1901 American League

The former Western League announced its arrival as a major league for the 1901 season, opening play in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Washington, which had all been major league cities in the recent past. No New York yet, which would mark a truly major league outfit, but definitely a loop with pretensions. A number of former NL stars were lured to the AL, including Joe McGinnity, Cy Young, Jimmy Collins, Clark Griffith, Fielder Jones, Nap Lajoie, and Lave Cross. Chicago won the pennant race by a small margin over Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia not far behind. Baltimore was also over .500, with Washington off the pace, while Cleveland and Milwaukee trailed the pack. Still a strong midwest flavor here.

The biggest star was definitely Nap Lajoie, who led in most meaningful offensive categories, including winning the Triple Crown. He hit .426, while Mike Donlin was second with .340. Lajoie had 14 home runs, ahead of Buck Freeman's 12; and Lajoie had 125 RBI, ahead of Freeman's 114. Frank Isbell took the stolen bases crown with 52. Lajoie had 152 Runs Created, while Jimmy Collins was second with exactly 100. That was how much Nap dominated the league.

Cy Young likewise dominated the pitching categories, winning 33 games (Joe McGinnity was second with 26), posting a 1.62 ERA (Nixey Callahan came in second at 2.42) and striking out 158 batters (Roy Patterson was next at 127).

First-year Win Shares, players; Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia) 42, Jimmy Collins (Boston) 28, Dummy Hoy (Chicago) 25, Buck Freeman and Chick Stahl (Boston) 24, Fielder Jones (Chicago) and Jimmy Barrett (Detroit) 23, Jimmy Williams (Baltimore), Ollie Pickering (Cleveland) and Kid Elberfeld (Detroit) 22.

Pitchers; Cy Young (Boston) 41, Roscoe Miller (Detroit) 30, Joe McGinnity (Baltimore) and Clark Griffith (Chicago) 27, Nixey Callahan (Chicago) 23, Ed Siever (Detroit) 22, Joe Yeager (Detroit) 21.

WARP3 leaders, players; Lajoie 10.6, Collins 7.9, Williams 7.0, Buck Freeman (Boston) 5.5, Freddy Parent (Boston) 5.4, Elberfeld 5.3, John Anderson (Milwaukee) 5.0, Stahl 4.7, Sam Mertes (Chicago) 4.6, Ollie Pickering (Cleveland) 4.5.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Young 11.1, Miller 7.4, McGinnity 7.2, Callahan 6.0, Griffith 5.8, Yeager 5.4, Eddie Plank (Philadelphia) 4.2, Moore (Cleveland) 4.0.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Young 11.2, McGinnity 5.9, Miller 5.7, Griffith 5.2, Plank 4.4, Callahan 4.0, Moore 3.8. Position players: Lajoie 9.5, Collins 7.2, Mike Donlin (Baltimore) and Parent 5.4, Hoy 5.3, Freeman 5.2, Stahl 5.0, Jones and Williams 4.9.

Top player: Nap Lajoie. The Triple Crown winner and obviously the best player.
#1 Nap Lajoie, #2 Jimmy Collins, #3 Jimmy Williams, #4 Dummy Hoy, #5 Buck Freeman.

Top pitcher: Cy Young. Nap Lajoie and Cy Young dominated this fledgling major league, still finding its feet. Young was an established star, Lajoie a young player entering stardom. They were the cream of the crop. Both won their respective Triple Crowns, and led in many other statistical categories.
#1 Cy Young, #2 Roscoe Miller, #3 Joe McGinnity, #4 Clark Griffith, #5 Nixey Callahan.

Top rookie: Roscoe Miller, 23-13 for Detroit, although a better career would be had by Eddie Plank, 17-13 in his debut for Philadelphia.

Top manager to Clark Griffith, who pieced together a pennant winner in Chicago. He went 24-7 on the mound, too.

Several of these guys had played in the NL in 1900, or in 1899 before the Great Contraction. The AL was not yet on a par with the NL. But it wouldn't be long.

1900 National League

The NL contracts to 8 teams in this year, setting up next year's emergence of the AL. Cleveland, Washington, Louisville, and (surprisingly) Baltimore disappeared, with the best players going to existing franchises. The cream of Louisville went to Pittsburgh, giving them a strong team. Washington's best players went to Boston. Baltimore's pipeline to Brooklyn continued. Cleveland's best players had already gone to St. Louis. Where there was excess, players got scattered, and some retreated to smaller leagues. Ban Johnson's Western League absorbed some players and cities, was renamed as the American League, and in 1901 would announce themselves as a new major league.

Brooklyn won the pennant again, in a good race with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. With the sad-sack teams gone, those were the only three teams over .500, but there were no real bad teams. Boston was fourth, then St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati. New York finished last but only 23 games out, as talent evened out.

Honus Wagner emerged as a force, leading the league with a .381 average and 45 doubles, also leading in total bases, triples, slugging, and OPS. Elmer Flick batted .367, Jesse Burkett .363, Willie Keeler .362. Roy Thomas led in runs scored with 132 while Jimmy Slagle was next with 115. Jimmy Barrett and George Van Haltren scored 114. Keeler had 204 hits, Burkett 203, Wagner 201, and Flick 200. Wagner had 45 doubles, Nap Lajoie 33. Wagner had 22 triples, Joe Kelley and Charlie Hickman 17. Herman Long had 12 home runs. Flick led with 110 RBI, Ed Delahanty had 109, Wagner 100. Patsy Donovan and George Van Haltren tied for the lead in steals with 45 while Barrett had 44.

Joe McGinnity won 28 games, while second place was 20, a four-way tie by Bill Dinneen, Brickyard Kennedy, Deacon Phillippe, and Jesse Tannehill. Rube Waddell led with a 2.37 ERA, Ned Garwin came in at 2.41, Jack Taylor 2.55. Noodles Hahn led with 132 strikeouts, Rube Waddell had 130, Cy Young 115.

And now........your 1900 Win Shares data! Welcome to the doorway to the 20th century!
Position players; Honus Wagner (Pittsburgh) 34, Elmer Flick (Philadelphia) 32, Kip Selbach (New York) 27, Roy Thomas (Philadelphia) and Jesse Burkett (St. Louis) 25, Billy Hamilton (Boston) and Jimmy Barrett (Cincinnati) 23, Willie Keeler and Joe Kelley (Brooklyn) and Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia) all 22.

Pitchers; Joe McGinnity (Brooklyn) 30, Bill Dinneen (Boston) 27, Brickyard Kennedy (Brooklyn) Deacon Phillippe and Jesse Tannehill (both Pittsburgh) 23 each, Cy Young (St. Louis) 22, Noodles Hahn (Cincinnati) 21, Win Mercer (New York) and Sam Leever (Pittsburgh) 20.

WARP3 scores, players: Wagner 10.1, Flick 9.4, Lajoie 7.4, Selbach and Hamilton 7.3, Keeler and John McGraw (St. Louis) 6.9, Burkett 6.8, Bill Dahlen (Brooklyn) and Jimmy Collins (Boston) 6.4, George Davis (New York) 6.3, Jake Beckley (Cincinnati) 6.0.

WARP3 scores, pitchers: Young 7.6, Hahn 7.2, Clark Griffith (Chicago) 6.8, Phillippe and Mercer 6.4, Dinneen and Tannehill 6.2, Ned Garvin (Chicago) 5.9, Al Orth (Philadelphia) 5.4, McGinnity and Leever 5.3, Chick Fraser (Philadelphia) and Pink Hawley (New York) 5.2, Kennedy 5.1.

WAR for pitchers: Young 6.4, Dinneen 5.7, Hahn 5.4, McGinnity 5.0, Phillippe 4.6, Leever 4.3, Nichols 4.1, Tannehill 3.7, Kennedy 3.6. Position players: Wagner 7.0, Flick 6.4, Burkett 5.9, McGraw 5.8, Selbach 5.5, Hamilton 5.4, Keeler 4.6, Davis and Lajoie 4.2.

Honus Wagner was the top player. Elmer Flick is a notable second, overshadowed by Honus, a great year overwhelmed by a greater year. Wagner led the league in average, doubles, triples, slugging and OPS. Flick led in RBI and was 2nd in OPS.
#1 Honus Wagner, #2 Elmer Flick, #3 Jesse Burkett, #4 Kip Selbach, #5 Willie Keeler.

Best pitcher has to go to Joe McGinnity, 28-8 with a 2.94 ERA. No one else had more than 20 wins. Iron Man benefited from the good club around him, and while a case could be made for the other guys, that sterling record still looks you in the face. So it's the Win Shares this time.
#1 Joe McGinnity, #2 Bill Dinneen, #3 Deacon Phillippe, #4 Jesse Tannehill, #5 Cy Young.

Ned Hanlon of the pennant-winning Superbas for top manager again.

Best Rookie: Jimmy Barrett, with a caution he may not qualify. Barrett hit .316 with an OPS+ of 120. Very few rookies debuting in this contraction year. Doc Newton pitched in 234 innings for the Reds, was just 9-15 with an ERA worse than league average. Christy Matthewson became the best player but didn't do much in 1900, going 0-3 in six games. He got better.

1899 National League

It was in 1899 that the evils of "syndicate ownership" reared up and afflicted baseball by a widespread transfer of players to franchises in richer markets. All of Cleveland's best players, particularly Cy Young, Jesse Burkett and Bobby Wallace, went to St. Louis. The Spiders fell from a solid fifth place, with an 81-68 record, to a remarkable record for futility at 20-134. It got so bad in Cleveland the fans stopped coming out to the park, and the team spent the last month of the season on the road. In essence, the fortunes of the formerly moribund St. Louis franchise were exchanged with those of the previously healthy Cleveland team.

Brooklyn had picked up its own collection of players, adding Joe Kelley and Willie Keeler along with manager Ned Hanlon from Baltimore, and Bill Dahlen from Chicago, and won the pennant. Those transfers are less sinister, but still unusual for the 19th century. Trades, as we know them today, were almost unheard of at the time. Boston and Philadelphia trailed close behind, and Baltimore, St. Louis and Cincinnati ran well.

Ed Delahanty took the batting title at .410, and also led in slugging, OPS, hits, total bases, doubles, and RBI. Jesse Burkett hit .396 and John McGraw .391. Willie Keeler and McGraw shared the lead in runs at 140. Delahanty had 238 hits, Burkett 221, and Jimmy Williams 220. Delahanty had 55 doubles, Honus Wagner 45. Williams had 27 triples, Buck Freeman 25. Freeman led with 25 home runs and Bobby Wallace was second with 12. Delahanty had 137 RBI followed by Freeman with 122, Williams with 116, and Wagner with 114. Jimmy Sheckard was tops in stolen bases with 73.

Jay Hughes and Joe McGinnity each won 28 games, Vic Willis won 27, Cy Young 26, Jesse Tannehill 24. Willis posted a 2.50 ERA, Young 2.58, Noodles Hahn and Joe McGinnity 2.68. Hahn led in strikeouts with 145 Cy Seymour 142.

1899 Win Shares, players; Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia) 41, John McGraw (Baltimore) 34, Chick Stahl (Boston) and Jimmy Williams (Pittsburgh) 32, Joe Kelley (Brooklyn) Roy Thomas (Philadelphia) and Jesse Burkett (St. Louis) 30 each, Willie Keeler (Brooklyn) 29, Tom Daly (Brooklyn) 28, Honus Wagner (Louisville) 26.

Pitchers; Vic Willis (Boston) 39, Joe McGinnity (Baltimore) and Cy Young (St. Louis) 35, Jay Hughes (Brooklyn) 33, Frank Kitson (Baltimore) and Kid Nichols (Boston) 31, Noodles Hahn (Cincinnati) and Jack Powell (St. Louis) 29, Brickyard Kennedy (Brooklyn) 28, Sam Leever and Jesse Tannehill (Pittsburgh) 27.

WARP3 scores, position players: McGraw 10.0, Delahanty 8.1, Williams 7.6, Stahl 7.5, Wagner 7.1, Thomas 6.9, Ed McFarland (Philadelphia) 6.5, Keeler and Bill Dahlen (Brooklyn) 6.1, Jimmy Collins (Boston) 6.0, Burkett 5.9, Kelley, Daly, and Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia) 5.8, Elmer Flick (Philadelphia) and Bobby Wallace (St. Louis) 5.7, George Davis (New York) 5.6.

WARP3 scores, pitchers: Young 9.0, Willis 7.4, McGinnity and Hughes 7.2, Tannehill 7.1, Leever and Cy Seymour (New York) 7.0, Kitson 6.5, Clark Griffith (Chicago) 6.4, Hahn 6.2, Deacon Phillippe (Louisville) 5.6, Powell 5.2.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Willis 8.9, McGinnity 7.4, Hahn 7.2, Young 7.1, Kitson and Tannehill 6.8, Hughes and Nichols 6.6. Position players, McGraw 9.4, Delahanty 8.4, Williams 7.6, Burkett 6.5, Wagner 6.4, Stahl 6.2, Tenney 6.1.

Top player: Delahanty was outstanding again, and the best hitter in the league, leading in batting, slugging, OPS, hits, total bases, doubles, and RBI. McGraw had a great year, but it's hard to overcome that kind of performance. McGraw would be second in his last 100-game year, with Jimmy Williams 3rd, Chick Stahl 4th and Jesse Burkett 5th.

Top pitcher: Vic Willis, 3rd in wins and 1st in ERA. No clear front-runner here. Cy Young would be #2. I'd put Iron Man #3. Hughes 4th in his career year and Noodles 5th.

Top rookie to Jimmy Williams, the Pirates sensational new third baseman. Williams had a good career, but not up to this first year's promise. Runner-up was McGinnity, and Sam Crawford also broke in this year. Roy Thomas, Sam Leever, and Noodles Hahn were notable in the best season for rookies in many years.

Best manager to Ned Hanlon, who went to Brooklyn after seven years in Baltimore, and led the Superbas to their first pennant since 1890. And he did it with Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley, and a bunch of has-beens, never-weres, and guys playing over their heads.

1898 National League

Boston won their second pennant in a row, outdistancing Baltimore, and finishing 63.5 games ahead of last-place St. Louis. That was a larger margin in part because the schedule was increased to 152 games: they had played 154 in 1892, but were normally playing about 130. They would go to 154 in 1899, then down to 140 for several years before settling at 154 until expansion. It was Boston, Baltimore and Cincinnati at the top, Brooklyn, Washington and St. Louis at the bottom, and the rest in between. Player transfers started, and syndicate ownership began showing an ugly face, as Pink Hawley and Elmer Smith were moved from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, in an era where that was rare. Owners with a piece of two or more teams starting moving players to make a bigger splash in the biggest market.

Willie Keeler won another batting title, at .385. Billy Hamilton was second at .369 and led in on-base and OPS. Keeler led with 216 hits, while John McGraw scored 143 runs. Nap Lajoie led with 43 doubles and 127 RBI. John Anderson had 22 triples, Jimmy Collins collected 15 home runs. Ed Delahanty was the surprise stolen base leader with 58.

Kid Nichols led the league with 31 wins again, Bert Cunningham won 28 games, Pink Hawley and Doc McJames 27. Clark Griffith posted a 1.88 ERA to lead the loop, Al Maul had a 2.10 mark, Nichols posted a 2.13. Cy Seymour was the strikeout champ at 239, McJames was second with 178. Seymour would switch to the outfield a few years hence after arm trouble.

Pitching Win Shares: Kid Nichols (Boston) 44, Cy Young (Cleveland) and Jesse Tannehill (Pittsburgh) 34, Clark Griffith (Chicago) 32, Ted Lewis (Boston) 31, Doc McJames (Baltimore) and Bert Cunningham (Louisville) 30, Pink Hawley (Cincinnati) 28, Cy Seymour (New York) 26, Vic Willis (Boston), Ted Breitenstein (Cincinnati) and Jack Powell (Cleveland) 25.

Players Win Shares: Jimmy Collins (Boston) 34, Billy Hamilton (Boston) and Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia) 33, Hughie Jennings (Baltimore) 32, John McGraw (Baltimore) 31, Jesse Burkett (Cleveland) and George Van Haltren (New York) 29, Jimmy Ryan (Chicago) 28, Bill Dahlen (Chicago) and Elmer Smith (Cincinnati) 27, Elmer Flick and Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia) 26.

WARP3 scores, pitchers; Griffith 9.2, Nichols 9.0, Tannehill 7.0, Young and Cunningham 6.7, Al Maul (Baltimore) 6.6, Seymour 6.2, Lewis 6.0, Rusie 5.8, Wiley Piatt (Philadelphia) 5.7, McJames 5.4, Powell 4.9, Brickyard Kennedy (Brooklyn) 4.8, Jack Taylor (St. Louis) 4.7.

Players; Jennings 10.2, McGraw 9.3, Collins 8.5, Gene DeMontreville (Baltimore) 7.5, Dahlen 7.1, Flick and Willie Keeler (Baltimore) 6.6, Dan McGann (Baltimore) 5.9, Hamilton, Delahanty, and Bill Lange (Chicago) 5.7, Van Haltren and Lajoie 5.5.

WAR for pitchers: Nichols 9.5, Griffith 9.2, McJames 7.4, Maul 6.7, Young 6.6, Lewis and Powell 5.7, Tannehill 5.4, Cunningham 5.3, Hawley 4.9. Position players: Jennings 8.3, McGraw 8.1, Collins 6.6, Delahanty 6.3, McGann 6.0, DeMontreville 5.8, Dahlen 5.7, Burkett 5.4, Hamilton and Keeler 5.2.

Top pitcher: Kid Nichols, 31-12 with a 2.13 ERA, over Clark Griffith, 24-10 with a 1.88 ERA in a close race. Nichols led the league in wins and WHIP, Griffith in ERA. Nichols also had four saves of his teammates, and more strikeouts than Griffith.
#1 Kid Nichols, #2 Clark Griffith, #3 Doc McJames, #4 Cy Young, #5 Jesse Tannehill.

Top player: Do-it-all third baseman Jimmy Collins in his best year. Collins was the greatest third baseman of the era, and a deserving Hall of Famer. Collins led in homers and total bases, was 2nd in slugging and RBI, and played great defense. I'll put Jennings second and McGraw third.
#1 Jimmy Collins, #2 Hughie Jennings, #3 John McGraw, #4 Ed Delahanty, #5 Billy Hamilton.

Top manager to Boston's Frank Selee, with another pennant.

Top rookie to Elmer Flick, 4th in on-base and a .302 average. 2nd to fellow Hall of Famer Vic Willis, 25-13 for Boston.

1897 National League

Boston outdueled Baltimore for the pennant by a two-game margin, ending the Orioles' three-year reign at the top. New York was a solid third, Cleveland and Cincinnati also finished over .500. Washington, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh were next in a clump, Chicago, Philly, and Louisville were also-rans, and St. Louis was the sad sack with a 29-102 record.

Willie Keeler won the batting title with a .424 average, while Fred Clarke was second at .390. Jesse Burkett hit .383 and Ed Delahanty .377. Keeler led in OPS, although John McGraw led in on-base average and Nap Lajoie led in slugging. Keeler led with 239 hits, Billy Hamilton scored 152 runs, George Davis had 136 RBI, and Bill Lange stole 73 bases.

Among pitchers, Kid Nichols led with 31 wins, Amos Rusie led with a 2.54 ERA, while Doc McJames and Cy Seymour each had 156 strikeouts. Down the lists were Amos Rusie with 27 wins, Fred Klobedanz had 26, Joe Corbett 24, and Ted Breitenstein 23. Nichols had a 2.64 ERA, Jerry Nops 2.81, Corbett 3.11. Corbett had 149 strikeouts, Rusie 135.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Kid Nichols (Boston) 41, Ted Breitenstein (Cincinnati) 34, Amos Rusie (New York) 31, Cy Young (Cleveland) 28, Win Mercer (Washington) 27, Fred Klobedanz (Boston) and Brickyard Kennedy (Brooklyn) 25, Billy Rhines (Cincinnati) 24, Joe Corbett (Baltimore), Frank Dwyer (Cincinnati) and Jouett Meekin (New York) 23.

Players: Willie Keeler (Baltimore) 32, George Davis (New York) 31, Fred Clarke (Louisville) 30, Hughie Jennings (Baltimore) 29, Billy Hamilton (Boston) 28, Joe Kelley (Baltimore) and Jimmy Collins (Boston) 26, Hugh Duffy (Boston) 25, Jake Stenzel (Boston) and George Van Haltren (New York) 24, Jesse Burkett (Cleveland), Mike Tiernan (New York) and Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia) 23.

WARP3 scores, pitchers; Nichols 8.9, Rusie 8.7, Breitenstein 6.7, Mercer 6.3, Kennedy 6.0, Clark Griffith (Chicago) 5.9, Nixey Callahan (Chicago) 5.4, Cy Seymour (New York) 4.6, Meekin and Rhines 4.3, Young 4.1.

WARP3 for players: Keeler 9.6, Jennings 9.3, Davis 9.2, Collins 7.8, Clarke 7.6, Kelley 7.1, Bobby Wallace (Cleveland) and Nap Lajoie (Philadelphia) 6.9, Hamilton 6.8, Cupid Childs (Cleveland) 6.6, Delahanty 6.4, Heinie Reitz (Baltimore) 5.8, Burkett 5.6.

