The 1887 World Series: Von der Ahe's Reaction

Chris Von der Ahe says his team is getting some of the "big head" knocked out of it, and he thinks the men will be more reasonable next spring when asked to sign for another season.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 23, 1887

I think this speaks to something Comiskey once said about the reason for the player sales after the 1887 season. Comiskey specifically mentioned that one of the reasons for the sales was that some of the players' egos were out of control and that it was hurting the club. The hold-outs, the complaining about playing time, the stuff they pulled over the Cuban Giants exhibition and all of that was a problem and Von der Ahe and Comiskey attempted to address these issues by selling off some of the problem players. Caruthers was always carping about money. Bushong had problems with Boyle cutting into his playing time. Welch was a drunk and had problems getting along with some of his teammates. So they got rid of them. Foutz doesn't seem to fit into that pattern but he was sold off because the club thought, because of his injuries, that he was finished as a pitcher. The ironic thing is that, by 1889, the problems got much worse.

Von der Ahe has been complaining of the umpiring of Kelly, claiming that the Browns have got the worst of it all through. The Detroit players laugh at this, as they declare that the Wolverines have had two close decisions given against them where the Browns have had one.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 23, 1887

The problem, of course, was that Kelly lacked vim, nerve and grit. They should have gotten David Eckstein to umpire the series.

Welch Vs. Latham

Since we've reached the point in our coverage of the 1887 world series where Detroit has clinched the World's Championship, I'm going to take a short break and talk about something that's been on my mind for a few days. I'll get back to the last few games of the 1887 series and try to wrap that up as quickly as possible but at the moment I want to talk about Curt Welch and Arlie Latham.

In game ten of the 1887 series, both Welch and Latham homered and I went to Baseball Reference to see how many home runs each had hit during the 1887 season. While looking at their career numbers, it occurred to me that Latham may have been a better player than Welch. This came as a surprise because I had always considered Welch the superior player. But is that actually true?

Who was the better player, Curt Welch or Arlie Latham?

It's a rather difficult question to answer and I think the final answer depends on what weight you give to the different kinds of evidence that one brings to the argument. There are a lot of ways to slice this pie and how you slice it or what piece you look at will influence how you answer the question.

I believe that, generally speaking, their contemporaries believed that Welch was the better ballplayer. He was regarded as an outstanding outfielder and many believed that he was the best defensive outfielder in the game. He was also considered to be a smart player, a great athlete and a good base runner. While not a heavy hitter, Welch was considered to be steady at the bat and a consistent offensive contributor.

As far as Latham is concerned, the contemporary record usually focused on his personality and his on-field antics rather than on his contributions as a player. His defensive reputation was mixed. Some considered him to be an outstanding fielder with a strong arm but others noted that he was often lackadaisical at third and that his arm never recovered from a throwing contest with Doc Bushong in 1885. Everyone agreed that he was very fast and an outstanding baserunner. Offensively, he was noted for having a "scientific approach" to hitting but also for being inconsistent.

Latham was probably the better teammate. His coaching and banter was an important part of the make-up of the Browns' championship club and he was probably one of the leaders in the clubhouse. However, he had serious personal problems that leaked into the press, was accused of throwing games in 1889 and had an up and down relationship with Chris Von der Ahe. Welch, on the other hand, was a drunk who wore out his welcome in St. Louis very quickly and drank himself out of the game. It's entirely possible that Charlie Comiskey ordered Tip O'Neill to "accidentally" hit Welch with a bat in 1887. Latham could be self-centered and childish but Comiskey never ordered O'Neill to assault him.

So looking at just the contemporary evidence, I think it's a fair conclusion to say that Welch was viewed as the better player. Looking at just their on-field abilities, it was believed that Welch was the more talented baseball player.

However, things aren't that simple. Welch was a center fielder while Latham was a third baseman. I think it's safe to say that in the 1880s, a third baseman was more valuable than a center fielder. So while Welch was a better player, would you trade Latham for Welch? I'm not sure that the Browns would have done that. Latham was perfect for the kind of game that Comiskey wanted to play and he was probably more valuable to the Browns than he would have been for anybody else. As a third baseman, a lead-off man and a rabbit on the bases, Latham was probable more valuable to the Browns than Welch. That has to count for something.

But what really got me thinking about this question was their statistics and how that data is interpreted by modern baseball metrics. And the modern metrics show Latham to be a much better player than Welch.

However, before I present that data, we need to get into the caveats. While there are a lot of very smart people working on this, 19th century statistical data is full of holes. We're lacking important pieces of information such as the caught-stealing and grounding into double play numbers. The defensive data, specifically, is terribly problematic and it's difficult to evaluate a player's defense when there are questions about the number of balls in play, how many left-handed batters are in the league and how errors are assigned. There are people doing great work with the 19th century data but I'd think that even they would say that the accuracy of their analysis is not the same as the analysis we now have in modern baseball.

Also, I want to add that I'm not a sabrmetrician. I'm a historian. So I'm a bit out of my comfort zone when attempting to explain the modern metrics. However, there's nothing wrong with that and I freely admit that I have nothing more than a layman's understanding of WAR, UZR and the like. I love that stuff and think that it's added to our understand of the game. I also love the fact that there are people who are applying it to 19th century baseball. But I'm not an expert and I'd love to hear from anyone who has a better understanding of all of this.

So having said that...

Just looking at the WAR numbers at Baseball Projections, Latham had 35.1 WAR in 7495 plate appearances while Welch had 21.0 in 4939. Fangraphs has slightly different numbers but not enough to comment on. Regardless, Latham appears to have been better than Welch over their careers.

Of course, Latham had a significantly longer career and that accounts for some of the differences in their WAR. If one looks at the numbers on a season by season basis, however, Latham still looks like the better player. His five best seasons, measured in WAR, are 5.7, 5.3, 4.7, 4.7, and 3.8. Welch's five best seasons are 4.4, 3.8, 3.6, 2.7, and 2.7. Welch does not have one season that was as good as Latham's top four seasons. Measured in WAR, Latham was the vastly superior player, not only over the course of his career, but also at his peak.

Breaking the numbers down, Welch was the vastly superior offensive player and it wasn't even close, although other metrics have Latham as a better offensive player than Batting Runs does. But the argument for Latham being better than Welch never rested on his being a great offensive player. Welch was just a better hitter. He had more power, got on base more and was more consistent season to season.

As base runners, Latham was clearly better but Welch was also a very good base runner. Base running runs, again, just tell us what we already know. Welch had 453 stolen bases for his career with 215 doubles and 66 triples. Latham had 742 stolen bases, 245 doubles and 85 triples. I don't think that there's any doubt that Latham was faster than Welch and more valuable on the bases.

Where it gets interesting is in the defensive numbers. Total Zone, measuring defensive range, has them both as superior defensive players but has Latham as a historically great defensive third baseman in 1883 and 1884. I think that the modern metrics have Latham as the best defensive third baseman of the 19th century while Welch is merely one of the best defensive outfielders of the era.

This obviously goes against the accounts of contemporary observers. Is there something in the data that could skew things in this direction? I'm not sure but it's possible that 19th century ground ball tendencies and an overwhelming number of right handed batters could make Latham's defensive numbers look better than they are. Also, we don't have any data on Welch's outfield arm which would probably have a positive impact on his numbers. But the fact is that modern metrics rate Latham as a better defender than Welch and as a historically great defensive third baseman.

What puts Latham ahead of Welch as far as the modern metrics is concerned, though, is the positional adjustments that are made when calculating WAR. For some reason that I can't explain and have not been able to find an explanation for, Welch has a positional adjustment of negative fifty-three runs. Basically, they're treating him like a modern corner outfielder and that makes no sense. On the other hand, Latham, as expected, receives a positional adjustment of fifty-two runs. Also, there's a relative positional adjustment based on a league average player at that position and a replacement player. Latham cleans up on this in the 1890s when, I guess, nobody could find a decent third baseman.

While I don't claim to really understand any of that, I think (and please, dear Lord, feel free to correct me) that the bottom line is that a third baseman, according to modern metrics, was substantially more valuable than a center fielder in the 19th century. And, therefore, a great defensive third baseman like Latham, who could run and occasionally hit, was much more valuable than a good defensive third baseman like Welch who could run and hit. I think that's likely true but I'm not sure I'd put as much weight on it as we do while calculating WAR.

So, bottom line: Who was better?

The honest answer is that I have no idea. Most of their contemporaries would say that Welch was, at his best, better than Latham. But, in the end, I think you have to come to the conclusion that Latham was the more valuable player for his era. If I was ranking the greatest St. Louis baseball players of the 19th century, I'd have to rank Latham higher than Welch. His skill set was more valuable and difficult to find in the 19th century than Welch's. Latham was irreplaceable and Welch wasn't.

