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

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I will let Post #1,000 be the one where I say that never did I think this would reach 1,000 posts in just a year or two. Hopefully people are enjoying it...

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ARM INJURY ENDS WILLIAM TIGHE’S CAREER
8x 20-GAME WINNER WAS NYL’S PotY IN 1875, THEN MVP IN 1876

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 8, 1878) - Minuteman #1 William Tighe took the ball to pitch at Eagle on in Upstate New York earlier this week, but he had to exit with after just 2/3 of an inning upon telling field manager William Sprecher that he felt something “rip” in his pitching arm while making a delivery to Eagle RF Jonathan Capehart.

With time having been given for any pain and swelling to go away Tighe found himself still unable to use his pitching arm and, faced with the realization that he’d suffered a catastrophic injury, the 40-year-old Tighe has decided it’s time to call time on his baseball career.

Tighe, a native of Philadelphia, entered the N.B.B.O. with St. John’s in 1865. Although he never won the Tucker-Wheaton Cup while in Providence, Tighe was 89-36 with a 3.48 ERA over four seasons pitching for St. John’s – he likely would have won N.E.L. Pitcher of the Year in 1866 had the award existed then – before he controversially left for Mutual ahead of the 1869 season. The decision to move to Mutual in New York City was a blunder for Tighe, who posted records of 18-17, 13-28, & 12-14 over three seasons in green & white, leading the N.Y.L. in Losses in 1870 while also posting a career-worst ERA.

Tighe left Mutual for Minuteman in 1872, and that put his career back on track. Tighe’s first five seasons in Albany:

• 1872: 23-17, 3.17 ERA, 35 K, 31 CG, 2 SHO, 1.27 WHIP, 5.4 WAR
• 1873: 21-19, 3.15 ERA, 21 K, 19 CG, 1.28 WHIP, 4.4 WAR
• 1874: 24-11, 3.23 ERA, 35 K, 24 CG, 1.33 WHIP, 6.5 WAR, A-S
• 1875: 27-16, 2.74 ERA, 35 K, 52 G, 358.2 IP, 27 CG, 1 SHO, 2 SV, 1.24 WHIP, 6.8 WAR, A-S, P.o.t.Y.
• 1876: 28-11, 2.44 ERA, 98 K, 31 CG, 2 SHO, 2 SV, 1.19 WHIP, 7.3 WAR, 10.6 rWAR, A-S, M.V.P.

After winning N.Y.L. Pitcher of the Year in 1875, Tighe’s career peaked in 1876, when he led the N.B.B.O. in Wins & rWAR, won a memorable Game Five in the Tucker-Wheaton Cup to bring Minuteman its first title, and took home N.Y.L. Most Valuable Player honors.
Tighe had a lackluster 1877 for Minuteman in which he was 14-17 with an ERA above 3.50. However, he was off to a brilliant start in 1878 – 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA over 102.2 innings – when he was struck down at Eagle.

The final word on Tighe’s career:

• 14 YRS: 279-190, 3.37 ERA, 489 K, 4,169.1 IP, 291 CG, 13 SHO, 3 SV, 1.31 WHIP, 1.2 K/BB, 75.0 WAR, 58.5 rWAR
• AVG: 20-14, 3.37 ERA, 35 K, 298.0 IP, 21 CG, 1 SHO, 0 SV, 1.31 WHIP, 1.2 K/BB, 5.4 WAR, 4.2 rWAR

• 1876 Tucker-Wheaton Cup winner
• 1875 N.Y.L. Pitcher of the Year
• 1876 N.Y.L. Most Valuable Player
• 6x N.B.B.O. All-Star (1866-67, 69, 74-76)
• 2x N.Y.L. Team of the Year (1875-76)

• 8x 20-game Winner (1866-68, 72-76)
• 3x league leader in Wins (1866, 75-76)
• 2x league leader in Complete Games & Shutouts (1866, 76)
• 1x N.Y.L. leader in RA/9 WAR (1875)

Tighe plans on going back home to Philadelphia to work in the private sector, and word is that he’ll look for a coaching job in the P.C.B.L. The team to hire Tighe will find themselves lucky to have the services of the decorated pitcher.

