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[Illustration: *Text included in illustration. Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide*]
THE SPALDING TRADE MARK.
[Illustration : *Spalding trade mark*]
Experience has shown that in Base Ball and Athletic Goods, as in all other lines of business, unprincipled persons are always eager to prey on the reputation gained by honest dealing and good business management. We regret to state that we have not escaped the attention of such parties, who have appropriated our original designs, styles and names, and by using similar illustrations and descriptions, deceive the public into believing that the articles were manufactured by us, and that we are responsible for their inferior quality. A wide acquaintance with sportsmen and an extended experience with the various sports, has enabled us to anticipate the wants of our patrons in securing outfits, and to offer only such articles as were perfectly satisfactory for our own use, knowing by practical tests that they would serve the purpose properly, and be unfailing to the purchaser.
In order to protect our customers, and to preserve our reputation, we have found it necessary to place our “Trade Mark” on the higher grades of goods that we manufacture and introduce. The care and discrimination exercised in selecting only articles of the highest quality as being worthy of bearing our Trade Mark, has resulted in giving to them a reputation as being practically the best of their kind that could be produced.
In our opinion a satisfied customer is the best advertisement that we can have, and dealers and individuals will please bear in mind that on whatever article our TRADE MARK appears, we guarantee it to be exactly as represented, and wherever just cause for complaint exists, we will thank the purchaser for returning the article to us and receiving a perfect one in return, or the refunding of the purchase money. Our line of Base Balls is now so well known to the trade, and they are so thoroughly appreciated by the base ball players of the country, that it seems almost unnecessary to call special attention to their superior merits. Spalding’s League Ball, having stood the severe test of the National League for the last ten years, and having again been adopted as the official ball of that leading organization for 1888 as well as the other prominent professional College and Amateur Associations, gives it a reputation and sale unequalled by any other ball on the market. BEWARE OF CHEAP IMITATIONS; NO League Ball is genuine without our Trade Mark on each box and ball, and the autograph of [Illustration: *Autogram of A. G. Spalding*] on each label.
We hope that ball players will not be misled by the remarks of interested dealers handling inferior goods, that the articles they offer “are just as good as Spalding’s” and at a cheaper price. We accept their frequent references to our goods as the highest compliment that can be paid us, and only ask that purchasers will do their own comparisons, and be convinced that our goods are really the cheapest as they certainly are the best. Special trade prices are quoted to dealers on application.
CHICAGO. A. G. SPALDING & BROS. NEW YORK.
Publisher’s Notice
* * * * *
“Spalding’s Base Ball Guide” again greets the base ball public with the official records of America’s national game. First issued in 1877, it has grown in popularity, has been enlarged and improved from year to year, and is now the recognized authority upon base ball matters. The statistics contained in the “Guide” can be relied upon, nearly all of them having been compiled from official records.
The “Guide” has attained such a size–180 pages–as to preclude the possibility of publishing in the same issue the League Constitution in full, and other interesting League matter. We are therefore compelled, in addition, to publish the “Official League Book,” which contains only official League matter as furnished by Secretary Young, including the League Constitution in full.
Copies of the “Guide” or “League Book,” will be mailed to any address upon receipt of twelve cents each. Trade orders supplied through the News Companies, or direct from the publishers.
CHICAGO. A. G. SPALDING & BROS. NEW YORK
* * * * *
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 5, 1889.
By the authority vested in me, I do hereby certify that Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Bros., of Chicago and New York, have been granted the _exclusive_ right to publish the Official League Book for 1889.
N. E. YOUNG,
_Secretary National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs._
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FOR THE SALE OF
A. G. SPALDING AND BROS.
ATHLETIC GOODS
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LOCAL AGENCIES.
WESTERN.
A. G. CASE Aurora, Ill.
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EASTERN.
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J. W. BRINE Cambridge, Mass. A. H. POMEROY Hartford, Ct
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BRENNAN & DAVIS Bradford, Pa. F. A. CLAPP & Co Worcester, Mass. GEO. DART Tuxedo, N. Y.
WILLIAM A. HULBERT.
The late Mr. William A Hulbert may be justly considered as the Father of the National League, for he it was who in 1875 was mainly instrumental in bringing about the secession from the old National Professional Association in 1875 which resulted in the establishment of the National League in 1876. To Mr. Hulbert is due the credit of rescuing professional ball playing from the abuses which prevailed in the ranks at the time he first became connected with the Chicago Club. Especially to his persistent course in refusing to consent to the reinstatement of any player expelled from a professional club for crooked play, is the present honesty of the game due. Mr. Hulbert was the second President of the National league, Mr. M G Bulkely, the present Governor of Connecticut, being the League s first President. Mr. Hulbert died in April, 1882 from heart disease. He was essentially a reformer and in his business and social relations sincerity and candor were marked characteristics. The National League adopted this resolution at his death: _Resolved_ That to him alone is due the credit of having founded the National League, and to his able leadership, sound judgment and impartial management is the success of the League chiefly due.
SPALDING’S BASE BALL GUIDE AND
Official League Book for 1889.
A complete hand book of the national game of base ball,
CONTAINING
Statistical reviews of the various professional association championship seasons, as also the records and averages of the inter-collegiate associations, east & west.
ADDED TO WHICH IS THE
COMPLETE OFFICIAL LEAGUE RECORD FOR 1888.
ALSO
_Brief Record of the Base Ball Tours to England in 1874 and to Australia in 1888._
TOGETHER WITH
The new code of playing rules, as revised by the committee of conference.
Attached to which is an official explanatory appendix, giving a correct interpretation of the new rules, also the official record of all league games and players, and the official schedule of league games for 1889, pitchers’ records in victories for 1888.
Base running and throwing records of 1888, with the leading noteworthy events. Records of the veteran batsmen of the league from 1876 to 1888.
_Handsomely Illustrated with Portraits and Pictures_
[Illustration: Boston Grounds.]
[Illustration: CORRECT DIAGRAM OF A BALL GROUND.]
[Illustration: PHILADELPHIA GROUNDS]
The publishers of “Spalding’s Base Ball Guide” present to the fraternity in the GUIDE for 1889, the model baseball annual of the period; the thirteenth annual edition of the work being in every respect the most complete baseball GUIDE ever issued. Exceeding as it does every other book of the kind in size–over two hundred pages of reading matter –as also in its new feature of pictorial illustrations, it presents an epitome of the professional history of the game for 1888, unequaled by any other work of the kind previously published. In fact, the GUIDE for 1889 has been made to conform to the very exceptional year of important events its chapters record–a year which will be remembered for a long time to come as fruitful of the most noteworthy occurrences known in the annals of our national game.
The prominent features of the GUIDE for 1889 are the complete record of the pitching in the League and American championship contests; the instructive chapters on “the lessons of the campaign,” then on “team work;” the analyses of the play in the world’s championship series of contests; the new tables showing the figures of the campaigns of the past eighteen years, and especially the explanatory appendix or chapter of official instructions to umpires and captains.
The great size of the GUIDE precludes the possibility of including the games record of the League campaign, as also other records of League legislation, etc., and these will be found in the “Official League Book,” which contains only official League matter as furnished by Secretary Young, including the League Constitution in full.
[Illustration: CHICAGO GROUNDS.]
The American national game of base ball has reached a period in its history, when it no longer needs to be referred to as a field exercise, calling for particular mention of its peculiar merits. It is now the established favorite game of ball of the American people, and occupies a position in public estimation which no other field sport in vogue approaches. The game has attained its present position of popularity, not only from its adaptability to our peculiar national characteristics, as regards its possession of special points of attraction; but also from its value as a field sport which presents sufficient excitement in itself to draw thousands of spectators, without the extrinsic aid of betting as its chief point of interest, the latter attraction being something which pertains to nearly every other popular sport. Then, too, it should be borne in mind that base ball first taught us Americans the value of physical exercise as an important aid to perfect work in cultivating the mind up to its highest point. It is to the introduction of base ball as a national pastime, in fact, that the growth of athletic sports in general in popularity is largely due; and the game pointed out to the mercantile community of our large cities that “all work and no play” is the most costly policy they can pursue, both in regard to the advantages to their own health, and in the improvement in the work of their employees, the combination of work and play judiciously, yielding results in better work and more satisfactory service than was possible under the old rule. Thus, the game has acted like a lever in lifting into public favor all athletic sports.
A great deal is said about the special attraction of this and that leading sport of the day. The turfman thinks there is nothing approaching the excitement of a horse race, which from the start to the finish occupies but a few minutes of time. The rower regards a three mile “shell” race as the very acme of sporting pleasures; while the yachtsman looks upon all other contests as of trifling importance compared with that ending in the winning of his club regatta cup; and so on through the whole category of sports of the field, the forest and the river. But if any one can present to us a sport or pastime, a race or a contest, which can in all its essentials of stirring excitement, displays of manly courage, nerve and endurance, and its unwearying scenes of skillful play and alternations of success equal our national game of ball, we should like to see it.
What can present a more attractive picture to the lover of out door sports than the scene presented at a base ball match between two trained professional teams competing for championship honors, in which every point of play is so well looked after in the field, that it is only by some extra display of skill at the bat, that a single run is obtained in a full nine innings game? If it is considered, too, that base ball is a healthy, recreative exercise, suitable for all classes of our people, there can be no surprise that such a game should reach the unprecedented popularity it has.
THE PROFESSIONAL SEASON OF 1888.
The season of 1888, in the professional arena, was marked by several events which placed it on record as the most noteworthy, known in the thirteen years’ history of the National League. In the first place it was the inaugural year of the grand movement made by the President of the Chicago Club, to extend the popularity of our national game beyond the American continent; an event which exhibited the characteristic energy, pluck, liberality and business enterprise of Mr. Spalding, in a very marked manner; the grand success which the venture met with being a well merited reward for the large financial outlay which he incurred in the experiment. Secondly, the struggle for the championship of the League, resulting as it did in the success of the New York club, gave to the East a lead in the pennant races which they had not held since 1884, when the Providence club won the championship, Chicago having held the honors in 1885 and 1886, and Detroit in 1887. The past season, too, excelled all previous years in the vast assemblages of spectators who were gathered at the grounds of the prominent clubs on holiday occasions; as also in the immense aggregate of people who patronized the professional contests of the year. It was also an exceptional year in regard to the close and exciting contest for the League pennant, between the four leading clubs of that organization; and at the end of the championship season the sequel of the contest for the base ball championship of the world finished off the campaign of 1888, in a manner that greatly added to the honors won by the victorious League club from New York. The contest for the American Association championship was also one of the interesting events of the season, and one, too, which taught aspiring clubs a lesson which they can well profit by; and that is, that success in championship contests is due far more to able management, competent captaining, and thorough team work, than to the gathering together of the strongest of star players in a club team. In the League, in this respect, while the Boston club had invested, at great financial cost, in securing the services of noted star players, the Chicago club, though weakened by the release of players from their team who had done yeoman service in their ranks for years, were yet able to excel the picked team of star players of the Boston club, simply by superiority in handling those they had left to them. In the Association arena, too, a similar condition of things prevailed in the case of the St. Louis and Brooklyn clubs, the costly investment of the Brooklyn club for new players, only enabling them to reach second place in the pennant race, while the “weakened”(?) St Louis team, by better conceited work together were enabled to break the record by capturing the Association pennant for the fourth successive season, something only equaled by the Boston club under the reign of the old National Association in 1872, ’73, ’74, and ’75.
