July 1875: The Forests Get Thicker
 

By the time of America's 99th birthday, the Forest City club was back in front...the one from Cleveland, that is, with Rockford in hot pursuit:

Attachment 1054822

In the amateur ranks, the Eurekas soared whilst the new teams were flops:

Attachment 1054823

An investigative reporter from the Philadelphia Daily Record finally discovered the truth: that the hapless Centennials were owned by the Athletic club, and had been set up solely to (eventually) provide players for the National Association squad. (There was also talk that the new Elm City club of New Haven had a similar agreement with the Tri Mountains, but both clubs denied this.)

Meanwhile, Eureka! Another Amateur Cup for Newark!

Attachment 1054824

The Cup Final was a thriller: trailing 3-0 after seven innings, the Maryland club came up with three markers in the top of the eighth, keyed by Charlie Hodges' bases-clearing triple. But in the last of the eleventh, Favel Wordsworth lead off with a double, went to third on a passed ball, then trotted home on Hal Brown's single to center. Eureka...!

August 1875: Cleveland takes the pennant; four more fight for the Cup
 

Led by Jim Creighton and Deacon White, the Forest City club of northern Ohio had as much as a ten-game advantage before settling for a seven-game pennant gap against in-state rival Cincinnati:

Attachment 1054829

In the Centennial Cup quarterfinals, the Red Stockings knocked the Athletics' hurler George Bechtel out of the box with seven runs in the first three innings en route to 9-3 win. In the other quarterfinal, Rockford and Boston played to a 4-4 deadlock after nine innings, only for Cap Anson to slap a double in the bottom of the tenth, and then score the winning run on Nick Young's RBI single.

In the semifinal, the Forest Citys put up a six-spot in the fifth inning and held on to a 11-7 win, putting Rockford into the Cup Final.

Attachment 1054830

Game 1 of the best-of-three Centennial Cup Final was held in Rockford, with seemingly the entire town poring into the Agricultural Grounds: ultimately, 15,589 tickets were sold. The throng went home disappointed, though, as two costly errors in the sixth inning snapped a 1-1 tie. Jim Creighton did the rest, as Cleveland took a 3-1 win and a 1-0 lead.

Attachment 1054831

Game 2 at the National Association Grounds in Cleveland, Rockford took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first: Jimmy Wood singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out, then scored on an error. Unfortunately for the Rockfords, it would be the only marker they would get: Cleveland tied the game in the sixth, then Paul Hines doubled home a pair of runs to give them a lead they would not relinquish.

Attachment 1054832

Hail to Forest City, as they win their fourth National Association championship in five years!

Creighton's double-double
 

For the second year in a row, Jim Creighton wins the Most Valuable Player (212 OPS+) and Pitcher of the Year (291 ERA+)...unanimously, no less!

Attachment 1054842

Attachment 1054843

1876: The Big Split
 

After revealing that the AA's Philadelphia Centennials were owned by the Athletic Club of the NA, the National owners forced Athletic to sell their erstwhile "farm club" and changed the rules so that professional teams can no longer use amateur teams to train players.

It quickly turned into a moot point, as the AA -- citing the lack of interest in amateur baseball -- announced that they were now the American Professional Association, and would actively challenge the National for players and fans. These challenges would be especially acute in Philadelphia (with Athletic and the Centennials, once partners, now rivals) and in New York, with the Mutual club of the NA competing with the AA Unions, Atlantics and Eckfords.

June 1876: Boston climbing the Mountain
 

After two poor seasons in New York and a ho-hum campaign in Beantown in '75, Jim Devlin has emerged as one of the NA's top hurlers, pushing Tri Mountain into first place:

Attachment 1054930

Meanwhile, the Eurekas are looking for a threepeat in the AA's first year as a professional league!

Attachment 1054931

July 1876: Mountains go even higher
 

On America's Centennial, the Tri Mountain club of Boston look to take their first Centennial Cup!

Attachment 1054934

Meanwhile in Newark, Hal Brown and Robert Malone lead the AA's best offense!

Attachment 1054935

1876: The Battle of New Jersey
 

The Garden State's two American Association teams finished 1-2 in the 1877 pennant race...

Attachment 1054942

...but in the American Cup playoffs, the second-place Resolutes get the upper hand by stopping the Eurekas, 8-4, in the Cup Final.

Attachment 1054943

August 1876: Tri Mountain reaches the pinnacle
 

With a late run, the Boston Tri Mountains won their first-ever NA pennant and a spot in the Centennial Cup Final:

Attachment 1054956

In the playoffs, Cleveland eliminated Cincinnati, 3-1, but Rockford missed a chance to make it an all-Forest City semifinal by dropping a 7-2 contest to the Mutuals. In that semifinal, Cleveland made it back to the Centennial Cup with a 5-3 over New York.

Attachment 1054957

In Game 1 of the Cup Final, Jim Creighton took control, driving in two runs and allowing none in a 5-0 gem in Cleveland.

Attachment 1054958

Back to Boston Common, Tri Mountain took a quick 1-0 lead in the first, but Forest City bounced back with a pair of markers in both the second and third innings, nearly knocking Al Spalding out of the game. Cleveland wouldn't need anymore offense, but they banged out 14 hits anyway in a 7-2 win and a fifth NA crown in six years!

