History of Major League Base Ball (revised)

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Louisville shortstop Chick Fulmer has been a dependable infielder since the start of professional baseball. He's been a career .271 hitter in my universe - pretty much average. However, he's also an excellent defensive shortstop and has added value to every team he's played for. In real life, he had a similar career, and was also well-known for the stories he told about baseball - and he lived a very long life in which to tell them.

His SABR bio has a lot to say about him, and is worth reading in full. Here are a few highlights from that:

In 1869 Fulmer first appeared on the roster of a professional baseball club. At the age of 18, he played in 11 games for the Keystone club of his native Philadelphia. In 1870 he appeared in eight games for the Forest City club of Cleveland, playing right field. Both the Keystones and the Forest Citys were members of the short-lived National Association of Base Ball Players, a loosely organized aggregation of clubs that did not play a regular schedule. It was not a real league, in the sense that the term is understood today.

After the National Association, the first baseball league to be considered a major league, was organized in 1871, Chick Fulmer joined the Rockford club. He made his major-league debut on June 5, 1871, and became the regular shortstop for the Forest Citys. At the end of the season the Rockford club folded. Fulmer played for the New York Mutuals in 1872, dividing his time between shortstop and third base. In 1873 Fulmer was on the move again, playing for the Philadelphia Athletics, his third team in three years. He claimed to have made the first unassisted triple play in baseball history, while playing for Philadelphia in a game against Troy in 1873. According to Fulmer, the Haymakers had loaded the bases with no one out. The next batter hit a line drive that Fulmer caught with one hand; then he tagged the man who had been on second and ran down the man who had been on first.

When the National League replaced the Association in 1876, Fulmer became the shortstop for the Louisville Grays. He lasted only one year in Kentucky. In 1877 Fulmer was out of the majors, playing for Pittsburgh in the International Association and Philadelphia in the League Alliance. In 1878 he was with Buffalo in the International Association.

In 1879 Buffalo returned to the National League, bringing Fulmer back to the majors again, for one season and part of another. He spent most of 1880 back in the minors, with Albany of the National Association. He kept moving, year after year. In 1881 he was with the Philadelphia Athletics in the Eastern Championship Association. Fulmer was offered a stake in the ownership of the club for $200, but he declined.

Meanwhile, the National League expelled Cincinnati from the league after the club refused to stop selling beer on the grounds and renting out the park for Sunday games. Cincinnati sportswriter Oliver Perry Caylor led the agitation for the creation of a new, more liberal league. He was successful. In 1882 a new major league entered the arena, the American Association, popularly known as the Beer and Whiskey League. The Cincinnati Reds of the new circuit added Chick Fulmer to its roster. Fulmer got his last shot at the majors, and he made the most of the opportunity. Playing shortstop for the Reds, with some illustrious teammates, Fulmer helped Cincinnati win the pennant in the new league’s first year.

Fulmer’s account of his unassisted triple play against Troy in 1873 has not been verified, but a triple killing he made in 1882 has been well-documented. It involved a bit of trickery on Fulmer’s part. In a game between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh on June 22, Pittsburgh had runners on first and second with no one out and Johnny Peters at the bat. Peters hit a pop fly to short, and Fulmer intentionally let it drop. Thinking the ball would be caught, runners Mike Mansell on first base and Ed Swartwood on second held their bases. When the ball fell to the ground, Fulmer picked it up and threw to second baseman Bid McPhee to force out Mansell. McPhee then tagged Swartwood for the second out. Disgusted with his pop fly, Peters did not run to first base. McPhee threw to the bag to complete the triple play.

Although Fulmer was known primarily for his fielding prowess, not for his hitting, he was the hitting star of the first contest between the two league champions. The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Hick Carpenter and Ecky Stearns hit safely, and Fulmer singled to center field, sending Carpenter home with the game’s first run. Fulmer was credited with the game-winning run batted in. Later in the inning he scored a run himself, as the Reds scored the only four runs of the game to win, 4-0.

Cincinnati fans were jubilant. Their heroes had defeated the champions of the league that had snubbed them two years earlier. The fans celebrated with a cheer, “All yell, and let it be a champion whoop.” Although the Reds lost the second game of the series, they had proved their point. The champions of the upstart Association could compete on even terms with the champions of the haughty National League.

After a postseason exhibition game in Dayton in October 1883, Fulmer was among a group of Reds who crowded into a hotel elevator. When late-arriving Hick Carpenter refused to join them at first, fearing the added weight would be too much for the elevator to carry, his teammates talked him into joining the crowd. No sooner had Carpenter stepped aboard than something snapped and the elevator shot to the bottom of the shaft, hitting the cellar floor with a tremendous jolt. Fortunately, none of the players was seriously injured, although there were some cuts and bruises.

Less than a week after he escaped injury in the elevator mishap, Fulmer suffered an injury that ended his exhibition tour. He had not only been playing baseball, but he had been entertaining crowds with his impressions of other players’ characteristics. The fans were impressed by his acting ability and also by the handsome player’s celebrated good looks. The event that put a stop to his tour came when he was hit square in the face by a foul off his own bat. His nose was broken by the blow and he was bleeding profusely from the injury. While setting his nose, a doctor informed Fulmer that his nose would never be “symmetrically beautiful” again. Fulmer said that he didn’t mind, as he was a married man.

Nemec has this Fulmer story:

Fulmer was a witty extrovert and the sort that would entertain the crowd with impressions of famous pitchers' deliveries. . . [H]e ran a cigar stand in the clubhouse while playing for Buffalo and during offseasons in the early 1880s managed touring theatrical companies playing the ubiquitous Gilded Age chestnut Uncle Tom's Cabin.

He lived to the age of 89, and in his late 80s when the Reds became World Series contenders (in the late 1930s!) he was often trotted out by the media as a survivor of the Reds' first championship team from 1882.

For my league, he played in Rockford in 1871, then spent one year in Philadelphia with the Athletics and three more with the Whites. He's been with Louisville since 1876. If he lasts long enough in my world, he'll be a member of Buffalo's inaugural NL entry in 1879 and Cincinnati's AA team in 1882. His defense has been first-rate and he's helped every team he's played for, even though his current .266 average is pretty typical for him.

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Sunday, September 16, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Louisville Grays 33-19
Chicago White Stockings 30-18 (1 GB)
Boston Red Stockings 30-25
Cincinnati Reds 26-24
Hartford Dark Blues 18-34
St. Louis Brown Stockings 17-34

Here's what the two contenders have left: Louisville has eight games left, four against Chicago and four against last-place St. Louis. Chicago has eleven - four against Louisville, three against Cincinnati, two against Boston and two against Hartford. It's an easier go for Louisville though Chicago will probably appreciate the extra three games.

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .423
Cal McVey, Boston - .392
Dick Higham, Chicago - .372
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .353
George Wright, Boston - .348
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .347
Ross Barnes, Boston - .346

Runs Scored

Ross Barnes, Boston - 57
Cal McVey, Boston - 50
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 48
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 46
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 45
George Hall, Chicago - 45
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 45

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 50
Ross Barnes, Boston - 40
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 40
Jim Foran, Chicago - 40
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 40
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 40
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 39

Stolen Bases

Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 32
Ross Barnes, Boston - 31
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 22
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 21
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 19
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 18
2 players tied with 15 each

Won-Loss Record

Al Spalding, Boston, 16-7
Dan Collins, Louisville, 16-11
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 15-11
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 14-10
George Zettlein, Chicago, 12-7
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 10-7
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 8-9

Earned Run Average

Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.15
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.53
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.82
Al Spalding, Boston - 2.92
Joe Blong, St. Louis - 2.96
George Bradley, St. Louis - 3.02
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 3.05

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 103
Dan Collins, Louisville - 86
Al Spalding, Boston - 52
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 50
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 46
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 42
Bobby Mathews, Boston - 38

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Bill Craver, in real life, was one of the players embroiled in the Louisville scandal of 1877. Here's what Nemec says to introduce his rather long entry on Craver:

Along with Nat Hicks, Bill Craver became the embodiment of the remarkable toughness of the men who played behind the plate before the advent of protective equipment. Unfortunately, he also acquired a reputation for shady behavior that often overshadowed his play. Craver enlisted as a Union soldier at age 20, serving for eighteen months in Company K of New York's 13th Heavy Artillery Regiment. He eventually filed for an invalid pension as a result of his wartime service, but as with so much about this inscrutable man, there are doubts about its legitimacy. In his pension application Craver said he was "almost wholly unable to earn a support by manual labor by reason of left hand crippled," which sounds suspiciously like something that resulted from his time as a catcher.