An event of the season of 1888, also, was the widening the sphere of professional club operations in the United States, by the inauguration of the Texas League, which, though not as successful as desired in its first year, nevertheless opened up a new and large territory for the occupation of the professional clubs. Closing too, as the year did with a commendable movement on the part of the League legislators to regulate the salary system so as to get rid of several costly abuses; it may be justly said that in no year since professional ball playing was officially recognized, was there so much done to promote the welfare of the national game as during the season of 1888.
The summary record of the season’s work of the several professional Leagues and Association prominent during the season of 1888, is as follows:
|Champion |Games |Per Cent. of Leagues |Club. |Played |Victories ——————-+————+———+———- National League |New York | 532 | .641 American | | |
Association |St. Louis | 540 | .681 International | | |
Association | Syracuse | 433 | .718 Western | | |
Association | Des Moines | 458 | .648 Central League | Newark | 4*6[A] | .783 Southern League | Birmingham | 101 | .620 New England League | Lowell | 209 | .566 California League | Stockton | 268 | .615 Texas League | Dallas | 146 | .660 Tri-State League | Lima | 538 | .701
[**Proofreaders note A: * indecipherable number**]
| Number of Clubs.
| Began the | Ended the Leagues | Season. | Season.
—————————+————-+——— National League | 8 | 8
American Association | 8 | 8 International Association | 8 | 8 Western Association | 8 | 7
Central League | 8 | 7 Southern League | 4 | 4
New England League | 7 | 4 California League | 4 | 4
Texas League | 6 | 4
Tri-State League | 10 | 10
THE LEAGUE’S PENNANT RACE OF 1888.
The championship campaign of the League for 1888 began on April 20, with the customary home games between the eight clubs, each in its respective section, the New York team opening the season at Washington, and the Bostons at Philadelphia; while in the West Detroit opened at Pittsburg, and the Chicagos at Indianapolis, the winning clubs being New York, Boston, Pittsburg and Chicago. By the end of the first week of the campaign, Boston was in the van without a defeat being charged to them, while every other club had suffered at least one defeat, Boston leading in the race, followed by Chicago, New York, Pittsburg, Detroit, Indianapolis, Washington and Philadelphia, the latter suffering from the great drawback of the death of their best player Ferguson, a loss which handicapped them all through the season. By the end of the first week in May the contest had assumed quite an interesting phase in one respect, and that was the remarkable success of the Boston team, which, up to May 2 had won every championship game they had played, the record on May 4 leaving them in the van. By May 5, however, Chicago pulled up even with them, the two teams standing with a record of 11 victories and 2 defeats each, and a percentage of .862 at the close of the third week of the spring campaign. In the meantime Philadelphia had rallied and had pulled up to seventh place, and Detroit had overhauled Pittsburg, Indianapolis falling into the last ditch. By the end of May quite a change had been made in the relative position of the eight clubs, Chicago having gone to the front and Boston to second position, while Detroit had moved up to third place, and New York had fallen back to fourth; while Philadelphia had worked up well and had got into fifth position, Pittsburg having made a bad tumble to sixth place, leaving Indianapolis and Washington to bring up the rear.
The month of June saw more changes in the positions of all of the eight clubs except Chicago and Philadelphia, the former having tenaciously held on to first place since the last week in April; while Philadelphia steadily remained a good fifth. Boston, however, fell off badly in the running, the second week in June seeing, them down to fourth place; while by June 9 Detroit had got into second place, and was running Chicago a close race. During the last of May New York had got down to fourth position; but in the first week of June they had rallied and resumed third place; but the next week saw them fall back again, while Boston rallied back to third position. By the end of June the eight clubs occupied the following relative positions in the race Chicago held the lead, with Detroit second, Boston third, New York fourth, Philadelphia fifth, Pittsburg sixth, with Indianapolis and Washington as the two tail enders.
July proved to be the most important month of the season’s race, as it was in this month that the New York team as effectually rallied under the personal influence of Mr. John B. Day, who from that time out took personal cognizance of the doings of the “Giants.” The first week in July saw the New York team drive Boston out of third place, while Pittsburg, for the time being, was forced to occupy seventh position, Indianapolis leading them for a week in July. During the last week in July, Chicago — which club had held the lead consecutively from May 5 to July 23–took a bad tumble, and fell back to third position, while New York and Detroit stood tied for a few days for first place, until Chicago rallied, and then the Detroits were driven back; the end of July leaving New York in the van, with Detroit second, Chicago third, Boston and Philadelphia close together in fourth and fifth positions, while Pittsburg, Indianapolis, and Washington occupied the rear positions. It was now that the race began to be intensely interesting. The steady play of the New York team gave a new feature to the contest, and it now began to be a nip and tuck fight between the “Giants” and the Chicagos for first place, with Detroit close to them as a good third. August saw the steadiest running of the season in the race, but few changes being made in the relative positions of the contestants, the last week of the month seeing New York in the van, Chicago second, Detroit third, Boston fourth, Philadelphia fifth, and Pittsburg, Washington and Indianapolis in the rear.
The promise for an exciting close of the campaign loomed up very bright in September, and during that month, while New York and Chicago still retained their leading positions, Boston temporarily rallied, and got into third place for a week; but Detroit pushed them back, while Philadelphia began to rally for a closing dash for one of the three leading positions. At the close of September the record left New York in the van, with the assurance of a successful termination of the campaign for the “Giants,” while the struggle for second place between Chicago, Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia greatly added to the excitement of the closing month of the campaign. Chicago held on to second place, and Philadelphia, which club on September 29 stood in fifth place rallied brilliantly in October, and drove Boston to fourth place and Detroit to fifth, Boston having occupied fifth place on the 6th of October, Pittsburg, Indianapolis and Washington finally bringing up the rear.
A feature of the campaign was the fact that at no time after May was it doubtful in regard to the position of Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Washington as the three tail-enders of the race. But for this the campaign would have been the most brilliant on record. As it was, however, the contest for the three leading positions by the other five clubs made it exceedingly interesting throughout, New York’s final success giving a new impetus to the succeeding campaign of 1889.
THE STATISTICS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
During the League championship season of 1888 an aggregate of 552 games were played, of which 530 were victories and defeats; and 22 were drawn games, and two were won by forfeit. Of the 552 games played and won, no less than 432 were won by single figure scores, and but 98 by double figures. A noteworthy feature of the campaign was, that while the New York Club won the championship by 84 victories to Chicago’s 77, with but 47 defeats to Chicago’s 58, they failed to score as many runs in the aggregate as the Chicago Club did by 659 to 725, the Chicago’s majority of runs being 66. The New York Club’s score of runs, in fact, was exceeded by Detroit, Boston, and even Indianapolis, the latter’s aggregate of runs being 666.
Below will be found a complete summary of the statistics of the League campaign of 1888:
| | | P | | | | I |
| | | h | | | | n | | | | i | | | | d | W
| | | l | | | P | i | a | N | | a | | | i | a | s | e | C | d | | D | t | n | h | w | h | e | B | e | t | a | i | | i | l | o | t | s | p | n | Y | c | p | s | r | b | o | g | o | a | h | t | o | u | l | t | r | g | i | o | i | r | i | o | k | o | a | n | t | g | s | n | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ————————+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+—-+– Victories | 84| 77| 69| 70| 68| 66| 50| 48 Defeats | 47| 58| 61| 64| 63| 68| 85| 86 Drawn Games | 7| 1| 1| 3| 3| 4| 1| 2 Total Games Played | 138| 135| 131| 137| 134| 138| 136| 136 Won by Forfeit | 1| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0 Lost by Forfeit | 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0 Per Cent. of Victories |.641|.570|.532|.522|.519|.493|.370|.358 Series Won | 5| 4| 2| 2| 3| 2| 1| 0 Series Lost | 1| 1| 2| 2| 1| 1| 6| 5 Series Tied | 0| 1| 0| 0| 2| 1| 0| 0 Series Unfinished | 6| 4| 6| 4| 5| 3| 3| 5 Chicago Victories | 19| 13| 16| 7| 10| 13| 6| 6 Chicago Defeats | 3| 9| 7| 13| 5| 19| 11| 23 Home Victories | 44| 43| 37| 34| 41| 38| 31| 26 Home Defeats | 23| 26| 31| 29| 26| 30| 35| 38 Victories Abroad | 40| 34| 32| 36| 27| 28| 19| 22 Defeats Abroad | 24| 32| 30| 31| 37| 70| 50| 48 Extra Innings Victories | 2| 1| 8| 6| 3| 6| 3| 0 Extra Innings Defeats | 2| 1| 3| 8| 6| 0| 5| 4 Single Figure Victories | 70| 55| 62| 58| 50| 57| 37| 44 Single Figure Defeats | 44| 45| 55| 49| 51| 58| 67| 65 Double Figure Victories | 12| 22| 6| 12| 18| 9| 13| 4 Double Figure Defeats | 4| 12| 6| 15| 12| 10| 18| 21 Batting Average |.240|.247|.229|.240|.243|.223|.233|.207 Fielding Average |.918|.906|.919|.904|.916|.914|.904|.899 Highest Score in Games | 19| 21| 17| 20| 18| 14| 15| 22 Worst Defeat |4-11|0-14|1-14|0-13|2-12|1-16|0-13|0-14 Won by One Run | 21| 18| 28| 16| 10| 10| 13| 12 Lost by One Run | 12| 7| 16| 21| 19| 16| 28| 17 Total Runs Scored | 659| 725| 536| 669| 716| 531| 666| 482
The following is the record of the single figure victories scored in the League championship arena in 1888:
SINGLE FIGURE| | | P | | | | I | || VICTORIES. | | | h | | | | n | || | | | i | | | | d | W ||
| | | l | | | P | i | a || V | N | | a | | | i | a | s || i | e | C | d | | D | t | n | h || c | w | h | e | B | e | t | a | i || t | | I | l | o | t | s | p | n || o | Y | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || r | o | a | h | t | o | u | l | t || i | r | g | i | o | i | r | i | o || e | k | o | a | n | t | g | s | n || s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . || . ————-+—+—+—+—-+—+—+—+—++— New York | –| 12| 10|8[1]| 5| 11| 13| 11|| 70 Philadelphia | 4| –| 9| 5 | 8| 7| 9| 10|| 60 Boston | 8| 9| –| 9 | 5| 6| 12| 9|| 58 Pittsburg | 7| 6| 7| — | 8| 8| 8| 13|| 57
[**Proofreaders note: The data for the last two teams was not included**]
[Footnote 1: One victory scored by New York was from a forfeited game charged against the Pittsburg team as 9 to 0.]
