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1863 T.W.C: THE DEBUTANTES’ BALL
FIVE OF SIX TEAMS TAKING PART IN POSTSEASON PLAY FOR THE FIRST TIME

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (Aug. 1863) – The 1863 Tucker-Wheaton Cup was the second edition to feature the Round Robin format, but it looked significantly different from last year’s competition as five of the six teams to play for the cup – Excelsior, Harlem, Merrimack Mills, Niagara, & Port Jersey – had won their regional championships for the first time.

Of the five teams experiencing their first year of postseason base ball, Port Jersey was the best of the bunch. They were 15-5 on June 1st and never faded, finishing 1863 as one of two teams to go 50-20 over the course of the season. The Jersey City outfit was led by a trio of All-Stars: Edward Donovan (OF; .384, 1 HR, 61 RBI, 3.3 WAR), Willard Krone, (2B; .336, 4 HR, 48 RBI, 2.3 WAR), and Thomas Hines (P; 22-9, 2.96 ERA, 2 SHO, 4.7 WAR).

Excelsior B.B.C. was the playoff debutante that general base ball observers were most looking forward to seeing. It was obvious why this was the case: superstar pitcher Jim Creighton, who led the entire N.B.B.O. in wins (26), E.R.A. (2.29), strikeouts (69), and W.A.R. (7.0) while setting numerous records, and he did all as a phenomenal 22-year-old.

Niagara was playing for the cup thanks to a 26-9 second half spearheaded by the most talented pitching duo in the N.B.B.O: Bernie Schmidt (22-9, 3.00 ERA, 2 SHO, 5.1 WAR) & Grover Wright (19-10, 3.35 ERA, 6.1 WAR). Harlem was making their maiden cup voyage thanks to the pitching of steady veteran hand Clydesdale Jackson (21-12, 2.69 ERA, 5.8 WAR) and star batsmen Wilson Clark (CF; .341, 49 RBI, 33 SB, 2.3 WAR) & Jackson Butler (SS; .349, 1 HR, 58 RBI, 2.4 WAR). Merrimack Mills made it thanks to a lineup that led the N.E.L. in average (.327) & O.P.S. (.783) that was led by All-Stars Alexander Hedrick (LF; .392, 3 HR, 64 RBI, 2.8 WAR) & Leroy Weld (3B; .384, 2 HR, 50 RBI, 3.3 WAR).

Of course, the other team vying for the cup was the undisputed kings of New England: St. John’s, who won 28 of their last 35 games to become the other team to finish 50-20. They led the N.E.L. in runs (599) & stolen bases (187) while John McGowan led the league in wins (24) for the fifth year running. St. John’s entered the 1863 T.W.C. as the favorites thanks to their torrid second half, but could one of the five new entrants take the cup instead?


1863 TUCKER WHEATON CUP STANDINGS

TEAM		W	L	GB	 R	RA	 RD
ST. JOHN’S	9	1	--	77	53	+24
HARLEM		6	4	 3	57	46	+11
MERRIMACK	5	5	 4	63	65	-2
EXCELSIOR	5	5	 4	67	71	-4
NIAGARA		3	7	 6	54	61	-7
PORT JERSEY	2	8	 7	61	83	-22
Merrimack won both games against Excelsior

M.V.P: Archie Mask (CF, EXC) – .435 AVG (20/46), 1.043 OPS, 6 2B, 1 3B, 11 R, 10 RBI, 5 SB, 1.47 WPA, 4x P.o.t.G.

Not a chance. St. John’s did whatever they wanted to against the best the N.B.B.O. had to offer, scoring 77 runs and outscoring the opposition by 2.4 runs per game while stealing an absurd forty bases over the ten gamedays of the Tucker-Wheaton Cup. Add their 9-1 record to their 28-7 second half and St. John’s was 37-8 over the final 45 games of 1863.

It looked for a while like St. John’s might receive a fierce challenge for the cup from New York City champions Harlem, who went 4-1 over the first five games. However, they faded over the second half of the competition and finished 6-4.

Port Jersey, Coastal champions and joint leaders of the N.B.B.O. with St. John’s at 50-20, had a terrible time at the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, finishing 2-8 and only winning one game before they were eliminated from cup contention.

Jim Creighton, easily the N.B.B.O’s marquee pitcher during the season, struggled in his first taste of postseason baseball, going 3-4 with a 4.26 E.R.A. and just half a dozen strikeouts over 50.2 innings for Excelsior.

