The Big Bang: A Larger Baseball Universe Starting From Nothing in 1857

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THE 1875 PHILADELPHIA CITY BASEBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW

PHILADELPHIA (May 12, 1875) – It is time to begin the third season of the Philadelphia City Baseball League.

After a surprise in the inaugural season saw Mercantile B.C. take the first Liberty Bell Classic, Merion B.C.C. took the title last year, sweeping aside Frankford Arsenal in three games after winning out in a three-team playoff to decide the champions of the western half of the city.

This year, Frankford is expected to remain East Philadelphia’s only champions while it should be Philadelphia B.C.C.’s turn to take the West Philadelphia pennant for the first time, with their empty trophy case from the first two seasons surprising pretty much everybody.

Joseph Evans remaining in Philadelphia for another season means he probably already has one hand on the Batsman of the Year trophy, while the race for both Pitcher of the Year and Most Valuable Player should see a plethora of players put forth qualified resumés for consideration.

There are some extremely talented Greenhorns entering the league. The Writers Pool thinks Port Richmond’s new #1 Italian-born #1 Biagio Casagrande (5.0*) has the most natural talent of any pitcher in the league, with Schuylkill’s fellow pitching greenhorn Timotheus Memminger (5.0*) not far behind. Keystone has their own new #1 likely to star in Moses “Slappy” Smith (4.5*), and Independence’s Ward Jackson (4.5*) also appears to be a very good pitcher.

No first-year batsmen are expected to set the P.C.B.L. alight, but Port Richmond has a very promising CF in 23-year-old William Detmer (3.0/4.0*), 1B Ciaran Stewart (3.0*) should provide a fine bat for Sons of Ben, 2B William Edmonds (3.0*) is expected to give Merion some Golden Glove defense, and RF Roark Ellison (3.0*) has gone right to the middle of the Independence lineup.

And with that, it’s time to play ball!

PHILADELPHIA CITY BASEBALL LEAGUE PROJECTED FINISH

East Philadelphia
• Favorites: Frankford Arsenal at 42-28 (+115 RD)
• Spartan 1 GB, Sons of Ben 6 GB, three teams 8 GB

West Philadelphia
• Favorites: Philadelphia B.C.C. at 43-27 (+130 RD)
• Germantown 1 GB, Merion 3 GB, Schuylkill 7 GB

Liberty Bell Classic favorites: Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club

EAST PHILDELPHIA – Frankford is favored to wear the crown of East Philadelphia for the third straight year, but once again only just. Their outfield of Brown, Evans, & Howard is the best in the league, and Jonathan Toppin could be even better at 2B with a year in the PCBL behind him. Spartan doesn’t have Frankford’s richness of talent but star RF Joseph Sizemore should lead the team to another high finish, with the rest of the pack 6-12 games behind the projected leaders.

WEST PHILADELPHIA – As in the inaugural season, the three B.C.C. teams are projected to finish 1-2-3 in West Philadelphia with Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club coming out on top. The team has the league’s best C (Harrison Hearst), the best 3B (Charles Hunt), and they added the league’s best defensive player, SS Moody Steiger, over the winter. Germantown’s projected finish of 2nd is based on the idea that two years together will see the team’s collection of talented players – they rank top-five at C, 1B, LF, CF, & RF – create their first season of over .500 baseball. Defending champions Merion have the league’s most talented team, but the pool seems to think that it won’t add up to another 1st-place finish.

PCBL AWARD FAVORITES

Batsman of the Year: Joseph Evans (LF, Frankford) – projected .333/.382/.475, 2 HR, 70 RBI, 16 SB
Pitcher of the Year: Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.) – projected 26-11, 2.00 ERA, 30 K over 345.2 IP
Most Valuable Player: Frederick Pike (2B, P.B.C.C.) – projected .316/.332/.418, 1 HR, 69 RBI, 25 SB
Greenhorn of the Year: Biagio Casagrande (P, Pt. Richmond) – projected 21-18, 2.75 ERA, 27 K over 323.2 IP

PCBL TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

P: Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.), C: Harrison Hearst (P.B.C.C.), 1B: William Norman (Merion), 2B: Herman Stanley (Queen Village), 3B: Charles Hunt (P.B.C.C.), SS: James Hurt (Schuylkill), OF: Joseph Evans (Frankford), OF: Francis Brown (Frankford), OF: Sigmund Siemens (Germantown)

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MASS. BAY RUNS UP THE SCORE AT NIAGARA
BOSTONIANS KEEP NIAGARA OFF THE SCOREBOARD WHILE WINNING BY NINETEEN IN BUFFALO

