With some of its National Association players still on the roster, the Red Stockings of the National League continued their winning ways, taking two of the first three pennants. Boston finished first again in 1883 but then, often nicknamed the Beaneaters, went through a drought the rest of the decade.

The 1891 Boston team had hopes for improving on the 76-57 record of the previous year, which was good for only a fifth-place finish. The Beaneaters opened their quest on Wednesday, April 22, in New York in what was a new stadium for the National League.

New York also had an entry in the National League in 1876, but its team, the Mutuals, were expelled for not completing their schedule. And it really wasn’t a New York team; the Mutuals played their games at the Union Grounds in the still-separate city of Brooklyn. The Union Grounds had another National League tenant in 1877, a team that had moved from Hartford, Connecticut, and retained the name Hartford Dark Blues. New York fans were understandably reluctant to support a team still identified with a city in a neighboring state, and the Hartford team disbanded after the 1877 season.

When the major leagues returned to New York, it came in the form of two teams: the Metropolitan, which played in the American Association, and a National League team that eventually adopted the nickname Giants. Both teams played on a long field to the north of Central Park that had been used for polo. The Polo Grounds, as this and other stadiums in New York became known, initially had diamonds at opposite ends, sometimes with games going on at the same time.

The Giants outlived the Metropolitan and won the World’s Series in 1888.1 However, it also marked the final games on the original Polo Grounds. Early in 1889 New York City decided to move ahead with plans to extend 111th Street, which at this point had been interrupted by the Polo Grounds between Fifth and Sixth avenues, through the site occupied by the Giants.

The Giants opened 1889 as an itinerant bunch, playing first in New Jersey and then on Staten Island before owner John B. Day found a site just off the Harlem River in the southern half of Coogan’s Hollow in Manhattan, beneath the 155th Street viaduct and along Eighth Avenue. Day was concerned about confusion that might be present with fans as the team prepared for its third home of the season. He knew that New Yorkers associated the name Polo Grounds with his baseball team, so—to send an unambiguous message as to where the Giants would be headquartered—he christened the quarters the New Polo Grounds.2

In 1890 the National League had a neighbor in New York as a new league—the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players—formed. Backers of the New York team in what became the Players’ League leased the northern section of Coogan’s Hollow and built a stadium, Brotherhood Park, next to the Polo Grounds.

The Players’ League lasted only one season, and the Giants moved into the northern space, carrying the name Polo Grounds with them again.

The Giants prepared for the 1891 season with a final exhibition tuneup in Albany, where a new stadium brought out a large crowd, and the same happened the next day in New York.

For Opening Day, the Boston and New York players assembled at 1:00 PM at Wall Street and Broadway and “were driven to the grounds in tallyho coaches. The line of parade was crowded with people, and the players got a royal reception all along the line, and also when they appeared at the grounds.”3

The teams did not play in a brand-new stadium—it had already been used for a season under a different name—but it was the first game with the name Polo Grounds. Attendance of between 15,000 and 20,000 was predicted, and the New-York Daily Tribune reported that “several wagers were made yesterday that the crowd would exceed 20,000.”4

Although the attendance didn’t reach that mark (it was 17,835), a huge crowd was on hand. Before the game, Giants who had remained with the National League team lined up on one side of the field with those who had gone to the Players’ League on the other. The two sides then came together to indicate that past differences were settled and that they were one team again.

The game began at 4:00, the Giants batted first, and they took the lead as George Gore reached base on an error and later scored on a sacrifice bunt by Jim O’Rourke.

Boston tied it quickly in the first as Herman Long hit a long fly into the overflow crowd in left and made it all the way around the bases. Exactly what happened on the play is subject to the newspaper reports and rules of the time. The New York Times description: “Long hit the ball to deep left field amid the spectators. It was a ‘blocked ball,’ and before it could be handled by pitcher Amos] Rusie in his position and sent home Long had scored. It was a close call, however.” The Boston Globe reported, “Herman Long opened well for Boston by hitting the ball into the crowd in left field and scoring, as Rusie failed to remain in his position to receive the dead ball on the return.”5

The play was scored as a triple by Long and an error on Rusie. Quizzed on what may have transpired on the play, John Thorn, the historian of Major League Baseball, wrote, “My guess about the 4/22/91 incident is that Long made three bases cleanly on the ball hit into the overflow crowd and that when the ball was returned to the infield Rusie was not in the box to receive it—an error that permitted Long to continue homeward.”6

The score continued to seesaw as well as the pattern of players following a bad play with a good one—or vice versa.

The Giants took the lead in the third, with Roger Connor singling home O’Rourke, who had gotten aboard when Marty Sullivan lost his fly ball to left in the sun. Sullivan got the run back in the bottom of the fourth as he led off with a walk, stole second, and scored when Mike Tiernan dropped Billy Nash’s two-out fly to right.

The game stayed tied until the ninth when Rusie grounded to short and was safe on first when Long’s throw was wild. Rusie went to second on a passed ball (an error charged on the play to catcher Charlie Bennett, one of five made by the Beaneaters that day), and scored on Gore’s single to left.

Gore undid the good of his hit in the bottom of the inning. Boston had two on and one out when Herman Long sent a fly to center. “Gore started after it, and to the great discomfiture of the vast throng he lost his footing and fell,” reported the Times.7

The Boston Globe provided a different perspective: “Long came up with his long bat and hit the ball hard, but it sailed high and George Gore started to get under it, having plenty of time. He misjudged, however, and then made a muff of it, high over his head, the ball rolling along the field as Gore lay in a heap on the ground, having tangled himself up in reaching for the ball.”8

The New York Tribune had a more scathing slant: “In plain English he [Gore] tried to win applause by making a difficult play out of an easy one, and his bungling caused him to make an error and lose a game in the last inning.”9

The newspapers differed on whether Gore was charged with an error or Long credited with a triple; in either case, two runs scored to give Boston a 4–3 win. The Boston Globe account treated the final play as an error on Gore rather than a triple, but it appears based on the opinion of the Globe writer. Other reporters give Long a triple, albeit a dubious one, and it appears from them that the official scorer did not charge Gore with an error.

The pitchers were a pair of future Hall of Famers. John Clarkson of the Bridegrooms was nearing the end of his career while Amos Rusie was in the early stages of his. Both pitchers would be credited with more than 30 wins in 1891.10 Boston won its first six games, finished 87-51, and went on to win the National League pennant for the first of three straight seasons. And five pennants in eight years.

For the remainder of their time in New York, through 1957, the Giants remained on this field. However, the wooden grandstand burned in 1911 and was rebuilt with a steel and concrete structure. The Polo Grounds name remained and is as synonymous with the National League team in New York as is the name Giants.

Notes

1 The 1888 World’s Series between the Giants and St. Louis Browns of the American Association, was set at 10 games. The fifth game, on October 20, was the final game on the original Polo Grounds. The Giants won that game and went on to win the series, six games to four. Until the Atlanta Braves closed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with a World Series game in 1996, the Polo Grounds on 110th Street was the only stadium to finish its history with a World’s/World Series game.

2 “A New Baseball Field: The Giants Will Play Games in This City Again: Grounds Secured on the West Side of Town in a Convenient Place,” New York Times, June 22, 1889: 2; “The Giants New Grounds: A Home for Them on Manhattan Island at Last,” New York Tribune, June 22, 1889: 7.

3 “The Ball Is Set Rolling,” New York Daily Tribune, April 23, 1891.

4 “To Open the Baseball Season,” New York Daily Tribune, April 22, 1891.

