Everything Totally Explained


Ask & we'll explain, totally!
1871 in baseball
Totally Explained


  NEW! All the latest news in the worlds of computer gaming, entertainment, the environment,  
finance, health, politics, science, stocks & shares, technology and much, much, more.  


View this entry using RSS

Everything about 1871 In Baseball totally explained

Champions

National Association final standings

National AssociationPhiladelphia Athletics
Rank Club Wins Losses Win %   GB
21 7 .750 --
2nd Chicago White Stockings 19 9 .679 2.0
3rd Boston Red Stockings 20 10 .667 2.0
4th Washington Olympics 15 15 .500 7.0
5th New York Mutuals 16 17 .485 7.5
6th Troy Haymakers 13 15 .464 8.0
7th Fort Wayne Kekiongas 7 12 .368 9.5
8th Cleveland Forest Citys 10 19 .345 11.5
9th Rockford Forest Citys 4 21 .160 15.5
The tenth founding member, the National club of Washington, didn't enter a team for the championship until 1872.

Statistical leaders

National AssociationAVG
Type Name Stat
Levi Meyerle ATH .492
HR Levi Meyerle ATH 4 Lip Pike TRO 4 Fred Treacey CHI 4
RBI Rynie Wolters NYU 44
Wins Albert Spalding BOS 19
ERA George Zettlein CHI 1.62
Strikeouts Al Pratt CLE 34

Notable seasons

  • Ross Barnes of the Boston Red Stockings concludes in the top 5 in 11 different offensive categories. He leads the NA in runs scored, total bases and times on base. He is second in on-base percentage, doubles, triples and walks. He finishes third in batting average (.401) and hits. He places 4th in slugging percentage and 5th in runs batted in.
  • Rynie Wolters of the New York Mutuals leads the league in games started, complete games, and innings pitched and ties for the league lead with 1 shutout. He also leads the NA with 44 RBI while batting .370.

    Events

    January-March

  • January 20 - The Boston Base Ball Club and the Boston Red Stockings are founded and incorporated by Ivers Whitney Adams with $15,000 and the help of Harry Wright, in Boston.
  • March 17 - Ten clubs establish the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (or professional Association) in New York.
  • later March - Thirty-three clubs establish the National Association of Amateur Base Ball Players (or amateur Association) in New York.

    April-June

  • May 4 - In the very first major league game ever played, the National Association begins play at Hamilton Field in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with Forest City of Cleveland visiting the Kekiongas of Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne wins 2–0 behind the pitching of Bobby Mathews, the lowest scoring game of the season. Deacon White gets the first hit, while Joe McDermott, who will only have 11 hits and four RBI in his career, drives in the first run in professional baseball history with a single in the second inning, scoring Bill Lennon. In the seventh inning, Lennon also became the first catcher in major league history to throw a runner out trying to steal second. Ironically, neither McDermott, Lennon, nor even the Kekiongas would finish the season
  • May 6 - Cap Anson makes his professional debut with the Rockford Forest Citys.
  • May 8 - Ezra Sutton of the Cleveland Forest Citys hits the first home run in professional baseball history in the 4th inning against the Chicago White Stockings. For good measure, Sutton adds a second home run in the 7th inning, but Cleveland falls to the White Stockings 14-12.
  • May 20 - In Boston, Mort Rogers introduces a scorecard with a picture of Harry Wright on the front. Each Red Stockings home game would feature a different player so that spectators could collect them and have a full set of Red Stockings players by season's end. This marketing strategy would be used throughout the 19th century and would ultimately evolve into Tobacco cards and, eventually, Baseball cards.
  • May 25 - Lip Pike of the Troy Haymakers collects 6 hits in a 25-10 victory over the New York Mutuals.
  • June 19 - The Fort Wayne Kekiongas, leading the Troy Haymakers 6-3 after 6 innings at Troy, refuse to allow another ball to be used after the game ball becomes ripped because of the reputation of the Haymakers using illegal balls in the past. The umpire (Isaac Leroy or Ed Tighe depending on the source), after 5 full minutes of ordering Fort Wayne back on the field, calls the game a 9-0 forfeit in favor of the Haymakers.
  • June 28 - In an era of high scoring games being the norm, the Philadelphia Athletics defeat the Troy Haymakers by the amazing score of 49-33. Both pitchers go the distance in the 4 hour slugfest in which both teams score in every at-bat.

