The Big Bang: A Larger Baseball Universe Starting From Nothing in 1857 - Page 64

tm1681 · Yesterday, 07:02 AM

MASS. BAY STAYS IN 1ST THANKS TO DUKE
RF HAS FIVE HITS & FOUR RBI TO STAY TIED W/ SHAMROCK & DROP CO-LEADERS NIAGARA TO 2ND

BOSTON, MASS. (June 19, 1881) - Massachusetts Bay & Niagara, part of the long-running three-way tie atop the Colonial Conference standings with Shamrock, completed their important three-game series at Oceanside Park in Boston on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to outstanding batsmanship over the 5th-7th, Mass. Bay took the series and retained a share of first place.

Niagara drew first blood in T1 thanks to an Error by Mass. Bay 2B Arthur Fisher, but Fisher began B1 by reaching via Error and that led to a pair of Runs that gave the hosts a 2-1 lead at the end of the opening inning.

That was the score until B5, when Mass. Bay broke the game open with a six-run rally to take an 8-1 lead, the Runs scoring via Triple by Fisher, Double by SS Jonathan Quarles, Singles 1B Gerhardt Berg, RF Kevin Duke, & CF James Johnson, and an Error. Mass. Bay scored four more times in B6 via run-scoring Hits by Berg, Duke, & C Lane Garvin to take a domineering 12-1 lead. The hosts then responded to a pair of Niagara tallies in T7 with another four-run rally that featured another run-scoring Hit from Duke, and with a thirteen-run lead (3-16) the win was in the bag.

Mass. Bay had five multi-hit players on the afternoon, including P Theobold Knapp, but the only one to have more than two was RF Kevin Duke, who finished with five.

• B1: 1-run Single past SS off T. Mukai
• B4: Leadoff single to RCF off T. Mukai
• B5: 1-run Single to RF off T. Mukai (R)
• B6: 1-run Infield Single to SS off T. Mukai (R)
• B7: 1-run Single to LCF off H. Easton (R)
• TOTAL: 5/5 (all 1B), 3 R, 4 RBI – 89 GmSc (B: T-4th)

Duke, a first-time All-Star last year, isn’t having such a good season in 1881, but the performance did raise his Average to .299 (.712 OPS) with 31 Runs & 34 RBI through seven weeks of play.

The big home victory kept Massachusetts Bay in a tie with Bostonian rivals Shamrock atop the Colonial Conference with a 26-16 record. Niagara is now one game back at 25-17. Defending A.P.B.L. champion St. John’s is two games back at 24-18.

tm1681 · Yesterday, 05:04 PM

BASALYGA KEY TO ORANGE WIN IN PITTSBURGH
VETERAN BACKUP SHINES IN SPOT DUTY; ORANGE STAYS ONE GAME BEHIND K.C. IN METRO

PITTSBURGH, PENN. (June 21, 1881) - Alleghany & Orange began Week Eight of the A.P.B.L. season by starting their series at Pittsburgh’s Recreation Park on Tuesday afternoon, and the visitors won big thanks to a hit parade against the opponents.

Orange started the game off right, with two Runs in T1 thanks to a Double by CF Robert Basalyga and a Sacrifice Fly. Alleghany made it 2-1 in B1 via Passed Ball, but after that Orange was dominant. They added two more Runs in T3 on Singles by Basalyga and LF John Meier to go ahead 4-1, and two innings later came the key moment: a five-run rally fueled by a two-run Single from Basalyga and a two-run Double from RF Jonathan Cobb that put Orange up 10-1. Two more Runs in T8 made it 12-1, and the win was sealed.

Orange belted a total of 21 Hits against Alleghany pitching, and three of their players had three each, including their Pitcher.

• ORA P Andrew Miller: 3/5 (all 1B), 2 R, 0 RBI, BB
• ORA LF John Meier: 3/6 (3B), 2 R, 1 RBI, 5 TB
• ORA RF Jonathan Cobb: 3/6 (2 2B), 1 R, 3 RBI – 2 OF AST

However, the surprising Player of the Game was CF Robert Basalyga.

• T1: 1-run Double to RCF off W. McMahon (R)
• T2: Single past 2B off W. McMahon
• T3: Single to LCF off W. McMahon
• T5: 2-run Single past 2B off W. McMahon (R)
• T6: Fly Out to LF (2 out)
• T8: 1-run Single to LCF off D. Rodgers (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2B), 3 R, 4 RBI, 6 TB – 85 GmSc (B: 7th)

Basalyga, an eleven-year N.B.B.O. veteran and 2x All-Star who made the jump to the A.P.B.L. to join Orange as a backup Outfielder ahead the 1880 season, was making his first start of the year and made the most of his opportunity while regular CF George Hopp was getting a rest.

As for Orange’s other stars in Pittsburgh, the Win left Miller with a 13-9 record and a 3.34 ERA, Meier exited the game batting .334 (.852 OPS) with 51 Runs, 37 Stolen Bases, and 2.2 WAR (4.6 WAR/90 G) on the season, and Cobb ran his Average to .357 (.880 OPS) with 38 Runs, 36 RBI, and 1.8 WAR (3.8 WAR/90 G) so far in 1881.

The victory kept Orange (26-17) within a game of Kings County for the Metropolitan Conference lead, while the loss kept Alleghany (19-24; 8 GB) in a tie with Newark for sixth place in the Colonial Conference.

tm1681 · Yesterday, 05:05 PM

BRIGHTON BESTS LORD BALTIMORE IN BARNBURNER
COASTAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMBATANTS TOTAL 33 RUNS & 41 HITS IN 10-INNING THROWDOWN

BOSTON, MASS. (June 26, 1881) - Bottom four Coastal Championship sides Brighton & Lord Baltimore played the finale of their series on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Park in Boston, and what a finale it was!

