1889 – In a trade of pitchers, the Indianapolis Hoosiers send John Healy to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Jim Whitney.
1889 – The final game of the All-American All-Stars tour is played in Dublin, Ireland. The group sails for America the next day after playing 28 games overseas.
1889 – The minor league season opens with the California League in San Francisco and Stockton. This year’s new rules include the first legal substitution rule and the reduction of balls for a walk from 5 to 4. The substitution rule, which allows a team to designate one man to be put into the game at the captain’s discretion at the end of any inning, will soon be modified.
1889 – John Ward arrives in New York, having left the world tour early, and states that he might consent to play with the Washington Nationals if he receives a major portion of the $12,000 sale price. On April 2nd he will kill the deal with the Giants by refusing to play for Washington.
1889 – The All America team beats Chicago, 7 – 6, in England’s Old Trafford Cricket Stadium. The Manchester Guardian says: the “general verdict of the more than 1,000 spectators was that the American game was ‘slow’ and ‘wanting in variety.'”
1889 – A New York sporting goods house receives an order for bats, balls, and other baseball equipment from Mr. Hiroka of Tokyo, Japan. In his letter he says that baseball “has been played there for several months” and that a baseball association would soon be organized.
1889 – In the American Association, the Columbus Solons finally resolve their long-disputed attempt to sign third baseman Spud Johnson by paying the Kansas City Cowboys $500.
1889 – Pittsburgh Alleghenys third baseman Billy Kuehne is arrested at his billiards parlour in Allegheny City and is charged, along with his partner pitcher Ed Morris, with running a gambling house. When the case comes to trial, the key witness fails to appear and the charges will be dropped.
1889 – Both the National League and American Association hold their spring meetings to adopt their schedules. The NL also hires a fifth umpire at a salary of $200 per month. The AA, to the surprise of many, does not adopt the NL’s salary classification system.
1889 – Pitcher Bobby Mathews goes to court to try and collect $600 that he claims is owed to him by the Philadelphia Athletics (American Association) for his services as a coach in 1888. If Matthews collects, it will make him the first paid coach in major league history.
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