The New Champions Of 1894
The Baltimore Club's Career.
We have the pleasure of greeting a new champion club in the League arena
in the GUIDE of 1895, viz., the Baltimore club, and it is therefore a
point of interest to give a brief resume of its career from the time it
entered the defunct American Association in 1882 to the date of its
being taken into the reconstructed National League in 1892. The
Baltimore club's career in the late American Association was one thing;
that of its progress since the club was taken into the National League
is altogether quite a different matter. From 1882, the year of the
organizing of the old American Association, up to the period of its
secession from the National Agreement ranks in 1891, the Baltimore club
occupied the position of being the occupant of the "last ditch" in the
Association's pennant races for no less than four years, viz., in 1882,
1883, 1885 and 1886. In 1884, when twelve clubs were in the Association
race of that year, the highest the Baltimore club reached was sixth
position. In 1888, 1889 and 1890, the club got no higher than fifth
place in the three races of those years; while the nearest it could get
to first place during the decade of the eighties was in 1887, when it
ended in third place, being led by St. Louis and Cincinnati. During all
that period William Barnie was the club's manager. In 1892 he was
superseded by Manager Hanlon; and from that date to the close of the
past season, the club began to get out of its previous "slough of
despond," induced by its repeated failures to win a pennant race.
Here is the club's record while in the American Association, from 1882
to 1890, inclusive, showing the positions occupied in the several
pennant races of that period:
------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER OF CLUBS
YEAR. POSITION. IN THE RACE.
------------------------------------------------------
1882 Sixth (last ditch) Six.
1883 Eighth " Eight.
1884 Sixth. Twelve.
1885 Eighth (last ditch) Eight.
1886 Eighth " Eight.
1887 Third. Eight.
1888 Fifth. Eight.
1889 Fifth. Eight.
1890 Fifth. Eight.
------------------------------------------------------
In 1891 the Cincinnati club was ahead of the Baltimores when the former
was transferred to Milwaukee, after which the "Reds" broke badly, and
the Baltimores were thus enabled to get into third place. The wretched
management of the Association during the year was costly in
demoralization to every club in the race. Up to the date of the
Cincinnati transfer, that club stood with a percentage of .619, to
Baltimore's .526. During the season of 1892 the Baltimore club occupied
an experimental position in the race of that year, Manager Hanlon not
joining the club in 1892 until too late to get a good team
together. They began the campaign of 1893 low down in the race record,
but they finally pulled up among the six leaders, beating out Brooklyn
in the race by 10 games to 2, as well as St. Louis, Louisville and
Cleveland; but they were so badly beaten by Boston-2 games to 10-and by
Pittsburgh--1 game to 11-that they finished in eighth place only. That
season's experience enabled Manager Hanlon to prepare for 1894 with a
better chance of success than he had had since he took the club in hand,
and the effect of the improved management was made apparent before the
May campaign of 1894 had ended, his team closing that month one among
the three leaders. From that position the club was not afterwards
removed, the team first heading the Bostons and finally taking the lead
in the race, the New Yorks coming in second, ahead of the previous
three-time champion club of Boston.
THE BALTIMORE CLUB'S RECORD.
Under the heading of "The Three Leaders in the Race," will be found the
record of the monthly campaigns of the Baltimores and the progress made
by Hanlon's team from the start to the finish in the race of 1894. We
now give the detailed record of the season's campaign of the Baltimores
in full.
