History of Major League Base Ball (revised)

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 6, 1877
Chicago White Stockings (22-12) at Louisville Grays (23-12)

Chicago had gone on a winning streak to pull within a half-game of the Grays. Chicago had won 9-7 on the 4th to pull close, and now with a win the Grays would be out of first place for the first time since the season's opening days.

Big performances in the fourth and seventh innings were enough to give the Chicagos the lead to stay, as they won a relatively simple victory to take first place in the National League.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 7, 1877
Cincinnati Reds (16-15) at Chicago White Stockings (23-12)

With a half-game lead over Louisville, Chicago hosted the Reds for a two-game series while the Grays traveled to St. Louis. The White Stockings had an opportunity to open up a lead but also risked falling back behind Louisville with a loss.

This ended up being a wild, wild game. Chicago rallied late in the game and Jim Foran knocked in the tying run in the ninth but couldn't get home to win it, then Cincinnati scored twice in the tenth. Foran came up again in the tenth with the tying run on, but this time he grounded out and Cincinnati got the win. Since Louisville easily beat St. Louis, the Grays reclaimed the top spot in the National League.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 8, 1877
Louisville Grays (24-13) at St. Louis Brown Stockings (9-28)

One day after regaining the National League lead from Chicago, Louisville had a chance to open up a one-game lead over the idle White Stockings if they could just defeat the last-place St. Louis club.

Louisville came into the ninth inning down 7-4, but managed to get four runs to apparently win it. However, in the bottom of the ninth Lip Pike hit a game-tying RBI double then scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly to end it, giving St. Louis their tenth win of the season and also dragging Louisville down into a tie with Chicago for first place.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 9, 1877
Cincinnati Reds (17-15) at Chicago White Stockings (23-13)

Now Chicago had a chance to move into the sole lead in the National League with Louisville idle on this Thursday. Cincinnati had been playing well, so the game was expected to be a tough one.

The familiar stars for Chicago - George Hall, Dick Higham and Levi Meyerle - each had three-hit games to give the White Stockings the win. A four-run first inning gave Chicago the lead, and Cincinnati never quite caught up. The win put Chicago into sole possession of first place.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 11, 1877
Louisville Grays (24-14) at Chicago White Stockings (24-13)

This Saturday battle between the top two clubs would determine (temporarily, probably) first place in the NL. It was the first battle between the first and second place clubs when they were separated by a half-game or less since... well, five days ago.

This game was a tie until the final two innings, when Chicago utterly fell apart and Louisville cruised to the easy victory.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Sunday, August 12, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Louisville Grays 25-14
Chicago White Stockings 24-14
Boston Red Stockings 20-19
Cincinnati Reds 17-17
Hartford Dark Blues 17-22
St. Louis Brown Stockings 11-28

A rather indecisive week - most of the clubs won a couple games, lost a couple this week. It still looks like Louisville and Chicago are going to be locked in a battle for the stretch run.

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .430
Cal McVey, Boston - .391
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .383
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .379
Davy Force, Chicago - .362
Dick Higham, Chicago - .362
Jim Foran, Chicago - .344

Runs Scored

Ross Barnes, Boston - 51
Scott Hastings, Louisville - 41
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 40
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 36
George Hall, Chicago - 36
Cal McVey, Boston - 35
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 34

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 39
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 34
Ross Barnes, Boston - 33
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 31
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 31
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 31
Jim Clinton, Louisville - 29

Stolen Bases

Ross Barnes, Boston - 29
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 20
Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 20
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 17
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 16
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 13
George Hall, Chicago - 12

Won-Loss Record

Dan Collins, Louisville, 13-6
Al Spalding, Boston, 12-6
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 11-8
George Zettlein, Chicago, 10-5
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 8-10
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 6-5
Hugh Campbell, Hartford, 6-13

Earned Run Average

George Knight, Louisville - 2.27
Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.38
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.73
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.73
Al Spalding, Boston - 2.79
Joe Blong, St. Louis - 2.89
Tricky Nichols, Hartford - 2.97

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 78
Dan Collins, Louisville - 65
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 38
Al Spalding, Boston - 37
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 35
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 30
3 players tied with 25 each

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

This week we need to talk about another of my universe's pitchers who didn't have much of an impact in the real world. It's Cy Bentley, the hapless pitcher for the Middletown Mansfields who went 2-15 in 1872 then never pitched in the big leagues again.

