THE SPALDING TRADE MARK.



Experience has shown that in Base Ball and Athletic Goods, as in all other lines of business, unprincipled persons are always eager to prey on the reputation gained by honest dealing and good business management. We regret to state that we have not escaped the attention of such parties, who have appropriated our original designs, styles and names, and by using similar illustrations and descriptions, deceive the public into believing that the articles were manufactured by us, and that we are responsible for their inferior quality. A wide acquaintance with sportsmen and an extended experience with the various sports, has enabled us to anticipate the wants of our patrons in securing outfits, and to offer only such articles as were perfectly satisfactory for our own use, knowing by practical tests that they would serve the purpose properly, and be unfailing to the purchaser.

In order to protect our customers, and to preserve our reputation, we have found it necessary to place our "Trade Mark" on the higher grades of goods that we manufacture and introduce. The care and discrimination exercised in selecting only articles of the highest quality as being worthy of bearing our Trade Mark, has resulted in giving to them a reputation as being practically the best of their kind that could be produced.

In our opinion a satisfied customer is the best advertisement that we can have, and dealers and individuals will please bear in mind that on whatever article our TRADE MARK appears, we guarantee it to be exactly as represented, and wherever just cause for complaint exists, we will thank the purchaser for returning the article to us and receiving a perfect one in return, or the refunding of the purchase money. Our line of Base Balls is now so well known to the trade, and they are so thoroughly appreciated by the base ball players of the country, that it seems almost unnecessary to call special attention to their superior merits. Spalding's League Ball, having stood the severe test of the National League for the last ten years, and having again been adopted as the official ball of that leading organization for 1888 as well as the other prominent professional College and Amateur Associations, gives it a reputation and sale unequalled by any other ball on the market. BEWARE OF CHEAP IMITATIONS; NO League Ball is genuine without our Trade Mark on each box and ball, and the autograph of

on each label.

We hope that ball players will not be misled by the remarks of interested dealers handling inferior goods, that the articles they offer "are just as good as Spalding's" and at a cheaper price. We accept their frequent references to our goods as the highest compliment that can be paid us, and only ask that purchasers will do their own comparisons, and be convinced that our goods are really the cheapest as they certainly are the best. Special trade prices are quoted to dealers on application.

CHICAGO. A. G. SPALDING & BROS. NEW YORK.

Publisher's Notice

* * * * *

"Spalding's Base Ball Guide" again greets the base ball public with the official records of America's national game. First issued in 1877, it has grown in popularity, has been enlarged and improved from year to year, and is now the recognized authority upon base ball matters. The statistics contained in the "Guide" can be relied upon, nearly all of them having been compiled from official records.

The "Guide" has attained such a size—180 pages—as to preclude the possibility of publishing in the same issue the League Constitution in full, and other interesting League matter. We are therefore compelled, in addition, to publish the "Official League Book," which contains only official League matter as furnished by Secretary Young, including the League Constitution in full.

Copies of the "Guide" or "League Book," will be mailed to any address upon receipt of twelve cents each. Trade orders supplied through the News Companies, or direct from the publishers.

CHICAGO. A. G. SPALDING & BROS. NEW YORK

* * * * *

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 5, 1889.

By the authority vested in me, I do hereby certify that Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Bros., of Chicago and New York, have been granted the exclusive right to publish the Official League Book for 1889.

N. E. YOUNG, Secretary National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs.

DEPOTS OF SUPPLIES FOR THE SALE OF A. G. SPALDING AND BROS. ATHLETIC GOODS

For the convenience of our patrons, and for the purpose of bringing our complete line of Athletic Goods more prominently before Base Ball Players, we have arranged with the following houses to carry at all times a complete line of all our Athletic Goods. Their prices will be the same as ours. Orders for goods may be sent to

WESTERN DEPOTS.

A. G. SPALDING & BROS 108 Madison St., Chicago, Ill. E. C. MEACHAM ARMS CO. 515 Washington Ave., St. Louis, Mo. J. R. HAWLEY 164 Vine St., Cincinnati, Ohio BURROWS BROS. CO. 23 to 27 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio J. B. FIELD & CO. 77 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Mich. V. KINDLER 418 Genessee Ave. East Saginaw, Mich. E. G. STUDLEY & CO. 4 Monroe St., Grand Rapids, Mich. CHAS. MAYER & CO. 29 Washington St., Indianapolis, Ind. A. G. PRATT & CO. 502 Wood St., Pittsburgh, Pa. WEST BOOK & STATIONERY CO. 379 & 381 Broadway, Milwaukee, Wis. G. B. GROSVENOR 744 Main St., Dubuque, Iowa J W. RECCIUS & BRO 304 Market St., Louisville, Ky. S. G. MORTON & CO. 426 Nicollet Ave. Minneapolis, Minn. JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO. Helena, Montana COLLINS GUN CO. 1312 Douglas St., Omaha, Neb. M. F. KENNEDY & BROS 66 East 3d St., St, Paul, Minn GEO. F HIGGINS & CO. 354 16th St., Denver, Col. F. M. MENGES Sporting Goods CO. 924 Main St Kansas City, Mo. WM. BECK & SON 165 2d St. Portland, Oregon REDHEAD, NORTON, LATHROP & CO. Des Moines, Iowa TUFTS. LYON ARMS CO. Los Angeles, Cal.

EASTERN DEPOTS.

A. G. SPALDING & BROS 241 Broadway, N. Y. E. W. VINE 1 Green St., Albany, N. Y. S G. LEVALLEY 189 Main St., Buffalo, N. Y. RHODE ISLAND NEWS CO. 113 Westminster St., Providence, R.I. SCRANTOM, WETMORE & Co 10 State St., Rochester, N. Y. R. WOOD'S SONS 72 S. Salina St., Syracuse, N. Y. M. W. BULL & Co 445 Main St., Springfield, Mass. M. C. EBBECKE & Co Allentown, Pa. M. A. TAPPAN 1013 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D. C. VON LENGERKE & DETMOLD Newark, N. J.

SOUTHERN DEPOTS.

F. F. HANSELL & BRO 28 and 30 Camp St., New Orleans, La. A. J. ANDERSON 2d and Houston Sts. Fort Worth, Texas R. M. MANSFORD 293 Main St., Memphis, Tenn. BIRMINGHAM ARMS Co Birmingham, Ala. H. DREW & BRO Jacksonville, Fla. J. W. SAWYER Key West, Fla.

FOREIGN DEPOTS.

McLEAN BROS & RIGG, Limited Sydney, Australia McLEAN BROS & RIGG, Limited Adelaide, Australia BOYLE & SCOTT Melbourne, Australia W. MCARTHUR & Co Auckland, N. Z. THOS. LACK Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands THE HINGSTON-SMITH ARMS Co Winnipeg, Manitoba C. FLOOD & SONS St. Johns, N. B.

LOCAL AGENCIES.

WESTERN.

A. G. CASE Aurora, Ill. C. E. DALTON Bloomington, Ill. A. P. CUNNINGHAM Champaign, Ill. C. H. CARYL Kalamazoo, Mich. SPENCER BROS Marquette, Mich. JOHN T. BUKER Rockford, Ill. BAKER & WATSON Terre Haute, Ind. GREGORY & Co Winona, Minn. J. A. ELLIOTT Danville, Ill.

EASTERN.

N. A. FROST Hanover, N. H. G. W. BLODGETT & Co Amherst, Mass. TALBOT BROS Pittsfield, Mass J. W. BRINE New Haven, Ct. C. S. WEST Flushing, L. I. J. W. BRINE Cambridge, Mass. A. H. POMEROY Hartford, Ct HIRST & LEACH Princeton, N. J. A. W. SCOTT Stamford, Ct. BRENNAN & DAVIS Bradford, Pa. F. A. CLAPP & Co Worcester, Mass. GEO. DART Tuxedo, N. Y.

WILLIAM A. HULBERT.

The late Mr. William A Hulbert may be justly considered as the Father of the National League, for he it was who in 1875 was mainly instrumental in bringing about the secession from the old National Professional Association in 1875 which resulted in the establishment of the National League in 1876. To Mr. Hulbert is due the credit of rescuing professional ball playing from the abuses which prevailed in the ranks at the time he first became connected with the Chicago Club. Especially to his persistent course in refusing to consent to the reinstatement of any player expelled from a professional club for crooked play, is the present honesty of the game due. Mr. Hulbert was the second President of the National league, Mr. M G Bulkely, the present Governor of Connecticut, being the League s first President. Mr. Hulbert died in April, 1882 from heart disease. He was essentially a reformer and in his business and social relations sincerity and candor were marked characteristics. The National League adopted this resolution at his death: Resolved That to him alone is due the credit of having founded the National League, and to his able leadership, sound judgment and impartial management is the success of the League chiefly due.

