With the 1888 season, the Brooklyn Grays underwent a name change to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, a nickname that resulted from several team members getting married around the same time. Also, owner Charles Byrne decided to withdraw from managing the team's on field activities and turned the reins over to more experienced baseball manager

Bill McGunnigle William Henry McGunnigle (January 1, 1855 – March 9, 1899) was an American baseball manager for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, Pittsburgh Pirates and Louisville Colonels. He was nicknamed "Gunner" or "Mac" during his playing days. McGunnigle the pla ...

. That, along with the Bridegrooms' purchase of several top players from the defunct

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New Yor ...

, led to a dramatic on field improvement as the team finished in second place in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Offseason

* October 20, 1887: Jim Donahue was purchased by the Bridegrooms from the

for $25,000.Jim Donahue page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * October 20, 1887:

Bill Fagan William A. Fagan (February 15, 1869 – March 21, 1930), nicknamed "Clinkers", was an American baseball player who played for the New York Metropolitans and the Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name ...

,Bill Fagan page at Baseball Reference
/ref>

Frank Hankinson Frank Edward Hankinson (April 29, 1856 – April 5, 1911) was an American third baseman in the early years of Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago White Stockings (1878–1879), Cleveland Blues (1880), Troy Trojans (1881), New York ...

,Frank Hankinson page at Baseball Reference
/ref> Bill Holbert, Al Mays,

Darby O'Brien William D. "Darby" O'Brien (September 1, 1863 – June 15, 1893) was a Major League Baseball player in the late 19th century. He played outfield for the New York Metropolitans in 1887 and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Grooms from 1888–1892. O'Bri ...

and

Paul Radford Paul Revere Radford (October 14, 1861 – February 21, 1945) was a Major League Baseball player in the late 19th century. Paul, nicknamed "Shorty", played with many teams over his 12-season career. He was a starting outfielder with the Providence ...

were purchased by the Bridegrooms from the New York Metropolitans. * November 21, 1887: Doc Bushong was purchased by the Bridegrooms from the St. Louis Browns. * November 26, 1887:

Bob Caruthers Robert Lee Caruthers (January 5, 1864 – August 5, 1911), nicknamed "Parisian Bob", was an American right-handed pitcher and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the St. Louis Browns and Brooklyn Bridegrooms. The star ...

was purchased by the Bridegrooms from the St. Louis Browns. * November 29, 1887:

Dave Foutz David Luther Foutz (September 7, 1856 – March 5, 1897) was a Major League Baseball player for 13 seasons. He played multiple positions, including pitcher, from to , compiling a 147–66 career record, as well as first base and outfield. From ...

was purchased by the Bridegrooms from the St. Louis Browns. * January 15, 1888, Jim Donahue, Bill Fagan, Frank Hankinson, Bill Phillips, Henry Porter and Steve Toole were purchased from the Bridegrooms by the Kansas City Cowboys. * February, 1888: Bert Cunningham and John Harkins were purchased from the Bridegrooms by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. * February 15, 1888: Jim McTamany was purchased from the Bridegrooms by the Kansas City Cowboys.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* August 10, 1888:

Oyster Burns Thomas P. "Oyster" Burns (September 6, 1864November 11, 1928) was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned 15 seasons, 11 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Wilmington Quicksteps (1884), Baltimore Orio ...

was purchased by the Bridegrooms from the Baltimore Orioles. * September 15, 1888: Bill McClellan was purchased from the Bridegrooms by the Cleveland Blues. * September 23, 1888:

Pop Corkhill John Stewart "Pop" Corkhill (April 11, 1858 – April 4, 1921) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from to . Corkhill excelled as a defensive player, winning five fielding titles i ...

was purchased by the Bridegrooms from the

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867� ...

. * September 30, 1888:

Hub Collins Hubert B. "Hub" Collins (April 15, 1864 – May 21, 1892) was an American professional baseball player. He was a second baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball from 1886 to 1892 with the Louisville Colonels and Brooklyn Bridegrooms ...

was purchased by the Bridegrooms from the Louisville Colonels.Hub Collins page at Baseball Reference
/ref>

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games''

Notes

References

Baseball-Reference season pageBaseball Almanac season page

External links

Dodgers Media Guide HistoryAcme Dodgers page

Retrosheet
{{Los Angeles Dodgers * Los Angeles Dodgers seasons Brooklyn Bridegrooms season

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

19th century in Brooklyn Park Slope