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BABE’S BRILLIANT BAT BASHES BUSHEL OF BASEKNOCKS
GOTHAM 2B BATS 5/6 WITH MULTIPLE RUNS & RBI IN BIG WIN AT EXCELSIOR

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (June 9, 1878) - Gotham entered the final game of its series against Excelsior at Carroll Park looking to climb back above the .500 mark, and they did so with an extremely impressive display during the late innings:

This was a tight game over the first five stanzas, as a Double by Gotham 2B Babe Johnson in T1 drove in the game’s only run to that point and pitchers Paul Krueger (GOT) & George Sturgis (EXC) looked excellent. Gotham then scored eight runs over the next two innings to break the game, and they eventually went ahead 12-0 in T9 before the Excelsior scored a bunch of late consolation runs.

Five Gotham batsmen finished the game with multiple hits. While greenhorn RF Harold Corso was 3/6 (2B, 2 R, 1 RBI), the leader of the Gotham pack was Johnson:

• T1: 1-run Double to RF off G. Sturgis
• T3: Single past 2B off G. Sturgis
• T5: Fly Out to RF (2 out)
• T6: 1-run Double to RF off G. Sturgis
• T8: Leadoff Single past 1B off E. Seabold (R)
• T9: 1-run Single past 2B off E. Seabold (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2 2B), 2 R, 3 RBI, 7 TB

Johnson’s outburst raised the star infielder’s Batting Average to .362 (.929 OPS) with 15 Extra-Base Hits (12 2B, 3 3B) and 29 Runs Batted In through Gotham’s first thirty games in 1878, putting him on pace for his best season since 1872.

The eight-run win put Gotham back above .500 at 15-14, good for fourth place in the Metropolitan Conference. The loss knocked Excelsior back down to .500 at 15-15, which has them alone in fifth. A.P.B.L.-best Knickerbocker currently leads the conference with a 22-8 record (+56 RD).

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KNICK TORCHES ST. JOHN’S IN PROVIDENCE
MANHATTANITES PUMMEL DEFENDING CHAMPS BY NEARLY TWENTY; HOSTS HELD TO TWO HITS

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (June 11, 1878) - Knickerbocker & St. John’s opened Week Six of the A.P.B.L. season at Olneyville Field on Tuesday, and the result wasn’t a classic contest but instead a beatdown by the visitors:

Knickerbocker ran out to a big early lead and never looked back. They scored seven times over the opening innings, and the visitors apparently felt a 7-0 wasn’t safe as by the middle of the sixth it was a 19-0 laugher, which was how the game ended.

Knickerbocker only needed fifteen Hits to score their nineteen Runs, but they still saw some standout performances from their lineup:

• KNI 3B Hugh Harris: 2/5 (2B, 3B), 2 R, 5 RBI
• KNI C Cale Jones: 3/5 (all 1B), 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
• KNI SS Louis Johnson: 2/5 (HR), 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
• KNI 2B Anthony Mascherino: 3/6 (all 1B), 4 R, 4 RBI

However, for all of Knick’s offensive prowess their Player of the Game was P Robert Goodman:

• KNI P Robert Goodman: CG SHO (10-5, 3.03), 2 HA, 0 BB, 1 K

As if pitching a two-hit Shutout wasn’t impressive enough, Goodman did so against a St. John’s team currently leading the A.P.B.L. in Runs, Batting Average, On-Base, OPS, Stolen Bases, & Batsman WAR. The performance left Goodman with a 10-5 record and 3.03 ERA through 130.2 innings so far in 1878.

The victory kept Knickerbocker two games clear atop the Metropolitan Conference at 22-8, while the loss left St. John’s alone in third place in the Colonial at 19-12, two games behind leaders Shamrock.