In his case, there was a very good reason for the premature end to his career: he died in the 1872-73 offseason. Though I've checked all the sources I can think of, here's everything I've been able to find about Bentley. It comes from Nemec:

Cy Bentley's first major league win came on May 22 against Cleveland. Since the Mansfields won three of the seven decisions in which he did not figure and were only 2-15 in the games he started, it will probably always be a puzzle that he was the club's ace pitcher. No less of a puzzle is that he batted in the middle of the order despite hitting only .219. Like several other members of the Mansfields, Bentley's major league career encompassed only the short period that the club was a member of the National Association. He died in Middletown, Connecticut, the following February of unknown causes.

That's it. Not much you couldn't learn from his bb-ref page.

In my universe, he went 6-7 for Middletown in 1872, then had the great fortune to get picked up by the Boston Red Stockings the following year. He's pitched for them ever since, winning 20 games in the final three NA years and then getting 19 wins in 1876. He's considered the third-best pitcher (behind Mathews and Spalding) on the club this year and has only a 4-9 record at this point, but he has a 92-52 career record and has three championship rings from 1873, 1874 and 1875. It seems like he could remain as a reliable innings-eater for years to come, as he's still only 26 years old.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 13, 1877
Louisville Grays (25-14) at Chicago White Stockings (24-14)

It's another game between the top two clubs, who are separated by a mere half-game in the standings. After today, there will be only four games left between the clubs - all at the end of the season. This is a big chance for both clubs.

It turns out to be a close one, with Ezra Sutton's leadoff triple in the eighth inning helping Louisville turn a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 lead. Chicago was let down by usually-reliable Levi Meyerle, who came up numerous times with men on base but got no hits in the game.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

August 18, 1877
St. Louis Brown Stockings (12-29) at Chicago White Stockings (25-15)

After falling a game and a half behind Louisville with their loss earlier in the week, Chicago pulled right back to within a half-game after Louisville dropped a game in Boston. That meant that this Saturday game was a chance for Chicago to pull into a tie for first place going into the Sunday day off, and all they needed to do was defeat last-place St. Louis at home.

Chicago didn't even come close to accomplishing this seemingly simple task. St. Louis jumped out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to a pair of key hits by superstar Lip Pike, then coasted to the win. Chicago remained a game back in the NL race.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Sunday, August 19, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Louisville Grays 26-15
Chicago White Stockings 25-16
Boston Red Stockings 21-19
Cincinnati Reds 19-18
Hartford Dark Blues 17-24
St. Louis Brown Stockings 13-29

Louisville haven't been looking great lately, but neither have the clubs chasing them. Chicago are slumping and neither Boston nor Cincinnati seem able to put together the winning streak they'd need to vault into contention. Can the Grays win the pennant by default?

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .433
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .393
Dick Higham, Chicago - .392
Cal McVey, Boston - .388
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .365
Davy Force, Chicago - .354
Ross Barnes, Boston - .343

Runs Scored

Ross Barnes, Boston - 52
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 42
Scott Hastings, Louisville - 41
George Hall, Chicago - 38
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 37
Dick Higham, Chicago - 37
2 players tied with 36 each

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 39
Ross Barnes, Boston - 35
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 34
Jim Foran, Chicago - 33
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 33
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 32
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 31

Stolen Bases

Ross Barnes, Boston - 29
Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 22
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 20
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 17
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 17
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 13
George Hall, Chicago - 12

Won-Loss Record

Dan Collins, Louisville, 13-7
Al Spalding, Boston, 12-6
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 12-8
George Zettlein, Chicago, 10-7
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 9-10
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 7-6
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 6-7

