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Charlton's Baseball Chronology - 1876
February
| February 2 |
Chicago President William Hulbert organizes a meeting at the Grand Central Hotel in New York to establish a new organization‚ the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. At the meeting are representatives of the Philadelphia Athletics‚ the Boston Red Stockings‚ the Hartford Dark Blues‚ and the New York Mutuals. To win the support of 4 eastern clubs‚ Hulbert proposes that Morgan Bulkeley of the Hartford club be president and Nick Young of Washington be secretary. The National League is officially organized‚ with 4 Eastern clubs and Chicago‚ St. Louis‚ Louisville‚ and Cincinnati in the West. The group passes several resolutions‚ the first preventing two clubs from any one city entering for the championship‚ while a second prevents any two clubs from playing in a city in which neither of them belongs. "This was done for the purpose of heading off two or three clubs and preventing them from going to Philadelphia" to play exhibition games‚" states the New York Times. |
| February 12 |
Al Spalding‚ pitching star of the National Association‚ moves from his home in Rockford‚ IL‚ with his brother J. Walter Spalding‚ to Chicago to "open a large emporium where they will sell all kinds of baseball goods." This will be the start of the Spalding sporting goods enterprise. |
March
| March 19 |
The Boston Herald reports the first practice of the Red Caps under the direction of George Wright. Manager Harry Wright is still in Florida‚ recuperating from a severe cold. The team has been weakened considerably by the loss to the Chicago White Stockings of Al Spalding‚ Cal McVey‚ and Ross Barnes. |
April
| April 8 |
After 4 great seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics‚ Adrian "Cap" Anson reports to the Chicago club to play 3B. |
| April 19 |
Making the AA look like a football league‚ the Syracuse Stars beat Brooklyn‚ 18-12. Yesterday‚ Brooklyn won‚ 22-21. |
| April 22 |
Because of rainouts in other cities‚ the only (and first) National League game played at Athletic Park‚ as Boston scores a pair in the 9th to defeat Philadelphia 6-5 before 3‚000 fans. The time of the game is 2 hr: 45 minutes. Jim O'Rourke‚ who makes the first hit‚ is the only participant in this game to play in the 20th century. Joseph Borden‚ (pitching under the name of Josephs) is the winning hurler. Borden pitched for Philadelphia last year‚ but was lured to Boston after his rookie season. Borden's pitching will turn sour and he will end the summer as Boston's groundskeeper. |
| April 25 |
Chicago manager Al Spalding pitches the NL's first shutout‚ 4-0‚ at Louisville. |
| April 27 |
In his 2nd outing‚ Spalding hurls another shutout over the Louisville Grays‚ winning 10-0. |
May
| May 2 |
Chicago's Ross Barnes‚ the great batting star of the National Association‚ hits the first NL HR‚ an inside-the-park drive off William "Cherokee" Fisher against the Cincinnati Red Stockings in Cincinnati. Barnes also hits a triple‚ single‚ steals 2 bases‚ and scores 4 runs. |
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Old Reliable Joe Start of the Brooklyn Mutuals knocks in the winning run in the 12th inning to give Bobby Mathews a finely pitched 3-2 win over the Athletics. |
| May 5 |
The Chicago team loses its first game‚ as St. Louis's George Washington Bradley outpitches Spalding 1-0. |
| May 10 |
Chicago plays its first National League home game in history as Albert Spalding shuts out the Cincinnati Reds 6-0. The game is played at the 23rd Street Grounds. |
| May 13 |
Dick Higham of the Hartford Dark Blues hits into the first NL triple play against New York. It is the only bright spot for the Mutuals‚ who lose 28-3. Hartford scores 15 in the 4th inning‚ a ML record for that frame. |
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St. Louis shuts out the Reds‚ 11-0‚ with a little help from Cincinnati's new catcher Foley‚ who makes 12 errors. |
| May 25 |
Louisville plays an exciting 2-2 tie with the Athletics‚ which is called because of darkness after 14 innings. Each side scores a run in the 11th. Devlin‚ who pitches the distance‚ knocks in both runs for Louisville. |
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At Hartford‚ the Dark Blues pull off a hidden ball trick-SS Tom Carey to 3B Bob Ferguson-on Cap Anson. Hartford beats the visiting White Stockings‚ 4-1. |
| May 30 |
Chicago‚ with 4 former Boston stars in their lineup‚ play their first 1876 game in Boston. The crowd‚ estimated at 14‚000‚ is described as "the largest that ever attended a baseball match in the world." The White Stockings beat the Red Caps 5-1. |
June
| June 1 |
St. Louis makes it easy for George Bradley‚ pounding Philadelphia 17-0. George Zettlein is the loser. |
| June 6 |
Manager Harry Wright‚ 41‚ makes his only 1876 appearance for Boston‚ in the OF‚ but Jim Devlin of Louisville deals the "Beantowners" their first shutout of the season 3-0. |