Attachment 1054959

Cal McVey and Jim Devlin take NA honours:

Attachment 1055146

Attachment 1055147

While Pidgey Morgan grabs the AA MVP while Dooley McDoolan takes the PoY award:

Attachment 1055148

Attachment 1055149

June 1877: Troy makes hay, tops the table
 

Known as the Union club of Lansingsburgh in their amateur days, the Troy Haymakers haven't had much success in the professional ranks, finishing dead last in their first season and below .500 ever since. But with solid starts from Lipman "Lip" Pike and hurler Jim Britt, Troy finds themselves atop the National standings after the first month of the season:

Attachment 1055179

Meanwhile, the Mansfield club of Middletown (a city of just 7,000) is leading the American:

Attachment 1055180

July 1877: Olympians run to the front, Eureka laps the field
 

Might someone outside of Ohio win it all this year? Well, the only team not the Cleveland club to actually do so, the Olympics of our nation's capital, take the lead by the first of July:

Attachment 1055186

Meanwhile, Newark looks to keep the American Cup in New Jersey:

Attachment 1055187

In the AmCup quarterfinals, the Middletown Mansfields and the Elizabeth Resolutes were each three outs away from the semifinal, but -- not so fast! Atlantic scored two runs in the top of the ninth to edge Middletown, 4-3, while Nationals' Andrew Gibney's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to knock out Resolute by the same 4-3 score.

In the semifinal, six errors proved costly for Washington as Brooklyn qualified for their first American Cup Final with a 4-2 win.

Attachment 1055197

The Final was a thriller, too: Atlantic was (say it with me now) three outs away from the Cup with a 7-6 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. But shortstop Andrew Gedney, the hero of Brooklyn's quarterfinal win over Elizabeth, committed two costly errors to allow George Bunting and Bill Putnam to reach safely. (Gedney, normally a second baseman, came in for Jim Snyder in the sixth and delivered two hits of his own.) Pidgey Morgan delived a double to tie the game, then Dan Reese won the Cup for Newark with a seeing-eye single. Eureka!

Attachment 1055198

August 1877: Olympics on the mount; Rockford slips into playoffs
 

The Olympic club won their second-ever pennant with solid seasons from John Cassidy and Robert Halbach, plus 23 wins from John Chapman:

Attachment 1055365

Rockford finished in a fifth-place tie with Boston, necessitating a playoff for the final Centennial Cup spot. A four-run eighth gave Tri Mountain a 6-4 lead, but Forest City struck back with one in the bottom of the inning, plus a two-run ninth -- finished off with pinch-hitter Nick Young's bases-loaded walk.

Attachment 1055366

In the Cup playoffs, Jim Creighton was brilliant, holding Rockford to four hits in a 5-1 win. The 37-year-old "Diamond Jim" decided to focus on pitching in 1877 (playing only 19 games off the mound), and was an otherworldly 26-4 with a 373 ERA+. (He could still hit, too, with a 192 OPS+).

The other quarterfinal was yet another thriller. The Haymakers, making their first Cup appearance, looked to have the contest locked up with a late 3-2 lead. But the Red Stockings' Sam Lake delivered a game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth, and George Eaton won the game with a bloop hit in the tenth.

In the all-Ohio semifinal, Cincy put up four runs in the fifth, thanks to three Forest City miscues and a bases-clearing triple by Eaton. That was all they needed in a 4-2 win; an exhausted Creighton was relegated to a pinch-hitting role, fighting off five foul balls before grounding out. He refused to speak with reporters afterwards.

Attachment 1055367

1877: Hail to the Red Stockings!
 

The Cincinnati Base Ball Club, or simply Cincinnati Club, was established July 23, 1866, at a downtown law office. They played a handful of games that year, and by 1868 they were among the top amateur clubs in the country. Then the "Red Stockings", as they came to be known, became base ball's first avowedly professional club, and the rest is history.

The Red Stox struggled mightily in their first league season in 1871, but established themselves as solid contenders since: 1877 marked the third straight year Cincy qualified for the Cup playoffs, and the first time they made the Finals.

In the first game at the Palace of the Fans, Washington scored two quick runs before Cincy could even record an out. Clearly, the rout was on -- in favour of Cincinnati, who rushed to a 5-4 lead then put up a seven-spot in the seventh, thanks to six hits and three errors.

Attachment 1055373

Back at Olympic Park, the Reds scored early and often, with five runs in the third and a 8-1 lead in the fifth. Washington struck back with three in the bottom of the frame, keyed by Bill Hague's towering two-run blast, but that was all they could get. The Cincinnati Red Stockings were the undisputed champions of base ball for the first time in eight years.

Attachment 1055374

Creighton dominant
 

At 37, many commentators were speculating on whether it was time for the "old man" -- who had been pitching for nearly two decades -- to step away from the game.

Nope, Instead, Creighton won another MVP award (his third) and another Pitcher of the Year trophy (his fourth):

Attachment 1055382
Attachment 1055383

1878: Peace?
 

