The perennial champions from Cleveland slipped into third place in '82, but you couldn't blame Jim Creighton: the 42-year-old again lead the National with 27 wins, while batting .410. However, their southern neighbors from Cincinnati had their best season since their legendary undefeated squad of thirteen years earlier, claiming their first league pennant, seven games clear of defending champions Athletic:
The Tri Mountain-Athletic quarterfinal was something of a bore, with Boston ahead, 1-0, after six innings. Then in the seventh, Tri Mountain broke open the game with five runs -- only to see Philly storm back with six of their own, then take the lead in the eighth. Boston jumped ahead again with two in the ninth...and then, Jimmy Buck lashed a two-run single to put Athletic in the semifinals, 8-7.
In the other quarterfinal, Eureka of Newark, four-time American Cup champion, made their first Centennial Cup playoff. Unfortunately, they would be facing Cleveland and You-Know-Who. Bid McPhee managed a two-run triple off Big Jim in the fourth, but that was all they could get as Paul Hines drove in a pair of runs in Forest City's 5-2 win.
In Game 1 of the semis, Philadelphia's Jim Whitney, who had sat out the entire 1881 season due to whooping cough and scurvy (but won 22 games in '82) held Forest City to five hits in a 2-1 win. The second game was all Big Jim, as Creighton hit a long, two-run homer in the second inning, then allowed Athletic only six hits in a 7-3 triumph, evening the series.
The rubber match quickly became a pitcher's duel between Whitney and Forest City's John Riley, the goat of last year's Cup Final. Both men were magnificent, with only a single tally: in the fourth, the A's Joe Quest was safe on a fielder's choice, stole second, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on George Lines' single. But Cleveland just couldn't get anything going against Whitney, who allowed only a single runner past first base all day. When Whitney struck out Tom Forker swinging to end the game, the crowd at Centennial Park went wild, while the handful of Forest City fans realized that, for the first time in five years, their team would not play for the Cup.
The first game of the newly-extended Centennial Cup Final was the wildest on record: 22 runs, 24 hits, 13 errors -- all Cup Final records -- and a reported five heart attacks in the overflowing crowd of 23,571 at the Palace of the Fans. The Reds held a 10-7 lead going into the ninth, but three hits and three errors later, Athletic stormed to a 12-10 advantage. "Change" pitcher Bobby Mathews -- who came over from Fort Wayne late in the campaign -- set Cincy down in order, and the A's had a shocking road win to take 1-0 series lead.
If the Red Stockings faithful were shocked at the outcome of the first game, they were horrified after the second contest. Jim Whitney continued to be brilliant, garner in as many starts in the playoffs by allowing only three runs -- while driving in two with a pair of triples. The A's now had an improbable 2-0 series lead, with the Cup Final headed to the City of Brotherly Love.
Since the Cup was now a best-of-seven affair, Cincinnati wasn't technically a game away from elimination; still, they played as if their backs were against the wall, as they got three hits from Cal McVey in a 5-3 win. The Reds also took advantage of five A's errors; only two of the five runs allowed by Athletic pitcher Tim Keefe were earned. Still, Philly lead, 2-1, with the next two games in Centennial Park.
