The year 1878 saw but six clubs in the league race, there being the
Boston, Cincinnati, Providence, Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee
clubs, and they finished in the order named, the Hub's representatives
winning by a margin of four games from their nearest competitor. The
early part of the year saw the Cincinnatis in the lead, with Chicago
well up toward the front, and it looked for a time as though the honors
of the season might be carried off by the Western clubs. The Cincinnati
Club went into the air during the summer, however, and surrendered the
first place to Boston, the latter team playing finely together, and
though it rallied strongly afterward it found itself unable to overtake
the leaders.
The Chicago team was not a strong one that season and minor ailments and
accidents made it still weaker than it would otherwise have been. A. G.
Spalding having retired from active ball playing, had gone into the
sporting goods business, and Robert Ferguson had been selected to take
his place as manager and captain of the team, which was made up as
follows:
Robert Ferguson, shortstop and captain; Anson, left field; Start, first
base; Cassidy, right field; Remsen, center field; Hankinson, third base;
McClellan, second base; Frank Larkin, pitcher; Harbidge, catcher;
Hallman and Reis, substitutes.
There were several weak spots in this team and it was not long before
the fact became evident. Ferguson himself, while a fair shortstop, was
by no means a top-notcher, and neither was he a really good manager, he
not having the necessary control over the men that he had under him.
Harbridge was not even a fair catcher; in fact, according to my
estimate, he was a poor one. He was a left-handed thrower and made
awkward work getting a ball to the bases.
Joe Start was a good ball player, indeed, a first-class man. He was
always to be depended upon, worked hard, was a sure catch, a good
fielder and a first-class wielder of the ash. He was known far and wide
as "Old Reliable" and his reputation was in every way above reproach,
both on and off the field.
McClellan, who played the second base, I first saw play at St. Paul in
1876. He was a nice fielder, but only a moderate batsman. Taking him all
around, however, he was better than the average, but not to be compared
with some of the men who afterwards played in that position.
Cassidy, the right fielder, was only an average player, and Hankinson,
who played third base and change pitcher, was never in the first class.
Larkin, who had pitched the year before for the Hartford Club, was a
rattling good man and a really first-class pitcher, who would have won
more games than he did had he met with the support that he should have
had.
Remsen was a fine fielder and a fast base-runner, but his weak point was
in hitting. He was a good thrower, too, though I beat him in a match at
Hartford by covering 127 yards and 4 inches, a performance that
surprised some people who had wagered their money on his success.
During the greater part of that year I was troubled with a frog felon on
my right hand that nearly incapacitated me from playing altogether. It
was absolute torture to me to catch, but I managed to worry along with
it in some sort of fashion, though unable to do myself justice, and for
that reason I stood lower on the list of averages than I might otherwise
have done.
A felon is a mighty unpleasant thing to have at the best, and a man
deserves some credit for playing ball at all that is afflicted in that
way.
When the season ended none of the clubs had made any money, but the game
was growing steadily in public favor, and it was evident to even the
most superficial observer that there was "a good time coming."
The following year, 1879, saw a great many changes both in League
memberships and in the personnel of its players. At the annual meeting
held in Cleveland December 4, 1878, the Indianapolis Club resigned its
membership and the circuit was filled by the admission of clubs from
Cleveland, Buffalo and Syracuse. The Milwaukee Club afterward failing to
come to time the Troy, N. Y., Club was taken in to fill the vacancy.
George Wright, one of the greatest players of the day, and the man to
whom Boston owed much of its success in winning the pennant, deserted
Boston for Providence, taking O'Rourke with him, and after the hardest
sort of a fight with Boston, Chicago and Buffalo he succeeded in winning
the pennant with that organization, he having the services of John M.
Ward and "Bobby" Matthews as pitchers, Lewis J. Brown as catcher; Joe
Start, M. H. McGeary and W. L. Hague on the bases; with "Tommy" Stark,
Paul Hines and James O'Rourke in the field. Emil Grace and John Farrell
replaced Brown and Hague toward the close of the season.
It was a great year of changes all around and the League teams taken as
a whole were stronger than they had ever been before.