Here is the record of the club's victories, defeats, games played and
drawn, and the percentage of victories made against each individual
club, as well as the grand percentage against all of the eleven opposed
to the Baltimores:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
l a C i S i o
N a B s l t t n u
e d r h e t C . c i
BALTIMORE w B e o i v s h i s
o l o n e b i L n v
vs. Y s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
k n a n n d h o s i e Grand
Totals Total Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 6 4 6 8 11 35 9 6 9 10 10 10 54 89
Defeats 6 8 4 4 1 23 8 4 2 2 2 2 16 39
Games played 12 12 10 12 12 58 12 10 12 12 12 12 70 128
Drawn games 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Per cent. of
Victories .500.333.400.667.917 .603 .750.600.750.833.833.833 .771 .695
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It will be seen that the "Orioles," under Hanlon, did the pennant
winning business up in style in 1894. Of the six Eastern clubs in the
race, they tied the New York "Giants," had the best of the unfinished
series with the "Phillies," took the Brooklyns into camp without
difficulty, had almost a walkover with the Washingtons, and found the
Boston champions the only club that got the best of them in the five
series played against their Eastern adversaries, their percentage of
victories against the Bostons being only .333, while their figures
against the Washingtons were as high as .917. Against their six Western
opponents, the Baltimores almost wiped out the St. Louis, Cincinnati
and Louisville teams, each of these clubs winning but two games out of
the twelve played with the "Orioles," while the best each of the
Cleveland and Chicago teams could do was to win three of the twelve, the
Pittsburgh "Pirates" being the only Western team to trouble them, their
series with that club being unfinished, with a credit of but four
victories to Pittsburgh's six. Only one game was drawn, and that with
the "Phillies."
The additional details of the record follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
l a C i S i o
N a B s l t t n u
e d r h e t C . c i
BALTIMORE w B e o i v s h i s
o l o n e b i L n v
vs. Y s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
k n a n n d h o s i e Grand
Totals Total Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Series won 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 1 1 1 5 7
Series lost 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Series tied 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Series
unfinished 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
"Chicago"
victories 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
"Chicago"
defeats 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2
Won by 1 run 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 3 2 2 9 11
Lost by 1 run 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 4 7
Single figure
victories 2 1 2 4 3 12 6 1 2 7 5 7 28 40
Single figure
defeats 5 3 2 1 0 11 1 3 1 0 1 1 7 18
Double figure
victories 4 3 4 4 8 23 3 5 8 3 5 2 26 49
Double figure
defeats 1 5 2 3 1 12 2 1 2 2 1 1 9 21
Home victories 5 1 4 5 5 20 6 4 7 8 6 6 37 57
Home defeats 1 4 2 2 1 10 1 1 0 1 0 0 3 13
Victories abroad 1 2 3 3 6 15 3 2 2 2 4 4 17 32
Defeats abroad 5 4 2 2 0 13 2 3 3 1 2 2 13 26
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It will be seen that the Baltimores "shut out" but one Eastern team and
not a single Western opponent, while they themselves were "Chicagoed"
once by each, viz., by New York and Louisville, the tail ender's "shut
out" being annoying. Only two of their contests with the Eastern teams
were won by a single run, but they won three games against the Eastern
teams by one run. They lost seven games by a single run, three of them
in the East and four against Western adversaries. No less than forty of
their games were won by single figure scores, viz., 12 against Eastern
teams and 28 against Western opponents. They lost a total of but 18
single figure games. Their double figure victories were no less than 49,
against but 21 double figure defeats. They won 57 home victories against
32 abroad, the defeats being 18 at home to 26 abroad. Take it all in
all, the Baltimores did splendid work in the box, the field and at the
bat, the only drawback to their creditable season's campaign being too
much kicking and rowdy ball playing, in the latter of which McGraw was
the principal offender.
#The Records of the New York and Boston Clubs of 1894.#
The New York club's team entered the campaign of 1894 decidedly
handicapped. The club had excellent material at command wherewith to
make up a strong team; but the manager had great difficulty at first in
getting it into team work condition, he being hampered by the
interference of the class of scribe managers of League cities who are
very confident of their ability to run a club team better, on paper,
than the actual manager can on the field. Then, too, a minority of these
journalists seem to delight in getting up sensations which lead to
discord in the ranks of a team; as they have their pet players on the
teams, as well as those they have a special grudge against; moreover,
the directors of the club were at times, in the early part of the
season, not in accord with the manager in his methods of selecting
players, and in appointing them to special positions. Finally the
experience of April and May taught the club officials that if much more
of the interference racket was continued, the result would be a
permanent place in the second division, inasmuch as on May 24th, the
club stood no higher than eighth place, with but little likelihood at
that time of getting any higher. By June, however, an improved condition
of affairs in running the team was manifested; the scribe managers were
ignored, the manager was given more control of the team, and by the
close of the June campaign the New York club was in the first division,
and by the end of July were among the three leaders, where they remained
until the end of the race.
