1.
Buffalo, New York
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Buffalo is a city in western New York state and the county seat of Erie County, on the eastern shores of Lake Erie at the head of the Niagara River. As of 2014, Buffalo is New York states 2nd-most populous city after New York City, the metropolitan area has a population of 1.13 million. After an economic downturn in the half of the 20th century, Buffalos economy has transitioned to sectors that include financial services, technology, biomedical engineering. Residents of Buffalo are called Buffalonians, the citys nicknames include The Queen City, The Nickel City and The City of Good Neighbors. The city of Buffalo received its name from a creek called Buffalo Creek. British military engineer Captain John Montresor made reference to Buffalo Creek in his journal of 1764, there are several theories regarding how Buffalo Creek received its name. In 1804, as principal agent opening the area for the Holland Land Company, Joseph Ellicott, designed a radial street and grid system that branches out from downtown like bicycle spokes similar to the street system he used in the nations capital. Although Ellicott named the settlement New Amsterdam, the name did not catch on, during the War of 1812, on December 30,1813, Buffalo was burned by British forces. The George Coit House 1818 and Samuel Schenck House 1823 are currently the oldest houses within the limits of the City of Buffalo, on October 26,1825, the Erie Canal was completed with Buffalo a port-of-call for settlers heading westward. At the time, the population was about 2,400, the Erie Canal brought about a surge in population and commerce, which led Buffalo to incorporate as a city in 1832. In 1845, construction began on the Macedonia Baptist Church, an important meeting place for the abolitionist movement, Buffalo was a terminus point of the Underground Railroad with many fugitive slaves crossing the Niagara River to Fort Erie, Ontario in search of freedom. During the 1840s, Buffalos port continued to develop, both passenger and commercial traffic expanded with some 93,000 passengers heading west from the port of Buffalo. Grain and commercial goods shipments led to repeated expansion of the harbor, in 1843, the worlds first steam-powered grain elevator was constructed by local merchant Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar. Darts Elevator enabled faster unloading of lake freighters along with the transshipment of grain in bulk from barges, canal boats, by 1850, the citys population was 81,000. At the dawn of the 20th century, local mills were among the first to benefit from hydroelectric power generated by the Niagara River, the city got the nickname City of Light at this time due to the widespread electric lighting. It was also part of the revolution, hosting the brass era car builders Pierce Arrow. President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by an anarchist at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on September 6,1901, McKinley died in the city eight days later and Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in at the Wilcox Mansion as the 26th President of the United States. The Great Depression of 1929–39 saw severe unemployment, especially working class men
2.
Dan Brouthers
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Dennis Joseph Dan Brouthers was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896, with a brief return in 1904. Nicknamed Big Dan for his size, he was 6 feet 2 inches and weighed 207 pounds and his career slugging percentage of.519 remained the Major League record for a player with at least 4,000 at bats until Ty Cobb edged ahead of him in 1922. At the time of his retirement, he also ranked second in career triples. A dominant hitter during the prime of his career, he led the league in most offensive categories, including batting average, runs scored, runs batted in, on-base percentage and hits. He led the league in batting five times, the most by a 19th-century player. Brouthers is one of only 29 players in history to date who have appeared in Major League games in four decades. He was also an active union member, and was elected vice president of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players. Brouthers was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Veterans Committee. Born in Sylvan Lake, New York, he played organized baseball from the time that he was a child, from playing in the local sandlots to the semi-professional Actives of Wappingers Falls, New York. On July 7,1877, while running the bases, he collided at home plate with a catcher, named Johnny Quigley, Quigley was knocked unconscious, having suffered a traumatic head injury, and later died from these injuries on August 12. The 19-year-old Brouthers was cleared of any wrongdoing by the authorities, Brouthers made his Major League debut on June 23,1879, for the Troy Trojans, and contributed a single in a come-from-behind victory against the Syracuse Stars. Although he was a first baseman, he was called upon to pitch that season with the Trojans in three games, one of which was on August 21 against Tommy Bond and the Boston Red Caps. Brouthers lost 16–0, and within two weeks he was released from the club and he hit.274 that first season, with four home runs, and had 17 RBIs in 39 games played. He hit well enough in the minors to get another shot with the Trojans and he got his first chance to be an everyday player in 1881, when he was signed by the Bisons, the team that he did well against the previous year. That season he batted.319, and played with them until the team folded after the 1885 season, in his first season with the Bisons, he led the National League in home runs and slugging percentage. Brouthers, along with teammates Jack Rowe, Hardy Richardson and Deacon White, in 1882 and 1883 he won his first two batting titles, posting.368 and.374 averages, respectively. On July 19,1883, Brouthers went 6-for-6 with two doubles in a 25–5 defeat of the Philadelphia Quakers. At the end of the 1885 season, Buffalo was going through financial trouble and were forced to sell off their players, so The Big Four were sold to the Detroit Wolverines of the NL for US$7,000
3.
