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.
Polo Grounds
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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 T. Brush
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John Tomlinson Brush was an American sports executive who is primarily remembered as the owner of the New York Giants Major League Baseball franchise from 1890 until his death. He also owned the Indianapolis Hoosiers in the late 1880s, under his leadership, the Giants were revived as a franchise after a decline during the 1890s. Brush was also a leader in the formation of the rules that govern the modern World Series and he was one of 11 executives honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame on a Roll of Honor in 1946. Born in Clintonville, New York, Brush was orphaned at age 4 and was raised by his grandfather until he left to business college at age 17. During the Civil War he enlisted in the First New York Artillery in 1863 and he moved to Indianapolis in 1875, eventually opening a department store, and became involved in local baseball as a means of promoting his store. When the National League put the St. Louis Maroons franchise up for sale after the 1886 season, Brush bought it and relocated the team to Indianapolis. He renovated his ballpark, adding a special celebrity box which attracted such figures as President Benjamin Harrison, poet James Whitcomb Riley, in 1888 he offered a tryout to Bud Fowler, but ultimately decided not to challenge the sports color line. Brush also devised a salary scale system which was designed to curtail player salaries, instead of relocating, he kept the team in Cincinnati, and survived a challenge from a short-lived American Association competitor, the Cincinnati Kellys Killers. Freedman left baseball shortly thereafter, with Brush taking over as majority owner and team president, brushs health deteriorated quickly after becoming majority owner in 1902, as he suffered from locomotor ataxia, a nervous system affliction, as well as rheumatism. The Giants won another pennant in 1911, the year in which he oversaw the reconstruction of the Polo Grounds. His funeral was held at St. Pauls Episcopal Church, with accompanying Masonic rites and he was succeeded as Giants president by his son-in-law, Harry Hempstead. In 1913, the Giants organization constructed a stairway from the ticket booths on Coogans Bluff to the Polo Grounds below, Brush Stairway still stands, and was restored by the city in 2013. Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide, baseballLibrary SABR biography New York Times obituary John T. Brush Collection, 1912–1975, Indiana Historical Society John T, Brush – A Power in Baseball
4.
John McGraw
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John Joseph McGraw, nicknamed Little Napoleon and Mugsy, was a Major League Baseball player and long-time manager of the New York Giants. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, while primarily a third baseman throughout his career, he also played shortstop and the outfield in the major leagues. Much lauded as a player, McGraw was one of the standard-bearers of dead-ball era baseball, even with his success and notoriety as a player, he is best known for his managing, especially since it was with a team so popular as the New York Giants. His total of 2,763 victories in that capacity ranks second overall behind only Connie Mack, McGraw is widely held to be the best player to become a great manager in the history of baseball. McGraw also held the MLB record for most ejections by a manager until Bobby Cox broke the record in 2007, McGraws father, whose name was also John, and his older brother Michael immigrated from Ireland in 1856. Their last name is spelled McGrath but pronounced McGraw and he and his brother had arrived in time for the Civil War, and were drawn into the conflict as part of the Union army. Shortly after the war, he married and McGraws older half-sister was born, John McGraw, Sr. s first wife died, and he began moving around looking for work—a search that ultimately led him to Truxton, New York, in 1871. It was there that the elder John McGraw married young Ellen Comerfort and they had the younger John McGraw on April 7,1873. The younger John McGraw was named John after his father, even as a baby, young Johnny had raven hair, and eyes so dark that many people thought they were black. The boys birth was the first of many to the family, the sheer number of children, combined with the paucity of well-compensated work led to hard times for the large family. It was often a struggle simply to have food for everyone. Tragedy struck the family in the summer of 1883, when a debilitating fever swept through the family, johnnys half-sister Annie,13, was the first to succumb, and his mother died shortly thereafter. By the time September 1883 had passed, three more McGraw children had died, the devastated family moved from their house in the country into a hotel in town. Johnnys father, understandably bitter, heaped even more responsibility on the boys shoulders. He became abusive toward the boy, and later on in 1885, from that day onward, he was raised by a kindly neighbor, Mary Goddard, under whose care he did quite well. He quickly became the best player on his school team, shortly after his 16th birthday, he began playing for his towns team, the Truxton Grays, making a favorable impression on their manager, Albert Bert Kenney. While he could play any position, his ability to throw a big curveball made him the star pitcher, McGraws relationship with Kenney precipitated his professional playing career. In 1890, Kenney bought a portion of the new professional franchise in Olean
5.
