August 1, 1877
July saw the Red Caps and Brown Stockings battle it out in the standings while the Reds returned to the field. Cincinnati held their own in games played despite not knowing for certain if their games would officially be counted in the standings. Hartford continued on their downward trend and are seeing their home crowd attendance crumble in the process, which is hardly surprising considering they play in the home park of last year’s Mutuals, who were also struggling with attendance but with a better team. Louisville went 4-7 in July, losing in all four matches with the Boston Red Caps, but winning against St. Louis.
In Other News
Jul 2: The Chicago White Stockings and St. Louis Brown Stockings head into the 9th inning with St. Louis up 6-5. In the top of the 9th, Chicago scores 8 runs to take a 13-6 lead, however St. Louis quickly battles back and scores 6 runs with nobody out to come to within 1 run. With the tying run on 1st base, the White Stokings bring in Henry Lemonds, who gets the next 3 batters to end the game. It is the first appearance of Lemonds career.
Jul 3: Louisville wins 6-5 in Cincinnati in the Reds first game back after their brief dissolution. Cincinnati plans to finish out the year in hopes that the team will not be booted from the league as Philadelphia and New York were last season.
Jul 4: The National League celebrates Independence Day with a full slate of games. Boston loses 2-8 in Chicago, while St. Louis’ John Zackery shuts out Hartford to give the Brown Stockings a half game lead in the standings.
Jul 9: The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon.
Jul 13: With Boston and St. Louis once again tied atop the standings, the two teams clash in St. Louis in a high scoring affair. The teams combine for 25 hits and 9 errors in a 12-7 victory for the home team. On the 14th, St. Louis wins again to give themselves a 2-game lead in the standings.
Jul 16: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 begins. Riots by B&O Railroad workers in Baltimore lead to a strike in Pittsburgh and a full scale rebellion in St. Louis where a communist government is briefly established before President Hayes calls in the armed forces to put an end to it.
Jul 22: The Chicago White Stockings trade OF John Gano, who they had signed out of Cincinnati when the Reds folded, to the Louisville Grays for starter Bill Johnson.
Standings
Code:
W L PCT GB
St. Louis Brown Stockings 24 9 .727 -
Boston Red Caps 23 13 .639 2.5
Cincinnati Reds 15 13 .536 6.5
Chicago White Stockings 14 18 .438 9.5
Louisville Grays 14 19 .424 10.0
Hartford Dark Blues 9 27 .250 16.5
League Leaders
Average
.371 Bob Polansky (STL)
.344 Fred Mannion (BOS)
.333 John Nero (CHW), Mike Stanley (STL)
Total Bases
76 Bob Polansky (STL)
64 Fred Mannion (BOS)
63 Jim Linhart (HAR)
Stolen Bases
13 Fred Mannion (BOS)
8 John Nero (CHW)
8 Sam Shokes (BOS)
ERA
2.04 Jack Anderson (STL)
2.14 Bill Johnson (CHW)
2.31 John Storey (BOS)
Wins
16 John Storey (BOS)
12 Bill Johnson (CHW)
11 Jack Anderson (STL)
Strikeouts
56 John Storey (BOS)
46 Joe Bormann (CIN)
40 Jack Anderson (STL)