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FOUNDERS’ CUP IV: WHO WANTS TO WIN IT?

MANHATTAN & PITTSBURGH. (Aug. 25 to Sep. 1, 1874) – Founders’ Cup #4 would not be a repeat of the previous two editions. 2x defending champions American simply weren’t as great as they were last year, and finished tied for 3rd in the Metropolitan with a 48-42 record. St. John’s mounted the cavalry for a mighty late-season charge, but because they were stuck around .500 for much of the season the Providence men came up two games short in the Colonial.

This was a Founders’ Cup that casual fans weren’t sure what to make of. Alleghany was in it even though they were an APBL-worst 4-11 in August, and Orange was only 8-7 after the All-Star Game. If the Founders’ Cup field was based on late-season record and star power there would have been multiple teams in each conference that would have been more worthy contestants than these two.

Still, Orange was entering the series with the APBL’s #1 record and an impressive mix of legends and younger stars. They had 15x All-Stars Samuel Kessler & Anthony Mascherino, 9x All-Star Taliesin Buckley, 7x All-Star Everett Schreiber, 4x All-Star Will Chaffin, the productive Charles Whitehead, repeat All-Star P Paul Caldwell, and the recently returned William Valentine, who had All-Star-level production but missed six weeks of the season due to a broken hand.

Alleghany, for all their late struggles, still had to be respected. Their pitching duo of Raynard Cordell & Elmer Seabold both finished with 23-25 Wins and ERA’s of around 3.00. Gerald Strong hit .341 while having a Zone Rating of +21 at SS and an APBL-best Batsman War of 4.8. Jerald Peterson, a 9x All-Star in the NBBO, hit .341 in with 78 RBI in his first APBL season at the age of 39. Harry Thompson was the best C in the Colonial Conference all season. Most importantly, their fielders led the APBL in all four factors – Errors, Fielding %, Efficiency, & Zone Rating – and it wasn’t close.

For Orange, this was a chance to reverse their disappointing five-game loss in the inaugural Founders Cup’ and take their first title since 1868, when all the APBL teams were still in the NBBO. For Alleghany, this was their first chance at a title since winning the 1869 Tucker-Wheaton Cup.

In a battle of teams who were mediocre or worse during the stretch run, who would win? Would it simply be a matter of who made the fewest mistakes? Or would one team wake up from its slumber?