WAR, pitchers: Nichols 10.0, Rusie 7.7, Breitenstein 6.5, Young 5.5, Powell 4.6, Dwyer and Rhines 4.3, Nops 4.2, Corbett 4.1. Position players: Jennings 7.7, Keeler 7.5, Clarke 7.1, Davis 7.0, Burkett 6.3, Wallace 5.8, Hamilton, Childs, and Delahanty 5.5, Kelley 5.4, Collins 5.3.

Top pitcher: Kid Nichols, 1st in wins, innings and WHIP, 2nd in ERA. Amos Rusie a close second, he was the ERA leader.
#1 Kid Nichols, #2 Amos Rusie, #3 Ted Breitenstein, #4 Cy Young, #5 Win Mercer.

Top player: Willie Keeler, leader in batting average, hits and OPS, 2nd in runs. He also was in the pennant race.
#1 Willie Keeler, #2 George Davis, #3 Hughie Jennings, #4 Fred Clarke, #5 Ed Delahanty.

Top rookie was Jack Powell, 15-10 for Cleveland. Honus Wagner (.338 in 61 games) had the best career.

Manager of the Year to Boston's Frank Selee, slipping past the Orioles for the pennant.

Special Award for Best Comeback: Amos Rusie.
After not playing in 1896 because of a contract dispute Rusie was one of the best pitchers of 1897, arguably THE best.

1896 National League

Baltimore won their third straight pennant, and pretty easily, with second place Cleveland 9.5 games behind. Cincinnati, Boston, and Chicago were in the race, while St. Louis and Louisville were the tail-end, with the other teams in between. Louisville finished 53 games out. Franchise locations were stable through the decade, but richer owners started buying up interests in poorer teams, something not allowed in 21st century (and with good reason).

Jesse Burkett won the batting title again, at .410. He also led in runs, hits, and total bases. Hughie Jennings batted .401, Ed Delahanty .397, Willie Keeler .386, Mike Tiernan .369, Billy Hamilton .366. Delahanty led in slugging, OPS, doubles, homers, and RBI (126). He also took the OPS+ crown. Joe Kelley stole 87 bases.

Frank Killen and Kid Nichols each won 30 games, Cy Young 28, Jouett Meekin 26, Nig Cuppy, Bill Hoffer and Win Mercer 25 each. Billy Rhines led in ERA with a 2.45 mark, followed by Nichols at 2.83 and Cuppy at 3.12. Cy Young led in strikeouts with 140. Pink Hawley had 137, Killen 134.

Pitching Win Shares leaders: Cy Young (Cleveland) 43, Nig Cuppy (Cleveland) 38, Kid Nichols (Boston) 33, Frank Killen (Pittsburgh) 32, Bill Hoffer (Baltimore) 31, Clark Griffith (Chicago) and Frank Dwyer (Cincinnati) 30 each, Jack Stivetts (Boston) 29, Jouett Meekin (New York) and Pink Hawley (Pittsburgh) 27, Red Ehret (Cincinnati) 24.

Players: Hughie Jennings (Baltimore) 36, Joe Kelley (Baltimore) Bill Dahlen (Chicago) and Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia) 31 each, Billy Hamilton (Boston) 30, Jesse Burkett (Cleveland) 29, Cupid Childs (Cleveland) 27, Elmer Smith (Pittsburgh) 26, Willie Keeler (Baltimore) and Mike Tiernan (New York) 25, Bill Lange (Chicago) 24, George Van Haltren (New York) 23.

WARP3 scores, pitchers; Cuppy 7.4, Hawley 6.8, Nichols 6.6, Ted Breitenstein (St. Louis) 6.4, Young 6.3, Hoffer 6.2, Killen 6.0, Meekin 5.1, Griffith 5.0, Stivetts 4.9, Dwyer 4.5, Win Mercer (Washington) 4.4, Bill Hill (Louisville) 4.3.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Jennings 11.3, Childs 9.0, Delahanty 8.8, Dahlen 8.3, Tiernan 8.1, Keeler and Kelley 7.4, Burkett and Smith 7.3, Van Haltren 6.5, Hamilton and George Davis (New York) 6.0, Lange 5.6.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Young 8.8, Cuppy 8.5, Hawley 7.0, Hoffer 6.6, Killen and Nichols 6.4, Dwyer 6.3. Position players: Jennings 8.9, Kelley 7.8, Childs 7.5, Delahanty 7.4, Dahlen 7.2, Burkett 6.6, Joyce 6.4, Hamilton 6.2, Smith 6.0.

Best pitcher: I'll take Cy Young again. There's a reason they named the award after him. Cy was 3rd in wins, 5th in ERA, 1st in strikeouts. Young's teammate Nig Cuppy would be #2, those two pitchers carried the team. 30-game winners Kid Nichols and Frank Killen follow at #3 and #4, with Bill Hoffer 5th.

Top player: Hughie Jennings, .401 hitter and shortstop for the pennant winners. 2nd in average and OBP, 3rd in hits, 2nd in RBI. Ed Delahanty, the OPS leader, would be my #2 with Dahlen #3, Burkett 4th, and Joe Kelley 5th.

Best rookie Fielder Jones, although Nap Lajoie would have the better career. Jones batted .354 in 104 games for Brooklyn.

Top manager of 1896 to Buck Ewing, for bringing the Reds from 8th to 3rd.

1895 National League

It was 1895, and Baltimore won their second straight pennant by squeaking past Cleveland in another good race, with Philadelphia a strong 3rd. Nine teams were above .500, with three lousy teams in Washington, St. Louis and Louisville that served as the league's punching bags.

Jesse Burkett won the batting title at .409, with Ed Delahanty close behind at .404. Offense remained high. Delahanty led in on-base, was second in slugging, and first in OPS, as well as doubles. Sam Thompson led in slugging, total bases, homers and RBI. Billy Hamilton led in runs and steals. Cy Young topped the league with 35 wins, Al Maul with a 2.45 ERA, and Amos Rusie with 201 strikeouts. Pink Hawley was second in wins (31), ERA (3.18) and strikeouts (142).

Win Shares leaders, pitching: Pink Hawley (Pittsburgh) 44, Cy Young (Cleveland) 37, Bill Hoffer (Baltimore) 35, Kid Nichols (Boston) and Clark Griffith (Chicago) 34, Nig Cuppy (Cleveland) 33, Amos Rusie (New York) 28, Jack Taylor (Philadelphia) and Ted Breitenstein (St. Louis) 25, George Hemming (Baltimore) 24, Adonis Terry (Chicago) and Dad Clarke (New York) 22.

Positions: Jesse Burkett (Cleveland) 35, Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia) 31, Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia) 30, Hughie Jennings (Baltimore), Mike Griffin (Brooklyn) and Bill Lange (Chicago) 29 each, Sam Thompson (Philadelphia) and Jake Stenzel (Pittsburgh) 28 each, Joe Kelley (Baltimore) 27, Ed McKean (Cleveland) 25, Willie Keeler (Baltimore) and Hugh Duffy (Boston) 23, Mike Tiernan and George Van Haltren (New York) 22.

WARP3: pitchers, Hawley 10.5, Young 10.1, Breitenstein 9.1, Rusie 8.5, Nichols 7.0, Griffith 6.9, Cuppy 6.5, Hoffer 6.4, Taylor and Al Maul (Washington) 5.6, Clarke 5.4, Terry 4.4, Frank Dwyer and Frank Foreman (both Cincinnati) 4.1.

Position players, Jennings 11.0, Griffin 8.9, Keeler and Deacon McGuire (Washington) 8.1, Thompson 8.0, Delahanty 7.7, Burkett and John McGraw (Baltimore) 7.5, Lange 6.6, Kelley and Hamilton 6.5, Jack Clements (Philadelphia) 6.1, Duffy 6.0, Stenzel and Steve Brodie (Baltimore) 5.9, McKean 5.8.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Young 10.2, Hawley 10.1, Nichols 8.6, Hoffer 8.1, Cuppy 8.0, Griffith 7.3. Position players: Jennings 8.1, Delahanty 7.1, Hamilton 6.5, Kelley 6.4, Burkett 6.2, Keeler 5.9, Griffin and McGraw 5.8, Thompson 5.7, Lange 5.5.

Best pitcher: Cy Young was the leader in wins, but Hawley was the best overall this year. I'll give it to the guy with the funny nickname.
#1 Pink Hawley, #2 Cy Young, #3 Kid Nichols, #4 Bill Hoffer, #5 Nig Cuppy.

Top player: Hughie Jennings hit .386 and played shortstop for the pennant winners. That's pretty good credentials.
#1 Hughie Jennings, #2 Ed Delahanty, #3 Billy Hamilton, #4 Jesse Burkett, #5 Sam Thompson.

Top rookie was pitcher Bill Hoffer. Jimmy Collins was the best for a full career.

Top manager to Patsy Tebeau, as Cleveland jumps from 6th to 2nd.

1894 National League

Baltimore took the pennant in a close race with New York as Boston ran third, then a group of teams bunched together with Louisville and Washington at the end. What was beginning to happen about now was that the same owners were buying up pieces of multiple teams, which would lead to one of the darkest chapters in major league history, syndicate ownership. Teams would transfer top players to one team they owned, effectively creating a league where teams were competing against their own farm teams, thirty years before farm teams were invented by Branch Rickey. This abomination would come to dominate the rest of the 1890s.

Walks counted as hits in this one season, so batting averages were wild. Hugh Duffy led the league with a .440 average which today would be roughly his on-base percentage. If only we had kept counting it that way. He also led in hits, total bases, doubles, homers, and RBI in a career year. Tuck Turner had a .418 average, Sam Thompson .415, Ed Delahanty .404, Billy Hamilton .403. Sliding Billy Hamilton scored 192 runs. Think about that for a minute. Hamilton also led in stolen bases, naturally.

Amos Rusie won the pitching trifecta, leading in wins, ERA and strikeouts. Rusie had 36 wins with teammate Jouett Meekin at 33, Kid Nichols with 32. Rusie had a 2.78 ERA, way ahead of Meekin at 3.70. Win Mercer was at 3.85 and Cy Young 3.94. Rusie had 195 strikeouts, Ted Breitenstein was second with 140. Meekin had 137.

Win Shares leaders:
Pitching; Amos Rusie (New York) 56, Jouett Meekin (New York) 48, Cy Young (Cleveland) 39, Kid Nichols (Boston) 37, Ted Breitenstein (St. Louis) 36, Jack Stivetts (Boston) 33, Pink Hawley (St. Louis) 29, Nig Cuppy (Cleveland) 28, Ed Stein (Brooklyn) 27, Sadie McMahon (Baltimore) and Brickyard Kennedy (Brooklyn) 24, Frank Dwyer (Cincinnati) 23, Tom Parrott (Cincinnati) 22.

