1871 re-imagined

[RMc]

The American Cup Final had a distant military flavour, with the Marksmen of Fall River taking on the Veterans of Dayton. The first two games were held in Massachusetts -- actually, across the state line in Mark's Park in Rhode Island. The 'Men took the opener, 10-3, aided by three hits by Hi Ebright and four Dayton errors. But the Vets won Game 2, as rookie Bill Everitt drove in three runs in a 4-2 Dayton win.

When the Cup Final moved to Ohio, it looked like Fall River would take the third game, leading 4-2 going into the last of the ninth. But with two men on thanks to an error and a single, John Morrill ripped a triple to tie the game, then Andy Cusick won it with a seeing eye single, 5-4. In the fourth game, Fall River hurler Clem Kimerer was brilliant, allowing only two scratch singles in a 6-0 shutout -- while Pete O'Brien hit a three-run bomb. And in Game 5, the Marksmen scored early and often, jumping to a 8-1 lead and putting up a seven-spot in the seventh en route to an 18-5 slaughter, with O'Brien tripling and driving in three more tallies and Ebright with five RBI. Now the Vets were up against it, needing two road wins to drink from the Cup. They got the first one, with Jesse Burkett notching a two-run single to break a 6-6 tie and tying the series, 8-6.



Game 7 dawned bright and clear in Rhode Island, and the Veterans scored in the top of the first on a long single by Burkett. That would turn out to be Dayton's only tally of the day, as Kimerer handcuffed the Vets on five hits. O'Brien would homer again (his fourth of the series) and drive in three as the Marksmen took the American Cup, 5-1.

[RMc]

The Maryland club of Baltimore won the Union pennant, were well-rested, and had dominated their Cup Final opponent, Columbus, by winning five of six meetings during the regular schedule. Many predicted a sweep...and they were right!

Gus McGinnis took the ball for the Buckeyes in the opener in Baltimore, gave up two runs in the second -- then held the line the rest of the game, as "Dummy" Stephenson socked a two-run double in a 5-2 win. Game 2 at Camden Yards was a pitching duel between Sullivans: Fleury for Columbus and Mike for Baltimore. [They were not brothers; Fleury was actually Mike's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate. -- Ed.] Fleury and the Buckeyes got the win as catcher Farmer Vaughn had three hits.

Back in the Ohio capital, the Bucks finished off the Marylands in short order with a pair of 10-5 victories. Jimmy Bannon, who finished second in the UA in batting with a .386 mark, cracked four hits in Game 3, while Columbus spotted Baltimore a 3-0 lead in the fourth game, before storming back behind Montgomery Scott socked a three-run homer and Bannon slammed five hits. A sweet sweep! All hail the Buckeyes!

[RMc]

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Royals became the first Canadian clubs in pro ball when they joined the Union Association in 1886. A half-decade later, both teams won the Union Cup (Toronto in 1890, Montreal in '91). The Maple Leafs were soon a solid contender in the NA, with players like Amos Rusie, Elton "Ice Box" Chamberlain and Negro star Sol White, who joined the club as a teenager in 1887. After taking the National pennant in 1896, they were heavily favoured to beat the Phillies in the Cup Final, as Philly barely made the Cup playoffs in the first place...but that's why ya play the games!

At first, it looked like the Leafs fans were right, as Toronto took the first two contests easily. Rusie shut down the Phils on the three hits in the opener, 7-0, as Bill Butler blasted a two-run triple, and 31-game winner Mark Baldwin allowed only one unearned run in the second contest, giving Toronto a 2-0 lead in a 6-1 win.

Back in Philadelphia, the Leafs seemed on their way to a back-breaking third straight win: Chamberlain and Rusie each drove in single runs in the first two innings, and the Phillies trailed, 2-0, after seven. In the eighth, a tiring Rusie allowed a double to Frank McCarton, then got two quick outs when Joe Werrick hit a sharp ground back to second base...but the normally sure-handed Sol White booted it, keeping the inning alive. Three singles and another error later, and the Phils took a 4-2 lead, and eventually the game; Rusie took the loss without allowing an earned run. Game 3 was a pitcher's duel between Baldwin and the Phillies' George Cuppy, and it remained scoreless after seven and a half. In the last of the eighth, Cuppy himself got things going with a single, then came all the way around to score on a Werrick single and a throwing error by RF Butler. That was the only tally in the game, and Philadelphia has tied the Cup Final at two.

