1879 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1879 throughout the world.

Champions

National League: Providence Grays

National Association: Albany Blue Stockings

Northwest League: Dubuque Rabbits

Inter-league playoff: Providence Grays (NL) def. Albany Blues (NA), 2 games to 0.

National League final standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Providence Grays	59	25	--	.702
Boston Red Caps	54	30	5	.643
Buffalo Bisons	46	32	10	.590
Chicago White Stockings	46	33	10.5	.582
Cincinnati Reds	43	37	14	.538
Cleveland Blues	27	55	31	.482
Syracuse Stars	22	48	30	.314
Troy Trojans	19	56	35.5	.253

Statistical leaders

National League
Type	Name	Stat
AVG	Paul Hines PRO	.357
HR	Charley Jones BSN	9
RBI	Charley Jones BSN	62	Jim O'Rourke BSN	62
Wins	John Montgomery Ward PRO	47
ERA	Tommy Bond BSN	1.96
Strikeouts	John Montgomery Ward PRO	239

Notable seasons

Tommy Bond of the Boston Red Caps finishes 2nd in the National League with 43 wins. It is the 3rd consecutive season that Bond has won 40 games, a feat that has never been matched in major league history. Bond also wins his second ERA title, finishing at 1.96, and leads the league for the third straight season in shutouts with 11.

Events

January–March

January 26 – The Troy Trojans learn that they have been accepted into the National League.
February 14 – The Milwaukee Grays remaining assets are sold to satisfy their bankruptcy judgement.
February 18 – The International League changes its name to the National Association after losing its Canadien teams.
March 25 – The National League votes to keep admission at 50¢.

April–June

April 1 – The Northwest League is formed and refuses to affiliate with National League or the National Association (formerly International League). The league consists of 4 teams; Davenport, Omaha, Dubuque and Rockford.
April 4 – The Providence Grays announce the creation of a "bull pen", to be located in center field, where fans may purchase tickets for 15¢ beginning in the 5th inning.
May 2 – Rookie Mike Mansell of the newly formed Troy Trojans, in attempting to break up a double play, sprains the neck of star player Ross Barnes of the Cincinnati Reds. As this is not yet an accepted style of play, Mansell is censured for his actions.
May 17 – With no available regular catchers, the Cleveland Blues (NL) give Fred Gunkle a try. Midway through the game, after 3 errors and 7 passed balls, Gunkle is mercifully moved to right field. It is the only game he will ever play in the majors.
May 20 – After catcher Pop Snyder cuts his hand in the 8th inning, Boston Red Caps pitcher Tommy Bond is forced to ease up on his pitching. The Chicago White Stockings take advantage of the slower speed and score 4 in the 9th to beat the Red Caps 9–5.
June 6 – Charley Jones of the Boston Red Caps, who will lead the league in home runs, hits one that is estimated to travel 500 feet in the air.
June 14 – Silver Flint of the Chicago White Stockings hits a ball over the left field fence in the 9th inning against the Troy Trojans. Flint chooses to stop at third base for a triple so that the catcher will have to play closer to the batter, thus giving him a better hitting opportunity. Flint does score, but the White Stockings lose 10–9.
June 20 – Oscar Walker, of the Buffalo Bisons, becomes the first major league player to strike out 5 times in a 9-inning game.
June 21 – William Edward White plays first base for the Providence Grays in their 5–3 win over the Cleveland Blues. White is believed by some to have been the first black player to play in the major leagues.
June 22 – The New York Times reports on the death of a player named Alexander Taylor. The article states that Taylor, while catching, set up too close to the batter as he swung and was hit in the head by the bat, smashing his skull.
June 23 – Dan Brouthers makes his debut with the Troy Trojans.
June 26 – Boston catcher Pop Snyder starts a triple play by dropping a third strike with the bases loaded and no outs to help the Red Caps beat the Providence Grays 3–2. The dropped third strike rule will not be implemented until 1887.