SPALDING'S BASE BALL GUIDE AND Official League Book for 1889.

A complete hand book of the national game of base ball,

CONTAINING

Statistical reviews of the various professional association championship seasons, as also the records and averages of the inter-collegiate associations, east & west.

ADDED TO WHICH IS THE

COMPLETE OFFICIAL LEAGUE RECORD FOR 1888.

ALSO

Brief Record of the Base Ball Tours to England in 1874 and to Australia in 1888.

TOGETHER WITH

The new code of playing rules, as revised by the committee of conference.

Attached to which is an official explanatory appendix, giving a correct interpretation of the new rules, also the official record of all league games and players, and the official schedule of league games for 1889, pitchers' records in victories for 1888.

Base running and throwing records of 1888, with the leading noteworthy events. Records of the veteran batsmen of the league from 1876 to 1888.

Handsomely Illustrated with Portraits and Pictures



The publishers of "Spalding's Base Ball Guide" present to the fraternity in the GUIDE for 1889, the model baseball annual of the period; the thirteenth annual edition of the work being in every respect the most complete baseball GUIDE ever issued. Exceeding as it does every other book of the kind in size—over two hundred pages of reading matter —as also in its new feature of pictorial illustrations, it presents an epitome of the professional history of the game for 1888, unequaled by any other work of the kind previously published. In fact, the GUIDE for 1889 has been made to conform to the very exceptional year of important events its chapters record—a year which will be remembered for a long time to come as fruitful of the most noteworthy occurrences known in the annals of our national game.

The prominent features of the GUIDE for 1889 are the complete record of the pitching in the League and American championship contests; the instructive chapters on "the lessons of the campaign," then on "team work;" the analyses of the play in the world's championship series of contests; the new tables showing the figures of the campaigns of the past eighteen years, and especially the explanatory appendix or chapter of official instructions to umpires and captains.

The great size of the GUIDE precludes the possibility of including the games record of the League campaign, as also other records of League legislation, etc., and these will be found in the "Official League Book," which contains only official League matter as furnished by Secretary Young, including the League Constitution in full.



The American national game of base ball has reached a period in its history, when it no longer needs to be referred to as a field exercise, calling for particular mention of its peculiar merits. It is now the established favorite game of ball of the American people, and occupies a position in public estimation which no other field sport in vogue approaches. The game has attained its present position of popularity, not only from its adaptability to our peculiar national characteristics, as regards its possession of special points of attraction; but also from its value as a field sport which presents sufficient excitement in itself to draw thousands of spectators, without the extrinsic aid of betting as its chief point of interest, the latter attraction being something which pertains to nearly every other popular sport. Then, too, it should be borne in mind that base ball first taught us Americans the value of physical exercise as an important aid to perfect work in cultivating the mind up to its highest point. It is to the introduction of base ball as a national pastime, in fact, that the growth of athletic sports in general in popularity is largely due; and the game pointed out to the mercantile community of our large cities that "all work and no play" is the most costly policy they can pursue, both in regard to the advantages to their own health, and in the improvement in the work of their employees, the combination of work and play judiciously, yielding results in better work and more satisfactory service than was possible under the old rule. Thus, the game has acted like a lever in lifting into public favor all athletic sports.

A great deal is said about the special attraction of this and that leading sport of the day. The turfman thinks there is nothing approaching the excitement of a horse race, which from the start to the finish occupies but a few minutes of time. The rower regards a three mile "shell" race as the very acme of sporting pleasures; while the yachtsman looks upon all other contests as of trifling importance compared with that ending in the winning of his club regatta cup; and so on through the whole category of sports of the field, the forest and the river. But if any one can present to us a sport or pastime, a race or a contest, which can in all its essentials of stirring excitement, displays of manly courage, nerve and endurance, and its unwearying scenes of skillful play and alternations of success equal our national game of ball, we should like to see it.

What can present a more attractive picture to the lover of out door sports than the scene presented at a base ball match between two trained professional teams competing for championship honors, in which every point of play is so well looked after in the field, that it is only by some extra display of skill at the bat, that a single run is obtained in a full nine innings game? If it is considered, too, that base ball is a healthy, recreative exercise, suitable for all classes of our people, there can be no surprise that such a game should reach the unprecedented popularity it has.

THE PROFESSIONAL SEASON OF 1888.

The season of 1888, in the professional arena, was marked by several events which placed it on record as the most noteworthy, known in the thirteen years' history of the National League. In the first place it was the inaugural year of the grand movement made by the President of the Chicago Club, to extend the popularity of our national game beyond the American continent; an event which exhibited the characteristic energy, pluck, liberality and business enterprise of Mr. Spalding, in a very marked manner; the grand success which the venture met with being a well merited reward for the large financial outlay which he incurred in the experiment. Secondly, the struggle for the championship of the League, resulting as it did in the success of the New York club, gave to the East a lead in the pennant races which they had not held since 1884, when the Providence club won the championship, Chicago having held the honors in 1885 and 1886, and Detroit in 1887. The past season, too, excelled all previous years in the vast assemblages of spectators who were gathered at the grounds of the prominent clubs on holiday occasions; as also in the immense aggregate of people who patronized the professional contests of the year. It was also an exceptional year in regard to the close and exciting contest for the League pennant, between the four leading clubs of that organization; and at the end of the championship season the sequel of the contest for the base ball championship of the world finished off the campaign of 1888, in a manner that greatly added to the honors won by the victorious League club from New York. The contest for the American Association championship was also one of the interesting events of the season, and one, too, which taught aspiring clubs a lesson which they can well profit by; and that is, that success in championship contests is due far more to able management, competent captaining, and thorough team work, than to the gathering together of the strongest of star players in a club team. In the League, in this respect, while the Boston club had invested, at great financial cost, in securing the services of noted star players, the Chicago club, though weakened by the release of players from their team who had done yeoman service in their ranks for years, were yet able to excel the picked team of star players of the Boston club, simply by superiority in handling those they had left to them. In the Association arena, too, a similar condition of things prevailed in the case of the St. Louis and Brooklyn clubs, the costly investment of the Brooklyn club for new players, only enabling them to reach second place in the pennant race, while the "weakened"(?) St Louis team, by better conceited work together were enabled to break the record by capturing the Association pennant for the fourth successive season, something only equaled by the Boston club under the reign of the old National Association in 1872, '73, '74, and '75.

An event of the season of 1888, also, was the widening the sphere of professional club operations in the United States, by the inauguration of the Texas League, which, though not as successful as desired in its first year, nevertheless opened up a new and large territory for the occupation of the professional clubs. Closing too, as the year did with a commendable movement on the part of the League legislators to regulate the salary system so as to get rid of several costly abuses; it may be justly said that in no year since professional ball playing was officially recognized, was there so much done to promote the welfare of the national game as during the season of 1888.

The summary record of the season's work of the several professional Leagues and Association prominent during the season of 1888, is as follows:

Champion Games Per Cent. of Leagues Club. Played Victories -+ + -+ National League New York 532 .641 American Association St. Louis 540 .681 International Association Syracuse 433 .718 Western Association Des Moines 458 .648 Central League Newark 4*6[A] .783 Southern League Birmingham 101 .620 New England League Lowell 209 .566 California League Stockton 268 .615 Texas League Dallas 146 .660 Tri-State League Lima 538 .701

[**Proofreaders note A: * indecipherable number**]

Number of Clubs. Began the Ended the Leagues Season. Season. - - - National League 8 8 American Association 8 8 International Association 8 8 Western Association 8 7 Central League 8 7 Southern League 4 4 New England League 7 4 California League 4 4 Texas League 6 4 Tri-State League 10 10

THE LEAGUE'S PENNANT RACE OF 1888.

The championship campaign of the League for 1888 began on April 20, with the customary home games between the eight clubs, each in its respective section, the New York team opening the season at Washington, and the Bostons at Philadelphia; while in the West Detroit opened at Pittsburg, and the Chicagos at Indianapolis, the winning clubs being New York, Boston, Pittsburg and Chicago. By the end of the first week of the campaign, Boston was in the van without a defeat being charged to them, while every other club had suffered at least one defeat, Boston leading in the race, followed by Chicago, New York, Pittsburg, Detroit, Indianapolis, Washington and Philadelphia, the latter suffering from the great drawback of the death of their best player Ferguson, a loss which handicapped them all through the season. By the end of the first week in May the contest had assumed quite an interesting phase in one respect, and that was the remarkable success of the Boston team, which, up to May 2 had won every championship game they had played, the record on May 4 leaving them in the van. By May 5, however, Chicago pulled up even with them, the two teams standing with a record of 11 victories and 2 defeats each, and a percentage of .862 at the close of the third week of the spring campaign. In the meantime Philadelphia had rallied and had pulled up to seventh place, and Detroit had overhauled Pittsburg, Indianapolis falling into the last ditch. By the end of May quite a change had been made in the relative position of the eight clubs, Chicago having gone to the front and Boston to second position, while Detroit had moved up to third place, and New York had fallen back to fourth; while Philadelphia had worked up well and had got into fifth position, Pittsburg having made a bad tumble to sixth place, leaving Indianapolis and Washington to bring up the rear.

