1875 St. Louis Brown Stockings season

1875 St. Louis Brown Stockings
LeagueNational Association of Professional Base Ball Players
BallparkGrand Avenue Ball Grounds
CitySt. Louis, Missouri
OwnersJames Lucas[citation needed], C. Orrick Bishop
ManagerDickey Pearce
1876 →

In the fall of 1874, a group of civic boosters in St. Louis raised $20,000 to organize the creation of the cities first professional ball club.[1] The St. Louis Brown Stockings joined the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players for the 1875 season and finished the season in fourth place. They subsequently joined the new National League for the 1876 season. The Brown Stockings joined the National League as a founding team and thus inspired what is now a rich baseball history in the city of St. Louis.

Preseason acquisitions

C. Orrick Bishop, a local St. Louis lawyer, was named as the Brown Stockings Vice President and given the task of going east to recruit top talent.[2] In Brooklyn, Bishop picked up Dickey Pearce, Jack Chapman, Herman Dehlman, and Lip Pike. In and around Philadelphia, Bishop added Ned Cuthbert, Reddy Miller, George Bradley, Bill Hague, and Joe Battin.

Management

Dickey Pearce having been signed from the 1874 Brooklyn Atlantics became the first ever manager of the St. Louis Brown Stockings. Dickey Pearce is most known for his cunning managerial mind and creating the position of shortstop which he manned for the Brown Stockings in 1875.[2]

Hitters

The St. Louis Brown Stockings worst hitter—starting catcher Tom Miller—had an OPS+ of 24 over 56 games. He hit .164—33 singles, two doubles, and one walk in 214 at-bats.[2] The St. Louis Brown Stockings best hitter, Lip Pike, hit .346/.352/.494, for an OPS+ of 203—74 singles, 22 doubles, 12 triples.[2] Lip Pike was known as the leagues most athletic hitter and for good reason as he is rumored to have raced a trotting horse and won.

Pitchers

Top row from left to right: Joe Blong, right field and change pitcher; George Bradley, pitcher; John Clapp, catcher; Dickey Pearce, short fielder. Bottom row from left to right: Joe Battin, third base; George Seward, substitute and change catcher; John Chapman, right field; Lip Pike, right; Edgar Cuthbert, center; Michael McGeary, second base; Denny Mack, short fielder and general utility man.

Eighteen-year-old Pud Galvin is credited with leading the league in ERA (1.16) while just only pitching 62 innings.[3][4]

Regular season

Season standings

National Association W L T GB Pct.
Boston Red Stockings 71 8 3 – .884
Philadelphia Athletics 53 20 4 15.0 .714
Hartford Dark Blues 54 28 3 18.5 .659
St. Louis Brown Stockings 39 29 2 26.5 .571
Philadelphia White Stockings 37 31 2 28.5 .542
Chicago White Stockings 30 37 2 35.0 .449
New York Mutuals 30 38 3 35.5 .443
New Haven Elm Citys 7 40 – 48.0 .149
Washington Nationals 5 23 – 40.5 .179
St. Louis Red Stockings 4 15 – 37.0 .211
Philadelphia Centennials 2 12 – 36.5 .143
Brooklyn Atlantics 2 42 – 51.5 .045
Keokuk Westerns 1 12 – 37.0 .077

Record vs. opponents

1875 National Association Records

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Team BOS BR CHI HAR KEO NH NY PHA PHC PWS SLB SLR WSH
Boston — 6–0 8–2 9–1 1–0 5–1 10–0 8–2–2 4–0 6–0–1 7–2 1–0 6–0
Brooklyn 0–6 — 0–2 0–10 0–0 2–1 0–7 0–7 0–0 0–7 0–2 0–0 0–0
Chicago 2–8 2–0 — 4–6–1 4–0 2–1 3–3 1–7–1 0–0 3–7 5–5 4–0 0–0
Hartford 1–9 10–0 6–4–1 — 0–0 8–1 8–2–2 4–3–1 1–0 4–4 5–5 3–0 4–0
Keokuk 0–1 0–0 0–4 0–0 — 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–4 1–2 0–0
New Haven 1–5 1–2 1–2 1–8 0–0 — 1–5 0–7 0–1 0–4 1–2 0–0 1–4
New York 0–10 7–0 3–3 2–8–2 1–0 5–1 — 3–6 2–0 5–2 0–8–1 2–0 0–0
Philadelphia Athletics 2–8–2 7–0 7–1–1 3–4–1 0–0 7–0 6–3 — 2–1 8–2 6–1 0–0 5–0
Philadelphia Centennials 0–4 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–2 — 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–0
Philadelphia White Stockings 0–6–1 7–0 7–3 4–4 0–0 4–0 2–5 2–8 3–0 — 5–5–1 1–0 2–0
St. Louis Brown Stockings 2–7 2–0 5–5 5–5 4–0 2–1 8–0–1 1–6 0–0 5–5–1 — 2–0 3–0
St. Louis Red Stockings 0–1 0–0 0–4 0–3 2–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–2 — 2–1
Washington 0–6 0–0 0–0 0–4 0–0 4–1 0–0 0–5 0–0 0–2 0–3 1–2 —


Roster

1875 St. Louis Brown Stockings roster
Roster
Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Tom Miller 56 214 35 .164 0 12
Herman Dehlman 67 254 57 .224 0 14
Joe Battin 67 284 71 .250 0 33
Dickey Pearce 70 311 77 .248 0 29
Bill Hague 62 260 57 .219 0 22
Lip Pike 70 312 108 .346 0 44
Jack Chapman 43 195 44 .226 0 30
Ned Cuthbert 68 319 78 .245 0 17
Charlie Waitt 30 113 23 .204 0 12
George Seward 25 96 24 .250 0 8
Frank Fleet 4 16 1 .063 0 1

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
George Bradley 60 535.2 33 26 2.13 60
Pud Galvin 8 62.0 4 2 1.16 8
Frank Fleet 3 27.0 2 1 3.33 3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Dickey Pearce 2 0 0 0 3.38 0

References

  1. ^ admin. "Dickey Pearce – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Danfiction (December 8, 2012). "One of these goofy-looking men invented shortstop". Viva El Birdos. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  3. ^ "Pud Galvin career statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  4. ^ "1875 National Association pitching leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 19, 2013.


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