[tm1681]

FOUNDERS’ CUP III: A SERIES FOR THE AGES

PHILADELPHIA & PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Aug. 26 to Sep. 3, 1872) – The third edition of the Founders’ Cup was a repeat of the previous year’s series: St. John’s representing the Colonial Conference and American representing the Metropolitan Conference.

However, this time around the circumstances of the teams were quite different. It was American that had the APBL’s best record, an incredible 65-25 season in which they led the league in Runs Scored, Runs Allowed, and seemingly every other notable metric of performance. Meanwhile, St. John’s ended the season poorly – 6-9 over their final 15 games – and held onto the Colonial Conference pennant by two games over the ever-present Flour City.

American went into the Founders’ Cup, seemingly, with everything. In James Burke they had a CF who’d just had the best season in baseball history. They had an 8x All-Star in RF in Franklin Petty. At LF they had 12x All-Star Willie Davis. They had a 6x Home Run champ at 1B in William Busby. 2B William Boyce was a 6x All-Star. SS Martin Prince was certain to be crowned Greenhorn of the Year. #1 John Henry had just won thirty games in a season for the third time.

For St. John’s it was more of the usual. They were powered by their mighty outfield trio of Rudolph Decker, Konrad Jensen, & Nelson Townsend. 1B Mario Fusilli, 2B Theodore Kohlberg, & C Falco van der Vaart played excellent supporting roles, while 3B Ben Gagliardi & SS George Pugatch gave them fantastic defense. #1 Thomas Smith was, as always, a rock-solid winner at the front end of their pitching duo.

St. John’s was looking to get revenge for the Game Seven humiliation at their home grounds last year in which American beat them by eight runs to claim the city of Philadelphia’s first top-tier baseball title. However, with American having won thirteen more games than St. John’s all signs pointed to American domination in this year’s APBL championship series.

Who was going to win? The team that seemed destined to lift the cup, or the old, experienced hands who were looking to avenge last year’s failure and add another trophy to their extensive collection?