BUFFALO, N.Y. (May 14, 1875) - Massachusetts Bay and Niagara met for the first time this year, the contest held at the Greater New York Sporting Grounds in Buffalo. Only one team showed up to play, and that team was the visitors:

The opening two innings were even baseball, and after four Mass. Bay had a decent 4-0 lead. However, in the top of the 5th the visitors ripped Niagara apart, scoring eleven runs:

• MB 1B Albert Stoffers: Single to LF
• MB SS Jonathan Richards: Reached via Error by 3B
• MB C Lane Garvin: 1-Run Single to RCF (R: Stoffers)
• MB LF Franklin Skaggs: Ground Out to 1B (1 out; R by Richards)
• MB 2B Warren Perkins: 2-RUN HOME RUN (I-t-P) to LF (R’s by Garvin & Perkins)
• MB P Tom Hauser: Ground Out to SS (2 out)
• MB CF Charles Foster: Single past 2B
• Foster steals 2B
• MB RF Henry Gaul: Reached via Base on Balls
• MB 3B William Trowbridge: 2-run Double past 3B (R’s by Foster & Gaul)
• NIA Pitching Change: Marshall Yarber in for Everton McLean
• MB 1B Albert Stoffers: Reached via Error by 2B
• MB SS Jonathan Richards: 1-run Single past 2B (R by Trowbridge)
• 1-run Throwing Error by NIA CF (R by Stoffers)
• MB C Lane Garvin: 1-run Triple to RF (R by Richards)
• MB LF Franklin Skaggs: 1-run Single past SS (R by Garvin)
• MB 2B Warren Perkins: 1-run Triple to CF (R by Skaggs)
• MB P Tom Hauser: Ground Out to SS (3 out)
• TOTAL: 15 Batsmen, 11 R, 9 H (1 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR), 3 E, 1 BB, 1 SB

By the end of the rally it was 15-0 to Mass. Bay, and the contest was effectively over.

As excellent as the Mass. Bay offense was, their defense had a fine day as well. Tom Hauser pitched a Shutout (4 HA, 0 BB, 1 K), the fielders committed only three Errors, and they turned a pair of Double Plays against the hapless Niagara team.

The leadoff man in the fateful 5th inning, Albert Stoffers, was 2/4 on the day, which raised his average to .522 (24/46) through ten games with a 1.228 OPS, easily the best marks in the A.P.B.L. He has a dozen Runs Batted In.

Mass. Bay C Lane Garvin, who had been struggling, was 5/5 (3B, 3 R, 4 RBI) on the afternoon and in the process raised his early-season Batting Average from .211 to .302 (.674 OPS).

The result left both Massachusetts Bay & Niagara with identical 6-4 records.

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AMERICAN BEATS KINGS CO. WITH LATE BARRAGE
TEN RUNS ACROSS 7TH & 8TH MAKE THE DIFFERENCE; ONE PLAYER FROM EACH TEAM HAS FIVE HITS

PHILADELPHIA (May 14, 1875) - Kings County, off to a pleasant 5-4 start to the season, visited American, also 5-4, to start the two teams’ weekend series on Friday. The result was an all-offense affair:

For a while it looked like visiting Kings County might get the better of 2x champions American, as a two-run Single by 2B Dress van der Leest put them up 8-5 in the top of the 5th. However, American responded with half a dozen runs in B5, and after a single run in the 6th they scored ten times over the 7th & 8th to turn what was a close contest into a ten-run rout.

James Burke was 4/6 with a Triple & three RBI for American, but Player of the Game honors went to Franklin Petty:

• B1: Ground Out to 1B (1 out)
• B2: Fly Out to 2B (2 out)
• B4: Single past 2B off J. Doherty (SB, SB, R)
• B5: 1-run Double to CF off J. Doherty (R)
• B6: Single to RCF off R. Ewing
• B7: 2-run Triple to LCF off R. Ewing (R)
• B8: 2-run Single past SS off H. Tallman
• TOTAL: 5/7 (2B, 3B, 8 TB) 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 SB

The performance left Petty with an average of .365 (.839 OPS) and ten RBI through ten games.

Petty was not the only player to finish the game with five Hits, as Kings Co. 3B Harold McMichael matched him in defeat:

• T2: Leadoff Single to CF off M. Benetti (R)
• T3: 1-run Single past 1B off M. Benetti (R)
• T4: 1-run Single past SS off M. Benetti
• T6: Fly Out to CF (1 out)
• T8: Single to CF off J. Everhart (R)
• T9: 2-run Triple to LCF off J. Everhart
• TOTAL: 5/6 (3B, 7 TB) 3 R, 4 RBI

McMichael’s five-hit day left him with an average of .340 (.801 OPS) with ten RBI through ten games, like Petty.

