1884 World Series
Encyclopedia
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
the 1884 World Series was an early forerunner of the modern post-season championship series.
Although the "Fall Classic" as we know it didn't begin until 1903
1903 in sports
-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Michigan Wolverines and Princeton Tigers -Association football:England...
, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
had several versions of a post-season championship series before that.
The first such championship series was in 1884
1884 in baseball
-Champions:*First World's Championship Series: Providence Grays over New York Metropolitans *National League: Providence Grays*American Association: New York Metropolitans*Union Association: St...
, between the Providence Grays
Providence Grays
The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at Messer Field in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National League title twice, in and...
of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
and the New York Metropolitans
New York Metropolitans
The Metropolitan Club was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887...
of the American Association
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
at the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
In 1884, Metropolitans manager Jim Mutrie
Jim Mutrie
James J. Mutrie was an American baseball pioneer who was the co-founder and first manager of both the original New York Metropolitans and the New York Giants...
issued a challenge to his NL counterpart, Frank Bancroft
Frank Bancroft
Francis Carter Bancroft was an American manager in Major League Baseball for the Worcester Ruby Legs, Detroit Wolverines, Cleveland Blues, Providence Grays, Indianapolis Hoosiers, and Cincinnati Reds of the National League, as well as the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association...
of the Grays. Mutrie's challenge was for a best-of-three series. Each team would put up a thousand dollars with the winner taking the booty.
The "World's Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
" would feature a pitching match-up of future Hall of Famers and 300-game winners Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn
Charles Radbourn
Charles Gardner Radbourn , nicknamed "Old Hoss", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the Buffalo Bisons , Providence Grays , Boston Beaneaters , Boston Reds , and Cincinnati Reds...
and Tim Keefe
Tim Keefe
Timothy John "Tim" Keefe , nicknamed "Smiling Tim" and "Sir Timothy", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominating pitchers of the 19th century and posted impressive statistics in one category or another for almost every season he pitched...
. That was the year Radbourn won his season-record 59 games (some sources say 60) for the Grays. Keefe was a "mere" 37-17. Playing under American Association rules, Radbourn and the Grays defeated the New York team in the first two games, 6-0 and 3-1.
Only the first game went the full nine innings; the others were called after seven and six, because of darkness and extreme cold, respectively. The third game arguably should never have been played as the format was best-of-three, and Providence clinched in two. Game Three was played with the hope of generating further revenue.
The crowd for the third game comprised only 300 people. Radbourn, pitching his third complete game in three days, led the Grays to a 12-2 rout. For the series, Radbourn allowed 11 hits and no earned runs in 22 innings. Suggesting that the game was not being taken totally seriously, Keefe, the losing pitcher in the first two games, umpired the third one.
Local newspaper The New York Clipper called the series "The Championship of the United States." Several newspapers such as The Sporting Life
Sporting Life (US sports journal)
The Sporting Life is a defunct US newspaper published in Philadelphia, PA, that ran from 1883 to 1917 and from 1922 to 1924.A British paper of the same name ran from 1859 to 1998....
penned the Grays as "World Champions", and the new title stuck.
The total attendance for the three games was 3,800. Despite the low attendance, the two leagues continued the series, and attendance and prize money increased each of the next two years.
Post-season series between the champions of the two leagues continued until 1891
1891 in sports
-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Yale BulldogsEvents* Kansas defeats Missouri in the first Border War game 22-10 beginning one of the oldest and most fierce college football rivalries....
, when renewed fighting between the leagues prevented further championship matches.
Despite their championship, the Grays failed to draw well in their home city, and folded after the 1885 season.
Umpires: Kelly (Game 1), Remsen (Game 2), Keefe (Game 3)