The Phillies really needed another win in Game 5; a loss, and they'd be going back to Canada trailing, 3-2, and needing a pair of wins north of the border. But the Ice Box wasn't having it; he chilled the Phils' bats on four hits and drove in a run himself in a 7-1 rout. But the Phillie weren't done; back at Toronto Island Ballpark, Walt Goldsby's two-run double off Rusie keyed a three-run rally in the fifth, and the Leafs batters could do little with Cuppy, and the Cup Final was all even at three after a 4-1 Phillies victory.



Another year, another ultimate game in the Cup Final. It was arguably the worst weather ever for a Game 7 -- cold, dark and rainy. Batters could barely see the ball, let alone hit it: neither Baldwin nor Philly's Charlie Jordan had allowed a run. A downpour in the fifth inning caused most of the announced crowd of 18,875 to leave the premises, leaving only a bare few thousand left in the ballpark. But the umpires refused to call the game, and bade it go on.

That was all the Phillies needed. Wilbert Robinson's triple keyed a three-run rally in the fifth inning, then scored three more in the sixth on the soaking-wet field. The Phils went on to win, 7-2, and outraged Maple Leafs fans stormed the field, throwing mud and garbage at players on both teams, who barely escaped with their lives. They even invaded the umpire's room, but hulking Toronto catcher Chief Zimmer shouted, "Anyone who touches this man will have to answer to me!"



The Maple Leafs filed a formal protest the next day, but Commissioner Creighton turned Toronto down, pointing out that both teams had to play in the muck. So, the Philadelphia Phillies, who had won the American double the year before, placed a Centennial Cup on its mantle.

[RMc]

A couple of guys named Ed had great seasons in the nation's capital. But it was a guy named Gross that took the Creighton MVP honours:



Meanwhile, "The Hoosier Thunderbolt" proved beyond a doubt who was the best hurler in the NA:



AA MVP: Denny Lyons (Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets)
AA PoY: Bill Hoffer (Fall River)

UA MVP: Jimmy Bannon (Columbus)
UA PoY: Dan Daub (Scranton)

[RMc]

November 30, 1896: a chilly night at the Shrine of the Eternals in Hoboken, New Jersey, suddenly became red-hot as Commissioner Jim Creighton stepped to the lectern.

"First of all, let me congratulate the Shrine's newest members: George Bunting and Hugh Campbell!"



"As you all know, attendance has dropped throughout Major League Baseball, thanks partially to the Panic of 1896, and partly because many of our clubs are just not where they should be. There are small towns in the National Association who are unable to draw crowds simply because their facilities are inadequate. And many large cities have teams in the lower divisions, but fans won't come to see lower-level ball." There were rumblings in the crowd, but they were quickly shushed -- the King of Baseball was talking! "So, now, the leaders of baseball, and myself, have created Project 1900 -- a new plan for baseball in the 20th Century!"

A curtain was pulled, and a huge blackboard was revealed, with the nuts and bolts of what sportswriters called THE BIG FIX:

"The size of league cities will be expressed as a percentage of the nation's largest city, currently New York City:

Class A cities have at least 50% of population of New York: Chicago, Brooklyn, New York itself and Brooklyn. The two most successful clubs in each city will be guaranteed a spot in the National Association. (There are currently 8 clubs in this category.)

Class A-1: The third teams in Class A cities (New York and Philadelphia) can drop to the American Association, but no lower. (There are currently 2 clubs in this category.)

Class B cities have between 10-50% the population of New York. Like A-1 cities, they can play only in the NA or the AA. (There are currently 17 clubs in this category.)

Class C cities have between 5-10% the population of New York. Class C cities can play in the NA, but only one in any given season. They can also play in either the AA or the Union Association. (There are currently 16 clubs in this category.)

And Class D cities have less than 5% the population of New York. Class D cities cannot play in the NA, but they can play in the AA, but only one in any given season. All other Class D cities are only eligible to play in the Union Association. (There are currently 17 clubs in this category.)"

Now, the level of noise in the Shrine raised precipitously, but Creighton simply talked louder. "This isn't happening immediately," he assured the crowd, "but gradually, with full implementation coming in 1900. And now, let me give you a preview of Major League Baseball in 1897!"

