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THE 1869 CUP FIELD IS SET
FLOUR CITY IN WITH BEST RECORD; BROOKLYN CHAMPIONSHIP DECIDED ON FINAL DAY

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (Aug. 9, 1866) – The 1869 Tucker-Wheaton Cup field is in place. Five regions more or less knew who would be representing them with a week or more left to play, but Brooklyn was decided on the final Sunday. Five teams are very familiar faces, while the team with the best record in the NBBO is in the cup for the first time in five years.

BROOKLYN – Kings County repeated as Brooklyn champions, but as noted elsewhere it was one of the tightest regional races ever. K.C. started their final series at Empire with two bad losses before winning the final three games, which they absolutely had to do because Continental won in each of their final nine outings to end up just one game back of first place.

The team is led by star second-year 1B Garfield Koonce, who is part of a quartet of .350 hitters in the lineup along with Henry Fitzgerald (.354), James Hoyt (.350), & Carlton McShane (.353). Excellent newcomer Ed Johnson hit .339.

KEY PLAYER: Garfield Koonce (1B) – .386 AVG, .973 OPS, 93 R, 124 H, 47 XBH, 2 HR, 84 RBI, 5.0 WPA, 3.4 WAR

NEW YORK CITY – Knickerbocker is back on top after seeing off a difficult challenge from Gotham to win NYC by five games. They come into the cup in good form after having won each of their final four contests by multiple runs, and it appears that both 1B Paul LaGuerre & 3B Jerald Peterson have broken out of season-long slumps at the perfect time.

KEY PLAYER: Edward Huntley (SS) – .352 AVG, .903 OPS, 90 R, 107 H, 33 XBH, 73 RBI, 32 SB, +17.5 ZR, 4.0 WPA, 4.5 WAR

UPSTATE N.Y. – Flour City had Upstate wrapped up by July 21st, a whopping fourteen games clear in first with fourteen to play. F.C.’s 55-15 record is the second-best in NBBO history, and they were #1 in the NYL in both Runs & Runs Allowed. They have been led by historic pitching from James Goodman and six .300 hitters. This is their first postseason in five years.

KEY PLAYER: James Goodman (P) – 30-6, 2.00 ERA, 342.2 IP, 31 CG, 2 SHO, 26 BB, 132 K, 5.1 K/BB, 1.05 WHIP, 10.7 WAR, 14.4 rWAR

COASTAL – Shamrock was never in any danger, leading nearly wire to wire and having a lead of 5-7 games continuously after Week Seven. As has happened a number of times, Shamrock had the NBBO’s best defense this season and they will bring a pair of 20-game winners with ERA’s below 2.50 to the cup: Tom Ricks (26-13, 2.48) & Thomas Smith (21-7, 2.46).

KEY PLAYER: Tom Ricks (P) – 26-13, 2.48 ERA, 337.1 IP, 27 CG, 2 SHO, 32 BB, 32 K, 1.11 WHIP, 5.5 WAR, 10.6 rWAR

INLAND – Alleghany faced a stiff challenge from Sportsman’s for much of the season before pulling away in July thanks to a lineup that plated more than nine runs per game. They have a thirty-game winner in John Henry, a .400 hitter in Collin Henderson, a 12x All-Star in Samuel Kessler, a 2x Batsman of the Year in Royal Altman, and loads of confidence.

KEY PLAYER: Collin Henderson (1B) – .407 AVG, .969 OPS, 93 R, 143 H, 33 XBH, 3 HR, 66 RBI, 4.4 WPA, 3.8 WAR

NEW ENGLAND – St. John’s enters as the first team to score ten runs per game. Their lineup is legendary – 2x Batsman of the Year & .400 hitter Konrad Jensen, 2x BotY Anderson MacGyver, 7x All-Star Nelson Townsend, 5x All-Star & inaugural BotY William Johnson, and 2x RBI champ Tarmo Kuopio. However, defense (15th in NEL) was an issue for them.

KEY PLAYER: Konrad Jensen (OF) – .405 AVG, .474 OBP, 1.001 OPS, 98 R, 120 H, 26 XBH, 75 RBI, 59 SB, 5.0 WPA, 4.0 WAR

THE 1868 TUCKER-WHEATON CUP

FORMAT: Each team plays all others twice, once home and once away, for a total of ten games. The team with the best record wins the cup. A one-game playoff will be held at the St. George Cricket Grounds (Gotham BBC) if there is a tie for 1st place. Head-to-Head record and Run Differential will be used as tiebreakers to determine other positions in the case of identical record.

TEAMS: The six entrants to the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, sorted by record & run differential.

• Flour City (Upstate NY) – 55-15 (+256 RD)
• Alleghany (Inland) – 51-19 (+210)
• Shamrock (Coastal) – 50-20 (+182 RD)
• Knickerbocker (NYC) – 50-20 (+156 RD)
• St. John’s (N. England) – 46-24 (+203 RD)
• Kings County (Brooklyn) – 41-29 (+103 RD)

SCHEDULE: The tournament is twelve days in length, teams receiving Monday & Tuesday off as they do during the season.

• Aug. 11: Alleghany at Knickerbocker, Flour City at St. John’s, Shamrock at Kings Co.
• Aug. 12: Knickerbocker at Shamrock, St. John’s at Kings Co., Alleghany at Flour City
• Aug. 13: Flour City at Knickerbocker, St. John’s at Shamrock, Kings Co. at Alleghany
• Aug. 14: Knickerbocker at Alleghany, St. John’s at Flour City, Kings Co. at Shamrock
• Aug. 15: Knickerbocker at Kings Co., Alleghany at St. John’s, Shamrock at Flour City
• Aug. 16: DAY OFF
• Aug. 17: DAY OFF
• Aug. 18: Knickerbocker at Flour City, Shamrock at St. John’s, Alleghany at Kings Co.
• Aug. 19: Kings Co. at Knickerbocker, St. John’s at Alleghany, Flour City at Shamrock
• Aug. 20: Knickerbocker at St. John’s, Kings Co. at Flour City, Shamrock at Alleghany
• Aug. 21: Shamrock at Knickerbocker, Flour City at Alleghany, Kings Co. at St. John’s
• Aug. 22: St. John’s at Knickerbocker, Alleghany at Shamrock, Flour City at Kings County

The Writers Pool has been asked their collective opinion of what they expect from this year’s cup competition, and they have the teams in the following order:

• #1: Flour City (55-15, 27-8 2nd half, 8-2 last 10, #1 in NYL in R & RA, #2 record in NBBO history, 1st cup since ‘64)
• #2: Alleghany (51-19, 26-9 2nd half, 9-1 last 10, WWWW last 4, 39-11 after June 1st)
• #3: St. John’s (46-24, 25-10 2nd half, 7-3 last 10, 4x cup winner, set NBBO record w/ 701 runs)
• #4: Knickerbocker (50-20, 25-10 2nd half, 7-3 last 10, WWWW last 4, 2x cup winner)
• #5: Shamrock (50-20, 22-13 2nd half, 6-4 last 10, 2x cup winner, #1 ERA & Defense in NBBO)
• #6: Kings Co. (41-29, 19-16 2nd half, 6-4 last 10, WWW last 3, 2x cup winner, lowest Run Diff. in field by 53 runs)