October 14th In 19th Century St. Louis Baseball History

On this day in 1885, the White Stockings (NL) and Browns (AA) engage in a "World's Championship" series. The winner of the 7-game series is to receive a $1‚000 prize. Darkness ends game one after 8 innings‚ at a 5-5 stalemate.

In 1889, in Cincinnati‚ the Browns keep their AA pennant hopes alive by winning their 12th straight‚ 5-1. St. Louis will play a twinbill in Cincinnati tomorrow and then 3 makeup games in Philadelphia.

-from Baseball Library

So today is the 121st anniversary of the first game of the controversial championship series between the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago White Stockings, the second sanctioned World Series between the champions of the American Association and the National League. David Nemec, in The Beer & Whiskey League, wrote "(in) 1885 the postseason match was expanded to seven games, it was agreed to split the gate receipts 50/50 and each team put up $500 in addition, with the $1,000 kitty to go to the winner. The battle commenced on October 14 with a 5-5 tie that was preceded by throwing and base running contests among the members of both teams."