Craver was from Troy, New York and his start in professional baseball was with the Haymakers after playing for the Unions of Lansingburgh, the top amateur club of the late 1860s from the area. He was an above-average hitter and was known as an incredibly tough player behind the plate. However, he also had a reputation for unsavory play and for consorting with gamblers, enough that Louisville's vice-president remarked on it when they signed Craver (then age 32) for the 1877 season.

When Louisville collapsed and lost the 1877 pennant, Craver was one of four players suspected of having thrown games. (One lingering controversy was whether any actual league games were thrown, though there is no doubt that some exhibition games were.) The other three players confessed, while Craver denied everything and refused to turn over evidence of his telegraphs sent, again unlike the other three. This stonewalling was enough for him to be fired from Louisville and blacklisted for life. He was near the end of his career anyway and while he got into some semipro games for Troy after returning home, he ultimately ended up becoming a Troy policeman. Craver died in Troy in 1901.

In my world, Craver is a career .304 hitter who recently turned 33. He has been Cincinnati's catcher since the start of the National League and this season his defensive prowess and his .288 average for the Reds is making him a solid contributor to this good team.

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September 20, 1877
Chicago White Stockings (31-18) at Boston Red Stockings (30-26)

With a late-season surge, Chicago had pulled to within a half-game of first-place Louisville once again, and with a win in Boston they'd move into a tie for first place. With two games in Louisville coming up next week, they'd dearly like to get an advantage.

It was a close game until the fifth inning, when Chicago went wild and scored ten runs, including six with two out, to turn the game into a blowout. Higham, Meyerle and Foran each had two hits in the wild inning for the White Stockings, and Meyerle had five for the game. Chicago had pulled even with Louisville.

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September 21, 1877
Chicago White Stockings (32-18) at Hartford Dark Blues (19-34)

Now, after having pulled even with Louisville, Chicago have an opportunity to pull slightly ahead of the Grays heading into the weekend. They have a short two-game series in Hartford prior to the Louisville games next week.

Chicago breezed through this one, jumping out to an 11-1 lead in the top of the third inning and then just coasting to the easy win.

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September 22, 1877
Chicago White Stockings (33-18) at Hartford Dark Blues (19-35)

Chicago's five-game winning streak has taken them into the lead in the National League. Now they have an opportunity to extend that lead and have a full game advantage over Louisville going into the clubs' games against one another.

This game wasn't remotely competitive. With Chicago having everything to play for and Hartford simply playing out the string (in Brooklyn!), there was very little difficulty for the White Stockings.

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Sunday, September 23, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Chicago White Stockings 34-18
Louisville Grays 33-19 (1 GB)
Boston Red Stockings 30-27
Cincinnati Reds 26-24
Hartford Dark Blues 19-36
St. Louis Brown Stockings 17-35

Suddenly Chicago has the momentary upper hand against Louisville. However, the clubs have two games against one another this week and that should help clarify things.

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .418
Cal McVey, Boston - .395
Dick Higham, Chicago - .382
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .369
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .353
George Wright, Boston - .342
Ross Barnes, Boston - .340

Runs Scored

Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 58
Ross Barnes, Boston - 57
George Hall, Chicago - 57
Cal McVey, Boston - 51
Dick Higham, Chicago - 48
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 46
2 players tied with 45 each

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 50
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 49
Jim Foran, Chicago - 47
Ross Barnes, Boston - 41
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 40
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 40
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 39

Stolen Bases

Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 32
Ross Barnes, Boston - 31
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 22
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 21
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 19
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 18
4 players tied with 15 each

Won-Loss Record

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

Earned Run Average

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.53
Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.56
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.82
Al Spalding, Boston - 2.96
George Bradley, St. Louis - 3.02
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 3.09
Jim Britt, Hartford - 3.26

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 103
Dan Collins, Louisville - 86
Al Spalding, Boston - 54
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 52
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 48
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 42
Pud Galvin, St. Louis - 39

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Pud Galvin, the ace pitcher of the St. Louis club, has done a solid job becoming one of the better pitchers in the National League despite the fact that he's still only 20 years old. Though Galvin has a 31-60 career record thus far he looks like he has a bright future ahead of him. Of course, he'll be hard-pressed to duplicate the Hall of Fame career he had in real life.