The month of June saw more changes in the positions of all of the eight clubs except Chicago and Philadelphia, the former having tenaciously held on to first place since the last week in April; while Philadelphia steadily remained a good fifth. Boston, however, fell off badly in the running, the second week in June seeing, them down to fourth place; while by June 9 Detroit had got into second place, and was running Chicago a close race. During the last of May New York had got down to fourth position; but in the first week of June they had rallied and resumed third place; but the next week saw them fall back again, while Boston rallied back to third position. By the end of June the eight clubs occupied the following relative positions in the race Chicago held the lead, with Detroit second, Boston third, New York fourth, Philadelphia fifth, Pittsburg sixth, with Indianapolis and Washington as the two tail enders.

July proved to be the most important month of the season's race, as it was in this month that the New York team as effectually rallied under the personal influence of Mr. John B. Day, who from that time out took personal cognizance of the doings of the "Giants." The first week in July saw the New York team drive Boston out of third place, while Pittsburg, for the time being, was forced to occupy seventh position, Indianapolis leading them for a week in July. During the last week in July, Chicago — which club had held the lead consecutively from May 5 to July 23—took a bad tumble, and fell back to third position, while New York and Detroit stood tied for a few days for first place, until Chicago rallied, and then the Detroits were driven back; the end of July leaving New York in the van, with Detroit second, Chicago third, Boston and Philadelphia close together in fourth and fifth positions, while Pittsburg, Indianapolis, and Washington occupied the rear positions. It was now that the race began to be intensely interesting. The steady play of the New York team gave a new feature to the contest, and it now began to be a nip and tuck fight between the "Giants" and the Chicagos for first place, with Detroit close to them as a good third. August saw the steadiest running of the season in the race, but few changes being made in the relative positions of the contestants, the last week of the month seeing New York in the van, Chicago second, Detroit third, Boston fourth, Philadelphia fifth, and Pittsburg, Washington and Indianapolis in the rear.

The promise for an exciting close of the campaign loomed up very bright in September, and during that month, while New York and Chicago still retained their leading positions, Boston temporarily rallied, and got into third place for a week; but Detroit pushed them back, while Philadelphia began to rally for a closing dash for one of the three leading positions. At the close of September the record left New York in the van, with the assurance of a successful termination of the campaign for the "Giants," while the struggle for second place between Chicago, Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia greatly added to the excitement of the closing month of the campaign. Chicago held on to second place, and Philadelphia, which club on September 29 stood in fifth place rallied brilliantly in October, and drove Boston to fourth place and Detroit to fifth, Boston having occupied fifth place on the 6th of October, Pittsburg, Indianapolis and Washington finally bringing up the rear.

A feature of the campaign was the fact that at no time after May was it doubtful in regard to the position of Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Washington as the three tail-enders of the race. But for this the campaign would have been the most brilliant on record. As it was, however, the contest for the three leading positions by the other five clubs made it exceedingly interesting throughout, New York's final success giving a new impetus to the succeeding campaign of 1889.

THE STATISTICS OF THE CAMPAIGN.

During the League championship season of 1888 an aggregate of 552 games were played, of which 530 were victories and defeats; and 22 were drawn games, and two were won by forfeit. Of the 552 games played and won, no less than 432 were won by single figure scores, and but 98 by double figures. A noteworthy feature of the campaign was, that while the New York Club won the championship by 84 victories to Chicago's 77, with but 47 defeats to Chicago's 58, they failed to score as many runs in the aggregate as the Chicago Club did by 659 to 725, the Chicago's majority of runs being 66. The New York Club's score of runs, in fact, was exceeded by Detroit, Boston, and even Indianapolis, the latter's aggregate of runs being 666.

Below will be found a complete summary of the statistics of the League campaign of 1888:

P I h n i d W l P i a N a i a s e C d D t n h w h e B e t a i i l o t s p n Y c p s r b o g o a h t o u l t r g i o i r i o k o a n t g s n . . . . . . . . Victories 84 77 69 70 68 66 50 48 Defeats 47 58 61 64 63 68 85 86 Drawn Games 7 1 1 3 3 4 1 2 Total Games Played 138 135 131 137 134 138 136 136 Won by Forfeit 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Lost by Forfeit 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Per Cent. of Victories .641 .570 .532 .522 .519 .493 .370 .358 Series Won 5 4 2 2 3 2 1 0 Series Lost 1 1 2 2 1 1 6 5 Series Tied 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 Series Unfinished 6 4 6 4 5 3 3 5 Chicago Victories 19 13 16 7 10 13 6 6 Chicago Defeats 3 9 7 13 5 19 11 23 Home Victories 44 43 37 34 41 38 31 26 Home Defeats 23 26 31 29 26 30 35 38 Victories Abroad 40 34 32 36 27 28 19 22 Defeats Abroad 24 32 30 31 37 70 50 48 Extra Innings Victories 2 1 8 6 3 6 3 0 Extra Innings Defeats 2 1 3 8 6 0 5 4 Single Figure Victories 70 55 62 58 50 57 37 44 Single Figure Defeats 44 45 55 49 51 58 67 65 Double Figure Victories 12 22 6 12 18 9 13 4 Double Figure Defeats 4 12 6 15 12 10 18 21 Batting Average .240 .247 .229 .240 .243 .223 .233 .207 Fielding Average .918 .906 .919 .904 .916 .914 .904 .899 Highest Score in Games 19 21 17 20 18 14 15 22 Worst Defeat 4-11 0-14 1-14 0-13 2-12 1-16 0-13 0-14 Won by One Run 21 18 28 16 10 10 13 12 Lost by One Run 12 7 16 21 19 16 28 17 Total Runs Scored 659 725 536 669 716 531 666 482

The following is the record of the single figure victories scored in the League championship arena in 1888:

SINGLE FIGURE P I VICTORIES. h n i d W l P i a V N a i a s i e C d D t n h c w h e B e t a i t I l o t s p n o Y c p s r b o g r o a h t o u l t i r g i o i r i o e k o a n t g s n s . . . . . . . . . -+ -+ -+ -+ + -+ -+ -+ -+ - New York 12 10 8[1] 5 11 13 11 70 Philadelphia 4 9 5 8 7 9 10 60 Boston 8 9 9 5 6 12 9 58 Pittsburg 7 6 7 8 8 8 13 57

[**Proofreaders note: The data for the last two teams was not included**]

[Footnote 1: One victory scored by New York was from a forfeited game charged against the Pittsburg team as 9 to 0.]

The following is the record of the double figure victories scored by the eight League clubs in the championship arena in 1888:

DOUBLE FIGURE I P VICTORIES. n h d i W i P l a V N a i a s i C D e n t d h c h e w a B t e i t i t p o s l n o c r Y o s b p g r a o o l t u h t i g i r i o r i o e o t k s n g a n s . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - Chicago 3 0 4 4 3 1 7 22 Detroit 1 2 5 2 4 2 2 18 New York 3 0 3 2 1 2 2 13 Indianapolis 1 2 0 5 1 0 4 13 Boston 2 4 0 2 1 0 3 12 Pittsburg 3 2 0 1 1 0 2 9 Philadelphia 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 7 Washington 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 4 - - - - - - - - - Defeats 12 12 4 18 15 10 6 21 89

The following table presents the figures of the series of games won and lost in the League championship arena in 1888. The letters "W" and "L" indicate games won and lost:

P I h n S S i d W S e e l P i a e r r N a i a s r i i e C d D t n h i e e w h e B e t a i e s s i l o t s p n s Y c p s r b o g L T o a h t o u l t W o i r g i o i r i o o s e k o a n t g s n n t d . . . . . . . . . . . + -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+-+-+- W L W L W L W L W L W L W L W L New York 8 11 11 7 10 7 14 5 12 8 14 5 15 4 5 1 0 Chicago 11 8 10 10 9 11 8 10 12 7 14 6 13 6 4 1 1 Detroit 7 11 10 10 10 10 11 7 8 10 11 8 11 7 3 1 2 Pittsburg 7 10 1 9 10 10 6 11 8 10 14 6 10 9 2 1 1 Philadelphia 5 14 10 8 7 11 14 6 10 9 13 4 10 9 2 2 0 Boston 8 12 7 13 10 8 10 8 9 10 11 9 15 5 2 2 0 Indianapolis 5 14 6 14 8 11 6 14 4 13 9 11 12 9 1 6 0 Washington 4 15 6 13 7 11 9 10 9 10 5 15 8 12 0 5 0

THE "CHICAGO" GAMES OF 1888.