Earned Run Average

Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.15
George Knight, Louisville - 2.16
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.64
Al Spalding, Boston - 2.79
Joe Blong, St. Louis - 2.89
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.93
George Bradley, St. Louis - 2.93

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 79
Dan Collins, Louisville - 67
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 40
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 37
Al Spalding, Boston - 37
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 36
George Zettlein, Chicago - 28

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

John Hatfield has always ended up being one of the better defensive players of the 1870s in my games, and this one is no exception. So what do we know about the real-life version? Let's start with Nemec:

John Hatfield was the older brother of major league infielder Gil Hatfield and related to the feuding West Virginia Hatfields. He reputedly had the greatest arm in the game in his heyday, but unhappily it is still not known with which arm he set a new throwing record in 1868 at Cincinnati and later used to break his own mark on October 15, 1872 at Brooklyn's Union Grounds. Hatfield played with the Queen City Red Stockings in 1868 but was suspected of being in cahoots with gamblers and was no longer with the club in 1869 when it became the first all-professional unit. In his six major league campaigns - all spent with the New York Mutuals - he served as a regular at three different positions: third base, second base and left field. In 1874, his final full season, Hatfield led all NA gardeners with an .874 fielding average but hit just .222, suggesting that the pitching by then had left him behind.

Field captain of the Mutuals for parts of both the 1872 and 1873 seasons, Hatfield remained connected with the team until it disbanded in 1876. Afterward he relocated to St. Louis, where for some years he ran a prosperous betting parlor with fellow bookmaker Dick Roche. Hatfield made a good living at the racetracks until the mid-1890s, when he hit a long losing streak and went broke. He subsequently regrouped and remained a bookmaker and member of the Turf Benevolent Association until his death from heart failure in 1909 at his Long Island City, New York home.

One interesting note is that in the 1860s, a player with a cannon for an arm would tend to play third base or left field, not catcher, pitcher or right field. It makes sense - there weren't nearly as many left-handed hitters and a lot of guys got thrown out by outfielders on the bases, so left field would be a place for a great arm, and third base famously was further right than second base on the defensive spectrum than second in the 19th century.

Anyway, in my universe Hatfield has, strangely, followed basically the same path he did in real life. He spent all six years from 1871-76 with the Mutuals, and won pennants with them in 1871 and 1876. During that time, he won the Gold Glove in 1872, 1873 and 1874 and was the Silver Slugger in 1872 - all at second base. (OOTP can't model a defensive spectrum where third base is harder to play than second, so the game always puts Hatfield there.) He was an above-average hitter from 1871-75, but he slumped to .261 in 1876.

Following the disbanding of the Mutuals, he headed to St. Louis and is playing this year for the last-place Brown Stockings. He's still only age 30, so he may have some years left, and he's hitting .280 with excellent defense. It seems like his years as a star hitter may be done, but a Gold Glove-level middle infielder can last a long time.

[majormet]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

Sunday, August 19, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Louisville Grays 26-15
Chicago White Stockings 25-16
Boston Red Stockings 21-19
Cincinnati Reds 19-18
Hartford Dark Blues 17-24
St. Louis Brown Stockings 13-29

Louisville haven't been looking great lately, but neither have the clubs chasing them. Chicago are slumping and neither Boston nor Cincinnati seem able to put together the winning streak they'd need to vault into contention. Can the Grays win the pennant by default?

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .433
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .393
Dick Higham, Chicago - .392
Cal McVey, Boston - .388
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .365
Davy Force, Chicago - .354
Ross Barnes, Boston - .343

Runs Scored

Ross Barnes, Boston - 52
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 42
Scott Hastings, Louisville - 41
George Hall, Chicago - 38
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 37
Dick Higham, Chicago - 37
2 players tied with 36 each

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 39
Ross Barnes, Boston - 35
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 34
Jim Foran, Chicago - 33
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 33
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 32
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 31

Stolen Bases

Ross Barnes, Boston - 29
Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 22
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 20
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 17
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 17
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 13
George Hall, Chicago - 12