Positioning; Hugh Duffy (Boston) 33, Joe Kelley (Baltimore) 30, Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia) 29, George Davis (New York) 25, Hughie Jennings and John McGraw (Baltimore) and Jake Stenzel (Pittsburgh) 24 each, Willie Keeler (Baltimore) 23, Lave Cross and Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia) 22, Dan Brouthers (Baltimore), Bill Dahlen (Chicago), Jesse Burkett (Cleveland), and George Van Haltren (New York) 21.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Rusie 12.0, Meekin 9.6, Breitenstein 8.8, Young 6.9, Win Mercer (Washington) 6.2, Jack Taylor (Philadelphia) 6.1, Clark Griffith (Chicago) 5.8, Stein and George Hemming (Louisville) 5.7, Nichols 5.6, McMahon 5.2, Hawley and Dwyer 4.8.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Hamilton 9.7, Cross 8.1, Kelley 7.7, Delahanty 7.4, Jennings 7.0, Duffy 6.8, Davis 6.7, Mike Griffin (Brooklyn) 6.3, Bill Joyce (Washington) 6.2, Keeler 5.7, Duke Ferrell (New York) 5.6, Sam Thompson (Philadelphia) 5.4, McGraw 5.3, Heinie Peitz (Baltimore) 5.2, Cupid Childs (Cleveland) 5.1.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Rusie 13.3, Meekin 10.9, Young 8.4, Breitenstein 7.8, Nichols 7.4, Taylor 6.1. Position players: Hamilton 8.0, Duffy 7.3, Kelley 6.9, Delahanty 5.5, McGraw, Davis, and Joyce 5.2, Jennings 5.1.

Best pitcher: Amos Rusie was the leader in wins, strikeouts and ERA, so it's hard not to vote for the Triple Crown leader, even if he did walk more than he struck out. He led in ERA by nearly a full run over teammate Meekin.
#1 Amos Rusie, #2 Jouett Meekin, #3 Cy Young, #4 Ted Breitenstein, #5 Kid Nichols.

Top player: Duffy was the standout batter in this year, leading the league in average, slugging, total bases, hits, doubles, homers, RBI, and OPS. A nearly clean sweep of the stats. It was Duffy's age 27 year, and by far his best work. Billy Hamilton is #2 with a lead in walks, OBA, steals and runs. Joe Kelley ranks #3.
#1 Hugh Duffy, #2 Billy Hamilton, #3 Joe Kelley, #4 Ed Delahanty, #5 John McGraw.

Not much in the rookie department in 1894. Fred Clarke may have become the best player of the lot.

Best manager to Ned Hanlon, for pulling the Baltimore Orioles up to the pennant.

1893 National League

Unchallenged as the "major league," the National rolled on in 1893. Boston beat out Pittsburgh for the pennant, and the field stretched from Boston's 86-43 to Washington's 40-89, 46 games back. By now, rules had evolved to roughly the same as today, so any fan would recognize the game: 60 feet, 6 inches; 4 balls; 3 strikes; bunts, hit and run, fielder gloves, pitchers throwing overhand, the works. We now meet the era which would qualify as "modern baseball."

The top three in batting average were Phillies: Billy Hamilton (.380), Sam Thompson (.370), and Ed Delahanty (.368). Hugh Duffy was next at .363. Thompson led in hits (222) and doubles (37), Delahanty in total bases, home runs (19), and RBI (146). Tom Brown had 66 stolen bases. Offense exploded all over the league with the new rules, especially pitchers moving back 10 feet.

Ted Breitenstein led the league with a 3.18 ERA, followed by Amos Rusie at 3.23, Cy Young at 3.36, Red Ehret at 3.44, John Clarkson at 3.48. Frank Killen led with 36 wins, Young and Kid Nichols won 34 each, Rusie 33. Rusie led with 208 strikeouts, while second was all the way down to Brickyard Kennedy with 107. Rusie almost doubled up the second-place guy.

Pitching Win Shares: Frank Killen (Pittsburgh) 42, Amos Rusie (New York) 41, Kid Nichols (Boston) 40, Cy Young (Cleveland) 35, Ted Breitenstein (St. Louis) 30, Brickyard Kennedy (Brooklyn) 29, Sadie McMahon (Baltimore) 26, Jack Stivetts (Boston) 25, Red Ehret (Pittsburgh) 24, Frank Dwyer (Cincinnati) and Kid Gleason (St. Louis) 22.

Position players; Hugh Duffy (Boston) and Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia) 28, Herman Long (Boston) 26, Billy Nash (Boston) and Elmer Smith (Pittsburgh) 25, Tommy McCarthy (Boston) and Jesse Burkett (Cleveland) 24, Cupid Childs (Cleveland) 23, Bobby Lowe (Boston) and George Davis (New York) 22, Bid McPhee (Cincinnati) and Denny Lyons (Pittsburgh) 21.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Delahanty 10.7, Smith 8.3, Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia) 7.1, Lyons 6.6, Davis 6.5, McPhee 6.2, Nash 6.0, Childs 5.6, Duffy and Bob Allen (Philadelphia) 5.4, Jake Beckley (Pittsburgh) and Jack Crooks (St. Louis) 5.3, Mike Griffin (Brooklyn) 5.2, Long 5.1.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Rusie 11.1, Young 10.5, Breitenstein 9.7, Nichols 8.9, Killen 7.6, Kennedy 6.7, McMahon 5.9, Al Maul (Washington) 4.9, Willie McGill (Chicago) 4.8, Duke Esper (Washington) 4.5.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Rusie 11.0, Nichols 10.8, Young 9.9, Breitenstein 9.2, Killen 8.8, Kennedy 5.5. Position players: Delahanty 7.3, Davis 5.8, Hamilton 5.3, Smith 5.1, Childs 5.0, Connor and Lyons 4.6, Burkett 4.3, Beckley 4.2, McGraw and McPhee 4.1.

Best pitcher: Amos Rusie is by far the best choice. Leader in strikeouts and innings, 2nd in ERA, 4th in wins. A good field, I'd put Cy Young #2 and Kid Nichols #3 with Frank Killen 4th and Ted Breitenstein 5th.

Best hitter: Ed Delahanty. Sliding Billy Hamilton tops the rate stats, but played only 82 games. Delahanty exploded on the league, leading in slugging, HR and RBI, 2nd to Hamilton in OPS, 3rd in batting average.
#1 Ed Delahanty, #2 Elmer Smith, #3 George Davis, #4 Hugh Duffy, #5 Cupid Childs.

Top rookie was almost certainly Bill Lange, .281 in 117 games. Not many rookies of note.

Top manager: Al Buckenberger got Pittsburgh up from the middle of the league to a battle for the pennant.

1892 National League

Now the NL is the only major league, the "Big League" at 12 teams, having taken on four AA teams in cities where the NL did not have markets: Baltimore, Louisville, St. Louis, and Washington. Other AA players wound up on other teams, such as Dan Brouthers and Charlie Buffinton from AA Boston to Brooklyn in the NL. Others stayed in the same city, some moved on to other leagues and never got back to the "major league." Boston won the pennant, comfortably ahead of Cleveland and Brooklyn. Baltimore finished last, 54.5 games out, something that would become a problem: it's difficult to draw fans to see a 12th place team, 40 or 50 games out of 1st place.

Statistical leaders included: Dan Brouthers won the batting title at .335, a little ahead of Sliding Billy Hamilton at .330. Cupid Childs hit .317, Oyster Burns .315, Ed Delahanty .306, Sam Thompson .305, and 41-year-old Jim O'Rourke hit .304. Childs led in on-base, Delahanty in slugging. Childs led in runs with 136, then came Hamilton with 132, Duffy with 125, Roger Connor 123, and Brouthers 121. Brouthers led in hits (197), total bases (282), and RBI (124). John M. Ward led in steals with 88, Delahanty in triples with 21. Connor led with 37 doubles.

Cy Young led in ERA at 1.93 with Tim Keefe second at 2.36, John Clarkson third at 2.48, Nig Cuppy 2.51, Adonis Terry 2.57. Young tied with Bill Hutchinson with 36 wins. Kid Nichols and Jack Stivetts had 35, Gus Weyhing and Amos Rusie 32. Hutchinson edged Amos Rusie in strikeouts 314 to 304, with Hutchinson again pitching a great many innings. He had 622, Rusie 541, Weyhing 470. Weyhing was also third in strikeouts at 202.

1892 Win Shares, pitchers; Jack Stivetts (Boston) 49, Kid Nichols (Boston) 48, Bill Hutchison (Chicago) 45, Cy Young (Cleveland) 44, Gus Weyhing (Philadelphia) 36, Nig Cuppy (Cleveland) and Amos Rusie (New York) 32, Ed Stein (Brooklyn) 30, Harry Staley (Boston) and Scott Stratton (Louisville) 29, George Haddock (Brooklyn) 27.

Position players; Dan Brouthers (Brooklyn) 34, Bill Dahlen (Chicago) and Cupid Childs (Cleveland) 32, Elmer Smith (Pittsburgh) 31, Hugh Duffy (Boston) 29, Herman Long (Boston) 28, Bid McPhee (Cincinnati) 27, Oyster Burns (Brooklyn) and Bug Holliday (Cincinnati) 26, Jimmy Ryan (Chicago), and Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia) 25.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Rusie 9.1, Young 7.7, Hutchison 7.0, Stivetts 5.8, Tony Mullane (Cincinnati) 5.5, Nichols 4.9, Stein 4.8, Frank Killen (Washington) 4.5, Stratton 4.4.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Childs 9.6, Brouthers 9.2, Hamilton 7.5, Roger Connor (Philadelphia) 7.4, Sam Thompson (Philadelphia) 7.1, McPhee 7.0, Dahlen 6.9, Holliday 6.2, Dave Foutz (Brooklyn) and Chief Zimmer (Cleveland) 6.1, Jack Clements (Philadelphia) 5.7.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Young 12.6, Hutchinson 9.3, Nichols 8.6, Weyhing 8.2, Stein 6.8, Cuppy 6.5, Rusie 6.2. Position players, Brouthers 9.4, Childs 7.7, Hamilton 6.4, Connor 6.2, Dahlen 5.7, McPhee 5.4, Long and Jack Virtue (Cleveland) 5.2.

Top pitcher: Cy Young was ERA leader by a safe margin, and tied for the lead in wins and led in WHIP. I'll take him. #2 was Hutchison, tied for lead in wins and the league workhorse.
#1 Cy Young, #2 Bill Hutchinson, #3 Amos Rusie, #4 Kid Nichols, #5 Gus Weyhing.

Top player is Brouthers again. He led in average, OPS, hits and RBI.
#1 Dan Brouthers, #2 Cupid Childs, #3 Billy Hamilton, #4 Bill Dahlen, #5 Bid McPhee.

