THE SPORT
September 1857
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Around The Associaiton
ATLANTIC - 28; GOTHAM 14
On September 3rd, Atlantic of Brooklyn scored early and often as they pounded out a 28-14 win over Gotham. Mattie O'Brien (double) and Pete O'Brien (2 doubles, triple, home run) each had 4 hits for Atlantic. Pearce, Bergen, and Holder (double) each had 2 hits. Mattie O'Brien picked up the victory as pitcher.
Code:
R H E
GOTHAM 103 321 211 - 14 30 8
ATLANTIC 721 538 11X - 28 55 5
EMPIRE - 25; BALTIC - 10
On September 7th, The Empire nine had their way with the Baltics 25-10. The game began as the Baltics won the coin toss and elected to strike first, hoping to gain an advantage by striking while the old onion was still fresh. They seemed to have chosen correctly as they jumped out to tally 3 quick aces behind the striking of Misters Sears, Kettleman, and Lewis, but the Empires would not be outdone and matched the Baltic score by the finish of the first inning.
Empire made quick work of the Baltics in the next two innings and whitewashed them in each, while placing two more tallies on their own side of the ledger bringing the score of the match to 5-3. The two clubs would rally back and forth in this tight scratch of a game. The Empire boys were led by their catcher Gorff, who struck safely in each of his five opportunities and tallied a run in 3 of those chances as well.
In the seventh inning the Baltics loaded up the sacks with only one hand down. It was at this time that fate chose to lend a hand to the Empire cause. Mr. Brown of the Baltics stepped to the plate and hit a sky ball that scraped a tree that lies just to the left of the third sack. The ball struck the tree in fair territory and then fell into and then out of the grasp of Empire third sacker, Mr. Moore. After leaving Mr. Moore's hand, the ball fell harmlessly to the ground in foul territory. The Baltic runners, believing the ball to be foul, galloped back to their bases of origin. It was at this time that Mr. Moore realized that the umpire, "Honest John" Gravlin, had not called the ball foul, as he is obliged to do in such a case of a foul ball, so believing the ball to have been judged fair he threw the ball to home to force one hand and then received the apple at third on a return trip to force the third hand down for the innings. That play ended the Baltics last serious threat of the day.
Empire would add 11 more runs in the 7th and 8th innings to give the final tally a more lopsided look, and was no where near an indicator as to the true battle that this contest had been.
Code:
R H E
BALTIC 300 321 100 - 10 28 7
EMPIRE 311 224 56X - 25 34 5
EAGLE - 18; GOTHAM - 4
On September 8th, the Eagle exhibited great athleticism, fielding and hitting skills in 'showing' the Gotham nine how the game is supposed to be played with a 18-4 victory. The win avenged a 33-20 loss to Gotham earlier this season "It was a great victory, for sure," said catcher Marvin Gelston, who batted 3-for-7 against a Gotham club that traditionally has been a stumbling block to Eagle, winning four of their last five encounters dating back to '55.
Within minutes of the start of the contest, the host club began to assert its dominance. On this day, the Eagle went to work carving up the Gotham defenses, putting hit after hit together, taking advantage of Gotham's inability to make key plays and hold on to the ball. In the end, the visitors whose numbers included three rookie ballists looked drawn and quartered as they left the grounds.
Despite untold effort and determination, strategic juggling by Gotham management -- including moving the Gotham bench to the Eagle side of the field (to avoid swarming insects), Gotham was unable to gain any real momentum in the game, and left wondering exactly what had happened. In the end, the answer was simple: Gotham turned out to be their own worst enemy as they registered a jaw dropping 18 errors in the game.
In an obvious understatement after the match, Gotham Captain T.J. Van Cott said: "To win this game, you need to hold on to the ball." Simple on the surface, but for some of the new (as well as seasoned) ballists a tall order which takes unique skill and determination to master.
Code:
R H E
GOTHAM 021 010 000 - 4 10 18
EAGLE 413 311 32X - 18 18 5
HARLEM - 34; UNION - 7
On September 8th, Harlem downed Union of Morrisania 34-7. The game began as the Unions wished, with a 2 run first inning score in their favor. However, that would be the end of events favoring the Unions. The Harlem strikers would pound with alacrity throughout the match, and the Unions could not find their fielding form.
Morrisania patrons hope that the Unions will safely find their way home, and locate their ball playing skills as well.
