The Big Bang: A Larger Baseball Universe Starting From Nothing in 1857 - Page 47

tm1681 · 10-19-2025, 09:08 PM

HARRIS PLATES SIX AS KNICK OUTLASTS GOTHAM
VETERAN 3B TAKES ADVANTAGE OF FINE BATSMANSHIP FROM TOP OF LINEUP; KNICK TO 15-8

NEW YORK CITY (May 26, 1877) - On Saturday, Knickerbocker & Gotham played the middle game of yet another edition of the “Grand Ole Derby” in front of well over 2,500 spectators at the St. George Cricket Grounds. Thanks to a handful of runs over the final two innings, Knick was able to outlast Gotham and exit Red House with the victory:

After an even opening frame during which both teams scored twice, Gotham took control of the early innings, and thanks to a six-run fifth – the big hits a pair of two-run Singles by James Dressman & Enos Pfannenstiel – they enjoyed a 12-4 lead.

That was when visiting Knickerbocker went to work. They scored three runs during T6 on a trio of run-scoring Singles to cut the Gotham lead to 12-7. Then Knick tied the game in T7 with five scores, a rally punctuated with the rarest of hits: a Grand Slam by veteran 3B Hugh Harris over the Left Field fence. With Gotham reeling, Knick took a 16-12 lead during T8 on a two-run Single by Harris and two other run-scoring hits. The visitors then applied the finish in the ninth with one more run thanks to a Single by new LF and former Gotham stalwart Clive Strachan.

It was a stunning turnaround over the final four innings, and the Knickerbocker batsman at the center of it all was fourteenth-year 3B Hugh Harris:

• T1: Ground Out to 3B (2 out)
• T3: Hit by Pitch from J. Dressman (SB, R)
• T4: Ground Out to 2B (3 out)
• T6: Single to RF off J. Dressman (SB, R)
• T7: GRAND SLAM HOME RUN to LF off J. Dressman
• T8: 2-run Single past 1B off W. Grabow
• T9: Single to RF off W. Grabow
• TOTAL: 4/6 (GS, 7 TB), 3 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB, 92 GMSC

Going by Game Score, Harris’ performance was the best in the A.P.B.L. through three and a half weeks of the 1877 season. However, Harris wouldn’t have had the opportunity to hit his Grand Slam in the top of the seventh if the top of the Knickerbocker lineup hadn’t been fantastic on the whole:

• KNI #1 Henry Jost (CF): 3/7 (2B, 4 TB), 2 R, 1 RBI, SB
• KNI #2 Clive Strachan (LF): 3/7 (2B, 4 TB), 3 R, 2 RBI, SB
• KNI #3 Hugh Harris (3B): 4/6, (GS, 7 TB), 3 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB
• KNI #4 Cormack Alexander (1B): 3/6, 3 R, 2 RBI
• KNI #5 Anthony Mascherino (2B): 4/6, 1 R, 3 RBI
• TOTAL: 17/32 (14 1B, 2 2B, 1 GS), 12 R, 14 RBI, 4 SB

The first five in the Knick lineup combined to score twelve of the team’s seventeen Runs, collect seventeen of the team’s 23 Hits, and they had all four of the team’s Stolen Bases. The quintet also had 14/16 Knick Runs Batted In.

Had it not been for them Knickerbocker wouldn’t have improved their record to 15-8 and been able to stay part of a first-place tie with Excelsior atop the Metropolitan Conference. Gotham is 10-13 and in fifth place, but they’re just one game behind third-place Kings County.

tm1681 · 10-19-2025, 09:09 PM

SHAMROCK BLANKS NIAGARA TO GO BACK TO .500
ALDRIDGE PITCHES SHUTOUT FOR BOSTONIANS & DRIVES IN TWO WITH HIS BAT

BOSTON (May 30, 1877) - On May 20th Niagara was held scoreless in a 9-0 loss at St. John’s in providence. Ten days later they were again left befuddled, but this time it was by their hosts in Boston:

The final tally for Niagara: solitary base hits from four different batsmen, all of them Singles, and nobody drew a Base on Balls. It was the second time in a week and a half they’d spent an afternoon being flummoxed by the opposition.

The man who pitched Shamrock’s superb Shutout was second-year P Rudolph Aldridge, who also aided the Shamrock cause with his bat:

• SHA P Rudolph Aldridge BAT: 1/3 (3B), 1 R, 2 RBI
• SHA P Rudolph Aldridge PIT: CG SHO (7-6, 3.67), 4 HA, 0 BB, 1 K

A run in the bottom of the opening inning proved to be enough for Shamrock, as the victory moved them back to .500 at 13-13 and also back into the top half of the Colonial Conference standings (3rd; 2.5 GB). The loss left Niagara 15-11, second in the Colonial and 1.5 games behind leaders St. John’s.

tm1681 · 10-19-2025, 09:10 PM

TROWBRIDGE ENDS MAY WITH 5 HITS, 6 RBI AT FC
1B HAS SPECTACULAR AFTERNOON IN UPSTATE NY AS ALLEGHANY WINS AT FLOUR CITY

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (May 31, 1877) - Alleghany & Flour City ended the month of May by contesting the second game of their series in Upstate New York, and it was Alleghany who won the tilt at Riverside Park:

The visitors found themselves in charge of the contest with a 7-1 lead after five innings, but Flour City countered some late Alleghany runs with seven runs of their own over the sixth, seventh, & eighth to make the score 10-8 going into the ninth. The visiting lead grew to 11-8 in T9 when a run scored on a Passed Ball with two out, and then Alleghany 1B William Trowbridge stepped to plate with the bases full and proceeded to clear them with a Double to put a seal on the victory.

The bases-clearing Double capped off a fantastic afternoon for Trowbridge:

• T1: Double to RF off J. Goodman
• T3: 1-run Single to LCF off J. Goodman (R)
• T4: 1-run Double to RCF off J. Goodman
• T6: Ground Out to SS (3 out)
• T8: 1-run Single past SS off F. Nicholas
• T9: 3-run Double to LF off D. Gibson
• TOTAL: 5/6 (3 2B, 8 TB), 1 R, 6 RBI, 2 DEF DP

The five-hit haul raised Trowbridge’s batting line to .320/.328/.434 (.762 OPS) to end the first month of the season, and he has 24 Runs Batted In through Alleghany’s first 27 games.

The win in Rochester saw Alleghany end May with a 13-14 record, good for fourth place (3.5 GB) in the Colonial Conference. Flour City is 11-16 (5.5 GB), which has them in last.

tm1681 · 10-19-2025, 09:11 PM

AMERICAN BASEBALL MAY RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 1, 1876) – Another year, and another May gone by. The A.P.B.L. has finished three and a half weeks of play, while the other two competitions are through with two and a half weeks of baseball. Here is a brief overview of the three as of the end of play on May 31st.

A.P.B.L. STANDINGS

COLONIAL – St. John’s had a 1-4 stretch during the middle of May, but they righted the ship and sit atop the standings with the league’s best Average & OPS. Niagara was held scoreless twice and their offense remains an issue, but on the whole they had a fine May. George Burroughs was excellent in his debut month for third-place Shamrock. Alleghany’s defense isn’t as good as it’s been in previous years, but they have the time & talent to fix that. Mass. Bay has been getting pounded in losses. Flour City has been VERY unlucky, and they were just 5-10 at home during the opening month.

METROPOLITAN – Knickerbocker feasted on the opposition at home during May, going 10-2 compared to 5-8 when acting the visitor. Excelsior is, of course, enjoying dominant pitching but they also lead the league in Runs (8.1 R/G). Kings Co. is hovering around .500 thanks to fine defense and an excellent month by Fred Bartholomew (.366, 24 RBI, 13 SB). American is fourth even though they have three men batting .350+ (Boyce, Burke, Kassabian), because the rest of their lineup has lagged and Simeon DiStefano suffered a serious loss of pitching form. Gotham is near .500, but twin worries are numerous lopsided losses and Royal Altman batting .268. Charles Whitehead aside, Orange’s offense has been nonexistent.

