1.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
2.
1876 in baseball
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After a tumultuous five-year existence, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players folded following the 1875 season. One of the new rules put into place by the new league was that all teams had to be located in cities that had a population of 75,000 or more. The initial NL season began with eight teams, and they were asked to play seventy games between April 22 and October 21, the NL is considered to be the first major league, although it has been argued that the NA can make that claim. National League, Chicago White Stockings Champions of the West, St. Louis Brown Stockings Four premier semi-professional teams were in play in 1876 and they were the Binghamton Crickets, the Columbus Buckeyes, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and the Syracuse Stars. In competition against NL clubs these 4 semi-pro teams played 32 games – winning 16, losing 14, of the 60 players on these 4 semi-pro teams no fewer than 50 of them wound up playing in the National League over the next 5 seasons. Chicago White Stockings signed Cap Anson as a free agent, hartford Dark Blues signed Candy Cummings as a free agent. Boston Red Caps signed George Wright as a free agent, august 10,1876 – The New York Mutuals loaned Nealy Phelps to the Philadelphia Athletics. Phelps returned to the Mutuals on the same day, bryces Base Ball Guide General Ginsburg, Daniel E. The Fix Is in, A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals, reiss, Steven A. Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Clubs, Volume 1. Specific 1876 season at baseball-reference. com Charltons Baseball Chronology at BaseballLibrary. com Year by Year History at Baseball-Almanac. com Retrosheet. org
3.
Cincinnati
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Cincinnati is a city in the U. S. state of Ohio that serves as county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the side of the confluence of the Licking with the Ohio River. With a population of 298,550, Cincinnati is the third-largest city in Ohio and its metropolitan statistical area is the 28th-largest in the United States and the largest centered in Ohio. The city is part of the larger Cincinnati–Middletown–Wilmington combined statistical area. In the 19th century, Cincinnati was an American boomtown in the heart of the country, it rivaled the larger cities in size. Throughout much of the 19th century, it was listed among the top 10 U. S and it was by far the largest city in the west. By the end of the 19th century, with the shift from steamboats to railroads drawing off freight shipping, trade patterns had altered and Cincinnatis growth slowed considerably. Cincinnati is home to two sports teams, the Cincinnati Reds, the oldest franchise in Major League Baseball. The University of Cincinnati, founded in 1819, is one of the 50 largest in the United States, Cincinnati is known for its historic architecture. In the late 1800s, Cincinnati was commonly referred to as Paris of America, due mainly to such ambitious projects as the Music Hall, Cincinnatian Hotel. The original surveyor, John Filson, named it Losantiville, in 1790, Arthur St. Ethnic Germans were among the early settlers, migrating from Pennsylvania and the backcountry of Virginia and Tennessee. General David Ziegler succeeded General St. Clair in command at Fort Washington, after the conclusion of the Northwest Indian Wars and removal of Native Americans to the west, he was elected as the mayor of Cincinnati in 1802. Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819, exporting pork products and hay, it became a center of pork processing in the region. From 1810 to 1830 its population tripled, from 9,642 to 24,831. Completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1827 to Middletown, Ohio further stimulated businesses, the city had a labor shortage until large waves of immigration by Irish and Germans in the late 1840s. The city grew rapidly over the two decades, reaching 115,000 persons by 1850. Construction on the Miami and Erie Canal began on July 21,1825, the first section of the canal was opened for business in 1827. In 1827, the canal connected Cincinnati to nearby Middletown, by 1840, during this period of rapid expansion and prominence, residents of Cincinnati began referring to the city as the Queen City
4.
