National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in 1875

Introduction

NA ‘Logo’

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA) was established in 1871 (154 years ago) when a number of its teams broke away from the NABBP. The NA was significant as it established the first-ever Elite level of play in North America with its players being publicly treated as professionals.

1875 was Season 5 of play for the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA) and took place 150 years ago. This would be the last season of play for the NA which would fold and be succeeded by the National League.

Classification

Elite League

Season Length

April 19, 1875 to October 30, 1875

Season Champion

Boston Red Stockings

# of Teams

Season Standings

Season Playoffs

There were no championship playoffs as the top team with the most wins at end of season was declared league champion for the season.

Events (thanks to Wikipedia)

Notable Player Accomplishments

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+.
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.

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

July 20 – Harry Wright learns that Albert Spalding, Deacon White, Ross Barnes and Cal McVey will jump to Chicago for the 1876 season. The Chicago Tribune reports that Wright will return to Cincinnati to start a new team.
July 21 – Joe Start of Mutual hits 3 home runs and a triple in a Mutuals victory.
July 28 – Joe Borden of Philadelphia pitched professional baseball’s first no-hitter in defeating Chicago 4–0.
September 6 – The Bostons win their 4th pennant in a row roughly 6 weeks sooner than they had in the previous 3 seasons. Boston clinches with 16 games left to play in the schedule.
September 11 – The first professional women’s game is played in Springfield, Illinois on a half-sized field. The “Blondes” defeat the “Brunettes” 42–38.
September 24 – George Gage, President of the Chicago Base Ball Club, passes away after suffering a stroke. William Hulbert will take over the team and drive the final nail in the NA’s coffin by starting the National League during the off-season.
September 25 – Paul Hines commits 10 errors at 2nd base for Chicago in a loss.

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.