1887 Major League Baseball season

1887 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 16 – October 10 (regular) October 10–26 (postseason)
Pennant Winners
AA champions	St. Louis Browns
AA runners-up	Cincinnati Red
NL champions	Detroit Wolverines
NL runners-up	Philadelphia Quakers
MLB seasons
← 1886 1888 →

The 1887 MLB Season was the National League's twelfth season and American Association's sixth season. The Detroit Wolverines defeated the St. Louis Browns in a 15-game World Series match played in ten cities.^[1] The Louisville Colonels set a Major League record which still stands for the most base on balls for a team in a game, with 19 against the Cleveland Blues on 21 September.^[2]

Standings

American Association

v t e American Association	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Browns	95	40	0.704	—	58–15	37–25
Cincinnati Red Stockings	81	54	0.600	14	46–27	35–27
Baltimore Orioles	77	58	0.570	18	42–21	35–37
Louisville Colonels	76	60	0.559	19½	45–23	31–37
Philadelphia Athletics	64	69	0.481	30	41–28	23–41
Brooklyn Grays	60	74	0.448	34½	36–37	24–37
New York Metropolitans	44	89	0.331	50	26–33	18–56
Cleveland Blues	39	92	0.298	54	22–36	17–56

National League

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Wolverines	79	45	0.637	—	44–17	35–28
Philadelphia Quakers	75	48	0.610	3½	38–23	37–25
Chicago White Stockings	71	50	0.587	6½	44–18	27–32
New York Giants	68	55	0.553	10½	36–26	32–29
Boston Beaneaters	61	60	0.504	16½	38–22	23–38
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	55	69	0.444	24	31–33	24–36
Washington Nationals	46	76	0.377	32	26–33	20–43
Indianapolis Hoosiers	37	89	0.294	43	24–39	13–50

League leaders

In 1887, bases on balls (walks) were counted as hits by the major leagues in existence at the time. This inflated batting averages, with 11 players batting .400 or better, and the experiment was abandoned the following season. Historical statistics for the season were later revised, such that "Bases on balls shall always be treated as neither a time at bat nor a hit for the batter."^[3] This results in ambiguity for some players' season and career hits totals, notably with Cap Anson.^[4] Anson was credited with a .421 average and the National League batting title in 1887; however, the recalculation of averages with walks excluded lowered his average to .347 and retroactively gave the batting title to Sam Thompson.^[4]

	American Association		National League
AVG	Tip O'Neill STL	.435	Sam Thompson DET	.372
HR	Tip O'Neill STL	14	Billy O'Brien WAS	19
RBI	Tip O'Neill STL	123	Sam Thompson DET	166
Wins	Matt Kilroy BAL	46	John Clarkson CHI	38
ERA	Elmer Smith CIN	2.94	Dan Casey PHI	2.86
Ks	Toad Ramsey LOU	355	John Clarkson CHI	237

Postseason

World Series:

The Detroit Wolverines (79–45, NL) defeated the St. Louis Browns (95–40, AA) ten games to five.

References

^ Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). The Great American Baseball Scrapbook, p. 24. Random House. ISBN 0-394-50253-1.
^ "Games Based Bases on Balls Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
^ Thorn, John (May 4, 2015). "Why Is the National Association Not a Major League … and Other Records Issues". ourgame.mlblogs.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Fleitz, David L. "Cap Anson". Society for American Baseball Research Baseball Biography Project. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

Major League Baseball seasons

Pre-modern era

Beginnings	1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881
Competition	1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891
NL monopoly	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900

Modern era

Dead-ball era	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920
Live-ball era	1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
World War II	1942 1943 1944 1945
Post-war	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
First expansion	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968
Birth of division play	1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Wild Card begins	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Wild Card expansion	2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia