# 1887 Indianapolis Hoosiers season

The 1887 Indianapolis Hoosiers finished with a 37–89 record in the National League, finishing in last place in their first season in Indianapolis. They had played the previous three seasons in St. Louis, Missouri as the Maroons.

## Offseason

Following the 1886 season, the Maroons franchise was purchased by the National League and subsequently sold to John T. Brush. On March 8, the Hoosiers additionally purchased a number of players who were under league control. Technically, these players were purchased from the Maroons franchise. Among these players were Henry Boyle, John Cahill, Jerry Denny, Jack Glasscock, Egyptian Healy, John Kirby, Jack McGeachey, George Myers, Otto Schomberg, and Emmett Seery.

### Notable transactions

* March 9, 1887: The Hoosiers obtained Mert Hackett and Charley Bassett, who had been under league control, for $1,000.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Wolverines | 79 | 45 | .637 | — | 44‍–‍17 | 35‍–‍28 |
| Philadelphia Quakers | 75 | 48 | .610 | 3½ | 38‍–‍23 | 37‍–‍25 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 71 | 50 | .587 | 6½ | 44‍–‍18 | 27‍–‍32 |
| New York Giants | 68 | 55 | .553 | 10½ | 36‍–‍26 | 32‍–‍29 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 61 | 60 | .504 | 16½ | 38‍–‍22 | 23‍–‍38 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 55 | 69 | .444 | 24 | 31‍–‍33 | 24‍–‍36 |
| Washington Nationals | 46 | 76 | .377 | 32 | 26‍–‍33 | 20‍–‍43 |
| Indianapolis Hoosiers | 37 | 89 | .294 | 43 | 24‍–‍39 | 13‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1887 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | IND | NYG | PHI | PIT | WSH |
| Boston | — | 6–9–3 | 17–11–1 | 11–7 | 7–10–1 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 10–7–1 |
| Chicago | 9–6–3 | — | 10–8 | 13–5 | 11–6–1 | 12–6–1 | 5–12–1 | 11–7 |
| Detroit | 11–7–1 | 8–10 | — | 14–4–1 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 13–4 | 13–4–1 |
| Indianapolis | 7–11 | 5–13 | 4–14–1 | — | 3–15 | 1–17 | 7–11 | 10–8 |
| New York | 10–7–1 | 6–11–1 | 8–10 | 15–3 | — | 7–10–3 | 12–6 | 10–8–1 |
| Philadelphia | 9–9 | 6–12–1 | 8–10 | 17–1 | 10–7–3 | — | 12–6 | 13–3–1 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–11 | 12–5–1 | 4–13 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 6–12 | — | 9–9 |
| Washington | 7–10–1 | 7–11 | 4–13–1 | 8–10 | 8–10–1 | 3–13–1 | 9–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* July 2, 1887: John Kirby was sold by the Hoosiers to the Cleveland Blues for $800 to $1000.
* August 15, 1887: Lev Shreve was purchased by the Hoosiers from the Baltimore Orioles.
* August 19, 1887: Tom Brown was signed by the Hoosiers as a free agent.

### Roster
## 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 | George Myers | 69 | 235 | 51 | .217 | 1 | 20 |
| 1B | Otto Schomberg | 112 | 419 | 129 | .308 | 5 | 83 |
| 2B | Charley Bassett | 119 | 452 | 104 | .230 | 1 | 47 |
| 3B | Jerry Denny | 122 | 510 | 165 | .324 | 11 | 97 |
| SS | Jack Glasscock | 122 | 483 | 142 | .294 | 0 | 40 |
| OF | Emmett Seery | 122 | 465 | 104 | .224 | 4 | 28 |
| OF | Jack McGeachey | 99 | 405 | 109 | .269 | 1 | 56 |
| OF | John Cahill | 68 | 263 | 54 | .205 | 0 | 26 |

#### 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 |
| Tug Arundel | 43 | 157 | 31 | .197 | 0 | 13 |
| Mert Hackett | 42 | 147 | 35 | .238 | 2 | 10 |
| Tom Brown | 36 | 140 | 25 | .179 | 2 | 9 |
| Mark Polhemus | 20 | 75 | 18 | .240 | 0 | 8 |
| Gid Gardner | 18 | 63 | 11 | .175 | 1 | 8 |
| Lefty Johnson | 11 | 42 | 8 | .190 | 0 | 3 |
| Henry Jackson | 10 | 38 | 10 | .263 | 0 | 3 |
| Larry Corcoran | 3 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| John Sowders | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Egyptian Healy | 41 | 341.0 | 12 | 29 | 5.17 | 75 |
| Henry Boyle | 38 | 328.0 | 13 | 24 | 3.65 | 85 |
| Lev Shreve | 14 | 122.0 | 5 | 9 | 4.72 | 22 |
| Doc Leitner | 8 | 65.0 | 2 | 6 | 5.68 | 27 |
| John Kirby | 8 | 62.0 | 1 | 6 | 6.10 | 7 |
| Hank Morrison | 7 | 57.0 | 3 | 4 | 7.58 | 13 |
| Sam Moffet | 6 | 50.0 | 1 | 5 | 3.78 | 3 |
| Larry Corcoran | 2 | 15.0 | 0 | 2 | 12.60 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| John Cahill | 6 | 22.0 | 0 | 2 | 14.32 | 5 |
| Frederick Fass | 4 | 15.2 | 0 | 1 | 10.34 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Jack McGeachey | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11.37 | 3 |
| John Sowders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21.00 | 0 |
| Jack Glasscock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |