1.
National League
–
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.
Polo Grounds
–
The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963. The third Polo Grounds, built in 1890 and renovated after a fire in 1911, is the one generally indicated when the Polo Grounds is referenced. It was located in Coogans Hollow and was noted for its distinctive shape, very short distances to the left and right field walls. As the name suggests, the original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876, in baseball, the original Polo Grounds was home to the New York Metropolitans from 1880 until 1885, and the New York Giants from 1883 until 1888. The Giants played in the second Polo Grounds for part of the 1889 season and all of the 1890 season, and at the third and fourth Polo Grounds from 1891 through 1957. The Polo Grounds was also the field of the New York Yankees from 1913 until 1922. It hosted the 1934 and 1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, in football, the third Polo Grounds was home to the New York Brickley Giants for one game in 1921 and the New York Giants from 1925 to 1955. The New York Jets of the American Football League played at the stadium from the inaugural season of 1960 through 1963. Other sporting events held at the Polo Grounds included soccer, boxing, the last sporting event at the Polo Grounds was a football game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills on December 14,1963. Shea Stadium opened in 1964 and replaced the Polo Grounds as the home of the Mets and Jets, the Polo Grounds was demolished over a period of four months that year and a public housing complex, known as the Polo Grounds Towers, was built on the site. The original Polo Grounds stood at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, directly across 110th Street from the northeast corner of Central Park. The venues original purpose was for the sport of polo, and its name was merely descriptive, not a formal name. For this purpose the ownership built a second diamond and grandstand at the park, dividing it into eastern and western fields for use by the Giants and Metropolitans respectively. Polo Grounds I thus hosted its first Major League Baseball games in 1883 as the stadium of two teams, the American Association Metropolitans and the National League Gothams. George Cricket Grounds on Staten Island in 1886, the original Polo Grounds was used not only for Polo and professional baseball, but often for college baseball and football as well—even by teams outside New York. The earliest known surviving image of the field is an engraving of a game between Yale University and Princeton University on Decoration Day, May 30,1882. Yale and Harvard also played their traditional Thanksgiving Day game there on November 29,1883, New York City was in the process of extending its street grid into uptown Manhattan in 1889. Plans for an extended West 111th Street ran through the Polo Grounds, City workers are said to have shown up suddenly one day and begun cutting through the fence to lay out the new street
3.
John B. Day
–
In 1883 his New York Gothams/Giants of the National League began play at the same site. By 1885 he concentrated his attentions on the Giants team, encountering financial difficulties, mainly as a result of the 1890 Players League revolt, in 1893 he sold the Giants franchise to Cornelius C. Van Cott. He briefly managed the Giants in 1899, and in 1900 served as the National Leagues Chief of Umpires, san Francisco Giants owners Manager page at Baseball Reference John B. Day at the SABR Bio Project, by Bill Lamb, retrieved October 10,2013
4.
Jim Mutrie
–
James J. Mutrie was an American baseball pioneer who was the co-founder and first manager of both the original New York Metropolitans and the New York Giants. His career winning percentage of.611 was a 19th-century record, Mutrie, nicknamed Smilin Jeems and Truthful Jim, was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and grew up playing cricket, first playing baseball at age 16. He played in the minor leagues from 1877 to 1879, in 1880 he moved from New England to New York, where he obtained financial backing from August Belmont and John B. Day to start the independent New York Metropolitans, Mutrie managed the Metropolitans in 1883 and 1884, leading them to the 1884 World Series the latter year. In 1885, he switched to managing the Gothams, and is credited with giving them their nickname, with star players such as Buck Ewing, Tim Keefe and Roger Connor, the Giants won National League pennants and World Series titles under Mutrie in 1888 and 1889. Ewing, Keefe and many other players defected to the Players Leagues New York Giants in 1890, when the Giants were reorganized after the 1891 season under new ownership, Mutrie was not retained as manager. After leaving baseball, Mutrie operated a hotel in Elmira, New York and he died of cancer on Roosevelt Island in New York City at age 86. Baseball-Reference. com – managerial record Minor League playing stats New York Times obituary, January 25,1938 Jim Mutrie at Find a Grave
5.