5 Boston Defeats New-York: Over 17,000 Persons Witness the Opening League Game: The Giants Looked Like Winners to the Ninth Inning, but Lost by an Accident—Brooklyn Defeats Philadelphia. New York Times, Thursday, April 23, 1891: 2; “Grand Send Off: League Teams Begin the Battle for the Pennant: Over 17,000 People See the Game in Gotham: Boston Plays in Luck and Wins in the Ninth.” Boston Globe, Thursday, April 23, 1891: 1.

6 Email correspondence between author and John Thorn, December 31, 2016.

7 “Boston Defeats New-York: Over 17,000 Persons Witness the Opening League Game: The Giants Looked Like Winners to the Ninth Inning, but Lost by an Accident,” New York Times, April 23, 1891: 2.

8 “Grand Send Off: League Teams Begin the Battle for the Pennant: Over 17,000 People See the Game in Gotham: Boston Plays in Luck and Wins in the Ninth,” Boston Globe, Thursday, April 23, 1891: 11.

9 “The Ball Is Set Rolling,” New York Daily Tribune, April 23, 1891.

10 Clarkson is listed with a 33-19 record and Rusie a 33-20 record in 1891 by baseball-reference.com; these numbers have changed through the years. The win in the opener was the 221st of Clarkson’s career (according to the baseball-reference.com accounting). Clarkson is now credited with 328 pitching victories in his career. The Thompson-Turkin baseball encyclopedia, 1963 edition, had each with 34 wins in 1891.

Nichols’ prophecy would turn out to be true, but his wasn’t the only optimism being felt at the beginning of the season.

The Boston Post’s buildup of Boston’s home opener on April 27 expressed hopefulness for the Beaneaters, who had swept the New York Giants in four games to start the 1891 season. New York was considered a favorite to win the pennant, so Boston gained a measure of confidence on the season’s outlook from that first series. Based on those initial games, the Beaneaters were already being characterized as a hard-playing ballclub.2

Boston manager Frank Selee managed the Beaneaters to only a fifth-place finish in 1890, his first season with them. However, part of the new optimism for the club was also attributed to their acquisition of infielders Joe Quinn and Billy Nash and outfielder Harry Stovey in the wake of the Players’ League collapse following the 1890 season.

The Beaneaters’ home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies was a festive event attended by 7,559 fans, including Massachusetts Governor William Russell, Boston Mayor Nathan Matthews Jr., and numerous other city officials, as well as several military dignitaries.3

Selee started Nichols against the Phillies. The 21-year-old right-hander had acquired his nickname because of his youth and slender build when he began his professional career.4 He had been discovered by Selee at Omaha, and when Selee got the job in Boston in 1890, he brought Nichols with him.5 As a National League rookie in 1890, Nichols became one of the starters for the Beaneaters and won 27 games. In 1891 he was paired as one of Boston’s primary starters with John Clarkson, a future Hall of Famer, and newcomer Harry Staley, who was acquired on May 27.

The Phillies had taken three of four games from Brooklyn to start the 1891 season. Manager Harry Wright used inexperienced right-hander John Thornton as his starting pitcher in this contest.

Boston wasted no time getting the scoring started in the bottom of the first when Herman Long singled to left and advanced to second on an unsuccessful pickoff attempt in which first baseman Ed Delahanty muffed the ball. Long scored on Harry Stovey’s double to the left-field fence. Thornton snuffed out further scoring by picking Stovey off at second base and then retiring the side on a strikeout and fly out.

The Phillies attempted to mount their own rally in the top of the fourth inning. After Billy Shindle fouled out, Delahanty hit a terrific drive over third base. Sam Thompson hit a groundball to shortstop Long, who let the ball get though him in an anxious attempt to execute a double play, allowing Delahanty to advance to third. Al Myers followed with another groundball to Long, who was successful in completing the double play this time and ended the threat.

Boston added a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a couple of Phillies fielding mistakes. Stovey got a single past first base and took second when outfielder Thompson bobbled the ball. Tommy Tucker sacrificed Stovey to third base. After Marty Sullivan grounded out to shortstop Bob Allen, Quinn hit an easy fly ball to outfielder Billy Hamilton, who dropped it, allowing Stovey to score the Beaneaters’ second run.

The Phillies threatened to score again in the top of the seventh on leadoff walks to Myers and Jack Clements. But Nichols proceeded to strike out Ed Mayer, Allen, and Thornton in succession.

Boston didn’t rest on its laurels, adding two more runs in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, the Beaneaters scored on singles by Steve Brodie, Nash, and Nichols, to build a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Stovey hit a tremendous fly into the furthermost corner in left field for a triple. According to the Boston Post, another foot would have put the ball “over on the railroad.”6 Sullivan’s fly ball to Thompson scored Stovey.

The Phillies made one more attempt to put runs on the board in the top of the ninth inning. After Thompson grounded out, Myers hit a hard single back up the middle that narrowly missed Nichols. Clements followed with a single to left field. But then Mayer hit a groundball back to Nichols, who started a double play that squashed the potential rally and ended the game, 5-0.

Nichols pitched a solid game, yielding only five hits and three walks while striking out five. In the only three innings in which the Phillies had their best chances to score, Nichols was aided by double plays in two of the innings and helped himself in the other situation by striking out the side after allowing two baserunners. Nichols wound up winning 30 games in 1891.

The Phillies’ Thornton wasn’t hit that hard, but Boston’s hits came in bunches. He gave up four earned runs on nine hits and didn’t walk any batters. He struck out two. In its game summary the next day, the Boston Post declared that Thornton had pitched a respectable game, observing, “Thornton will surely be heard from later.”7 However, 1891 turned out to be the only full season in Thornton’s three-year major-league career. He played for several minor-league teams before retiring from the game in 1906.

The Phillies committed four errors in the game, but only Hamilton’s miscue affected the outcome.8 Boston’s Steve Brodie had one of the best defensive plays of the game when he chased down Thompson’s towering fly ball and caught it running at full speed while facing the center-field fence.9

Boston ended the season winning 18 of its last 20 games (there was one tie), including 18 consecutive winning decisions, and overcame the Chicago Colts to capture the National League pennant even though Chicago had held a 6½-game lead on September 15. Boston would claim four more league titles during the 1890s.

Was Nichols just being braggadocious before the season in his first-place prediction, or did he perhaps have some type of premonition? In any case, the team’s outstanding start to the season, including the shutout victory over the Phillies, put them on a good path that ended in winning fashion with their first National League flag since 1883.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted the following:

The source for all game details came from a box score and game summary in the Boston Post, April 28, 1891: 1-2.

Baseball-Reference.com.

Voigt, David. The League That Failed (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1998).

Notes

1 Richard Bogovich, Kid Nichols: A Biography of the Hall of Fame Pitcher (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2012), 45.

2 “Boston to Open the Season with Philadelphia Today,” Boston Post, April 27, 1891: 8.

3 “Gov. Russell’s Reception,” Boston Globe, April 28, 1891: 1.

4 Jonathan Light, The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997), 831.

5 David Pietrusza, Matthew Silverman, and Michael Gershman, eds. Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. (New York: Total Sports Illustrated, 2000), 506.

6 “Five Straight, Now,” Boston Post, April 28, 1891: 2.

7 Ibid.

8 The Boston Globe said the Phillies committed three errors in the game.

9 “Five Straight, Now.”