Won-Loss Record

Dan Collins, Louisville, 13-7
Al Spalding, Boston, 12-6
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 12-8
George Zettlein, Chicago, 10-7
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 9-10
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 7-6
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 6-7

Earned Run Average

Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.15
George Knight, Louisville - 2.16
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.64
Al Spalding, Boston - 2.79
Joe Blong, St. Louis - 2.89
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.93
George Bradley, St. Louis - 2.93

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 79
Dan Collins, Louisville - 67
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 40
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 37
Al Spalding, Boston - 37
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 36
George Zettlein, Chicago - 28

Fun read, what is George Knight's number like in your simulation, he may have one of the best pitching lines I ever saw in my simulation with 110 K's in 38 innings and only allowing 5 hits in the process

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Originally Posted by majormet

Fun read, what is George Knight's number like in your simulation, he may have one of the best pitching lines I ever saw in my simulation with 110 K's in 38 innings and only allowing 5 hits in the process

He's currently pitching for Louisville and serving as their closer. For some reason he imported with low stamina so the game wants to make him a relief pitcher.

I left him that way because in my first-ever 19th century simulation (way back in OOTP5) he was an absolute beast - 400 wins or something like that. He's not bad at all but I don't think he'll be a Hall of Famer or anything.

[majormet]

Originally Posted by Eckstein 4 Prez

He's currently pitching for Louisville and serving as their closer. For some reason he imported with low stamina so the game wants to make him a relief pitcher.

I left him that way because in my first-ever 19th century simulation (way back in OOTP5) he was an absolute beast - 400 wins or something like that. He's not bad at all but I don't think he'll be a Hall of Famer or anything.

My simulation made him a closer as well, I looked him up he pitched 9 innings in his career.

I had a similar experience in OOTP5 with John Miller, with a simulation starting in 1962, he ended up being a hall of fame pitcher and he was nothing in his real life,...

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Sunday, August 26, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Louisville Grays 28-16
Chicago White Stockings 26-17
Cincinnati Reds 21-19
Boston Red Stockings 23-21
Hartford Dark Blues 17-26
St. Louis Brown Stockings 14-30

Time is starting to run out on the season, and Louisville still holds that narrow lead over everyone else. Five of Louisville's next six games are away games at Boston and Cincinnati, so there are a lot of issues that should be resolved in the next couple weeks.

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .431
Dick Higham, Chicago - .397
Cal McVey, Boston - .387
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .378
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .367
Ross Barnes, Boston - .344
Jim Foran, Chicago - .344

Runs Scored

Ross Barnes, Boston - 52
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 44
Scott Hastings, Louisville - 41
George Hall, Chicago - 40
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 40
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 39
Dick Higham, Chicago - 39

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 40
Ross Barnes, Boston - 35
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 35
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 35
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 34
Jim Foran, Chicago - 34
2 players tied with 33 each

Stolen Bases

Ross Barnes, Boston - 29
Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 25
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 20
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 17
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 17
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 14
2 players tied with 13 each

Won-Loss Record

Dan Collins, Louisville, 14-8
Al Spalding, Boston, 13-6
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 12-9
George Zettlein, Chicago, 11-7
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 11-10
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 7-6
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 7-7

Earned Run Average

George Knight, Louisville - 1.97
Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.12
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.48
Al Spalding, Boston - 2.85
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.86
Tricky Nichols, Hartford - 2.90
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 2.97

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 87
Dan Collins, Louisville - 72
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 43
Al Spalding, Boston - 40
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 37
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 36
2 players tied with 31 each

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

32-year-old third baseman Bob Ferguson is playing for Cincinnati this season, one of the few clubs he never actually played for in real life. Let's take a look at him - one of the best-known players of his day, even if he never was actually known as "Death to Flying Things."

Ferguson's SABR bio is incredibly detailed and well-researched, and I'm going to quote from it liberally.