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AMERICAN DEMOLISHES NEWARK; BURKE THE STAR
4x CHAMPS SCORE 24 RUNS OVER MIDDLE INNINGS; BURKE & BUSBY BOTH DRIVE IN SIX RUNS

NEWARK, N.J. (June 11, 1878) - Newark was expected to struggle but still be competitive in their maiden A.P.B.L. season. However, that hasn’t been the case through the first six weeks of the season, and the beginning of Week Seven proved to be the low point for the A.P.B.L. newcomers:

This was a competitive game after the first three innings, with American ahead 4-1 and looking by no means assured of a victory. Then, over the next three innings they did the following:

• 4TH INN: 14 R, 9 H (1 2B), 6 E, 3 BB, 1 SAC BUNT, 19 BATTERS
• 5TH INN: 1 R, 2 H, 2 E, 6 BATTERS
• 6TH INN: 9 R, 6 H (3 2B), 3 E, 2 BB, 13 BATTERS
• 4-6 TOTAL: 24 R, 17 H (3 2B), 11 E, 5 BB, 1 SAC BUNT, 38 BATTERS

By the middle of the sixth inning, what had been a 4-1 game was now 28-1 in American’s favor – a three-inning deluge the team hadn’t pulled off even at the peak of their title-winning powers. Newark would score a consolation run in B9, and the visitors had earned themselves a 26-run victory.

There were a number of great performances by American on the afternoon:

• AME LF George Kassabian: 2/4 (both 1B), 2 R, 4 RBI
• AME 1B William Busby: 3/6 (2 2B), 3 R, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
• AME SS William Carrigan: 3/6 (all 1B), 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
• AME C Norman Kennemore: 4/7 (2B), 4 R, 4 RBI, 1/2 RTO
• AME P Jimmy Everhart: 2/7 (2B), 2 R, 2 RBI; CG (7-8, 3.02), 3 HA, 0 ER, 2 K

Still, none of those red-letter days were as spectacular as the one produced by American talisman James Burke:

• AME CF James Burke: 5/8 (all 1B), 4 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB, 98 GMSC

The five-hit day by Burke raised his Batting Average to an eye-watering .420 (.972 OPS) through 31 games, with 14 Extra-base Hits (11 2B, 3 3B), 36 Runs Batted In (104/90 G), 31 Stolen Bases (87/90 G), 3.0 WPA (8.7/90 G), & 2.1 WAR (6.2/90 G). American might not be the all-conquering powerhouse it was, but so far in 1878 Burke is on pace for his single best campaign yet, one which would earn him Batsman of the Year number five over the past six seasons.

American is 18-13, in third place and five games behind Metropolitan leaders Knickerbocker. Newark is now 8-23, which gives them both last place in the Colonial Conference (13 GB) and the worst record in the A.P.B.L.

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KNIGHT CRACKS HOMER, DRIVES IN SEVEN IN WIN
FLOUR CITY 2B STAR OF THE SHOW AS TEAM BEATS QUAKER ST. BY MORE THAN A DOZEN

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (June 12, 1878) - Flour City, having improved in recent weeks after a miserable start to 1878, went looking for their third straight win on Wednesday afternoon, and it didn’t take much effort against Quaker State to find it:

While Quaker St. did well to parry the hosts’ two-run opening inning with three runs in T2 – the key hit a two-run Home Run by 2B Charles Hull – it was all Flour City after that, with the upstate men scoring sixteen of the game’s final seventeen runs before exiting with an easy home victory.