And win they did, with room to spare. The game was played in weather described by the Chicago Tribune as “fearfully hot.” The paper commented that the 2,761 spectators “suffered considerably.”1

The Colts named right-hander Ad Gumbert as their starting pitcher while the Beaneaters countered with another righty, Harry Staley. Gumbert went on to win 17 games in 1891, but was not at his best on this day. The Beaneaters’ Staley was a worthy opponent, and a proven stalwart on the mound, in his third of four consecutive seasons of winning at least 20 games. Gumbert was a younger brother of Billy Gumbert, who pitched for Pittsburgh and Louisville from 1890 to 1893. He was also a grand-uncle of pitcher Harry Gumbert, who won 143 games in his 15-year National League career in the twentieth century.

Boston took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Bobby Lowe, who would three years later ensure his permanent spot in the record books by hitting four homers in a game,2 slammed one to left to start the scoring.

The Colts tied the score in the top of the fifth inning, with two bases on balls and a home run by Jimmy Ryan.

The Beaneaters quickly responded in their half of the fifth, taking advantage of a leadoff walk to second baseman Joe Quinn, followed by errors by Cap Anson and catcher Malachi Kittridge that led to three runs and a 6-3 lead that was only the beginning. It was decidedly downhill for the Colts the rest of the game.

In the sixth Boston scored twice more on three hits, and continued its run production in the seventh with three runs coming from a combination of two hits, a walk, and three more Chicago errors. The Tribune told its readers, “From this on the game was devoid of interest and dragged to a close.”3

In his seven innings, Gumbert gave up 13 hits and five walks. His relief pitcher, Pat Luby, was touched for five hits and three walks. So the Colts pitchers yielded 18 hits and eight walks in this one-sided battle. The Colts defense, or lack thereof, certainly contributed to the bad news with eight errors, including three by catcher Kittridge.

Boston’s Bobby Lowe undoubtedly produced the most base hits in the game, but the scribes who reported his accomplishments did not agree on just how productive he was. Three newspapers (Chicago Herald, Lower Worcester Daily, and Boston Journal) wrote that Lowe had six hits in six at-bats. Three other papers (Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and Boston Advertiser) credited Lowe with five hits in six at-bats.

Tim Murnane’s account in the Globe sheds light on Lowe’s hit total for the day. In his fourth at-bat, Murnane wrote, Lowe “hit a fast one at third baseman Bill Dahlen that was sent wide of Anson. Some of the scorers gave it a hit, but it was stretching base ball rules and the Globe had to score it a misplay by Dahlen.”45

Errors were frequent in the game and some of the newspapers did not agree on how many miscues actually occurred. Of six observed newspaper descriptions of the game, two papers reported eight Colt errors, three reported nine, and one reported 10 errors for the Chicagoans. They also disagreed on the number of Boston errors: one paper reported only one Boston error, two papers said two errors, and three papers scored three errors for the Beaneaters.

In the four-game series that concluded with the 14-6 win over the Colts, the Beaneaters salvaged a split. The Colts recovered from their disastrous performances of the last two games, and appeared headed toward a first-place finish at season’s end. Not to be. Although the Colts held first place continuously from July 21 through September 29, they collapsed and lost their final four games of the season, allowing 50 runs in those losing efforts. The Beaneaters, not to be denied, won 25 of their final 33 games, to finish 3½ games ahead of the second-place Colts. Both teams had performed unusually well in the final two months of the season. The Colts and Beaneaters met 12 more times after June 11 game and the Colts won nine of those matches.

As for the June 11 game, the Chicago Tribune reported that Colts shortstop Jimmy Cooney was not at the ballpark but rather in Cranston, Rhode Island, “leading a fair maiden to the altar.”6 Jimmy, a native of Cranston, wed Ella Ann Dunham and that union resulted in four sons, two of whom (Jimmy and Johnny) went on to play major-league baseball.

By any measure, it was a subpar performance by the Chicago defense. The Globe said the Colts “played more like a Jim Crow team.”7 The Chicago Herald noted that “Chicago fielding at times was ‘very yellow.’”8 The Boston Advertiser commented, “Never did the Chicago team field more poorly that the one which played Bostons yesterday.”9 The Chicago Tribune, possibly in sympathy with the Colts, blamed pitching for the team’s poor showing, not commenting on the play of the defense.

Author David Fleitz’s SABR biography of Cap Anson mentions that many former Players’ Leaguers hated Colts manager Anson for his attitude toward them.10 He named Hugh Duffy and George Van Haltren as two who refused to return to Chicago, costing Anson much-needed talent. In the 1891 season, there were rumors that Boston opponents threw games to keep the pennant out of Anson’s hands.

Boston went 18-1-1 in its last 20 contests. Anson wrote in his autobiography that “a conspiracy was entered into whereby New York lost enough games to Boston to give the Beaneaters the pennant.”11 Anson believed that the Giants and other rival teams cheated him out of the league championship in 1891. He didn’t seem to mention the errors his team committed on June 11, however.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 “New York Even With Us,” Chicago Tribune, June 12, 1891: 6.

2 Lowe accomplished the feat on May 30, 1894, in the second game of a morning-afternoon two-game set before a Memorial Day crowd at Boston’s Congress Street Grounds. It should be noted that Lowe’s home-run total for the entire season was 17, so four in a single game was a significant achievement. Lowe’s afternoon heroics followed his 0-for-6 record in the morning game.

3 “New York Even.”

4 T. H. Murnane, “Gumbert Was a Mark,” Boston Globe, June 12, 1891: 5.

5 “New York Even.”

6 “New York Even.”

7 Murnane.

8 “Gumbert Was a Mark,” Chicago Herald, June 12, 1891: 7. Note: The Chicago Herald and Boston Globe pieces did indeed bear the same headline, but the stories themselves were different.

9 “Gumbert’s Curves,” Boston Advertiser, June 12, 1891: 8.

10 David Fleitz, “Cap Anson,” SABR Baseball BioProject; sabr.org/bioproj/person/9b42f875.

11 Adrian Constantine Anson, A Ball Player’s Career: Being the Personal Experiences and Reminiscences of Adrian C. Anson (Chicago: Era Publishing Co, 1900), 295.

Nichols began his career on April 23, 1890, playing for the Boston Beaneaters. On June 12, 1891, he was on his way to his first 30-win season. He took the mound for the Beaneaters versus the Pittsburgh Pirates at the South End Grounds II in Boston. Boston (21-21) was in third place in the National League, 4½ games behind the first-place New York Giants. Nichols was opposed on the mound by Pirates right-hander Mark Baldwin, whose 33 wins had led the National League in 1890. That year had been the second in his own string of four consecutive 20-win seasons.

Boston batted first and sent up only three batters. Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in its first inning, even though Nichols ended up striking out the side.2 (In fact, seven of Pittsburgh’s first nine outs were strikeouts by Nichols.3) The Pirates scored their first-inning run on a hit, a passed ball, a wild throw, and a missed third strike.4

Boston scored a run in the second inning when third baseman Bill Nash hit a line drive that center fielder Al Maul lost sight of in the deep outfield grass.5 By the time the ball was retrieved, Nash had crossed the plate with a home run.6

The Pirates might have added one on the second but with runners on first and second and one out, third baseman Doggie Miller tried to steal third. He beat the throw but over slid the bag and was tagged out.

The Beaneaters scored another run in the third inning. Catcher Charlie Ganzel led off with a single. Nichols bunted for a single, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Pittsburgh first baseman Jake Beckley picked up Herman Long’s bunt and threw to shortstop Charlie Reilly, covering second. Reilly was upended by Nichols and Ganzel crossed the plate. However, Ganzel was sent back to third base and Nichols was called out. Reilly was out of the game and was replaced by Jocko Fields. Harry Stovey, the next batter, singled and Ganzel scored.