The club was fortunate in being able to make its team unusually strong
in its battery players. The very profitable and liberal investment made
by Director Wheeler, in the purchase of the release of Meekin and
Farrell, was a potent factor in enabling the club to reach the high
position it did, both of these model players, in their respective
positions, proving to be a great accession to the strength of the club's
team. Another valuable acquisition to their team was that noted college
player, young Murphy, he proving to be the most valuable utility man in
the club, and an equal of Ward in team-work batting. By the closing
month of the campaign the team had been trained up to the point of
working together in more harmony, besides doing better team-work in
their batting than any previous players of the club had ever before
exhibited. Moreover, the team, during 1894, manifested greater rallying
power at the finish in a game than ever before, they fully equaling the
Bostons in this respect; in fact, this past season they excelled the
champions in securing the lead in the latter part of a contest, a very
important factor in winning pennants. THE NEW YORK CLUB'S RECORD.
The record of the club for 1894 giving the victories and defeats scored,
with the total of games played, and the percentage of victories against
each club is as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
B l a C i S i o
a a B s l t t n u
l d r h e t C . c i
NEW YORK t B e o i v s h i s
i o l o n e b i L n v
vs. m s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
e n a n n d h o s i e
Totals Totals
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 6 6 5 7 10 34 9 8 11 7 7 12 54
Defeats 6 6 7 5 10 26 3 4 1 5 5 0 18
Games Played 12 12 12 12 12 60 12 12 12 12 12 12 72
Per cent. of
Victories .500 .500 .417 .583 .833 .567 .750 .667 .917 .583 .583 1.00 .750
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above record shows that the "Giants" defeated Brooklyn and
Washington in the Eastern series of games, and tied with Boston and
Baltimore, they losing to the "Phillies" only. Against the Western clubs
they won every series, excelling both Baltimore and Boston in this
latter respect, as the Baltimores failed to get the best of the
Pittsburghs, and the Bostons were tied with the St. Louis. Then, too,
the "Giants" excelled the other two leading clubs in shutting out
Louisville in no less than thirteen successive games, one game being
thrown out. In addition they took Anson's "Colts" into camp in eleven
out of twelve games, and defeated the Washingtons in ten games out of
the twelve of the series.
The record of the series of games won, lost, tied and unfinished,
together with that of the "Chicago" victories and defeats, and the
single and double figure games of the New York and Boston clubs is as
follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
B l a C i S i o
a a B s l t t n u
l d r h e t C . c i
NEW YORK t B e o i v s h i s
i o l o n e b i L n v
vs. m s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
e n a n n d h o s i e Grand
Totals Totals Totals
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Series won 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 8
Series lost 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Series tied 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Series
unfinished 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"Chicago"
victories 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 4 5
"Chicago"
defeats 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4
Single figure
victories 5 4 2 3 7 21 7 7 8 5 4 7 38 59
Single figure
defeats 2 4 4 2 1 13 1 1 0 5 5 0 12 25
Double figure
victories 1 2 3 4 3 13 2 1 3 2 3 5 16 29
Double figure
defeats 4 2 3 3 1 13 2 3 1 0 0 0 6 19
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The foregoing table shows that the New York club won eight out of the
eleven series, they losing but one--that with Philadelphia -and tieing
two, one with Baltimore and one with Boston. In "Chicago" games they won
five and lost four, and in single figure games they won 59 and lost but
25, while in double figure games they won 29 only and lost but 19.
