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THE SIXTH LIBERTY BELL CLASSIC
QUEEN VILLAGE TAKES ON OVERBROOK IN AN ATTEMPT TO AVENGE LAST YEAR’S FAILURE

PHILADELPHIA, PENN. (Aug. 13-17, 1878) – The fifth Liberty Bell Classic was won by the team everyone expected to win it: Philadelphia Baseball & Cricket Club. However, it took all five games and a walk-off win in Game Five for P.B.C.C. to beat upstart Queen Village. P.B.C.C. then left for the National Base Ball Organization after three years of .700 baseball.

Queen Village is back in this year’s L.B.C., a surprise to a Writers Pool that had them finishing at .500 and in the middle of the East when it was time to jot down preseason predictions. The other contestant was not a surprise. Overbrook was the co-favorite to win the West, and they took the pennant by seven games over the other co-favorite: Schuylkill.

However, it was Queen Village who would have Home Field Advantage for the L.B.C. as they had the league’s best record by three games over Overbrook and East runners-up Frankford Arsenal. The East champions finished the season on a tremendous 8-2 run, and won their last two games by scores of 14-8 and 25-9 at fourth-place Sons of Ben (37-33).

A brief summary of the two halves of the Liberty Bell Classic…

EAST PHILADELPHIA – Frankford Arsenal looked like they would be back in the L.B.C. after a year off, having taken a one-game lead over Queen Village by the end of July. Instead, Queen Village’s brilliant August form saw them gain four games on Frankford over the final nine, and they were in the Philadelphia final for the second consecutive season.

QUEEN VILLAGE KEY PLAYERS

• Milton Foster (C): .361, .819 OPS, 91 R, 120 H, 20 2B, 1 3B, 73 RBI, 10 BB, 2.80 C-ERA, 4.0 WPA, 3.0 WAR
• Ben Roberts (3B/RF): .354, .824 OPS, 80 R, 110 H, 10 2B, 7 3B, 1 HR, 63 RBI, 8 BB, 3 SB, 4.0 WPA, 2.2 WAR
• Graham Gross (P): 25-7, 2.82 ERA, 64 K, 325.1 IP, 21 CG, 1.7 K/BB, 1.8 K/9, 1.29 WHIP, 4.7 WAR, 8.2 rWAR

WEST PHILADELPHIA – Overbrook had the West lead for the entire second half of the season, growing it from one game at the midway point to its highest and final margin of seven games by the final week of the season. They made it to the L.B.C. for the first time thanks to a top-three offense and the league’s most talented P: Robert Nygren.

OVERBROOK B.C. KEY PLAYERS

• James Niven (1B/OF): .336, .842 OPS, 71 R, 96 H, 17 2B, 10 3B, 58 RBI, 15 SB, 3 SB, 3.2 WPA, 1.9 WAR
• William Hill (RF): .332, .762 OPS, 90 R, 106 H, 17 XBH, 2 HR, 59 RBI, 6 BB, 23 SB, 3.8 WPA, 1.5 WAR
• Robert Nygren (P): 23-11, 2.54 ERA, 92 K, 333.2 IP, 21 CG, 0 SHO, 4.8 K/BB, 1.27 WHIP, 7.4 WAR, 10.0 rWAR

Even though Overbrook was the preseason favorite that made the L.B.C., it was Queen Village who would enter as favorites to take it because they had the league’s best record, the #1 offensive attack, and the strongest finish of any P.C.B.L. team save Mercantile, who won their last six games. Could the team that won a whole fifteen games more than projected make up for last year’s bitter disappointment and lift the cup this time around?

GAME ONE (Fitzwater Field – ATT: 3,936)
OVER 7-5 QV – OVER 1B James Niven: 2/5 (2B), 1 R, 2 RBI, GW HIT

The West champs rushed out to a quick lead in the opener, with five runs during the first two innings giving them a 5-0 lead. Queen Village would gradually work their way back into the contest, evening the score in the seventh. The visitors won it in the ninth when Niven hit a two-run Double off star Queen Village P Graham Gross.

GAME TWO (Fitzwater Field – ATT: 3,906)
OVER 8-4 QV – OVER RF William Hill: 3/5 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI

Overbrook raced out to another quick lead, and this one held the rest of the way. After the teams traded pairs of runs during the opening inning, Overbrook scored five times during T2 on four different run-scoring Hits and an Error to take a 7-2 lead. Queen Village scored once in B3 but four runs was the closest they could get, and Overbrook was one game from taking their first Philadelphia title.

GAME THREE (Columbia Ave. Grounds – ATT: 4,306)
QV 7-6 OVER – QV 3B James Stober: 3/4 (3B), 2 RBI, 5 TB, GW HIT

Queen Village had to win to keep their season alive, and they did just that with some late runs at Overbrook. Behind 6-5 going into T8 the visitors scored twice, with Stober’s Triple putting Q.V. ahead with what proved to be the game-winning run as fine pitching by substitute Jameson Jenkins preserved the lead.

GAME FOUR (Columbia Ave. Grounds – ATT: 4,300)
QV 3-2 OVER – QV P William Johannessen: CG W, 7 HA, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

And now the visitors had won all four games of the series. This was a tense & tight affair, with neither side scoring more than once in a single inning. Overbrook scored a run in B7 on a Single by 3B Bruno Fiorentino, but A.P.B.L. & N.B.B.O. veteran Johannessen held firm after that to force a Game Five back at Fitzwater Field.

GAME FIVE (Fitzwater Field – ATT: 3,910)
OVER 8-2 QV – OVER P Robert Nygren: CG W, 5 HA, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

It would figure that with the final game of the P.C.B.L. season featuring two of the league’s five best pitchers one of them would carry his team to the Liberty Bell Classic title, and that’s exactly what happened as Robert Nygren, the league’s most naturally gifted #1, put together an outstanding performance to bring Overbrook their first city championship. Not only did Nygren hold the league’s #1 offense to two Runs and five Hits, but he was 2/2 (both 1B) with the bat and laid down a trio of Sacrifice Bunts to help move Overbrook teammates around the bases.

And with that ended a most bizarre L.B.C., one in which the away team won all five games. Not that the victors would care about such an oddity as they paraded the cup around the Overbrook neighborhood.

LIBERTY BELL CLASSIC MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
OVER 1B/CF James Niven – .318 (7/22), 5 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 7 RBI, 1 SB, 0.9 WPA, 0.2 WAR, 1x P.o.t.G.

This was by no means a heavy-hitting series. No regular batsman hit higher than Niven’s .318, which was equaled by teammate Cornelius Gibson. Niven also led all players with seven Runs Batted In. There were plenty of shouts for Nygren to receive the M.V.P. honor due to his performance in Game Five, but that was his only quality performance in three outings while Niven was a consistent player over the course of the five games.

For Niven, it was a great end to what had been a fine Greenhorn season (.336, .842 OPS, 71 R, 58 RBI, 1.9 WAR).

LIBERTY BELL CLASSIC SUMMARY