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Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 2-17-1882
Event Description: Seeking to challenge the National League's domination of professional baseball in America,banking magnate J.P. Morgan invites a group of wealthy baseball enthusiasts to his Connecticut home to draft a charter for a league of their own;many of the new league's franchises will be located in cities not represented by the National League at that time,but some will be based in National League cities to act as rivals for existing NL clubs.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 2-21-1882
Event Description: In a letter to the New York World-Telegram,J.P. Morgan formally announces the establishment of the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs.The league will consist of eight teams:the Boston Red Stockings,the Baltimore Colts,the New York Highlanders,the Hartford Atlantics,the St.Louis Browns,the Chicago Bulls,the Detroit Excelsiors,and the Washington Nationals.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-1-1882
Event Description: Former Keokuk Westerns outfielder William Harrison Barnie is elected as the American League's first president.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-15-1882
Event Description: The American League opens its inaugural season.In Boston,the Red Stockings beat the New York Highlanders 7-5 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds;in Washington,the Nationals play the Baltimore Colts to a 3-3 tie;in Detroit,the Chicago Bulls upset the Excelsiors 4-2 at Recreation Park;and at Sportsman's Park in St.Louis,the Browns record a five-run shutout of the Hartford Atlantics.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-21-1882
Event Description: The Hartford Atlantcs record their first win in franchise history,beating the Detroit Excelsiors 2-1 at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds in eleven innings.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-14-1882
Event Description: In an account of a Browns-Red Stockings game held the previous day,sportswriter Benjamin Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson observes that "by just about every measure other than longevity,spectators are coming to regard Mr.Morgan's new league as measurably superior to its elder counterpart".He adds that "in the view of this correspondent,it would not be at all surprising to see this new association overtake the National League as the dominant institution in our national pastime".
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-15-1882
Event Description: The American League holds its first doubleheader,with the Chicago Bulls hosting the St. Louis Browns;the Browns win the first game 3-2 but lose the second game 6-4 when their shortstop botches a critical ninth inning double play.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-23-1882
Event Description: The American League crowns its first champion as the Boston Red Stockings beat the Baltimore Colts 2-0 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 11-12-1882
Event Description: In its first expansion,the American League adds two new clubs,the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Pittsburgh Imperials.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-5-1883
Event Description: Hoping to embarrass his upstart competitor,National League president Abraham G. Mills challenges William Harrison Barnie to put the American League's best players up against the top men from the National League in a special exhibition game.His ploy backfires:Barnie not only takes him up on the offer,but ups the ante by proposing that the two leagues' respective champions face each other in a best-of-three series in October.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-16-1883
Event Description: A capacity crowd packs Manhattan's Hilltop Park to watch the American League's top players face their National League counterparts in the first-ever "all-stars game";newly acquired Brooklyn Cyclones pitcher "Smiling" Mickey Welch,a former National Leaguer who'd been cut by the Troy Trojans at the end of the 1882 season,wins the game for the American League by striking out the side in the top of the ninth inning.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-22-1883
Event Description: The American League's sophomore season kicks off with a stunning upset as the Brooklyn Cyclones beat the defending league champion Boston Red Stockings 4-3 courtesy of a solid five-inning start from winning pitcher Mickey Welch;the Pittsburgh Imperials aren't quite so lucky in their own debut,losing 8-2 to the Baltimore Colts at the Monongohela Ball Grounds.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-28-1883
Event Description: The Imperials earn their first victory in franchise history,beating the Washington Nationals 6-3.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-13-1883
Event Description: The Detroit Excelsiors become the first team in American League history to post ten or more runs in a single game with a 12-9 win over the Pittsburgh Imperials at Recreation Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-30-1883
Event Description: Mickey Welch pitches the American League's first-ever no-hitter,leading the Brooklyn Cyclones to a 4-0 win over the St.Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-29-1883
Event Description: The Detroit Excelsiors clinch their first American League championship with a 5-4 win over the Washington Nationals.The next day,the team boards a train for the East Coast to meet the National League champion Boston Braves in the first game of what is officially billed by both leagues as "the World's Champions of Baseball Exhibition Series"(shortened to simply "World's Series" by Boston newspapers).
