The Big Bang: A Larger Baseball Universe Starting From Nothing in 1857 - Page 36

tm1681 · 06-13-2025, 06:50 AM

HARRIS STARS IN INCREDIBLE FLOUR CITY COMEBACK
VETERAN 3B GOES 5/6 WITH GW HIT AS F.C. ERASES 13-5 DEFICIT OVER FINAL TWO INNINGS

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (May 21, 1874) - For seven innings at Olneyville Field in Providence it looked like St. John’s had the victory in the bag. Then, the final two innings unfolded:

Led by Konrad Jensen’s four hits, St. John’s overcame three early Flour City runs with ten of their own during the 2nd & 3rd, and they later responded to an F.C. pair over the 4th & 5th with three runs in the 6th to make the score 13-5 and a win all but certain.

BUT…Flour City came to bat in the top of the 8th and scored five times on two Doubles, two Singles, and a Wild Pitch to bring the score to 13-10 and make it a contest again. After St. John’s scored what they thought was an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th, Flour City came to bat in the 9th and scored six more times on a series of four Singles and a Triple to take a shocking 16-14 lead. St. John’s went down 1-2-3, and Flour City had taken a most unlikely victory.

Hugh Harris, who had hits in both the 8th & 9th, was the Player of the Game:

• T1: Leadoff Single to CF off H. Burns (R)
• T3: Reached via Error by SS B. Gagliardi (SB)
• T5: Triple to RCF off H. Burns (R)
• T7: Single to LF off H. Burns (SB)
• T8: 1-run Single to LF off S. Brown (R)
• T9: 2-run Triple to RCF off S. Brown (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6, 2 3B, 4 R, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 9 TB, GW HIT, 85 GMSC

It was Harris’ second late-inning hit, his two-run Triple in the top of the 9th, that put Flour City in the lead and served as the game-winner and pinnacle of an incredible comeback.

The win itself was a desperately needed one for Flour City, as the preseason Colonial Conference favorites entered the game with an APBL-worst 3-11 record. Perhaps this will spur the team toward a reversal of their early-season misfortune.

tm1681 · 06-13-2025, 06:50 AM

CALVERT SMACKS FIVE HITS & HR IN EXCELSIOR WIN
RF HAS BEST PERFORMANCE OF CAREER; CREIGHTON BATS 2/3 & STRIKES OUT SEVEN

BROOKLYN (May 26, 1874) - Excelsior BBC took the lead in the opening inning and never gave it up as they took an easy victory at home against Orange on Tuesday afternoon to open Week Four of the APBL season:

The home team won by eight thanks to another stellar performance by Jim Creighton:

• BATTING: 2/3, 1 R, 2 RBI, SAC BUNT
• PITCHING: CG: 5 HA, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Their offense was led by third-year outfielder Alfred Calvert:

• B1: Single to RF off G. Sturgis (SB, R)
• B3: 1-run Single to LCF off G. Sturgis (R)
• B5: Leadoff Triple to RCF off G. Sturgis
• B6: Single to RF off G. Sturgis
• B8: 2-RUN ITP HOME RUN to LCF off T. Paddock (R)
• TOTAL: 5/5, 3B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, SB, 87 GMSC

Calvert had already had a productive day before his fifth trip to the plate, and his Inside-the-Park Home Run to put Excelsior ahead 9-1 sealed a career-best performance for the Excelsior RF, who is batting .380 (.894 OPS) with a dozen RBI through nineteen games.

Creighton’s stellar performances gives him a 6-4 record with a 2.33 ERA and 33 Strikeouts through 92.2 innings.

Excelsior is 10-9, tied for 3rd in the Metropolitan Conference. Orange is tied for the lead with Knickerbocker at 11-8.

tm1681 · 06-13-2025, 06:52 AM

AMERICAN HAS RECORD DAY IN K.C. DEMOLITION
2x DEFENDING CHAMPS BEAT BASEMENT DWELLERS BY 27 TO SET APBL RECORD

PHILADELPHIA (May 31, 1874) - When the 2x defending APBL champions take on the 2x defending worst team in the APBL at home some bad things can happen, and they absolutely did on Sunday:

Kings County scored a run in the top of the 1st on a Single by 2B Drees van der Leest, and from there they went off the edge of a cliff as American scored 28 unanswered runs to set a new APBL record for margin of victory.

Nearly every member of the American lineup had a memorable afternoon:

• AME #1 Willie Davis (LF) 3/5 (all 1B), 3 R, 2 RBI, SB
• AME #2 Franklin Petty (RF) 5/7, 2B, 5 R, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 6 TB, 88 GMSC
• AME #3 James Burke (CF) 3/6 (all 1B), 4 R, 4 RBI, SB
• AME #4 William Busby (1B) 4/4 (all 1B), 3 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, SAC FLY, 93 GMSC
• AME #5 Peter Boyce (2B) 1/5 (1B), 2 RBI, SB
• AME #6 Martin Prince (SS) 3/7 (all 1B), 2 R, 4 RBI
• AME #7 Reynard Steinbach (C) 4/6, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, 5 TB, SAC FLY, 1/1 RTO
• AME #8 Lorik van Unen (3B) 3/6 (all 1B), 4 R, 1 RBI
• AME P John Henry BATTING: 3/5 (all 1B), 2 R, 3 RBI, SAC BUNT
• AME P John Henry PITCHING: CG, 7 HA, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

The victory was the fifth in a row for American, and the ninth in their last ten games. That run of play has moved their record from 6-8 to 15-9, and they now have a one-game lead at the top of the Colonial Conference at the end of May.

tm1681 · 06-17-2025, 06:59 AM

AMERICAN BASEBALL MAY RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 1, 1874) – The month of May is over, with the APBL having finished four weeks of competition while the NBBO & PCBL have completed three. Here are how the leagues look at the end of the month:

APBL STANDINGS (24 of 90 games played)

COLONIAL – Alleghany was projected to be more competitive this season, but nobody imagined they would open the season like this. The reason for their 19-5 record is their defense, which is #1 in all four main categories: Errors, Fielding Pct., Zone Rating, & Efficiency. All three NBBO imports are playing well, and Jerald Peterson is batting .368 (.864 OPS). The other matter of note is that Flour City did indeed use the comeback at St. John’s to reverse their 3-11 start, ending May at .500.

METROPOLITAN – American started 6-8, but a 9-1 run, with their last victory by the score of 28-1, has them looking scary. Still, three teams are close behind and Gotham is at arm’s length after one month of play. Kings Co. is actually a bit of a disappointment, as they started 8-11 before losing five straight games to end the month.

APBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Konrad Jensen (LF, StJ) – .429, 1.054 OPS, 33 R, 42 H, 4 2B, 5 3B, 28 RBI, 12 BB, 16 SB, 2.0 WPA, 1.3 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Raynard Cordell (ALL) – 9-2, 2.50 ERA, 101.0 IP, 9 CG, 0 SHO, 8 K, 0.7 K/BB, 1.20 WHIP, 0.5 WAR, 3.8 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Tomoharu Mukai (P, NIA) – 4-6, 3.02 ERA, 89.1 IP, 4 CG, 0 SHO, 2 K, 0.3 K/BB, 1.49 WHIP, 1.4 WAR, 0.4 rWAR

And it’s BotM honor #12 for King Konrad. He didn’t lead the APBL in Batting Average – Harry Thompson (C, ALL) did at .437 – and he didn’t lead in Batsman WAR – Gerald Strong (ALL) did with 1.5 – but he reached base in nearly half of his plate appearances and Jensen scored more runs than any other player in the month of May.