A.P.B.L. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
James Burke (CF, AME) – .395, .919 OPS, 34 R, 51 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 19 RBI, 9 BB, 29 SB, 1.4 WPA, 2.0 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Thomas Smith (StJ) – 9-4, 2.55 ERA, 21 K, 116.1 IP, 12 CG, 1 SHO, 1.6 K/BB, 1.26 WHIP, 1.7 WAR, 3.6 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Joseph Evans (LF, StJ) – .378, .925 OPS, 24 R, 45 H, 10 2B, 3 3B, 14 RBI, 5 BB, 7 SB, 1.6 WPA, 1.2 WAR

No surprise: the man who led the league in AVG, OBP, Hits, SB, & WAR during May took home B.o.t.M. That start makes Burke the favorite to take home Batsman of the Year trophy #4 in five years. St. John’s CF Rudolph Decker (.391, .944 OPS, 29 RBI, 23 SB, 2.0 WAR) arguably had a better month, but the Writers Pool thought otherwise.

Jim Creighton was the only man with 10+ Wins in May (10-4, 3.51 ERA, 41 K), but Smith earned P.o.t.M. for the fifth time thanks to a similar record, a superior ERA, and the fact that he went the distance in 12/13 outings. The most unfortunate pitcher: James Goodman, whose 1.64 ERA earned him a 6-8 record for Flour City.

Joseph Evans taking G.o.t.M. seems like the least surprising award win of the three, but Shamrock’s George Burroughs did lead Greenhorn P’s in Wins, ERA, K’s, IP, CG, & WAR. Still, there is a larger crop of Greenhorn batsmen this season – eleven v six P’s – and Evans leading them in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, Hits, 2B, TB, WPA, & WAR earned him the honors.

A.P.B.L. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .395 by James Burke (CF, American)
OPS: .975 by George Kassabian (LF, American)
Home Runs: 2 by Hugh Harris (3B, Knickerbocker)
Runs Batted In: 31 by Eamonn Todd (3B, St. John’s) & Werner Verstegen (3B, Flour City)
Runs: 35 by Boyd Myers (CF, Excelsior) & Troy Oberst (LF, Excelsior)
Stolen Bases: 29 by James Burke
Batsman WPA: 2.6 by Peter Boyce (2B, American)
Batsman WAR: 2.0 by James Burke & Rudolph Decker (CF, St. John’s)

Wins: 10 by Jim Creighton (Excelsior)
ERA (50+ IP): 1.64 by James Goodman (Flour City)
Strikeouts: 66 by Elmer Seabold (Excelsior)
Complete Games: 12 by Thomas Smith (St. John’s)
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.15 by James Goodman
Pitcher WAR: 2.9 by Elmer Seabold
Pitcher rWAR: 3.6 by Thomas Smith

N.B.B.O. REGIONAL LEADERS

BROOKLYN: Atlantic at 13-4 (Eckford 1 GB; Star 4 GB; Cont’l 5 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: New York Athletic Club at 14-3 (Union 2 GB; Mercury 4 GB; Metro 6 GB)
UPSTATE N.Y.: Minuteman, Syracuse, Victory, & Utica at 10-7 (all other teams within 5 GB)
COASTAL: Newark at 14-3 (Quaker St. 1 GB; Pt. Jersey 2 GB; Trenton Utd. 6 GB)
INLAND: Susquehanna at 14-3 (Pioneer 1 GB; Lake Erie 3 GB; Merrimack 5 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Portland at 14-3 (S.o.t.O. 2 GB; Green Mtn. & Quinnipiac 5 GB)

BROOKLYN – Atlantic’s offense, ranked #3 overall and led by SS Ben Gagliardi (.429, 18 RBI, 11 SB, 1.4 WAR), powered the team to an excellent May. Eckford is a game back thanks to their usual collection of stars and solid role players. Places #3-7 are 4-6 games back, with Marathon bringing up the rear at 5-12.

NEW YORK CITY – N.Y.A.C. is 14-3 but their Run Differential is only +24. Of course, it’s their incredible pitching that is bringing in the results and they’re 4-0 in one-run games. Union has the league’s best RD thanks to that 31-3 win, but they’re looking good on the whole. Mercury has great defense and they’re received excellent pitching from Greenhorn John Watson (6-2, 2.22 ERA, 6 K).

UPSTATE N.Y. – Upstate being a mess after May just feels right. Of the four teams tied for top spot Syracuse looks the best, as they have the highest RD (+51) and they’ve played 10/17 games away from home. Frontier’s best batsman, CF George Whaley, is struggling, so if/when he comes around they’ll be dangerous as well.

COASTAL – Newark has top spot thanks to a quality offense and incredible pitching from John Ratican (8-2, 1.04 ERA, 37 K). However, Quaker St. and their top-five attack, led by new RF William Wimple, is right behind them, and Pt. Jersey has adjusted extremely well to life without George Burroughs, with new #1 Charles King pitching well and Monroe Munson going 6-1 (2.43 ERA).

INLAND – Susquehanna’s record-breaking offense scored an astounding 12.2 RUNS PER GAME during May, making it a surprise they lost any games at all. It feels blatantly unfair that such an offense is backed up with William Hawk’s pitching (9-0, 1.57 ERA, 30 K). Still, Pioneer and Lake Erie are both playing excellently, with both teams’ attacks in the N.B.B.O.’s top ten overall.

NEW ENGLAND – Not surprisingly, Portland’s 14-3 mark has occurred thanks to the work of their two new five-star pitchers. However, James Dressen & Francis Molinari have also been backed up by the N.B.B.O.’s fifth-best defense. S.o.t.O. is two games back even though star 1B Jesse Craig is struggling (.288, .691 OPS), so expect an exciting two-way pennant chase at the very least.

N.B.B.O. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: Chester Alexander (2B, SYR) – .417, .981 OPS, 34 R, 35 H, 6 XBH, 1 HR, 30 RBI, 7 BB, 2 SB, 1.4 WPA, 1.0 WAR
NEL: William Wimple (RF, QS) – .429, 1.107 OPS, 21 R, 33 H, 10 XBH, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 4 BB, 4 SB, 1.4 WPA, 1.2 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Edward Koch (UNI) – 7-2, 2.52 ERA, 7 K, 85.2 IP, 9 CG, 0.8 K/BB, 1.26 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 2.9 rWAR
NEL: John Ratican (NEW) – 8-2, 1.04 ERA, 37 K, 86.1 IP, 8 CG, 1 SV, 18.5 K/BB, 0.88 WHIP, 3.0 WAR, 3.5 rWAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: John Hanson (3B, MIN) – .405, .983 OPS, 24 R, 30 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 12 RBI, 3 BB, 1 SB, 1.0 WPA, 0.9 WAR
NEL: Ernest Taylor (1B, PIO) – .383, .955 OPS, 19 R, 23 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, 17 RBI, 4 BB, 1 SB, 0.9 WPA, 0.8 WAR

N.B.B.O. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .468 by Julius Tierney (LF, Star)
OPS: 1.107 by William Wimple (RF, Quaker St.)
Home Runs: 2 by three different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 31 by David Bertolet (3B, Syracuse)
Runs: 34 by Chester Alexander (2B, Syracuse)
Stolen Bases: 16 by three different batsmen
Batsman WPA: 2.4 by Henry Nabors (SS, Victory)
Batsman WAR: 1.4 by Ben Gagliardi (SS, Atlantic) & Louis Murray (LF, Eckford)

Wins: 9 by William Hawk (Susquehanna)
ERA (50+ IP): 1.04 by John Ratican (Newark)
Strikeouts: 38 by Earl Quinn (Maryland)
Complete Games: 9 by Edward Koch (Union)
WHIP (50+ IP): 0.88 by John Ratican
Pitcher WAR: 3.0 by John Ratican
Pitcher rWAR: 3.7 by William Hawk

P.C.B.L. LEADERS

EAST: Keystone at 13-4 (Spartan 2 GB; Frankford, Pt. Richmond, & Queen Village 4 GB)
WEST: Philadelphia B.C.C. at 12-5 (Overbrook, Mercantile, & Germantown 3 GB)

EAST – For the first time in a long time, it looks as if the race for the East Philadelphia pennant is wide open. James Harris has been excellent as Frankford’s new LF, which means their offense has lost little after the departure of Joseph Evans. However, Spartan’s league-leading offensive attack and Keystone’s 6-0 record in one-run games have those two teams in the top two spots with Frankford tied for third.

