1880 in baseball
Champions
Inter-league playoff: Washington defeat Chicago, 4 games to 3
Events
January–March
April–June
July–September
- July 8 – The Chicago White Stockings win their 21st consecutive game. This record will stand until when it is broken by the New York Giants. It still stands as the 2nd longest winning streak in major league history.
- July 11 – The Chicago Tribune publishes runs batted in for the first time.
- July 17 – Harry Stovey of the Worcester Worcesters hits his first big league home run. Stovey will become the first player in history to reach 100 career home runs.
- August 6 – Tim Keefe makes his major league debut with the Troy Trojans, pitching a 4-hitter in defeating the Cincinnati Stars. Keefe will end up with 342 career wins and be elected to the Hall of Fame in.
- August 19 – Larry Corcoran of the Chicago White Stockings pitches a no-hitter against the Boston Red Caps.
- August 20 – Pud Galvin pitches a no-hitter for the Buffalo Bisons against the Worcester Worcesters. It is the 2nd day in a row that the National League has seen a no-hitter.
- August 27 – Bill Crowley of the Buffalo Bisons records 4 assists from the outfield for the second time this season, having done it previously on May 24. Crowley remains the only outfielder to ever have 4 assists in one game on two separate occasions.
- September 1 – Charley Jones of the Boston Red Caps refuses to play after the club fails to pay him $378 in back pay. The team responds by suspending, fining and black-listing him. Jones will never again play in the National League, although he will appear again beginning in in the American Association.
- September 2 – The first night game is played in Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts. The Jordan Marsh and R. H. White department stores from Boston play to a 16–16 tie.
- September 8 – The Polo Grounds in New York City are leased by a new Metropolitan team being led by Jim Mutrie.
- September 9 – Buck Ewing makes his debut for the Troy Trojans.
- September 15
- *John O'Rourke, older brother of Jim O'Rourke, becomes the first player to hit 4 doubles in one game.
- *The Chicago White Stockings clinch the pennant with a 5–2 win over the Cincinnati Stars.
- September 29 – The Polo Grounds hosts its first baseball game as the newly formed New York Metropolitans defeat the National Association champion Washington Nationals 4–2. Approximately 2,500 people attend the game, the largest crowd to see a game in New York City in several years.
- September 30 – The last place Cincinnati Stars win their final game 2–0 in front of 183 fans. This will be the last game for this troubled franchise, although the city will see the current version of the Reds begin play in.
October–December
- October 4 – The National League prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages in member parks and also prohibits member parks from being rented out on Sundays. These rulings are directly aimed at the Cincinnati Stars club who routinely did both in order to raise additional money for their continual struggling finances.
- October 6 – The Cincinnati Stars refuse to abide by the new rules set down and are immediately kicked out of the National League.
- December 8 – The National League rejects the Washington Nationals bid for membership and accepts the Detroit Wolverines as its newest member.
- December 9 – The National League re-elects William Hulbert as president and adopts several new rules for. Among the new rules are reducing called balls for a walk down to 7 and moving the pitching box back 5 feet to the new distance of 50 feet.
Births
January–April
May–August
September–December
Deaths