Code:
R H E
UNION 201 111 010 - 7 18 12
HARLEM 851 643 34X - 34 39 7
EMPIRE - 12; KNICKERBOCKER - 9
On September 10th, Empire defeated the Knicks 12-9 and gained a measure of revenge against their rivals for a loss earlier this season.
The Empires won the toss and elected to strike first. It was deemed a wise choice, as the they struck like a thunderbolt thrown from Mt. Olympus by none other than Zeus himself. The Olympian striking was led in the hit parade by none other than Ed Ward who drove home three Empire base runners with one mighty blow. The Knicks would put a stop to Ward's base running by promptly putting down the next two strikers in order, and the Empire first inning was completed. The Knickerbockers would answer back with 2 runs of their own in their portion of the first innings, and the score stood 3-2.
Empire would add runs in the second and third innings and held a lead of 6-2, when Ward struck again in the fourth inning. Ward drove a deep ball over the head of the deepest fieldsman and was allowed to reach his third before the ball was returned to the pitcher. He would later tally an ace on a one bound ball struck by Dick Thorn. Knickerbocker would not go quietly though and finally broke through the impending whitewash for 2 aces of their own. The innings would end with the Empires holding a 7-4 lead over the Knickerbocker boys.
In the fifth inning, after Empire had added yet another run to their total, the Knicks put some steam on and laid down 5 aces to take the lead for the first time in the contest. The score now stood at 9-8 in favor of the Knickerbocker contingent.
With runners on second and first base, Ward struck again for Empire in the sixth. He drove a howitzer that allowed both runners to score and later scored himself before the inning was concluded. Those 3 runs would not be the last that Empire would score, but the sixth inning was the last time that the contest would be in doubt, as the Empire fieldsmen tightened their belts and skunked the Knickerbocker strikers for the rest of the match.
Code:
R H E
EMPIRE 312 113 100 - 12 21 5
KNICKS 200 250 000 - 9 16 5
ATLANTIC - 33; ECKFORD - 6
On September 15th, Atlantic exploded, scoring multiple runs in every inning except the 2nd, on their way to a 33-6 rout of Eckford. John Price led the way with 4 hits (double, 3 aces). Pete O'Brien and Dickie Pearce each had 3 hits.
Mattie O'Brien was superb in the pitcher's box, stopping Eckford cold without an ace over the last 5 innings.
Eckford got a solid effort from short scout George Grum, who had three hits and tallied three aces.
Code:
R H E
ECKFORD 122 100 000 - 6 18 7
ATLANTIC 314 745 63X - 33 51 4
KNICKERBOCKER - 16; EAGLE - 7
On September 15th, the Knickerbocker club downed Eagle for the second time this season, winning their match 16-7. The afternoon began with a buzz of human commotion about the ball grounds at Elysian Field as thousands of patrons took some time from their day and sat to watch the ball match. The Knicks found themselves fortunate enough to win the coin toss, and they rightly chose to strike first. The first four strikers in the Knickerbocker order found themselves tallying aces and after the Eagles had struck, the Knickerbocker boys found themselves with a 4-2 lead.
The Knicks would be whitewashed by the fieldsmen of Eagle for the next three innings, while the Eagles tallied one more ace to make the contest a tight scratch. In the fifth innings the Knicks would score 4 runs led by the hitting of Daniel Adams, and a home run by Norman Welling. The score now stood at 8-3 in favor of the Knicks. The contest would never again be in doubt as the Knicks would tally 8 more runs in the 4 innings that would follow. The last ace was tallied by one of the ball club's newest members, Edgar Lasak.
After the match the gentlemen of Knickerbocker retained their fine reputation as excellent hosts by treating the guests from Eagle to some fine cooking. Despite the outcome of the match both clubs found themselves as fast friends at the conclusion.
Code:
R H E
KNICKS 400 041 241 - 16 28 5
EAGLE 201 012 010 - 7 16 4
GOTHAM - 16; EMPIRE - 12
On September 16th, Gotham halted a two game losing streak with a 16-12 victory over Empire. The game started with Gotham and Empire trading aces back and forth. The Empires led 4-2 going into the fourth inning when the Gothams came alive and tallied 7 aces in the inning to take a 9-4 lead. Empire answered back by scoring 4 to make it 9-8, but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the game as they managed to score only 4 more runs the rest of the way while the Gothams went on to tally 7 aces over the last 5 innings.