Jim Creighton also had nine Wins, but he was 9-6 and Cordell was 9-2 with a slightly lower ERA while pitching for the APBL’s best team in May. Orange’s Paul Caldwell was 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA but he only pitched 53.2 innings, so the Writers Pool decided that wasn’t enough work to be considered for the monthly honor.

Eamonn Todd hit .317 (.699 OPS) with 28 RBI in his first month for St. John’s, but Mukai was the obvious choice as he settled in well as Niagara’s new #1. His ERA in May was nearly a full run lower than that of Niagara #2 Carlton Dempsey so it’s clear that defense alone hasn’t been the main driver of his early season success, even if he was just 4-6.

APBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .437 by Harry Thompson (C, Alleghany)
OPS: 1.054 by Konrad Jensen (LF, St. John’s)
Runs: 33 by Konrad Jensen
Home Runs: 2 by Galimberto Cappelletti (1B, Excelsior)
Runs Batted In: 35 by William Busby (1B, American)
Stolen Bases: 23 by James Burke (CF, American)
Batsman WPA: 2.69 by Elijah Hill (3B, Excelsior)
Batsman WAR: 1.5 by Gerald Strong (SS, Alleghany)

ERA (50+ IP): 2.17 by Paul Caldwell (Orange)
Wins: 9 by Raynard Cordell (Alleghany) & Jim Creighton (Excelsior)
Complete Games: 9 by Reynard Cordell & Elmer Seabold (Alleghany)
Strikeouts: 37 by Jim Creighton
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.14 by Paul Caldwell
Pitcher WAR: 2.2 by Jim Creighton
Pitcher rWAR: 3.8 by Raynard Cordell

NBBO REGIONAL LEADERS (15 of 70 games played)

BROOKLYN: Eckford at 10-5 (Star 1 GB, Atlantic & Continental 2 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: Mercury & Metropolitan at 10-5 (Union 1 GB, Baltic & Hilltop 3 GB)
UPSTATE NY: Syracuse & Utica at 11-4 (Minuteman 2 GB, Binghamton & Columbia 3 GB)
COASTAL: Trenton Utd. at 12-2 (Maryland 1.5 GB, Pt. Jersey 2.5 GB, Quaker St. 5 GB)
INLAND: Susquehanna at 13-2 (Lancastra 2 GB, Pioneer 3 GB, Merrimack & Reading 5 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Portland at 11-4 (S.o.t.O. 1 GB, Oceanic & Quinnipiac 3 GB)

No major surprises in New York, as the favorites are at or near the top of the standings. Mercury & Star were projected to finish 28-42, so the bright start for both of those teams does feel like an outlier. Mutual going 5-10 is the biggest disappointment in the NYL so far.

No major surprises in the NEL either, as all three favorites are in 1st place. However, seeing Quaker St. 7-7 and with four straight losses to their name is not something anyone expected by the end of the opening month, and the Lake Erie team that was projected to finish 36-34 by the Writers Pool ended May with eleven consecutive losses.

NBBO MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: Paul LaGuerre (1B, MIN) – .371, .963 OPS, 24 R, 26 H, 8 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 2 BB, 1.2 WPA, 0.8 WAR
NEL: John Schultz (CF, SUS) – .470, 1.070 OPS, 23 R, 34 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, 12 RBI, 4 BB, 15 SB, 1.6 WPA, 1.6 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Edward Koch (UNI) – 6-4, 2.25 ERA, 76.0 IP, 7 CG, 0 SHO, 5 K, 0.6 K/BB, 1.33 WHIP, 0.9 WAR, 1.4 rWAR
NEL: William Hawk (SUS) – 7-1, 1.49 ERA, 72.1 IP, 6 CG, 0 SHO, 10 K, 2.5 K/BB, 1.22 WHIP, 1.4 WAR, 1.8 rWAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Jonathan Schultz (P, STAR) – 6-3, 2.67 ERA, 70.2 IP, 6 CG, 1 SHO, 6 K, 1.2 K/BB, 1.16 WHIP, 1.1 WAR, 1.1 rWAR
NEL: Henry Tarkenton (LF, MLD) – .370, .890 OPS, 14 R, 27 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 16 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB, 0.1 WPA, 0.7 WAR

NBBO STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .483 by Martin Story (RF, Pt. Jersey)
OPS: 1.070 by John Schultz (CF, Susquehanna)
Runs: 24 by Paul LaGuerre (1B, Minuteman)
Home Runs: 2 by Deacon George (2B, Green Mtn.) & Alexander Grimes (3B, Nassau Co.)
Runs Batted In: 25 by James Fisher (1B, Maryland)
Stolen Bases: 16 by Clarence Jones (CF, Mercury)
Batsman WPA: 2.44 by Deacon George
Batsman WAR: 1.6 by John Schultz

ERA (50+ IP): 1.07 by Allan Jordan (Columbia)
Wins: 7 by William Hawk (Susquehanna)
Complete Games: 7 by Edward Koch (Union) & Olaf Sorensen (Atlantic)
Strikeouts: 13 by Earl Quinn (Maryland)
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.00 by John Faulkner (Lancastra)
Pitcher WAR: 1.6 by Robert Dressen (Salem)
Pitcher rWAR: 2.5 by John Faulkner

PCBL LEADERS (15 of 70 games played)

EAST: Spartan at 9-6 (Frankford, Keystone, Pt. Richmond, S.o.B., & Yorktown 1 GB)
WEST: Overbrook, P.B.C.C., & Schuylkill at 9-6 (Mercantile 1 GB, Merion 2 GB)

East Philadelphia can be described in one word: logjam. Six of the eight teams are 9-6 or 8-7, while the other two are 6-9 Minerva & 5-10 Queen Village.

West Philadelphia can be described in two words: mirror images. Behind the three teams at the top with 9-6 records are Mercantile at 8-7, Merion at 7-8, and the trio of Germantown, Independence, & Penn at the bottom with 6-9 records.

PCBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Joseph Sizemore (RF, SPA) – .403, .937 OPS, 23 R, 31 H, 3 2B, 3 3B, 20 RBI, 1 BB, 5 SB, 1.6 WPA, 0.9 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Arthur Lipscomb (PBCC) – 6-2, 2.21 ERA, 77.1 IP, 6 CG, 1 SV, 2 K, 0.3 K/BB, 1.24 WHIP, 0.9 WAR, 1.3 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Jonathan Toppin (2B, FRA) - .390, .956 OPS, 15 R, 30 H, 5 2B, 4 3B, 23 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SB, 1.2 WPA, 0.9 WAR

PCBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .422 by George Banks (SS, Keystone)
OPS: .993 by James Howard (RF, Frankford)
Runs: 23 by three different batsmen
Home Runs: 2 by Vito Fornasari (1B, Overbrook)
Runs Batted In: 25 by Andrew Schneider (C, Spartan)
Stolen Bases: 9 by Joseph King (RF, Independence)
Batsman WPA: 2.33 by James Snyder (3B, Pt. Richmond)
Batsman WAR: 0.9 by six different batsmen

ERA (50+ IP): 1.70 by John Shaw (Queen Village)
Wins: 6 by Charlie Greiner (Frankford) & Arthur Lipscomb (P.B.C.C.)
Complete Games: 6 by Arthur Lipscomb & Casper Shultis (Mercantile)
Strikeouts: 11 by Jonathan Atkins (Merion)
WHIP (50+ IP): 1.16 by Jonatha Atkins
Pitcher WAR: 1.6 by William Jardin (Overbrook)
Pitcher rWAR: 2.2 by William Jardon & Casper Shultis

tm1681 · 06-18-2025, 03:32 AM

THREE FIVE-HIT APBL PERFORMERS ON TUESDAY
ALEXANDER, BARTHOLOMEW, & BULGER EACH TAG OPPOSITION FIVE TIMES IN WEEK FIVE OPENERS

BUFFALO & MANHATTAN (June 2, 1874) - The month of June is off to a roaring start in the APBL, as Tuesday’s week-opening games saw three different players reach the five-hit mark.

