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Charlton's Baseball Chronology - 1878
January
| January 5 |
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. |
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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. |
| January 16 |
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. |
| January 21 |
Providence applies for membership in the NL. |
| January 25 |
The Boston club is reported to be backing a Massachusetts bill outlawing gambling on ball games. |
February
| February 6 |
Providence becomes a member of the NL‚ bringing membership to 7 if the shaky Louisville franchise is counted.. |
| February 9 |
Official averages compiled by the IA list Rochester's Steve Brady as first-ever minor league batting champion with a .373 average. |
| February 12 |
Fred Thayer is granted a patent for the catching mask‚ which was first used last April. |
| February 19 |
The 2nd annual meeting of the IA is held in Buffalo‚ 28 clubs attending. |
| February 20 |
The Tecumsehs of London‚ Ontario‚ are officially declared 1877 pennant winners in the IA with a record of 14-4. |
March
| March 8 |
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. |
| March 9 |
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. |
| March 13 |
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. |
| March 21 |
Milwaukee hires Jack Chapman as manager. He had run the Louisville NL team for the previous 2 seasons. |
| March 27 |
The National Association of Amateur Base Ball Players disbands. This organization had traced its roots back to the first National Association founded in 1858. |
April
| April 1 |
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. |
| April 2 |
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. |
| April 10 |
Ben Douglas is fired as manager of the Providence Grays for incompetence and insubordination. |
| April 13 |
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. |
| April 20 |
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 7 years. |
| April 22 |
The first IA game of the season takes place in Manchester‚ NH‚ with the hosts beating Rochester‚ 9-0. |
| April 24 |
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. |
May
| May 1 |
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. |
| May 4 |
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. |
| May 6 |
Chicago makes one error and turns 4 DPs to beat Indianapolis 3-1. The losing Blues make 7 errors. |
| May 8 |
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 at his shoe tops and keeps going to touch 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. In the May 4‚ 1901 issue of The Sporting News publishes letters by four of the game's participants in which they all agree that Hines threw to 2B to complete the TP. Two of the letter writers are Sweasy‚ the second baseman‚ and E. B. Sutton‚ the runner at 2B. |
| May 9 |
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. |
| May 10 |
Indianapolis scores its first NL win‚ beating Milwaukee 6-1. |
| May 11 |
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. |
| May 14 |
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. |
| May 15 |
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. |
| May 20 |
Chicago's Terry Larkin allows only a first-inning single‚ to Orator Shaffer‚ to beat Indianapolis‚ 3-1. |
| May 21 |
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. |
| May 25 |
With starter Fred Corey disabled in the 1st inning by arm trouble‚ Providence reliever Tricky Nichols has to stay in the box despite suffering a dislocated finger in the 3rd inning. He is hit hard and loses to Boston‚ 17-10. |
| May 28 |
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. |
| May 30 |
Indianapolis hitter Russ McKelvey strikes out 4 times against Cincinnati right Will White as the Reds beat the Blues‚ 4-1. |
June
| June 1 |
McKelvey hits a 3-run homer off Reds lefty Bobby Mitchell to pace the Blues to an 8-5 win. |
| June 4 |
Larkin allows 7 hits and knocks in 2 runs to give Chicago a 2-1 win over Providence. |
| June 6 |
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. |
| June 11 |
Jack Manning scores a run and drives in 2 in a 3-0 Boston win over Indianapolis. |
| June 12 |
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. |
| June 15 |
League-leading Cincinnati improves its record to 15-5 with a 11-3 romp over Providence. |
| June 17 |
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. |
| June 19 |
CF Paul Hines makes 2 great catches to save 7 runs as Providence beats Indianapolis‚ 9-3. |
| June 22 |
Cap Anson is 5-for-5 with 5 RBIs as Chicago rolls over Milwaukee‚ 14-3. |
| June 25 |
Anson is 3-for-3 but makes a critical error in LF as Chicago loses to Boston‚ 7-2. |
| June 26 |