1908 New York Giants season
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The 1908 New York Giants season was the franchises 26th season. The team finished in place in the National League with an 98-56 record,1 game behind the Chicago Cubs. Paced by Turkey Mike Donlin, the offense scored the most runs in the league, Donlin led the team in nearly all batting categories and was second in batting to Honus Wagner. Future Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson had another season for New York, earning the pitching triple crown with 37 wins,259 Ks. However, he lost the last game of the season to Three Finger Brown of the Chicago Cubs, and that one-game playoff became necessary after Giants rookie Fred Merkle failed to touch second base at the end of a previous contest, costing them a win. In addition, they were beaten by another rookie, Phillies pitcher Harry Coveleski, Coveleski was subsequently nicknamed The Giant Killer. The Giants opened the season on the road with a 3–1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Giants took five of their first six games of the season. The home opener at the Polo Grounds was the biggest in club history, the Brooklyn Superbas took a 2–1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Fred Merkle pinch hit for Christy Mathewson and got a ground rule double, Merkle safely advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt. Fred Tenney hit a grounder and Merkle was caught off third, captain Donlin hit a two run home run over the right field wall to win the home opener for the Giants by a score of 3–2. On July 4, Hooks Wiltse had a perfect game heading into the ninth inning, with two out in the ninth, the perfect game was still intact. George McQuillan was hit by a pitch and Wiltse lost the perfect game, on August 27, the Giants won 18 of their last 23 to take the lead in the National League for the first time since April. During the Giants four game sweep of the Pirates in late August, the first electric scoreboard was outside Madison Square Garden, and there was another near the Gotham Theatre on 125th Street. On Wednesday, September 23, against the Chicago Cubs, 19-year-old Fred Merkle committed a base running error that became known as Merkles Boner. In the bottom of the 9th inning, he came up to bat with two outs, and the score tied 1–1, at the time, Moose McCormick was on first base. Merkle singled, and McCormick advanced to third, al Bridwell, the next batter, followed with a single of his own. McCormick went home, apparently scoring the winning run of the game, the fans in attendance, under the impression that the game was over, ran onto the field to celebrate. Meanwhile, Merkle, trying to escape the mob of people, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed this, and after retrieving a ball and touching second base, he appealed to umpire Hank ODay to call Merkle out
6.
History of the New York Giants (baseball)
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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
7.
1909 Pittsburg Pirates season
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Led by shortstop Honus Wagner and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke, the Pirates scored the most runs in the majors. Wagner led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss opened the Pirates’ new ballpark, named Forbes Field, on June 30,1909. The Pirates’110 wins remain a record, a record they set in the last game of the season by beating the Cincinnati Reds 7–4 in muddy conditions on October 5. It is in fact the best regular season win percentage by any World Series winning team, may 28,1909, Ward Miller and cash were traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Reds for Kid Durbin. 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. The matchup was billed as one between the major leagues’ two superstars. Wagner thoroughly outplayed Cobb, and rookie Babe Adams won all three of his starts, as the Pirates won in seven games
8.
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
9.
