June 12, 1885: Dave Orr records cycle, 6-hit game in Metropolitans’ win over Browns

About 1,500 spectators turned out to the Polo Grounds for an American Association game between the St. Louis Browns and New York Metropolitans on June 12, 1885, and “admirers of heavy batting were jubilant.”1 New York first baseman Dave Orr, the league’s reigning batting champion and RBI king, led the Metropolitans to a win with six hits, including a cycle.

In 1884 the Metropolitans had won the AA’s pennant,2 but owner John Day maneuvered manager Jim Mutrie, star pitcher Tim Keefe, and third baseman Dude Esterbrook to the National League club he also owned, the New York Giants. At 12-25, the depleted ’85 Metropolitans were in last place in the eight-team league, trailing first-place St. Louis by 16½ games.3

The 1885 Browns, described by SABR’s Bill Lamb as “perhaps the best ballclub in the nine-year existence of the American Association,” were 28-8, including a 17-game winning streak.4 They had swept a four-game series from the Metropolitans in May in St. Louis and won the first two contests of the four-game series in New York. The Browns had scored 259 runs in their first 36 games (just under 7½ runs per game) and the New Yorkers had allowed 281 runs in their 37 contests (just over 7½ runs per game). Fans expecting to see lots of runs were not disappointed, but it was the Mets who provided most of the scoring.

The pitching matchup was a pair of right-handers: Jack Lynch for New York and Bob Caruthers for St. Louis. Lynch had started 53 games for the pennant-winning Mets in 1884, pitched 496 innings, and earned 37 wins to equal Keefe for the team lead. New York had begun the 1885 season with Buck Becannon and Ed Bagley as their starting hurlers, but after combining to lose 12 of their first 18 starts by mid-May, the pair was benched by manager Jim Gifford5 in favor of Lynch, Doug Crothers, and Ed Cushman.6 Entering his ninth start of the season, Lynch was 4-4.

Two days earlier, in the series opener, the 21-year-old Caruthers had limited the Metropolitans to just nine hits. (All three runs scored by New York were unearned.) He was in search of his 16th win of the season, and the Browns had lost only twice when he started on the mound. On this day, however, the New York batters “solved Caruthers’ curves and pounded the life out of him,” observed the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.7

Leading the Metropolitans’ charge was Orr. The 25-year-old Brooklyn native was a big player, standing 5-feet-11 and weighing 250 pounds. He had signed with the Metropolitans in 1883 (played one game), went to the New York Giants in the National League (playing only one game), and then returned to the Mets (playing 12 more games).8 In 1884, his first full season, Orr led the American Association in hits (162), total bases (247), runs batted in (112), and batting average (.354). He continued his strong play at the plate in 1885, pacing the league in triples (21) and slugging percentage (.543) while batting .342.9

Against Caruthers and the Browns on June 12, Orr attained the first cycle in the Metropolitans’ three-season history and tied the major-league record for hits in a game.

According to the New York Tribune, “The local nine took the lead in the first inning and held it easily to the end.”10 The Metropolitans batted first and scored four runs. All were unearned, the results of “errors and wild throwing.”11

New York added a solo run in the fourth. In the top of the fifth, singles by Orr, Frank Hankinson, and Jim Reilly, followed by Ed Kennedy’s triple, resulted in three more Metropolitans runs. The home team had an 8-0 lead.

The visitors cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth. Second baseman Reilly had just joined the New York team, making his major-league debut on June 8.12 He had difficulty in the field and was unable to “hold a ball thrown to him.”13 In the fifth, Reilly committed three errors, which accounted for four St. Louis runs, making it an 8-4 game.

Throughout the game, the Metropolitans “got the range of Caruther’s [sic] pitching.”14 In the sixth, New York added two runs. Steve Brady singled, and then Orr drove a “beauty to left field on the ground,”15 which was deep enough for him to race around the bases for a two-run home run. New York scored once more in the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, Reilly again gained mention in the Tribune’s play-by-play account, when it was reported that, “but for his error the [Browns’] three runs would not have been scored.”16 St. Louis had battled back, trailing 11-7.