First up, we travel to Buffalo in Upstate New York, where Shamrock bludgeoned Niagara by the score of 17-2. Three Shamrock players had 3+ Hits: 1B Frank Bulger, leadoff man Elton Crosby (LF), & C James Simon.

Of the three stars, it was Bulger who shone the brightest for Shamrock:

• T1: Single past 2B off T. Mukai
• T3: Leadoff Single to RF off T. Mukai (SB, R)
• T4: 1-run Single to LF off T. Mukai (SB, R)
• T5: Single to RCF off T. Mukai
• T7: Single past SS off W. Johannessen (R)
• T8: Reached via error by P W. Johannessen
• TOTAL: 5/6 (all 1B), 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB

The 5/6 afternoon left Bulger with a .364 Batting Average (.835 OPS) and thirteen Runs Batted In after having played in 17 of 25 Shamrock games so far this season while missing eight due to injury.

In Manhattan at the Elysian Fields, Kings County & Knickerbocker played an exciting 11-8 contest that saw Knick exit the victors and one player from each team register five base hits.

For visiting Kings Co., the usual suspect when a five-hit game is reported is star 1B Garfield Koonce. However, today’s culprit was new LF Fred Bartholomew:

• T1: Single past 2B off P. Daly
• T3: 1-run Triple to CF off P. Daly (R)
• T4: Triple to RCF off P. Daly
• T6: Single past 2B off P. Daly (SB)
• T8: 1-run Single to LF off M. Munson
• TOTAL: 5/5, 2 3B, 1 R, 2 RBI, SB, 9 TB

And for home side Knickerbocker, it was 4x .400 hitter 1B Cormack Alexander who completed the trick:

• B1: 1-run Double to LF off F. Richards
• B4: Leadoff Single past 2B off F. Richards (R)
• B5: Single past 2B off F. Richards (R)
• B6: 1-run Single to RCF off W. Neal
• B8: Double to CF off R. Ewing (R)
• TOTAL: 5/5, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, 7 TB

For Bartholomew, the 5/5 performance brought the struggling OF’s average up to .273 (.608 OPS) with eleven RBI through 25 games, which is unfortunately easily the worst start to a season in his five-year career as he has never hit lower than .323 over a full season with fewer than 63 RBI (1874 pace: 40 RBI).

With regards to Alexander, the highly regarded technical batsman is batting .355 (.859 OPS) with sixteen Runs Batted In through the same 25 games so far in 1874.

The results of today’s games lifted Shamrock to 10-15 (5th; 9 GB) and dropped Niagara to 11-13 (4th; 7.5 GB) in the Colonial Conference, while Knickerbocker improved to 13-12 (3rd; 2 GB) and Kings Co. fell to 8-17 (last; 7 GB) in the Metropolitan Conference standings.

tm1681 · 06-18-2025, 03:33 AM

BRASCH STARS FOR STAR IN MARATHON MAULING
FIRST-TIME REGULAR HAS UNFORGETTABLE SIX-HIT, SEVEN-RBI DAY AS PART OF DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN

BROOKLYN (June 3, 1874) - Star BBC’s surprising star has continued into Week Four of the NBBO season, as they opened their series at Marathon with a crushing victory in the Williamsburg Grounds:

No fewer than eight Star batsmen collected multiple base hits on the afternoon, and on any normal day the sterling performance by their starting Shortstop…

• STAR #6 James Shepherd (SS): 5/7, 2B, 6 R, 2 RBI, 88 GMSC

…would be the one to take Player of the Game honors. However, there was one Star BBC batsman who outdid Shepherd’s work and put in the performance of the season to date. That man was LF Louis Brasch:

• T2: 1-run Triple to LCF off W. Gray (R)
• T3: 2-run Double to LCF off W. Gray
• T5: 2-run Triple to CF off W. Gray (R)
• T6: Single to CF off G. Echols (R)
• T6: Fly Out to CF (1 Out)
• T8: Single to LCF off J. Owen
• T9: 2-run Single to LF off J. Owen
• TOTAL: 6/7, 2B, 2 3B, 3 R, 7 RBI, 11 TB, 114 GMSC

Brasch, a fourth-year NBBO player – all for Star – and a first-year regular, became the first batsman with a 100+ Game Score this season, with the 6/7 performance moving his Batting Average above .400 for the first time in his career. Brasch is currently batting .405 (.900 OPS) with 22 RBI through eighteen games.

The win improved Star’s record to 10-6, which has them one game behind 2x defending Brooklyn champions Eckford of Greenpoint for 1st place. Marathon is in last place at 4-11.

tm1681 · 06-18-2025, 03:34 AM

GRAFF STARS AS NIAGARA BEATS ALLEGHANY
1B GOES 5/6 AS BUFFALO MEN SCORE 14 TIMES OVER 5TH, 6TH, & 7TH TO BEAT COLONIAL LEADERS

BUFFALO, N.Y. (June 7, 1874) - After four innings things were looking good for visiting Alleghany in their game at Niagara, but a massive middle-inning rally by the hosts turned the game on its head:

Faced with a three-run shortfall in the middle of the 5th, Niagara proceeded to score fourteen runs over their next three times at bat to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 14-5 lead, which stood as the game’s final score.

Four players had 3+ base hits for Niagara: LF Charles Barrett, 1B Wilbur Graff, 2B Ernest Lewis, & SS William Schumacher. The only one with more than three Hits was Graff, who took home Player of the Game Honors:

• B1: Single past 2B off E. Seabold
• B4: Leadoff Single past 2B off E. Seabold
• B5: 1-run Single to CF off E. Seabold (R)
• B6: 2-run Double to LCF off E. Seabold
• B7: 1-run Single past SS off R. Wolford (R)
• B8: Ground Out to 2B (3 out)
• TOTAL: 5/6, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI, 6 TB

The performance was the best of the season for Graff, who is playing in his maiden APBL campaign after eleven years and five All-Star Games in the NBBO with Lake Erie, Union, & Mutual. Graff is batting a respectable .308 (.695 OPS) with 25 Runs Batted In through his first 29 games with Niagara.

In spite of the loss Alleghany remains four games clear atop the Colonial Conference standings. Niagara is in 5th place with a 13-16 record (7.5 GB).

tm1681 · 06-18-2025, 03:35 AM

QUAKER ST’S MORGANTI HAS 40-GAME HIT STREAK
FIVE-TIME ALL-STAR HAS SEVENTH 40-GAME HITTING STREAK IN NBBO HISTORY

PHILADELPHIA (June 14, 1874) - 3x defending Coastal Championship pennant winners Quaker State didn’t have much trouble with last-place National BC at home on Sunday afternoon, going ahead 6-0 by the end of the 3rd inning before coasting to a 9-2 victory.

