1879 in baseball



Champions

Inter-league playoff: Providence Grays defeat Albany Blues, 2 games to 0.

Notable seasons

  • Tommy Bond of the Boston Red Caps finishes 2nd in the National League with 43 wins. It is the 3rd consecutive season that Bond has won 40 games, a feat that has never been matched in major league history. Bond also wins his second ERA title, finishing at 1.96, and leads the league for the third straight season in shutouts with 11.
  • Will White of the Cincinnati Reds starts 75 games as a pitcher and finishes all 75 games, compiling a record of 43–31, with a 1.99 ERA and 680 innings pitched. The 75 games started is still a single season record.

Events

January–March

April–June

  • April 1 – The Northwest League is formed and refuses to affiliate with National League or the National Association. The league consists of 4 teams: Davenport, Omaha, Dubuque and Rockford.
  • April 4 – The Providence Grays announce the creation of a "bull pen", to be located in center field, where fans may purchase tickets for 15¢ beginning in the 5th inning. The team also installed the first backstop behind home plate, to protect fans in what had become known as the "slaughter pen" from injuries due to foul balls and wild pitches.
  • May 2 – Rookie Mike Mansell of the newly formed Troy Trojans, in attempting to break up a double play, sprains the neck of star player Ross Barnes of the Cincinnati Reds. As this is not yet an accepted style of play, Mansell is censured for his actions.
  • May 17 – With no available regular catchers, the Cleveland Blues (National League) give Fred Gunkle a try. Midway through the game, after 3 errors and 7 passed balls, Gunkle is mercifully moved to right field. It is the only game he will ever play in the majors.
  • May 20 – After catcher Pop Snyder cuts his hand in the 8th inning, Boston Red Caps pitcher Tommy Bond is forced to ease up on his pitching. The Chicago White Stockings take advantage of the slower speed and score 4 in the 9th to beat the Red Caps 9–5.
  • June 6 – Charley Jones of the Boston Red Caps, who will lead the league in home runs, hits one that is estimated to travel 500 feet in the air.
  • June 14 – Silver Flint of the Chicago White Stockings hits a ball over the left field fence in the 9th inning against the Troy Trojans. Flint chooses to stop at third base for a triple so that the catcher will have to play closer to the batter, thus giving him a better hitting opportunity. Flint does score, but the White Stockings lose 10–9.
  • June 20 – Oscar Walker, of the Buffalo Bisons, becomes the first major league player to strike out 5 times in a 9-inning game.
  • June 21 – William Edward White plays first base for the Providence Grays in their 5–3 win over the Cleveland Blues. White is believed by some to have been the first black player to play in the major leagues.
  • June 22 – The New York Times reports on the death of a player named Alexander Taylor. The article states that Taylor, while catching, set up too close to the batter as he swung and was hit in the head by the bat, smashing his skull.
  • June 23 – Dan Brouthers makes his debut with the Troy Trojans.
  • June 26 – Boston catcher Pop Snyder starts a triple play by dropping a third strike with the bases loaded and no outs to help the Red Caps beat the Providence Grays 3–2. The dropped third strike rule will not be implemented until.

July–September

October–December

Births

Deaths