Shenanigans

A very interesting game of base ball was played June 18th, by the Hope, Jr., and the Resolute, Jr., clubs, which resulted in a draw game (27-27).

-St. Louis Daily Press, June 20, 1865

A very interesting game of base ball came off Sunday, the 18th, on the Baltic grounds, between the Resolute, Jr., and the Hope, Jr., resulting in the defeat of the later (21-19).

-St. Louis Daily Press, June 20, 1865

These two game notices appeared back to back in the Daily Press and I wrote it up this way because I wanted you to see it just as I did when I stumbled upon it in the microfilm. What was going on here? I reread everything and initially thought that we had a doubleheader on our hands. I really thought that we had two games played on the same day decided by two runs. That would have been a great day of baseball.

And then I read this:

Notice.-The two scorers (T. Martin/Resolute, Jr.; J. Hobbs/Hope, Jr.) compared the books together and found the score as above stated (21-19). The Hope, Jr's book was then taken away and soon after brought back with the score even. The umpire then examined the books and found the mistake in the Hope, Jr's book. These two clubs will have another match game on Sunday, the 25th, on the Resolute's grounds, opposite Abbey Course. The public are cordially invited to attend, as a very interesting game is expected.

Very Respectfully,

Members Resolute, Jr., Base Ball Club

So we had one game reported in the paper twice with different scores and it seems that we had some shenanigans going on with the Hope, Jr.'s score book. Likely, the Hope, Jr.'s reported the game to the Daily Press as a tie and the Resolute, Jr.'s reported the 21-19 victory, with the addendum as to the tomfoolery with the score book.

The disagreement as to the final score of the game appears to have been handled gracefully with the decision by the two clubs to play another match.