Milwaukee C Charlie Bennett‚ still trying to recover from a sore arm and his latest eye injury‚ breaks his nose when hit by a foul tip in an exhibition game in Waukesha. |
| June 27 |
Red-hot Cap Anson is 4-for-6 and Start is 5-for-6 as Chicago tattoos Tommy Bond for 24 hits in beating Boston‚ 16-5. |
| June 29 |
Indianapolis P Jim McCormick finishes his first week in the NL by beating the Reds for the 3rd time. |
July
| July 2 |
Boston (15-7) moves into first place in the NL by beating Milwaukee‚ 4-1. The Reds (15-11) are 2nd and Chicago (14-13) is 3rd. |
| July 4 |
Cincinnati snaps a 6-game losing streak by beating Indianapolis‚ 5-3‚ before a crowd of 5‚194. |
| July 5 |
Cincinnati wins to move ahead of Boston in the standings with 17 games won. Boston has won 16 but has lost 4 fewer games. |
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Cincinnati wins a gain and moves into 1st place with 17 wins. Boston has 16 wins‚ but 4 fewer losses. |
| July 7 |
Unofficial figures compiled by Cincinnati sportswriter O.P. Caylor put Lew Brown of Providence as the top hitter at .375. Following are Shaffer (.373)‚ Anson (367)‚ Allison (.361)‚ and Abner Dalrymple (.359). |
| July 9 |
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. |
| July 11 |
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. |
| July 15 |
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 on July 18 and 20th he'll toss consecutive shutouts and the 18-year-old rookie will pitch every inning of every league game for the Grays for the rest of the season. |
| July 17 |
Thanks to the heroics of Jack Remsen‚ Chicago nips Milwaukee‚ 6-5. Remsen drives in the game-winner in the 9th after earlier making a spectacular catch. The White Stockings now lead the pennant race with 22 wins. |
| July 18 |
Daring base running by rookie Mike Kelly leads Cincinnati to a 4-1 win over Boston. |
| July 20 |
Jack Manning‚ back with Hubbites after being on loan to the Queen City for 1877‚ scores the lone run on a double steal as Boston edges Cincinnati‚ 1-0. |
| July 22 |
Cal McVey and Jim White combine for 6 RBIs‚ but their errors in the 9th allow Boston to score the winning run. The final is Boston 8‚ Cincinnati‚ 7. |
| July 23 |
Maybe they should change their name to the Cream Puffs. The Milwaukee Cream Citys loses its 14th straight game‚ the longest losing streak of the year‚ 5-4 to Providence. The winners steal 5 bases and score 5 runs in one inning as they run on C Charlie Bennett's sore arm. |
| July 25 |
Boston uses a triple play in the 8th inning and a triple in the 11th to edge Cincinnati‚ 10-9. |
| July 26 |
At the Union Grounds in Brooklyn‚ Providence hosts Milwaukee before a disappointingly small crowd. The Grays prevail over the Cream Citys‚ 4-1. |
| July 31 |
Lip Pike‚ recently released by Cincinnati‚ goes 4-for-5 with 3 RBI for Providence‚ as the Grays beat his old team 9-3. |
August
| August 1 |
Boston edges Milwaukee‚ 3-2‚ with the aid of an "astonishing muff" in the 8th inning by LF Abner Dalrymple. |
| August 3 |
A home run by Jim O'Rourke gives Boston another 3-2 win over Milwaukee. |
| August 8 |
Errors by 2B Bill McClellan and 1B Joe Start enable Boston to score in the 9th and edge Chicago‚ 2-1. |
| August 9 |
Paul Hines and Monte Ward star as Providence wins 2 from Indianapolis 12-6 in the morning and 8-5 in the afternoon. Ward pitches both games‚ and Hines amasses 7 hits and 7 RBIs. |
| August 10 |
Boston completes a 3-game sweep of Chicago by winning 2-1 in 11 innings. Morrill scores the winning run by stealing 2B and continuing home when the catcher's throw gets by the second baseman and center fielder. |
| August 13 |
Paul Hines is 3-for-4 and pulls off his second unassisted DP of the year‚ but Providence settles for a 4-4 tie with Chicago. |
| August 14 |
The Indianapolis club expels "The Only" Nolan for leaving the team to attend a fictitious funeral. |
| August 19 |
The NL loses 3 out of 4 exhibition games on this date‚ Boston beating Rochester 4-2 in 14 innings for the only victory. |
| August 21 |
Chicago scores 5 in the bottom of the 9th to beat Cincinnati‚ 7-4. After Frank Hankinson's 2-run single wins the game‚ two more runs score on an error by SS Bill Geer. |
| August 25 |
The IA certifies Bill Craver to play for the Troy Haymakers (IA). Craver was recently expelled from the NL for failing to cooperate with an investigation into his selling of games. By NL rules‚ the League could then expel every player who played against Troy. The NL will take no action‚ however‚ but will not grant Craver a hearing. |
| August 26 |
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. |
| August 29 |
Boston pulls another out of the fire‚ coring 4 in the bottom of the 10th to beat Chicago‚ 8-7. Bob Ferguson‚ catching for the Whites‚ makes 5 errors and passed balls in the final frame. Ezra Sutton caps the scoring with a game-winning homer‚ his only HR of the year. |
| August 31 |
