The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward

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Below are the rosters for the 1894 MLB All-Star Game. The Home Run Challenge was won by Philadelphia Athletics RF Ollie Smith, who beat Phillies CF Charlie Duffee (the 1891 winner) 12-10 in the final round. The A’s are the first franchise to have multiple derby winners, as the first ten champs came from ten different squads.



The game was at the Red Sox’s Huntington Avenue Grounds. After repeat National League wins, the American League took the 1894 encounter 3-1. All three runs for the AL came in the second inning, two from Heinie Peitz’s homer. That earned MVP honors for the Orioles catcher. The AL is 9-2 all-time in the event.

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Milwaukee went on a 19-4 tear since the all-star game, including an 11-game winning streak. This pushed the Brewers to the best record in the American League at 67-40. Despite a good July for Kansas City, they’re now 9.5 games back on Milwaukee in the AL West at 58-50.

Washington built up a four game lead in the AL East, mostly due to New York’s awful 9-15 run since the break. The Nationals sit first at 64-44 followed by the 60-48 Yankees. After their lousy first half, defending World Series champ Baltimore went 17-7 since the break. The Orioles are now above .500 at 56-52, eight games back and not completely out of the fight. Cleveland is also above .500 at 55-53.

AL Batter of the Month was Minnesota 1B Fred Tenney with a .337 average, 7 home runs, 20 RBI, and 20 runs. Brewers righty Ed Stein was Pitcher of the Month on a 1.68 ERA over 53.2 innings, 6-0 record, and 33 strikeouts. Cleveland CF Fielder Jones was Rookie of the Month on a .344 average, 33 hits, 4 homers, and 15 RBI.

Philadelphia didn’t slow down in July with a 17-7 run since the break, putting the Phillies at 76-32. They’re now 17 games ahead of 59-49 Buffalo in the NL East. Indianapolis surrendered the NL West lead with a 9-15 struggle since the break. Cincinnati is back in first at 61-47, 1.5 games up on the Clowns (59-48) and three ahead of St. Louis (58-50).

Phillies CF Charlie Duffee was NL Batter of the Month in July with a .302 average, 10 homers, 22 RBI, and 26 runs. Philadelphia also had the Pitcher of the Month Bill Daley with a 1.21 ERA in 44.2 innings, 5-0 record, and 32 Ks. #1 pick Bobby Wallace was Rookie of the Month for Louisville with a 2.53 ERA in 42.2 innings, 3-2 record, and 30 strikeouts.



The first no-hitter of the 1894 season came on July 20 by Kansas City’s Chick Fraser. The 20-year old rookie walked four and struck out one over 101 pitches in a 6-0 win over Cleveland. That was a record for the fewest strikeouts in a no-hitter. In hitting streaks, New Orleans’ 2B Frank Grant had a 21-game streak.

The one major trade of before the deadline saw defending Pitcher of the Year Lee Viau on the move after just over seven seasons in Detroit. With the Tigers struggling, Viau was traded to Milwaukee for three minor league prospects; although none of them have potential grades above 40. It was essentially the surrender flag for the struggling Tigers, who had been the three-time reigning AL West champ.

Viau had been his usual solid self with a 2.65 ERA over 200.2 innings, 118 Ks, 11-8 record, and 4.2 WAR for Detroit. They had just signed the 28-year old ace to a seven-year, $239,400 extension the prior winter, but were apparently having buyer’s remorse. The Brewers were happy to add him to the rotation as they make their own pennant push.

In milestones, St. Louis LF Buster Hoover was the seventh to reach 2000 career hits. Indianapolis’ Frank Gilmore was the third pitcher with 2000 strikeouts. Detroit’s Duke Farrell became the fourth to 300 home runs. Reaching 1000 RBI was KC’s Ed Crane and Philadelphia’s Bug Holliday. The Phillies’ Ed Crane and St. Louis’s Denny Lyons reached 1000 runs scored.

