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43 RUNS, 45 HITS, & A CYCLE IN UTICA!
FLOUR CITY CONTINUES TREND OF HAVING MOST EXCITING GAMES IN N.B.B.O.

UTICA, N.Y. (July 30, 1863) – Flour City B.B.C. has been the most exciting team in the N.B.B.O. during the 1863 season, and their contest at Utica on Thursday proved no different – a game in which runs, hits, & achievements were in no short supply:

The above fails to capture the full scope of excitement on display in Roscoe Conkling Field. The game saw the following:

• Forty-three total runs
• Forty-five total hits
• Fourteen Extra-Base hits
• Three Home Runs
• Two Players with five hits
• Eight players with three or more hits
• One player hit for the Cycle

First off is the history that was made in the game. The Cycle did not go to F.C, but instead was achieved by a Utica player: Charles Haynes, an 1862 All-Star who entered the game hitting .331 with 36 R.B.I. He hit a triple in the first inning, a single in the third, a double in the sixth, and an incredible three-run Inside the Park Home Run with two out in the bottom of the ninth to become the second player this year, and the eighth in N.B.B.O. history, to bat for the Cycle. It was not Utica’s day as a team, but Haynes’ star turn will reduce the sting a bit.

There were eight players who finished the game with three or more hits:

• Flour City: James Hoyt (RF), Art Mauser (2B), Jorgen Niebuhr (3B), James Pennington (CF)
• Utica: Ed Brown (SS), Martin Elson (C), Fred Fowler (LF), Charles Haynes (CF)

Out of those eight players, one had four hits – the aforementioned Haynes – and two F.C. players finished with five: Hoyt & Pennington.

• James Hoyt: 5/7, 2 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI, 7 TB
• James Pennington: 5/7 (all Singles), 4 R, 0 RBI, 1 SB

It was also a rare game in that both teams hit Home Runs. Flour City’s William McQuaid (SS) hit their Home Run in the top of the second inning, while Utica hit two – one by Wyatt Flanders (1B) in the fourth inning and Haynes’ dramatic, Cycle-clinching, Inside the Park effort in the ninth.

This is not even close to the only recent Flour City contest that has featured copious amounts of offensive output. Their last three games have seen both teams score ten or more runs, and such outcomes have occurred in eight of F.C’s 23 July games.

Why such gigantic scorelines? With little over a week to play, second-place Flour City is set to become the first team in N.B.B.O. history to lead their league in runs while also allowing the most runs. Their offense leads the N.Y.L. in:

• Runs Scored: 560 (8.9 p/g) – Atlantic in 2nd at 503
• Batting Average: .332 – Syracuse in 2nd at .321
• Doubles: 139 – Syracuse in 2nd at 138
• Triples: 51 – Gotham in 2nd at 50
• On-Base %: .367 – Atlantic in 2nd at .356
• Slugging %: .442 – Gotham in 2nd at .413
• On-Base + Slugging: .809 – Syracuse in 2nd at .757
• Batting W.A.R: 11.7 – Orange in 2nd at 9.5

Such a dominant attack has always seen a team finish in first place, but Flour City’s pitching and defense combined are easily the worst in the N.Y.L:

• Runs Allowed: 520 (8.3 p/g) – Syracuse is next at 486
• Team E.R.A: 5.15 – Syracuse is next at 4.81
• Opponents’ AVG: .338 – Syracuse is next at .320
• Opponents’ OBP: .376 – Utica is next at .353
• Opponents’ SLG: .434 – Utica is next at .421
• Opponents’ OPS: .810 – Utica is next at .774
• Complete Games: 20 – Syracuse is next at 25
• Hits Allowed: 836 – Utica is next at 791
• H.R. Allowed: 15 – Union of Morrisania is next at 14
• Bases on Balls: 142 – Bedford is next at 129
• W.H.I.P: 1.74 – Syracuse is next at 1.59
• W.P.A: -24.6 – Eagle is next at -22.6

The Flour City defenders’ fielding also ranks in the bottom third of the N.Y.L.

What truly makes Flour City’s 1863 season perhaps the strangest in N.B.B.O. history is that, unlike the previous layout of Niagara’s Greater New York Sporting Grounds, Flour City’s home of Riverside Park is only a moderate Hitter’s Park by N.B.B.O. standards. They employ a collection of excellent hitters – only one regular is batting under .300 – who are largely mediocre at fielding, and a group of pitchers whose performance has been simply dreadful. The result has been a team that has given the spectators their money’s worth nearly every afternoon, but one that has not been able to gather together enough positive results to take command of the Upstate Championship.