# 1898 Chicago Orphans season

The 1898 Chicago Orphans season was the 27th season of the Chicago Orphans franchise, the 23rd in the National League and the sixth at West Side Park. The Orphans, formerly known as the Colts, finished in fourth place in the National League with a record of 85–65, 17.5 games behind the Boston Beaneaters.
1898 was the first season since 1876 that the team was without manager and first baseman Cap Anson, who had been fired during the offseason. Cap, who was also often called "Pop", was replaced as manager by Tom Burns, who had played for the team from 1880 until 1891, and had managed the Springfield Ponies in 1897. The media, picking up on Anson's absence, began referring to the team as the "Orphans", as they had lost their "Pop".

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 102 | 47 | .685 | — | 62‍–‍15 | 40‍–‍32 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 96 | 53 | .644 | 6 | 58‍–‍15 | 38‍–‍38 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 60 | .605 | 11½ | 58‍–‍28 | 34‍–‍32 |
| Chicago Orphans | 85 | 65 | .567 | 17½ | 58‍–‍31 | 27‍–‍34 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 81 | 68 | .544 | 21 | 36‍–‍19 | 45‍–‍49 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 78 | 71 | .523 | 24 | 49‍–‍31 | 29‍–‍40 |
| New York Giants | 77 | 73 | .513 | 25½ | 45‍–‍28 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 72 | 76 | .486 | 29½ | 39‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍41 |
| Louisville Colonels | 70 | 81 | .464 | 33 | 43‍–‍34 | 27‍–‍47 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 54 | 91 | .372 | 46 | 30‍–‍41 | 24‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 51 | 101 | .336 | 52½ | 34‍–‍44 | 17‍–‍57 |
| St. Louis Browns | 39 | 111 | .260 | 63½ | 20‍–‍44 | 19‍–‍67 |

### Record vs. opponents

1898 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BLN | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | CLV | LOU | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | WHS |
| Baltimore | — | 5–7 | 8–5–1 | 9–5 | 8–6–1 | 8–6–1 | 9–5 | 10–3–1 | 10–3–1 | 10–4 | 12–2 | 7–7 |
| Boston | 7–5 | — | 11–2 | 9–5 | 9–4–1 | 6–7–1 | 8–6–1 | 10–4 | 10–4 | 9–5 | 12–2 | 11–3 |
| Brooklyn | 5–8–1 | 2–11 | — | 4–10 | 3–11 | 6–7 | 2–10–1 | 3–11 | 6–6 | 9–5–1 | 7–6–1 | 7–6 |
| Chicago | 5–9 | 5–9 | 10–4 | — | 6–8 | 7–7 | 9–5 | 9–5–1 | 6–7 | 7–4–1 | 10–4 | 11–3 |
| Cincinnati | 6–8–1 | 4–9–1 | 11–3 | 8–6 | — | 8–5–2 | 9–5 | 6–8–1 | 7–7 | 12–2 | 12–2 | 9–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–8–1 | 7–6–1 | 7–6 | 7–7 | 5–8–2 | — | 9–5 | 6–8 | 7–7 | 5–8 | 10–3–1 | 12–2–2 |
| Louisville | 5–9 | 6–8–1 | 10–2–1 | 5–9 | 5–9 | 5–9 | — | 6–8 | 4–10 | 4–9–1 | 10–4 | 10–4 |
| New York | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 11–3 | 5–9–1 | 8–6–1 | 8–6 | 8–6 | — | 6–7 | 5–9–1 | 10–3–2 | 9–4–1 |
| Philadelphia | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–7 | 7–7 | 10–4 | 7–6 | — | 6–8 | 9–5 | 12–2 |
| Pittsburgh | 4–10 | 5–9 | 5–9–1 | 4–7–1 | 2–12 | 8–5 | 9–4–1 | 9–5–1 | 8–6 | — | 9–4 | 9–5 |
| St. Louis | 2–12 | 2–12 | 6–7–1 | 4–10 | 2–12 | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 3–10–2 | 5–9 | 4–9 | — | 4–10 |
| Washington | 7–7 | 3–11 | 6–7 | 3–11 | 5–9 | 2–12–2 | 4–10 | 4–9–1 | 2–12 | 5–9 | 10–4 | — |

### 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 | Tim Donahue | 122 | 396 | 87 | .220 | 0 | 39 |
| 1B | Bill Everitt | 149 | 596 | 190 | .319 | 0 | 69 |
| 2B | Jim Connor | 138 | 505 | 114 | .226 | 0 | 67 |
| SS | Bill Dahlen | 142 | 521 | 151 | .290 | 1 | 79 |
| 3B | Barry McCormick | 137 | 530 | 131 | .247 | 2 | 78 |
| OF | Jimmy Ryan | 144 | 572 | 185 | .323 | 4 | 79 |
| OF | Sam Mertes | 83 | 269 | 80 | .297 | 1 | 47 |
| OF | Bill Lange | 113 | 442 | 141 | .319 | 5 | 69 |

#### 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 |
| Walter Thornton | 62 | 210 | 62 | .295 | 0 | 14 |
| Danny Green | 47 | 188 | 59 | .314 | 4 | 27 |
| Frank Isbell | 45 | 159 | 37 | .233 | 0 | 8 |
| Frank Chance | 53 | 147 | 41 | .279 | 1 | 14 |
| Harry Wolverton | 13 | 49 | 16 | .327 | 0 | 2 |
| Art Nichols | 14 | 42 | 12 | .286 | 0 | 6 |
| Frank Martin | 1 | 4 | 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 |
| Clark Griffith | 38 | 325.2 | 24 | 10 | 1.88 | 97 |
| Nixey Callahan | 31 | 274.1 | 20 | 10 | 2.46 | 73 |
| Walter Thornton | 28 | 215.1 | 13 | 10 | 3.34 | 56 |
| Walt Woods | 27 | 215.0 | 9 | 13 | 3.14 | 26 |
| Matt Kilroy | 13 | 100.1 | 6 | 7 | 4.31 | 18 |
| Jack Taylor | 5 | 41.0 | 5 | 0 | 2.20 | 11 |
| Buttons Briggs | 4 | 30.0 | 1 | 3 | 5.70 | 14 |
| Bill Phyle | 3 | 23.0 | 2 | 1 | 0.78 | 4 |
| Danny Friend | 2 | 17.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.29 | 4 |
| Henry Clarke | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Frank Isbell | 13 | 81.0 | 4 | 7 | 3.56 | 16 |
| Jack Katoll | 2 | 11.0 | 0 | 1 | 0.82 | 3 |