JANUARY

26th

Troy receives notification of its admission into the NL. The Trojans are already committed to salaries totaling $10,240 for 11 players and a manager.

FEBRUARY

14th

The Milwaukee NL club's property (Cream Citys) is sold to satisfy a bankruptcy judgment of $125.61.

18th

At the International Association meeting, the 1878 pennant is awarded to Buffalo with a 24-8 record; Syracuse was 23-9. With no Canadian clubs in attendance, the league changes its name to the National Association.

MARCH

21st

Entry into the NA pennant race is closed with 9 clubs, including 2 in Albany.

24th

The NL meets in Buffalo and adopts an 8-team, 84-game schedule.

25th

Despite some vocal opposition from some members, the NL votes to retain its 50¢ minimum admission price. It also reinstitutes the rule making outs of fouls on 3rd strikes caught on the first bounce.

APRIL

1st

The Northwest League is formed with Davenport, Omaha, Dubuque, and Rockford. This league refuses to affiliate with the NA or NL, setting its sights at limited attendance and salary standards. In this sense, it is the first minor league.

4th

The Providence Grays vote to establish a "bull pen" in CF for which 15¢ admissions can be purchased starting in the 5th inning. This would be a very popular ticket, with a daily rush in the 5th.

24th

The NA season opens with the Capital Cities losing to their crosstown rivals the Albanys 3-0.

MAY

1st

Opening Day in the NL with 4 games, including the first league games ever in Buffalo and Cleveland.

17th

Plagued by catching injuries, the Cleveland Blues give Fred Gunkley a trial. He finishes the game with 10 errors (including passed balls) even though he is shifted to the OF midway through the game. The Blue Stockings lose to the Syracuse Stars 11-3.

30th

John Ward of Providence beats Buffalo 4-0 and saves his own shutout with the innovative tactic of backing up home plate on a throw from the OF.

JUNE

2nd

J. Lee Richmond, Brown University baseball star, makes his pro debut with the Worcester Ruby Legs by no-hitting Chicago in a 7-inning game 11-0.

9th

Back with Brown, Richmond pitches his school to the College Championship by beating Yale 3-2.

13th

Will White sprains his ankle while horsing around with Mike Kelly before the game, and Cincinnati is forced to use Cal McVey in the pitcher's box. McVey is pounded for 28 hits, as Providence wins 19-6.

14th

Chicago's Frank "Silver" Flint hits a ball over the LF fence in the 9th inning in Troy. He takes only 3 bases on the hit because he wants to force the catcher to play close behind the next batter, giving the hitter a better chance. Chicago still loses 10-9.

20th

Oscar Walker of Buffalo becomes the first ML player to strike out 5 times in a 9-inning game.

26th

Boston edges Providence 3-2, due largely to a triple play started by C Snyder. He drops a 3rd strike with the bases loaded and begins the throws that result in 3 force outs. The rule eliminating the chance for double and triple plays on dropped 3rd strikes would not be adopted until 1887.

JULY

4th

A holiday crowd of more than 5,000 turns out in Philadelphia to see a widely advertised game between 2 women's teams, the New York Blue Stockings and the Philadelphia Red Stockings. The teams, connected with variety theaters, are playing for "the championship of the U.S." The Blue Stockings win 36-24 in a loosely played game cut short when the unruly crowd gets out of control.

15th

After having pitched complete games in all of Providence's 73 NL games since he joined the club exactly one year ago, Monte Ward is relieved for the first time in the 4th inning in a 9-0 loss to Cincinnati.

26th

Syracuse's Harry McCormick hits a HR in the first and then makes it stand up by beating Boston's Tommy Bond 1-0. This will be the only time in ML history that a pitcher wins his own 1-0 game with first-inning HR.

AUGUST

5th

After Providence P Bobby Mathews gives up 6 runs in the first 2 innings, he switches positions with 3B Monte Ward, who pitches shutout ball the rest of the way to rally the Grays to a 7-6 win. Captain George Wright would successfully employ this pitching scheme several more times in the season.

