MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SEASON RECAP 1894

Season Recap: 1894

League Champion: Baltimore Orioles

Dan Brouthers Brooklyn Dodgers

Brooklyn Trades 2 Hall of Famers to Be

1894 – Boston Beaneaters catcher Charlie Bennett loses both legs in a horrific train accident. In 1900, the Detroit Wolverines, Bennett’s first team, will name its ballpark Bennett Park in his honor.

Pitcher Herb Pennock is born in Kennett Square

Pitcher Herb Pennock is born in Kennett Square

In a series of rule changes designed to help pitchers, all foul bunts will now be called strikes

Jud Wilson

Jud “Boojum” Wilson is born in Remington, Virginia

1894 – St. Louis Browns owner Chris Von der Ahe, unable to hire either Harry Wright or Phil Powers as manager, announces that he will manage the club himself. Von der Ahe will eventually name starting infielder George (Doggie) Miller as manager.

August 8, 1922 - New York Giants pitcher Phil Douglas is suspended and fined $100 by John McGraw. He writes a letter to St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Les Mann which says in part "I want to leave here, but I want some inducement. I don't want this guy (McGraw) to win the pennant and I feel if I stay here I win it for him". Mann gives the letter to manager Branch Rickey who notifies Kenesaw Landis. In Pittsburgh on August 16th‚ Douglas will admit he wrote the letter‚ and Landis will bar him from baseball for life.

John McGraw recalls the first hit and run play

1894 – A U.S. Immigration Inspector in Buffalo, NY asks the Treasury Department if baseball is a “recognized profession” in order to determine if Buffalo has violated the alien contract labor law by signing two Canadian players. Before the inspector gets a reply, Buffalo decides to play only American residents.

At Brooklyn’s Eastern Park, Lave Cross hits for the cycle when the Phillies pound the Grooms 22-5. The 27 year-old third baseman becomes the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

5/8/1894: The Boston Beaneaters (Braves) were in New York playing the Giants. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants had two runners on base with no one out when the game was called by darkness. Boston had scored twice in the top of the frame on a single by Jimmy Bannon and a home run by Charlie Ganzel. The score reverted to the end of the seventh inning and Ganzel lost his four-bagger. Those runs did not matter since the home team won, 16-5.

For the first time in major league history, teammates combine for three straight home runs, as Frank Shugart, George “Doggie” Miller and Heinie Peitz of St. Louis hit consecutive roundtrippers in the 7th inning. In all, Shugart hits three home runs and Peitz two, giving St. Louis a total of six. However, their heroics are to no avail as their club falls to Cincinnati, 18 – 9.

John McGraw (photo) makes his stage debut in a show at the Hippodrome. He has a small part in the show sporting days

In the aftermath of a fierce fight between Baltimore’s John McGraw and Boston’s Tommy Tucker in the 3rd inning, a devastating fire starts in the RF stands at Boston’s South End Grounds

Losing to Cincinnati, 6 – 4, in the 8th inning, Louisville’s William “Farmer” Weaver hits a grand slam, and Danny Richardson follows with a solo shot – the last home run of his 11-year career – to spur a 9 – 7 win.

Washington breaks its 17-game losing streak by whipping Louisville, 12 – 2.

Pittsburgh moves past Cleveland into first place by edging Baltimore, 3 – 2, as the Spiders‚ held to 3 hits by Jouett Meekin‚ lose to New York, 2 – 0.

Bobby Lowe of the Boston Beaneaters becomes the first player to hit four home runs in one game, in a 20 – 11 win over the Reds in the second game of a doubleheader. Lowe hits two of his homers in the 3rd inning.

1894 – Ed Stein pitches a seven-inning no-hitter, as the Brooklyn Grooms beat the Chicago Colts, 1 – 0. The previous day, Brooklyn held Chicago to one hit in a 5 – 0 shutout.

Sam Thompson of Philadelphia undergoes surgery on the little finger on his left hand and is expected to miss up to a month. Baltimore takes over the top spot with a 13-6 win over the Reds.

1894 – Baltimore’s Heinie Reitz hits a pair of bases-loaded triples‚ one in the 3rd and another in the 7th‚ to lead the first-place Orioles to a 12 – 4 victory over Chicago. The pair of sack-filled triples equals the mark set by Sam Thompson in 1887.

On a rainy day, St. Louis Browns pitcher Ted Breitenstein walks 13 men as the Boston Beaneaters avenge a humiliating loss the previous day with a 19 – 8 rout.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jack Taylor throws a two-hit shutout to defeat the Cleveland Spiders, 6 - 0, and to push Pittsburgh ahead of Cleveland into third place.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jack Taylor throws a two-hit shutout to defeat the Cleveland Spiders, 6 – 0, and to push Pittsburgh ahead of Cleveland into third place.

6/8/1894 – This was another time the rule was applied incorrectly to the detriment of the team. The St. Louis Browns were playing the Beaneaters in Boston, and the home team elected to bat first. In the bottom of the first, the lead off batter, Tommy Dowd, walked. The next batter due up was Frank Shugart, but the number three hitter, Charlie Frank, came up instead and struck out. Shugart hit into a fielders choice with Dowd being put out. Boston then pointed out that Frank had batted out of order, and the umpire, Bob Emslie, incorrectly called Frank out ending the inning. Frank had already made an out, so it made no sense to call him out again. The original 1876 rule, which was in effect in 1894, was poorly written and incomplete, but it did not allow for a batter to be out twice when he batted out of order. More importantly, Frank was not the proper batter when he hit, so the proper batter then, Shugart, should have been called out, but he was allowed to bat. Apparently, some umpires interpreted the rule in a different manner.

