1878 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1878 throughout the world.

Champions

National League: Boston Red Caps
International Association: Buffalo Bisons
Pacific Coast: San Francisco Athletics (Semi-pro)

Inter-league playoff: Boston (NL) and Buffalo (IA) each won 1 game in 2 game series.

National League final standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Caps	41	19	0.683	—	23–7	18–12
Cincinnati Reds	37	23	0.617	4	25–8	12–15
Providence Grays	33	27	0.550	8	17–13	16–14
Chicago White Stockings	30	30	0.500	11	17–18	13–12
Indianapolis Blues	24	36	0.400	17	10–17	14–19
Milwaukee Grays	15	45	0.250	26	7–18	8–27

Statistical leaders

National League
Type	Name	Stat
AVG	Paul Hines PRO	.358
HR	Paul Hines PRO	4
RBI	Paul Hines PRO	50
Wins	Tommy Bond BOS	40
ERA	John Montgomery Ward PRO	1.51
Strikeouts	Tommy Bond BOS	182

Events

January–March

February 6 – The Providence Grays are accepted into the National League.
February 12 – Fred Thayer, Harvard team manager, receives a patent for the catching mask.
March 8 – Devastated by the gambling scandal from 1877, The Louisville Grays withdraw from the National League after being unable to assemble a competitive team.
March 27 – The National Association of Amateur Base Ball Players disbands.

April–June

April 2 – The National League announces a group of 18 umpires who are eligible to umpire league games. The scheduling of those umpires is left to the individual clubs to decide.
May 1 – In front of 5,500 fans at the brand new Messer Street Grounds, the Providence Grays lose the season opener to the defending champion Boston Red Caps 1-0. Mike "King" Kelly makes his major league debut in the home opener at Cincinnati.
May 1 – Will White and Deacon White become the first brother pitcher-catcher battery in the Cincinnati Reds 6–4 win over the Milwaukee Grays.
May 2 – The International Association commences regular season play with 12 teams as follows – Auburn, Binghamton Crickets, Brooklyn Blues, Buffalo Bisons, London Tecumsehs, Manchester Reds, New Bedford Whalers, New Haven Elm Citys, Pittsburgh Alleghenies, Rochester Flour Citys, Syracuse Stars and the Worcester Reds. The New York Clipper declares the new IA to be a "major league."
May 7 – The IA's Auburn and Brooklyn teams disband leaving the circuit with 10 teams.
May 8 – Paul Hines of the Providence Grays, who will win baseball's first triple crown in 1878, pulls off (arguably) the first unassisted triple play in major league history against the Boston Red Caps.
May 9 – Sam Weaver of the Milwaukee Grays pitches a no-hitter against the Indianapolis Blues for Milwaukee's first National League victory. One scorer credited John Clapp with a single, but Weaver is generally recognized today with throwing the no-hitter.

July–September

July 15 – John Montgomery Ward makes his debut for the Providence Grays. Ward will later start the Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players in 1885, which leads to the formation of the Players' League in 1890. Ward would be elected to the Hall-of-Fame in 1964.
August 14 – "The Only" Nolan is released by the Indianapolis Blues after lying to the team about attending a funeral.
August 19 – In an embarrassing day for the National League, teams from the NL lose 3 of the 4 exhibition games played against non-league teams.
August 25 – Bill Craver is certified eligible for play in the International Association. Craver had been kicked out of the National League after his involvement in a gambling scandal with the Louisville Grays in 1877.
August 31 – Albert Spalding plays in the final game of his career, going 2–4 at the plate while committing 4 errors in the field.
September 12 – The Boston Red Caps clinch the pennant with a 4–2 victory over the Indianapolis Blues.
September 14 – The Indianapolis Blues and Boston Red Caps play an experimental exhibition game in which every pitch thrown is called a ball or strike and only allowing 6 balls before a walk is issued.
September 30 – The National League completes its schedule, marking the first time in professional baseball that a full schedule has been played by all member teams.

October–December

October 2 – The Buffalo Bisons of the International League defeat the National League champion Boston Red Caps behind the pitching of Pud Galvin. The victory over the Red Caps gives Galvin a win over each team in the NL. He finishes the 1878 season with a combined 10–5 record against the NL clubs. Buffalo will become a member of the National League in 1879.
October 3 – The Syracuse Stars defeat Lowell 12-1 and claim the International Association championship. The Stars will join the National League in 1879.
October 8 – The Buffalo Bisons defeat Utica and lay claim to the International Association pennant as well. The league will ultimately award the pennant to Buffalo in early 1879
October 18 – The Indianapolis Blues come up short $2,500 and are unable to account for the money. The players receive $60 each as payment for the remainder of the season. This event signals the end of the Blues.
November 1 – The Boston Red Caps and the Providence Grays play an exhibition game with no outs on foul bounds and 6 balls for a walk to be given.
November 10 – In the Pacific Coast championship game in California, the Athletics defeat the Californias in front of 8,000 fans at the San Francisco National Trotting Park.
December 4 – The National League votes to accept the Buffalo Bisons, Syracuse Stars and the Cleveland Blues for the 1879 season.
December 4 – The National League changes the rules so that now every pitched ball is called a ball or a strike. 9 balls will now result in a walk to the batter. The rules are also changed regarding the batting order. The first batter in a new inning shall now be the next batter in the order after the last batter that ended the previous inning.
December 5 – The National League abolishes all bound outs, including foul balls on 3rd strikes.
December 10 – The Troy Trojans apply for membership to the National League.
December 29 – The Professional Baseball League of Cuba is founded in Havana with Habana defeating Almendares 21-20. The league is known today as the Cuban League and ran continuously until March, 1961, when the Cuban government, ran by Fidel Castro, abolished professional baseball.

Births

January 12 – William Matthews
February 13 – Bill Bradley
February 18 – Frederick Westervelt
March 6 – Bert Husting
April 4 – Jake Volz
April 24 – Charlie Graham
April 27 – Charlie Chech
April 27 – George Winter
May 13 – Frank Hemphill
May 14 – J. L. Wilkinson
May 24 – Jack Pfiester
May 30 – Mike Donlin
June 5 – Fred Mitchell
June 13 – Bill Bergen
July 12 – Bill Coughlin
July 24 – Chris Lindsay
October 6 – Len Swormstedt
October 10 – Otto Hess
October 27 – Shad Barry
November 10 – Cy Morgan
November 23 – Jimmy Sheckard
November 29 – Long Tom Hughes

Deaths

March 31 – Henry Burroughs, 32?, outfielder for the 1871–72 Washington Olympics.
October 2 – Lewis Meacham, 32, umpire for one game during the 1875 National Association season.

External links

History of baseball

1845 to 1868 1869

1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

See also Baseball Major League Baseball Minor league baseball Negro league baseball Nippon Professional Baseball

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