Eckford Club of Brooklyn v Atlantic Club of Brooklyn on 18 September 1862
| Date of Game | Thursday, September 18, 1862 |
|---|---|
| Location | Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY, United States |
| Modern Address | |
| Field | Add Field Page Union Base Ball Grounds |
| Home Team | Eckford Club of Brooklyn |
| Away Team | Atlantic Club of Brooklyn |
| Score | 8 - 3 |
| Game Number | |
| Innings | 9 |
| Number of Players | 18 |
| Game Officials | Umpire, E. Brown (Mutual); Scorer Eckford, J. Grum; Scorer Atlantic, G.W. Moore. |
| NY Rules | Yes |
| Tags | |
| Description | The Eckford BBC postponed this match until their pitcher, Joe Sprague, returned from a three month volunteer stint with the 13th Regiment New York State Militia. It was the deciding match in the three game series with the Atlantics and enabled the Eckford BBC to be regarded as the 1862 National Association of Base Ball Players Champion. The Atlantics, predictably, claimed that they were unaware that the match was for the Silver Ball Trophy. |
| Sources | (1) “Base Ball,” NYT, vol. 11, no. 3429 (19 Sep 1862), p. 3, col. 1 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Comment | This match is also widely referenced as Joe Sprague's debut for the Eckford BBC; however, that is incorrect. He first pitching for the Eckfords on November 4, 1861, against the Hudson River Club of Newburgh, NY. As per the New York Sunday Mercury, "The foul ball lines were marked, as they always should be, from home base to the foul-ball posts, so there could be no mistake made as to whether a ball was foul or not. **See the July 21, 1862 comments for remarks and rules of the foul ball posts. Reportedly 10,000 spectators showed up for the match, which was the greatest reported attendance for any base ball match to this date. A small percentage was admitted into Union Grounds while the rest littered the outside of Union Grounds attempting to watch the match for free. Eckford regular second baseman, Jimmy Wood, was absent from the match reportedly due to a misunderstanding in the scheduling of the match. This is absolute nonsense. This was the Eckfords and perhaps the Atlantics, most important contest since each became club. Joe Sprague and the Eckfords held the Atlantics to three runs. This was the lowest total runs scored in a contest since their inception in 1855. This topped the previous low score for the Atlantics which was four, coming at the hands of Jim Creighton and the Excelsiors of Brooklyn in the first game of their series in 1860. For winning the championship series Eckford President Mr. Jenkins accepted the Silver Ball trophy from Mr. Wood of the Continental Club in the club house at Union Base Ball Grounds. The New York Sunday Mercury wrote that the Eckfords must challenge the Mutual club and if they defeated the Mutes, they were to challenge the Gotham club. By the rules of determining a champion for 1862, this is incorrect. If the Atlantics were considered the champion prior to the series with the Eckford, the Eckford were now the champion and were not required to challenge other opponents. It would be the rest of the clubs requesting matches with the Eckfords in an attempted to defeat them and to wrestle the title away. Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Found by | Eric Miklich |
| Submission Note | |
| Entered by | Ralph Carhart |
| First in Location | |
| Players Locality | Local |
| Entry Origin | |
| Entry Origin Url | |
| Local-Origins Study Groups |
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