1880s on the Diamond Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charlie Radbourn

Charles Gardner "Old Hoss" Radbourn joined professional baseball in 1881 with the Providence Grays of the National League. In only his fourth season in 1884 he threw an amazing 59-12 record after starting in 73 games. This came after his 48-25 season in 1883.

He helped his Grays team to the NL pennant in 1884. Charlie pitched for 11 seasons and would never win more than 35 again. He retired with the Cincinnati Reds in 1891 with a 309-194 career record. He died in 1897 at the age of 42 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939 by the Old Timers Committee.

Answer: Browns

The St. Louis franchise began it all in 1882 as the Brown Stockings. They shortened their name to Browns the following season. They played in the American Association from 1882-1891. In the AA, the Browns won four consecutive league pennants from 1885-1888.

The franchise joined the National League in 1892. They changed their name to Perfectos in 1899, then to the St. Louis Cardinals name in 1900. The franchise went to their first World Series in 1926 in a win over the Yankees.

Answer: White Stockings

The Chicago White Stockings were a dominant team in the 1880s under the management of Cap Anson. They won the crown from 1880-1882, then in 1885 and 1886. They also won more than 100 games in a season six times in the decade which helped them finish as runner-up for the NL pennant another two times.

In 1890 they changed their name to the Colts, then Orphans in 1898, then to the Cubs in 1903.

Answer: Guy Hecker

The arms that threw a Triple Crown in the National League were Charlie Radbourn with the Providence Grays in 1884, Tim Keefe with the New York Giants in 1888, and John Clarkson of the Boston Beaneaters in 1889. Guy Hecker was in the AA with the Louisville Eclipse in 1884.

He led the league with his amazing 52-20 season record along with a 1.80 ERA. Guy started 73 games in the season and completed 72. He not only had an arm but a bat also as he won the batting title in the American Association in 1886.

Hecker played in nine seasons and retired in 1890 in his only season with the National League Pittsburgh Alleghenys.

Answer: Bill Sweeney

The Union Association existed only for one season in 1884 but hosted 12 teams to try and bring another league to baseball. Sweeney was in his second season of baseball in 1884 after being seen on the mound in 1882 with the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association.

In that season he threw a 9-10 record. In his final of two seasons in 1884 with the Baltimore Monumentals he went 40-21 to lead the league in its only season. The St. Louis Maroons won the only Union Association title with a 94-19 season record.

Answer: Giants

By Major League Baseball, the first officially recognized World Series was held in 1903 between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Championship series prior to that were known only as exhibition games and for bragging rights. Those games saw battle between the winner of the National League pennant against the winner of the American Association pennant.

There were six of those exhibition series held in the 1880s with the NL New York Giants winning two to lead both leagues. The exhibition 'championships' were held from 1884-1892.

The Giants won the exhibition series in 1888 against the St. Louis Browns and then the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in 1889. In both seasons the Giants were managed by Jim Mutrie.

Answer: Bridegrooms

The Brooklyn franchise spent only six seasons in the American Association in the 1880s. They started the club in 1884 as the Brooklyn Atlantics, then changed the team name to Grays in 1885, then in 1888 it went to the Bridegrooms. The 1889 season was Brooklyn's last season in the American Association before joining the National League in 1890.

In 1889 the team drew 353,690 fans in the season which was a tremendous amount in the early era of baseball. The 1889 team won the AA pennant under the helm of Bill McGunnigle with their 93-44 record, two games ahead of the second place finishing St. Louis Browns.

Answer: Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies were owned by Alfred Reach. He previously owned the Worcester Ruby Legs and moved them to Philadelphia in 1883 to become a new franchise as the Philadelphia Quakers in the National League. He had a double-decker stadium built that housed 20,000 fans in 1887 named the Philadelphia Baseball Grounds, a.k.a. Huntington Grounds. Unfortunately the ballpark burned down in 1894, but was rebuilt.

The ballpark eventually became the Baker Bowl after renovations. Philadelphia took on the team name of Phillies in 1890.

Answer: Ed Delahanty

Ed "Big Ed" Delahanty was a rookie in 1888 with the Philadelphia Quakers (later Phillies). The oldest of the five Delahanty brothers he won the 1899 NL batting title and the 1902 AL batting title. He died in 1903 in an incident never solved. On Niagara Falls, he either fell, jumped, or was pushed to the bottom.

The case was never solved. His brothers were Frank, Jim, Joe, and Tom. Ed was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Old Timers Committee.

Answer: Ned Williamson

In 1884 with the White Stockings of Chicago, Ned banged out 27 home runs, a tremendous number of home runs for that era. He was the first player in history to hit 20+ home runs in a season. It was still a fifth place finish for the White Stockings in the season. Williamson would never hit home runs in double-figures again.

The infielder, catcher, and pitcher played for 13 seasons from 1878-1890. Ned would hold his season home run record for over 30 years until the great Babe Ruth hit 29 in 1919.