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1888 Major League Baseball season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| title | 1888 MLB season |
| league | American Association (AA) |
| National League (NL) | |
| sport | Baseball |
| duration | Regular season:{{Bulleted list |
| no_of_games | 140 |
| no_of_teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| playoffs | Pennant winner |
| conf1 | AA |
| conf1_champ | St. Louis Browns |
| conf1_runner-up | Brooklyn Bridegrooms |
| conf2 | NL |
| conf2_champ | New York Giants |
| conf2_runner-up | Chicago White Stockings |
| finals | World's Championship Series |
| finals_link | 1888 World Series |
| finals_champ | New York Giants |
| finals_runner-up | St. Louis Browns |
| seasonslist | List of Major League Baseball seasons |
| seasonslistnames | MLB |
| prevseason_link | 1887 Major League Baseball season |
| prevseason_year | 1887 |
| nextseason_link | 1889 Major League Baseball season |
| nextseason_year | 1889 |
National League (NL) | April 18 – October 17, 1888 (AA) | April 20 – October 13, 1888 (NL)}}World's Championship Series:{{Bulleted list | October 16–27, 1888}} | conf1_runner-up = Brooklyn Bridegrooms | conf2_runner-up = Chicago White Stockings | finals_runner-up = St. Louis Browns The 1888 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1888. The regular season ended on October 17, with the New York Giants and the St. Louis Browns as regular season champions of the National League and American Association, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the fifth World's Championship Series on October 16 and ended with Game 10 on October 27, in what was a best-of-eleven-playoff. The Giants defeated the Browns, six games to four, capturing their first World's Championship Series.
Over the offseason, the American Association's New York Metropolitans folded, and saw them replaced by the newly enfranchised Kansas City Cowboys. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Grays renamed as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
Schedule
The 1888 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American Association and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place by the American Association since the season and was the first season that the National League adopted the format. This format would last until .
American Association Opening Day took place on April 18 featuring all eight teams, while National League Opening Day took place on April 20, also featuring all eight teams. The American Association would see its final day of the regular season on October 15 with a game between the Cleveland Blues and Philadelphia Athletics, while the National League would see its final day of the season on October 13, featuring all eight teams. The 1888 World's Championship Series took place between October 16 and October 27.
Rule changes
The 1888 season saw the following rule changes:
- A batter was credited with a base hit when a runner was hit by his batted ball.
- A batter was credited with a hit when a runner is out for being hit by the batted ball.
- The base on balls exemption from a time at bat was restored.
- Rule 50 § 4 was amended allowing a runner to take a base if the ball hits the umpire, while a struck ball hits a base runner after an attempt has been made to field it, the runner shall not be declared out.
- Rules distinguishing earned runs from unearned runs were created, mainly that an earned run was defined as one unaided by errors, with an exception for bases on balls; a player that was walked and scores will be counted towards a pitcher's total earned runs.
- Rule 4 changed, changing the total number of strikes needed for a strikeout were reduced from four to three (as they were, prior to .
- The batting average rule which included balls in the calculation of the batting average is reversed.
Teams
An asterisk () denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at*
| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager | American League}};" | Baltimore Orioles | Brooklyn Bridegrooms | Cincinnati Red Stockings | Cleveland Blues | Kansas City Cowboys | Louisville Colonels | Philadelphia Athletics | St. Louis Browns | National League}};" | Boston Beaneaters | Chicago White Stockings | Detroit Wolverines | Indianapolis Hoosiers | New York Giants | Philadelphia Quakers | Pittsburgh Alleghenys | Washington Nationals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore, Maryland | Oriole Park | 5,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brooklyn, New York | Washington Park | 3,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati, Ohio | American Park | 3,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cleveland, Ohio | National League Park | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City, Missouri | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association Park | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exposition Park* | 4,000* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisville, Kentucky | Eclipse Park | 5,860 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Jefferson Street Grounds | 15,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 12,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 6,800 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 6,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Detroit, Michigan | Recreation Park (Detroit) | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indianapolis, Indiana | Seventh Street Park | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 20,709 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds | 12,500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Recreation Park (Pittsburgh) | 17,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington, D.C. | Swampoodle Grounds | 6,000 |
Sunday games
Blue laws restricted Sunday activities in several localities, causing several teams of the American Association (which was informally referred to as the "Beer & Whiskey League" due to its openness on alcohol, compared to the National League) to play at ballparks in a different locality.
