Excelsior Club of Brooklyn v Niagara Club of Buffalo on 5 July 1860
| Date of Game | Thursday, July 5, 1860 |
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| Location | Buffalo, NY, United States |
| Modern Address | |
| Field | Niagara Grounds, Buffalo |
| Home Team | Excelsior Club of Brooklyn |
| Away Team | Niagara Club of Buffalo |
| Score | 50 - 19 |
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| Description | (base ball – part of the Excelsior tour ) (Buffalo Daily Courier (1): “Some of the members of the Excelsior base ball club, including, with a single exception, the first nine, have arranged an excursion to Niagara and other cities. The party will leave Brooklyn on Saturday evening. On Monday a game will be played at Albany, and another on Tuesday at Troy. On the fourth the party will arrive at Niagara, where they will pass the day. On the fifth a game will be played at Buffalo. From this point movements are rather uncertain, but it is not improbable the trip will be extended to Detroit, to which place an invitation has been received by the club. The members will return home within two weeks, in season to engage in several matches already appointed.”) (Buffalo Daily Courier (2): “On the fifth of July, those of our citizens who enjoy a good game of base ball, are to have a treat, for on that day the Excelsior Club of South Brooklyn, (which by the way ranks as one of the best, if not the best club in the country,) is to play with the Niagara of this city. / The Niagaras are well known to many of our citizens as one of the best clubs in the West, having been victorious in all the matches they have ever played. / It may seem rather presumptuous to some people, in the Niagaras to challenge a club of the reputation of the Excelsiors, but when they know the motive which induced them to do it, they will view the case differently. / The members of the Excelsior club have for years past, been anxious to make a visit to the Falls of Niagara, and have desired a challenge from the Niagaras as an inducement to make the tour. Now the Niagaras look upon the Excelsiors as their parent club, for it was through the enthusiasm of one of their members, that they were organized, and being anxious to make their acquaintance, and also of giving the citizens an opportunity of seeing a first class club play, they extended the invitation to them for the match. The Niagaras expect to be beaten, and as one of its members remarked, ‘its only proper, that the parent should be the first to whip the offspring.’ / The Excelsiors … will arrive in Buffalo on the 10 A. M. train to-day. We believe it is the intention of the Niagara club to make an excursion to the Falls at 2 o’clock, which, besides giving them a ride upon one of the finest rivers in the world, will enable them to see the intrepid Blondin walk, and also take a hurried view of the Falls. Ample accommodations will be made outside the grounds for spectators, on the day of the match, and we expect to see a large assemblage to witness it.”) (BME (4): “The reputation and high position of the Excelsior Club among the Base Ball organizations of the country, gave extraordinary interest to the match, and drew out a very large number of spectators—between two and three thousand, at the most moderate computation—including several hundred ladies. Extensive accommodations in the way of seats, raised tier-like, in circus style, upon two sides of the field, had been provided by the Niagaras, and the rang at the rear of the catcher—a position of safety and advantage—was assigned to and filled by the fairer portion of the crowd. / The game was fully equal in interest to the expectations of those attracted by it. It is safe to say that no such ball playing was ever before witnessed in Buffalo. The manner in which the Brooklyn chaps handled the ball—the ease and certainty with which they caught it, under all circumstances, the precision with which they threw it to the bases, and the tremendous hits they gave it into the long field, frequently batting it into Virginia street, made the optics of the Buffalo players glisten with admiration and protrude with amazement. The effect of their playing could not have a favorable effect upon the spirits and energies of the Niagaras, and some of them were, without doubt, a little discouraged. It was remarked by every one that they did not play with their usual skill and coolness. / We have seen them play better. Quite a number of balls even missed or passed the players which should have been caught, or at least stopped, in their victorious career. / Their opponents, however, are as expert at the game as any players in the State, and it is not to be wondered at that they bore away the palm.”) (Buffalo Daily Courier (5): “Decidedly the match-game of the season occurred yesterday …. The Niagaras, hitherto invincible, were beaten, but the result was not unexpected. For their opponents, if our information be correct, are the finest players in the country, and, therefore, in the world. One consolation for the Buffalo Club, is, that, beaten as they were, they were beaten by gentlemen as well as experts. The utmost good feeling prevailed, the Brooklyn Club evidently feeling as much gratification in the individual successes of the Niagara’s men as in their own. Yet another, and still more solid consolation, is derived from the fact, that the Niagara’s played more nearly even with the Excelsior’s than had any other club outside of New York City. / … / The costume of the Brooklyn club was very simple, consisting of white shirts, dark-blue pantaloons, encircled by white leather belts and black caps. The weather and attendance were equally fine—perhaps we should say fair.”) Niagara grounds described as "above the medical college" (Porter’s Spirit of the Times: [Lengthy description from Buffalo Commercial Advertiser] (Peverelly: “The Excelsiors were met by a delegation of the Niagara at the depot, and taken to the Mansion House. … The Excelsiors were escorted to Bloomfield’s Hotel, where a splendid supper was provided. The Niagaras also went with them to Canada, to the Clifton House, where they were hospitably treated; and throughout, the attention shown the Excelsiors by their Friends could not have been exceeded, and is remembered with the utmost pleasure.”) |
| Sources | (1) “A Base Ball Excursion,” Buffalo Daily Courier, vol. 25, no. 153 (29 Jun 1860), p. 1, col. 2 [reprinted from an NYC newspaper] (2) “The City and Vicinity: Base Ball—Excelsiors and Niagaras,” Buffalo Daily Courier, vol. 25, no. 157 (4 Jul 1860), p. 2, cols. 4-5 (3) “The Base Ball Match,” BME, vol. 15, no. 4469 (4 Jul 1860), p. 3, col. 2 [date = 4 Jul] (4) “Base Ball—Match of the Niagaras with the Excelsior Club of Brooklyn,” BME, vol. 15, no. 4470 (6 Jul 1860), p. 3, col. 1 (5) “The City and Vicinity: The Match, Yesterday—Niagara vs. Excelsior,” Buffalo Daily Courier, vol. 25, no. 158 (6 Jul 1860), p. 2, col. 5 (6) Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, 6 Jul 1860 [NOT YET SEEN] (7) “News by Telegraph: Base Ball,” New York Times, vol. 9, no. 2743 (6 Jul 1860), p. 1, col. 2 (8) “Out-Door Sports: Base-Ball: Excelsior of Brooklyn vs. Niagara of Buffalo,” Porter’s Spirit of the Times, vol. 8, no. 20 (10 Jul 1860), p. 308, col. 3, and p. 309, col. 1 (9) “Out-Door Sports: Base Ball: Excursion of a Brooklyn Club,” New York Times, vol. 9, no. 2749 (13 Jul 1860), p. 8, col. 4 (10) “Excelsior, of Brooklyn vs. Niagara, of Buffalo,” New York Clipper, [?] Jul 1860 (11) Peverelly, p. 57 (12) Wright, p. 44 |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Has Source On Hand | No |
| Comment | Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Found by | Craig Waff |
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| Entry Origin | Games Tab |
| Entry Origin Url | http://protoball.org/Games Tab:New York State, Western#date1860-7-5 |
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