The record of the "Chicago" games—or games in which the defeated team did not score a single run—in the League championship series of 1888 is appended:

P I h n i d W l P i a V N a i a s i e d C t D n h c w e h t e B a i t l i s t o p n o Y p c b r s o g r o h a u o t l t i r i g r i o i o e k a o g t n s n s . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - New York 1 2 4 2 1 3 6 19 Philadelphia 0 3 6 1 4 0 2 16 Chicago 1 1 3 1 2 1 4 13 Pittsburg 1 2 1 0 2 4 3 13 Detroit 0 1 2 1 2 1 3 10 Boston 1 0 0 3 0 1 2 7 Indianapolis 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 6 Washington 0 2 0 2 0 1 1 6 - - - - - - - - - Defeats 3 7 9 19 5 13 11 23 90

EXTRA INNINGS GAMES.

The record of the victories and defeats scored by the eight League Clubs in extra innings games in the championship series of 1888 was as follows:

Date. Contesting Cities. Pitchers. In's. Scr. Clubs. + + + + -+ Sept. 1 Philadelphia Philadelphia Sanders v. Wash'n Widner 12 2-0 July 30 Philadelphia Boston Buffinton v. Boston Sanders 11 4-3 July 31 Philadelphia Boston Sanders v. " Clarkson 11 6-5 Sept. 22 Philadelphia Indianapolis Sanders v. In'polis Healy 11 6-5 May 26 Philadelphia Boston Buffinton v. Boston Madden 10 1-0 Aug. 11 Philadelphia Philadelphia Casey v. Detroit Getzein 10 1-0 Aug. 13 Philadelphia Philadelphia Buffinton v. In'polis Burdick 10 2-1 Aug. 9 Philadelphia Philadelphia Casey v. Detroit Getzein 10 6-5 April 20 Pittsburg Pittsburg Morris v. Detroit Getzein 12 5-2 Aug. 1 Pittsburg Chicago Galvin v. Chicago Baldwin 12 6-4 Sept. 21 Pittsburg Pittsburg Morris v. Boston Radbourne 10 2-1 Sept. 3 Pittsburg Indianapolis Morris v. Indianap's Healy 10 5-4 Sept. 4 Pittsburg Indianapolis Galvin v. Indianap's Boyle 10 5-4 May 10 Pittsburg Pittsburg Morris v. Boston Clarkson 10 11-10 June 28 Boston Boston Sowders v. Washington O'Day 14 9-7 Aug. 15 Boston Boston Radbourne v. Detroit Beatin 12 4-3 April 21 Boston Washington Clarkson v. Washington O'Day 11 1-0 June 19 Boston Washington Sowders v. New York Keefe 11 8-7 April 30 Boston New York Clarkson v. New York Welch 10 4-3 April 28 Boston Washington Sowders v. Washington Daily 10 4-3 July 30 Indianapolis Detroit Burdick v. Detroit Getzein 11 6-5 July 31 Indianapolis Detroit Healy v. Detroit Conway 11 7-5 July 6 Indianapolis Indianapolis Boyle v. Ph'd'phia Casey 11 9-8 June 8 Detroit Boston Getzein v. Boston Clarkson 16 11-5 May 12 Detroit Detroit Conway v. Philadelphia Gleason 12 3-1 July 2 Detroit Indianapolis Conway v. Indianapolis Healy 12 4-3 July 24 New York New York Welch v. Boston Madden 13 6-3 July 28 New York New York Keefe v. Philadelphia Sanders 10 4-2 June 6 Chicago Boston Van Halt'n v. Boston Radb'rn e 10 3-2

DRAWN GAMES. Date. Contesting Clubs. Cities. Pitchers. In's. Scr. + -+ + -+ -+ Apr 23 New York v. Was'ngt'n Washingt'n Welch O'Day 13 1-1 Aug 13 Chicago v. New York New York Baldwin Welch 12 5-5 Sept 3 Philadelphia v N York New York Sanders Keefe 11 0-0 May 15 New York v. Pittsburg Pittsburg Keefe Galvin 11 3-3 Aug 8 Pittsburg v. Boston Boston Morris Sowders 11 3-3 Sep 28 Detroit v. New York New York Gruber Titcomb 10 2-2

The following is the record of the victories scored by the eight League Clubs on home grounds in the championship arena during 1888:

P I h n i d W l P i a G N a i a s a e C d D t n h m w h e B e t a i e i l o t s p n s Y c p s r b o g o a h t o u l t W r g i o i r i o o k o a n t g s n n . . . . . . . . .. - - - - - - - - - New York 4 8 5 6 6 7 8 44 Chicago 6 4 7 5 4 9 8 43 Philadelphia 4 4 3 5 7 9 5 37 Boston 3 4 1 6 6 6 8 34 Detroit 4 5 8 5 7 6 6 41 Pittsburg 3 6 2 6 7 8 6 38 Indianapolis 3 5 3 5 4 4 7 31 Washington 1 4 4 3 4 5 5 26 - - - - - - - - - Games Lost 24 32 30 34 37 39 50 48 294

The record of victories on opponent's grounds is as follows:

P I h n i d W l P i a G N a i a s a e C d D t n h m w h e B e t a i e i l o t s p n s Y c p s r b o g o a h t o u l t W r g i o i r i o o k o a n t g s n n . . . . . . . . .. - - - - - - - - - New York 4 6 7 5 4 7 7 40 Chicago 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 34 Philadelphia 1 6 6 2 8 4 5 32 Boston 5 3 8 4 4 5 7 36 Detroit 3 5 3 3 3 5 5 27 Pittsburg 4 5 4 2 3 6 4 28 Indianapolis 2 1 1 4 4 2 5 19 Washington 3 2 5 2 3 4 3 22 - - - - - - - - - Games Lost 23 26 31 29 26 30 35 38 238



LEAGUE CLUB PRESIDENTS.



LEAGUE CLUB PRESIDENTS.

THE LESSONS OF THE LEAGUE CAMPAIGN OF 1888.

Among the noteworthy results of the League championship campaign of 1888 meriting special comment as affording lessons to be profited by in the future, may be named, first, the success of the Eastern Club of New York, in winning the pennant from the West; secondly, that of the Chicago Club in attaining second place in the race in the face of drawbacks which, under any other management, would have sufficed to have left the Club among the tail-enders; and thirdly, the remarkable failure of the Boston Club to attain even one of the three leading positions in the race, after that club had incurred such a heavy expense in strengthening its team with "star" players. The success of the New York Club in winning the championship, introducing, as it did, a new possessor of the League pennant and its accompanying honors, may justly be regarded as an advantage to the general interests of the National League, inasmuch as it is anything but desirable that one club should, season after season, carry off the honors, as the old Boston Club did in the early history of the professional championship contest; or as the Chicago Club has done in monopolizing the championship of the National League during the past thirteen years of its history. Such monopoly of the honors of each season's campaign, by one or two of the leading clubs of each year, materially lessens the public interest taken in the annual competition. Besides which, it interferes, to a costly extent, with the financial prosperity of a majority of the competing clubs. Now that a club, new to championship honors, has replaced one of the monopolists, the other previously unsuccessful clubs will begin to entertain hopes of being able to "get in at the death," as the fox hunters say, in future pennant races, if not this ensuing year, and thereby a new interest will be imparted to coming campaigns.

A feature of the past campaign of 1888 worthy of remark, too, is the fact of the surprisingly good work on the field accomplished by the so-called "weakened Chicago team." While this work was unquestionably due in a great measure to able management, the assisting element of "temperance in the ranks" had much to do with it. It is equally unquestionable that the very reverse had a great deal to do with the lamentable failure of the Boston team to follow up the success with which that club's team opened the campaign. The contrast, these two clubs presented in this special respect calls for the most earnest consideration of the vital question of insisting upon temperate habits in all the club teams during the period of the championship season each year. The evil of drunkenness among the professional teams is one which has grown upon the fraternity until it has become too costly an abuse to be longer tolerated. Drunken professionals should be driven from service just as the crooks of a dozen years ago were, never to be allowed to return. Drunken players are not only a costly drawback to success individually, but they permeate the whole baseball fraternity with a demoralizing influence. The fact is, professional baseball playing has arrived at that point of excellence, and reached so advanced a position in regard to its financial possibilities, that it will no longer pay, in any solitary respect, to allow players of drinking habits in first-class teams. The demands of the game, as it is now played, are such as to require a player to have all his wits about him to play ball up to the standard it has now reached. He needs the steadiest of nerves, the clearest eyesight, the most unclouded judgment, and the healthiest physique to play the game as it is required to be done by the exacting public patrons of the present day. Another thing, the capitalists who have ventured thousands of dollars in baseball stock companies, can no longer allow their money to be risked in teams which are weakened by the presence of men of drinking habits. Mr. Spalding's plucky and most successful experiment has conclusively shown that a baseball team run on temperance principles can successfully compete with teams stronger in other respects, but which are weakened by the toleration of drinking habits in their ranks. Here is a lesson taught by the campaign of 1888 which points a moral, if it does not adorn a tale.

