The St. Louis Perfectos season was the team's 18th season in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 and the 8th season in 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...

. The Perfectos went 84-67 during the season and finished 5th in the National League.

This was the team's only season when they were named the Perfectos. The Robison brothers, who had just bought the team from original owner Chris Von der Ahe

Chris von der Ahe

Christian Friedrich Wilhelm von der Ahe was a German-American entrepreneur, best known as the owner of the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the American Association, now known as the St. Louis Cardinals....

, changed the colors to red, the name of the team to Perfectos, and the name of the ballpark to League Park

Robison Field

Robison Field is the best-known of several names given to a former Major League Baseball park in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League from April 27, 1893 until June 6, 1920.-History:...

. The red color proved so popular that fans and sportwriters began referring to the team by the shade of red, Cardinal

Cardinal (color)

Cardinal is a vivid red, which gets its name from the cassocks worn by Catholic cardinals...

. The next season the team officially became the Cardinals.

The team benefited from a large number of players who were transferred to the team from the Cleveland Spiders

1899 Cleveland Spiders season

The Cleveland Spiders season was a season in American baseball. It was their 13th season in the major leagues, their 11th season in the National League and their last season in existence....

, which were also owned by the Robison brothers. This led to the Spiders compiling the worst season in MLB history, losing 134 games. However, the Perfectos wound up finishing only 5th. The pennant-winning Brooklyn Superbas

1899 Brooklyn Superbas season

The 1899 Brooklyn Superbas season was a season in American baseball. The team won the National League pennant with a record of 101-47, 8 games ahead of the Boston Beaneaters, after finishing tenth in 1898.- Offseason :...

, who finished 18½ games ahead of St. Louis, benefited from a similar arrangement, as Brooklyn's owners also owned the Baltimore Orioles

1899 Baltimore Orioles season

The Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It was the Orioles' 18th season in the major leagues, their 8th in the National League, and their last overall....

, allowing them to also transfer their better players into one team. After the 1899 season, such arrangements were outlawed in MLB, and both the Spiders and Orioles were among four teams eliminated from the league.

Notable transactions

• March 29, 1899: Jack O'Connor
  Jack O'Connor (catcher)
  John Joseph O'Connor , also known as Peach Pie, was a utilityman in Major League Baseball in the American Association, the National League, and the American League, primarily used as an outfielder. He began his career as a left fielder and catcher for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, and he soon moved...
  
   was assigned to the Perfectos by the Cleveland Spiders
  Cleveland Spiders
  The Cleveland Spiders were a Major League Baseball team which played between 1887 and 1899 in Cleveland, Ohio. The team played at National League Park from 1889 to 1890 and at League Park from 1891 to 1899.- 1887-1891 :...
  
  .

Roster

1899 St. Louis Perfectos
Roster
valign="top" | Pitchers		valign="top" | Catchers Infielders		valign="top" | Outfielders		valign="top" | Manager

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		77	258	66	.256	2	44
1B		77	281	69	.246	1	26
2B		125	464	123	.265	1	48
3B		103	403	122	.303	4	64
SS		151	577	170	.295	12	108
OF		146	591	194	.328	2	82
OF		141	558	221	.396	7	71
OF		97	292	70	.240	2	41

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
	84	289	73	.253	0	43
	67	277	72	.260	3	40
	72	277	77	.278	2	37
	66	266	86	.323	6	27
	35	128	35	.273	1	19
	10	39	8	.205	0	3
	11	37	9	.243	1	3
	10	31	9	.290	0	3
	7	15	7	.467	0	2
	2	8	1	.125	0	1
	2	6	2	.333	0	0

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
	48	373	23	19	3.52	87
	44	369.1	26	16	2.58	111
	26	189.1	13	10	3.61	33
	21	171.2	11	8	3.15	25
	12	85.1	6	5	3.59	28
	2	13	0	2	10.38	4

Other 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
	11	64	2	4	4.08	26
	5	26	1	1	4.50	3
	4	25	1	1	2.52	8
	3	15.1	0	1	7.63	6

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
	2	0	0	0	1.04	0