As part of the domination over the early innings, star Quaker St. CF Ned Morganti hit a line-drive Single to RF during his first time to bat in the bottom of the 1st inning, and in the process he saw his Hitting Streak cross the forty-game barrier.

Morganti’s Hitting Streak is the seventh streak of 40+ games in NBBO, and baseball history:

• #1: Peter Huff (Union) at 67 games during 1871 (ended 8/5)
• #2: William Gentilucci (Nassau Co.) at 42 games during 1870 (ended 7/20)
• #3: Cormack Alexander (K.C. & Q.S.) at 42 games during 1867-68 (ended 5/22)
• #4: Franklin Petty (Lake Erie) at 41 games during 1869 (ended 7/7)
• #5: William McQuaid (Flour City) at 41 games during 1862-63 (ended 6/28)
• #6: Henry Nabors (Victory) at 40 games during 1868-69 (ended 5/22)
• #7: Ned Morganti (Quaker St.) at 40 games during 1873-74 (ongoing)

Morganti has long been one of the best players in the NBBO. He has made five of the past six All-Star Games and looks all but certain to make another appearance this season, he has been named to the NEL Team of the Year three times, and Morganti was named NEL Most Valuable Player in 1872.

Still, though it is early this is shaping up to be the best season of Morganti’s nine-year career. He currently has what would be career highs in Batting Average (.410) & OPS (.950), and he’s on a pace for career highs in both RBI & WAR. Morganti is also on pace to finish with a Zone Rating of +10.0 or better for the first time, and he has yet to strike out in 119 Plate Appearances.

How much further will Morganti’s streak go? Nobody knows, but one thing is for certain: right now Morganti is playing the best baseball of his life.

tm1681 · 06-19-2025, 11:22 AM

MORGANTI HIT STREAK ENDS AT 40 GAMES
CF GOES 0/4 IN HOME LOSS TO MARYLAND B.C.

PHILADELPHIA (June 17, 1874) - Unfortunately, just as the Hitting Streak of Quaker State CF Ned Morganti had begun to reach a historical length it has come to an end.

Quaker St. lost the opening game of their Week Six series at home to Maryland by the score of 13-9 on Wednesday afternoon, and as part of the loss Morganti did reach base. However, that was via Base on Balls and with the bat he was 0/4, ending his Hitting Streak at an even forty games in length.

Morganti’s 0/4 also lowered his Batting Average to .398, which amazingly isn’t the highest on his own team as Quaker St. teammate Gerhardt Berg is currently batting .398 (.886 OPS) through Quaker St.’s first 26 games.

Maryland (17-9) moved to within half a game of Coastal Championship leaders Trenton United with the victory. Quaker St. (14-11) is alone in 3rd place and three games behind the leaders.

tm1681 · 06-19-2025, 11:22 AM

GREGORY HAS HIMSELF HEFTY HIT HAUL AT EMPIRE
RF BATS 6/7 & SCORES FIVE RUNS AS ATLANTIC WINS BY NINETEEN

BROOKLYN (June 17, 1874) - Atlantic B.B.C. started Week Six with the opportunity to keep themselves part of a three-way tie atop the Brooklyn Championship with a win at struggling Empire, and they made zero mistakes:

SS Euan Strachan (4/6, 2B, 2 R, 6 RBI) & CF Herb Verrett (4/7, 3 R, 1 RBI) both had four base hits for the visitors, but it was RF George Gregory who stole the show:

• T1: 1-run Single past 2B off R. Dozier (R)
• T2: Single to CF off R. Dozier (R)
• T4: Leadoff Triple to CF off R. Dozier
• T6: Leadoff Infield Single off L.B. Myhre (R)
• T7: Double past 3B off L.B. Myhre (R)
• T8: 1-run Single past 3B off C. Jackson (R)
• T9: Reached via Fielder’s Choice at HP
• TOTAL: 6/7, 2B, 3B, 5 R, 2 RBI, 9 TB, 93 GMSC

It was easily the best performance of Gregory’s career, which has consisted of just shy of a season and a half in the NBBO. The second-year OF has seen much-improved play this season, as through 26 games his Batting Average is .322 (.779 OPS) compared to .233 (.581 OPS) as a Greenhorn, he is on pace to double his Extra-base Hit total from 1873, he is looking like a potential Golden Glover in Right Field, and Gregory has already surpassed his WAR figure from last year (1.0 v 0.7) in less than half the time.

Atlantic is one of three teams atop the Brooklyn Championship at 17-9. The other two are Continental and Eckford.

tm1681 · 06-19-2025, 11:23 AM

THREE STAR PERFORMERS IN FRIDAY APBL ACTION
BRESCIANI, DAVIS, & HEARNS PUT IN TOP-TIER PERFORMANCES AS THEIR TEAMS WIN

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (June 26, 1874) - The APBL entered the second half of Week Eight on Friday, and the day was marked with three brilliant performances, all in winning efforts by their teams and all placing in the top ten in terms of Game Score by a batsman this season.

The three stars of the day:

STAR #3: Marcel Bresciani (SS, EXC) 5/6 (all 1B), 3 R, 4 RBI, 85 GMSC

Excelsior and Kings County were starting their crosstown rivalry series in Brooklyn, and for a while APBL doormats Kings Co. were making a game of it as they were tied with Excelsior 12-12 after six innings. However, in the top of the 7th Bresciani came up with a man on base and singled him in for his fourth hit and third RBI of the afternoon. That was the first of seven unanswered runs over the final three innings for Excelsior, and they won the game 19-12 while Bresciani picked up hit #5 in the 8th inning.

It was a badly needed outing for Bresciani, who entered Friday’s game batting .198 with a .458 OPS, both marks among the worst by any regular batsman in the APBL.

STAR #2: Ashley Hearns (RF, ALL) 4/5, 2B, 3B, 4 R, 5 RBI, 7 TB, 91 GMSC

In Providence, Alleghany & St. John’s took part in a back-and-forth affair in which both teams traded runs in the 2nd, 7th, 8th, & 9th. However, Alleghany displayed superior offense in the late innings to win the game 13-8 and run their APBL-best record to 32-14.

Hearns wasn’t the sole reason for Alleghany’s win – SS Gerald Strong also had four Hits – but it was Hearns’ Triple with the bases loaded in the top of the 8th that effectively sealed the victory for Alleghany and increased their lead at the top of the Colonial Conference to 8.5 games.

STAR OF THE DAY: Willie Davis (LF, AME) 4/5, 2B, 5 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, SB, 5 TB, 92 GMSC

American had little trouble at the St. George Cricket Grounds, as they went ahead 5-0 by the middle of the 3rd and never looked back, eventually beating Gotham 17-8 in a lopsided contest.

