1880 Major League Baseball season
Sports season
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The 1880 major league baseball season was contested from May 1 through October 1, 1880, and saw the Chicago White Stockings as the pennant winner of the fifth season of the National League. There was no postseason.
| 1880 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | May 1 â October 1, 1880 |
| Games | 84 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Pennant winner | |
| NL champions | Chicago White Stockings |
| NL runners-up | Providence Grays |
The 1880 season is known for the first two major league perfect games in history, as well as being the only perfect games in the 19th century. Thrown by Lee Richmond and John Ward, these two perfect games were thrown in the span of five days, the shortest amount of time between two perfect games (the next closest is currently 20 days between Dallas Braden's May 9 and Roy Halladay's and May 29, 2010 perfect games). A perfect game would not be seen again in the Major Leagues for 24 years when Cy Young threw his perfect game in 1904.
Over the off-season, the Cincinnati Reds and Syracuse Stars disbanded, and were replaced by the Cincinnati Stars and Worcester Worcesters. This would be the Stars' only major league season.
Schedule
The 1880 schedule consisted of 84 games for all eight teams of the National League. Each team was scheduled to play 12 games against the other seven teams in the league. This continued the format put in place since the previous season and would be used until 1883.
Opening Day took place on May 1 featuring all eight teams. The final day of the season was on October 1, featuring a doubleheader between the Providence Grays and Worcester Worcesters.[1]
Rule changes
The 1880 season saw the following rule changes:
- Teams that wanted to change future playing dates now needed all eight teams to approve said change. Previously, only the two mutual teams needed to agree.[2]
- An oversight that technically allowed more than nine players to play at a time was corrected.[2]
- Umpires are now the sole arbiters of whether a ball was unfit for play.[2]
- Umpires will now note the time of the beginning of any rain (now without request of a team captain) and will call the game if it continued for 30 minutes.[2]
- The concept of a walk-off hit was implemented, as now, a contest would end if the team scheduled to bat in the bottom of the ninth (or bottom of any extra inning) was winning.[2]
- Eight balls became a base on balls, down from nine.[2]
- A catcher must now catch a third strike before it touched the ground.[2][3]
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| League | Team | City | Ballpark | Capacity | Manager[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National League | Boston Red Caps | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 3,000 | Harry Wright |
| Buffalo Bisons | Buffalo, New York | Riverside Park (Buffalo) | Unknown | Sam Crane | |
| Chicago White Stockings | Chicago, Illinois | Lakefront Park | 5,000 | Cap Anson | |
| Cincinnati Stars | Cincinnati, Ohio | Bank Street Grounds | 3,000 | John Clapp | |
| Cleveland Blues | Cleveland, Ohio | National League Park | Unknown | Jim McCormick | |
| Providence Grays | Providence, Rhode Island | Messer Street Grounds | 6,000 | Mike McGeary | |
| John Ward | |||||
| Mike Dorgan | |||||
| Troy Trojans | Lansingburgh, New York[A] | Haymakers' Grounds | Unknown | Bob Ferguson | |
| Greenbush, New York[B] | Riverside Park (Greenbush)* | Unknown* | |||
| Worcester Worcesters | Worcester, Massachusetts | Agricultural County Fair Grounds | Unknown | Frank Bancroft |
Standings
National League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Stockings | 67 | 17 | .798 | â | 37âââ5 | 30âââ12 |
| Providence Grays | 52 | 32 | .619 | 15 | 31âââ12 | 21âââ20 |
| Cleveland Blues | 47 | 37 | .560 | 20 | 24âââ19 | 23âââ18 |
| Troy Trojans | 41 | 42 | .494 | 25½ | 20âââ21 | 21âââ21 |
| Worcester Worcesters | 40 | 43 | .482 | 26½ | 24âââ17 | 16âââ26 |
| Boston Red Caps | 40 | 44 | .476 | 27 | 25âââ17 | 15âââ27 |
| Buffalo Bisons | 24 | 58 | .293 | 42 | 13âââ28 | 11âââ30 |
| Cincinnati Stars | 21 | 59 | .263 | 44 | 14âââ25 | 7âââ34 |
Tie games
Eight tie games, which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind occurred throughout the season (though standings were determined by total wins, not winning percentage).[5]
The Buffalo Bisons, Cincinnati Stars, and Providence Grays had three tie games each. The Boston Red Caps, Chicago White Stockings, and Worcester Worcesters had two tie games each. The Cleveland Blues had one tie game.
