When the Locals Beat the Pros

When the Locals Beat the Pros. Marlborough, Massachusetts. Baseball has been popular in Marlborough since the mid-1800's. The most memorable baseball game came on a fall day in 1901, when local amateurs defeated the professional Boston Americans, the team that would later become the Boston Red Sox. , On October 5, 1901, amateurs from Marlborough and Franklin played the Americans after Boston completed its first professional season. They had finished in second place in the American League with a record of 79-57 behind the Chicago White Sox. , The game was played at Prospect Park on Prospect Street up the hill from this site. Cy Young played in right field for Boston. Up to 1,000 spectators attended. , Boston took an early 3-0 lead, but the locals scored 3 runs to tie the game in the eighth, and won it with an RBI “walk-off” single in the ninth. Two years later, the same Boston Americans would win the first ever World Series title. , Marlborough's most accomplished professional baseball player was catcher Charles “Duke” Farrell. He played in 1,565 Major League games with 1,572 hits and 916 RBI's. In 1897 it was reported he threw out 8 of 9 runners attempting to steal a base in a single game, a Major League record still standing today. , Farrell would play 3 years for the Boston Americans, and was catcher for Boston when they won the 1903 World Series. He retired after eighteen seasons, returned to Marlborough to manage a hotel, died in 1925 and is buried in Immaculate Conception Cemetery. , [Captions] , . Top left: Team photo of the 1901 Boston Americans that played the boys from Marlborough. , . Bottom right: Marlborough's own Charles “Duke” Farrell. This is Farrell's 1888 rookie baseball card when he played for the Chicago White Stockings.