Spalding's Baseball Guide and Official League Book for 1889

Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

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| n | s | c | i | e | e | d | y ||Series
Clubs | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ||Totals.
-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----++--------
|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.|W.|L.||W.|L.
-----------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--++--+-----
Brooklyn |--|--|10|10|12| 8|14| 6|12| 8|13| 8|16| 4|11| 9|| 6| 0
St. Louis |10|10|--|--|10| 7|10| 8|15| 5|16| 4|16| 4|16| 4|| 4| 0
Athletic | 8|12| 7|10|--|--|10|10|15| 5|15| 5|13| 7|11| 3|| 4| 1
Cincinnati | 6|14| 8|10|10|10|--|--|14| 6|17| 3|10| 7|15| 4|| 3| 1
Baltimore | 8|12| 5|15| 5|15| 6|14|--|--|11| 9|10| 9|11| 9|| 2| 4
Louisville | 8|13| 4|16| 5|15| 3|17| 9|11|--|--| 8| 9|11| 6|| 1| 5
Cleveland | 4|16| 4|16| 7|13| 7|10| 9|10| 9| 8|--|--| 9| 9|| 0| 3
Kansas City| 9|11| 4|16| 3|14| 4|15| 9|11| 6|11| 9| 9|--|--|| 0| 6

The St. Louis, Brooklyn, Athletic and Cincinnati Clubs, each had one series tied; while the Baltimore Club had four unfinished series; the St. Louis and Cincinnati Clubs two each, and the Athletic, Baltimore, Louisville and Kansas City Clubs one each, The Brooklyn Club playing their full quota of scheduled games.

THE YEARLY RECORD.

The appended table gives the number of games won by all the clubs which have competed for the American Association championship from 1882 to 1888 inclusive:

Clubs |1882|1883|1884|1885|1886|1887|1888|Yrs.||Total | | | | | | | | ||Vict'r's ------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----++--------- St. Louis | 37| 65| 67| 79| 92| 94| 92| 7|| 526 Cincinnati | 55| 62| 68| 63| 64| 80| 80| 7|| 472 Athletic | 41| 66| 61| 55| 60| 64| 81| 7|| 428 Baltimore | 19| 28| 63| 41| 48| 76| 57| 7|| 332 Louisville | 42| 52| 68| 53| 66| 76| 48| 7|| 405 Metropolitan| --| 54| 75| 44| 53| 43| --| 6|| 269 Pittsburg | 39| 30| 30| 56| 78| --| --| 5|| 233 Brooklyn | --| --| 40| 53| 76| 59| 88| 5|| 316 Columbus | --| 32| 69| --| --| --| --| 2|| 104 Cleveland | --| --| --| --| --| 38| 50| 2|| 88 Indianapolis| --| --| 29| --| --| --| --| 1|| 29 Washington | --| --| 12| --| --| --| --| 1|| 12 Virginia | --| --| 12| --| --| --| --| 1|| 12 Kansas City | --| --| --| --| --| --| 43| 1|| 43 Toledo | --| --| 46| --| --| --| --| 1|| 46 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---------- Total | 233| 389| 640| 444| 537| 530| 539|

A COMPARATIVE RECORD.

The following table gives the comparative figures of the League and the Association in their Championship contests in 1888:

Clubs |Vic.|Def |Pct. ||Clubs |Vic.|Def.|Pct. -------------+----+----+------++-----------+----+----+------ New York | 84 | 47 | .641 ||St. Louis | 92 | 43 | .681 Chicago | 77 | 58 | .570 ||Brooklyn | 88 | 52 | .629 Philadelphia | 69 | 61 | .531 ||Athletic | 82 | 52 | .612 Boston | 70 | 64 | .522 ||Cincinnati | 80 | 54 | .597 Detroit | 68 | 63 | .519 ||Baltimore | 57 | 81 | .413 Pittsburg | 66 | 68 | .493 ||Cleveland | 50 | 82 | .379 Indianapolis | 50 | 85 | .370 ||Louisville | 48 | 87 | .356 Washington | 48 | 86 | .358 ||Kansas City| 43 | 89 | .328

NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN RECORDS.

The New York League Club and the Brooklyn American Association Club closed the first six years of their existence in 1888. The New York Club joined the League in 1883, and won the championship in 1888. The principal statistics of the club's work on the diamond field during that period is shown in the appended table:

Years |Won. |Lost.|Drawn.|Played.|Batting |Fielding | | | | |Average.|Average ------+-----+-----+------+-------+--------+-------- 1883 | 46 | 50 | 2 | 98 | .256 | .825 1884 | 62 | 50 | 4 | 116 | .257 | .816 1885 | 85 | 27 | 0 | 112 | .269 | .866 1886 | 75 | 44 | 5 | 124 | .269 | .853 1887 | 68 | 55 | 6 | 129 | .331 | .886 1888 | 84 | 47 | 7 | 138 | .240 | .918 +-----+-----+------+-------+--------+------ Totals| 420 | 273 | 24 | 717 | .270 | .860

During these six seasons the New Yorks played 398 games with the Chicagos, Detroits, Bostons and Philadelphias, winning 223 and losing 175. Of these four clubs the New Yorks found the Chicagos to be their strongest opponents, and the Bostons their weakest. One hundred games were played with each of the two clubs, the New Yorks winning sixty-one from Boston, and only forty-one from Chicago.

The Brooklyn Club began its career in 1883 by winning the championship of the Interstate Association of that year, and in 1884 the club entered the American Association.