The following is the record of the double figure victories scored by the eight League clubs in the championship arena in 1888:
DOUBLE FIGURE| | | | I | | | P | || VICTORIES. | | | | n | | | h | || | | | | d | | | i | W ||
| | | | i | | P | l | a || V | | | N | a | | i | a | s || i | C | D | e | n | | t | d | h || c | h | e | w | a | B | t | e | i || t | i | t | | p | o | s | l | n || o | c | r | Y | o | s | b | p | g || r | a | o | o | l | t | u | h | t || i | g | i | r | i | o | r | i | o || e | o | t | k | s | n | g | a | n || s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . || . ————-+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++—- Chicago | –| 3| 0| 4| 4| 3| 1| 7|| 22 Detroit | 1| –| 2| 5| 2| 4| 2| 2|| 18 New York | 3| 0| –| 3| 2| 1| 2| 2|| 13 Indianapolis | 1| 2| 0| –| 5| 1| 0| 4|| 13 Boston | 2| 4| 0| 2| –| 1| 0| 3|| 12 Pittsburg | 3| 2| 0| 1| 1| –| 0| 2|| 9 Philadelphia | 1| 0| 1| 3| 1| 0| –| 1|| 7 Washington | 1| 1| 1| 0| 0| 0| 1| –|| 4 ————-+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++—- Defeats | 12| 12| 4| 18| 15| 10| 6| 21|| 89
The following table presents the figures of the _series_ of games won and lost in the League championship arena in 1888. The letters “W” and “L” indicate games won and lost:
| | | P | | | | I | || | | | | h | | | | n | ||S|S | | | i | | | | d | W ||S|e|e | | | l | | | P | i | a ||e|r|r | N | | a | | | i | a | s ||r|i|i | e | C | d | | D | t | n | h ||i|e|e | w | h | e | B | e | t | a | i ||e|s|s | | i | l | o | t | s | p | n ||s| | | Y | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || |L|T | o | a | h | t | o | u | l | t ||W|o|i | r | g | i | o | i | r | i | o ||o|s|e | k | o | a | n | t | g | s | n ||n|t|d | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ||.|.|. ————+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–++-+-+- | W| L| W| L| W| L| W| L| W| L| W| L| W| L| W| L|| | | New York |–|–| 8|11|11| 7|10| 7|14| 5|12| 8|14| 5|15| 4||5|1|0 Chicago |11| 8|–|–|10|10| 9|11| 8|10|12| 7|14| 6|13| 6||4|1|1 Detroit | 7|11|10|10|–|–|10|10|11| 7| 8|10|11| 8|11| 7||3|1|2 Pittsburg | 7|10| 1| 9|10|10|–|–| 6|11| 8|10|14| 6|10| 9||2|1|1 Philadelphia| 5|14|10| 8| 7|11|14| 6|–|–|10| 9|13| 4|10| 9||2|2|0 Boston | 8|12| 7|13|10| 8|10| 8| 9|10|–|–|11| 9|15| 5||2|2|0 Indianapolis| 5|14| 6|14| 8|11| 6|14| 4|13| 9|11|–|–|12| 9||1|6|0 Washington | 4|15| 6|13| 7|11| 9|10| 9|10| 5|15| 8|12|–|–||0|5|0
THE “CHICAGO” GAMES OF 1888.
The record of the “Chicago” games–or games in which the defeated team did not score a single run–in the League championship series of 1888 is appended:
| | P | | | | | I | ||
| | h | | | | | n | ||
| | i | | | | | d | W || | | l | | P | | | i | a || V
| N | a | | i | | | a | s || i | e | d | C | t | D | | n | h || c | w | e | h | t | e | B | a | i || t | | l | i | s | t | o | p | n || o | Y | p | c | b | r | s | o | g || r | o | h | a | u | o | t | l | t || i | r | i | g | r | i | o | i | o || e | k | a | o | g | t | n | s | n || s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . || . ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— New York | –| 1| 2| 4| 2| 1| 3| 6|| 19 Philadelphia| 0| –| 3| 6| 1| 4| 0| 2|| 16 Chicago | 1| 1| –| 3| 1| 2| 1| 4|| 13 Pittsburg | 1| 2| 1| –| 0| 2| 4| 3|| 13 Detroit | 0| 1| 2| 1| –| 2| 1| 3|| 10 Boston | 1| 0| 0| 3| 0| –| 1| 2|| 7
Indianapolis| 0| 0| 1| 0| 1| 1| –| 3|| 6 Washington | 0| 2| 0| 2| 0| 1| 1| –|| 6 ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— Defeats | 3| 7| 9| 19| 5| 13| 11| 23|| 90
EXTRA INNINGS GAMES.
The record of the victories and defeats scored by the eight League Clubs in extra innings games in the championship series of 1888 was as follows:
Date. |Contesting |Cities. |Pitchers. |In’s.|Scr. |Clubs. | | | |
——–+—————-+————+———-+—–+ Sept. 1|Philadelphia |Philadelphia|Sanders | | | v. Wash’n | |Widner | 12 | 2-0 July 30 |Philadelphia |Boston |Buffinton | | | v. Boston | |Sanders | 11 | 4-3 July 31|Philadelphia |Boston |Sanders | | | v. ” | |Clarkson | 11 | 6-5 Sept. 22|Philadelphia |Indianapolis|Sanders | | | v. In’polis | |Healy | 11 | 6-5 May 26|Philadelphia |Boston |Buffinton | | | v. Boston | |Madden | 10 | 1-0 Aug. 11|Philadelphia |Philadelphia|Casey | | | v. Detroit | |Getzein | 10 | 1-0 Aug. 13|Philadelphia |Philadelphia|Buffinton | | | v. In’polis | |Burdick | 10 | 2-1 Aug. 9|Philadelphia |Philadelphia|Casey | | | v. Detroit | |Getzein | 10 | 6-5 April 20|Pittsburg |Pittsburg |Morris | | | v. Detroit | |Getzein | 12 | 5-2 Aug. 1|Pittsburg |Chicago |Galvin | | | v. Chicago | |Baldwin | 12 | 6-4 Sept. 21|Pittsburg |Pittsburg |Morris | | | v. Boston | |Radbourne | 10 | 2-1 Sept. 3|Pittsburg |Indianapolis|Morris | | | v. Indianap’s | |Healy | 10 | 5-4 Sept. 4|Pittsburg |Indianapolis|Galvin | | | v. Indianap’s | |Boyle | 10 | 5-4 May 10|Pittsburg |Pittsburg |Morris | | | v. Boston | |Clarkson | 10 | 11-10 June 28 |Boston |Boston |Sowders | | | v. Washington | |O’Day | 14 | 9-7 Aug. 15|Boston |Boston |Radbourne | | | v. Detroit | |Beatin | 12 | 4-3 April 21|Boston |Washington |Clarkson | | | v. Washington | |O’Day | 11 | 1-0 June 19|Boston |Washington |Sowders | | | v. New York | |Keefe | 11 | 8-7 April 30|Boston |New York |Clarkson | | |v. New York | |Welch | 10 | 4-3 April 28|Boston |Washington |Sowders | | | v. Washington | |Daily | 10 | 4-3 July 30|Indianapolis |Detroit |Burdick | | | v. Detroit | |Getzein | 11 | 6-5 July 31|Indianapolis |Detroit |Healy | | | v. Detroit | |Conway | 11 | 7-5 July 6|Indianapolis |Indianapolis|Boyle | | |v. Ph’d’phia | |Casey | 11 | 9-8 June 8|Detroit |Boston |Getzein | | | v. Boston | |Clarkson | 16 | 11-5 May 12|Detroit |Detroit |Conway | | |v. Philadelphia | |Gleason | 12 | 3-1 July 2|Detroit |Indianapolis|Conway | | |v. Indianapolis | |Healy | 12 | 4-3 July 24|New York |New York |Welch | | | v. Boston | |Madden | 13 | 6-3 July 28|New York |New York |Keefe | | | v. Philadelphia| |Sanders | 10 | 4-2 June 6|Chicago |Boston |Van Halt’n| | | v. Boston | |Radb’rn e| 10 | 3-2
DRAWN GAMES.
Date. |Contesting Clubs. |Cities. | Pitchers. |In’s.|Scr. ——+———————+———-+—————+—–+—- Apr 23|New York v. Was’ngt’n|Washingt’n|Welch O’Day| 13 | 1-1 Aug 13|Chicago v. New York |New York |Baldwin Welch| 12 | 5-5 Sept 3|Philadelphia v N York|New York |Sanders Keefe| 11 | 0-0 May 15|New York v. Pittsburg|Pittsburg |Keefe Galvin| 11 | 3-3 Aug 8|Pittsburg v. Boston |Boston |Morris Sowders| 11 | 3-3 Sep 28|Detroit v. New York |New York |Gruber Titcomb| 10 | 2-2
The following is the record of the victories scored by the eight League Clubs on home grounds in the championship arena during 1888:
| | | P | | | | I | ||
| | | h | | | | n | ||
| | | i | | | | d | W || | | | l | | | P | i | a || G
| N | | a | | | i | a | s || a | e | C | d | | D | t | n | h || m | w | h | e | B | e | t | a | i || e | | i | l | o | t | s | p | n || s | Y | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || | o | a | h | t | o | u | l | t || W | r | g | i | o | i | r | i | o || o | k | o | a | n | t | g | s | n || n | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ||.. ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— New York | –| 4| 8| 5| 6| 6| 7| 8|| 44 Chicago | 6| –| 4| 7| 5| 4| 9| 8|| 43 Philadelphia| 4| 4| –| 3| 5| 7| 9| 5|| 37 Boston | 3| 4| 1| –| 6| 6| 6| 8|| 34
Detroit | 4| 5| 8| 5| –| 7| 6| 6|| 41 Pittsburg | 3| 6| 2| 6| 7| –| 8| 6|| 38 Indianapolis| 3| 5| 3| 5| 4| 4| –| 7|| 31 Washington | 1| 4| 4| 3| 4| 5| 5| –|| 26 ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— Games Lost | 24| 32| 30| 34| 37| 39| 50| 48||294
The record of victories on opponent’s grounds is as follows:
| | | P | | | | I | ||
| | | h | | | | n | ||
| | | i | | | | d | W || | | | l | | | P | i | a || G
| N | | a | | | i | a | s || a | e | C | d | | D | t | n | h || m | w | h | e | B | e | t | a | i || e | | i | l | o | t | s | p | n || s | Y | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || | o | a | h | t | o | u | l | t || W | r | g | i | o | i | r | i | o || o | k | o | a | n | t | g | s | n || n | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ||.. ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— New York | –| 4| 6| 7| 5| 4| 7| 7|| 40 Chicago | 5| –| 4| 5| 5| 5| 5| 5|| 34 Philadelphia| 1| 6| –| 6| 2| 8| 4| 5|| 32 Boston | 5| 3| 8| –| 4| 4| 5| 7|| 36
Detroit | 3| 5| 3| 3| –| 3| 5| 5|| 27 Pittsburg | 4| 5| 4| 2| 3| –| 6| 4|| 28 Indianapolis| 2| 1| 1| 4| 4| 2| –| 5|| 19 Washington | 3| 2| 5| 2| 3| 4| 3| –|| 22 ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— Games Lost | 23| 26| 31| 29| 26| 30| 35| 38||238
[Illustration: JOHN B. DAY, NEW YORK] [Illustration: F. K. STEARNS DETROIT]
[Illustration: A. G SPALDING, CHICAGO.] [Illustration: F. DE H ROBINSON, CLEVELAND] LEAGUE CLUB PRESIDENTS.