In the fourth inning, Boston added another run for a 3-1 lead when Tommy Tucker walked, stole second base, and was driven in by Ganzel’s single.7 There was no scoring the next two innings, but in the seventh Boston added a fourth run when Ganzel led off with a triple and scored on Nichols’ fly ball.

The eighth inning almost proved fatal to the Beaneaters. Nichols hit leadoff batter Tun Berger, and when a groundball by Fields bounced off second baseman Joe Quinn’s foot and bounded into right field, there were men on second and third base with no outs. Nichols struck out pitcher Baldwin on three pitches, but right fielder Fred Carroll hit a double to center field that scored both runners and made it a one-run game, 4-3.

The next batter, Pirates first baseman Jake Beckley, had struck out three times, but this time struck a groundball between shortstop and third base that neither shortstop Herman Long nor third baseman Billy Nash could get to. That ball scored Carroll with the run that tied the game at 4-4.

The Beaneaters came to bat in the top of the ninth with the score still tied. Tommy Tucker hit a fly ball to center fielder Carroll. Carroll muffed the ball, and Tucker reached second. Shortstop Fields bobbled Ganzel’s grounder but Tucker, who broke late for the plate, was trying easily thrown out trying to score. Up came Nichols, who had figured in scoring opportunities earlier for the Beaneaters. Nichols was quickly down two strikes, but then hit a groundball past the shortstop to give the Beaneaters a 5-4 lead.

For Pittsburgh in the bottom of the ninth, Berger reached first, but Nichols added two more strikeouts to his total and sealed the victory.

Each pitcher had allowed seven hits, but Nichols had struck out 12 while Baldwin had struck out none.

Nichols ended the season with 30 victories and 17 defeats. It was the first of seven seasons in which he won 30 or more games.

Pitcher Nichols and catcher were the stars of the win for the Beaneaters. Ganzel had three hits, scored two runs, and drove in one. Nichols struck out 12, including Jake Beckley three times and Pete Browning twice. Nichols also drove in what proved to be the winning run in the ninth inning.

The two clubs featured a total of five players or managers who would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. For the Pirates, catcher Connie Mack was elected as a manager in 1937, first baseman Jake Beckley was elected in 1971, and outfielder Ned Hanlon was elected as a manger in 1996. For the Beaneaters there was the pitching duo of Nichols (elected in 1949) and John Clarkson (elected in 1963), both of whom won over 300 games (Nichols with 361, and Clarkson with 328).8

The Beaneaters, managed by Frank Selee, were tough all year, and finished the season in first place with a record of 87 wins and 51 losses. The Pirates, at 55-80, wound up in last place, 30½ games behind the Beaneaters.

Notes

1 Baseball-Almanac.com.

2 Pittsburgh Daily Post, “So Near and Yet So Far, After Winning the Game in the Eighth, Carroll Loses It in the Ninth,” June 13, 1891: 6.

3 Boston Post, “Boston League Wins,” June 13, 1891: 8.

4 Pittsburgh Daily Post.

5 T.H. Murnane, “Nichols Had His Inning,” Boston Globe, June 13, 1891: 5.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

8 Baseballhall.org.

As was their right, the homestanding Giants elected to bat first, and some of the 3,776 fans in attendance had barely settled into their seats when Nichols set the Giants down in order to begin the action. Rusie followed suit in the bottom of the first. The game’s pattern had now been established. Over the initial five innings, Rusie dominated Beaneaters batsmen, allowing only two hits while fanning eight. But Nichols was even better, matching Rusie strikeout-for-strikeout and holding the Giants hitless. Having shown his fastball early, Nichols began tantalizing New York hitters with off-the-plate breaking pitches. And much to the disgust of the local press corps, the Giants chased them. “They hit at balls continually several feet wide of the plate,” complained the New York Times,1 while a wire-service account of the game observed that “The Giants had the blind staggers and struck at balls which they could not have reached with a telephone pole.”2

After Nichols had posted his seventh straight hitless inning, a scoreless deadlock was broken in the Boston half of the frame. Rusie contributed to his own eventual downfall by walking leadoff batter Billy Nash. Steve Brodie then legged out a slow roller to short. With two on and no outs, Tommy Tucker sent a bounder to the right of Giants first baseman Roger Connor, who knocked the ball down and then tossed it to Rusie covering first as Tucker sped for the bag. A close call by lone umpire Tim Hurst went in Boston’s favor, loading the bases.3 The game outcome turned on a hot shot hit by Joe Quinn that went between Connor’s legs into right field. Two runs scored on the error while Tucker took third. He then scored the inning’s final tally on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Charlie Bennett.

Suddenly down three runs, New York attempted to rally. But all the Giants could manage was breaking up Nichols’ no-hit bid. An eighth-inning single “of scratch order”4 by Connor spared New York that indignity. Otherwise, Nichols’ pitching had been flawless. In the course of a 3-0 one-hitter in which no Giants baserunner got as far as second base, he had struck out nine or 10 enemy batters, while walking none.5 In the eyes of the Boston press, Kid had “pitched a phenomenal game,”6 while even the partisan New York Herald acknowledged that Nichols had staged “a magnificent exhibition of box work.”7

The umpire, Tim Hurst, was officiating in the first year of a 16-year major-league career. The game was completed in 1 hour and 33 minutes, according to the box score published in the next day’s Boston Globe. One oddity of the game: Boston shortstop Herman Long and left fielder Bobby Lowe each played the game for Boston wearing Giants uniforms. The Globe reported, “Their baggage had not been delivered at their hotel before they left, and they had to borrow odds and ends.”8  

The clubs split the remaining two games of the series but were soon headed in opposite directions. Notwithstanding a yeoman’s effort by Amos Rusie (33-20 and 500⅓ innings pitched), the Giants faded to a distant third-place finish, 13 games out. Meanwhile, Boston, behind the pitching of 30-game winner Kid Nichols, overtook Chicago for the first of three consecutive National League titles.

For Nichols, it was also the first of seven seasons in which he won 30 or more games; in 1949 he was named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Rusie, too, was inducted into the Hall of Fame, in 1977.

Notes

1 New York Times, August 18, 1891. The New York Tribune lamented that “Nichols was throwing to men whose common sense seemed to have been left at home, and whose ‘lamps’ needed burnishing.”

2 See, e.g., the Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 18, 1891.

3 The scoring decision on the play was not uniform. Next-day box scores published in the Boston Daily Advertiser, Boston Journal, and New York Herald credited Tucker with a base hit [as did the box score in Sporting Life, August 22, 1891]. Boxes in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, New York Times, New York Tribune, and Washington Post charged Connor with an error, as did The Sporting News, August 22, 1891

4 New York Times, August 18, 1891.

5 The box scores published in the Boston Daily Advertiser, Boston Globe, New York Herald, and Sporting Life all showed nine strikeouts, while those published in the Boston Journal, Cleveland Plain Dealer, New York Times, New York Tribune, The Sporting News, and Washington Post all showed 10.

6 Boston Daily Advertiser, August 18, 1891.

7 New York Herald, August 18, 1891.

8 “With a Solitary Hit,” Boston Globe, August 18, 1891: 5.

