July 1, 1876
The Philadelphia Athletics shot up the standings in June, going 12-1 for the month with only the Reds getting the better of them. Starter Joe Gotcher has been the catalyst, who is now 13-2 with a 2.15 ERA on the year. Meanwhile, Boston struggled to a 8-5 record as the Athletics caught up with them for first place. St. Louis and Cincinnati both managed to stay close to the league leaders as well, and with a month like Philadelphia had, either could easily move into first place in the coming months.
New York and Hartford each dropped back a few more games, and will have a long way to climb, but the team that struggled the most was Chicago. The White Stockings were the antithesis to the Athletics over the month of June. They managed to beat the Mutuals twice, but those were the only victories they managed. They lost 11 games against Boston, Philadelphia, and New York combined, and while they’ll have a slightly easier schedule in July, their season is already starting to look lost.
In Other News
June 4: The Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco after leaving New York City 83 hours earlier.
June 8: The Chicago Tribune reports the following: "One of the stupidest ideas that ever entered into the head of base-ball managers is the new arrangement on the Hartford grounds‚ by which they refuse to permit the transmission of any report of the game by innings. As the 'Courant' well says‚ those who have been visitors to the bulletins are those who have an interest in the game‚ which is kept alive by their opportunity of watching the board‚ and the increased interest they have had has made them visitors to the games when a game of special interest has been played‚ or when they could get away from their business to attend. Not to continue the score by innings is to remove a very excellent and cheap feature of advertising‚ and‚ in a money way‚ to cause a loss to the ball manager"
June 15: Left fielder Henry Rasnick of the Louisville Grays goes hitless against Hartford to see his 23 game hit streak come to an end. It is the longest hitting streak the National League has seen in its short history.
June 20: Cincinnati Reds pitcher Joe Bormann shuts out the league leading Red Caps on 5 hits, winning 3-0 after LF Bob Handy hits a 3-run home run in the 4th inning. Will Svoboda gets the loss for Boston.
June 25: Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry Regiment are wiped out by Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Standings
Code:
W L PCT GB
Boston Red Caps 19 10 .655 -
Philadelphia Athletics 19 10 .655 -
Cincinnati Reds 17 12 .586 2.0
St. Louis Brown Stockings 16 13 .552 3.0
New York Mutuals 13 15 .464 5.5
Hartford Dark Blues 12 16 .429 6.5
Louisville Grays 11 20 .355 9.0
Chicago White Stockings 9 20 .310 10.0
League Leaders
Average
.386 Joe Holleran (BOS)
.362 Tom Childers (NY)
.358 Charlie Rossi (BOS)
Total Bases
65 Bob Polansky (STL)
61 Henry Rasnick (LOU)
59 Joe Holleran (BOS), Fred Mannion (BOS)
Stolen Bases
10 Fred Mannion (BOS)
8 John Arend (STL)
7 Harry Pigg (CHW)
ERA
1.93 Bill McManis (NY)
2.08 Charlie Barta (STL)
2.15 Joe Gotcher (PHA)
Wins
15 Joe Bormann (CIN)
13 Joe Gotcher (PHA)
13 Will Svoboda (BOS)
Strikeouts
39 Joe Bormann (CIN)
33 Charlie Barta (STL)
18 Frank Kale (HAR)