FEBRUARY

2nd

Chicago President William Hulbert organizes a meeting in New York to establish a new league. To win the support of 4 eastern clubs, Hulbert proposes that Morgan Bulkeley of the Hartford club be president and Nick Young of Washington be secretary. The National League is officially organized.

12th

Al Spalding, pitching star of the National Association, moves from his home in Rockford, IL, with his brother J. Walter Spalding, to Chicago to "open a large emporium where they will sell all kinds of baseball goods." This will be the start of the Spalding sporting goods enterprise.

MARCH

19th

The Boston Herald reports the first practice of the Red Caps under the direction of George Wright. Manager Harry Wright is still in Florida, recuperating from a severe cold. The team has been weakened considerably by the loss to the Chicago White Stockings of Al Spalding, Cal McVey, and Ross Barnes.

APRIL

8th

After 4 great seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics, Adrian "Cap" Anson reports to the Chicago club to play 3B.

22nd

In the first National League game, Boston defeats Philadelphia at Athletic Park 6-5. Jim O'Rourke makes the first hit and Joseph Borden, pitching under the name of Josephs, is the winning hurler.

24th

Chicago manager Al Spalding pitches the NL's first shutout 4-0 at Louisville.

27th

In his 2nd outing, Spalding hurls another shutout over the Louisville Grays, winning 10-0.

MAY

2nd

Chicago's Ross Barnes, the great batting star of the National Association, hits the first NL HR, an inside-the-park drive off William "Cherokee" Fisher against the Cincinnati Red Stockings in Cincinnati. Barnes also hits a triple, single, steals 2 bases, and scores 4 runs.

5th

The Chicago team loses its first game, as St. Louis's George Washington Bradley outpitches Spalding 1-0.

13th

Dick Higham of the Hartford Dark Blues hits into the first NL triple play against New York. It is the only bright spot for the Mutuals, who lose 28-3.

30th

Chicago, with 4 former Boston stars in their lineup, play their first 1876 game in Boston. The crowd, estimated at 14,000, is described as "the largest that ever attended a baseball match in the world." The White Stockings beat the Red Caps 5-1.

JUNE

6th

Manager Harry Wright, 41, makes his only 1876 appearance for Boston, in the OF, but Jim Devlin of Louisville deals the "Beantowners" their first shutout of the season 3-0.

10th

George Bechtel, RF for Louisville, who was suspended for "crookedness in the last Louisville-Mutuals game," gets in deeper trouble when P Jim Devlin shows his manager a telegram from Bechtel saying, "We can win $100 if you lose the game today."

14th

George Hall of the Athletics hits 3 triples and a HR in a 20-5 shellacking of Cincinnati. Teammate Ezra Sutton also hits 3 triples, the only time 2 players have done this in the same game.

17th

George Hall and Ezra Sutton again gang up on the hapless Reds. Hall hits 2 HRs, a triple, and 2 singles, and Sutton also collects 5 hits in a 23-15 slaughter. Only 39 HRs will be hit in the NL season; Hall will lead with 5.

27th

Little Davey Force of the Athletics goes 6-for-6 against Spalding of Chicago, and Philadelphia scores 4 runs in the 9th to pull out a 14-13 victory.

JULY

8th

The Boston Herald carries the midseason averages showing hits and errors per game (not per at bat or chance). Chicago's Ross Barnes is the top batter with 2.1 hits per game, and Dave Eggler of the Athletics is the leading fielder with .19 errors per game.

10th

The New York Mutuals score one run in the 9th to tie the Louisville Grays and then score 4 in the 16th to win 8-5. Bobby Mathews prevails over Jim Devlin in this longest game of the season. In the previous game on July 8th, the 2 hurlers had battled to a 5-5 tie in 15 innings.

15th

George Bradley of St. Louis pitches the league's first no-hitter, defeating Hartford and Tommy Bond 2-0. It is his 3rd shutout over Hartford in the 3-game series.

25th

For the 2nd consecutive game, Cal McVey of Chicago collects 6 hits in 7 trips. It also gives him a record 15 hits in 3 games, the scores of which are 18-0 and 30-7 over Louisville, and 23­3 over Cincinnati.

AUGUST

4th

Louisville, trailing Chicago by a wide margin with rain threatening in the 5th, decides to stall. They make error after error until the umpire forfeits the game to Chicago. The contest would later be ruled "no game."

12th

The versatile Cal McVey has the unusual distinction of both pitching and catching in a 5-0 win over Cincinnati.

18th

With the season two-thirds over, the lowly Louisville club plays its first errorless game of the season and beats Cincinnati 4-1.

21st

The strain of pitching almost every game is taking its toll on Tommy Bond, the 20-year-old, sore-armed hurler of Hartford. Candy Cummings takes his place and beats Boston 10-4. SS George Wright pitches a scoreless 9th for the Red Caps.

SEPTEMBER

9th

Curveballer Candy Cummings of Hartford wins 2 games over Cincinnati, 14-4 in the morning and 8­1 in the afternoon. This marks the first time 2 games are played in the same day.

11th

President G. W. Thompson of Philadelphia informs Chicago president Hulbert that the Athletics cannot afford to make their final western trip. He suggests that Chicago and St. Louis (the big drawing clubs) play additional games in Philadelphia and take a larger portion of the receipts. Hulbert turns down the offer.

16th

After only 200 watch the New York Mutuals lose to Cincinnati, the club announces that they, like the Athletics, will not make their western trip. Their games in the west will be canceled, leaving a thin schedule of league games the rest of the season.

26th

Chicago clinches the pennant with a 7-6 win over Hartford. Cal McVey, the regular 1B and Spalding's backup pitcher, hurls the victory.

OCTOBER

6th

Louisville closes out its season with an 11-2 loss to Hartford. Jim Devlin, injured severely during yesterday's game, does not pitch for the first time this season. He will still lead the league in games (68), complete games (66), and innings pitched (622).

20th

Boston manager Harry Wright shakes up his lineup, shifting brother George to 2B and inserting another brother, Sam, at SS. It is not the "right" combination as Candy Cummings of Hartford blanks the Red Caps 5-0.

21st

Candy Cummings defeats Boston in the last game of the season to give Hartford a season record of 47-21. It is not quite good enough for 2nd place, as St. Louis finishes 45-19, with all of the decisions being credited to the Brown Stockings' superb P George Bradley, who hurls a record 16 shutouts.

23rd

The Chicago Tribune publishes season-ending batting percentages based on the new method of dividing number of at bats into number of hits. Ross Barnes leads with a .429 average.

DECEMBER

10th

After a 5-day league meeting in Cleveland, these results are announced: the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Mutuals are expelled by unanimous vote; a uniform and lively baseball is agreed upon; the playing rules for 1877 are modified, and William Hulbert is elected NL president.