[Eckstein 4 Prez]

July 3, 1881 - Sunday Base Ball Report

Boston Red Caps 22-13
Cleveland Blues 22-14
Troy Trojans 21-14
Detroit Wolverines 18-18
Buffalo Bisons 16-19
Providence Grays 15-20
Worcester Ruby Legs 14-20
Chicago White Stockings 13-23

As we close in on the halfway point of the season, it is starting to look like a three-team race between Boston, Cleveland and Troy. (You'd almost think someone predicted these to be the top three teams.) Of course, the bottom teams are closer than usual to the first division, so there is still plenty of time for one of them to get hot and join the race, but at the moment it looks like these will be the contenders.

Boston is led by the usual suspects: Anson and Barnes are again two of the best position players in base ball, and McVey, while not quite at their level, is perhaps the best catcher out there. Cleveland is doing it with pitching, defense, and some timely hitting from Glasscock, Dunlap and Dalrymple. Troy has some great young players in Brouthers, Connor and Buck Ewing, but perhaps because of this youth they tend to be wildly inconsistent from one game to the next.

Cleveland's title hopes actually suffered a serious blow this week, as they lost starting third baseman Fred Waterman for the year to an injury. At 35, Waterman is no longer the star he was in his younger days, but he is still a solid player who was hitting .298 for the Blues. In addition, the team doesn't really have much to replace him with; Jack Gleason, who they've installed as the new guy, is a very good fielder at third but has a lifetime average of .192 in parts of five seasons with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, the Indianapolis Blues, and Cleveland.

Finally, a big individual achievement this week: Paul Hines of Chicago, who will be a free agent this offseason if he doesn't sign an extension (and who is only 26 years old), has tied the single-season record for home runs by hitting his fourth and fifth shots of the season this week. This achievement is made even more amazing because no other player in base ball has more than two home runs, and we aren't even to the season's halfway point yet.

The current league leaders:

Batting Average - .362, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
On-Base Percentage - .421, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Slugging Percentage - .497, Jack Glasscock, Cleveland Blues
OPS - .917, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Hits - 58, Levi Meyerle, Chicago White Stockings
Doubles - 12, 3 players tied
Triples - 6, Jack Glasscock, Cleveland Blues
Home Runs - 5, Paul Hines, Chicago White Stockings
Extra Base Hits - 18, Jack Glasscock, Cleveland Blues
Total Bases - 77, Jack Glasscock, Cleveland Blues
Runs Batted In - 29, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps
Runs Scored - 35, Roger Connor, Troy Trojans
Stolen Bases - 9, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Walks - 17, Roger Connor, Troy and Jimmy Wood, Troy
Strikeouts - 28, Orator Shaffer, Detroit Wolverines
RC/27 - 7.91, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps
ISO - .170, Lip Pike, Buffalo Bisons
VORP (Batting) - 17.1, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps

Earned Run Average - 1.59, Foghorn Bradley, Boston Red Caps
Wins - 15, Pud Galvin, Troy Trojans
Losses - 14, Bobby Mitchell, Worcester Ruby Legs
Saves - 2, John "Lefty" McMullin, Chicago White Stockings
Innings Pitched - 206, Pud Galvin, Troy Trojans
Shutouts - 2, Foghorn Bradley, Boston and George Bradley, Cleveland
Walks - 38, George Bradley, Cleveland and Larry Corcoran, Chicago
Strikeouts - 110, Larry Corcoran, Chicago White Stockings
H/9IP - 7.02, Harry Wheeler, Providence Grays
HR/9IP - 0.00, 6 players tied
BB/9IP - 0.80, Foghorn Bradley, Boston Red Caps
K/9IP - 4.88, Larry Corcoran, Chicago White Stockings
K/BB Ratio - 4.31, George Derby, Detroit Wolverines
Opp. Avg. - .195, Harry Wheeler, Providence Grays
WHIP - 1.01, Foghorn Bradley, Boston Red Caps
VORP (Pitching) - 32.3, Tommy Bond, Detroit Wolverines