Another curtain dropped, and the lineup of the three pro baseball leagues were revealed:







Rochester, Grand Rapids, Montreal, Elizabeth and Fort Wayne, all of whom had losing records in 1896, were sent to the American -- and were replaced with the Chicago Colts, Boston Tri-Mountains, Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets -- and the legendary clubs that had fallen on hard times, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, the American clubs in Richmond, Rockford and Middletown were sent to the Union, and replaced by the Philadelphia Centennials, Baltimore Marylands and Milwaukee.

But the biggest bombshell was yet to come: there would be no more American Cup or Union Cup -- but, clubs in the lower leagues would still have a chance to win baseball's ultimate prize, thanks to an expanded Centennial Cup tournament that would contain 13 clubs: 10 from the National, two from the AA and the UA regular-season champ.

By this point, it was impossible for Creighton to continue, as the shouting had become too loud. "Traitor!" screamed one crank. "Say it ain't so, Jim!" cried another. When a few enthusiasts attempted the reach the stage, police stepped in, creating a riot similar to the one in Toronto, only with less mud being tossed about.

Creighton left the Shrine and was taken to a hotel, where the other barons of baseball were waiting. "You did what you had to do, Jim," one of them said. "With this plan, the financial success of the game is assured." Creighton just nodded, but thought, "What have I done...?"

[RMc]

Over the winter of 1896-97, baseball fans were in open revolt. Cranks in smaller big-league towns were particularly incensed: why should Elizabeth, NJ, Fall River, Mass, and Fort Wayne, Indiana be permanently relegated to the lower divisions, when they've proven they can win professional championships? In fact, teams in these cities were seriously discussing creating an alternate league or folding their clubs altogether.

Only one man could fix the fix: Jim Creighton. In February, he called a news conference in Hoboken and announced the formation of a new league: the National American Baseball Union, in which all 60 clubs in the National, American and Union loops were allowed to join. In short order, they all did, and the new NABU was constituted into six divisions of ten teams each:





With the stroke of a pen, the American and Union Associations (and their Cup competitions) were consigned to history. Play ball!

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry it too so long for me to return to this universe, guys. I was genuinely stuck about how to bring baseball into the 20th century, and I tried to find a way to ensure that the biggest cities would float naturally to the top of the ladder. That would've required [1] fiddling with the individual team's finances and/or [2] literally pushing smaller cities down and pulling big cities up. Either one would've required way too much work, so I just tossed all 60 clubs in the Churn-O-Matic and let the Pringles hit the carpet. IRL, all pro sports slowly pushed the smaller cities out of the big leagues, and I think that is what's gonna happen here eventually. But for now, any of the 60 clubs can still win the Centennial Cup! Play ball!)

[RMc]

With all the attempts to squeeze the little guys out of big-time pro baseball, it was Small Town USA that proved to be superior in 1897.

Where there were three pennant races in the old NA, AA and UA, now there were six, with ten-team divisions. And four of those division winners were small towns: Rockford downing the Windy City clubs in the West; Dayton edging out Fort Wayne in the Midwest; Altoona dominating in the Keystone; and Wilmington well ahead in the Atlantic. The Empire Division, with half of its clubs in the New York City area, was won the Eckfords of Brooklyn, while the Northeast was won by Hartford:




Actually, there were two more spots in the Centennial Cup playoffs -- now expanded to eight teams -- with the Phillies and Eurekas claiming the "wild cards" as the top non-division winners in the two conferences, Liberty (West) and Freedom (East).

[RMc]

In the expanded eight-team Cen Cup playoffs, the quarterfinal round was a best-of-three, with the top seed hosting all of the games. The Mountain City club of Altoona had the NABU's best record (102-38), led by Charlie Ferguson; all he did was bat .416 and lead the league with 36 wins on the mound. But the wild-card Phillies were not impressed, as Bill Joyce drove in three runs in a 6-3 Game 1 win. Needing a win in Game 2, Ferguson had two of Altoona's 13 hits and tossed a six-hitter in a 4-2 victory. In Game 3, the Phils jumped to a 3-0 lead and Tom Lovett held Altoona to five hits in a 6-2 win...and, just like that, the loop's top team was out.

Philly (1896's Cup runner-up) wasn't the only big-city club to make it to the semifinals: the Brooklyn Eckfords thumped Newark in two straight, 8-3 and 11-2, as every man in the line-up drove in at least one run, including five by Henry Larkin. In the other two quarters, Rockford banged out 24 hits as they swept away Dayton, 12-2 and 7-2, while Wilmington dusted off Hartford, 5-3 and 3-2.