[Illustration: W. A. NIMICK, PITTSBURG.] [Illustration: J. T. BRUSH, INDIANAPOLIS.] [Illustration: WALTER F. HEWETT, WASHINGTON.] [Illustration: A. J. REACH, PHILADELPHIA.] LEAGUE CLUB PRESIDENTS.
THE LESSONS OF THE LEAGUE CAMPAIGN OF 1888.
Among the noteworthy results of the League championship campaign of 1888 meriting special comment as affording lessons to be profited by in the future, may be named, first, the success of the Eastern Club of New York, in winning the pennant from the West; secondly, that of the Chicago Club in attaining second place in the race in the face of drawbacks which, under any other management, would have sufficed to have left the Club among the tail-enders; and thirdly, the remarkable failure of the Boston Club to attain even one of the three leading positions in the race, after that club had incurred such a heavy expense in strengthening its team with “star” players. The success of the New York Club in winning the championship, introducing, as it did, a new possessor of the League pennant and its accompanying honors, may justly be regarded as an advantage to the general interests of the National League, inasmuch as it is anything but desirable that one club should, season after season, carry off the honors, as the old Boston Club did in the early history of the professional championship contest; or as the Chicago Club has done in monopolizing the championship of the National League during the past thirteen years of its history. Such monopoly of the honors of each season’s campaign, by one or two of the leading clubs of each year, materially lessens the public interest taken in the annual competition. Besides which, it interferes, to a costly extent, with the financial prosperity of a majority of the competing clubs. Now that a club, new to championship honors, has replaced one of the monopolists, the other previously unsuccessful clubs will begin to entertain hopes of being able to “get in at the death,” as the fox hunters say, in future pennant races, if not this ensuing year, and thereby a new interest will be imparted to coming campaigns.
A feature of the past campaign of 1888 worthy of remark, too, is the fact of the surprisingly good work on the field accomplished by the so-called “weakened Chicago team.” While this work was unquestionably due in a great measure to able management, the assisting element of “temperance in the ranks” had much to do with it. It is equally unquestionable that the very reverse had a great deal to do with the lamentable failure of the Boston team to follow up the success with which that club’s team opened the campaign. The contrast, these two clubs presented in this special respect calls for the most earnest consideration of the vital question of insisting upon temperate habits in all the club teams during the period of the championship season each year. The evil of drunkenness among the professional teams is one which has grown upon the fraternity until it has become too costly an abuse to be longer tolerated. Drunken professionals should be driven from service just as the crooks of a dozen years ago were, never to be allowed to return. Drunken players are not only a costly drawback to success individually, but they permeate the whole baseball fraternity with a demoralizing influence. The fact is, professional baseball playing has arrived at that point of excellence, and reached so advanced a position in regard to its financial possibilities, that it will no longer pay, in any solitary respect, to allow players of drinking habits in first-class teams. The demands of the game, as it is now played, are such as to require a player to have all his wits about him to play ball up to the standard it has now reached. He needs the steadiest of nerves, the clearest eyesight, the most unclouded judgment, and the healthiest physique to play the game as it is required to be done by the exacting public patrons of the present day. Another thing, the capitalists who have ventured thousands of dollars in baseball stock companies, can no longer allow their money to be risked in teams which are weakened by the presence of men of drinking habits. Mr. Spalding’s plucky and most successful experiment has conclusively shown that a baseball team run on temperance principles can successfully compete with teams stronger in other respects, but which are weakened by the toleration of drinking habits in their ranks. Here is a lesson taught by the campaign of 1888 which points a moral, if it does not adorn a tale.
Another special lesson of the past campaign which was practically illustrated by the Boston Club was, that star players do not make a winning team. The fact is, the pennant cannot be won by any costly outlay in securing the services of this, that, or the other “greatest player in the country.” It is well managed and harmonious teams, not picked nines led by special stars, which win in the long run. Now and then–as there are exceptions in all cases–a picked nine will attain a certain degree of success. But for steady struggles for permanent success in the professional championship arena, team work of the very best, and admirably managed teams will alone achieve steady victory. The old Boston teams under Harry Wright, and the Chicago teams under Anson, are a standing proof of this fact. Let the National League magnates ponder these truths earnestly.
THE LEAGUE PITCHING OF 1888.
While there is no more reliable a record, by which to estimate a pitcher’s skill in the box, than the figures showing the runs clean earned off the pitching; in the absence of such figures the best criterion is that of the record of victories and defeats pitched in, the percentage of victories to games played being the deciding point in awarding the palm of superior work in the box. In 1888 the pitchers were handicapped by the absurd rule which charged runs scored on bases on balls as _earned_ runs, successive bases on balls giving an earned run to the batting side, even in the absence of a single base hit. To estimate a pitcher’s skill on such a basis is nonsense. As the scoring rules do not admit of the record of data showing runs clean earned off the pitching, and not off the fielding and pitching combined, we are obliged to make up a record of the percentage of victories as the only reliable figures at command on which to judge the pitching of the season. By and by the Committee of Conference will get out of the old rut in this respect, and then correct data will be available; until then we must do the best we can under the circumstances, and consequently the names of the pitchers of the League Clubs who took part in not less than ten games are appended, and these are placed in the order of the best percentage of victories.
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|PITCHERS. |CLUB. | . | . | . | . –+———–+————+—+—+—+—– 1|Keefe |New York | 35| 12| 47| .745 2|Conway |Detroit | 31| 14| 15| .689 3|Buffinton |Philadelphia| 29| 15| 44| .659 4|Sanders |Philadelphia| 19| 10| 29| .655 5|Krock |Chicago | 25| 14| 39| .641 6|Titcomb |New York | 14| 8| 22| .636 7|Clarkson |Boston | 33| 20| 53| .623 8|Tener |Chicago | 7| 5| 12| .583
9|Welch |New York | 26| 19| 45| .577 10|Sowders |Boston | 19| 15| 34| .559 11|Morris |Pittsburg | 29| 24| 53| .547 12|Van Haltren|Chicago | 13| 11| 24| .542 13|Staley |Pittsburg | 12| 12| 24| .500 14|Burdick |Indianapolis| 10| 10| 20| .500 15|Galvin |Pittsburg | 23| 25| 48| .479 16|Whitney |Washington | 19| 21| 40| .475 17|Baldwin |Chicago | 13| 15| 28| .464 18|Gruber |Detroit | 11| 13| 24| .458 19|Crane |New York | 5| 6| 11| .455
20|Casey |Philadelphia| 14| 19| 33| .424 21|Beatin |Detroit | 5| 7| 12| .417
22|Getzein |Detroit | 18| 26| 44| .409 23|Boyle |Indianapolis| 15| 22| 37| .405 24|Madden |Boston | 7| 12| 19| .368
25|Widner |Washington | 4| 7| 11| .364 26|O’Day |Washington | 16| 31| 47| .340 27|Shreve |Indianapolis| 11| 24| 35| .314 28|Radbourne |Boston | 7| 16| 23| .304 29|Gleason |Philadelphia| 7| 17| 24| .292
Some remarkable pitching was done during the season of 1888, alike in the American arena, as in the League. The strategic work was up to a very high mark in the League, and in this, Keefe, Conway, Buffinton, Clarkson, Welch, Galvin, and Morris bore off the palm, while in speed alone, Crane of New York excelled.
The detailed record of victories and defeats pitched in during the championship campaign of 1888 by those who pitched in at least five victories, is as follows. The names are given in the order of most victories and fewest defeats:
VICTORIES.
