The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre-modern World Series) in 1887. The team was disbanded following the 1888 season.
Founded at the suggestion of Detroit mayor William G. Thompson, the Wolverines played the first game of major league baseball in Detroit on May 2, 1881, in front of 1,286 fans. Their home field was called Recreation Park, and it consisted of a wooden grandstand located between Brady Street and Willis Avenue. This stadium was demolished in 1894, though its location is indicated by a historical marker in what was once left field. The name of the ball club derives from Michigan being known as "The Wolverine State;" although the team name "Wolverines" is now primarily associated with University of Michigan sports, there was no connection between the University and the Detroit baseball team.
1888 Detroit Wolverines, with Boston's South End Grounds as a backdrop
Though they folded after only eight seasons, the Wolverines occupy an important place in baseball history. On September 6, 1883, they conceded 18 runs in a single inning against the Chicago White Stockings, the most ever in MLB. In 1885, new owner Frederick Kimball Stearns began spending heavily in an attempt to create a 'super-team' by buying high-priced players. Most notably, he purchased the entire Buffalo Bisons franchise that August, to secure the services of its stars: Dan Brouthers, Jack Rowe, Hardy Richardson, and Deacon White, the so-called "Big Four". This strategy quickly met resistance from his fellow owners, who changed the league's rules governing the splitting of gate receipts, reducing the visiting team's maximum share to $125 per game. Detroit was not yet the Motor City, and its population was too small to support a highly paid team. The Wolverines' home gate receipts were not sufficient to sustain their payroll, and Stearns was forced to sell his stars to other clubs and disband the team after the 1888 season. The franchise's place in the National League was taken by the Cleveland Spiders in 1889.
The Wolverines' most successful season came in 1887, when they were crowned as the champion of the National League with a record of 79 wins and 45 losses. After the season, they defeated the St. Louis Browns, champion of the rival American Association, in a series of exhibition matches, winning ten of the fifteen games played. These games were a predecessor to the modern World Series, which did not begin until 1903.
Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896, with a brief return in 1904. Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighed 207 pounds (94 kg), which was large by 19th-century standards.
Samuel Luther "Big Sam" Thompson was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m), the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known for his prominent handlebar mustache. He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Wolverines (1885–1888), Philadelphia Phillies (1889–1898) and Detroit Tigers (1906). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
Charles Wesley Bennett was an American professional baseball player from 1875 or 1876 through the 1893 season. He played 15 years in Major League Baseball, principally as a catcher, with the Milwaukee Grays, Worcester Ruby Legs, Detroit Wolverines and Boston Beaneaters. He played on four pennant-winning teams, one in Detroit and three in Boston, and is one of only two players to play with the Detroit Wolverines during all eight seasons of the club's existence.
John Charles Rowe was an American professional baseball player, manager and team owner from 1877 to 1898. He played 12 years in Major League Baseball, as a shortstop, catcher, and outfielder, for four major league clubs. His longest stretches were in the National League with the Buffalo Bisons (1879–1885) and Detroit Wolverines (1886–1888). He was also a player-manager and part owner of the Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League in 1890, and the manager of the Buffalo Bisons from 1896 to 1898.
Abram Harding "Hardy" Richardson, also known as "Hardie" and "Old True Blue", was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1875 to 1892 with a brief minor league comeback in 1898. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, playing at every position, including 585 games at second base, 544 games in the outfield, and 178 games at third base. Richardson played for six major league teams, with his longest stretches having been for the Buffalo Bisons (1879–1885), Detroit Wolverines (1886–1888) and Boston Reds (1890–91).
William Henry "Whoop-La" White was an American baseball pitcher and manager from 1875 to 1889. He played all or parts of 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds in the National League (1878–1879) and the Cincinnati Red Stockings in the American Association (1882–1886). He had three 40-win, and one 40-loss, seasons in Cincinnati. During the 1882 and 1883 seasons, he led the American Association in wins, compiling an 83–34 win–loss record and a 1.84 earned run average (ERA).
William Henry Watkins, sometimes known as "Wattie," or "Watty," was a Canadian-born baseball player, manager, executive and team owner whose career in organized baseball spanned 47 years from 1876 to 1922.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1885 throughout the world.
The original Buffalo Bisons baseball club played in the National League between 1879 and 1885. The Bisons played their games at Riverside Park (1879–1883) and Olympic Park (1884–1885) in Buffalo, New York. The NL Bisons are included in the history of the minor-league team of the same name that still plays today; it is thus the only NL team from the 19th century that both still exists and no longer plays in Major League Baseball.
Charles William Ganzel was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1897. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a catcher, for four major league clubs. His most extensive playing time came with the Detroit Wolverines and Boston Beaneaters. He was a member of five teams that won National League pennants, one in Detroit (1887) and four in Boston.
Charles B. "Lady" Baldwin was an American left-handed pitcher. He played six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers (1884), Detroit Wolverines (1885–1888), Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1890), and Buffalo Bisons (1890).
George Edward "Stump" Weidman was an American professional baseball player from 1880 to 1893. He played nine years in Major League Baseball, principally as a pitcher and outfielder, for five different major league clubs. He appeared in 379 major league games, 279 as a pitcher and 122 as an outfielder, and his longest stretches were with the Detroit Wolverines and the Kansas City Cowboys.
Charles F. "Fatty" Briody, nicknamed "Alderman", was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1877 to 1888. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball— for the Troy Trojans (1880), Cleveland Blues (1882–1884), Cincinnati Outlaw Reds (1884), St. Louis Maroons (1885), Kansas City Cowboys (NL) (1886), Detroit Wolverines (1887) and Kansas City Cowboys (AA) (1888).
The 1887 Detroit Wolverines season was a season in American baseball. The team won the 1887 National League pennant, then defeated the St. Louis Browns in the 1887 World Series. The season was the team's seventh since it entered the National League in 1881. It was the first World Series championship for the Detroit Wolverines and the City of Detroit.
Peter J. Conway was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for five seasons with the Buffalo Bisons (1885), Kansas City Cowboys (1886), Detroit Wolverines (1886–1888), and Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1889). He won two games for Detroit in the 1887 World Series and followed in 1888 with a season record of 30 wins and 14 losses. He was also the first coach of the Michigan Wolverines baseball team in 1891 and 1892.
The 1886 Detroit Wolverines had the best winning percentage of any major league baseball team to play in Detroit. They compiled a record of 87–36 for a .707 winning percentage. Nevertheless, the Wolverines finished in second place, 2½ games behind the Chicago White Stockings.
The 1887 World Series was won by the Detroit Wolverines of the National League, over the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, 10 games to 5. It was played between October 10 and 26, in numerous neutral cities, as well as in Detroit and St. Louis. Detroit clinched the series in game 11.
The following is a list of players and who appeared in at least one game for the Detroit Wolverines franchise of the National League from 1881 through 1888.
Charles H. "Pretzels" Getzien was a German-born American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or parts of nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with five different National League teams from 1884 to 1892. He was the first German-born regular player in the National League.
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