Champions

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

: Boston Red Caps * International Association:

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

*Pacific Coast: San Francisco Athletics (Semi-pro) Inter-league playoff: Boston (NL) and Buffalo (IA) each won 1 game in 2-game series.

Statistical leaders

¹ National League Triple Crown batting winner

National League final standings

Notable seasons

*Providence Grays center fielder

Paul Hines Paul Aloysius Hines (March 1, 1855 – July 10, 1935) was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891. Born in Virginia, he is credited with winning base ...

wins the NL triple crown with a .358 batting average, 4 home runs, and 50 runs batted in. He leads the league with a .849 OPS. His 177 OPS+ ranks second in the league. *Boston Red Stockings pitcher

Tommy Bond Thomas Ross Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He was best known for his work as a child actor for two nonconsecutive periods in ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') comedies (fir ...

has a record of 40–19 and leads with NL with 532.2 innings pitched, 40 wins, 182 strikeouts, and 9 shutouts. He has a 2.06 earned run average and a 115 ERA+."Tommy Bond Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2020.

Events

January–March

*February 6 – The

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 the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National ...

are accepted into the

. *February 12 – Fred Thayer,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

team manager, receives a patent for the catching mask. *March 8 – Devastated by the gambling scandal from , The

Louisville Grays The Louisville Grays were a 19th-century United States baseball team and charter member of the National League, based in Louisville, Kentucky. They played two seasons, 1876 and 1877, and compiled a record of 65–61. Their home games were at ...

withdraw from the

after being unable to assemble a competitive team. *March 27 – The National Association of Amateur Base Ball Players disbands.

April–June

*April 2 – The

announces a group of 18 umpires who are eligible to umpire league games. The scheduling of those umpires is left to the individual clubs to decide. *May 1 – In front of 5,500 fans at the brand new Messer Street Grounds, the

lose the season opener to the defending champion Boston Red Caps 1–0. Mike "King" Kelly makes his major league debut in the home opener at Cincinnati. *May 1 – Will White and

Deacon White James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 2, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball ...

become the first brother pitcher-catcher battery in the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

6–4 win over the Milwaukee Grays. *May 2 – The International Association commences regular season play with 12 teams as follows – Auburn, Binghamton Crickets, Brooklyn Blues, Buffalo Bisons, London Tecumsehs, Manchester Reds, New Bedford Whalers, New Haven Elm Citys, Pittsburgh Alleghenies, Rochester Flour Citys, Syracuse Stars and the Worcester Reds. The New York Clipper declares the new IA to be a "major league". *May 7 – The IA's Auburn and Brooklyn teams disband leaving the circuit with 10 teams. *May 8 –

of the

, who will win baseball's first triple crown in 1878, pulls off (arguably) the first

unassisted triple play In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes triple play, all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without his teammates making any Assist (baseball), assists. Neal Ball was the first to achieve this in Majo ...

in major league history against the Boston Red Caps. *May 9 – Sam Weaver of the Milwaukee Grays pitches a no-hitter against the Indianapolis Blues for Milwaukee's first

victory. One scorer credited John Clapp with a single, but Weaver is generally recognized today with throwing the no-hitter.

July–September

*July 15 – John Montgomery Ward makes his debut for the

. Ward will later start the Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players in , which leads to the formation of the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

in . Ward would be elected to the Hall-of-Fame in . *August 14 – "The Only" Nolan is released by the Indianapolis Blues after lying to the team about attending a funeral. *August 19 – In an embarrassing day for the

, teams from the NL lose 3 of the 4 exhibition games played against non-league teams. *August 25 –

Bill Craver William H. Craver (June 1844 – June 17, 1901) was an American Major League Baseball player from Troy, New York who played mainly as a middle infielder, but did play many games at catcher as well during his seven-year career. He played for sev ...

is certified eligible for play in the International Association. Craver had been kicked out of the

after his involvement in a gambling scandal with the

in . *August 31 –

Albert Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of the Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised i ...

plays in the final game of his career, going 2–4 at the plate while committing 4 errors in the field. *September 12 – The Boston Red Caps clinch the pennant with a 4–2 victory over the Indianapolis Blues. *September 14 – The Indianapolis Blues and Boston Red Caps play an experimental exhibition game in which every pitch thrown is called a ball or strike and only allowing 6 balls before a walk is issued. *September 30 – The

completes its schedule, marking the first time in professional baseball that a full schedule has been played by all member teams.