In the semifinals, the Rockford Forest Citys went into the City of Brotherly Love and emerged with a pair of victories in the best-of-five series. In Game 1, Gus Weyhing not only held the Phils to seven hits, but he had three himself, scoring as many runs as he had allowed in a 7-2 win. And in Game 2, hurler Dad Clarkson drove in three runs with his bat and allowed only three (all unearned) in a 5-3 victory. The series went back to Rockford, and Weyhing came up aces again, pitching 11 innings and reaching on an error (by back-up shortstop Dan Coogan) in the last of the 11th to send Forest City to the Cup Finals, 5-4.

Meanwhile, in Delaware, a mad crowd packed Brandywine Springs Park in Wilmington as the Quicksteps took two from the Eckfords of Brooklyn. The first game was easy: Wilmington ace Harley Payne shut out Brooklyn for eight innings in a 5-1 victory. But Game 2 was wild: the Qs were ahead, 7-6, after eight when Eckford exploded for four tallies in the top of the ninth, thanks to four hits, an error and a hit batsmen. But Wilmington stormed back in the bottom of the stanza, as they scored four times themselves, with the last three coming home with two outs: a wild pitch, a walk to Frank Grant, and an error by shortstop Arthur Irwin that allowed Grant to score the winning run in a 11-10 decision. A demoralized Eckford side went back to Brooklyn, and starter Kid Nichols gave up seven runs in the first three innings. Wilmington won, 9-6, sweeping the series and sending the Quicksteps to their first Cup Final.

[RMc]

With only 76,000 people, Wilmington, Delaware was the 9th-smallest city in the NABU...but they were a metropolis compared to their opponent in the Cup Final, the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois (31,000, larger than only Keokuk and Middletown). In the lid-lifter, Rockford, who had suffered some key injuries, had trouble dealing with the pain -- actually Payne, as in Qs starter Harley Payne. Allowing only three singles, he shut out Forest City, 3-0, as Frank Grant slammed a homer in the eighth. In the second game, Rockford raced to a 4-0 lead in the third, keyed by a double and triple by lead-off man John Kiley. But the Quicksteps chipped away with two runs in the fourth and another deuce in the sixth on John Tener's two-run blast. Rockford went back ahead in the seventh, but Wilmington settled matters with a three-run eighth, keyed by Walter Prince's two-run triple: 7-5 was the final, and the 'Steps had a 2-0 series lead.

Back in Illinois, the third game was a corker. Leading 6-3 in the seventh, the Qs suddenly had trouble out West -- actually, with Rockford right fielder Buck West, who hit a three-run homer to tie the game. (Payne, so masterful in Game 1, was pasted by 14 Forest City hits in this contest.) In the ninth, after reliever Foghorn Bradley got two quick outs, Law Daniels slapped a double and West was intentionally walked. Joe Quinn then dropped a single in front of Qs left fielder Ducky Holmes -- who booted the ball, allowing Daniels to lay down the Law and score the winning run. Game 4 was a pitcher's duel as Rockford's Gus Weyhing and Wilmington's Phil Knell each held the opposition to a single tally through eleven. But in the twelfth, it was Quinn again, hitting a sac fly scoring Lou Hardie to even the series.

In the fifth game, Rockford knew they needed to hold serve -- and win at least one game on the road -- to take the series. But the Quicksteps banged out 17 hits (including four each from Deacon McGuire and Tommy Corcoran) in a 9-5 win that sent the Qs back home with a 3-2 series lead. In Game 6, Payne gave up a quick run in the opening stanza, but shut down the Forest City offense after that, allowing just the one run through seven. Meanwhile, the Qs bats pounded Weyhing without mercy, scoring ten times -- with Holmes driving in six, including a three-run homer. Rockford made it interesting with six runs in the eighth, including a two-run double by pinch-hitter Dan McKeough, but it was too little, too late, as the Quicksteps brought the Cup to the Nation's First State with a 12-7 victory.

[RMc]

Big-league baseball had been unified, but also separated. It was impractical to place all 60 clubs under one roof and have them all play each other, so two Conferences had been created: the Federal (or Eastern) and the Liberty (Western), which teams only playing in their conferences, meeting only in an All-Star Game (set to begin in 1898) and the Centennial Cup Final.

In the Federal Conference, Emil Gross won his second straight MVP award (unanimously) and Kid Nichols took Pitcher of the Year honours (almost unanimously):




In the Liberty Conference, Baseball Commissioner Jim Creighton, ironically enough, handed both trophies to Altoona's Charlie Ferguson, hailing Ferguson as the LC's best hurler and hitter...familiar territory to Big Jim.