The following is the record of the Brooklyn Club's field work in the first six years of its history:

Years. |Victories.|Defeats.|Games |Drawn.|Pr. Ct. of | | |Played.| |Champ. Victs. ---------+----------+--------+-------+------+------------ 1883 | 65 | 33 | 101 | 3 | .643 1884 | 57 | 75 | 136 | 4 | .384 1885 | 83 | 67 | 142 | 2 | .473 1886 | 91 | 63 | 160 | 6 | .557 1887 | 78 | 80 | 156 | 4 | .448 1888 | 88 | 52 | 160 | 3 | .629 Totals +----------+--------+-------+------+--------- six years| 462 | 370 | 875 | 22

Each club won championship honors in but one season out of six, the Brooklyns beginning by winning a pennant, and the New Yorkers ending with championship honors.

THE PHILADELPHIA CITY CHAMPIONSHIP.

The Philadelphia League Club and the American Association Athletic Club played a spring and fall exhibition game series for the professional championship of Philadelphia, the result of which was a victory for the American teams, as will be seen by the appended record:

ATHLETIC VICTORIES.

ATHLETIC VS. PHILADELPHIA. ------------------------------------- DATE. PITCHERS. Score. ------------------------------------- April 9 Seward, Gleason 4-2 April 11 Seward, Sanders 15-4 April 12 Weyhing Casey 7-1 April 14 Seward, Gleason 3-1 April 16 Weyhing, Tyng 13-7 October 18 Seward, Sanders 8-5 -------------------------------------

PHILADELPHIA VICTORIES.

PHILADELPHIA VS. ATHLETIC. ---------------------------------------- DATE. PITCHERS. Score. --------------------------------------- April 13 Gleason, Mattimore 8-2 April 17 Buffinton, Blair 7-1 October 19 Casey, Weyhing 8-0 October 20 Buffinton, Smith 12-0

THE EXHIBITION GAME CAMPAIGN.

The experience of the season of 1888 in the playing of exhibition games during the spring and fall between League and American Clubs, shows that while the spring series prove attractive, owing to the desire of the patrons of the game to see how the club teams of the two organizations compare with each other in relative strength, preparatory to the opening of the championship campaign in each arena; those played in the fall, after the two championships have been decided, have ceased to draw paying patronage. This decrease of interest in the fall exhibition games, too, has been largely due to the introduction of the World's Championship series, which now monopolize public interest after the regular championship season has ended. It has been proposed to substitute a series of regular championship matches, on the basis of the series of the world's championship contests for the old time fall exhibition games, the plan in question including not only games between the championship teams of the League and the Association, but also between all the eight clubs of each organization, so as to show which are the eight leading club teams of the League, and the American Association. Had this plan been carried out in 1888, we should not only have had the interesting series between the two champion teams of New York and St. Louis, but also those between Chicago and Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Athletic, Boston and Cincinnati, Detroit and Baltimore, Pittsburg and Cleveland, Indianapolis and Louisville, and Washington and Kansas City. It is to be hoped that a grand test series of games of this character will mark the closing professional campaign of 1889, for such a series would substitute very interesting championship matches for October in the place of the unmeaning and useless exhibition games of the past fall campaigns.

THE WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP.

THE FULL RECORD OF THE SERIES.

It has now become an established rule of the National League and the American Association, to close each season with a supplementary championship series of games between the teams of the two leading clubs winning the respective championships of the two organizations each year, to decide as to which of the two champion clubs is entitled to the honor of being the champion club of the United States, and consequently the world's champions in base ball. This supplementary series of games has grown in importance each year since the inaugural trial games of 1884, when a short series of games of this character took place on the Polo Grounds in October, 1884, between the League championship team of the Providence Club and the American championship team of the Metropolitan Club. It was a short series of best two games of the three played, the result being an easy victory for the League team, as the appended record shows:

THE SERIES OF 1884.

Oct. 23, Providence vs. Metropolitan, at the Polo Grounds 6--0 Oct. 24, Providence vs. Metropolitan, at the Polo Grounds 3--1 Oct. 25, Providence vs. Metropolitan, at the Polo Grounds 12--2 Total 21--3

THE SERIES OF 1885.

In 1885 the St. Louis Club first won the honors in the American pennant race, and the Chicago team in that of the League, and in October of that year the rival teams contested for the United States championship in a series of best four out of seven games. Though the series was a far more important one than that of 1884, still the rules governing the special games were not what they should have been, and consequently the result was not satisfactory, as a dispute, followed by a forfeited game, led to a draw contest and an equal division of the gate receipts.

In this series $1,000 was the prize competed for, and as neither team won the series, each club received $500 of the prize money, each winning three games after the first game had been drawn. The record of these games is appended:

Oct. 14, St, Louis vs. Chicago, at Chicago (8 innings) 5-5 Oct. 15, Chicago vs. St. Louis, at St. Louis (6 innings) forfeited 5-4 Oct. 16, St. Louis vs. Chicago, at St. Louis 7-4 Oct. 17, St. Louis vs. Chicago, at St.Louis 3-2 Oct. 22, Chicago vs. St. Louis, at Pittsburg (7 innings) 9-2 Oct 23, Chicago vs. St. Louis, at Cincinnati 9-2 Oct. 24, St. Louis vs. Chicago, at Cincinnati 13-4

Total victories for Chicago, 3: for St. Louis, 3, with one game drawn Total runs scored by Chicago, 43: by St. Louis, 41.

THE SERIES OF 1886.

In 1886 the Chicago and St. Louis club teams again won the championship honors of their respective associations, and they again entered the lists for the "world's championship," this series being best out of six games, three being played at Chicago, and three at St. Louis; the winner of the series taking ail the gate receipts. The result was the success of the St. Louis team, the scores being as follows:

Oct. 18, Chicago vs. St. Louis, at Chicago 6-0 Oct. 19, St. Louis vs. Chicago, at Chicago (8 innings) 12-0 Oct. 20, Chicago vs. St. Louis, at Chicago (8 innings) 11-4 Oct. 21, St. Louis vs. Chicago, at St. Louis (7 innings) 8-5 Oct. 22, St. Louis vs. Chicago, at St. Louis (6 innings) 10-3 Oct. 23, St. Louis vs. Chicago, at St. Louis (10 innings) 4-3

Total runs for St. Louis, 38; for Chicago, 29.

