The Brooklyn Bridegrooms triumphed in six games over the Louisville Colonels to "validate" their pennant win with a Temple Cup triumph. The victory marked the seventh time in the twelve seasons of their existence that the Brooklyn nine had captured the pennant, and was their second win (in two tries) in "postseason" play with the first coming in 1892. That record of excellence stands as a testament to the greatness of the Brooklynites.
The potent Brooklyn offense was led by third baseman Harvey Cart. At just 23 years of age, Cart is already a six-year veteran and enjoyed a breakthrough season in 1895. He led the circuit in batting average with a .384 mark, as well as in hits (221) and total bases (306) as he was not just a singles hitter, a fact attested to by his 41 doubles and 22 triples. Cart was joined by backstop George Christian .340 and right fielder Bradford Brooks (.330). The pitching was solid as well with George Tharp and Arthur Nowlin leading the way. Tharp was 27-14 for the season with the league's second best earned run mark at 2.87 (his 27 victories placed third in the loop). "King Arthur" Nowlin was nearly as effective, with a 20-18 record and 3.27 earned run average, but the truth is that the Brooklyn offense was so potent that the club didn't need a dominating hurler to win the pennant.
Brookyln's Temple Cup opponent, the Louisville club, was forced to play an extra game against Philadelphia to gain entry into the Cup. Their victory placed them just two victories behind Brooklyn, with Philadelphia's 77 wins placing third. The fourth and fifth places were tied with both the defending-champions from Baltimore and Cleveland each notching 76 victories on their 1895 ledger. Sixth-place Boston (72 wins) and seventh-place Pittsburgh (71) both had good seasons on which to build. Eighth-place St. Louis won 69 games, while Washington won and lost 66 to finish ninth, giving the loop nine teams at .500 or above for the first time in history. The bottom three were, as would be expected in a league with nine teams at or above .500, bad. Tenth place Chicago was 49-83. The eleventh-place Cincinnati Reds won 40 and lost 92 and the cellar-dwelling New York Giants managed a mere 39 wins against 93 defeats.
Perhaps the best individual player story from the 1895 season was the continuing emergence of 20-year-old Fritz Behrens as one of the league's best players. The young Pittsburgh outfielder, in just his second season, was named the league's Best Hitter for 1895. He hit a robust .365 with 29 doubles, 25 triples and 8 home runs. He scored 130 runs, drove in 100 and walked 104 times. Attesting to his all-around excellence, he also stole 103 bases. None of which should have been a surprise as he posted almost similar numbers in 1894 as a rookie. Still, one would expect a youngster fresh from the coal fields of western Pennsylvania to require some seasoning before dominating the best base ballers in the world.
FRITZ "THE FLYING DUTCHMAN" BEHRENS
1895 STANDINGS
Code:
Team W L WPct GB R RA
Brooklyn Bridegrooms 80 52 .606 - 911 745
Louisville Colonels 78 55 .586 2.5 974 812
Philadelphia Phillies 77 56 .579 3.5 863 748
Cleveland Spiders 76 56 .576 4.0 834 779
Baltimore Orioles 76 56 .576 4.0 827 586
Boston Beaneaters 72 60 .545 8.0 947 833
Pittsburgh Pirates 71 61 .538 9.0 873 828
St. Louis Browns 69 63 .523 11.0 898 808
Washington Senators 66 66 .500 14.0 765 748
Chicago Colts 49 83 .371 31.0 773 933
Cincinnati Reds 40 92 .303 40.0 698 1226
New York Giants 39 93 .295 41.0 763 1142
Code:
BATTING LEADERS
Batting AVG
H. Cart BRO .384
P. Murphy BLN .371
T. Smith WSN .367
F. Behrens PIT .365
P. Kelly WSN .362
Runs Batted In
N. Eanes PHI 129
H. Ransom BSN 128
M. Bird LS3 122
W. Bowling SLN 114
T. Krupp CL4 112
Home Runs
H. Ransom BSN 27
J. Babbitt PHI 18
I. Montgomery PIT 18
D. Russell BSN 17
N. Schmitt BLN 17
PITCHING LEADERS
ERA
S. Sweetwater BSN 2.82
G. Tharp BRO 2.87
R. Kushner BLN 3.03
R. Lumley BLN 3.14
A. Nowlin BRO 3.27
Wins
R. Kushner BLN 31
T. Fairhead CL4 29
H. Hunter CL4 27
D. Jardine PHI 27
G. Tharp BRO 27
Strikeouts
R. Lumley BLN 212
T. Fairhead CL4 164
R. Kushner BLN 161
T. Goss CIN 140
H. Hunter CL4 128
AWARD WINNERS
Best Hitter Award Fritz Behrens PIT .365/.473/.576, 8 HR, 100 RBI, 71.4 VORP
Best Pitcher Award Rick Kushner BLN 31-18, 3.03 ERA, 437.0 IP, 161 K, 115.5 VORP
Rookie of the Year Award Emory Crisp WSN .332/.413/.439, 1 HR, 74 RBI, 14.7 VORP
Gold Glove Award Pitcher Simon Willis WSN .938 PCT., 29 PO, 92 A, 2.63 RANGE
Catcher Norm Schmitt BLN .916 PCT., 539 PO, 194 A, 50.8 CS %
First Base Zane Bridges PIT .978 PCT., 1604 PO, 96 A, 13.77 RANGE
Second Base Emory Crisp WSN .959 PCT., 383 PO, 564 A, 7.21 RANGE
Third Base Quenton Blanchflower CHN .947 PCT., 122 PO, 292 A, 3.99 RANGE
Shortstop George Wills WSN .957 PCT., 319 PO, 545 A, 6.56 RANGE
Left Field Andy Schoonmaker LS3 .958 PCT., 249 PO, 3 A, 2.55 RANGE
Center Field Paddy Murphy BLN .979 PCT., 462 PO, 4 A, 3.55 RANGE
Right Field Buford Tanner BLN .920 PCT., 308 PO, 3 A, 2.59 RANGE