2B Peter Boyce also had four Hits and 1B William Busby cracked a pair of Doubles, but it was Davis who took Player of the Game honors as he did a bit of everything: drawing walks, pilfering bags, scoring runs, and hitting for extra bases while leaving no men stranded. The performance raised Davis’ average to .348 (.821 OPS) with 42 RBI through 46 games, and he is currently looking likely to make an All-Star Game for the thirteenth time in his illustrious career.

tm1681 · 06-19-2025, 11:24 AM

METRO HAS TWO FIVE-HIT MEN AT HILLTOP
SIMONS & USHER POUND OUT FIVE HITS EACH; SMITH ADDS FOUR IN YONKERS ROMP

YONKERS, N.Y. (June 27, 1874) - Metropolitan entered Saturday’s game at Nodine Hill facing a Hilltop team that was 2-8 over their last ten games. They proceeded to act like the game against their struggling hosts was simple batting practice:

The game as a contest was over quickly, with Metropolitan scoring seven times over the first two innings and adding ten more from there in a fourteen-run drubbing of their last-place opponents that kept Metro tied with Union atop New York City.

Three Metropolitan batsmen delivered outstanding performances:

• MET #1 William Simons (LF): 5/5, 3B, 4 R, 1 RBI, 7 TB
• MET #4 Francis Smith (CF): 4/7, 2 2B, 4 R, 5 RBI, 6 TB
• MET #5 Orville Usher (2B): 5/7, 2 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI, 7 TB

For Simons & Smith, their big days with the bat were much needed. Simons, in his first season as a regular batsman, was hitting just .253 (.609 OPS) entering the game, while 2x All-Star Smith was easily having the worst start to a season of his career with a .256 average (.622 OPS) compared to a career mark of .318 (.802 OPS).

With respect to New York City, the N.Y.C. Championship has never been this close near the halfway mark. The standings are as follows:

• #1a Metropolitan at 19-15 (+47 RD)
• #1b Union at 19-15 (+8 RD)
• #3a Baltic at 18-16 (1 GB; +16 RD)
• #3b Mercury at 18-16 (1 GB; +4 RD)
• #5 N.Y.A.C. at 17-16 (1.5 GB; +2 RD)
• #6 Mutual at 17-17 (2 GB; +11 RD)
• #7 Harlem at 16-18 (3 GB; -11 RD)
• #8 Hilltop at 11-22 (7.5 GB; -77 RD)

In fact, no matter how tomorrow’s results turn out the New York City Championship will have the closest top seven ever at the halfway point of the season. It seems likely that N.Y.C. will need a playoff for the third year in succession.

tm1681 · 06-19-2025, 08:39 PM

AMERICAN BASEBALL JUNE RECAP

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (July 1, 1874) – It is now summertime in the Northeastern United States. The calendar has crossed over from June to July, and with the season another month older it’s time to see how things look:

APBL STANDINGS (49 of 90 games played)

COLONIAL – Alleghany remains the best team in the APBL, although they weren’t as dominant in June (16-9, +16 RD) as they were in May (19-5, +82 RD). Behind them is a mediocre mass of four teams at or around the .500 mark, with St. John’s looking increasingly likely that they will miss the postseason for just the second time ever. Mass. Bay looks certain to finish last.

METROPOLITAN – American’s 9-1 surge to end May led to just a so-so June, and Orange used that to their advantage as they were the APBL’s best team during the month and went from one game behind American to four games ahead. Gotham also played very good baseball during June, and as a result moved from alone in 5th place to solidly in 3rd. Excelsior & Knickerbocker moved down the standings after months that weren’t terrible but still under .500. The less said about Kings County, the better.

APBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Babe Johnson (2B, GOT) – .370, .858 OPS, 25 R, 44 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, 40 RBI, 7 BB, 15 SB, 1.7 WPA, 1.1 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
Elmer Seabold (ALL) – 10-3, 2.51 ERA, 96.2 IP, 8 CG, 16 K, 1.6 K/BB, 1.38 WHIP, 1.2 WAR, 1.5 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Eamonn Todd (3B, StJ) – .349, .788 OPS, 22 R, 38 H, 6 XBH, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB, 1.9 WPA, 0.8 WAR

There was no explicitly rampant batsman during the month of June, so Johnson took BotM honors even though he hit .370 (May: .327). The main reason it went to Johnson: he drove in forty runs over just 25 games (May: 19 RBI in 24 G) for a Gotham team that went 16-9, and he also stole fifteen bases (May: 6 SB).

Seabold follows teammate Raynard Cordell as PotM by virtue of the fact that he was the only ten-win man during the month of June. Paul Caldwell (ORA) was 8-2 with a 2.86 ERA. James Goodman was 8-3 with a 3.18 ERA and 2.4 WAR. Jim Creighton was 8-6 with a 2.61 ERA, 35 Strikeouts, and 1.9 WAR over a ridiculous 114 innings.

Eamonn Todd improved slightly during June while Tomoharu Mukai saw a slight dropoff in form, and as a result Todd earned GotM. Mass. Bay greenhorns Lane Garvin (C) & Warren Perkins (2B) are doing good work with their gloves but not so good with their bats, and their other greenhorn, I.A. Butler, went 3-9 for a team that gave him little offensive support.

APBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .391 by three different batsmen
OPS: .960 by Konrad Jensen (LF, St. John’s)
Runs: 68 by Clive Strachan (RF, Gotham)
Home Runs: 2 by twelve different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 66 by William Busby (1B, American)
Stolen Bases: 46 by James Burke (CF, American)
Batsman WPA: 4.32 by Hugh Harris (3B, Flour City)
Batsman WAR: 3.4 by Gerald Strong (SS, Alleghany)

ERA (100+ IP): 2.61 by Paul Caldwell (Orange)
Wins: 17 by Jim Creighton (Excelsior) & Elmer Seabold (Alleghany)
Complete Games: 17 by Raynard Cordell (Alleghany) & Elmer Seabold
Strikeouts: 72 by Jim Creighton (Excelsior)
WHIP (100+ IP): 1.21 by Jim Creighton
Pitcher WAR: 4.4 by James Goodman (Flour City)
Pitcher rWAR: 5.8 by Raynard Cordell

NBBO REGIONAL LEADERS (35 of 70 games played)

BROOKLYN: Eckford at 24-11 (Atlantic 2 GB, Continental 3 GB, Star 5 GB)
NEW YORK CITY: Union at 20-15 (Mercury & Metro 1 GB, N.Y.A.C. 1.5 GB, Baltic 2 GB, Mutual 3 GB, Harlem 4 GB)
UPSTATE NY: Utica at 25-10 (Syracuse 3.5 GB, Frontier 5 GB, Minuteman 6 GB)
COASTAL: Trenton Utd. at 23-11 (Quaker St. 1 GB, Maryland 4.5 GB, Olympic 5.5 GB)
INLAND: Susquehanna at 30-5 (Reading A.C. 9 GB, no other team within 10 GB)
NEW ENGLAND: Portland at 27-8 (S.o.t.O. 7 GB, Quinnipiac 9 GB, Oceanic 10 GB)

BROOKLYN: It looks like a four-way race at midseason for the bottom four teams are all well under .500. Eckford is 8-2 over their last ten games and, given Eckford’s second half form over the past two seasons, the fact that they’re on top of the standings after 35 games could spell everyone else’s doom and give Eckford their third consecutive pennant.

NEW YORK CITY: N.Y.C. is tighter than it’s ever been, with six teams within arm’s reach of leaders Union at the midway point. 12-22 Hilltop excluded, it really looks like the pennant could go to any of the top seven teams.