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-2-1883
Event Description: The Boston Braves defeat the Detroit Excelsiors 6-4 at the South End Grounds in the first game of the inaugural World's Series;Braves shortstop Sam Wise knocks home the winning run with a ninth inning bases-loaded double.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-5-1883
Event Description: The Excelsiors even up the World's Series with a 5-1 thumping of the Braves at Recreation Park.Detroit third baseman George McCreary,nicknamed "General Grant" by his teammates due to his resemblance to the Civil War hero,drives in two runs and turns a force play in the sixth inning to squelch a Boston rally.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-8-1883
Event Description: The Excelsiors beat the Braves at the South End Grounds 4-3 to clinch the first-ever World's Series trophy.A Boston Herald-American sportswriter's account of the game comments that "the idea of the National League as the supreme baseball entity in America has been,if not destroyed,certainly cast into doubt".
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-15-1884
Event Description: The National League's top players beat their American League counterparts 8-7 at New York's Polo Ground's in the second annual All-Stars Game.Sam Wise,looking for redemption for himself and the Braves after Boston's defeat in the World's Series,gets four hits and three RBIs for the National Leaguers.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-17-1884
Event Description: Mickey Welch pitches his second career no-hitter,giving the Brooklyn Cyclones a 5-0 win over the St.Louis Browns at Ridgewood Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-10-1884
Event Description: The American League confronts its first major scandal as two Washington Nationals infielders are banned for life after league president William Harrison Barnie receives evidence that the players have conspired with gamblers to make extra money by throwing some of their games.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-23-1884
Event Description: 22-year-old Pittsburgh Imperials catcher Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy--better known to teammates and fans as "Connie Mack"--hits his first career home run in a 4-3 win over the Hartford Atlantics at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds.By the age of 40,Mack will be managing the team and also hold a partial owner's stake in it.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-30-1884
Event Description: The American League crowns its third champion in as many seasons with a Baltimore Colts sweep of the New York Highlanders at Hilltop Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-3-1884
Event Description: The Baltimore Colts beat the National League champion Providence Grays at the Messer Street Grounds 5-2 in the first game of the 1884 World's Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-6-1884
Event Description: The Colts beat the Grays 6-0 at Newington Park in Baltimore to clinch a sweep of the 1884 World's Series;50,286 fans turn out to watch the game,setting what is then a single-game attendance record for the two-year-old American League.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 11-15-1884
Event Description: A wealthy Auburn Hills businessman buys a majority stake in the Detroit Excelsiors and renames them the Lions;explaining the name change to his players,the new owner tells them:"The way for us to become World's Series champions is to go out on the field behaving like lions--proud,fearless,and devouring anyone who dares trespass on our territory."
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-19-1885
Event Description: George "General Grant" McCreary hits a sixth-inning grand slam to power his American League teammates to a 9-8 victory at Boston's South End Grounds in the third annual All-Stars Game;the event inspires sportswriters to begin coining the slang term 'Mac'(short for "McCreary") as a shorthand description of such hits.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 5-7-1885
Event Description: Just two strikes away from his third career no-hitter,Mickey Welch coughs up an RBI triple to Atlantics catcher Wilbert Robinson in the ninth inning of a Cyclones game at Hartford;the hit sparks a rally culminating in a 10-7 Atlantics win.When the Cyclones return to Brooklyn the next morning,fans are so angry with Welch that they boo him the moment he steps off the train.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-13-1885
Event Description: The Boston Red Stockings begin construction of a new and larger ballpark along Landsdowne Street in the city's Fenway district.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-19-1885
Event Description: After attending a Highlanders-Imperials doubleheader in Pittsburgh,poet and San Francisco Examiner reporter Ernest Lawrence Thayer is inspired to begin writing what will later become America's most famous baseball-themed literary work,"Casey at the Bat".