WEST – P.B.C.C. started 4-3 but then ended May on an 8-2 run, and they already find themselves several games in front of the West Philadelphia competition. They don’t have the league’s best Run Differential (+33; SPA +44) so they’re not as dominant-looking as they were last year, but Robert Benson looks fantastic and their defense remains the league’s best. It’s too early to say the others are competing for second place, but P.B.C.C. again appears to be a level above everyone else.

P.C.B.L. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
George Oman (RF, SCH) – .408, 1.030 OPS, 19 R, 31 H, 8 XBH, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB, 1.2 WPA, 1.0 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Robert Benson (PBCC) – 8-2, 1.40 ERA, 14 K, 83.2 IP, 8 CG, 1.6 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 1.2 WAR, 1.8 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
George Oman (RF, SCH) – Philadelphia City Baseball League Batsman of the Month

P.C.B.L. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .471 by Wallace Liston (C, Pt. Richmond)
OPS: 1.030 by George Oman (RF, Schuylkill)
Home Runs: 1 by 27 different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 24 by three different batsmen
Runs: 28 by James Harris (LF, Frankford)
Stolen Bases: 14 by Wilbur Woods (CF, Yorktown)
Batsman WPA: 2.6 by James Howard (RF, Frankford)
Batsman WAR: 1.3 by Sigmund Siemens (RF, Germantown)

Wins: 9 by James Kilgore (Spartan)
ERA (50+ IP): 1.40 by Robert Benson (P.B.C.C.)
Complete Games: 8 by Robert Benson
Strikeouts: 26 by Richard Sutherland (Germantown)
WHIP (150+ IP): 1.08 by Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.)
Pitcher WAR: 1.8 by Jonathan Clegg (Pt. Richmond)
Pitcher rWAR: 2.1 by Arthur Lipscomb

tm1681 · 10-21-2025, 08:03 AM

PAIR OF MINUTEMEN CLUB FIVE HITS VS COLUMBIA
RUE & THOMAS HAVE FIVE HITS EACH IN WIN; LAGUERRE & TUCKER ADD FOUR EACH

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 1, 1877) - Hosts Minuteman found themselves behind early versus Columbia at Corning Field, but from the third inning on their offense was in fine form and they exited with a nine-run win:

Visiting Columbia started the game off well, scoring four times in T1 on a pair of two-run Singles by 1B Allen Tocher & C Ruggieri Parisi. They were ahead 4-1 after two innings but after that it was all Minuteman, with the home team scoring multiple times in each of their final six turns to bat.

Much of the damage done by victorious Minuteman during the game came from four batsmen:

• MIN #1 Frank Tucker (LF): 4/5 (3B, 6 TB), 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
• MIN #3 Paul LaGuerre (1B): 4/5 (all 1B), 5 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 82 GMSC
• MIN #4 Jules Thomas (SS): 5/6 (2 2B, 7 TB), 4 R, 4 RBI, 92 GMSC
• MIN #8 Jonathan Rue (C): 5/6 (all 1B), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2/2 CS
• TOTAL: 18/22 (.818), 2 2B, 1 3B, 14 R, 11 RBI, 2 BB

The four men combined to mete out eighteen of Minuteman’s 22 Hits, score fourteen of their nineteen Runs, and take credit for eleven of the team’s seventeen Runs Batted In. Of the four, Player of the Game honors went to Jules Thomas.

The big win improved Minuteman’s record to 11-7, which helped turn the four-way tie atop Upstate New York into a three-way tie between Minuteman, Syracuse, & Utica. Columbia is tied for sixth place at 7-11.

tm1681 · 10-21-2025, 08:04 AM

K.C. DOES THE UNLIKELY, SHUTS OUT AMERICAN IN PHILLY
WILLIE GRAY TAMES SPORT’S MOST FEARSOME LINEUP; ADDS PAIR OF HITS & RBI

PHILADELPHIA (June 3, 1877) - Kings County & American ended their series on Sunday at Glenwood Field, and the result was most unlikely: a visiting Shutout of the almighty American offensive attack:

Kings Co. scored twice in the top of the first on a Single by 3B Alfred Williams, and P Willie Gray plated two more in T4 with a Single of his own. That was easily enough for the visitors to take the win as Gray and defense behind him managed to do the incredible and hold American scoreless in their own park.

Alfred Williams was Kings Co.’s best batsman…

• KC 3B Alfred Williams: 3/5 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI

…but the start of the day was the man who authored the Shutout while adding to the Kings County offensive output, P Willie Gray:

• KC P Willie Gray BAT: 2/3 (both 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI
• KC P Willie Gray PIT: CG SHO (8-5, 3.39), 5 HA, 0 BB, 1 K

In the loss, American experienced its most inept offensive outing at home in quite some time, and it left them alone in fourth place in the Metropolitan Conference with a rather shocking 14-16 record. Kings Co. is alone in third at 15-15. Knickerbocker leads the Metropolitan at 19-11.

tm1681 · 10-21-2025, 08:05 AM

SKAGGS POUNDS OUT FIVE HITS & RBI AT MASS. BAY
FLOUR CITY LEADOFF MAN HAS BANNER DAY IN BOSTON AGAINST HIS FORMER TEAM

BOSTON (June 5, 1877) - Flour City & Massachusetts Bay played out a battle of under-500 teams in Boston to open Week Six of A.P.B.L. play, and the result went Flour City’s way in a high-scoring affair:

The game was effectively over as a contest by the middle of the fourth inning, with Flour City having just finished scoring four times for the third inning in a row to give the visitors a 12-3 lead. Whenever Mass. Bay tried to score runs after that, Flour City was able to respond with multiple runs of their own, and the result was a six-run win.

The bottom half of the Flour City lineup was excellent, with batsmen #5-9 all collecting multiple base hits:

• FC #5 Werner Verstegen (3B): 2/6 (both 1B), 1 R, 0 RBI
• FC #6 Harvey O’Donnell (C): 3/6 (2B, 4 TB), 3 R, 2 RBI, 1/2 CS
• FC #7 Charles Hodges (SS): 2/6 (2B, 3 TB), 3 R, 2 RBI
• FC #8 Roy Wentz (LF): 2/6 (both 1B), 2 R, 1 RBI
• FC #9 James Goodman (P): 2/3 (both 1B), 2 R, 1 RBI, SAC BUNT

However, the Player of the Game was the Flour City leadoff man, RF Franklin Skaggs:

• T1: Leadoff Infield Single to SS off W. Kihlstedt
• T2: 1-run Single past 1B off W. Kihlstedt (R)
• T3: 3-run Triple past 1B off W. Kihlstedt (R)
• T4: Ground Out to 1B (3 out)
• T6: 1-run Single to LCF off H. Cundiff
• T9: Leadoff Triple to RCF off H. Cundiff (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2 3B, 9 TB), 3 R, 5 RBI, 92 GMSC

Skaggs’ performance equaled that of Hugh Harris on May 26th against Gotham (4/6, GS, 3 R, 6 RBI) when going by Game Score, and it was easily Skaggs’ best game since joining Flour City after spending last year with Mass. Bay as a backup. No doubt, he was highly motived to put on a show against the team he’d spent nine seasons with as a regular in the outfield before they demoted him last year.

