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August 28, 1881 - Sunday Base Ball Report

Cleveland Blues 40-23
Boston Red Caps 39-24
Detroit Wolverines 35-29
Troy Trojans 33-29
Chicago White Stockings 29-35
Buffalo Bisons 26-36
Providence Grays 26-37
Worcester Ruby Legs 23-38

With approximately one month and twenty games to go in the 1881 season, Cleveland has a slight edge over the two-time defending champion Boston Red Caps. However, that slight edge looks difficult to overcome given the fact that Boston will be without star hitter Ross Barnes for the rest of the season. The one silver lining for Boston is this: if they can stay within three games of Cleveland, they will have a chance at season's end, as the two teams meet for a three-game set to close the season.

Meanwhile, although Levi Meyerle's Chicago White Stockings are out of the running this year, Meyerle has a chance to become the fourth member of the 1,000 hit club before the season ends. With 20 games left (all on the road!), Meyerle currently stands at 978 hits, 22 shy of the 1,000 mark. It's going to be a close call down the stretch for him.

Interestingly, it might be a while before we get another 1,000-hit player after Meyerle. In fifth place all time is Jim Foran of Cleveland, who has 885 career hits. His current pace would put him at just over 900 at season's end, so it could be 1883 before we have another player over the threshold. The overall leader is currently Cal McVey of Boston, with 1,111 hits as of today.

The current league leaders:

Batting Average - .370, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps
On-Base Percentage - .417, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps
Slugging Percentage - .498, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps
OPS - .915, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps
Hits - 102, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Doubles - 22, "Orator Jim" O'Rourke, Chicago and Lip Pike, Buffalo
Triples - 8, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Home Runs - 7, Paul Hines, Chicago White Stockings
Extra Base Hits - 25, 3 players tied
Total Bases - 138, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Runs Batted In - 51, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Runs Scored - 64, Cap Anson, Boston Red Caps
Stolen Bases - 15, Hugh Nicol, Chicago White Stockings
Walks - 23, "Orator Jim" O'Rourke, Chicago and Hardy Richardson, Buffalo
Strikeouts - 42, John Morrill, Boston Red Caps
RC/27 - 8.42, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps
ISO - .159, Paul Hines, Chicago White Stockings
VORP (Batting) - 32.9, Ross Barnes, Boston Red Caps

Earned Run Average - 1.85, Tommy Bond, Detroit Wolverines
Wins - 27, George Bradley, Cleveland Blues
Losses - 24, Bobby Mitchell, Worcester Ruby Legs
Saves - 2, 3 players tied
Innings Pitched - 391 2/3, Larry Corcoran, Chicago White Stockings
Shutouts - 2, 4 players tied
Walks - 91, Larry Corcoran, Chicago White Stockings
Strikeouts - 230, Larry Corcoran, Chicago White Stockings
H/9IP - 7.31, George Bradley, Cleveland Blues
HR/9IP - 0.00, Jack Lynch, Buffalo Bisons
BB/9IP - 0.83, Foghorn Bradley, Boston Red Caps
K/9IP - 5.29, Larry Corcoran, Chicago White Stockings
K/BB Ratio - 4.67, Bobby Mitchell, Worcester Ruby Legs
Opp. Avg. - .209, Harry Wheeler, Providence Grays
WHIP - 1.02, George Bradley, Cleveland Blues
VORP (Pitching) - 59.9, Tommy Bond, Detroit Wolverines