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METROPOLITAN REPEATS AS ALL-STAR CHAMPS
SIX-RUN RALLY IN 7TH THE KEY MOMENT; SHAMROCK 3B DICKERSON WINS MVP IN LOSS

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Aug. 4, 1873) – The 3rd APBL All-Star Game took place at Olneyville Field in Providence on Monday, with the forty best players in the sport of baseball taking to the field in front of a sellout crowd. The result wasn’t what the home fans had hoped for, as the visiting Metropolitan Conference All-Stars repeated as All-Star Game victors:

Early on the game looked like it would belong to the Colonial Conference All-Stars, as the hosts put up five runs over the opening pair of innings to go ahead 5-0. However, three Metropolitan runs in the 3rd and another in the top of the 4th made the score 5-4 before Shamrock 3B William Dickerson’s home run to left field in the bottom of the 4th gave the Colonial Conference a 6-4 lead.

6-4 was how the score stayed until the top of the 7th, when the Metropolitan Conference unleashed a six-run rally that ultimately decided the game. American 2B Peter Boyce began the scoring with a two-run Single, Knickerbocker LF Edward Donovan followed Boyce with another two-run Single, Gotham 1B William Theriault followed with a 1-run Single, and American SS Martin Prince finished the rally with a one-run Single of his own with two out.

The score now 10-6 in favor of the visitors, the Metropolitan Conference added an insurance run in the top of the 9th and that meant two runs by the Colonial Conference in their final time to bat meant little. The Metropolitan Conference had won the All-Star Game for the second year in a row.

Even though the Metropolitan Conference won, it was a player from the Colonial Conference who took home Most Valuable Player honors. Because he hit the first Home Run in All-Star Game history, MVP went to William Dickerson:

• CC #2 W. Dickerson (3B, SHA): 2/3, HR, 2 R, 1 RBI

In victory, the key player for the Metropolitan Conference was American’s greenhorn SS, Martin Prince:

• MC SUB M. Prince (SS, AME): 3/3 (all 1B), 0 R, 2 RBI

Prince’s three hits all came after he entered the game for Gotham 2B Babe Johnson in the top of the 7th, and he played an important part in the Metropolitan rally that changed the outcome in their favor.

It was a gentle August afternoon in Providence, with the temperature at 67 degrees and the winds a slight breeze out to left field, perfect for the 6,250 or so in attendance.