First of all, Ferguson figured prominently in the most famous game of the early baseball era:

Bob Ferguson, one of the most respected and influential baseball players of the 19th century, was the game’s first switch-hitter. He may not have done it regularly and, surprisingly, he didn’t do it for the reasons hitters do today; he didn’t switch-hit depending on whether the pitcher was right-handed or left-handed. (At the time, there were few lefties of consequence.) Ferguson switched between batting left-handed and right-handed for situational reasons or according to how he felt at a particular moment.

The first time of significance was on June 14, 1870 — even before the formation of the old National Association. Ferguson was a player for the Brooklyn Atlantics. On that day, Ferguson, a Brooklyn native and already an established star in New York, attracted national attention for the first time. The day was significant because it marked the beginning of the end of the reign of the Atlantics’ opponent, the fabled Red Stockings of Cincinnati.

The Red Stockings hit Brooklyn riding an 81-game winning streak. They hadn’t lost since October 1, 1868, when they fell to the Atlantics. During the streak, the Red Stockings crushed the Atlantics in 1869. Regardless, the National Association of Base Ball Players, the game’s umbrella group at the time, named the Atlantics champions in 1869. The 1870 rematch caught the attention of the baseball community; the declared champions versus the best team in the country.

It was a well-played game, only three errors. The crowd reached upwards of 20,000, standing room only, long before game time. At the end of nine innings at Brooklyn’s Capitoline Grounds, Cincinnati and the Atlantics were tied at five runs apiece. Reds captain Harry Wright wanted to continue the contest. Ferguson, Brooklyn’s captain and catcher, was happy to finish with a draw against the great Red Stockings after his club rallied to tie the contest. The pair discussed the matter with baseball authority Henry Chadwick, who was on hand. Chadwick, chairman of the rules committee of the Association, ruled that the game must continue. The Reds scored twice in the top of the 11th, but in the bottom of the inning Ferguson came to bat with his club down only a run.

With the game on the line, a particularly tense and significant game for that matter, Ferguson, a natural right-hander, took his stance on the left-hand side of the plate. Surely this was done with a great deal of nerve and confidence, but it was also a high-risk maneuver. So why did Ferguson do it? He wanted to keep the ball away from the Reds’ great shortstop, George Wright. He also wanted to shake up the opposition. It worked; Ferguson poked the ball to the first-base side, where it went through the legs of first baseman Charlie Gould into right field, knocking in Joe Start with the tying run. Ferguson kept running and scored the winning run when Gould threw the ball over the third baseman’s head. The fans rushed the field and carried many of the men off on their shoulders. “The yells of the crowd could be heard for blocks around, and a majority of the people acted like escaped inmates,” the New York Sun wrote. Reds president Aaron Champion cried when he wired the news of the loss back to Cincinnati. Jubilant, the directors of the Atlantics awarded each player $364.

Ferguson was playing for top baseball clubs in Brooklyn before the end of the Civil War, and Nemec has this to say about his early career:

No man was more knowledgeable about the professional game in its infancy or more skillful in all of the ways there were to earn a living at it than Ferguson. He had stretches of brilliance as a manager and a player, followed by a lengthy tour as an umpire, the venue where he was perhaps at his very best. Ferguson began his career with the Junior Frontiers of Brooklyn in 1864 as a pitcher, played 3B and SS for the Enterprise club in 1865, and then starred for the Brooklyn Atlantics for the next nine years, with the sole exception of 1871, when he agreed to captain the New York Mutuals in the fledgling National Association.

Ferguson was considered a top-notch defender in his day and his career lasted until he was 39 years old, after which he became possibly the best umpire of the 1880s. From his SABR bio:

Ferguson was umpiring as early as 1864, when he was with junior clubs. He umpired in four of the top leagues during the 19th century. He substituted in the National Association every year of its existence (1871-75), and for nine games in the National League in 1879. The National League brought him on board at the end of 1884 and he worked full time through 1885. After leaving managing in early 1887, Ferguson umpired full time in the American Association through 1889. He did the same in the Players League in 1890 and again in the American Association in ’91. He retired for health reasons with over 800 league games on his résumé, more than anyone else. (Some sources claim that Ferguson just didn’t get a call to umpire in 1892 and thus retirement was forced upon him.) In 1890 he became the all-time leader in games umpired, surpassing Kick Kelly. The total was eclipsed three years later. Ferguson attended annual league meetings and became an authority on the rules, advising various league committees. He was an early advocate of pushing the mound back to 60 feet, advising it in 1888.