Top rookie: Nig Cuppy had the best year. Not too many rookies of note, with two leagues folding into one. Willie Keeler became the best player.

Top manager to Frank Selee, for molding together Boston's pennant winners and winning another championship in the enlarged league.

1891 National League

Boston won the pennant, the first of three in a row, in a close race with Chicago. New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh followed in that order.

Billy Hamilton took the batting title with a .340 average. Bug Holliday hit .319, Pete Browning .317, Jack Clements .310, and Mike Tiernan .306. Hamilton scored 141 runs, Herman Long 129 and Cupid Childs 120. Hamilton had 179 hits, Ed McKean 170. Mike Griffin had 36 doubles and George Davis 35. Harry Stovey led with 20 triples, Jake Beckley had 19. Stovey and Tiernan had 16 homers each. Cap Anson led with 120 RBI, Stovey, Billy Nash, and Jim O'Rourke had 95 each. Hamilton had 111 steals and Arlie Latham was second with 87.

Bill Hutchinson led the league with 44 victories. John Clarkson and Amos Rusie were next with 33 wins each. Kid Nichols notched 30 and Cy Young 27. John Ewing led the league with a 2.27 ERA, followed by Nichols at 2.39 and Rusie at 2.55. Rusie had 337 strikeouts, Hutchinson 261, Nichols 240.

1891 NL Win Shares, pitchers; Bill Hutchinson (Chicago) 49, John Clarkson (Boston) 42, Kid Nichols (Boston) 39, Amos Rusie (New York) 36, Harry Staley (Pittsburgh/Boston) and Kid Gleason (Philadelphia) 29, Cy Young (Cleveland) 28, Mark Baldwin (Pittsburgh) 25, Tony Mullane (Cincinnati) 24, Ad Gumbert (Chicago) 23.

Position players; Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia) 36, Herman Long (Boston) 29, Harry Stovey (Boston) and Mike Tiernan (New York) 26, Arlie Latham (Cincinnati) 25, Roger Connor (New York) 23, Jimmy Ryan (Chicago) and Sam Thompson (Philadelphia) 22, Cap Anson, Bill Dahlen, Fred Pfeffer, Walt Wilmot (Chicago) and Cupid Childs and George Davis (Cleveland) 21.

WARP3 scores: Rusie 7.5, Hutchinson 7.2, Clarkson 7.1, Young 6.3, Gleason 4.9, Staley 4.6, Nichols 4.5, Mullane 4.3. Not among WARP leaders: Baldwin 3.4, Gumbert 2.2.

Players; Hamilton 9.0, Long 7.8, Latham 7.0, Connor 6.8, Chief Zimmer (Cleveland) 6.7, Stovey and Thompson 6.4, Tiernan 6.3, Jack Clements (Philadelphia) and Mike Griffin (Brooklyn) 6.1, George Gore (New York) and Bid McPhee (Cincinnati) 5.6, Dahlen (rookie) 5.3. Not among WARP leaders: Ryan 4.5, Anson 4.8, Pfeffer 3.4, Wilmot 4.1, Childs 3.4, Davis 3.4.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Hutchinson 9.0, Clarkson 8.8, Nichols 8.7, Rusie 8.2, Staley 6.8, Young 6.3, John Ewing (New York) 5.6, Gleason 5.4. Position players, Hamilton 7.1, Latham 5.9, Connor 5.6, Long 5.3, Stovey 5.2, Tiernan 4.6, McPhee 4.5, Anson 4.0.

Top pitcher: Bill Hutchison, Chicago workhorse. Cap Anson worked his best pitchers hard. Hutchison led in wins and innings, 2nd in strikeouts.

#1 Bill Hutchison, #2 Amos Rusie, #3 John Clarkson, #4 Kid Nichols, #5 Cy Young.

Top player: Sliding Billy Hamilton, leader in average, hits, runs, walks, and steals.

#1 Billy Hamilton, #2 Herman Long, #3 Roger Connor, #4 Mike Tiernan, #5 Harry Stovey.

Top rookie: Bill Dahlen, batting .260 and scoring 114 runs for Chicago.

Top manager: Frank Selee, the Boston skipper.

1891 American Association

The final year as a major league. A same-named league would become a minor league a few years later. The Cincinnati franchise folded in midseason and was replaced by Milwaukee, with some players transferring and others scattering around the league. Boston won the pennant battle with St. Louis, while Baltimore, Philadelphia, Columbus, Louisville and Washington trailed. After the year, the league folded, with four franchises joining the NL, as others had before.

Dan Brouthers led hitters in batting average with a .350 mark for the Boston team, teammate Hugh Duffy hit .336, Tip O'Neill batted .323, and a third Boston player, Tom Brown, hit .321. George Van Haltren batted .318. Brown scored 177 runs, with Van Haltren tallying 136 and Duffy and Dummy Hoy scored 134. Brown led with 189 hits, Van Haltren and Duffy had 180. Jocko Milligan had 35 doubles and Brown 30. Brown had 21 triples and Brouthers 19. Duke Farrell hit 12 home runs with Milligan and Denny Lyons at 11. Farrell and Duffy brought in 110 runs each. Brouthers got 1-09. Brown had 106 steals.

Sadie McMahon led pitchers with 35 victories. George Haddock had 34, Jack Stivetts had 33, Gus Weyhing 31. Ed Crane led with a 2.45 ERA, followed by Haddock at 2.49 and Charlie Buffinton at 2.55. Stivetts led with 259 strikeouts, Phil Knell had 228, McMahon and Weyhing 219.

AA Win Shares:
Pitchers; Jack Stivetts (St. Louis) 46, Sadie McMahon (Baltimore) 39, Gus Weyhing (Philadelphia) 37, George Haddock (Boston) 34, Phil Knell (Columbus) 32, Charlie Buffinton (Boston) 31, Elton Chamberlain (Philadelphia) 27, Frank Dwyer (Cincinnati/Milwaukee) 24.

Position players; Tom Brown (Boston) 31, Dan Brouthers (Boston) 29, Hugh Duffy (Boston) and Dummy Hoy (St. Louis) 28, George Van Haltren (Baltimore) 26, Curt Welch (Baltimore) and Duke Farrell (Boston) 24, Jack Crooks (Columbus) and Denny Lyons and Tip O'Neill (St. Louis) 23 each.

WARP3 scores, pitchers: Stivetts 8.6, Buffinton 6.4, Haddock 6.2, McMahon 6.0, Frank Foreman (Washington) 5.3, Weyhing 4.7, Knell 4.6. Not among WARP leaders were Chamberlain 2.2, Dwyer 0.1.

Players, Farrell 6.7 (best year), Duffy 6.4, Brouthers 6.2, Welch 5.7, Paul Radford (Boston), Jocko Milligan (Philadelphia), and King Kelly (Cincinnati/Boston) 5.4, Crooks 5.3, Brown 4.9 (career year), Lyons and Charlie Duffee (Columbus) 4.3. Not among WARP leaders are Hoy 3.6, Van Haltren 2.2, O'Neill 2.8.

WAR leaders, pitchers: McMahon 11.0, Weyhing 10.4, Stivetts 10.3, Buffinton 9.3, Haddock 8.7, Knell 8.3. Position players: Brouthers 5.6, Duffy 5.1, Radford and Brown 4.8, Crooks 4.3, Lyons 4.2, Welch 4.1, Farrell 4.0, Milligan 3.9, Werden 3.6.

Top pitcher: Jack Stivetts led in strikeouts, third in wins and fifth in ERA, but second in ERA+.

#1 Jack Stivetts, #2 Sadie McMahon, #3 George Haddock, #4 Charlie Buffinton, #5 Gus Weyhing.

Top player: Dan Brouthers led in the rate stats, and in runs created. Tom Brown led in most others.

#1 Dan Brouthers, #2 Tom Brown, #3 Hugh Duffy, #4 Curt Welch, #5 Duke Farrell.

Top rookie: Hughie Jennings batted .292 in 90 games.

Top manager: Arthur Irwin led Boston to the last AA major league pennant.

1890 Players' League

It was a one-year league only, an attempt by labor to trump management. It could have worked, but management declared all-out war, and pursued a scorched-earth policy. The best players by and large were in the PL, but fans got so confused they tended to stay away. Everyone lost money, the PL's money men backed out, and the AA folded one year later leaving only the National as the "major league." They played some pretty good baseball in the PL, the best of 1890. The teams finished in this order: Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Only Buffalo played poorly, and the pennant race was pretty good, but it got buried under the rhetoric at the time.

Pete Browning took the PL batting title with a .373 average, just ahead of Dave Orr's .371, vindication for the American Association veterans. Jim O'Rourke batted .360, Roger Connor .349, and Jimmy Ryan .340. Hugh Duffy led with 161 runs, Tom Brown 146, and Harry Stovey 142. Duffy had 191 hits, Billy Shindle 189, and John M. Ward 188. Browning led with 40 doubles, Jake Beckley had 38 and O'Rourke 37. Beckley and Joe Visner had 22 triples. Connor had 14 home runs and Hardy Richardson 13. Richardson drove in 146 runs while Orr had 124 and Beckley 120. Stovey had 97 steals.

Mark Baldwin led the league with 33 wins, Silver King and Gus Weyhing won 30, Charley Radbourn 27. King ran away with the ERA title by posting a 2.69 mark. Harry Staley was at 3.23 and Radbourn 3.31. Baldwin led with 206 strikeouts, King had 185, Weyhing 177.

Win Shares leaders, Player's League Pitchers; Silver King (Chicago) 44, Mark Baldwin (Chicago) 42, Charley Radbourn (Boston) 34, Gus Weyhing (Brooklyn) 32, Ben Sanders (Philadelphia) 28, Harry Staley (Pittsburgh) 27, Ad Gumbert (Boston) 25, Hank O'Day (New York) 23, John Sowders (Brooklyn) and Ed Crane (New York) 22, Charlie Buffinton and Phil Knell (Philadelphia) 21.

PL Position players; George Van Haltren (Brooklyn) 30 (about one-third pitching), John Ward (Brooklyn) 27, Hugh Duffy (Chicago) and Billy Shindle (Philadphia) 26, Roger Connor (New York) 25, Jimmy Ryan (Chicago) and Pete Browning (Cleveland) 23, Jake Beckley (Pittsburgh) 21, Billy Nash, Hardy Richardson, and Harry Stovey (Boston), Lou Bierbauer (Brooklyn), Buck Ewing and Jim O'Rourke (New York) 20 each, Dan Brouthers (Boston), Dave Orr (Brooklyn) and Tip O'Neill (Chicago) 19. The PL was pretty deep in stars and "name" players.