The two teams are currently the bottom two in the Colonial Conference standings, with Mass. Bay in fifth place at 13-17 (5 GB) and Flour City in last at 13-18 (5.5 GB).

tm1681 · 10-22-2025, 11:45 AM

KNICK & ORANGE TALLY 33 RUNS IN MANHATTAN
EPIC 9TH INNING DECIDES THRILLING CONTEST AT THE UPPER MANHATTAN GROUNDS

MANHATTAN (June 6, 1877) - The A.P.B.L.’s two Manhattan representatives got together on Wednesday and played out a classic at the Upper Manhattan Grounds, combining for 33 runs before Orange walked out with an incredible victory:

The first eight innings of the game were exciting enough, ending with visiting Knickerbocker enjoying an 11-9 lead. Then the ninth inning happened…

Knickerbocker came to bat in the top of the ninth and extended their lead with a five-run rally. The first run scored on a Single by LF Clive Strachan to make it 12-9. Then SS Louis Johnson made it 13-9 with a Single of his own. PH Mario Fusilli plated two with another Single to bring the Knick lead to 15-9, and RF Henry Jost made it 16-9 with yet another Single.

With the 2,500+ in attendance thinking the game was over, Orange came to bat and reeled off the comeback rally of the year:

• KNI: Charles Burton pitching
• ORA PH Isaac Holm: Single past SS
• ORA #3 William Valentine (RF): 1-run Triple to RCF (KNI 16-10 ORA)
• ORA #4 Charles Whitehead (2B): Swinging Strike Out (1 out)
• ORA #5 Everett Schreiber (C): 1-run Single past 2B (KNI 16-11 ORA)
• ORA #6 Will Chaffin (3B): Reached via Fielder’s Choice at 2B (2 out)
• ORA #7 Earl Crosby (LF): Single past SS
• Runners to 2B & 3B via Wild Pitch
• ORA #8 John Harmon (SS): 1-run Single to RF (KNI 16-12 ORA)
• ORA PH Archie Lay: 1-run Single past SS (KNI 16-13 ORA)
• KNI: P Jack Doherty substitutes in for Charles Burton
• ORA #1 George Hopp (CF): 2-run Triple to LCF (KNI 16-15 ORA)
• ORA PH Isaac Holm: 1-run Single past SS (KNI 16-16 ORA)
• Isaac Holm steals 2B
• ORA #3 William Valentine (RF): Walkoff Single past SS (KNI 16-17 ORA)
• TOTAL: 8 R, 9 H (7 1B, 2 3B), 0 E, 1 WP, 1 SB, 11 Batters

It was an incredible B9 from Orange. Without any assistance from Knick fielding miscues, the hosts came up with the eight runs needed to beat their Manhattan rivals and finish off a performance that just might have shocked their dormant offense to life going forward.

Not surprisingly, there were numerous star performers in the Upper Manhattan Grounds:

• KNI #1 Henry Jost (RF): 4/7 (all 1B), 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB
• KNI #2 Louis Dyke (CF): 4/5 (2B, 5 TB), 5 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB, SAC BUNT
• KNI #7 Louis Johnson (SS): 5/6 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI, SB
• ORA #1 George Hopp (CF): 2/7 (2B, 3B, 5 TB), 3 R, 3 RBI
• ORA #3 William Valentine (RF): 5/7 (3B, 7 TB), 2 R, 5 RBI
• ORA #5 Everett Schreiber (C): 3/6 (3B, 5 TB), 1 R, 2 RBI
• ORA #8 John Harmon (SS): 4/6 (2B, 5 TB), 4 R, 2 RBI

Player of the Game honors went to Valentine, and the game itself is surely an early favorite for A.P.B.L. Game of the Year.

tm1681 · 10-22-2025, 11:46 AM

READING’S LATE BURST TAKES DOWN LAKE ERIE
18 RUNS OVER FINAL TWO INNINGS TURNS POTENTIAL LOSS INTO WIN; TWO FINISH WITH FIVE HITS

ERIE, PENN. (June 6, 1877) - After seven innings at the Tenth Street Grounds, Lake Erie held a 9-6 lead over visiting Reading Athletic Club and was looking good to take the home win. However, Reading didn’t agree with that prognosis:

Facing that 9-6 deficit, Reading A.C. came to bat in the top of the eighth and hit up their hosts for eleven runs to take a 17-6 lead. After Lake Erie could muster only a single score in the bottom half of the inning, Reading then scored seven more times in the ninth, turning what was a potential 9-6 loss into a 24-10 shellacking of a stunned Lake Erie team.

The key batsmen in Reading’s two late rallies were CF Alexander Engels & SS Dermott Taylor, who both had five base hits.

Engels’ afternoon:

• T2: Leadoff Single past SS off A. Lowden (SB)
• T3: 1-run Single to CF off A. Lowden
• T5: Reached via Error by 1B J. Mitchell
• T6: 1-run Single past 2B off A. Lowden
• T8: 2-run Single to CF off G. Moore (R)
• T8: Fielder’s Choice at 2B (3 out)
• T9: 2-run Single past 2B off S. Larsen (R)
• TOTAL: 5/7 (all 1B), 2 R, 6 RBI, SB, 88 GMSC

Taylor’s work with the bat:

• T1: Reached via Base on Balls by A. Lowden
• T3: 1-run Single past 2B off A. Lowden (SB, R)
• T4: 1-run Single past 2B off A. Lowden
• T6: Fly Out to RF (2 out)
• T8: 2-run Double to LF off G. Moore (R)
• T8: 2-run Double to RCF off W. Thompson (R)
• T9: Single past SS off S. Larsen (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2 2B, 7 TB), 4 R, 6 RBI, 1 BB, SB, 111 GMSC

The five-hit performances were the best of the ’77 season to date for both men, and Taylor’s 111 Game Score was a season high in the N.B.B.O.

There were two other Reading A.C. players that finished with 3+ Hits: LF Howard Boley (3/6, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB) & P Abraham Evans (3/3, 2 R, 1 RBI).

The win improved Reading’s record to 9-12, good for sixth place (9 GB) in the Inland Championship. Lake Erie fell to a tie in third place at 12-9 (6 (GB).

tm1681 · 10-22-2025, 11:47 AM

MURRAY HAS 5 HITS & 7 RBI IN LOSING EFFORT
STAR LF DOES EVERYTHING HE CAN TO DELIVER WIN, BUT ECKFORD FALLS SHORT IN TEN

BROOKLYN (June 7, 1877) - Star B.B.C. & Eckford of Greenpoint had a fantastic encounter in the second game of their Brooklyn Championship series on Thursday, one that needed a tenth inning to decide the winner:

Visiting Star should have won in the regulation nine innings, but Eckford scored four times in B9 on a series of base hits from Everton Stephens, Miguel Tavarez, Isaac Kelly, & Louis Murray to tie the game 16-16 and force extras. Star made up for the ninth-inning failure with four runs during the top of the tenth, the big moment a three-run Triple by PH Elmer Lumley. Eckford scored twice in B10 but that was all they could get, and Star exited with a memorable 20-18 victory.

Visiting Star had excellent afternoons from each of the first three batsmen in their lineup:

• STAR #1 Ralph Fowler (CF): 3/7 (all 1B), 3 R, 1 RBI, SB
• STAR #2 Julius Tierney (LF): 3/6 (2B, 4 TB), 3 R, 3 RBI, HBP
• STAR #3 Charles Ramer (3B): 4/6 (2B, 5 TB), 4 R, 1 RBI

They also saw RF John White hit an Inside the Park Home Run during the top of the second inning.

