This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2010
When one team has three Hall of Famers in its lineup, including one of the games most winning pitchers, you figure the other team has a long day in front of itself. But that was not the case in this Thursday, May 1, 1884 Opening Day game between the Buffalo Bisons and the Boston Beaneaters of the National League. The Beaneaters had Jim O'Rourke leading off, playing left field; Dan Brouthers at cleanup, playing first base and Pud Galvin on the hill. In 1884, Galvin would start 72 games, completing 71 of them and going 46-22 with a 1.99 ERA, while logging 636 inning! O'Rourke and Brouthers would both hit over .320. But it was Beaneaters who won this game 5-3. We checked the statistics site Baseball-Reference.com for information on the players involved, when we saw their listing of the first game for each team was played against each other and the score was 5-3! The program is neatly scored in pencil, and while some areas are lighter that others, most of the plays are legible. The program has a portrait of the Bisons manager and captain John Morrill, who appears to have had two hits and scored two runs in the contest. The program has a vertical crease straight down the middle, similar to have been folded and put into a breast pocket, and there are several tributary creases from the primary. Interesting to note the cover has proudly exclaimed that the "cabinet photograph" of John Morrill was taken on Tuesday at 11 AM, two days prior to the game, and the program was printed on Wednesday at 12 PM, which was "the quickest on record." An extremely rare program featuring three Hall of Famers determined to be played on Opening Day 1884.