Champions

Major League Baseball

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 ...

: Detroit Wolverines * American Association: St. Louis Browns ;World Series Detroit defeated St. Louis, ten games to five.

Minor League Baseball

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

: San Francisco Pioneers * Eastern League: Waterbury *

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

: Toronto * New England League: Lowell *

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for six seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, 1886–1887, and 1891. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by t ...

: Oshkosh * Southern League: New Orleans * Western League: Topeka

College baseball

*American College Association:

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

*Eastern College League:

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

*Inter-Collegiate Association: Michigan Agriculture College *New York State Inter-Collegiate Base Ball League: Hobart College

Statistical leaders

¹ American Association Triple Crown batting winner

Major league baseball final standings

American Association final standings

National League final standings

Notable seasons

*St. Louis Browns left fielder Tip O'Neill led the AA in batting average (.435), on-base percentage (.490), slugging percentage (.691), adjusted OPS+ (213), hits (225), home runs (14), total bases (357), runs scored (167), and runs batted in (123). *Baltimore Orioles pitcher Matt Kilroy had a win–loss record of 46–19 and led the AA in innings pitched (589.1), wins (46), and shutouts (6). He was second in the AA in earned run average (3.07) and strikeouts (217). He was fourth in the AA in adjusted ERA+ (133)."1887 American Association Pitching Leaders"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 16, 2021.

Events

January–March

*January 18 – The Kansas City Cowboys are admitted to the Western League. Though this incarnation of the franchise folds after one season, three other teams based in Kansas City would also use the Cowboys moniker, the last appearing in the Union Association in 1889. *February 8 ** Albert Spalding of the Chicago White Stockings meets with star player Mike "King" Kelly for contract talks. Kelly wants his $375 bonus for good behavior during the

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

season. Spalding not only refuses the bonus, but also refuses to refund $225 in fines levied against Kelly for drinking. Spalding has already sold all 3 starting outfielders from the defending champion White Stockings and is aggressively looking to rid his team of drinkers. **The St. Louis Maroons are sold to a group in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

for $12,000. The team will play the 1887 season as the Indianapolis Hoosiers. *February 9 – In order to make room the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and keep the league structure at 8 teams, the

buys out the Kansas City Cowboys for $6,000. *February 14 – James Billings, an owner of the Boston Beaneaters, reaches a contract agreement with Mike "King" Kelly that will pay him $2,000 per season as well as a $3,000 bonus if the Beaneaters can purchase his reserve rights from the Chicago White Stockings. *February 16 – Mike "King" Kelly is sold to the Boston Beaneaters for $10,000, more than double the price ever paid for any player. Kelly becomes commonly known during that time as "$10,000 Kelly" because of the sale. *February 20 – John Montgomery Ward, president of The Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players speaks out against the increasing pattern of player-selling. The Brotherhood will later start the rival

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 ...

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

April–June

*April 17 – Chris von der Ahe of the St. Louis Browns purchases 19-year-old Silver King from the

, who hold the rights to all of the Kansas City Cowboy players after the NL bought out the franchise. King will go on to win 111 games in the next 3 seasons for the Browns, leading them to 2 American Association pennants. *April 20 – Albert Spalding of the Chicago White Stockings completes his purge of players who drink by trading holdout pitcher Jim McCormick to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys for rookie George Van Haltren and $2,000 cash. *April 22 – Tony Mullane of 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� ...

pitches his first game in the state of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

since after resolving the injunction he had been under for nearly 4 years. Mullane beats the St. Louis Browns 5–2. *April 30 – Tip O'Neill of the St. Louis Browns hits for the cycle in a 28–11 drubbing of the Cleveland Blues. *May 2 – Fred Carroll of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys hits for the cycle in an 8–3 win over the Detroit Wolverines. *May 6 – The National Colored Base Ball League begins with the New York Gorhams beating the Pittsburgh Keystones by a score of 11–8. The league would fold on May 23 after having played only 13 official league games. *May 7 – Tip O'Neill of the St. Louis Browns hits for the cycle for the 2nd time in 5 games. The Browns beat the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

, 12–7. *May 9 – Ed Morris of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys refuses to pitch his scheduled start and is suspended by the club for 3 weeks. *May 14 – John Roach of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

switch-pitches in a 17–2 loss to the Philadelphia Quakers in his only major league appearance. *May 23 – National Colored Base Ball League or the League of Colored Baseball Clubs, the first attempt to have a league consisting of all-black teams, folds after two weeks in operation. *May 24 – Jerry Denny of the Indianapolis Hoosiers gives Mike "King" Kelly a dose of his own medicine when he prevents Kelly from scoring by grabbing his belt and holding him at third base as Kelly attempts to tag up on a fly ball. The umpire who was watching the flight of the ball, didn't see Denny's action. Kelly was well known in baseball for bending the rules to his advantage when the umpire was not looking. *May 28 – Pitcher Tony Mullane, suspended by the