Cal McVey
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Calvin Alexander McVey was a professional baseball player during the 1860s and 1870s. McVeys importance to the stems from his play on two of the earliest professional baseball teams, the original Cincinnati Red Stockings and the National Association Boston Red Stockings. He also played on the inaugural National League pennant-winning team, the 1876 Chicago White Stockings and he has the NA record for most career RBIs. With McVey usually pitching, the Actives in 1868 defeated local rivals, despite a lopsided 7–54 defeat by the Cincinnati Red Stockings, that club later hired him to play in 1869 for $700 and he served as the regular right fielder for both of its storied seasons. The Cincinnati Daily Times described Cal McVey in this way, He is powerfully built, with shoulders and barrel chest. handsome though shy. He is very conscientious and a hard worker. a good fielder, McVey was directly in the middle of the most controversial game of the Red Stockings reported 84-game winning streak,1869 and 1870. Playing the Troy Haymakers, with the game tied 17 to 17 and that would have been an out but the umpire disagreed. In the ensuing argument, Troy left the field and the game was awarded to Cincinnati on forfeit, with the Red Stockings going out of business, manager Harry Wright signed to organize and lead a team in Boston. He hired McVey, Charlie Gould, and George Wright to join him, with some personnel changes, the Boston Red Stockings won the other four NA pennants, dominating so severely in 1875 that they helped provoke a new league. McVey served Boston two seasons as the first catcher, otherwise in the outfield, followed by one season managing in Baltimore and two more seasons in Boston, now an outfielder and second catcher. During the summer of 1875, Bostons four Western stars agreed to play next season for the Chicago White Stockings, McVey, Deacon White, Ross Barnes, partly because the rules forbade such tampering, Chicago led the founding of a new National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs. The Big Four and Cap Anson led the team to a win on the field, McVey serving as regular first baseman, second pitcher to Spalding. Few pieces remained in place for the season, when McVey worked as first catcher and second pitcher. On July 22 and 25,1876, McVey became the player in MLB history to record six hits in two straight games. In 1878 McVey returned to Cincinnati where he completed his major career in two seasons as manager and infielder. The new Cincinnati Reds finished a second in his first year but slipped to fifth in 1879. The reserve rule was adopted that fall, maybe a factor in his move to California and he was still a star batsman at the major league level. In San Francisco during the 1880s, McVey played for, managed and he retired there and died in 1926, just short of 77 years old
5.
1877 Cincinnati Reds season
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The 1877 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth and last in the National League with a record of 15–42, 25½ games behind the Boston Red Caps. After finishing dead last in the National League in the 1876 season, the Reds attempted to improve their club by signing Lip Pike, who spent the previous season with the St. Louis Brown Stockings. Pike was also named the manager of the team.67 ERA with the Hartford Dark Blues joining the team, as well as Bobby Mathews, charley Jones had another solid season for the Reds, hitting.310 with two homers and a team high 36 RBI. Manning had solid year, hitting.317, as he had a team high 80 hits while tying Jones with a team high 36 RBI, Pike hit.298 with a teah high four home runs, and added 23 RBI. On the mound, rookie Bobby Mitchell came up late in the season, the Reds got off to another terrible start, as they had a 3–11 start to the season, and Pike stepped down as the manager. Bob Addy took over as manager, however, he too saw very few wins as Cincinnati went 5–19 during his managerial stint. Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg
6.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
7.
History of the Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago National League Ball Club is the only franchise to play continuously in the same city since the formation of the National League in 1876. They are the earliest formed active professional sports club in North America, in their history, they have also been known as the White Stockings, Orphans, Colts, Panamas, Rainmakers, Spuds, Trojans, Microbes, and Zephyrs. It was common at the time for sportswriters to refer to teams by their colors, and it happens that Chicagos club. On April 29,1870, the Chicago White Stockings played their first game against the St. Louis Unions, and soundly defeated the Unions 7-1. The White Stockings divided their games between their downtown practice field, Ogden Park, and a facility set up at Dexter Park where they hosted games expected to draw larger crowds. C. Despite this East Coast dominance, Chicago won the NABBP championship that year, although the title was disputed by the opposing club, after their experiment with a race track in 1870, the White Stockings returned to the downtown for 1871, a decision that would prove fateful. The club arranged with the city to build a ballpark in the northeast corner of the park then known as Lake Park. The venue was dubbed the Union Base-Ball Grounds, and the club was a contender for the pennant until late in the season. On Sunday, October 8, the Great Chicago Fire erupted on the south side. The wooden ballpark was right in the path, and the grounds and all the teams equipment. Despite that disaster, the White Stockings played their 1871 season to completion, on the road and they managed to finish second, just 2 games short of the title that was won by Philadelphia. Although the original Red Stockings had disbanded after 1870, many of the players became members of a new club by the same name, but now based in Boston. Over the next four seasons, the Boston Red Stockings dominated the National Association and hoarded the games best stars, even those under contract with other teams. Hulbert, the White Stockings club president, was disgusted by the lack of contracts as well as the monopoly of the Boston club. Gambling and alcohol were seen as serious problems, with games too often being suspected of being thrown. As a result, Hulbert, spearheaded the formation of a new, stronger, the National Leagues formation meant the end of the NA, as its remaining clubs shut down or reverted to amateur or minor status. After the 1875 season ended, Hulbert was principal in the acquisition of key players, including Boston pitcher Albert Spalding. The club continued to play its games at 23rd Street
8.