Galvin has a very good and very detailed SABR bio, and Nemec also has a good, detailed entry on him in Volume 2 of his outstanding series on 19th century players. Here's how Nemec introduces him:

After a May 22, 1875 game between the St. Louis Brown Stockings and the hometown Chicago White Stockings, the Chicago Tribune reported, "The Browns yesterday played. . . an unknown pitcher named Galvin. . . .The White Stockings did not find him as easy a customer as might have been expected." The 18-year-old right-hander, or so Jim Galvin claimed (Galvin guarded his age zealously and may have been born earlier than 1856), lost that day but three days later he picked up the first of 365 career victories, a major league record that would stand until it was broken by Cy Young in 1903. What makes that feat all the more amazing is that Galvin never pitched for a team that came within ten games of winning a pennant. . .

That's got to be by far the greatest career ever for a player who never came within ten games of first place. Anyway, his SABR bio also paints the picture of a great player who was not fully appreciated even in his own time:

Galvin’s longevity and durability also set him apart, as no other pitcher of his era matched his 6,003 1/3 innings pitched, 705 pitching appearances, 646 complete games, 365 wins, and 310 losses. An early practitioner of a highly effective pickoff move that baffled baserunners and left opposing captains and managers contesting its legality, Galvin was also arguably the best defender at the position.

Galvin was a star and a fan favorite for his combination of athletic prowess and kind temperament. He was admired for being consistently “cool, collected,” and “self-reliant” on the field, as well as humorous and quick to smile. His three frequently-used nicknames reflect these characteristics. He may have been called Pud because of his ability to turn batters into pudding, or from, his pudgy physique. He was presumably called “The Little Steam Engine” because he was small but powerful, and he was called “Gentle James” or “Gentle Jeems” for his kind demeanor.

Despite his historic statistics and traits, as well as numerous exceptional single-game performances, Galvin was largely forgotten after his death in 1902. He spent his best years in Buffalo and his salad days in Pittsburg, small markets with poor teams. Unlike several other prominent players, Galvin did not win championships in the major leagues or play in big markets like New York, Boston, and Chicago, so his achievements were not as well remembered as those of his peers. One of Galvin’s best seasons came in the lesser-known International Association, and his other two strongest showings, in 1883 and 1884, fell under the long shadow of Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn’s dominant two-year run of pitching, the best of the century. Perhaps the greatest consequence of Galvin’s relative obscurity was an unduly late induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. While a few of his equals and many worthy but less accomplished players were elected to the Hall soon after its establishment in 1936, Gentle Jeems was not inducted until 1965.

His style was very different from that of other top pitchers of the 1880s. SABR again:

By the time of his first known appearance in baseball, in 1874, the right-handed James would have grown into his short, stocky, and strong body. Standing approximately 5-feet-8, weighing in at about 190 pounds in his prime, and wearing size 9 shoes, he had a compact and solid frame, broad shoulders, and strong core and lower body that befitted the power pitcher he would become. He gained weight as he aged, apparently weighing as much as 250 pounds by 1894. Contemporary accounts were unkind about his appearance: he was often described as “short” and “fat.” Some reports also pointed out his broad shoulders and small neck. Sam Crane, the player-manager of the Buffalo Bisons in 1880, recalled that “Jimmy’s bull neck sunk into his wide spread of shoulders like the head of a mud-turtle into its shell.” Galvin kept his dark hair short and sported a full mustache.

In contrast to his substantial body, Pud had small hands, which did not allow him to throw a curveball. Instead, he featured a speedy fastball, the occasional offspeed pitch, and pinpoint control. During a gathering with friends in 1890, attended by a sports reporter, a member of the group showed his hands, damaged playing baseball as a young man. Galvin responded: “Why, if I was worth $10,000 to-day, and could spare it, I would give that amount for your hands if an exchange were possible. From the time I went into base ball I have always been handicapped by my hands, which are too small. I never saw the day yet when I was able to span an ordinary base ball. My fingers are too short to enable me to get grip enough on the ball to pitch a deep curve, so that I have been compelled to depend more on drops, straight balls and the different artifices known to pitchers to deceive the batter.”

Galvin’s inability to throw a curveball may have been a blessing in disguise, as he perfected a simple approach to pitching that yielded consistent results. Watching Tony Mullane struggle while throwing breaking pitches one day in 1886, Galvin remarked, “Just watch them slug Tony with his ups and downs, while I keep right on winning with my little old straight-ball delivery.” Additionally, Galvin’s limited repertoire may have been a factor in his longevity during an era in which pitchers had very short careers, because his arm did not sustain the stress of throwing hard breaking pitches.

