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WILDEST GAME IN N.B.B.O. HISTORY ENDS 28-14!
NUMEROUS RECORDS SET; McKIERNAN HITS FOR CYCLE; MM GETS 9 EXTRA-BASE HITS

LOWELL, MA, August 4 (1858) – A little over 1,250 spectators in Lowell, Massachusetts went to P.T. Jackson Field on Wednesday afternoon to watch a game between Scranton B.C. and hometown Merrimack Mills, two teams simply playing out the rest of the schedule. What everybody received in exchange for their dimes was the craziest game in N.B.B.O. history:

If you’re counting, that’s 42 runs, 40 hits, 27 errors, and Merrimack Mills scoring 26 times by the end of the fifth inning. Scranton’s EIGHTEEN FIELDING ERRORS were easily the most in N.B.B.O. history, and word is the entire team threw the leather work gloves they use to field balls in the trash after the game was over. Scranton was also the first team ever to put up 10+ runs, 10+ hits, and 10+ errors in the same game. A Triple-Double, perhaps?

Where does one even begin with regard to individual performances in this game?

On the losing side, obviously Scranton’s eighteen-error afternoon must be the center of attention. Raymond Hoy, regarded as a decent backup third baseman, has had to take over for star shortstop John Nelson while he’s been out with an injury to his abdomen – Scranton doesn’t have a backup middle infielder. He’d been performing about as poorly as one would expect an out-of-position player to perform (NOTE: 3B rating is 50/80 but SS rating is 20/80) at a little over two errors per game, but on Wednesday afternoon he committed EIGHT errors at shortstop – far and away single-game records for both the position and any player. He did hit 3/5 with three RBI, but his “work” in the field more than undid any positives he brought to the plate.

Because of all the errors Scranton pitcher John Anderson, last year’s Northeastern League M.V.P., allowed THIRTEEN runs in 1.2 innings, but only two of them were Earned Runs. The eleven Unearned Runs he allowed were an N.B.B.O. record. Four Scranton pitchers combined to underhand 211 pitches to the Merrimack Mills batters, a record for a contest that did not go to extra innings.

The winning pitcher, Livingston Murphy, went 5.2 innings and allowed eleven runs, five of them Earned Runs. The eleven runs he allowed was its own record for runs allowed in a win. Since Scranton committed a never-before-seen amount of fielding blunders, the fact that two Merrimack Mills players – 3B Lee Humphreys & CF Charles McKiernan – each committed three errors will mercifully be forgotten. Almost lost in the focus on defensive futility seen over the course of the afternoon was the fact that Merrimack Mills center fielder Charles McKiernan hit the fourth Cycle in N.B.B.O. history. His day at the plate:

• B 1ST: RBI Double off J. Anderson
• B 2ND: Leadoff Single off J. Anderson
• B 2ND: Flyout to Center Field
• B 4TH: RBI Triple off N. Blach
• B 5TH: 2-Run Inside-the-Park Home Run off N. Blach
• B 5TH: RBI Double off N. Blach
• B 7TH: Removed for Pinch Hitter

There were too many standout batting performances to describe in full, so it would be better to simply list them all:

• MM: Charles McKiernan (CF, PotG) – 5/6, CYCLE (2 2B, 3B, HR), 4 R, 5 RBI, SB, 12 TB
• MM: Ollie Reeder (C) – 4/7, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI
• MM: Charlie Garrett (2B) – 3/6, 2B, 4 R, 5 RBI
• MM: Lester Humphreys (3B) – 2/6, 4 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
• MM: Lewis Knott (1B) – 2/6, 3 R, 2 RBI
• SCR: Allen Friedman (CF) – 3/4, 2B, 3B, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 SB
• SCR: Lou Springer (1B) – 2/6, 1 R, 4 RBI

To say that everyone in attendance got more than their dime’s worth in terms of entertainment might be the understatement of the year. It will likely be quite some time before the Northeastern baseball community sees another contest like this one.