Through ten games Kings Co. is 5-5 and actually not in last place in the Metropolitan Conference. Incredibly, that honor goes to defending champions Orange, who are currently 1-9. American is 6-4 and tied for 2nd with Gotham, one game behind Excelsior for the Metropolitan lead.

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GROVER WRIGHT GOES 10 INNINGS FOR WIN #300
LEGEND BECOMES 1ST TO DEBUT AFTER INAUGURAL SEASON TO REACH 300 N.B.B.O. WINS

NEW BEDFORD, MASS. (May 15, 1875) - Longtime New England foes Portland B.C. & Sons of the Ocean faced off in Massachusetts, and it took ten innings to find a victor:

After seven innings S.o.t.O. was in control, ahead 6-3 behind eight base hits and seven Portland fielding mistakes. Then, CF Jonathan Ovaska tied the score in T8 with a three-run Triple, and after an inning and half of scoreless baseball it was time for extra innings.

In the top of the 10th Ovaska drove in another run with a Single and he was followed with a two-run Single by SS Louis Beane to put Portland ahead 9-6. Grover Wright, who held S.o.t.O. hitless over the final three innings, had an easy time retiring the home team in B10 and the 4x defending New England champions had the victory.

For Wright, it was his 300th victory in the NBBO, making him the third pitcher to reach the milestone after Rainer van der Hout and Carl Bancroft.

Wright was the most dominant pitcher of the very early years of the N.B.B.O., and it was thought he would remain just that for the entirety of his career after the historic 1861 season that saw him become the first New York League pitcher to earn Most Valuable Player. However, Wright sensationally left Kings County, for whom he had a 93-42 record and 2.89 ERA, for Niagara after winning both M.V.P. and the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, and he’s been merely quite good ever since.

Grover Wright is a 2x time N.B.B.O. champion, 5x All-Star, 2x Team of the Year nominee, and a 3x Golden Glove winner in addition to being the 1861 New York League M.V.P. The Brooklyn native hopes that what is likely to be his final season in competitive baseball will end with his ninth trip to the playoffs and his first cup triumph in fourteen years.

For Wright, win #300 cements his status as one of the sport’s greatest pitchers.

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CANTABRIGIANS SLAUGHTERS SALEM BY 21
HOSTS’ LEAD GREW AS LARGE AS 23; MEN IN MIDDLE OF LINEUP CLUB FOUR HITS EACH

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (May 16, 1875) - Cantabrigians was at home against Salem on Sunday, looking to end the series by taking a second victory. One glance at the box score shows they did that in spectacular fashion:

Cantabrigians started the day off right with six runs in the opening inning, and big rallies in the 3rd & 4th saw them hit the midway point of the game with an 18-3 lead. They weren’t done, as more runs in the 6th, 7th, & 8th would take the lead all the way to 26-3 before Cantabrigians let Salem have a couple of consolation runs in the top of the 9th.

There were a number of great performances from members of the home side…

• CAN #2 William Hill (RF): 3/6 (2B, 4 TB), 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB
• CAN #4 Jonathan Crow (2B): 4/7 (all 1B), 3 R, 2 RBI
• CAN #5 Erwijn Groenland (1B): 4/6 (2B, 5 TB), 4 R, 3 RBI, HBP
• CAN #7 Raymond Fortney (SS): 2/5 (both 1B), 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB

…but greenhorn LF Dermott Ainge took Player of the Game honors with a tremendous display:

• B1: Reached via Error by 2B J. Verhaaren (R)
• B2: Fly Out to SS (2 out)
• B3: 2-RUN HOME RUN to LF off R. Dressen (R)
• B4: 2-run Triple to RCF off R. Dressen (R)
• B6: Leadoff Single to RF off H. Castleberry (R)
• B7: 1-run Triple to LCF off H. Castleberry
• B8: Bases Loaded Bases on Balls by H. Castleberry
• TOTAL: 4/6 (2 3B, HR, 11 TB), 4 R, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 104 GMSC

Ainge, a 24-year-old who was in Cantabrigians’ Reserve Roster for three years before he was made their regular LF to start 1875, put up the first 100+ Game Score on the young season, and took his batting record for Week One to a final tally of 7/22 (.318) with four Extra-Base Hits (1 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR) and eleven Runs Batted In. Cantabrigians certainly doesn’t expect Ainge to keep up this level of production for the entire season, but it’s quite the encouraging Week One start by their new man in Left Field.