After falling to the Colts in the first game of the series thanks to some poor pitching by John Clarkson, the teams met again on September 4 in front of 3,500 fans at West Side Park.3 The Boston Globe described the weather as “entirely too cold for comfort.”4 However, it was the antics of Cap Anson that made this contest of particular note. Anson played the entire game dressed as an old man complete with “pale horse-tail whiskers and bald wig.”5 The Globe wrote, “Anson created a sensation by appearing on the field with flowing whiskers of snowy whiteness and long hair. He played the game throughout in this disguise and the crowd seemed to enjoy the sight.”6

It’s not as if baseball’s all-time leader in hits, runs, and RBIs since 1886 would need to go out of his way to draw attention to himself. Rather, Anson’s behavior was in reaction to the press coverage he would routinely get. For some time, newspapers had been focusing on Anson’s long experience when referring to his play. As Leonard Washburne noted in the Daily Inter-Ocean, “It seems that some of the newspapers have fallen into the habit of calling Mr. Anson “Old Anse” and “Uncle” and “Grampa.”7 The newspaper went on to add that the press had even gone so far as to “have printed pictures of him that look like the Santa Claus in a dry goods window.”8 Anson decided to have some fun with the idea. Washburne described the scene at West Side Park that day:

“It was a day off for that merry rogue Mr. Anson. He did not make a hit. He just fooled around and fondled his whiskers and conversed laughingly with the people on the bleachers. He pranced up and down in the box and dared Mr. Nichols to wipe off his beard. His eyes twinkled like stars in the frosty night and when there was no one else handy to talk to he prattled to himself.”9

The game itself pitted Kid Nichols, who had never beaten the Colts, against Vinegar Tom Vickery, and although Anson did not get a hit, he did figure prominently in several key plays. Both pitchers prevented any scoring until Chicago broke through in the eighth inning.

Boston was unable to capitalize on two scoring opportunities early in the game. The first of these occurred in the third. With one out, Herman Long doubled off the left-field wall. Harry Stovey then hit a ball to Fred Pfeffer at second base that was mishandled. Stovey was able to reach first safely on the play. Both Stovey and Long were thrown out in a botched double-steal attempt. Schriver threw out Stovey at second and an alert Pfeffer then threw home to get Long at the plate for the second out, and essentially ended the threat.

The fourth inning provided another opportunity for Boston to break through. Bobby Lowe led off by doubling along the left-field foul line. Billy Nash attempted a sacrifice back toward Vickery, whose throw to third was late and both runners were safe. Nash later took second on a passed ball. This set up one of the pivotal plays of the game which involved Chicago’s disguised captain. Tommy Tucker came to the plate with one out and runners at second and third. He hit a grounder “toward Grampa’s waving beard”10 at first base. Old Man Anson was able to tag out Tucker and throw home in time to get Lowe at the plate for a double play. A second chance had been squandered.

Boston, having failed to take advantage of a pair of doubles in the third and fourth innings, depended upon Nichols to hold Chicago in check. He was successful up until the eighth. The Colts’ bats came to life in the top of that inning. Fred Pfeffer started off with a single past Joe Quinn. Vickery then sacrificed him to second. Pop Schriver drove a ball to right field that was handled by Steve Brodie for the second out. Jimmy Ryan then stepped to the plate and drew a walk, giving the Colts their second baserunner. This brought up Walt Wilmot, who took the first pitch from Nichols for a strike and missed the second. Things looked manageable for Boston with two outs and two strikes on the batter. However, Wilmot smacked the third offering over the South Wall in left field. The Colts now led 3-0 and weren’t done yet. Bill Dahlen followed Wilmot’s blast with a single past Tucker at first and proceeded to steal second base. The whiskered Anson then came up and flied to center for what should have been the third out. However, Bobby Lowe “got sun in his eyes” 11 and muffed the play, allowing Dahlen to come around and score another run for Chicago to make it 4-0. Nichols then got Cliff Carroll to fly out to Stovey in left field to end the threat.

The Colts added to their lead when they returned to bat in the ninth. Jimmy Cooney led off by hitting a ball to Stovey in left field that was muffed. He was able to make it to second before the ball made it back in. Pfeffer sacrificed Cooney to third and Vickery struck out to make two outs. Schriver came up next and hit a ball into center field that scored Cooney and made the score 5-0. Nichols then struck out Ryan for the third out.

The Beaneaters came to the plate in the ninth needing five runs. Bobby Lowe got them off to a good start by singling up the middle. Billy Nash followed suit with single to left. Steve Brodie then came up and was able to force Pfeffer to take an out at first and allow the baserunners to advance one bag. Tucker then hit a triple to center field scoring both Lowe and Nash. Boston now trailed 5-2. Joe Quinn then grounded to Cooney which allowed Tucker to come home from third. It was now 5-3. However, Kid Nichols struck out to end the game, and Boston’s rally fell short by a whisker … or two.

The Beaneaters were ultimately undone by their failure to take advantage of early opportunities and timely hitting on the part of the Colts. The Boston Globe summarized that “Chicago won by opportune batting and two damaging muffs by Stovey.”12 And as important as the result would prove to the pennant chase, Washburne was correct to observe that “Mr. Anson’s whiskers dwarfed the game.”13

Sources

In addition to sources listed in the Notes, the author also used the following for background information:

Fleitz, David. “Cap Anson,” SABR BioProject. sabr.org/bioproj/person/9b42f875.

“Hits Were Scarce: Boston Wins From Chicago by Narrow Margin,” Boston Globe, September 6, 1891: 4.

“Kelly’s Popcorn: Presented to Him on the Field of Battle,” Boston Globe, September 1, 1891: 5.

“Bostons Couldn’t Win; Cincinnati Reds Left Them Far Behind,” Boston Globe, September 2, 1891: 5.

“In McGinty’s Class: As He of Song, so Bostons Went Down,” Boston Globe, September 3, 1891: 5.

Spatz, Lyle. Bad Bill Dahlen: The Rollicking Life and Times of an Early Baseball Star (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2004).

Notes

1 “Downed Again: Boston Leaguers Fall Easy Prey to Colts,” Boston Globe, September 4, 1891: 5.

2 Ibid.

3 “Bostons Not in It: Anson’s ‘Colt’s’ Easily Down Them,” Boston Globe, September 5, 1891: 5.

4 Ibid.

5 “His White Whiskers. Grampa Looking Young Again,” Chicago Herald, September 5, 1891: 7.

6 “Downed Again.”

7 Leonard Washburne, “Boston Falls Again. Another Victory Securely Packed and Labeled by Uncle,” Daily Inter-Ocean, September 5, 1891: 2.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 “His White Whiskers.”

11 “Boston Falls Again.”

12 “Bostons Not in It.”

13 “Boston Falls Again.”

Ten days later it was down to 4½ games as the Colts prepared to face the Beaneaters in a final three-game series between the contenders. Chicago won the first two games, raising the lead back to 6½ games. A reporter at the Chicago Daily Tribune told his readers, “The good captain’s men are champions and no mistake.”1

Moreover, the scheduled pitchers in the third game indicated another likely win for Chicago. For Frank Selee’s Beaneaters it was Charles “Kid” Nichols, 0–9 lifetime against Chicago; and for Anson’s Colts it was Bill Hutchinson, already with eight wins against Boston this season.

But strong pitching by Nichols, together with seven Colts errors led to a Beaneaters victory. Following a tie, the challengers embarked on a 17-game winning streak that would not end until the final day of the season. Boston’s 16th consecutive victory, on October 1 against Philadelphia, clinched the pennant.

Fifteen of Boston’s 18 wins were against Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and New York, the league’s other Eastern teams. Boston’s spectacular late-season success against its regional neighbors led to a serious post-season accusation by Chicago president James Hart. Hart charged that the Eastern teams had conspired to ensure that Boston, not Chicago, won the pennant. He alleged that players in the National League as a whole did not want the Colts, a team with the league’s lowest payroll, to be its champion.

