1876 in baseball

After a tumultuous five-year existence, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA) folded following the 1875 season. The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) was formed in Chicago, Illinois, by businessman and owner of the Chicago Base Ball Club (now known as the Chicago Cubs), William Hulbert, for the purpose of replacing the NA, which he believed to have been corrupt, mismanaged, full of rowdy, drunken ballplayers, and under the influence of the gambling community. One of the new rules put into place by the new league was that all teams had to be located in cities that had a population of 75,000 or more. The initial NL season began with eight teams, and they were asked to play seventy games between April 22 and October 21. The NL is often considered to be the first "major league", although it has been argued that the NA can make that claim.Reiss – Introduction

Champions National League: Chicago Base Ball Club Champions of the West: St. Louis Base Ball Association (Unofficial postseason)

Statistical leaders National League Stat Player Total AVG Ross Barnes (CHI) .429 HR George Hall (PHI) 5 RBI Deacon White (CHI) 60 W Albert Spalding (CHI) 47 ERA George Bradley (STL) 1.23 K Jim Devlin (LOU) 122

National League final standings

Events Date Place Ballpark Event RefFebruary 2 Chicago William Hulbert organized the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, replacing the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which had folded at the conclusion of the 1875 season. Morgan Bulkeley, the owner of the Hartford franchise, is selected as the league's first President. February 12 Chicago After he joined the Chicago Club as a player, Albert Spalding announced his plan to open a sporting goods retail store in Chicago; known today as Spalding. April 22 Philadelphia Athletic Park The Bostons defeat the Athletics by the score of 6–5, in the first NL game. Joe Borden, pitching under the pseudonym Joe Josephs, is the winning pitcher, and Jim O'Rourke collected the league's first base hit. April 25 Louisville Louisville Baseball Park In Chicago's first National League game, Albert Spalding threw the NL's first shutout as Chicago defeated Louisville by the score of 4–0. Spalding threw another shutout in the Chicagos' second game, on April 25, also against Louisville. May 2 Cincinnati Avenue Grounds Ross Barnes of the Chicagos hit the first NL home run, an inside-the-park home run off pitcher Cherokee Fisher of Cincinnati. May 13 Hartford Hartford Ball Club Grounds The New York Mutuals achieved a triple play in a loss to Hartford. May 25 Philadelphia Jefferson Street Grounds The game between Athletic and Louisville ended in a 2–2 tie, the first game to end in a tie in the NL and in major league history. May 30 New York Union Grounds In a game between Louisville and Mutual, Louisville right fielder George Bechtel committed three of the nine errors that led to his team's defeat. Louisville's ownership suspected that he intentionally "fixed" the game by intentionally committing errors to ensure a winning bet for himself and other gamblers. Management intercepted a wire dated June 10, in which Bechtel conspired to lose the game that day. Bechtel refused to resign when confronted with the evidence, so Louisville banished him from the team. Ginsburg, p. 41-42June 14 Philadelphia Jefferson Street Grounds George Hall and Ezra Sutton of Athletic each hit three triples in a 20–5 victory against Cincinnati, the only time teammates have accomplished this feat. June 17 Philadelphia Jefferson Street Grounds In a 23–15 victory over Cincinnati, George Hall of Athletic becomes the first major league player to hit two home runs in a single game. June 27 Chicago 23rd Street Grounds Davy Force of Athletic collects six hits in six at bats in a 14–13 victory against Chicago and Albert Spalding. He is the first major leaguer to collect six hits in a nine-inning game. July 15 St. Louis Grand Avenue Park George Bradley of St. Louis pitches the first no-hitter in MLB history, a 2–0 victory against Hartford. It is the second no-hitter recorded in professional play, after Joe Borden's on July 28, 1875. July 25 Chicago 23rd Street Grounds Cal McVey of the Chicagos collects six hits for the second consecutive nine-inning game. He has totaled 15 hits in the last three games, and 18 hits in the last four, both records. After collecting two more hits on July 27, and four more on July 29, McVey will have tied his own record with 18 hits in a four-game stretch. August 4 Louisville Louisville Baseball Park Trailing Chicago with rain looming, the Louisvilles stall the game by committing error after error until the umpire rules the game a forfeit. The game result would later be removed from the official league standings. August 21 St. Louis Grand Avenue Park In the ninth inning, and the score tied 6–6, of a game between Chicago and St. Louis, a St. Louis batter hit the base-runner coming from third base with batted ball. The umpire ruled that the runner was allowed to score, so Chicago left the field in protest. The umpire then awarded the game to St. Louis. September 5 New York Union Grounds George Bradley of St. Louis records his 16th shutout of the season in a 9–0 win over Mutual. This season total of 16 shutouts has since been tied, by Grover Cleveland Alexander, of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1916. September 11 Philadelphia The Philadelphia Athletic Club informs the league office that it will be unable to make its last western road trip due to financial trouble. The owner of the Athletics suggested that the Chicago and St. Louis Clubs play additional games in Philadelphia, take a larger than normal portion of the gate receipts, so they raise enough money to finish their schedule, which was denied. September 16 New York The Mutual Club of New York announces to the league office that it will not make its final western road trip of the season due to lack of funds. September 26 Chicago 23rd Street Grounds The Chicago Club clinches the first National League pennant with a 7–6 win over Hartford. October 23 Chicago The Chicago Tribune published the year-end player statistics, one of which would be the newly created, batting average; the first known instance of this statistic being published. December 10 Cleveland During the NL's Winter Meetings, it was announced that William Hulbert was elected President of the league, and that the Philadelphia Athletics and the New York Mutuals were expelled for failure to complete their required schedule in the 1876 season.