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AMERICAN HAS TWO FIVE-HIT STARS AT KNICK
BUSBY & PRINCE BOTH FINISH 5/6; PRINCE ADDS SEVEN RBI’S IN BIG WIN AT ELYSIAN FIELDS

MANHATTAN (May 20, 1875) - American needed a win in the final game of their series at Knickerbocker to go above .500, and they were more than up to the task in a ten-run victory at the Elysian Fields:

With the game 1-1 at the start of the 3rd inning, American scored three times and never looked back, adding four more in the top of the 4th to take an 8-2 lead. With two more runs in T6 it was 10-2, and after a Knick run in B6 American scored three more runs during their next time at bat to go ahead 13-3 and seal the win.

American’s two biggest stars, James Burke & Franklin Petty, were collectively okay. Burke hit 2/4 and Petty was 1/6, but that wasn’t a problem as two other members of the American lineup had five hits each.

First up: William Busby, now in his eleventh year as American’s 1B. He was 5/6 with the bat (all Singles), and he didn’t drive in any runs Busby scored four times on the afternoon.

Next up: Martin Prince, American’s third-year SS who took Player of the Game honors with his performance:

• T1: 1-run Single to CF off B. Landreth
• T3: 1-run Single past 2B off B. Landreth
• T4: 3-run Double to RCF off B. Landreth (R)
• T6: 1-run Double to LF off B. Landreth (R)
• T7: 1-run Infield Single off A. Bird
• T9: Fly Out to CF (1 out)
• TOTAL: 5/7 (2 2B, 7 TB), 2 R, 7 RBI, 100 GMSC

The seven Runs Batted In were a career high for the defensive wizard, and Prince’s 100 Game Score was the first triple-digit mark in the A.P.B.L. this season. Pince entered the game batting just .222 (.500 OPS), but left it batting .275 (.629 OPS) with thirteen RBI through American’s first fifteen games.

The final left both teams’ records at 8-7, part of a three-way tie with Gotham for 2nd in the Metropolitan Conference.

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DEADLY TIGER POUNCES ON PORT JERSEY
PHILADELPHIANS BEHIND EARLY BUT DOMINATE AFTER 1ST IN EIGHTEEN-RUN VICTORY

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (May 21, 1875) - At the end of the 1st inning of the game between Tiger S.C. & Pt. Jersey at Hoboken & Oakland Park on Friday the hosts had the lead. After that, it was a mauling by Tiger:

After that opening inning Tiger scored six unanswered runs before Pt. Jersey responded with two in the bottom of the 5th to bring the score to 6-5. After that, Tiger would score the next nineteen runs over the 6th-8th and it was game over.

Three Tiger batsmen had four hits during the game:

• TSC #5 George Moore (RF): 4/7 (all 1B), 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SB
• TSC #6 Jack Dubay (CF): 4/7 (2B, 5 TB), 3 R, 1 RBI
• TSC #9 Ivory Norman (P): 4/6 (all 1B), 3 R, 2 RBI

Norman had a strange afternoon. Tiger’s #2 P was no great shakes with the ball (12 HA, 8 RA, 3 ER, 2 BB) even though he went the distance, but his stellar work with the bat helped prolong multiple rallies.

In addition to the trio of four-hit men, Tiger had one player with five base hits and another with six.

The man with six hits was 3B Herbert Ray, who surprisingly didn’t take Player of the Game honors:

• T1: Fly Out to CF (1 out)
• T2: Line Out to 1B (3 out)
• T4: 1-run Single past 2B off R. van der Hout
• T5: 1-run Single past 2B off R. van der Hout
• T6: 1-run Single past 1B off R. van der Hout (R)
• T7: Single past 2B off E. Wentzel (R)
• T8: Double to LCF off F. Metzger (R)
• T9: Single past 1B off F. Metzger
• TOTAL: 6/8 (2B, 7 TB), 3 R, 3 RBI

Instead, P.o.t.G. went to five-hit man Everton Stephens, Tiger’s regular 1B:

• T2: Leadoff Single to CF off R. van der Hout (R)
• T3: Single to LF off R. van der Hout
• T5: Reached via Error by P R. van der Hout (R)
• T6: Reached via Error by 2B J. Keenan (R)
• T6: Fly Out to CF (3 out)
• T7: 3-run Triple to RCF off E. Wentzel (R)
• T8: 1-run Double to LF off F. Metzger (R)
• T9: 1-run Single past 2B off F. Metzger
• TOTAL: 5/8 (2B, 3B, 8 TB), 5 R, 5 RBI, SB

Ray’s 6/8 afternoon raised his average to .452 (19/42; 3 2B, 1 3B) through eight games, while Stephens’ output took his average to .368 (.833) OPS with nine Runs Batted In.