Additionally, Hart believed that resentment against Anson still existed for his opposition to the Brotherhood-inspired Players League, many of whose former members were back playing in the National League. Adding to the mix was the animosity Giants manager Jim Mutrie harbored toward Anson over his refusal to play a postponed contest on an open date of the Giants’ choice.

Hart pointed to several instances during the streak where suspect fielding plays contributed to Boston victories. He focused mainly on the Beaneaters’ five games against the Giants on September 28–30. The series took place at Boston’s South End Grounds and included back-to-back doubleheaders. The Beaneaters, of course, won all five games, the first four by huge margins: 11–3, 13–8, 11–3, 16–5, and 5–3.

Hart pointed out the Giants had arrived in Boston for this very crucial series without their two best pitchers, Amos Rusie and John Ewing. Also absent were first baseman Roger Connor and second baseman Danny Richardson. And, Hart added, those Giants who played did so in such a casual manner that Sporting Life’s comment that “the New York’s beat all records for indifferent and rocky playing,” was typical of the reaction by the press.

The New York papers were normally fully supportive of the Giants, yet they too wrote of their suspicions. For one, they wondered why Rusie and Ewing were used against Chicago, but not against Boston. Under a headline in the September 30 New York Evening Telegram that read, “Are The Giants Trying to Defeat Anson?” the Telegram writer claimed that “Anson’s opponents are doing all in their power to prevent him from winning, but it is doubtful if New York is trying to win. This is unfortunate for it will probably leave a stigma on the National game.”2

The Giants’ lackadaisical play was so obvious that even the Boston fans booed their performance, and led Anson himself to accuse the Giants of deliberately losing the games. Rumors flew that Boston gamblers had even refused to set odds on the Beaneaters-Giants contests.

The whole controversy might have been rendered moot if Chicago had played better down the stretch. Keep in mind that the Colts had left Boston still in possession of a 5½-game lead over the Beaneaters. But they promptly lost three games in New York before finishing up just 6–5–1 in 12 games against Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Until that point, the Colts had been a combined 36–11 against the three teams.

On November 11 the league held a hearing at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York to consider Hart’s charges. Hart offered two more alleged items of testimony in addition to the previous evidence presented. He claimed that 10 days before the Boston-New York series, umpire Jack McQuaid had told the Chicago players that the Beaneaters would sweep the series. And, Hart added, several Cincinnati players had told certain Colts players that the Giants openly stated they would do whatever was necessary to see that Boston won the pennant.3

Despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence to the contrary, owners Arthur Soden of Boston and John Day of New York denied any wrongdoing, and the league dismissed all charges.4 However, to this day both Boston’s 17-game winning streak and its 1891 championship remain clouded with suspicion.5

This essay was originally published in “Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century” (2013), edited by Bill Felber. Download the SABR e-book by clicking here.

Notes

1. Chicago Daily Tribune, September 16, 1891.

2. New York Evening Telegram, September 30, 1891.

3. Chicago Daily Tribune, November 12, 1891.

4. Day was allowed to be present at the entire meeting, while Hart was allowed in only to testify.

5. For a full discussion of Boston’s winning streak and the controversy it engendered, see Robert L. Tiemann’s “The Forgotten Winning Streak of 1891” in the 1989 Baseball Research Journal, pp. 2-5.

The Colts had held the league lead for most of the season, never more than 4½ games behind when they weren’t in first place. The team was led by Cap Anson, who had been the player-manager of the franchise since 1879, with five National League pennants to his credit.1

The Beaneaters went on a 16-game winning streak that started on September 16 when they were 6½ games out of first place behind the Colts. (During the streak there was a tie game on September 17.) Boston took sole possession of first place on September 30. Then on October 1 the Beaneaters, 1½ games ahead of second-place Chicago, defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1. With only two games left in the season, the win clinched their first pennant since 1883.

Philadelphia, managed by Harry Wright, was 17½ games behind Boston when the teams faced off on October 1. The Phillies boasted an outfield of Sam Thompson, Ed Delahanty, and Billy Hamilton, all future Hall of Famers. Twenty-four-year-old Kid Gleason was their best pitcher. (He would become a full-time infielder later in his career.) However, left-hander Duke Esper drew the starting pitcher assignment against the Beaneaters.

Boston’s manager was Frank Selee, who was in his second season at the helm. He gave the ball to 29-year-old veteran John Clarkson, a control specialist who was the staff’s ace.

The Boston Globe reported that the contest was played before 1,000 fans at the Philadelphia Baseball Grounds. It was the first of a three-game series to end the season.

Neither team was able to push across runs in the first three innings. One of the highlights of the game was Boston’s five double plays, with shortstop Herman Long involved in all of them. Two of the twin killings occurred in the first and second innings.

In the top of the fourth inning, Boston broke the scoreless tie with four runs. Billy Nash led off with a single and scored on Tommy Tucker’s triple. Joe Quinn grounded out to shortstop Bob Allen, who was able to hold Tucker at third base.

Charlie Bennett drew a walk and Clarkson reached first base on a third strike muffed by catcher Jack Clements. Long hit a sharp grounder to Allen, who misplayed the ball, and Tucker scored the second run. Harry Stovey’s single to right field scored Clarkson and Long. Charlie Ganzel ended the inning with an out to Allen.

In the bottom of the fourth, Philadelphia mustered its only run of the game when Delahanty reached base on first baseman Tucker’s error on a throw by Long. After stealing second base, Delahanty scored on Al Myers’ hit.

Long aided the Beaneaters’ defensive efforts with his third double play in the fifth inning.

Boston scored two more runs in the top of the sixth, facilitated by two Phillies errors. With Bobby Lowe and Stovey on base, Ganzel delivered a two-run single.

Long participated in two more double plays in the sixth and seventh innings. The game was called at the end of the seventh due to darkness with a final score of 6-1.

For just a seven-inning affair, the game was sloppily played, as Boston issued six walks and committed three errors, while the Phillies accounted for six walks and four errors. Boston’s five double plays and the Phillies’ errors were key factors in the final score.

Clarkson went the distance for Boston, giving up six hits in recording his 33rd win of the season. He went on to record a career 328-178 won-lost record, which earned him a bronze plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Esper yielded only six hits but was plagued by his teammates’ four errors in the two innings Boston scored its runs. His record for the season ended at 20-15.

The Beaneaters’ victory clinched their first of three consecutive pennants. They captured five league championships during the decade under Selee.

The second-place Chicago club suffered a huge disappointment as the season concluded. They had played superbly from July through September, losing only nine games each month, while winning 17 in July and 16 in both August and September. The Colts were in first place from July 21 through September 29. However, their season came down to their final four games, all of which they lost. They wound up 3½ games back of Boston.