| June 8 |
The Chicago Tribune‚ as noted by historian Jerry Malloy‚ reports the following: "One of the stupidest ideas that ever entered into the head of base-ball managers is the new arrangement on the Hartford grounds‚ by which they refuse to permit the transmission of any report of the game by innings. As the 'Courant' well says‚ those who have been visitors to the bulletins are those who have an interest in the game‚ which is kept alive by their opportunity of watching the board‚ and the increased interest they have had has made them visitors to the games when a game of special interest has been played‚ or when they could get away from their business to attend. Not to continue the score by innings is to remove a very excellent and cheap feature of advertising‚ and‚ in a money way‚ to cause a loss to the ball manager" |
| June 10 |
George Bechtel‚ RF for Louisville‚ who was suspended for "crookedness in the last Louisville-Mutuals game‚" gets in deeper trouble when P Jim Devlin shows his manager a telegram from Bechtel saying‚ "We can win $100 if you lose the game today." |
| June 14 |
George Hall of the Athletics hits 3 triples and a HR in a 20-5 shellacking of Cincinnati. Teammate Ezra Sutton also hits 3 triples‚ the only time 2 players have done this in the same game. |
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The Boston-St. Louis game is one for the ML record books‚ as the Boston infield has 14 errors‚ and the 2 infields combine for 22‚ both high marks. This comes 6 weeks after the Boston outfield went into the record books on May 1 with 11 errors against Hartford. Andrew Leonard‚ the second baseman for Boston‚ makes 9 errors. St. Louis posts a 20-6 win. |
| June 17 |
George Hall and Ezra Sutton again gang up on the hapless Reds. Hall hits 2 HRs‚ a triple‚ and 2 singles‚ and Sutton also collects 5 hits in a 23-15 slaughter. Only 39 HRs will be hit in the NL season; Hall will lead with 5‚ and next year have zero. |
| June 21 |
Captain Frederick Benteen's H Company of Custer's Seventh U.S. Cavalry defeats another U.S. Army Cavalry Company team by the score of 51-3. This game occurs several days before the June 25 Battle of Little Big Horn (According to notes in an article written by Harry H. Anderson, entitled "The Benteen Base Ball Club: Sports Enthusiasts of the Seventh Cavalry", pages 82-87, from a journal entitled Montana: The Magazine of Western History, 20, No. 3, July 1970). |
| June 27 |
Little Davey Force of the Athletics goes 6-for-6 against Spalding of Chicago‚ and Philadelphia scores 4 runs in the 9th to pull out a 14-13 victory. He is the first major leaguer to collect 6 hits in a 9 inning game. |
July
| July 6 |
Jack Remsen of Hartford clubs the first leadoff homer in ML history when he reaches Chicago's Al Spalding for a roundtripper. It is Jack's only HR of the year. George Wright of Boston will hit a leadoff homer on September 16‚ and the next won't come for 3 years. |
| July 8 |
The Boston Herald carries the mid season averages showing hits and errors per game (not per at bat or chance). Chicago's Ross Barnes is the top batter with 2.1 hits per game‚ and Dave Eggler of the Athletics is the leading fielder with .19 errors per game. |
| July 10 |
The New York Mutuals score one run in the 9th to tie the Louisville Grays and then score 4 in the 16th to win 8-5. Bobby Mathews prevails over Jim Devlin in this longest game of the season. In the previous game on July 8th‚ the 2 hurlers had battled to a 5-5 tie in 15 innings. |
| July 15 |
George Bradley of St. Louis pitches the league's first no-hitter‚ defeating Hartford and Tommy Bond 2-0. It is his 3rd shutout over Hartford in the 3-game series. |
| July 20 |
Chicago coasts to a 18-0 pounding over Louisville as Al Spalding picks up the victory over Jim Devlin. Cal McVey has 3 hits to go along with 3 in the last game‚ on the 18th. |
| July 22 |
Against Chicago‚ Louisville pitcher/outfielder John Ryan tosses 10 wild pitches and gives up 31 hits in eight innings‚ as Louisville is trounced ‚ 30-7. Ryan had relieved Jim Devlin after Devlin surrendered 10 runs in the 1st inning. Cal McVey has 6 hits for Chicago‚ which scores in every inning except the 2nd. Chicago enjoys another 10 run inning in the 4th. This is the only time in history that two teams have combined for more than 100 plate appearances in a game: Chicago has 64 and Louisville adds 42. |
| July 25 |
For the 2nd consecutive game‚ Cal McVey of Chicago collects 6 hits in 7 trips as Chicago wins 23-3 over Cincinnati. McVey now has a record 15 hits in 3 games and 18 hits in 4 games‚ As noted by historian Frank Williams‚ McVey is in the middle of a 30-game hit streak that started on June 1st and will end on August 8th. |
| July 27 |
