[chucksabr]

Sunderland Drop from Top Tier
for First Time since 1890.

The Black Cats of Sunderland have been a stalwart of the Baseball League since their entrance into the First Division for the 1890 season. They have won the division championship on four separate occasions and finished second or third on nine others. They have been graced with some of the greatest batsmen in the game in Stevenson, Clark, and Betts; and such pitching legends as Turner, Atherton and London. Along with Newcastle United, Sunderland represented the very best in baseball that the north east of England has had to offer.

But times have been hard on Black Cats of late. In 1912 they produced their worst showing to date, placing 14th in the table, and then fell to 17th the following year. They recovered somewhat over the next few seasons, but starting in 1922 they began regularly flirting with relegation by placing 18th, 16th, and 18th in consecutive seasons.

Finally, yesterday, it became official: Sunderland Black Cats finished at the very bottom of the table, losing 81 games, and as such will be forced to ply their trade in the Second Division for the 1926 season. Thus ends their streak of thirty consecutive seasons in the top flight, the longest of any club. Manchester United now hold the distinction of being the longest tenured club in the First Division, having occupied the table since 1892, a string of twenty eight years that should remain unbroken for the near future.

Sunderland, on the other hand, seem hard pressed to return to the top tier next season as they finished second from the bottom of the loop in attack, and third from the bottom in run prevention. The cupboard seems quite bare for them as well, as the Sunderland reserves were trounced fairly regularly in morning competitions this season. It is sad to see such a mainstay fall into competitive disrepute, but it will fall to them to rectify this situation and return to the senior competition quickly as they can manage.