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-24-1885
Event Description: The Red Stockings clinch their second American League championship and first World's Series appearance in team history with a four-run shutout of the Washington Nationals at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston.Four days later they'll travel to Chicago to meet the National League champion White Stockings at West Side Park in the first game of the 1885 World's Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-1-1885
Event Description: The White Stockings beat the Red Stockings 4-3 in twelve innings to kick off the 1885 World's Series;Chicago outfielder Abner Dalrymple clinches the victory with a solo home run.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-4-1885
Event Description: In a game marred by a fifth-inning brawl between a Boston spectator and White Stockings manager-first baseman Cap Anson,the Red Stockings trounce Chicago 7-3 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds to even up the 1885 World's Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-7-1885
Event Description: Chicago stuns Boston with a five-run shutout at West Side Park in the third and deciding game of the 1885 World's Series;shortly after the game is over,an elated National League president Nicholas E. Young visits the White Stockings clubhouse to personally congratulate Cap Anson and his teammates on becoming the first National League club to win a World's Series trophy.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 11-17-1885
Event Description: Unable to compete economically with either of the Boston clubs,the Providence Grays agree to merge with the Hartford Atlantics;the new combined team will move to Philadelphia for the 1886 season.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 2-4-1886
Event Description: The Red Stockings purchase George McCreary's contract from the Detroit Lions for the then-astronomical sum of $25,000;in return,Detroit acquires the services of two Boston reserve fielders.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-23-1886
Event Description: The American League wins the fourth annual All-Stars Game,clobbering the National Leaguers 11-3 at West Side Park in Chicago.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-19-1886
Event Description: In his first at-bat for the Red Stockings,now better-known by some fans as the Red Socks,George "General Grant" McCreary hits an RBI double to spark Boston to a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Atlantics at Oakdale Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 5-23-1886
Event Description: After running out of ham sandwiches during a Highlanders-Imperials game,a concessionaire at Hilltop Park comes up with an ingenious alternative:using sausages bought from a local butcher and bread rolls from a Staten Island bakery,he makes what he calls "dachshund sausauges"--"hot dogs" for short.The new sandwich soon becomes a staple at ballpark concession stands all over America.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-10-1886
Event Description: Mickey Welch finally gets his third career no-hitter,leading the Brooklyn Cyclones to a 3-0 win over the Chicago Bulls at Ridgewood Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-27-1886
Event Description: The Boston Red Socks become the first American League club to win back-to-back league championships,defeating the Detroit Lions 4-2 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds to clinch a World Series rematch with the Chicago White Socks(formerly White Stockings).
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-30-1886
Event Description: The Red Socks beat the White Socks 6-3 at Chicago's West Side Park in the first game of the 1886 World's Series."General Grant" McCreary hits three home runs for Boston,becoming the first player in either league to get multiple homers in a Series game.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-4-1886
Event Description: In their final game at the Huntington Avenue Grounds,the Red Socks trounce the White Socks 7-1 to secure a sweep of the 1886 World's Series;as a reward for his contributions to Boston's victory,George McCreary gets a $500 raise on his salary for the 1887 season.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-23-1887
Event Description: The National League picks up its first All-Stars Game victory since 1884,beating the American League 9-7 at Detroit's Recreation Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 5-5-1887
Event Description: The Washington Nationals lose 7-4 to the Pittsburgh Imperials to start a fourteen-game slide that will leave the Nationals at the bottom of the American League standings;the skid prompts a cynical sportwriter to coin a phrase that will haunt the team for decades to come--"Washington:first in war,first in peace,last in the American League."
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-30-1887
Event Description: American and National League owners meet in New York to sign a so-called "gentlemen's agreement",a universal contract under which both leagues will henceforth be governed.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-27-1887
Event Description: The Pittsburgh Imperials win their first American League championship,sweeping the Chicago Bulls in a doubleheader at the Monongohela Ball Grounds.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-28-1887
Event Description: Connie Mack gets his first World's Series hit with a fourth inning double off lefthander Lady Baldwin as the Imperials beat the National League champion Detroit Wolverines 6-5 at the Monongohela Ball Grounds in the first game of the 1887 Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-1-1887
Event Description: The Wolverines even up the 1887 World's Series with a 5-1 pounding of Pittsburgh at Chandler Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-4-1887
Event Description: The Detroit Wolverines defeat the Pittsburgh Imperials 3-2 at the Mongohela Ball Grounds in the third and deciding game of the 1887 World's Series,becoming only the second National League team in baseball history to win the Series trophy.Connie Mack is booed off the field after striking out to end the game;only the presence of shotgun-toting Pittsburgh cops prevents a riot from erupting in the stands.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-10-1888