July–September

July 4 – In a game billed as the championship of the United States, The New York Blue Stockings women's team defeat the lady Philadelphia Red Stockings 36–24 in front of 5,000 fans in Philadelphia. The carnival-like atmosphere combined with the score cause the crowd to get unruly and the game is called early.
July 19 – The first all-lefty pitching matchup takes place in Cleveland as Bobby Mathews of the Cleveland Blues beats Curry Foley of the Boston Red Caps 8–2.
July 26 – Syracuse Stars pitcher Harry McCormick hits a home run in the first inning against Boston Red Caps pitcher Tommy Bond and then proceeds to shut out the Red Caps 1–0. It is the only time in major league history that a pitcher has hit a first-inning home run to win a 1–0 game.
August 15 – Cap Anson plays his final game of the season for the Chicago White Stockings. Anson will travel back home to Marshalltown, Iowa to recover from a liver ailment. Silver Flint assumes the manager duties for Chicago.
September 7 – Dan Brouthers is released by the Troy Trojans, despite hitting .274 and ranking 3rd in the National League in home runs. Brouthers will play 3 games for Troy in 1880 before becoming a star with the Buffalo Bisons.
September 10 – The Syracuse Stars fold due to impending bankruptcy.
September 23 – Jim Tyng, the first player to wear a catcher's mask (in 1877), is picked up by Harry Wright and the Boston Red Caps as an emergency pitcher. Tyng defeats the first-place Providence Grays to draw the Red Caps within 2 games of the Grays. It will be the only victory of Tyng's career.
September 26 – The Providence Grays defeat the Boston Red Caps 7–6 to clinch the National League pennant. George Wright scores the winning run for the Grays in the 9th inning to defeat his brother and opposing manager Harry Wright.
September 30 – Will White pitches his 75th complete game of the season for the Cincinnati Reds, and finishes the year having thrown 680 innings. Both statistics are records that will probably never be broken.
September 30 – Word leaks out that the National League owners have secretly agreed to reserve 5 players per team that other clubs will not negotiate with. This agreement will be the main factor in player movement for the next 100 years.

October–December

October 1 – The Cincinnati Reds release all of their players and are unable to pay them their final month's salary.
October 2 – The Troy Trojans complain that new "reserve system" has already been violated with the Chicago White Stockings signing of Troy pitcher Fred Goldsmith.
October 16 – Mike "King" Kelly, released by the Cincinnati Reds, sign on with the Chicago White Stockings while touring with them in California.
October 24 – The Cincinnati Reds formally withdraw from the National League.
November 24 – Taking advantage of the new reserve rule, the Providence Grays offer reserved player-manager George Wright a 15 percent pay cut from his $2,000 salary, after he guided the Grays to the pennant. Wright refuses and, as a named reserve player, will receive no offers from any other National League club.
December 3 – At the league meetings, the National League re-admits the Cincinnati Reds, who are now under new ownership.
December 4 – The National League reduces the number of balls needed for a walk down to 8. The league also institutes a rule stating that the team batting last in the inning does not need to finish their at-bat or bat at all in the final inning if they are ahead.
December 6–18 – The American College Baseball Association is founded in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Births

January 11 – Harry McIntire
January 12 – Hank Olmsted
January 12 – Gary Wilson
January 24 – Dave Brain
February 14 – Tim Jordan
February 18 – Louis Leroy
March 13 – Mal Eason
March 27 – Miller Huggins
April 9 – Doc White
April 13 – Jake Stahl
April 29 – Noodles Hahn
May 20 – Jake Thielman
June 1 – John Castle
June 11 – Roger Bresnahan
June 12 – Red Dooin
June 20 – Jim Delahanty
July 14 – Fred Burchell
July 29 – Earl Moore
July 31 – Lee Fyfe
September 7 – Hooks Wiltse
September 17 – Rube Foster
October 4 – Bob Rhoads
October 16 – Art Devlin
October 28 – Frank Smith
November 22 – Bob Hart
December 8 – Jimmy Austin
December 8 – Jack Thoney
December 12 – Mike Mitchell
December 20 – Doc Moskiman
December 23 – Frank Owen
December 31 – Fred Beebe

Deaths

June 18 – George Fletcher, 34, played two games for the Brooklyn Eckfords in 1872.
August 4 – Charlie Bierman, 34?, played one game in 1871 with the Fort Wayne Kekiongas.
October 28 – Jimmy Hallinan, 30, shortstop for several teams who batted .321 in 1877 with the Cincinnati and Chicago.

External links

History of baseball

1845 to 1868 1869

1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

See also Baseball Major League Baseball Minor league baseball Negro league baseball Nippon Professional Baseball

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