, sues the team for lost pay. Mullane and the Reds will eventually settle the suit out of court and Mullane will return to the team in mid-June. *May 30 –

pitcher Bill George sets a major league record by walking 16 batters in a 12–11 loss to the Chicago White Stockings. *June 4 – During the pre-game warm up, Joe Hornung places a bat on home plate and challenges pitcher Charlie Ferguson to hit it, which Ferguson promptly does on his first attempt. *June 9 –

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 York M ...

outfielder Candy Nelson sets a record by starting 3 double plays in one game. *June 16 – Curt Welch of the St. Louis Browns is arrested for assault in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

after breaking up a double play against the Orioles. Welch will be fined $4.50 in court the next day. *June 27 – Rookie pitcher George Van Haltren makes his major league debut for the Chicago White Stockings and ties a major league record by issuing 16 walks in a losing cause. Van Haltren will soon move to the outfield and amass over 2500 hits in a 17-year career.

July–September

*July 1 – The Philadelphia Quakers and the Detroit Wolverines set a record by scoring in 15 of the 18 half-innings in the Wolverines 17–13 victory. *July 6 – Alex McKinnon of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys leaves the team after contracting what is believed to be typhoid fever. McKinnon died on July 24. *July 10 – Enforcing a new law,

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

police stop the game and arrest Browns owner Chris von der Ahe for conducting business on a Sunday. Within a week a judge will exempt baseball from the law. *July 14 – In an exhibition game against Newark from the International League, Chicago White Stockings player-manager

Cap Anson Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain"), "Pop", and "Baby" (early in his career) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association ...

refuses to play if Newark uses their black players, George Stovey and

Moses Fleetwood Walker Moses Fleetwood Walker (October 7, 1856 – May 11, 1924), sometimes nicknamed Fleet Walker, was an American professional baseball catcher credited with being the first Black people, black man to play major league baseball. A native of Mount P ...

. Newark gives in and benches the 2 players, then beats the White Stockings 9–4. *July 22 – A pitcher named Frank Chapman makes his only appearance for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

. This appearance is notable because he would later be misidentified as a 14-year-old named Fred Chapman, who was long believed to be the youngest player in major league history. This error would not be discovered until 2009. *July 26 –

catcher Jocko Milligan sets a record by recording 3 assists in one inning. *August 9 – Charlie Buffinton of the Philadelphia Quakers pitches his 2nd consecutive 1-hitter. *August 10 – For the second time in his career, first baseman Dave Orr of the

hits for the cycle. Despite Orr's efforts New York loses to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

, 6–5. *August 23 – Ned Williamson hits a mammoth home run over the center field fence at

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's South End Grounds. It is only the 2nd ball hit over the fence in center field in the park's 17-year history. Rain later washes out the game and Williamson's home run with it. *August 26 –

second baseman Bid McPhee hits for the cycle against the

. Cincinnati loses, however, 19–11. *August 27 – Mike "King" Kelly and Ezra Sutton set a record for most runs scored in a game by 2 teammates as they score 6 times each in the Boston Beaneaters 28–14 win. *August 29 – Denny Lyons is held hitless for the first time since May 23, a span covering 52 games. Under the rules of 1887, a walk counted as a base hit, and as a result Lyons' feat is largely ignored today since he needed walks to continue his streak on July 22 and again on August 19. *August 31 – The

become the first team ever to use 5 pitchers in one game in a 25–11 loss to the

. *September 3 – The St. Louis Browns clinch their 3rd straight American Association pennant with a 7–4 win over the

. *September 11 – The St. Louis Browns players refuse to play an exhibition game against the Cuban Giants. In a letter to owner Chris von der Ahe, the players wrote "we will cheerfully play against white people at any time and think that by refusing to play lackswe are only doing what is right." *September 28 – The Detroit Wolverines win the

pennant with a 7–3 victory over the Indianapolis Hoosiers.

October–December

*October 8 **The

franchise is sold to

Brooklyn Grays The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

owner Charlie Byrne for $15,000. **The Philadelphia Quakers defeat the

6–3 and end the season with 16 wins and 1 tie in their final 17 games to finish in 2nd place in the

. *October 9 ** Tip O'Neill of the St. Louis Browns finishes the season as the American Association leader in doubles, triples, and home runs, a feat which has never been duplicated. *October 9 ** Guy Hecker, star pitcher and hitter of the

who plays other positions when not pitching, sets a defensive record for first basemen by recording zero fielding chances in a 9-inning game. *October 10 – The St. Louis Browns win the first game of the best of 15 World's Series with a 6–1 win over the Detroit Wolverines. *October 11 – The Wolverines take Game 2 by the score of 5–3. *October 12 –