However, the Player of the Game was star Eckford LF Louis Murray, who put in a truly outstanding performance:

• B1: 1-run Single past 1B off L. Allen
• B3: Hit into SS-2B-1B Double Play (2 out)
• B5: 1-run Single to LCF off L. Allen (R)
• B7: 2-RUN HOME RUN (ItP) to RF off L. Allen
• B8: 1-run Infield Single to SS off W. Titus
• B9: 2-run Single past SS off W. Titus
• TOTAL: 5/6 (HR, 8 TB), 2 R, 7 RBI, 104 GMSC

Murray, who is batting .422 (1.058 OPS) with 31 Runs Batted In through 22 games, recorded his second Game Score of 100+ through just four and a half weeks of play in 1877, and he has by far the highest Batsman WAR in the N.B.B.O. so far this season, a mark of 1.9 (#2: Ben Gagliardi with 1.5).

tm1681 · 10-22-2025, 11:48 AM

BEDFORD’S FLETCHER COMPLETES SIX-HIT CYCLE
VETERAN 2B HAS GAME OF HIS LIFE IN DOUBLE-DIGIT VICTORY OVER VISITING HILLTOP

NEW YORK CITY (June 8, 1877) - Under-500 teams Hilltop & Baltic battled at Ridgewood Park on Friday, and after a fairly even opening half of the game a big seventh-inning rally gave the hosts a twelve-run victory:

In the top of the fifth Hilltop scored a run, and that saw the score 7-5 in Baltic’s favor halfway through the game. However, it was all Baltic after that, with the hosts scoring eleven of the game’s final twelve runs and locking up the result with a seven-run seventh inning that occurred thanks to a series of Singles, Errors, and a Triple by 2B Charles Fletcher.

For Fletcher, Baltic’s eighth-year 2B formerly of Nassau County (1870-75), the Triple was part of an extraordinary afternoon:

• B1: Leadoff Double to RCF off D. Flynn (R)
• B2: SOLO HOME RUN to RF off D. Flynn
• B4: 1-run Triple to LF off D. Flynn (R)
• B5: 1-run Double to LCF off D. Flynn
• B7: 2-run Triple to LCF off J. Jacobs (R)
• B8: Infield Single to 3B off J. Jacobs
• TOTAL: 6/6 (CYCLE; 2 2B, 2 3B, HR, 15 TB), 4 R, 5 RBI, 116 GMSC

Fletcher’s Cycle was the nineteenth in N.B.B.O. history, and it was the first featuring a six-hit performance. He also set a new N.B.B.O. record with fifteen Total Bases in a single game and tied a record with five Extra-Base Hits in a game. Finally, Fletcher’s 116 Game Score was an N.B.B.O. season high.

The performance by Fletcher was an incredible outlier. Fletcher’s Home Run in the second inning was his first in five years, he had just thirteen Extra-base Hits over 341 Plate Appearances last year, and Fletcher is a career .292 hitter (.697 OPS).

The result made Baltic a 10-13 team, which has them alone in fifth place (8 GB) in the New York City Championship. Hilltop is tied for sixth place at 9-14 (9 GB).

tm1681 · 10-23-2025, 03:20 PM

APBL LOOKING TO ADD FOUR TEAMS NEXT YEAR
LEAGUE EXECS WANT MORE COMPETITION, WITH TEAMS PLAYING HIGHER NUMBER OF TEAMS

NEW YORK CITY (June 11, 1877) - Every Monday executives from the twelve teams of the American Professional Baseball League gather for lunch at the St. Nicholas Hotel, the purpose of which is to discuss league business.

Each of the last three Mondays, however, the informal lunch gatherings have turned into more formal meetings lasting the full afternoon. The main reason: the presidents of the league’s twelve member clubs have decided that they want to add to the ranks. Supposedly, the plan involves adding four teams for the 1878 season to bring the league to sixteen teams, and for the schedule to remain its current ninety games by having each team play the other fifteen teams six times – one three-game series at home, and one away.

This much is known about the prospect of adding four teams: one of the four will be Quaker State, which would restart American’s rivalry with the second-oldest Philadelphian club. Since the league split ahead of the 1871 season, Quaker St. has won the Tucker-Wheaton Cup once (1871) and had a .675 Winning Percentage (300-144), the best mark of any of the 48 teams in the N.B.B.O.

Speculation about the expansion of the A.P.B.L. is that it will be much different from the process of the selection of the original members of the league, in that executives will be looking to add clubs they believe have the fanbase and infrastructure to compete at the highest level instead of focusing solely on sporting merit and picking clubs based on Winning Percentage and N.B.B.O. titles.

What the above means is that teams representing large cities like National (Washington, D.C.) and Maryland (Baltimore) may move up even though they haven’t been successful on the field. Another major question surrounding the possible expansion of the A.P.B.L. to sixteen teams is if the New York metropolitan area gets a fifth team, because if so then Atlantic, Eckford, Metropolitan, or New York Athletic Club would all have the infrastructure to compete in the A.P.B.L., and Atlantic & Eckford have had plenty of success as well.

It's likely that the four teams to switch leagues will be announced at the Autumn Meetings. Until then, there will be much speculation regarding which teams will be #13-16 in the A.P.B.L.

tm1681 · 10-23-2025, 03:21 PM

TWO N.C. PLAYERS STEAL THE SHOW IN LOSING EFFORT
BARLUND & JOHNSTON DRILL FIVE HITS EACH IN WILD 42-RUN SLUGFEST VS ATLANTIC

BROOKLYN (June 14, 1877) - Atlantic & Nassau County got together at the Long Island Grounds on Thursday, and what unfolded was a 42-run slugfest in which visiting Atlantic outlasted Nassau Co. and came out on top:

In a game featuring over forty runs and four dozen base hits, it was actually a pair of players from the losing team who were the stars of the afternoon.

Two Nassau Co. players finished the game with five Hits each. The first of the two was their leadoff man, CF Lage Barlund:

• B1: Leadoff Single to CF off P. Renshaw (R)
• B2: 3-RUN HOME RUN to RF off P. Renshaw
• B3: Leadoff Single to LCF off C. Fenley (R)
• B4: Single to RF off C. Fenley (R)
• B5: Ground Out to SS (1 out)
• B7: Line Out to SS (1 out)
• B9: 1-run Triple to LF off M. Kapral (R)
• TOTAL: 5/7 (3B, HR, 10 TB), 5 R, 4 RBI, 100 GMSC

Nassau Co.’s other five-hit player was the man right behind Barlund in the lineup, LF Ciaran Johnston:

• B1: Reached via Error by P P. Renshaw
• B2: Single to LCF off P. Renshaw (R)
• B3: Single to LF off C. Fenley
• B4: 1-run Single to LF off C. Fenley (R)
• B5: Fly Out to LF (2 out)
• B7: 1-run Infield Single to 2B off M. Kapral
• B9: 1-run Single past SS off M. Kapral (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (all 1B), 3 R, 3 RBI, SAC BUNT

Barlund’s performance marked what was already the seventh 100+ Game Score by a batsman in the N.B.B.O. in 1877, and there is still more than a week before the league reaches the halfway point. He is batting .333 (.822 OPS) with one Home Run and eighteen RBI through 27 games.

Johnston’s afternoon raised his Average to .351 (.761 OPS) with a dozen RBI through 25 games played for Nassau Co.

The win saw Atlantic improve to 16-11. They are second in Brooklyn and four games behind leaders Eckford. Nassau Co. is 12-15 (8 GB) and part of a four-way tie for fourth place.

tm1681 · 10-23-2025, 03:21 PM

NYAC BEATS HILLTOP 10-0 ON CONSECUTIVE DAYS
NEW YORK CITY LEADERS SHOW NO MERCY AS PITCHING & DEFENSE DOMINATE

NEW YORK CITY (June 15-16, 1877) - Hilltop of Yonkers has never been one of the big New York clubs, and they’ve found themselves near the bottom of the New York City standings more often than not. Still, what they were put through at the hands of New York Athletic Club on Friday & Saturday was a new experience in the 20+ years they’ve played baseball.

On Friday, Hilltop took on N.Y.A.C. in the third game of their series at the N.Y.A.C. Grounds, and N.Y.A.C. pounded Hilltop 10-0 with the visitors held to just two base hits. The pitcher of the N.Y.A.C. Shutout was 2x New York League Pitcher of the Year Charles Rhodes, who also had a fine day with the bat:

• NYAC P Charles Rhodes BAT: 3/5 (all 1B), 1 R, 1 RBI
• NYAC P Charles Rhodes PIT: CG SHO (11-5, 2.89), 2 HA, 0 BB, 5 K

Rhodes, who has a 51 to 9 (5.7/1) K/BB Ratio this season, never gave the visitors a chance, and he added insult to injury by punishing them with his batsmanship as well.