In the eighth inning, the Mets hit the ball all over the diamond, and four runners crossed home plate. New York tallied twice more in the ninth, and St. Louis scored one final unearned run in the bottom of the ninth. After 2 hours and 15 minutes, the Metropolitans had defeated the Browns, 17-8, snapping the six-game losing streak to St. Louis.

One St. Louis newspaper account described the game as “a tiring one,”17 due to poor fielding. In fact, the Post-Dispatch credited each team with nine errors! The New York reports differed. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle remarked that the fielding made this “a tedious game to watch,”18 while the New York Times told its readers, “At times the fielding was very sharp, and altogether the game was a rather enjoyable one.”19

Lynch, per the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, “pitched a splendid game”20 By all accounts, he did not yield an earned run, meaning that all eight of the Browns’ tallies were allowed by errors (many by Reilly21). Lynch finished the season with 23 wins, accounting for more than half of New York’s 44 victories.

Caruthers took the loss, yielding 20 hits. He rebounded, winning four of his next five starts. He finished 1885 by leading all American Association pitchers with 40 wins and a 2.07 earned-run average. The Browns went on to a 79-33 record, winning their first-ever pennant by 16 games over second-place Cincinnati.22

The biggest star on June 12, however, was Orr, who “made the best batting record ever seen on the grounds.”23 In his six at-bats, he clubbed a home run, a triple, two doubles, and two singles, which translates into hitting for the cycle. He scored four runs. He became the first major leaguer on any New York team to hit for the cycle. He also tied a major-league record, becoming just the 13th player to have six hits in a nine-inning game.24 In 1885, hitting for the cycle was not recognized; more emphasis was placed on total bases. Orr’s 13 total bases were big news. The newspaper accounts did not give descriptions on much of the play; for example, Orr’s triple was on a line drive to center, but the inning or situation was not provided.25

Long John Reilly of the AA’s Cincinnati club was in attendance for Orr’s feat; the Cincinnatis had a day off during a series with the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers.26 Reilly told reporters that Orr “hits the ball harder than any player in the country, and I doubt very much if there is a man who can handle the bat any better than Dave.”27 This was high praise, coming from the player who in the previous season led the American Association in home runs (11) and slugging percentage (.551), while also posting a .339 batting average. Further, John Reilly hit for the cycle twice in 1883.28

Coincidentally, John Reilly was the first major leaguer to get six hits in a game in which he hit for the cycle (September 12, 1883); Orr was the second. Only eight other major leaguers have recorded six-hit games while hitting for the cycle.29 The Tribune commended this effort, reporting, “When one remembers that six hits are frequently all that a whole nine can make in a game, the tremendous work performed by this one player is realized.”30

Within the span of four days, two more major leaguers collected a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game. The next day (June 13), Detroit’s George Wood (NL) hit for the cycle, and on June 16, Philadelphia’s Henry Larkin (AA) did as well. Detroit’s Mox McQuery (NL) became the fourth batter in 1885 to hit for the cycle when he accomplished the rare feat on September 28.

Orr himself had a second cycle in his future. On August 10, 1887, during what turned out to be the Metropolitans’ final season of existence, he hit for the cycle in a loss to the Baltimore Orioles.31

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Russ Walsh and copy-edited by Len Levin. Thanks to John Fredland for assistance and insights.

Sources  

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org. With no play-by-play available on Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org, the author based the game’s play-by-play on details found in the New York Times, New York Tribune, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reprinted the Tribune’s write-up as a Special Dispatch.

Notes

1 “Some Wonderful Batting,” New York Tribune, June 13, 1885: 2.

2 The 1884 Metropolitans lost baseball’s first “World Series” to the National League champion Providence Grays.

3 For more information on the 1884-86 Metropolitans, see SABR member Larry DeFillipo’s article on the inaugural game at the St. George Grounds.

4 Bill Lamb, “Dave Foutz,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, accessed October 21, 2023, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Dave-Foutz/.

