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CHAMPIONSHIPS TOO CLOSE TO CALL AT THE HALFWAY POINT

NORTHEASTERN U.S.A. (June 18, 1860) – The National Base Ball Organization season reached its halfway point yesterday, and after seven weeks of play each of the six championship subdivisions is simply too close to call.

In every one of the N.B.B.O.’s six city & regional championships there is either a tie for first place or a gap of no more than two games separating first place and second after half of the schedule’s seventy games:

• BROOKLYN: Kings County has the N.B.B.O.’s best record at 26-9, but they are only two games ahead of Atlantic B.B.C.

• NEW YORK CITY: Knickerbocker B.B.C. sits atop the championship at 22-13, where they are one game ahead of Mutual, three ahead of Metropolitan, and four ahead of Harlem.

• UPSTATE: Flour City & Utica are tied for the lead at 23-12, with Niagara B.B.C. two games behind the pair. Syracuse & Victory are four games back, so that means five teams still have good chances to take the Upstate Championship.

• COASTAL: Shamrock B.C. is in the lead at 22-13, but there is a trio of teams – American, Massachusetts Bay, & Newark – just two games back.

• INLAND: Scranton tops the standings with a 25-10 record, but Pioneer is just two games back and Susquehanna is lurking at three games back in third place.

• NEW ENGLAND: St. John’s is looking like their usual fantastic selves with a 25-10 record, but Green Mountain is just one game back thanks to seven consecutive wins.

What this all means is that the second half of the 1860 season should serve up no shortage of dramatic action to the public.