Because that apparently wasn’t enough, when the two teams met up for the fourth game of the series on Saturday afternoon the result was the same: a 10-0 N.Y.A.C. shellacking of visiting Hilltop in which the visitors were held to less than a handful of hits. This time, former A.P.B.L. All-Star George Cerven pitched Shutout, and like Rhodes he aided the N.Y.A.C. attack:

• NYAC P George Cerven BAT: 3/4 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI
• NYAC P George Cerven PIT: CG SHO (10-1, 2.20), 4 HA, 1 BB, 4 K

Rhodes is having another fine season as the anchor of N.Y.A.C.’s pitching works. He’s currently on pace for a 27-12 record, and he leads the N.Y.L. with 3.7 Pitching WAR – a pace for 8.9 over the 70-game season.

Cerven is having an outstanding sophomore season with N.Y.A.C. After going 13-14 with a 2.78 ERA last year after leaving the A.P.B.L., Cerven has started 1877 with a 10-1 record, a 2.20 ERA, 31 Strikeouts, and 1.9 Pitching WAR in 102.1 innings.

The twin Shutouts brought N.Y.A.C.’s record to a N.Y.L.-best 23-6, and they have a five-game lead over second-place Union in the New York City Championship. On the other hand, Hilltop is in last place at 9-20 (14 GB), and they’re one of two teams in the N.Y.L. that already have a Run Differential below -100 at -103 (Columbia: -123).

tm1681 · 10-24-2025, 01:22 PM

PORTLAND BREAKS TEAM RECORD WITH 31 AT QUINNIPIAC
4x NEW ENGLAND CHAMPS CRUSH HOSTS; BEANE FINISHES WITH FIVE HITS & SIX RBI

NEW HAVEN, CONN. (June 21, 1877) - Portland B.C. has started 1877 by running rampant over their New England competition, and they entered Thursday’s game at Quinnipiac in Connecticut with a 23-8 record. It was no contest at Davenport Field, as Portland ravaged their hosts:

The game got off to a lightning-fast start, with Portland scoring eight times in the top of the first and Quinnipiac responding with five runs during the bottom of the second.

Going into the third inning with the game looking like it would be a close, but high-scoring, affair, Portland proceeded to outscore Quinnipiac 23-2 over the remaining seven innings and exit with a team record for Runs in a 31-7 victory.

Portland had 25 base hits during the game, and all nine members of the lineup, including P Francis Molinari, finished with multiple Hits. Four players had 3+ Hits, two had 4+, and one had five: SS Louis Beane.

Beane’s afternoon in New Haven:

• T1: Sacrifice Bunt to P (1 out)
• T1: 2-run Double to LCF off V. Adriansen
• T3: 1-run Single past SS off V. Adriansen (R)
• T4: Single to RF off a. Taylor (R)
• T5: Reached via Error by 2B C. Kragholm (R)
• T6: 2-run Double to RF off W. Girardi (R)
• T8: Line Out to 3B (1 out)
• T9: 1-run Single to RCF off M. Gibson (R)
• TOTAL: 5/7 (2 2B, 7 TB), 6 R, 6 RBI, SAC BUNT, 116 GMSC

Beane’s 116 Game Score equals that of Charles Fletcher from his six-hit Cycle thirteen days ago (6/6, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR, 4 R, 5 RBI) for the N.B.B.O. season high. The performance raised his Average to .348 (.796 OPS) with thirty RBI through Portland’s first 32 games in 1877.

The smashing win left Portland 24-8 and six games in the clear atop the New England standings. Quinnipiac is 13-19, in seventh place and eleven games behind Portland.

tm1681 · 10-24-2025, 01:23 PM

WILSON SLAMS FIVE HITS & A HOMER AT BEDFORD
SECOND-YEAR RF STARS IN TWELVE-RUN ATLANTIC VICTORY

BROOKLYN (June 24, 1877) - Atlantic & Bedford closed out the first half of the N.B.B.O. season with a Sunday afternoon game at the Long Island Cricket Club, and after even opening innings Atlantic dominated:

Atlantic opened the scoring in the top of the first with three runs, two of which came home on a Single by 3B John Stoneman. Bedford returned the favor by scoring four times in B1, the key hit a two-run Double by SS Louis Stephens. The next three innings were scoreless, but from the 5th-9th Atlantic outscored their hosts 16-3 to exit with an outstanding twelve-run away win.

Atlantic CF George Gregory had himself a fine day with the bat…

• ATL #7 George Gregory (CF): 4/6 (2B, 5 TB), 3 R, 3 RBI

…but he was outdone by RF MacKenzie Wilson:

• T1: 1-run Single past 2B off W. McMahon (R)
• T3: Line Out to 1B (1 out)
• T5: 2-RUN HOME RUN to RF off W. McMahon
• T6: Leadoff Double to RF off D. Davidson (R)
• T7: Single past SS off D. Davidson (R)
• T8: 1-run Single to LF off D. Davidson
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2B, HR, 9 TB), 4 R, 4 RBI, 97 GMSC

It was the best performance in an Atlantic uniform for Wilson, who is in his first season with the team after debuting in the N.B.B.O. with the Cantabrigians last year. At the season’s midway point, Wilson has a .327 Average (.817 OPS) with seventeen Extra-base Hits (11 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR), 45 Runs Batted In, and 1.2 Batsman WAR.

Atlantic ended the season’s first half with a 22-13 record, good for second place in Brooklyn at three games behind leaders Eckford. Bedford is 16-19 (9 GB) and tied for fifth place with Star B.B.C.

tm1681 · 10-31-2025, 04:21 PM

EXCELSIOR DOMINATES ORANGE; OBERST HAS 5 HITS
ALL-STAR LF FINISHES WITH PAIR OF XBH AND FOUR RUNS AS EXCELSIOR STAYS IN 1ST PLACE

MANHATTAN (June 26, 1877) - Excelsior & Orange opened Week Nine of the A.P.B.L. season in the Upper Manhattan Grounds, and the visitors gradually pulled away for a fine victory away from home:

The early innings were even, tied 2-2 after the end of the third. After that, Excelsior slowly but surely gained the upper hand over Orange. Runs in the 4th, 5th, & 6th gave Excelsior a 6-3 lead after the end of the middle innings. The visitors followed that with rallies of three runs in the seventh and two runs in the ninth to send the league’s bottom team home with yet another loss in what has been a miserable 1877.

Jim Creighton had the ball for Excelsior and put in what, for him, was a decent effort:

• EXC P Jim Creighton: CG (14-11, 3.67), 9 HA, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

However, the clear star of the afternoon was All-Star LF Troy Oberst:

• T1: Single past 1B off A. Miller (R)
• T2: 1-run Single past 2B off A. Miller
• T4: Double to CF off A. Miller
• T5: Line Out to 2B (2 out)
• T7: 2-run Triple to RCF off A. Miller (R)
• T9: Single to 2B off P. Caldwell (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2B, 3B, 8 TB), 4 R, 2 RBI, 78 GMSC

The outburst in Manhattan left Oberst in the best position he’s enjoyed during his three and a half seasons in the A.P.B.L. He’s currently on pace for A.P.B.L. career highs in Average (.352), On-Base (.374), Slugging (.513), OPS (.888), Extra-Base Hits (27; pace for 50), RBI (44; pace for 81), & Batsman WAR (2.3; pace for 4.2). Combine that with Elijah Hill batting .383, and it’s little wonder why Excelsior is at the top of the standings in the Metropolitan Conference.

Excelsior is currently tied atop the Metropolitan standings with Knickerbocker at 30-19. Orange is 17-32 (13 GB), and they currently have the worst record in the A.P.B.L.

tm1681 · 10-31-2025, 04:21 PM

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.

tm1681 · 10-31-2025, 04:22 PM

AMERICAN BASEBALL JUNE RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (July 1, 1877) – June has come and gone, meaning the 1877 baseball season is a little more than halfway to completion. Here are how the three competitions stand as the calendar turns to July:

A.P.B.L. STANDINGS

COLONIAL – Every position changed hands except first place, which remains firmly in St. Johns’ grasp after an excellent June in which they won 2/3 of their games with a Run Differential better than +50. Flour City was fantastic, vaulting from last place to second even though All-Star CF Ernest Dugas is batting just .205 (.531 OPS). Improved play from Alleghany saw the team move up from fourth to third, while offensive struggles bumped Shamrock down from third to fourth. Niagara’s June freefall saw them drop from second to fifth thanks to ice-cold hitting, and Mass. Bay fell to last place because their work in the field allowed far too many extra baserunners.