History of the New York Giants (baseball)
–
The San Francisco Giants existed in the New York metropolitan area from 1883–1957. Prior to the start of the 1958 season, the moved to San Francisco, California. During the clubs tenure in New York, it won five of the franchises eight World Series wins and 17 of its 24 National League pennants, for most of that time, the Giants played home games in the Polo Grounds in the Upper Manhattan region of New York City. The Giants had intense rivalries with their rivals, the New York Yankees. The New York-Brooklyn rivalry soon evolved into the Los Angeles-San Francisco rivalry, numerous inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame played for the New York Giants, including John McGraw, Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, and Travis Jackson. The Giants began as the baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist John B. Day and veteran amateur baseball player Jim Mutrie, the Gothams, as the Giants were originally known, entered the National League in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans played in the American Association. Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the disbanded Troy Trojans, louis Browns in an early incarnation of the World Series. They repeated as champions the year with a pennant and World Series victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. It is said that one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie stormed into the dressing room and exclaimed. From then on, the club was known as the Giants, the Giants original home stadium, the Polo Grounds, also dates from this early era. It was originally located north of Central Park adjacent to Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets, the Giants were a powerhouse in the late 1880s, winning their first two National League Pennants and World Championships in 1888 &1889. But nearly all of the Giants stars jumped to the upstart Players League, whose New York franchise was named the Giants. The new team built a stadium next door to the Polo Grounds. With a decimated roster, the NL Giants finished a distant sixth, attendance took a nosedive, and the financial strain affected Days tobacco business as well. The Players League dissolved after the season, and Day sold a minority interest in his NL Giants to the defunct PL Giants principal backer, as a condition of the sale, Day had to fire Mutrie as manager. Although the Giants rebounded to third in 1891, Day was forced to sell a controlling interest to Talcott at the end of the season. Four years later, Talcott sold the Giants to Andrew Freedman, when Freedman offered Rusie only $2,500 for 1896, the disgruntled hurler sat out the entire season
6.
Road (sports)
–
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
7.
Amos Rusie
–
Amos Wilson Rusie, nicknamed The Hoosier Thunderbolt, was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the late 19th century. He is best known for the speed in which he pitched a baseball, the velocity of his fastball was unknown, but it has been estimated that he threw it in the mid- to upper 90s. He led the league in five times, and won 20 or more games eight times. Though he did throw hard, he did not have control of his pitches, leading the league in walks five times. In 1890 he walked 289, the all-time single-season record, in 1897 one of his fastballs struck future Hall of Fame Hughie Jennings in the head, rendering him comatose for four days before recovery. Rusies wildness had been a catalyst for officials to change the distance from the rubber to home plate from 50 feet to the current 60 feet,6 inches. This ruling was made effective for the 1893 season, at the peak of Amos Rusies pitching prowess, for his accomplishments, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 by the Veterans Committee. Rusie was born on May 30,1871 in Mooresville, Indiana, to mason and plasterer William Asbury Rusie, when he was still young, his family moved to nearby Indianapolis, Indiana, where he eventually quit school to work in a factory. In 1889, at the age of 18, Rusie signed with the Burlington Babies of the Central Interstate League, in 33 games pitched during the 1889 season, he posted a 12–10 win–loss record, he started 22, completed 19, and recorded one shutout. Although his fastball was difficult to hit, he did not have control of it, walking 116 batters in 225 innings pitched, although he struck out 109. Coming into the 1890 season, Rusie filled the position that was vacated by future Hall of Famer Tim Keefe. Instead of evenly splitting pitching duties with Mickey Welch, another future Hall of Fame player, as Keefe had done the preceding five seasons, he started 62 games to Welchs 37. On May 9, the Giants defeated the Boston Beaneaters by a score of 16–3, doing so by committing no errors, very rare for the era, and with Rusie allowing just 6 hits. Due to the lack of control of his pitches, however, he led the league with 289 walks, the all-time record for a season. The Giants finished in place among the eight NL teams. As a hitter, he had a season with.278 batting average in 284 at bats,13 doubles, six triples. Rusie married May Smith in Muncie, Indiana on November 8,1890, Rusies 337 strikeouts and 262 bases on balls led the league for the second consecutive year, and his six shutouts marked the first time he led the league in that category. His record improved to 33-20, and he followed that up in 1892 with a record of 32-31,304 strikeouts and 270 walks, with the pitching area being moved back in 1893, Rusies strikeout total dropped to 208, still he was the league leader
8.
