# 1872 Baltimore Canaries season

The Baltimore Canaries played their first season in 1872 as a member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. They finished second in the league with a record of 35–19. Outfielder Lip Pike led the NA in home runs, with 7, and runs batted in, with 60. Pitcher Bobby Mathews paced the circuit in strikeouts. Baltimore's other pitcher, Cherokee Fisher, led in earned run average.
Several of the team's players were later suspended from baseball for fixing games; Bill Craver, George Hall, and Dick Higham were banned for life.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | RF | RA | RD | GB |
| 1 | Boston Red Stockings (C) | 48 | 39 | 8 | 1 | 521 | 236 | +285 | — |
| 2 | Baltimore Canaries | 58 | 35 | 19 | 4 | 617 | 434 | +183 | 7.5 |
| 3 | New York Mutuals | 56 | 34 | 20 | 2 | 523 | 362 | +161 | 8.5 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Athletics | 47 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 539 | 349 | +190 | 7.5 |
| 5 | Troy Haymakers | 25 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 273 | 191 | +82 | 13 |
| 6 | Brooklyn Atlantics | 37 | 9 | 28 | 0 | 237 | 473 | −236 | 25 |
| 7 | Cleveland Forest Citys | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 174 | 254 | −80 | 20.5 |
| 8 | Middletown Mansfields | 24 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 220 | 348 | −128 | 22.5 |
| 9 | Brooklyn Eckfords | 29 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 152 | 413 | −261 | 27 |
| 10 | Washington Olympics | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 54 | 140 | −86 | 18 |
| 11 | Washington Nationals | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 80 | 190 | −110 | 21 |

### Record vs. opponents

1872 National Association Recordsvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | BRA | BRE | CLE | MID | NY | PHI | TRO | WSN | WSO |
| Baltimore | — | 0–7 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 5–4–2 | 4–5–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Boston | 7–0 | — | 7–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 7–2 | 4–4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Brooklyn Atlantics | 1–5 | 1–7 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–6 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Brooklyn Eckfords | 1–5 | 0–3 | 2–2 | — | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Cleveland | 1–4 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Middletown | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| New York | 4–5–2 | 2–7 | 6–2 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | 6–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Philadelphia | 5–4–2 | 4–4–1 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–6 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Troy | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Washington Nationals | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–2 |
| Washington Olympics | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — |

### 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 | Bill Craver | 35 | 178 | 50 | .281 | 0 | 24 |
| 1B | Everett Mills | 55 | 266 | 79 | .297 | 0 | 34 |
| 2B | Tom Carey | 42 | 196 | 57 | .291 | 2 | 27 |
| SS | John Radcliff | 56 | 297 | 86 | .290 | 1 | 44 |
| 3B | Davy Force | 19 | 95 | 41 | .432 | 0 | 14 |
| OF | Tom York | 51 | 250 | 66 | .264 | 0 | 40 |
| OF | Lip Pike | 56 | 285 | 85 | .298 | 7 | 60 |
| OF | George Hall | 53 | 250 | 84 | .336 | 1 | 37 |

#### 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 |
| Dick Higham | 50 | 245 | 84 | .343 | 2 | 37 |
| Cherokee Fisher | 46 | 225 | 52 | .231 | 1 | 36 |
| Scott Hastings | 13 | 62 | 19 | .306 | 0 | 4 |

### 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 |
| Bobby Mathews | 49 | 406.0 | 25 | 18 | 3.19 | 57 |
| Cherokee Fisher | 19 | 110.0 | 10 | 1 | 1.80 | 20 |