Tiger is currently 3-5, while Pt. Jersey, embarrassment aside, is 5-3.

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HEARST SHINES AS P.B.C.C. CONTINUES HOT START
CATCHER CLUBS FIVE HITS AS TEAM ROUTS SCHUYLKILL AND IMPROVES TO 10-1

PHILADELPHIA (May 26, 1875) - Philadelphia B.C.C. entered their series at Schuylkill with a 9-1 record and a +65 Run Differential through two weeks of play. The series opener proved to be more of the same for P.B.C.C.:

Schuylkill had a 1-0 lead after two innings, but in the top of the 3rd P.B.C.C. turned on the offense and left their hosts in the dust. Four runs in the 3rd, two in the 4th, and three more in the 5th made it a 9-1 game, and P.B.C.C. continued to pile it on until a pair of scores in the top of the 9th put them ahead 17-3, the game’s final result.

P.B.C.C. had five players with multiple hits during the game. The first four:

• PBCC #1 Robert Chase (CF): 2/6 (2B, 3 TB), 2 R, 2 RBI
• PBCC #2 Henry Griffin (RF): 2/6 (3B, 4 TB), 2 R, 3 RBI
• PBCC #3 Frederick Pike (2B): 3/5 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI, SB
• PBCC #8 Moody Steiger (SS): 4/6 (3B, 6 TB), 3 R, 1 RBI

The other player was C Harrison Hearst, who took home Player of the Game honors:

• T2: Reached via Fielder’s Choice at 2B (2 out)
• T3: Single past SS off T. Memminger
• T5: Leadoff Single past SS off T. Memminger
• T6: Single past SS off T. Memminger
• T7: 3-run Double to LF W. Willingham (R)
• T9: 1-run Single past 2B off W. Winningham (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2B, 6 TB), 2 R, 4 RBI

Wednesday’s outburst moved Hearst’s average over .400 to .409 (.913 OPS) with half a dozen Runs Batted In.

The smashing victory made P.B.C.C. 10-1 through eleven games with a massive +79 Run Differential (+7.2 R/G), their only loss being a 2-0 shutout at home to Germantown on Opening Day. Since then, it’s been nothing but brilliance for P.B.C.C.

On the other hand, Schuylkill is 2-9, and last year’s West Philadelphia runners-up already appear to be in trouble.

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OVERBROOK & INDEPENDENCE CONTEST A BAFFLER
WEST PHILADELPHIA TEAMS COMBINE FOR 48 RUNS AS STRANGE FIELDING RULES THE DAY

PHILADELPHIA (May 28, 1875) - Overbrook & Independence are two teams that finished last year around .500 – not great, but not terrible. With that in mind, the game they played this afternoon was downright bizarre:

While there are plenty of fielding mistakes in a normal game of baseball – the average P.C.B.L. team commits eight Errors per game (this is in line with the 8.1 E/G per team in the real life National Association of 1871-74, although E/G went down to 6.8 in 1875) – what unfolded in Mount Moriah Park made those in attendance feel as if the players’ hands had been possessed by evil spirits.

Overbrook’s seventeen Errors were a team record, and Independence’s seemingly impossible TWENTY-SIX ERRORS amounted to a new all-leagues record for fieldwork futility during the course of a single afternoon’s work. The biggest culprit: Independence SS George Selby, who made roughly two mistakes per game at the position last year but managed to commit NINE ERRORS during today’s contest, a full one per inning.

That’s not to say the game was left wanting for fine batsmanship. There were a number of quality performances:

• OVER #3 George Bierlein (2B): 4/7 (2B, 5 TB), 5 R, 2 RBI
• OVER #4 Gareth Webber (1B): 5/7 (2B, 6 RBI), 5 R, 5 RBI
• OVER #5 William Cardigan (CF): 2/7 (GRAND SLAM, 5 TB), 3 R, 7 RBI, 1 BB
• IND #2 Jerald Coleman (LF): 3/7 (2B, 4 TB), 3 R, 2 RBI
• IND #3 Jonathan Turriff (2B): 4/6 (all 1B), 5 R, 2 RBI
• IND #4 Roark Ellison (RF): 3/7 (all 1B), 4 R, 2 RBI
• IND #6 Glenn Payne (3B): 5/7 (2B, 6 TB), 4 R, 4 RBI

It was Webber who took Player of the Game honors even though William Cardigan’s Grand Slam - one of the rarest events in the sport - in the top of the 4th was the game’s biggest hit.

