The Sporting Life, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 1885:
GIANTS HOLD OFF COMPETITION FOR LEAGUE PENNANT
The New York Giants are the champions of the National League for 1885. The Gotham nine held off spirited challenges from Buffalo, St. Louis, Providence and Boston. Bill McLaughlin (.332) and Phinneas Harvey (.339) were the batting leaders for the second-best offense in the National. Only the Buffalo Bison club was more effective at the bat than the Giants. The pitching was not completely overwhelming, finishing fourth-best in the loop in earned runs, yet both Tim Edmonds and 'Adirondack Joe' LeGrew were more than effective enough.
BILL MCLAUGHLIN
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NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Last10
New York Giants 65 47 .580 - 61-51 4 40-21 25-26 8-6 20-11 W1 4-6
Buffalo Bisons 64 48 .571 1.0 65-47 -1 30-22 34-26 6-8 23-16 L5 3-7
St. Louis Maroons 61 47 .565 2.0 59-49 2 31-25 30-22 11-7 23-17 L1 6-4
Providence Grays 61 49 .555 3.0 61-49 0 24-26 37-23 6-10 16-19 W4 8-2
Boston Beaneaters 60 52 .536 5.0 58-54 2 35-23 25-29 9-5 21-22 L1 5-5
Detroit Wolverines 55 53 .509 8.0 57-51 -2 27-25 28-28 8-8 21-24 W1 4-6
Chicago White Stockings 41 71 .366 24.0 43-69 -2 19-39 22-32 8-8 16-20 W1 5-5
Philadelphia Quakers 35 75 .318 29.0 41-69 -6 17-38 18-37 7-11 9-20 L1 6-4
Batter of the Year for the NL was New York's Phinneas Harvey:
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Year/Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB HP SF K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS VORP
1885 New York - MLB 21 112 443 150 16 12 1 48 76 55 1 4 3 11 17 .339 .410 .436 .845 39.7
NL Pitcher of the Year was Buffalo's Paul Lunde:
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Year/Team/League Age G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER HR BB K CG SHO WHIP BABIP VORP
1885 Buffalo - MLB 26 72 70 36 32 1 2.02 614.0 616 299 138 0 47 131 65 2 1.08 .265 106.5
ALLEGHENIES CAPTURE ASSOCIATION FLAG
Though the New York Metropolitan Club led the race for the majority of the season, in the end it was the Pittsburgh nine who captured the pennant, winning 69 games to the 67 of the New Yorkers. As usual, pitching was a strong suit of the Pittsburghers, with Dane Wood winning 40 games to lead all pitchers in both the Association and National League and Dave Walker contributing a 29-13 record in support. And this club can hit as well: the Alleghenies had two hitters surpass the .300 mark in batting average - third baseman Rich Rigdon and center fielder Tim Holloman finishing second in both average and runs scored in the Association. The Alleghenies capped their successful season by surprisingly defeating the New York Giants in two out of three contests in the "World's Championship Series."
RICH RIGDON
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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Pittsburgh Alleghenies 69 42 .622 - 72-39 -3 36-20 33-22 9-3 23-15 W2 6-4
New York Metropolitans 67 41 .620 .5 65-43 2 30-22 37-19 7-8 21-15 W1 6-4
St. Louis Browns 64 48 .571 5.5 74-38 -10 32-23 32-25 7-6 15-16 W7 8-2
Louisville Colonels 57 55 .509 12.5 54-58 3 28-28 29-27 5-4 17-20 W5 8-2
Philadelphia Athletics 55 57 .491 14.5 57-55 -2 23-32 32-25 3-3 15-18 L3 4-6
Brooklyn Grays 52 60 .464 17.5 47-65 5 26-32 26-28 3-7 19-14 W1 2-8
Cincinnati Reds 43 69 .384 26.5 48-64 -5 24-33 19-36 3-4 11-22 L1 4-6
Baltimore Orioles 37 72 .339 31.0 35-74 2 20-35 17-37 4-6 20-21 L7 3-7
Association Hitter of the Year was Shane Day of the Browns:
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Year/Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB HP SF K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS VORP
1885 St. Louis - MLB 21 105 445 166 10 3 1 55 54 17 5 4 1 1 2 .373 .399 .416 .815 39.4
AA Pitcher of the Year was Dane Wood of Pittsburgh:
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Year/Team/League Age G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER HR BB K CG SHO WHIP BABIP VORP
1885 Pittsburgh - MLB 28 70 68 40 28 0 2.26 598.1 537 226 150 1 38 64 66 12 0.96 .243 82.7
UTICA IS CHAMPION OF NEW YORK STATE LOOP
Dan Heywood hit .448 to help the Utica Pent-Up club win the New York State League championship with a .50-25 record. Heywood, a second-baseman, was easily the league's best player. The New York League saw a lot of runs as pitching was not up to the challenge of the hitters in the league. Utica also possessed the loop's top hurler as former Union Association pitcher Barney Streuli posted the league's best earned run average with a 3.13 mark.