| | | P | | | | I | ||
| | | h | | | | n | ||
| | | i | | | | d | W || | | | l | | | P | i | a || V
| N | | a | | | I | a | s || i | e | C | d | | D | t | n | h || c | w | h | e | B | e | t | a | i || t | | i | l | o | t | s | p | n || o | Y | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || r | o | a | h | t | o | u | l | t || i | r | g | i | o | i | r | i | o || e | k | o | a | n | t | g | s | n || s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . || . ———–+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— Keefe | –| 3| 5| 5| 5| 3| 8| 6|| 35
Clarkson | 5| –| 5| –| 6| 1| 5| 6|| 33 Conway | 5| 5| 5| 2| –| 5| 6| 3|| 31
Buffinton | 3| 4| –| 5| 2| 7| 5| 3|| 29 Morris | 6| 3| 4| 6| 3| –| 4| 3|| 29
Welch | –| 3| 5| 6| 1| 4| 3| 4|| 26 Krock | 5| –| 2| 3| 4| 3| 4| 4|| 25
Sanders | 0| 3| –| 3| 1| 3| 5| 4|| 19 Sowders | 3| 1| 2| –| 2| 4| 2| 5|| 19
Whitney | 3| 3| 4| 3| 1| 3| 2| –|| 19 Getzein | 0| 4| 4| 2| –| 2| 3| 3|| 18
O’Day | 1| 2| 3| 2| 3| 3| 2| –|| 16 Boyle | 2| 1| 2| 4| 2| 1| –| 3|| 15
Titcomb | –| 1| 2| 1| 3| 2| 1| 4|| 14 Casey | 1| 2| –| 2| 4| 2| 2| 1|| 14
Van Haltren| 0| –| 2| 1| 2| 2| 2| 4|| 13 Baldwin | 3| –| 1| 3| 2| 2| 2| 0|| 13
Staley | 0| 2| 0| 1| 1| –| 6| 3|| 12 Gruber | 2| 1| 1| 3| –| 1| 2| 1|| 11
Shreve | 2| 1| 0| 3| 3| 1| –| 1|| 11 Burdick | 1| 3| 0| 1| 1| 3| –| 1|| 10
Tener | 2| –| 0| 2| 1| 0| 1| 1|| 7 Madden | 0| 0| 2| –| 0| 3| 1| 1|| 7
Radbourne | 0| 1| 0| –| 2| 1| 0| 3|| 7 Gleason | 1| 0| –| 0| 0| 3| 1| 2|| 7
Crane | –| 1| 2| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1|| 5 Beatin | 0| 0| 0| 1| –| 1| 0| 3|| 5
DEFEATS
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| N | | a | | | I | a | s || | e | C | d | | D | t | n | h ||
| w | h | e | B | e | t | a | i || D | | i | l | o | t | s | p | n || e | Y | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || f | o | a | h | t | o | u | l | t || e | r | g | i | o | i | r | i | o || a | k | o | a | n | t | g | s | n || s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . || . ———–+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— Tener | 1| –| 2| 0| 0| 0| 1| 1|| 5
Crane | –| 0| 0| 0| 1| 1| 2| 2|| 6 Beatin | 1| 2| 1| 2| –| 0| 1| 0|| 7
Titcomb | –| 1| 0| 1| 3| 2| 0| 1|| 8 Sanders | 3| 2| –| 2| 1| 1| 0| 1|| 10
Burdick | 1| 1| 3| 1| 1| 0| –| 3|| 10 Van Haltren| 2| –| 1| 2| 3| 2| 1| 0|| 11 Keefe | –| 4| 1| 4| 0| 1| 2| 0|| 12
Staley | 2| 1| 2| 2| 3| –| 1| 1|| 12 Madden | 3| 2| 2| –| 2| 2| 1| 0|| 12
Gruber | 3| 1| 2| 2| –| 0| 2| 3|| 13 Conway | 2| 2| 1| 2| –| 3| 1| 3|| 14
Krock | 2| –| 2| 3| 2| 3| 1| 1|| 14 Buffinton | 4| 2| –| 3| 2| 2| 1| 1|| 15 Sowders | 3| 2| 4| –| 2| 2| 2| 0|| 15
Baldwin | 1| –| 1| 1| 4| 4| 2| 2|| 15 Radbourne | 2| 5| 0| –| 2| 2| 2| 3|| 16 Gleason | 2| 3| –| 3| 3| 1| 0| 5|| 17
Welch | –| 6| 4| 3| 2| 2| 1| 1|| 19 Casey | 5| 1| –| 1| 5| 2| 3| 2|| 19
Clarkson | 4| 3| 4| –| 2| 2| 3| 2|| 20 Whitney | 4| 1| 2| 5| 2| 4| 3| –|| 21
Boyle | 5| 5| 3| 3| 1| 5| –| 0|| 22 Morris | 3| 4| 4| 2| 3| –| 2| 6|| 24
Shreve | 4| 4| 4| 2| 5| 3| –| 2|| 24 Galvin | 4| 3| 7| 5| 3| –| 1| 2|| 25
Getzein | 5| 3| 3| 4| –| 7| 3| 1|| 26 O’Day | 4| 5| 4| 5| 3| 3| 7| –|| 31
These pitching records not only present a tolerably fair criterion of a pitcher’s skill in the box–though of course not as reliable as the data of clean earned runs off his pitching or of clean hits made from it–but they afford an interesting and instructive record from which to judge of the success of a pitcher in defeating one particular team more frequently than he does another, and vice versa. In fact, experience has shown that no matter how effective a pitcher may be in a season’s work, it will be found that there is always one team which bothers him more than any other he has to face, just as shown in the above quoted instances.
In regard to judging of a pitcher’s ability as a fielder in his position by the fielding averages of pitchers the basis was made equally as unreliable as the estimate of earned runs was, owing to the fact that the data of the fielding averages of a pitcher were made up from the figures of “assistance on strikes” as well as from legitimate fielding assistances. For this reason the pitcher, who was really a poor fielder in his position in fielding balls from the bat, but who happened to be fortunate in striking batsmen out by his pitching–thereby getting a big record of pitching assistances–became the leader in the pitcher’s fielding averages; while the pitcher who really excelled as a fielder when in the box, but who was not as fortunate in striking out his batting opponents, and therefore could not furnish as good a record of assistances on strikes, was set down in the fielding averages as a tail-ender.
The individual club record of the pitching of 1888 presents some interesting figures. For instance, we find that while Chicago used no less than eleven pitchers during the championship season Philadelphia was content with but four. No less than twenty new pitchers entered the League season in 1888, and of these, Sanders of Philadelphia; Tener and Krock of Chicago; Sowders of Boston; Staley of Pittsburgh; Burdick of Indianapolis, and Widner of Washington, proved to be acquisitions.
Below will be found the individual club pitching records for 1888, showing the victories and defeats each club pitcher participated in as an occupant of the box. The names given in italics are those of pitchers new to the League arena:
EASTERN CLUBS.
NEW YORK.
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| g | i | o | i | r | i | o ||
| o | a | n | t | g | s | n ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ——–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. ——–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Keefe | 3| 4| 5| 2| 5| 4| 5| 0| 3| 1| 8| 2| 6| 0||35|12| 47 Welch | 3| 6| 5| 4| 6| 3| 1| 2| 4| 2| 3| 1| 4| 1||25|19| 45 Titcomb | 1| 1| 2| 0| 1| 1| 3| 3| 2| 2| 1| 0| 4| 1||14| 8| 22 _Crane_ | 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0| 1| 0| 2| 1| 2|| 5| 6| 11 George | 0| 0| 2| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0| 0| 0|| 2| 1| 3 Weidman | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0|| 1| 1| 2 ——–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Totals | 8|11|14| 5|12| 8|11| 7| 9| 7|14| 5|15| 4||83|47|130 | | | | | | | | |[1]
[Footnote 1: One game with Pittsburg was won by forfeit.]
CHICAGO.
| | P | | | | I | || | | h | | | | n | ||
| | i | | | | d | W || | | l | | | P | i | a ||
| N | a | | | i | a | s || | e | d | | D | t | n | h ||
| w | e | B | e | t | a | i || | | l | o | t | s | p | n ||
| Y | p | s | r | b | o | g || | o | h | t | o | u | l | t ||
| r | i | o | i | r | i | o || | k | a | n | t | g | s | n ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ———–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. ———–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— _Krock_ | 5| 2| 2| 2| 3| 3| 4| 2| 3| 3| 4| 1| 4| 1||25|14|39 Van Haltren| 0| 2| 2| 1| 1| 2| 2| 3| 2| 2| 2| 1| 4| 0||13|11|24 Baldwin | 3| 1| 1| 1| 3| 1| 2| 4| 2| 4| 2| 2| 0| 2||13|15|28 _Tener_ | 2| 1| 0| 2| 2| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 1| 1| 1| 1|| 7| 5|12 _Dwyer_ | 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 2| 0|| 4| 1| 5 _Borchers_ | 0| 0| 1| 1| 1| 0| 0| 1| 1| 2| 1| 0| 0| 1|| 4| 5| 9 Ryan | 1| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0|| 3| 1| 4 _Gumpert_ | 0| 1| 0| 1| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 2| 0|| 3| 3| 6 _Clark_ | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 2| 0| 0| 0|| 2|| 0| 2 _Bryman_ | 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1|| 2| 1| 3 _Mains_ | 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0|| 1| 1| 2 ———–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Totals |11| 8| 8| 9|12| 7|10|10| 9|11|14| 6|13| 6||77|57|134 | | | |[1]
[Footnote 1: One defeat with the Philadelphia Club was by forfeit.]
DETROIT.
| | | P | | | I | ||
| | | h | | | n | ||
| | | i | | | d | W ||
| | | l | | P | i | a ||
| N | | a | | i | a | s ||
| e | C | d | | t | n | h ||
| w | h | e | B | t | a | i ||
| | i | l | o | s | p | n ||
| Y | c | p | s | b | o | g ||
| o | a | h | t | u | l | t ||
| r | g | i | o | r | i | o ||
| k | o | a | n | g | s | n ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ——-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. ——-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Conway | 5| 2| 5| 2| 5| 1| 2| 2| 5| 3| 6| 1| 3| 3||31|14| 45 Getzein| 0| 5| 4| 3| 4| 3| 2| 4| 2| 7| 3| 3| 3| 1||18|26| 44 Gruber | 2| 3| 1| 1| 1| 2| 3| 2| 1| 0| 2| 3| 1| 3|| 1|13| 24 Beatin | 0| 1| 0| 2| 0| 1| 1| 2| 1| 0| 0| 1| 3| 0|| 5| 7| 12 Baldwin| 0| 0| 0| 2| 1| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0|| 3| 3| 6 ——-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Totals | 7|11|10|10|11| 7| 8|10|10|10|11| 8|11| 7||68|63|131
PHILADELPHIA.
| | | | | | I | || | | | | | | n | ||
| | | | | | d | W || | | | | | P | i | a ||
| N | | | | i | a | s || | e | C | | D | t | n | h ||
| w | h | B | e | t | a | i || | | i | o | t | s | p | n ||
| Y | c | s | r | b | o | g || | o | a | t | o | u | l | t ||
| r | g | o | i | r | i | o || | k | o | n | t | g | s | n ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|P. ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Buffinton| 3| 4| 4| 2| 5| 3| 2| 2| 7| 2| 5| 1| 3| 1||29|15| 44 _Sanders_| 0| 3| 3| 2| 3| 2| 1| 1| 3| 1| 5| 0| 4| 1||19|10| 29 Casey | 1| 5| 2| 1| 2| 1| 4| 5| 2| 2| 2| 3| 1| 2||14|19| 33 _Gleason_| 1| 2| 0| 3| 0| 3| 0| 3| 3| 1| 1| 0| 2| 5|| 7|17| 24 ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Totals | 4|14| 9| 8|10| 9| 7|11|15| 6|13| 4|10| 9||69|71|130 | | |[1] | | | | |[2]
[Footnote 1: One game with Chicago was won by forfeit.] [Footnote 2: One game with Pittsburg thrown out.]