There was even an incredible comeback in this one. After an early flood of scoring saw Independence ahead 15-4 after the 3rd, Overbrook won the next two innings 4-3 each to make it a 21-12 game. After Independence scored twice in the 6th to bring their lead back to eleven all hope looked lost for the visitors, but after a scoreless 7th Overbrook scored a dozen times during the top of the 8th in what was one of the strangest innings in baseball history.

During the top of the 8th Overbrook plated those twelve runs on only four hits. Out in the field, Independence committed ELEVEN ERRORS in just half an inning, another all-leagues record, to fill in the hitting gaps and allow Overbrook batsmen who otherwise would have been retired to keep moving on the basepaths. It was truly some high strangeness at Mt. Moriah.

By the time it was all done Overbrook had erased the deficit and taken a 24-23 lead. They would then add an insurance run in the top of the 9th to go ahead 25-23 and cement in place an unforgettable and bizarre victory.

Will this end up being remembered as the best-played game of 1875? Certainly not, but it will likely go down as the most memorable one.

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JOHNSON GOES FOR THE CYCLE VS NASSAU COUNTY
FORMER GOTHAM REGULAR HITS FOR N.B.B.O.’S FIRST CYCLE IN JUST OVER A YEAR

BROOKLYN (May 30, 1875) - Continental finished their home series against perennial underachievers Nassau County on Sunday in Brooklyn Championship action, and the home team came out on top:

Continental opened the scoring with two runs during the bottom of the 1st, and after Nassau Co. responded with three runs the hosts took the lead right back and surged forth to a seven-run victory over a team that has finished last or second-to-last in Brooklyn no less than a dozen times.

There were two four-hit performers for Continental. First was 3B William Denham, who finished 4/5 (2 3B, 8 TB) with three Runs & RBI each. However, he was overshadowed by the other four-hit man, new RF Edward Johnson:

• B1: SOLO HOME RUN (I-t-P) to RF off E. van den Broek (R)
• B3: Leadoff double to LF off E. van den Broek (R)
• B4: 1-run Triple to RF off E. van den Broek (R)
• B6: Reached via Base on Balls by E. Estes (R)
• B8: Single to CF off E. Estes
• TOTAL: 4/4 (CYCLE, 10 TB), 4 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 OF AST

Johnson hit for the Cycle, doing the hard part, the Home Run, first and the easy part, the Single, last. It was the sixteenth in N.B.B.O. history and the first since Hiram Britton’s for Portland (4/6, 3 R, 4 RBI) on May 16th of last year. There has yet to be a Cycle in either the A.P.B.L. or N.B.B.O.

Johnson, who spent the previous four seasons as the regular CF for Gotham in the A.P.B.L., is off to a fantastic start so far in his first season back in the N.B.B.O., where he played for Kings County in 1869 & 70. Johnson is batting .370 with a .984 OPS and fourteen Runs Batted In through fifteen games, and he is on pace for 5.4 WAR.

As a team Continental has started the season strong, going 10-5 through the first three weeks of play to end up part of a three-way tie atop Brooklyn with Atlantic & Eckford. Nassau Co., on the other hand, is 4-11 and in their familiar position of last place.

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AMERICAN BASEBALL MAY RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 1, 1875) – The opening month of the baseball season is done and dusted, and here is how each of baseball’s three competitions look as the calendar turns over to June.

APBL STANDINGS (24 of 90 games played)

COLONIAL – The conference consists of five teams currently running neck-and-neck with only Flour City struggling, although they had a positive Run Differential and eight one-run losses. Shamrock has been the conference’s best team over the past ten games at 7-3. St. John’s looks extremely frail due to their sub-500 record and conference-worst RD, but three-double digit losses make up most of that -38.

METROPOLITAN – Excelsior, with the league’s best pitching and a top-three defense, won the month. American, with six straight wins and their league-best offense, is right behind. Gotham, Knickerbocker, & Orange are at arm’s length, with Orange making up serious ground after their 1-9 start. Kings Co…well…their 5-5 start seemed like a sign of a much-improved season to come, but they’re 3-11 since then.

APBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
James Burke (CF, AME) – .425, 1.025 OPS, 25 R, 48 H, 7 2B, 5 3B, 25 RBI, 4 BB, 16 SB, 1.8 WPA, 1.9 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Jim Creighton (GOT) – 8-3, 2.55 ERA, 102.1 IP, 9 CG, 1 SHO, 35 K, 4.4 K/BB, 1.16 WHIP, 2.5 WAR, 1.9 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Simeon DiStefano (P, MB) – 8-3, 2.35 ERA, 99.2 IP, 7 CG, 9 K, 1.3 K/BB, 0.6 BB/9, 1.14 WHIP, 1.8 WAR, 2.3 rWAR

James Burke hit .538 (1.369 OPS) and racked up nearly a full point of WAR over the last week of May, and that clinched BotM for the legendary outfielder. However, he didn’t lead the league in batting. That honor went to Albert Stoffers (1B, Mass. Bay) who hit .430 but with a lower OPS (.957), fewer Hits (46), fewer RBI (24), and only two Stolen Bases.

It’s PotM award number eight for Creighton, who picked up right from where he left off in 1874 with more astounding pitching for APBL-best Excelsior. There were two other pitchers that won eight games: Mass. Bay’s Tom Hauser, who had a lower ERA (2.50) but nothing close to Creighton’s other numbers, and American’s Simeon DiStefano, who took a different award.

Charles Burton of Knickerbocker had a lower ERA at 2.18 but his record was 6-6, and that is why DiStefano took home GotM for his debut month in the A.P.B.L. DiStefano showed good pitching acumen while letting American’s incredibly rangy outfielders do the job for him, and he was rewarded with an eight-win month that matched PotM Jim Creighton.

APBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .430 by Albert Stoffers (1B, Mass. Bay)
OPS: 1.025 by James Burke (CF, American)
Runs: 36 by Franklin Petty (RF, American)
Home Runs: 3 Bill Lewis (RF, Excelsior) & Troy Oberst (LF, Excelsior)
Runs Batted In: 29 by John Meier (LF, Alleghany)
Stolen Bases: 23 by Franklin Petty
Batsman WPA: 2.6 by Albert Stoffers
Batsman WAR: 1.9 by James Burke

ERA (50+ IP): 2.09 by Jack Doherty (Kings Co.)
Wins: 8 by three different pitchers
Complete Games: 9 by Jim Creighton (Excelsior) & Nicholas Banfield (Excelsior)
Strikeouts: 35 by Jim Creighton
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.14 by Simeon DiStefano (American)
Pitcher WAR: 2.5 by Jim Creighton
Pitcher rWAR: 2.3 by Simeon DiStefano

NBBO REGIONAL LEADERS (15 of 70 games played)

BROOKLYN: Atlantic, Continental, & Eckford at 10-5 (Empire 2 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: Metropolitan at 11-4 (Mutual 0.5 GB, Mercury & Union 3 GB)
UPSTATE NY: Frontier, Utica, & Victory at 10-5 (Minuteman & Syracuse 1 GB)
COASTAL: Quaker State at 14-1 (Pt. Jersey 4 GB, Newark & Trenton Utd. 6 GB)
INLAND: Scranton at 11-4 (Pioneer 1 GB, Lake Erie 2 GB, Merrimack & Susquehanna 3 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Cantabrigians, Quinnipiac, & Susquehanna at 9-6 (Granite & Oceania 1 GB)

Three of the six regions – Brooklyn, Upstate, & New England – currently have a three-way tie at the top. Those three will eventually sort themselves out, but in the meantime that should mean there will be plenty of exciting baseball ahead for at least half of the competition if not more, since two of the other three regions have numerous teams 3-4 games from 1st.

So much for Quaker State falling to mere contender status this year. Their 14-1 record and +66 Run Differential are both the best in the N.B.B.O. after one month, with the team scoring the 2nd-most runs in the N.E.L. while allowing the fewest runs out of all 48 teams. The only thing keeping them from 15-0? A one-run loss at Olympic on May 20th.

One team to watch, for unfortunate reasons, is Eagle, who just finished the N.B.B.O.’s first ever winless month with a 0-15 May. Their RD of -91 means they are being outscored by six runs per game (5.3 R/G, 11.4 RA/G), and as of right now it looks quite likely that they will have the worst season in N.B.B.O. history.

