Frederick Thayer‚ the inventor of the catcher’s mask‚ and George Wright sue the Spalding Brothers Company for copyright infringement. The two will eventually lose their case.

Frederick Thayer‚ the inventor of the catcher’s mask‚ and George Wright sue the Spalding Brothers Company for copyright infringement. The two will eventually lose their case.

National League baseball returns to the City of Brotherly Love as Philadelphia hosts its first NL game since 1876. The Philadelphia Quakers, after holding their first spring training at Recreation Park, open their regular season there, bowing to the Providence Grays, 4 – 3.

National League baseball returns to the City of Brotherly Love as Philadelphia hosts its first NL game since 1876. The Philadelphia Quakers, after holding their first spring training at Recreation Park, open their regular season there, bowing to the Providence Grays, 4 – 3.

Charlie Bennett
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Charlie Bennett wins case and freedom from the Allegheny

1882 – The case of the Allegheny Club versus Charlie Bennett is won by Bennett. Prior to the 1882 season, Allegheny signed Bennett to a $100 agreement which stated that he would sign an 1883 contract with the club after the season. Instead, Bennett re-signed with the Detroit Wolverines. This case will later have bearing on the fight over the reserve rule during the 1889-1890 Players League war.

1884 – Pitcher Tony Mullane violates an oral agreement to sign with the St. Louis Browns by signing a $5,000 contract with the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The American Association suspends Mullane for the 1885 season and fines him $1,000, but allows him to remain with Cincinnati. Over the next eight years Mullane will win 163 games with the Reds on his way to a career total of 285 victories.

1884 – Pitcher Tony Mullane violates an oral agreement to sign with the St. Louis Browns by signing a $5,000 contract with the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The American Association suspends Mullane for the 1885 season and fines him $1,000, but allows him to remain with Cincinnati. Over the next eight years Mullane will win 163 games with the Reds on his way to a career total of 285 victories.

With his team already ahead in the eighth inning, 5-0, White Stockings (Cubs) outfielder Abner Dalrymple becomes the first player to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded. The run-producing free pass is given up by Buffalo Bisons’ right-hander Jack Lynch in an eventual 11-2 Chicago victory.

With his team already ahead in the eighth inning, 5-0, White Stockings (Cubs) outfielder Abner Dalrymple becomes the first player to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded. The run-producing free pass is given up by Buffalo Bisons’ right-hander Jack Lynch in an eventual 11-2 Chicago victory.

At Strawberry Hill, located on the shores of Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts, the first baseball game played at night takes place under artificial light with teams made up of employees from the retail competitors of Jordan Marsh and R.H. White. The contest, illuminated by lights placed on three wooden towers erected five hundred feet apart from one another by the Northern Electric Light Company that supply the equivalent brightness of 90,000 candles, ends in a 16-16 tie, when the players need to catch the last ferry back to Boston.

At Strawberry Hill, located on the shores of Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts, the first baseball game played at night takes place under artificial light with teams made up of employees from the retail competitors of Jordan Marsh and R.H. White. The contest, illuminated by lights placed on three wooden towers erected five hundred feet apart from one another by the Northern Electric Light Company that supply the equivalent brightness of 90,000 candles, ends in a 16-16 tie, when the players need to catch the last ferry back to Boston.