1885 St. Louis Browns season

1885 St. Louis Browns
1885 American Association Championship
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 79–33 (.705)
League place 1st
Other information
Owner(s) Chris von der Ahe
Manager(s) Charlie Comiskey
Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference
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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

Season summary

The making of the first championship

Manager Charlie Comiskey finally was able to assemble and direct a team from start to finish the way he wanted. 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 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]

Running away from the pack

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 10 games, combining for a major-league record 27-game winning streak at home that still stands as the best ever.[3] They finished 16 laps ahead of second-place Cincinnati Red Stockings and earned a berth in the World Series against National League champion Chicago White Stockings.

The championship

Game 1 between the Browns and White Stockings was called for darkness tied 5–5 after eight innings. The Series turned with Game 2 in St. Louis. Chicago was leading 5–4 in the sixth inning when Comiskey pulled his team off the field in protest of the work of umpire Dave Sullivan. Sullivan later forfeited the game to Chicago.

After Foutz pitched St. Louis to a 13–4 victory, however, Anson reneged, and the baseball world called the series a draw.

Season standings

American Association W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Browns 7933 0.705 — 44–11 35–22
Cincinnati Red Stockings 6349 0.562 16 35–21 28–28
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 5655 0.505 22½ 37–19 19–36
Philadelphia Athletics 5557 0.491 24 33–23 22–34
Brooklyn Grays 5359 0.473 26 35–22 18–37
Louisville Colonels 5359 0.473 26 37–19 16–40
New York Metropolitans 4464 0.407 33 28–24 16–40
Baltimore Orioles 4168 0.376 36½ 29–26 12–42

Record vs. opponents

1885 American Association Records

Sources:
Team BAL BR CIN LOU NY PHI PIT STL
Baltimore —7–96–107–97–66–10–16–102–14
Brooklyn 9–7—5–1110–68–811–56–104–12
Cincinnati 10–611–5—8–810–69–79–76–10
Louisville 9–76–108–8—9–78–86–107–9
New York 6–78–86–107–9—5–118–74–12
Philadelphia 10–6–15–117–98–811–5—10–64–12
Pittsburgh 10–610–67–910–67–86–10—6–10
St. Louis 14–212–410–69–712–412–410–6—

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
CDoc Bushong8530080.267021
1BCharlie Comiskey8334087.256244
2BSam Barkley106418112.268353
SSBill Gleason112472119.252353
3BArlie Latham110485100.206135
OFCurt Welch112432117.271369
OFYank Robinson7828775.261035
OFHugh Nicol11242588.207045

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'Neill5220672.350338
Dan Sullivan17607.11703
Mike Drissel6201.05000
Cal Broughton4171.05901

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 Caruthers53482.140132.07190
Dave Foutz47407.233142.63147
Jumbo McGinnis13112663.3841

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. 1 2 1885 Chronology at The Baseball Library Archived October 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.

References

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