1860.60

From Protoball
Revision as of 15:00, 23 February 2014 by Rjtholkes (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Chronologies
Scroll.png

Prominent Milestones

Misc BB Firsts
Add a Misc BB First

About the Chronology
Tom Altherr Dedication

Add a Chronology Entry
Open Queries
Open Numbers
Most Aged

Atlantics vs. Excelsiors: The Thorny Idea of Onfield Supremacy

Salience Prominent
City/State/Country: Brooklyn, NY, US
Game Base Ball
Immediacy of Report Contemporary
Age of Players Adult
Text

[A] "This match will create unusual interest, as it will decide which Club is entitled to the distinction of being perhaps the 'first nine in America."

[B] "The Atlantics now wear the 'belt,' and this contest will be a regular battle for he championship."

 

 

Sources

[A] Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 13, 1860.

[B] Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 16, 1860.

See also Craig B. Waff, "Atlantics and Excelsiors Compete for the 'Championship,'" Base Ball Journal, volume 5, number 1 (Special Issue on Origins), pages 139-142.

Craig waff, "No Gentlemen's Game", Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century (SABR, 2013), pp. 28-31

Comment

The naming of a championship base ball club was apparently not much considered when match games were first played frequently in the mid-1850s.  But as the 1860 season progressed, press accounts regularly speculated about what nine was the best, and in late July the Excelsior club took on the undefeated Atlantic club and won, 23-4.  The stage was set for a final showdown, and a crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 assembled to see if they could gain glory by toppling the storied Atlantic nine again. They led, 6-4 in the sixth inning, but Atlantic partisans in the crown became so rowdy that Excelior captain Joe Leggett removed his club from the field for their safety, leaving the matter unresolved.

Edit with form to add a comment
Query Edit with form to add a query



Comments

<comments voting="Plus" />