The 1887 World Series: Stats Through Game 11

Here are the stats through game eleven. I offer no comment on the amount of luck, vim, nerve and grit it took for Detroit to outscore the Browns by twenty six runs while only getting six more hits. It's a shame we don't have handy information on caught stealing, slugging percentage and the number of times a Brownie made an out trying to grab an extra base. But that's not all that important. If the Browns had just had nine guys chock-full of David Eckstein grittiness, they would have won this series in eight. Heck, if Detroit had had Eckstein instead of Rowe, they would have won the fifteen game series in six. It's all about the grittiness. And luck.

Change Is In The Air

This is actually a continuation of the article that I quoted from yesterday and, while it doesn't have much to do about the 1887 series, I thought it was interesting given what was going to happen after the series. I'm going to get to the last few games of the series, although it's basically garbage time and the only thing of real interest is what kind of crowds show up, and I hope to have my post on Arlie Latham and Curt Welch up by Wednesday. But in the meantime, change is in the air for the St. Louis Browns and a fire sale is brewing.

The present series has set Mr. Von der Ahe to thinking, and he has agents now out on a still hunt for players. There will probably be a new short-stop in the team next year, a new right-fielder, a couple of pitchers, and another good catcher. The latter has been secured in the person of Gibson, late of the Philadelphia club. A new pitcher has been signed. He comes from the Eastern league, and is said to be a first class twirler. Hudson will no doubt be sold and Knouff released. Foutz, too, will be called on to do better work, or he may also receive his walking papers. The Browns may be deprived of the services of Bushong next season. The Doctor told a Globe-Democrat representative lately that he was going to California this winter, and it was very questionable if he returned. The Browns can ill-afford to lose the great catcher.

An Offer For Caruthers.

Caruthers, too, claims that he will quit ball playing next year. This will weaken the Browns beyond measure. Caruthers, besides being a great pitcher is a reliable batter and one of the finest fielders in his position in the world. It will be a sorry day for the Browns when they lose Caruthers. The trouble with Caruthers is this, that an Association manager, presumably Charley Byrne, of the Brooklyn Club, has made him dissatisfied by offering him a fabulous salary if he could secure his release from the Browns. Caruthers gets but $3000 with the Browns, while Mr. Byrne has offered him $4500.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 23, 1887

Von der Ahe also had an offer for Latham from the Louisville club. While it was noted that he turned down the offer, it kept coming up in the press during October so it's possible that there was some kind of negotiation going on.

Putting that aside, however, it's interesting how much change the Globe foresaw for the team. While they weren't completely accurate in their speculation, they had a lot of the pieces of the puzzle a month before everything went down. Somebody was obviously talking to somebody and that leads me to think that the sales may have been arranged (or at least initial talks began) when the Browns went East for the series.

The 1887 World Series: The Browns Lower Their Colors

The Browns have lowered their colors to Detroit. The admission of the superiority of the Wolverines is a galling one but nevertheless it must be made. The Browns themselves feel disgusted with their showing and can not account for it. They did not go into the contest with a great amount of confidence. After running up a record of victories unparalleled in the history of the national game, they became crippled during the summer months and made a very weak finish. Detroit, on the other hand, made a great finish and knew her strength. There is no club in the country that has had such a run of hard luck during the past season as have the Browns, and their wonderful work under the circumstances stamp them as one of the pluckiest aggregations in the world. To begin with, in the early spring Foutz came back from California with a dead arm and only in condition to sign-nothing else. He has not pitched his game this season, and it is evident that his powers as a twirler are on the wane. Then a number of new men who were signed proved to be failures, King and Boyle being the only good men out of the lot. When Foutz broke down Mr. Von der Ahe turned to Hudson, of whom much was expected. After securing this pitcher at much expense he proved to be a dire failure. Then followed a chapter of accidents, sufficiently great to almost turn the team into a hospital. O'Neill was hit by a pitched ball and forced to lay off, Bushong had his finger broken, Comiskey his thumb broken, Welch was hit in the face with a bat, Caruthers stricken with fever and Robinson's hands made so sore that he was forced to lay off. It was, indeed, a sorry aggregation that started from St. Louis for the last Eastern trip. There were but nine men in the party, including two pitchers and a catcher, yet this team played good ball, showing the marvelous strength and pluck of the Brown Stocking team.

Only One Pitcher.

Scarcely had the team become united again than the series with Detroit commenced, and the russet-hosed lads were on the field with their confidence considerably shaken. After the first game, in which Caruthers pitched and won the Browns took hope, seeing that they had one pitcher at least on whom they could depend. The next game, however, showed them that Foutz would be practically useless to them. Whenever Caruthers pitched the Browns played a strong, steady game, and gave the Wolverines all they could to to win. Caruthers won three of the games he pitched, and had Foutz held up his end the result might have been different. King, after his pummelling at Pittsburg, pitched good ball, and in the game at Philadelphia, showed a steadiness that was really wonderful in so young a player. Behind the bat the Browns were weak, neither Bushong nor Boyle catching good ball. Detroit, on the other hand, had three pitchers in magnificent condition, and all were equally effective. Bennett caught almost all the games, and his work was perfect. He had a very sore hand, too, and showed wonderful pluck. In the field positions it is hard to compare the teams. This much, however, may be said: Those of whom much was expected realized the least. O'Neill was the weakest of infants at the bat. Caruthers and Foutz were but chance hitters, too. Robinson played the game of the team. His work was simply marvelous, and made thousands of friends in the cities visited. He kept up his good work at the bat, too. Welch, too, did good batting, but did not show up as strongly in the field as expected. Gleason's work was very poor, and many of his errors were costly in the extreme. Latham played the game of his life in the field, but was very weak at the bat. His base-running, however, was always a feature of the game. Comiskey was not steady as usual at first, although he batted well. The Detroits played better ball than they knew how.

The Detroits' Great Work.

That old fossil, Deacon White, in the first part of the series played one of the most marvelous games ever seen on a ball field. Nothing was too hard for him. He also did some opportune batting. Rowe's work throughout has been steady and reliable, while his work with the stick has been first-class. Dunlap's play, like Robinson's, was brilliant and generally reliable, and "Denny" has lost none of that wonderful skill which earned for him the title of "king-pin of second baseman of the world." Bennett and Ganzel alternated at first, and both did good work. The outfield is wonderfully strong, while every man is a good batter. Hanlon, the weakest hitter of the club, makes up for his weakness by his wonderful base-running powers. Taken all in all, the Detroits, as at present constituted, are a wonderfully strong aggregation. They were not seen in their full strength either, as Brouthers, their heavy hitter, was incapacitated from work by a sprained ankle. How fortunate it is that the series of games did not see-saw in regard to victories and defeats, as it would have given the chronic kickers a chance to cry "Fraud," "hippodrome," and such like absurdities. As a matter of fact, the League had a question of the greatest importance to determine and they took the present series of games to settle it. It is a well-known fact that in a number of League cities people are compelled to pay 50c to see base ball games. These people naturally ask how it is that they are compelled to pay twice as much as patrons in the Association cities. The answer has been, "We furnish you a better article of ball." This the League managers called on Detroit to prove in the last series, and their orders to the Wolverines were to defeat the Browns as often and by as large scores as possible, so as to prove their arguments by facts. Then, too, there was too much feeling among the players to even arrange a hippodrome.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 23, 1887

It took the Globe awhile and some excuse making but I think they eventually reached the proper conclusions about what happened in the series. Detroit was indeed "wonderfully strong" and it's a bit frightening to think what they would have done with Brouthers in the lineup.

The 1887 World Series: Game Eleven

The second game of the doubleheader was played in Baltimore and the victory by Detroit was their eighth win, clinching the series.

The Browns have lost their title as World's Champions, having given up that proud title to Detroit. They played very little like a champion club this afternoon, and an amateur team could have defeated them. They could not hit a balloon or catch anything, while the indifference of Foutz was disgusting. he seemed to care little whether he won or lost, and played a slovenly, don't care sort of game that disgusted even his warmest admirers. The whole team played poor ball, with the exception of Robinson, Latham and Comiskey. The former's work was really brilliant. He fielded in marked contrast to his associates, and made half the hits credited to his side. The Detroits played poorly in the field, but batted well and won in this way. Kelly was in the field this afternoon and Gaffney behind the bat. The weather was clear, but cold, and the attendance 2500.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 22, 1887

I don't have much to say about this game except that it was an old fashioned whipping.

Foutz had a bad game and, while I wouldn't say that his play was indifferent, I would say he appears to have been rattled in the middle innings when the game was lost. After giving up a two-run homer in the fourth, he walked two guys and missed a return throw from Boyle. In the fifth, he missed a cut-off throw because he had his back turned to the outfield and then later failed to cover first on a grounder, all of this while allowing four runs. In the sixth, he gave up four more runs, had a wild pitch, hit a batter and walked one. The Globe called his play "execrable" and his play was so bad that reading the game account made me wince.

