1877—The baseball of the pre-League era was marked by instability, as teams often sprang up and shortly thereafter disappeared, leaving only the clubs that were both well-run and a draw at the gate. The fact that the 1876 NLPBBC season began and finished with the same eight ballclubs was considered a monumental achievement at the time, and when those same eight were still on hand for Opening Day in 1877, it appeared the young League stood on firmer ground than even its most optimistic organizers had envisioned.
Unfortunately, the stability proved illusory; early in the 1877 season it became apparent that some clubs were having difficulty meeting their payrolls, as the reality of baseball as a business hit hard, especially in Hartford, Louisville, and St. Louis. Although the latter two clubs managed to keep a competitive team on the field (Louisville, in particular, wound up in a tie for second place) they would join the woeful Hartfords in declaring bankruptcy after the season. It would be an oft-repeated pattern throughout the ‘70’s and ‘80’s.
On the field, Chicago repeated as champions, again outdistancing their nearest competition, New York and Louisville, by seven games. Verne Mackensie of Philadelphia won the batting title with a .335 average, and Ellis Culpepper of Boston took the ERA crown with a 1.92 mark, although some felt Culpepper’s 103.1 IP was an insufficient qualifier. Among the pitchers who logged the bulk of their team’s innings, it was once again Chicago’s George Stonge who posted the best mark, at 2.26, while also again pacing the loop in victories (47) and strikeouts (155).
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