    July-September

  • July 3 - The New York Mutuals lose at Troy 37-16. Even though it's customary to allow the visiting team to choose which ball to use, Troy captain Bill Craver refuses to play unless their ball is used. Heated words are exchanged throughout, with the Mutuals even being threatened with bats. Mutuals captain Bob Ferguson is convinced the ball used isn't legal. This game will set the stage for the rematch on July 13 at the Union Grounds in Brooklyn.
  • July 6 - The first game between a black team and a white team is played as the black Uniques defeat the white Alerts 17-16 in Chicago.
  • July 10 - Albert Spalding is relieved by Harry Wright in the Boston Red Stockings 21-12 victory over the Rockford Forest Citys after both Boston catchers develop sore hands from Spalding's fast pitching.
  • July 13 - Brooklyn police are forced to draw their firearms to stop the crowd from attacking the Troy Haymakers following several altercations between the Haymakers and the New York Mutuals players and officials after Troy's 9-7 win over the Mutuals.
  • August 9 - Ned Connors, first baseman for the Troy Haymakers, records 20 putouts in a 9-inning 10-7 loss to the Brooklyn Eckfords.
  • August 21 - The amateur champion Star Club of Brooklyn beats the Northwest amateur champion Aetnas of Chicago 4-3 in Chicago as Star pitcher Candy Cummings drives in the winning run in the 9th inning.
  • August 29 - The Brooklyn Eckfords replace the Fort Wayne Kekiongas in the NA after the Kekiongas lose most of their players to defection and expulsion. Fort Wayne's unplayed games will be declared forfeits in the official standings. The Eckfords will officially join the National Association for the 1872 season.
  • September 5 - Charlie Gould of the Boston Red Stockings hits the first grand slam in professional baseball history in a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Stockings.

    October-December

  • October 9 - As the Rockford Forest Citys approach Chicago, they see the city in flames from the Great Chicago Fire, turn around and go home. The Chicago White Stockings' stadium is burned to the ground along with all of their uniforms and equipment.
  • October 18 - The New York Mutuals, with their only pitcher Rynie Wolters sick, are forced to use a non-rostered position player, Frank Fleet, as pitcher in a crucial game for the pennant against the Philadelphia Athletics. The Mutuals are battered 21-7 by the Athletics which eliminates the Boston Red Stockings from the championship.
  • October 30 - The Athletics of Philadelphia defeat the Chicago White Stockings in Brooklyn 4-1 to clinch the first professional baseball championship.

    Births

  • March 16 - Bill Bernhard
  • March 19 - Joe McGinnity
  • May 30 - Amos Rusie
  • June 6 - Bill Lange
  • July 15 - Dan McGann
  • August 13 - Fielder Jones
  • October 24 - Louis Sockalexis
  • October 24 - Heinie Smith
  • October 25 - Martin Bergen
  • October 30 - Buck Freeman
  • November 26 - Fred Tenney
  • December 9 - Joe Kelley
  • December 23 - Sam Leever

    Deaths

    None

    Further Information

    Get more info on '1871 In Baseball'.


    External Link Exchanges

    Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

      <a href="http://1871_in_baseball.totallyexplained.com">1871 in baseball Totally Explained</a>

    Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
       As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.



  • Copyright © 2007-8 totallyexplained.com | Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License | Site Map
    This article contains text from the Wikipedia article 1871 in baseball (History) and is released under the GFDL | RSS Version