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. |
September
| September 2 |
A benefit game played in Chicago raises $682 for yellow fever victims in Memphis. |
| September 3 |
Cincinnati scores 3 in the 9th to beat Boston‚ 3-0. Charley Jones cracks a 2-run triple and completes the circuit on an error. |
| September 4 |
Monte Ward shuts Chicago out for the 2nd day in a row‚ winning 9-0 on 4 hits this time. |
| September 5 |
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. |
| September 7 |
Cincinnati staves off elimination again by completing a 3-game sweep over the league leaders. Boston still leads with a 37-16 record‚ while Cincinnati is 35-22. |
| September 8 |
Impressed with his hitting in the recent sweep over them‚ Boston signs Cincy star Charley Jones to a 3-year contract for 1879-82. |
| September 11 |
Cincinnati beats Chicago 2-0 for their 9th win in a row‚ tying Chicago for the longest win streak of the year. Boston clinches a tie with a 2-0‚ 10-inning win over Indianapolis. |
| September 12 |
Boston clinches the pennant with a 4-2 win over the Blues‚ while Cincinnati finally loses‚ 9-2‚ to Chicago. |
| September 13 |
Boston's Tommy Bond pitches his 9th shutout of the year‚ beating Indianapolis‚ 3-0. |
| September 14 |
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. |
| September 19 |
Providence announces its roster for 1879‚ including Boston's star SS George Wright‚ who will captain the Grays next year. |
| September 23 |
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. |
| September 26 |
In the first league game in 12 days‚ Boston's Tommy Bond beats Providence‚ 4-1‚ for his 40th win of the year. Bond won 40 last year and will win 43 next season‚ pitching more than 500 innings in each of the 3 years. At 40-16‚ Bond has all but one of Boston's decisions. He'll lose his next 3 all by one run over the next 3 days to Providence‚ as the two teams are the only ones playing. |
| September 30 |
The NL season ends with a Providence win over Boston‚ their 3rd over Boston in 3 days. For the first time ever‚ a league completes its entire schedule. Boston (41-19) is the leader‚ followed by Cincinnati (37-23) and Providence (33-27) in the top 3 of 6 teams. |
October
| October 2 |
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. |
| October 3 |
The Stars of Syracuse beat Lowell 12-1 and claim the IA pennant. They celebrate with a "grand collation" in the evening. |
| October 7 |
Jim Devlin‚ barred by the NL‚ pitches a benefit game in Troy between the Haymakers and a picked 9. |
| October 8 |
Buffalo beats Utica and also claims the IA pennant. |
| October 15 |
Providence signs veteran stars Jim O'Rourke and Bobby Mathews. |
| October 18 |
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. |
| October 25 |
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. |
November
| November 1 |
Boston beats Providence in an experimental game with 6 balls for a walk and no outs on foul bounds. |
| November 8 |
The Providence club meets and votes to expand its capital stock from $3‚800 to $10‚000. |
| November 9 |
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. The calculations giving Hines the batting crown‚ as well as research showing he led in RBIs‚ were not made until long after his death in 1935‚ so Hines did not know he was the ML's first triple crown winner. |
| November 10 |
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. |
December
| December 4 |
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. The also deny the appeals of reinstatement from Bill Craver and Edward Nolan. |
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New rules include the following: |
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Nonplaying managers are barred from the bench (a rule aimed at Harry Wright of Boston). |
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The pitcher's box is narrowed from 6 feet wide to 4 feet wide. |
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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. |
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A system of fines is established against pitchers who hit batsmen with pitches. |
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Pitchers are barred from turning their backs completely to the batters during delivery. |
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Batting-order rules are altered to make the first batter in a new inning follow the last batter in the previous inning. |
| December 5 |
In its final session‚ the NL votes to abolish all outs on the first bounce‚ both on fouls and 3rd strikes. |
| December 10 |
The Troy City Base Ball club applies for membership in the NL. |
| December 29 |
The Professional Baseball League of Cuba is founded in Havana. |
| December 31 |
It is reported that 8‚000‚000 bats were sold in the United States during 1878. |