THE BOSTON CLUB'S RECORD.
The Boston club, in 1894, after being League pennant winners three years
in succession, was obliged to fall back to third place in the past
year's pennant race, after a hard fight for first place in the race from
April to September, that club standing in first place on April 26th and
also on the 29th of August, they varying their position but little
during that period. Hitherto, in the races of 1891, '92 and '93, the
Bostons were noted for their rallying powers, not only in the latter
part of a game, but especially in the closing month of each season. It
will be remembered, that in 1892, though they had to succumb to
Cleveland in the last part of the divided campaign of that year, they
rallied handsomely and easily won the championship in the world's series
of that year. This year, however, they went back on their record badly,
in failing to attend to the rallying business in the last month of the
campaign, the result being that they not only lost the pennant, but had
to submit to being forced into third place in the race. The question as
to "why this was thusly" is not easy to answer. It may be said, for one
thing, that the loss of the valuable services of the veteran Bennett,
was one drawback to their success, and the failure of a majority of
their pitchers, another; their only really successful "battery" team
being Nichols and Ganzel. Then, too, they lost ground in playing, as
well as in popularity, by the kicking and noisy coaching profanities of
a minority of their team; that kind of "hustling" in a team having
become played out as a winning factor in the game in 1894. It must not
be forgotten, however, that the Boston club, in 1894, encountered
stronger teams in New York and Baltimore than ever before; moreover,
they were troubled considerably by the strong opposition of the
St. Louis club's team, the only club to score three straight victories
from them during the season. That the club had the material to do better
than they did, goes without saying; it was a failure in its running that
did the business, chiefly.
Here is the record of the victories, defeats, games played, and
percentage of victories against each club for the past season of 1894:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
B l a C i S i o
a N a B s l t t n u
l e d r h e t C . c i
BOSTON t w e o i v s h i s
i l o n e b i L n v
vs. m Y p k g l u c o n i
o o h l t a r a u a l
r r i y o n g g i t l
e k a n n d h o s i e
Totals Totals
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 8 6 6 6 9 35 9 8 7 6 8 10 48
Defeats 4 6 6 6 3 25 3 4 5 6 4 2 24
Games Played 12 12 12 12 12 60 12 12 12 12 12 12 72
Per cent. of
Victories .667 .500 .500 .500 .250 .583 .250 .667 .583 .500 .667 .833 .667
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bostons, in 1894, took the Baltimore and Washington teams into camp
without difficulty, but the best they could do against New York,
Philadelphia and Brooklyn, was to tie each series. Against the Western
clubs, it will be seen, the only club that troubled them was the
St. Louis Browns. Four series tied out of the eleven they played was an
unusual record for the ex-champions. In victories, they did better
against the West than against the East, by 48 victories to 35; in
defeats, however, the result was more even, viz., 25 to 24.
The following is the club's record of series won, lost, tied and
unfinished, together with the "Chicago" victories and defeats, and the
single and double figure victories and defeats scored by the club in
1894:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
B l a C i S i o
a N a B s l t t n u
l e d r h e t C . c i
BOSTON t w e o i v s h i s
i l o n e b i L n v
vs. m Y p k g l u c o n i
o o h l t a r a u a l
r r i y o n g g i t l
e k a n n d h o s i e Grand
Totals Totals Totals
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Series won 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 5 7
Series lost 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Series tied 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4
Series unfinished 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"Chicago" victories 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
"Chicago" defeats 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Single figure victories 4 4 4 3 0 15 2 7 2 0 3 5 19 34
Single figure defeats 1 4 1 3 2 11 1 1 1 5 2 1 11 22
Double figure victories 4 2 2 3 9 20 7 1 5 6 5 5 29 49
Double figure defeats 3 2 5 3 1 14 2 3 4 1 2 1 13 27
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The club won but seven of the eleven series played in 1894, though they
did not lose a series, no less than four being tied. In "Chicago" games
they won but 3, but did not lose a single game by a "shut out." By way
of comparison, we give below the records of the same three clubs in
1893, when the three leaders in the race were Boston. Pittsburgh and
Cleveland, and the three leaders of the Eastern teams were Boston,
Philadelphia and New York, the Baltimores that year being eighth
only. Singularly enough, all three clubs did better against their
Eastern confreres in 1893 than against the Western clubs.
