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N.Y.L. WINS BIG IN 1866 ALL-STAR GAME
ST. JOHNS’ JENSEN BATS 3/3, BUT FLOUR CITY’S TSIARIS WINS M.V.P.

BOSTON (July 30, 1866) – It was thought that having the South End Grounds in Boston host this year’s All-Star Game would make it a pitcher’s affair, but the end result could not have proved that prediction more incorrect:

The New York League was the big winner here, powering their way past the Northeastern League’s best with an eight-run rally in the top of the sixth inning before displaying excellent pitching & defense from then on.

It was an even & exciting contest early, with the two leagues trading runs back and forth over the first four innings and the N.Y.L. exiting with a 6-5 lead. After a scoreless top of the fifth the N.E.L. came to bat and scored five times via a combination of hits, sacrifices, & errors to take a commanding 10-6 lead.

The big N.Y.L. rally in the top of the sixth occurred in similar fashion. They scored the eight runs on only four hits, as the N.E.L. committed three fielding errors and gave away three bases on balls to greatly aid the New Yorkers, who by the end of their time at bat had a 14-10 lead. The N.E.L. was held scoreless after that, with the N.Y.L. adding two insurance runs on a triple in the eighth inning to secure the result and the bragging rights over the N.E.L.

The game’s Most Valuable Player was one who entered in the fateful top of the sixth: Flour City CF Obelix Tsiaris, who earned two bases on balls in the inning – scoring after both – before hitting a two-run triple in the top of the eighth. He finished the day just 1/1, but with three runs, a pair of R.B.I, a pair of bases on balls, and the game’s lone outfield assist.

The six-run N.Y.L. victory meant that St. John’s superstar Konrad Jensen and Portland’s Soren Thomsen were overshad-owed in defeat. Jensen was 3/3 with an R.B.I. and a stolen base, while Thomsen hit a double & triple to drive in one run for the N.E.L. after entering for Jensen in the bottom of the fifth.

This was the third year in a row that the N.Y.L. has won the All-Star Game and gone home with the right to call itself the more talented league, although this was the first of the three editions that they won by more than one run.

Attendance at the South End Grounds was 9,513, and the skies were clear for a beautiful afternoon of base ball.