1st May 1873
A change of name and stadium seem to have bought a change of form and fortunes for the team as well. The team posted a solid 5-3 record for April. This record was good enough to lift them to the top of the AL table to lead by one game.
These wins were built on solid batting. The team scored 61 runs in April. The best of them was star Centre Fielder Dave Eggler. Eggler started all 8 games and had 36 at bats. These at bats produced a solid 14 hits, 7 runs and 6 RBI's. This was good enough for a .389 average.
Rookie Jim Holdsworth also had an excellent start to the season as he posted an average of .353 from 8 game starts with 12 hits from 34 at bats. This was enough to earn him the first Rookie of the Month award in the AL for the 1873 season.
The pitching also started with a solid performance. Cy Bentley continued as the starter playing all 8 games. He pitched 65.1 innings giving up 75 hits and 22 earned runs. This was good enough for an ERA of 3.03 for the month. These figures earned him the Pitcher of the Month award in the AL. The team gave up 67 runs in the month
Early in the month Second Baseman Al Reach went down with a knee sprain. He is listed as out for up to 4 weeks. The team reactivated Bill Smith from the single A Carolina Mudcats.
Full pitching stats for April
Full batting stats for April
The Blues played 8 games in April
They started with a 3-1 series win against the St. Louis Brown Stockings. The scores were 8-2, 9-4, 4-18 and 10-4
They then lost a 3 game series 1-2 against the Philadelphia Athletics. Scores were 9-5, 11-13 and 4-16
They finished the month with a 6-5 win against the Baltimore Canaries.
The team will play 8 games in May and we will bring you a full report next month.