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ORANGE RECRUITS PETTY & MASCHERINO
1868 CHAMPS BRING IN TWO OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE SPORT IN A MATTER OF WEEKS

MANHATTAN (Dec. 15, 1869) – Orange BBC, who went 37-33 in 1867 before stunning the base ball world by going 49-21 and winning the Tucker-Wheaton Cup last year, fell back down to 37-33 in 1869. Their front office has decided to make sure 1870 doesn’t end with their third 37-33 mark in four seasons, and how!

On the face of it the winter of 1869-70 doesn’t seem like it has been a big one for Orange, as they have brought in only two batsmen on senior-level squad designations. However, those two batsmen are Franklin Petty & Anthony Mascherino.

Petty arrived first. The 1868 NEL Most Valuable Player & 1869 NEL Batsman of the Year joined on November 24th after seven spectacular seasons with Lake Erie. The 5x All-Star became a regular in their lineup at the age of 20, and within a year was one of the best outfielders in the Northeastern League. He continued improving until his 1868 season, in which he hit .394, set a new record with a .622 Slugging %, and set a record for outfielders with 5.4 WAR in just seventy games. Petty’s batsmanship was almost as good last season, but baserunning issues hurt his value relative to ’68.

Mascherino signed on yesterday, after Shamrock decided to retool their squad due to the disastrous end to their cup campaign. Mascherino needs little in the way of introduction, but as a reminder he’s the holder of the single season Batter WAR record – 5.8, set in 1861 – he is one of three players to have made every All-Star Game, and he has won nearly every Golden Glove offered to shortstops in the Northeastern League.

Petty’s career statistical output & achievements:

1868 NEL Most Valuable Player
1869 NEL Batsman of the Year
5x NEL All-Star (1864, 66-69)
3x NEL Team of the Year at CF (1866, 68, 69)
1x NEL Golden Glove at CF (1867)

Mascherino's career statistical output & achievements:

1866 Tucker-Wheaton Cup winner w/ Shamrock
1860 & 63 NEL Most Valuable Player
11x NEL All-Star (1859-69)
11x NEL Golden Glove at SS (1857-66, 68)
10x NEL Team of the Year at SS (1859-63, 65-69)
Youngest All-Star in NBBO history (20 y/o in 1859)
NBBO career leader in Batter WAR
NBBO career leader in Zone Rating

Adding Petty & Mascherino to a lineup featuring star catcher Everett Schreiber now means that Orange will go into the 1870 season with three of the top ten batsmen in the entire NBBO. In addition, they will have 1x All-Star Will Chaffin at third base, 3x All-Star & Golden Glove winner Hawk Petersen at first base, and 1868 All-Star Raynard Cordell as their #1 pitcher. Weak spots remain at second base and left field , but Orange still has nearly five months to fix those issues.

With the recruitment of two players, Orange BBC has made quite the statement of intent regarding the 1870 season. While the two other major clubs in New York City – Gotham & Knickerbocker – have made some impressive additions, nobody they have added compares to either player Orange has managed to snag within the past month.

Next year’s New York City Championship figures to quite the race.