JAYSON
BEGINS
A NEW ERA
Stephen Pollard
University Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
April 21, 1880
It was the beginning of a new era for Jayson Gannon, as he left the comforts of playing for the Philadelphia Diamonds and had talked his way to a contract with the Pittsburgh Gold Stockings.
The Philadelphia Diamonds dominance of the American Conference Baseball League was waning and the Pittsburgh Gold Stockings were beginning to become the dominant and leading team having previously dethroned the Diamonds two seasons earlier and the previous season the Diamonds finishing in 2nd place and failing to win the championship.
Jayson Gannon felt that he was just the one to help out the Pittsburgh Gold Stockings and send them over the top, just the way he was the main impetus for the Diamonds in the decade of the 1870’s.
Starting the season with expansion, the teams owners voted to split the conference league into 2 divisions, eastern and western. The Gold Stockings were starting the season off playing their new rivals in their division the Cleveland Knights.
The game got off to a start, it looked like the fan attendance would start off well, especially since it was well known that Jayson Gannon was now playing for the Pittsburgh Gold Stockings and they were a contending favorite to win the Western Division of the American Conference Baseball League.
The game began, Cleveland got off to a good start, especially because of the error prone shortstop Gary Manning botching up an easy grounder by Russell James, and advancing with a fly out by Daniel Guale, then Fred Morris stroked a single scoring James. There would have been further damage but Fred Norris was tagged out on a base running blunder trying to steal 2nd base, so the Gold Stockings escaped only being behind 1 to 0.
Jayson Gannon came to bat and hit a single, but the Gold Stockings proved that they couldn’t hit like Jayson Gannon and quickly the bottom half of the 1st inning ended with the home team behind 1 to 0.
The top of the 2nd inning started and pitcher Tim Heaton still had problems, putting George Paine on base, advancing and scoring with Ed Loman hitting a hard single scoring Paine. The top half of the 2nd inning ended with the Cleveland Knights ahead 2 to 0.
The bottom half of the 2nd inning ended quickly. The supposedly good hitting Pittsburgh Gold Stockings lineup was not getting any hits and was behind 2 to 0.
The top half of the 3rd inning, Tim Heaton began pitching well and shut down the Knights. In the bottom half of the inning except for Jayson Gannon’s single up the middle, otherwise the inning was quiet and manager and catcher Fred Charles was beginning to become concerned that other than Jayson Gannon,
no one else was hitting and getting on base.
The top half of the 4th inning Tim Heaton continued to shut down the Knights and Fred Charles was hoping that his team would start getting on base and scoring some runs. The bottom half of the 4th inning the Gold Stockings hitters went down quietly and the manager Fred Charles started grumbling.
The top half of the 5th inning continued going well for Heaton and Charles, breezing through another inning, shutting down the opponents and settling into a grove. The bottom half of the 5th inning, with one out Fred Charles belted a single and with 2 outs Jayson Gannon drove the runner Charles to score with a double. Then the 5th inning ended with Cleveland only leading in the game 2 to 1.
The 6th inning started with the Cleveland Knights going down again quietly in the top half of the inning, but the Gold Stockings went down quietly too in the bottom half of the 6th inning.
The top half of the 7th inning Tim Heaton continued to set down the Opponents from Cleveland, keeping the score at 2 to 1.
The bottom half of the 7th inning got off to a roaring start. Richard Manning slapped a single, then Fred Charles came to bat and was walked. After a fly out by the pitcher Heaton, Jayson Gannon came to bat and lined a double, bringing home Manning and Charles, scoring 2 runs. The bottom of the 7th inning came to an end with the Gold Stockings taking a 3 to 2 lead.
The top of the 8th inning saw a continuation of Tim Heaton’s pitching domination, just continuing to scatter a single an inning, keeping the score at 3 to 2.
The bottom half of the 8th inning the Gold Stockings hitting continued. Raymond Hanson got it started with a single and after an outfield fly out, Bill Felton slapped a single scoring Hanson. With the inning coming to an end the Gold Stockings then took a 4 to 2 lead going into the top of the 9th inning. In the top half of the 9th inning, after a leadoff single by Paine, Tim Heaton set the rest of the order down, ending the game, with the Gold Stockings coming from behind 2 to 0, to win the game 4 to 2. Jayson Gannon in his debut with the Gold Stockings went 4 for 4, with 2 singles, 2 doubles and 3 runs batted in, and off to another good start of a season.
Fred Charles, he congratulated Tim Heaton for a finely pitched game, then he thanked Jayson Gannon for helping to win the baseball season Opener.
(C) 2020
