National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs in 1883

Introduction

The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) was established in 1876 (148 years ago) when a number of its teams broke away from the NA. The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) was formed in Chicago, Illinois, by businessman and owner of the Chicago Base Ball Club (now known as the Chicago Cubs), William Hulbert, for the purpose of replacing the NA, which he believed to have been corrupt, mismanaged, full of rowdy, drunken ballplayers, and under the influence of the gambling community. One of the new rules put into place by the new league was that all teams had to be located in cities that had a population of 75,000 or more.

1883 was Season 8 of play for the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NL) and took place 141 years ago.

Classification

Major League

Season Length

 May 1, 1883 to September 30, 1883

Season Champion

Boston Beaneaters

# of Teams

8

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 in Baseball (Thanks to Wikipedia)

Notable Seasons
  • First baseman Dan Brouthers led the NL in batting average (.374), on-base percentage (.397), slugging percentage (.572), adjusted OPS+ (187), hits (159), total bases (243), and runs batted in (97).[1][2]
  • Pitcher Charles Radbourn led the NL with 48 wins. He finished second in the NL in innings pitched (632.1), earned run average (2.05), adjusted ERA+ (150), and strikeouts (315).[3][4]
January–March
  • February 17 – The American Association and the National League, along with the Northwestern League, sign the Tripartite Agreement (also known as the National Agreement). This agreement binds the leagues to respect each other’s valid player contracts as well as increasing the size of the reserve list from 6 to 11 players. This leads to relative harmony among the leagues until the Players’ League wars of 1889–1890.
  • March 14 – The Peoria Club of the Northwestern League makes a motion to ban blacks, a move directly aimed at Toledo’s star catcher, Moses Fleetwood Walker. After heated discussion, the motion is withdrawn and Walker remains eligible to play.
  • March 30 – Charles Fowle, one of the original founders of the National League, and secretary of the St. Louis Brown Stockings from 1875 to 1877, dies in St. Louis.
  • March 31 – The nation’s oldest baseball club, the Olympic Town-Ball Club of Philadelphia, marks its 50th anniversary.
April–June
  • April 13 – U.S. President Chester A. Arthur invites members of the recently defunct Forest Cities franchise from the National Association to the white House, making it the first professional sports team to visit a president in Washington D.C. Later that year, the New York Gothams, the precursor to the New York Giants, also visits Arthur in D.C.
  • April 15 – Francis Richter publishes the first issue of Sporting Life which will grow into the leading weekly publication for baseball information and run continuously until 1917.
  • April 24 – Terry Larkin, a pitcher who has not played in the majors since 1880, shoots his wife and a policeman, then tries to kill himself. He attempts suicide the next day and fails again. Both his wife and the police officer survive as well, and Larkin will play in 40 games for the Richmond Virginians in 1884.
  • May 1 – In their inaugural National League game, the New York Gothams defeat the Boston Beaneaters 7–5 in front of 15,000 fans, who include President Ulysses S. Grant. The Philadelphia Quakers, also making their NL debut, lose 4–3 to the Providence Grays.
  • May 3 – John Montgomery Ward becomes the first pitcher to hit 2 home runs in a game as his New York Gothams defeat the Boston Beaneaters 10–9.
  • May 13 – In what was still a very rare occurrence, neither team commits an error as the St. Louis Browns defeat the Louisville Eclipse 4–3.
  • May 28 – Fort Wayne and Indianapolis play the first of 2 games under electric lights.
  • May 30 – Several of the American Association teams play a Memorial Day double-header in 2 different cities. At one point, there is an American Association game being played at the Polo Grounds on the New York Metropolitans field and a National League game being played at the Polo Grounds on the New York Gothams field where the outfield fences back up to one another.
  • June 9 – The Philadelphia Quakers receive special permission from the National League to lower their ticket prices to 25¢ per game in order to compete with the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association. The Quakers average game attendance quadruples for the remainder of the season.
  • June 16 – The New York Gothams introduce ladies day, where all females are admitted free without restriction. This idea will remain a staple of major league baseball for nearly 100 years.
  • June 28 – Providence Grays player Joe Mulvey is shot in the shoulder while leaving the playing field at Messer Street Grounds in Providence. The shooter, James Murphy, was actually aiming for Mulvey’s teammate, Cliff Carroll after Carroll had drenched Murphy with a hose. Within a month, Mulvey would be sold to the Philadelphia Quakers.
July–September
October–December
  • November 22 – New York Gothams owner John B. Day proposes a resolution to prohibit a team from signing a player who has broken the reserve clause of his contract. This resolution, eventually adopted by both the American Association and National League, effectively changes the reserve clause from a device to protect owners from their own greediness to a vindictive weapon to be used against uncooperative players.
  • November 24 – The American Association agree to expand to 12 teams by admitting the Brooklyn Atlantics, Indianapolis Hoosiers, Toledo Blue Stockings and Washington Nationals.
  • Buffalo Bisons first baseman Dan Brouthers leads the NL with 129 hits, a .368 batting average, a .950 OPS, and a 199 OPS+. His 63 runs batted in rank second in the league.
  • Cincinnati Red Stockings pitcher Will White has a record of 40–12 and leads the AA with 480 innings pitched, 40 wins, and 8 shutouts. He has a 1.54 earned run average and a 173 ERA+.

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