Flour City had three batsmen collect two hits each – 1B Samuel Kessler, C Sam Shepherd, & 3B Werner Verstegen – but the undisputable Player of the Game was ninth-year Flour City 2B Ralph Knight:

• B1: Leadoff Single to LCF off W. Gifford (R)
• B2: 2-run Single past SS off W. Gifford
• B3: Line Out to SS (3 out)
• B5: 3-run Double to CF off W. Gifford (R)
• B6: 2-RUN HOME RUN to RF off W. Riley
• B8: Single to RCF off R. Christianson
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2B, HR), 3 R, 7 RBI, 9 TB, 111 GMSC

Knight’s seven Runs Batted In were a new season high in the A.P.B.L., as was his 111 Game Score – quite the afternoon for the veteran infielder. Knight’s bases-clearing Double was the big moments in Flour City’s rally in B5, his homer in B6 put the cap on the victory, and all totaled his five-hit performance raised his Batting Average to a team-high .350 (.793 OPS) with 14 Extra-base Hits (12 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR), and 27 RBI through 32 games, figures that put Knight on pace to attend his sixth All-Star Game.

After a terrible 6-16 opening month, Flour City is 7-3 over their ten games so far in June and they’ve won six of their last seven. They are 13-19, which places them 7th in the Colonial Conference (8 GB).

Quaker St. is moving in the opposite direction. The result in Rochester was their fourth straight loss, leaving Quaker St. 11-21 (6th in Metro) and already a dozen games out of first place.

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DEMANDT SCORES TRIPLE FIVES AT KEYSTONE
FRANKFORD C FINISHES WITH FIVE HITS, FIVE RUNS, & FIVE RBI AS TEAM RUNS UP BLACKJACK SCORE

PHILADELPHIA (June 12, 1878) - Frankford Arsenal needed a victory at Keystone to stay one game behind East Philadelphia leaders Queen Village, and the result was an impressive victory against their under-500 opponents:

Frankford looked good over the early innings, racing out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the third. After a scoreless fourth Frankford put the game away, as a five-run fifth was followed by a pair in both the 6th & 7th before an eight-run eighth ran the visitors’ tally to 21, with a pair of Keystone rallies coming far too late to have any chance at influencing the outcome.

For the victorious visitors, this game was all about two players: leadoff man James Harris and new C Magnus Demandt, both of whom finished the game at the Fifth Street Grounds with five base hits:

Harris’ performance was a great one…

• FRA CF James Harris: 5/7 (3B), 3 R, 3 RBI, 7 TB

…but Demandt outdid Harris with a marvelous effort:

• T2: Leadoff Double to CF off Moses Smith (R)
• T3: 1-run Single past SS off M. Smith (R)
• T5: 1-run Double to CF off M. Smith (R)
• T6: 1-run Single past 2B off M. Smith
• T8: Reached via Error by P W. Brink (R)
• T8: 2-run Single past SS off J. Hanlon (R)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (2 2B), 5 R, 5 RBI, 7 TB, 106 GMSC

Demandt’s Game Score of 106 was one point off the 107 by Keystone RF Peter Hildebrandt (6/7, 4 R, 5 RBI), achieved ten days ago, for the P.C.B.L. season high. The 5/6 raised the C’s Batting Average to .361 (.772 OPS) with 21 Runs Batted In so far during the Dutchman’s Greenhorn season.

At 17-9, Frankford is tied for 2nd in East Philadelphia with Sons of Ben and one game behind leaders Queen Village. 11-15 Keystone sits alone in 6th, seven games behind Q.V.

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ST. JOHN’S GETS REVENGE FOR TUE. KNICK LOSS
48 HOURS AFTER LOSING TO KNICK 19-0 AT HOME, CHAMPS BEAT THEM BY TWENTY

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (June 13, 1878) - Two days ago Knickerbocker walked into venerable Olneyville Field and thrashed St. John’s in a 19-0 Shoutout, during which the defending A.P.B.L. could muster all of two Hits. This afternoon, St. John’s was able to exact revenge on their Tuesday tormentors:

Knickerbocker actually scored first – a Single by LF Clive Strachan drawing first blood for the Metro leaders. However, a tying run by St. John’s in B2 was followed by sixteen more over the next three innings to give the hosts a whopping 17-1 advantage. Four more runs in B8 gave St. John’s an extremely satisfying twenty-run win over the league’s #1 team.