5 Gifford was in his first season at the helm of the Mets. He had managed the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1884, as they finished with a 25-60 record, finishing in 11th place. (The Washington Statesmen had a worse winning percentage, but they folded in early August and did not complete the season.) Gifford then skippered the Mets in 1885 and for just 17 games in 1886. After a 5-12 start, he was replaced as manager by Bob Ferguson. Gifford ended his major-league tenure with a record of 74-136.

6 Lynch made his first start on May 16. He and Carothers shared the pitching duties, but in mid-July Cushman (who had begun the 1885 season pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics) joined the rotation. After Gifford decided to use Lynch as a starter, Bagley and Becannon combined to start a total of just six games for the rest of the season. Becannon was released in June, and Bagley made just three starts after May 17.

7 “Slugging the Champions,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 13, 1885: 9.

8 According to SABR member Jim Morgan’s biography of Orr, “After only one game, Orr was transferred to the New York Mets of the American Association (both the Gothams and the Mets were owned by the Metropolitan Exhibition Company, and players were sometimes shuttled between the two teams. John Day essentially ran both clubs).” See Jim Morgan, “Dave Orr,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, accessed October 23, 2023, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Dave-Orr/.

9 Orr’s batting average in 1885 was second-best in the American Association, behind Louisville’s Pete Browning (.362). Orr’s mark was also fourth-best in the majors, when including the National League’s Roger Connor (.371, New York Giants) and Dan Brouthers (.359, Buffalo Bisons).

10 “Some Wonderful Batting.”

11 “Sports and Pastimes,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 13, 1885: 1.

12 “The Local Nines Beaten at Baseball,” New York Tribune, June 9, 1885: 2. Jim Reilly is described as “a new local amateur engaged by the Metropolitan club.”

13 “Sports and Pastimes.”

14 “Sports and Pastimes.”

15 “Sports and Pastimes.”

16 “Some Wonderful Batting.”

17 “Slugging the Champions.” The Post-Dispatch reported that Comiskey and Gleason were the only St. Louis players who did not make any errors.

18 “Sports and Pastimes.”.

19 “A Great Feat in Batting,” New York Times, June 13, 1885: 2.

20 “Sports and Pastimes.”

21 This was Jim Reilly’s only season in the majors. He played 10 games for New York at second base (and another two as third baseman), making 10 errors. He was released after the game on June 19.

22 Charles F. Faber, “Bob Caruthers,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, accessed October 21, 2023, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Bob-Caruthers/.

23 “Some Wonderful Batting.”

24 As of the end of the 2023 season. See “Six Hits in a Game,” Baseball-Almanac.com. Accessed October 2023. This link shows American and National League players who had six hits in a nine-inning game. Orr became the fifth American Association player to do it, following Hick Carpenter (Cincinnati, September 12, 1883), John Reilly (Cincinnati, September 12, 1883 – the same game as Carpenter!), Oscar Walker (Brooklyn, May 31, 1884), and Lon Knight (Philadelphia, July 30, 1884).

25 “A Great Feat in Batting.”

26 The author found no evidence that John Reilly was related to Jim Reilly. Since the Reds did not play on June 12, perhaps John was simply scouting the Browns and Mets.

27 “A Great Feat in Batting.”

28 John Reilly hit for the cycle on September 12, 1883, and again a week later, on September 19, 1883, becoming the first major leaguer to accomplish the rare event twice in his career.

29 The other eight players were Henry Larkin (June 16, 1885 – just four days after Orr’s cycle, Larkin’s was a reverse natural cycle), Larry Twitchell (August 15, 1889), Farmer Weaver (August 12, 1890), Sam Thompson (August 17, 1894), Bobby Veach (September 17, 1920), Rondell White (June 11, 1995), Ian Kinsler (April 15, 2009), and Christian Yelich (August 29, 2018 – this was Yelich’s first of three career cycles).

30 “The News This Morning,” New York Tribune, June 13, 1885: 4. Unfortunately, the Tribune gave the player’s name as Daniel Orr, not Dave Orr.

31 Orr hit .342 in an eight-season big-league career, which ended when he suffered a paralyzing stroke after the 1890 season.