Deacon White
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James Laurie Deacon White was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sports professional era. Although he was already 28 when the NL was established, White played 15 seasons in the major leagues, in 1871, White was the first batter to come to the plate in the National Association, the first professional baseball league. For three years afterward, he joined his younger brother Will, a pitcher, with the Cincinnati Reds. In his mid-30s he became a third baseman when the toil of catching had become too great. Over the 20-year period of his career, White batted.312 and had more RBI than any player except Cap Anson, upon his retirement, he was among baseballs all-time leaders in career games, at bats, hits and total bases. He ranked fourth in total chances at third base, fifth in assists. White was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2013, White was born in Caton, New York, the son of farmer Lester S. White and his wife Adeline. Whites ancestors likely immigrated to America during the Colonial period and his cousin Elmer White also played baseball professionally as James teammate in 1871, in March 1872, Elmer was the first recorded professional baseball player to die. White learned baseball from a Union soldier who returned to his hometown after the Civil War in 1865 and his pro career began in 1868 with the Cleveland Forest Citys club, at a time when no team was entirely composed of professional players. White led his league in batting twice, and in RBI three times, not until 1953, when Roy Campanella topped the NL, would another catcher lead his league in RBI. White started out early enough to have played against the undefeated Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869, on May 16,1884 White recorded 11 assists at third base, which remains the major league record for a nine-inning game although eight other players have since tied the mark. In the rough-and-tumble 19th-century baseball era, White was a nonsmoking, Bible-toting, church-going deacon. In 1889, the contracts of White and teammate Jack Rowe were sold to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, eventually the two men were paid, with White telling a reporter, We appreciate the money, but we aint worth it. Im over 40 and my fielding aint so good, though I can still hit some, no man is going to sell my carcass unless I get half. Complaints like this were part of the reason that the Players League was formed in 1890, according to historian Lee Allen in The National League Story, White believed that the earth is flat. He tried and failed to convince his teammates that they were living on a plane and not a globe. Then one asked to be convinced, and the Deacon gave him an argument suited to the hypothesis that the earth is not really turning and he convinced the teammate but the argument would not prove that the earth is not a sphere. Whites playing career ended after the 1890 season, over the 20-year period from 1871 to 1890, White batted.312 and had more RBI than any player except Cap Anson, and also ranked fourth in career games, at bats, hits and total bases
9.
History of the Boston Braves
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The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, the Boston Franchise played at South End Grounds from 1871 to 1914 and at Braves Field from 1915 to 1952. Braves Field is now Nickerson Field of Boston University, the franchise, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta, is the oldest continuous professional baseball franchise. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, the original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters by sportswriters in 1883, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. The 1898 team finished 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century. The team was decimated when the American Leagues new Boston entry set up shop in 1901, many of the Beaneaters stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters owners didnt even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913, in 1907, the Beaneaters eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected. The American League clubs owner, Charles Taylor, wasted time in changing his teams name to the Red Sox in place of the generic Americans. The all-white outfits gave rise to the sobriquet Doves in 1907, however, clever monikers did nothing to change the National League clubs luck. The team adopted a name, the Braves, for the first time in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was a member of New York Citys political machine, Tammany Hall, two years later, the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last place finish, on July 4,1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The consecutive losses put their record at 26-40 and the Braves were in last place,15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants, who had won the previous three league pennants
10.