UPSTATE: Utica is playing excellent baseball once again, led by 3B Fox Ellis and 44-year-old RF James Heilman, the current NBBO leader in RBI. Syracuse and their NYL-best .317 team average remain very dangerous. 3rd-place Frontier leads the NYL in Runs. Minuteman has only played 10/35 games at home.

COASTAL: Quaker St. has recovered from their slow start (8-2 L10) to just about catch up to Trenton Utd. They have a trio of batsman hitting better than .375, and Ross Gill has an ERA below 3.00 for the third straight season. Maryland has cooled off after a 16-9 start (3-7 L10). Olympic being over .500 (Win%: .363 all-time) is the surprise of the season so far.

INLAND: Susquehanna has equaled Knickerbocker in ’65 and Quaker St. in ’71 with an all-time-best 30-5 first half. There is no reason to believe Reading can catch them, as both teams have played 20/35 games at home.

NEW ENGLAND: Portland used a 16-4 June to put a chokehold on the rest of the competition. Their offense, pitching, & defense are all top-five in the NEL, and from the looks of it the only way the rest of the top four might have a chance to catch Portland is if the leaders hit an enormous rough patch, and soon.

NBBO MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMEN OF THE MONTH
NYL: Chester Alexander (2B, SYR) – .456, 1.001 OPS, 22 R, 41 H, 6 2B, 0 HR, 22 RBI, 3 BB, 3 SB, 2.3 WPA, 1.2 WAR
NEL: Manuel Romeiras (CF, TU) – .369, .940, 27 R, 38 H, 13 XBH, 1 HR, 25 RBI, 6 BB, 24 SB, 3.0 WPA, 1.5 WAR

PITCHERS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Olaf Sorensen (ATL) – 8-4, 1.88 ERA, 100.1 IP, 9 CG, 7 K, 1.0 K/BB, 1.06 WHIP, 1.3 WAR, 3.4 rWAR
NEL: William Hawk (SUS) – 10-1, 1.76 ERA, 102.1 IP, 9 CG, 9 K, 3.0 K/BB, 1.09 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 3.5 rWAR

GREENHORNS OF THE MONTH
NYL: Edward Pelham (P, FRO) – 7-3, 3.70 ERA, 90.0 IP, 5 CG, 5 K, 1.7 K/BB, 1.36 WHIP, 1.8 WAR, 1.3 rWAR
NEL: Alfred Williams (3B, PORT) – .326, .767 OPS, 25 R, 30 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 14 RBI, 4 BB, 8 SB, 1.3 WPA, 0.7 WAR

NBBO STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .394 by William Strand (1B, Syracuse)
OPS: .939 by John Montgomery (CF, N.Y.A.C.)
Runs: 53 by John Kinder (CF, Minuteman)
Home Runs: 3 by Alexander Grimes (3B, Nassau Co.)
Runs Batted In: 43 by James Heilman (RF, Utica)
Stolen Bases: 31 by Steffen Strandlund (RF, Sportsman’s)
Batsman WPA: 3.4 by Deacon George (2B, Green Mtn.)
Batsman WAR: 2.1 by Ned Morganti (CF, Quaker St.)

ERA (100+ IP): 1.65 by Albert Hawk (Susquehanna)
Wins: 17 by William Hawk
Complete Games: 16 by Olaf Sorensen
Strikeouts: 24 by Willie Gray (Marathon)
WHIP (100+ IP): 1.06 by James Kilgore (Oceanic)
Pitcher WAR: 3.2 by George Burroughs (Pt. Jersey)
Pitcher rWAR: 5.8 by Olaf Sorensen

PCBL LEADERS (15 of 70 games played)

EAST: Keystone at 21-14 (Frankford 1 GB, Pt. Richmond 3 GB, all other teams within 6 GB)
WEST: Overbrook & Schuylkill at 23-12 (Merion 3 GB, P.B.C.C. 4 GB, Mercantile 5 GB)

EAST PHILADELPHIA: This is going to be a race to the very end. With the spread in records ranging from 21-14 to 15-20, it’s entirely possible that the team in last place at the midway point, Queen Village, could storm up the standings and take the pennant. The only caveat: if Joseph Evans, who hit .267 last month, has his bat wake back up then Frankford could take over.

WEST PHILADELPHIA: And once again, it’s the B.C.C. teams looking up at the top of the standings after 35 games in East Philadelphia. Overbrook & Schuylkill have only been okay after excellent starts, but Schuylkill has only played 10/35 games at home. Then again, so has Merion, and Philadelphia B.C.C. is lurking not all that far behind the top two.

PCBL MONTHLY AWARDS

BATSMAN OF THE MONTH
Arthur Hall (RF, SoB) – .391, .923 OPS, 23 R, 36 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 29 RBI, 2 BB, 4 SB, 1.4 WPA, 0.9 WAR

PITCHER OF THE MONTH
William Jardin (OVER) – 8-4, 1.54 ERA, 99.2 IP, 8 CG, 1 SHO, 9 K, 1.3 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 2.2 WAR, 3.4 rWAR

GREENHORN OF THE MONTH
Arthur Hall (RF, SoB) - PCBL Batsman of the Month

PCBL STATISTICAL LEADERS

Average: .386 by Albert Taylor (RF, Pt. Richmond)
OPS: .888 by Jonathan Lurie (RF, P.B.C.C.)
Runs: 53 by William Cardigan (LF, Overbrook)
Home Runs: 2 by seven different batsmen
Runs Batted In: 45 by Andrew Schneider (C, Spartan)
Stolen Bases: 21 by Joseph King (CF, Independence)
Batsman WPA: 3.2 by Arlington Guest (2B, Yorktown)
Batsman WAR: 1.8 by Charles Hunt (3B, P.B.C.C.)

ERA (100+ IP): 1.52 by Oscar Downs (Queen Village)
Wins: 12 by William Jardin (Overbrook) & Casper Shultis (Mercantile)
Complete Games: 14 by Casper Shultis
Strikeouts: 23 by Charlie Greiner (Frankford) & William Winningham (Schuylkill)
WHIP (100+ IP): 1.12 by Warren Leonard (P.B.C.C.)
Pitcher WAR: 3.8 by William Jardin
Pitcher rWAR: 5.5 by William Jardin

tm1681 · 06-26-2025, 01:13 PM

ROSS RUNS RIOT IN HOME WIN VS MERRIMACK
PIONEER 1B CLUBS TWO TRIPLES & A HOME RUN AS HOME TEAM WINS BY TEN

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. (July 3, 1874) - Merrimack Mills visited Pioneer for the second game of their series on Friday afternoon, and after a wild first inning the hosts gradually pulled away for a ten-run victory:

The contest started with pre-Independence Day fireworks, as both teams scored five times in the opening inning, with the biggest hit by either team being Pioneer SS John Sumpter’s two-run Single with two out in the bottom of the 1st.

Merrimack scored in the top of the 2nd via Error to take the lead but after that it was all Pioneer, with the hosts scoring twelve of the game’s last thirteen runs to exit with a double-digit win.