THE SERIES OF 1887.

In 1887 the world's championship series had become an established supplementary series of contests, and in this year these contests excited more interest than had previously been manifested in regard to them, the demands made upon the two contesting teams--the Detroit champions of the League and the St. Louis champions of the American Association--for a game of the series from the large cities of the East and West being such as to lead the two clubs to extend the series to one of best out of fifteen games. These were played at St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, and Pittsburg in the W st, and at New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore in the East. The series began in St. Louis, and the eighth victory of the Detroits was won at Baltimore, St. Louis winning the last game of the series at St. Louis. The record of the fifteen games, showing the pitchers in each contest, is as follows:

Date. |Contesting |Cities. |Pitchers. |Innings.|Score. |Clubs. | | | | -------+-------------+------------+--------------+--------+------ Oct. 10|St. Louis v. |St. Louis |Carruthers, | 9 | 6-1 | Detroit | |Getzein | | " 11|Detroit v. |St. Louis |Conway, Foutz | 9 | 5-3 | St. Louis | | | | " 12| " " " |Detroit |Getzein, | 13 | 2-1 | | |Carruthers | | " 13| " " " |Pittsburg |Baldwin, King | 9 | 8-0 " 14|St. Louis v. |Brooklyn |Carruthers, | 9 | 5-2 | Detroit | |Conway | | " 15|Detroit v. |New York |Getzein, Foutz| 9 | 9-0 | St. Louis | | | | " 17|" " " |Philadelphia|Baldwin, | 9 | 3-1 | | |Carruthers | | " 18| " " " |Boston |Baldwin, | 9 | 9-2 | | |Carruthers | | " 19| " " " |Philadelphia|Conway, King | 9 | 4-2 " 21|St. Louis v. |Washington |Carruthers, | 9 | 11-4 [1] | Detroit | |Getzein | | " 21|Detroit v. |Baltimore |Baldwin, Foutz| 9 | 13-3 [2] | St. Louis | | | | " 22|" " " |Baltimore |Baldwin, Foutz| 9 | 13-3 " 24|" " " |Detroit |Baldwin, | 9 | 6-3 | | |Carruthers | | " 25|" " " |Chicago |Getzein, King | 9 | 4-3 " 26|St. Louis v. |St. Louis |Carruthers, | 6 | 9-2 | Detroit | |Baldwin | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Footnote 1: A.M.] [Footnote 2: P.M.]

THE SERIES OF 1888.

The contest for the world's championship in 1888 was the most exciting and important of any yet played; and the public attention given to the series throughout the entire base ball world, was such as to show that it would be a paying policy on the part of the League and the Association to establish a supplementary championship season, to begin on the first of October each year, the series of games to be played including not only that for the world's championship, but also to include contests between the other clubs of each organization so as to settle the question as to which were the eight leading professional teams of the country.

Prior to 1888 but three clubs had participated in the regular series, and these were: St. Louis on the one hand, and Chicago (twice) and Detroit on the other. In 1888, however, a new League candidate entered the field against the St. Louis champions, and that was the New York club team, it being the first time the two clubs had ever encountered each other. The series arranged between the two clubs was one of ten games, the first six victories to decide the contest. They were commenced at the Polo Grounds on October 16, and the opening contest gave promise of a very interesting series of games, and when the St. Louis team "Chicagoed" their League adversaries the next day the interest in the matches doubled. But the close of the first week's games left New York in the van with a credit of four victories out of the five games played. The contest of the 19th took place in Brooklyn, but the other four were played at the Polo Grounds, the largest attendance of the whole series being that of Saturday, Oct. 20, when the receipts exceeded $5,000. At the four games played at the Polo Grounds the aggregate of receipts was $15,405, while the aggregate of receipts at the four games at St. Louis, was but $5,612, less than that at the Saturday game at the Polo Grounds the previous week. The game at Brooklyn was marred by the bad weather, while that at Philadelphia was dampened by the lead the New York team had previously attained. The series virtually ended at St. Louis on October 25, when New York won their sixth victory and the championship. After that Ward left the New York team to join the Australian tourists, and the interest in the games ended, the receipts falling off from $2,365 on October 25 to $411 on October 26. The last game of the series was a mere ordinary exhibition game, Titcomb pitching in four innings and Hatfield in four. The player's game on the 28th was even less attractive, the St. Louis team winning easily by 6 to 0, Keefe, Welch and George taking turns in the box for New York. The record of the series in full is as follows:

Date. |Contesting |Cities. |Pitchers. |In's.|Scr. |Rec |Clubs. | | | | | -------+-------------+----------+------------+-----+------+ Oct 16 |N. York v. |New York |Keefe | | | | St. Louis | |King | 9 | 2-1 | $2,876 " 17 |St. Louis v. | " " |Chamberlain | | | | N. York | |Welch | 9 | 3-0 | 3,375 " 18 |N. York v. | " " |Keefe | | | | St. Louis | |King | 9 | 4-2 | 3,530 " 19 | " " " |Brooklyn |Crane | | | | | |Chamberlain | 9 | 6-3 | 1,502 " 20 | " " " |New York |Keefe | | | | | |King | 8 | 6-4 | 5,624 " 22 | " " " |Phild'l'a |Welch | | | | | |Chamberlain | 8 | 12-5 | 1,781 " 24 |St. Louis v. |St. Louis |King | | | | N. York | |Crane | 8 | 7-5 | 2,624 " 25 |N. York v. | " " |King | | | | St. Louis | |Chamberlain | 9 | 11-3 | 2,365 " 26 |St. Louis v. | " " |King | | | | N. York | |George | 10 | 14-11| 411 " 27 | " " " | " " |Chamberlain,| | | | | |Titcomb | 9 | 18-7 | 212 Hatfeld, | -------+-------------+----------+------------+-----+------+------------ Total | | | | | | $24,362 Total Runs--New York, 64; St. Louis, 60.