Though Galvin had a very long career, he played mostly in smaller markets like Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Also, he died relatively young (in 1902, at age 45), so he was not around to be remembered once baseball exploded in popularity with the coming of the 20th century. By the time the Hall of Fame was established, he was pretty much forgotten. Although he was one of the best players of the 19th century, many lesser players were inducted while he remained mostly forgotten. It took the efforts of baseball historians of the 1960s to bring him back into the public's consciousness and get him enshrined finally.

In my league, Galvin seems like he's got a long career ahead of him, though it's anyone's guess where he'll end up. Because Buffalo began play in 1879 and Galvin was on that team, he'll be there in a couple years, and after that who knows. He's got a 7-19 record thus far for 1877, but that's more because he plays for a terrible team than anything else.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

The minor league season is over, so it's time to look at the final numbers for the NWL.

St. Paul Saints 49-21 (unaffiliated)
Minneapolis Millers 48-22 (Boston's affiliate)
Peoria Distillers 46-24 (Chicago)
Fort Wayne Railroaders 40-30 (Cincinnati)
Grand Rapids Woodworkers 31-39 (Hartford)
Evansville Hoosiers 23-47 (Louisville)
Quincy Ravens 23-47 (St. Louis)
Terre Haute Hottentots 20-50 (unaffiliated)

That's two championships in two years for the St. Paul club.

The NWL league leaders:

Batting Average

Henry Luff, Fort Wayne - .354
Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - .352
Wes Fisler, Grand Rapids - .330
Gat Stires, St. Paul - .321
Dave Pierson, Fort Wayne - .303
Tom Barlow, Peoria - .295
Fred Cone, Minneapolis - .294

Runs Scored

Fred Cone, Minneapolis - 64
Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - 49
Denny Mack, Minneapolis - 44
Gat Stires, St. Paul - 42
Jim Carleton, Peoria - 41
Jack Burdock, St. Paul - 36
4 players tied with 32 each

Runs Batted In

Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - 52
George Bird, Minneapolis - 42
Gat Stires, St. Paul - 41
Charlie Eden, Peoria - 36
Pony Sager, Minneapolis - 35
Fraley Rogers, Minneapolis - 34
2 players tied with 33 each

Stolen Bases

Pony Sager, Minneapolis - 51
Fred Cone, Minneapolis - 41
Denny Mack, Minneapolis - 34
Jim Keenan, Minneapolis - 33
Fred Treacey, Fort Wayne - 31
Tom Barlow, Peoria - 26
Herm Doscher, Grand Rapids - 22

Won-Loss Record

Tommy Bond, St. Paul, 20-3
Bill Stearns, Peoria-Terre Haute, 20-24
Cherokee Fisher, Peoria, 18-7
Foghorn Bradley, Minneapolis, 16-4
Phonney Martin, Minneapolis, 14-6
Terry Larkin, St. Paul, 14-8
2 players tied at 13-9

Earned Run Average

Tommy Bond, St. Paul - 1.26
Laurie Reis, Peoria - 1.73
Len Lovett, Peoria - 1.73
Mike Golden, Minneapolis - 1.79
Cherokee Fisher, Peoria - 1.79
Lon Knight, Grand Rapids - 1.83
Ed Stratton, St. Paul - 1.86

Strikeouts

Bill Stearns, Peoria-Terre Haute - 350
Tommy Bond, St. Paul - 242
Cherokee Fisher, Peoria - 222
Fred Goldsmith, Evansville - 219
Len Lovett, Peoria - 217
Laurie Reis, Peoria - 217
Dick McBride, Grand Rapids - 211

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

September 26, 1877
Chicago White Stockings (34-18) at Louisville Grays (33-19)

This is it. The final weeks of the season are here, Chicago and Louisville are separated by only one game in the standings, and half of their remaining games are against one another. Which club will win out in this great pennant showdown?