1909 Cincinnati Reds season
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The 1909 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League with a record of 77–76, the Reds replaced player-manager John Ganzel after one season of managing the club. Ganzel led Cincinnati to a 73-81 record in the 1908 season and his replacement was former New York Highlanders manager, Clark Griffith, who had managed the club from 1903 until 1908, posting a 437-370 record. Griffith also pitched with the Highlanders until he retired in 1907 and he also was a player-manager with the Chicago White Sox from 1901-1902, going 157-113 in his two seasons with the club, and led them to the pennant in 1901. On December 12th, the Reds traded catcher Admiral Schlei to the St. Louis Cardinals, getting pitchers Art Fromme and Ed Karger. Fromme had a 5-13 record with a 2.72 ERA with the Cardinals in 1908, Cincinnati continued to make moves in the winter months, as on January 18, the team traded outfielder John Kane to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Kid Durbin and shortstop Tom Downey. Also on January 18th, the Reds acquired outfielder Rebel Oakes from the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League in exchange for outfielder Tom Daley, Oakes batted.288 with the Angels, and had 212 hits in the 1908 season. Newly acquired Tom Downey became the Reds starting shortstop, and the club traded away Rudy Hulswitt to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 2nd. Downey finished his season with a.231 batting average, hitting one home run and had 32 RBI. Another rookie, Rebel Oakes, hit.270 with three runs,31 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 120 games while playing in the outfield. Dick Hoblitzell became the Reds starting first baseman, and the 20 year old had a great season, outfielder Mike Mitchell led the Reds with a.310 batting average, while hitting four home runs and a team high 86 RBI in 145 games. Outfielder Bob Bescher hit.240 and led the Reds with 56 stolen bases. Newly acquired pitcher Art Fromme anchored the pitching staff, earning a record of 19-13 with a 1.90 ERA in 37 games, pitching a team high 279.1 innings, while throwing 22 complete games. Harry Gaspar also had a season, going 19-11 with a 2.01 ERA in 44 games. The club eventually rebounded, and through 73 games, the Reds had a 40-33 record, Cincinnati would finish the season with a 77-76 record, making it the first time since 1905 that the club finished over.500. They finished in place,33.5 games behind the Pirates. May 28,1909, Kid Durbin was traded by the Reds to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ward Miller, 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
10.
Red Ames
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Leon Kessling Red Ames was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies. Born in Warren, Ohio, Ames was a third or fourth starter for the New York Giants during their period of dominance under John McGraw. A career ERA of 2.63 ties him with Cy Young and he was traded to the Reds in 1913, and never again approached his earlier success with the Giants. Ames greatest distinction was being one of the wildest pitchers in history with a curveball charitably described as dramatic. Other of his accomplishments are leading the National League in saves with 6 in 1914 and 8 in 1916. After leaving the majors, he pitched in the minors for three years and managed briefly in the minors in 1923. His son, Red Ames Jr, played in the leagues for several years. J. Lesch, retrieved November 16,2013 Red Ames at Find a Grave
11.
Doc Crandall
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James Otis Crandall was a right-handed pitcher and second baseman. He was the first player to be used as a relief pitcher. Consequently, he was given the nickname Doc by Damon Runyon who said Crandall was the physician of the pitching emergency and he played from 1908 to 1918, debuting with the New York Giants. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1913 and he also played for the St. Louis Terriers in the Federal League in 1914 and 1915, the St. Louis Browns in 1916, and for the Boston Braves in 1918. That same year he flirted with a no-hitter in the game of a double-header in Los Angeles against Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League. He carried the no-hitter into the 9th inning when, with two out, his outing was spoiled by Karl Crandall, his brother, while Crandall frequently started, he led the league in number of relief appearances for five consecutive seasons while with the Giants. In the period from 1910 to 1912, he led in relief victories going 45–16 overall in that time period. The Giants won three pennants from 1911 to 1913 with Crandalls help. Even with his frame, Crandall was a quick fielder. With his.285 lifetime hitting average, he was often a pinch hitter, when the Giants sent him to the Cardinals in 1913 public outcry in New York was so big that the Giants bought him back after only two games. However, he ended up in St. Louis again a later in the Federal league where he played more at second base than as pitcher. In 1915 he led the Federal League winning six times as relief pitcher out of his total 21 wins in that league, after sitting out the 1917 season, he made an abbreviated comeback in 1918 with the Braves. Crandall is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