BARNEY STREULI
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NEW YORK STATE LEAGUE STANDINGS
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Utica Pent-Ups 50 25 .667 - 44-31 6 29-10 21-15 1-2 13-7 W4 6-4
Binghamton Bingos 42 36 .538 9.5 39-39 3 27-14 15-22 4-1 15-7 W1 6-4
Oswego Sweegs 41 38 .519 11.0 40-39 1 22-17 19-21 5-2 13-11 L4 4-6
Rochester Flour Citys 40 37 .519 11.0 38-39 2 20-17 20-20 2-2 8-8 L2 5-5
Elmira Colonels 4 4 .500 12.5 5-3 -1 2-3 2-1 0-0 0-0 W2 4-4
Syracuse Stars 35 44 .443 17.0 40-39 -5 20-18 15-26 0-4 8-18 W2 3-7
Albany Senators 10 38 .208 26.5 18-30 -8 5-18 5-20 0-1 0-6 L4 1-9
EASTERN LEAGUE FINISHES TROUBLED SEASON
Four of the clubs which began the season did not finish, but the Eastern League did make it to the end of it's schedule and crowned a champion in Richmond's Virginia Club, which won one more contest than the Newark Domestics. Richmond featured Gat Schillings who hit .414 for the club, but also had Chad Aubuchon, the pitcher who in addition to posting a 23-3 record as a hurler also hit .414 himself and is expected to be a prized commodity for League and Association clubs this winter. With three other hitters all topping the .400 mark, it was no surprise that Richmond was such a powerful club. Newark bolstered its pitching by adding former Jersey City hurler Bill Betts, but although Betts posted a 14-4 record, he was not enough for Newark to pass Richmond in the standings.
CHAD AUBUCHON
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EASTERN LEAGUE STANDINGS
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Richmond Virginias 48 10 .828 - 48-10 0 26-5 22-5 1-0 3-2 W5 9-1
Newark Domestics 47 14 .770 2.5 46-15 1 24-10 23-4 1-1 2-3 L1 8-2
Norfolk Club 32 19 .627 12.5 32-19 0 14-10 18-9 2-1 5-6 W1 5-5
Bridgeport Club 7 5 .583 18.0 6-6 1 2-1 5-4 0-0 4-0 L2 6-4
Atlantic City Club 1 2 .333 19.5 0-3 1 1-2 0-0 1-1 1-1 L1 1-2
Waterbury Club 3 6 .333 20.5 4-5 -1 0-0 3-6 0-0 0-3 W1 3-6
Wilmington Blue Hens 11 14 .440 20.5 9-16 2 5-10 6-4 2-1 2-1 L2 4-6
Jersey City Skeeters 10 17 .370 22.5 11-16 -1 5-7 5-10 2-1 4-1 W1 4-6
Lancaster Ironsides 13 30 .302 27.5 11-32 2 4-14 9-16 2-1 4-3 L3 1-9
Washington Nationals 18 45 .286 32.5 17-46 1 11-25 7-20 0-7 5-8 L4 4-6
Trenton Trentonians 16 44 .267 33.0 12-48 4 6-24 10-20 3-1 4-6 L5 2-8
TRIO OF DIXIE CLUBS FAIL TO COMPLETE SCHEDULE
Three of the Southern League's member clubs were forced to disband this season due to financial problems, casting a shadow on the loop's debut season. These problems will not prevent the League from competing again in 1886, though changes are obviously in the offing. Birmingham, Chattanooga and - surprisingly - Columbus all disbanded. The loss of Columbus was particularly surprising as that club represented the best performer of the circuit, and indeed, won more games than anyone else. Since the Stars were no longer a team in the league whne the schedule finished on September 17, the official championship was awarded to Memphis, which won the second-most games and had the league's top pitcher in Conrad Phillip who won 27 games with a 2.69 earned run average.
CONRAD PHILLIP
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SOUTHERN LEAGUE STANDINGS
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run Streak Last10
Columbus Stars 58 33 .637 - 53-38 5 27-12 31-21 2-3 14-12 W3 6-4
Memphis Browns 56 44 .560 6.5 57-43 -1 28-23 28-21 3-6 11-14 L2 6-4
Augusta Browns 53 48 .525 10.0 51-50 2 21-25 32-23 7-5 13-12 L2 3-7
Atlanta Atlantas 48 52 .480 14.5 52-48 -4 29-34 19-18 3-4 10-12 W2 7-3
Birmingham Club 42 48 .467 15.5 42-48 0 17-21 25-27 3-1 10-15 W4 6-4
Nashville Americans 44 52 .458 16.5 43-53 1 26-28 18-24 1-5 13-10 L3 3-7
Chattanooga Lookouts 41 50 .451 17.0 43-48 -2 19-20 22-30 4-2 9-9 W2 5-5
Macon Club 40 55 .421 20.0 41-54 -1 21-31 19-24 4-1 12-8 W2 3-7