In the end, it was barely even a contest. Chicago scored four runs in the top of the first inning, added two more in the second, and Louisville never was able to get anything going offensively. Both George Hall and Jim Foran had four-hit games for the White Stockings as they got a game closer to bringing Chicago its first professional baseball title.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Sunday, September 30, 1877
Standings and Leaders

Chicago White Stockings 37-18
Louisville Grays 34-22 (3.5 GB)
Cincinnati Reds 27-26
Boston Red Stockings 30-30
Hartford Dark Blues 22-36
St. Louis Brown Stockings 19-37

What a week. Chicago took both games against Louisville and also won one from Cincinnati. Chicago have now won nine consecutive games. Meanwhile, Louisville lost both games against the White Stockings and went 1-1 against St. Louis.

Now, with four games left to play for each team, Louisville not only needs to win both games against Chicago, but they also need to win both against St. Louis and Chicago has to lose twice against Cincinnati. So that's six games that have to go just so for Louisville to win the pennant. If any of those six games don't go their way, Chicago will have their first National League pennant.

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .422
Cal McVey, Boston - .397
Dick Higham, Chicago - .397
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .360
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .355
George Wright, Boston - .345
George Hall, Chicago - .341

Runs Scored

George Hall, Chicago - 65
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 61
Ross Barnes, Boston - 59
Cal McVey, Boston - 53
Dick Higham, Chicago - 52
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 50
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 49

Runs Batted In

Cal McVey, Boston - 53
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 51
Jim Foran, Chicago - 49
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 45
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 43
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 43
Dick Higham, Chicago - 42

Stolen Bases

Ross Barnes, Boston - 35
Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 35
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 24
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 21
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 19
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 18
Ed Pinkham, Boston - 17

Won-Loss Record

Asa Brainard, Chicago, 18-10
Dan Collins, Louisville, 17-12
Al Spalding, Boston, 16-9
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 16-12
George Zettlein, Chicago, 14-7
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 10-9
Hugh Campbell, Hartford, 9-21

Earned Run Average

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.42
Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.79
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.93
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 2.98
George Bradley, St. Louis - 3.11
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 3.19
Al Spalding, Boston - 3.20

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 107
Dan Collins, Louisville - 90
Al Spalding, Boston - 56
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 53
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 51
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 44
Bobby Mathews, Boston - 43

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Deacon White, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2012, 165 years after his birth, has not had quite the same level of career in my universe that he did in real life. However, he's still a solid, serviceable catcher who's been an above-average hitter.

Here's what White's SABR bio says about his career:

Deacon White was a baseball pioneer. He caught baseball fever after the Civil War and played until the 1890s. His baseball career spanned the end of the amateur era and the start of professionalism, the establishment and demise of the National Association, the founding of the National League, and a players’ revolt that led to the creation of the Players’ League. He was the best catcher in baseball when the most important players in the game were catchers. He played for six championship teams and was a two-time batting champion. He was well respected by teammates, opponents, writers, and fans. History pushed White aside for many decades until he was finally elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on December 3, 2012, solidifying his place as a baseball legend.

James Laurie White was born on December 2, 1847, in the rural town of Caton, New York. The Steuben County town, west of Elmira and a few miles from the Pennsylvania border, was the home to roughly 1,000 residents at the time of his birth. Jim was the son of Lester S. and Adeline (Hurd) White. Lester was a farmer born in nearby Tompkins County around 1820. Adeline was a Caton native born around 1823. The family was of English stock but Jim’s grandparents were born in America.

Jim was second-born, with an older brother, and six younger siblings. Living nearby were Lester’s brother Benjamin and his family, including future ballplayer Willard Elmer White.

Prior to the start of the Civil War, baseball was largely a city-based sport. The widespread growth of the game didn’t come until after the Civil War and a popular view was that returning soldiers taught rural folks the new game of baseball that they learned during the war. This is exactly what a 91-year-old Jim White stated a few weeks before his death in an interview with The Sporting News. “I learned to play ball from a Union soldier … in 1865, and taught the boys the new game of baseball they had played in the Civil War.” If this is the case, it is quite possible the soldier who taught him the game was his older brother, LeRoy, who joined the Union cause in September 1864 and returned home the following year.

White was already one of the top players in baseball when the National Association was formed in 1871, and he signed with the Forest City club of Cleveland for that year.

On April 24, 1871, White married Marium Van Arsdale of Caton. The newlyweds arrived in Cleveland the next day to get ready for the first season of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which formed on March 17 in New York City. Forest City became a charter member of the first professional league when it paid its $10 entry fee.

