The Sport
June 1857
National Association
Knicks Edge Eagles in Association Opener
HOBOKEN, NJ (JUNE 6) -- In a hard-fought contest at Elysian Field, the Knickerbocker club of New York opened the inaugural National Association season with an 18-17 victory over the Eagle club. A good-sized crowd of several hundred supporters turned out to watch the historic contest. The Eagles opened by scoring a single run in the first after CF Yates led-off with a single and scored from third on a sacrifice fly by 2B Houseman. Knicks' pitcher Norman Welling ended the Eagle side of the inning when he fielded a ball hit by 3B Charles Place on the bounce. During the bottom part of the inning, the Eagles' fielding showed signs of early season rust as they misplayed the first two balls hit into play by the Knicks. SS Vrendunburgh and 3B Niebuhr each reached base on "muffs" and both men scored as the Knickerbockers plated three runs in their half of the first inning.
During the top of the second inning, SS Smith and P Bixby each hit doubles and the Eagles scored four to take a 5-3 lead. The Knicks tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the third as both Niebuhr and 1B Stephen scored.
By the middle of seventh inning, the Eagles had built a 15-12 lead over the Knicks. However in the bottom half of the inning, Welling connected with a mammoth clout that sent the ball sailing past the Eagle players in the outfield and rolling almost to the opposite treeline before it was retrieved. Not only did Welling score on the hit, but 3B Niebuhr and CF Adams scored as well to knot the contest again, 15-15.
Welling and the Knicks held the Eagles in check during the top of the eighth, not allowing any runs and leaving two runners stranded on the bases. The Eagle club was again vexed by poor fielding in the Knicks' half of the eighth when RF Tucker muffed a potential third-out fly ball hit by Niebuhr. The Knicks went on to score three runs and take an 18-15 lead.
The Eagle club continued to battle during the top of the ninth inning. 2B Houseman doubled home LF Williams and C Gelston to make it a one-run contest. Charles Place then grounded to SS Vrendunburgh, who cleanly fielded the ball and made a perfect throw to 1B Stephen for the third out and a Knicks' victory.
Code:
123 456 789 R H E
EAGLES 140 432 102 - 17 23 10
KNICKS 302 610 33X - 18 26 4
EAGLE AB R H BI
Yates, CF 7 2 2 0
Williams, LF 5 4 5 1
Gelston, C 5 4 2 2
Houseman, 2B 7 2 5 4
Place, 3B 6 0 4 3
Wandell, CF 5 2 3 2
Smith, SS 5 1 1 0
Bixby, P 5 1 1 2
Winslow, 1B 4 1 0 0
49 17 23 14
IP R ER SO
Bixby (L,0-1) 9.0 18 11 0
KNICKERBOCKER AB R H BI
Vrendunburgh, SS 4 4 2 0
Niebuhr, 3B 4 5 4 0
Adams, CF 6 2 4 2
Stephen, 1B 6 3 4 3
Welling, P 6 2 4 4
Davis, LF 6 1 3 2
Moth, 2B 6 0 2 1
Debost, C 6 0 1 0
Tucker, RF 6 1 2 0
50 18 26 12
IP R ER SO
Welling (W,1-0)9.0 17 14 2
Other June Association Games
Code:
June 16 R H E
EAGLE 623 052 012 - 21 23 5
ECKFORD 320 100 000 - 6 11 10
June 24
EMPIRE 005 192 520 - 24 35 4
KNICKS 030 1308 20x - 26 40 3
June 30
ECKFORD 220 035 712 - 22 32 7
EMPIRE 661 364 103x - 39 46 5
(Actual Scores: Eagle 25, Knicks 16; Eagle 34, Eckford 20; Knicks 37, Empire 23; Empire 28, Eckford 20)
Association Standings
Code:
W L PCT GB R RA
KNICKERBOCKER 2 0 1.000 -- 44 41
EMPIRE 1 1 .500 1 63 48
EAGLE 1 1 .500 1 38 24
ECKFORD 0 2 .000 2 28 60
Massachusetts Game
Boston's Olympic Club Defeats Bay State Club in Marathon Game
BOSTON (JUNE 6) -- On the Commons, Boston's venerable Olympic club downed the newly formed Bay State club 106-94 during a 32-inning contest that lasted nearly seven hours. Curious onlookers gathered throughout the day as the initial small group of supporters grew to a large crowd of several hundred by the conclusion of the game.
During the early innings, the Olympics dominated play, building a comfortable 27-10 lead by the top side of the eighth inning. During the next six innings, the Bay Staters slowly gained some ground, outscoring the Olympics 14-7 during the stretch. After allowing the Olympics nil in the 14th inning, Bay State exploded for 20 runs to take a 43-34 lead. From that point forward, the lead would change hands four times before the Olympics took the lead for good during the top side of the 29th innning. With the lead in hand, the Olympics crossed the century mark during their side of the 32nd inning. Chasing 17, Bay State was only able to plate five runs during their side.