And I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not but there were rumors in St. Louis of game fixing and by calling Foutz's play "indifferent," I think the Globe may have been implying that Foutz was throwing the game. There is no evidence of game fixing and these rumours always started flying when a favored team lost or a good player made a couple of errors in a game. Is it possible that the Browns threw the series? Yes. Is there any real evidence to support this? No.

The 1887 World Series: A Game Ten Post Full Of Luck, Nerve And Vim

On October 20th, St. Louis and Detroit played a world series doubleheader, with the first game in Washington, D.C., and the second in Baltimore. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the only World Series doubleheader in the history of baseball.

The Browns won a game from Detroit this morning. It was a long and weary wait for victory, but it came at last and was appreciated beyond measure by the admirers of the world's champions. The Browns played ball as of yore, and put up a game which could have beaten any club in the country. They knocked Getzein all over the field and practically knocked his pretzels out of the box. The game was full of incidents. Bennett's sore hand at last became so painful that he retired in favor of Ganzel. Dunlap was run into by Robinson and his broken leg again was hurt. The lively batting and sharp fielding dept up the interest to the close. Latham, Welch and Richardson made home runs and Foutz a three-bagger. Gleason's triple play was a magnificent piece of work, while his batting was a feature of the game. Brother Bill seems to have recovered his nerve, and much may now be expected of him. Caruthers, although suffering from a very sore arm, kept the Wolverines down in good shape. It looked as though they were going to knock him out of the box in the first inning, when they opened with a home run and a single, but after that they could do but little with him. The Detroits did not play with the same vim that has characterized their work on the trip, and seemed badly rattled by the Browns' new showing. Kelly called the balls and strikes and Gaffney took care of the field. Owing to the fact that the game took place in the morning, only about 3000 people attended. The grounds were soft from last night's rain and many of the errors were caused on this account.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 22, 1887

Only good things happen when a ball club recovers its luck and nerve and their opponent loses its vim. A couple of home runs and a triple doesn't hurt either. Where's Ken Tremendous and the boys when you need them?

Here's the Globe's description of the triple play, which occurred in the top of the third:

Richardson hit a high fly, which dropped between O'Neill and Gleason. Ganzel drove a corker to right for a base, Richardson going to second. Rowe also popped up a high fly and once more did the ball fall on vacant ground, this time between Foutz and Comiskey. The bases were full, and with Thompson at the bat the prospect looked blue for the Browns, but the St. Louis lads completed a play which happens but seldom on a ball field. Thompson drove a terrific liner at Gleason, who caught the ball. Richardson had started for home and Rowe for third, and the ball flew to Latham and then to Robinson and a triple play was the result. The crowd applauded vociferously.

Besides starting a triple play, Gleason, all full of newly recovered nerve, also had three hits.

Yank Robinson also had an interesting game. In the first, he took a ground ball to the mouth, off the bat of Thompson. Then in the fourth, he tried to advance from first to second on a passed ball and took out Dunlap, who had to retire from the game and was unable to recover for the afternoon game.

Dunlap, of course, suffered a series of leg injuries throughout his career and they eventually forced him to retire. I bring this up because I just noticed that Dunlap's number one comp at B-Ref is Fernando Vina, who also suffered numerous leg injuries throughout his career. With this being the dead of winter, I really have nothing else to do but wonder what Freddy Vina would have hit if he had played for the 1884 Maroons.

I guess I should also mention the home runs by Welch and Latham. Welch's was in the fifth and cleared the fence. Latham's was in the sixth and was an inside-the-parker. Welch hit three home runs in the regular season for the Browns in 1887 and Latham hit two so I guess you could say that both home runs were a pleasant surprise.

A quick bit of trivia: Who hit more home runs in their career, Welch or Latham? Don't cheat and go to B-Ref because I'll give you the answer in a second. But I was surprised by the answer. Welch hit 16 home runs in 1107 games over his career. Latham hit 27 in 1629 games. Latham also had more career doubles and triples than Welch, although Welch had a higher career slugging percentage.

It's always been my perception that Welch was a vastly better player than Latham but now I'm not certain that it's true. Over their careers, they created about the same number of runs (77 for Latham and 73 for Welch) and both averaged 4.0 runs created per game. Now RC is hardly the end-all and be-all of baseball analysis but it certainly gives us a good idea of the general value of a player and it has Welch and Latham as being equally valuable. If you measure them by WAR, I think Latham might come out a bit ahead.

I really am having a difficult time getting my head around the idea that Latham was measurably as good or better than Welch. There's a lot of ways to slice the pie and I can see both sides of an interesting argument here. I think I'm going to have to write up a post in the near future taking a closer look at this. While I'm at it, I should also do a Caruthers vs. Foutz post because I really don't see much difference between the two even though the general wisdom insists that Caruthers was the better player.

The 1887 World Series: Rained Out

A heavy rain set in early this morning [in Washington, D.C.] and continued all day, so that it was impossible to play, and the game scheduled for this city was postponed until to-morrow morning. It was determined that if the weather permitted the two games would be played to-morrow, the morning game at Washington and the afternoon game at Baltimore.

The revised schedule of games reads as follows: To-morrow, Washington and Baltimore; Saturday, Brooklyn; Monday, Detroit; Tuesday and Wednesday, St. Louis; Thursday, Chicago; Friday and Saturday, Kansas City. The Browns are feeling very sore over their defeats. It is evident that they have not been playing their game for several months back; in fact ever since they were so badly crippled on their last Eastern trip. In three of the seven games lost to Detroit a few sacrifice hits would have turned the tide in the Browns' favor, but they were not forthcoming, and defeat was the result. Then, too, they have had to depend on Caruthers almost entirely, although King may be expected to do good work the rest of the series. Comiskey, too, is bothered with a very sore face, the result of the old trouble in his left cheek, which was lanced in New York recently. The players spent the day in lounging on the train, which was side-tracked. Gaffney, the popular umpire, and late manager of the Washingtons, was to-day presented with a handsome diamond pin, the gift of the players he has had under him the past year in the Washington club.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 21, 1887

So the 1887 world series included a weird two city, one day doubleheader. That's kind of neat. It's also interesting to note that they scheduled games in Chicago and Kansas City that didn't come off. I'll double check everything but I thought the series ended in St. Louis on October 26th after the fifteenth game.

And it's good to see that the Globe has moved off the bad luck excuse and moved on to the slightly more plausible injury excuse. Of course, they failed to mention that Dan Brouthers was also hurt and hadn't played in the series at all.

The 1887 World Series: Game Nine (And Taking A Close Look At The Question Of Luck)

Who is the Browns' Jonah? It seems as though they can not win a game, and despite good playing they go down day after day before the Detroits. Again to-day did they outbat, outfield and outplay the Wolverines at every point, and yet again were they defeated. The day was dark and threatening [in Philadelphia], and heavy clouds no doubt kept many from attending, but despite this there were fully 4000 people on the grounds when game was called. Both teams arrived on their special train from Boston at 9 o'clock this morning. The Browns were slightly discouraged at their poor showing in Boston, and braced up wonderfully, putting up a fine game, but it was useless. The usual luck was with the Detroits, and they won from a superabundance of that article, so necessary in base-ball. Kelly attended to the field to-day, while Gaffney took care of the balls and strikes. Both did well. To King belongs the honors of the day. The Browns' young pitcher did magnificent work in the box, striking out nine of the Detroit sluggers. They made out six hits off him, but they made every one of those count. Boyle caught him in splendid style, and also batted well. Comiskey played a great game at first and batted well, also making the first two hits scored in the game. Robinson batted well and did good work in the field. Latham had but little to do. Gleason played in his old-time form, and also handled the willow with good effect. The outfield had but little to do. Welch led at the bat, and is improving in his work in this department. Conway pitched for Detroit, and was effective, being also magnificently supported. Bennett's hand being sore, Ganzell went behind the bat, while Bennett went to first. Both did well. Dunlap marred his record by a wild throw. White kept up his great work at third, and made several marvelous stops. Rowe also played well. The outfield had but little to do in the field, but earned the victory by their timely hitting.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 20, 1887

Since the Globe (and Arlie Latham) keeps talking about the Browns' bad luck, lets look at this game a little closer and see what part random chance played in the outcome:

Top of first: Latham thrown out at first on close play; Gleason strikes out but reaches first on passed ball; O'Neill grounds out to the pitcher and Gleason is forced out at second but breaks up a double play; Comiskey base hit; Foutz grounds to short and Comiskey is forced at second to end inning.

Bottom of first: Richardson strikes out, Boyle the fourth strike but throws him out at first; Ganzell grounds out to Gleason; Rowe strikes out.

First inning luck meter: Leaning towards the Browns; you could say the Latham play was a bit of bad luck but his bunt was foul before cutting fair so the roll of the ball neutralizes the close call going against them; they got some good luck when Gleason broke up the double play and when Boyle recovered to throw Richardson out at first.

And just for fun, let's track men left on base: Browns-1, Detroit-0

Top of second: Welch grounds out to White; Robinson strikes out; Boyle grounds out to White.

