MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SEASON RECAP 1883

Season Recap: 1883

League Champion: Boston Beaneaters

1883_Boston_Beaneaters

Boston Base Ball Club, 1883

1883 – Both of the New York Major League clubs will play simultaneously at the Polo Grounds. Their fields will be separated by an 8-foot fence.

The New York Grammar School League is formed.

At a meeting between the American Association and the National League, the Tripartite Agreement (or “National Agreement”) is drafted

In a Northwestern League meeting, Peoria moves to ban black players in order to prevent Toledo from playing star catcher Moses Fleetwood Walker. After an "exciting discussion" the motion is withdrawn and Walker is allowed to play.

In a Northwestern League meeting, Peoria moves to ban black players in order to prevent Toledo from playing star catcher Moses Fleetwood Walker. After an “exciting discussion” the motion is withdrawn and Walker is allowed to play.

1883 – The Olympic Town-Ball Club of Philadelphia, PA, the nation’s oldest ball club, celebrates its 50th anniversary.

“Good ballplayers make good citizens.” – Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States.Chester A. Arthur brings the Forest Cities ball club, a recently defunct franchise of the National Association, to the White House, making it the first professional team to visit with a president in Washington, D.C. Later in the season, the country’s Commander-in-Chief will also host the new National League’s New York Gothams, who will become better known as the Giants in 1885.

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.

The Giants, then known as the Gothams, play their first game in franchise history, defeating Boston, 7 to 5, at the Southeast Diamond at the Polo Grounds in New York. The newcomer in the National League will finish the season with a record of 46-50, sixteen games behind today’s opponent, the league-leading Beaneaters.

The Phillies, known as the Quakers at the time, win their first game in franchise history when they rout the White Stockings, later to be known as the Cubs, at Chicago’s Lake Front Park. Philadelphia had lost their first eight games of the season before today’s 12-0 victory, and will finish the season in last place in the eight-team National League with a dismal 17-81 (.173) record.

Philadelphia makes 21 errors as Boston mauls them 29-4

Philadelphia makes 21 errors as Boston mauls them 29-4

6/23/1883: Jerry Denny of Providence (NL) hit the ball out of the playing field, but he failed to touch third base and was called out.

Tip O'Neill batted out of order twice in same game

Tip O’Neill batted out of order twice in same game

Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn pitches a 1-0 no-hitter against Worcester

Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn pitches a 1-0 no-hitter against Worcester

8/1/1883: Chick Fulmer of the Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association lost a home run in the first inning. Fulmer failed to touch 3B while running out his four-bagger against the Columbus Buckeyes and was out on appeal. In the fourth inning, Fulmer successfully completed a circuit for an inside-the-park homer. The game was played in Cincinnati.

Boston P Jim Whitney muffs a pop-up‚ but catcher Mike Hines catches it before it hits the ground and starts a triple play. All the runners had taken off with the apparent error. Providence still wins‚ 6 – 2.

The Mets please 9‚000 fans by defeating the first-place Athletics in the bottom of the 9th‚ 3 – 2.

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.

Harry_Stovey_Athletics

The Athletics defeat Columbus‚ 19-5‚ with 5 hits by Harry Stovey.

1Chicago scores 11 runs in the 3rd inning en route to a 21 - 7 thrashing of Cleveland

1Chicago scores 11 runs in the 3rd inning en route to a 21 – 7 thrashing of Cleveland

At Chicago’s Lakefront Park, the National League’s White Stockings send 23 batters to the plate, who score 13 runs before an out is recorded. Tommy Burns and Ned Williamson both score three times in the 18-run, 18-hit seventh inning, establishing a major league record that still stands today.

In an American Association contest, John Reilly hits for the cycle, collecting three singles, a double, triple, and home run in the Red Stockings’ 27-5 rout of the visiting Pittsburgh Alleghenys at the Bank Street Grounds. Next week, the 24 year-old Cincinnati first baseman will accomplish the feat for the second time at the same ballpark when the team beats the first-place Philadelphia Athletics, 12-3.

Cleveland’s one-arm pitcher Hugh Daily no-hits Philadelphia, 1-0. The fireballing Irish right-hander lost his left hand as a result of a gun accident earlier in his life.

John Reilly completes his second cycle in eight days when the National Association’s Red Stockings beat Philadelphia, 12-3, at the Bank Street Grounds. Last week, the 24 year-old Cincinnati first baseman collected three singles, a double, a triple, and a homer in the 27-5 rout of Pittsburgh.

Will Harridge, who would later earn Hall of Fame induction as an executive, was born in Chicago

1883 – New York Gothams owner John B. Day proposes a resolution to prohibit a team from signing a player who has broken the reserve clause of his contract. This resolution, eventually adopted by both the American Association and National League, effectively changes the reserve clause from a device to protect owners from their own greediness to a vindictive weapon to be used against uncooperative players.

1883 – The American Association agrees to expand to 12 teams by admitting the Brooklyn Atlantics, Indianapolis Hoosiers, Toledo Blue Stockings and Washington Nationals.

The First Ohio State League is formed.

The First Ohio State League is formed.

1883 – In Louisville a “first-class colored team” is formed. The team, later known as the Falls Cities, becomes one of the nation’s best black teams. It will join the National Colored Base Ball League (NCBBL) in 1887, but will apparently disband shortly after the collapse of the NCBBL in the first week of its season.

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