The Liberty League, Est. 1876

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September 1880

On September 1, Utica ended their 11 game losing streak by whooping Detroit, 13 to 3. SS Charlie Taylor had 4 hits with a double and 2 triples, a stolen base, 3 runs scored and 5 RBIs. In the last 4 games, he has 11 hits with 2 doubles and 6 triples.

Also on the 1st, Boston began a 3-game series at Cincinnati by losing, 12 to 6, to fall back into a tie for first with the Reds. Boston made 11 errors in the game.

On September 3, Boston beat Cincinnati, 5 to 1. Charlie Morlock held the Reds to 4 hits and struck out 4. 2B Bill Thompson had a double and a triple and scored 2 runs. He also stole a base.

On September 4, Cincinnati beat Boston, 5 to 4, to agains force a tie atop the standings. Jim Postema won his first game since August 7.

On September 6, Charlie Morlock and the Red Caps shut out Worcester at home, 8 to 0. Morlock won his 30th game of the season by allowing 6 hits and a walk and striking out 4. It is his League-leading 5th shutout of the season. He ties Will Taylor (1878) for the most in a single season. Boston also only had 5 hits against Pop Yurkovich, but the Red Caps did not commit an error while the Ruby Legs made 10, 5 of them by 2B Billy Moore and 3 by SS John Sullivan.

Also on the 6th, Cincinnati kept in stride with Boston by shutting out Utica at home, 5 to 0. John Stephens held the Pent Ups to 4 hits and struck out 4 for his 2nd shutout of the season. 2B Pete Hinde had 3 hits, scored a run and had 2 RBIs.

On September 8, Boston destroyed John Callaham and the Ruby Legs, 12 to 3, while Cincinnati lost at home to Utica, 8 to 6, giving Boston a 1 game lead with 10 to play. Cincinnati LF Adam Trombley had 5 hits with a double, scored 3 runs and had an RBI, but to no avail.

On September 11, John Stephens of Cincinnati tossed his second 4-hit shutout in a row against Utica, winning, 3 to 0. He struck out 3. Boston again annihilated Worcester, 13 to 6, to maintain their 1 game lead over Cincinnati and 2 game lead over Troy with 9 to play.

On September 13, Boston lost at Louisville, 7 to 3, and Cincinnati won at Providence, 8 to 4, to again force a tie with 8 games to play. Louisville Manager/CF Pop Engleson had 3 hits with 2 triples, scored 2 runs and knocked in 2.

Also on the 13th, Rufus Lee pitched a 1-hit shutout at home against Troy, winning, 4 to 0. He struck out 2. It's Lee's 3rd shutout of the season. John Bendickson had the only Haymaker hit, a 3rd inning, 2-out single. Troy remains 2 games behind.

On September 15th, all 3 of the main Pennant contenders won their games.

Also on the 15th, Rochester defeated Baltimore, 8 to 7, to clinch their second straight National Association Championship. Only one player in the NA is batting over .300 and that is Rochester's John Hagadorn who has an average of .344. He is currently on Troy's roster.

On September 18, Cincinnati won at Providence, 4 to 1, and Boston lost at Louisville, 8 to 5, to give the Reds a 1-game lead with 6 to play. John Stephens held the Grays to 4 hits to improve his record to 26-12. He would seem to have a virtual lock on the Rookie of the Year award. Troy also lost to fall 3 games back and would seem to have very little chance now at all of winning their 5th straight title.

On September 20, Boston beat the Haymakers in Troy, 5 to 1. Cincinnati also won. Troy is now 4 back with 5 to play. Charlie Morlock struck out 4 to raise his season's total to 217, a new Liberty League record.

On September 22, Troy returned the favor by beating Boston, 8 to 7. John Bendickson set a couple of records in this game. He won his 35th game. He is the only pitcher to ever win 35 games in a season and this is the 3rd time he has done it. He also gave up a pair of home runs to set the all-time mark of 13 allowed. He breaks Jim Postema's record of 12, set last season. Cincinnati won their game to claim a 2-game lead with 4 to play.

Also on the 22nd, Utica's Tom Marshman tossed a shutout at Louisville, winning 1 to 0. He allowed 4 hits and struck out 8. It is his second shutout of the season.