Bottom of second: Thompson grounds out to Comiskey; White grounds out to Gleason who had to one-hand the ball to make the play; Dunlap strikes out.

Second inning luck meter: Neutral. Nice infield defense by both clubs.

LOB: Browns-0, Detroit-0

Top of third: King strikes out; Latham grounds out to Conway; Gleason fouls out to Ganzell.

Bottom of third: Bennett pops up to Boyle; Hanlon grounds out to Robinson; Conway pops up to Boyle. King was pitching very well. At this point, he had three strike outs, two pop ups to the catcher and four infield ground outs. Very nice.

Third inning luck meter: Very neutral.

LOB: Browns -0, Detroit-0

Top of fourth: O'Neill grounds out to White; Comiskey hits to right; Foutz hits a slow-roller to third and beats the throw, Comiskey going to second; Welch hits to right, Comiskey scores, Foutz to second; Robinson pops out to Richardson; Boyle hits a slow-roller to Conway and is thrown out at first, stranding two runners.

Bottom of fourth: Richardson doubles to left (first extra base hit of the game and Detroits' first base-runner); Ganzel grounds out, Richardson goes to third; Rowe gets a hit to left and drives in Richardson; 1-1; Thompson bounces to short, forces Rowe at second; Thompson tried to steal, Boyle threw the ball into the outfield and Thompson ended up at third; White flies out to Foutz.

Fourth inning luck meter: Leaning towards the Browns; Boyle's throw was bad baseball not bad luck and they were lucky that the error didn't come back to hurt them.

LOB: Browns-2 [3], Detroit-1 [1]

We should also track extra base hits: Browns-0, Detroit-1 (and Thompson went first to third on the steal and error)

Top of fifth: King flies out; Latham strikes out; Gleason singles down the third base line; O'Neill grounds to Dunlap, who throws the ball away; O'Neill safe at first but Gleason is thrown out at third by Bennett.

Bottom of fifth: Dunlap strikes out [tough inning for the King of Second Basemen]; Bennett strikes out; Hanlon pops up to Gleason.

Fifth inning luck meter: Leaning towards the Browns; Dunlap gave them an extra out and they would have had guys on first and second with two outs with a chance to score another run if not for...

Bad baseball meter: Leaning towards the Browns; Gleason making the last out at third is what Whitey Herzog called (and forgive the language) "Horse Shit Baseball."

LOB: Browns-1 [4], Detroit-0 [1]

And the Browns still don't have an extra base hit.

Top of sixth: Comiskey grounds out to third; Foutz flies out to Rowe; Welch hits a line drive down the third base foul-line and makes it into second when Dunlap muffs the throw; Robinson hits to left, Welch scores; Boyle hits to left but Robinson is thrown out trying to go first to third; Browns lead 2-1.

Bottom of sixth: Conway struck out; Richardson grounded out to Gleason; Ganzell flies out to Welch.

Sixth inning luck meter: Leaning toward the Browns; if Dunlap holds onto the throw, Welch is out at second, the inning is over and the Browns don't score; which again leads us to the...

Bad Baseball Meter: In the red, full tilt, for the Browns; we can argue about Welch trying to go to second but he was out if Dunlap holds on to the throw; and, with Robinson's base-running error, the Browns again end the inning by making the final out at third; they were playing Horse Shit Baseball (and I love that term; I use it all the time; you have to love Whitey).

LOB: Browns-1 [5], Detroit-0 [1]

And the Browns still don't have an extra base hit because the Welch play was a single and an error.

Top of seven: King grounds out to Rowe; Latham grounds out to White; Gleason singled to right; O'Neill flies out to Thompson.

Bottom of seven: Rowe singles to center; Thompson singles to center, Rowe to third; Thompson advances to second on passed ball; White grounds out to Comiskey, Rowe scores; Dunlap struck out [really tough game for Fred]; Bennett singles to center, Thompson scores; passed ball by Boyle but he recovers to throw out Bennett trying to advance to second.

Seventh inning luck meter: I think it's neutral; single, single, passed ball, ground out (run scores), K, single (run scores), passed ball/caught stealing; you could argue that the first passed ball was a bit of bad luck but it has to be balanced by the second passed ball that turned into the third out; also, it's very possible that Detroit still scores two without the passed ball (Rowe and Thompson could have advanced to second and third on White's ground out and then scored on Bennett's single; maybe Comiskey tries to do something with White's grounder and goes to second with the ball but at the very least, Detroit gets one run out of the inning; if we want to be generous we can say that the luck o'meter leaned slightly to Detroit in this inning but, overall, it still has to be leaning St. Louis.

Bad Baseball Meter: Leaning St. Louis; the passed ball was a killer (and that's more bad baseball than bad luck) but it's balanced by Bennett getting thrown out at second to end the inning.

LOB: Browns-0 [5], Detroit-0 [1]

And the Browns still don't have an extra base hit.

Top of eight: Comiskey flies out to Richardson; Foutz grounds out to first; Welch flies out to Conway.

Bottom of eight: Hanlon hits a triple to right and scores on a passed ball; Conway strikes out; Richardson strikes out; Ganzell grounds out to second.

Eighth inning luck meter: Leaning Detroit; again, the passed ball was a killer and I think you'd have to say that Boyle had a worse game than Dunlap; but, I'm being generous here because...

Bad Baseball Meter: Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding for the Browns; not to be Captain Obvious but the catcher's job is to catch the ball and while I understand how difficult that was in this era, Boyle just killed his club with poor play; is it bad luck that your catcher can't catch or is it bad baseball?

LOB: Browns-0 [5], Detroit-0 [1]

And the Browns still don't have an extra base hit.

Top o'nine: Robinson flies out to center; Boyle popped out to White; King struck out to end the game (and they didn't play the bottom of the ninth).

Ninth inning luck meter: Neutral.

Bad Baseball Meter: Neutral.

LOB: Browns-0 [5], Detroit-0 [1]

And the Browns didn't have an extra base hit in the entire game.

So...

Where was the bad luck? Overall, as far as random luck was concerned, I think it was a pretty fair game. Making errors at crucial moments in the game isn't bad luck. That's baseball. Running into outs isn't bad luck. That's just bad baseball. Hitting nothing but singles is not bad luck. It's bad baseball and a perfect way to lose a game. As far as I can tell, the Browns lost the game because they had to string together three singles to score a run, they ran themselves out of innings and Boyle made a couple of errors at crucial moments. That's not bad luck. That's Horse Shit Baseball.

King obviously pitched a good game but Conway pitched well, too. And did King really pitch a good game? He was obviously bringing it but doesn't he have to take some of the blame for the passed balls? This is 1887 and Boyle is back there without a glove and unprotected. A smart pitcher in the 19th century would realize that he had a young guy behind the plate who couldn't handle his best pitches and take something off the ball. King didn't do that. Yes, he struck out nine but, in the end, his pitching wasn't as effective as Conway's because Boyle couldn't handle what he was throwing. That's not bad luck. It's inexperience on the part of the 19 year old King and the 21 year old Boyle.

Also, Comiskey has to take some of the blame. He's the captain. He's running the team and should have told King to take something off his pitches. Maybe he should have had Bushong behind the plate. A good manager puts people in a position to succeed. If someone can't do the job you're asking them to do, that's not their fault. That's the fault of the manager who put them in that position. And that may have been the case here with regards to Boyle catching King.

But regardless of how you want to slice up the blame, in the end, the Browns didn't lose because of bad luck. There was no Jonah. They just made more mistakes than Detroit. Detroit got a couple of extra-base hits and the Browns didn't. Detroit was a very good team and the Browns' game wasn't working against them. That's the way it goes sometimes. But it has nothing to do with luck.

The 1887 World Series: More On Game Eight

The eighth game in the World's championship series between the St. Louis and Detroit base ball teams was played in this city to-day and was won easily by the Detroit men. Caruthers was not nearly as effective as usual, and the Detroiters kept the ball going all over the field, their batting throughout the contest being terrific. The St. Louis players fielded very brilliantly at times, but at others their playing was rather loose. Caruthers fielded his position splendidly, and his playing, with that of Robinson and Bushong, comprised the chief feature for the visitors. Robinson did fine work with the stick, making three two baggers, but he was the only one of the visitors who struck the ball for more than one base. He was presented, when he first came to the bat, with a fine gold-headed cane by his Boston friends, the presentation being made by Samuel Wise, of the Bostons. Thompson's two home runs and the slugging of the Detroits players generally were features, although their fielding, with the exception of two unimportant errors by Ganzel, was absolutely perfect, and White's third-base play was superb. About four thousand people witnessed the game.

-The North American, October 19, 1887

The Inter Ocean's headline for their game account was "Von Der Ahe Alarmed." They never mentioned Von der Ahe in the story or why, specifically, he was alarmed but the Inter Ocean had a nice habit of always twisting the knief when it came to St. Louis baseball. I think one of the pillars of their editorial policy was if it was bad for St. Louis, it was good for Chicago. Therefore, in their view, every Detroit win was a victory for Chicago.