Pitchers' Victories--Keefe, 4; Welch, 1; King, 2; Chamberlain, 2; Crane, 1.

Pitchers' Defeats--Keefe, 0; Welch, 1; Crane, 1; Titcomb, 1; King, 3; Chamberlain, 3.

THE STATISTICS OF THE GAMES.

THE BATTING FIGURES.

The batting figures of those of the New York team who played in five games and over, are as follows:

PLAYERS. |Games.|A.B.|R. |B.H.|S.B.|Per ct. | | | | | |B.H. -----------+------+----+---+----+----+------ Ward | 8 | 28 | 4 | 11 | 6 | .393 Ewing | 7 | 26 | 5 | 9 | 5 | .346 Tiernan | 10 | 38 | 8 | 13 | 5 | .342 O'Rourke | 10 | 36 | 4 | 12 | 3 | .333 Whitney | 10 | 37 | 7 | 11 | 3 | .297 Connor | 7 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 4 | .250 Slattery | 10 | 39 | 6 | 8 | 5 | .205 Richardson | 9 | 36 | 6 | 6 | 2 | .167 ------------------------------------------

Of those who played in less than five games, the batting figures were as follows:

PLAYERS. |Games.|A.B.|R. |B.H.|S.B.|Per cent. | | | | | |B.H. | | | | | | ---------+------+----+---+----+----+----- Titcomb | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | O | .500 Gore | 3 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 2 | .454 Brown | 2 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .375 George | 2 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .333 Welch | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .286 Hatfield | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .250 Crane | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .143 Murphy | 3 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .100 Keefe | 4 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .090 ------------------------------------------

Of those of the St. Louis team who took part in five games and over, the batting figures were as follows:

PLAYERS. |Games.|A.B.| R. |B.H.|S.B.|Per cent. | | | | | |B.H. ------------+------+----+----+----+----+------- Milligan | 8 | 25 | 5 | 10 | 0 | .400 Comiskey | 10 | 38 | 6 | 10 | 4 | .263 Robinson | 10 | 38 | 7 | 10 | 2 | .263 O'Neil | 10 | 38 | 9 | 10 | 0 | .263 McCarthy | 10 | 41 | 10 | 10 | 4 | .244 Latham | 10 | 41 | 10 | 9 | 10 | .219 White | 10 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 1 | .143 Lyons | 5 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .111 King | 5 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .063 Chamberlain | 5 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .000 ---------------------------------------------

Of those who played in less than five games, the batting figures were as follows:

PLAYERS.|Games.|A.B.|R. |B.H.|S.B.|Per ct. | | | | | |B.H. --------+------+----+---+----+----+------- Boyle | 4 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 3 | .375 Herr | 3 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .000 Devlin | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000

THE PITCHERS' FIGURES

The pitchers' figures showing their work in the box, are as follows:

NEW YORK. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLAYERS. |Games.|At |Runs.|Earned|Hits.|Totals.|Wild |Struck |Bases | |Bat. | |Runs. | | |Pitches.|Out. |on | | | | | | | | |Balls. ---------+------+-----+-----+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+------- Keefe | 4 | 123 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 19 | 0 | 32 | 9 Welch | 2 | 56 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 6 Crane | 2 | 62 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 3 | 12 | 6 +------+-----+-----+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+---- Total | 8 | 241 | 28 | 7 | 42 | 50 | 4 | 47 | 21 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

ST. LOUIS. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- PLAYERS. |Games.|At |Runs.|Earned|Hits.|Totals.|Wild |Struck |Bases | |Bat. | |Runs. | | |Pitches.|Out. |on | | | | | | | | |Balls. -----------+------+-----+-----+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----- -- King | 5 | 137 | 25 | 8 | 34 | 43 | 2 | 11 | 9 Chamberlain| 4 | 210 | 43 | 22 | 64 | 94 | 7 | 14 | 20 +------+-----+-----+------+-----+-------+--------+-------+----- --- Total | 10 | 347 | 68 | 30 | 98 | 137 | 9 | 25 | 29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---

In the fielding figures of pitchers the assistances on strikes were mixed up with the fielding assistances which rendered them useless.

The record of the batting and fielding of the two club teams as a whole, is as follows:

CLUB BATTING. CLUBS. |Games.|At Bat.|Runs.|Base |S.B.|Average. | | | |Hits.| | ----------+------+-------+-----+-----+----+-------- New York | 10 | 366 | 64 | 96 | 37 | .289 St. Louis | 10 | 333 | 61 | 73 | 26 | .219

CLUBS. |Games | P.O. | A. | E.|Total |Per Cent | | | | |Chances.|Accepted. ----------+------+------+----+---+--------+-------- New York | 10 | 213 | 174| 40| 427| .906 St. Louis | 10 | 249 | 157| 42| 449| .906

THE FINANCIAL RECORD.

The appended figures showing the gate receipts of each day in each city, are as follows:

Of the New York's share of the receipts, $200 was paid to each of their eighteen players, reducing the club's profits by some $3,600. The general expense account includes traveling expenses and advertising for both clubs. The following table shows the figures for the series between St. Louis and Detroit in 1887:

RECEIPTS.--At St. Louis, $9,000; Detroit, $6,750; Pittsburgh, $2,300; Brooklyn, $5,800; New York, $4,100; Philadelphia, $8,000; Washington, $800; Boston, $3,100; Baltimore, $2,000; Chicago, $200; total $42,000. The expenses of the trip was $18,000, leaving a balance of $24,000. This was divided evenly, so that St. Louis received $12,000 and Detroit $12,000.

