August 1 - Mutual Wins 7 of 8 to Take Over First Place

The National Association standings on August 1, 1871:

Mutual 14 wins, 6 losses
Chicago White Stockings 10 wins, 6 losses
Athletic 10 wins, 7 losses
Kekionga 9 wins, 5 losses
Forest City (Cleveland) 9 wins, 8 losses
Boston Red Stockings 8 wins, 9 losses
Olympic 8 wins, 14 losses
Haymaker 5 wins, 9 losses
Forest City (Rockford) 4 wins, 13 losses

Mutual appears to be pulling away from its rivals. They have five Association games scheduled for the month of August, including two with Chicago, so we should know soon whether they are going to run away with the championship or return to the pack.

In addition, the first ever trade of players between two professional clubs occurred on July 30, as the first-place Mutual club, with more talent in the infield than the outfield, sent infielder Charlie Smith, who had been starting at second base, to the Haymaker club of Troy in exchange for outfielder Steve King. Haymaker will start Tom York in King's old place in left field and will install Smith at second. Reportedly, King was not happy to leave his home in Troy (I say this because in reality he stopped playing professionally once Troy was out of the league, although he probably had the talent to catch on elsewhere), but he was pleased to move to a first-place club despite the long travel from his home.

Historically, it was Athletic that was starting to pull away at this point, as they had 15 wins with Chicago and Olympic as the next-closest competitors with 12. They ended up struggling in August and falling behind Chicago.

Here are the league leaders in 1871-used statistical categories:

Batting Average

Sutton, Forest City (Cleveland) - .417
Pike, Haymaker - .391
Hastings, Forest City (Rockford) - .380
Malone, Athletic - .377
Fulmer, Forest City (Rockford) - .373
Barnes, Boston - .361
Start, Mutual - .360
Craver, Haymaker - .344
Spalding, Boston - .342
Berthrong, Olympic - .338

Runs

Waterman, Olympic - 34
Higham, Mutual - 33
Hatfield, Mutual - 32
Kimball, Forest City (Cleveland) - 30
Smith, Mutual-Haymaker - 30
Hall, Olympic - 28
Sutton, Forest City (Cleveland) - 28
Barnes, Boston - 27
Leonard, Olympic - 27
Start, Mutual - 27
Geo. Wright, Boston - 27

Hits

Start, Mutual - 36
Higham, Mutual - 35
Sutton, Forest City (Cleveland) - 35
Hall, Olympic - 34
Waterman, Olympic - 34
Burroughs, Olympic - 33
Hatfield, Mutual - 32
Mills, Olympic - 31
Barnes, Boston - 30
Smith, Mutual-Haymaker - 29

Total Bases

Hall, Olympic - 54
Hatfield, Mutual - 50
Waterman, Mutual - 50
Sutton, Forest City (Cleveland) - 49
Burroughs, Olympic - 46
Start, Mutual - 46
Pike, Haymaker - 44
Barnes, Boston - 43
Schafer, Boston - 43