1st January 1887
The Browns poor performances every season has not allowed the fans to see any stability in the front office. They are hoping that this year will be more settled so that there can be improvements made. The owner decided to go for stability to please the fans as there were no changes in the front office set up.
The awards dinner saw minimal representation from the Browns as Charlie Comiskey was the only representative to pick up his Golden Glove award.
While the front office was left stable, the playing staff is very different as 6 players from both the main squad and the minor leagues decided to retire.
The biggest name to retire this year is fan favourite Cy Bentley. Bentley spent 15 years with the Cleveland Blues, Baltimore Orioles and St Louis Browns. In that time he picked up the Al Rookie of the year in 1872, 1 golden glove and 4 All Star appearances. He also managed to win the MLB Championship with the Baltimore Orioles in 1882. His career saw him pitch in 293 games with 253 as a starter. His record in these games is 99 wins and 138 losses. He pitched 2012.2 innings and gave up 646 earned runs for an ERA of 2.89. (real life stats 18 games, 2 wins, 15 losses, ERA of 6.14 on 105 earned runs given up).
The second big name player to retire is Right Fielder Clipper Flynn. Flynn spent 16 years in the league with the Chicago White Stockings, Boston Beaneaters, Detroit Wolveerines and St Louis Browns. The best part of his career was with the White Stockings where he picked up 4 MLB Championship Medals. He also managed 1 Golden Glove award and 3 All Star appearances. He played in a total of 807 games that saw him hit the ball 829 times during his 3182 at bats. He scored 501 runs with 356 RBI's for an average of .261 (real life stats 38 games, 47 runs, 57 hits, 29 RBI's for an average of .313).
Also deciding to hang up his glove this year is Third Baseman Pete Donnelly. Donnelly spent 16 years in the league but was a back up player for most of that time. He picked up 1 All Star appearance in his time with the Philadelphia Athletics and St Louis Browns. He picked up an MLB Championship medal with the 1876 Philadelphia Athletics. He played 476 games during his career and picked up 235 hits from 979 at bats. He scored 133 runs with 102 RBI's for an average of .240. (real life stats 45 games, 24 runs, 47 hits, 25 RBI's for an average of .244).
The other 3 players to retire can be rated as bit part players at best for their careers. The first is Catcher Marty Simpson. Simpson played 20 games during his 14 year career. He claimed 17 hits from his 55 at bats to score 7 runs with 4 RBI's and an average of .309 (real life stats 4 games, 4 runs, 2 hits, 2 RBI's and an average of .133). The second is Catcher Levin Jones who played 25 games in his 13 year career. He claimed 7 hits from 25 at bats to score 4 runs with 3 RBI's for an average of .280 (real life stats 3 games, 0 runs, 4 hits, 2 RBI's and an average of .364). The final retiree is pitcher U Eland who appeared in 1 games during his career. He pitched 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 0. (real life stats 1 game as a batter for 0 average and 0 hits etc.)
The team made 5 selections in the first year player draft this year. The first round selection was pitcher Mark Baldwin. The full roster log is shown below.
All draftees signed by the deadline.