And it's kind of strange talking about a St. Louis/Chicago/Detroit 19th century sports rivalry given (and forgive the hockey talk) the nature of the relationship between the Blues, Blackhawks and Red Wings. That relationship (and the vile hatred that defines it) is central to my sports world and has been for a long time. I can't imagine what would happen if we moved the Tigers to the NL Central or the Rams to the NFC North. It would be St. Louis/Chicago/Detroit sports Armageddon.

The 1887 World Series: Game Eight

The Detroits and Browns were due [in Boston] at 8:30 this morning but owing to delay on the route did not arrive until 11 o'clock. The day was warm, and sultry and threatening clouds no doubt kept many from the grounds. Notwithstanding this drawback there were fully 5000 people present. Owing to the fact that the seats and grand stand at the Boston League grounds had been torn down to make way for a new stand, the game was played on the old Boston Union grounds, on which a professional game has not been played since 1884. The grounds were in wretched condition. The stand was small and in miserable repair, and the accommodations generally very poor. The stand filled up early, and the crowd which still poured in formed a line around the entire field. The Browns feeling that Caruthers was their best chance to win, asked that he be put in the box. The little pitcher was anxious to play, and his wish was gratified. Bushong caught him. It was intended to put Conway in the box for Detroit, but at the last moment Getzein was put in. Bennett caught him. During the first inning a drizzling rain set in which continued throughout the day, making it very uncomfortable for the players and spectators in the open seats. The grounds too, were so narrow that a number of balls were lost, and delays occurred on that account. Every one was glad when the game was ended. It proved to be a bad policy to put Caruthers in the box. He was wild, and was also hit very hard. He was well supported, considering the condition of the ground. Bushong caught well, Caruthers keeping him busy by his irregular delivery. Comiskey played a good first base. Robinson did some fine fielding at second, and led his team at the bat. His three hits were hard drives along the left foul line. Latham had but little to do in the field, but he did some clever batting. His bunt hit set the crowd wild. Gleason was put back at short, and he did good work. He also batted hard, but always at some one. O'Neill, Welch and Foutz were kept busy chasing leather, but they reached only a few of the drives into their territories. Getzein was hit hard but he managed to keep the hits scattered. He was, as usual, magnificently supported. Bennett's hand is very sore, but he caught again, and was just as great as usual. To single out any Detroit player for praise would an injustice. All were great. Thompson's batting, however, is worthy of notice. His two home runs were terrific drives, the one over the fence being one of the longest hits ever seen in Boston. Gaffney stopped over in Worcester and did not arrive until late. Until he came Kelly did all the umpiring. After his arrival Kelly called the balls and strikes, while he took care of the field. Robinson was presented with a gold-headed cane by the McCarthy Club, and Richardson received a bouquet of flowers.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 19, 1887

The 1887 World Series: More On Game Seven

Base-ball, as our esteemed contemporary the New York Herald recently observed, is "a glittering uncertainty-a glowing inconsistency." The young man who wrote that aphorism-an aphorism that will be served up in various shapes until Barnie's Baltimore Bucks win the Association pennant-was doubtless inspired by just such a game as that put up by the Detroit and St. Louis combinations yesterday.

The game was very much on the machine order until the ninth inning, when with two men out Baldwin muffed O'Neill's foul fly. O'Neill evinced his gratitude by lining the second ball pitched over the centre-field fence, thereby averting a shut-out for St. Louis. The fielding of both teams was sharp and brilliant, White, Rowe, Dunlap, Lyons and Robinson all making numerous difficult stops and throws. In the outfield, Curt Welch and Hanlon easily carried off the honors. In the fifth inning the former took Richardson's fly off the fence at centre, and in the eighth the latter caught Bushong's line-fly within a foot of the ground, on which he completed a double play. The spectators, numbering between seven and eight thousand, seemed to be partial to the Browns, and cheered them whenever the opportunity offered. Latham of course came in for a great share of attention, and was subjected to considerable good-natured chaffing. The St. Louis men did some daring base running in the first two innings, but after Bennett had nailed a couple of when they hugged their bases rather closely...

The League Champions won the game in their half of the second. Thompson opened with a scratch hit to left and went to second on a wild pitch, scoring on White's hard ground drive to centre, of which Welch made a great one-handed stop. White took second on Dunlap's out. Bushong muffed Bennett's fourth strike, and instead of throwing the striker out at first, which he could easily have done, he essayed to catch White off second. He dallied too long, however, and both the Deacon and Bennett were safe. Hanlon drove a corker to right, White scoring and Bennett going to third. Hanlon stole second. Baldwin lifted a fly to right, which Foutz took in good style, and then threw home to head off Bennett. Caruthers seeing that there was no chance of catching the latter, ran up on the ball and fielded it to Latham, retiring Hanlon, who had not left second till after Foutz had thrown the ball in...

-The North American, October 18, 1887

I have the general impression that the Browns' aggressive style of play backfired on them in this series. In this game, they had a runner thrown out at the plate with two outs in the first inning and then had a runner thrown out at third with one out in the second. Bushong's play in the bottom of the second was also an aggressive, risky play that didn't work. This kind of stuff works over the course of a season when playing against weaker clubs but against a club as good and as solid as the Detroits, it just wasn't working. The Browns, trying to play their game but struggling to score runs, were giving away outs, both at the bat and in the field. Detroit, with good pitching, defense and base-running, took the Browns' game away from them and won the series handily.

Happy New Year

Here's to 2011 being better than 2010.

The 1887 World Series: Winners Make Their Own Luck

President Von der Ahe, of the St. Louis Browns, was in a happy frame of mind this evening just prior to his departure for Boston with his champions. The genial Chris did not seem disheartened by the defeat of his pets at the hands of the Michigan sluggers, and he smiled good naturedly enough when Arlie Latham chipped: "Hard luck, boss, that's what done it this trip."

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 18, 1887

I think this is probably evidence enough that the clubs made decent money on the series. If Von der Ahe was in a good mood after his club just lost and was now down five games to two in the series, he had to be making money.

The 1887 World Series: An Unpleasant Pill

The Browns' friends in this city, particularly those who have manifested their confidence in the "World Beaters" by backing them with great regularity in all games of the series, up to date, and the countless ones who have some sort of a bet depending on the final result of the contest, gave up all hope of seeing the Association club win the world's championship, this year at least, after the result of yesterday's game. The cry of hippodrome has already been heard among the disappointed ones, who can not believe that the Browns have been beaten fairly, but the more sensible ones, and in most cases those who have lost big amounts on the home club's defeats, freely acknowledge that in the Detroits the Browns have met a superior club. It is rather an unpleasant pill for the St. Louis ball enthusiasts to swallow, but there can be no getting around the fact that the Detroits as a team of ball players are about as near perfection as can be. They have shown that their pitchers are better than the Browns', that they are harder hitters, and that they can run bases just as well. Their fielding has been more than twice as good as the Browns', and the superb catching of Bennett has never been equaled by Bushong, in this series at least. There are no good excuses for the Browns' defeats. They are in no way crippled by the loss of men, and all of the players are in about the same condition as they were weeks before the regular season closed. There are many who believe that they will yet pull up before the championship has been captured by the Detroits, but there is but little possibility of that. The lead is too great to be overcome now. Eight more games are yet to be played, and the Browns, to come out victorious, must win six of them.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 18, 1887

The 1887 World Series: Game Seven

The Detroits and Browns arrived [in Philadelphia] this morning at 1:30 from New York. The train was sidetracked and all remained on the sleeping cars. The morning opened clear and warm, and a more perfect day for ball playing could not have been made to order. There was no wind, and for the first time during the trip people were able to enjoy the game without being wrapped up in heavy overcoats. The customary parade was done away with. Bill Gleason at his own request was laid off, and young Harry Lyons put at short. Bill has lost his nerve and asked for a few days' rest until he could recover his confidence. Dan Brouthers once more appeared upon the field in uniform and practiced for some time at first base, but was afraid to try his ankle in a game, and Ganzel was put on first. The game was scheduled to-day at the Philadelphia League grounds. The magnificent grand stand was crowded, while the open seats were comfortably filled, and it is estimated that there were fully 7000 people present. Gaffney called the balls and strikes while Kelly attended to the field decisions. The game was a repetition of most of the other games of the series. The Detroits outlucked the Browns and won by this means.

Horrible Bad Luck.