METROPOLITAN – For the second consecutive month Excelsior & Knickerbocker had identical records, and for the second consecutive month Knickerbocker receives the designation of first place due to their superior Run Differential. That Knick leads the A.P.B.L. in Runs (8.2 R/G) is amazing when considering their cavernous home venue, and Excelsior equaling Knick’s 33-20 record in spite of their ninth-ranked fielding is testament to their incredible pitching duo. Kings Co. staying in third is a most pleasant surprise, while American staying in fourth is a surprise of a different kind. Orange climbed out of last place, but only because Gotham had one of the worst months ever: 7-19 with a Run Differential of -103.

A.P.B.L. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Joseph Evans (LF, StJ) – .418, .978 OPS, 27 R, 51 H, 9 2B, 3 3B, 42 RBI, 4 BB, 6 SB, 1.7 WPA, 1.4 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Howard Burns (StJ) – 10-3, 2.90 ERA, 32 K, 118.0 IP, 10 CG, 2.4 K/9, 6.4 K/BB, 1.15 WHIP, 2.5 WAR, 2.9 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Joseph Evans* (LF, StJ) – American Professional Baseball League Batsman of the Month

*Evans was also G.o.t.M. for May

Cormack Alexander (1B, KNI) had a higher Average at .418 and Elijah Hill (3B, EXC) was #1 in both Slugging (.585) & OPS (1.005), but Evans took B.o.t.M. after leading the league with a .418 Average and a whopping 42 Runs Batted In over 27 games for St. John’s. Through two months, Evans has been the best batsman on the league’s best team.

St. John's teammate Thomas Smith was May P.o.t.M., so apparently it was Burns’ turn in June. Kings Co.’s Nicholas Banfield was also 10-3 during June but Burns had superior marks in ERA, IP, CG, K/BB, WHIP, & WAR, which made him the Writers Pool’s choice for the monthly honor.

Many figured Joseph Evans would fit right into the St. John’s offense during his debut season in the A.P.B.L., but nobody thought he would be this good this fast. Evans is two points off .400 at the end of June while leading the league in Average, Slugging, & OPS. Somehow, Joseph Evans has been even better than anticipated.

A.P.B.L. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .398 by Joseph Evans (LF, St. John’s)
OPS: .952 by Joseph Evans
Home Runs: 2 by seven different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 63 by Elijah Hill (3B, Excelsior)
Runs: 69 by Troy Oberst (LF, Excelsior)
Stolen Bases: 56 by Konrad Jensen (1B, St. John’s)
Batsman WPA: 4.1 by Elijah Hill
Batsman WAR: 3.2 by James Burke (CF, American)

Wins: 17 by Howard Burns (St. John’s) & Thomas Smith (St. John’s)
ERA (100+ IP): 2.21 by James Goodman (Flour City)
Strikeouts: 107 by Elmer Seabold (Excelsior)
Complete Games: 20 by Elmer Seabold & Thomas Smith
WHIP (100+ IP): 1.12 by Robert Goodman (Knick)
Pitcher WAR: 4.3 by Robert Goodman & Elmer Seabold
Pitcher rWAR: 5.6 by Thomas Smith

N.B.B.O. REGIONAL LEADERS

BROOKLYN: Eckford at 26-13 (Atlantic 1 GB; Cont’l 4 GB, Bedford & Empire 7 GB, Star 9 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: New York Athletic Club at 29-10 (Union 6 GB; Mercury & Metro 8 GB; Baltic 9 GB)
UPSTATE N.Y.: Utica at 28-11 (Minuteman 2 GB; Syracuse 4 GB, Victory 8 GB)
COASTAL: Newark at 29-10 (Pt. Jersey 4 GB, Quaker St. 5.5 GB, Trenton Utd. 10 GB)
INLAND: Susquehanna at 28-11 (Pioneer 3 GB, Lancastra 7 GB, Scranton 8 GB, Merrimack & Reading 9 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Portland at 31-8 (Cantabrigians 6 GB, S.o.t.O. 8 GB)

BROOKLYN – Eckford was just a little bit better than Atlantic during June, and that meant Eckford went from one game back of Atlantic to one game ahead at the end of the month. Continental is 9-1 over their last ten games and thus should be a real threat over the last 6+ weeks, while neither Bedford nor Empire are likely to contend unless their level of play picks up in July.

NEW YORK CITY – N.Y.A.C. was 15-7 during June while the rest of the contenders were iffy, and that has given the leaders a six-game cushion atop the standings. While Union does have a higher Run Differential (+86 v +78), N.Y.A.C.’s combination of pitching & defense looks borderline unbeatable right now. If any of the other four contenders are to take the pennant, N.Y.A.C. will have to slip up.

UPSTATE N.Y. – Utica went 18-4 during June, and that put them alone atop Upstate New York in spite of a fine 16-6 month by Minuteman. Utica is first in Upstate thanks to the N.B.B.O.’s #2 offense, while Minuteman is close behind thanks to a pitching duo that ranks #3 in the N.Y.L. in ERA. Syracuse is lurking thanks to a high-powered offense, but Victory’s one-man show is fading.

COASTAL – Like N.Y.A.C., Newark followed a 14-3 May with a 15-7 June to remain in first place in their region. Their lineup has hit well enough to complement unforgettable pitching by John Ratican (15-6, 1.63, 79 K, 6.1 WAR), and they’ve played only 15/35 games at home. Still Pt. Jersey’s pitching & Quaker St.’s offense mean they are both big threats to take the pennant.

INLAND – Susquehanna cooled off a bit during June, but they are still scoring 10+ Runs per game and very much deserve their spot in first place. Still, it looks like Pioneer will give them a good pennant chase as the Springfield men are winning with their own high-powered offense. Lancastra & Scranton are over .500, but very unlikely to close the gap with the top.

NEW ENGLAND – Portland has the best record in the N.B.B.O. at 31-8 thanks to a lineup that ranks #4/48, pitching that ranks #4, and fielding that ranks #5. Still, they can’t rest easy because second-place Cantabrigians ended June by winning a dozen games on the trot while third-place S.o.t.O. has won their last five. This could end up an exciting pennant race to the finish.

N.B.B.O. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: Charles Fletcher (2B, BAL) – .380, 1.011 OPS, 27 R, 37 B, 13 XBH, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 3 BB, 5 SB, 1.7 WPA, 1.2 WAR
NEL: William McCrory (LF, CAN) – .412, 1.015 OPS, 29 R, 40 H, 6 2B, 4 3B, 24 RBI, 9 BB, 12 SB, 1.7 WPA, 1.2 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Olaf Sorensen (ATL) – 8-6, 1.62 ERA, 16 K, 117.0 IP, 10 CG, 1.0 K/BB, 1.23 WHIP, 2.0 WAR, 3.0 rWAR
NEL: Bubba Mack (CAN) – 10-1, 2.67 ERA, 28 K, 97.2 IP, 9 CG, 2.3 K/BB, 1.22 WHIP, 2.3 WAR, 2.9 rWAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: John Watson (P, MER) – 7-6, 2.97 ERA, 16 K, 103.0 IP, 8 CG, 1.1 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 1.7 WAR, 2.2 rWAR
NEL: John Ruppel (RF, PORT) – .340, .878 OPS, 32 R, 35 H, 10 XBH, 2 HR, 32 RBI, 4 BB, 8 SB, 1.8 WPA, 1.0 WAR

