1885 Cincinnati Red Stockings season

1885 Cincinnati Red Stockings
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Cincinnati, Ohio (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s) Justus Thorner
Manager(s) O. P. Caylor
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The 1885 Cincinnati Red Stockings season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American Association, 16 games behind the St. Louis Browns.

Regular season

During the off-season, the Red Stockings hired O. P. Caylor to become the manager of the team, the first time in club history that the club did not have a player-manager. Cincinnati also signed Tony Mullane to a contract. Mullane, who spent the 1884 season with the Toledo Blue Stockings, had a 36–26 record with a 2.52 ERA in 67 starts, striking out 325 batters. Mullane was suspended for the 1885 season for defying his contract, as the Blue Stockings and the St. Louis Maroons, another team he tried to sign with, folded after the 1884 season, and the St. Louis Browns attempted to reclaim Mullane, as he pitched there in 1883. Before the Browns could reclaim him, he signed with the Red Stockings.

Frank Fennelly, who the Red Stockings acquired late in the 1884 season from the Washington Nationals, had a breakout season, hitting .273 with ten home runs and a league high 89 RBI. Charley Jones led the team with a .322 average, and had five home runs and 35 RBI to go along with it, while John Reilly hit .297 with five homers and 60 RBI.

On the mound, nineteen-year-old Larry McKeon led the Red Stockings with 20 wins and a 2.86 ERA in 33 starts, while Will White had eighteen wins and a 3.53 ERA in 34 starts.

Season summary

Cincinnati began the season very well, putting up an impressive 16–8 record in their first 24 games to sit in second place in the league, two games behind the St. Louis Browns. The Red Stockings then began to slump, as they would win only six of their next sixteen games to slip into third place, seven games behind the Browns. On July 1, the Red Stockigns acquired Jim Keenan and Larry McKeon, who both jumped from the Detroit Wolverines to join Cincinnati. The Red Stockings improved with their new acquisitions in the lineup, as the team eventually moved back into second place, however, they were too far behind the Browns, and Cincinnati finished the season with a 63–49 record, good for second place, however, they were sixteen games out of first.

Season standings

American Association W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Browns 79 33 0.705 — 44–11 35–22
Cincinnati Red Stockings 63 49 0.562 16 35–21 28–28
Pittsburg Alleghenys 56 55 0.505 22½ 37–19 19–36
Philadelphia Athletics 55 57 0.491 24 33–23 22–34
Brooklyn Grays 53 59 0.473 26 35–22 18–37
Louisville Colonels 53 59 0.473 26 37–19 16–40
New York Metropolitans 44 64 0.407 33 28–24 16–40
Baltimore Orioles 41 68 0.376 36½ 29–26 12–42

Notable transactions

Roster

1885 Cincinnati Red Stockings
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 Snyder, PopPop Snyder 39 152 36 .237 1 19
1B Reilly, JohnJohn Reilly 111 482 143 .297 5 60
2B McPhee, BidBid McPhee 110 431 114 .265 0 46
3B Carpenter, HickHick Carpenter 112 473 131 .277 2 61
SS Fennelly, FrankFrank Fennelly 112 454 124 .273 10 89
OF Jones, CharleyCharley Jones 112 487 157 .322 5 35
OF Corkhill, PopPop Corkhill 112 440 111 .252 1 53
OF Clinton, JimJim Clinton 105 408 97 .238 0 34

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
Keenan, JimJim Keenan 36 132 35 .265 1 15
Baldwin, KidKid Baldwin 34 126 17 .135 1 8
Powers, PhilPhil Powers 15 60 16 .267 0 7
Peoples, JimmyJimmy Peoples 7 22 4 .182 0 1

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
White, WillWill White 34 293.1 18 15 3.53 80
McKeon, LarryLarry McKeon 33 290 20 13 2.86 117
Mountjoy, BillBill Mountjoy 17 153.2 10 7 3.16 50
Shallix, GusGus Shallix 13 91.1 6 4 3.25 15
Pechiney, GeorgeGeorge Pechiney 11 98 7 4 2.02 49
Peoples, JimmyJimmy Peoples 2 15 0 2 12.00 4
McCaffrey, BillBill McCaffrey 1 9 1 0 6.00 2

Other 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
Baldwin, KidKid Baldwin 2 4 0 0 9.00 1

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
Corkhill, PopPop Corkhill 8 1 4 1 3.65 12
Keenan, JimJim Keenan 1 0 0 0 1.13 0

Notes

References