It must be contagious. For the third time in three games a Chicago player tallies six hits in a game. This time it is Ross Barnes who goes 6-for-6 as his teammates add another 17 hits to crush the Reds, 17–3. Cal McVeyhas 2 hits and will have 4 in Chicago's next game, to again have a record 18 hits in 4 games. Chicago has scored 88 runs in its last 4 games, a major league record. |
| July 29 |
Behind Cal McVey's 4 hits‚ first-place Chicago eliminates Cincinnati from the pennant race. Hartford is in 2nd place‚ 6 1/2 games back. |
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A questionable hit recorded by Charles Fulmer is all that George Bradley allows as St. Louis blanks Louisville‚ 7-0. |
August
| August 1 |
1B Joe Gerhardt‚ Louisville's leadoff hit‚ hits the first ball pitched from Al Spalding for a HR. But the lead quickly evaporates and Chicago wins‚ 15-7. |
| August 4 |
Louisville‚ trailing Chicago by a wide margin with rain threatening in the 5th‚ decides to stall. They make error after error until the umpire forfeits the game to Chicago. The contest would later be ruled "no game." |
| August 12 |
Chicago's versatile Cal McVey has the unusual distinction of both pitching and catching in a 5-0 win over Cincinnati. The win goes to starter Al Spalding‚ his 10th straight win over the Reds. According to Ed Hartig‚ Chicago has 9 shutouts this season and this is the only "chicago" with a relief pitcher. |
| August 18 |
With the season two-thirds over‚ the lowly Louisville club plays its first errorless game of the season and beats Cincinnati 4-1. |
| August 21 |
The strain of pitching almost every game is taking its toll on Tommy Bond‚ the 20-year-old‚ sore-armed hurler of Hartford. Candy Cummings takes his place and beats Boston 10-4. SS George Wright pitches a scoreless 9th for the Red Caps. Dick Higham of Hartford starts a 24-game hit streak that will end on the last day of the season. |
September
| September 9 |
Curveballer Candy Cummings of Hartford wins 2 games over Cincinnati‚ 14-4 in the morning and 8-1 in the afternoon. They are separate admission games. This marks the first time 2 games are played in the same day. |
| September 11 |
President G. W. Thompson of Philadelphia informs Chicago president William Hulbert that the Athletics cannot afford to make their final western trip. He suggests that Chicago and St. Louis (the big drawing clubs) play additional games in Philadelphia and take a larger portion of the receipts. Hulbert turns down the offer. |
| September 16 |
After only 200 watch the New York Mutuals lose to Cincinnati‚ the club announces that they‚ like the Athletics‚ will not make their western trip. Their games in the west will be canceled‚ leaving a thin schedule of league games the rest of the season. |
| September 26 |
Chicago clinches the pennant with a 7-6 win over the Hartford Dark Blues. Cal McVey‚ the regular 1B and Spalding's backup pitcher‚ hurls the victory. McVey pitched yesterday‚ and Spalding will pitch tomorrow's game‚ the last of the year. Spalding‚ apparently the victim of a sore arm‚ will start just one game next year. |
October
| October 6 |
Louisville closes out its season with an 11-2 loss to Hartford. Jim Devlin‚ injured severely during yesterday's game‚ does not pitch for the first time this season. He will still lead the league in games (68)‚ complete games (66)‚ and innings pitched (622). |
| October 17 |
Although the Mutuals did not make their western road trip‚ they play at home in Brooklyn against Hartford. Davey Force of the Athletics joins the Mutuals and plays SS‚ but it doesn't help as Hartford wins 3-0 behind Candy Cummings. |
| October 20 |
Boston manager Harry Wright shakes up his lineup‚ shifting brother George to 2B and inserting another brother‚ Sam‚ at SS. It is not the "right" combination as Candy Cummings of Hartford blanks the Red Caps‚ 5-0. |
| October 21 |
Candy Cummings defeats Boston in the last game of the season to give Hartford a season record of 47-21. It is not quite good enough for 2nd place‚ as St. Louis finishes 45-19‚ with all of the decisions being credited to the Brown Stockings' superb P George Bradley‚ who hurls a record 16 shutouts. Hartford's Dick Higham goes hitless today for the first time since August 12‚ a skein of 24 games. |
| October 23 |
The Chicago Tribune publishes season-ending batting percentages based on the new method of dividing number of at bats into number of hits. Ross Barnes leads with a .429 average‚ thanks in part to the fair-foul rule. The following season‚ the rule is changed so that a ball hit in fair territory and rolls foul before passing first/third base is a foul ball. |
December
| December 10 |
After a 5-day league meeting in Cleveland‚ these results are announced: the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Mutuals are expelled by unanimous vote; a uniform and lively baseball is agreed upon; the playing rules for 1877 are modified‚ and William Hulbert is elected NL president. The A's and Mutuals had declined to make a final western swing at the end of the season‚ and charges of hippodroming-not playing at 100%-continued to dog the two teams. |