Ferguson may have been the best of umpires, but that doesn’t mean confrontations and accusations weren’t frequent. In 1887, he made the mistake of wearing eyeglasses while managing. Baseball men latched onto this and made the requisite jokes and accusations. In response, Ferguson just took it in stride: “One day they will give you a ride in a chariot, and the next day they will drive the chariot over you.” A Brooklyn guy, Ferguson was accused of bias toward the Bridegrooms in 1888 and ’89. None other than respected journalist Henry Chadwick swatted down the accusations as baseless. Ferguson came under fire in St. Louis for some unpopular decisions in 1889. The local newspapers, Chris von der Ahe, and Charles Comiskey were particularly critical.

In 1890, Ferguson joined the Players League. It was the first league to utilize two-man umpiring crews on a regular basis. On July 14, he was a participant in the major leagues’ first four-man crew. Due to a scheduling mixup, two two-man crews were posted for the game in Brooklyn that day. Ferguson took home plate in the first inning. The men rotated around the bases each inning after that. The next four-man crew didn’t occur until the 1909 World Series.

Ferguson refused to use a mask while umpiring; he also shunned the use of an indicator. Chadwick, among others, was critical of his stubbornness, as Fergy occasionally forgot the count. Chadwick said, “Bob is very fixed in his ways, far too much in some respects.”

Ferguson saved his money and invested wisely. He was well off by the end of his career. Reports of the day suggest that he was among the richest ballplayers of the time, behind the exceedingly successful sporting goods magnates Al Spalding, Al Reach, and the Wright brothers. A St. Louis Globe-Democrat article in January 1886 said he was worth $40,000 but that seems high. Newspapers carried little information on Ferguson’s life after he retired from the diamond but it is known that he attended games regularly at Eastern Park in Brooklyn until his death.

Ferguson, a lifelong bachelor, died suddenly at age 49 in 1894.

In my league he's won three Gold Gloves at third base, and won pennants with New York in 1871 and 1876, his only two years with the club. In between, he spent four years with the Brooklyn Atlantics and performed well for them. This season, he's joined Cincinnati and is again an excellent fielder. He's a lifetime .260 hitter to date, so nothing too impressive, but a player who fields his position as well as Ferguson does will always have a home if he can hit at all.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

The first of September is here, so here's a look at the NWL as the league heads into its pennant race.

St. Paul Saints 42-18 (unaffiliated)
Minneapolis Millers 40-18 (Boston's affiliate)
Fort Wayne Railroaders 38-21 (Cincinnati)
Peoria Distillers 35-24 (Chicago)
Grand Rapids Woodworkers 24-35 (Hartford)
Evansville Hoosiers 22-37 (Louisville)
Quincy Ravens 21-39 (St. Louis)
Terre Haute Hottentots 14-44 (unaffiliated)

The NWL league leaders:

Batting Average

Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - .350
Henry Luff, Fort Wayne - .342
Gat Stires, St. Paul - .342
Bill Hague, Evansville - .321
Dave Pierson, Fort Wayne - .317
Wes Fisler, Grand Rapids - .312
Tom Barlow, Peoria - .302

Runs Scored

Fred Cone, Minneapolis - 53
Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - 41
Gat Stires, St. Paul - 36
Jim Carleton, Peoria - 33
Denny Mack, Minneapolis - 33
Jack Burdock, St. Paul - 30
Alfred Metcalfe, Quincy - 30

Runs Batted In

Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - 45
Gat Stires, St. Paul - 37
George Bird, Minneapolis - 36
Charlie Eden, Peoria - 33
Fraley Rogers, Minneapolis - 33
Billy Geer, Quincy - 32
John McGuinness, Quincy - 32

