1885 St. Louis Browns season

1885 St. Louis Browns
American Association Champions
LeagueAmerican Association
BallparkSportsman's Park
CitySt. Louis, Missouri
Record79–33 (.705)
League place1st
OwnerChris von der Ahe
ManagerCharlie Comiskey
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1884 Seasons 1886 →

The 1885 St. Louis Browns season was the team's fourth season in St. Louis, Missouri, and the fourth season in the American Association. The Browns went 79–33 during the season, best in the American Association, and won their first AA pennant. In the World Series, the Browns played the National League champion Chicago White Stockings. The series ended in dispute, with each club winning 3 games with 1 tie.

Regular season

1885 St. Louis Browns

Manager Charlie Comiskey finally was able to assemble and direct a team from start to finish the way he wanted.[citation needed] The result: a runaway championship.

The team was built on daring baserunning, clutch hitting, and the best pitching in the league. The team as a whole led the league in both earned run average (ERA) and overall runs allowed by a healthy margin over second-best Louisville.[1] Individually, Dave Foutz was outstanding, as he won 33 of the 46 games he started and ranked fifth in ERA. His teammate Bob Caruthers was even better, compiling league-leading totals in wins (40), ERA (2.07) and winning percentage (a stellar .755).[2]

The Browns took over first place to stay in the second week of May, but they made a joke of the race in July. On successive home stands, they had winning streaks of 17 and 12 games, combining for a major-league record 27-game winning streak at home that still stands as the best ever.[3] They finished games laps ahead of the second-place Cincinnati Red Stockings and earned a berth in the World Series against the National League champion Chicago White Stockings.

Season standings

American Association
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Browns 79 33 .705 — 44‍–‍11 35‍–‍22
Cincinnati Red Stockings 63 49 .562 16 35‍–‍21 28‍–‍28
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 56 55 .505 22½ 37‍–‍19 19‍–‍36
Philadelphia Athletics 55 57 .491 24 33‍–‍23 22‍–‍34
Brooklyn Grays 53 59 .473 26 35‍–‍22 18‍–‍37
Louisville Colonels 53 59 .473 26 37‍–‍19 16‍–‍40
New York Metropolitans 44 64 .407 33 28‍–‍24 16‍–‍40
Baltimore Orioles 41 68 .376 36½ 29‍–‍26 12‍–‍42

Record vs. opponents

1885 American Association record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BAL BR CIN LOU NY PHI PIT STL
Baltimore — 7–9 6–10 7–9 7–6 6–10–1 6–10 2–14
Brooklyn 9–7 — 5–11 10–6 8–8 11–5 6–10 4–12
Cincinnati 10–6 11–5 — 8–8 10–6 9–7 9–7 6–10
Louisville 9–7 6–10 8–8 — 9–7 8–8 6–10 7–9
New York 6–7 8–8 6–10 7–9 — 5–11 8–7 4–12
Philadelphia 10–6–1 5–11 7–9 8–8 11–5 — 10–6 4–12
Pittsburgh 10–6 10–6 7–9 10–6 7–8 6–10 — 6–10
St. Louis 14–2 12–4 10–6 9–7 12–4 12–4 10–6 —


Roster

1885 St. Louis Browns
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Doc Bushong 85 300 80 .267 0 21
1B Charlie Comiskey 83 340 87 .256 2 44
2B Sam Barkley 106 418 112 .268 3 53
SS Bill Gleason 112 472 119 .252 3 53
3B Arlie Latham 110 485 100 .206 1 35
OF Curt Welch 112 432 117 .271 3 69
OF Yank Robinson 78 287 75 .261 0 35
OF Hugh Nicol 112 425 88 .207 0 45

Other batters

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
Tip O'Neill 52 206 72 .350 3 38
Dan Sullivan 17 60 7 .117 0 3
Mike Drissel 6 20 1 .050 0 0
Cal Broughton 4 17 1 .059 0 1

Pitching

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
Bob Caruthers 53 482.1 40 13 2.07 190
Dave Foutz 47 407.2 33 14 2.63 147
Jumbo McGinnis 13 112.0 6 6 3.38 41

World Series

Main article: 1885 World Series
  • Game 1 (October 14): Darkness ends game one after 8 innings‚ with the teams tied 5–5.
  • Game 2 (October 15): With Chicago leading 5–4 in the sixth inning, Browns manager Charles Comiskey calls his team off the field to protest a ruling made by umpire Dave Sullivan. The game is forfeited to Chicago.
  • Game 6 (October 23): The series moves from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati‚ setting a record for the series played in the most cities. (It was also played in New York and St. Louis.) Chicago takes a 3–2 series lead by beating the Browns 9–2.
  • Game 7 (October 24): Behind pitcher Dave Foutz, St. Louis defeats Chicago 13–4 in the 7th and last game. The Browns claim the game 2 forfeit didn't count and therefore claim the championship. The two clubs split the $1000 prize.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ 1885 American Association Team Statistics and Standings
  2. ^ 1885 American Association Pitching Leaders
  3. ^ a b 1885 Chronology at The Baseball Library Archived October 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

References