Code:
R H E
GOTHAM 110 721 121 - 16 26 8
EMPIRE 112 401 210 - 12 21 6
UNION - 30; EXCELSIOR - 17
On September 16th, Union of Morrisania played its best ball of the season, downing the Excelsiors of Brooklyn 30-17. Things started off bleak for the Unions as Excelsior tallied 6 aces while batting around the order with help from poor work by the Union fielders. The Unions inched back into the game with an ace in the bottom of the first. The Unions suddenly remembered how to play in the field and whitewashed the Excelsiors in both the second and third innings, while the Unions tallied 2 more aces in the second and 5 in the third to take the lead, 8-6.
Excelsior marched right back with 6 more aces in the 4th on another "Union Inning" of high jinx and miscues in the field to take a 12-8 lead. The Unions revenged their poor play in the bottom of the fourth inning with a 6 ace outburst as they went ahead 14-12, a lead that would not be relinquished. Union added 2 more aces in the 5th to extend the lead to 16-12. The Unions were whitewashed for the only time in the 6th inning, but more than made up for that omission later. The Excelsiors tallied twice in the 7th to draw within 2 at 16-14, but the proverbial floodgates were opened in the bottom of the 7th as the Unions tallied 7 more aces to increase their lead to 23-14.
The last attempt to get back in the game for the Excelsiors was made in the 8th inning when they tallied 3 more aces to get within 6 at 23-17. The Unions tallied 7 more aces to bring the score to its final total of 30-17 as Excelsior was again blanked in the 9th.
Code:
R H E
EXCELSIOR 600 600 230 - 17 30 8
UNION 125 620 77X - 30 41 11
ECKFORD - 24; EAGLE - 17
On September 22nd, Eckford hosted the Eagle nine in a game that was hotly contested. The score was very close until the end of the sixth innings, when Eckford sent seven runs home and then whitewashed the Eagle strikers. To make matters worse, Eagle catcher Gelston suffered a serious hand injury while reaching for a foul tip. Mister Bixby moved from pitcher to catcher, and Mister Winslow went to the pitcher's box from first and got the last three outs. Eagle left fielder Sam Yates moved to first for Winslow for the remainder of the game and reserve ballist Van Nice took Yates' place in left. Down by nine runs, the Eagle mounted a rally in the final inning, but came up well short and lost by a score of 24-17.
Code:
R H E
ECKFORD 300 627 330 - 24 43 4
EAGLE 212 230 322 - 17 38 7
ATLANTIC - 10; PUTNAM - 9 (10 innings)
On September 24th, Atlantic's game against the Putnams proved to be a thriller. Many good plays were made by both teams, and the score stood, 8-6 at the end of 6 innings, in favor of the Putnams. Atlantic pushed one run across in the 7th, and another in the 8th to draw even. Neither team could score in the 9th.
The Putnams scored one run in the top of the 10th, and the game was on the line. John Price led off the Atlantic 10th with an infield hit, and continued to 2nd on the overthrow. Price went to 3rd and came home with the tying run on Pete O'Brien's triple. Dicky Pearce immediately brought O'Brien home with the winning run on a blazing single down the third base line. Pearce and Pete O'Brien had 3 hits each, John Holder and Archie McMahon had 2 hits each. Mattie O'Brien went all 10 innings to pick up the victory, a total team effort.
Misters Gibbs and Gillespie distinguished themselves for Putnam, tallying 3 hits each.
Code:
R H E
PUTNAM 122 210 000 1 - 9 20 6
ATLANTIC 300 120 110 2 - 10 22 5
UNION - 24; ADRIATIC - 19
On September 25th, Adriatic traveled to meet the Unions at Morrisana. In the contest, the teams played close until the end, when Union scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th and then held Adriatic scoreless, for only the second time in the game, in the bottom half of the 9th, to take the victory 24-19. Union was led by Gifford with 4 hits including a double, Todd with 4 hits, 2 doubles, Rodman with 3 hits, 2 doubles, and Booth with 2 hits, reaching base 4 times and scoring all 4 aces. Pinckney pitched the distance for the victory.