7th

An unusual base-path occurrence is the feature in Syracuse. The Star runner from 2B, Mike Dorgan, passes the man from 3B, Hick Carpenter, and crosses the plate before Carpenter is tagged out. There is as yet no specific rule about passing preceding runners, but the umpire calls both men out. The Stars beat Boston 6-5.

13th

Chicago and Cincinnati try to play a makeup game, but the home team Reds refuse to play after a downpour of rain. The visiting Whites then appoint one of their traveling party as umpire, and he declares the game a 9-0 forfeit victory for Chicago. It will be declared a legal Chicago victory at the NL meeting in December.

15th

Providence takes over first place from Chicago in the NL with a 16-7 pasting of Troy.

Cap Anson plays his final game of 1879 for Chicago. He will leave the club to recuperate from a liver ailment. Anson's illness, coupled with P Terry Larkin's lame arm, will doom Chicago to a 4th-place finish.

SEPTEMBER

9th

Tommy Bond of Boston shuts out Chicago again, 10-0 this time, for his 11th and final complete-game shutout of the season. This is the 3rd year in a row that he has led the NL in whitewashes.

10th

Facing bankruptcy, the Syracuse Stars fold after winning their final game. Having played Troy only 6 times, the official NL standings are adjusted so that only the first 6 games of the total each team played versus Syracuse would count. This adds a game to Providence's lead.

23rd

With Bond injured, Boston manager Harry Wright hires Harvard C Joe Tyng to pitch against Providence. Tyng and the Reds win 7-3.

25th

Providence jumps on Tyng for 16 hits and wins 15-4 to clinch a tie for first place.

26th

Providence squanders a 6-run lead, but George Wright scores a run in the 9th inning to beat Boston 7-6 and clinch the pennant for the Grays. The Providence crowd stages a wild celebration that delays the formal last out of the game.

29th

Will White pitches his 74th complete game of the season for Cincinnati, beating Cleveland 13-1. He will finish with 75 complete games and 680 innings pitched, establishing ML season records that will never be broken.

30th

From the 2nd day of the NL meeting, word leaks out of a secret agreement among the owners allowing each club to "reserve" 5 players with whom the other clubs agree not to negotiate. This move is to keep their salaries at current levels or below. This represents the beginning of the reserve system that would develop into management's chief hold over the players for the next century.

OCTOBER

1st

The financially strapped Cincinnati club releases its players, and will not pay them the final month's salary.

2nd

Chicago's announcement of the signing of Troy's Fred Goldsmith leads to protests from Troy that the new reserve system has already been violated.

16th

With the Cincinnati Reds folding, Mike Kelly signs with Chicago for 1880 while on tour with the Whites in California.

NOVEMBER

24th

Although the club reportedly cleared $1,500 in winning the pennant, Providence offers player-manager George Wright a contract calling for a cut of about $300 from his 1879 salary of $2,000. Because Wright was reserved by Providence at the NL meeting, he will receive no offers from other clubs.

DECEMBER

3rd

The annual NL meeting convenes in Buffalo. A new Cincinnati club headed by Justus Thorner and O. P. Caylor is admitted to membership.

4th

NL owners again vote to retain the 50¢ minimum admission charge despite opposition from Troy and Buffalo.

The following rule changes are made:

* the number of balls for a walk is reduced from 9 to 8.

* the catcher must catch the 3rd strike on the fly to put the batter out (the first bounce no longer counting).

* the final outs of the last half inning need no longer be completed if the team batting last is already ahead.

5th

The NL adopts a rule allowing a club to suspend a player for the remainder of one season and the entire following season for drunkenness or insubordination.

6th

The American College Baseball Association is founded in Springfield, MA.

21st

The Hop Bitters of Rochester, the first North American team to play in Cuba, beat a local team 21-7 in Havana before a crowd of 5,000.