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Milwaukee maintained the American League’s best record at 82-53 through August and grew their AL West lead to 11 games over 71-64 Chicago. The battle is now for the top seed with Washington one back on that at 81-55. The Nationals are now eight games ahead of New York (73-63) in the AL East after going 17-11 in August. Baltimore and Cleveland both lost ground falling to 68-68.

Two-time defending MVP Willie Keeler enters September with a .416 batting average, which would beat the single-season record of .413 set in 1885 by Dan Brouthers. The Brewers RF was August’s Batter of the Month in the AL with a .470 average, 4 homers, 19 RBI, and 23 runs. Chicago’s Harley Parker was Pitcher of the Month with a 6-0 record, 21 strikeouts, and 2.19 ERA in 49.1 innings. Kansas City’s Chick Fraser was Rookie of the Month with a 2.42 ERA in 44.2 innings with 28 Ks and a 2-2 record.

Philadelphia’s all-time season continues entering September at 94-42. The Phillies could still conceivably catch the record 114-48 run by the Boston Braves in 1889. Despite a respectable 73-63 record, defending NL champ Buffalo is 21 games back in the NL East.

St. Louis made big gains in the NL West with an 18-10 August, putting them at 76-60. The Cardinals are one game behind Cincinnati (77-59) in the only competitive division race. Indianapolis, the division leader at the all-star break, is now seven back at 70-66. Since the break, the Clowns have struggled to 20-33.

Reds RF Kip Selbach was NL Batter of the Month with a .347 average, 6 homers, 18 RBI, and 23 runs. Philadelphia’s Bill Daley was Pitcher of the Month with a 2.81 ERA, 51.1 innings, and 35 Ks. Daley is the MLB leader in wins (24-3) and ERA (2.33) entering September. #1 pick Bobby Wallace from Louisville was again Rookie of the Month with a 4-1 record and 44 Ks over 50.2 innings.

In milestones, Washington LF George Tebeau and Cincinnati CF Jim Fogarty reached 1000 runs scored. Fogarty also became only the second to 700 career stolen bases, while teammate Billy Hamilton and St. Louis’s Denny Lyons both reached 600 swipes. Braves 1B Alex McKinnon reached 1000 RBI.

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Milwaukee and Washington both pulled away in their respective divisions, but were even most of September in the battle for the American League’s top seed. However, the Brewers ended the year with a seven-game winning streak and the Nationals a five-game losing streak. Thus, Milwaukee got the top spot at 98-64 and Washington was 93-69.

The Brewers won their third AL West title and first since their 1888 World Series win. Milwaukee allowed the fewest runs in the AL (629) and had the best run differential (+166). Milwaukee’s 3.36 ERA, 544 earned runs, and 629 runs allowed were each the third-best in AL history. Chicago was second at 87-75, ending a seven-year stretch of losing seasons for the White Sox. Kansas City was third at 82-80. Detroit, the three-time defending division champ, tied their franchise worst at 68-94. The Tigers set AL team worsts for batting average (.231), OBP (.287), hits (1246) and doubles (170); while their 612 runs was third-worst.

Washington won its first-ever division title, leaving only Philadelphia without a title among AL East teams. New York was second at 86-76, followed by Cleveland (84-78) and defending World Series champ Baltimore (83-79). The Orioles underperformed their expected win/loss by ten games and led the AL with 848 runs. Boston was last place at 67-95, back-to-back losing campaigns after being the top team of the 1880s.

Brewers RF Willie Keeler was AL Batter of the Month in September with a .429 average, 6 home runs, 24 RBI, and 21 runs. He improved his season average to .419, setting a new single-season record. Only Dan Brouthers had previously hit above .400 with a .413 in 1885. Keeler did only narrowly breach the 502 plate appearances required as he missed about a month to injury. He became the first player to win three consecutive batting titles and only the second to do it thrice in a career.

Remarkably inn only his third season, Keeler is expected by many to three-peat as AL MVP, as he led in the triple slash (.419/.465/.648), OPS (1.113), and wRC+ (210). His OBP was the third-best qualifying season and OPS ninth-best in MLB history. There were three batters with a higher WAR than Keeler, led by Washington 2B Ed Delahanty’s 10.8. There weren’t any big sluggers in the mix with Philadelphia’s Ollie Smith leading in homers with only 33. It is the first time the league leader in homers for either league didn’t hit 40+.