October–December

*October 2 – The

of the International League defeat the

champion Boston Red Caps behind the pitching of Pud Galvin. The victory over the Red Caps gives Galvin a win over each team in the NL. He finishes the 1878 season with a combined 10–5 record against the NL clubs. Buffalo will become a member of the National League in . *October 3 – The Syracuse Stars defeat Lowell 12-1 and claim the International Association championship. The Stars will join the

in . *October 8 – The

defeat Utica and lay claim to the International Association pennant as well. The league will ultimately award the pennant to Buffalo in early 1879. *October 18 – The Indianapolis Blues come up short $2,500 and are unable to account for the money. The players receive $60 each as payment for the remainder of the season. This event signals the end of the Blues. *November 1 – The Boston Red Caps and the

play an exhibition game with no outs on foul bounds and 6 balls for a walk to be given. *November 10 – In the Pacific Coast championship game in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the Athletics defeat the Californias in front of 8,000 fans at the San Francisco National Trotting Park. *December 4 – The

votes to accept the

, Syracuse Stars and the Cleveland Blues for the season. *December 4 – The

changes the rules so that now every pitched ball is called a ball or a strike. 9 balls will now result in a walk to the batter. The rules are also changed regarding the batting order. The first batter in a new inning shall now be the next batter in the order after the last batter that ended the previous inning. *December 5 – The

abolishes all bound outs, including foul balls on 3rd strikes. *December 10 – The

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's Division I (NCAA), Division I-A in 2001 in sports, 2001, became a American football, football only member of the ...

apply for membership to the

. *December 29 – The Professional Baseball League of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

is founded in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Habana defeating Almendares 21–20. The league is known today as the

Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the ...

and ran continuously until March,

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

, when the Cuban government, ran by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, abolished professional baseball.

Births

*January 12 – William Matthews *February 13 –

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...

*February 18 – Frederick Westervelt *March 6 – Bert Husting *April 4 – Jake Volz *April 24 – Charlie Graham *April 27 ** Charlie Chech ** George Winter *May 13 – Frank Hemphill *May 14 – J. L. Wilkinson *May 24 – Jack Pfiester *May 30 – Mike Donlin *June 5 – Fred Mitchell *June 13 – Bill Bergen *July 12 –

Bill Coughlin William Paul Coughlin (July 12, 1878 – May 7, 1943), nicknamed "Scranton Bill", was an American Major League Baseball third baseman for the Washington Senators (1901–60), Washington Senators (1901–1904) and Detroit Tigers (1904–1908). C ...

*July 24 – Chris Lindsay *October 6 – Len Swormstedt *October 10 – Otto Hess *October 27 –

Shad Barry John Charles "Shad" Barry (October 27, 1878 – November 27, 1936), known also as "Jack" Barry, was an American professional baseball player who spent ten seasons, from 1899 to 1909, in Major League Baseball. Barry was a utility player, having pl ...

*November 10 – Cy Morgan *November 23 – Jimmy Sheckard *November 29 – Long Tom Hughes

Deaths

*March 31 – Henry Burroughs, 32?, outfielder for the 1871–72

Washington Olympics The Olympic Club of Washington, D.C., or Washington Olympics in modern nomenclature, was an early professional baseball team. When the National Association of Base Ball Players permitted openly professional clubs for the 1869 season, the Oly ...

. *October 2 – Lewis Meacham, 32, umpire for one game during the 1875 National Association season.

References

External links

1878 season at Baseball-Reference.comCharlton's Baseball Chronology at BaseballLibrary.comYear by Year History at Baseball-Almanac.comRetrosheet.org
{{Year in baseball, this year=1878