Code:
R H E
UNION 611 210 634 - 24 46 5
ADRIATIC 223 045 130 - 19 35 5
PUTNAM - 20; CONTINENTAL - 12
On September 25th, the Continentals fell behind quickly, giving up eight runs in the bottom of the first. Despite stiffening to give up only 11 more runs in the following 8 innings, and exploding for eight runs of their own in the top of the fourth, the Continentals fell 12-20, to the Putnams of Brooklyn.
Code:
R H E
CONTINENTAL 101 801 010 - 12 31 8
PUTNAM 820 214 12X - 20 35 5
EXCELSIOR - 9; UNION - 8 (12 innings)
On September 28th, Brooklyn's Excelsior Ball Club matched up against the Unions of Morrisania in an epic game. Excelsior snapped off eight runs in the first inning to take the lead but Union was able to chip away at that lead, scoring two in the 4th and 5th and four in the 8th to tie the ball game. The tie was broken in the 12th inning when Excelsior scored. It was a fast paced game full of amazing defense on both sides of the ball.
Code:
R H E
EXCELSIOR 800 000 000 001 - 9 21 3
UNION 000 220 040 000 - 8 17 5
Code:
ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
W L PCT GB R RA
ATLANTIC 4 0 1.000 --- 116 54
HARLEM 2 0 1.000 1.0 62 25
KNICKERBOCKER 3 1 .750 1.0 69 60
EMPIRE 4 3 .571 1.5 152 128
PUTNAM 1 1 .500 2.0 29 22
ECKFORD 2 3 .400 2.5 77 127
UNION 2 3 .400 2.5 87 107
GOTHAM 1 2 .333 2.5 51 66
EXCELSIOR 1 2 .333 2.5 40 59
ADRIATIC 0 1 .000 2.5 19 24
BALTIC 0 1 .000 2.5 10 25
EAGLE 3 5 .375 3.0 142 136
CONTINENTAL 0 2 .000 3.0 37 65
Base Ball Played in Australia
It has come to the Sport's attention that the the first ever game of American base ball was played in Australia on February 28th. A match between the Richmond and Collingwood members of the Melbourne Base Ball Club took place at Carleton Gardens. Pitching prowess seems not to have intruded as Collingwood won by a score of 250 to 230. Collingwood could not repeat in the 2-inning nitecap, losing 171-141.
MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION
The National Game Invades Bean Town
On September 9th, the Tri-Mountain team of Boston played host to a team from Portland, Maine "on the common" winning 47-42 in 9 innings played under the New York rules. This was the first game decided in 9 innings rather than which team reached 100 runs first. Also, this was the first match where the ball was pitched not tossed.
The Tri-Mountain Baseball club was organized in Boston by Edward Saltzman. Saltzman moved to Boston from New York, where he played on the Gotham Baseball Club. Not finding any teams in Boston playing "The New York game" he taught some friends the rules and formed the club.
Other Games
Code:
September 16th
WINTHROP 308 665 270 208 820 00 0 170 738 332 104 000 - 96
WASSAPOAG 001 1062 301 291 301 7013 000 202 103 559 000 - 85
(Called because of darkness)
September 22nd
AMERICAN 111 602 3 05 022 3 5 6 51 9 - 52
OLYMPIC 839 772 0120 623 11510 1113 - 100
September 24th
ROUGH-N-READY 631 413 800 202 075 062 05 - 50
BUNKER HILL 321 137 1062 398 863 316 108 - 100
ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
W L PCT GB R RA
TRI-MOUNTAIN 3 0 1.000 -- 307 254
OLYMPIC 4 1 .800 0.0 504 413
WINTHROP 2 0 1.000 0.5 196 156
BUNKER HILL 2 1 .667 1.0 297 243
GREEN MOUNTAIN 2 2 .500 1.5 367 331
WASSAPOAG 1 1 .500 1.5 147 144
ELM TREE 1 1 .500 1.5 199 199
ROUGH-N-READY 0 2 .000 2.5 109 200
BAY STATE 0 2 .000 2.5 142 168
UNION 0 2 .000 2.5 104 200
AMERICAN 0 3 .000 3.0 237 301
CRICKET
United States Cricketers Defeat Canada
NEW YORK - At the Elysian Field cricket grounds in Hoboken, New Jersey, about 8,000 spectators watched the United States 91 and 106 defeat Canada 58 and 69 by 70 runs and claim the $2,000 stake. With the victory, the United States has won the past five meetings with the Canadians and takes a 6-5 lead in the series that began in 1843.
