BASEBALL MONTHLY
July 1897
Colts First In Popularity and In the NL
There are good times in Chicago this summer especially if you are a fan of the Nationa League ball club. The Chicago Colts are the trendy thing to follow as the team is playing great baseball, has some great personalities and talent, and are managed by one of the most respected men in Chicago, Al Spalding.
The Colts hammered the Pittsburgh Pirates two out of three games in Pittsburgh towards the end of this month including an emphatic 14-1 win. To end the month the Colts had increased their lead in the division to six games and show no intention of making this a close fight. Fred Clarke leads the team with a .373 average a 55 runs driven in.
The offense with Clarke at the helm is the best in the league. Rookie sensation Frank Clarke is batting .345 and old reliable Cap Anson is at it again with an impressive .325. As a team the Colts batting a league leading .295 and have scored 585 runs.
The pitching has been impressive as well with four men in double digits in wins. Amos Rusie answered the critisism he had heard earlier in the year and stepped in to gain a spot back in the rotation. Rusie filled in for Charlie Geggus who missed a couple of starts due to some sorness. The Colts have the best ERA in the game 2.73 and have allowed the least runs in the league at 438.
And even more joy for the front office is the fact that fans continue to come out in droves. Chicago has had over 235,000 thousands fans come out to the West Side Park, the most fans of any National League team. The cross town rival White Sox also continue to draw well all be it with a completely diffrent demographic. The facts remains however that no city in America has more people watching live baseball.
"Its a great time to live in this thriving city with its rail roads and steel mills and industry." said the mayor recently, "and of course we love our sports teams and the Colts are a class organization lead by Mr. Spalding"
The fans are adored and truly the only thing missing at this point is a world championship, something Chicago hasnt enjoyed in 13 years.
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| Catchers | | # | B | Player | Pos | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | R | BB | K | .AVG | OBP | SLG | | 96 | R | Billy Earle | C | 78 | 316 | 89 | 5 | 42 | 52 | 24 | 25 | .282 | .340 | .373 | | 33 | R | Frank Chance | C | 20 | 87 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 4 | 4 | .345 | .400 | .425 |
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League Notes
Dave Orr the long time star in the game and currently playing first base for the Cleveland Spiders reached a milestone. Orr collected his 2000 hit and is a .329 career hitter.
The Pittsburgh Pirates try to make a deal to close the gap on the NL leading Chicago Colts. The Pirates traded Jock Menefee for catcher Marty Bergen from the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles are looking to give up salary and the Pirates took advantage of bagging a young talent.
Cleveland also had another man reach a milestone this month. Thirty four year old hurler Charlie Fergusen (pictured) won his 250th game this month and is 9th on the all time win list.