And in Hoboken, two Tri Mountain legends were inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals: Ross Barnes and George Sanderson. Joining them in the Shrine was White Stockings stalwart Mike Powers. All three players were in the original National Association when it began in 1871.

[RMc]

As the first NABU All-Star Game was set for the newly-refurbished Forest City Grounds in Cleveland, the local team was in first place in the Midwest Division. Three games ahead of Indianapolis, the CFC looked for their first pennant since 1881. Meanwhile, the other Forest City squad -- the one from Rockford -- held down the top spot in the Plains Division, tied with Minneapolis. Altoona was tied with the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets atop the Keystone, while the defending Cup champs from Wilmington led the Atlantic, the Eckfords of Brooklyn were on top in the Empire, and the Lowell (Mass.) Chippies led the Northeast.

In the All-Star Game itself, a packed house saw Jim Creighton himself toss out the first pitch and the East's Pete O'Brien send home the first run, with a blast in the bottom of the second. The West went ahead in the fourth with three tallies, keyed by George Davis' two-run triple. After notching another run in the fourth, the East went back in front with a triple by Big Ed Delahanty and a long home run by Emil Gross in the sixth: 4-3, East.

But the West wouldn't give up. Behind the strong pitching of Bob Black, they evened the score in the eighth thanks to Heinie Reitz and Heinie Peitz -- no, they're not the same person, but the first Heinie singled and the second bunted him over, and Conny Doyle drove him home. It stayed even going into the tenth, when Peitz struck again with a single, then Black and "Wee" Willie Keeler also reached and gave the West the final run of the day.





The All-Star Game was a huge success with both cranks and the papers, insuring it would be an annual event.

[RMc]

It had been thirteen long years since the Centennial Cup was claimed by Cleveland, and even longer since Forest City had finished in first place. But with the loop's second best offense, led by Ad Gumbert and Frank Fennelly, Cleveland fashioned a 91-49 mark and took the Midwest Division pennant. Meanwhile, a few hundred miles to the west, the club that had taken that monicker, Rockford, edged out Minneapolis to claim the Plains title. The Keystone race was tight, as one of the two teams that didn't play in Pennsylvania (Toronto) threatened, but the Yellow Jackets held them off.

In the Eastern Conference, the Lowell Chippies -- who had won the old UA double four years earlier -- finished with the best record in the NABU (97-43) to win the Northeast, while Eckford repeated as Empire titlists and Cup-holder Wilmington barely broke a sweat on the way to the Atlantic pennant.

[RMc]

When Jim Creighton threw out the first pitch at Cleveland Forest City's first playoff game, a local comedian called out, "Hey, Jim, why don't you pitch the whole game?" Two hours and change later, the 58-year-old Creighton probably wished he had taken the fan up the offer, as the Toronto Maple Leafs got to CFC starter John Healy early and often in a 7-4 win. But Forest City bounced back with a 7-4 victory of their own in Game 2, and the deciding game was a tight, well-played contest. In the ninth, Toronto seemed to punch their ticket to the semifinal by taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth, when Ad Gumbert uncorked a wild pitch allowing the Leafs' Harry Koons to scoot home with the go-ahead run. It looked like Gumbert, who had won 33 games on the season while batting .369, would wear the goat horns...until Cleveland bailed him out in the bottom of the frame. When two walks and an error loaded the bases, Steve Matthias singled to score Mortimer (Mortimer!) Hogan to tie the game. Up stepped Gumbert with a chance to be the hero...and he embraced it, socking a 3-2 pitch up the middle to give Forest City the game and the series.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the other Forest City club strode into the Steel City and promptly dusted off the Yellow Jackets, 6-3 and 4-1. Despite facing the conference's best offense, Rockford held Pittsburgh to 14 hits in 18 innings, thanks to hurlers Dad Clarkson and Gus Weyhing. But an even bigger shock came in Lowell, Mass., as the Chippies hosted fellow Bay Staters, the Fall River Marksmen. Despite having the NABU's best record, Lowell dropped the first game, 6-4, as Pete O'Brien homered and pinch-hitter Charlie Atherton knocked a two-run double in the seventh. Then Fall River ace Clem Kimerer, with a 37-7 record in the season, shut down the Chippies in Game 2, allowing one unearned run on eight hits; and just like that, Lowell was out.