AL Pitcher of the Month for September was Yankees righty Tom Vickery with a 5-1 record, 1.90 ERA, and 45 Ks over 52 innings. Among his wins was the season’s second no-hitter in a 12-0 blowout of Washington on September 16. Vickery struck out seven and walked one over 112 pitches. Boston’s Otis Stocksdale was Rookie of the Month with a 3.03 ERA over 38.2 innings, 3-1 record, and 19 Ks.

Vickery was the wins leader at 24-7 and third in ERA at 2.69. It is a competitive field for Pitcher of the Year with St. Louis’s Frank Knauss posting the top ERA at 2.42. He’s the first in baseball history to win three ERA titles, having also done it in 1893 and 1889.

Chicago’s Jimmy Bannon had a six-hit game against Baltimore on September 19, which was the only six-hit game of the 1894 season. Browns pitcher Bob Black became the fourth with 2000 career strikeouts. KC’s Yank Robinson was the eighth to 600 stolen bases.

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Philadelphia continued to dominate in September and broke the single-season record for wins at 115-47, besting Boston’s 114-48 from 1889. The Phillies’ +284 was the second-best in MLB history, still well short of the Braves’ +379. Philadelphia’s 590 runs allowed were also the second-fewest ever with only the 1884 Chicago White Sox (538) better. They set new NL records for team ERA (3.07) and earned runs allowed (501). Philly also led the NL with 874 runs scored and their 187 team home runs were the second-most in NL history.

The Phillies earned their first-ever NL East title, while Buffalo and Boston were both tied for a distant second at 84-78. It was the ninth straight winning season for the Braves and fifth for the Bisons. New York notably posted a franchise worst at 57-105, falling off a cliff after a 90-win season the prior year. It was the second-worst record in NL history.

Meanwhile, the lone competitive division race was the NL West. St. Louis and defending champ Cincinnati split their four-game series in mid-September. With 11 games remaining, the Reds had a two game lead over the Cardinals. Cincy’s next series saw them lose two of three at Boston, the defeats in 14 and 21 inning games. The Cardinals meanwhile swept last place New York, tying them up with two divisional series left.

St. Louis lost three of four at Indianapolis, while Cincinnati split four hosting Chicago. The Reds would then lose their first two at Indy, while the Cardinals split with Louisville to even them back up. In their final two games, St. Louis got 7-3 and 4-2 wins hosting the Colonels. Cincinnati won 4-2 over the Clowns in ten innings, but lost the season finale 9-4. With that, St. Louis took the title at 91-71 over the 90-72 Reds.

The Cardinals were an impressive 47-31 after the all-star break; only Philadelphia was better in the NL. It was the third division title for St. Louis, who last did it with their 1887 pennant. Indianapolis was third at 84-78, struggling to 34-45 after the break. New Orleans at 73-89 was notable as their first losing season since 1888.



Phillies RF Bug Holliday was NL Batter of the Month in September with a .412 average, 8 home runs, 23 RBI, and 26 runs. He also became the fifth player to 300 career home runs. Holliday was certainly a winning free agent signing for Philadelphia after leading Baltimore to the prior year’s title. He and teammate Charlie Duffee are the favorites for MVP. Holliday led in runs (130), OPS (1.019), and RBI (130); while Duffee was the only player in MLB with 40+ homers (43).

Louisville #1 draft pick Bobby Wallace was both Pitcher and Rookie of the Month for September with a 0.71 ERA over 51 innings, 48 strikeouts, and 5-1 record. Wallace led all NL pitchers with 8.4 WAR and 296.2 innings. Philadelphia’s Bill Daley is the Pitcher of the Year favorite as the leader in ERA (2.29) and wins (28-4), which likely will matter more than his weak 4.3 WAR. The wins were tied for the second-most in MLB history. The Phillies’ closer Clark Griffith also broke the saves record with 45, smashing the previous best of 37. Philadelphia had 49 as a team, a new MLB record.