The 1890 Season

There were a lot of changes around the league going into the 1890 season. The Washington Nationals changed their name to the Washington Statesmen in the American League. Three teams changed their name in the National League. The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago White Stockings became the Chicago Colts, and the Philadelphia Quakers became the Philadelphia Phillies.

Opening Day Lineup
C Tom Daly
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Joseph Herr
SS Dave Drew
LF Billy Hamilton
CF Mike Slattery
RF Tommy McCarthy

Most Common Lineup
C Lave Cross
1B Jake Beckley
2B Lou Bierbauer
3B Joseph Herr
SS Dave Drew
LF Billy Hamilton
CF Mike Slattery
RF Tommy McCarthy

Pitching Staff
SP Billy Beatin
SP Charlie Buffington
SP Nat Hudson
SP Amos Rusie
SP Mike Smith
RP Ed Coughlin
RP John Cattanach
RP Charlie Hallstrom

Brief Overview
Going into the 1890 season, these are the players that are still on Brooklyn’s roster after being selected in the inaugural draft:
Al Maul P
John Cattanach P
Tommy McCarthy OF
Tom Daly C
Dave Drew SS

April
Brooklyn burst onto the scene in 1890 with the top defense in the league. After opening with a 9-1 start, they cooled off a bit to finish the month at 18-10. Dave Drew was the only consistent bat in the lineup through the month, finishing at .351. Meanwhile, Charlie Buffington and Ed Beatin pitched well in the rotation with Amos Rusie joinging them as a trio with ERAs under 3.

May
The month of May went well for Brooklyn despite losing, at one point, six members of the pitching staff to the DL all at the same time. They still had a very good month both offensively and defensively finishing 15-12 on the month. The problem was that the Boston Beaneaters had a 21-7 month, gaining a 4 ½ game lead over the Bridegrooms.

Dave Drew and Lou Bierbauer led Brooklyn offensively with Lave Cross finally contributing offensively. The starting rotation lost a lot of consistency with all of the injuries.

June
Consistency marked the main attribute that Broklyn showed in the month of June. Tommy McCarthy and Jake Beckley started hitting the ball in June, but the main surprises were Nat Hudson and Amos Rusie pitching consistently to round out the starting rotation. Brooklyn put together another 15-12 month which was good enough to gain some ground on Boston, who finished the month with a 2 ½ game lead.

At the close of the month, Brooklyn dealt veteran pitcher Jim Conway to Baltimore for young prospect Henry Blauvelt.

July
Brooklyn cruised into the All Star break, boasting a virtual tie with Boston. Charlie Buffington and Ed Beatin both had 12 wins at the break, and Billy Hamilton led the National League in hitting.

Players in their seventh All Star game:
Buck Ewing
Fred Dunlap
Ned Williamson

Players in their sixth All Star game:
Jack Lynch
Dan Brouthers
James Burke
Sam Wise

Players in their fifth All Star game:
Billy Sweeney
Bob Emslie
King Kelly
Pete Browning
Charlie Buffington
Bill Wise
Emil Gross
Jocko Milligan
Otto Schomberg

All Star Roster


July was Brooklyn’s month thanks to the strength of their pitching staff. Buffington, Beatin, Rusie, and Hudson rounded out what may have been the best starting rotation since Brooklyn was formed. Meanwhile, a bullpen led by Charlie Hallstron and Ed Coughlin was proving to be the deciding factor in several games. Brooklyn finished the month at 17-8 with a 1 ½ game lead over Boston. Third place Philadelphia was only two games back in an extremely tight National League race.

August
August was a rough month for Brooklyn, as the team was only able to manage a 13-14 record on the month. A big part of the reason for this came from some inconsistency in the starting rotation. Amos Rusie stopped being able to hit the strike zone, and the bullpen blew five saves on the month with closers Ed Coughlin and Lou Galvin both missing time at the same time.

Another pennant race for the ages seemed to be brewing. As the season sat on September 1, Brooklyn had a half game lead over second place Philadelphia with third place Boston only three games out. All eyes would be on the three game series Philadelphia was to start in Brooklyn on September 2. The other key series was a season ending showdown with Boston in Brooklyn on the last three days of the season.

September
Brooklyn got off to a terrible start in the month of September, losing their first four including getting swept by Philadelphia. With Amos Rusie still unable to find the strike zone, Brooklyn plugged Mike Smith into the rotation down the stretch run which saw them with a 3 ½ game deficit with 16 games to go. Meanwhile, the Boston Beaneaters also lost 3 of their first four in September to fall six games back.

Brooklyn was able to get on track after that with a series sweep against St. Louis thanks in big part to the outstanding hitting of Joseph Herr. This allowed Brooklyn to gain a game on Philadelphia, pulling to within two and a half. Boston fell to 8 games back, effectively dropping out of contention.

The Bridegrooms went on to take two out of three from Pittsburgh which allowed them to gain a half game on Philadelphia. Herr continued his torrid hitting pace as Brooklyn then went on to take three in a row from Cincinnati in a series that included Ed Beatin’s 20th win of the season. Brooklyn gained another game on Philadelphia as they came home to finish the season only a single game back.

A come-from-behind victory against the New York Giants on September 16th allowed Brooklyn to tie Philadelphia for the lead with just six games to go. Charlie Buffington won his 20th the next day, but Philadelphia beat Cincinnati to keep pace. Another win by both teams the next day kept them tied for first with four games to play. Then Brooklyn suffered a heartbreaking loss against New York to fall one game back with three to play.
Brooklyn’s bullpen failed them, blowing saves in each of the first two games of the final series against Boston, falling 2 games behind with just one to play. The season was over, and Philadelphia would go on to win the National League Pennant.

Final Standings


Brooklyn Hitting Stats


Brooklyn Pitching Stats


Team Hitting Stats


Team Pitching Stats


League Hitting Leaders


League Pitching Leaders