The defending Cup holders from Wilmington, meanwhile, also found themselves on the ropes. Brooklyn's 35-game winner Kid Nichols started Game 1, and matched pitches with Quicksteps' hurler Hank O'Day -- in fact, it was Nichols himself who lined a two-run single in the seventh to tie the game at two. In the eleventh, Eckford scored twice on an Austin Martin triple and no less than three errors, leading to a 4-2 win. But Wilmington got up off the deck in Game 2, as Phil Knell held Brooklyn to five hits and two unearned runs in a 5-2 victory. In the deciding third game, the Qs spotted Eckford two runs before exploding for five in the third and seven more in the fifth to take a 13-3 lead; Tim McCallum led the way with a double, a triple and 3 RBI. Brooklyn battled back with five in the sixth off a tiring Foghorn Bradley, and one more in the seventh to cut the lead to 13-9, but it was too little, too late as the Quicksteps moved on to the semifinals.

[RMc]

For the third time in history, the two Forest City clubs, Rockford and Cleveland, met in the Centennial Cup playoffs in the '98 semis. The first was out west, and West make a difference: Rockford's Buck West slammed a three-run homer and drove in four, while Gus Weyhing scattered ten hits in a 10-1 rout. In Game 2, Cleveland jumped to a 6-1 lead as Bug Holiday drove in three runs off Dad Clarkson. Rockford chipped away, but ran out of innings in a 7-4 loss, evening things up.

The series headed to Cleveland, and CFC continued hitting the ball. Bill Delaney, despite batting eighth, drove in a pair of runs in the opening as Cleveland raced to a 4-0 lead. After adding another quartet in the fifth, and CFC was on their way to a 10-3 win and a 2-1 series lead. But Rockford struck back with no fewer than 20 hits in the fourth game, scoring twice in each of the first three innings off Joe Blong in a series-tying 10-4 victory.

The final game looked like it would be a pitcher's duel: through five and a half, neither CFC's Gumbert nor Rockford's Peter Sommers allowed a run. In the bottom of the sixth, though, it all exploded: five hits, a walk, a hit by pitch and an error later, and CFC were leading, 7-0. But in the eighth...it got worse for Rockford, as Cleveland scored six more times to give them a very unlucky (for the westerners) 13-0 decision, and the series to CFC.

Meanwhile, in the quiet village of North Tiverton, Rhode Island -- just across the border from Fall River and home of the Marksmen -- FR's Cozy Dolan shut down Wilmington on eight hits (as rookie Emmett Heidrick slammed a pair of triples) in a 9-2 win. But the Quicksteps tied the series the next day, as the great Negro star Frank Grant singled in the winning run in a ten-inning, 2-1 victory.

Heidrick was back in Game 3 with a two-run double as Fall River jumped to a 6-1 lead after four innings. Wilmington stormed back as Grant and John Tener both homered in the eighth to cut the lead to 7-6, and in the ninth, Joe Sugden doubled and went to third on a ground out; alas, Tommy Corcoran popped up and the Marksmen held on. But the Qs evened the series in Game 4, as Deacon McGuire's two-run single was the difference in a 5-3 win.

Back in Brandywine Springs Park in Wilmington, and it looked like the Quicksteps were headed back to the Cup Final, as Foghorn Bradley held the Marksmen to two runs -- and drove in two himself -- as the Qs had a 4-2 lead. All Bradley needed was three outs.

He never got them. Oh, ol' Foghorn got the first two outs, wrapped around a Heidrick single, and when William Chouquette dribbled a ball down to first baseman Tener, it looked like it was over. Nope. He booted it, keeping the Marksmen alive. Very, very alive, as Bradley promptly walked Tom Lynch on four pitches, loading the bases. Four straight hits and a throwing error later, Bradley was out of the game, and FR had a 8-4 lead, and soon a spot in the Cup Final.

[RMc]

The 24th annual Centennial Cup Final kicked off in front of a packed crowd at Marks' Park in (er, just outside) Fall River, Mass. The Marksmen proved to be on target in the opener, with Elmer Flick driving in three runs in a 8-3 win. In Game 2, starters Clem Kimerer of Fall River and Joe Blong of Forest City battled for eight innings, tied at one. In the last of the ninth, Marksmen pinch hitter William Choquette singled and stole second, but was erased on a bunt attempt by Bill Niles. But Josh Crowley followed with a double, and pinch-runner Edward Daley came all the way around to score the winning run, and giving Fall River a 2-0 series lead.

