1875 in baseball

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}

{{Year in baseball top |

this year = 1875 |

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{{Year nav sports topic5|1875|baseball|sports}}

Champions

Statistical leaders

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
colspan="3" |National Association
Stat

! Player

! Total

AVG

| Deacon White (BOS)

| .367

HR

| Jim O'Rourke (BOS)

| 6

RBI

| Cal McVey (BOS)

| 87

W

| Al Spalding (BOS)

| 54

ERA

| Pud Galvin (STB)

| 1.16

K

| Candy Cummings (HAR)

| 82

National Association final standings

class="wikitable" width="400em" style="text-align:center;"

! width="58%" | National Association

! width="8%" | W

! width="8%" | L

! width="8%" | T

! width="10%" | Pct.

! width="8%" | GB

style="background:#CCFFCC"

| Boston Red Stockings

| 71

| 8

| 3

| {{winpct|71|8|3}}

| —

Philadelphia Athletics

| 53

| 20

| 4

| {{winpct|53|20|4}}

| 15

Hartford Dark Blues

| 54

| 28

| 3

| {{winpct|54|28|3}}

| 18½

St. Louis Brown Stockings

| 39

| 29

| 2

| {{winpct|39|29|2}}

| 26½

Philadelphia White Stockings

| 37

| 31

| 2

| {{winpct|37|31|2}}

| 28½

Chicago White Stockings

| 30

| 37

| 2

| {{winpct|30|37|2}}

| 35

New York Mutuals

| 30

| 38

| 3

| {{winpct|30|38|3}}

| 35½

New Haven Elm Citys

| 7

| 40

| —

| {{winpct|7|40|0}}

| 48

Washington Nationals

| 5

| 23

| —

| {{winpct|5|23|0}}

| 40½

St. Louis Red Stockings

| 4

| 15

| —

| {{winpct|4|15|0}}

| 37

Philadelphia Centennials

| 2

| 12

| —

| {{winpct|2|12|0}}

| 36½

Brooklyn Atlantics

| 2

| 42

| —

| {{winpct|2|42|0}}

| 51½

Keokuk Westerns

| 1

| 12

| —

| {{winpct|1|12|0}}

| 37

Notable seasons

  • Boston Red Stockings pitcher Al Spalding has a record of 54–5 and leads the NA in wins. His 570.2 innings pitched ranks second in the league. He has 75 strikeouts, a 1.59 earned run average, and a 136 ERA+. At the plate, he has a .312 batting average and a 134 OPS+.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NA/1875-pitching-leaders.shtml "1875 National Association Pitching Leaders"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2020.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/spaldal01.shtml "Al Spalding Stats"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  • Boston Red Stockings first baseman Cal McVey leads the NA with 87 runs batted in and a .873 OPS. His 138 hits and 192 OPS+ both rank second in the league. He has a .355 batting average and 89 runs scored.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NA/1875-batting-leaders.shtml "1875 National Association Batting Leaders"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2020.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcveyca01.shtml "Cal McVey Stats"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2020.

Events

=January–March=

=April–June=

  • May 3 – The Hartfords are caught using an illegal bat which had been whittled nearly flat on one side and painted black to conceal the altering. The bat is thrown out and Hartford goes on to win the game.
  • May 5 – National of Washington gives up 20+ runs for the 5th consecutive game.
  • May 11 – The Red Stockings of St. Louis fall to the Chicagos 1–0, the lowest scoring game ever at the time.
  • May 21 – Only 10 days after it happened for the first time, the NA sees its second 1–0 game as Candy Cummings of Hartford outduels Bobby Mathews of Mutual.
  • May 22 – Pud Galvin makes his debut with the St. Louis Club. Galvin will only pitch in 8 games for St. Louis and will not be seen in the major leagues again until 1879.
  • June 11 – George Hall of the Philadelphia Athletics, who will finish 2nd in the league with 4, homers in consecutive at-bats.

=July–September=

=October–December=

  • October 10 – At a meeting of Chicago Base Ball Club stockholders, William Hulbert uses a proxy from the widow of the deceased George Gage to declare himself President of the team. He names Albert Spalding as Secretary.
  • October 30 – Boston defeats Hartford 7–4 in what proves to be the final game in the history of the NA. The Bostons claim the last 4 pennants in increasingly dominating fashion after the Athletics win the inaugural flag in 1871.

Births

=Notes=

{{notelist}}

Deaths

  • February 14 – Charlie Hodes, 26?, catcher/utility player from 1871 to 1874.
  • July 22 – Eb Smith, 28, umpire for one game during the 1872 National Association season.

References

{{reflist}}