On September 25, Boston humiliated Troy, 12 to 1, to eliminate them from the race. Charlie Morlock held the Haymakers to 4 hits and 2 walks and struck out 2. 2B Bill Thompson had 4 hits with 2 doubles, stole a base, scored 2 runs and knocked in 4. Cincinnati beat Detroit to keep their 2 game lead with 3 to play.

On September 27, Boston beat Utica, 6 to 4, and Cincinnati lost to Troy, 6 to 4, to move the Red Caps to 1 game back with 2 to play.

On September 29, Troy again beat Cincinnati, 6 to 3. Boston beat Utica, 8 to 3, to force a tie atop the standings yet again, with 1 game to play.

Also on the 29th, Pop Yurkovich pitched his 2nd shutout of the year by beating Detroit, 3 to 0. He allowed 6 hits and a walk and did not strike anyone out.

October 1880

On October 1, Cincinnati scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to beat Troy, 3 to 2. SS Bob Sampson singled home the winning run with 2 out. John Stephens struck out 10 to win his 30th game of the season. He allowed 8 hits and a walk.

Also on the 1st, Utica upset Boston, 3 to 2, making the Cincinnati Reds the Liberty League Champions for 1880!

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Fall 1880

All season long new Providence owner Bill Cox and President Ike Lee of Boston had a running feud over ticket prices. Cox claimed the 50 cent admission price was too high and was costing him money by keeping people away from the Grays' games. The end result of the argument was that Lee worked up the votes necessary to expel Cox and Providence from the League. It was decided to place a team back in the nation's largest metropolis and Hank Boyle (50) joined the ranks of owners with his Gothams. The new New York team will play its home games at the Polo Grounds.

There was one other change in the roster of owners as Ambrose Meek sold his Louisville Eclipse club to Sam Miles (55), who was the former owner of the defunct Baltimore team. He was also a former minor league manager who led the Poughkeepsie Colts to a second place finish in the New York State Championship Association in 1877.

Other changes for 1881 voted on at the Annual Meeting:

It will now take 7 balls to walk a batter, down from 8.

The manager of the teams must announce their batting lineups the night before a game.

The pitcher's box will be moved back 5 feet to be 50 feet from home plate.

No more refunds or rain checks will be given for postponed games.


The owners and their managers also conducted the annual B Leagues Draft. The results of the first round:

The National Association folded and the Liberty League signed an agreement with the Northwestern League. The teams, their affiliate, and their managers for 1881:

Bay City Riders (N. Y.) - Cub Young (48)
Fort Wayne Hoosiers (Troy) - Tom Pouncey (40)*
Grand Rapids Shamrocks (Bos.) - Danny Rinehart (44)
Peoria Reds (Cin.) - Jim Parker (45)*
Quincys (Lou.) - Ed Lanham (46)
Saginaw Grays (Utica) - Chief McEniry (44)*
Springfield Senators (Wor.) - Dave Carlson (41)*
Toledo Blue Stockings (Det.) - Frank Allison (40)*

* - First year manager

Cub Young managed the Detroit Wolverines to a surprising 5th place finish in their inaugural season last year, but was let go anyway. Before that he managed the Buffalo Bisons to 2 winning seasons in the National Association, finishing 2nd in 1879.

Danny Rinehart managed the Binghamton Crickets to a last place finish in the NYSCA in 1877.

Ed Lanham managed the Washington Nationals to a 5th place finish last season in the National Association. In 1877, he led Pittsburgh to a 3rd place finish in the Liberty League, but found himself without a job when the Alleghenys were expelled from the League (through no fault of his).

[Mike45]

How did Reddy do last year?

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Mike45

How did Reddy do last year?

He did very well, when he was in there, but he only played in 41 games due to 3 different trips to the Disabled List. I'll post his stats when I do the 1881 rosters today. He's 34 now and looks to be getting injury prone. He's going to sit the first 2-3 weeks of this season with a separated shoulder.

[Questdog]

Spring 1881

As expected, New York signed the majority of Providence's old players, however the other clubs nabbed a few. Worcester signed 25-year-old C Jim Granier to the largest 1-year contract in League history to get him on their squad. 36-year-old Al Cannon, a two-time Gold Glove winner and former MVP, will move to backup duties and help groom the young man for success. Manager Willie English, who was the backup catcher last season, was given the option of retiring as a player and staying on as manager, but decided he wanted to play some more and went to the minor leagues.