S. Fletcher and R.G. Hubbard starred for the Olympic club both with the bat and in the field. Charles Hopkins and H. Noyes were the frontliners for the Bay State club.
Code:
OLYMPIC 029 0104 201 111 3 03 826 804 025 221 659 27 - 106
BAY STATE 010 6 02 159 410 4200 147 018 342 311 503 35 - 94
OLYMPIC R H C S
Wadsworth 7 4 4 1
Rollins 10 2 0 0
Perkins 10 4 0 0
Forbush 10 4 1 2
Flye 6 4 2 4
Fletcher 12 3 3 6
Hubbard 12 0 3 4
Cody 11 3 0 0
Frye 11 2 1 0
Crosby 10 3 0 0
Bateman 7 3 1 0
TOTALS 106 32 15 17
BAY STATE R H C S
Hopkins 11 2 3 3
Henry 7 3 4 0
Noyes 11 3 3 1
Atherton 9 5 0 4
Tyler 8 2 0 4
Hobart 9 5 2 2
Palmer 10 0 0 0
E. Spooner 9 3 0 0
Burridge 7 5 0 1
G. Spooner 8 3 0 0
Ayres 6 1 1 4
TOTALS 95 32 13 19
R - Runs Scored; H - Hands Lost (Outs); C - Balls Caught (Fielding); S - Runners Soaked
Other June Games
Code:
June 13
TRI MOUNTAIN 213 459 995 535 845 445 96 - 105
BUNKER HILL 413 057 245 854 637 1146 83 - 96
June 16
UNION 301 014 020 130 202 420 242 - 33
GREEN MTN 1237 285 735 082 638 374 412 - 100
June 20
AMERICAN 790 101 5414 410 9 504 703 212 - 97
ELM TREE 1205 1121 171 2 9 517 040 146 0 3 - 100
Massachusetts Standings
Code:
W L PCT GB R RA
OLYMPIC 1 0 1.000 -- 106 94
TRI MOUNTAIN 1 0 1.000 -- 105 96
GREEN MTN 1 0 1.000 -- 100 33
ELM TREE 1 0 1.000 -- 100 97
BAY STATE 0 1 .000 1 94 106
BUNKER HILL 0 1 .000 1 96 105
AMERICAN 0 1 .000 1 97 100
UNION 0 1 .000 1 33 100
Cricket: Philadephia Cricketers Down Germantown
Philadelphia Cricket Club captain William Wister guides team to seven wicket victory over rival Germantown in first inter-club match of season.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (JUNE 15) -- Philadelphia was led by Jeremiah Johnson's 48 and superb bowling from William Wister, John McKenna and Robert Kingston as they downed long-time rival Germantown Cricket Club by seven wickets in a match played on Philadelphia's home grounds. In 27.4 overs, one of which was a maiden, Philadelphia dismissed Germantown for 119 runs. Only Robert Black, William Meeker and George Regnault showed much fight for Germantown as they combined for 81 with eight wickets taken. The bottom of Germantown's side collapsed as John Hayes and Justin Albrooth both were out for ducks and the final two wickets fell for three.
Philadelphia had a scare when Germantown took the first two wickets for 26 as Wister opened with a stubborn 19 and Christopher Gadney was dismissed for seven. After this slow start, the middle of Philadelphia's side picked up the pace. During the next 13 overs, Shelly hit 21, Johnson hit 48 and Kingston hit 23 to help seal the triumph.
