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TWO CLOSE REGIONS WITH TWO WEEKS TO PLAY
NEW YORK CITY HAS FOUR SEPARATED BY 3 GAMES; INLAND HAS TWO TIED FOR LEAD

NEW YORK CITY, PITTSBURGH, & WILKES-BARRE, PENN. (July 23, 1866) – There are two weeks to play in the N.B.B.O. season, and four of the six regional championships are almost decided. Excelsior has an eight-game lead in Brooklyn, Syracuse has a five-game lead in Upstate, Shamrock has a ten-game lead in Coastal, and St. John’s has an eight-game lead in New England.

That leaves two regional championships in which the question of who will win is still very much up in the air: New York City and Inland.

The current New York City standings with ten games left:

BROOKLYN		 W	 L	 PCT	GB	 R	 RA	 RD
Knickerbocker	        37	23	.617	--	431	361	+70
Gotham			37	23	.617	--	430	384	+46
Union			36	24	.600	1	441	411	+30
Metropolitan	        34	26	.567	3	426	421	 +5
Orange			31	29	.517	6	441	402	+39
Hilltop			25	35	.417	12	356	397	-41
Harlem			21	39	.350	16	377	433	-56
Mutual			19	41	.317	18	404	497	-93

After losing their last three games against Metropolitan and their first four against Orange, Gotham’s lead evaporated and they now find themselves even with Knickerbocker, who went LWLWL in their recent series at third-place Union. Metropolitan won three of five games at Hilltop, and the result of all of this is that New York City will be a four-team sprint to the finish line. Metropolitan obviously has the most ground to make up, but a three-game deficit is not impossible to overcome, especially considering the schedule.

Of the four teams, Metropolitan has the easiest remaining schedule. Their final two series will both be at home, first against Harlem and then against Mutual. Knickerbocker comes next because they play at Mutual this week, but they have a crucial five-game series at home against Gotham to end the season. Union plays at Gotham before ending the season at home against Hilltop. That leaves Gotham, who will play five home games versus Union this week before playing five games in the Elysian Fields at Knickerbocker in the final week of play, by far the toughest remaining schedule of the four teams in play for first. Looking purely from a schedule standpoint, Metropolitan just might be able to make up the deficit.
The current Inland Championship standings with ten games left:

BROOKLYN	 	 W	 L	 PCT	GB	 R	 RA	  RD
Susquehanna		39	21	.650	--	477	340	+134
Alleghany		39	21	.650	--	512	394	+118
Merrimack		32	28	.533	7	398	449	 -51
Lake Erie		31	29	.517	8	418	425	  -7
Reading			27	33	.450	12	428	501	 -73
Sportsman’s		25	35	.417	14	433	457	 -26
Scranton		25	35	.417	14	378	426	 -48
Pioneer			22	38	.367	17	412	464	 -52

Alleghany & Susquehanna will battle for five games in Susquehanna River View Park in Wilkes-Barre, the winner taking over first place with one week left. After that, Alleghany has five games at home against Reading while Susquehanna has five games at Scranton. The strength of the remaining schedule for the two teams is a push. Susquehanna has the advantage this week, but Alleghany has the advantage next week since they have home advantage and Susquehanna is away, and the two opponents are very close in strength.

Susquehanna being even with Alleghany this late in the year with such a high Run Differential is a MAJOR surprise, but they have been the recipients of outstanding pitching from the 1-2 duo of Elmer Seabold & two-time Shamrock All-Star Joe Cunningham all season long.

With two weeks left there are two regional championships still entirely up for grabs, with six teams that have very valid claims to the pennant. Only two will advance to the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, but it will be a fantastic finish.