The hosts got on the scoreboard first with a Run in B1, but Lord Baltimore countered by scoring the next nine runs over the 2nd-4th, with the big hit during that span a three-run Home Run by P Robert Ray. The eight-run lead (9-1) had Lord Balt. sitting pretty, but Brighton had other ideas.

Brighton took their bats for B4 and hit clubbed Lord Balt. with a ten-run rally, with the capper a three-run Double by C Emmett Gaylord, to take that 9-1 deficit and turn it into an 11-9 lead. But then, after a scoreless fifth inning Lord Balt. hit Brighton over the head with a seven-run rally in T6 that featured a pair of two-run Singles from PH Joe Tillsworth & 1B James Colquitt that put the lead back in the visitors’ hands and brought the score to 16-11. A Brighton score in B6 meant it was 16-12 heading into the late innings.

The seventh inning saw no men cross the plate, and then Brighton made it a 16-13 game in B8. After Lord Balt. stranded a man on 2B in T9, Brighton 2B William Devon hit a run-scoring Single to cut the visitors’ lead to two (16-14) and then Ben Tolbert tied the game at sixteen apiece with a two-out, two-run Single past the Third Baseman.
Lord Balt. maddeningly left men on all three bases in T10, and with two men out in B10 Brighton CF Peter Reeves hit a Single that brought in 1B Enjar Billes to give the hosts a memorable 17-16 home win in front of 1,960 supporters.

The two teams combined to crank out forty Hits over the course of the afternoon, and that meant there were numerous players, including Pitchers, who had fine days at the ballpark:

• LBA P Robert Ray: 2/4 (HR) 2 R, 4 RBI, 5 TB
• LBA 1B James Colquitt: 4/7 (2B), 1 R, 3 RBI, 5 TB
• LBA SS Charles Russell: 3/7 (2B), 2 R, 1 RBI, GIDP, 4 TB – DP
• LBA LF William Simons: 4/7 (all 1B), 3 R, 1 RBI, SB

• BRI C Emmett Gaylord: 4/6 (2B), 3 R, 3 RBI, SAC BUNT, 5 TB – PB, 0/2 CS
• RBI 2B William Devon: 5/6 (all 1B), 2 R, 4 RBI – DP, PotG
• BRI LF Harry Perkins: 3/6 (3B), 3 R, 2 RBI, 5 TB
• BRI CF Peter Reevees: 3/7 (all 1B), 3 R, 1 RBI

Player of the Game Devon’s outing was a stunner, as the 5/6 performance brought his Batting Average all the way up to .194 over 146 Plate Appearances while starting each of Brighton’s 35 games at Second Base. For his career of 3+ seasons, Devon is batting .210 (.543 OPS). A heavy hitter, he ain’t.

The outcome left both teams well under .500. Brighton is 13-22 and tied for seventh place in the Coastal Championship, while Lord Baltimore is 15-20 and alone in sixth. Maryland is the current Coastal leader with a record of 24-11.

tm1681 · Yesterday, 05:07 PM

KOONCE CONTINUES HIS WHITE-HOT START
KINGS COUNTY’S STAR 1B RAPS FIVE HITS VS ORANGE TO RAISE AVERAGE ABOVE .450

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (June 26, 1881) - The Metropolitan Conference’s top two teams played the final game of their series on Sunday afternoon, and thanks to a plethora of early runs Kings County was able to avoid a sweep at home vs Orange.

Orange began the game with two Runs in T1 when a run-scoring Triple by SS Walter Carrow was followed up with a one-run Single by 2B Charles Whitehead. The hosts responded immediately with three scores in B1 to take a 3-2 lead, with the big hit a two-run Double by 1B Garfield Koonce. Kings Co. repeated the trick in B2, this time with RF Sig Siemens providing the two-run Hit: a Single to Right-Center Field that put them ahead 6-2.

Orange grabbed a Run in T3 to trim the hosts’ lead to three (3-6), but in B4 Kings Co. put together a five-run rally capped by SS Clarence Anderson’s two-run Double to hoist the lead back up to eight (3-11). With another Run in B5 the hosts were ahead 12-3, and from there the rest of the game was a mere formality.

Siemens had a fine afternoon for the victors…

• KC RF Sigmund Siemens: 3/5 (2B), 1 R, 5 RBI, 4 TB

…but it was the team’s star player and elder statesman, fourteen-year veteran 1B Garfield Koonce, who earned Player of the Game honors with yet another outstanding performance in a season that has been full of them.

• B1: 2-run Double to CF off W. Bertelli (R)
• B2: Single past 2B off W. Bertelli (R)
• B4: Single past 1B off W. Bertelli (R)
• B5: Single to RCF off E. McLean
• B7: 1-run Double to LCF off E. McLean
• TOTAL: 5/5 (2 2B), 3 R, 3 RBI, 7 TB – 3 DP, 82 GmSc (B: T-10th)

Koonce’s 5/5 afternoon gave him an absolutely absurd .462 Batting Average (1.129 OPS, 208 OPS+) through 48 games, with 92 Hits (173 H/90 G), 29 Extra Base Hits (24 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR), 45 Runs (84 R/90 G), 58 RBI (109 RBI/90 G), and 3.1 Batsman WAR (5.8 WAR/90 G). He currently leads the A.P.B.L. Batting Title race by 82 points, and his OPS is 130 points higher than that of any other Batsman. He also leads the league in RBI by nearly ten. The man simply cannot stop hitting.

More importantly, the win pulled Kings County back out of the first-place tie with Orange that yesterday’s loss dropped them into. They are now back atop the Metropolitan Conference with a 30-18 record, while Orange is one game back at 29-19. The next two teams are Excelsior & Knickerbocker, who are both four games behind Kings Co. at 26-22.