1894 – After Chicago claims the lead with a seven-run rally in the top of the 9th‚ Boston counters with two to win, 15 – 14.

denny lyons and charlie bastian

Denny Lyons never touches second and scores the winning run in the 9th inning to lead Pittsburgh to a 7 – 6 win over Washington

Cleveland's John Clarkson stops the visiting Colts, 7 - 3

Cleveland’s John Clarkson stops the visiting Colts, 7 – 3

The Colts beat the Pirates, 10 – 7, with Bill Dahlen collecting two hits and an RBI.

Washington scores in every inning to whip Boston, 26 – 12. In the course of the rout, George “White Wings” Tebeau scores four runs without the benefit of a hit.

The Chicago Colts score five runs in the top of the 9th to take the lead over Baltimore, but the National League leaders respond with three runs in the bottom of the inning to claim an 11 – 10 win.

For the first time in nearly a month, covering 24 games, Baltimore fails to score at least seven runs, losing to Chicago, 13 – 4.

Louisville P George Hemming throws an 11-inning 25-hitter, as the Colonels edge Boston, 11 – 9.

Future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke

Future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke sets a record by going 5 for 5 with a double in his first major league game

Philadelphia ties New York in the 9th when Sam Thompson hits a bases-loaded triple. They acore again the 12th‚ but New York evens it on a HR by pitcher Joett Meekin. The Giants finally win in the 13th‚ 11-10.

Led by Billy Hamilton‚ who scores 5 runs‚ the Phils outslug first-place Boston‚ 18 - 10

Led by Billy Hamilton‚ who scores 5 runs‚ the Phils outslug first-place Boston‚ 18 – 10

James “Bug” Holliday hits a 2-run home run with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th to carry the Reds to a 7 – 6 win over St. Louis.

Emulating Holiday‚ Brooklyn’s Candy LaChance slugs a bottom-of-the-9th homer to overcome Boston‚ 11 – 10.

John Tanner‚ a pitcher at Hebron‚ Kentucky‚ is struck by lightning and killed while trying to catch a fly ball.

The Phillies rout the Colonels at the Philadelphia Baseball Grounds, 29-4. Louisville right-hander John Wadsworth sets a National League record by giving up 28 singles in one game.

The Phillies rout the Colonels at the Philadelphia Baseball Grounds, 29-4. Louisville right-hander John Wadsworth sets a National League record by giving up 28 singles in one game.

Philadelphia‚ still smarting from Louisville’s 6-HR assault 3 days ago‚ mauls the Colonels 29-4 beating Bill Wadsworth. Sam Thompson leads the stampede by spraying 6 hits and hitting for the cycle in 7 at bats. Three teammates-Hamilton‚ Sullivan and Grady-get 5 hits each‚ a ML record‚ as Philadelphia chalks up 36 hits‚ including 28 singles‚ both ML records. John Boyle and Lave Cross have 8 plate appearances. Ed Delahanty scores 5 runs as all 11 Phillies who bat have hits. The Phils end at a 5-1 record at Varsity Grounds‚ returning to newly rebuilt Huntington Grounds tomorrow with a victory over Cleveland.

1894 – Taking over for fired manager Al Buckenberger, Connie Mack leads the Pirates to a 22 – 1 rout of his former team, the Washington Senators.

Connie Mack, taking over for the fired skipper Ned Hanlon, leads the Pirates to a 22-1 rout of his former team, the Washington Senators. The triumph will be the Tall Tactician’s first of the major league record-setting 3,731 victories he will collect as a manager with Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia A’s during his 53 years in the dugout.

Reds 2B Bid McPhee makes 3 errors in one inning as Cincinnati loses the opener of 2 to Brooklyn‚ 10-9. Tom Parrott‚ scheduled to start game 1‚ doesn’t arrive until the 5th inning. He gets the start in game 2 (as noted by Rhodes and Snyder)‚ but walks off the mound in the 2nd inning after Arlie Latham criticises him for a lack of effort.

At Chicago’s Lake Front Park, Quaker (Phillies) fly chaser Jack Manning hits three home runs in an 11-7 loss to the White Stockings. The Philadelphia outfielder is the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

Charlie Sweeney is convicted of manslaughter in San Francisco, California.

King Kelly, probably the most popular baseball player of the 19th century, dies of pneumonia in Boston, MA.

King Kelly, probably the most popular baseball player of the 19th century, dies of pneumonia in Boston, MA.

Sporting Life erroneously claims that “Bid McPhee will hardly discard the glove next season now that he is accustomed to wearing it.”

1894 – Managers Al Buckenberger of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Billy Barnie of the Louisville Colonels and Louisville star second baseman Fred Pfeffer are expelled from the National League for planning with officials of the proposed “American Association” (previously called the National Association). The two managers will be reinstated before the end of the year, but Pfeffer will have to wait until the end of February 1895 before he is welcomed back into the fold.

1894 – Veteran manager Jack Chapman expresses his support of a proposed rule change forbidding all but catchers and first basemen from wearing gloves. Citing Cincinnati’s Bid McPhee as an example of one of the few remaining outstanding gloveless fielders, Chapman remarks that “as it is now, inferior players with big gloves can get into the game and force good men out.”

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