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
4.
Pud Galvin
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James Francis Pud Galvin was an American Major League Baseball pitcher in the 19th century. He was MLBs first 300-game winner and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965, Galvin grew up in Kerry Patch, an Irish neighborhood in St. Louis. He debuted for St. Louis of the National Association in 1875, the inaugural season. He spent the next 6½ seasons with Buffalo in the International Association, in his first full MLB season in 1879, Galvin had a win–loss record of 37-27 and a 2.28 earned run average in 593 innings pitched. On August 20,1880, he became the first major league pitcher to throw a no-hitter on the road and he pitched over 400 innings in 1880,1881, and 1882. In 1883, Galvin went 46-29 with a 2.72 ERA, setting highs in wins, games started, complete games. The following season, in 1884, he went 46-22 with a 1.99 ERA in 72 games started,71 complete games, Galvin was traded to the Pittsburg Alleghenys midseason in 1885. He played for the Allegheny club from 1885 to 1889, pitching over 300 innings each year and he jumped to the Pittsburgh Burghers before the 1890 season and then returned to the Alleghenys after only one season. On June 14,1892 Galvin was traded to the St. Louis Browns and he retired after the 1892 season, though he made a brief return to Buffalo in 1894. Galvin played in an era where two-man pitching rotations were common – hence his 6,003 innings pitched and 646 complete games, upon his retirement, Galvin held all-time records in several pitching categories, including wins, innings pitched, games started, games completed and shutouts. He became MLBs first 300-game winner in 1888, Galvin holds the record for most games started in a single season by a pitcher before 1893,75. Galvin is the player in baseball history to win 20 or more games in 10 different years without winning a pennant. The nickname Pud originated because Galvin was said to make look like pudding. Galvin was also nicknamed The Little Steam Engine, a tribute to his power in spite of his small size and he was sometimes known as Gentle Jeems because of his kind disposition. Galvin died poor at age 45 on March 7,1902, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965 by the Veterans Committee. In honor of his achievements in Buffalo, Galvin was posthumously inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, a 2006 NPR article referred to Galvin as the first baseball player to be widely known for using a performance enhancer. The Washington Post reported that Galvin used the Brown-Séquard elixir, which contained monkey testosterone, before a single game in 1889
5.
Hardy Richardson
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Abram Harding Hardy Richardson, also known as Hardie and Old True Blue, was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1875 to 1892 with a brief minor league comeback in 1898. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, playing at position, including 585 games at second base,544 games in the outfield. Richardson played for six major league teams, with his longest stretches having been for the Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Wolverines, Richardson was born in 1855 at Clarksboro, which is located in the existing municipality of East Greenwich Township, New Jersey. His father, Robert D. Richardson, was a New Jersey native who worked in 1870 as a house carpenter and his mother, Naomi Richardson, was a Pennsylvania native. Richardson grew up in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, and Gloucester City, by 1870, Richardson, at age 15, was working on a farm. Richardson began playing organized baseball with semipro teams in South Jersey, in 1875, he played at third base and catcher for the Gloucester City, New Jersey club. For a portion of the 1876 season, he played with the Philadelphias, Richardson next played for the Crickets from Binghamton, New York, during the 1876 and 1877 seasons. In 1878, he played for the Utica, New York club in the International Association for Professional Base Ball Players, while playing for Utica, the New York Clipper called him the best fielding center fielder in baseball, he also won The Clipper medal for best fielding average. Richardson joined the Buffalo Bisons of the National League in 1879, as a rookie, Richardson made his major league debut on May 1,1879, and promptly became Buffalos starting third baseman. He compiled a.283 batting average, earned a 2.5 Wins Above Replacement rating and he also led the leagues third basemen in games played, double plays turned, and errors, and ranked second at the position in assists, putouts, and fielding percentage. In 1880, Richardson was again positioned at third base and he saw his batting average drop to.259 and his WAR rating drop to 1.1. He still hit for power and ranked among the leaders with eight triples and 26 extra base hits. Defensively, his performance suffered as he ranked second among the leagues third basemen with 47 errors, after a poor defensive performance in 1880, Richardson was moved to the outfield in 1881. With the move, his average jumped to.291. Showing good power, he ranked among the leaders with nine triples,53 RBIs,29 extra base hits,62 runs scored,100 hits. The move to the outfield also suited Richardson defensively and he led the leagues outfielders with 45 assists and a range factor of 2.84 and ranked third with 179 putouts. Richardsons total of 45 outfield assists was five short of Orator Shafers major league record, in 1882, and despite his solid defensive performance in the outfield, Richardson switched positions for the second time in as many years. This time, he was moved to base, where he played 83 games
6.
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
7.
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
8.
