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11 unusual facts about 1884 in baseball


1885 Cincinnati Red Stockings season

Mullane, who spent the 1884 season with the Toledo Blue Stockings, had a 36–26 record with a 2.52 ERA in 67 starts, striking out 325 batters.

Abraham G. Mills

Abraham Gilbert Mills (March 12, 1844 – August 26, 1929) was the fourth president of the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (1883-1884), and is best known for heading the "Mills Commission" which controversially credited Civil War General Abner Doubleday with the invention of baseball.

Unsurprisingly, the agreement was unpopular with players, who organized to form a new league for the 1884 season, the Union Association, which did not recognize the reserve rule or salary limitations.

Bank Street Grounds

In 1884, a former prominent member of the Reds front-office, a man named Justus Thorner, invested in the new Union Association club.

Charlie Buffinton

Buffinton's best season came right after that, though, when he went 48–16 with a 2.15 ERA in 67 starts in 1884.

Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies

The Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies (also known as Chicago/Pittsburgh) were a short-lived professional baseball team in the Union Association of 1884.

Jack Gleason

From 18841885 Gleason played for the St. Louis Maroons during their only season in the Union Association and their first in the National League.

John T. Brush

He built a ballpark in 1882, and it became home to the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the American Association for their only major league season in 1884; they played in the Western League before that circuit folded after the 1885 campaign.

Palace of the Fans

The "Findlay and Western" intersection was the home field of the Reds from 1884 through June 24, 1970, when the team moved to Riverfront Stadium.

Tom Loftus

His first managerial job came in 1884 with the Milwaukee Brewers of the short-lived Union Association (it only lasted one year), in which he only managed 12 games (going 8–4).

Wilmington Quicksteps

The Wilmington Quicksteps were an 1884 late season replacement baseball team in the Union Association.