WARP3 scores: King 11.1, Radbourn 8.4, Baldwin and Staley 6.0, Weyhing 5.2, Sanders 4.0, Knell 3.9, Gumbert 3.4, Tim Keefe (New York) 3.3. Not among WARP leaders: O'Day 1.4, Sowders 2.4, Crane 1.4, Buffinton 2.7.

Players, Browning 7.1, Shindle 6.7, Connor 6.4, Ewing 6.3, Duffy 6.1, Duke Farrell (Chicago) 5.6, Ward and O'Rourke (at 39 years old) 5.5, Beckley 5.2, Nash 4.9, Stovey and Henry Larkin (Cleveland) 4.8, Richardson 4.7, Patsy Tebeau (Cleveland) 4.6, Bierbauer 4.4, Ryan and King Kelly (Boston) 4.3. Not among WARP leaders were Van Haltren 4.0, Brouthers 3.9, Orr 2.9 (last season), O'Neill 1.8.

WAR leaders, pitchers: King 13.7, Baldwin 9.8, Radbourn 9.7, Weyhing 8.6, Staley 6.2, Sanders 5.7, Keefe 5.5. Position players: Connor 7.5, Browning 6.2, Duffy 5.6, Stovey 4.7, Brouthers, Richardson, and Beckley 4.2, O'Rourke 4.1.

Top pitcher: Silver King. First in ERA and WHIP, second in wins and strikeouts. Teammate Baldwin won more but didn't pitch as well.
#1 Silver King, #2 Charley Radbourn, #3 Mark Baldwin, #4 Harry Staley, #5 Gus Weyhing.

Best player: Roger Connor, leader in slugging, OPS and homers. Second in OPS+ to Browning, but Browning's defense was, well, offensive as usual.
#1 Roger Connor, #2 Pete Browning, #3 Hugh Duffy, #4 Billy Shindle, #5 John M. Ward.

Most valuable: John Ward, who conceived and was the power behind the league, as well as one of its best players.

No rookies of note, this was a league by and for established players.

Best manager: King Kelly (?), directing Boston to the pennant. Why not?

1890 National League

Most stars went to the new Players' League, created in protest by the stars over conditions in the NL and to a lesser extent, the AA. Cap Anson was a notable exception. It was a year of labor war, and fans stayed away from the ballparks in droves, bankrupting to PL and soon the AA as well. By 1892, only the National League would be left standing. Brooklyn and Cincinnati jumped to the NL from the AA, and Indianapolis and Washington were dropped. Brooklyn won the pennant with a roster mostly intact from the year before, comfortably ahead of Chicago, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Boston. New York was fair, Cleveland was bad, and Pittsburgh was terrible, finishing 23-113.

Jack Glasscock won the batting title with a .336 average. Following were Billy Hamilton at .325, Jack Clements at .315, Sam Thompson at .313, Cap Anson and Joseph Knight at .312, and Jesse Burkett and George Pinkney at .309. Hub Collins scored 148 runs, Cliff Carroll 134, Hamilton 133 and Mike Tiernan 132. Thompson and Glasscock had 172 hits each. Thompson led with 41 doubles. John Reilly had 26 triples and Bid McPhee 22 while Tiernan had 21. Tiernan, Walt Wilmot, and Oyster Burns had 13 home runs. Burns had 128 RBI, Anson 107 and Thompson 102. Hamilton led the way with 102 steals, Collins had 85 and Billy Sunday 84.

Bill Hutchinson led the loop with 41 wins. Kid Gleason won 38, Tom Lovett 30, and Amos Rusie won 29 at age 19. Billy Rhines won 28 at age 21 and Kid Nichols 27 at age 20. The veterans were in the Players' League, so the teams had to find some new, mostly young, pitchers. Rhines had a 1.95 ERA, Nichols 2.23, Tony Mullane 2.24. Rusie was on top with 341 strikeouts, Hutchinson had 289.

Win Shares leaders, NL Pitchers; Bill Hutchinson (Chicago) 54, Kid Gleason (Philadelphia) 45, Kid Nichols (Boston) 43, Adonis Terry (Brooklyn) and Billy Rhines (Cincinnati) 41, Amos Rusie (New York) 40, John Clarkson (Boston) 33, Bob Caruthers (Brooklyn) 30, Charlie Getzien (Boston) and Tom Lovett (Brooklyn) 29.

NL Position players; George Pinkney (Brooklyn) 29, Hub Collins (Brooklyn) 28, Dave Foutz (Brooklyn, playing 1B) 27, Walt Wilmot (Chicago) and Mike Tiernan (New York) 26, Jack Glasscock (New York) and Billy Hamilton (Philadelphia) 25, Cap Anson (Chicago) 24, Jimmy Cooney (Chicago) 22, Oyster Burns (Brooklyn), Bid McPhee (Cincinnati), Ed McKean (Cleveland) and Bob Allen (Philadelphia) 21.

WARP3 scores: Gleason 7.0, Nichols 6.9 (rookie), Rusie 6.6, Rhines 6.4 (rookie), Tony Mullane (Cincinnati) 5.1, Hutchinson 4.9, Clarkson 4.6, Terry 3.3, Mickey Welch (New York) 3.1, Caruthers and Lovett 3.0. Not a leader was Getzien 2.1 (last good year).

Players, Collins 7.3, Glasscock 6.9, Pinkney 6.6, Tiernan 6.4, Cooney (rookie) and McPhee 6.3, Jack Clements (Philadelphia) 5.9, Wilmot 5.4, Tom Burns (Chicago) 5.3, Chief Zimmer (Cleveland) 4.8, Foutz and Charlie Bennett (Boston) 4.7, Anson 4.5. WS leaders not among WARP leaders were Hamilton 4.0, Burns 4.0, McKean 3.8, Allen 4.4 (rookie). A big year for rookies and other young players, with so many holes to fill.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Nichols 11.2, Gleason 10.4, Rhines 9.9, Hutchinson 8.6, Clarkson 7.8, Rusie 7.3. Position players, Glasscock 6.7, Collins 5.9, Pinkney 5.3, Anson 5.0, Cooney 4.8, McPhee and Hamilton 4.6, Tiernan 4.4.

Top pitcher: Rookie Billy Rhines, ERA and WHIP leader. Rhines made an impressive debut.

#1 Billy Rhines, #2 Kid Nichols, #3 Amos Rusie, #4 Kid Gleason, #5 Bill Hutchinson.

New York shortstop Pebbly Jack Glasscock was the best in the year of the decimated NL.

#1 Jack Glasscock, #2 Hub Collins, #3 George Pinkney, #4 Mike Tiernan, #5 Cap Anson.

Top rookie: Billy Rhines, league ERA leader. Rhines also led in WHIP and was 5th in wins.

Top manager: Bill McGunnigle, holding together Brooklyn as they changed leagues and winning another pennant.

1890 American Association

This was the beginning of the end for the AA. 1890 was the year of the Players' League, as the top players of the game banded together, found some guys with money, and started their own league. Stars were lured away, and the general depression of attendance would kill off the AA after the 1991 season. The slipping of AA franchises to the NL continued, as Cincinnati and Brooklyn went to the National for 1890. Kansas City also dropped out, and Baltimore moved to Brooklyn partway into the season. Rochester, Syracuse, and Toledo joined the league to fill out the schedule. Louisville won the league, with Columbus and St. Louis in contention. Toledo and Rochester were also above .500.

Pete Browning, Harry Stovey, Henry Larkin, Dave Orr, and Tip O'Neill were in the Players' League, as well as pitchers Silver King and Matt Kilroy. Billy Hamilton and Tommy Tucker went to the NL. Ditto pitchers Tony Mullane, Bob Caruthers, and Dave Foutz.

William "Chicken" Wolf won the batting title with a .363 average, and next came Denny Lyons at .354, Tommy McCarthy at .350, Spud Johnson with .346, and Cupid Childs .345. Jim McTamany scored 149 runs, McCarthy 137. Wolf had 197 hits. Childs hit 33 doubles. Perry Werden hit 20 triples. Johnson had 113 RBI. McCarthy stole 83 bases.

Sadie McMahon led with 36 wins, followed by Scott Stratton with 34, Hank Gasright with 30, Bob Barr 28, Jack Stivetts 27, and Red Ehret 25. Stratton posted a 2.36 ERA, Ehret 2.53, Frank Knauss 2.81, and Elton Chamberlain 2.83. McMahon had 291 strikeouts to edge out a lead over Stivetts with 289 while Toad Ramsay had 257.

Win Shares leaders, AA Pitchers; Scott Stratton (Louisville) 51, Jack Stivetts (St. Louis) 41, Red Ehret (Louisville) and John Healy (Toledo) 34, Sadie McMahon (Baltimore/Philadelphia) 33, Bob Barr (Rochester) 31, Hank Gastright (Columbus) 30, Toad Ramsey (St. Louis) 28, Frank Knauss (Columbus) and Fred Smith (Toledo) 22.

AA Position players; Cupid Childs (Syracuse) 31, Chicken Wolf (Louisville) and Denny Lyons (Philadelphia) 27, Spud Johnson (Columbus) 25, Tommy McCarthy (St. Louis) 24, Ed Swartwood (Toledo) 23, Jim McTamany (Columbus) 22, Jack O'Connor (Columbus) and Jimmy Knowles (Rochester) 21, Charlie Reilly (Columbus) and Perry Werden (Toledo) 20.

WARP3 scores: McMahon 8.2, Stratton 5.4 (career year), Healy 4.4 (career year), Stivetts 3.0. Not among leaders: Ehret -0.1, Barr 1.6, Gastright -0.2, Ramsey 0.3 (last major league year), Knauss 1.0 (rookie), Smith 2.2 (rookie).

Players, Childs 7.0 (rookie, 4 previous ABs), O'Connor 5.7 (best year), Lyons and McTamany 4.8, Wolf 4.6, Swartwood 4.4, Reilly 4.1 (rookie), Johnson and Phil Tomney (Louisville) 3.6, McCarthy 3.5, Knowles 3.4 with Werden 2.7.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Stratton 10.5, McMahon 9.3, Healy 7.5, Stivetts 6.8, Ehret 6.4, Barr 5.6, Ramsay 5.0. Position players, Childs 6.0, Wolf 5.5, Swartwood 5.1, McCarthy 4.8, Lyons 4.3, McTamany, Reilly, and Knowles 4.1, Johnson 4.0.

Best pitcher: Scott Stratton was the best pitcher in the league, leading in ERA and second in wins. It was by far his best year as a major leaguer.

#1 Scott Stratton, #2 Sadie McMahon, #3 Jack Stivetts, #4 John Healy, #5 Red Ehret.

Best player: I'll go with Cupid Childs, 2nd in OPS in a very tough park to hit. He also led the league in doubles and was 3rd in RBI. Chicken Wolf and Denny Lyons were better hitters, but counting in defense Childs was the top of the league.

