The Baseball Club of Worcester, Mass. got its nickname from a joke made by a sportswriter, comparing them to Cincinnati's famous Red Stockings. But the Ruby Legs proved they could play, too, by dusting off the Western club of tiny Keokuk in two straight games. Meanwhile the Eckford club of Brooklyn had been founded in 1855, but its only hardware was the American Cup back in '82. After splitting their quarterfinal series with Detroit, the final game in Detroit was a corker. Tied at five in the eighth, Brooklyn's Henry Larkin socked a triple, then Mike Muldoon hit a short fly to veteran LF John McMullin -- who muffed it, allowing the Eckfords to take the lead. Brooklyn held on to win, 6-5, leaving McMullin (who also went 0-for-5 at the plate) wearing the goat horns.
In the semifinal, Worcester won a wild one in Brooklyn, 10-9, but dropped a tight 3-2 decision the next day, as Arthur Irwin's homer in the seventh proved to be the difference. The series shifted to Worcester's Agricultural Grounds, and the Ruby Legs took Game 3, 8-3, as Charlie Dougherty had three hits. The fourth game was a thriller, at it stood tied at 5 after nine innings. It looked like Eckford would force a Game 5 as Jack Clements socked an inside-the-park home run in the top of the tenth, but Billy Nash had other idea, sending the spheroid out of the park altogether to make it 6-6. Then, after a Jake Goodman single and an Orator Shaffer double, Jim Holdsworth hit a deep fly to left...Bill Kienzle ran it down for Brooklyn, but Goodman trotted home with the winning run, sending the Rubies to the Cup Final.
The Buffalo Upstatesmen had been a mid-level AA club at best until they were finally relegated to the Union in 1890. In 1892, though, they made their first Cup appearance and cashiered the Phillies in three games, with both of their wins coming in extra innings. Meanwhile, the Syracuse Chiefs quickly tomahawked the KC Cowboys in two straight, with Wilberforce "Willie" Forsyth tossing a two-hitter in the second game.
In the semifinal, Buffalo struck first with a 7-5 win, with number-eight batter Tom Calihan driving in three runs. But it was all Syracuse after that, as the Upstatesmen's upstate neighbor won a pair of slugfests, 8-6 and 8-5, then clinched their spot in the Cup Final with a 1-0 win in Syracuse, as Forsyth shut out Buffalo on six hits.
