[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Final 1876 standings:

Boston Red Stockings 48-22 (champion)
New York Mutuals 35-21
Hartford Dark Blues 37-31
Chicago White Stockings 33-33
Cincinnati Reds 30-35
Philadelphia Athletics 27-32
St. Louis Brown Stockings 28-36
Louisville Grays 19-47

After being deadlocked for much of the season, Boston and Chicago headed in opposite directions, as Boston cruised to their fifth straight title, while Chicago didn't even finish with a winning record. The champions so far:

1871 Cleveland Forest Citys
1872 Boston Red Stockings
1873 Boston Red Stockings
1874 Boston Red Stockings
1875 Boston Red Stockings
1876 Boston Red Stockings

For the 1877 season, two longtime professional clubs will be disbanded, as a controversy developed late in the season when Philadelphia and New York refused to make a second money-losing trip to play the western teams as they were scheduled to do. In a postseason meeting, NL President William Hulbert decided to make an example of the two teams and ban them from the National League. So, next season the NL will have just six teams - Chicago, Hartford, Boston, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Louisville. The players on the two teams will all have their contracts cancelled, making them free to sign with any team they wish.

In addition, many players have reached the end of their contracts with their current teams and will be "free agents" this offseason. With free agency now a part of the National League, juggernauts like Boston are expected to be more difficult to maintain. In fact, since Boston is due to lose the most players this offseason, don't be surprised to see them take a nosedive in the standings.

The league leaders in a few categories:

Batting:

Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings - .402
"Old Reliable" Joe Start, New York Mutuals - .378
Tim Murnane, Cincinnati Reds - .373
Deacon White, St. Louis Brown Stockings - .362
Charlie Gould, Boston Red Caps - .358

Hits:

Charlie Gould, Boston Red Caps - 114
George Wright, Boston Red Caps - 107
Tim Murnane, Cincinnati Reds - 106
Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings - 105
Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps - 100

Doubles:

John Bass, Hartford Dark Blues - 34
Jimmy Wood, St. Louis Brown Stockings - 22
George Wright, Boston Red Caps - 21
Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps - 20
5 players tied with 18

Triples:

Lip Pike, Hartford Dark Blues - 12
Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps - 10
Paul Hines, Louisville Grays - 7
Frank Selman, Cincinnati Reds - 7
5 players tied with 6

Home Runs:

George Fields, Chicago White Stockings - 2
Scott Hastings, Philadelphia Athletics - 2
Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings - 2
Gat Stires, Louisville Grays - 2
Ezra Sutton, Philadelphia Athletics - 2

Runs Batted In:

Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps - 52
Elmer White, Chicago White Stockings - 52
Tim Murnane, Cincinnati Reds - 51
Frank Selman, Cincinnati Reds - 49
2 tied with 46

Runs Scored:

"Black Jack" Burdock, Chicago White Stockings - 56
George Wright, Boston Red Caps - 55
Lip Pike, Hartford Dark Blues - 53
Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps - 52
"Orator Jim" O'Rourke, Boston Red Caps - 52

Stolen Bases:

Lip Pike, Hartford Dark Blues - 31 (of 43)
Dickie Flowers, New York Mutuals - 24 (of 33)
Ezra Sutton, Philadelphia Athletics - 17 (of 22)
Mike McGeary, Louisville Grays - 16 (of 17)
Fred Waterman, Hartford Dark Blues - 16 (of 25)

OPS:

Holly Hollingshead, Chicago White Stockings - .921
Joe Start, New York Mutuals - .842
Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps - .841
Frank Selman, Cincinnati Reds - .838
Deacon White, St. Louis Brown Stockings - .828

ERA:

Dale Williams, Cincinnati Reds - 2.49
Frank Buttery, Boston Red Caps - 2.56
Al Pratt, Chicago White Stockings - 2.73
Lon Knight, Philadelphia Athletics - 2.84
John "Lefty" McMullin, Hartford Dark Blues - 2.91

Wins-Losses:

Frank Buttery, Boston Red Caps - 17-9
John "Lefty" McMullin, Hartford Dark Blues - 17-9
Mike Golden, Hartford Dark Blues - 15-9
Asa Brainard, New York Mutuals - 14-7
Al Pratt, Chicago White Stockings - 14-10

Opponent Average:

Lon Knight, Philadelphia Athletics - .249
Al Pratt, Chicago White Stockings - .258
Dale Williams, Cincinnati Reds - .263
Bobby Mathews, Philadelphia Athletics - .268
Frank Buttery, Boston Red Caps - .268