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FIELD SET FOR 1859 CUP PLAYOFFS!
N.Y.C. & INLAND DECIDED ON FINAL DAY; ST. JOHN'S SETS RECORDS

NORTHEASTERN U.S.A (August 8, 1858) – The third season of play the National Base Ball Organization came to an end yesterday afternoon – the last pitch ending Lake Erie’s 12-10 win at Scranton. The six-team field for the 1859 Tucker Wheaton Cup playoffs is set, and here are the combatants.

BROOKLYN – Kings County repeated as champions, though there was no epic pennant race this year. They were five-plus games clear in first place for the last month of the season, with Atlantic & Eckford of Greenpoint tied for second.

NEW YORK CITY – The last week of games started with Orange in first, Knickerbocker one game back, and Mutual two games back. Knickerbocker matched Orange result-for-result, which meant the championship was decided on the final day and Orange took the pennant. Mutual finished three games back in third place.

UPSTATE – Minuteman spent the last month of the season keeping Syracuse & Utica at arm’s length, and they won the Upstate Championship by three games over Utica, with Syracuse in third at four games behind.

COASTAL – No big surprise this year. The two Bostonian clubs – Massachusetts Bay & Shamrock – duked it out for first place, but Shamrock had a four-game lead going into the final week and coasted to the pennant by two.

INLAND – Sportsman’s entered the final week two games ahead of Alleghany, but a catastrophic 1-4 home series against the second-place team saw Alleghany take the Inland Championship on the final day with a 7-6 win.

NEW ENGLAND – St. John’s set records for Win % (.771), Runs (643, 9.2 R/G), & Run Differential (+245, +3.5 R/G) as they won the New England Championship by a record FIFTEEN games. Portland finished in second.

With the regular season over, here is what the Tucker-Wheaton Cup Playoffs will look like:

NEW YORK LEAGUE

Semi-Final: #3 Minuteman Base Ball Club (Upstate, 42-28) vs. #2 Orange Base Ball Club (N.Y.C., 45-25)
Championship: Minuteman or Orange vs Kings County B.B.C. (Brooklyn, 47-23)

NEW ENGLAND

Semi-Final: #3 Alleghany Baseball Club (Inland, 40-30) vs. #2 Shamrock Baseball Club (Coastal, 46-24)
Championship: Alleghany or Shamrock vs St. John’s Baseball Club (New England, 54-16)

TUCKER-WHEATON CUP

Northeastern League Champion vs New York League Champion