1887 St. Louis Browns season

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St. Louis, Missouri
Record95–40 (.704)
League place1st
OwnerChris von der Ahe
ManagerCharlie Comiskey
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1886
Seasons
 1888 →

The 1887

St. Louis, Missouri, and the sixth season in the American Association. The Browns went 95–40 during the season and finished first in the American Association, winning their third pennant in a row. The team amassed 581 stolen bases, the most for any team whose records are recognized by Major League Baseball (MLB).[1] In a postseason series (now referred to as the 1887 World Series), the Browns played the National League champion Detroit Wolverines
, losing the series 10 games to 5.

Regular season

Drawing the color line in baseball

Main article: Baseball color line

Racial segregation started to become a custom in baseball about the time that eight members of the Browns withdrew from playing exhibition game in September against the

African American players as Cuban, Hispanic, or Arabian to deflect the racial stigma of the time, even though many were predominantly none of the three. News accounts reported that "for the first time in the history of base ball the color line has been drawn, and that by the St. Louis Browns, who have established the precedent that white players must not play with colored men."[2]

The Browns were in Philadelphia with plans to travel to New York City to play the Cuban Giants in an exhibition game. Scheduled long in advance with a "big guarantee", a crowd was anticipated in excess of 15,000 spectators. However, the night before departure to New York, eight Browns players signed a letter addressed to owner Chris von der Ahe and delivered it in person. The letter read:

We, the undersigned, members of the St. Louis Baseball Club, do not agree to play against negroes to-morrow. We will cheerfully play against white people at any time, and think, by refusing to play, we are only doing what is right, taking everything into consideration and the shape the team is in at present.[2]

The letter was signed by eight players:

Charlie Comiskey was reportedly unaware of the letter and Ed Knouff refused to sign it.[2] The Cuban Giants had previously played numerous exhibition games against other 'white' teams including Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Louisville, Philadelphia.[2] This was the first reported account that any club refused to play them because of their race.[2]

The cancellation of the game with the Cuban Giants was merely symptomatic of a larger trend occurring in professional baseball. The

Chicago White Stockings threatened not to play any 'white' professional teams who hired black players and just months after the International League prohibited further signing of black players. Clearly the tide was moving toward segregation in baseball, so the St. Louis Browns' withdrawal brought wider attention to what was to become a norm in the United States. Ironically, it would be by an act 60 years later by then-former Cardinals executive in Branch Rickey that broke the color barrier in MLB when he débuted Jackie Robinson in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers
.

Season standings

  • American Association
Team
W
L
 Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Browns 95 40 .704 — 58‍–‍15 37‍–‍25
Cincinnati Red Stockings 81 54 .600 14 46‍–‍27 35‍–‍27
Baltimore Orioles 77 58 .570 18 42‍–‍21 35‍–‍37
Louisville Colonels 76 60 .559 19½ 45‍–‍23 31‍–‍37
Philadelphia Athletics 64 69 .481 30 41‍–‍28 23‍–‍41
Brooklyn Grays 60 74 .448 34½ 36‍–‍37 24‍–‍37
New York Metropolitans 44 89 .331 50 26‍–‍33 18‍–‍56
Cleveland Blues 39 92 .298 54 22‍–‍36 17‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

1887 American Association record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BAL BRO CIN CLE LOU NYP PHI STL
Baltimore — 10–9–1 11–9 17–3 7–11–1 15–4–2 14–6 3–16–2
Brooklyn 9–10–1 — 7–13 13–6–1 8–12 9–9 10–8–2 4–16
Cincinnati 9–11 13–7 — 11–6 8–12 17–3–1 11–9 12–6
Cleveland 3–17 6–13–1 6–11 — 8–11–1 11–8 4–14 1–18
Louisville 11–7–1 12–8 12–8 11–8–1 — 12–8 11–8–1 7–13
New York 4–15–2 9–9 3–17–1 8–11 8–12 — 7–11–1 5–14–1
Philadelphia 6–14 8–10–2 9–11 14–4 8–11–1 11–7–1 — 8–12
St. Louis 16–3–2 16–4 6–12 18–1 13–7 14–5–1 12–8 —


Roster

1887 St. Louis Browns
Roster
Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

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 Jack Boyle 88 350 66 .189 2 41
1B Charlie Comiskey 125 538 180 .335 4 103
2B Yank Robinson 125 430 131 .305 1 74
SS Bill Gleason 135 598 172 .288 0 76
3B Arlie Latham 136 627 198 .316 2 83
OF Tip O'Neill 124 517 225 .435 14 123
OF Curt Welch 131 544 151 .278 3 108
OF Bob Caruthers 98 364 130 .357 8 73

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
Dave Foutz 102 423 151 .357 4 108
Doc Bushong 53 201 51 .254 0 26
Lou Sylvester 29 112 25 .223 1 18
Ed Knouff 15 56 10 .179 0 6
Harry Lyons 2 8 1 .125 0 1
Mike Goodfellow 1 4 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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
Silver King 46 390.0 32 12 3.78 128
Bob Caruthers 39 341.0 29 9 3.30 74
Dave Foutz 40 339.1 25 12 3.87 94
Nat Hudson 9 67.0 4 4 4.97 15
Ed Knouff 6 50.0 4 2 4.50 18
Joe Murphy 1 9.0 1 0 5.00 5

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
Yank Robinson 1 0 0 0 3.00 0

References

  1. ^ "Team Stolen Base Records & Team Caught Stealing Records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Sports of the Season". The Critic. Washington, D.C. September 12, 1887. p. 4. Retrieved April 17, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
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