5th
Milwaukee signs SS Johnny Peters. With 4 years of
experience, Peters will be the closest thing to a
veteran the new Cream Citys have in the coming season.
The annual stockholders meeting of the pennant-
winning Boston club shows that the team lost money
despite a league-leading attendance of 51,204 in 1877.
Salaries totaling $22,000 more than offset revenues.
16th
The Grays, a new club that Benjamin Douglas put together
in Providence, is finally organized with Henry
Root as president, Douglas is hired as manager, and
veteran Tom Carey is signed as captain.
25th
The Boston club is reported to be backing a Massachusetts
bill outlawing gambling on ball games.
6th
Providence becomes a member of the NL, bringing membership
to 7.
9th
Official averages compiled by the IA list Rochester's
Steve Brady as first-ever minor league batting
champion with a .373 average.
l9th
The 2nd annual meeting of the IA is held in Buffalo,
28 clubs attending.
6th
"Being unable to secure a team sufficiently strong
to cope with the other nines," Louisville submits
its resignation from the NL, reducing the circuit
for 1878 to 6 clubs: Boston, Providence, Cincinnati,
Indianapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee.
9th
The Cincinnati club puts president J. M. Neff "in
full charge of the club." There will be no manager,
just a captain from among the players.
13th
The Pittsburgh Alleghenies mail their $50 entry fee
to the International Association to join, beating
the deadline by 2 days. Despite the increase in the
price from $10 last year, 13 clubs are entered for
the championship.
21st
Milwaukee hires Jack Chapman as manager. He had run
the Louisville NL team for the previous 2 seasons.
27th
The National Association of Amateur Base Ball Players
disbands. This organization had traced its roots back
to the first National Association founded in
1858.
1st
The NL meets at Buffalo and adopts a schedule. Then
the league owners sign an agreement with 6 of the
stronger IA clubs agreeing to drop their demand of
a $100 guarantee for exhibition games and to split
the gate receipts 50/50.
2nd
The NL announces the selection of a staff of 18 umpires
for the coming season. The individual clubs will arrange
which ones will work which games.
10th
Ben Douglas is fired as manager of the Providence
Grays for incompetence and insubordination.
13th
Three NL teams begin practice, the Indianapolis Blues,
the Milwaukee Grays, and the Cincinnati Reds.
Ed Nolan of the Blues is given a cap with 2 feathers
in it to help the fans pick him out.
20th
Chicago's new Lake Front Park is opened with a practice
game. This field with its very short RF fence
will house the White Stockings (NL) for 8 years.
24th
John "Bud" Fowler, a young black hurler with the Chelsea
team, wins a 2-1 exhibition game from the Boston
Nationals, the 1877 NL champs. Fowler will sign with
the Lynn Live Oaks of the International Association.
There are claims that Fowler played professionally
in New Castle, PA, as early as 1872.
1st
A crowd of 5,500 turns out for the Opening Day game
at the brand-new Messer Street Park in Providence,
but the Boston Reds (NL) spoil the festivities by
nipping the Grays 1-0.
4th
Providence returns the favor and spoils Boston's home
opener by winning 8-6. Dick Higham hits a 3-run
HR over the cozy LF wall at the South End Grounds.
6th
Chicago makes one error and turns 4 DPs to beat Indianapolis
3-1. The losing Blues make 7 errors.
8th
Providence CF Paul Hines pulls off a spectacular and
perhaps unassisted triple play. With men on 2B and
3B and none out in the 8th inning, Boston's Jack Burdock
lines one over SS as both runners go. Hines, racing
in, catches the ball and keeps going until he touches
3B. This retires the runner who started on 3B, but
did it retire the runner who started on 2B but had
already rounded 3B? To make sure, Hines throws back
to Charley Sweasy to touch 2B. This touches off a
lively debate over whether the triple play was unassisted
or not, a debate that still continues over a century
later.
9th
Sam Weaver pitches a no-hitter to lead the Milwaukee
Cream Citys to their first NL win, beating Indianapolis
2-1, one run scoring after a walk. One scorer
gave a hit to John Clapp of the Blues, but Weaver
is generally credited with a no-hitter.
10th
Indianapolis scores its first NL win, beating
Milwaukee 6-1.
11th
Indianapolis edges Milwaukee 1-0 when the Reds
are able to field Will Foley's long drive beyond
the carriages parked in the LF corner in time to nip
Foley's bid for a game-tying HR.
14th
A crowd of 1,500 attends the first NL game in
Milwaukee and sees the Grays end the Cincinnati Reds'
6-game winning streak with an 8-5 decision.
15th
Providence beats Boston 24-5, pounding out 25
hits for 34 bases and running up the score with 12
runs in the 8th inning and 7 more in the 9th.
21st
Ed "The Only" Nolan of Indianapolis sets Milwaukee
down with just 2 hits, but he barely wins a 6-5
game because of 11 errors and passed balls by his
team.
28th
After starter Fred Corey gives out, Providence is
forced to try its catchers as pitchers. Backstops
Lew Brown and Doug Allison pitch the final 6
innings in a 12-4 loss to Milwaukee.
6th
Boston cannot hold a 15-6 lead but is able to
push across a run in the bottom of the 9th
to edge Milwaukee 16-15.