Among the pitchers outside of these I have already mentioned were such
stars as McCormick, "Jimmy" Galyin, Bradley and Will White, all of whom
are famous as twirlers in base-ball history.
The Chicago team was that season the strongest that the "Windy City" had
yet put in the field. To succeed Ferguson, who had gone elsewhere, I was
selected as captain and manager, a position that I have always had
reason to believe came to me through the influence of Mr. Hulbert, and
that I retained for many a year, through both good and evil report,
finding it but a thankless job at best. The make-up of the team in full
was as follows: Larkin, pitcher; Flint, catcher; Anson, first base;
Quest, second base; Hankinson, pitcher and third base; Peters,
stortstop; Dalrymple, Gore, Remsen and George Schaffer in the field,
with Williamson alternating with Hankinson at third base.
Quest, Flint, Williamson and George Schaffer all came from the
Indianapolis team of the year before, and Dalrymple, who afterward became
a great favorite with Chicago "fans," from the Milwaukees.
Geo. C. Gore was a newcomer in the League ranks, he hailing from New
Bedford, but he soon made for himself a name, being a first-class
fielder and a batsman that was away above the average, as is shown by
his record made in after years.
It was my first season as a first baseman, though T had played the
position at odd times before, and that it suited me is shown by the fact
that I led the League with a fielding average of .974 and stood first
among the batsmen with .407, which was the largest percentage ever made
up to that time. Flint that season stood first in the list of catchers,
and Quest led the second basemen. It was some time during the close of
the season that an unfortunate accident happened to Larkin, and one that
caused his retirement from the diamond for some time afterward. A line
ball from my bat struck him on the head, and as a result, it was at
least so stated, he had to be sent to an asylum, where he remained for
some time, though I believe that he afterwards fully recovered from the
effects of the injury.
It was during this year also that the first reserve rule was adopted, it
being in the shape of a signed agreement by the terms of which each
League club was permitted to reserve five men for the following season,
an agreement that I have always looked upon as being one of the best
things that could have happened, for the reason that it enabled all of
the clubs interested to reserve at least the nucleus of a strong team as
a foundation upon which to build.
The season of 1880 I have always looked upon as a red letter one in my
history, and for good reasons, as that year the Chicago team under my
management brought the pennant to Chicago, and this in spite of the fact
that the teams it had to, encounter were made up of first-class material
in nearly every case.
The Chicago team of that season outclassed all of its competitors, it
being made up as follows: Corcoran and Goldsmith, pitchers; Flint,
catcher; Anson, first base; Quest, second base; Williamson, third base;
Burns, shortstop; Dalrymple, Gore and Kelly in the field, and L. T.
Beals, substitute.
Unlike the majority of the clubs the Chicago Club did not have to depend
upon the services of one first-class pitcher, but had two, both of whom
were "cracker-jacks," and were therefore able to play them on alternate
days instead of breaking them down or laming them by continued and
arduous services.
In catchers, too, the club was especially fortunate, as Flint, who
ranked as one of the best of his day, had an efficient ally in Mike
Kelly, who could fill the breach when necessary.
This was an especially strong team, too, at the bat, as is shown by the
records, Gore leading the League with an average of .365, with myself
second with .338, Dalrymple third with .332, Burns fifth with .309. In
fielding Williamson led the third basemen with an average of .893, while
the fewest hits of the year were made off Corcoran's pitching. Among the
first basemen I held second place with a percentage of .977. Sullivan of
the Worcester team being first with .982 to his credit.
The Chicago Club that year made a little money, but it was the only one
of the lot that did, the others losing, that is, some of them, more
because of bad management than for any other reason.
In consequence of an agreement in regard to the sale of liquors in club
grounds the Cincinnati Club that season forfeited its membership, and at
the annual meeting of the League held in New York December 8th, 1880,
the Detroit Club was elected to the vacant place.
The team that had represented Chicago in 1880 was good enough for me,
and also good enough for the club directors, and that we were able to
hold the players was a matter for self-congratulation.
The only new man on the list in 1881 was Andrew Pearcy, who took T. L.
