The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

team that played in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

from 1881 to 1888 in the city of

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre-modern

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

) in 1887. The team was disbanded following the 1888 season.

Franchise history

Founded at the suggestion of Detroit mayor William G. Thompson, the Wolverines played the first game of major league baseball in Detroit on May 2, 1881, in front of 1,286 fans. Their home field was called Recreation Park, and it consisted of a wooden grandstand located between Brady Street and Willis Avenue. This stadium was demolished in 1894, though its location is indicated by a historical marker in what was once left field. The name of the ball club derives from Michigan being known as "The Wolverine State;" although the team name "Wolverines" is now primarily associated with

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

sports, there was no connection between the University and the Detroit baseball team. Though they folded after only eight seasons, the Wolverines occupy an important place in baseball history. On September 6, 1883, they conceded 18 runs in a single inning against the Chicago White Stockings, the most ever in MLB. In 1885, new owner Frederick Kimball Stearns began spending heavily in an attempt to create a 'super-team' by buying high-priced players. Most notably, he purchased the entire

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 ...

franchise that August, to secure the services of its stars: Dan Brouthers, Jack Rowe, Hardy Richardson, and Deacon White, the so-called "Big Four". This strategy quickly met resistance from his fellow owners, who changed the league's rules governing the splitting of gate receipts, reducing the visiting team's maximum share to $125 per game. Detroit was not yet the Motor City, and its population was too small to support a highly paid team. The Wolverines' home gate receipts were not sufficient to sustain their payroll, and Stearns was forced to sell his stars to other clubs and disband the team after the 1888 season. The franchise's place in the National League was taken by the Cleveland Spiders in 1889. The Wolverines' most successful season came in 1887, when they were crowned as the champion of the National League with a record of 79 wins and 45 losses. After the season, they defeated the St. Louis Browns, champion of the rival American Association, in a series of exhibition matches, winning ten of the fifteen games played. These games were a predecessor to the modern

, which did not begin until 1903. Three Detroit players hit for the cycle: George Wood on June 13, 1885, Mox McQuery on September 28, 1885, and Jack Rowe on August 21, 1886.

Prominent players

* Charlie Bennett * Dan Brouthers * Count Campau * Fred Dunlap * Ned Hanlon * Deacon McGuire * Hardy Richardson * Jack Rowe *

Billy Shindle William D. Shindle (December 5, 1860 – June 3, 1936) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played from 1886 to 1898 for the Detroit Wolverines (1886–87), Baltimore Orioles (1888–89, 1892–93), Philadelphia Athletics (18 ...

* Sam Thompson * Deacon White * Chief Zimmer

Baseball Hall of Famers

External links

Franchise statistics at baseball-reference.com.
{{Authority control 1881 establishments in Michigan 1888 disestablishments in Michigan 1880s in Detroit Baseball teams established in 1881 Defunct Major League Baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in Michigan Baseball teams disestablished in 1888 Baseball teams in Detroit

Franchise history

Prominent players

Baseball Hall of Famers

See also

External links