Another special lesson of the past campaign which was practically illustrated by the Boston Club was, that star players do not make a winning team. The fact is, the pennant cannot be won by any costly outlay in securing the services of this, that, or the other "greatest player in the country." It is well managed and harmonious teams, not picked nines led by special stars, which win in the long run. Now and then—as there are exceptions in all cases—a picked nine will attain a certain degree of success. But for steady struggles for permanent success in the professional championship arena, team work of the very best, and admirably managed teams will alone achieve steady victory. The old Boston teams under Harry Wright, and the Chicago teams under Anson, are a standing proof of this fact. Let the National League magnates ponder these truths earnestly.

THE LEAGUE PITCHING OF 1888.

While there is no more reliable a record, by which to estimate a pitcher's skill in the box, than the figures showing the runs clean earned off the pitching; in the absence of such figures the best criterion is that of the record of victories and defeats pitched in, the percentage of victories to games played being the deciding point in awarding the palm of superior work in the box. In 1888 the pitchers were handicapped by the absurd rule which charged runs scored on bases on balls as earned runs, successive bases on balls giving an earned run to the batting side, even in the absence of a single base hit. To estimate a pitcher's skill on such a basis is nonsense. As the scoring rules do not admit of the record of data showing runs clean earned off the pitching, and not off the fielding and pitching combined, we are obliged to make up a record of the percentage of victories as the only reliable figures at command on which to judge the pitching of the season. By and by the Committee of Conference will get out of the old rut in this respect, and then correct data will be available; until then we must do the best we can under the circumstances, and consequently the names of the pitchers of the League Clubs who took part in not less than ten games are appended, and these are placed in the order of the best percentage of victories.

P e r c P e l n L a t W o y a o s e g n t d e PITCHERS. CLUB. . . . . - - - - - 1 Keefe New York 35 12 47 .745 2 Conway Detroit 31 14 15 .689 3 Buffinton Philadelphia 29 15 44 .659 4 Sanders Philadelphia 19 10 29 .655 5 Krock Chicago 25 14 39 .641 6 Titcomb New York 14 8 22 .636 7 Clarkson Boston 33 20 53 .623 8 Tener Chicago 7 5 12 .583 9 Welch New York 26 19 45 .577 10 Sowders Boston 19 15 34 .559 11 Morris Pittsburg 29 24 53 .547 12 Van Haltren Chicago 13 11 24 .542 13 Staley Pittsburg 12 12 24 .500 14 Burdick Indianapolis 10 10 20 .500 15 Galvin Pittsburg 23 25 48 .479 16 Whitney Washington 19 21 40 .475 17 Baldwin Chicago 13 15 28 .464 18 Gruber Detroit 11 13 24 .458 19 Crane New York 5 6 11 .455 20 Casey Philadelphia 14 19 33 .424 21 Beatin Detroit 5 7 12 .417 22 Getzein Detroit 18 26 44 .409 23 Boyle Indianapolis 15 22 37 .405 24 Madden Boston 7 12 19 .368 25 Widner Washington 4 7 11 .364 26 O'Day Washington 16 31 47 .340 27 Shreve Indianapolis 11 24 35 .314 28 Radbourne Boston 7 16 23 .304 29 Gleason Philadelphia 7 17 24 .292

Some remarkable pitching was done during the season of 1888, alike in the American arena, as in the League. The strategic work was up to a very high mark in the League, and in this, Keefe, Conway, Buffinton, Clarkson, Welch, Galvin, and Morris bore off the palm, while in speed alone, Crane of New York excelled.

The detailed record of victories and defeats pitched in during the championship campaign of 1888 by those who pitched in at least five victories, is as follows. The names are given in the order of most victories and fewest defeats:

VICTORIES.

P I h n i d W l P i a V N a I a s i e C d D t n h c w h e B e t a i t i l o t s p n o Y c p s r b o g r o a h t o u l t i r g i o i r i o e k o a n t g s n s . . . . . . . . . -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - Keefe 3 5 5 5 3 8 6 35 Clarkson 5 5 6 1 5 6 33 Conway 5 5 5 2 5 6 3 31 Buffinton 3 4 5 2 7 5 3 29 Morris 6 3 4 6 3 4 3 29 Welch 3 5 6 1 4 3 4 26 Krock 5 2 3 4 3 4 4 25 Sanders 0 3 3 1 3 5 4 19 Sowders 3 1 2 2 4 2 5 19 Whitney 3 3 4 3 1 3 2 19 Getzein 0 4 4 2 2 3 3 18 O'Day 1 2 3 2 3 3 2 16 Boyle 2 1 2 4 2 1 3 15 Titcomb 1 2 1 3 2 1 4 14 Casey 1 2 2 4 2 2 1 14 Van Haltren 0 2 1 2 2 2 4 13 Baldwin 3 1 3 2 2 2 0 13 Staley 0 2 0 1 1 6 3 12 Gruber 2 1 1 3 1 2 1 11 Shreve 2 1 0 3 3 1 1 11 Burdick 1 3 0 1 1 3 1 10 Tener 2 0 2 1 0 1 1 7 Madden 0 0 2 0 3 1 1 7 Radbourne 0 1 0 2 1 0 3 7 Gleason 1 0 0 0 3 1 2 7 Crane 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 5 Beatin 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 5

DEFEATS P I h n i d W l P i a N a I a s e C d D t n h w h e B e t a i D i l o t s p n e Y c p s r b o g f o a h t o u l t e r g i o i r i o a k o a n t g s n s . . . . . . . . . -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - Tener 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 5 Crane 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 6 Beatin 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 7 Titcomb 1 0 1 3 2 0 1 8 Sanders 3 2 2 1 1 0 1 10 Burdick 1 1 3 1 1 0 3 10 Van Haltren 2 1 2 3 2 1 0 11 Keefe 4 1 4 0 1 2 0 12 Staley 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 12 Madden 3 2 2 2 2 1 0 12 Gruber 3 1 2 2 0 2 3 13 Conway 2 2 1 2 3 1 3 14 Krock 2 2 3 2 3 1 1 14 Buffinton 4 2 3 2 2 1 1 15 Sowders 3 2 4 2 2 2 0 15 Baldwin 1 1 1 4 4 2 2 15 Radbourne 2 5 0 2 2 2 3 16 Gleason 2 3 3 3 1 0 5 17 Welch 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 19 Casey 5 1 1 5 2 3 2 19 Clarkson 4 3 4 2 2 3 2 20 Whitney 4 1 2 5 2 4 3 21 Boyle 5 5 3 3 1 5 0 22 Morris 3 4 4 2 3 2 6 24 Shreve 4 4 4 2 5 3 2 24 Galvin 4 3 7 5 3 1 2 25 Getzein 5 3 3 4 7 3 1 26 O'Day 4 5 4 5 3 3 7 31

These pitching records not only present a tolerably fair criterion of a pitcher's skill in the box—though of course not as reliable as the data of clean earned runs off his pitching or of clean hits made from it—but they afford an interesting and instructive record from which to judge of the success of a pitcher in defeating one particular team more frequently than he does another, and vice versa. In fact, experience has shown that no matter how effective a pitcher may be in a season's work, it will be found that there is always one team which bothers him more than any other he has to face, just as shown in the above quoted instances.

In regard to judging of a pitcher's ability as a fielder in his position by the fielding averages of pitchers the basis was made equally as unreliable as the estimate of earned runs was, owing to the fact that the data of the fielding averages of a pitcher were made up from the figures of "assistance on strikes" as well as from legitimate fielding assistances. For this reason the pitcher, who was really a poor fielder in his position in fielding balls from the bat, but who happened to be fortunate in striking batsmen out by his pitching—thereby getting a big record of pitching assistances—became the leader in the pitcher's fielding averages; while the pitcher who really excelled as a fielder when in the box, but who was not as fortunate in striking out his batting opponents, and therefore could not furnish as good a record of assistances on strikes, was set down in the fielding averages as a tail-ender.

The individual club record of the pitching of 1888 presents some interesting figures. For instance, we find that while Chicago used no less than eleven pitchers during the championship season Philadelphia was content with but four. No less than twenty new pitchers entered the League season in 1888, and of these, Sanders of Philadelphia; Tener and Krock of Chicago; Sowders of Boston; Staley of Pittsburgh; Burdick of Indianapolis, and Widner of Washington, proved to be acquisitions.

