When Pfeffer hit 25 home runs in 1884, three other Chicago teammates topped 20. Lake Front Park had the shortest foul lines ever in major-league baseball; 180' in left, 196' in right. Balls hit over the short fences were counted as two-base hits in other seasons, but a ground-rule change in 1884 made them homers. Pfeffer's significant contribution to baseball is that he was the first infielder to cut off a catcher's throw to second base on a double-steal attempt and cut down the runner at the plate. (JK)
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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»January 28, 1888: In Chicago, 350 fans brave the weather to watch a baseball game on ice at Lincoln Park. Fred Pfeffer plays wearing a top hat. After two hours and five innings of play, the game is called. The Spaldings defeat the North-Siders, 7–6.
»November 16, 1894: Managers Al Buckenberger (Pittsburgh) and William Barnie (Louisville) and Louisville star Fred Pfeffer are expelled from the National League for planning with officials of the proposed American Association (previously called the National Association). The two managers are reinstated before the end of the year, but Pfeffer must wait until the end of February 1895 before he is welcomed back into the fold.
»October 1, 1914:
Phils slugger Gavvy Cravath belts his ML-record 19th homer, off Brooklyn's Pat Ragan. All of Gavvy's homers this year have come at Baker Bowl, a ML-record for the 20th century, topped only by Chicago's Fred Pfeffer in 1884 (26). Cravath also leads NL outfielders with 34 assists in right field.
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