N.B.B.O. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .450 by Julius Tierney (LF, Star)
OPS: 1.028 by Julius Tierney
Home Runs: 3 by Michael Jones (C, Atlantic) & James Kramer (RF, Eckford)
Runs Batted In: 53 by Chester Alexander (2B, Syracuse)
Runs: 58 by William Buschmann (CF, Utica) & John Schultz (CF, Susquehanna)
Stolen Bases: 42 by Steffen Strandlund (CF, Syracuse)
Batsman WPA: 3.8 by Henry Nabors (SS, Victory)
Batsman WAR: 2.7 by Ben Gagliardi (SS, Atlantic)

Wins: 18 by William Hawk (Susquehanna)
ERA (100+ IP): 1.63 by John Ratican (Newark)
Strikeouts: 90 by Earl Quinn (Maryland)
Complete Games: 16 by three different pitchers
WHIP (100+ IP): 1.00 by John Ratican
Pitcher WAR: 6.1 by John Ratican
Pitcher rWAR: 6.4 by Charles King (Pt. Jersey)

P.C.B.L. LEADERS

EAST: Frankford Arsenal & Keystone at 25-14 (Spartan 2 GB; Queen Village 5 GB; Pt. Richmond 6 GB; Minerva 7 GB)
WEST: Philadelphia B.C.C. at 28-11 (Mercantile 5 GB; Merion 6 GB; Germantown, Overbrook, & Penn 9 GB)

EAST – Keystone had a decent month, but Frankford’s 16-6 June put them right back at the top of East Philadelphia thanks to…what else…the league’s #1 offense. Keystone is holding firm, but a 25-14 record with a -23 Run Differential suggests that a fall could come soon. As of right now, it looks like Spartan, two games behind Frankford with an almost equal RD (+63 v +66) is the team most likely to end Frankford’s run of pennants.

WEST – A 16-6 June means P.B.C.C. is already 5+ games better than everyone else in the western half of the city. Merion is almost even on RD (+84 v +88), but P.B.C.C.’s #1 pitching & #1 fielding are simply impossible to overcome in close contests. This is looking very much like a third consecutive pennant for P.B.C.C.

P.C.B.L. MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Frederick Pike (2B, PBCC) – .436, 1.058 OPS, 32 R, 44 H, 9 2B, 4 3B, 27 RBI, 2 BB, 10 SB, 2.1 WPA, 1.7 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Robert Benson* (PBCC) – 9-3, 2.26 ERA, 36 K, 115.2 IP, 8 CG, 1 SHO, 1 SV, 1.7 K/BB, 1.31 WHIP, 2.4 WAR, 2.4 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Oliver Greene (P, FRA) – 7-3, 2.88 ERA, 26 K, 109.1 IP, 7 CG, 3.7 K/BB, 1.20 WHIP, 1.8 WAR, 1.3 rWAR

*Benson was also P.o.t.M. for May

P.C.B.L. STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .391 by Frederick Pike (2B, P.B.C.C.)
OPS: 957 by Frederick Pike
Home Runs: 2 by seven different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 50 by Frank Silliams (50, Sons of Ben)
Runs: 55 by James Harris (LF, Frankford)
Stolen Bases: 31 by Jonathan Auriemma (2B, Minerva)
Batsman WPA: 4.4 by Jeffrey Unger (LF, Keystone)
Batsman WAR: 2.7 by Frederick Pike

Wins: 17 by Robert Benson (P.B.C.C.)
ERA (100+ IP): 1.90 by Robert Benson (P.B.C.C.)
Complete Games: 17 by Robert Benson
Strikeouts: 50 by Robert Benson
WHIP (100+ IP): 1.09 Jonathan Atkins (Merion) & Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.)
Pitcher WAR: 3.6 by Robert Benson
Pitcher rWAR: 4.3 by Robert Benson

tm1681 · 11-01-2025, 07:01 PM

TRIO OF FIVE-HIT STARS IN NBBO ON SUNDAY
GULDEN, HARRISON, & WIMPLE ALL COLLECT HANDFUL OF HITS; OTHERS SHINE ACROSS NBBO

NORTHEASTERN U.S.A. (July 1, 1877) - It was a banner day for star performances across the N.B.B.O. on Sunday afternoon, with a trio of five-hit performances, a six-RBI outing, and a rare 1-0 pitching duel all taking place.

The first of the three five-hit days took place in Hartford, Connecticut, where Oceanic (19-21) hosted in-state rivals Quinnipiac (16-24). Quinnipiac took the win 6-5 thanks to a run-scoring Single by MacKenzie Gibson in the top of the ninth inning, which overshadowed a 5/5 performance by Oceanic 2B Dewey Gaulden:

• OCE #6 Dewey Gaulden (2B): 5/5 (2B, 6 TB), 2 R, 1 RBI

Even though it came in a loss, Gaulden needed the 5/5 against Quinnipiac as he entered the game batting just .247, nearly 70 points lower than his final mark of .313 from last season. Gaulden ended the game batting .270 (.612 OPS) with 20 RBI and 0.8 WAR through eight weeks of play.

The second five-hit effort took place in another in-state rivalry game, this one involving two of the competition’s New Jersey clubs: Olympic (14-26) & Port Jersey (25-15), who battled at Hoboken & Oakland Park in Pt. Jersey. Visiting Olympic took a surprising 9-5 win thanks to seven runs over the middle innings and their Player of the Game was 2B William Harrison:

• OLY #8 William Harrison (2B): 5/5 (2 2B, 7 TB), 1 R, 1 RBI

The 5/5 raised the greenhorn’s Batting Average to a fine .313 (.721 OPS), through fifteen starts this season, and he’s driven in a dozen runs to go with that over-300 batsmanship.

The third five-hit game, like the first two, took place in a rivalry game in the Northeastern League. This contest: Quaker State (24-15) vs Tiger Social Club (16-24) at the Broad Street Diamond. Quaker St. came out on top 6-4 after scoring four times over the 6th & 7th, and their five-hit star was new RF William Wimple:

• QS #4 William Wimple (RF): 5/5 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB

Wimple, who joined Quaker St. over the winter after spending four years as a backup with St. John’s in the A.P.B.L., has been Quaker St.’s best batsman this season. After eight weeks of play, Wimple has a .386 Average & .962 OPS, both marks in the top three in the Northeastern League. He also has eighteen Extra-Base Hits, forty Runs Batted In, and 2.0 Batsman WAR, making Wimple likely to make both the All-Star Game and the N.E.L. Team of the Year based on current form.

Surprisingly, none of the above three performances were the best by a batsman in the N.B.B.O. on Sunday. That distinction went to Marathon leadoff man Charles Pell, who was the marquee player in a memorable tilt between Marathon (14-26) & Nassau County (16-24) at the Long Island Grounds, which, unfortunately for Pell & Marathon, went to Nassau Co. by the score of 17-16 thanks to a walkoff Single by Ciaran Johnston.

• MAR #1 Charles Pell (CF): 3/6 (2 2B, 3B, 7 TB), 5 R, 6 RBI, SB, 89 GMSC

Pell’s output boosted his Average to .316 (.765 OPS) at the end of Week Eight, and his run production for a leadoff man has been surprising, for Pell has 41 Runs Batted In through forty games.

Finally, we go to Upstate New York, where Utica played host to the most unique game of the day as Upstate leaders Utica and Frontier played out a rare 1-0 contest, with Frontier exiting the victors. There were only eight total Hits during the game (FRO: 3, UTI: 5), and obviously the pitchers were the star of the show:

• FRO P Edward Pelham: CG SHO (10-10, 3.06), 5 HA, 2 BB, 2 K
• UTI P Jesse McDermott: CG (12-7, 3.40), 3 HA, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

It should be added that the pitchers in this game were backed up with excellent defense. Victorious Frontier committed only two Errors (N.Y.L.: 6.8 E/G) with C Robert Harrelson throwing out both would-be base stealers, and Utica committed three Errors while turning one Double Play in the field.

The N.B.B.O. began the month of July with quite an afternoon of excitement, and if day one is a sign of things to come then everyone will be getting their money’s worth over the next four and a half weeks.