1884 St. Louis Maroons season
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox baseball team season
| name = St. Louis Maroons
| season = 1884
| misc = 1884 Union Association Champions
| league = Union Association
| ballpark = Union Base Ball Park
| city = St. Louis, Missouri
| record = {{winpct|94|19|record=y}}
| league_place = 1st
| owner = Henry Lucas
| managers = Ted Sullivan, Fred Dunlap
|}}
The 1884 St. Louis Maroons baseball team finished with a 94–19 record and won the championship of the new Union Association (UA). After the season, the UA folded and the Maroons joined the National League; they were the only UA team to continue past the 1884 season.
To this day, the Maroons' .832 winning percentage hasn't been matched by a professional baseball team.{{Cite web |title=Best Record In A Season By A Team In MLB History |url=https://www.statmuse.com/e/m/HRiut3zgP |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=StatMuse |language=en}} However, a number of factors have often led to the Maroons' season being questioned or disregarded as a true accomplishment, including: the relatively low number of games played; the debate over the classification of the Union Association as a "major league"; and the fact that the founder and president of the Union Association was also the owner of the Maroons, and deliberately (and anti-competitively) stocked his team with most of the league's best talent. Accordingly, the 1884 St. Louis Maroons are not usually mentioned in the conversation of baseball teams with the best single-season records of all time.
This team also set the record for the best start to a season in baseball history, going 20–0 before losing 8-1 to the Boston Reds on May 24, in their 21st game of the season.{{Cite web |title=1884 Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Saturday, May 24, 1884 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/1884/05/24/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}
The Maroons scored 887 runs while allowing 429, for a run differential of +458, the best in major-league history,{{cite news |url=https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/which-mlb-team-had-the-best-run-differential-season |title=Highest Run Differential Ever |website=statmuse.com |date=August 10, 2022}} as records and statistics of the UA are recognized by Major League Baseball (MLB).
The team was back in the news in 2015, when the Golden State Warriors started the 2015–16 season with an NBA-record 24 straight wins; this surpassed the Maroons' 20–0 start, which was previously the record for the four major professional sports leagues in the United States.{{Cite web |last=Sherman |first=Rodger |date=December 3, 2015 |title=Sherman: 1884 St. Louis Maroons were the last sports team to start 20-0 |url=https://sabr.org/latest/sherman-1884-st-louis-maroons-were-last-sports-team-start-20-0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717183808/https://sabr.org/latest/sherman-1884-st-louis-maroons-were-last-sports-team-start-20-0 |archive-date=July 17, 2019 |access-date=2019-07-17 |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}
Regular season
= Season standings =
{{1884 Union Association standings|highlight=St. Louis Maroons}}
= Record vs. opponents =
{{1884 Union Association Record vs. opponents|team=STL}}
= Roster =
| class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| colspan="10" style="background-color: white; color: #800000; text-align: center;" | 1884 St. Louis Maroons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| colspan="10" style="background-color: #800000; color: white; text-align: center;" | Roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| valign="top" | Pitchers
{{MLBplayer | John Cattanach}}
{{MLBplayer | Charlie Hodnett}}
{{MLBplayer | C. V. Matteson}}
{{MLBplayer | William Sullivan}}
{{MLBplayer | Charlie Sweeney}}
{{MLBplayer | Billy Taylor}}
{{MLBplayer | Perry Werden}}
| width="25px" | | valign="top" | Catchers {{MLBplayer | George Baker}}
{{MLBplayer | Jack Brennan}}
{{MLBplayer | Tom Dolan}}
Infielders {{MLBplayer | Fred Dunlap}}
{{MLBplayer | Jack Gleason}}
{{MLBplayer | Joe Quinn}}
{{MLBplayer | Milt Whitehead}}
| width="25px" | | valign="top" | Outfielders {{MLBplayer | Henry Boyle}}
{{MLBplayer | Ed Callahan}}
{{MLBplayer | Dan Cronin}}
{{MLBplayer | Buttercup Dickerson}}
{{MLBplayer | Fred Lewis}}
{{MLBplayer | Dave Rowe}}
{{MLBplayer | Tom Ryder}}
{{MLBplayer | Orator Shafer}}
{{MLBplayer | Sleeper Sullivan}}
| width="25px" | | valign="top" | Manager {{MLBplayer | Fred Dunlap}}
{{MLBplayer | Ted Sullivan}} |
Player stats
= Batting =
== Starters by position ==
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | Pos
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | AB ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | H ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | Avg. ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | HR | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="center"
| C | {{sortname|George|Baker|George Baker (baseball)}} | 80 | 317 | 52 | .164 | 0 |
| align="center"
| 1B | {{sortname|Joe|Quinn|Joe Quinn (second baseman)}} | 103 | 429 | 116 | .270 | 0 |
| align="center"
| 2B | {{sortname|Fred|Dunlap}} | 101 | 449 | 185 | .412 | 13 |
| align="center"
| SS | {{sortname|Milt|Whitehead}} | 99 | 393 | 83 | .211 | 1 |
| align="center"
| 3B | {{sortname|Jack|Gleason}} | 92 | 395 | 128 | .324 | 4 |
| align="center"
| OF | {{sortname|Orator|Shafer}} | 106 | 467 | 168 | .360 | 2 |
| align="center"
| OF | {{sortname|Dave|Rowe|Dave Rowe (baseball)}} | 109 | 485 | 142 | .293 | 4 |
| align="center"
| OF | {{sortname|Henry|Boyle|Henry Boyle (baseball)}} | 65 | 262 | 68 | .260 | 4 |
== Other batters ==
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||||
| bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | AB ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | H ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | Avg. ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | HR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Jack|Brennan|Jack Brennan (baseball)}} | 56 | 231 | 50 | .216 | 0 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Buttercup|Dickerson}} | 46 | 211 | 77 | .365 | 0 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Tom|Dolan|Tom Dolan (baseball)}} | 19 | 69 | 13 | .188 | 0 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Tom|Ryder|Tom Ryder (baseball)}} | 8 | 28 | 7 | .250 | 0 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Sleeper|Sullivan}} | 2 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 |
| align="center" |
= Pitching =
== Starting pitchers ==
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | IP ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Charlie|Sweeney}} | 33 | 271.0 | 24 | 7 | 1.83 | 192 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Billy|Taylor|Billy Taylor (1880s pitcher)}} | 33 | 263.0 | 25 | 4 | 1.68 | 154 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Henry|Boyle|Henry Boyle (baseball)}} | 19 | 150.0 | 15 | 3 | 1.74 | 88 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Perry|Werden}} | 16 | 141.1 | 12 | 1 | 1.97 | 51 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Charlie|Hodnett}} | 14 | 121.0 | 12 | 2 | 2.01 | 41 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|John|Cattanach}} | 2 | 17.0 | 1 | 1 | 2.12 | 13 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Dave|Rowe|Dave Rowe (baseball)}} | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 2 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Milt|Whitehead}} | 1 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 2 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|C. V.|Matteson}} | 1 | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Sleeper|Sullivan}} | 1 | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 3 |
== Relief pitchers ==
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | SV ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="center"
| {{sortname|Fred|Dunlap}} | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 1 |
Sources
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SLM/1884.shtml 1884 St. Louis Maroons team page at Baseball Reference]
References
{{reflist}}
{{Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League)}}
{{1884 MLB season by team}}
{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| title = Union Association Championship Season
| years = 1884
| before = League created
| after = League dissolved
}}
{{s-end}}
Category:St. Louis Maroons/Indianapolis Hoosiers seasons
{{baseball-season-stub}}
{{Missouri-sport-stub}}