- May 19, Providence Grays vs. Boston Red Caps, tied at 5.[6]
- June 4, Chicago White Stockings vs. Providence Grays, tied at 1.[7]
- July 3, Worcester Worcesters vs. Cleveland Blues, tied at 4.[8]
- August 26, Boston Red Caps vs. Buffalo Bisons, tied at 3.[9]
- September 10, Cincinnati Stars vs. Buffalo Bisons, tied at 11.[9]
- September 18, Cincinnati Stars vs. Chicago White Stockings, tied at 5.[10]
- September 25, Buffalo Bisons vs. Cincinnati Stars, tied at 3.[11]
- September 30, Providence Grays vs. Worcester Worcesters, tied at 14.[12]
Managerial changes
Off-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bisons | John Clapp | Sam Crane |
| Chicago White Stockings | Silver Flint | Cap Anson |
| Cincinnati Reds | Cal McVey | Team folded |
| Providence Grays | George Wright | Mike McGeary |
| Syracuse Stars | Jimmy Macullar | Team folded |
In-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Providence Grays | Mike McGeary | John Ward |
| John Ward | Mike Dorgan |
League leaders
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | George Gore (CHI) | .360 |
| OPS | George Gore (CHI) | .862 |
| HR | Jim O'Rourke (BSN) Harry Stovey (WOR) |
6 |
| RBI | Cap Anson (CHI) | 74 |
| R | Abner Dalrymple (CHI) | 91 |
| H | Abner Dalrymple (CHI) | 126 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Jim McCormick (CLE) | 45 |
| L | Will White (CIN) | 42 |
| ERA | Tim Keefe (TRO) | 0.86 |
| K | Larry Corcoran (CHI) | 268 |
| IP | Jim McCormick (CLE) | 657.2 |
| SV | Lee Richmond (WOR) | 3 |
| WHIP | Tim Keefe (TRO) | 0.800 |
Milestones
Pitchers
Perfect games
- Lee Richmond (WOR):
- Pitched the first perfect game in Major League history and the only in franchise history on June 12 against the Cleveland Blues. Richmond struck out five in the 1â0 victory. There was little discussion about the perfect game as the concept did not exist in 1880.
- John Montgomery Ward (PRO):
- Pitched the second perfect game in Major League history and the only in franchise history on June 17 against the Buffalo Bisons. Ward struck out two in the 5â0 victory. He is currently then only player-manager to have thrown a perfect game.
No-hitters
- Larry Corcoran (CHI):
- Corcoran threw his first career no-hitter and the first no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Boston Red Caps 6â0 on August 19.[15]
- Pud Galvin (BUF):
- Galvin threw his first career no-hitter and the first no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Worcester Worcesters 1â0 on August 20.[15]
Miscellaneous
- Chicago White Stockings:
- Set a Major League record for largest winning streak, winning 21 games from June 2, and ending following their July 10 loss to the Cleveland Blues.
Venues
The National League saw two teams join for the 1880 season:
- The Cincinnati Stars played at the Bank Street Grounds.
- The Worcester Worcesters played at the Agricultural County Fair Grounds.
The Troy Trojans leave the Putnam Grounds (where they played their inaugural seasons) and move to the Haymakers' Grounds, where they would play for two seasons through 1881.
The Troy Trojans begin to host a few games at Riverside Park in nearby Greenbush, New York, playing on September 11.[16]