September 1, 1877
The Brown Stockings extended their lead to a rather formidable seven games over the second place Red Caps, who managed just 3 wins in August. Boston’s decline has come on the heels of an incredibly disappointing season from the offense, which has just one batter hitting over .300. St. Louis has been dominating in all aspects of the game, leading the league in runs scored and runs allowed.
However, the big news of discussion in August comes amidst rumors of possible game fixing by various players of the Louisville Grays. While no names have come to the forefront, the team has played unexpectedly poor in certain games over the past month, leading to speculation among fans and other teams.
In Other News
Aug 1: St. Louis’ Jack Anderson shuts out the Louisville Grays on 6 hits.
Aug 6: National League rules require the home team to submit 3 names of approved local men as a possible umpire for each game, with the visiting team choosing one of them at random. For their game in Louisville, Chicago pulls out the name Dan Devinney, who some believe to be in the pay of the Grays. After examining the other names, Chicago finds that all three names were identical. After demanding a new umpire, the White Stockings go on to shut out the Grays on 3 hits behind a masterful pitching performance by starter Joe Gotcher.
Aug 11: Louisville gets shut out for the third time this month. This time it’s a 5 hit shutout by Gotcher and the White Stockings. Suspicion begins to circulate that the Grays are giving less than their best effort.
Aug 18: The first game in National League history in which no runs were scored during the first 9 innings of play takes place. St. Louis pitcher John Zackery and Chicago pitcher Bill Johnson duel to a scoreless draw after the standard 9 innings are complete. Bob Brose of the Brown Stockings leads off the 10th with a triple, and will score on a single by Jack Miller. Miller will, in turn, score on a single by Fred Kron to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead. Zackery finishes off the White Stockings in the bottom half of the inning for the shutout.
Aug 20: Louisville director Charles E. Chase receives an anonymous telegram saying that “something is wrong with the Louisville players” and that gamblers were betting on Hartford. The Dark Blues go on to score 10 runs in the 2nd inning while the Grays commit 6 errors in a 16-3 Hartford win.
Aug 21: Hartford defeats Louisville for the second consecutive game, this time by a score of 10-1 as the Grays commit 5 errors. Louisville leaves 22 men on base in the game.
Aug 23: After Louisville catcher Frank McMichan is injured on a play at the plate, Steve Tucker takes his place behind the dish with a mask on.
Aug 25: Louisville heads to Boston to face the Red Caps, and despite taking leads in the 8th and 9th innings, Boston rallies to tie each time. The Red Caps then score a run in the bottom of the 10th for the win. The Grays committed 7 errors over those final 3 innings.
Standings
Code:
W L PCT GB
St. Louis Brown Stockings 31 13 .705 -
Boston Red Caps 26 22 .542 7.0
Cincinnati Reds 21 22 .488 9.5
Chicago White Stockings 20 23 .465 10.5
Louisville Grays 22 26 .458 11.0
Hartford Dark Blues 17 31 .354 16.0
League Leaders
Average
.352 Bob Polansky (STL)
.341 Tom Childers (CHW)
.328 Mike Stanley (STL)
Total Bases
93 Bob Polansky (STL)
86 Henry Rasnick (LOU)
81 Jim Linhart (HAR)
Stolen Bases
13 Fred Mannion (BOS)
11 Jim Heyman (HAR)
11 John Nero (CHW)
ERA
1.88 Jack Anderson (STL)
2.04 John Zackery (STL)
2.06 Bill Johnson (CHW)
Wins
18 John Storey (BOS)
13 Bill Johnson (CHW)
12 Jack Anderson (STL), John Zackery (STL)
Strikeouts
67 John Storey (BOS)
58 Joe Bormann (CIN)
50 John Zackery (STL)