1886 – Denny McKnight, one of the founders of the American Association, is ousted from the league presidency for his partisan handling of the Sam Barkley case. Wheeler Wikoff becomes the new AA president.
1886 – The New York State League admits clubs from Buffalo, Toronto and Hamilton. The inclusion of the Canadian teams causes the league to change its name to the International League.
1886 – The Sporting News, the weekly that will become “The Baseball Paper of the World,” publishes its first issue.
Frank Baker is born in Trappe, Maryland. A third baseman and left-handed hitter, Baker will guide the Philadelphia Athletics to three World Series championships. He will be nicknamed “Home Run” during the 1911 World Series, in which he will hit a go-ahead home run off Rube Marquard in Game Two and a 9th-inning game-tying home run off Christy Mathewson in Game Three. Baker will lead the American League in home runs for four consecutive seasons, twice lead the league in RBI, and bat .363 in six Series. Baker will earn Hall of Fame honors in 1955.
Via a transatlantic telegraph from Paris, France, American Association 40-game winner Bob Caruthers agrees to terms with St. Louis Browns owner Chris von der Ahe. Caruthers’ well-publicized holdout will earn him the nickname “Parisian Bob.”
1886 – A business wrangle in the National League ends in a weakening of the league’s famous 50 cents admission standard. The St. Louis Maroons and Philadelphia Phillies, the two clubs facing rival American Association teams with an admission of 25 cents, are allowed to charge a minimum of a quarter. Newcomers Washington Nationals and Kansas City Cowboys are stuck with the 50 cents minimum, but are given the option of selling three tickets for a dollar.
1886 – The National League meets and adopts the stolen base and the four foot by seven foot pitcher’s box. But the NL retains seven balls for a walk and rejects the American Association’s rule giving a batter first base on a hit by pitch.
1886 – The American Association meets and overrules president Denny McKnight (also owner of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys club) and suspends second baseman Sam Barkley for signing with Pittsburgh before the dispute over his sale is settled. The AA adopts new rules. The number of balls needed for a walk is reduced from seven to six; the pitcher’s box is one foot deeper, giving the pitcher seven feet behind the 50-foot front line in which to execute his delivery; stolen bases are adopted as an official statistic, although the definition is rather vague initially.
1886 – The Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association are sold by Aaron Stern to Louis Huack, a wealthy brewer and banker.
1886 – Kansas City hires 30-year-old Dave Rowe to manage the Cowboys.
Enjoy our free trial and start listening to games, interviews and shows! Ruth, Mantle, Aaron, and Seaver!