Mickey Welch
–
Michael Francis Welch, nicknamed Smiling Mickey, was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the pitcher to accumulate 300 career victories. Welch was born in Brooklyn, New York, and played 13 seasons in the major leagues and he was very successful with an effective curveball, a change of pace, and a version of the screwball. During his 13 major league seasons, he posted 20 or more wins nine times, Welch was born Michael Francis Walsh in Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrant parents John and Mary Walsh. He later adopted the last name Welch, the name change may have been spurred by a sportswriters mistaken recording of the name in a box score. The new last name may have distinguished him from the number of men in Brooklyn at the time named Michael Walsh. Off the baseball field, Welch used his name throughout his life. When he was growing up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Welch made his major league debut in 1880, winning 34 games for the Troy Trojans. On July 6,1880, he pitched a one-hitter against the Cleveland Blues, Welchs totals dipped during the following two seasons, when he began to split starts with Tim Keefe, who also went on to win more than 300 games. The duo would only enjoy moderate success over the course of three seasons with the Trojans, a team never finished higher than fourth in the National League during its four-season run. After the Trojans disbanded after the 1882 season, the New York Gothams replaced them, taking many of the Troy players and he resumed a heavy workload in 1883, throwing 426 innings in 54 games. This time he split pitching duties with John Montgomery Ward in what turned out to be Wards final season as a regular pitcher, in 1884, he went 39-21 with 345 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA. Welch holds the record for most consecutive batters struck out to begin a game, with 9, the record was not recognized for many years because of confusion over a dropped third strike. In the third inning of game, a third strike was dropped by New York catcher Bill Loughran. As a result, that batter safely reached first base, though modern scorekeeping would credit a pitcher with a strikeout in this situation, such an event was not always recorded as a strikeout by sportswriters of that era. Baseball historian Harry Simmons helped Welch to receive recognition of the feat in the 1940s. Tom Seaver struck out ten batters in 1970, but no pitcher has done that at the beginning of a game. Joe Cowley of the 1986 Chicago White Sox has come the closest to Welchs record, in 1885, when he went 44-11 with 258 strikeouts and a 1.66 ERA
9.
Sam Crane (second baseman)
–
Samuel Newhall Crane was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Crane played for eight different major league teams during his career that spanned from 1880 to 1890. During two of those seasons, he acted as a player-manager, once for the 1880 Buffalo Bisons of the National League and his career ended when he was arrested after having an affair with the wife of a fruit dealer and stealing $1,500 from the husband. After his playing days, Sam had a long and distinguished career as a sportswriter. In 1895, when he was writing for the New York Advertiser, he had become the center of a controversy when he wrote an article that criticized the owner of the New York Giants. Freedman, upon learning of existence of the article, barred Sam from entering the Polo Grounds, when Crane showed up for the August 16 game, he learned that his season pass was taken and his efforts to purchase a ticket were foiled. Cooperstown was, at the time, the place that people believed where Abner Doubleday had invented the game of baseball. It was this idea of a memorial that eventually led to the creation of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Crane died at the age of 71 of pneumonia in New York City, and is interred at the Lutheran All Faith Cemetery in Middle Village, New York. List of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
10.
Jerry Denny
–
Jeremiah Dennis Denny was a third baseman in Major League Baseball. Denny holds the distinction of being the last Major League position player to play his career on the diamond without wearing a fielding glove. Over 13 professional seasons he played for the Providence Grays, St. Louis Maroons, Indianapolis Hoosiers, New York Giants, Cleveland Spiders, Philadelphia Phillies, after leaving the Major Leagues, Denny continued playing Minor League baseball until 1902. At the time Denny began his career, fielding gloves had not yet become standard equipment, other than padded mitts for catchers. Fielding gloves gradually gained acceptance between 1885 and the mid-1890s, but Denny refused to adapt and he was one of the few ambidextrous major league players, although he threw primarily with his right arm, he could also toss with his left. This skill contributed to his refusal to wear a glove in the field, in 1884, Denny helped the National League champion Grays defeat the New York Metropolitans of the American Association in the major leagues first post-season championship match-up. That season, he was the Grays leader in runs and runs batted in. Denny holds the Major League record for most chances by a third baseman in a single game and he led the National League in Games in 1881 and Strikeouts in 1888. Eldridge attended St Marys College, Phoenix in the late 1870s, and wanted to play baseball during the summer months. He used the pseudonym Jerry Denny to hide his professional play from the college, list of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference BaseballLibrary. com Bio at ProvidenceGrays. Jerry Denny at Find a Grave
11.