Frank Phillips, the owner of the Troy Haymakers, showed both his willingness to spend money to regain the Championship and his lack of knowledge of the history of the Haymakers, by signing the most hated opposing player ever, OF Silver Borresen. The icing on the cake is that in order to entice Borresen to play in Troy, Phillips made him the manager! The headlines in the Troy Evening Standard read "Jumbo Rolls Over in Grave!", except that Jumbo Tilford, whose career Borresen ended in the Spring of 1877, is not dead and also probably does not even recall the incident or that he used to be a Haymaker.

The signing is either a brilliant move that will regain the Pennant for Troy or a horrible blunder that will lead to division and chaos among the players. The Haymakers constant weakness over the years has been the lack of production from their outfielders and Borresen has been the most productive outfielder in the League the past 5 seasons, being the all-time leader in hits, total bases, doubles and triples. He's a career .299 hitter and has won 2 Silver Slugger Bats, been named to the All-Star team 4 times and has won 4 Gold Gloves in left field. To top it all off, he is only 27 years old.

Ex-Haymaker farmhand, Jack Roberts (29), was signed by the Gothams and they plan on using him as their number one pitcher. Last season he had a disappointing performance, but if he can find the form he had in 1879 when he was 30-13 with Rochester, New York may surprise with their finish in the standings.

The Boston Red Caps released 40-year-old Charlie Moss to make room for their young phenom, Joe Peters (25). Moss, the winningest professional pitcher of all-time, counting his Old National Association record, signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati. Since 1871, he was won 304 games, 182 in the old NA and 122 in the Liberty League.

The only managers to keep their jobs from last season are Jim Ware in Cincinnati and Michael Tonnies in Utica. Boston owner Ike Lee decided to give Charlie Morlock's managing the blame for their two straight second place finishes, losing the Pennant each season by a single game, rather than the credit for two straight strong seasons. He has appointed slugger Pete Bucolo as the manager this year. As already mentioned, newcomer Silver Borresen will be leading the Haymakers. In Worcester, Jim Hodzic takes over from Al Cannon. Joe Rerik will be managing Detroit this season and Connie Frenette has been handed the reigns to the the Eclipse by new Louisville owner Sam Miles. William Morey has been tasked with building the New York Gothams from scratch. He last managed the Baltimore Canaries to a 15-31 start in 1879 before he was fired. He will be the only non-playing manager in the Liberty League.

[Westheim]

Phillips and Borresen deserve each other. And ninth place, too.

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April 4, 1881

Opening Day!

How will having to throw the ball an extra 5 feet with one less ball to walk a batter affect the pitchers?

Utica (1) at Troy (8) - John Bendickson over Henry Rawls. Bendickson allowed 8 hits, walked 1 and struck out 7. Every player in the lineup had a hit for the Haymakers except Bendickson. 3B Bill Rush had 4 hits, scored 2 runs and had an RBI. New Haymaker LF Silver Borresen had 2 hits and walked twice. He scored twice and knocked in 2 runs. Utica LF Sam Selke had a memorable Liberty League debut, but for the wrong reasons. He went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and made 2 errors.

Cincinnati (12) at Worcester (9) - John Stevens over Pop Yurkovich. 37 hits in this one. The Reds were down 9 to 7 after 6 innings and Stevens was pinch-hit for. The Reds scored 5 times in the 7th and Jim Postema pitched the final 3 innings, allowing only 1 hit and no runs. He did not walk or strike out anyone. Reigning MVP 1B Joe Vaughan had 5 hits with 2 doubles, scored 2 runs and drove in 3. LF Billy Ross, in his Liberty League debut, had 3 hits with a triple, stole a base, scored 3 runs and had 2 RBIs. CF Fleet Wilcox, also debuting, had 3 hits with a triple, scored once and knocked in 2. Worcester's 3B Bill Scott had 2 hits and an RBI and a stolen base in his debut.

Boston (4) at New York (5) - Jack Roberts over Charlie Morlock. In his debut, Jack Roberts allowed 11 hits, walked 3 and struck out 4. 1B Willie Burton hit a home run. Boston out-hit New York 11 to 8 and only made 3 errors to the Gothams' 7, yet lost.

