1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings season

The 1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in second place in the American Association with a record of 81–45, 14 games behind the St. Louis Browns.

1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings
Major League affiliations
American Association (since 1882)
Location
American Park (since 1884) Cincinnati (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s)	Aaron Stern
Manager(s)	Gus Schmelz
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Regular season

Following a horrible 1886 season, in which the Red Stockings finished under .500 for the first time in team history, the team hired Gus Schmelz to become the new manager. Schmelz managed the St. Louis Maroons of the National League in 1886 to a 43–79 record. He also managed the Columbus Buckeyes of the American Association in 1883, leading them to a 69–39 record and a second-place finish.

Cincinnati signed George Tebeau to his first professional contract, and acquired Hugh Nicol from the St. Louis Browns in a trade with sent Jack Boyle and $350 to the Browns. Nicol hit .206 with 19 RBI and 38 stolen bases, as well as scoring 44 runs in 67 games in 1886.

John Reilly had a great season, as he hit .306 with a team high ten home runs and had 96 RBI, as well as 50 stolen bases. Pop Corkhill led the club with a .311 batting average, and his 97 RBI tied him with Frank Fennelly for the team high. Nicol led the American Association with 138 stolen bases.

On the mound, nineteen-year-old Mike Smith emerged as the ace of the staff, as he had a 34–17 record and a league best 2.94 ERA in 52 starts. Tony Mullane also had a solid season, as he had a 31–17 record with a 3.24 ERA in 48 starts.

Season summary

The Red Stockings got off to a fast start, winning their first five games, however, Cincinnati lost six of their next seven games to fall to 6–6. The team hovered around the .500 level, as they had a 21–22 record after 43 games, before winning nine of ten to rise up to third place with a 30–23 record. After going 3–6 in their next nine games, Cincinnati had a season-high ten-game winning streak. However, they remained in third place, 8.5 games behind the St. Louis Browns. The Red Stockings continued to play good baseball for the remainder of the season, as they finished the year in second place with a record of 81–54, fourteen games behind the first-place Browns.

Season standings

American Association	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Browns	95	40	0.704	—	58–15	37–25
Cincinnati Red Stockings	81	54	0.600	14	46–27	35–27
Baltimore Orioles	77	58	0.570	18	42–21	35–37
Louisville Colonels	76	60	0.559	19½	45–23	31–37
Philadelphia Athletics	64	69	0.481	30	41–28	23–41
Brooklyn Grays	60	74	0.448	34½	36–37	24–37
New York Metropolitans	44	89	0.331	50	26–33	18–56
Cleveland Blues	39	92	0.298	54	22–36	17–56

Record vs. opponents

1887 American Association Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BR	CIN	CLE	LOU	NY	PHI	STL
Baltimore	—	10–9–1	11–9	17–3	7–11–1	15–4–2	14–6	3–16–2
Brooklyn	9–10–1	—	7–13	13–6–1	8–12	9–9	10–8–2	4–16
Cincinnati	9–11	13–7	—	11–6	8–12	17–3–1	11–9	12–6
Cleveland	3–17	6–13–1	6–11	—	8–11–1	11–8	4–14	1–18
Louisville	11–7–1	12–8	12–8	11–8–1	—	12–8	11–8–1	7–13
New York	4–15–2	9–9	3–17–1	8–11	8–12	—	7–11–1	5–14–1
Philadelphia	6–14	8–10–2	9–11	14–4	8–11–1	11–7–1	—	8–12
St. Louis	16–3–2	16–4	6–12	18–1	13–7	14–5–1	12–8	—

Roster

1887 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Jumbo McGinnis Tony Mullane Billy Serad Mike Shea Mike Smith Mother Watson Wild Bill Widner		Catchers Kid Baldwin Jim Keenan Infielders Hick Carpenter Frank Fennelly Heinie Kappel Bid McPhee John Reilly		Outfielders Pop Corkhill Charley Jones Hugh Nicol Jack O'Connor George Tebeau		Manager Gus Schmelz

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	Kid Baldwin	96	388	98	.253	1	57
1B	John Reilly	134	551	170	.309	10	96
2B	Bid McPhee	129	540	156	.289	2	87
3B	Hick Carpenter	127	498	124	.249	1	50
SS	Frank Fennelly	134	526	140	.266	8	97
OF	Hugh Nicol	125	475	102	.215	1	34
OF	Pop Corkhill	128	541	168	.311	5	97
OF	George Tebeau	85	318	94	.296	4	33

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
Jim Keenan	47	174	44	.253	0	17
Charley Jones	41	153	48	.314	2	40
Heinie Kappel	23	78	22	.282	0	15
Jack O'Connor	12	40	4	.100	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
Mike Smith	52	447.1	34	17	2.94	176
Tony Mullane	48	416.1	31	17	3.24	97
Billy Serad	22	187.1	10	11	4.08	34
Jumbo McGinnis	8	69.1	3	5	5.45	18
Mike Shea	2	16.2	1	1	7.02	0
Mother Watson	2	14	0	1	5.79	1
Wild Bill Widner	1	9	1	0	5.00	0
George Tebeau	1	8	0	1	13.50	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
Pop Corkhill	5	1	0	0	5.52	3

References

• 1887 Cincinnati Red Stockings season at Baseball Reference