Sumpter and RF Charles Rice were both 4/6 for Pioneer, but the Player of the Game was 1B Charles Ross:

• B1: 1-run Double to LCF off C. Snow (R)
• B3: Leadoff Triple to RCF off C. Snow (R)
• B4: 1-run Double to RCF off C. Snow
• B6: 1-run Triple to RF off C. Snow (R)
• B7: SOLO HOME RUN to LF off G. Pearce (R)
• B8: Replaced by PH H. Lawrence
• TOTAL: 5/5, 5 XBH (2 2B, 2 3B, HR; tied NBBO record), 4 R, 4 RBI, 14 TB (NBBO record), 101 GMSC

It was an absurd afternoon for Pioneer’s first-year regular (two as a backup). His five Extra-base Hits tied the NBBO record, and his fourteen Total Bases broke the single-game record of eleven. The Home Run was the first of Ross’ career (265 PA), and on the whole Ross’ afternoon raised his average to .338 (.817 OPS) through 34 games played.

As far as the standings go, with Susquehanna now 32-6 the rest of the Inland Championship is virtually playing for pride with more than six weeks left in the 1874 season.

tm1681 · 06-26-2025, 01:14 PM

UNION BATTERS BALTIC WITH RECORD-SETTING 5TH
MORRISANIA CLUB SETS NBBO RECORD FOR RUNS IN A SINGLE INNING AS PART OF 20-RUN WIN

NEW YORK CITY (July 5, 1874) - After four innings at Ridgewood Park, Baltic led visiting Union 2-1, there hadn’t been any scoring in three innings, and it looked like a low-scoring game was in the cards. Then, the 5th inning happened:

Starting with 1B Earl Ludgate, the Union men stepped up to bat and unleashed the mother of all rallies:

• UNI #2 Earl Ludgate (1B): Double to CF
• UNI #3 Nicholas Hardingham (LF): reached via Error by 2B
• UNI #4 William Simpkins (RF): 1-run Single past 2B (R: Ludgate)
• UNI #5 Cale Jone (C): 1-run Single to RF (R: Hardingham)
• UNI #6 Benjamin Harper (CF): 2-run Triple to LCF (R: Simpkins & Jones)
• UNI #7 Neal Hilton (2B): 1-run Single past 2B (R: Harper)
• UNI #8 William Cruise (SS): reached via Error by 1B
• UNI P Edward Koch: 1-run Single to LCF (R: Hilton)
• UNI #1 William Harris (3B): 1-run Double to CF (R: Cruise)
• UNI #2 E. Ludgate: 2-run Single past 2B (R: Koch & Harris)
• UNI #3 N. Hardingham: Single to LCF
• BAL P change: Phillipp Braun in for Frank Dixon
• UNI #4 W. Simpkins: reached via Base on Balls
• UNI #5 C. Jones: 1-run Single past 2B (R: Ludgate)
• UNI #6 B. Harper: 1-run Single to RCF (R: Hardingham)
• BAL: 1-run Throwing Error by RF (R: Simpkins)
• UNI #7 N. Hilton: reached via Base on Balls
• UNI #8 W. Cruise: 1-run Infield Single (R: Jones)
• UNI P E. Koch: 1-run Sacrifice Fly to CF (1 out) (R: Harper)
• UNI #1 W.Harris: Line Out to 1B (2 out)
• UNI #2 E.Ludgate: Single to LF
• BAL: 1-run Throwing Error by LF (R: Hilton)
• UNI #3 N. Hardingham: 1-run Single past 3B (R: Cruise)
• BAL: 1-run Throwing Error by LF (R: Ludgate)
• BAL P change: Ewan Wallace for Phillipp Braun
• UNI #4 W. Simpkins: Ground Out to P (3 out)
• TOTAL: 21 batters, 17 Runs, 14 Hits, 5 Errors, 2 Bases on Balls

It was a record-setting seventeen runs scored by Union in the top of the 5th, meaning that what was a 2-1 deficit had turned into an 18-2 lead in the space of just half an inning.

Cale Jones led Union batsmen with five base hits (5/7, 3 R, 2 RBI), but the Player of the Game was Union P Edward Koch:

• UNI P E. Koch PITCHING: CG, 10 HA, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• UNI P E. Koch BATTING: 4/6 (all 1B), SAC FLY, 1 R, 4 RBI

Koch improved his record on the season to 14-9 with a 2.50 ERA, and his performance with the bat raised his average above .300 to .302 (.609 OPS). Koch is rarely this good with the bat but he is reliable, as he is one of a select few pitchers in the NBBO with a career Batting Average above .300 (.310, .883 OPS).

The stunning win kept Union tied with Mercury atop the New York City standings. Baltic is five games behind the duo.

tm1681 · 06-26-2025, 01:15 PM

TWO MARQUEE NBBO PERFORMERS ON SUNDAY
GRANITE’S LEWIS BATS 6/7 V SALEM; MUTUAL’S HAYNES SCORES SEVEN TIMES AT UNION

MANCHESTER, N.H. & NEW YORK CITY (July 12, 1874) - The final day of Week Nine in the NBBO saw multiple outstanding performances, with two pitchers earning Shutouts and a single-day record seven batsmen collecting 5+ Hits. However, there were two players whose performances stood out above the rest.

In New Hampshire, Granite B.C. had themselves quite the afternoon against visiting Salem, exiting the 3rd inning ahead 14-1 before eventually winning by the score of 25-7 against Salem’s All-Star #1 Robert Dressen. During the contest three Granite batsmen had 5+ Hits, with 1B Elton Lewis earning Player of the Game honors via a spectacular display:

• B1: 1-run Single to LCF off R. Dressen (R)
• B3: Leadoff Double to CF off R. Dressen (R)
• B3: 3-run Double to CF off R. Dressen (R)
• B4: Single past 2B off H. Castleberry
• B6: Single to LCF off H. Castleberry (R)
• B6: Ground Out to SS (3 out)
• B8: Infield Single off A. Smith
• TOTAL: 6/7, 2 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI, 8 TB, 100 GMSC

The 6/7 afternoon left Lewis batting .323 (.735 OPS) on the season with 34 RBI through nine weeks of play. The veteran Lewis is having his best season since he was nearly an All-Star for Granite in 1871 (.335, 2 HR, 69 RBI, 2.2 WAR).

In New York City, Union of Morrisania, who set a record a week prior with seventeen runs during the top of the 4th while winning 23-3 at Baltic, was on the receiving end of a thorough beating at home by the hands of Mutual B.B.C., who won 26-9 with 29 Hits.

Mutual had two five-hit studs during the contest, with LF Charles Haynes & RF Robert Wolf the star sluggers while CF Alfred Span finished with four base hits. It was leadoff man Haynes who was the game’s key player:

• T1: Leadoff Single past 2B off G. Woods (R)
• T1: 1-run Triple to LCF off G. Woods (R)
• T2: 1-run Triple to RCF off J. Waters (R)
• T4: Reached via Error by 3B W. Harris (R)
• T5: Single to RCF off J. Waters (R)
• T6: 1-run Single to CF off J. McDonald (R)
• T8: Hit By Pitch from J. McDonald (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6, 2 3B, 7 R (tied NBBO record), 3 RBI, HBP, 106 GMSC

Haynes, who has been a solid outfielder for much of his fifteen-year career, has uncharacteristically struggled so far this season, with his 5/6 performance raising Haynes’ average to .262 (.650 OPS, -0.3 WAR) compared to a career mark of .324 (.789 OPS). His seven Runs tied the NBBO record, which has been achieved by four other players.

The seven players who had 5+ Hits on Sunday were Charles Haynes (Mutual), Elton Lewis (Granite), Eugene Licht (Granite), Art Munsterman (Granite), Francis Smith (Metro), Orville Usher (Metro), & Robert Wolf (Mutual).