The National Association and American Association (both dropping "Professional" from their names) announced that the two leagues had an "agreement in place", agreeing not to raid each others' players -- and possibly setting up a competition involving both leagues...

Attachment 1055395Attachment 1055396

At the mid-point of the NA campaign, Forest City was near-perfect...and Jim Creighton was perfect:

Attachment 1055397

What else can you say abut the greatest base ball player of all time? At this point, Jim was 16-0, with a microscopic 0.74 ERA. And the Cleveland club was 25-7 without him on the mound, thanks to hitters like Charley Jones, Paul Hines and...Jim Creighton, sporting a .420 average.

Will anyone stop Forest City? Will anyone want to...?!

July 1878: Newark tops the AA
 

The Eureka club of Newark lapped the American Association field in 1878, winning the pennant by a whopping thirteen games!

Attachment 1055617

Meanwhile, New Haven made their first post-season appearance, while their Connecticut neighbors from Middletown lost a one-game playoff to Baltimore for the final spot.

In the playoffs themselves, the Resolutes made it an all-New Jersey final (again) by downing the Marylands, 3-2 and routing the Eckford club of Brooklyn (also making their first American Cup showing), 10-3.

Attachment 1055618

The Cup Final was another thriller. The lead went back and forth, and Sam Armstrong's two-run double off Pud Galvin tied the contest at 6 in the top of the ninth. Hal Brown proved to be the hero in the bottom of the frame with a double off the wall to deliver the American Cup to Newark for the fourth time!

Attachment 1055619

August 1878: Forest City conquers all
 

A hundred years from now, historians will look back at the early days of baseball, and two names will stand above all: Jim Creighton and Forest City.

Creighton and Cleveland were nothing short of incredible in 1878: the 38-year-old hurler had an amazing 29-1 record (his only defeat coming in Chicago in June), while Forest City was 72-16...wow!

The rest of the loop wasn't too shabby, either: the defending champion Red Stockings won over two-thirds of their games, while the Mutuals of New York put together a late run to place third.

Attachment 1055620

The Tri Mountains needed to beat Troy, 5-3, just to grab the last playoff spot. They made the most of it, upsetting Cincinnati, 2-1, to reach the Centennial Cup semifinal against in New York, who knocked out Rockford, 12-2. In the Semifinal, Mutual scored four times in the fourth -- all they needed in a 4-1 win to advance to the Cup Final.

And, wow, what a Cup Final!

In Game 1 in New York, Creighton won his 30th of the season, holding Mutual to four hits (and driving in a run himself) in a 4-2 victory.

Attachment 1055621

Back in northeast Ohio, the two teams scored twelve runs in the first three innings, only to have the pitchers too regain control in the second half of the contest. Dick Higham's RBI single gave Mutual a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth, but Cleveland loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame, looking to nab the Cup. Alas, Bob Ferguson, who had already driven in a pair of runs earlier, popped up to give New York the win.

Attachment 1055622

For the first time ever, the Centennial Cup Final was going to a third and decisive game...and Jim Creighton was on the mound, looking for his record-smashing 31st victory. But Mutual was not going down easy, notching runs in the second, third, fifth and seventh. Forest City scored three markers of their own, but going into the last of the ninth, it was 4-3, New York.

Mutual hurler Tommy Bond bore down, retiring the first two Cleveland batters. Charley Jones worked Bond to a 2-2 count, putting New York just one strike from the summit. And then Jones swung from his heels, smashing a double down the right field line, making him the potential winning run. And up stepped Jim Creighton, he of the .417 batting average.

The obvious thing to do here was to simply give Creighton the empty base -- obvious to everyone in the ballpark except Tommy Bond. Pride, they say, cometh before a fall, and Bond reared back and tossed Diamond Jim his most devastating fastball. Creighton slapped into left field, Bond scored the Cup-winner, and Forest City was on top again!

Attachment 1055623

Creighton again (and again)
 

When the 1878 National awards were handed out, there was only one question: Who the heck voted for Al Bailey...?!

Attachment 1055642
Attachment 1055643

Changes for 1879
 

Both the American and National Associations had problems going into their ninth season -- but they were both good problems to have.

First off, the American has added two new teams: the Providence Grays (bringing pro ball to the nation's smallest state) and the Upstatesmen club of Buffalo. (Editor's note: I'm not calling them the Bisons because I'm tired of that name. I found "Upstatesmen" on this very board, and whoever created it, I thank you.)

Attachment 1055646

Meanwhile, the deciding game of last year's Centennial Cup has already become legendary: not just for the play on the field, but the throngs of people trying to get in. Every Cup playoff game was a sell-out, in fact, so the Association is expanding the Semifinal to a best-of-three, while the Final will now be a best-of-five affair.

Mid-season 1879: Forest City back on top; Saint Louie battling for playoff spot
 

Since joining the NA in 1875, the club from pro base ball's westernmost outpost, the St. Louis Brown Stockings, have yet to have a winning record...until now. Can the Brownies sneak past Rockford and battle for the Cup? Stay tuned! (Actually, you can't stay tuned since radio is still four decades away...)

Oh, and Cleveland is back in first place, yada yada yada.

Attachment 1055675