The Browns outplayed them at every point, both in the field and at the bat, and with but an ordinary share of luck would have easily won. As a spectator remarked after the game, "Well, the only luck the Browns had was in the last inning; when a bird did not obstruct O'Neill's home-run drive, forcing it to fall in Hanlon's hands." Every time the Browns hit the ball it was right at somebody, and even then it would bound just right, not even giving the fielder a chance to make an error on it. Lyons, who played in Gleason's place, played a magnificent game, and evidently has the making of a great ball player. He was not nervous a bit, and handled himself like a veteran. Caruthers pitched again, and did magnificently. In the four games he has pitched the Detroits have made just twenty-six hits off his delivery. Bushong caught well, except his fatal error of judgment in the Detroits' big inning. It is not often that Bushong makes an error of judgment, but he was off this time. Comiskey did good work at first, and drove a corker to right in the ninth inning. He could have scored on Caruthers' hit, leaving the score 3 to 2, but waited on third to give Caruthers a chance to run to second. Robinson also played great ball, although weak at the bat. Latham had but little to do and was unfortunate in baiting. O'Neill saved the Browns from a shut-out, knocking the ball over the center field fence for a home-run. It was one of the longest hits ever seen on the grounds. Welch did some good work in center, as did Foutz in right. The latter also batted well. Baldwin pitched for the Detroits, and, although hit very hard, was so lucky that, had he caught O'Neill's foul fly in the ninth, he would have shut the Browns out again. Bennett once more caught a great game, and cut the Browns off every time they attempted to steal on him. Ganzel played a good game at first, but was weak at the bat. Dunlap, of course, played well. He was loudly cheered throughout the game, he being a great favorite in Philadelphia. White kept up his grand work at third, and did some very opportune batting. Rowe also did good work. Richardson had but little to do in left, but attended to whatever came to him. Hanlon made a great catch from Bushong's bat in center, and he doubled Robinson at second. Thompson, besides playing well in the field, batted very hard, and in this contributed not a little to the victory. The crowd was thoroughly impartial and the umpiring good.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 18, 1887

I'm sorry guys but luck had nothing to do with this. Detroit beat the Browns for the fifth time in seven games and had completely shut down St. Louis' offense. That wasn't luck. That's just the best team winning. I guess bad luck is going to be the excuse for the Browns losing the series because I have something going up in a couple of days where Latham is quoted saying something along the same lines. But that's just weak sauce.

Theatre Comique

Manager Noxon [of the Theatre Comique] last evening gave a benefit to the Red Stocking Base Ball Club. An entire new programme was arranged and extra attractions provided. The celebrated Henri Family made their reappearance; also the famous song and dance men, Griffin and Rice...The friends of the scarlet-hosed young men mustered in good force.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 2, 1875

The 1887 World Series: The Eagle Comments On The Attendance

The first week's play of the world's championship series between the American champion team of St. Louis and the league champions of Detroit ended yesterday, the sixth contest being that then played at the Polo Grounds before about 6,000 people. The weather was far more favorable for a large attendance than it was the day before. Brooklyn has turned out the largest and the best crowd the rival teams have played before during the week except at St. Louis. There were not over 6,000 at Detroit, and not half that number at Pittsburg.

-Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 16, 1887

The Eagle's attendance numbers are the lowest that I've seen for the series. Most of the reporting placed the attendance for the games at around 8000 but the Eagle has all of the games, except the ones in St. Louis, at 6000 or less. The usual caveats about 19th century attendance figures apply but these numbers more or less reflect the vibe that I've been getting while going through the newspapers. There just wasn't as much excitement about the 1887 series as there was the year before. And I think that's reflected in both the newspaper coverage and the attendance. Of course, they would have gotten better attendance, I would imagine, if they had just split the games between St. Louis and Detroit rather than taking the show on the road. The Arlie Latham Rolling Thunder Revue Tour was not, in retrospect, a great idea.

And with the mention of the Rolling Thunder Revue, cue Bob:

The 1887 World Series: More On Game Six

The score in the series for the world's championship now stands: Detroit, 4; St. Louis, 2. In the record the two shut-outs of the association champions should add to the prestige of the league champions.

The game at the Polo grounds to-day was played under circumstances to impel the players to do their best work. The spectators who came only to see a good game of base ball, without friend or favor, numbered 10,000. They were not disappointed. They expected to see the St. Louis men make a closer fight than they did, but as they witnessed the splendid fielding exhibition of the Straits City club and the wonderful pitching of their Getzein, they could only admit that the victors were invincible, this day, and St. Louis must wait till some other day.

To Getzein belongs the principal record of the victory. His delivery was too much for the ordinarily clever batters in the opposing team. When it is considered that of the whole nine from St. Louis only two men made clean hits, and those in the last inning, it will be seen that Getzein was out as a pitcher, and got there.

On the other hand, Foutz was hit frequently and hard, and, while the Detroits earned six of their nine runs, the support Dave received at certain periods was discouraging. Even Bushong, the reliable, was away off in his throwing to bases, and Gleason and Robinson, though the latter did generally good work, made mistakes that saddened the crowd, as well as Foutz. Funny Latham was funnier than usual. He made several remarks that caused the crowd to laugh, and once when he urged Bushong to "throw the ball to second, with smoke on it," even Foutz had to smile.

-The Daily Inter Ocean, October 16, 1887

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and gets to spend time with their family, friends and loved ones. Merry Christmas to all.

The 1887 World Series: Gunplay In The Grand Stands

During the progress of the Detroit-St. Louis base ball game at the Polo grounds this afternoon, a commotion was created by the discharge of a revolver in the grand stand. Mr. Fred Davis, brother-in-law of Mr. John B. Day, President of the New York Club, recently purchased a revolver of Messrs. A.G. Spalding & Brother. He was rather proud of the weapon and has a permit to carry it. Mr. Curtis, the business manager of Spalding Brothers' New York house, was examining the dangerous plaything in the rear of the grand stand, and not knowing it was loaded, pulled the trigger, the bullet so injuring the first finger of his left hand that it had to be amputated to-night.

-The Daily Inter Ocean, October 16, 1887

There's a joke to be made here about New York baseball fans and guns but, in honor of the Christmas spirit, I will pass.

The 1887 World Series: Not Discouraged As Yet

The sixth game of the championship series has been played, and Detroit has won four to the Browns two. The chief weakness of the Browns, so far, has been at the bat. O'Neill has an average of less than .300, and Caruthers leads with .347. In fielding, too, the team average is only .906. Then, too, they have but one pitcher who can fool Detroit, that one being Caruthers. Caruthers is certainly playing a great game, batting and pitching as he never has before. Gleason has been playing a very poor game, and it is probable that he will be laid off Monday, Lyons being put at third and Latham at short. The dude is playing great ball and is the favorite of the audiences in whatever city he visits. His chatter keeps every one in a good humor. The Browns are not discouraged as yet, and trust to pull out ahead. Caruthers will pitch again Monday, and may go in Tuesday if his arm is all right. The Browns occupied a box at the Academy of Music to-night. They play in Brooklyn to-morrow, and leave to-morrow night for Philadelphia.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1887

The 1887 World Series: Game Six

To-day opened cool but clear, and was much better for ball-playing than yesterday, the strong wind having died away, making it much more comfortable. The players awoke much refreshed after their first night's rest in a hotel since leaving St. Louis. The game to-day was scheduled for the Polo grounds up in Harlem. When time for the game there were probably 8000 people on the grounds. The audience was thoroughly impartial, in fact, if anything, were in favor of the Browns. The reason of this was probably that the crowd wished the Browns would defeat a team which had wiped up the diamond with their favorite Giants. The story of defeat is told in a few words. The Detroits killed Foutz, and the Browns were at the mercy of Getzein. The "Pretzel" pitched the game of his life. Up to the ninth inning the Browns had not made a safe hit off him. In the ninth they made three clean hits, but they availed nothing and the St. Louis champions were forced to yield by the ignominious score of 9 to 0. Bennett caught his sixth game and again did perfect work. He was injured early in the game, but p luckily played right through to the close. Ganzel did some clever fielding and some hard batting. The Detroits have not lost much by Brouthers' injury. Dunlap again played a perfect game, making some great stops and throws. White played his same steady, reliable game, as did Rowe. Richardson did some fine work in left field and was a perfect terror at the bat, his three-base hit being a line drive over O'Neill's head. Thompson and Hanlon also played perfect games.

Play Of The Home Team.

