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BROOKLYN CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO PLAYOFF
ECKFORD WINS 15 OF FINAL 16 GAMES TO FORCE ONE-GAME PLAYOFF TO DECIDE CHAMPION

BROOKLYN (Aug. 12-13, 1877) - One week ago, we reported on the status of the Brooklyn Championship. With one week left to play Atlantic was ahead of Eckford by two games, with Atlantic having won ten straight games and Eckford eleven.

With Atlantic at home vs Bedford and Eckford at Empire, here was how the final week of games for the two teams went:

• BED 5-14 ATL – ATL RF MacKenzie Wilson: 3/4 (2B, 4 TB), 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
• BED 5-3 ATL – BED P Calvin Randazzo: CG (15-8, 2.54), 7 HA, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• BED 14-10 ATL – BED 2B Moriarty Murray: 3/6 (all 1B), 2 R, 1 RBI
• BED 2-10 ATL – ATL 3B John Stoneman: 2/4 (both 1B), 2 R, 2 RBI
• BED 7-4 ATL – BED LF Bernard Lambert: 2/4 (2B, 3 TB), 3 R, 3 SB
• ATLANTIC: 2-3 vs BED; Final Record 48-22

• ECK 16-7 EMP – ECK 2B William Snyder: 4/6 (2B, 5 TB), 3 R, 2 RBI
• ECK 15-9 EMP – ECK LF Louis Murray: 4/5 (2B, HR, 8 TB), 2 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB
• ECK 7-3 EMP – ECK 2B William Snyder: 2/4 (3B, 4 TB), 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
• ECK 6-8 EMP – EMP 2B William Vogel: 4/5 (all 1B), 2 R, 2 RBI
• ECK 14-12 EMP – ECK 2B William Snyder: 4/5 (2B, 5 TB), 2 R, 2 RBI
• ECKFORD: 4-1 at EMP; Final Record 48-22

On the final day, with Atlantic ahead by one game they played poorly in a home loss to Bedford. That gave Eckford an opening that it looked like they weren’t going to take advantage of, but a seven-run ninth inning at Empire gave them a 14-12 win and tied Atlantic’s 48-22 record. Incredibly, Eckford had won fifteen of their final sixteen games to force a playoff.

That meant there would be a one-game playoff on Monday to decide the Brooklyn Championship, with the game at Eckford’s Manor House Grounds since they won 6/10 meetings between the two teams during 1877.
With Atlantic’s & Eckford’s seasons on the line at Manor House, here is how the Brooklyn playoff turned out:

It was a thrilling game for the 3,500+ in attendance. Eckford opened the scoring in B2 on one-run Singles by James Kramer & Fred Roberts, with Atlantic evening up matters on a one-run Triple by MacKenzie Wilson in the third and a run-scoring Single by John Stoneman in the fourth. Eckford took the lead back in the sixth on a two-run Single by Kramer, with the score 4-2 to Eckford going into the late innings.

It was the final innings where the action really picked up. Atlantic scored twice in T7 on a runner-advancing Ground Out and a Single by 4x All-Star Herb Verrett to tie the game 4-4. Eckford responded with three runs in B7 via Isaac Kelly Single, Passed Ball, & Louis Murray Single to take the lead again by the score of 7-4. In T8 Atlantic tied the game AGAIN, with two runs coming on a Henry Neal Double to make it a 7-6 game and a Single by PH Albert Pickett making it 7-7. Eckford put a man on second in B8 but didn’t score, and that set up the season’s most important inning.

Atlantic came to bat in the top of the ninth and scored three Runs to take the lead for the first time, with John Stoneman’s two-run Single giving them a 9-7 lead and a Single by substitute Coleman Creek bringing the score to 10-7. Eckford sent six men to bat in the bottom of the ninth, but with the bases loaded and two out PH Jochen van Dijk hit a weak fly ball to the Atlantic 2B, and the visitors had overcome Eckford winning fifteen of their final sixteen games to take the Brooklyn Championship for the second consecutive season.

Incredibly, the other two New York League regional champions, New York Athletic Club & Utica, finished with records of 48-22, so Atlantic’s win in the Brooklyn playoff gave them a 49-22 record and the #1 seed for the N.Y.L. playoffs. If Atlantic takes advantage of the first round bye and goes on to win the Tucker-Wheaton Cup for the first time, it could very well be Eckford’s historically hot finish to the season that aided Atlantic in their championship pursuit.

The 1877 N.B.B.O. season may have featured too many regions in which the first-place team ran away from the competition, but at least Brooklyn was able to give the neutral fan an exciting and memorable pennant race.