The two pitchers who authored Shutouts were Eddie Clark (Maryland) & Francis Molinari (Trenton Utd.).

tm1681 · 06-26-2025, 01:16 PM

JAMES BURKE POWERS AMERICAN PAST GOTHAM
SUPERSTAR CF’S FIVE HITS KEY IN THREE-RUN HOME WIN

PHILADELPHIA (July 15, 1874) - American entered the second game of their home series against Gotham at Glenwood Field looking to draw even with the visitors at 35-27, and they did just that with a barrage of early runs:

There was one clear star in today’s game, and it was American’s star CF James Burke:

• B1: Leadoff Single past 1B off H. Budd (SB)
• B3: Leadoff Single past SS off H. Budd (R)
• B4: 2-run Single past SS off H. Budd (R)
• B6: Single past SS off H. Budd (SB)
• B8: Double to LCF off J. Smith
• TOTAL: 5/5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB

Burke isn’t on pace to put up the historic figures that he did last season, but so far in July he’s batting .419 (.996 OPS) with ten Runs, nine RBI, and eight Stolen Bases in thirteen games. For the season, Burke is batting .325 (.771 OPS) with 74 Runs, 56 RBI, and 54 Stolen Bases through 62 games.

The result of today’s game left both American & Gotham with records of 35-27. They are tied for 2nd place in the Metropolitan Conference, three games behind leaders Orange.

tm1681 · 06-27-2025, 11:27 AM

KESSLER BATS 6/6 AS STURGIS SHUTS OUT KNICK
ORANGE RULES THE DAY AT ELYSIAN FIELDS IN DOUBLE-DIGIT VICTORY

MANHATTAN (July 16, 1874) - Orange B.B.C. needed a win at Knickerbocker to stay at least three games ahead of American & Gotham in the Metropolitan Conference standings, and they took a dominant win at the Elysian Fields:

It was a close game for the first six innings, but three multiple-run rallies over the final three innings saw Orange exit with an extremely impressive eleven-run win.

One batsman had six of Orange’s seventeen base hits, and it was legendary 1B Samuel Kessler:

• T1: 1-run Single past 2B off P. Daly (R)
• T3: Leadoff Single to CF off P. Daly
• T5: Infield Single off P. Daly (SB, R)
• T7: Single past 2B off P. Daly (R)
• T8: 1-run Single past 1B off P. Daly (R)
• T9: 2-run Double to LCF off M. Munson
• TOTAL: 6/6, 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI, SB, 104 GMSC

Kessler’s 104 Game Score was the highest by an APBL batsman so far this season. The 6/6 outing raised Kessler’s average to .336 with a .793 OPS, both marks within points of where he finished last season. Kessler has 51 RBI through 63 games, and has a decent chance to make All-Star Game #16 for his incredible career.

The man who pitched the Shutout for Orange was new #1 George Sturgis, who they imported from the NBBO’s Oceanic B.C. over the winter:

• TOTAL: CG SHUTOUT, 3 HA, 0 BB, 1 K

The Shutout improved Sturgis’ record to 14-15 so far in his maiden APBL season with a 3.46 ERA and 3.0 WAR, all fine marks for a first-year APBL pitcher.

The victory kept Orange three games ahead of Gotham, while a loss by American saw them fall to four games behind the leaders of the Metropolitan Conference.

tm1681 · 06-27-2025, 11:28 AM

FRANKFORD BEATS MINERVA; BROWN THE STAR
ARSENAL CF HAS FIVE HITS & RBI EACH; FOUR OTHERS FINISH WITH 3+ BASE HITS

PHILADELPHIA (July 18, 1874) - Frankford Arsenal and Minerva battled each other in game #4 of their Week Ten PCBL series on Saturday, with Frankford coming out on top thanks to two big rallies:

A five-run rally during the top of the 4th put Frankford up 7-0 before Minerva nearly matched Frankford with a run in the bottom of the 4th and five more in the 5th to make the score 7-6. Then, Frankford came to bat in the 6th and plated eight runs on a series of Singles, Errors, a two-run Triple by CF Francis Brown, and a two-run Home Run by 2B William Toppin. That made the score 15-6 and sealed the victory for the visitors.

While Toppin’s homer was the biggest hit of the game, it was Brown who took Player of the Game honors:

• T1: Single past SS off O. Brown
• T3: 1-run Single to RCF off O. Brown
• T4: 2-run Single past 2B off O. Brown (R)
• T6: Single to LF off O. Brown (R)
• T6: 2-run Triple to LCF off W. McGuigan
• T8: Pop Out to 2B
• TOTAL: 5/6, 3B, 2 R, 5 RBI

Frankford had two batsmen who finished with four Hits during the course of the game: Toppin and star LF Joseph Evans.

• FA #1 Jonathan Toppin (2B): 4/7, 3B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 9 TB
• FA #3 Joseph Evans (LF): 4/6 (all 1B), 3 R, 1 RBI

The victory kept Frankford Arsenal close to the leaders of East Philadelphia. At 28-21, they are one game behind Port Richmond (29-20) for 2nd place and two games behind leaders Keystone (30-19).

tm1681 · 06-27-2025, 11:28 AM

SCROVEGNI 2ND WITH 40-GAME STREAK IN 1874
FRONTIER’S GREENHORN 3B JOINS QUAKER ST’S MORGANTI BY MAKING IT TO 40-GAME MARK

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (July 22, 1874) - Going into the season, 3B Remi Scrovegni wasn’t supposed to be the Frontier B.B.C. greenhorn to receive the most attention. That distinction was meant to go to Edward Pelham, the five-star pitcher the team signed to be their new #1. However, it is Scrovegni who has taken the plaudits thanks to a now historic Hitting Streak.

During the top of the 8th of Frontier’s 6-3 loss at Syracuse, Scrovegni hit a one-run Double, and in the process brought his Hitting Streak to forty games, making him the second NBBO player to reach the mark this season.

Unlike Quaker State’s Ned Morganti, the other man to reach forty games this season, Scrovegni has accomplished his streak with consistent, but unspectacular, batsmanship. Scrovegni finished 1/5 on Wednesday, and that meant even though his Hitting Streak had reached forty games Scrovegni’s Batting Average was .292 (.676 OPS) through 51 games of his first season in organized baseball.

Remi Scrovegni is now the eighth man in NBBO history with a Hitting Streak 40+ games in length:

• #1: Peter Huff (Union) at 67 games during 1871 (ended 8/5)
• #2: William Gentilucci (Nassau Co.) at 42 games during 1870 (ended 7/20)
• #3: Cormack Alexander (K.C. & Q.S.) at 42 games during 1867-68 (ended 5/22/68)
• #4: Franklin Petty (Lake Erie) at 41 games during 1869 (ended 7/7)
• #5: William McQuaid (Flour City) at 41 games during 1862-63 (ended 6/28/63)
• #6: Henry Nabors (Victory) at 40 games during 1868-69 (ended 5/22/69)
• #7: Ned Morganti (Quaker St.) at 40 games during 1873-74 (ended 6/17/74)
• #8: Remi Scrovegni (Frontier) at 40 games during 1874 (ongoing)

With a .292 average, .676 OPS, 41 RBI, and 0.8 WAR, Scrovegni is unlikely to make the upcoming NBBO All-Star Game. However, he remains the author of one of the most impressive feats accomplished by any player this season.