FINAL STANDINGS:
Code:
National League
Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA
Providence 80 32 .714 -- .309 2.66
Detroit 62 50 .554 18 .260 3.22
Cleveland 61 51 .545 19 .264 3.09
Buffalo 59 51 .536 20 .252 3.11
Chicago 51 60 .459 28.5 .211 2.91
Boston 50 61 .450 29.5 .244 3.46
Philadelphia (N) 50 62 .446 30 .235 3.16
New York (N) 33 79 .295 47 .255 4.22
American Association
Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA
New York (A) 76 31 .710 -- .271 2.38
Brooklyn (A) 71 33 .683 -- .270 2.64
Indianapolis 60 47 .561 12.5 .263 2.60
Richmond 57 47 .548 14 .259 3.32
Toledo 54 49 .524 16.5 .231 3.36
Cincinnati 53 56 .486 24 .287 4.26
St. Louis (A) 49 58 .458 27 .264 3.88
Baltimore 46 60 .434 29.5 .264 3.63
Philadelphia (A) 44 63 .411 32 .252 3.50
Pittsburgh 44 64 .407 32.5 .244 3.93
Louisville 44 64 .407 32.5 .258 3.60
Columbus 41 67 .380 35.5 .225 3.73
Union Association
Name W L PCT GB AVG ERA
Milwaukee (U) 53 42 .558 -- .229 1.87
Washington (U) 58 48 .547 .5 .228 2.22
St. Paul (U) 51 45 .531 2.5 .235 2.60
Baltimore (U) 54 49 .524 3 .242 2.38
St. Louis (U) 56 53 .514 4 .238 2.31
Kansas City (U) 51 53 .490 6.5 .221 2.82
Cincinnati (U) 48 52 .480 7.5 .205 2.29
Boston (U) 38 67 .362 20 .202 3.08
RECAP:
1884 was a wild and strange ride for everyone involved in the base ball world. The roots for the convulsion were several years old. Seems a St. Louis businessman by the name of Uriah Kessel had decided back in 1881 or so that he would like to get into the National League. The magnates at the time - and since - had naturally refused. Their "club" (the NL) was exclusive and no jumped-up real estate man with a shady background was welcome, thank you very much. In 1882 (and '83) the American Association's owners had said the same thing - and they even put a club in St. Louis.
Well, Kessel had not made a fortune in real estate speculation by being timid or by taking "No" for an answer. So he decided that if the boys wouldn't let him join their leagues, he'd start his own. He called it the Union Association and it set the base ball world on its ear in 1884.
Kessel started a team he dubbed the St. Louis Maroons, build a brand-new ballpark for it and started assembling like minded men for an eight-team circuit. The starting lineup for the UA included clubs in current of former NL and AA cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Boston, and Cincinnati. His eighth club landed in Altoona, PA, a rail hub about fifty miles east of Pittsburgh. Then the UA said it wouldn't recognize the reserve clause and started raiding NL and AA rosters.
The League and Association, who had been waging their own war for a couple of years decided to band together to fight the Unions. Well, really the National League's shrewd operators convinced the Association to take on the Unions head to head by adding four new clubs. The League would remain at eight. The AA added clubs in Brooklyn, Washington, Indianapolis and Toledo. The Association also made news when the Pittsburgh club announced it had signed Bill Bartholomew, a former slave and the first African-American to play major league baseball.
When the season began, it was a mess - for almost everyone. The National League had lost several players to the Unions, but rode out the storm in fine fettle, having convinced the AA to shoulder the main burden of the war with the Unions. The American Association struggled. The Columbus club found it couldn't really compete in what was becoming a "big city" league and limped to a last place finish. The new Washington club couldn't stick it out in head to head competition with the Union Association and relocated to Richmond, finishing with a respectable 57 wins. Brooklyn was an unmitigated success, winning 71 games and establishing itself as a club to be reckoned with. Gate receipts were down everywhere, but especially in Toledo and Indianapolis who lost money despite having good teams.
The Union Association fared the worst. Altoona couldn't support a club and it was quickly shifted to Kansas City. Philadelphia couldn't support three clubs and the Union entry was shifted to nearby Wilmington in August and then Milwaukee in September and finished with the UA's best winning percentage. Chicago ended up playing half its games in Pittsburgh before shifting to St. Paul late in the season. St. Louis had the most success at the gate, though not on the field.