Beal's place as substitute, and who cut but little figure, as he was
called upon to play but seldom.
That the Chicago Club again won the pennant in 1881 was due to two
reasons. First, its strength as a batting organization, and in this
respect it was undoubtedly the superior of all its rivals, and,
secondly, the superb team work, the entire team playing together as one
man and having but one object in view, and that the landing of the
championship. Record playing was entirely lost sight of by the members
of the club, and sacrifice hitting was indulged in whenever a point
could be made by so doing.
The race throughout the season for everything except the last place was
a close and exciting one, and up to the very last week the result was in
doubt, so close together were the four leaders.
When the season finally closed, however, we had 56 games won and 28
games lost to our credit, against 47 games won and 37 games lost by the
Providence Club, which finished in the second place.
Buffalo came third with 45 games won and 38 games lost, and Detroit
fourth with 41 games won and 43 lost; Troy being fifth, Boston sixth,
Cleveland seventh and Worcester eighth on the list.
In batting that season I again led the list with an average of .399 and
stood at the head of the first basemen with .975 to my credit.
When the season came to a close the majority of the League clubs had
made money and base-ball was more popular than ever with the public, who
had learned to look upon it as a square sport, and one over which the
gamblers had no control whatever.
The grounds occupied by the Chicago Club at that time were the most
accessible of any in the country, being situated on the lake front near
the foot of Randolph street, and within five minutes' walk from any part
of the business district. The only fault that could be found with them
were that they were too small, both for the crowds that thronged them
when an important game was being played, and because of the fact that
the fences interfered too often with the performance of the League's
star batsmen.
With such a team as the champions then boasted of what was the use of
making any changes? No use whatever, and so the season of 1882 found the
same old "White-Stocking" team in the field, the only new player that
had been signed being Hugh Nichols, who came from Rockford, and who was
signed as an outfielder.
There was no change either in the clubs that went to make up the League,
each and every one of which was bent on wresting the championship from
the Garden City, and with that object in view every other club in the
league had been strengthened as far as was possible.
The attempt was a vain one, however, although the race from the start to
the finish was a hot one, and one that kept the lovers of base-ball on
tenter hooks until the season was over, while the betting in the
poolrooms throughout the country was hot and heavy, and be it said right
here, to the credit of the ball players, there was not the slightest
suspicion or whisper of crookedness in connection with the games. The
rivalry was most intense, and as a result the crowds that greeted
the players everywhere were both large and enthusiastic, this
being especially the case on the home grounds, where, owing to our
long-continued success, we were naturally great favorites. The majority
of the clubs in the League that season made money and to all appearances
an era of prosperity, so far as the National Game was concerned, had
begun.
The close of the season again saw the Chicago Club in the lead, they
having won 55 games and lost 29, while Providence stood second on the
list with 52 games won and 32 games lost to its credit.
Buffalo stood third, Boston fourth, Cleveland fifth, Detroit sixth, Troy
seventh, while Worcester, as in the preceding year, brought up the tail
end of the procession.
Brouthers of the Buffalo Club headed the batting list with a percentage
of .369, while I came next with .367, and that I had had my eye on the
ball throughout the season is a fact that the opposing pitchers could
bear witness to.
Prior to the beginning of the season, the exact date being April 10,
1882, President Hulbert, the founder of the League, and one of the best
friends that I had ever had either inside or outside of the profession,
passed away, leaving a void in base-ball circles that was indeed hard to
fill. It has often been a matter of sincere regret, both to myself and
others, that he could not have lived to witness the fruition of all his
hopes. Arbitrary and severe though he may have been at times, yet the
fact remains that he was the best friend that the ball players had ever
had.
Appreciating the possibilities of the game as a moneymaker, when rightly
conducted, he bent his energy toward rescuing it from the hands of
gamblers, into which it seemed about to fall, and place it where it
belonged, at the head of all of American outdoor sports.
Many and many a time since than have I missed his cool-headed judgment,
his cheering words and his sound advice, and I have no hesitation in
saying to-day that to him the ball players owe even now a debt of
gratitude that can never be repaid.