[tm1681]

THREE-WAY TIE IN INLAND WITH THREE WEEKS LEFT
LAKE ERIE, MERRIMACK MILLS, & READING ATHLETIC HEADING FOR A PHOTO FINISH

ERIE & READING, PENN. & LOWELL, MASS (July 18, 1864) – There are three weeks left to play in the 1864 National Base Ball Organization season, and while no team leads their regional championship by more than five games the Inland Championship has all neutral eyes on it as there are three teams currently tied atop the standings.

Tied for first in Inland as of Monday, July 18th:

• 1A: Lake Erie – 35-20; 456 R, 349 R.A. (+107 R.D.) - 7-8 (.467) vs M.M. & REA
• 1B: Merrimack Mills – 35-20; 408 R, 375 R.A. (+33 R.D.) - 8-7 (.533) vs L.E. & REA
• 1C: Reading Athletic – 35-20; 443 R, 359 R.A. (+107 R.D.) - 10-10 (.500) vs L.E. & M.M.

While the N.B.B.O. uses head-to-head record and run differential tiebreakers to sort teams in most places in the final standings, this does not happen when there is a tie for first place. Instead, any teams tied play extra games to determine the regional champion.

Lake Erie was three games ahead at the halfway point, sporting the N.B.B.O’s best record at 25-10. Since then their form has dipped, with Lake Erie going 10-10 over their last twenty games. This has allowed both Merrimack Mills & Reading to catch up. Susquehanna, which was three games back after seven weeks of play, has fallen to four games out of first.

In the event of a two-way tie for first place at the end of the season, the procedure is simple: one game is played at the venue of the team with the better head-to-head record or, in the case of a 5-5 split, the better full-season run differential. If all three teams remain tied for first after all seventy games are played, things become much more complicated. The team with the best record over the twenty games against the other two teams gets a day off, then the other two teams play each other with the host chosen using the same tiebreaker criteria, and then the winner of that game plays one game at the team who was given the bye to determine the champion.