Event Description: The Boston Red Socks' new home field,Fenway Park,hosts its first All-Stars Game,an 8-3 National League victory.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-3-1888
Event Description: George McCreary hits his 100th career home run in a 4-2 Red Socks win over the New York Highlanders at Hilltop Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-17-1888
Event Description: Connie Mack hits his 50th career home run in a 2-1 Imperials loss to the Baltimore Colts at Newington Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-24-1888
Event Description: The Baltimore Colts clinch their second World's Series appearance in team history with a 6-1 drubbing of the Philadelphia Atlantics.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-26-1888
Event Description: The National League champion New York Giants rally from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Colts 5-3 in the first game of the 1888 World's Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-28-1888
Event Description: The Colts tie up the World's Series with a 7-2 pounding of the Giants at Newington Park in Game 2.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-1-1888
Event Description: The Colts beat the Giants at the Polo Grounds 6-4 to win the 1888 World's Series.When New York outfielder Jim O'Rourke pops to short to end the game,a near-riot erupts in the stands as angry and disappointed Giants fans vent their displeasure by throwing empty bottles and handfuls of trash onto the field.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-24-1889
Event Description: The American League wallops the National League 11-2 at Brooklyn's Washington Park in the seventh annual All-Stars Game;George McCreary just misses hitting for the cycle when an apparent sixth-inning home run instead hooks foul at the last second.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-14-1889
Event Description: Starting what will ultimately become a baseball tradition,President Benjamin Harrison kicks off the 1889 season by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Highlanders-Bulls game in Chicago.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-1-1889
Event Description: The Brooklyn Cyclones beat the Boston Red Socks 4-0 at Ridgewood Park to start what will quickly become the longest winning streak the American League has seen in its seven-year history.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-2-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones rack up their second straight win,crushing the Philadelphia Atlantics 13-2 in the opener of a three-game home series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-4-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones clinch a sweep of their three-game home series against the Atlantics with a 4-2 extra innings victory.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-5-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones extend their winning streak to five games with a two-run shutout of the New York Highlanders at Hilltop Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-10-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones record their tenth straight win with a 6-1 pounding of the Baltimore Colts at Newington Park.Brooklyn starting pitcher Mickey Welch gets his 1500th career strikeout late in the top of the fifth inning.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-16-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones' winning streak hits fifteen with a 6-5 comeback home victory against the Pittsburgh Imperials.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-17-1889
Event Description: Brooklyn's winning streak extends to sixteen games as they beat the St. Louis Browns 2-1.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-18-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones notch their historic 17th consecutive win with a three-run shutout of the Browns.Moments after the game ends,jubilant Brooklyn fans stage an impromptu parade on Flatbush Avenue.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-18-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones' winning streak is snapped with a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Lions.By this time,however,Brooklyn has established a fairly comfortable lead in the AL pennant race.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-17-1889
Event Description: The Washington Nationals fire their manager after the team gets swept in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Atlantics by a combined score of 17-3.It will be just the first of seven managerial changes by the Nationals over the next decade.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-30-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones secure their first American League pennant in franchise history with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Bulls at South Side Park.The next day the team heads home to get ready to face the National League champion New York Giants in the 1889 World's Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-3-1889
Event Description: The Giants beat the Cyclones 5-2 at the Polo Grounds in the opening game of the 1889 World's Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-4-1889
Event Description: The Cyclones even up the 1889 World's Series with a 7-6 victory at Ridgewood Park in Game 2.Mickey Welch,pitching the only Series start of his career,gets thirteen strikeouts in seven innings.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-5-1889
Event Description: A 4-2 Cyclones lead in the seventh inning of the third and final game of the 1889 World's Series evaporates as a wild pitch allows the Giants to score two unearned runs;in the eighth inning a Jim O'Rourke solo home run puts New York ahead for good,leading to a 6-4 Giants victory and their first Series trophy.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-25-1890