Below will be found the individual club pitching records for 1888, showing the victories and defeats each club pitcher participated in as an occupant of the box. The names given in italics are those of pitchers new to the League arena:

EASTERN CLUBS.

NEW YORK. P I h n i d W l P i a a i a s C d D t n h h e B e t a i I l o t s p n c p s r b o g a h t o u l t g i o i r i o o a n t g s n . . . . . . . Totals. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Keefe 3 4 5 2 5 4 5 0 3 1 8 2 6 0 35 12 47 Welch 3 6 5 4 6 3 1 2 4 2 3 1 4 1 25 19 45 Titcomb 1 1 2 0 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 0 4 1 14 8 22 Crane 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 1 2 5 6 11 George 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 3 Weidman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 8 11 14 5 12 8 11 7 9 7 14 5 15 4 83 47 130 [1] [Footnote 1: One game with Pittsburg was won by forfeit.]

CHICAGO. P I h n i d W l P i a N a i a s e d D t n h w e B e t a i l o t s p n Y p s r b o g o h t o u l t r i o i r i o k a n t g s n . . . . . . . Totals. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Krock 5 2 2 2 3 3 4 2 3 3 4 1 4 1 25 14 39 Van Haltren 0 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 4 0 13 11 24 Baldwin 3 1 1 1 3 1 2 4 2 4 2 2 0 2 13 15 28 Tener 2 1 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 7 5 12 Dwyer 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 4 1 5 Borchers 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 4 5 9 Ryan 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 4 Gumpert 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 3 6 Clark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 Bryman 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 3 Mains 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 11 8 8 9 12 7 10 10 9 11 14 6 13 6 77 57 134 [1]

[Footnote 1: One defeat with the Philadelphia Club was by forfeit.]

DETROIT. P I h n i d W l P i a N a i a s e C d t n h w h e B t a i i l o s p n Y c p s b o g o a h t u l t r g i o r i o k o a n g s n . . . . . . . Totals. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Conway 5 2 5 2 5 1 2 2 5 3 6 1 3 3 31 14 45 Getzein 0 5 4 3 4 3 2 4 2 7 3 3 3 1 18 26 44 Gruber 2 3 1 1 1 2 3 2 1 0 2 3 1 3 1 13 24 Beatin 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 3 0 5 7 12 Baldwin 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 3 6 -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 7 11 10 10 11 7 8 10 10 10 11 8 11 7 68 63 131



PHILADELPHIA. I n d W P i a N i a s e C D t n h w h B e t a i i o t s p n Y c s r b o g o a t o u l t r g o i r i o k o n t g s n . . . . . . . Totals. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Buffinton 3 4 4 2 5 3 2 2 7 2 5 1 3 1 29 15 44 Sanders 0 3 3 2 3 2 1 1 3 1 5 0 4 1 19 10 29 Casey 1 5 2 1 2 1 4 5 2 2 2 3 1 2 14 19 33 Gleason 1 2 0 3 0 3 0 3 3 1 1 0 2 5 7 17 24 -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 4 14 9 8 10 9 7 11 15 6 13 4 10 9 69 71 130 [1] [2]

[Footnote 1: One game with Chicago was won by forfeit.] [Footnote 2: One game with Pittsburg thrown out.]

BOSTON. P I h n i d W l P i a N a i a s e C d D t n h w h e e t a i i l t s p n Y c p r b o g o a h o u l t r g i i r i o k o a t g s n . . . . . . . Totals. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Clarkson 5 4 5 3 5 4 6 2 1 2 5 3 6 2 33 20 53 Sowders 3 3 1 2 2 4 2 2 4 2 2 2 5 0 19 15 34 Madden 0 3 0 2 2 2 0 2 3 2 1 1 1 0 7 12 19 Radbourne 0 2 1 5 0 0 2 2 1 2 0 2 3 3 7 16 23 Conway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 4 1 5 -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 8 12 7 10 9 10 10 8 10 8 11 9 15 5 70 64 134

INDIANAPOLIS. P h i W l P a N a i s e C d D t h w h e B e t i i l o t s n Y c p s r b g o a h t o u t r g i o i r o k o a n t g n . . . . . . . Totals. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Boyle 2 5 1 5 2 3 4 3 2 1 1 5 3 0 15 22 37 Healy 0 3 1 4 2 2 1 3 2 3 1 6 5 3 12 24 36 Shreve 2 4 1 4 0 4 3 2 3 5 1 3 1 2 11 24 35 Burdick 1 1 3 1 0 3 1 1 1 1 3 0 1 3 10 10 20 Moffat 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 5 7 -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 5 14 6 14 4 13 9 11 8 11 6 14 12 8 50 85 135

WASHINGTON. P I h n i d l P i N a i a e C d D t n w h e B e t a i l o t s p Y c p s r b o o a h t o u l r g i o i r i k o a n t g s . . . . . . . Totals. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Whitney 3 4 3 1 4 2 3 5 1 2 3 4 2 3 18 21 40 O'Day 1 4 2 5 3 4 2 5 3 3 3 3 2 7 16 31 47 Keefe 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 6 7 13 Widner 0 1 0 2 1 2 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 4 7 11 Daily 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 4 6 Gilmore 0 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 1 1 10 11 Greening 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Haddock 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 Shaw 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 3 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 4 15 6 13 9 10 5 15 7 11 9 10 8 12 48 86 134

PITTSBURG. P I h n i d W l i a N a a s e C d D n h w h e B e a i i l o t p n Y c p s r o g o a h t o l t r g i o i i o k o a n t s n . . . . . . . Totals. - -- - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. - -- - Morris 6 3 3 4 4 4 6 2 3 3 4 2 3 6 29 24 53 Galvin 1 4 5 3 2 7 1 5 6 3 5 1 3 2 23 25 48 Staley 0 2 2 1 0 2 1 2 1 3 5 1 3 1 12 12 24 Knell 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 3 Henderson 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 5 Maul 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 - -- - Totals 7 9 11 9 6 15 8 10 10 10 14 6 10 9 66 68 134 [1] [1]

[Footnote 1: One game with New York was forfeited, and one defeat with Philadelphia was thrown out.]

The retiring pitchers of the year were McCormick of Pittsburgh, Ferguson of Philadelphia, who died early in the season; Weidman and Twitchell of Detroit; Shaw of Washington; Mattimore of New York; Pyle and Sprague of Chicago; Leitner, Morrison and Kirby of Indianapolis, and Stemmyer of Boston

THE MONTHLY RECORDS.

The month of April saw Boston taking the lead in the record of victories for that month, that club not sustaining a single defeat in April. Chicago stood second, with New York and Pittsburgh tied in the number of victories and defeats credited and charged to each club, Detroit standing fifth, while Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Washington brought up the rear.

In May Chicago led all the other teams in their victories that month; Detroit being second, Philadelphia third, New York fourth, and Boston fifth, Indianapolis being sixth, with Pittsburgh and Washington tied for last place in the May record, Boston and Pittsburgh falling off badly this month.

In June Detroit won the most victories, it being their best month's work of the season, Chicago being second, Philadelphia third, New York fourth, Boston fifth, Washington sixth, with Indianapolis seventh and Pittsburgh last, it being the latter club's poorest month's work of the campaign.

In July the new rule of management, inaugurated by Mr. Day, placed New York in the front, and the result was that the "Giants" in July made the best month's record of the season, over 18 victories to but five defeats; Detroit stood second on the list in July victories, with Pittsburgh third, the latter making a good rally in July; Indianapolis, too, played well this month and stood fourth, Washington being fifth, and Chicago sixth, the latter taking a bad tumble, Philadelphia and Boston being the two last in July victories, Boston winning but five victories out of twenty-two games, that club's worst monthly record.

In August Boston rallied in brilliant style, scoring 16 victories out of 22 games, quite a contrast to their poor work in July; New York was second, and Pittsburgh third, the latter doing better, even, than in July; Philadelphia stood fourth, Chicago fifth, Washington sixth, with Indianapolis seventh and Detroit last, the latter only winning five victories out of 21 games in August.

In September Chicago rallied well and went to the front in the record of the month's victories, Pittsburgh being second, New York third, Detroit fourth—the latter rallying; Philadelphia sixth, with Indianapolis and Washington bringing up the rear. By the close of the month New York had virtually settled the question of the championship, and the only struggle left was that for second place.

