1885—It was another thrilling pennant chase in the NBBL, with Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia all battling down to the final days of the season. The first-year wonders in Philadelphia spent several days in the top spot, but ultimately finished in fourth, albeit just four games out. Detroit emerged as the winner, besting the Haymakers by two games and the Colts by three.
There was little drama in the ABBA, as Cincinnati rolled to an 83-28 record and their third pennant in four years. Second-place Brooklyn finished forty games over .500 and still wound up 7½ games back.
Chicago’s Hugh Woods hit .327 to capture the NBBL batting title, while Henry Humphrey’s .319 mark topped the ABBA. Buffalo’s Hugh West fashioned a 1.52 (in just 118.2 innings) to take the ERA crown in the NBBL, while Baltimore’s Graham Thomas posted the best mark in the Junior Circuit, at 1.69. Detroit’s Al Williams won 34 games to top the NBBL in victories; Cincinnati’s Hiram Ballard won 35 to pace the ABBA.
It would be another off-season rife with activity. The ABBA's Indianapolis Governors called it quits after one last-place season and the league awarded a new franchise to Kansas City, the farthest-west expansion any major league would attempt for the next sixty years. The last of the NBBL’s “small-town” teams, Providence and Troy, both met the reaper soon after the season, and replacements set up shop in the nation’s capitol and the recently-vacated Indianapolis. Finally, the Toledo club headed east for the greener pastures of the Forest City. They would soon be known as the Cleveland Cats but before long the more familiar "Bobcats" would take hold.
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