Batting average
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Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batsmen in cricket and batters in baseball. The development of the statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. In cricket, a batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively, if all the batsmans innings were completed, this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings, this number is an estimate of the average number of runs they score per innings. Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players relative skills since the 18th century, most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is also the range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short. All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30,15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers. Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australias Sir Donald Bradman, given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, and that only four other players have averages over 60, this is an outstanding statistic. The fact that Bradmans average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest sportsman in any sport. As at 21 October 2016, Adam Voges of Australia has recorded an average of 72.75 from 27 innings played and it should also be remembered, especially in relation to the ODI histogram above, that there were no ODI competitions when Bradman played. If their scores have a geometric distribution then total number of runs scored divided by the number of times out is the maximum likelihood estimate of their true unknown average, Batting averages can be strongly affected by the number of not outs. A different, and more developed, statistic which is also used to gauge the effectiveness of batsmen is the strike rate. It measures a different concept however – how quickly the batsman scores – so it does not supplant the role of batting average and it is used particularly in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batsman scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed, in baseball, the batting average is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three places and read without the decimal, A player with a batting average of.300 is batting three-hundred. A point is understood, in only, to be.001. If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the.001 measurement, henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball
11.
Triple (baseball)
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In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielders misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielders choice. Triples have become rare in Major League Baseball. It often requires a hit to a distant part of the field. It also usually means that the hit the ball solidly. The triple is considered one of the most exciting plays in baseball, a triple is the hardest to achieve in terms of hitting for the cycle. com List of single-season triples leaders, Baseball-Reference. com
12.
Run batted in
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A run batted in, plural runs batted in, is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored. For example, if the batter bats a base hit, then another player on a base can go home. Prior to the 1920 Major League Baseball season, runs batted in were not a baseball statistic. Nevertheless, the RBI statistic was tabulated—unofficially—from 1907 through 1919 by baseball writer Ernie Lanigan, common nicknames for an RBI include ribby, rib, and ribeye. The plural of RBI is generally RBIs, although some commentators use RBI as both singular and plural, as it can stand for runs batted in. The official scorers judgment must determine whether a run batted in shall be credited for a run that scores when a fielder holds the ball or throws to a wrong base. The perceived significance of the RBI is displayed by the fact that it is one of the three categories that comprise the triple crown, in addition, career RBIs are often cited in debates over who should be elected to the Hall of Fame. This implies that better offensive teams—and therefore, the teams in which the most players get on base—tend to produce hitters with higher RBI totals than equivalent hitters on lesser-hitting teams, totals are current through October 8,2015
13.
Slugging percentage
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In baseball statistics, slugging percentage is a popular measure of the power of a hitter. Walks are specifically excluded from this calculation, the name is a misnomer, as the statistic is not a percentage but a scale of measure whose computed value is a rational number in the interval. For example, in 1920, Babe Ruth played his first season for the New York Yankees. In 458 at bats, Ruth had 172 hits, comprising 73 singles,36 doubles,9 triples, and 54 home runs, a predecessor metric was developed by Branch Rickey in 1954. Rickey, in Life magazine, suggested that combining OBP with what he called extra base power would give a better indicator of performance than typical Triple Crown stats. EBP was a predecessor to slugging percentage, allen Barra and George Ignatin were early adopters in combining the two modern-day statistics, multiplying them together to form what is now known as SLOB. OPS simply stands for on-base plus slugging, and is an addition of the two values. Because it is easy to calculate, OPS has been used with increased frequency in recent years as a form to evaluate contributions as a batter. The maximum numerically possible slugging percentage is 4.000, a number of MLB players have momentarily had a 4.000 career slugging percentage by homering in their first major league at-bat. No player has ever retired with a 4.000 slugging percentage, the players are Eric Cammack, Scott Munninghoff, Eduardo Rodríguez, and Charlie Lindstrom. List of Major League Baseball career slugging percentage leaders Moneyball Sabermetrics Slugging Percentage Calculator
14.
