BASEBALL MONTHLY
V 13.6
June 1883
Chicago Makes Roster Moves To Stay in Race
Chicago may have waited too late to decide to start playing well and in turn get back into the pennant race. The White Stockings had a strong month and a 20-8 record. But as the calander turned to July the team was still six games behind the division leading Beaneaters, even though their record is 12 games over .500.
To get there the Whites made some moves at the start of the month that suprized some, but did put a spark into the team. Chicago traded productive third baseman Mike Muldoon to Brooklyn in exchange for the enigmatic catcher King Kelly. Kelly brought an instant spark to the team and filled in well where Cal Mcvey couldnt at the position for the first half of the season.
Stump Wiedman
Chicago also added a dependable arm in a move that many are still wondering how the front office pulled it off. The Whites sent young prospect Ed Whiting for Cleveland 22 year old pitcher Stump Wiedman. Wiedman of course won the 1882 outstanding pitcher award last season and was a big part in helping the Blues win the pennant. Cleveland was rumored to want to dump the players big salary, and retool since they are fading from the American Association pennant race.
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| Catchers | | # | B | Player | Pos | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | R | BB | K | .AVG | OBP | SLG | | 40 | R | King Kelly | C | 71 | 298 | 82 | 0 | 39 | 50 | 14 | 20 | .275 | .307 | .376 |
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BOTH STARS NOTCH 300
In the race to be the first man to win 300 career games both Cy Bentley and Al Spalding couldnt have made it any closer. The two legends of the mound achieved the milestone one day apart.
Bentely did get there first on June 5th with a 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. Little could the White Sox man enjoy sole possesion on top because by the very next day Spalding won his 300th in a 14-11 win over the Atlantics.
Splading of course is a good 8 years younger then Bentley making his achievement even more imppresive. Still both hurlers are once again having good seasons and the end is not in site for either of these men.
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League TidbitsAs Cincinnati tries to keep pace with the first place Beaneaters, the team took a blow as star outfielder Tom Brown strained an oblique and may miss the remainder of the season.
Brooklyn and St. Louis made a trade mostly for financial help. The Atantics sent Curry Foley a 27 year old reliever to the Browns for 28 year old Charlie Bennett who plays behind the plate.
The biggest injury of the month was suffered by Bill Sweeney, the dependabe pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters. Boston is holding off the Cincinnati with only a three game lead, and Sweeney was 19-10 with a 1.66 ERA.
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