In October Philadelphia made its usual "spurt" at the finish, and that club won eight out of nine games in October, after giving Chicago a close fight for second place, and came in a good third in the pennant race. New York was second in the October victories, Boston third, Pittsburgh and Washington tied for fourth, Chicago was sixth—that club gaining second position in the pennant race; Indianapolis and Washington being the two last. Here is the full record of the monthly victories and defeats of the campaign:

April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Totals. - - - - - - - - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. P. New York 5 3 12 9 13 11 18 5 16 8 13 8 7 3 84 47 131 Chicago 6 2 15 7 14 8 10 14 12 13 16 9 4 5 77 58 135 Philadelphia 2 7 12 7 13 10 9 15 15 9 10 12 8 1 69 61 130 Boston 9 0 11 13 12 11 5 17 16 6 12 12 5 5 70 64 134 Detroit 3 5 14 8 16 6 14 10 5 16 13 11 3 7 68 63 131 Pittsburg 5 3 7 14 5 15 13 9 16 9 15 12 5 6 66 68 134 Indianapolis 2 6 8 14 7 14 13 11 6 21 10 13 4 6 50 85 135 Washington 1 7 7 14 9 14 11 12 10 14 5 19 5 6 48 86 134



THE LEADING PLAYERS OF THE LEAGUE.

Looking over the League averages, and taking those players who have taken part in a majority of the championship contests of the season, we find the appended names among those occupying the leading positions at the bat and in the field.

Of those who played in one hundred games and over in the League championship arena, the following comprise the first ten batsmen:

BATSMEN. CLUB. Games. Per cent. of Base Hits. - - 1 Anson Chicago 134 .343 2 Ryan Chicago 130 .331 3 Kelly Boston 105 .318 4 Brouthers Detroit 129 .306 5 Ewing New York 103 .306 6 White Detroit 125 .298 7 Johnston Boston 135 .295 8 Tiernan New York 113 .293 9 Connor New York 134 .291 10 Nash Boston 135 .283

Of those who played in one hundred games and over in the League campaign, the following are the first seven in fielding averages:

FIELDERS. POSITION. CLUB. Games. Fielding Per cent. Average. of Base Hits. + + -+ + + Anson First Baseman Chicago 134 .985 .343 Richardson Second Baseman New York 135 .942 .226 Nash Third Baseman Boston. 104 .913 .283 Glasscock Short Stop Ind'polis 109 .900 .269 Hornung Left Fielder Boston 107 .947 .239 Slattery Center Fielder New York 103 .917 .245 Tiernan Right Fielder New York 113 .959 .293

Of the pitchers who took part in 50 games and over, the following led in fielding averages:

No pitcher or catcher played in 100 games.

PITCHERS. CLUB. Games. Fielding Per cent. Average. of Base Hits. - - Keefe New York 51 .785 .127 Galvin Pittsburg 50 .758 .143 Morris Pittsburg 54 .732 .102 Clarkson Boston 54 .678 .195

Of the catchers who took part in 60 games and over, the following led in fielding averages:

CATCHERS. CLUB. Games. Fielding Per cent. Average. of Base Hits. - Bennett Detroit 72 .941 .263 Daly Chicago 62 .880 .191 Clements Philadelphia 84 .874 .247 Ewing New York 78 .861 .306 Mack Washington 79 .843 .186 Miller Pittsburg 68 .805 .277 Kelly Boston 74 .796 .318

THE BASE RUNNING RECORD.

Those of the League championship players who are credited with not less than 50 stolen bases in the pennant race, are as follows:

BASERUNNERS. CLUB. Games. Stolen Bases. + + + - Hoy Washington 136 82 Seery Indianapolis 133 80 Sunday Pittsburg 119 71 Pfeffer Chicago 136 64 Ryan Chicago 130 60 Fogarty Philadelphia 120 58 Kelly Boston 105 56 Ewing New York 103 53 Tiernan New York 113 52

The above are the leaders in seven of the eight League clubs. Hanlon led in the Detroit team, but he only scored 38 stolen bases in 108 games. The Detroit team was singularly weak in this respect.

Mr. R.M. Larner of Washington has made up an interesting table from the figures of the League averages, which presents some very interesting statistics of the base running in the League during the championship season of 1888. Mr. Larner says:

"The official averages of League players contain the number of bases stolen by each player during the season, but furnish no means of comparison between the clubs in that most important department of the game. A glance, however, shows that the three tail-end clubs possess the three most successful base-runners in the League, in Hoy of the Washingtons, Seery of Indianapolis, and Sunday of Pittsburgh, the latter of whom would probably have finished first had an accident not prevented him from playing during the last two weeks of the season."

The following table includes in its first column all those methods of reaching first base, except the force-outs, which cannot be ascertained, and would not materially affect the record, in this comparison. Indianapolis and Washington still lead, Pittsburgh comes well to the front, pushing the next three clubs down a peg each, and the Phillies and Detroits keep their places at the foot:

CLUBS. Reached 1st Base. Stolen Bases. Percentages. + -+ -+ - Indianapolis 1,589 350 .220 Washington 1,515 331 .218 Pittsburg 1,474 282 .191 New York 1,772 315 .178 Boston 1,719 292 .170 Chicago 1,720 285 .166 Philadelphia 1,569 246 .157 Detroit 1,843 193 .105

Mr. Larner says. "The simple total of bases stolen is misleading as to a club's proficiency in base running, since the strong batting clubs having more men who reach first base have more chances to steal, and hence excel in totals, while in percentages they fall below clubs which are weaker in batting. The true measure is the relation between the number of bases stolen and the number of chances offered for the attempt, which is the whole number of those who reach first base, whether on hits, balls, errors, hits by pitcher, illegal delivery, or force-outs."

THE CLUB RECORD OF STOLEN BASES.

The record in stolen bases in championship games, showing the first man of each club in base stealing for 1888 is appended.

WASHINGTON. PITTSBURG. Stolen Stolen PLAYERS. Games. Bases. PLAYERS. Games. Bases. - - - 1 Hoy 136 82 1 Sunday 119 71 2 Wilmot 119 46 2 Smith 130 32 3 Donnelly 117 44 3 Dunlap 81 24 4 Daily 110 44 4 Mider 103 27 5 Mack 85 31 5 Beckley 71 20 6 Schock 90 23 6 Carroll 96 18 7 Myers 132 20 7 Kuehne 137 17 8 Irwin 37 15 8 Coleman 115 15 9 O'Brien 133 10 9 Fields 44 9 - - - Total 315 Total 228

NEW YORK. PHILADELPHIA. Stolen Stolen PLAYERS. Games. Bases. PLAYERS. Games. Bases. - - -=- - 1 Ewing 105 53 1 Fogart 120 58 2 Tiernan 113 52 2 Delahanty 74 38 3 Ward 122 38 3 Andrews 123 35 4 Richardson 135 35 4 Farrar 130 21 5 Connor 134 27 5 Wood 105 20 6 Slattery 103 26 6 Irwin 124 19 7 O'Rourke 107 25 7 Mulvey 99 18 8 Gore 64 9 8 Sanders 57 13 9 Whitney 90 8 9 Bastian 80 12 - - - - Total 280 Total 234

Taking the total bases stolen by each club nine as the criterion, Indianapolis takes the lead, with Washington second and New York third, followed by Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Detroit in regular order, the latter club being the weakest of the eight League teams in base running. Here is the record in full:

INDIANAPOLIS. BOSTON. Stolen Stolen PLAYERS. Games. Bases. PLAYERS. Games. Bases. - - - - 1 Seery 133 80 1 Kelly 105 56 2 McGeachy 118 49 2 Brown 107 46 3 Glasscock 112 48 3 Johnston 135 35 4 Denny 126 32 4 Wise 104 33 5 Hines 132 31 5 Hornung 107 29 6 Myers 66 28 6 Morrill 134 21 7 Bossett 128 24 7 Nash 135 20 8 Daily 57 15 8 Quinn 38 12 9 Esterbrook 64 11 9 Sutton 28 10 - - - - Total 318 Total 263

CHICAGO. DETROIT. Stolen Stolen PLAYERS. Games. Bases. PLAYERS. Games. Bases. - - - - 1 Pfeffer 136 64 1 Hanlon 108 38 2 Ryan 130 60 2 Brouthers 129 34 3 Burns 134 34 3 Campau 70 27 4 Anson 134 28 4 Twitchell 130 14 5 Williamson 132 25 5 Richardson 57 13 6 Van Haltren 81 21 6 White 125 12 7 Duffy 71 13 7 Ganzell 93 12 8 Daly 65 10 8 Rowe 105 10 9 Sullivan 75 9 9 Getzein 45 6 - - - - Total 264 Total 166

The following table is for immediate reference. It shows the winning club for each season from 1871 to 1888 inclusive; as also the manager of each of the champion clubs of each year:

Year. WINNING CLUB. MANAGER. Victories. Defeats. Games Played. -+ -+ -+ + + - 1871 Athletic Hayhurst 22 7 29 1872 Boston H. Wright 39 8 47 1873 Boston H. Wright 43 16 59 1874 Boston H. Wright 52 18 70 1875 Boston H. Wright 71 8 79 1876 Chicago Spalding 52 14 66 1877 Boston H. Wright 31 17 48 1878 Boston H. Wright 41 19 60 1879 Providence G. Wright 55 23 78 1880 Chicago Anson 67 18 84 1881 Chicago Anson 56 28 84 1882 Chicago Anson 55 29 84 1883 Boston H. Wright 63 35 98 1884 Providence Bancroft 84 28 112 1885 Chicago Anson 87 25 112 1886 Chicago Anson 90 34 124 1887 Detroit Watkins 79 45 124 1888 NewYork Mutrie 84 47 131

It will be seen that in the old Professional Association the Boston club won the pennant four times, and the Athletics once, while in the League the Chicago Club won it six times, the Boston Club three times, the Providence Club twice, and the Detroit and New York once each. The best percentage of victories was made by the Boston Club in 1875, that being the best on record in professional club history.

