Union Association of Base Ball Clubs in 1884

Introduction

The Union Association of Base Ball Clubs (UA) was established in 1884 (140 years ago) to challenge the National League (NL) and American Association (AA).

The UA aimed to compete with the established leagues by offering better player salaries and a more favorable player contract system. However, the league faced numerous challenges, including financial instability, lack of quality players, and poor management. Despite its ambitious goals, the UA struggled to gain traction and faced many obstacles, operating for only one season in 1884

1884 was Season 1 of play and the final season for the Union Association of Base Ball Clubs (UA)and took place 140 years ago.


Classification

Rival League


Season Length

No records


Season Champion

St. Louis Maroons


# of Teams

12


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

Old Hoss Radbourn won a record 59 or 60 games (depending on the sources), a record that will almost certainly never be broken. In addition to wins, Radbourn led the National League in games (75), games started (73), complete games (73), ERA (1.38), saves (2), strikeouts (441), and innings pitched (678.2).

The season record for pitching strikeouts (369, by Tim Keefe 1883) is broken by seven players, with Hugh Daily beating Keefe’s record by 114. To this day (as of 2020), six of the top ten strikeout seasons were accomplished in 1884 (including five of the top seven).[2] 1884 was the first season in which pitchers were allowed to throw overhand.[improper synthesis?]

January–March
  • February 18 – Terry Larkin, recently released from prison after shooting his wife and a police officer in 1883, is arrested again for threatening to shoot his father. Larkin will be released and play this season for the Richmond Virginians. Larkin was later institutionalized after challenging his former employer to a duel, and committed suicide by slitting his throat with a razor in 1894.
  • February 20 – The Altoona Mountain City club is admitted to the new Union Association as its seventh club, leaving Lancaster as the only franchise in the Inter-State League.
  • March 4 – The National League reduces the number of balls needed for a walk to six. Team owners also agree to provide two separate benches for the teams in order to cut down on player fraternizing during games.
  • March 15 – Henry Chadwick writes in a newspaper column that a ground-keeper in St. Louis has started placing tarpaulins over the bases when it rains in order to keep them dry. Other clubs will follow suit and cover the pitching area and batter areas as well.
  • March 17 – The Union Association admits the Boston Reds, run by George Wright, as a new team to the league.
  • March 28 – Umpire William McLean throws a bat into the stands, striking a spectator, in reaction to taunts from the crowd. McLean is arrested but not charged as the fan is not injured.
April–June
July–September
October–December

Future Features