The St. Louis papers complimented the visiting New York team highly. In fact, the St. Louis _Post-Dispatch_ said that no more gentlemanly appearing or behaving set of men belonging to a ball club ever played in St. Louis. Messrs. Von der Ahe and the secretary of his club, Mr. George Munson, did everything in their power for the visiting newspaper men.

THE FIELDING FIGURES.

NEW YORK. PLAYERS. |Positions.|Games.|Fielding | | |Average. -----------+----------+------+-------- Ewing |C | 7| .875 Brown |C | 2| 1.000 Murphy |C | 3| .759 Connor |1B | 7| .975 Richardson |2B | 9| .978 Whitney |3B | 10| .862 Ward |S S | 8| .919 O'Rourke |L F | 10| .955 Slattery |C F | 10| .826 Tiernan |R F | 10| .783

ST. LOUIS. PLAYERS. |Positions.|Games.|Fielding | | |Average. ---------+----------+------+------- Milligan |C | 8| .932 Comiskey |1B | 10| .966 Robinson |2B | 10| .891 Latham |3B | 10| .923 White |S S | 10| .796 O'Neill |L F | 10| .885 Lyons |C F | 5| .941 McCarthy |R F | 10| .765

THE AMERICAN PENNANT HOLDERS OF 1886, 1887 AND 1888.

An interesting chapter of American club history is the record made by the four leading clubs of the Association in their games together during the seasons of 1886, 1887 and 1888. In each year the St. Louis Club occupied the leading position at the end of the season, while the other three followed close after the champions. Here is the record of 1886:

1886. |St. Louis.|Brooklyn.|Athletic.|Cincinnati.||Won. ----------+----------+---------+---------+-----------++----- St. Louis | --| 13| 15| 15|| 43 Brooklyn | 7| --| 12| 13|| 32 Athletic | 5| 7| --| 10|| 22 Cincinnati| 5| 7| 10| --|| 22 +----------+---------+---------+-----------++--- Lost | 17| 27| 37| 38|| 119

It will be seen that while St. Louis led in 1886 Brooklyn stood second, with the Athletics third, and Cincinnati fourth. The record of 1887 is appended:

1887. |Cincinnati.|Brooklyn.|Athletic.|St. Louis.||Won. -----------+-----------+---------+---------+----------++----- Cincinnati | --| 12| 11| 13|| 36 St. Louis | 6| --| 12| 16|| 34 Athletic | 9| 8| --| 8|| 25 Brooklyn | 4| 4| 10| --|| 18 +-----------+---------+---------+----------++--- Lost | 19| 24| 33| 37|| 113

This year, though St. Louis won the pennant, it will be seen that in their games together Cincinnati held the lead, the Athletics being second, the St. Louis third and Brooklyn last, the season being a very hard one for Brooklyn through the drinking habits of the players, which the management failed to repress. The record for 1888 is as follows:

1888. |Brooklyn.|St. Louis.|Athletic.|Cincinnati.||Won. -----------+-----------+---------+---------+----------++----- Brooklyn | --| 10| 12| 14|| 36 St. Louis | 10| --| 10| 9|| 29 Athletic | 7| 8| --| 10|| 25 Cincinnati | 7| 6| 10| --|| 23 +-----------+---------+---------+----------++----- Lost | 24| 24| 32| 33|| 113

Last season, it will be seen, that while St. Louis again won the pennant, in their games together Brooklyn took the lead, St. Louis being second, the Athletics third, and Cincinnati last.

EAST vs. WEST.

THE LEAGUE GAMES.

The contests between the four clubs of the East and the four of the West in the League in 1888 ended in favor of the East, as will be seen by the appended record:

EAST VS. WEST.

CLUBS. | | | | I || | G |
| | | | n || | a |
| | | P | d || | m | P
| | | i | i || G | e | e
| | | t | a || a | s | r
| C | D | t | n || m | | c
| h | e | s | a || e | P | e
| I | t | b | p || s | l | n
| c | r | u | o || | a | t
| a | o | r | l || W | y | a
| g | i | g | i || o | e | g
| o | t | h | s || n | d | e
| . | . | . | . || . | . | .
------------+---+---+---+---++----+---+---
Philadelphia| 10| 7| 14| 13|| 44| 73|.693
New York | 8| 11| 10| 14|| 43| 73|.589
Boston | 7| 10| 10| 11|| 38| 75|.567
Washington | 6| 7| 9| 8|| 30| 76|.359
----+---+---+---++----+---+
Games lost | 31| 35| 43| 46|| 155|297|

WEST VS. EAST.

CLUBS. | P | | | || | G |
| h | | | || | a |
| i | | | W || | m | P
| l | | | a || G | e | e
| a | N | | s || a | s | r
| d | e | | h || m | | c
| e | w | B | i || e | P | e
| l | | o | n || s | l | n
| p | Y | s | g || | a | t
| h | o | t | t || W | y | a
| i | r | o | o || o | e | g
| a | k | n | n || n | d | e
| . | . | . | . || . | . | .
------------+---+---+---+---++----+---+-----
Chicago | 8| 11| 12| 13|| 44| 76|.587
Detroit | 11| 7| 8| 11|| 37| 72|.614
Pittsburg | 6| 1| 8| 10|| 31| 74|.419
Indianapolis| 4| 5| 9| 12|| 30| 76|.305
+---+---+---+---++----+---+
Games lost | 29| 30| 37| 46|| 142|297|

It will be seen that the four Eastern clubs won 155 victories to 142 by the four Western clubs.