#1 Cupid Childs, #2 Denny Lyons, #3 Chicken Wolf, #4 Ed Swartwood, #5 Jack O'Connor.

Best rookie: Childs, the best player in the league. He went on to a good career, mostly with Cleveland.

Best manager: Jack Chapman of Louisville, in his only successful season.

1889 National League

Detroit dropped out of the league, and Cleveland joined up, abandoning the AA. New York won its second straight pennant, edging out the Beaneaters of Boston, in spite of the heroic efforts of Boston pitcher John Clarkson. Chicago was just above .500 in third, then came Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Indianapolis, with Washington last.

Dan Brouthers won the batting title at .373. Next came Jack Glasscock at .352, Cap Anson .342, Mike Tiernan .335, Fred Carroll .330, Buck Ewing .327, Jimmy Ryan .325. Tiernan scored 147 runs, Hugh Duffy 144, Ryan 140, George Gore 132. Glasscock had 205 hits. King Kelly led with 41 doubles, Glasscock had 40. Walt Wilmot had 19 triples. Sam Thompson had 20 homers. Roger Connor had 130 RBI, Brouthers 118, Anson 117. Jim Fogarty stole 99 bases.

Clarkson won 49 games while pitching in 73, an astonishing total by this time. Next highest was 49 games pitched. It was serious overwork, but it was effective. Charlie Buffinton and Tim Keefe won 28, Mickey Welch 27, Pud Galvin won 23, Cinders O'Brien 22, Henry Boyle and Harry Staley 21, Ed Beatin and Charley Radbourn 20. Clarkson led with a 2.73 ERA, Jersey Bakley at 2.96, Welch 3.02, Buffinton 3.24, Keefe 3.36. Clarkson completed his pitcher's triple crown with 284 strikeouts, Keefe had 225, Staley 159.

Win Shares leaders, NL Pitchers; John Clarkson (Boston) 60, Charlie Buffinton (Philadelphia) 33, Mickey Welch (New York) 31, Henry Boyle (Indianapolis) and Ben Sanders (Philadephia) 28, Darby O'Brien (Cleveland) 23, Jersey Bakely and Ed Beatin (Cleveland) and Harry Staley (Pittsburgh) 22, Charley Radbourn (Boston) 21.

NL Position players; Dan Brouthers (Boston) and Mike Tiernan (New York) 28, Jack Glasscock (Indianapolis) 27, Roger Connor (New York) 26, Hardy Richardson (Boston) and Jimmy Ryan (Chicago) 25, King Kelly (Boston) 24, Buck Ewing and George Gore (New York) and Fred Carroll (Pittsburgh) 23, Cap Anson and George Van Haltren (Chicago) 21.

WARP3 scores: Pitchers, Clarkson 12.2, Buffinton 9.5, Boyle 5.9 (last and best year), Welch 5.8, Sanders 5.3. Not among WARP leaders were: O'Brien 2.5, Bakely 3.3, Beatin 2.2, Staley 3.0, Radbourn 3.6.

Players, Tiernan and Ewing 8.5, Glasscock 7.6, Ryan 7.3, Ed McKean (Cleveland) 6.8, Connor 6.6, Carroll 6.5 (best year), Brouthers 6.3, Richardson 6.2, Gore 6.1. Not among WARP leaders: Kelly 4.6, Anson 5.0, Van Haltren 5.0.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Clarkson 16.0, Buffinton 9.7, Welch 6.8, Sanders 6.1, Boyle 5.9, Radbourn 5.0, Keefe 4.7, Bakley 4.6, Beatin 4.5. Position players: Glasscock 6.6, Connor 6.4, Brouthers 6.3, Tiernan and Tucker 6.2, Anson 5.3, McKean 5.0, Ewing 4.5, Ryan 4.4, Richardson 4.1.

Best pitcher: John Clarkson. Clarkson nearly doubled up everybody in Win Shares, leading with 620 innings which was 200 more than anyone else. It was an astounding season, and by far the best of the year. Perhaps it was even more astonishing that his arm didn't fall off. He also led in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

#1 John Clarkson, #2 Charlie Buffinton, #3 Mickey Welch, #4 Henry Boyle, #5 Ben Sanders.

Best player: Mike Tiernan scored 147 runs for the pennant winners, batted .335, and was a solid all-around player. Pebbly Jack Glasscock was superb defensively and batted .352, but his also-ran team hurts him. Dan Brouthers hit .373, Roger Connor drove in 130 runs, and Buck Ewing was widely regarded as the best player in the league. There are also others who could rank here.

#1 Mike Tiernan, #2 Jack Glasscock, #3 Dan Brouthers, #4 Buck Ewing, #5 Roger Connor.

Amos Rusie had a lousy rookie season, but would become the best of the lot.

Best manager: Jim Hart got Boston within a game of the top.

1889 American Association

Cleveland was replaced by Columbus in this year, and Brooklyn won a close race with St. Louis to take the pennant. Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Baltimore had good years. Louisville had a horrible year, losing 111 games while winning only 27.

Tommy Tucker won the batting title with a .372 average, while Tip O'Neill was second with a .335 average. Denny Lyons batted .329, Dave Orr .327, Bug Holliday .321, Henry Larkin .318. Harry Stovey and Mike Griffin tied with 152 runs scored, Darby O'Brien 146, Billy Hamilton 144. Curt Welch had 39 doubles, Stovey 38. Lefty Marr had 15 triples. Stovey and Holliday had 19 home runs. Stovey had 119 RBI, Dave Foutz had 113 RBI, O'Neill 110 RBI. Hamilton stole 111 bases, O'Brien 91.

Bob Caruthers won 40 games, Silver King 35, Elton Chamberlain and Jesse Duryea 32, Gus Weyhing 30, Matt Kilroy 29. Jack Stivetts had a 2.25 ERA, Duryea 2.56, Kilroy 2.85, Weyhing 2.95, Chamberlain 2.97, Tony Mullane 2.99. Mark Baldwin led with 368 strikeouts, Kilroy 217, Weyhing 213, Chamberlain 202.

Win Shares, pitchers; Bob Caruthers (Brooklyn, sending Caruthers back to the mound full-time) 46, Matt Kilroy (Baltimore) and Silver King (St. Louis) 44 each, Elton Chamberlain (St. Louis) 42, Jesse Duryea (Cincinnati) 37, Adonis Terry (Brooklyn) and Gus Weyhing (Philadelphia) 30, Frank Foreman (Baltimore) 28, Mark Baldwin (Columbus) 27, Tony Mullane and Lee Viau (Cincinnati) 24.

AA Position players; Tommy Tucker (Baltimore) and Darby O'Brien (Brooklyn) 30 each, Harry Stovey (Philadelphia) 28, Billy Shindle (Baltimore) and Tip O'Neill (St. Louis) 27 each, Oyster Burns (Brooklyn) and Denny Lyons (Philadelphia) 25 each, Hub Collins and Dave Foutz (Brooklyn), Lee (Lefty) Marr (Columbus) and Billy Hamilton (Kansas City) 24.

WARP3 scores: Pitchers, Kilroy 7.9 (his last good year), Caruthers 7.2 (his best pitching year), Duryea 6.5 (rookie, best year), Chamberlain 6.1 (best year), Jim Conway (Kansas City) 5.8, Foreman 5.3 (rookie, 21 previous innings), King 4.3, Terry 3.6, Weyhing 3.5. Not among leaders: Baldwin 3.0, Mullane 2.8, Viau 1.9.

Players, Stovey 7.8, Lyons 7.6 (best year), Shindle 6.0, Marr 5.7 (career year), Lee Bierbauer (Philadelphia) 5.5, Jim Keenan (Cincinnati) 5.1, Curt Welch (Philadelphia) 4.9, Tucker 4.8, and well as Jocko Milligan (St. Louis) 4.8, Bid McPhee (Cincinnati) 4.6, O'Brien 4.5 (rookie), O'Neill 4.2. Not among leaders: Burns 3.1, Collins 3.3, Foutz 1.0, Hamilton 1.5 (nearly a rookie).

WAR leaders, pitchers: Chamberlain 10.4, Caruthers 10.3, King 9.9, Duryea 9.2, Kilroy 9.1, Foreman 6.8, Viau 6.1, Weyhing 6.0, Stivetts 5.8. Position players: Tucker 6.2, Stovey 5.1, Lyons 4.6, Marr 4.2, Shindle 3.9, O'Neill and O'Brien 3.6, Hamilton 3.2.

Top pitcher: Bob Caruthers, returning to full-time mound duty after several years as an outfielder-pitcher. He led in wins and shutouts, and pitched for the pennant winners.

#1 Bob Caruthers, #2 Matt Kilroy, #3 Jesse Duryea, #4 Elton Chamberlain, #5 Silver King.

Top player: Harry Stovey, in a close decision over Tommy Tucker. Denny Lyons deserves a special mention. Tucker led in OPS and OPS+ by a slim margin over Stovey, but Stovey led in runs and RBI, as well as slugging and home runs.

#1 Harry Stovey, #2 Tommy Tucker, #3 Denny Lyons, #4 Billy Shindle, #5 Lee Marr.

Top rookie: Jesse Duryea, Cincinnati pitcher second in ERA and 4th in wins.

Top manager: Bill McGunnigle, piloting Brooklyn to the pennant.

1888 National League

New York took the pennant, winning easily over good clubs in Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh. The Giants even drove their AA rivals from the city. Indianapolis and Washington trailed badly again, but the league franchise setup remained the same.

Cap Anson won the batting title with a .344 average. Jimmy Ryan was second at .332, then King Kelly at .318, Dan Brouthers .307, and Buck Ewing .306. Brouthers led with 118 runs scored, followed by Ryan with 115, Dick Johnston 102, and Anson 101. Ryan led with 182 hits. Ryan and Brouthers tied with 33 doubles. Johnston had 18 triples, Roger Connor 17. Ryan had 16 homers, Connor 14. Anson led with 84 RBI.

Tim Keefe led the way with 35 wins, John Clarkson had 33, Pete Conway 30, Ed Morris 29, Charlie Buffinton 28. Keefe led with a 1.74 ERA, Ben Sanders 1.90, Buffinton 1.91, Mickey Welch 1.93. Keefe swept his pitcher's Triple Crown with 335 strikeouts, Clarkson got 223, Pretzels Getzein 202.

The WS data, NL Pitchers; Charlie Buffinton (Philadelphia) 44, Ben Sanders (Philadelphia) and Tim Keefe (New York) 35 each, Ed Morris (Pittsburgh) 34, John Clarkson (Boston) and Mickey Welch (New York) 32, Pud Galvin (Pittsburgh) 30, Pete Conway (Detroit) 29, Gus Krock (Chicago) 26, Bill Sowders (Boston) 21.