Here are the three club records of 1893
RECORDS OF 1893.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
B l a C i S i o
a N a B s l t t n u
l e d r h e t C . c i
BOSTON t w e o i v s h i s
i l o n e b i L n v
vs. m Y p k g l u c o n i
o o h l t a r a u a l
r r i y o n g g i t l
e k a n n d h o s i e
Totals Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 10 8 8 8 7 41 7 4 8 10 6 10 45
Defeats 2 4 4 4 5 19 5 6 3 2 6 2 24
Games played 12 12 12 12 12 60 12 10 11 12 12 12 72
Per cent. of
Victories .853 .667 .667 .667 .583 .680 .583 .400 .727 .833 .500 .833 .652
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
B l a C i S i o
a a B s l t t n u
l d r h e t C . c i
NEW YORK t B e o i v s h i s
i o l o n e b i L n v
vs. m s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
e n a n n d h o s i e
Totals Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 8 4 7 6 7 32 6 4 5 8 6 7 36
Defeats 4 8 5 6 5 28 6 8 7 4 6 5 36
Games played 12 12 12 12 12 60 12 12 12 12 12 12 72
Per cent. of
Victories .667 .333 .583 .500 .583 .533 .500 .333 .417 .667 .500 .417 .500
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
l a C i S i o
N a B s l t t n u
e d r h e t C . c i
BALTIMORE w B e o i v s h i s
o l o n e b i L n v
vs. Y s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
k n a n n d h o s i e
Totals Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 4 2 5 10 7 28 8 1 5 9 4 5 32
Defeats 8 10 7 2 5 32 4 11 7 3 8 5 38
Games played 12 12 12 12 12 60 12 12 12 12 12 10 70
Per cent. of
Victories .383 .167 .417 .833 .583 .467 .667 .083 .417 .750 .333 .560 .475
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To show what the new rivals--the New York and Baltimore clubs--did in
the two past seasons combined, we give the figures of the double records
of 1893 and 1894:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
B l a C i S i o
a a B s l t t n u
l d r h e t C . c i
NEW YORK t B e o i v s h i s
i o l o n e b i L n v
vs. m s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
e n a n n d h o s i e
Totals Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 14 10 12 13 17 66 15 12 16 13 15 19 90
Defeats 10 14 12 11 7 51 9 12 8 11 9 5 54
Games played 24 24 24 24 24 120 24 24 24 24 24 24 144
Per cent. of
Victories .383 .417 .500 .542 .708 .550 .625 .500 .667 .542 .625 .792 .625
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EASTERN CLUBS. WESTERN CLUBS.
P
h
i W P C L
l a C i S i o
N a B s l t t n u
e d r h e t C . c i
BALTIMORE w B e o i v s h i s
o l o n e b i L n v
vs. Y s p k g l u c o n i
o t h l t a r a u a l
r o i y o n g g i t l
k n a n n d h o s i e
Totals Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victories 10 6 11 18 18 63 17 7 14 14 18 15 85
Defeats 14 18 11 6 6 55 7 15 10 10 5 7 54
Games played 24 24 22 24 24 118 24 22 24 24 23 22 139
Per cent. of
Victories .417 .250 .500 .750 .534 .708 .708 .318 .583 .583 .783 .682 .612
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this combined record New York leads Baltimore, the poor season's work
of 1893 by the Baltimores more than offsetting the honors they won in
1894.
Next:
The Campaigns Of The Other Nine Clubs Of 1894
Previous:
The Campaigns Of The Three Leaders And Of The First Division Clubs For 1894
