1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings season

The 1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in second place in the American Association with a record of 81–45, 14 games behind the St. Louis Browns.

1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Aaron S. Stern[1]
Manager(s)Gus Schmelz
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Regular season

Following a horrible 1886 season, in which the Red Stockings finished under .500 for the first time in team history, the team hired Gus Schmelz to become the new manager. Schmelz managed the St. Louis Maroons of the National League in 1886 to a 43–79 record. He also managed the Columbus Buckeyes of the American Association in 1883, leading them to a 69–39 record and a second-place finish.

Cincinnati signed George Tebeau to his first professional contract, and acquired Hugh Nicol from the St. Louis Browns in a trade with sent Jack Boyle and $350 to the Browns. Nicol hit .206 with 19 RBI and 38 stolen bases, as well as scoring 44 runs in 67 games in 1886.

John Reilly had a great season, as he hit .306 with a team high ten home runs and had 96 RBI, as well as 50 stolen bases. Pop Corkhill led the club with a .311 batting average, and his 97 RBI tied him with Frank Fennelly for the team high. Nicol led the American Association with 138 stolen bases.

On the mound, nineteen-year-old Mike Smith emerged as the ace of the staff, as he had a 34–17 record and a league best 2.94 ERA in 52 starts. Tony Mullane also had a solid season, as he had a 31–17 record with a 3.24 ERA in 48 starts.

Season summary

The Red Stockings got off to a fast start, winning their first five games, however, Cincinnati lost six of their next seven games to fall to 6–6. The team hovered around the .500 level, as they had a 21–22 record after 43 games, before winning nine of ten to rise up to third place with a 30–23 record. After going 3–6 in their next nine games, Cincinnati had a season-high ten-game winning streak. However, they remained in third place, 8.5 games behind the St. Louis Browns. The Red Stockings continued to play good baseball for the remainder of the season, as they finished the year in second place with a record of 81–54, fourteen games behind the first-place Browns.

Season standings

American Association W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Browns 9540 0.704 58–15 37–25
Cincinnati Red Stockings 8154 0.600 14 46–27 35–27
Baltimore Orioles 7758 0.570 18 42–21 35–37
Louisville Colonels 7660 0.559 19½ 45–23 31–37
Philadelphia Athletics 6469 0.481 30 41–28 23–41
Brooklyn Grays 6074 0.448 34½ 36–37 24–37
New York Metropolitans 4489 0.331 50 26–33 18–56
Cleveland Blues 3992 0.298 54 22–36 17–56

Record vs. opponents

1887 American Association Records

Sources:
Team BAL BR CIN CLE LOU NY PHI STL
Baltimore 10–9–111–917–37–11–115–4–214–63–16–2
Brooklyn 9–10–17–1313–6–18–129–910–8–24–16
Cincinnati 9–1113–711–68–1217–3–111–912–6
Cleveland 3–176–13–16–118–11–111–84–141–18
Louisville 11–7–112–812–811–8–112–811–8–17–13
New York 4–15–29–93–17–18–118–127–11–15–14–1
Philadelphia 6–148–10–29–1114–48–11–111–7–18–12
St. Louis 16–3–216–46–1218–113–714–5–112–8

Roster

1887 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CKid Baldwin9638898.253157
1BJohn Reilly134551170.3091096
2BBid McPhee129540156.289287
3BHick Carpenter127498124.249150
SSFrank Fennelly134526140.266897
OFHugh Nicol125475102.215134
OFPop Corkhill128541168.311597
OFGeorge Tebeau8531894.296433

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jim Keenan4717444.253017
Charley Jones4115348.314240
Heinie Kappel237822.282015
Jack O'Connor12404.10001

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Mike Smith52447.134172.94176
Tony Mullane48416.131173.2497
Billy Serad22187.110114.0834
Jumbo McGinnis869.1355.4518
Mike Shea216.2117.020
Mother Watson214015.791
Wild Bill Widner19105.000
George Tebeau180113.501

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Pop Corkhill51005.523

References

  1. "Reds owners". The Cincinnati Enquirer. November 3, 2005. p. 20. Retrieved September 14, 2020 via newspapers.com.
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