[tm1681]

COOK BEFUDDLES BEDFORD; AUTHORS NO-HITTER!
ECKFORD #1 COMPLETES 6TH NO-NO IN BASEBALL HISTORY

BROOKLYN (June 27, 1873) – Defending cup winners Eckford visited Bedford in a battle of .500 teams on Friday, and the game ended with not only an Eckford win but with history being made in the process:

Eckford won 6-0, with #1 Augustus Cook completing the NBBO’s second No-Hitter in as many seasons.

In the end, just two fielding miscues by Eckford of Greenpoint, one by SS Jake Johnson and one by 2B Huibrecht van der Laan, separated Cook from an already historic No-Hitter and what would have been the first Perfect Game in the history of the sport at any level.

Cook struck out one Bedford batsman on the afternoon: C Jacob Thompson, who was caught looking at a third strike to end the bottom of the 5th inning.

Cook also helped himself with the bat, going 1/4 with a Single & Run in the top of the 4th.

Today’s No-Hitter was the sixth in baseball history, all of them occurring in the NBBO:

• #1: May 23rd, 1858 by Henry Gibson for Eckford against Empire
• #2: May 10th, 1862 by Arthur Smith for Atlantic against Nassau County
• #3: Aug. 3rd, 1862 by Harry Nettles for Empire against Bedford
• #4: June 22nd, 1867 by Harry Nettles (2nd) for Sons of the Ocean against Quinnipiac
• #5: July 11th, 1872 by Joseph Gant for Susquehanna against Merrimack Mills
• #6: June 27th, 1873 by Augustus Cook for Eckford against Bedford

Today’s events also made Eckford the first team to throw two No-Hitters and Bedford the first team to be victimized by two. Of course, former Empire & Sons of the Ocean P Harry Nettles is famously the only man to pitch two No-Hitters.

Today’s history-making performance marks the end of quite a season and a half for Augustus Cook since joining Eckford. After two years as a relief man for Merrimack, Cook signed for Eckford ahead of the 1872 season and has a record of 27-22 for the team with a 2.52 ERA, but more impressively this is the third time he’s allowed three or fewer hits while earning a Complete Game Win for the team.

As things stand, defending Tucker-Wheaton Cup champions Eckford are 5th in Brooklyn at 17-16, but they are only five games behind Brooklyn leaders Atlantic.