The Forest City club traveled to Indiana to play in the first game of the new league against the Kekiongas of Fort Wayne on May 4. Pitching for the Kekiongas was 19-year-old Bobby Mathews. White led off the game and stroked a double, thus getting both the first hit and first double in professional league history. He then became part of the first double play when he didn’t get back to second after a Gene Kimball fly out to second baseman Tom Carey, who touched the base. Mathews threw a four-hit shutout, outdueling Pratt 2-0 in a game that was “unpreceded in the annals of base ball.” Jim White led all hitters with two hits. [His first cousin] Elmer played right field and struck out three times.

The Opening Day loss was a good indication of what was coming for the team. Forest City also lost its home opener on May 11 despite White hitting his first league homer.

On June 22 Elmer broke his left arm in the first inning of a game after falling down trying to get a foul ball. He was out until August 30.

Forest City finished the season 10-19 in seventh place. White caught all 29 league games while batting .322 for the season. He was tied for the most games caught in the NA and led the league in putouts.

Before the 1872 season, tragedy struck the White family. Elmer died, likely of tuberculosis, on March 17 in Scio, New York. The 22-year-old became the first professional league player in baseball history to die.

White actually announced he was retiring from the game in the 1872-73 offseason, eighteen years before he actually retired.

Despite being one of the top players in the country, White decided to retire from the game. The Boston Red Stockings sent a director of the club to his home to pry him out of retirement. He was reportedly retained but had not reported when play began. In a letter to the Clipper on April 11, captain Harry Wright said, “James White has not arrived. He has been converted [to religion], and thinks at present that he would not be doing right if he should play baseball.” Philadelphia’s Sunday Dispatch was less polite in its description of White’s absence: “Mr. James White, who was engaged for the Boston Club, evidently does not think it wicked to break a contract and seriously inconvenience that organization by doing so at the last moment. It seems that James has “got religion,” and thinks … [that playing ball would] jeopardize his future happiness.”

In fact, White reported on April 19, having “very properly concluded that a man can play ball in a reputable professional nine despite the fact of a recent conversion to religion.”

For the final three years of the NA Deacon White and Al Spalding were the game's best battery and both of them were excellent hitters as a bonus. With Ross Barnes and George Wright also starring on the team, it was no surprise that they cruised to three straight pennants. White, Barnes, Spalding and Cal McVey left for Chicago in 1876 and won another pennant there. Deacon White moved back to Boston in 1877, had the best offensive season of his career, was the top player in the National League and won his fifth straight pennant. That was basically the pinnacle of his career.

He played for another 13 years as a starter after that season but was only on one more pennant-winner (the 1887 Detroit Wolverines). White lived long enough to be around when the Hall of Fame opened in the late 1930s and was reportedly disappointed not to have been inducted with the first wave of 19th century players. In fact, he ended up being mostly forgotten for several decades, and only in the Baseball Reference era did people begin to realize what a huge figure he was in 19th century baseball. In 2010 a SABR poll ranked him as the most overlooked player of the 19th century. Two years later, the pre-integration Veterans Committee for the Hall of Fame finally inducted him.

In my league, he's been a career .292 hitter and never a threat to win a batting title or anything like that. Nevertheless, he's been a solid, above-average player despite playing mainly for losing teams - Cleveland, the Philadelphia Athletics and now Hartford. He probably won't be a starter well into his 40s the way he was in real life, but he's still got some years ahead of him as a good starting player.

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October 1, 1877
Cincinnati Reds (27-26) at Chicago White Stockings (37-18)

This is the first of several chances for Chicago to clinch the 1877 National League pennant. If Chicago wins this game, they win the pennant. Even if they lose, Chicago wins the pennant if Louisville lose to St. Louis today. Even if Chicago loses and Louisville wins, these same matchups take place tomorrow. Even if Chicago loses both games against Cincinnati and Louisville defeats St. Louis twice, Chicago and Louisville still have two games against one another and if Chicago wins either of them they win the pennant. So here it begins.

The first chance for Chicago... didn't go great.

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October 2, 1877
Cincinnati Reds (28-26) at Chicago White Stockings (37-19)

Since Louisville beat St. Louis 4-1 yesterday, two of the six outcomes Louisville needs to win the pennant have now happened. The pennant race is over if Chicago wins or if Louisville loses.

Chicago's second attempt to clinch... also didn't go great.