Will White
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William Henry Whoop-La White was an American baseball pitcher and manager from 1875 to 1889. He played all or parts of 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds in the National League and he had three 40-win, and one 40-loss, seasons in Cincinnati. During the 1882 and 1883 seasons, he led the American Association in wins, compiling an 83–34 win–loss record, over the course of 10 major league seasons, White compiled a 229–166 record with a 2.28 ERA. His career ERA ranks ninth on the all-time List of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders, White also set a number of major league pitching records and still holds several. His 1879 totals of 75 complete games,75 games started,680 innings pitched and he was also the player-manager of the Red Stockings for 71 games during the 1884 season, compiling a 44–27 managerial record. He is also remembered as the first, and for years only. White was born in 1854 in the town of Caton in Steuben County and his parents were Lester White, a farmer, and his wife, Adeline. The couple had at least eight children, Oscar Leroy, James, Melville, William, Phebe Davis, Estelle, George and Hattie, Whites ancestors likely immigrated to America during the colonial period. White came from a baseball-playing family, when he was age 13, his older brother, Deacon White, began playing professional baseball, Deacon was eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His cousin, Elmer White, played in the leagues in 1871, while Will was 16. At least one account indicates that White was also related to Warren White, a native of Milton, New York, records of Whites early years in organized baseball during the mid-1870s are scarce. In an 1892 account on The History of Base Ball Pitching, The Sporting Life wrote that White was about the first pitcher to develop the sharp curve ball, during the 1876 season, White reportedly pitched for the Binghamton Crickets, where John Kelly was his catcher. In 1877, Whites older brother, Deacon White, was playing at first base for the Boston Red Caps of the National League, Deacon, by then an established veteran, brought Will with him to Boston for a tryout. Will was given a tryout with the Red Caps, making his major league debut on July 20,1877. He pitched three games and compiled a 2–1 record and a 3.00 earned run average in 27 innings pitched. During Whites tryout with the Red Caps, Deacon and Will White formed the first brother battery in the game, will White accomplished another major league first. He was the first, and for years the only. In a later account of Whites early years, The Sporting Life wrote, White was about the only pitcher of consequence who wore glasses
15.
Charley Jones
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Charles Wesley Jones was an American left fielder in the National Association and Major League Baseball who hit 56 home runs and batted.298 during his twelve-year career. A popular but controversial player, despite his ability he never played for a league champion. His best period was from 1883 to 1885, when he hit 22 home runs, had 186 RBI, and batted.310. Through the first nine seasons of the leagues existence, Jones held the career record for home runs. In 1887, he dropped to 4th place, by 1889, he was just tenth, and by 1890 he was no longer among the top ten. On June 10,1880, Jones became the first big leaguer to hit two homers in the same inning, both home runs came off Buffalo Bisons pitcher Tom Poorman in the eighth inning of a 19–3 rout
16.
King Kelly
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He spent the majority of his 16-season playing career with the Chicago White Stockings and the Boston Beaneaters. He is also credited with helping to popularize various strategies as a player such as the hit and run, the hook slide. In only the vote since its creation in 1939 the Old Timers Committee elected Kelly to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Also, he seems to have been the first big leaguer to successfully cut a base, and, Kelly could have been the first to foul off lots of pitches on purpose. Doing so was a top trick of some Baltimore players of the 1890s, at the turn of the century, that trick was defused when all foul balls began counting as strikes. Kellys autobiography Play Ball was published while he was with the Beaneaters in 1888, Kelly also became a vaudeville performer during his playing career, first performing in Boston where he would recite the now-famous baseball poem Casey at the Bat, sometimes butchering it. Kellys baserunning innovations are also the subject of the hit 1889 song entitled Slide, Kelly, Slide, Kelly was born in Troy, New York to Michael Kelly Sr. and his wife Catharine, both Irish immigrants. Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, his father joined the Union Army, after the war, his ill father moved the family to Paterson, New Jersey. Kellys parents apparently died within five years of each other. A best guess, based on tracking Paterson city directories, is that his father died around 1871, and his mother around 1876, according to the 1870 census, a Michael Kelly of his age was working in a silk mill in Paterson as of that year. From 1875 to 1877, he played three seasons as a semi-pro, in Paterson and then other cities, in 1877, he was with the Paterson Olympics until around June 10, when he joined the Delawares of Port Jervis, N. Y. In mid-July, a Paterson paper said he had signed with a Springfield, Ohio, a few weeks later, Port Jervis had not played again when he signed with the celebrated Buckeye club of Columbus, Ohio. He made his big debut in 1878 with Cincinnati. In 1877, Kellys friend Jim McCormick was signed to play for the Columbus Buckeyes of the International Association, the year after that, Kelly signed to play for the Cincinnati Reds, then known as the Red Stockings. Although the concept would later, Mike Kelly was now a major leaguer. After playing in Cincinnati for two years as an outfielder and backup catcher, Cincinnati and Chicago White Stockings players went on a tour of California, while there, Chicago secured him for 1880, then-Chicago Secretary Albert Spalding doing the signing. Later from San Francisco, Kelly wrote Spalding, who was back in Chicago, Cincinnati had fallen on hard times by 1879 and released all their players at the end of that season to save having to pay them a last paycheck. As of 1879, Chicago was the most important city financially in the National League, Kelly was now a young, good-looking man in the big city with money in his pocket
17.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
18.