Detroit (6) at Louisville (5) in 11 innings - Rufus Lee over Sam White. Ex-Haymaker LF John Strother had 4 hits with 2 doubles and scored 2 runs. CF Joe Kraus, in his debut, had 3 hits and a walk, but made 2 errors. 34-year-old 2B Charlie Edwards, in his debut, had 2 hits and a walk and made an error. For Louisville, C Joe Kotlyar, in his debut, had 2 hits with a double and scored a run and made an error. Also debuting, SS Bill Loschiavo had 2 hits with a triple, scored a run and had an RBI and did not make an error.

[Questdog]

April 1881

On April 6, C Billy Sullivan was injured in the first inning of the Wolverines' game in Louisville. He will have to rest a week or so. Joe Ostrander came in for him and had 4 hits with 2 doubles. Detroit lost anyway, 7 to 2. Eclipse 3B Warren Hogan had 3 hits with a double and a triple, scored a run and knocked in 3.

Also on the 6th, Boston out-hit New York 14 to 5, but lost its second game in a row to start the season, 5 to 4. Boston made 5 errors to the Gothams' 4. New York SS Jimmy Mark hit a 2-run home run and had 3 RBIs. Charlie Morlock only allowed 5 hits and did not walk a batter. He struck out 3. Jack Roberts allowed 14 hits, walked 3 and did not strike out anyone, yet earned the victory.

On April 9, Manager/3B Joe Rerik was injured in Detroit's 4 to 2 win at Louisville. He will miss 5-6 weeks. 2B Charlie Edwards had 4 hits.

Also on the 9th, Boston finally beat New York, 3 to 2 in 10 innings. Ironically, this was the first game New York out-hit Boston, 9 to 4. Gothams' 2B John Meredith was injured and will miss 2 months of the season.

On April 15, Utica defeated New York, 11 to 9, to improve to 5-1 on the season but lost 2B Bub Crawford for the next 3 months with something torn in his shoulder.

On April 16, Utica won again, 7 to 3, at Detroit, but lost ss Charlie Taylor for 4 to 6 weeks with a strained abdominal muscle.

Also on the 16th, Boston rookie Joe Peters proved he was no Charlie Moss when he walked 9 Reds in a 9 to 8 loss in 11 innings. He allowed 19 hits and struck out 2. He broke the old record for wildness by 50%; no one else ever walked more than 6 in a game.

On April 20, John Bendickson of Troy tossed the first shutout from 50 feet when he blanked New York, 10 to 0. He allowed 3 hits, walked 2 and struck out 2. Manager/LF Silver Borresen had 2 hits with a triple, stole a base, scored 3 runs and had 2 RBIs.

Also on the 20th, William Rose of Detroit shutout Utica, 15 to 0. He allowed 6 hits, walked 3 and struck out 2. Rookie CF Joe Kraus had 4 hits with a double and a triple, stole 3 bases, scored 4 runs and had 3 RBIs.

Also on the 20th, Boston beat Cincinnati, 10 to 9. 3B Sandy Perkes had 5 hits with 2 doubles, walked once, scored once and had an RBI. Going back to last season, it is the 24th straight game in which he has had a hit. Boston won 2 of the 3 games in the series. Each game was decided by one run and a total of 49 runs were scored by the 2 teams. I'd say that the 5 feet makes a pretty big difference! After 9 games this season, only 2 teams have a losing record: The New York Gothams, who have lost 7 in a row after taking their first 2 against Boston, and the defending Champion Cincinnati Reds, who are now 3-6.

On April 25, Sam White of Louisville shutout Troy, 3 to 0. He allowed 4 hits, walked one and struck out one.

Also on the 25th, Charlie Morlock of Boston shut out Worcester, 12 to 0. He allowed 8 hits and struck out 6. Boston had 21 hits in the game. Manager/1B Pete Bucolo had 5 hits with a double and a triple, scored twice and knocked in 4. SS Mike Stables also had 4 RBIs on 2 hits with a double and scored a run.

On April 26, Jim Hodzic of Worcester was relieved of his managerial duties. Owner Dave Flaherty named 25-year-old C Jim Granier as the new field boss. He had managed Providence to a 6-6 start in 1879 before he was sent to the minor leagues to work on his hitting.

On April 27, John Callaham of Worcester shut out Boston, 2 to 0. He allowed 7 hits, walked one and struck out 6.

On April 30, Charlie Morlock of Boston shut out Louisville, 10 to 0. He allowed 7 hits, walked one and struck out 4. 3B Sandy Perkes had 5 hits with a double, scored a run and had an RBI.