For the Browns Foutz pitched, and was hit very hard, especially in the first two innings, when the Detroits seemed to hit him without trouble. Bushong caught well but could not throw, the Detroits stealing bases on him at will. The long start Foutz allowed them, however, may have accounted for that. Comiskey played good ball at first, and made one of the hits credited to his side. Robinson, although charged with an error, did some great work, some of his stops being marvelous. Latham, as usual, played perfectly and batted splendidly. The Dude is playing the game of his life just now, hitting, fielding and running bases in a style that captures the audience at once. To-day he was the favorite of the crowd, and kept everybody in a good humor. Bill Gleason continues very weak, making three errors to-day. He is not hitting a bit, either. O'Neill did some grand work in left field and is playing the greatest games of his career, although he is not hitting in his best form, however. Welch had but little to do. Caruthers played a perfect game, taking several difficult flies. Kelley called the balls and strikes to-day and Gaffney attended to the field.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1887

The 1887 World Series: The Scene In St. Louis

Probably no sporting event in the history of St. Louis ever created so much interest as the present series of games for the world's championship between the Browns and Detroits, and it is extremely doubtful if any event outside of the sporting world that has occurred in this city for a long time past has aroused such a display of enthusiasm and caused so many heated discussions and arguments. For the past week, and even longer, the games have been the leading topic of two-thirds of the male population of the city. The relative merits of the two teams, the result of each contest and the probable outcome of the series have been discussed on the street, and almost everywhere else. The atmosphere in restaurants and hotels during meal hours has been thick enough with base-ball talk to cut and to walk a whole bloc any time during the day or evening in the central part of the city without hearing some mention made of either the Browns or their opponents is an experience which but few have had during the past seven days. The interest taken in the series played between the St. Louis and Chicago clubs last year was thought to be great but it was not a marker compared to the games of the present. All the afternoon, from long before the game commenced until the result of the last inning was made wherever bulletins giving information about the contests were posted.

Watching The Score.

At large establishments where many persons are employed contributions were made to defray the expenses of messenger boys to watch the bulletin board and report to them the progress of the game and office boys of business men were utilized for the same purpose. The principal queries for that went over the telephone wires in the afternoon were "What's the score?" and "How did the game end?" and "Who pitched?" and others of similar nature. The places where this information could be obtained made the persons who were compelled to listen to the almost constant ringing of the telephone, and answer questions of which the above are fair samples, feel like throwing the instrument into the street. Differences of opinion as to the merits of the two teams also have been the cause of any number of quarrels, and in some of them the dispute has been settled by the aid of fists. The best idea, though, of the interest taken in the games, is obtained from the enormous amount of money bet on the results. The amount that has already changed hands on the games played to date is placed at $150,000, and the sum wagered on the result of the series will reach $200,000. These figures are not at all exaggerated, but, if anything, they are not large enough. The business of the pool-rooms for the week just past has never been equaled. Nine-tenths of the betting, too has been done by persons who seldom speculate in this way, and who rarely frequent pool-rooms. The alleys where the rooms are located have seen many new faces, faces that will probably not be seen there again for a long time to come. The crowd that congregated in these places gave them a tone of respectability that is not found in the people who usually haunt them, and the roughs, toughs and broken-down sports were noticeably scarce. Bankers and bankers' clerks, prominent men in business of all kinds, members of 'Change and members of the School Board, lawyers, politicians, doctors and well-known and respectable men engaged in all professions might be enumerated in the list of speculators.

A Youthful Gambler.

An incident which illustrates the range of the betting occurred in one of the base-ball exchanges Friday afternoon. Just before the game commenced, a bright-looking, well-dressed boy, about 9 years old, elbowed his way through the crowd to where the auctioneer was busily engaged selling pools, and, drawing from his pocket a new, crisp $100 bill, held it up to the pool-seller and announced that he wanted to put it on the Browns. He was handed a card with $100 to $80 written on it, and as the little fellow made his way out of the room the Browns enthusiasts gave him three rousing cheers, and some of them put him on their shoulders and carried him safely to the sidewalk. He explained that he had been "saving up" for a long time for the purpose of betting on this series, and that the amount of his "bank" had been increased to $100 by liberal contributions from his father and mother.

Very few bets of less than $8 or $10 have been made at any of the pool-rooms during the week, and from that they run up as high as $1500 and $3000. The betting, though, has by no means been confined to the pool-rooms. In fact, many are inclined to believe that more wagers were made outside than those effected with the assistance of a pool-seller, and that they would amount to more. But few of the big bets are heard of outside of the persons making the compact and their immediate friends, but some of the more peculiar ones are bound to leak out. The story is told, on very good authority, that a certain base-ball "crank" living in the western suburbs, who swears by the Browns, having no ready cash to back them with, wagered his house and lot against $1500, the latter furnished by a sporting man, who too the Detroit end of the bet. A horse and buggy, the value of which is placed at $500, owned by a clerk in a large wholesale establishment on Washington avenue, are known to have been wagered against real estate amounting to $700 that the series would be won by the Association champions. The real estate was bet by a prominent agent on Chestnut street. Pianos, furniture and almost everything else has been wagered, and the number of hats and cigars depending on the result of the contest are countless. In fact, it is doubtful if there is a person in the city who knows anything about the national sport at all who has not made a bet of some kind on the outcome of the struggle. Neither has the betting been confined to the results of games or the series, and any number of wagers as to which team would make the most hits, what player would score the greatest number of runs, and any amount of similar bets, have been recorded.

Individual Players.

The following odds are offered by a local base-ball exchange as to which player places the most runs to his credit during the series: 5 to 2 Richardson, 5 to 2 Dunlap, 10 to 2 Twitchell, 12 to 2 Ganzel, 12 to 2 Getzein, 6 to 2 Bennett, 7 to 5 Thompson, 6 to 2 Rowe, 10 to 2 White, 10 to 2 Brouthers, 14 to 2 Conway, 25 to 2 Baldwin, 8 to 2 Hanlon, 100 to 2 Beatin, 100 to 2 Gruber, 10 to 2 Gleason, 8 to 2 Robinson, 6 to 2 Comiskey, 15 to 2 Welch, 7 to 5 O'Neill, 4 to 2 Latham, 20 to 2 Boyle, 15 to 1 Bushong, 10 to 2 Foutz, 5 to 2 Caruthers, 40 to 2 Hudson, 100 to 2 Knouff, 100 to 2 King, 200 to 2 Lyons. Richardson, Dunlap, Ganzel, Bennett and Rowe have been backed the heaviest on the Detroit side, and Comiskey, O'Neill, Latham and Caruthers have been favored with the Largest amount on the Browns side.

The betting on the result of the games thus far played has, on the average, been about even. On Monday's game the odds were $10 to $8 on the Browns; on Tuesday, $10 to $9 on the Browns; on Wednesday, $10 to $8 on the Detorits; on Thursday, $10 to 9 on the Detroits; on Friday, $10 to 8 on the Browns, and yesterday, $10 to $9 on the Browns.

Local Disappointment.

The Browns enthusiasts have been not a little disappointed at the performances of the champions thus far in their contests with the League giants. There were any number of people in the city who really believed that the Association cracks were simply invincible. Their comparatively easy defeat of the Chicagos last fall, and their walk-over for the Association pennant this season led many to believe that they would have no difficulty in again capturing the world's championship. They put up their money firmly convinced that it could not be lost, but the result of the series up to the present time has made them feel rather uncertain as to its safety. The most devoted admirers of the Browns are bound to acknowledge that they have met their match in the Detroits, and if they win the present series they will have played their very best to do so. Any one who believes that the Detroits are not a good team of ballplayers is very sadly mistaken. They have up to the present time demonstrated the fact that they can hit harder than the Browns, that their pitchers are just as strong and that their general team playing is just as good.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1887

Again, I just love the stuff about the goings-on in the pool-rooms. After doing a little looking around, I found that there were pool-rooms in St. Louis in the 1840s and there were some still open in the early 1900s. So the pool-rooms predated baseball in St. Louis and they're very much a part of the story of 19th century St. Louis baseball. There's a really nice tale to be told about gambling, baseball and pool-rooms in St. Louis if I ever found the time to write it up.

The 1887 World Series: The Scene In Brooklyn

The Brooklyn base ball grounds this afternoon were crowded with hucksters and enculars of all kinds, and the scene was not unlike that around a large country circus. When the champion ball clubs drove up in their carriages they were looked upon as patriarchs of the country. Returning veterans from a successful war never met with a more enthusiastic ovation. By 11 o'clock today all the seats on the grand stand were sold, and still applications came in. At 1 o'clock a long line extended up and down fifth avenue and much shoving and pushing was indulged in...

A line of carriages fringed the back of the grounds and off in the distance trees and electric light poles bore a freightage of men and boys. Mayor Whitney, Police Commissioner Carroll and all the city officials of Brooklyn were on hand. Many a ball lover from the Polo grounds was also there and made comparisons...

-Boston Daily Globe, October 15, 1887

It was an overcoat day at Washington Park yesterday when the St. Louis Association champions met the Detroits, the boss team of the league...A shivering crowd of between 8,000 and 9,000 men sat on the grand and free stands and warmed themselves ever and anon by trampling their feet all together in a way that sounded like 100 mills at work. There were a score of St. Louis men along and about the same number of Detroiters, including newspaper men who are watching every play made by their home teams, ready to prove jealously on the faintest indication that any of the boys are not trying to win. Very few ladies looked on and the bar patronage did not amount to so much as was expected. People were too cold to drink beer. A wind came over Red Hook that made the stoutest pair of whiskers in the field shiver like prairie grass...