Stolen Bases

Pony Sager, Minneapolis - 36
Fred Cone, Minneapolis - 34
Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - 27
Denny Mack, Minneapolis - 25
Fred Treacey, Fort Wayne - 23
Tom Barlow, Peoria - 22
Herm Doscher, Grand Rapids - 21

Won-Loss Record

Tommy Bond, St. Paul, 16-3
Bill Stearns, Peoria-Terre Haute, 14-19
Foghorn Bradley, Minneapolis, 13-3
Terry Larkin, St. Paul, 13-6
Cherokee Fisher, Peoria, 13-7
Phonney Martin, Minneapolis, 11-5
Joe Borden, Fort Wayne, 11-7

Earned Run Average

Mike Golden, Minneapolis - 1.51
Tommy Bond, St. Paul - 1.51
Lon Knight, Grand Rapids - 1.76
Dale Williams, Fort Wayne - 1.81
Terry Larkin, St. Paul - 1.86
NFN Edwards, Fort Wayne - 1.92
Len Lovett, Peoria - 1.97

Strikeouts

Bill Stearns, Peoria-Terre Haute - 271
Fred Goldsmith, Evansville - 219
Tommy Bond, St. Paul - 200
Len Lovett, Peoria - 187
Laurie Reis, Peoria - 184
Cherokee Fisher, Peoria - 183
Dick McBride, Grand Rapids - 173

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Sunday, September 2, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Louisville Grays 30-17
Chicago White Stockings 26-17
Cincinnati Reds 24-20
Boston Red Stockings 24-24
Hartford Dark Blues 18-28
St. Louis Brown Stockings 14-30

Louisville hold a two-game lead over Chicago with 13 games left to play in their season. There's still time left for Chicago (and possibly even Cincinnati), but it's going to need to happen quickly.

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .431
Dick Higham, Chicago - .397
Cal McVey, Boston - .382
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .367
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .365
George Wright, Boston - .351
Ross Barnes, Boston - .344

Runs Scored

Ross Barnes, Boston - 52
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 44
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 41
Scott Hastings, Louisville - 41
Cal McVey, Boston - 41
3 players tied with 40 each

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 42
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 37
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 36
Ross Barnes, Boston - 35
Jim Clinton, Louisville - 35
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 35
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 35

Stolen Bases

Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 30
Ross Barnes, Boston - 29
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 20
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 20
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 17
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 15
3 players tied with 13 each

Won-Loss Record

Dan Collins, Louisville, 15-9
Al Spalding, Boston, 14-7
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 13-10
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 12-9
George Zettlein, Chicago, 11-7
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 8-7
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 8-7

Earned Run Average

Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.22
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.57
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.84
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 2.88
Tricky Nichols, Hartford - 2.95
Al Spalding, Boston - 3.03
George Bradley, St. Louis - 3.06

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 92
Dan Collins, Louisville - 73
Al Spalding, Boston - 44
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 43
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 40
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 38
2 players tied with 31 each

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Cincinnati rookie pitcher Bobby Mitchell is currently the club's #2 pitcher, and has an 8-7 record for the season. He was actually quite a notable pitcher despite having a short real-life career, so let's see what there is that's been written about him.

For this we'll have to rely heavily on Nemec, as Mitchell has no SABR biography and there's little else written about him that I've been able to find. Fortunately, Nemec gives a pretty complete picture:

Contrary to what some historians have written, Bobby Mitchell was not the first lefty to start a big league game. He was the first, however, to start one in the National League and also appears to have been the first southpaw to master the curve ball at the pro level. On October 20, 1877, at Cincinnati, Mitchell joined with Boston right-hander Tommy Bond in a demonstration that the wind was not responsible for a pitch curving and that curves could be thrown that broke in opposite directions.

