The first segment, covering the years 1845-1875 can be found here.

And without further adieu, the truly bizarre baseball that took place between 1876-1884:

August 4, 1876:

“Louisville, trailing Chicago by a wide margin with rain threatening in the 5th, decides to stall. They make error after error until the umpire forfeits the game to Chicago. The contest would later be ruled "no game.”

And all I can think of is this scene from The Naked Gun. (Skip ahead to 6:18 for the relevant section.)

August 12, 1876:

“The versatile Cal McVey has the unusual distinction of both pitching and catching in a 5-0 win over Cincinnati.”

I know this isn’t what they mean, but I can’t stop imagining Cal McVey lobbing the ball to home and then sprinting behind the plate in time to catch it. Kind of like when I used to play football by myself in the backyard.

October 6, 1876:

“Louisville closes out its season with an 11-2 loss to Hartford. Jim Devlin, injured severely during yesterday’s game, does not pitch or the first time this season. He will still lead the league in games (68), complete games (66), and innings pitched (622).

And in this day and age, we consider Livan Hernandez to be a workhorse. We should be ashamed.

November 30, 1877:

"At Boston’s South End Fair, Andy Leonard wins a gold watch valued at $300 for being voted the league’s "Most Popular Player.”

No word on the prizes for the player “Most Likely to Succeed” or “Class Clown.”

August 26, 1878:

“The Manchester IA club plays an exhibition game at the state reform school, and during the game their dressing room is robbed of jewelry and $48 in cash.”

Should this not have been expected?

December 5, 1879:

“The NL adopts a rule allowing a club to suspend a player for the remainder of one season and the entire following season for drunkenness or insubordination.”

and June 2, 1880:

“Buffalo fines 1B Oscar Walker $50 for breaking his temperance pledge.”

David Wells and Wade Boggs are thankful these rules are no longer in use.

May 22, 1880:

“In Albany’s Riverside Park, Lip Pike hits a ball over the wall and into the river, RF Lou Knight begins to go after the ball in a boat but gives up. Few parks have ground rules about giving the batter an automatic HR on a hit over the fence.”

I have so many questions: Lou Knight already had a boat at the ready for a moment like this? And did he think he could get in the boat, retrieve the ball, and get it back into the infield before Lip Pike scored? How slowly did Lip Pike run? And was this the only ball the team had to play?

May 31, 1880:

“Providence captain Mike McGeary, who has played poorly, is given a "30-day vacation” by the club. The team has a disappointing 8-7 record as 20-year-old Monte Ward takes over as captain.“

Political correctness in 1880.

March 8, 1881:

"The owners vote to stop giving refunds or rain checks for postponed games.”

With the rampant collusion that lead to the reserve system, teams releasing players to avoid paying salaries at the end of the year, and cutting players who refuse to play until their back salaries are paid, the owners already were fairly despicable. With this move they look more like this:

(Via)

June 24, 1881:

“Returning home from a long road trip, the Chicago White Stockings unveil new lavender uniforms, much to the amusement of the press.”

My kingdom for a color photograph.

May 5, 1882:

“Cap Anson is called out for walking back to his base after a foul ball, instead of running, as the rule specifies. This rule will be amended at the end of the year.”

The sports talk telegram network must have been blowing up over this blatant disrespect for the game.

September 28, 1882:

“Six dedicated Worcester ‘cranks’ (fans), the smallest 'crowd’ in ML history, show up to watch the club lose to Troy 4-1. The next day the number of spectators is 25. Worcester loses again to their fellow lame-duck team.”

Hey, the Marlins have good company!

April 24, 1883:

“In a fit of depression, journeyman player Terry Larkin shoots his wife and a policeman and then attempts to commit suicide. Failing, he tries again the next day. Both his wife and the policeman survive. Larkin will play for several teams in 1884 before retiring.”

I’m assuming this is just confusing wording, but did he attempt to kill the policeman and his wife a second time? And who would hire him to play baseball for two more seasons?



April 2, 1884:

“The AA eliminates the rule allowing batters hit by pitchers to go to 1B, instead giving umpires the authority to fine offending pitchers between $5 and $10.”

They left out that the money was then used for a post-game pizza party.

July 4, 1884:

“Boston (UA) 2B Tom O'Brien gets 5 hits, including a ball which disappears into a dirt heap and cannot be dug out in time to prevent O'Brien from circling the bases. Thanks in part to the groundskeeper (or lack thereof) Boston whips Kansas City 23-3.”

There was also a dog that buried the ball because he thought it was a bone, and an ice cream vendor came by so the game had to be stopped while all the players bought rocket pops.

July 11, 1884:

“P William 'Bolliky Bill’ Taylor, who deserted St. Louis (UA)…wins his first outing for Philadelphia’s Athletics (AA), a 5-2 four hitter vs. Toledo.”

I couldn’t find an exact definition, but 'Bollicky’ is apparently slang for “completely naked.” I’m sure he was a cutup in the locker room, that Bolliky Bill.

August 5, 1884:

“The ML debut of Chicago (NL) deaf-mute P Thomas Lynch goes well until the 8th, when his arm gives out. When the umpire refuses to allow Lynch to leave the game, Lynch switches positions with Cap Anson, who proceeds to surrender 5 runs and lose the game to Cleveland 8-5. Lynch, the 2nd deaf-mute in ML history, will never play another game.”

What a perfectly dreadful and depressing story.

December 11, 1884:

“The AA votes to keep its ban on overhand pitching and to continue to allow fouls caught on the first bounce to count as outs. It does abolish the tradition of team captains flipping for the honor of batting first. Now the home team will automatically bat first.”

This announcement came a month after the National League voted to allow overhand pitching, but the pitchers were required to keep both feet on the ground to limit velocity and batters still got to call where they wanted the pitches thrown. If you wonder how pitchers like Old Hoss Radbourn did it, this is how. Baseball was not truly baseball yet.

And some of the best team names that should be brought back: Live Oaks, Alleghenies, Champion City 9, Milwaukee Cream Citys, Hop Bitters of Rochester. I’m quite fond of the Hop Bitters.

1885-1890 comes next week.