The Campaigns Of The Three Leaders And Of The First Division Clubs For 1894
An interesting statistical chapter of the GUIDE of 1895 includes the
comparative tables of the three leaders in the pennant race of 1894,
viz., those of the Baltimore, New York and Boston clubs, the struggle
between these three clubs being a decidedly attractive feature of the
past season's championship campaign. The season opened on April 19th,
and the close of the first day's play saw the Boston and New York clubs
tied for first place, with Baltimore tied with four other clubs for
second place, only eight of the twelve clubs playing on that day. By the
end of the first month's campaign, on April 30th, Boston had dropped to
third position; Baltimore to fifth place and New York down to ninth in
the race. On May 31st, the close of the second month's campaign,
Baltimore led Boston, being then in third position, and Boston in
fourth, New York having pulled up to sixth place. On June 2d Baltimore
jumped to first place, with Boston fifth and New York seventh. By June
9th the Bostons had got up to second place, but New York was still in
the second division, Baltimore, of course, still leading in the race on
that date. At the end of the third month of the season's campaign, on
June 30th, Baltimore held the lead, with the percentage of victories of
.712, with Boston second, having .667 in percentage figures, while New
York had got back into the first division again with the figures of
.564. On July 5th the "Giants" had worked up to third place, preceded by
Baltimore and Boston, each with the percentage figures respectively of
.679, .672 and .593, it being a close fight at this time between
Baltimore and Boston, while New York was close behind. From July 5th to
the finish these three clubs occupied the three leading positions in the
race, the others being virtually "not in it," as far as winning the
pennant was concerned. This fact alone made the pennant race of 1894 a
very one-sided one, as nearly three months of the season's games
remained to be played. At the end of the July campaign the record showed
Boston in the van, with the percentage figures of .659, to Baltimore's
.618 and New York's .613, Boston having taken the lead from Baltimore on
July 24th, It was just about this time that Boston stock on the racing
market was above par, it being fully expected at this time that the best
the Baltimores would be likely to accomplish would be to retain second
place, while New Yorkers were sanguine at this period of the contest
that the "Giants" would soon lead Baltimore. The Boston champions
retained first position up to July 30th, while New York tried in vain to
push Baltimore out of second place. By, the close of the August campaign
the Baltimores, by a brilliant rally, had replaced Boston in the lead,
the record on August 31st showing Baltimore in the van with the
percentage figures of .657, followed by Boston with .645, and New York
close to the champions with .639. Now came a grand fight for second
place on the part of New York, the Bostons, from this time to the finish
failing to make the accustomed final rally which their friends had
anticipated. On September 6th New York ousted Boston out of second
place, at which date Baltimore led with the percentage figures of .676,
followed by New York with .652, Boston's figures being .646; the rest of
the clubs in the first division at that time being in the five hundreds
only in percentage figures. Boston got down to .632 on September 19th,
New York being then credited with .667 and Baltimore "way up" with
.692. It was now Baltimore's race and New York was regarded as a fixture
for second position, there being a difference in percentage points
between Baltimore and Boston of no less, than 62 points on September
22d; New York then being behind Baltimore 39 points and ahead of Boston
24 points; in fact, a week before the finish, on September 30th, the
positions of the three leaders were fixtures, the only interest left
remaining being the struggle between Philadelphia, Brooklyn and
Cleveland for fourth place. As before remarked, the chief interest in
the September campaign was the expectation on the part of the majority
of the patrons of the game that the Bostons would rally towards the
finish and that the Baltimores would fall off during the last week or
two; instead, however, it was the Boston champions who failed to play up
to their old mark, while it was the Baltimores who did the rallying, and
in fine style, too, under the leadership of the champion manager of the
campaign of 1894.
Next:
The New Champions Of 1894
Previous:
The Three Leading Clubs In The Pennant Race Of 1894