BOSTON.
| | | P | | | I | || | | | h | | | n | ||
| | | i | | | d | W || | | | l | | P | i | a ||
| N | | a | | i | a | s || | e | C | d | D | t | n | h ||
| w | h | e | e | t | a | i || | | i | l | t | s | p | n ||
| Y | c | p | r | b | o | g || | o | a | h | o | u | l | t ||
| r | g | i | i | r | i | o || | k | o | a | t | g | s | n ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Clarkson | 5| 4| 5| 3| 5| 4| 6| 2| 1| 2| 5| 3| 6| 2||33|20| 53 _Sowders_| 3| 3| 1| 2| 2| 4| 2| 2| 4| 2| 2| 2| 5| 0||19|15| 34 Madden | 0| 3| 0| 2| 2| 2| 0| 2| 3| 2| 1| 1| 1| 0|| 7|12| 19 Radbourne| 0| 2| 1| 5| 0| 0| 2| 2| 1| 2| 0| 2| 3| 3|| 7|16| 23 Conway | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 3| 1| 0| 0|| 4| 1| 5 ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Totals | 8|12| 7|10| 9|10|10| 8|10| 8|11| 9|15| 5||70|64|134
INDIANAPOLIS.
| | | P | | | | || | | | h | | | | ||
| | | i | | | | W || | | | l | | | P | a ||
| N | | a | | | i | s || | e | C | d | | D | t | h ||
| w | h | e | B | e | t | i || | | i | l | o | t | s | n ||
| Y | c | p | s | r | b | g || | o | a | h | t | o | u | t ||
| r | g | i | o | i | r | o || | k | o | a | n | t | g | n ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Boyle | 2| 5| 1| 5| 2| 3| 4| 3| 2| 1| 1| 5| 3| 0||15|22| 37 Healy | 0| 3| 1| 4| 2| 2| 1| 3| 2| 3| 1| 6| 5| 3||12|24| 36 Shreve | 2| 4| 1| 4| 0| 4| 3| 2| 3| 5| 1| 3| 1| 2||11|24| 35 _Burdick_| 1| 1| 3| 1| 0| 3| 1| 1| 1| 1| 3| 0| 1| 3||10|10| 20 Moffat | 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 2| 0| 1| 0| 0| 2| 0|| 2| 5| 7 ———+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Totals | 5|14| 6|14| 4|13| 9|11| 8|11| 6|14|12| 8||50|85|135
WASHINGTON.
| | | P | | | | I || | | | h | | | | n ||
| | | i | | | | d || | | | l | | | P | i ||
| N | | a | | | i | a || | e | C | d | | D | t | n ||
| w | h | e | B | e | t | a || | | i | l | o | t | s | p ||
| Y | c | p | s | r | b | o || | o | a | h | t | o | u | l ||
| r | g | i | o | i | r | i || | k | o | a | n | t | g | s ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ———-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. ———-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Whitney | 3| 4| 3| 1| 4| 2| 3| 5| 1| 2| 3| 4| 2| 3||18|21| 40 O’Day | 1| 4| 2| 5| 3| 4| 2| 5| 3| 3| 3| 3| 2| 7||16|31| 47 Keefe | 0| 2| 0| 2| 0| 1| 0| 1| 2| 1| 2| 0| 2| 0|| 6| 7| 13 _Widner_ | 0| 1| 0| 2| 1| 2| 0| 2| 1| 0| 1| 0| 1| 0|| 4| 7| 11 Daily | 0| 0| 1| 1| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 2| 0| 0| 1| 0|| 2| 4| 6 Gilmore | 0| 3| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0| 1| 0| 2| 0| 2| 0| 1|| 1|10| 11 _Greening_| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0|| 0| 1| 1 _Haddock_ | 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0|| 0| 2| 2 Shaw | 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 1|| 0| 3| 3 ———-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+— Totals | 4|15| 6|13| 9|10| 5|15| 7|11| 9|10| 8|12||48|86|134
PITTSBURG.
| | | P | | | I | || | | | h | | | n | ||
| | | i | | | d | W || | | | l | | | i | a ||
| N | | a | | | a | s || | e | C | d | | D | n | h ||
| w | h | e | B | e | a | i || | | i | l | o | t | p | n ||
| Y | c | p | s | r | o | g || | o | a | h | t | o | l | t ||
| r | g | i | o | i | i | o || | k | o | a | n | t | s | n ||
| . | . | . | . | . | . | . || Totals. ———–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+—–++-+–+— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. ———–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+—–++-+–+— Morris | 6| 3| 3| 4| 4| 4| 6| 2| 3| 3| 4| 2| 3| 6||29|24| 53 Galvin | 1| 4| 5| 3| 2| 7| 1| 5| 6| 3| 5| 1| 3| 2||23|25| 48 _Staley_ | 0| 2| 2| 1| 0| 2| 1| 2| 1| 3| 5| 1| 3| 1||12|12| 24 _Knell_ | 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0|| 1| 2| 3 _Henderson_| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 0| 1| 0| 1| 0| 1| 0| 0|| 1| 4| 5 Maul | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0|| 0| 1| 1 ———–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+—–++-+–+— Totals | 7| 9|11| 9| 6|15| 8|10|10|10|14| 6|10| 9||66|68|134 |[1] | | | |[1]
[Footnote 1: One game with New York was forfeited, and one defeat with Philadelphia was thrown out.]
The retiring pitchers of the year were McCormick of Pittsburgh, Ferguson of Philadelphia, who died early in the season; Weidman and Twitchell of Detroit; Shaw of Washington; Mattimore of New York; Pyle and Sprague of Chicago; Leitner, Morrison and Kirby of Indianapolis, and Stemmyer of Boston
THE MONTHLY RECORDS.
The month of _April_ saw Boston taking the lead in the record of victories for that month, that club not sustaining a single defeat in April. Chicago stood second, with New York and Pittsburgh tied in the number of victories and defeats credited and charged to each club, Detroit standing fifth, while Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Washington brought up the rear.
_In May_ Chicago led all the other teams in their victories that month; Detroit being second, Philadelphia third, New York fourth, and Boston fifth, Indianapolis being sixth, with Pittsburgh and Washington tied for last place in the May record, Boston and Pittsburgh falling off badly this month.
_In June_ Detroit won the most victories, it being their best month’s work of the season, Chicago being second, Philadelphia third, New York fourth, Boston fifth, Washington sixth, with Indianapolis seventh and Pittsburgh last, it being the latter club’s poorest month’s work of the campaign.
_In July_ the new rule of management, inaugurated by Mr. Day, placed New York in the front, and the result was that the “Giants” in July made the best month’s record of the season, over 18 victories to but five defeats; Detroit stood second on the list in July victories, with Pittsburgh third, the latter making a good rally in July; Indianapolis, too, played well this month and stood fourth, Washington being fifth, and Chicago sixth, the latter taking a bad tumble, Philadelphia and Boston being the two last in July victories, Boston winning but five victories out of twenty-two games, that club’s worst monthly record.
_In August_ Boston rallied in brilliant style, scoring 16 victories out of 22 games, quite a contrast to their poor work in July; New York was second, and Pittsburgh third, the latter doing better, even, than in July; Philadelphia stood fourth, Chicago fifth, Washington sixth, with Indianapolis seventh and Detroit last, the latter only winning five victories out of 21 games in August.
_In September_ Chicago rallied well and went to the front in the record of the month’s victories, Pittsburgh being second, New York third, Detroit fourth–the latter rallying; Philadelphia sixth, with Indianapolis and Washington bringing up the rear. By the close of the month New York had virtually settled the question of the championship, and the only struggle left was that for second place.
_In October_ Philadelphia made its usual “spurt” at the finish, and that club won eight out of nine games in October, after giving Chicago a close fight for second place, and came in a good third in the pennant race. New York was second in the October victories, Boston third, Pittsburgh and Washington tied for fourth, Chicago was sixth–that club gaining second position in the pennant race; Indianapolis and Washington being the two last. Here is the full record of the monthly victories and defeats of the campaign:
|April| May | June| July| Aug.|Sept.| Oct.||Totals. ————+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–++——— |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.|P. New York | 5| 3|12| 9|13|11|18| 5|16| 8|13| 8| 7| 3||84|47|131 Chicago | 6| 2|15| 7|14| 8|10|14|12|13|16| 9| 4| 5||77|58|135 Philadelphia| 2| 7|12| 7|13|10| 9|15|15| 9|10|12| 8| 1||69|61|130 Boston | 9| 0|11|13|12|11| 5|17|16| 6|12|12| 5| 5||70|64|134 Detroit | 3| 5|14| 8|16| 6|14|10| 5|16|13|11| 3| 7||68|63|131 Pittsburg | 5| 3| 7|14| 5|15|13| 9|16| 9|15|12| 5| 6||66|68|134 Indianapolis| 2| 6| 8|14| 7|14|13|11| 6|21|10|13| 4| 6||50|85|135 Washington | 1| 7| 7|14| 9|14|11|12|10|14| 5|19| 5| 6||48|86|134
[Illustration: A. C. Anson. ]
THE LEADING PLAYERS OF THE LEAGUE.
Looking over the League averages, and taking those players who have taken part in a majority of the championship contests of the season, we find the appended names among those occupying the leading positions at the bat and in the field.
Of those who played in one hundred games and over in the League championship arena, the following comprise the first ten batsmen:
|BATSMEN. |CLUB. |Games.|Per cent. of | | | |Base Hits.
–+———+——–+——+——— 1|Anson |Chicago | 134 | .343
2|Ryan |Chicago | 130 | .331
3|Kelly |Boston | 105 | .318
4|Brouthers|Detroit | 129 | .306
5|Ewing |New York| 103 | .306
6|White |Detroit | 125 | .298
7|Johnston |Boston | 135 | .295
8|Tiernan |New York| 113 | .293
9|Connor |New York| 134 | .291
10|Nash |Boston | 135 | .283
Of those who played in one hundred games and over in the League campaign, the following are the first seven in fielding averages:
FIELDERS. |POSITION. |CLUB. |Games.|Fielding|Per cent. | | | |Average.| of
| | | | |Base Hits. ———-+————–+———+——+——–+———- Anson |First Baseman |Chicago | 134 | .985 | .343 Richardson|Second Baseman|New York | 135 | .942 | .226 Nash |Third Baseman |Boston. | 104 | .913 | .283 Glasscock |Short Stop |Ind’polis| 109 | .900 | .269 Hornung |Left Fielder |Boston | 107 | .947 | .239 Slattery |Center Fielder|New York | 103 | .917 | .245 Tiernan |Right Fielder |New York | 113 | .959 | .293
Of the pitchers who took part in 50 games and over, the following led in fielding averages:
No pitcher or catcher played in 100 games.