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And yet, Chicago clinched the pennant anyway on October 2 in the most anti-climactic possible way. Louisville lost 8-5 to a St. Louis team that was missing Lip Pike, their best player, and that meant Chicago had their first National League win.

That loss to St. Louis cost Louisville the pennant, as they beat Chicago in both of the games of the final series. To reiterate, Louisville needed to beat Chicago twice and they did so. They needed Chicago to lose twice to Cincinnati, and Chicago did so. Then they needed to beat last-place St. Louis twice, but they lost one of those two games, and that's why they lost the pennant.

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Final 1877 National League Standings and Leaders

Chicago White Stockings 37-22
Louisville Grays 37-23
Cincinnati Reds 29-28
Boston Red Stockings 30-30
Hartford Dark Blues 22-36
St. Louis Brown Stockings 22-38

The league leaders:

Batting Average

Lip Pike, St. Louis - .421
Cal McVey, Boston - .397
Dick Higham, Chicago - .395
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - .351
Jim Devlin, Louisville - .351
George Wright, Boston - .345
George Hall, Chicago - .337

Runs Scored

George Hall, Chicago - 69
Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 62
Ross Barnes, Boston - 59
Dick Higham, Chicago - 54
Cal McVey, Boston - 53
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 51
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 51

Runs Batted In

Levi Meyerle, Chicago - 55
Cal McVey, Boston - 53
Jim Foran, Chicago - 49
Jim Devlin, Louisville - 47
Ezra Sutton, Louisville - 47
Dick Higham, Chicago - 44
Lip Pike, St. Louis - 44

Stolen Bases

Mike McGeary, Cincinnati - 37
Ross Barnes, Boston - 35
Dave Eggler, St. Louis - 24
John McMullin, Cincinnati - 21
Cap Anson, Cincinnati - 20
Andy Leonard, Hartford - 19
2 players tied with 17 each

Won-Loss Record

Dan Collins, Louisville, 19-12
Asa Brainard, Chicago, 18-12
Sam Weaver, Cincinnati, 17-13
Al Spalding, Boston, 16-9
George Zettlein, Chicago, 14-8
Candy Cummings, Louisville, 11-10
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati, 9-11

Earned Run Average

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 2.37
Bobby Mathews, Boston - 2.79
Dan Collins, Louisville - 2.81
George Bradley, St. Louis - 2.85
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 3.12
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 3.19
Al Spalding, Boston - 3.20

Strikeouts

Sam Weaver, Cincinnati - 116
Dan Collins, Louisville - 103
Al Spalding, Boston - 56
Asa Brainard, Chicago - 53
Hugh Campbell, Hartford - 51
Bobby Mitchell, Cincinnati - 49
Pud Galvin, St. Louis - 47

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All-Time Professional Baseball Pennant Winners

National Association

1871 - New York Mutuals
1872 - Boston Red Stockings
1873 - Boston Red Stockings
1874 - Boston Red Stockings
1875 - Boston Red Stockings (disputed; some sources say Chicago White Stockings)

National League

1876 - New York Mutuals
1877 - Chicago White Stockings

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Batting Champions

1871 - Lip Pike, Troy Haymakers (.477)
1872 - Rynie Wolters, New York Mutuals (.422)
1873 - Ross Barnes, Boston Red Stockings (.428)
1874 - Ross Barnes, Boston Red Stockings (.379)
1875 - George Hall, Chicago White Stockings (.377)
1876 - Dick Higham, New York Mutuals (.409)
1877 - Lip Pike, St. Louis Brown Stockings (.421)

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Year-by-Year Leaders in Runs Scored

1871 - Lip Pike, Troy Haymakers (47)
1872 - George Hall, Baltimore Canaries (77)
1873 - Fred Cone, Boston Red Stockings (72)
1874 - Frank McCarton, Boston Red Stockings (64)
1875 - Fred Cone, Boston Red Stockings (84)
1876 - Ross Barnes, Boston Red Stockings (80)
1877 - George Hall, Chicago White Stockings (69)

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Year-by-Year Leaders in Runs Batted In

1871 - Cal McVey, Boston Red Stockings (40)
1872 - Lip Pike, Baltimore Canaries (70)
1873 - Levi Meyerle, Philadelphia Whites (68)
1874 - Steve King, New York Mutuals (56)
1875 - Cal McVey, Boston Red Stockings (71)
1876 - Cal McVey, Boston Red Stockings (73)
1877 - Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings (55)