THE CHAMPION LEAGUE TEAM OF 1888.

Though the New York Club's team for 1888 included over twenty different players, only seven of them took part in one hundred championship matches and over, and these were Richardson, 135; Connor, 134; Ward, 122; Tiernan, 113; O'Rourke, 107; Ewing, 103, and Slattery, 103. Whitney took part in 90; Gore in 64; Keefe in 51; Welch in 47; Foster in 37; Murphy in 28; Hatfield in 27; Titcomb in 23; Brown in 17, and Crane in but 11. All the others played in less than ten games. The first nine were Keefe p, Ewing c, Connor 1b, Richardson 2b, Whitney 3b, Ward ss, O'Rourke lf, Slattery cf, and Tiernan, rf, these playing the nine positions respectively. The appended table presents an interesting epitome of the work done on the field by the New York team in the championship contests of the past season:

NEW YORK. vs. P I h n i d W l P i a a i a s C d D t n h h e B e t a i T i l o t s p n o c p s r b o g t a h t o u l t a g i o i r i o l o a n t g s n s . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - Victories 8 14 12 11 10 14 15 84 Defeats 11 5 8 7 7 5 4 47 Drawn Games 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 7 Series Won 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 5 Series Lost 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Series Unfinished 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 6 Victories by Forfeit 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 "Chicago" Victories 2 1 1 2 4 3 6 19 "Chicago" Defeats 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 Single Figure 5 12 10 11 8 11 14 71 Victories Single Figure 11 4 8 5 7 5 4 44 Defeats Double Figure 3 2 2 0 1 3 2 13 Victories Double Figure 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 4 Defeats Extra Inning Games 1 2 3 1 1 0 1 9 Victories at Home 4 8 5 5 6 7 8 43 Defeats at Home 5 1 5 3 4 2 3 23 Victories Abroad 4 6 7 5 4 7 7 40 Defeats Abroad 6 4 3 4 3 3 1 24

THE PITCHING RECORD.

The pitching record of the champion team of 1888 is worthy of note in regard to the figures showing the victories won and defeats sustained by each pitcher in his games with the seven opposing clubs. Here is the record in full, the names being given in the order of percentage of victories. Despite this method of estimating the pitching strength there is no questioning the fact of the superiority of Keefe, Welch and Titcomb according to the record each made against the clubs they were opposed to:



[**Proofreaders note: In some cases the caption identifying the players was indecipherable. These are marked with an *]



P I P h n e i d W r l P i a V a i a s c i C d D t n h e c h e B e t a i T n t i l o t s p n o t o c p s r b o g t . r a h t o u l t a i g i o i r i o l o e o a n t g s n s f s . . . . . . . . . -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. W. L. -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Keefe 3 4 5 1 5 4 5 0 3 1 8 2 6 0 35 12 .744 George 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 .666 Titcomb 1 1 2 0 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 0 4 1 14 8 .636 Welsh 3 6 5 4 6 3 1 2 4 2 3 1 4 1 26 19 .577 Weidman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 .500 Crane 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 1 2 5 6 .450 -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - Totals 8 11 14 5 12 8 11 7 9 7 14 5 15 4 83 47 [1]

[Footnote 1: The game forfeited by Pittsburg is, of course, not included.]

In the pitching averages, based on the existing method of estimating earned runs off the pitching, the record stands as follows:

Pitchers. Per cent. earn'd Per cent. of Runs per Game. Base Hits. Keefe 1.4* .198 [B] Welch 1.47 .201 Titcomb 1.82 .212

[**Proofreaders note B: * undecipherable number**]

The other three pitchers did not pitch in a dozen games.

THE FULL LEAGUE RECORD.

The following record presents the scores of the total victories won by every League Club each year since the National League was organized, the table presenting the figures of thirteen consecutive seasons from 1876 to 1888 inclusive:

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Y 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 r 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 s 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chicago 52 18 30 44 67 56 55 59 62 87 90 71 77 13 Boston 39 31 41 49 40 38 45 63 73 46 56 61 70 13 Providence 38 55 52 47 52 58 84 53 8 Detroit 41 42 40 28 41 87 79 68 8 Buffalo 44 24 45 45 52 64 38 7 Cleveland 24 47 36 42 55 35 6 New York 46 62 85 75 68 84 6 Philadelphia 17 39 56 71 75 69 6 St Louis 45 19 38 43 4 Cincinnati 9 37 38 21 4 Troy 19 41 39 35 4 Worcester 40 32 18 3 Washington 26 46 48 3 Indianapolis 24 37 59 3 Hartford 47 24 2 Louisville 30 28 2 Pittsburg 55 66 2 Athletic 14 1 Mutual 21 1 Syracuse 15 1 Milwaukee 15 1 Kansas City 29 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Totals 257 120 185 288 332 334 334 390 447 444 448 521 541

THE COMPLETE RECORD.

Following is a summary showing the results of each year's campaign since the organization of the League:

1876. Won Lost Per cent. -+ + + Chicago 52 14 .788 Hartford 47 21 .691 St. Louis 45 19 .703 Boston 39 31 .557 Louisville 30 36 .455 Mutual 21 35 .375 Athletic 14 45 .237 Cincinnati 9 56 .135

1877. Won Lost Per cent. -+ + + Boston 31 17 .648 Louisville 28 20 .583 Hartford 24 24 .500 St. Louis 19 29 .396 Chicago 18 30 .375

1878. Won Lost Per cent. -+ + + Boston 41 19 .707 Cincinnati 37 23 .617 Providence 33 27 .550 Chicago 30 30 .500 Indianapolis 24 36 .400 Milwaukee 15 45 .250

1879. Won Lost Per cent. -+ + + Providence 55 23 .705 Boston 49 29 .628 Chicago 44 32 .579 Buffalo 44 32 .579 Cincinnati 38 36 .514 Cleveland 24 53 .312 Troy 19 56 .253 Syracuse 15 27 .357

1880. Won Lost Per cent. -+ + + Chicago 67 17 .798 Providence 52 32 .619 Cleveland 47 37 .559 Troy 41 42 .494 Worcester 40 43 .482 Boston 40 44 .474 Buffalo 24 58 .293 Cincinnati 21 59 .263

1881. Won Lost Per cent. -+ + + Chicago 56 28 .667 Providence 47 37 .559 Buffalo 45 38 .542 Detroit 41 43 .488 Troy 39 45 .464 Boston 38 45 .458 Cleveland 36 48 .429 Worcester 32 50 .390

1882. Won Lost Per cent. -+ + + Chicago 55 29 .655 Providence 52 32 .619 Buffalo 45 39 .536 Boston 45 39 .536 Cleveland 42 40 .512 Detroit 42 41 .506 Troy 35 48 .422 Worcester 18 66 .214

1883. Won Lost Per cent. + + + Boston 63 35 .643 Chicago 59 39 .602 Providence 58 40 .592 Cleveland 55 42 .567 Buffalo 52 45 .539 New York 46 50 .479 Detroit 40 58 .408 Philadelphia 17 81 .173

1884. Won Lost Per cent. + + + Providence 84 28 .750 Boston 73 38 .658 Buffalo 64 47 .577 Chicago 62 50 .554 New York 62 50 .554 Philadelphia 39 73 .348 Cleveland 35 77 .313 Detroit 28 84 .250

1885. Won Lost Per cent. + + + Chicago 87 25 .776 New York 85 27 .758 Philadelphia 56 54 .509 Providence 53 57 .481 Boston 46 66 .410 Detroit 41 67 .379 Buffalo 38 74 .339 St. Louis 36 72 .333

1886. Won Lost Per cent. + + + Chicago 90 34 .725 Detroit 87 36 .707 New York 75 44 .630 Philadelphia 71 43 .622 Boston 56 61 .478 St. Louis 43 79 .352 Kansas City 30 91 .247 Washington 28 92 .233