PITCHERS.|CLUB. |Games.|Fielding|Per cent. | | |Average.| of
| | | |Base Hits.
———+———+——+——–+———- Keefe |New York | 51 | .785 | .127
Galvin |Pittsburg| 50 | .758 | .143 Morris |Pittsburg| 54 | .732 | .102
Clarkson |Boston | 54 | .678 | .195
Of the catchers who took part in 60 games and over, the following led in fielding averages:
CATCHERS.|CLUB. |Games.|Fielding|Per cent. | | |Average.| of
| | | |Base Hits.
———+————+——+——–+———- Bennett |Detroit | 72 | .941 | .263
Daly |Chicago | 62 | .880 | .191 Clements |Philadelphia| 84 | .874 | .247 Ewing |New York | 78 | .861 | .306
Mack |Washington | 79 | .843 | .186 Miller |Pittsburg | 68 | .805 | .277 Kelly |Boston | 74 | .796 | .318
THE BASE RUNNING RECORD.
Those of the League championship players who are credited with not less than 50 stolen bases in the pennant race, are as follows:
BASERUNNERS.|CLUB. |Games.|Stolen Bases. ————+————+——+———– Hoy |Washington | 136 | 82
Seery |Indianapolis| 133 | 80
Sunday |Pittsburg | 119 | 71
Pfeffer |Chicago | 136 | 64
Ryan |Chicago | 130 | 60
Fogarty |Philadelphia| 120 | 58
Kelly |Boston | 105 | 56
Ewing |New York | 103 | 53
Tiernan |New York | 113 | 52
The above are the leaders in seven of the eight League clubs. Hanlon led in the Detroit team, but he only scored 38 stolen bases in 108 games. The Detroit team was singularly weak in this respect.
Mr. R.M. Larner of Washington has made up an interesting table from the figures of the League averages, which presents some very interesting statistics of the base running in the League during the championship season of 1888. Mr. Larner says:
“The official averages of League players contain the number of bases stolen by each player during the season, but furnish no means of comparison between the clubs in that most important department of the game. A glance, however, shows that the three tail-end clubs possess the three most successful base-runners in the League, in Hoy of the Washingtons, Seery of Indianapolis, and Sunday of Pittsburgh, the latter of whom would probably have finished first had an accident not prevented him from playing during the last two weeks of the season.”
The following table includes in its first column all those methods of reaching first base, except the force-outs, which cannot be ascertained, and would not materially affect the record, in this comparison. Indianapolis and Washington still lead, Pittsburgh comes well to the front, pushing the next three clubs down a peg each, and the Phillies and Detroits keep their places at the foot:
CLUBS. |Reached 1st Base.|Stolen Bases.|Percentages. ————+—————–+————-+———– Indianapolis| 1,589 | 350 | .220 Washington | 1,515 | 331 | .218 Pittsburg | 1,474 | 282 | .191 New York | 1,772 | 315 | .178
Boston | 1,719 | 292 | .170 Chicago | 1,720 | 285 | .166
Philadelphia| 1,569 | 246 | .157 Detroit | 1,843 | 193 | .105
Mr. Larner says. “The simple total of bases stolen is misleading as to a club’s proficiency in base running, since the strong batting clubs having more men who reach first base have more chances to steal, and hence excel in totals, while in percentages they fall below clubs which are weaker in batting. The true measure is the relation between the number of bases stolen and the number of chances offered for the attempt, which is the whole number of those who reach first base, whether on hits, balls, errors, hits by pitcher, illegal delivery, or force-outs.”
THE CLUB RECORD OF STOLEN BASES.
The record in stolen bases in championship games, showing the first man of each club in base stealing for 1888 is appended.
WASHINGTON. ||PITTSBURG.
| | |Stolen|| | | |Stolen |PLAYERS.|Games.|Bases.|| |PLAYERS.|Games.|Bases. -+——–+——+——++-+——–+——+——- 1|Hoy | 136 | 82 ||1|Sunday | 119 | 71 2|Wilmot | 119 | 46 ||2|Smith | 130 | 32 3|Donnelly| 117 | 44 ||3|Dunlap | 81 | 24 4|Daily | 110 | 44 ||4|Mider | 103 | 27 5|Mack | 85 | 31 ||5|Beckley | 71 | 20 6|Schock | 90 | 23 ||6|Carroll | 96 | 18 7|Myers | 132 | 20 ||7|Kuehne | 137 | 17 8|Irwin | 37 | 15 ||8|Coleman | 115 | 15 9|O’Brien | 133 | 10 ||9|Fields | 44 | 9 -+——–+——+——++-+——–+——+——- Total | 315 ||Total | 228
NEW YORK. || PHILADELPHIA.
| | |Stolen|| | | |Stolen |PLAYERS. |Games.|Bases.|| |PLAYERS. |Games.|Bases. -+———-+——+——++-+——-=-+——+——- 1|Ewing | 105 | 53 ||1|Fogart | 120 | 58 2|Tiernan | 113 | 52 ||2|Delahanty| 74 | 38 3|Ward | 122 | 38 ||3|Andrews | 123 | 35 4|Richardson| 135 | 35 ||4|Farrar | 130 | 21 5|Connor | 134 | 27 ||5|Wood | 105 | 20 6|Slattery | 103 | 26 ||6|Irwin | 124 | 19 7|O’Rourke | 107 | 25 ||7|Mulvey | 99 | 18 8|Gore | 64 | 9 ||8|Sanders | 57 | 13 9|Whitney | 90 | 8 ||9|Bastian | 80 | 12 -+———-+——+——++-+———+——+——- Total | 280 ||Total | 234
Taking the total bases stolen by each club nine as the criterion, Indianapolis takes the lead, with Washington second and New York third, followed by Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Detroit in regular order, the latter club being the weakest of the eight League teams in base running. Here is the record in full:
INDIANAPOLIS. || BOSTON.
| | |Stolen|| | | |Stolen |PLAYERS. |Games.|Bases.|| |PLAYERS. |Games.|Bases. -+———-+——+——++-+———+——+——- 1|Seery | 133 | 80 ||1|Kelly | 105 | 56 2|McGeachy | 118 | 49 ||2|Brown | 107 | 46 3|Glasscock | 112 | 48 ||3|Johnston | 135 | 35 4|Denny | 126 | 32 ||4|Wise | 104 | 33 5|Hines | 132 | 31 ||5|Hornung | 107 | 29 6|Myers | 66 | 28 ||6|Morrill | 134 | 21 7|Bossett | 128 | 24 ||7|Nash | 135 | 20 8|Daily | 57 | 15 ||8|Quinn | 38 | 12 9|Esterbrook| 64 | 11 ||9|Sutton | 28 | 10 -+———-+——+——++-+———+——+——- Total | 318 ||Total | 263
CHICAGO. || DETROIT.
| | |Stolen|| | | |Stolen |PLAYERS. |Games.|Bases.|| |PLAYERS. |Games.|Bases. -+———–+——+——++-+———-+——+——- 1|Pfeffer | 136 | 64 ||1|Hanlon | 108 | 38 2|Ryan | 130 | 60 ||2|Brouthers | 129 | 34 3|Burns | 134 | 34 ||3|Campau | 70 | 27 4|Anson | 134 | 28 ||4|Twitchell | 130 | 14 5|Williamson | 132 | 25 ||5|Richardson| 57 | 13 6|Van Haltren| 81 | 21 ||6|White | 125 | 12 7|Duffy | 71 | 13 ||7|Ganzell | 93 | 12 8|Daly | 65 | 10 ||8|Rowe | 105 | 10 9|Sullivan | 75 | 9 ||9|Getzein | 45 | 6 -+———–+——+——++-+———-+——+——- Total | 264 ||Total | 166
The following table is for immediate reference. It shows the winning club for each season from 1871 to 1888 inclusive; as also the manager of each of the champion clubs of each year:
Year.|WINNING CLUB.|MANAGER. |Victories.|Defeats.|Games | | | | |Played.
—–+————-+———+———-+——–+——- 1871 |Athletic |Hayhurst | 22 | 7 | 29 1872 |Boston |H. Wright| 39 | 8 | 47 1873 |Boston |H. Wright| 43 | 16 | 59 1874 |Boston |H. Wright| 52 | 18 | 70 1875 |Boston |H. Wright| 71 | 8 | 79 1876 |Chicago |Spalding | 52 | 14 | 66 1877 |Boston |H. Wright| 31 | 17 | 48 1878 |Boston |H. Wright| 41 | 19 | 60 1879 |Providence |G. Wright| 55 | 23 | 78 1880 |Chicago |Anson | 67 | 18 | 84 1881 |Chicago |Anson | 56 | 28 | 84 1882 |Chicago |Anson | 55 | 29 | 84 1883 |Boston |H. Wright| 63 | 35 | 98 1884 |Providence |Bancroft | 84 | 28 | 112 1885 |Chicago |Anson | 87 | 25 | 112 1886 |Chicago |Anson | 90 | 34 | 124 1887 |Detroit |Watkins | 79 | 45 | 124 1888 |NewYork |Mutrie | 84 | 47 | 131
It will be seen that in the old Professional Association the Boston club won the pennant four times, and the Athletics once, while in the League the Chicago Club won it six times, the Boston Club three times, the Providence Club twice, and the Detroit and New York once each. The best percentage of victories was made by the Boston Club in 1875, that being the best on record in professional club history.
THE CHAMPION LEAGUE TEAM OF 1888.
Though the New York Club’s team for 1888 included over twenty different players, only seven of them took part in one hundred championship matches and over, and these were Richardson, 135; Connor, 134; Ward, 122; Tiernan, 113; O’Rourke, 107; Ewing, 103, and Slattery, 103. Whitney took part in 90; Gore in 64; Keefe in 51; Welch in 47; Foster in 37; Murphy in 28; Hatfield in 27; Titcomb in 23; Brown in 17, and Crane in but 11. All the others played in less than ten games. The first nine were Keefe p, Ewing c, Connor 1b, Richardson 2b, Whitney 3b, Ward ss, O’Rourke lf, Slattery cf, and Tiernan, rf, these playing the nine positions respectively. The appended table presents an interesting epitome of the work done on the field by the New
York team in the championship contests of the past season:
NEW YORK. vs.
| | P | | | | I | || | | h | | | | n | ||
| | i | | | | d | W || | | l | | | P | i | a ||
| | a | | | i | a | s || | C | d | | D | t | n | h ||
| h | e | B | e | t | a | i || T | i | l | o | t | s | p | n || o | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || t | a | h | t | o | u | l | t || a | g | i | o | i | r | i | o || l | o | a | n | t | g | s | n || s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . || . ——————–+—+—+—+—+—+—+—++— Victories | 8 |14 |12 |11 |10 |14 |15 || 84 Defeats |11 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 || 47 Drawn Games | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 || 7 Series Won | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 || 5 Series Lost | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 || 1 Series Unfinished | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 || 6 Victories by Forfeit| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 || 1 “Chicago” Victories | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 || 19 “Chicago” Defeats | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 || 3 Single Figure | 5 |12 |10 |11 | 8 |11 |14 || 71 Victories | | | | | | | ||
Single Figure |11 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 || 44 Defeats | | | | | | | ||
Double Figure | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 || 13 Victories | | | | | | | ||
Double Figure | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 || 4 Defeats | | | | | | | ||
Extra Inning Games | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 || 9 Victories at Home | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 || 43 Defeats at Home | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 || 23 Victories Abroad | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 || 40 Defeats Abroad | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 || 24
THE PITCHING RECORD.
