1879 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1879 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1879 in baseball.

1879 MLB season
League	National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	May 1 – September 30, 1879
Number of games	84
Number of teams	8
Pennant winner
NL champions	Providence Grays
NL runners-up	Boston Red Caps
MLB seasons
← 1878 1880 →

Red
Caps

  Bisons

White Stockings

Reds

Blues

    Grays

Stars

Trojans       

Locations of teams for the 1879 National League season
National League

The 1879 major league baseball season was contested from May 1 through September 30, 1879, and saw the Chicago White Stockings as the pennant winner of the fourth season of the National League. There was no postseason.

Over the off-season, the National League was set on expanding from a six-team league to an eight-team league. The Indianapolis Blues and Milwaukee Grays folded, and in its place, the league admitted the Cleveland Blues, the International Association's Buffalo Bisons and Syracuse Stars, and finally (with confirmation Milwaukee was not returning) the Troy Trojans. ^[1]

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1879 schedule consisted of 84 games for all eight teams of the National League. Each team was scheduled to play 12 games against the other seven teams in the league. This format was an adjustment to the 12-games-each format that had been in place since 1877, as the National League expanded from six to eight teams, adding 24 games to each team's schedule.

Opening Day took place on May 1 featuring all eight teams. The final day of the season was on September 30, featuring six teams. ^[2]

Rule changes

The 1879 season saw the following rule changes:

• The number of balls called that would award a base on balls remained nine, but the rule was reworded, so that there simply needed to be nine balls to walk a batter. Previously, three balls were required, but one ball was the same as three "unfair pitches". ^[1]
• Any pitcher who hit a batter, "unless it was clearly an accident", would be fined between $10 and $50 (between $337 and $1,687 in 2024), in an effort to reduce intentional hit by pitches. ^[1]
• The first batter of any inning of a game will be the batter who followed the last batter of the previous inning. Previously, if a runner was putout on a base, the batter after the runner called out would lead off the next inning. ^[1]
• The pitcher's box was changed from a six feet square to an area four feet wide and six feet long, by moving the back line forwards two feet ^{[1] [3]}
• The Player reserve clause was for the first time put into a contract. ^[4]
• The pitcher had to face a batsman before pitching to him. ^[4]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager [5]
National League	Boston Red Caps	Boston, Massachusetts	South End Grounds	3,000	Harry Wright
	Buffalo Bisons	Buffalo, New York	Riverside Park (Buffalo)	Unknown	John Clapp
	Chicago White Stockings	Chicago, Illinois	Lakefront Park	5,000	Cap Anson
					Silver Flint
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Avenue Grounds	Unknown	Deacon White
					Cal McVey
	Cleveland Blues	Cleveland, Ohio	National League Park	Unknown	Jim McCormick
	Providence Grays	Providence, Rhode Island	Messer Street Grounds	6,000	George Wright
	Syracuse Stars	Syracuse, New York	Newell Park	Unknown	Mike Dorgan
					Bill Holbert
					Jimmy Macullar
	Troy Trojans	Troy, New York	Putnam Grounds	Unknown	Horace Phillips
					Bob Ferguson

Standings

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Providence Grays	59	25	.702	—	34‍–‍8	25‍–‍17
Boston Red Caps	54	30	.643	5	29‍–‍13	25‍–‍17
Buffalo Bisons	46	32	.590	10	23‍–‍16	23‍–‍16
Chicago White Stockings	46	33	.582	10½	29‍–‍13	17‍–‍20
Cincinnati Reds	43	37	.537	14	21‍–‍16	22‍–‍21
Cleveland Blues	27	55	.329	31	15‍–‍27	12‍–‍28
Syracuse Stars	22	48	.314	30	11‍–‍22	11‍–‍26
Troy Trojans	19	56	.253	35½	12‍–‍27	7‍–‍29

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Chicago White Stockings	Bob Ferguson	Cap Anson
Cincinnati Reds	Cal McVey	Deacon White
Indianapolis Blues	John Clapp	Team folded
Milwaukee Grays	Jack Chapman	Team folded
Providence Grays	Tom York	George Wright

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Chicago White Stockings	Cap Anson	Silver Flint
Cincinnati Reds	Deacon White	Cal McVey
Syracuse Stars	Mike Dorgan	Bill Holbert
	Bill Holbert	Jimmy Macullar
Troy Trojans	Horace Phillips	Bob Ferguson

League leaders

National League

Hitting leaders ^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Paul Hines (PRO)	.357
OPS	Jim O'Rourke (BOS)	.877
HR	Charley Jones (BOS)	9
RBI	Charley Jones (BOS) Jim O'Rourke (BOS)	62
R	Charley Jones (BOS)	85
H	Paul Hines (PRO)	146

Pitching leaders ^[7]

Stat	Player	Total
W	John Ward (PRO)	47
L	George Bradley (TRO) Jim McCormick (CLE)	40
ERA	Tommy Bond (BOS)	1.96
K	John Ward (PRO)	239
IP	Will White 1 (CIN)	680.0
SV	Bobby Mathews (PRO) John Ward (PRO)	1
WHIP	Tommy Bond (BOS)	1.021

¹ All-time single-season innings pitched record

References

1. Pajot, Dennis. "1878 Winter Meetings: The National League Is Back to Eight Clubs – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved February 13, 2025.
2. "1879 Major Leagues Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
3. "Baseball History: 19th Century Baseball: The Field: The Pitcher's Area". www.19cbaseball.com. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
4. "MLB Rule Changes | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
5. "1879 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
6. "1879 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "1879 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.

External links

• 1879 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference