MARCH

3rd

Delegates from the existing professional clubs of the country assemble in Baltimore to establish a permanent Professional Association. A constitution is adopted along with Henry Chadwick's code of rules. For the first time a uniform ball must be used in all games.

APRIL

23rd

At Boston, 2,000 spectators see the first game of the season between the Philadelphias (today called the Quakers, later called the Phillies) and Boston. Philadelphia scores 4 in the 9th to win 8-5.

MAY

5th

Two thousand spectators pay 50¢ at the Union Grounds in Brooklyn and watch Baltimore play the Mutuals. Baltimore scores 3 in the first inning without a base hit and wins 6-1.

14th

One of the most exciting, best-played, and closely contested games yet recorded takes place before almost 5,000 between the Philadelphias and the Athletics. The Philadelphias win 5-4 in the 13th as Chick Fulmer scores the winning run.

JUNE

3rd

The Boston Reds visit the Union Grounds in Brooklyn to play the Mutuals in a game that goes to 12 innings before Boston wins 6-5. George Wright scores for the Reds on a hit by Ross Barnes.

11th

The largest crowd of the year, 10,000, jams the grounds at 25th and Jefferson to see the Athletics play the Philadelphias. The Philadelphias score 5 runs in the 7th to win 7-5.

14th

In Boston, 2,000 spectators watch the Reds suffer a shutout for the first time in their history. Dick McBride of the Athletics holds the champions to only 2 hits.

27th

Michael J. Kelly, former baseball reporter for the New York Herald and editor of the DeWitt baseball guide in 1868, dies of pneumonia at the age of 33. A benefit game for the family will be played between the Atlantics and the Mutuals on July 19th, raising $1,000.

JULY

4th

The Resolutes of Elizabeth NJ upset the Red Stocking 11-2 in an a.m. game. The afternoon game is close for 6 innings but Boston scores 5 runs in the 7th, 2 in the 8th, and 21 in the 9th to roll to a 32-3 win.

10th

In Philadelphia, 3,000 people see the Philadelphias, favorites for this year's pennant, and Boston, last year's champions, play a wild game with the home team winning 18-17. The teams have decided to cut short the number of games they will play in August due to poor attendance during that month.

18th

SS George Wright hits 2 HRs in the 3rd off Candy Cummings to stake Boston to an early lead, but Baltimore rallies for 13 runs against Al Spalding in the last 3 innings to overcome a 14-4 deficit. and defeat the Red Stockings 17-4.

21st

One thousand people witness an extraordinary game in Philadelphia between the Athletics and the Lord Baltimores. Lipman Pike's 3-base hit and Tom York's groundout tie the game at the end of 9 innings. The Athletics' 3 runs in the top of the 10th and 2 in the top of the 11th are matched by Baltimore, and it is not until the 13th that Everett Mills scores the winning run for the Baltimores on John Radcliffe's hit, winning 12-11.

22nd

Tom Barlow's 6 bunt base hits are not enough to give the Atlantics a victory as the Lord Baltimores win 12-9.

24th

Brooklyn's Bob Ferguson umpires a close game between the Mutuals and the Baltimores that ends in a 3-run rally by the Mutes in the last of the 9th to win 11-10. A police escort is needed to get the umpire to the clubhouse. Nat Hicks of the Mutuals and Ferguson get into an altercation, the end result of which is the striking of Hicks's left arm with a bat wielded by the umpire. The men are reconciled after the game, but Hicks's arm is broken in 2 places, and he will not play for the next 2 months.

30th

The Philadelphia Athletics play their first game in almost 3 weeks after spending a holiday at Cape May, NJ, to rest from the rigors of the season. They are roughly handled at Boston, with the Reds defeating them 24-10.

AUGUST

16th

The Athletics make their reappearance at home, shutting out the Washington Nationals 14-0, with Dick McBride allowing but 5 hits.

Seven thousand people in Chicago see the Boston Reds defeat the Philadelphia Phillies (also referred to as "White Stockings," but not in Chicago) 11-8. After the teams leave Chicago it is announced that a number of players have signed contracts to play in Chicago next year.

At Baltimore's Newington Park, Baltimore OF Lipman Pike races against a horse named "Clarence." Pike has a short lead after 75 yards when the trotter breaks into a run. Pike holds on to win in 10 seconds flat.

OCTOBER

10th

After scoring 29 runs on 32 hits yesterday, the Lord Baltimores are held to 2 singles by Bob Mathews, as the Mutuals win the game 7-0.

22nd

The Boston Red Stockings clinch the pennant for 1873 by defeating the Washington Nationals 11-8 in Washington. George Wright leads the attack with a triple and 2 singles.

NOVEMBER

6th

The first game under the proposed new rule of 10 men and 10 innings is played between the Athletics and the Phillies as a benefit for Ned Cuthbert. The majority present thought the 10th man (a right SS) was an unnecessary innovation.