Lip Pike
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Lipman Emanuel Lip Pike the Iron Batter, was one of the stars of 19th century baseball in the United States. He was one of the first professional players, as well as the first Jewish player and his brother, Israel Pike, played briefly for the Hartford Dark Blues during the 1877 season. Pike was born in New York into a Jewish Dutch family, Pike was one of the premier players of his day. He was a great slugger and one of the best home run hitters, Pike began in baseball when he was thirteen. Pike first rose to prominence playing for the Philadelphia Athletics, whom he joined in 1866 and he brought an impressive blend of power and speed to the team, hitting many home runs as well as being one of the fastest players around. On one occasion he hit 6 home runs in one game, however, it was soon brought to light that he and two other Philadelphia players were being given $20 a week to play. Since all baseball players were amateurs, a hearing was set up by the sports governing body. In the end, no one showed up to the hearing, by 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first openly professional team, and Pikes hearing, farcical as it seems to have been, paved the way for Harry Wrights professionalization of baseball. The Athletics were very successful, but Pike was dropped from the team in 1867, because he was from New York, and thus a foreigner, calling his loyalty into question. He moved on to the Irvington, New Jersey club and later in 1867 to the New York Mutuals, always a leading team, in 1869 he moved to the Brooklyn Atlantics, another perennial leader, where he hit.610. In 1870, the Atlantics, with Pike manning second base, in 1871, the National Association was formed as the first professional baseball league, and Pike joined the Troy Haymakers for its inaugural season. He was their star and for 4 games was the captain and manager, batting.377 and hitting a league-leading 4 home runs. He also led the league in base hits, and was 2nd in slugging percentage and doubles, 4th in RBIs, 5th in triples, 6th in on-base percentage, 9th in hits. The Haymakers only finished 6th, though, and the teams switched to Bill Craver. The Haymakers revamped their roster for the 1872 season, and Pike headed for Baltimore, Baltimore went bankrupt after the season, so Pike headed off to captain the Hartford Dark Blues for the 1874 season. The Dark Blues were a team, but Pike had another fine season, slugging.574 to lead the league. Pike abandoned the weak Hartford team after a season, switching to the St. Louis Brown Stockings. For the first time in his career, Pike failed to hit a home run
19.
Billy Geer
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William Henry Harrison Geer, born as George Harrison Geer, was an American Major League Baseball player who played most of his career as a shortstop for five seasons and a total of seven teams. He is most notable for his status as possibly the youngest player in Major League history, Geer made his professional baseball debut for the New York Mutuals of the National Association. The following season, while playing for the New Haven Elm Citys, he was arrested along with his roommate, Henry Luff, at age 15 years 63 days, he is credited as the youngest player to ever appear in a Major League Baseball game. There is controversy about his age, or the fact that the National Association has not been credited as a major league. Assuming the veracity of his date of birth, he didnt actually make his Major League debut until the age of 18 years,3 months, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
20.