Speaking of Excelsior, they ended up with the cup M.V.P, the second year in a row it went to a losing player. Archie Mask was the only four-time Player of the Game in the competition. He was one of three players with twenty or more hits, and he led all position players in both W.A.R. at 0.7 and W.P.A. at 1.47. St. Johns’ cup win was more of a team effort, as nobody hit .400 and nobody drove in ten or more runs.


GAMEDAY ONE

P.J. 6-10 STJ – P.o.t.G: Nelson Townsend (LF, STJ) – 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB
EXC 7-6 NIA – P.o.t.G: Archie Mask (CF, EXC) – 4/5, 2B, 2 R, SB
HAR 7-3 M.M. – P.o.t.G: Clydesdale Jackson (P, HAR) – CG, 10 HA, 3 R/ER, 2 K

Gameday One started in Providence with the two best teams in the N.B.B.O. squaring off. St. John’s controlled the proceedings – the hosts scoring ten times over the first five innings before allowing two consolation runs to Port Jersey in their 10-6 win. The outfield trio of Townsend, Johnson, & Jensen all had multiple hits and R.B.I.

Excelsior vs Niagara was expected to be a duel between mighty Jim Creighton and Bernard Schmidt, but the two allowed fifteen hits each in an exciting affair that was decided when Excelsior’s Willie Smith scored on a passed ball in the top of the ninth inning.

Harlem wasted little time in securing victory at Merrimack Mills. The N.Y.C. champs scored five times in the top of the first inning, and that was more than enough as Clydesdale Jackson made sure the hosts stayed at arm’s length.


GAMEDAY TWO

EXC 6-11 STJ – P.o.t.G: Anderson MacGyver (2B, STJ) – 3/4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, SB
NIA 6-7 M.M. – P.o.t.G: Alexander Hedrick (RF, M.M.) 3/5, R, 3 RBI
P.J. 4-8 HAR – P.o.t.G: Harold Severson (RF, HAR) – 3/5, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI

St. John’s opened Gameday Two with a hard-fought win at home against Excelsior. With the game level at 6-6 going into the bottom of the eighth the hosts pulled off a five-run rally capped by Leo Pfeiffer’s two-run double, and that was that.

In Lowell, Merrimack Mills made up for the disappointment of Gameday One with a walk-off victory against Niagara. In the bottom of the ninth, P.o.t.G. Alexander Hedrick came up with Leslie Arnett on second and one out against Grover Wright and singled to give Merrimack the win.

For the second game in a row Harlem scored five times in the first inning to quickly secure their victory. This time the victims were Port Jersey, with Harold Severson’s two-run home run sending Harlem on their way to another win.


GAMEDAY THREE

STJ 6-1 M.M. – P.o.t.G: Anderson MacGyver (2B, STJ) – 2/4, 3 R, 3 SB
HAR 4-7 NIA – P.o.t.G: Reno Stegeman (1B, HAR) – 4/4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
EXC 12-5 P.J. – P.o.t.G: Archie Mask (CF, EXC) – 4/6, 2B, 3 R, RBI, SB

St. John’s had an easy time of it in their victory at Merrimack Mills. Anderson MacGyver was the star of the show, as he stole three bases and scored three runs while John McGowan pitched a stress-free complete game.

Niagara was in control from the second inning on at home against Harlem. After scoring twice in the bottom of the second, the hosts ran the lead up to 7-2 before Harlem first baseman Reno Stegeman hit a consolation home run in the eighth.

Excelsior had a field day at Port Jersey, racking up a dozen runs on 23 hits against the struggling Coastal champions. Archie Mask was P.o.t.G, but Wesley Leone, Willie Smith, Ruby Watson, & John Williams also had three hits each.


GAMEDAY FOUR

STJ 9-15 P.J. – P.o.t.G: Willard Krone (2B, P.J.) – 3/6, 2B, 3 R, RBI
NIA 10-11 EXC (11 Inn.) – P.o.t.G: Archie Mask (CF, EXC) – 3/5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI, 2 SB
M.M. 3-5 HAR – P.o.t.G: Wilson Clark (CF, HAR) – 2/4, R, RBI, SB

Port Jersey took their first win of the Tucker-Wheaton Cup by running fourteen men across home plate over the first three innings against previously undefeated St. John’s, chasing hapless starter Joe Griffin out of the contest in the process. The hosts allowed nine runs after that, but they were never in danger of being caught.

