JANUARY

9th

The first game of baseball played on ice this winter in the New York area takes place at Prospect Park in Brooklyn between 2 teams managed by Billy Barnie and Crawford. Barnie's team wins 20-7 in a 5-inning match. Only 2 outs per team constitute an inning.

MARCH

17th

The National Amateur Baseball Association meets in Boston. Harry Wright represents the Professionals to try and secure the adoption of a single code of playing rules.

APRIL

11th

The New York Sunday Mercury describes the activities of the New Haven club during their training for the upcoming season: "First, each man runs a quarter of a mile, then gentle exercise upon the horizontal bar is taken, after which a trial at vaulting on the vaulting horse is indulged; then a series of Indian Club swinging, followed by the whole team pulling about one mile on the rowing apparatus. After all this, the club retires to a bowling alley where they pass and strike balls."

22nd

The first championship match between the Athletics and the Philadelphias (called the Pearls or the Fillies) is played in Philadelphia before 2,000 people, including the Boston 9, who stopped on their way to Washington. Highlights are the triple by Cap Anson of the Athletics and the unassisted DP by Levi Meyerle of the Philadelphias. The Athletics win 6-3.

MAY

3rd

The Hartfords wallop the Philadelphia Centennials 13-4. Captain Hayhurst discovers that some of the Hartford players are using an illegal bat. The rules state that the bat must be round, but the bat in question has been whittled down almost flat on one side and painted black so as to disguise it. The bat is then removed.

6th

Before 5,000, the St. Louis Browns defeat the Chicago White Stockings 10-0 at the Grand Avenue Grounds (later known as Sportsman's Park). St. Louis's George Bradley allows but 4 hits.

8th

St. Louis holds the White Stockings scoreless for the first 8 innings and hangs on to win 4-3. The Browns have shut out Chicago for 17 consecutive innings, a feat never before accomplished in baseball.

11th

Two hundred people sit through a windstorm in St. Louis to see a remarkable game as the visiting Chicago White Stockings defeat the St. Louis Red Stockings 1-0. Each team gets 6 hits in this, the lowest-scoring game in baseball history at the time.

26th

The Centennial club of Philadelphia becomes the first professional club of 1875 to disband. The Centennials have the honor of becoming the first team to sell a ballplayer. The rival Athletics wanted Bill Craver and George Bechtel, so the Athletics paid an official of the Centennials to have the 2 players released and transferred to the Athletic club.

29th

At Hamilton Park in New Haven, CT, Mann of Princeton College pitches a no-hitter against Yale and their star pitcher Avery, winning 3-0.

JUNE

5th

In St. Louis, the Boston Reds suffer their first defeat of the season after 21 victories and one draw. The Browns' George Bradley holds the Reds to 8 hits. After Bradley makes the last putout, the crowd rushes on the field and lifts him to their shoulders.

19th

Henry Chadwick has this to say about today's game: "the finest display of baseball playing and the most exciting contest yet recorded in the annals of the national game." The Chicago Whites and the Dark Blues of Hartford battle 10 scoreless innings before Jim Devlin scores on a fly out by Paul Hines in the 11th to win for Chicago 1-0.

28th

An organized gang, having bet on the success of the local 9, interrupt the Boston-Athletic game with the score 12-10 in the last of the 10th inning in favor of Boston. The toughs storm the field preventing further play. Harry Wright says he will not play again in Philadelphia.

JULY

5th

The largest crowd ever seen in the St. Louis ballpark, estimated at 15,000, sees the Browns soundly defeat the Chicago White Stockings 13-2. Watching the game are members of the Washington club who, when they return to their hotel, are told that there is no money to pay their way back to Washington. With their club disbanded, the players are given fare and expenses by the St. Louis club.

15th

After discovering that urban rival Cincinnati has revived its professional baseball team, Louisville businessmen form the city's first pro team the same day, allowing them to keep pace on the ball field.

20th

The Chicago Tribune states that the Bostons will disband at the end of the season, with the Wrights going to Cincinnati to form a club there. The Chicago White Stockings 9 for 1876 will include Al Spalding, James "Deacon" White, Ross Barnes, and Cal McVey of Boston.

21st

The use of a lively ball is reflected in the score as the Mutuals defeat the Philadelphias 16-13 at the Union Grounds in Brooklyn. Joe Start hits 3 HRs and a triple.

28th

Philadelphia's Joseph E. Borden, also known by the name Josephs, pitches the first no-hitter, beating the Chicago White Stockings 4-0. The game takes one hour and 35 minutes to play.

31st

With 3 months to go in the baseball season, the record now shows Boston in first place with a 37-4 record. The Athletics are 2nd and Hartford 3rd.

AUGUST

9th

The underrated Philadelphias and their sensational P Josephs shut out Jim Galvin and the St. Louis Browns 16-0 on 5 hits. It is the first time the Browns have suffered a shutout in their history.

12th

With the score 1-0 and 2 out in the last of the 9th inning, Hartford's Tom York hits a triple. The next batter, Bob Ferguson, after hitting a number of fouls lefthanded, turns around and bats righthanded, getting a double to tie the score. Rain ends the game with the score Hartford 1, Mutuals 1.

20th

Tommy Bond pitches his 2nd one-hit game in 10 days. Bill Boyd of the Atlantics gets the only hit in the 2-0 victory by Hartford.

21st

The St. Louis Browns defeat the Boston Reds, who are minus the services of Al Spalding, suffering from a strained back. With Boston's Jack Manning pitching, the Browns win 5-3. George Wright pitches the last 3 innings without allowing a run. This is Spalding's first absence from a professional game in 5 years with the Reds and, before that, 4 years with Rockford.

SEPTEMBER

11th

The first baseball game played with women professionals takes place in Springfield, IL. The diamond is half-sized and a 9-foot high canvas surrounds the entire field. The uniforms are similar to the male version except the pants are shorter. Final score: "Blondes" 42, "Brunettes" 38.

25th

Paul Hines, 2B for Chicago, makes 10 errors, helping Philadelphia to a 15-6 victory.

OCTOBER

24th

The Chicago Tribune calls for the formation of an organization of major professional teams: Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Hartford. "Unless the present Professional Association leadership adopts rules to limit the number of teams allowed to participate in the Championship season, all clubs will go broke."