12th
A great throw for a CF and catcher DP by White Stocking
OF John Cassidy in the bottom of the 10th inning saves
a 1-0 decision over Milwaukee.
17th
After he is awarded 3B in a collision with Cal McVey,
Johnny Morrill scores the winning run on a double
steal. Boston beats Cincinnati in their first
meeting of the year 4-2.
5th
Cincinnati wins to move ahead of Boston in the standings
with 17 games won. Boston has won 16 but has lost
4 fewer games.
9th
Indianapolis begins a transferred "home" series in
St. Louis, losing to Boston 6-3 thanks to 4 errors
in the 2nd inning by 2B Joe Quest. The 3-game series
will total 1,594 in paid attendance.
11th
Blues pitcher Jim McCormick suffers a broken bone
in his forearm in the 7th inning and gives up 3 runs
in the 8th and 4 in the 9th to lose to Boston 8-4.
He will be out of action until the end of August.
15th
John Montgomery Ward makes his NL debut pitching for
Providence in Cincinnati. The first game is a
fiasco, the Grays losing 13-9 thanks to
17 battery errors by Monte Ward and Brown. But the
18-year-old rookie will pitch every inning of every
league game for the Grays for the rest of the season.
31st
Lip Pike, recently released by Cincinnati, goes 4-for-5
with 3 RBI for Providence, as the Grays beat his old
team 9-3.
9th
Paul Hines and Monte Ward star as Providence wins
2 from Indianapolis 12-6 in the morning and 85
in the afternoon. Ward pitches both games, and Hines
amasses 7 hits and 7 RBI.
14th
The Indianapolis club expels "The Only" Nolan for
leaving the team to attend a fictitious funeral.
19th
The NL loses 3 out of 4 exhibition games on this date,
Boston beating Rochester 4-2 in 14 innings for
the only victory.
26th
The Manchester IA club plays an exhibition at the
state reform school, and during the game their dressing
room is robbed of jewelry and $48 in cash.
31st
Al Spalding comes out of retirement to play 2B for
Chicago. He goes 2-for-4 but makes 4 errors as the
Whites lose to Boston 5-2.
2nd
A benefit game played in Chicago raises $682
for yellow fever victims in Memphis.
4th
Monte Ward shuts Chicago out for the 2nd day in a
row, winning 9-0 on 4 hits this time.
5th
Catcher Jim "Deacon" White picks 2 runners off and
throws out 3 more trying to steal to lead Cincinnati
to a 5-2 victory over Boston.
14th
The Red Stockings and Blues play an exhibition game
in which they experiment with calling every pitch
a ball or a strike and allowing only 6 balls for a
walk. The reaction is favorable.
23rd
The "Chicagos of 1879," including Ned Williamson and
Silver Flint of this year's Indianapolis 9, lose an
exhibition game to the Blues 9-7.
26th
Boston's Tommy Bond posts his 40th win of the season,
beating Providence 4-1.
30th
The NL season ends with a Providence win over Boston.
For the first time ever, a league completes its
entire schedule.
2nd
Buffalo beats Boston 9-5 in 12 innings, giving
Bison P Jim Galvin at least one win over each NL club.
He will finish 10-5 this year versus NL
teams.
3rd
The Stars of Syracuse beat Lowell 12-1 and claim
the IA pennant. They celebrate with a "grand collation."
8th
Buffalo beats Utica and also claims the IA pennant.
18th
The Indianapolis club unaccountably finds itself
short $2,500. The players are given $60 each in lieu
of their salaries due, spelling the end of the Indianapolis
Blues.
25th
The Buffalo club plays its final game in Jamestown,
NY, finishing the season with an overall record
of 81-32-3, including 10-7 versus NL teams and 24-8
in official IA games. P Jim Galvin racks up a
72-25-3 record.
1st
Boston beats Providence in an experimental game with
6 balls for a walk and no outs on foul bounds.
9th
The official NL averages give Milwaukee's Abner
Dalrymple the batting championship with a .356 average.
These figures do not include tie games, however,
and counting ties, Providence's Paul Hines would have
the lead .358 to .354.
10th
Nearly 8,000 come out to the San Francisco National
Trotting Park to see the deciding game of the Pacific
Coast championship season. The Athletics beat the
Californias 9-7 in a game marred by terrible
field conditions.
4th
The full NL meets and admits the Stars of Syracuse,
Buffalo, and Cleveland. Indianapolis resigns, and
the Milwaukee club is given 20 days to pay its creditors
and resign honorably or be expelled.
New rules include the following:
* Nonplaying managers are barred from the bench (a
rule aimed at Harry Wright of Boston).
* The pitcher's box is narrowed from 6 feet wide to
4 feet wide.
* Every pitch is called either a ball, a strike, or
a foul and 9 balls are required for a walk, as opposed
to the old rule in which every 3rd bad pitch was a
called ball and 3 called balls gave the batter his
base.
* A system of fines is established against pitchers
who hit batsmen with pitches.
* Pitchers are barred from turning their backs completely
to the batters during delivery.
* Batting-order rules are altered to make the first
batter in a new inning follow the last batter in the
previous inning.
5th
In its final session, the NL votes to abolish
all outs on the first bounce, both on fouls and
3rd strikes.
29th
The Professional Baseball League of Cuba is founded
in Havana.
31st
It is reported that 8,000,000 bats were sold in the
United States during 1878.