When the dust settled, it was clear that the world was not ready for three base ball leagues. The Union Association died quickly - and mercifully. Seven of its clubs disappeared as a footnote in base ball history. The eighth - St. Louis - was absorbed by the National League. This betrayal of the AA, which had a club in St. Louis already, was perpetrated by the NL despite their truce when Cleveland could no longer be supported and was disbanded at season's end.
Providence and the New York Mets were again the champs of the NL and AA respectively and the Union "pennant" went to either Milwaukee (best win percentage) or Washington (most wins), depending on who you asked. The American Association folded four clubs to get back down to eight at year's end. Indianapolis, Toledo and Richmond were gone as one-year wonders and Columbus also clocked out, unable to compete with the bigger cities. Brooklyn stayed on, a good team that was likely to be competing with New York for years to come. Or at least that's how it looked as 1884 drew to a merciful close.
LEADERS:
TOP 5 in BATTING AVG :
.349 Victor Anderson(DTN)
.348 Barry Pounds(NY4)
.344 Paddy McKeehan(PRO)
.344 Charlie Keffer(PRO)
.343 Buster Brown(CN2)
TOP 5 in HOMERUNS :
11 Norm Woods( BR3)
8 Rick Morrison(CL2)
8 Tommy Bernard(PRO)
8 Tim Aston( BR3)
8 Dave Hedgepeth( TL1)
TOP 5 in RBI :
99 Jack McKinley(PRO)
93 Garret Nevins(SL4)
91 Jack Cogburn(PRO)
89 Tommy Bernard(PRO)
84 Norm Woods( BR3)
TOP 5 in ERA :
1.74 Eli Money( PHU WIL MLU)
1.99 Bob Blue( WSU)
2.04 Woody Norris( PHU WIL MLU)
2.05 Paul Wayman( SLU)
2.10 Floyd Birdsong( BLU)
TOP 5 in WINS :
50 Jim Durr(PRO)
42 Dan Buckner(NY4)
40 Bulldog Ayers( BR3)
34 Tom Bauman( NY4)
34 Paul Trail(DTN)
AWARDS:
Batter of the Year:
Tommy Bernard, Providence Grays, .340 average, 7 doubles, 12 triples, 8 homers, 89 RBI, 94 runs
Pitcher of the Year:
Jim Durr, Providence Grays, 50-17 record, 2.75 ERA, 603 innings, 323 strikeouts
CREATED PLAYER NOTES:
John "The Mighty" Casey, at 24 and in his eighth season, had the best season of his career with a .298 average, 32 doubles, 8 triples and 3 homers for the Grays.
Tommy Bernard developed into a star in 1884, winning the Batter of the Year for his .340 average with 7 doubles, 12 triples and 8 homers.
Black Jack McKinley nearly became the first hitter to top 100 RBIs as he finished with 99 in a season in which he hit .307 with 19 doubles, 5 triples and 1 home run for the Providence juggernaut.
Shane Day continued his steady improvement. The St. Louis (A) catcher hit .311 with 18 doubles, 10 triples and a home run.
Wild Willy Williamson remained the workhorse pitcher of the Baltimore Orioles, but again finished with a losing record at 25-34 with a 3.34 earned run average.
The growing pains continued for
Virgil Pendergrass. The Philadelphia Quaker outfielder improved somewhat, hitting .218, but showed that he still had some improving to do.
Ajax McFadden was the lone shining point for the Cleveland club which struggled to make it through the 1884 campaign and gave up the ghost in the end. McFadden hit .292 with 9 doubles, 12 triples and 3 homers and also stole 18 bases. He was expected to be highly sought after by the remaining clubs in the consolidation after 1884.
Cincinnati's
Otto Bentz was a part-time player in 1884 as he continues to mature. He did hit .328 in 53 games, and showed good speed with 5 doubles, 8 triples and a home run. His play in the field was also solid once again.
Bill Bartholomew burst onto the scene in 1884 with a great debut. He hit .336 with 19 doubles and 19 triples (third in all of base ball). The sad part is that the color of his skin may keep him from returning in 1885. With the contraction from 28 clubs back down to 16, jobs will be scarce and with prejudice high, it's likely Bartholomew will be out of a job.