Code:
Past Results
1843 Canada
1844 Canada
1846 Canada
1847 Canada
1848 United States
1850 Canada
1853 United States
1854 United States
1855 United States
1856 United States
1857 United States
Code:
Result: United States won by 70 runs
Toss: United States
Close of Play: Day 1:
United States 1st innings R
James Higham b Caffyn 10
C Gadney b CDB Marsham 4
Higginson c Grundy b Caffyn 7
William Wister b CDB Marsham 15
W Ranney b CDB Marsham 13
*E Hazard b Grundy 7
T Dodsworth c Chatteron b Caffyn 26
E Shelly c John Walker b Martingell 3
R Kingston run out 1
Charles Royston not out 0
J McKenna c Ford b Caffyn 0
Extras (lb 1, nb 4) 5
Total (all out, 81.1 overs) 91
Bowling O M R W
Caffyn 21.1 2 31 4
CDB Marsham 27 1 28 3
Martingell 20 0 9 1
Grundy 13 0 18 1
Canada 1st innings R
CDB Marsham run out 23
J Grundy b Royston 3
AH Walker b Wister 6
W Caffyn c Wister b Royston 6
C Marsham b Wister 0
T Heame st Ranney b Wister 13
J Ford b Royston 0
*John Walker b Royston 0
G Chatteron b Royston 2
H Royston b Wister 1
W Martingell not out 2
Extras (w 2) 2
Total (all out, 38.1 overs) 58
Bowling O M R W
Wister 19.1 1 24 4
Royston 19 2 32 5
United States 2nd innings R
James Higham c Chatteron b Caffyn 25
C Gadney c Chatteron b Caffyn 7
Higginson b C Marsham 1
William Wister c Ford b C Marsham 30
W Ranney c Heame b Caffyn 18
*E Hazard b C Marsham 2
T Dodsworth b Caffyn 6
E Shelly b C Marsham 8
R Kingston b Martingell 2
Charles Royston not out 3
J McKenna b Martingell 0
Extras (b 1, w 1, nb 2) 4
Total (all out, 108.3 overs) 106
Bowling O M R W
Caffyn 45 2 54 4
C Marsham 46 2 32 4
Martingell 9.3 1 4 2
Grundy 2 2 0 0
John Walker 6 0 12 0
Canada 2nd innings (target: 140 runs) R
CDB Marsham c Hazard b Royston 9
J Grundy b Wister 10
AH Walker b Royston 11
W Caffyn c Gadney b Wister 1
CJB Marsham b Royston 6
T Heame c Hazard b Wister 8
J Ford c Gadney b Wister 0
*John Walker not out 1
G Chatteron c Dodsworth b Wister 12
H Royston b Royston 6
W Martingell lbw b Royston 4
Extras (lb 1) 1
Total (all out, 50.2 overs) 69
Bowling O M R W
Wister 25.2 3 35 5
Royston 25 3 33 5
FOOTBALL
Brits in Row Over Football Rules
Football enthusiasts from several schools gathered at Cambridge University earlier this month in an attempt to adopt a unified set of rules for the increasingly popular activity. However, none of the participants seemed willing to give up or compromise "their version of the sport" and the meeting adjourned without any sort of consensus or agreement.
From the early part of this century, matches have been played on the pitches, playgrounds and cloisters of England's public schools. However, Eton's way of playing differred from Harrow's, theirs to Winchester's, to Charterhouse's and so on to the ultimate extreme at Rugby. As schools increasingly schedule fixtures with other schools, team captains are spending an inordinate amount of time arguing and haggling over which rules to use while playing.
Admittedly, the task of unifying the wide range of rules, from the Rugby game (with ball handling and backwards passing) through the Eton game (which favors dribbling and has a tight offside rule) to the Charterhouse football (that involves dribbling and whose representatives favor rules permitting forward passing) is a difficult one, especially when considering the passion each school has for its own version of football (it is said that the representative from Blackheath left the meeting in a rage when it was suggested that 'hacking' - kicking below the knee - be forbidden).
As one Cambridge man said following the meeting, "it looks like we will have at least one more year of the Eton men howling at the Rugby men for handling the ball."
Barnes Club downs Guy's
LONDON -- The men from London's Barnes Football Club and Guy's Hospital Club got together at the Barne Elms in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Using an aggressive attack, Barnes bested the gentlemen from Guy's, 2-0. The clubs played using rugby version rules.