NBBO MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: William Buschmann (CF, UTI) – .391, .976 OPS, 22 R, 27 H, 6 XBH, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 5 BB, 6 SB, 1.4 WPA, 1.1 WAR
NEL: Gerhardt Berg (1B, QS) – .472, 1.179 OPS, 27 R, 34 H, 4 2B, 5 3B, 18 RBI, 4 BB, 232 OPS+, 1.7 WPA, 1.2 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Rudolph Fowler (UTI) – 7-2, 2.28 ERA, 79.0 IP, 9 CG, 0 SHO, 5 K, 5.0 K/BB, 1.16 WHIP, 1.3 WAR, 3.2 rWAR
NEL: Ross Gill (QS) – 7-0, 2.60 ERA, 72.2 IP, 6 CG, 1 SHO, 3 K, 3.0 K/BB, 1.18 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 2.4 rWAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Jacob Wesolowski (P, SYR) – 6-3, 3.00 ERA, 78.0 IP, 8 CG, 0 SHO, 11 K, 2.2 K/BB, 1.27 WHIP, 1.9 WAR, 2.3 rWAR
NEL: Devon Clark (LF, NAT) – .365, .906 OPS, 17 R, 23 H, 5 XBH, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 5 BB, 1 SB, 1.0 WPA, 0.9 WAR

NBBO STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .472 by Gerhardt Berg (1B, Quaker St.)
OPS: 1.179 by Gerhardt Berg
Runs: 27 by Gerhardt Berg
Home Runs: 3 by Lon Duffy (RF, Syracuse)
Runs Batted In: 24 by Ned Morganti (CF, Quaker St.)
Stolen Bases: 12 by three different batsmen
Batsman WPA: 1.7 by Gerhardt Berg
Batsman WAR: 1.2 by four different batsmen

ERA (50+ IP): 1.29 by Frazer Richardson (Metro)
Wins: 7 by four different pitchers
Complete Games: 9 by Rudolph Fowler (Utica)
Strikeouts: 12 by William Clayberg (Scranton)
WHIP (50+ IP): 0.98 by Frazer Richardson
Pitcher WAR: 1.9 by Jacob Wesolowski (Syracuse)
Pitcher rWAR: 3.2 by George Burroughs (Pt. Jersey)

PCBL LEADERS (15 of 70 games played)

EAST: Frankford Arsenal at 11-4 (Minerva 1 GB, Queen Village 3 GB, three teams 4 GB)
WEST: Philadelphia B.C.C. at 13-2 (Independence, Merion, & Penn 4 GB)

EAST – Death, taxes, and Frankford is atop the East Philadelphia standings. They have played extremely well in tough contests, going 4-0 in one-run games while winning both times they’ve gone to extra innings. One surprise is that it’s Minerva (finishes: 7th & 6th) that is right behind them thanks to a top-five offense and the league’s best baserunning. Another is that Queen Village (finishes: 6th & 7th) is alone in 3rd thanks to a marvelous opening three weeks by #1 P Oscar Downs.

WEST – At 13-2 and outscoring opponents by seven runs per game (11.5 R/G, 4.5 RA/G), this was the P.B.C.C. team everyone feared they would see ahead of the inaugural season. Apparently, it just took them a couple of years to get there. Their offense has been unquestionably brilliant, their pitching has been outstanding, and their defense has been the best in the league. The good news for everyone else: there are still eleven weeks of games left, and a lot can change.

PCBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
William Norman (1B, MBCC) – .408, .976 OPS, 16 R, 31 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 20 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB, 2.2 WPA, 0.8 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Arthur Lipscomb (PBCC) – 6-2, 2.33 ERA, 76.2 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 7 K, 1.4 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 1.2 WAR, 2.4 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Sam Winkler (SS, SPA) – .389, .852 OPS, 15 R, 21 H, 4 2B, 0 3B, 9 RBI, 0 BB, 2 SB, 1.4 WPA, 0.5 WAR

PCBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .412 by Roger Thomas (C, Frankford)
OPS: .976 by William Norman (1B, Merion)
Runs: 26 by Frederick Pike (2B, P.B.C.C.)
Home Runs: 2 by six different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 24 by Walter Kirby (LF, P.B.C.C.)
Stolen Bases: 9 by Timothy Sheehan (SS, Pt. Richmond)
Batsman WPA: 2.2 by William Norman
Batsman WAR: 1.4 by Moody Steiger (SS, P.B.C.C.)

ERA (50+ IP): 1.44 by Oscar Downs (Queen Village)
Wins: 6 by Warren Leonard (P.B.C.C.) & Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.)
Complete Games: 6 by Warren Leonard & Arthur Lipscomb
Strikeouts: 10 by Otis Brown (Minerva) & Timotheus Memminger (Schuylkill)
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.04 by Oscar Downs
Pitcher WAR: 1.5 by six different pitchers
Pitcher rWAR: 2.5 by Warren Leonard