Chicago had bitter feelings toward Boston about how the Beaneaters won the pennant. Chicago’s ownership contended that the Eastern clubs in the league colluded with Boston to allow the Beaneaters to win the pennant.2 They believed there was jealousy of the Chicago team and a conspiracy by former players of the ill-fated Players’ League in 1890 to undermine Anson’s drive for the pennant.3

Chicago President Jim Hart and Anson were so convinced of collusion that they sent a telegram to National League President Nicholas Young requesting proof that there was consent by two-thirds of the teams in the league for Boston to play doubleheaders with Pittsburgh on September 19, Brooklyn on September 23, and New York on September 29 and 30. (Boston won all eight of those games.) Chicago asserted that Boston scheduled the doubleheaders toward the end of the season to make up for previously postponed games, thereby providing opportunities to collect additional wins. Chicago hadn’t taken the same approach; at the end of the season, Boston had indeed played three more games than Chicago. Chicago believed Boston independently arranged the makeup games with its opponents. Chicago’s ownership wanted those extra games voided if the required leaguewide consent wasn’t obtained. However, Young said he had no authority to declare any game voided and the teams’ presidents would have the final say. The Cleveland club later reported that it had given consent for the doubleheaders in question and believed the other clubs would reply similarly.4

Chicago further claimed that the New York team had manipulated its pitching assignments, holding back its best pitchers, in games with Boston. It was said that Cleveland was inspired by promise of a reward from Boston should the Beaneaters defeat Chicago in their final series.5

In the end the league took no action against Boston or other teams, and nothing ever came of Chicago’s assertions. However, reactions in several newspapers across the country indicated a belief that the New York club had truly been a culprit in the situation, and thus baseball’s integrity had been damaged.6

Anson maintained for the rest of his life that he was unfairly targeted by former players of the Players’ League who obstructed his chances of winning the National League championship in 1891.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the following:

Baseball-Reference.com.

“Still They Win: Boston Getting a Firmer Hold on Pennant,” Boston Globe, October 2, 1891: 5.  (All game play-by-play details and box-score information were obtained from this source.)

Notes

1 The Chicago franchise was named the White Stockings from 1876 to 1889. Beginning in 1890 they became the Colts and eventually the Cubs in 1902.

2 “Bowed Down With Sorrow: The Chicago Team Sorely Aggrieved at the Loss of the Pennant,” Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1891: 6.

3 When National League players jumped to the rival Players’ League formed in 1890, Anson was one of their vocal critics. His role in squashing the new league angered many of his former players, and this carried over into the 1891 season.

4 “Another Pennant: It Is Assured to the Boston Leaguers,” Boston Daily Advertiser, October 2, 1891.

5 “Plot Against Chicago,” Chicago Tribune, October 1, 1891: 6.

6 “The Soiled Pennant,” Chicago Tribune, October 4, 1891: 13.

The Chicago Colts looked like certain pennant winners going into September. They led Boston in mid-September by 6½ games with 16 games remaining. However, on the 16th Boston began a remarkable stretch of 18 consecutive victories, not losing until their last game of the season. (The streak excluded a tie with Pittsburgh on September 17.) At the same time Chicago went 6-9 (not including a tie), with one of the wins coming on a forfeit by Pittsburgh.2

When the Beaneaters swept the New York Giants in a five-game series September 28-30 (including two doubleheaders), they took the league lead from Chicago and never relinquished it. Upset with the dismal end of their season, the Colts complained publicly that some of the Beaneaters victories were a direct result of the Giants benching their stars Buck Ewing, Roger Connor, and Amos Rusie in several of the contests.3

The  Beaneaters had been improved by several key moves by manager Frank Selee. In 1890 Selee brought Nichols with him from Omaha (Western Association) and added Bobby Lowe. Then he added outfielder Harry Stovey and infielders Joe Quinn and Billy Nash for the 1891 season after the rival Players’ League folded following the 1890 season.

In what might have been called the “Battle of the ‘Kids,’” Boston’s game with Philadelphia on October 2 was played before 912 fans at the Philadelphia Baseball Grounds.4 Selee put the 22-year-old Nichols on the mound for his 48th start of the season, while 24-year-old Kid Gleason took the hill for his 44th start for Phillies manager Harry Wright. In that era, it was not uncommon for teams to use only two or three regular starting pitchers during the entire season, accounting for the high number of games pitched by each.

The scoring began in the top of the first inning when Philadelphia’s Sam Thompson reached base on second baseman Quinn’s wild throw and scored after Ed Delahanty singled. Thompson scored while Delahanty was being run down between the bases.

In the top of the second inning with two outs, the Phillies scored again when Kid Gleason doubled and went to third on Billy Hamilton’s bunt single. Hamilton allowed himself to be caught between the bases, allowing Gleason to score.

Boston countered with a score in the bottom of the second frame when Nash walked, advanced to second on a passed ball by Jack Clements, and scored on a double by Tommy Tucker.  Philadelphia led 2-1.

In the fourth inning, Philadelphia got on the board a third time. Jerry Denny reached first base on Nash’s error. After Bob Allen doubled, William Brown’s sacrifice fly scored Denny. In the bottom of the fourth, the Beaneaters got their second run on singles by Steve Brodie and Nash and a sacrifice hit by Tucker, making the score 3-2.

Boston evened the score in the fifth inning when Herman Long got on base on a force out. On Long’s stolen-base attempt, substitute Philly catcher Bill Gray’s effort to throw him out wound up in center field. When outfielder Delahanty fumbled the ball trying to retrieve the errant throw, Long circled all the bases to score their third run.

Boston added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Charlie Bennett drew a base on balls and advanced to second on a passed ball. Nichols doubled to score Bennett and scored himself when Tucker hit a ball to the outfield terrace. In attempt to go all the way home, Tucker was thrown out at the plate.

With no runs being added by either team in the eighth and ninth innings, the final score stood at 5-3.

Only three runs between both teams were earned, as the game was marred by numerous errors and miscues, particularly by Philadelphia, whom the Philadelphia Inquirer characterized as suffering from “very bum fielding.”5

Both Nichols and Gleason had decent showings on the mound. In recording his 30th victory, Nichols gave up nine hits and two walks, while striking out three.6 Gleason yielded seven hits and three walks, as he recorded two strikeouts. He took his 22nd loss of the season against 24 wins for the season.

Boston finished the season 3½ games ahead of Chicago.

Nichols was also a critical part of the Beaneaters’ four additional pennant-winning teams in the 1890s. He had seven seasons of 30 or more wins with Boston and compiled 361 wins during his 15-year career. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949 after being elected by the Old Timers Committee.

Gleason eventually gave up pitching and became a full-time infielder from 1895 through 1906. He was the manager of the 1919 Chicago White Sox when they were accused of fixing games in the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

After the 1891 season a special National League committee summoned the Giants management group to a formal inquiry to investigate charges that they had thrown late-season games allowing Boston to take the pennant. When the Giants seemingly offered plausible reasons for key players’ absences, the committee upheld the Beaneaters’ championship title.7

The Boston Globe reported that Selee believed his team won the league championship on its own abilities, crediting his team with faithful work.8

The Boston Reds, champions of the rival American Association, urged its league president, Zach Phelps, to issue a challenge to the National League to allow the champions of the two leagues to play a world championship series. The series had become an annual postseason tradition between the two leagues since 1884.9 Phelps proceeded with the challenge to N.E. Young, president of the National League, who declined it. Young responded that it would be a violation of the National Agreement, of which the two leagues had been participants, to play such a postseason series.10

Upon receiving notice of the National League’s refusal, Phelps declared that the Reds were entitled to carry the “World’s Championship Flag” for the 1892 season.11 However, the American Association merged with the National League that year, and the Boston Reds franchise ceased to exist.

The National League title by the Beaneaters in 1891 was the first of five under manager Selee in the 1890s.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted the following:

Boston Post, October 3, 1891: 8.

Boston Globe, October 3, 1891: 5.

The source for all game details came from a box score and game summary in the Philadelphia Inquirer, October 3, 1891: 3.