It was a banner day for multiple members of the St. John’s lineup:

• StJ CF Rudolph Decker: 5/6 (2B), 5 R, 2 RBI, SB, 85 GMSC
• StJ C Frederick Drake: 3/5 (all 1B), 4 R, 1 RBI, BB, 1/2 RTO
• StJ LF Joseph Evans: 3/7 (all 1B), 2 R, 3 RBI
• StJ 1B Konrad Jensen: 4/7 (2B), 2 R, 2 RBI
• StJ SS George Pugatch: 4/6 (all 1B), 2 R, 3 RBI
• StJ 3B Eamonn Todd: 4/6 (2B), 2 R, 2 RBI

All totaled, St. John’s finished Thursday’s series ender with 28 Hits (4 2B), ten of them along with nine Runs coming against the man who held them scoreless with two Hits on Tuesday: Knick #1 Robert Goodman. The hit train against Knick left two St. John’s batsmen batting above .385 on the season: Jensen (.391, .937 OPS) & Evans (.388, .897 OPS).

The smashing win put St. John’s in a three-way tie atop the Colonial Conference with Niagara & Shamrock, all three teams 21-12. The loss pulled Knick down into a tie atop the Metropolitan with Kings County at 23-10, with those two tied for the league’s best record through 33 games.

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QUAKER ST’S MORGANTI HAS STELLAR DAY IN HOME WIN
LONGTIME QUAKER ST. CF HAS HOME RUN, FIVE HITS, & FOUR RBI IN WIN OVER REELING ORANGE

PHILADELPHIA (June 16, 1878) - Quaker State, who had lost six straight games before a Saturday home win against Orange, made it consecutive home victories thanks to large rallies in the 5th & 7th as they won by eleven:

For a brief moment Orange had the lead: 2-1 in T3 thanks to a Sacrifice Fly by 2B Charles Whitehead. Unfortunately for the visitors, three Quaker St. runs in B3 followed by six in B5 and six more in B7 left little doubt as to who would win the final game of the series. It certainly wasn’t going to be an Orange outfit that has been simply woeful this season.

Quaker St. had a pair of batsmen with three Hits.

• QS SS George Ellison: 3/5 (3B), 1 R, 3 RBI
• QS 1B William Theriault: 3/6 (all 1B), 2 R, 1 RBI

Another batsman had five, and that was thirteenth-year CF Ned Morganti:

• B1: Single past 2B off B. Svensson
• B3: 1-run Single to CF off B. Svensson (R)
• B5: 2-RUN HOME RUN (ItP) to RF off B. Svensson
• B6: Leadoff Single past SS off J. Dressman
• B7: 1-run Single past SS off J. Dressman (R)
• B8: Ground Out to SS (3 out)
• TOTAL: 5/6 (HR), 3 R, 4 RBI, 8 TB, 90 GMSC

It was his thrilling Inside-the-Park Home Run over the head of Orange RF Jonathan Cobb that put an exclamation point on Quaker St.’s rally in B5 and sent them on their way to victory. Morganti’s afternoon raised his Batting Average to .311 (.793 OPS) with 14 Extra-base Hits (9 2B, 4 3B, 1 HR) and 28 Runs Batted In through 35 games, which are fine marks so far in the debut season of the N.B.B.O. legend.

Meanwhile, Orange is mired in misery. Even though they are allowing the third-fewest Runs in the A.P.B.L. (6.6 RA/G) their record has dropped to 12-24 thanks to an offense that ranks last by more than half a Run per game (5.3 R/G), last in Average (.223) by 22 points, last in On-Base (.256) by 15, last in Slugging (.288) by 19, and last in OPS (.543) by no less than 35 points versus the team ranked 15th (Newark at .578). Last season was the worst in team history, but this one is shaping up to be some measure below that.

The win lifted Quaker St. to 13-23, good for sixth place in the Metropolitan (12 GB) and three games ahead of fellow Philadelphian newcomers Tiger Social Club (10-26; 15 GB).