THE AMERICAN GAMES.

The struggle between the East and the West in the American arena in 1888 resulted as follows:

EAST VS. WEST.

CLUBS. | | | K | || | G |
| | C | a | L || | a |
| S | i | n | o || | m | P
| t | n | s | u || G | e | e
| . | c | a | i || a | s | r
| | i | s | s || m | | c
| L | n | | v || e | P | e
| o | n | C | i || s | l | n
| u | a | i | l || | a | t
| i | t | t | l || W | y | a
| s | i | y | e || o | e | g
| . | . | . | . || n | d | e
| | | | || . | . | .
----------+---+---+---+---++----+----+-----
Athletic | 7| 10| 14| 15|| 46| 74|.622
Brooklyn | 10| 14| 11| 13|| 48| 80|.600
Baltimore | 6| 6| 11| 11|| 34| 79|.430
Cleveland | 4| 7| 10| 9|| 30| 73|.411
+---+---+---+---++----+----+
Games lost| 27| 37| 40| 48|| 158| 306|

WEST VS. EAST.

CLUBS. | | | | || | G |
| | | | || | a |
| | | | || | m | P
| | | B | C || G | e | e
| A | B | a | l || a | s | r
| t | r | l | e || m | | c
| h | o | t | v || e | P | e
| l | o | i | e || s | l | n
| e | k | m | l || | a | t
| t | l | o | a || W | y | a
| i | y | r | n || o | e | g
| c | n | e | d || n | d | e
| . | . | . | . || . | . | .
------------+---+---+---+---++----+----+-----
St. Louis | 10| 10| 14| 16|| 50| 77|.649
Cincinnati | 10| 6| 14| 10|| 40| 77|.519
Kansas City | 3| 9| 8| 9|| 29| 75|.387
Louisville | 5| 7| 9| 8|| 29| 77|.377
+---+---+---+---++----+----+-----
Games lost | 28| 32| 45| 43|| 148| 306|

It will be seen that the East won by 158 to 148.

PHENOMENAL CONTEST.

The most noteworthy contest of the season in the League championship arena in 1888, was the game played at the Polo Grounds on September 4, between the New York and Philadelphia teams. In this game eleven innings had been completed without either side being able to score a single run when sunset obliged the umpire to call the game on account of darkness. The turnstile count showed that 9,505 people had passed through the gates.

It was a pitchers' contest from start to finish, both Keefe and Sanders doing great work in the curving line. But ten base hits were made in the eleven innings, six against Sanders and but four against Keefe. O'Rourke, Richardson and Andrews led the little batting that was done.

The fielding play was of a phenomenal order, brilliant stops, catches and throws occurring in every inning, and being loudly applauded.

The Philadelphians all but had the game in the tenth inning, but over anxiety lost them the chance. Farrar was on third and might have scored on Mulvey's fly to Slattery. He left the base, however, before the ball was caught, and was promptly declared out. The score was:

NEW YORK. | T.| R.| B.| P.| A.| E. --------------+---+---+---+---+---+--- Slattery, cf | 5| 0| 0| 1| 1| 0 Ewing, c | 5| 0| 0| 8| 3| 0 Tiernan, rf | 5| 0| 0| 1| 0| 0 Connor, 1b | 3| 0| 0| 15| 0| 0 Ward, ss | 4| 0| 0| 2| 3| 1 Richardson, 2b| 4| 0| 2| 3| 2| 0 Whitney, 3b | 3| 0| 1| 1| 5| 1 O'Rourke, lf | 4| 0| 2| 1| 1| 0 Keefe, p | 4| 0| 1| 1| 10| 0 +---+---+---+---+---+--- Totals | 37| 0| 6| 33| 25| 2

PHILADELPHIA. | T.| R.| B.| P.| A.| E. -------------+---+---+---+---+---+--- Andrew, 3 cf | 5| 0| 2| 1| 0| 0 Fogarty, rf | 4| 0| 1| 1| 0| 0 Farrar, 1b | 4| 0| 0| 12| 1| 0 Delahanty, lf| 4| 0| 0| 2| 0| 0 Mulvey, 3b | 4| 0| 0| 0| 2| 0 Sanders, p | 4| 0| 0| 1| 7| 0 Schriver, c | 4| 0| 1| 9| 4| 0 Irwin, ss | 4| 0| 0| 5| 4| 0 Bastian, 1b | 3| 0| 0| 2| 3| 0

+---+---+---+---+---+---
Totals | 36| 0| 4| 33| 18| 0

Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0--0 NewYork 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0--0

Two-base hit--O'Rourke. Double plays--Keefe and Connor, Farrar and Sanders. First base on balls--Connor, Whitney, Bastain. First base on errors--Philadelphia, 1. Struck out--Tiernan, Whitney, Keefe, 2; Andrews, Fogarty, 2: Delehanty, Mulvey, Sanders, Schriver, Irwin. Wild pitches-- Keefe, 2; Sanders, 1. Time--Two hours. Umpire--Kelly.

REMARKABLE EVENTS.

LONGEST GAME.--Played at Boston May 11, 1877, between the Harvard College nine and the Manchester professional team, twenty-four innings, score 0 to 0.

BEST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH.--Played August 17, 1882, at Providence, between the Providence and Detroit teams, eighteen innings, score 1 to 0-- _seventeen innings without a run!_

NEXT BEST LEAGUE CLUB GAME.--Played at St. Louis on May 1, 1877, between the St. Louis team and the Syracuse Stars, fifteen innings, score 0 to 0-- a drawn match.

BEST INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION GAME.--Played May 7, 1878, at Lynn, Mass., between the Live Oak team of Lynn, and the Crickets of Binghamton, fifteen innings, score 1 to 0.