Notes

1 2016 Atlanta Braves Media Guide, 452. (The 18-game winning streak still stands as the record for the franchise, which includes the Boston team known as the Red Stockings, Beaneaters, Doves, Rustlers, Bees, and Braves; the Milwaukee Braves; and the Atlanta Braves.) In 2017 the Cleveland Indians’ 22 consecutive victories generated some discussion around the baseball world. Cleveland surpassed the 21-game streak of the 1935 Chicago Cubs, but was still shy of the 1916 New York Giants’ streak of 26. However, the Giants’ streak included a tie game, so the phrase “consecutive wins” was a cause for dispute. The issue is beyond the scope of this article, but the 1891 Boston club’s 18-game winning streak also included a tie game.

2 Richard Bogovich, Kid Nichols, A Biography of the Hall of Fame Pitcher (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2012), 51.

3 Ibid.

4 The Boston Post indicated the attendance was 912, while the Boston Globe reported 9,021. It seems unlikely that the latter attendance is correct, since the attendance on the day before was reported by the Globe as 1,000.

5 Philadelphia Inquirer, October 3, 1891: 3. The Boston Globe and Boston Post reported the number of earned runs by both teams as four.

6 The Boston Globe and Boston Post reported the number of hits yielded by Nichols as 10.

7 David Voigt, The League That Failed (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1998), 36.

8 “Won on Its Merits,” Boston Globe, October 5, 1891: 5

9 The first such series was actually held in 1882 but was canceled in 1883.

10 Boston Globe, October 10, 1891: 2.

11 “President Phelps Claims the Title for Boston Reds,” Boston Globe, October 12, 1891: 5.

One thing didn’t change for the expanded National League – the Boston Beaneaters remained the best team in the League. The Beaneaters, who won the League title in 1891 with an 87-51-2 record, were expected to repeat as champions.

Going into their first homestand of the 1892 season, the Beaneaters were 3-1. The first nine days of the season had been disrupted by poor weather. After opening with a 14-4 victory at Washington, the Beaneaters played just once (an 11-5 victory over the Orioles in Baltimore on April 16) over the next six days.

The Beaneaters split two games in Philadelphia before returning to Boston for their home opener on April 21. The game was threatened by rain and played in less than ideal conditions. A crowd of 3,825 turned out for the Beaneaters and Orioles, who had created the first controversy of the season before leaving Baltimore the day before.

Leading 6-5 in the sixth inning of their game with the New York Giants, the Orioles refused to finish their game, saying they had to catch a train for Boston. The Giants claimed they had not been notified by the Orioles and protested. Umpire Jerry Mahoney ruled the game a forfeit to the Giants.

The Orioles, who had finished fourth in the American Association in 1891 with a 71-64-4 record, made it Boston in time for their first road game of the season. Opening Day was a big event for the defending National League champions and the city of Boston.

“Despite the rain, however, Governor William E. Russell and staff, Mayor Matthews and the board of aldermen and councilmen, over one-half of the Massachusetts senate and fully 100 members of the house, besides clergymen, pastors and lawyers of note, occupied prominent seats in the grand stand. Indeed, the Massachusetts legislature adjourned at noon to attend the game.”1

The Beaneaters edged the Orioles, 7-6, to improve to 4-1. The loss dropped the Orioles to 1-5. Another rainout the next day forced the teams to schedule a doubleheader on April 23.

The doubleheader would test the patience of the local cranks before the Beaneaters emerged with a sweep via 11-7 and 19-9 victories.

A newspaper account of the doubleheader succinctly summed up the day’s proceedings: “The champions took four hours and 20 minutes practice at the South End grounds yesterday, having the Baltimore team to fill the role of punching bag. The home team put up by far the best game, and by reason of their superior headwork, have two more victories on their string.”2

While the games weren’t long by twenty-first-century standards – game one was played in 1 hour and 58 minutes and the second game was played in 2 hours and 10 minutes – they were likely tedious for the crowd of 4,326. The teams combined for 25 errors, nine in the first game and 16 (12 by the Orioles) in the second game.

In the first game, Jack Stivetts made his pitching debut for the Beaneaters. Stivetts, who had spent the previous three seasons with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, signed with Boston during the offseason and bolstered a pitching staff that included future Hall of Famers John Clarkson and Kid Nichols. When not pitching, Stivetts played in the outfield.

Stivetts, a 24-year-old right-hander, allowed just five hits, walked six, hit a batter, and had to weather five errors by his defense in the victory. The Orioles scored three runs in the first inning, but Stivetts settled down with four scoreless innings as the Beaneaters scored six in the fourth and two in the fifth to take an 8-3 lead. After the Orioles scored two in the sixth, Boston scored three in the seventh to open an 11-5 lead. The Orioles scored two in the seventh. None of the Orioles’ runs were earned. 

Stivetts finished strong, retiring the Orioles in order over the final two innings. “It was one, two, three (in) order in the eighth and ninth, Stivetts putting on steam and mowing them down with ease,” reported the Boston Globe.3

The Beaneaters took control with their six-run fourth inning. Shortstop Herman Long opened the fourth with a double and future Hall of Famer Hugh Duffy reached on an error. Bobby Lowe hit a grounder to third baseman George Shoch, who threw to home to get Long, but Long returned to third base safely to load the bases. A single by Tommy McCarthybrought in the first two runs. After a sacrifice moved the runners up, Charlie Bennett’s line drive to center field scored two more runs. Stivetts closed out the inning’s scoring with a two-run single.

The Beaneaters added two runs in the fifth on a single by Lowe, a double by McCarthy and a wild pitch.

In the Orioles’ subsequent at-bat, Lew Whistler hit a leadoff triple, but Lowe made a running catch in left-center field of a line drive and threw out Lew Whistler, who had tripled to lead off the inning, at home.

The Beaneaters final three runs came on two walks, a sacrifice, a single by Tommy Tucker and a double by Joe Quinn.

McCarthy, in his first season with the Beaneaters after four seasons with the St. Louis Browns, had three of Boston’s 11 hits.

In the second game, the Beaneaters combined 13 hits with the Orioles’ fielding problems to earn the victory. Only five of Boston’s 19 runs were earned. 

“Baltimore out batted Boston in the second game, but fielded miserably. Boston’s base running was an important winning element in both games.”4

After a five-minute break between games, Lowe got things started in the second game (the Beaneaters batted first) with a two-run home run to left. But the Orioles scored four runs in their half of the first on a walk, error four singles and a double to take a short-lived 4-2 lead.

The Beaneaters quickly added six runs in the second on singles by Quinn, Tucker, and Clarkson, a walk, a hit batsman, and two errors.

Tucker added a double in the Beaneaters’ three-run eighth inning, and singles by Duffy and Billy Nash highlighted their three-run ninth inning.

Nash had four hits and Duffy, who had hit .336 in 1891 for the American Association champion Boston Reds, had three hits to lead the Beaneaters offense. The Beaneaters stole seven bases – three by Duffy and two by Nash – while Orioles starter George Cobb walked seven.

The Orioles had 15 hits off Clarkson, who was making his third start of the season. But only two of Baltimore’s nine runs were earned. Clarkson, who was 33-19 with a 2.79 ERA in 47 complete games for Boston in 1891, also walked seven.

Shoch and George Wood each had three hits for the Orioles.

After the doubleheader, the Beaneaters went on the road and won four more games to stretch their winning streak to eight games. They were 11-2 in the first month of the season.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the notes, the author also consulted Newspapers.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 “Sporting News,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 22, 1892: 1.

2 “Double Dirge,” Boston Globe, April 24, 1892: 4.

3 Ibid.

4 “Baltimore Pushed Further Down the Line,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 24, 1892: 7.