Event Description: The American League plays the National League to a scoreless tie at Detroit's Chandler Park in the eighth annual All-Stars Game;George McCreary,who could have clinched the win for the American League by singling home Connie Mack from third with nobody out in the ninth,is robbed of his opportunity when umpires call the game on account of darkness.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-15-1890
Event Description: Inventor Thomas Edison uses his experimental kinetoscope to shoot an Atlantics-Nationals game in Philadelphia;this marks the first time in baseball history that a game has been recorded on film.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-17-1890
Event Description: 17-year-old Truxton,New York native John McGraw signs a rookie contract to play shortstop for the Baltimore Colts.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-21-1890
Event Description: McGraw goes 2 for 5 in his major league debut,a 6-4 Colts win against the Detroit Lions at Recreation Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-10-1890
Event Description: The Colts tie the New York Highlanders for first place in the American League after sweeping them in a doubleheader at Hilltop Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-12-1890
Event Description: The Colts take sole possession of first place in the American League with a two-run shutout of the Brooklyn Cyclones at Ridgewood Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-22-1890
Event Description: John McGraw hits his first career home run in a 7-5 Colts loss to the Boston Red Socks at Newington Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-17-1890
Event Description: Mickey Welch gets his 2000th career strikeout in a 4-3 Cyclones win against the Chicago Bulls at South Side Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-24-1890
Event Description: The Baltimore Colts clinch their third World's Series appearance in franchise history with a 2-1 extra innings win against the Detroit Lions.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-26-1890
Event Description: The Colts beat the National League champion Brooklyn Bridgegrooms 5-3 at Newington Park in Game 1 of the 1890 World's Series.John McGraw drives home the winning run with a bases-loaded double in the ninth inning.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-30-1890
Event Description: The Bridegrooms avenge their Game 1 defeat with a 7-1 shellacking of the Colts at Washington Park in Game 2 of the 1890 World's Series.John McGraw is ejected late in the fourth inning after accusing the home plate umpire of taking bribes to call disputed outs in Brooklyn's favor.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-4-1890
Event Description: The Bridegrooms rally from a 4-2 deficit to beat the Colts at Newington Park 6-5 in the third and deciding game of the 1890 World's Series.Brooklyn first baseman Dave Foutz knocks in the winning run with a tenth inning solo homer,marking the first time in baseball history that the Series trophy has been clinched by a home run.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 11-6-1890
Event Description: In a decision which will have disastrous consequences for the franchise's future,the Brooklyn Cyclones terminate Mickey Welch's contract for economic reasons.Welch signs with the New York Highlanders the next day.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 11-20-1890
Event Description: The National League forms expansion clubs in Kansas City and Atlanta.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 1-13-1891
Event Description: Ban Johnson succeeds William Harrison Barnie as president of the American League.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-19-1891
Event Description: The National League wins the All-Stars Game for the first time since 1888,beating the American League 8-6 at Chicago's South Side Park in the ninth annual edition of the event.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-21-1891
Event Description: Making his first start in a Highlanders uniform,Mickey Welch pitches New York to a 6-3 victory against the Chicago Bulls at South Side Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-10-1891
Event Description: John McGraw hits his 50th career home run in a 5-4 Colts loss to the Boston Red Socks at Fenway Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-7-1891
Event Description: Pitching at Ridgewood Park for the first time since he joined the New York Highlanders,Mickey Welch throws a two-run shutout of the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-15-1891
Event Description: The Cyclones suffer their worst defeat in the franchise's eight-year history,getting walloped by the Detroit Lions 14-1 at Recreation Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-22-1891
Event Description: In response to long-standing complaints that the best-of-three format unnecessarily penalizes visiting teams,the American and National Leagues agree to adopt a best-of-five format for the 1891 World's Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-22-1891
Event Description: The New York Highlanders crush the Washington Nationals 12-3 to clinch their first American League championship in franchise history;however,their success comes at a high price as starting pitcher Mickey Welch breaks three fingers on his throwing hand while trying to chase down a groundball in the top of the sixth inning.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-2-1891
Event Description: The National League champion Boston Braves post a three-run shutout of the Highlanders at the South End Grounds in the opening game of the 1891 World's Series.Braves shortstop Herman Long accounts for two of Boston's three-runs with a bases-loaded double in the fifth inning.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-3-1891
Event Description: The Highlanders rebound from their previous day's defeat with a 6-4 win over the Braves in Game 2 of the 1891 World's Series.Former Braves shortstop Sam Wise,now playing for the Highlanders,sends home the winning run with a single to right in the top of the ninth.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-5-1891
Event Description: The Highlanders pound the Braves 5-1 in the first-ever World's Series game played at Hilltop Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-6-1891