BEST JUNIOR GAME.--Played at Hoboken, August 19, 1878, fifteen innings, score 1 to 0.

SHORTEST GAME.--Excelsior vs. Field in Brooklyn on Excelsior's grounds, in May, 1861--50 minutes, 9 innings.

LONGEST THROW.--By John Hatfield, made at Union Grounds, Brooklyn, Oct. 15, 1872. Distance 133 yards, 1 foot, 7 inches-- over 400 feet.

GREATEST SCORE.--In match between the Niagara Club, of Buffalo, and a visiting nine at Buffalo in 1864, score 202 to 26.

THE THROWING CONTESTS RECORDS.

The longest throw of a baseball on record up to 1872 was that made in 1868 by John Hatfield, then a member of the Cincinnati team, he then throwing a ball 132 yards. In October, 1872, a throwing contest took place on the old Union ball grounds, Brooklyn, in which John Hatfield--then of the Mutuals--threw the ball 133 yds, 1 ft 7-1/2 in., the distance being officially measured. The contest was also participated in by Andy Leonard, whose record was 119 yds. 1 ft. 10 in.; George Wright, 117 yds. 1 ft. 1 in.; Billy Boyd, 115 yds. 1 ft. 7 in.; Fisler, 112 yds. 6 in., and Anson, 110 yds. 6 in. This throw of Hatfield's--over 400 ft.--has never been equaled in any regular throwing contest.

On September 9, 1882, a throwing match took place on the Chicago ball grounds between E. Williamson of the Chicago Club and Pfeffer of the Troys. Three trials were had and Pfeffer's best throw was 132 yards and 5 inches. Williamson's best throw was 132 yards, 1 foot, or four feet seven and one half inches short of Hatfield's champion throw.

In 1884, while connected with the Boston Union Association Club, Ed Crane, while in Cincinnati October 12 of that year, was credited with throwing a baseball 135 yards, 1 foot, and 1/2 inch, and also again at St. Louis on October 19, he was credited with throwing a ball 134 yards, 5 inches. But the circumstances attendant upon both trials were not such as to warrant an official record, so the _Clipper_ says, through its editor for 1888, Mr. A. H. Wright, in his answer to a query on the subject. At any rate, Crane has not since reached such figures, and he is as swift a thrower now as ever.

The throwing contest which took place at Cincinnati in 1888, at intervals through the summer and fall, failed to result in the record being beaten, though some very good long distance throwing was done, as will be seen by the appended record:

When Williamson threw, the grounds were slippery, but he managed to easily win the $100 prize money and diamond locket. One hundred and thirty- three yards eight inches, was the distance Williamson threw, and he would have done still better and beaten Hatfield's throw, had the conditions been more favorable.

The best throw of a cricket ball on record is that of W. F. Torbes, of Eton College, England, in March, 1876, the distance foeing 132 yards.

The longest throw of a lacrosse ball is that made by W. B. Kenny, at Melbourne, Australia, in September, 1886, the ball being thrown from his lacrosse stick 446 feet. The longest in America was that of Ross McKenzie, in Montreal, on October, 1882, he throwing the ball 422 feet.

THE TRIP TO ENGLAND IN 1874.

Mr. Spalding made an effort to introduce base ball in England in 1874, but the experiment proved to be a costly one financially, and it did not result favorably in popularizing the American game in England. The two teams who visited England in July, 1874, included the following players of the Boston and Athletic clubs of that year:

BOSTON. POSITIONS. ATHLETIC. ------------------------------------------------- James White Catcher James E. Clapp. A.G. Spalding Pitcher James D. McBride. James O'Rourke First Base West D. Fisler. Ross C. Barnes Second Base Joseph Battin. Henry Shafer Third Base Edward B. Sutton. George Wright Short Stop M.H. McGeary. And. J. Leonard Left Field Albert W. Gedney. Harry Wright Center Field James F. McMullen. Col. C. McVey Right Field A.C. Arisen. George W. Hall Substitute Al. J. Reach. Thomas L. Beals Substitute J.P. Sensenderfer. Sam Wright, Jr Substitute Thomas Murnan.[A]

[**Proofreaders note A: "Murnan" might be a typo, as it appears as "Murnam" later on the page.]

The record of the games played in England on the trip is as follows:

Boston victories 8, Athletic victories 6.

In the percentage of base hits of those who played in a majority of the games on the Boston side McVey led with .435, Leonard being second, with .418, and George Hall third, with .364, Barnes, O'Rourke, Schafer, Harry and George Wright and Spalding following in order. On the Athletic side Anson led with .437, McGeary being second, with .388, and McMullen third, with .367. McBride, Clapp, Murnam, Sutter, Gedner and Battin following in order, the latter having a percentage of .323. Sensenderfer only played in 9 games, Kent in 8, Fisler in 5, and Beals in 4. All the others played in 10 games and over.

In the description of the players of the team given in the London papers at the time of their visit the following paragraph appeared, quoted from Mr. Chadwick's comments in the _Clipper_:

"Spalding is justly regarded as one of the most successful of the strategic class of pitchers. In judgment, command of the ball, pluck, endurance, and nerve, in his position he has no superior; while his education and gentlemanly qualities place him above the generality of base- ball pitchers. As a batsman he now equals the best of what are called 'scientific' batsmen--men who use their heads more than their muscle in handling the ash. His force in delivery is the success with which he disguises a change of pace from swift to medium, a great essential in successful pitching. Spalding is a thorough representative of the spirited young men of the Western States, he being from Illinois."

Of George Wright the same writer said: "George Wright is generally regarded as a model base-ball player, especially in his responsible position of short-stop; and until he injured his leg he had no equal in the position. He is a jolly, good-natured youth full of life and spirit, up to all the dodges of the game, and especially is he noted for his sure catching of high balls in the infield, and for his swift and accurate throwing. At the bat, too, he excels; while as a bowler, fielder, and batsman, in cricket, he ranks with the best of American cricketers. He comes of real old English stock, his father being a veteran English cricketer, and formerly the professional of the St. George Cricket Club of New York."

Besides the base-ball matches played during the tour, the following table shows what the two clubs combined did on the cricket field, against the strongest players of London, Sheffield, Manchester and Dublin. The sides in each contest were eighteen Americans against twelve British cricketers:

|AMERICANS vs. |AMERICANS. |OPPONENTS.
-----------+-------------------+----------------+------------
| |1st.|2d. |Total|1st.|2d. ||Total
-----------+-------------------+----+----+-----+----+----++------
Aug. 3,4 |12 Marylebone | 107| ---| 107 | 105| ---|| 105
|Club on Ground at | | | | | ||
|Lords | | | | | ||
Aug. 6,7 |11 Prince's C. C. | 110| ---| 110 | 21| 39|| 60
|at Prince's | | | | | ||
Aug. 8 |13 Richmond C at | 45| ---| 45 | 108| ---|| 108
|Richmond[1] | | | | | ||
Aug. 13,14 |11 Surrey C. S. at | 100| 111| 211 | 27| 2|| 29
|Ovalt[2] | | | | | ||
Aug. 15,17 |12 Sheffield, at | 130| ---| 130 | 43| 45|| 88
|Sheffield | | | | | ||
Aug. 20, 21|11 Manchester, at | 121| 100| 221 | 42| 53|| 95
|Manchester | | | | | ||
Aug. 24, 25|11 All Ireland, at | 71| 94| 165 | 47| 32|| 79
|Dublin |____|____|_____|____|____||____
|Totals | 684| 305| 989 | 393| 171 || 564

[Footnote 1: Unfinished innings, only six wickets down.] [Footnote 2: Second innings unfinished, only four wickets down.]

The ball players did not lose a single game, and had the best of it in the games which were drawn from not having time to put them out. The trip cost the two clubs over $2,000, exclusive of the amount received at the gate. In fact, the Britishers did not take to the game kindly at all.

To show what the All England eleven could do in the way of playing base ball, the score of a game played in Boston in October, 1868, after the All England eleven had played their cricket match there, is given below:

American Nine 3 2 0 0 1 6 3 5 0 || 20 English Cricketers' Nine 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 || 4

George Wright pitched for the cricketers, the nine including Smith c; Tarrant 1b; Peeley 2b; Shaw 3b; Humphrey ss; Jupp lf; Clarkwood cf, and Rowbotham rf.

The American nine was a weak picked nine, including O'Brien--a Boston cricketer--and Archy Buch, of Harvard, as the battery; Shaw, Barrows and Lowell on the bases; Pratt as short stop, and Smith Rogers and Conant in the out field.

In all the base-ball games in which the English professional cricketers took part during their visits to America from 1859 to 1880, they failed to begin to equal in their ball play the work done by the ball players in cricket in England.

* * * * *

THE GREAT BASE BALL TRIP AROUND THE WORLD IN 1888-'89.

The greatest historical event recorded in the annals of the national game was undoubtedly the journey to Australia, which began in November, 1888, and ended in March, 1889, on a trip around the world. While in 1874 Mr. A. G. Spalding was the _avant cornier_ of the visiting party of base ball players to England, and also one of the most prominent of the victorious team players; in 1888 Mr. Spalding was the originator of the trip, the master spirit of the remarkable enterprise, and the leader of the band of base ball missionaries to the antipodes. Of course, in recording the Australian trip in the GUIDE for 1889, only a cursory glance can be taken of the trip, as it would require a volume of itself to do the tour justice. Suffice it to say that the pluck, energy and business enterprise which characterized the unequaled event reflected the highest credit not only on Mr. Albert G. Spalding, as the representative spirit of Western business men, but also on the American name in every respect, and it did for the extension of the popularity of our national game in six short months what as many years of effort under ordinary circumstances would have failed to do.

The party of tourists which started on their journey to Australia on October 20, 1888, met with an enthusiastic welcome on their route to San Francisco, and in that city they were given a reception on their arrival and a send-off on their departure for Australia, unequaled in the history of the game on the Pacific coast. The record of the series of games played by the two teams--Chicago and All America--en route to San Francisco and while in that city, is appended:

The teams, when they left San Francisco on November 18, 1888, included the following players:

CHICAGO TEAM. A. C. Anson, Capt. and 1st baseman. N. F. Pfeffer, 2d baseman. Thos. Burns, 3d baseman. E. N. Williamson, .short stop. M. Sullivan, left fielder. Jas. Ryan, center fielder. R. Pettitt, right fielder. Thos. P. Daly, catcher. J. K. Tener, .pitcher. M. Baldwin, pitcher.

ALL AMERICA TEAM. J. M. Ward, Capt. and short stop. G. A. Wood, 1st baseman. H. C. Long, 2d baseman. H. Manning, 3d baseman. J. Fogarty, left fielder. E. Hanlon, center fielder. J. C. Earl, right fielder. F. H. Carroll, catcher. John Healy, pitcher. F. N. Crane, pitcher.

Earl also acted as change catcher. The All America team included players from the League clubs of New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Pittsburg and Indianapolis, and from the American Association clubs of Cincinnati and Kansas City. Mr. Spalding stood at the head of the tourist party, with Mr. Leigh S. Lynch as his business manager, and H. H. Simpson as assistant, Mr. J. K. Tener being the treasurer and cashier.

The record of the games played by the two teams with outside clubs en route to San Francisco and in California is as follows:

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Spalding's Baseball Guide and Official League Book for 1889Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

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