# 1881 Detroit Wolverines season

In 1881, Detroit Mayor William G. Thompson bought most of the players from the defunct Cincinnati Reds franchise and formed the Detroit Wolverines, which joined the National League. The team finished the season with a 41–43 record, good enough for fourth place in the NL race.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago White Stockings | 56 | 28 | .667 | — | 32‍–‍10 | 24‍–‍18 |
| Providence Grays | 47 | 37 | .560 | 9 | 23‍–‍20 | 24‍–‍17 |
| Buffalo Bisons | 45 | 38 | .542 | 10½ | 25‍–‍16 | 20‍–‍22 |
| Detroit Wolverines | 41 | 43 | .488 | 15 | 23‍–‍19 | 18‍–‍24 |
| Troy Trojans | 39 | 45 | .464 | 17 | 24‍–‍18 | 15‍–‍27 |
| Boston Red Caps | 38 | 45 | .458 | 17½ | 19‍–‍22 | 19‍–‍23 |
| Cleveland Blues | 36 | 48 | .429 | 20 | 20‍–‍22 | 16‍–‍26 |
| Worcester Worcesters | 32 | 50 | .390 | 23 | 19‍–‍22 | 13‍–‍28 |

### Record vs. opponents

1881 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BUF | CHI | CLE | DET | PRV | TRO | WOR |
| Boston | — | 4–8 | 2–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 8–3 |
| Buffalo | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 6–5 |
| Chicago | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 9–3 |
| Cleveland | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 3–9 | 6–6–1 | 7–5 |
| Detroit | 8–4 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 |
| Providence | 7–5 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 |
| Troy | 5–7 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 6–6–1 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 4–8 |
| Worcester | 3–8 | 5–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | — |

### 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 | Charlie Bennett | 76 | 299 | 90 | .301 | 7 | 64 |
| 1B | Martin Powell | 55 | 219 | 74 | .338 | 1 | 38 |
| 2B | Joe Gerhardt | 80 | 297 | 72 | .242 | 0 | 36 |
| 3B | Art Whitney | 58 | 214 | 39 | .182 | 0 | 9 |
| SS | Sadie Houck | 75 | 308 | 86 | .279 | 1 | 36 |
| OF | Lon Knight | 83 | 340 | 92 | .271 | 1 | 52 |
| OF | George Wood | 80 | 337 | 100 | .297 | 2 | 32 |
| OF | Ned Hanlon | 76 | 305 | 85 | .279 | 2 | 28 |

#### 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 |
| Lew Brown | 27 | 108 | 26 | .241 | 3 | 14 |
| Charlie Reilley | 19 | 70 | 12 | .171 | 0 | 3 |
| Dasher Troy | 11 | 44 | 15 | .341 | 0 | 4 |
| Mike Dorgan | 8 | 34 | 8 | .235 | 0 | 5 |
| Sam Trott | 6 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Will Foley | 5 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 1 |
| Jack Leary | 3 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 4 |
| Dan Stearns | 3 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan O'Leary | 2 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| George Bradley | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Moynahan | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Taylor | 1 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 |
| Sam Wise | 1 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 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 |
| George Derby | 56 | 494.2 | 29 | 26 | 2.20 | 212 |
| Stump Weidman | 13 | 115.0 | 8 | 5 | 1.80 | 26 |
| Frank Mountain | 7 | 60.0 | 3 | 4 | 5.25 | 13 |
| Tony Mullane | 5 | 44.0 | 1 | 4 | 4.91 | 7 |
| Will White | 2 | 18.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.00 | 5 |
| Jack Leary | 2 | 13.0 | 0 | 2 | 4.15 | 2 |