Born in Cincinnati, Mitchell apprenticed for the hometown NL team in 1877 by pitching for the independent Springfield, OH, Champion Citys. He came to Cincinnati in September with his Springfield catcher, George Miller, and was the sensation of the final month of the National League season, winning six of eleven decisions for a team that was otherwise 9-37. Despite his outstanding debut. . . the following spring Mitchell lost the competition to become Cincinnati's bulwark to Will White and opened 1878 as a left-handed shortstop. After appearing in only 14 games all year - just nine of them as a pitcher - Mitchell signed for 1879 with the fledgling Cleveland National League entry as the change pitcher behind Jim McCormick.

Mitchell made his Cleveland debut in center field on May 10, 1879, and did not pitch his first game for the Blues until the final day of May, when he replaced McCormick, who had to occupy first base that afternoon due to an injury elsewhere. Used more often in the box as the season progressed, he finished 7-15. When Cleveland failed to reserve him in 1880 and no other National League team paid him a call, Mitchell pitched for the semipro Cincinnati Buckeyes with Buck Ewing as his catcher until Horace Phillips, manager of the National Association Rochester Hop Bitters, signed both men. Mitchell drifted through the game's ancillary echelons until August 1882 when he convinced St. Louis AA to give him a one-game exhibition trial against league-leading Cincinnati, losing 7-5. The New York Clipper said, "At the end of the game he remarked that he was going home to Cincinnati" and admitted the Browns could "play ball a little bit." Mitchell apparently changed his mind and pitched a second exhibition for the Browns on August 16 against the Philadephia A's. When he won 7-3, Cincinnati official Opie Caylor crowed that he still had his old form. Given an opportunity against the A's in an official AA game three days later, Mitchell led until he surrendered eight runs in the seventh inning and was replaced by Ed Brown.

Mitchell continued to pitch semipro and minor league ball until he was in his mid-thirties. On March 4, 1886, the Atlanta Constitution said he was now an ambidextrous pitcher, but there is no other testimony to support that. It is not clear why Mitchell's career plunged so sharply after his remarkable start, but perhaps his novel left-handed curve balls simply became very hittable once a competent batsman had seen them a few times. Mitchell died in Cincinnati of a heart ailment at 77.

In my universe, Mitchell could have a longer and better career. He's got a couple more seasons where he can be the only left-handed pitcher, which seems like it will be an advantage, and at the moment only Collins and Weaver seem to be better fundamentally as pitchers. (Better pitchers are coming soon, though, with Jim McCormick and John Montgomery Ward entering the league next season.)

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Sunday, September 9, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Louisville Grays 32-18
Chicago White Stockings 28-17
Cincinnati Reds 25-23
Boston Red Stockings 27-25
Hartford Dark Blues 18-30
St. Louis Brown Stockings 15-32

Louisville and Chicago are in the final stretch and the Grays hold a slight lead. It could go either way, and the fact that the two teams close out the season with two games against one another could end up being very significant.

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .430
Cal McVey, Boston - .397
Dick Higham, Chicago - .384
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .365
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .364
Davy Force, Chicago - .349
Jim Foran, Chicago - .347

Runs Scored

Ross Barnes, Boston - 54
Cal McVey, Boston - 48
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 47
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 45
George Hall, Chicago - 43
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 43
2 players tied with 42 each

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 45
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 39
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 39
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 38
Ross Barnes, Boston - 37
Jim Clinton, Louisville - 37
George Wright, Boston - 37

Stolen Bases

Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 32
Ross Barnes, Boston - 29
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 20
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 20
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 18
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 17
2 players tied with 15 each

Won-Loss Record

Dan Collins, Louisville, 16-10
Al Spalding, Boston, 15-7
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 14-11
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 13-9
George Zettlein, Chicago, 11-7
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 9-7
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 8-8

Earned Run Average

Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.26
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.51
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.80
Tricky Nichols, Hartford - 2.95
Al Spalding, Boston - 3.05
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 3.11
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 3.12

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 97
Dan Collins, Louisville - 79
Al Spalding, Boston - 50
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 47
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 42
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 41
Pud Galvin, St. Louis - 33