Jim O'Rourke (baseball)
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James Henry ORourke, nicknamed Orator Jim, was an American professional baseball player in the National Association and Major League Baseball who played primarily as a left fielder. For the period 1876–1892, he ranks behind only Cap Anson in career major league games played, hits, at-bats, doubles and total bases, ORourke was born in East Bridgeport, Connecticut, and worked on his familys farm while playing youth league and semi-pro baseball. He began his career as a member of the Middletown Mansfields in 1872. On April 22,1876, ORourke had the first base hit in National League history and he graduated from Yale Law School in 1887 with an LL. B. After leaving the major leagues following the 1893 season he continued to play in the leagues until he was over 50 years old. As an executive of the Bridgeport team in the Connecticut League, ORourke is one of only 29 players in baseball history to appear in Major League games in four decades. In 1912, returned to the field to catch a complete minor league game at the age of 60, ORourke died of pneumonia at age 68 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 as one of the earliest inductees from the 19th century and his older brother John ORourke and his son James Queenie ORourke also played in the majors. One legend concerning ORourke is that he was asked to drop the O from his last name when he signed a contract with Boston and its Protestant backers. The son of Irish immigrants and the husband of a born in Ireland, ORourke refused. A million dollars would not tempt me, another legend about ORourke is that his signing by the Mansfields in 1872 was conditioned on the team finding someone to take over ORourkes chores on his parents farm. Jim ORourke at the Baseball Hall of Fame Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
9.
Buffalo Bisons (NL)
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The original Buffalo Bisons baseball club played in the National League between 1879 and 1885. The Bisons played their games at Riverside Park and Olympic Park in Buffalo,1877, A precursor to the Bisons played an independent schedule, finishing with a 79-28-3 record. The team subsequently joined the National League, galvin threw another no-hitter, on August 4. The Bisons 18-0 score remains the greatest margin of victory in a no-hitter in Major League history, two years after Foley, Jim ORourke became the fourth player in MLB history to hit for the cycle, on June 16
10.
1882 Providence Grays season
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The Providence Grays hired veteran manager Harry Wright to guide the team in 1882 and the team seemed to improve. They held first place until September 17, but then suffered a streak that dropped the team into second place. After the season ended, they played a postseason series against the Boston Red Caps for the Championship of New England. Providence won the series, two games to one, thanks to shutouts pitched by John Montgomery Ward and Hoss Radbourn, Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg
11.
Hugh Daily
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He was known for having a surly disposition and was not well liked by baseball executives, which occasioned his frequent change of teams. However, he was a favourite of fans wherever he played, Daily was successful as a starting pitcher early in his major league career. Daily established the record for strikeouts in a season, tied a record by tossing two consecutive one-hitters, broke the record for one-hitters in a season, and threw a no-hitter. After his initial three years of success, the three years of his career were marked by quick decline in his seasonal numbers, and he was gone from organised baseball shortly thereafter. Today he remains a figure, as there is little record of his activities after his career. It is unclear where he lived and where he died and his nickname, One Arm Daily, is a reference to his left arm, he had lost his left hand to a gun accident earlier in his life. To compensate for this injury, he fixed a special pad over the affected area, Daily was well known for having a bad disposition, he has been described as surly, and having a volatile temper. Other sources add to that, mean, contemptuous, and uncommunicative, while this behaviour was not well liked by the baseball establishment, he was popular with the home crowds because of his verbal tirades against umpires and opposing players alike. Some theories attempt to explain Dailys tempestuous behaviour, one of which was put forth by Frank Vaccaro in his 1999 edition of The National Pastime. His physical condition did not allow him many opportunities to any other positions, so this compelled his managers to leave him in the game longer. He was allowed to play in the field on several occasions and he became the teams ace pitcher, winning 38 games, including notable victories against Cap Ansons Chicago White Stockings, and most of the other top professional teams in the country at the time. Dailys performance that caught the eye of Major League teams. Although he shared starts with future Hall of Famer Pud Galvin, he was able to pitch in 29 games and he was playing for the Cleveland Blues of the National League when he pitched a no-hitter on 13 September 1883 against the Philadelphia Quakers, a 1–0 victory. He finished the season with a 23–19 win–loss record, and finished in the top ten in several pitching categories. He finished second in the league with two shutouts, fifth place with a 2.42 earned run average, seventh in strikeouts with 171, and ninth in the league in wins, games pitched, and games started. However, he did lead the league with 99 walks – a remarkable total, for the 1884 season, he feasted on the upstart Union Associations lack of talent, pitching for the Chicago Browns, and for the Washington Nationals later in the season. He finished with a 28–28 win–loss record, but did have a low 2.43 ERA, Daily struck out a total of 483 batters that season, a record that was surpassed only in 1886 by both Matt Kilroy, and Toad Ramsey. Among the season totals, he struck out 19 batters in a game, on 7 July, unofficially, his reported 19 strikeout game was upgraded to 20 when it was discovered that one batter had struck out but reached first base when the pitch got away from the catcher