NL Position Players; Jimmy Ryan (Chicago) 34, Roger Connor (New York) 32, Cap Anson (Chicago) 29, Dummy Hoy (Washington) 28, Dan Brouthers (Detroit) and Buck Ewing (New York) 27, Mike Tiernan (New York) 26, Dick Johnston and King Kelly (Boston) 24, Billy Nash (Boston) 23.

WARP3 scores: Pitchers, Buffinton 9.7, Conway 7.6 (career year), Sanders 6.7 (rookie, best year), Welch 5.5, Keefe 5.2. Those not among WARP leaders: Morris 2.3 (his last good year), Clarkson 1.9, Galvin 2.8, Krock 4.1 (rookie, career year), Sowders 1.3 (rookie).

Players, Ewing 9.5, Connor 9.0, Kelly 8.3, Nash 8.0, Brouthers 7.7, Anson and Tiernan 7.6, Johnston 7.4 (career year), Ryan 6.8. Not among WARP leaders was Hoy 4.7 (rookie).

WAR leaders, pitchers: Buffinton and Keefe 10.1, Welch 7.9, Sanders 6.5, Krock 6.4, Galvin 5.7, Conway 5.5, Morris 5.4. Position players, Connor 7.7, Brouthers 6.8, Anson 6.6, Ryan 5.9, Nash and Tiernan 5.1, Hoy 4.8, Ewing 4.7, Kelly 4.3.

Top pitcher: Tim Keefe, leader in wins, WHIP, ERA and strikeouts. Buffinton gets extra WS and WARP points due to better hitting, but I'll take Keefe.

#1 Tim Keefe, #2 Charlie Buffinton, #3 Ben Sanders, #4 Mickey Welch, #5 Pete Conway.

Top player: Buck Ewing. He was held for some years as the best of the 19th century players, not just catchers, and this season was a reason why.

#1 Buck Ewing, #2 Roger Connor, #3 Cap Anson, #4 Jimmy Ryan, #5 Dan Brouthers.

Top rookie: Dummy Hoy, breaking in at age 26 and leading the league in SB, Hoy would go on to have a fine career.

Top manager: Jim Mutrie led New York from 5th to the pennant.

1888 American Association

New York dropped out of the league and was replaced by Kansas City, an unusual move. St. Louis won the pennant, their fourth straight, in a good race with Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. The pitching-outfielding tandem of Bob Caruthers and Dave Foutz moved their act from St. Louis to Brooklyn, but the Browns still had plenty of weapons.

Tip O'Neill won the batting title with a .335 average, followed by John Reilly at .321, Pete Browning at .313, and Hub Collins at .307. George Pinkney led with 134 runs scored, Collins had 133 and Harry Stovey 127. Collins led with 31 doubles. Stovey led with 20 triples and Reilly with 13 homers. Reilly led with 103 RBI and Larkin had 101. Arlie Latham stole 109 bases and Hugh Nicol 103.

Silver King, the new young St. Louis ace, won 45 games. Ed Seward won 35, Caruthers 29, Gus Weyhing 28, Lee Viau 27, and Tony Mullane 26. King led with a 1.63 ERA, Seward 2.01, Adonis Terry 2.03. Seward led with 272 strikeouts, King had 258, Toad Ramsay 228.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Silver King (St. Louis) 71, Bob Caruthers (P-OF, Brooklyn) 46, Ed Seward (Philadelphia) 44, Nat Hudson (St. Louis) 36, Mickey Hughes (Brooklyn) and Tony Mullane (Cincinnati) 33, Gus Weyhing (Philadelphia) 31, Elmer Smith and Lee (Lefty) Viau (Cincinnati) 30, Bert Cunningham (Baltimore) 24.

AA Position players; Dave Foutz (RF-P, Brooklyn) 33, Harry Stovey (Philadelphia) and Tip O'Neill (St. Louis) 28 each, John Reilly (Cincinnati) Ed McKean (Cleveland) and Curt Welch (Philadelphia) 25 each, George Pinkney (Brooklyn) and Hub Collins (Louisville/Brooklyn) 23, Arlie Latham and Yank Robinson (St. Louis) 21, Tommy Tucker (Baltimore) and Denny Lyons (Philadelphia) 20 each.

WARP3 scores: King 9.6 (at the tender age of 20), Seward 9.0 (career year), Caruthers 5.7, Weyhing 4.7. Not among leaders (less than 4.0): Hudson 2.4 (career year), Hughes 2.7 (rookie), Mullane 2.5, Smith 2.4, Viau 1.7 (rookie), Cunningham 1.5 (rookie, 23 innings previous year).

Players; Stovey 7.7, Latham 6.7, O'Neill 6.5, Welch and Reilly 5.9, Tommy McCarthy (St. Louis) 5.7, Collins 5.5, Pinkney 5.0, Robinson 4.7, Foutz 4.6 (mostly hitting). Not among WARP leaders: McKean 3.7, Tucker 3.4, Lyons 4.0.

WAR leaders, pitchers: King 16.5, Seward 12.5, Caruthers 6.8, Hughes 6.3, Viau 6.1, Hudson and Smith 6.0, Weyhing 5.9, Mullane 5.5. Position players: Stovey 5.8, Reilly 5.6, Collins 4.4, O'Neill 4.3, Welch 4.2, Latham and Tucker 3.9.

Top player: Cincy 1B Long John Reilly gets my vote. Reilly led the league in OPS, as well as slugging, home runs, total bases, and RBI. Harry Stovey would get 2nd place on my ballot.

#1 Long John Reilly, #2 Harry Stovey, #3 Hub Collins, #4 Tip O'Neill, #5 Ed McKean.

Top pitcher: Silver King, although Ed Seward pitched very well. King led in wins, ERA, innings and WHIP, and was the top player on the winning team. Seward tied him in shutouts and was 2nd in wins and ERA.

#1 Silver King, #2 Ed Seward, #3 Bob Caruthers, #4 Nat Hudson, #5 Gus Weyhing.

Mickey Hughes had the best rookie year, although Billy Hamilton would become the better player. Sliding Billy was not impressive in his first outing.

Top manager: Charles Comiskey, remaking his pitching staff in St. Louis while winning again.

1887 National League

Kansas City and St. Louis dropped out, replaced by Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, moving the league decidedly east. With the AA's team dominating St. Louis, it was getting tough there for the NL. The Pittsburgh franchise simply moved lock, stock and barrel from the American Association. Indy included most of the best players from the previous year's St. Louis franchise.

Detroit won the pennant, in a knock-down drag-out with Philadelphia and Chicago as New York was not far off the pace. Boston was also above .500. Pittsburgh was competitive, Washington and Indianapolis trailed.

Sam Thompson won the batting title with a .372 average, Cap Anson was second with .347. Following were Dan Brouthers and John Ward at .338, Sam Wise .334, Fred Carroll and Hardy Richardson .328, and Ed Andrews .325. Brouthers led with 153 runs scored, Jack Rowe 135, and Richardson 131. Thompson had 203 hits. Brouthers had 36 doubles, Jerry Denny and King Kelly 34 each. Thompson had 23 triples, Roger Connor 22. Billy O'Brien had 19 homers while Connor had 17. Thompson had 166 RBI while second place was just 104 by Connor, then 102 by Anson and 101 by Brouthers. Ward had 111 steals, Jim Fogarty 102.

John Clarkson led with 38 wins, Tim Keefe 35, Charlie Getzein won 29, Dan Casey and Pud Galvin 28. Casey led with a 2.86 ERA, Pete Conway posted a 2.90, Charlie Ferguson a 3.00, Clarkson 3.08, Keefe 3.12. Clarkson led with 237 strikeouts, Keefe had 189, Mark Baldwin 164, Charlie Buffinton 160.

Win Shares, pitchers; John Clarkson (Chicago) 51, Tim Keefe (New York) 39, Charlie Ferguson (Philadelphia) 36, Jim Whitney (Washington) 34, Pud Galvin (Pittsburgh) 33, Dan Casey (Philadelphia) 30, Mark Baldwin (Chicago) and Mickey Welch (New York) 27, Charlie Getzien (Detroit) 25, Charlie Buffinton (Philadelphia) 23, Charley Radbourn (Boston) 22. Staffs were starting to open up a bit, and a three-man rotation of some form was becoming common. Pitcher Win Shares will start to drop accordingly.

Position Players; Sam Thompson (Detroit) 29, Dan Brouthers (Detroit) 26, John Ward (New York) and Jim Fogarty (Philadelphia) 25 each, King Kelly (Boston) and Hardy Richardson (Detroit) 23 each, Sam Wise (Boston) 22, Roger Connor (New York) 21, Jack Rowe (Detroit) 20, Billy Nash (Boston), Cap Anson (Chicago) and Jerry Denny (Indianapolis) 19 each. Detroit won the pennant without a standout pitcher, but with two outstanding hitters.

WARP3 scores: Pitchers, Clarkson 10.6, Ferguson 8.0 (his last year, he died of typhoid the next spring), Keefe 7.9, Whitney 7.6, Galvin 6.6 (last big year), Casey 6.3 (career year), Henry Boyle (Indianapolis) 5.0. Not among WARP leaders were Baldwin 3.4 (rookie), Welch 3.6, Getzien 3.5, Buffinton 1.8, Radbourn 1.4.

Players, Thompson 8.9, Ward 7.4 (best year as position player), Fogarty (career year) and Richardson 7.0, Connor 6.2, Nash 5.7, Brouthers 5.6, Wise 5.2 (career year), Denny 5.0 (best year). Not among WARP leaders: Kelly 4.3, Rowe 4.7, Anson 4.3.

WAR for pitchers: Clarkson 12.4, Casey 9.3, Ferguson 6.9, Keefe 6.5, Galvin 5.9, Whitney 5.7, Baldwin 5.1, Getzein 4.8. Position players: Ward 7.2, Connor 6.3, Thompson 5.7, Anson 5.5, Brouthers 5.4, Fogarty and Jack Glasscock 5.1, Sam Wise (Boston) 4.8.

Best pitcher: John Clarkson, the leader in wins, innings and strikeouts, fourth in ERA and second in ERA+. Clarkson started nearly half the White Stockings' games, a practice soon to disappear.

#1 John Clarkson, #2 Charlie Ferguson, #3 Jim Whitney, #4 Tim Keefe, #5 Dan Casey.

Best player: Sam Thompson, leader of Detroit's pennant winners. Led in batting average and slugging, hits and triples, and RBI by a 166-104 margin over Connor.

#1 Sam Thompson, #2 John M. Ward, #3 Roger Connor, #4 Dan Brouthers, #5 Jim Fogarty.

Best rookie: Mike Tiernan, batting .287 for New York at age 20, over Mark Baldwin, 18-17 at age 23. Hindsight helps here.

Best manager: Bill Watkins again, guiding Detroit to the pennant.