Once the series headed to Ohio, however, it was a different story. In the third game, John Healy shut down the FR offense on nine hits, while battery mate Mike Grady homered and scored three runs in a 7-3 decision. The next day, Kimerer and Blong hooked up again, with the scored tied at 3-3 going into the last of the ninth, backup catcher Tom Dolan drew a walk, was bunted to second, advanced to third on a single, then scored on another safety by Jimmy Sheckard, evening the Cup Final at two. In Game 5, though, it looked like FR would break serve, scoring four times before CFC could even come to bat, and were leading 6-2 going into the last of the seventh. After the seventh-inning stretch, though, Forest City woke up, scoring five times, keyed by Chris Fulmer's two-run double to give Cleveland the lead, 7-6. FR threatened in the eighth, but CFC held on to take a 3-2 lead in the Final.

Back in Rhode Island, the Marksmen again hit the target in the first inning: five times, no less, as Dave Orr and Elmer Flick slapped back-to-back triples. Forest City scored three times on five singles in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-4, but FR's Dave Orr struck back with a three-run blast in the bottom of the frame, and the Marksmen won, 10-4, to force a seventh game.

[RMc]

Joe Blong and Cozy Dolan each won 30 games on the season, but now they would face each other in 1898's ultimate contest. The home team had won every game so far in the Cup Final, but it was the visitors from Cleveland who got on the board first with three runs in the second, with Blong himself driving in two. Fall River Hurler Dolan proved he could hit the ball, too, with a run-scoring single of his own in the bottom of the frame. FR kept threatening after that but were kept off the scoreboard -- they would leave 11 runners on base altogether -- until the eighth, when singles by Elmer Flick, Bill Niles and John Crowley cut the lead to 3-2.

In the top of the ninth, Blong drove in his second run of the game, scoring Mortimer Hogan to make it 4-2. But the Marksmen would not give up; after getting two quick outs, Blong hit Tom Lynch with a pitch, then allowed singles to Pete O'Brien and Dave Orr to load the bases. Up stepped Flick, with a chance to win the Cup with a long fly. The crowd roared as he slapped the spheroid to deep center field. 40-year-old Chick Fulmer, who CFC brought in as a defensive replacement, raced back and caught the ball -- giving Forest City its seventh Centennial Cup, and their first in thirteen years!

[RMc]

Pittsburgh's Denny Lyons and "The Hoosier Thunderbolt", Toronto's Amos Rusie, unanimously won the Western Conference awards...




...while Emil Gross took his second straight Eastern MVP and Kid Nichols took all the first-place votes as the top hurler!




And there were three new inductees to the Shrine of the Eternals: Chicago ace Frank Fleet; Forest City icon James "Deacon" McGuire; and Henry C. Galliker, ageless superstar of the Tri Mountains [EDITOR'S NOTE: Galliker was on the players I added into the game in 1871; there was an H.C. Galliker who played for two professional sides: the Oriental Club of New York in 1869 and Riverside of Portsmouth, Ohio in 1870. He never played in the real National Association.]

[RMc]

After falling one game shy of drinking from the Centennial Cup in '98, the Fall River Marksmen proceeded to tear apart the NABU for the first half of the 1899 season, going into the break with a 12-game winning streak and a 62-18 record and a whopping 18 game lead in the Northeast. The Empire Division is tight, with Buffalo looking to take their first pennant with a one-game lead over Eckford. Elizabeth is on top in the Atlantic, while Pittsburgh's "other" team, the Crawfords lead the Keystone Division. The Cup-holders from Cleveland are in a battle with Dayton and Columbus in the Midwest, and Rockford is three games back of Minneapolis.

At the All-Star Game in Louisville, Emil Gross won the MVP Award with a single and a triple as the East beat the West, 6-4.

[RMc]

The Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Fall River Marksmen made sure that the pennant races in the Keystone and Northeast Divisions (respectively) were yawners, but things were tight in the Empire, where no fewer than five teams were still in the hunt in the season's final week. In the end, the Giants edged out the Atlantics by one game and thier Brooklyn cousins, the Eckfords, by two...but Atlantic grabbed the "wild card" spot and headed for the Cup playoffs.

The Atlantic Division was even closer: the Elizabeth Resolutes had a comfortable lead over Newark, but went into a tailspin, losing six straight whilst Eureka was winning eight in a row, creating a tie and forcing a playoff, which Bewark won, 5-4, to take the pennant. Elsewhere, Minneapolis dethroned Rockford in the Plains Division, Fort Wayne stayed on top in the Midwest, holding off Columbus, and the Philadelphia Centennials claimed the wild card position in the West.