The pitching record of the champion team of 1888 is worthy of note in regard to the figures showing the victories won and defeats sustained by each pitcher in his games with the seven opposing clubs. Here is the record in full, the names being given in the order of percentage of victories. Despite this method of estimating the pitching strength there is no questioning the fact of the superiority of Keefe, Welch and Titcomb according to the record each made against the clubs they were opposed to:
[Illustration: NEW YORK TEAM.
1 TITCOMB 2 KEIFE* 3 WHITNEY 4 * 5 WARD 6 RICHARDSON 7 FOSTER
8 WELCH 9 MUIRIL * 10 CRANE 11 GEORGE 12 EWING 13 CONNOR 14 HATFIELD.
15 GORE 16 O’ROURKE 17 TIERNAN 18 MURPHY 19 BROWN]
[**Proofreaders note: In some cases the caption identifying the players was indecipherable. These are marked with an *]
| | P | | | | I | || |P | | h | | | | n | || |e
| | i | | | | d | W || |r | | l | | | P | i | a || | V | | a | | | i | a | s || |c i | C | d | | D | t | n | h || |e c | h | e | B | e | t | a | i || T |n t | i | l | o | t | s | p | n || o |t o | c | p | s | r | b | o | g || t |. r | a | h | t | o | u | l | t || a | i | g | i | o | i | r | i | o || l |o e | o | a | n | t | g | s | n || s |f s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . || . | . ——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–+—–++—–+—– |W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.| ——-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+—– Keefe | 3| 4| 5| 1| 5| 4| 5| 0| 3| 1| 8| 2| 6| 0||35|12|.744 George | 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0| 0| 0|| 2| 1|.666 Titcomb| 1| 1| 2| 0| 1| 1| 3| 3| 2| 2| 1| 0| 4| 1||14| 8|.636 Welsh | 3| 6| 5| 4| 6| 3| 1| 2| 4| 2| 3| 1| 4| 1||26|19|.577 Weidman| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0| 0|| 1| 1|.500 Crane | 1| 0| 2| 0| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0| 1| 0| 2| 1| 2|| 5| 6|.450 ——-+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–+–++–+–+—– Totals | 8|11|14| 5|12| 8|11| 7| 9| 7|14| 5|15| 4||83|47| | | | | | | | | | | | | |[1]
[Footnote 1: The game forfeited by Pittsburg is, of course, not included.]
In the pitching averages, based on the existing method of estimating earned runs off the pitching, the record stands as follows:
Pitchers.|Per cent. earn’d|Per cent. of |Runs per Game. |Base Hits.
Keefe | 1.4* | .198
| [B] |
Welch | 1.47 | .201
Titcomb | 1.82 | .212
[**Proofreaders note B: * undecipherable number**]
The other three pitchers did not pitch in a dozen games.
THE FULL LEAGUE RECORD.
The following record presents the scores of the total victories won by every League Club each year since the National League was organized, the table presenting the figures of thirteen consecutive seasons from 1876 to 1888 inclusive:
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Y | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | r | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | s | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | . ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+— Chicago | 52| 18| 30| 44| 67| 56| 55| 59| 62| 87| 90| 71| 77|13 Boston | 39| 31| 41| 49| 40| 38| 45| 63| 73| 46| 56| 61| 70|13 Providence | –| –| 38| 55| 52| 47| 52| 58| 84| 53| –| –| –| 8 Detroit | –| –| –| –| –| 41| 42| 40| 28| 41| 87| 79| 68| 8 Buffalo | –| –| –| 44| 24| 45| 45| 52| 64| 38| –| –| –| 7 Cleveland | –| –| –| 24| 47| 36| 42| 55| 35| –| –| –| –| 6 New York | –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 46| 62| 85| 75| 68| 84| 6 Philadelphia| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 17| 39| 56| 71| 75| 69| 6 St Louis | 45| 19| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 38| 43| –| –| 4 Cincinnati | 9| –| 37| 38| 21| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 4 Troy | –| –| –| 19| 41| 39| 35| –| –| –| –| –| –| 4 Worcester | –| –| –| –| 40| 32| 18| –| –| –| –| –| –| 3 Washington | –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 26| 46| 48| 3 Indianapolis| –| –| 24| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 37| 59| 3 Hartford | 47| 24| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 2 Louisville | 30| 28| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 2 Pittsburg | –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 55| 66| 2 Athletic | 14| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 1 Mutual | 21| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 1 Syracuse | –| –| –| 15| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 1 Milwaukee | –| –| 15| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 1 Kansas City | –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| –| 29| –| 1 ————+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+—+— Totals |257|120|185|288|332|334|334|390|447|444|448|521|541|
THE COMPLETE RECORD.
Following is a summary showing the results of each year’s campaign since the organization of the League:
1876.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
———–+—-+—-+——–
Chicago | 52 | 14 | .788
Hartford | 47 | 21 | .691
St. Louis | 45 | 19 | .703
Boston | 39 | 31 | .557
Louisville | 30 | 36 | .455
Mutual | 21 | 35 | .375
Athletic | 14 | 45 | .237
Cincinnati | 9 | 56 | .135
1877.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
———–+—-+—-+——–
Boston | 31 | 17 | .648
Louisville | 28 | 20 | .583
Hartford | 24 | 24 | .500
St. Louis | 19 | 29 | .396
Chicago | 18 | 30 | .375
1878.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
————-+—-+—-+——–
Boston | 41 | 19 | .707
Cincinnati | 37 | 23 | .617
Providence | 33 | 27 | .550
Chicago | 30 | 30 | .500
Indianapolis | 24 | 36 | .400
Milwaukee | 15 | 45 | .250
1879.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
———–+—-+—-+——–
Providence | 55 | 23 | .705
Boston | 49 | 29 | .628
Chicago | 44 | 32 | .579
Buffalo | 44 | 32 | .579
Cincinnati | 38 | 36 | .514
Cleveland | 24 | 53 | .312
Troy | 19 | 56 | .253
Syracuse | 15 | 27 | .357
1880.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
———–+—-+—-+——–
Chicago | 67 | 17 | .798
Providence | 52 | 32 | .619
Cleveland | 47 | 37 | .559
Troy | 41 | 42 | .494
Worcester | 40 | 43 | .482
Boston | 40 | 44 | .474
Buffalo | 24 | 58 | .293
Cincinnati | 21 | 59 | .263
1881.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
———–+—-+—-+——–
Chicago | 56 | 28 | .667
Providence | 47 | 37 | .559
Buffalo | 45 | 38 | .542
Detroit | 41 | 43 | .488
Troy | 39 | 45 | .464
Boston | 38 | 45 | .458
Cleveland | 36 | 48 | .429
Worcester | 32 | 50 | .390
1882.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
———–+—-+—-+——–
Chicago | 55 | 29 | .655
Providence | 52 | 32 | .619
Buffalo | 45 | 39 | .536
Boston | 45 | 39 | .536
Cleveland | 42 | 40 | .512
Detroit | 42 | 41 | .506
Troy | 35 | 48 | .422
Worcester | 18 | 66 | .214
1883.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
————+—-+—-+——–
Boston | 63 | 35 | .643
Chicago | 59 | 39 | .602
Providence | 58 | 40 | .592
Cleveland | 55 | 42 | .567
Buffalo | 52 | 45 | .539
New York | 46 | 50 | .479
Detroit | 40 | 58 | .408
Philadelphia| 17 | 81 | .173
1884.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
————+—-+—-+——–
Providence | 84 | 28 | .750
Boston | 73 | 38 | .658
Buffalo | 64 | 47 | .577
Chicago | 62 | 50 | .554
New York | 62 | 50 | .554
Philadelphia| 39 | 73 | .348
Cleveland | 35 | 77 | .313
Detroit | 28 | 84 | .250
1885.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
————+—-+—-+——–
Chicago | 87 | 25 | .776
New York | 85 | 27 | .758
Philadelphia| 56 | 54 | .509
Providence | 53 | 57 | .481
Boston | 46 | 66 | .410
Detroit | 41 | 67 | .379
Buffalo | 38 | 74 | .339
St. Louis | 36 | 72 | .333
1886.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
————+—-+—-+——–
Chicago | 90 | 34 | .725
Detroit | 87 | 36 | .707
New York | 75 | 44 | .630
Philadelphia| 71 | 43 | .622
Boston | 56 | 61 | .478
St. Louis | 43 | 79 | .352
Kansas City | 30 | 91 | .247
Washington | 28 | 92 | .233
1887.
|Won|Lost|Per cent.
————+—-+—-+——–
Detroit | 79 | 45 | .637
Philadelphia| 75 | 48 | .610
Chicago | 71 | 50 | .587
New York | 68 | 55 | .553
Boston | 61 | 60 | .504
Pittsburg | 55 | 69 | .444
Indianapolis| 46 | 76 | .377
Washington | 37 | 89 | .294
1888.
|Won |Lost|Per cent.
————+—-+—-+——–
New York | 84 | 47 | .641
Chicago | 77 | 58 | .510
Philadelphia| 69 | 61 | .531
Boston | 70 | 64 | .522
Detroit | 68 | 63 | .519
Pittsburg | 66 | 68 | .493
Indianapolis| 50 | 85 | .370
Washington | 48 | 86 | .358
A summary of the above shows that the Chicago club won the championship six times; the Boston club three times; the Providence club twice, and the Detroit and New York clubs once each. The Chicago club has the best record of a single season–90 victories and 34 defeats-and the highest percentage of victories .798. The only clubs which played in every single season were the Chicago and Boston clubs.
THE LEAGUE AVERAGES FOR 1888.
The following is the official batting record of players members of League Clubs who have taken part in fifteen or more championship games.
SEASON OF 1888.
[**Proofreaders note: Table has been split into two parts in order to fit on page.**]
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