1871 - Major League Baseball Begins

[guamyank]

The year is 1871. The German Empire has just been founded. Charles Darwin has published "The Descent of Man," his follow up to "The Origin of Species." P.T. Barnum has begun his traveling circus, "The Greatest Show on Earth."

And on March 17th, in New York, The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players is formed. Step back in time with me, as we play through it all again. The Season is about to begin...the first opening day is coming up. The first boys of summer have taken the field, and legends are about to be made.

Major League Baseball - The Replay * My free webserver seems to have died permanently. I will find a new one.
Jump to 1875
Jump to 1880

Champions
1871 - Boston Red Stockings
1872 - Boston Red Stockings
1873 - Philadelphia Athletics
1874 - Philadelphia Athletics
1875 - Philadelphia Athletics
1876 - Chicago White Stockings
1877 - Chicago White Stockings
1878 - Chicago White Stockings
1879 - Providence Grays
1880 - Boston Red Caps
1881 - Cleveland Blues
1882 - Cleveland Blues
1883 - Cleveland Blues
1884 - Philadelphia Athletics

[guamyank]

July 3rd, 1871: The New York Mutuals scored 18 runs in the third inning against the hometown Troy Haymakers. 1,106 fans attended, but not many were left after the top of the third. Mutuals manager Bob Ferguson commented on the third inning after the game, "Yes, we scored 18 runs, but we also left a runner on base."

Here's how that incredible top of the third played out:

TOP OF THE 3RD
New York Mutuals batting - Pitching for Troy Haymakers : LHP John McMullin

1. Batting: LHB Dick Higham
0-1: SINGLE (Line Drive, 6MD)

2. Batting: RHB Tom Patterson
1-2: Reached on error, E5 (Groundball, 56)
Dick Higham to second

3. Batting: SHB Bob V Ferguson
1-1: SINGLE (Groundball, 56D)
Dick Higham to third
Tom Patterson to second

4. Batting: LHB Joe Start
3-2: Base on Balls
Dick Higham scores
Tom Patterson to third
Bob V Ferguson to second

5. Batting: RHB John Hatfield
3-1: SINGLE (Groundball, 34S) (infield hit)
Tom Patterson scores
Bob V Ferguson to third
Joe Start to second

6. Batting: RHB Rynie Wolters
0-0: Reached on error, E6 (Groundball, 4MD)
Bob V Ferguson scores
Joe Start to third
John Hatfield to second

7. Batting: RHB Charlie J Smith
0-0: Ball
Wild Pitch!
Joe Start scores
John Hatfield to third
Rynie Wolters to second
1-0: TRIPLE (Line Drive, 7D)
John Hatfield scores
Rynie Wolters scores

8. Batting: RHB Dickey Pearce
1-2: SINGLE (Groundball, 34D)
Charlie J Smith scores

9. Batting: RHB Dave Eggler
1-0: Reached on error, E3 (Groundball, 34)
Dickey Pearce to second

10. Batting: LHB Dick Higham
1-0: Reached on error, E9 (Flyball, 89D)
Dickey Pearce scores
Dave Eggler to third

11. Batting: RHB Tom Patterson
2-2: Fly out, F8 (Flyball, 8LS)

12. Batting: SHB Bob V Ferguson
1-0: SINGLE (Groundball, 6MD)
Dave Eggler scores
Dick Higham to third

13. Batting: LHB Joe Start
0-0: DOUBLE (Groundball, 3L)
Dick Higham scores
Bob V Ferguson to third
Runner from 3rd tries for Home, SAFE, throw made home

14. Batting: RHB John Hatfield
1-2: TRIPLE (Flyball, 89XD)
Joe Start scores

15. Batting: RHB Rynie Wolters
0-0: DOUBLE (Flyball, 8LD)
John Hatfield scores

16. Batting: RHB Charlie J Smith
0-1: SINGLE (Groundball, 34D)
Rynie Wolters to third

17. Batting: RHB Dickey Pearce
3-1: DOUBLE (Flyball, 89D)
Rynie Wolters scores
Charlie J Smith to third
Runner from 3rd tries for Home, SAFE, no throw

Pitching: RHP Frank Abercrombie

18. Batting: RHB Dave Eggler
2-2: SINGLE (Groundball, 6D)
Dickey Pearce to third

19. Batting: LHB Dick Higham
0-0: Ball
Wild Pitch!
Dickey Pearce scores
Dave Eggler to second
1-0: Fly out, F9 (Flyball, 9LS)

20. Batting: RHB Tom Patterson
0-0: Ball
Wild Pitch!
Dave Eggler to third
2-0: TRIPLE (Line Drive, 7D)
Dave Eggler scores

21. Batting: SHB Bob V Ferguson
3-2: SINGLE (Line Drive, 4MD)
Tom Patterson scores

22. Batting: LHB Joe Start
Bob V Ferguson steals 2nd base
0-1: Ground out 2-3 (Groundball, 2L)
Top of the 3rd over - 18 runs, 14 hits, 4 errors, 1 left on base; New York 22 - Troy 0

[guamyank]

July 21, 1871: Dick McBride, pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, has the lowest ERA in the National Association at 2.58. He also leads the league with 11 losses (5-11). A big part of the problem is Philadelphia's 138 errors, second only to Rockford's 154.
"I don't want to single anyone out," said McBride, "but here's a list of the biggest culprits sorted by fielding percentage."