Code:
BOXSCORE PHILADELPHIA CC VS. GERMANTOWN CC
PHILADELPHIA CC WINS THE MATCH BY 7 WICKETS
------------------------------------------
GERMANTOWN CC INNINGS
D. Adams 17(23) bowled Shelly
A. McKee 4(16) bowled Wister
H. Botsford 2 (8) caught Shelly b Wister
R. Black 31(31) lbw Kingston
W. Meeker 24(29) caught Kingston b Gadney
E. St. John 6 (6) caught Wister b Kingston
J. Nair 4(16) caught Gadney b McKenna
G. Regnault 26(18) caught Gadney b McKenna
J. Hayes 0 (7) lbw Kingston
J. Albrooth 0 (2) caught Shelly b Kingston
H. Green 3(10) not out
EXTRAS
NB: 1
WIDES: 0
LB: 1
BYES: 0
GERMANTOWN CC ALLOUT FOR 119 IN 27.4 OVERS
PHILADELPHIA CC BOWLING
O M R W
W. Wister 5.4 1 21 2
J. McKenna 5 0 19 2
H. Hackett 5 0 17 0
E. Shelly 4 0 27 1
R. Kingston 3 0 6 4
J. Johnson 3 0 18 0
C. Gadney 2 0 10 1
------------------------------------------
PHILADELPHIA CC INNINGS
W. Wister 19(16) caught Regnault b Adams
C. Gadney 7(11) caught Black b Botsford
E. Shelly 21(25) caught Botsford b St. John
J. Johnson 48(39) not out
R. Kingston 23(18) not out
H. Hackett 0 (0)
J. McKenna 0 (0)
S. Miller 0 (0)
W. Mylon 0 (0)
C. Royston 0 (0)
B. Shakespeare 0 (0)
EXTRAS
NB: 0
WIDES: 0
LB: 1
BYES: 1
PHILADELPHIA CC 120/3 WICKETS AFTER 18.1 OVERS
GERMANTOWN CC BOWLING
O M R W
D. Adams 5 0 28 1
A. McKee 5 1 32 0
H. Botsford 4.1 0 31 1
E. St. John 2 0 14 1
R. Black 1 0 10 0
W. Meeker 1 0 3 0
Other June Matches
June 20
NEW YORK CC VS. CHOSEN ELEVEN (NY)
Match Played at Elysian Field in Hoboken, NJ
NEW YORK CC WINS THE MATCH BY 8 WICKETS
June 27
CAMDEN (NJ) CC VS. ST. GEORGE (NY) CC
Match Played at St. George home grounds
ST. GEORGE WINS THE MATCH BY 51 RUNS
Boxing
Tom Sayers takes English Heavyweight Crown
ISLE OF GRAIN, ENGLAND (JUNE 16) -- Looking to be in the best shape of his professional career, Tom Sayers defeated a clearly overweight William Perry in seven rounds to claim the Heavyweight Crown of England.
The location of the field where the fight took place had been well guarded and no police appeared during the fight to stop it. A crowd started collecting at the spot early in the morning. The fighters arrived in separate coaches about fifteen minutes prior to the bout's scheduled 11:00 A.M. start. By this time the crowd numbered several hundred, and wagering among them was fast and furious.
Removing his jacket and shirt, Sayers looked trim and fit. Perry, on the other hand, looked pauncy and haggard. Some reported that Perry had been ill in the weeks leading up to the fight and hadn't been able to strenuously train. Perry was clearly the bigger man. He looked to outweigh Sayers by at least 50 pounds.
THE FIGHT
Round 1.- Both trying to measure their distance. Perry ran in and closed, grasping Sayers by the neck, and put on the old-fashion hug, continuing to hold his man in such a way that the Referee entered the ring and strictly cautioned him not to repeat the operation in a similar manner.
Round 2.- Sayers made fighting as soon as he came to the scratch. There was some attempt at countering by both; very wild and not particularly effective. Perry then rushed on Sayers; got the hug again, and threw him, like a sack of malt, on the grass. On the men being lifted, Perry was found to be bleeding from the mouth. First blood was claimed and allowed Sayers. (Cheers)
Round 3.- After some hard exchanges, Perry again put on the hug, and threw Sayers on the ropes with an awful spank. All was going dead against Sayers but the first blood.
Round 4.- During this round, Perry came up with a "mouse" rather visible under his left eye. After receiving some punishing blows from Sayers, Perry again closed in for the hug. It was obvious that he meant to use his size advantage to fight nothing but a wrestling fight, fists to be only very subordinate agents in the business. This called forth loud expressions of disapprobation. Sayers was again thrown, but his fists had taken some toll on his opponent.
Round 5.- Both men came up smiling at one another, and after some initial sparring, Sayers let fly a tremendous right-handed thunderbolt against Perry's ear that was heard all over the ring. Sayers followed up his advantage and launched a fellow-blow on Perry's temple. Perry, in despair hugged again, and threw his antagonist.
Round 6.- Give and take now became the order of the day. A few seconds, then more hammering, when Perry was obliged to fly to his favorite embrace. But this time he failed woefully, for Sayers turned the table and floored his antagonist. During this round Sayers gave Perry a rattling sledge-hammer on the nose with his right, and brought the blood down in a stream.
Round 7.- Perry came up quite groggy, and his heart seemed to be failing him, for when Sayers once more planted a straight one on the mouth, he appeared quite perplexed and helpless. He tried to plant his left but did not reach. After some sharp in-fighting, he was again knocked heavily to mother earth, and when picked up was nearly senseless. When Perry tried to leave his corner for another round he was a helpless child, and amidst shouts of shame, shame, to allow him to come up again, his seconds gave in for him.
(Actual result: Sayers defeated Perry in ten rounds)