Jack Glasscock
–
He won the 1890 batting title with a.336 average for the New York Giants and led the league in hits twice, in his final season he became the sixth major league player to make 2,000 hits. When he retired he ranked fifth in league history in games and at bats, seventh in total bases. After Allegheny folded, he finished the season with Cleveland and broke into the National League with that club in 1879, after playing second and third bases as a rookie, he switched to shortstop permanently in 1880 with Fred Dunlap taking over at second. In 1881 he led the NL in putouts, assists and fielding average for the first time, in 1883, batting third, Glasscock led the team in runs batted in, and paced the NL in fielding again with a.922 average. In mid-1884 he jumped to the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds of the Union Association during that leagues only season of play and he returned to the NL with the St. Louis Maroons for the next two years, becoming team captain. In 1886 he hit.325 and was fifth in the league in doubles and sixth in hits, also breaking his own NL record with 43 double plays and again leading the NL in assists and fielding. The Maroons moved to Indianapolis and became the Indianapolis Hoosiers before the 1887 and he also set new major league records for assists and double plays, topping Fennellys totals of 485 and 54 with the previous years Red Stockings. Ollie Beard broke his major league mark with 537 for the 1889 Red Stockings. He was second in doubles and total bases, and was fifth in the league with a career-high 128 runs, furthermore, he led the league in every defensive category. His 246 putouts set a new NL record, breaking John Montgomery Wards 1887 major league record of 226, Glasscock hit for the cycle on August 8 of that year, he also managed the team for the last half of the season, posting a 34–32 record. Early in the year, he discovered 17-year-old future Hall of Famer Amos Rusie pitching for a local team. Glasscock had been intending to switch leagues as well, but was expelled from the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players after signing his 1890 contract with Indianapolis and his offensive totals dropped off in later seasons, partially as a result of an 1891 hand injury. In June 1893 he was traded to the Pittsburg Pirates, and he hit.341 over the remainder of the year, finishing with a.320 average and also with 100 RBI for the first time. The team finished five games out of first place, the closest he would come to a league title during his major league career. Glasscock left the major leagues with a.290 career batting average,2040 hits,27 home runs,1163 runs,825 runs batted in and 98 triples. He was one of the most difficult players of the 19th century to strike out, germany Smith broke his records for career assists and total chances in 1897, and his mark for games at shortstop in 1898. Herman Long broke his record for putouts in 1898, and his mark for double plays in 1900, tommy Corcoran bettered his career fielding percentage by the end of the 19th century.431 average. After his baseball career ended, he returned to carpentry and he died in Wheeling from a stroke at age 89
12.
Jesse Burkett
–
Jesse Cail Burkett, nicknamed Crab, was a left fielder in Major League Baseball from 1890 to 1905. After his playing career, Burkett managed in the minor leagues and he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Burkett was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, to Granville and his father was a laborer and painter who worked for the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company. Beginning his professional career as a pitcher, he won 27 games at the age of 19 in 1888 in Scranton, Pennsylvania and he acquired his nickname, Crab, due to his serious disposition. Burkett made his league debut for the New York Giants of the National League in 1890 and had a batting average of.309. He was then purchased by the Cleveland Spiders in February 1891, in 1892, he hit.275 and was among the leagues top ten players in runs scored and triples. The next season, his average increased to.348. He remained in the top ten in walks in almost every season throughout his career, in 1895, he batted.405 and led the NL in batting average and hits. The following season, he set a career-high in batting average, at.410, and led the league in batting average, hits, Burkett was the second player in major league history to bat over.400 twice, the first being Ed Delahanty. The Spiders finished second in 1895 and 1896 and played the Baltimore Orioles both seasons in the Temple Cup series, beating the Orioles in 1895, in March 1899, Burkett was assigned to the St. Louis Perfectos. He played for the Perfectos/Cardinals for three seasons, in 1901, he led the NL in batting average, on-base percentage, hits, and runs scored. Before the 1902 season, Burkett jumped to the St. Louis Browns of the American League and he played for the Browns for three seasons and then finished his major league career with the Boston Americans in 1905. Burkett holds the record for the most inside-the-park home runs in MLB history, of the players in his era, Burkett is second in career hits. Burkett managed the New England Leagues Worcester Busters from 1906 to 1915 and played games for the team. In 1906, he led the league with a.344 batting average, newspapers described Burkett as retiring from baseball in 1916. He secured a position with a factory in Worcester in December. However, he signed on as a coach with College of the Holy Cross late that month, in four seasons as Holy Cross, Burkett amassed an 88-12-1 record, nine players on his 1919 team were designated All-East players. Burkett managed sporadically in the leagues until 1933
13.
Ed Daily
–
Edward M. Daily, was a Major League Baseball player. He won 26 games, fifth in the National League, in 1886, he went 16–9, but was already starting to play more often as an outfielder, appearing in 56 games in the outfield and batting.227. From 1887 until 1889, he was almost exclusively an outfielder and he played part of one more season in the majors, but died shortly after the end of the season. List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
14.
Joe Hornung
–
Michael Joseph Hornung was an American baseball player and one of the greatest fielders of the 19th century. Michael Joseph Hornung was born in Carthage, New York in 1857, Hornung ended his baseball career in 1890 with the New York Giants, but he spent most of his career with the Boston Red Caps/Beaneaters. He also spent one season in the now-defunct American Association and he was remarkable for his nearly flawless play in left field and also known for his peculiar habit of shouting ubbo ubbo whenever he got a hit or made a good fielding play. Due to this peculiarity, Ubbo Ubbo became Hornungs nickname, in addition to being an exceptional fielder, Hornung was also a fast baserunner, stealing 39 bases in his final season, and was a fair hitter, batting.302 in 1882. He led all National League outfielders in fielding percentage in 1881,1882,1883 and 1886, fielding as high as.948, Hornung died in 1931 in Howard Beach, New York