[guamyank]

September 1st, 1871: Here are the standings as we come down the home stretch of the season. New York and Boston are in a tight race for the pennant, Rockford has gotten hot as of late, and Washington has faded.

[guamyank]

The Ft Wayne Kekiongas have lost most of their players to defection, and the team has folded. It has been announced that a new team, the Brooklyn Eckfords will replace Ft Wayne in 1872. Ft. Wayne finished the season at 7-12 (.358).

[guamyank]

The city of Chicago is on fire, and the White Stockings' stadium has burned to the ground. They've lost all of their uniforms and equipment. As the Rockford Forest Cities approached the city in flames, they had no choice but to turn around and go home.

[guamyank]

The Boston Red Stockings have won the first National Association pennant by finishing 4 games ahead of the New York Mutuals. Al Spalding's pitching was spectacular, and Boston led the league in defense as well as home runs. Charlie Gould had an amazing 9 home runs.

Here are the final standings for the inaugural first season:
***Website updated. Note that on some screens you may have to refresh your browser.***

[guamyank]

January 1st, 1872 - The Chicago White Stockings will not be hosting a team this season due to the Great Chicago Fire. They have been forced to drop out of the league.

The Rockford Forest Citys did not make a profit in 1871, and their star Cap Anson has signed with Philadelphia. Rockford has withdrawn from the league.

The Fort Wayne Kekiongas are also defunct.

There are however, 5 new teams added to the league. These teams are as follows:

Baltimore Canaries
Brooklyn Atlantics
Brooklyn Eckfords
Middletown Mansfields
Washington Nationals

[guamyank]

April 18th, 1872: It's opening day, and the new season is set to get underway!



Here's a summary of offseason transactions and expectations for the season for each team:

1. Baltimore Canaries: The Canaries first season features solid hitting in the 2 thru 5 slots in the lineup led by Lip Pike, who hit .410 last year, and a decent pitcher in Bobby Mathews (3.26 ERA).

2. Boston Red Stockings: Boston's core group from last year's championship run returns, led by ace pitcher Al Spalding and batter's Ross Barnes, Cal McVey, Harry Wright and Charlie Gould. Boston remains a very strong team, and it's going to take some magic for someone to stop them from winning the pennant again.

3. Brooklyn Atlantics: Bob Ferguson leads a group of newcomers, including untested pitcher Jim Britt. There's a lot of unknowns with this group, and it's difficult to see them having a successful first season.

4. Brooklyn Eckfords: Virtually every player on this team is new to the National Association, with the exception of Frank Fleet and outfielder Tom Patterson. Patterson hit .301 with 32 RBI's last year with the Mutuals, but whether he can lead this group of raw rookies to success remains to be seen.

5. Cleveland Forest Cities: Cleveland features an incredible lineup with the likes of Deacon White and Ezra Sutton. They've also added second baseman Charlie Sweasy, who hit .429 in 7 games last year with the Olympics, and Joe Simmons from Chicago (.294 in 9 games). Starting pitcher Al Pratt is going to have to perform better this year (4.60 ERA last season) if this group is going to have a chance.) They've also added pitcher Rynie Wolters from New York (4.21 ERA) who could possibly take over is Pratt falters. However, the strength of the lineup still gives Cleveland a chance to compete with Boston.

6. Middletown Mansfields: Middletown was previously an amateur team from Connecticut that formed in 1866. They lost their first match 50-1, but have steadily improved, and in 1870 they were named the amateur champions of Connecticut. It remains to be seen how their amateur success will translate at the professional level.

7. New York Mutuals: New York finished last season with a winning record and was 4 games back from the Red Stockings. They've made some key improvements this year to an already potent lineup. The new additions feature John McMullin (.392), Chick Fulmer (.295), and George Bechtel (.261, a decent outfielder with a strong arm). Rookie pitcher Candy Cummings is the wildcard...they will live or die with his pitching.

