1887 St. Louis Browns season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Browns 1887 American Association Champions American Association (19th century)American Association Sportsman's Park St. Louis, Missouri 95 40 y 1st Chris von der Ahe Charlie Comiskey stl stl The 1887 St. Louis Browns season was the team's sixth season in St. Louis, Missouri, and the sixth season in the American Association. The Browns went 95–40 during the season and finished first in the American Association, winning their third pennant in a row. The team amassed 581 stolen bases, the most for any team whose records are recognized by Major League Baseball (MLB).https://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_stba2.shtml Team Stolen Base Records & Team Caught Stealing Records Baseball Almanac April 17, 2022 In a postseason series (now referred to as the 1887 World Series), the Browns played the National League champion Detroit Wolverines, losing the series 10 games to 5. Regular season Drawing the color line in baseball Baseball color line Racial segregation started to become a custom in baseball about the time that eight members of the Browns withdrew from playing exhibition game in September against the Cuban Giants, a prominent 'colored' team. During this time, it was a popular practice to refer to teams of African American players as Cuban, Hispanic, or Arabian to deflect the racial stigma of the time, even though many were predominantly none of the three. News accounts reported that "for the first time in the history of base ball the color line has been drawn, and that by the St. Louis Browns, who have established the precedent that white players must not play with colored men."https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99920737/sports-of-the-season/ Sports of the Season The Critic Washington, D.C. 4 September 12, 1887 April 17, 2022 newspapers.com The Browns were in Philadelphia with plans to travel to New York City to play the Cuban Giants in an exhibition game. Scheduled long in advance with a "big guarantee", a crowd was anticipated in excess of 15,000 spectators. However, the night before departure to New York, eight Browns players signed a letter addressed to owner Chris von der Ahe and delivered it in person. The letter read: We, the undersigned, members of the St. Louis Baseball Club, do not agree to play against negroes to-morrow. We will cheerfully play against white people at any time, and think, by refusing to play, we are only doing what is right, taking everything into consideration and the shape the team is in at present. The letter was signed by eight players: Arlie Latham, Jack Boyle, Tip O'Neill, Bob Caruthers, Bill Gleason, Yank Robinson, Silver King, and Curt Welch. Manager and first baseman Charlie Comiskey was reportedly unaware of the letter and Ed Knouff refused to sign it. The Cuban Giants had previously played numerous exhibition games against other 'white' teams including Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Louisville, Philadelphia. This was the first reported account that any club refused to play them because of their race. The cancellation of the game with the Cuban Giants was merely symptomatic of a larger trend occurring in professional baseball. The boycott occurred during the same season in which Cap Anson of the Chicago White Stockings threatened not to play any 'white' professional teams who hired black players and just months after the International League prohibited further signing of black players. Clearly the tide was moving toward segregation in baseball, so the St. Louis Browns' withdrawal brought wider attention to what was to become a norm in the United States. Ironically, it would be by an act 60 years later by then-former Cardinals executive in Branch Rickey that broke the color barrier in MLB when he débuted Jackie Robinson in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Season standings St. Louis Browns Record vs. opponents STL Roster 1887 St. Louis Browns Roster Pitchers Nat Hudson Silver King Joe Murphy Catchers Jack Boyle Doc Bushong Mike Goodfellow Infielders Charles Comiskey Bill Gleason Arlie Latham Harry Lyons Yank Robinson Outfielders Bob Caruthers Dave Foutz Ed Knouff Tip O'Neill Lou Sylvester Curt Welch Manager Charles Comiskey Player stats Batting 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 C Jack Boyle 88 350 66 .189 2 41 1B Charlie Comiskey Charles Comiskey 125 538 180 .335 4 103 2B Yank Robinson 125 430 131 .305 1 74 SS Bill Gleason 135 598 172 .288 0 76 3B Arlie Latham 136 627 198 .316 2 83 OF Tip O'Neill Tip O'Neill (baseball) 124 517 225 .435 14 123 OF Curt Welch 131 544 151 .278 3 108 OF Bob Caruthers 98 364 130 .357 8 73 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 Dave Foutz 102 423 151 .357 4 108 Doc Bushong 53 201 51 .254 0 26 Lou Sylvester 29 112 25 .223 1 18 Ed Knouff 15 56 10 .179 0 6 Harry Lyons baseball 2 8 1 .125 0 1 Mike Goodfellow 1 4 0 .000 0 0 Pitching 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 Silver King Silver King (baseball) 46 390.0 32 12 3.78 128 Bob Caruthers 39 341.0 29 9 3.30 74 Dave Foutz 40 339.1 25 12 3.87 94 Nat Hudson 9 67.0 4 4 4.97 15 Ed Knouff 6 50.0 4 2 4.50 18 Joe Murphy Joe Murphy (baseball) 1 9.0 1 0 5.00 5 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 Yank Robinson 1 0 0 0 3.00 0 References External links 1887 St. Louis Browns at Baseball Reference 1887 St. Louis Browns team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Browns season St Louis