BASEBALL MONTHLY
October 1877
A Classic Championship
The championship of baseball was played out between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Stockings. Few who saw these games could argue that this was the best championship series they have seen since the profesional game started, here is a recap of the series:
Game 1
| Monday, October 8th, 1877 |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 5 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | X | 5 | 8 | 5 |
WP: Al Spalding
LP: Joe Borden
Al Spalding gets the win on the mound but also gets three hits of his own as Chicago open the series with a win at home in front of a capacity crowd. A tie game was broken up in the 6th with a wild pitch then a Spalding single scored aother putting Chicago up two. Johnny Quest also drove in two runs without a hit in the close game. George Wright went 3-5 for the visitors who had the tying run on second when Spalding struck out George Bechtel to end the game.
Game 2
| Tuesday, October 9th, 1877 |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore Orioles | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 5 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
WP: The Only Nolan
LP: Al Spalding
Chicago held a 4-3 lead into the late innings as Mike Dorgan had drove in a run and scored another on three hits. The Orioles had 19 year old pitcher the "only" Nolan on the mound who is one of the most eccentric players in the game. Nolan never stops talking to his opponents and is said to be pitching half intoxicated. Regardless the Orioles came back late where Nolan himself drove in two runs with a 2 out hit in the 3 run inning. Lew Brown also drove in three runs on the day as the Orioles tied up the series.
Game 3
| Thursday, October 11th, 1877 |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago White Stockings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 11 | 3 |
WP: Joe Borden
LP: Terry Larkin
A seven run 6th inning off of Terry Larkin was the diffrence in this one as the Baltimore Orioles cruised to a 2 games to 1 lead. Joe Borden went the distance on the mound and allowed no earned runs taming the best offense in the game. A bases loaded double by Jack Manning broke open the game as Larkin did a poor job replacing Larkin for this one in the rotation.
Game 4
| Friday, October 12th, 1877 |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | R | H | E |
| Chicago White Stockings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 6 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 5 |
WP: Cherokee Fisher
LP: Jim ORourke
A 4 hour and 42 minute marathon ended in the 17th inning with a Chicago win to tie up the series. This was the longest game in league history and was played with everything left on the field as both teams used all their players. Chicago down 2 in the 8th inning scored one in the eigth after a Cap Anson double, and then in the 9th when Count Sensenderfer hit a sacrafice fly. With the game tied the tension was high as Chicago knew they needed this game to stay in the series. The pitching was heroic as Hugh Campbell pitched four scoreless innings and Cherokee Fisher another five. Dave Pierson hit the winning double in the 17th inning scoring two runs, Fisher then closed the door in the bottom of the inning. Darkeness was a real threat in this game, as the Orioles complained that due to the lack of light the winning hit couldnt be caught in the outfield.
Game 5
| Saturday, October 13th, 1877 |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago White Stockings | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 4 |
WP: Al Pratt
LP: Cherokee Fisher
An incredible game 5 followed with both teams deciding their fortunes in the 9th inning. Chicago had a three run lead but Baltimore came back and Lew Brown drove in two with a double in the 7th and then Mart King a 2 run single in the 8th and Baltimore stunned Chicago with a comback 6-5 lead over the Whites. In the 9th an error in the outfield scored the tying run off the bat of Ned Williamson. Then with a full count pinch hitter Ham Allen smoked a single scoring Williamson and giving Chicago the late lead. In the bottom of the 9th former White Red Woodhead hit a infield single to tie the match then George Hall cracked the first hit off Cherokee Fisher to score the winning run. Baltimore stole this game and the Orioles took the crucial 3 games to 2 lead back to Chicago.
Game 6
| Monday, October 15th, 1877 |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 8 | 12 | 0 |
WP: Al Spalding
LP: Joe Borden
The Whites gave the ball to Al Spalding as they had all year and when they needed a win. Spalding being the star that he is answered with a great performance and allowed only one run on four hits. Chicago opened the game wide open with 6 runs in the second inning to ease any pressure. Steve King had three hits at the top of the lineup and scored two runs while driving in another two. Chicago also played an excellent game with the glove, not commiting an error for the entire game. This excellent series was tied and going down to a game 7, Anson decided that he was going to go with Al Spalding for game 7 as well, citing that he couldnt possibly go into such a game without his star on the mound.
Game 7
| Tuesday, October 16th, 1877 |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Baltimore Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
WP: The Only Nolan
LP: Al Spalding
There are few things more exciting in sport then a deciding game for a championship, 7 months of ball games and effrort come down to one game. The crazy Only Nolan was the perfect man for Baltimore to put on the mound, as the wild pitcher eased his teams pressure with his theatrics and quite frankly made a legend for himself by pithching an absolute gem. Nolan would throw a shutout in the end and allowed only one run in the two wins that he pitched. The game was tight but in the top of the 9th a tired warrior Al Splading had nothing left and the Orioles scored 5 runs, led by George Wright who drove in 2. It could be seen on the faces of the White Stockings how close they had come, but couldnt believe it ended with a shutout.
Baltimore are the world champions and lift the trophy for the first time. Once again few could argue how good a series this was and how it did wonders for the popularity of the game. It will be remembered for a long time.
The Only Nolan
2-0 .087 ERA for Series