Transactions

Free agents Chicago White Stockings signed Cap Anson as a free agent. Hartford Dark Blues signed Candy Cummings as a free agent. Boston Red Caps signed George Wright as a free agent.

Loans August 10, 1876 – The New York Mutuals loaned Nealy Phelps to the Philadelphia Athletics. Phelps returned to the Mutuals on the same day.

Births

+ AbbreviationsDateIndividual's birth dateNameIndividual's name†Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

DateNameRefJanuary 1Joe KostalJoe MartinJanuary 11Elmer Flick†January 12George BrowneJanuary 14Bill WolffJanuary 22Warren McLaughlinJanuary 25Fred GladeJanuary 27Otis ClymerFebruaryIke Van ZandtFebruary 4Germany SchaeferFebruary 6Andy SommervilleFebruary 7Pat MoranFebruary 10Doc SechristFebruary 13Fred BuckinghamFritz BuelowFebruary 15Carlton MolesworthFebruary 19Joe MarshallFebruary 21John TitusFebruary 27Art GoodwinMarch 15Bill HallmanMarch 17J. A. GammonsMarch 29Harry LochheadFrank OberlinAprilArt BallApril 1Bill FrielApril 5Bill DinneenApril 6Charlie LuskeyFrank Murphy DateNameRefApril 11Win KellumApril 12Vic Willis†April 20Charlie HemphillApril 29Pat DeiselMay 1Larry BattamMay 2Jack MorrisseyMay 4Charlie HickmanDave MurphyMay 5Frank MorrisseyMay 7Casey PattenMay 16George BarclayMay 24Fred JacklitschJune 2Charlie JonesJune 5Offa NealJune 7Barney WolfeJune 10George PrentissJune 13Gene McCannJune 15Charlie DexterJune 19John HintonJune 21Billy GilbertJune 24Bill HanlonJune 29Patsy FlahertyJuly 1Jim BuchananJuly 3Ralph FraryJuly 7Happy IottJuly 10John PuhlJuly 23Ginger BeaumontHarry Mathews DateNameRefJuly 26Sam BreadonJuly 27Moose BaxterJuly 29Emmet HeidrickAugust 2Kid NanceAugust 7Pat CarneyLou NordykeAugust 11Danny MurphyAugust 18Gus DornerAugust 24John BrownFrank QuinnAugust 28Doc HazletonAugust 29Elmer StricklettSeptember 1Jimmy WiggsSeptember 3Jerry DonovanDusty MillerGeorge StoneSeptember 5Pete LePineSeptember 9Frank Chance†September 15Nick AltrockSeptember 17Otto KruegerSeptember 27Steve CusackSeptember 28Frank BatesRed LongOctober 13Wild Bill DonovanRube Waddell†October 15Percy ColemanOctober 19Mordecai Brown†October 27Patsy Dougherty DateNameRefOctober 31Ed FisherNovember 3Phil GeierNovember 3Ike RockenfieldNovember 6Dave AltizerDanny GreenNovember 8Danny ShayNovember 9Walter McCredieNovember 12Ed KillianSolly SalisburyNovember 14Harry HowellNovember 17Claude ElliottNovember 24Harvey BaileyNovember 25Lou CastroNovember 28Lee FohlDecember 2Roscoe MillerDecember 4John FarrellHenry KrugDecember 12Joe RickertDecember 13Rube KisingerDecember 16Fred CroliusSammy StrangDecember 17Roy PattersonDecember 20Jimmy WilliamsDecember 25Jim JonesDecember 27Charlie CarrSam Woodruff

Deaths + AbbreviationsDateIndividual's death dateNameIndividual's nameAgeAge at deathCauseCause of deathCemeteryPlace individual is interredCity/StateCity and state of burialSeasonsSeasons in which individual appearedTeamsTeams the individual played for or managed DateNameAgeCauseCemeteryCity/StateSeasonsTeamsRefMay 29Tom Miller26?MalariaEvergreen Memorial ParkBensalem, Pennsylvania1874–1875Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Brown StockingsOctober 18Bub McAtee31ConsumptionSt. John CemeteryTroy, New York1871–1872Chicago White Stockings, Troy Haymakers

1876 in baseball

Bron en licentie