In Brooklyn, an error by Barney Fisher in the bottom of the eleventh allowed in the winning run as Excelsior beat Niagara 11-10. The batter on the play was Archie Mask, an unlikely postseason hero who has racked up three P.o.t.G. awards over the first four days of Tucker-Wheaton Cup competition.

Harlem took the honors in a close contest at home against Merrimack Mills. The visitors scored a run in the top of the seventh inning to make the score 4-3 but Harlem got the run back to make it 5-3, and that was all they needed.


GAMEDAY FIVE

M.M. 9-7 NIA (11 Inn.) – P.o.t.G: Joseph Bentley (2B, NIA) – 4/5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, RBI, SB
HAR 7-4 P.J. – P.o.t.G: Wilson Clark (CF, HAR) – 2/5, 3 R, RBI, 3 SB
STJ 6-5 EXC – P.o.t.G: John McGowan (P, STJ) – CG, 10 HA, 5 R, 3 ER, 2/2, 1 RBI

Merrimack Mills at Niagara was an exciting contest, with the score 6-6 after nine innings. Merrimack came to bat in the top of the eleventh and plated runners with three separate run-scoring singles – the three runs being enough to gain the victory in Buffalo despite the best efforts of star infielder Joseph Bentley.

Harlem used a four-run rally in the fifth inning, the key hit being a two-run double by Jackson Butler, to get the best of Port Jersey. They received a P.o.t.G. performance from Wilson Clark, with two hits from Al Glickman & Reno Stegeman as well.

St. John’s at Excelsior had a plethora of late drama. The visitors were up 5-2 after the top of the eighth, but Excelsior leveled the score thanks to singles by Doire McDonald and Ruby Watson. Unfortunately for Excelsior, a wayward delivery by Jim Creighton in the top of the ninth allowed Lennart Maier to score, and St. John’s were the victors.

The standings after Gameday Five of the Tucker-Wheaton Cup were as follows:

TEAM		W	L	GB	 R	RA	 RD
HARLEM		4	1	--	31	21	+10
ST. JOHN’S	4	1	--	42	33	+9
EXCELSIOR	3	2	 1	41	38	+3
MERRIMACK	2	3	 2	23	31	-8
NIAGARA		1	4	 3	36	38	-2
PORT JERSEY	1	4	 3	34	46	-12

St. John’s and surprising Harlem were the class of the first half of the Tucker-Wheaton Cup. Jim Creighton had the credit for all three of Excelsior’s wins, with much help from Archie Mask. Merrimack Mills was doing okay, Niagara had been unlucky, and Port Jersey was showing none of the form that had made them one of the N.B.B.O’s two 50-20 teams.


NOTE: The schedule got wonky after this point, and I'm not sure why...

GAMEDAY SIX

NIA 2-3 STJ (11 Inn.) – P.o.t.G: Konrad Jensen (RF, STJ) – 3/4, R, RBI, BB, SB
P.J. 4-13 M.M. – P.o.t.G: Lewis Knott (1B, M.M.) – 3/5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
M.M. 1-3 NIA – Grover Wright (P, NIA) – CG, 9 HA, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 K

The second half of the cup opened with Niagara suffering their fourth one-run loss, and second in extra innings. Bernard Schmidt did well to hold St. John’s to a pair of runs over nine innings, but Niagara could only match that and a William Johnson single in the bottom of the eleventh was the difference.

Merrimack Mills hammered Port Jersey with multiple runs in the second, third, sixth, & eighth in their 13-4 win. Four players had multiple hits, and Port Jersey’s cup run was left in tatters.

Port Jersey then had to play again against Niagara and the result was another loss to drop them to 1-6, with Niagara finally being on the positive end of a close game.


GAMEDAY SEVEN

STJ 7-5 HAR – P.o.t.G: Collin Henderson (1B, STJ) – 3/5, R, 2 RBI
M.M. 8-5 EXC – P.o.t.G: Silvestro Masci (CF, M.M.) – 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB
P.J. 13-6 M.M. – P.o.t.G: Johnny Pendergrass (RF, P.J.) – 2/5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI

St. John’s took the battle of the two one-loss teams, securing the result with a two-run eighth inning that pushed their lead over Harlem to 7-1. Harlem mounted a late rally, but John McGowan and the St. John’s defense held firm in the ninth.

