the pennant provided by the Association was a second trophy at stake in some games. Unfortunately, the strongest team in a given year did not always have an opportunity to play for the championship, as the strongest boxer or chess player may annually have an opportunity in the challenge formats that developed in those sports. Indeed, in several NABBP seasons it appears that the strongest team never played a series for the championship, including at least Athletic of Philadelphia in 1868 and the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869. The latter were undefeated, with victories over all of the leading clubs (including ultimate 1868 and 1869 champions Mutual and Atlantic), but they never faced a reigning champion in a deciding game, partly because in scheduling tours of continental scope they practically opted out. Decisive games were also marred by disputes. In 1860, reigning champion Atlantic of Brooklyn and challenger Excelsior of Brooklyn split their first two games. In the third, Excelsior was leading, 8–6, and had men on base, but chose to withdraw because of rowdy behavior by Atlantic partisans and gamblers. The game was declared a draw, and the championship retained by Atlantic. In 1870, Mutual of New York was leading, 13–12, in the deciding game of its series with the Chicago White Stockings when Mutual left the field in protest. Officials decided to revert the score to the end of the last completed inning and awarded the game, and thus the championship, to Chicago. The Mutual club declared itself champion. End of Year Champions 1859 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1860 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1861 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1862 Eckford of Brooklyn 1863 Eckford of Brooklyn 1864 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1865 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1866 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1867 Union of Morrisania 1868 Mutual of New York 1869 Atlantic of Brooklyn 1870 Chicago White Stockings Teams with most wins The won–lost–tied records compiled by Marshall Wright (2000) are not consistently limited to matches between NABBP members. 1857 Atlantic (Brooklyn, New York) 7–1–1 1858 Mutual (New York) 11–1 1859 Excelsior (Brooklyn, New York) 12–3 1860 Excelsior (Brooklyn, New York) 18–2–1 1861 Mutual (New York) 8–2 1862 Eckford (Brooklyn, New York) 14–2 1863 Eckford (Brooklyn, New York) 10–0 1864 Atlantic (Brooklyn, New York) 20–0–1 1865 Atlantic (Brooklyn, New York) 18–0 1866 Union (Morrisania, New York) 25–3 1867 Athletic (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 44–3 1868 Athletic (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 47–3 1869 Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio) 57–0 1870 Mutual