Event Description: Facing elimination,the Braves explode for seven runs in the ninth inning to beat the Highlanders at Hilltop Park 12-10 in the fourth game of the 1891 World's Series;the action now switches back to Boston for a winner-take-all Game 5.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-9-1891
Event Description: Laying to rest the ghost of their 1883 defeat by the Excelsiors,the Boston Braves beat the New York Highlanders 7-6 at the South End Grounds to clinch their first World's Series trophy;New York's last chance for a victory goes by the boards when Sam Wise strikes out with runners on second and third in the final at-bat of the game.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 2-15-1892
Event Description: J.P. Morgan hosts a lavish party at his estate to mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of the American League.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-20-1892
Event Description: Making his first pitching appearance in nearly six months,Mickey Welch starts for the American League at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park in the tenth annual All-Stars game and retires six of the first eight batters he faces;however,the National League ultimately prevails,winning 10-6.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 5-29-1892
Event Description: The Brooklyn Cyclones are forced to temporarily relocate to Washington Park after a fire severely damages the left field wall at Ridgewood Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-30-1892
Event Description: George McCreary hits his 150th career home run in a 3-2 Red Socks loss to the Washington Nationals.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 8-5-1892
Event Description: Connie Mack acquires a 5% stake in the Pittsburgh Imperials.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 9-26-1892
Event Description: The Chicago Bulls sweep a doubleheader against the New York Highlanders at South Side Park to clinch their first American League pennant in franchise history.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-4-1892
Event Description: Kicking off their third World's Series appearance in franchise history,the Boston Braves clobber the Chicago Bulls 10-3 at the South End Grounds in the first game of the 1892 Series.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-5-1892
Event Description: The Bulls even up the 1892 World's Series with a 4-3 extra innings win in Game 2.Chicago pitcher Tom Lovett,picked up in a late spring trade with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms,scores the winning run by stealing home plate in the bottom of the ninth.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-8-1892
Event Description: The Braves defeat the Bulls 5-2 at South Side Park in Game 3 of the 1892 World's Series;foreshadowing the modern athlete-turned-correspondent,ex-Boston fielder Sam Wise covers the game for the New York World-Telegram.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 10-9-1892
Event Description: The Boston Braves become the first team in baseball history to win back-to-back World's Series trophies,beating the Chicago Bulls 6-5 in the fourth and final game of the 1892 Series.A plaque commemorating the Braves' historic accomplishment will later be erected near the main gate at the South End Grounds.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 12-15-1892
Event Description: In a move that rocks the American League to its foundations,J.P. Morgan sells 80% of his stake in the league to oil magnate John D. Rockefeller;the move is being made to raise cash to insure Morgan's banking empire against a financial crisis his advisors have warned him may hit America in the coming months.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 1-8-1893
Event Description: George McCreary is traded for the second time in his career,being shipped to the Philadelphia Atlantics for ace pitcher "Hoosier Thunderbolt" Amos Rusie.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 3-23-1893
Event Description: Making his first appearance in an Atlantics uniform,George "General Grant" McCreary hits a solo homer in the tenth inning to give the American League a 13-12 victory at Potomac Field in Washington in the eleventh annual All-Stars Game.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 4-12-1893
Event Description: In his first start since being traded to Boston,Amos Rusie pitches the Red Socks to a four-run shutout win over the Brooklyn Cyclones at Fenway Park.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 5-25-1893
Event Description: A Philadelphia candy company starts packaging its productions with cutout cards of American League players in order to boost sales;the innovation quickly proves a hit with customers,and before long similar cards are also being printed for National League players.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-14-1893
Event Description: The Philadelphia Atlantics tie the New York Highlanders for first place in the American League with a 5-4 victory in 11 innings at Hilltop Park.Mickey Welch,in what turns out to be the final major league appearance of his career,gives up the winning run to Philadelphia on a bases-loaded single by George McCreary.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-15-1893
Event Description: Mickey Welch is released by the Highlanders.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 6-21-1893
Event Description: Former Cyclones and Highlanders pitcher Mickey Welch is hired by the New York Giants(formerly the Troy Trojans) as a scout in the New York State-Pennsylvania region.
Timeline Number: 1014
Event Date: 7-5-1893
Event Description: American League president Ban Johnson suspends John McGraw for 15 games after McGraw decks an umpire during the second game of a Colts-Imperials doubleheader in Pittsburgh.The next day,in protest,McGraw's announce that they will refuse to play any more games until McGraw is reinstated;this constitutes the first players' strike in baseball history.
(Contributor's note: For a look at events beyond this day, see Timeline 3262--Morgan's American League Part 2.)
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