 games. Princeton (38-13) followed suit on May 13th, clinching the Northeast Region by defeating Lafayette, 15-10. The Tigers, however, got bad news just three days later, losing second baseman Keith Gordon (Jr.) for the season to a strained oblique. By May 25th, Yale (34-25) had faltered and Brown (33-26) was one game back. The Bulldogs had lost the last two games to Brown and had one more to play on the final day of the season. Brown was also tied with Syracuse for the wild card spot, so tensions were high on the last day of the regular season.
Yale, however, was able to turn the tide, winning their game against Brown, 10-7, and clinching the New England Region with their victory. Fortunately for Brown, Syracuse had also lost on the final day, 19-18 to Cornell, leaving the two teams tied at 33-27. James, for the second time in three years, ordered a 61st game be played. Brown traveled to Syracuse for the do-or-die contest. The Bears wasted no time, scoring three runs in the 1st inning and leading 6-2 after four innings. Brown opened the flood gates in the 5th, scoring eight times en route to a 15-4 thrashing of the Orange. Brown first baseman Nick Swan ends up taking home the batting title with a .390 batting average.
So, the 1873 playoffs are set. Brown travels to face defending champ Princeton, while Yale hits the road to play Lafayette.