8. Philadelphia Athletics: The Athletics have gone all in this off season, and they've recruited an amazing level of talent from across the league to try and improve on their 3rd place performance from last year. Here is the list of newcomers to the A's:
-Denny Mack (Rockford, .341)
-Mike McGeary (Troy, .417)
-Fred Treacey (Chicago, .371)
-Cap Anson (Rockford, .303)
-Dickie Flowers (Troy, .315)
Dick McBride returns as the starting pitcher, and if he can match his 2.62 ERA performance from last season, and the team finds a way to field the ball better, this group could win it all.

9. Troy Haymakers: Jimmy Wood and several other players transferred from Chicago this year, but a weak second half of the lineup may cause problems. Pitcher George Zettlein had a decent 3.67 ERA last season, but compared to some of the other rosters, the Haymakers could have a tough year.

10. Washington Olympics: Wally Goldsmith (.306), Clipper Flynn (.310) and Frank Sellman (.425) make up the new heart of the batting order for the Olympics this season. They have a decent lineup with a few weak spots, and Asa Brainard will have to improve on his 3.93 ERA performance from last year.

11. Washington Nationals: Pitcher Bill Stearns jumps from the Olympics to the Nationals with a group of unknowns on a new team. Stearns had a 3.00 ERA last season. That's good, but with so many other questions, its hard to see this group going anywhere.

[guamyank]

The Washington Olympics have withdrawn from the league after a 3-6 start to the 1872 season. Ticket sales simply weren't high enough to keep them in business. Meanwhile, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Troy are all off to a good start, with Cleveland leading the way. Here are the current standings as we say goodbye to the Olympics.

[guamyank]

June 26, 1872: The Washington Nationals have folded, leaving the nation's capital without a home team. They finished the season at 4-7. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Stockings have won 12 games in a row and have overtaken the Cleveland Forest Citys for first place. Here are the June 26th standings:

[guamyank]

July 20th, 1872 - The Troy Haymakers defeated the Boston Red Stockings 11-4 to put an abrupt end to their record 16 game winning streak. Boston is now 19-5 on the season and holds a 4 game lead over the Philadelphia Athletics. Fans at the South End Grounds held out hope for a rally until the 8th inning, when the 12-12 Haymakers scored 5 runs, and then 3 more in the ninth. All the same, they gave their home team a rousing and well deserved cheer when the game ended.

[guamyank]

July 23rd, 1872 - The Troy Haymakers defeated the Middletown Mansfields 7 to 5 today, only to be told after the game that the club was bankrupt and they were withdrawing from the league. That final victory gave Troy a 13-12 winning record, and comes a few days after defeating the red hot Boston team and ending their 16 game winning streak.

"It's frustrating," said manager Jimmy Wood, "Things seemed to be finally going our way. But hey, this is a business, and that's how it goes sometimes."

And here are the standings for July 23rd, the last day for the Troy Haymakers.

[guamyank]

July 24th, 1872 - Jimmy Wood, George Zettlein, and several other former Troy Haymakers players have joined forces with the 1-11 Brooklyn Eckfords. With the added support, the Eckfords are now a legitimate team and won't be as easy to defeat. Unfortunately for the Eckfords, they are 1-11.

[guamyank]

August 13th, 1872: The Middletown Mansfields have become the fourth team of the season to withdraw from the National Association, leaving many to wonder about the fate of the league. Only 7 of the 11 teams that started the year remain. At 5-19, the Mansfields had the worst team in the league, and they decided to fold after a 13-1 drubbing at the hands of the Baltimore Canaries. Here are the August 13th standings.

[guamyank]

August 19th, 1872 - Despite a thrilling 11-10 victory over the Boston Red Stockings, the Cleveland Forest Citys announced today they are done for the season and are withdrawing from the league. The team previously lost 4 games in a row, and were 3-7 in their last 10. Their final record is 13-9 and they are 6 1/2 games out of first place.

[guamyank]

August 29th, 1872: The Red Hot Baltimore Canaries have won 9 games in a row and are making a run at the Boston Red Stockings. They are now only 2 games back. Here are the current standings as September closes in.

[guamyank]

September 1st 1872 - Al Thake, left fielder for the Brooklyn Atlantics, died today after falling into New York Harbor from a fishing boat. It is a tragic day in baseball. Thake, born in England, was one of the few bright spots on the Atlantics roster, batting .373 on the season. The death has been called a drowning, but the exact details have yet to be released.

[guamyank]

11 September 1872 - In a crucial game, the Red Stockings came up big and ended the Canaries 11 game winning streak in extra innings. Boston now holds a 3 game lead over the Canaries, and their magic number is 7.

[guamyank]

Boston clinched their 2nd straight pennant today after the Baltimore Canaries lost to the New York Mutuals 4-3. Boston had won 4 games in a row, while Baltimore had lost 3 in a row. The Canaries never seemed to recover from the critical loss to Boston on September 11th, while Boston used the win as a springboard to win the championship.