The Base Ball Intelligencer, Troy, NY, July 2, 1874:
BOSTON, NEW YORK VIE FOR CHAMPIONSHIP
With the championship season about half completed, it appears as though the main competitors for the title of "World's Champion" will come down to the Boston Red Stocking Club and the Mutual Club of New York. These clubs have shown themselves to be the class of the Association thus far this season. The Red Stockings have accumulated 20 victories against 12 defeats, while the Mutuals (playing fewer games) have come out on the victorious side of the ledger in 18 of their 27 matches.
Code:
Standings
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Boston Red Stockings 20 12 .625 .5 17-15 3 10-7 10-5 2-1 7-3 L1 6-4
New York Mutuals 18 9 .667 - 19-8 -1 10-4 8-5 1-0 3-6 W3 8-2
Philadelphia Athletics 12 8 .600 2.5 13-7 -1 8-3 4-5 1-1 5-3 L2 5-5
Philadelphia White Stockings 12 15 .444 6.0 14-13 -2 4-7 8-8 1-0 2-3 W2 6-4
Brooklyn Atlantics 11 6 .647 2.0 10-7 1 9-2 2-4 0-1 6-3 L1 7-3
Baltimore Canaries 11 13 .458 5.5 12-12 -1 5-7 6-6 1-2 5-7 L1 5-5
Chicago White Stockings 8 13 .381 7.0 8-13 0 4-5 4-8 1-2 3-2 L1 3-7
Hartford Dark Blues 2 18 .100 12.5 4-16 -2 2-7 0-11 1-1 1-5 L16 0-10
WITHERS' BAT SPEAKS LOUDER THAN HIS WORDS
Boston Red Stocking left fielder Rit Withers has been described as many things - most of them positive - but gregarious has never been one of them. Friend and team mate Rube Pitman has referred to Withers as "a clam." Speak 'The Clam' may not often do, but his bat speaks louder than any words he may deign to utter. Withers has been the top batsmen in the Association this year, recording 56 safeties in 132 chances for the Boston Club. Some quick calculation shows that to be a batting average of .424 for the soft-spoken Withers.
RIT WITHERS
WISE "OLD" MAN HAS MUTUAL CLUB NEAR TOP
Father Time must have a side deal with Andy Sanford. The Mutual chucker is performing at the very top of his profession, out-performing men a decade or more younger. He's doing this at the ripe old age of 36. While 36 summers may not seem much to the layman consider that base ball is a game for the young man, and that a man like Sanford - old enough to have been a soldier in the Grand Army of the Republic at the first Bull Run - is a rarity. To be his age and still be the best at his position, well, that is truly unique. Sanford has allowed the oppositon a mere 1.95 earned runs per game (according to Chadwick's calculations), better than any other hurler in the Association. He's won 18 and lost 9 decisions, having tossed the pill in all of the Mutual Club's 27 contests.
ANDY SANFORD
DARK BLUE CLUB OUT OF ITS DEPTH
Every year there's one club who just can not handle the Association's top-notch competition. This year that club is the Dark Blue Club of Hartford (CT). The New Englanders decided to try the fast-company this summer, and the results have been nothing short of disastrous. Losers of ten straight, the wagering has begun as to when the Dark Blue will cease to field a nine and slink off into obscurity. The odds of them appearing on the verdant fields in August are long indeed. The base ballers on the Dark Blue Club are now playing to catch the eye of the opposition, and none have performed better than Steven Assenmacher. The man with the long name has been Hartford's best this season and, though he is loath to admit it, realizes that his strong play will likely find him a spot somewhere else when 1875 rolls around.
STEVEN ASSENMACHER