The 1876 Brown Stockings: The Question Of Second Place

The Hartford ball tossers play the ninth game of their series with the St. Louis Browns this afternoon. Owing to the disbanding of the Athletic, for want of cash, and the scurvy action of the Mutuals in refusing to come West, in order to rob St. Louis, if possible, of second place, it might be well to glance at the relative chances of the contestants in the championship race. Chicago, by winning her two games with Hartford this week, has earned the championship title beyond a doubt, having thirty-eight victories to her credit. St. Louis has won twenty-eight games, and has five yet to play-one with Cincinnati and two each with Hartford and Boston. Hartford is credited with twenty-six victories, and has eight games to play-two each with St. Louis, Boston, Louisville and Cincinnati. It will thus be seen that the question of second place hinges almost to a certainty on the games to be played to-day and to-morrow. The wish is expressed on all sides that the home team may prove victorious, more for the evident collusion between the Hartford and Mutual Clubs than anything else. A big crowd should be present to convince the Browns of the fact. In connection with the above, the following extract from the Clipper of this week will be read with interest, showing, as it does, that there will be no Hartford Club next season:

"We have good news for Brooklyn at last, and it is to the effect that the New York Mutuals are to be replaced by the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1877, and under a management that should insure it being a thoroughly reliable organization, and with a nine that will render it a formidable rival for championship honors for any competitor it may find in the League arena. Once more, then, the banner of the Atlantic Club will wave from the flag-staff of the professional ball grounds of Brooklyn, and that, too with a majority of the old team in their regular positions, including the names of Ferguson, Pearce, Start, Burdock and others whose playing strength and reliability are not to be questioned. More on this subject anon. The move to be made is timely, and will bring about a new era in professional playing in Brooklyn. The new Atlantics will inaugurate the return to the old-time charge of twenty-five cents admission."

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 29, 1876