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The defending champs from the Forest City finished out of the money in 1899, six games back of Fort Wayne, but Jim Creighton was there to throw out the first pitch of the Cup playoff in the Indiana city as the Keks took on Minneapolis. A five-run proved to be the difference in FW's 10-5 win, but the Miller bounced back in Game 2, as Ed Clark shut out Fort Wayne on fibe hits, 8-0; indeed the home team had more errors than hits, with seven. Chris Rickley slammed a two-run double to break a 3-3 tie in the fourth inning of Game 3, winning 9-3 and heading to the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the Crawfords swept out the Centennials in two straight, but it wasn't easy. After scoring three runs in the first inning of the opener, the Cents got within 3-2 and loaded the bases in the ninth, but Pitt pitcher Jay Hughes induced a ground out to win the game. The second contest was a lot tougher: after both sides scored five runs in five innings, it stretched for another nine stanzas until Jimmy Wilson knocked a seeing-eye single in the last of 14th to give the Craws the win and the series.

In the East, the Fall River Marksmen, after coming up just short in '98, had the NABU's best record in 1899. But Atlantic of Brooklyn was unimpressed, as Hugh O'Neill twirled a five-hitter in a 5-1 win, but Fall River's backs to the wall. The situation became even more dire for the Marksmen in Game 2, as Brooklyn scored five times in fourth, keyed by Pete Sweeney's two-run double. But FR fought back with two runs in the bottom of the frame and another two in the fifth on Elmer Flick's double. In the eighth, the Marksmen jumped ahead with two more ducats on a slap single by John Crowley; FR escaped, 6-5, and forced a third game. Whew! Game 3 was...not dramatic at all, as Fall River sent Brooklyn on their way with a 7-0 triumph, as Clem Kimerer allowed only six hits.

After the Newark Eurekas blew past Elizabeth win the division title, they kept right on going against the New York Giants, even though all three games were held in the massive Polo Grounds in Manhattan. then, Newark proceeded to blow a 7-4 lead in Game 1 by allowing a trio in the bottom of the ninth, they righted the ship with Charlie Bennett's home run in the 12th to claim a 8-7 victory. the second game was also tight, with Podge Weihe notching three hits and three RBI in a 6-5 New York victory. Over 35,000 fans watched a pitcher's duel in Game 3. Eureka struck first with two tallies in the top of the fifth, but New York got one of their own in the bottom of the inning. Both teams had chances afterwards: Jumbo Davis drew a walk with two out in the ninth, but Jimmy Peoples' fly ball to center -- which would've won the game had it flown just a bit farther -- but instead nestled in Adonis Terry's glove, and Eureka moved on.


The Eurekas, in fact, found the semifinals much more to their liking, stunning Fall River in three straight. Trailing, 4-3, in the opening game in New Jersey, Charlie Bennett tied the game in the eighth and Jake Virtue lived up to his name with a game-winning double in the ninth. The second game in Newark saw another wild Eurekas comeback: this time down 6-3 going into the eighth, they scored twice in the eighth, allowed a Fall River tally in the top of the ninth, then tied the contest in the ninth on another clutch hit by Virtue, a two-run double. Finally, in the 13th, Bennett came through again, with a game-winning blast that put Newark up, 2-0. Refusing to give up, the Marksmen took another late-inning lead, 3-2, going into the ninth in Game 3. But FR's dreams were shattered again, as Newark scored four times, keyed by Mox McQueary's two-run single -- and Newark was in their first Final since grabbing the old American Cup in 1891.

Out West, the Grand Duchess in Fort Wayne was packed as the Kekiongas took Game 1 of the semifinal, 10-6, as Jack Farrell ripped a three-run homer. Game 2 was a pressure cooker, with the Craws leading, 2-1 in the ninth, but Tom Gettinger's single tied the game, and Ginger Beaumont won it in the tenth with an RBI single. The series headed to Crawford Field, right next to the famed Crawford Grill in Pittsburgh, and the home side served up some tasty morsels: a nine-run fifth inning, with Honus Wagner slamming a double and a triple, as Pitt won, 12-3. In Game 4, both sides gorged on inconsistent pitching as Jimmy Ryan drove in four runs as Fort Wayne won, 10-8.