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TWC XIII: THE GANG GETS BACK TOGETHER

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (Aug. 11-22, 1869) – The 1868 Tucker-Wheaton Cup was a welcome change of pace. Of the six entrants, two teams were in the postseason for the first time, one was in the cup field for the second time, and eventual winners Orange BBC were playing extra baseball for the third time over the NBBO’s dozen years. The usual band of dominant clubs were not present, and Orange’s win at St. John’s on the final day to win the cup was a memorable affair.

The 1869 edition was back to the usual format. The teams involved:

• St. John’s BBC: 12x New England champions (1857-64, 66-69) & 4x cup winners (1857-58, 63-64)
• Shamrock BC: 8x Coastal champions (1857, 59-60, 62, 65-67, 69) & 2x cup winners (1862, 66)
• Kings County BBC: 8x Brooklyn champions (1858-62, 64, 68-69) & 2x cup winners (1860-61)
• Knickerbocker BBC: 5x New York City champions (1858, 65-67, 69) & 2x cup winners (1865, 67)
• Alleghany BC: 8x Inland champions (1857, 59, 61-62, 65-67, 69)
• Flour City BBC: 3x Upstate champions (1860, 64, 69)

The gang was together again. The sport’s five most dominant clubs were back in the Tucker-Wheaton Cup, along with the Upstate champion, who has never had much postseason experience because six different teams – Flour City, Minuteman, Niagara, Syracuse, Victory, & Utica – have taken the pennant in Upstate New York over the history of the NBBO.

However, there was one notable difference this time around: it was the Upstate New York champions who were the favorites to win the cup. Flour City entered the competition fresh off the second-best season in NBBO history: a 55-15 record, the best offense, best pitching, and third-best defense in the New York League, and a historic Run Differential of +256 that carried them to first place by a jaw-dropping seventeen games. They had the sport’s second thirty-win pitcher in James Goodman (30-6, 2.00, 10.7 WAR), a #2 in Preston Lilly who went 12-1 (3.88 ERA), a catcher who hit .398 in Lorenzo Bradford, and four other men in the lineup who hit the ball at better than a .340 clip.

Flour City was one of the most dominant teams in the history of the sport from the beginning of May to the end of July. Could they continue that form for two more weeks and take Upstate’s first cup, or would one of the usual suspects win it all?