1st January 1876
The fans of the Brown Stockings have seen major upheavals during the off season as the owner signalled his unhappiness with the way things have gone the last season or two. He fired both GM Mark Bass and Manager Kyle Finley within 15 minutes of each other on the fateful 14th of October.
He then went out and acquired the services of Pat Brown as Manager. Brown has had 3 losing seasons as manager of the White Stockings and the Atlantics finishing 4th each time. That does not bode well for the team. He then signed GM Bill Murphy. Murphy spent 4 seasons with the White Stockings including their 1872 MLB Championship win and 1874 NL Pennant title. Hopefully he can bring the needed wins.
His first job was the trade of 29 year old Right Fielder Ed Pinkham to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for 25 year old Second Baseman Eddie Booth and 20 year old minor league Right Fielder John Gaffney. The fans are excited to see Booth join the team and hope he can help to bring the success.
On the award front for the players the only awards were Golden Gloves for 5 players as they made the defensive team of the year. These were Second Baseman Charlie Sweasy, Third Baseman Harry Schafer, Left Fielder George Hall, Centre Fielder Frank McCarton and Right Fielder Henry Luff.
The team took a full role in the first year player draft but selected only 3 players. They went for pitching in the first round and selected Flip Lafferty. The full draft log is given below.
The team signed all draftees by the deadline.