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Games played | Brooklyn Bridegrooms | Cleveland Blues | Philadelphia Athletics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgewood, New York | Ridgewood Park | 10,000 | 20 | ||||
| Bainbridge Township, Ohio | Geauga Lake Grounds | Unknown | 3 | ||||
| Newburgh Township, Ohio | Beyerle's Park | Unknown | 1 | ||||
| Gloucester City, New Jersey | Fireworks Park | Unknown | 2 | ||||
| Gloucester Point Grounds | Unknown | 1 |
Standings
American Association
National League
Postseason
Bracket
| RD1-seed1=AA | RD1-team1=St. Louis Browns | RD1-score1-1=1 | RD1-score1-2=3 | RD1-score1-3=2 | RD1-score1-4=3 | RD1-score1-5=4 | RD1-score1-6=5 | RD1-score1-7=78 | RD1-score1-8=3 | RD1-score1-9=14 | RD1-score1-10=18 | RD1-seed2=NL | RD1-team2=New York Giants | RD1-score2-1=2 | RD1-score2-2=0 | RD1-score2-3=4 | RD1-score2-4=6 | RD1-score2-5=68 | RD1-score2-6=128 | RD1-score2-7=5 | RD1-score2-8=11 | RD1-score2-9=11 | RD1-score2-10=7
Managerial changes
Off-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager | Brooklyn Bridegrooms | Indianapolis Hoosiers | New York Metropolitans | Philadelphia Athletics | Washington Nationals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Byrne | Bill McGunnigle | ||||||
| Horace Fogel | Harry Spence | ||||||
| Ollie Caylor | Team folded | ||||||
| Charlie Mason | Bill Sharsig | ||||||
| John Gaffney | Walter Hewett |
In-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager | Cleveland Blues | Detroit Wolverines | Kansas City Cowboys | Louisville Colonels | Washington Statesmen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Williams | Tom Loftus | ||||||
| Bill Watkins | Robert Leadley | ||||||
| Dave Rowe | Sam Barkley | ||||||
| Sam Barkley | Bill Watkins | ||||||
| Kick Kelly | Mordecai Davidson | ||||||
| Mordecai Davidson | John Kerins | ||||||
| Walter Hewett | Ted Sullivan |
League leaders
Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
American Association
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Tip O'Neill (STL) | .335 |
| OPS | John Reilly (CIN) | .864 |
| HR | John Reilly (CIN) | 13 |
| RBI | John Reilly (CIN) | 103 |
| R | George Pinkney (BRO) | 134 |
| H | Tip O'Neill (STL) | 177 |
| SB | Arlie Latham (STL) | 109 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Silver King (STL) | 45 |
| L | Henry Porter (KC) | 37 |
| ERA | Silver King (STL) | 1.63 |
| K | Ed Seward (PHA) | 272 |
| IP | Silver King (STL) | 584.2 |
| SV | John Corkhill (BRO/CIN) | |
| Bob Gilks (CLE) | ||
| Tony Mullane (CIN) | 1 | |
| WHIP | Silver King (STL) | 0.874 |
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Cap Anson (CHI) | .344 |
| OPS | Cap Anson (CHI) | .899 |
| HR | Jimmy Ryan (CHI) | 16 |
| RBI | Cap Anson (CHI) | 84 |
| R | Dan Brouthers (DET) | 118 |
| H | Jimmy Ryan (CHC) | 182 |
| SB | Billy Hoy (WAS) | 82 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Tim Keefe1 (NYG) | 35 |
| L | Hank O'Day (WAS) | 29 |
| ERA | Tim Keefe1 (NYG) | 1.74 |
| K | Tim Keefe1 (NYG) | 335 |
| IP | John Clarkson (BSN) | 483.1 |
| SV | George Wood (PHI) | 2 |
| WHIP | Tim Keefe (NYG) | 0.937 |
1 National League Triple Crown pitching winner
References
References
- "1888 Major Leagues Schedule".
- "MLB Rule Changes {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
- admin. "1887 Winter Meetings: Harmony After a Fire Sale – Society for American Baseball Research".
- admin. "How Bases on Balls were Scored: 1864–1888 – Society for American Baseball Research".
- "1888 Major League Managers".
- "Brooklyn Dodgers – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
- "Cleveland Spiders – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
- "Philadelphia Athletics – Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".
- "1888 American Association Batting Leaders".
- "1888 American Association Pitching Leaders".
- "1888 National League Batting Leaders".
- "1888 National League Pitching Leaders".
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