Joe Gerhardt
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John Joseph Joe Gerhardt, also known as Move Em Up Joe, was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1873 to 1893. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as a second baseman, Gerhardt was born in 1855 in Washington, D. C. His father, Joseph Gerhardt, was an immigrant from Prussia who was in the restaurant business and was a Colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War and his mother, Dorah, was an immigrant from the Hesse Cassel, which is now part of Germany. Gerhardt played five seasons in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Grays, Eclipse and Colonels, and five seasons in New York City for the Mutuals, Giants, Metropolitans and Gladiators. Across all 15 major league seasons, he appeared in 1,078 games,893 as a second baseman,85 as a third baseman,63 as a first baseman, and 33 as a shortstop. Gerhardt was a weak hitter, compiling a.227 career batting average and he twice led his league in assists at any position and regularly ranked among the league leaders in putouts. Double plays and fielding percentage by a second baseman between 1877 and 1890 and his career range factor of 6.46 remains the highest in major league history for a second baseman. He also ranks eighth among all second basemen in major league history with 558 errors at second base. In a 1922 story on Gerhardt, New York sports writer John M. Foster compared Gerhardt to baseballs other great second basemen and concluded, None had anything on Move Em Up Joe Gerhardt. Gerhardt became a player-manager on two different occasions, in 1883, for the Louisville Colonels, and in 1890, for the St. Louis Browns and his managerial record totaled 72 wins against 61 losses. Gerhardts nickname, Move Em Up Joe came from his war cry, Move em up, Gerhardt was an early advocate of the sacrifice play to move base runners forward. Upon Gerhardts death, New York sports writer John M. Foster went so far as to call Gerhardt the original inventor of the theory in baseball. In 1900, Gerhardt was living in Manhattan with his wife Edith and was employed as a hotel manager, by 1910, Gerhardt and his wife had moved to Liberty, New York, where Gerhardt was the proprietor of a liquor retail business. Gerhardt and his wife at that time had a daughter, Alva, Gerhardt later lived in Middletown, Orange County, New York. As of 1919, he was employed in N. D. Mills cigar store, at the time of the 1920 Census, he was living in Middletown with his wife, Edith, and daughter, Alva, and was employed as a salesman in a cigar store. Gerhardt died from a heart attack in Middletown at age 67. The attack reportedly struck him in front of the Middletown post office as he was walking to work after having been ill for a week and he was buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Washington, D. C. List of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
21.
Chub Sullivan
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John Frank Chub Sullivan, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who played for three seasons, two with the Cincinnati Reds and one with the Worcester Ruby Legs. He was nicknamed Chub, but was 6 feet tall and weighed a mere 164 pounds, during his career, he was a popular player, sometimes known as a clown for his antics, and an early pioneer of the slide. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Sullivan, as a 21-year-old rookie in 1877, was the tenth-youngest player to appear in a National League game during that season, joining the team late in the season, he played in only eight games, and batted.250. He stayed on with the Reds for the 1878 season, leading the league in games played, assists by a first baseman, a tough hitter to strike out, Chub also finished seventh in at bat to strikeout ratio. The team was accepted, and joined the League for the 1880 season, Sullivan played in 43 games, the last season of his career, and batted.259, and is credited with zero RBIs. Sullivans career totals include 112 games played,114 hits,24 RBIs,55 runs scored, and a batting average of.258. Sullivan became ill before the season began, and eventually died on September 12 in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts at the age of 25 of consumption. His Worcester teammates wore a black crêpe on their sleeves in his memory. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
22.
Buttercup Dickerson
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Lewis Pessano Dickerson was a 19th-century Major League Baseball outfielder. Born in Tyaskin, Maryland, he played a total of seven seasons in the majors and he is sometimes thought to be of Italian ancestry, but at least one historian and one family member dispute this notion. According to one of his granddaughters, he was born to William Porter Dickerson and Mary Larmore, who came to the United States from England and his granddaughter said that his middle name, Pessano, was given to him in honor of the physician who delivered him. She said that she was not aware of any Italian ancestry in the family. In 1878, Dickerson began his career with the Cincinnati Reds at the age of 19, and played 29 games in the outfield, in 1879, he took over the regular left field job after Charley Jones departed for the Boston Red Caps. That season proved to be his best in the majors, he batted.294, drove in 57 runs, Dickerson departed the team the next season, moving on to the Troy Trojans, where he played mainly in center field. He relocated to the Worcester Ruby Legs later that season and split time in center with Harry Stovey, in 1881, he moved over to left field and had a very productive season, batting.316. He wouldnt play in the majors again until 1883, playing 85 games with the Pittsburg Alleghenys and his production went down significantly, and he hit just.249. He played for four teams over the two seasons. His best showing was with the St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association, in 1885, he played in five games for the Buffalo Bisons before his career came to an end. Dickerson died at the age of 61 in Baltimore, Maryland and he was interred at Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore. In 1979, he was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
