The Mutual club was the unofficial champion of base ball in 1868, and as they continue their winning ways they are now assured of being the official champion of 1871. The club did not play as well in September as in previous months, but they did enough to maintain their lead and secure their spot at the top of the Association.
The standings on October 1:
Mutual 22 wins, 9 losses
Forest City (Cleveland) 16 wins, 13 losses
Athletic 15 wins, 9 losses
Chicago White Stockings 13 wins, 12 losses
Olympic 13 wins, 17 losses
Kekionga 11 wins, 7 losses
Boston Red Stockings 11 wins, 17 losses
Forest City (Rockford) 9 wins, 16 losses
Haymaker 7 wins, 17 losses
Interestingly, in the 1870s the baseball season did not begin until late April or early May, and it typically ended at the end of October, not the beginning. It seems strange that a league that played 50 or fewer games would push its schedule well into the East Coast winter, while modern 162-game schedules are loathe to do so. It's not clear why the teams played such a late schedule, although I've found a reference or two to teams complaining about the hot weather of summer. This seems to be corroborated by the fact that relatively few games were played in August in the 1870s, although of course most teams played a ton of exhibition games that didn't count in official standings.
At any rate, I don't know anything definitive about why baseball schedules ran so late in the early days of professional baseball. Here are the league leaders as of October 1:
Batting Average:
Sutton, Forest City (Cleveland) - .383
Fulmer, Olympic - .374
King, Haymaker-Mutual - .363
Foran, Kekionga - .350
Start, Mutual - .349
Flowers, Haymaker - .343
Hatfield, Mutual - .340
Wood, Chicago - .331
Berthrong, Olympic - .330
Glenn, Olympic - .330
Runs:
Hatfield, Mutual - 54
Start, Mutual - 49
Barnes, Boston - 45
Higham, Mutual - 45
Kimball, Forest City (Cleveland) - 44
Waterman, Olympic - 44
Leonard, Olympic - 43
Hall, Olympic - 41
King, Haymaker-Mutual - 41
Wright, Boston - 40
Hits:
Hatfield, Mutual - 55
Sutton, Forest City (Cleveland) - 54
Start, Mutual - 53
Higham, Mutual - 48
Hall, Olympic - 47
Barnes, Boston - 45
Burroughs, Olympic - 45
Schafer, Boston - 44
Fulmer, Forest City (Rockford) - 43
McVey, Boston - 42
Mills, Olympic - 42
Total Bases:
Hatfield, Mutual - 88
Hall, Olympic - 83
Sutton, Forest City (Cleveland) - 83
King, Haymaker-Mutual - 81
Schafer, Boston - 70
Start, Mutual - 69
Waterman, Olympic - 68
Wood, Chicago - 67
Barnes, Boston - 65
McVey, Boston - 65
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What a poor showing for the Bostons!
ReplyDeleteI know. They don't seem to win much in 1871 in my leagues, but they usually aren't a second division club. I wonder if they'll turn out to be the NA's powerhouse they way they were in 1872-75.
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