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

wins Game 3 in 13 innings 2–1. *October 13 – Lady Baldwin pitches a 2-hitter in leading

to an 8–0 victory. *October 14 – The Browns win Game 5 by the score of 5–2 and now trail in the series 3 games to 2. *October 15 –

wins 9–0 in Game 6. *October 17 – The Wolverines beat

3–1 and go up 5 games to 2 in the series. *October 18 –

wins again in Game 8 by the score of 9–2. *October 19 – The Detroit Wolverines increase their series lead to 7 games to 2 with a 4–2 win over the St. Louis Browns. *October 21 **After a rainout the day before, the Browns pull off a triple play in an 11–4 morning victory over

. **The Detroit Wolverines win the series with a 13–3 afternoon win over the St. Louis Browns. Even though the Wolverines have won the series, the remaining 4 games will be played as they have previously been scheduled in various cities. *October 26 – The Browns win the final game of the series, but

wins the series 10 games to 5. *October 27 – The '' Brotherhood'' of Professional Base-Ball Players agree to not sign contracts until an agreement has been reached with club owners regarding salary caps and the reserve rule. *November 2 – The

of the American Association are sold to a syndicate headed by Henry C. Pennypacker. The three longtime partners, Sharsig, Simmons, and Mason, still hold a sizable block of stock. *November 14 – The Cleveland Blues announce new uniforms for the season. The web-like pattern on the uniform will inspire the nickname "Spiders" which the club officially adopts. *November 16 – The joint rules committee drops the 4-strike experiment from 1887 and returns to the standard 3-strike rule. The committee also drops the base on balls as counting for a hit in official statistics. *November 17 – The club owners officially recognize the '' Brotherhood'' of Professional Base-Ball Players by meeting with John Montgomery Ward, Ned Hanlon, and Dan Brouthers. *November 21 – In the American Association, the St. Louis Browns announce a trade that ships Bill Gleason and Curt Welch to the

in exchange for Fred Mann, Chippy McGarr, and Jocko Milligan, plus $3,000. This is the first of a significant number of trades or sales in the majors, mostly to the

. *November 24 – George Hancock invents an indoor baseball game that would become known as

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

in Chicago. *December 2 – The

disbands, as the Syracuse, Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo teams split off to form the International Association, while Newark, Jersey City, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton, become the nucleus of the Central League. *December 8 – The American Association agrees to increase ticket prices to 50¢ for the season. The AA will revert to the original 25¢ fee in August after suffering attendance and revenue losses through the season.

Births

January–April

*January 19 – Chick Gandil *January 20 –

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

*January 28 – Jack Coffey *February 5 – Jesse Bragg *February 9 – Heinie Zimmerman *February 13 – Eddie Foster *February 26 – Grover Cleveland Alexander *March 12 – Wally Mattick *March 19 – José Méndez *March 25 – Clyde Milan *April 8 – Hap Myers *April 12 – Sam Agnew *April 18 – Bill Rodgers *April 19 – Jack Martin *April 21 – Joe McCarthy *April 26 – Jack Barry

May–August

*May 2 – Eddie Collins *May 12 – Casey Hageman *May 24 – Jack Killilay *May 28 –

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

*June 25 – Bob Meinke *June 27 – Rube Benton *July 8 – Jim Bluejacket *July 29 – George Cutshaw *August 7 – Chet Nourse *August 24 – Harry Hooper *August 30 – Tom Seaton

September–December

*September 4 – Tilly Walker *September 7 – Earl Moseley* *September 9 – Doc Johnston *September 17 – Nick Cullop *October 4 – Ray Fisher *October 8 ** Ping Bodie ** Donie Bush ** Doc Crandall *October 10 –

Bill Killefer William Lavier Killefer (October 10, 1887 – July 3, 1960), nicknamed "Reindeer Bill", was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1909 to 1921 for the St. Louis Brown ...

*October 19 – Fred Snodgrass *November 6 –

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...

*November 24 – Ralph Comstock *December 9 –

Spot Poles Spottswood Poles (December 27, 1887 – September 12, 1962) was an American outfielder in baseball's Negro leagues. One of the fastest players of his era, Poles was sometimes referred to as "the black Ty Cobb." Career According to Negro leagues ...

*December 21 – Cy Williams * Some sources show

1884 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...

Deaths

*May 11 – John Ake, 25, utility player on the 1884

. *July 8 – Frank McIntyre, 27, pitcher who appeared in 3 games in 1883. *July 24 – Alex McKinnon, 30, first baseman who was batting .340 in his first season with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys; previously with New York and St. Louis teams. *November 9 – Billy Riley, 32?, outfielder who played in parts of 2 seasons. *December 22 – Jud Birchall, 32, outfielder for the American Association

from 1882 to 1884.

References

Sources

External links

1887 National League season at Baseball-Reference.com1887 American Association season at Baseball-Reference.comCharlton's Baseball Chronology at BaseballLibrary.comYear by Year History at Baseball-Almanac.comRetrosheet.org
{{Year in baseball, this year=1887