Merrimack Mills at Excelsior turned late, with the visitors able to take six runs off Jim Creighton over the final three innings to turn a 5-2 deficit into an 8-5 win. Silvestro Masci’s 2-run single in the top of the eighth was the game’s big hit.

Port Jersey finally showed off some of that fifty-win form in their big win over Merrimack Mills, scoring six times in the first inning and keeping the offense going from there in a result that was much-needed for morale, if nothing else.


GAMEDAY EIGHT

EXC 7-6 HAR – P.o.t.G: Archie Mask (CF, EXC) – 3/5, 2 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
STJ 11-3 NIA – P.o.t.G: Nelson Townsend (LF, STJ) – 4/6, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 4 SB
HAR 4-5 STJ – P.o.t.G: Albert Glickman (2B, HAR) – 3/4, 2 R, RBI, SB

Harlem opened Gameday Eight with a chance to keep close to St. John’s, but a three-run seventh by Excelsior led by yet more clutch hitting from Archie Mask, who earned his fourth P.o.t.G. award of the cup, brought the hosts down to level in the standings with Excelsior at 4-3.

With Harlem having faltered, a win could give St. John’s their third Tucker-Wheaton Cup. They dutifully came through with a dominant 11-3 win in which they stole half a dozen bases without being caught and basically tortured the Niagara defense. It was a classic St. John’s performance.

St. John’s then played again and rubbed salt in everyone else’s wounds by beating Harlem on a run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth to run their cup record to 8-1.

The standings after St. John’s clinched the cup on Gameday Eight:

TEAM		W	L	 GB	 R	RA	 RD
ST. JOHN’S	8	1	--	68	47	+21
EXCELSIOR	4	3	3	53	52	+1
HARLEM		4	4	3.5	46	40	+6
MERRIMACK	4	4	3.5	50	53	-3
NIAGARA		2	6	5.5	44	53	-9
PORT JERSEY	2	6	5.5	52	68	-16

GAMEDAY NINE

NIA 9-5 P.J – P.o.t.G: Lewis O’Reilly (3B, P.J) – 4/5, 2B, 2 R, RBI
EXC 3-7 M.M. – P.o.t.G: Silvestro Masci (CF, M.M.) – 3/5, 2B, 2 R, RBI, SB
NIA 1-3 HAR – P.o.t.G: Harold Severson (RF, HAR) – 3/4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, SB

Gameday Nine started with a battle between the two worst teams. Niagara & Port Jersey combined for 31 hits, but Niagara won the day thanks to four runs in the top of the first and five more in the top of the fifth.

Merrimack guaranteed a .500 cup run with a solid 7-3 home win against Jim Creighton and Excelsior, with Silvestro Masci leading the way for the second time in the last three games.

Harlem beat a punchless Niagara team thanks to some fine batsmanship by Harold Severson, and in the process guaranteed their own .500 cup run while ending Niagara’s T.W.C. at 3-7.


GAMEDAY TEN

P.J. 4-6 EXC – P.o.t.G: Willie Smith (1B, EXC) – 3/4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, RBI
HAR 8-5 EXC – P.o.t.G: Reno Stegeman (1B, HAR) – 3/5, 2 2B, 3 R, RBI
M.M. 6-9 STJ – P.o.t.G: William Johnson (STJ) – 3/5, 2 R, RBI, SB

Excelsior opened the last day of play by scoring four times in the bottom of the eighth inning to relegate Port Jersey, one of the N.B.B.O’s two 50-20 teams, to a last-place finish in the Tucker-Wheaton Cup at 2-8

Harlem closed out their 1863 Tucker-Wheaton Cup with a three-run win at Excelsior to clinch second place, with Reno Stegeman putting in another fine performance.

St. John’s closed the Tucker-Wheaton Cup in style, stealing five bases against Merrimack Mills in a 9-6 win to finish the competition with a staggering 9-1 record and +24 run differential.

In the end, St. Johns’ big-game experience was simply too much for the gaggle of postseason newcomers, and the men from Providence were taking the cup home for the first time in five years. They were unquestionably the best team in the competition, and the team has planted their flag to lay claim as the premier club of the early days of organized base ball.