June 1, 1876
With just a handful of games in April, I went ahead and simmed through May
The Boston Red Caps have taken the early season lead after making a significant pitching switch. Starter Fred Ross struggled, so the team returned a familiar face to the mound. 38 year old Will Svoboda, who won 20 games in the NA in 1874, has been getting the majority of the starts for the team. Svoboda is now 6-1 with a 1.24 ERA. The offense has been superb, too, led by .384 hitting Joe Holleran.
As expected, the St. Louis Browns are also right in the thick of things. Starter Charlie Barta has a 1.67 ERA and 7 wins, while the offense is leading the league with a .300 batting average. Five players are batting over .300, with Bob Polansky leading the group at .384.
While no team is completely out of it yet, the Louisville Grays are certainly making a bid to be the first team so designated. Starter Jack Due has not been good, with 10 losses already on the year. The offense boasts Henry Rasnick’s .392 average, but he’s not getting much help from his teammates outside of Doc Bankhead.
Among the other interesting developments around the league are George Ott losing his role as New York’s starter, where Bill McManis has been getting regular duty after Ott failed to deliver. As expected, Chicago has had the greatest difficulty scoring runs.
In Other News
May 1: Boston’s Charlie Rossi becomes the first National Leaguer to collect 6 hits in a ballgame. Rossi was 6-6 with a double and a home run in the Red Caps’ 15-4 victory over Hartford.
May 10: The Centennial Exposition, a World’s Fair celebrating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, commences in Philadelphia.
May 18: Wyatt Earp begins work as assistant marshal of Dodge City, Kansas.
May 19: Veteran infielder Charlie Groezinger injured his shoulder and is unexpected to play baseball again. Groezinger played for 5 different teams in the National Association before signing with Hartford to play shortstop for the Dark Blues this season. He hit over .300 for the first time last year, and was hitting .302 with a pair of doubles this season. George Marrion and Charlie Norman have been splitting time at shortstop since.
May 19, May 23: Boston’s Will Svoboda hurled a pair of shutouts, the first against Hartford and the second against Cincinnati. Hartford had 3 hits while the Reds managed 6, as Svoboda showed that experience can be more valuable than ability.
Standings
Code:
W L PCT GB
Boston Red Caps 11 5 .688 -
St. Louis Brown Stockings 10 6 .625 1.0
Cincinnati Reds 9 7 .563 2.0
New York Mutuals 8 7 .533 2.5
Chicago White Stockings 7 9 .438 4.0
Hartford Dark Blues 6 8 .429 4.0
Philadelphia Athletics 7 9 .438 4.0
Louisville Grays 5 12 .294 6.5
League Leaders
Average
.392 Henry Rasnick (LOU)
.384 Joe Holleran (BOS)
.384 Mike Stanley (STL)
Total Bases
40 Henry Rasnick (LOU)
37 Fred Mannion (BOS)
36 Bob Polansky (STL), Mike Stanley (STL)
Stolen Bases
7 Fred Mannion (BOS)
4 Jim Heyman (PHA)
3 Nat Alsop (STL), John Arend (STL), Jim Maranto (CHW), John Nero (NY)
ERA
1.22 Bill McManis (NY)
1.24 Will Svoboda (BOS)
1.67 Charlie Barta (STL)
Wins
8 Joe Bormann (CIN)
7 Charlie Barta (STL)
7 Bill McManis (NY)
Strikeouts
21 Joe Bormann (CIN)
20 Charlie Barta (STL)
14 Jack Due (LOU)