1876 in baseball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following are the baseball events of the year 1876 throughout the world.

A portrait of a gentleman posing in a suit and facing slightly left.
William Hulbert, founder of the National League, the first "major" league.

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.[1][2] 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.[3] The NL is often considered to be the first "major league", although it has been argued that the NA can make that claim.[4]

Champions

Statistical leaders

More information National League, Stat ...
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
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National League final standings

More information Team, W ...
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Events

More information Date, Place ...
DatePlaceBallparkEventRef
February 2ChicagoWilliam 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.[1]
February 12ChicagoAfter 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.[6][7]
April 22PhiladelphiaAthletic ParkThe 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.[6][8]
April 25LouisvilleLouisville Baseball ParkIn 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.[6][9]
May 2CincinnatiAvenue GroundsRoss Barnes of the Chicagos hit the first NL home run, an inside-the-park home run off pitcher Cherokee Fisher of Cincinnati.[6][10]
May 13HartfordHartford Ball Club GroundsThe New York Mutuals achieved a triple play in a loss to Hartford.[6][11][12]
May 25PhiladelphiaJefferson Street GroundsThe 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.[6][13][14]
May 30New YorkUnion GroundsIn 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.[15]
June 14PhiladelphiaJefferson Street GroundsGeorge 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.[6][16]
June 17PhiladelphiaJefferson Street GroundsIn 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.[16][17]
June 27Chicago23rd Street GroundsDavy 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.[6][9][18]
July 15St. LouisGrand Avenue ParkGeorge 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.[19][20]
July 25Chicago23rd Street GroundsCal 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.[6][9]
August 4LouisvilleLouisville Baseball ParkTrailing 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.[6]
August 21St. LouisGrand Avenue ParkIn 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.[21]
September 5New YorkUnion GroundsGeorge 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.[19][22]
September 11PhiladelphiaThe 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.[6]
September 16New YorkThe 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.[6]
September 26Chicago23rd Street GroundsThe Chicago Club clinches the first National League pennant with a 7–6 win over Hartford.[6][9]
October 23ChicagoThe 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.[6]
December 10ClevelandDuring 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.[23]
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Transactions

Free agents

Loans

Births

More information Date, Name ...
Date Name Ref
January 1 Joe Kostal [25]
Joe Martin [26]
January 11 Elmer Flick† [27]
January 12 George Browne [28]
January 14 Bill Wolff [29]
January 22 Warren McLaughlin [30]
January 25 Fred Glade [31]
January 27 Otis Clymer [32]
February Ike Van Zandt [33]
February 4 Germany Schaefer [34]
February 6 Andy Sommerville [35]
February 7 Pat Moran [36]
February 10 Doc Sechrist [37]
February 13 Fred Buckingham [38]
Fritz Buelow [39]
February 15 Carlton Molesworth [40]
February 19 Joe Marshall [41]
February 21 John Titus [42]
February 27 Art Goodwin [43]
March 15 Bill Hallman [44]
March 17 J. A. Gammons [45]
March 29 Harry Lochhead [46]
Frank Oberlin [47]
April Art Ball [48]
April 1 Bill Friel [49]
April 5 Bill Dinneen [50]
April 6 Charlie Luskey [51]
Frank Murphy [52]
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More information Date, Name ...
Date Name Ref
April 11 Win Kellum [53]
April 12 Vic Willis† [54]
April 20 Charlie Hemphill [55]
April 29 Pat Deisel [56]
May 1 Larry Battam [57]
May 2 Jack Morrissey [58]
May 4 Charlie Hickman [59]
Dave Murphy [60]
May 5 Frank Morrissey [61]
May 7 Casey Patten [62]
May 16 George Barclay [63]
May 24 Fred Jacklitsch [64]
June 2 Charlie Jones [65]
June 5 Offa Neal [66]
June 7 Barney Wolfe [67]
June 10 George Prentiss [68]
June 13 Gene McCann [69]
June 15 Charlie Dexter [70]
June 19 John Hinton [71]
June 21 Billy Gilbert [72]
June 24 Bill Hanlon [73]
June 29 Patsy Flaherty [74]
July 1 Jim Buchanan [75]
July 3 Ralph Frary [76]
July 7 Happy Iott [77]
July 10 John Puhl [78]
July 23 Ginger Beaumont [79]
Harry Mathews [80]
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More information Date, Name ...
Date Name Ref
July 26 Sam Breadon [81]
July 27 Moose Baxter [82]
July 29 Emmet Heidrick [83]
August 2 Kid Nance [84]
August 7 Pat Carney [85]
Lou Nordyke [86]
August 11 Danny Murphy [87]
August 18 Gus Dorner [88]
August 24 John Brown [89]
Frank Quinn [90]
August 28 Doc Hazleton [91]
August 29 Elmer Stricklett [92]
September 1 Jimmy Wiggs [93]
September 3 Jerry Donovan [94]
Dusty Miller [95]
George Stone [96]
September 5 Pete LePine [97]
September 9 Frank Chance† [98]
September 15 Nick Altrock [99]
September 17 Otto Krueger [100]
September 27 Steve Cusack [101]
September 28 Frank Bates [102]
Red Long [103]
October 13 Wild Bill Donovan [104]
Rube Waddell† [105]
October 15 Percy Coleman [106]
October 19 Mordecai Brown† [107]
October 27 Patsy Dougherty [108]
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More information Date, Name ...
Date Name Ref
October 31 Ed Fisher [109]
November 3 Phil Geier [110]
November 3 Ike Rockenfield [111]
November 6 Dave Altizer [112]
Danny Green [113]
November 8 Danny Shay [114]
November 9 Walter McCredie [115]
November 12 Ed Killian [116]
Solly Salisbury [117]
November 14 Harry Howell [118]
November 17 Claude Elliott [119]
November 24 Harvey Bailey [120]
November 25 Lou Castro [121]
November 28 Lee Fohl [122]
December 2 Roscoe Miller [123]
December 4 John Farrell [124]
Henry Krug [125]
December 12 Joe Rickert [126]
December 13 Rube Kisinger [127]
December 16 Fred Crolius [128]
Sammy Strang [129]
December 17 Roy Patterson [130]
December 20 Jimmy Williams [131]
December 25 Jim Jones [132]
December 27 Charlie Carr [133]
Sam Woodruff [134]
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Deaths

Abbreviations
Date Individual's death date
Name Individual's name
Age Age at death
Cause Cause of death
Cemetery Place individual is interred
City/State City and state of burial
Seasons Seasons in which individual appeared
Teams Teams the individual played for or managed
More information Date, Name ...
Date Name Age Cause Cemetery City/State Seasons Teams Ref
May 29 Tom Miller 26? Malaria Evergreen Memorial Park Bensalem, Pennsylvania 1874–1875 Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Brown Stockings [135][136]
October 18 Bub McAtee 31 Consumption St. John Cemetery Troy, New York 1871–1872 Chicago White Stockings, Troy Haymakers [137][138]
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See also

References

External links

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