The boys in the trees outside the ground had the hardest time of any spectators. Some of them got into the branches at 1 o'clock and waited there till the last ball was pitched...The trees ought to be cut down before some of the boys break their necks. They crowded the branches in a very foolhardy manner yesterday. Many swarmed up the telegraph poles and sat on cross pieces...

The players wore heavy flannels and needed them...

-Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 15, 1887

The 1887 World Series: A Hustler From Way Back

George Munson, secretary of the St. Louis ball club, made a flying visit to Boston yesterday to look after some of the details of the great game on the Union grounds next Tuesday in the world's championship series. Mr. Munson, who is acting as advance agent for the club, is known the country over as Von der Ahe's right bower. George is a hustler from way back and is noted for the great amount of work he can accomplish in a short space of time.

Secretary Munson went over to the Union grounds with Superintendent Murnan and inspected the arrangements in progress for the game. The grounds have been greatly improved. All the bad places have been filled up and rolled. The catcher's territory has been evened up by filling in the bicycle track with loam and is in excellent condition. The approaches to each base have been covered with loam and clay and well rolled to permit of all the sliding that either the Browns or Detroits may want to attempt. The seats and grand stand have been repaired and strengthened. Mr. Munson was very much pleased with the condition of the grounds. He said he anticipated an enormous crowd if the advance sale of tickets indicated anything. "Whether there are 10 men or 10,000," said Mr. Munson, "they will see some wonderful ball playing. Your cranks here talk about Johnson being the greatest centre fielder. I'll admit he's a good one, but your Johnson shouters have never seen Curt Welch. Out in St. Louis they thing the equal of Welch doesn't exist and they are pretty near right. Welch covers the whole diamond. As an actual fact he has been known to put a man out at third base. The Browns play altogether different ball from the league clubs you have had in Boston, and whether they win or lose, their style will be a revelation to Boston cranks."

Mr. Munson returned to New York last night and will go to Philadelphia tomorrow to arrange the details of Monday's game in that city.

-Boston Daily Globe, October 15, 1887

The 1887 World Series: More On Game Five

The first game in the east for the world's championship between the Detroit and St. Louis clubs was played at Washington park, Brooklyn, to-day. There were 10,100 spectators. The weather was very chilly. When the teams appeared on the field they received the welcome and enthusiastic plaudits in turn, although it looked as though the people rather favored the league team. As the Brooklyn is an association club this sign could not be accounted for, except in explanation that perhaps the townsmen were not altogether pleased that the St. Louis men should have attained such a pronounced lead in the race with their fellows. The spectators were not altogether satisfied, for the game in a large majority of innings was of the mechanical order. If ever the term "it was a pitcher's battle" could be appropriately used it was in regard to to-day's game. The fielding errors are so unimportant that of the seven runs made six were earned. The one error that counted was made by Deacon white in the seventh inning.

-Galveston Daily News, October 15, 1887

The 1887 World Series: Audacity And Pure Cheek

"Whoap! Get up, Bill!-That's the way, Bob, let loose on them!-Whoa!-All pull together now, boys!-Now, Robbie, keep your eyes open!-Make 'em dance-that's it, whoa!-Look out for Mr. White, boys!-Whoap!-Doctor, line it out!-That's right, Bush, I'll bring you around, old man!-Take your time, Charley, only tire yourself out!-Whoa!" Thus chattered the exuberant third baseman of the Browns during the whole of yesterday's memorable contest. There is a blending of audacity and pure cheek in Latham's performance that amuses the crowd for a few innings and then makes it weary.-[Detroit Free Press.]

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 15, 1887

I think that Latham's act has now been mentioned in the coverage of all the world series that the Browns were involved in. We'll see about 1888. I also think that the coverage in all of the series was pretty much the same: the act is amusing for a short period but gets old quick. If this is an accurate portrayal of Latham's act, I think that's a fair point.

The 1887 World Series: Game Five

The Browns and Detroits arrived at Jersey Cit at 9 o'clock this morning. After breakfast on the train they proceeded to New York and the Browns registered at the Grand Central Hotel. This is the first time the teams have vacated the train since leaving St. Louis, and the change was welcomed by all. The Detroits registered at the Victoria. After dinner the teams were driven in hacks over the Brooklyn bridge to Washington Park, Brooklyn, where to-day's game was scheduled to be played. At the grounds an animated scene presented itself. The Brooklyn grounds are built in a hollow, the banks on the sides running up 25 feet. The grand stand was packed and jammed, while many had taken a position on the hills, and from back of the plate a perfect sea of human faces presented itself. There were fully 8,000 people on the grounds. Many notables, too, were present, including Mayor Daniel G. Whitney, of Brooklyn, with his Secretary. A pleasing feature too was the large number of ladies who attended, it being estimated that there were fully 2,000 of the fair sex on the grounds. When the two teams were driven into the park they were received with cheers. During the progress of the game it was hard to tell which team was the favorite of the crowd, each having a number of friends on the grounds. Toward the close the Browns' pretty work caught the crowd, and as they drove away from the grounds they were vociferously cheered. The umpires were changed again, Gaffney going behind the bat and Kelly calling the field decisions. Both were thoroughly impartial. The Browns' played ball in their old style and put up the game which has given them the title of world's champions.

Regaining Confidence.

Notwithstanding their recent defeats, they were not discouraged, but played seemingly with more vim and dash than ever, seeming determined to even matters up if possible. Hitherto they have been afraid to attempt to steal bases on Bennett. Before the game Latham said: "Well, we will show him that he can't throw me out." He was true to his promise. In the first inning he made a break on the first ball pitched and landed safe on second. When he stole third the spell was broken and Bennett was a terror no longer. Whenever the Browns reached first they broke for second, and not a man was put out. It is true that a strong wind interfered with throwing but the Browns have regained their confidence and will keep the Detroits' backstop busy in the future. They could not hit Conway, and won simply on their base-running. Bob Caruthers went into the box again, and once more proved what a terror he is to the Detroit sluggers. They hit him freely, but not safely, to-day, and their base-hit column looks rather deserted. In the three games Caruthers has pitched the Detroits have made just nineteen hits, and one of the games has thirteen innings, too. Boyle caught a splendid game, and threw decidedly better than Bennett. Once he caught Hanlon, Detroit's fast runner, 10 feet off second, on an attempt to steal on him. It was a great test for a young player, but Jack stood it bravely. Latham, as usual, kept the crowd in a roar by his antics, but he played ball as though his life depended on winning, and a large share of the credit of the victory belongs to him. He stole three bases on Bennett-twice to second and once to third. O'Neill played a great game in left, and did some very opportune batting, driving in 3 of the 5 runs made. Welch, in center, did some clever work in the field, too, and his two-base hit to left, on which Caruthers and Foutz scored, virtually decided the contest. Foutz had but little to do in the field and batted well. Gleason was again weak in the field, but made several neat plays. Bill is not playing his best ball just now. Robinson handled everything that came his way, without an error of any kind, and his double plays elicited great applause. While Comisky did nothing of particular brilliancy in the field or at the bat, he handled his men in perfect style, and they did not make a mistake of any kind.

The Detroits' Play.

For Detroit, Conway was very effective, but marred his work by his fatal wildness; thus, in the first inning he hit Gleason and sent Latham to base on balls, and both men scored. After that he was almost invulnerable. Bennett caught his same reliable game, and while his throwing was bad he had the wind to contend against. Ganzel played well at first, but marred his record by a bad muff. The error, however, cost nothing. Dunlap carried off the honors, both at the bat and in the field, for the Wolverines. His fielding was clever, sharp and accurate, and his batting was first-class. Rowe played a perfect game at short, although most of his plays were easy balls to handle. White, who has been playing the game of his life this series, made a couple of blunders, but put up a good game for all that. The outfield had but little to do, but did that well.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 15, 1887

The 1887 World Series: More On Game Four

Detroit won the fourth game of the world's championship series, played [in Pittsburgh] to-day. Three thousand people were present. The victory was an easy one for the League champions, who nevertheless played a wonderful game, shutting St. Louis out. King pitched for the Browns and was batted very freely from the start, Detroit scoring four runs in the first inning. St. Louis made only two hits off Baldwin. Magnificent fielding cut off many hits of the Browns. In the first inning, Richardson's liner to left passed O'Neil and he made second. Gansell and Rowe went out, but Thompson hit past Robinson for a double and Richardson scored. Dunlap made a one bagger and stole second, and on Bennet's single to left White and Dunlap scored. Hanlon's out retired the side.

For the Browns Foutz struck out and Gleason died on first, and O'Neil hit safe past Dunlap. Comisky struck out.

Detroit scored again in the second on an out, a passed ball and a wild throw of Gleason; in the fifth on Dunlap's three bagger and an out, and twice in the sixth on an error of Gleason, a steal, a three bagger by Rowe, a passed ball and Thompson's single.

The Browns got only one man as far as third, Bushong in the fifth inning. The fielding of White, Dunlap and Rowe and Thompson's batting were the features of the game.

-Atchison Daily Champion, October 14, 1887