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CONTINENTAL BEATS ATLANTIC IN 41-RUN THRILLER
TEAMS COMBINE FOR 40+ HITS & MORE THAN 25 ERRORS; RASMUSSEN TALLIES 5 HITS & 7 RBI

BROOKLYN (June 21, 1867) – The Capitoline Base Ball Grounds were host to the wildest contest of the NBBO season on Friday afternoon, with Continental & Atlantic hammering each other for nine innings:

The two teams totaled 41 runs, 44 hits, and 26 errors, with the last five innings featuring a torrent of runs.

After four innings it looked to all 2,000 in attendance like this would be a fairly normal game, the home favorites enjoying a 5-3 lead thanks to six early fielding errors by Continental. Then the offenses really let loose.

Continental scored five times in the top of the 5th thanks to six hits and four errors. After Atlantic responded with two in their turn at bat the score was 8-7 to Continental after five innings. The teams scored two runs each in the 6th before Continental scored four times in the top of the 7th – Andrew Brannon’s two-run single being the key moment – to take a 14-9 lead. Atlantic then scored twice to bring the deficit back to three runs heading into the 8th inning.

The 8th inning was the most action-packed of all. Continental came to bat and scored six runs on a combination of six hits, five fielding errors, two stolen bases, and a passed ball. The score now 20-11, Atlantic responded with seven runs on just four hits as Continental pitchers hit one batsman, sent three more to first base via balls, and let runners take bases twice on wild pitches. Continental then scored three times in the top of the 9th to seal the victory.

There were many notable performers on this day, but Player of the Game honors went to Continental OF Bryn Rasmussen:

• T1: 1-run Double to LCF off R. Newbold
• T3: 1-run Ground Out to 1B off R. Newbold
• T5: 1-run Single to LF off R. Newbold (Run)
• T6: 1-run Double to LCF off R. Newbold (Run)
• T7: 1-run Single b/w 1B & 2B off W. White
• T8: 1-run Ground Out to 2B off B. Chastain
• T9: 1-run Single to RF off B. Chastain (Run)
• TOTAL: 5/7, 2 2B, 3 R, 7 RBI, 7 TB, 102 GMSC

Aside from his five hits in seven RBI, Rasmussen produced a historical oddity in that he was the first player in NBBO history to drive in runs in seven different plate appearances in the same game.

At the other end of the performance spectrum was the Atlantic defense, which committed a team record sixteen errors. No fewer than eight of their players made miscues in the field, with SS Henry Fitzgerald and OF William Gentilucci committing four each. They even had a substitute get in on the act, with sub Thomas Pippen booting two balls in the outfield.

The result left both teams at 17-21, a full ten games behind 1st-place Excelsior in the Brooklyn Championship.