# 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.

## 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

vteAmerican Association :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Browns | 95 | 40 | .704 | — | 58‍–‍15 | 37‍–‍25 |
| Cincinnati Red Stockings | 81 | 54 | .600 | 14 | 46‍–‍27 | 35‍–‍27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 77 | 58 | .570 | 18 | 42‍–‍21 | 35‍–‍37 |
| Louisville Colonels | 76 | 60 | .559 | 19½ | 45‍–‍23 | 31‍–‍37 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 64 | 69 | .481 | 30 | 41‍–‍28 | 23‍–‍41 |
| Brooklyn Grays | 60 | 74 | .448 | 34½ | 36‍–‍37 | 24‍–‍37 |
| New York Metropolitans | 44 | 89 | .331 | 50 | 26‍–‍33 | 18‍–‍56 |
| Cleveland Blues | 39 | 92 | .298 | 54 | 22‍–‍36 | 17‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1887 American Association recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BRO | CIN | CLE | LOU | NYP | 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 | — |

### Game log

Legend :
| Red Stockings Win | Red Stockings Loss | Game Tied/Postponed |
1887 Game Log: 81–54 (Home: 46–27; Away: 35–27) :
April: 6–4 (Home: 3–0; Away: 3–4)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
1April 16Blues16–6American ParkN/A1-0W1
-April 17BluesPostponed (rain); Makeup: May 8
2April 19Blues13–6American ParkN/A2-0W2
3April 20Blues14–6American ParkN/A3-0W3
-April 21@ BrownsPostponed (rain); Makeup: April 22
4April 22@ Browns5–2Sportsman's ParkN/A4-0W4
5April 23@ Browns6–5Sportsman's ParkN/A5-0W5
6April 24@ Browns1–6Sportsman's Park10,0005-1L1
7April 26@ Browns6–19Sportsman's ParkN/A5-2L2
8April 27@ Colonels5–0Eclipse ParkN/A6-2W1
9April 28@ Colonels5–12Eclipse ParkN/A6-3L1
10April 30@ Colonels0–0Eclipse ParkN/A6-4L2 :
May: 11–14 (Home: 8–12; Away: 3–2)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
11May 1@ Colonels4–8Eclipse ParkN/A6-5L3
12May 2Colonels7–8American ParkN/A6-6L4
13May 4@ Blues10–6National League Park4,0007-6W1
14May 5@ Blues6–2National League Park1,5008-6W2
15May 7@ Blues6–2National League ParkN/A9-6W3
16May 8Blues6–7American Park7,0009-7L1
17May 9Blues18–2American ParkN/A10-7W1
18May 10Metropolitans12–3American ParkN/A11-7W2
-May 11MetropolitansPostponed (rain); Makeup: May 13
19May 12Metropolitans6–19American ParkN/A11-8L1
20May 13Metropolitans12–4American ParkN/A12-8W1
21May 14Metropolitans7–6American ParkN/A13-8W2
22May 15Grays13–4American Park13,00014-8W3
23May 17Grays10–11American ParkN/A14-9L1
24May 18Grays3–6American ParkN/A14-10L2
25May 19Grays14–10American ParkN/A15-10W1
26May 20Orioles6–16American ParkN/A15-11L1
27May 21Orioles4–5American ParkN/A15-12L2
28May 22Orioles17–7American ParkN/A16-12W1
29May 23Orioles3–4American ParkN/A16-13L1
30May 25Athletics4–5American ParkN/A16-14L2
31May 26Athletics6–9American ParkN/A16-15L3
32May 27Athletics5–9American ParkN/A16-16L4
33May 28Athletics3–4American ParkN/A16-17L5
34May 29Orioles12–5American ParkN/A17-17W1
-May 30@ OriolesPostponed (unknown reason, site change); Makeup: May 29
35May 31@ Orioles2–12Oriole Park13,00017-18L1 :
June: 14–10 (Home: 4–4; Away: 10–6)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
36June 1@ Orioles4–2Oriole ParkN/A18-18W1
37June 2@ Orioles7–13Oriole ParkN/A18-19L1
38June 4@ Athletics5–2Jefferson Street GroundsN/A19-19W1
-June 6@ AthleticsPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 8
39June 7@ Athletics0–10Jefferson Street GroundsN/A19-20L1
40June 8 1@ Athletics4–5Jefferson Street GroundsN/A19-21L2
41June 8 2@ Athletics9–8Jefferson Street GroundsN/A20-21W1
42June 9@ Grays7–0Washington ParkN/A21-21W2
43June 10@ Grays5–17Washington ParkN/A21-22L1
44June 11@ Metropolitans3–1St. George Cricket GroundsN/A22-22W1
45June 12@ Grays7–4Washington Park10,00023-22W2
-June 14@ GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: June 12
46June 14@ Metropolitans13–6St. George Cricket GroundsN/A24-22W3
47June 15@ Grays6–2Washington ParkN/A25-22W4
48June 16@ Metropolitans11–10St. George Cricket GroundsN/A26-22W5
-June 17@ MetropolitansPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 14
49June 19Browns4–23American ParkN/A26-23L1
50June 20Browns8–4American ParkN/A27-23W1
51June 21Browns3–2American ParkN/A28-23W2
52June 22Browns8–4American ParkN/A29-23W3
53June 23Colonels3–1American ParkN/A30-23W4
54June 24Colonels9–10American ParkN/A30-24L1
-June 25ColonelsPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 27
55June 26Colonels3–7American ParkN/A30-25L2
56June 27Colonels11–12American ParkN/A30-26L3
57June 28@ Blues6–12National League ParkN/A30-27L4
58June 29@ Blues9–8National League ParkN/A31-27W1
59June 30@ Blues4–13National League ParkN/A31-28L1 :
July: 16–8 (Home: 12–3; Away: 4–5)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
60July 1Blues10–5American ParkN/A32-28W1
61July 2Blues12–7American ParkN/A33-28W2
-July 3BluesPostponed (rain, site change); Makeup: October 3
62July 4 1Orioles2–6American ParkN/A33-29L1
63July 4 2Orioles11–6American ParkN/A34-29W1
64July 6Orioles11–3American ParkN/A35-29W2
65July 7Metropolitans5–1American ParkN/A36-29W3
66July 9Metropolitans2–0American ParkN/A37-29W4
67July 10Metropolitans21–7American ParkN/A38-29W5
68July 11Metropolitans5–0American ParkN/A39-29W6
69July 12Athletics7–4American ParkN/A40-29W7
70July 13Athletics6–1American ParkN/A41-29W8
71July 14Athletics3–2American ParkN/A42-29W9
72July 15Grays11–3American ParkN/A43-29W10
73July 16Grays2–6American ParkN/A43-30L1
74July 17Grays0–4American ParkN/A43-31L2
-July 19@ OriolesPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: July 20
75July 20@ Orioles5–8Oriole ParkN/A43-32L3
76July 21@ Orioles3–9Oriole ParkN/A43-33L4
77July 22@ Orioles4–1Oriole ParkN/A44-33W1
-July 23@ AthleticsPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 3
78July 25@ Athletics2–5Jefferson Street GroundsN/A44-34L1
79July 26@ Athletics2–3Jefferson Street GroundsN/A44-35L2
80July 27@ Grays6–3Washington ParkN/A45-35W1
81July 28@ Grays8–7Washington ParkN/A46-35W2
82July 29@ Grays8–6Washington ParkN/A47-35W3
83July 30@ Metropolitans4–6St. George Cricket GroundsN/A47-36L1 :
August: 15–11 (Home: 12–6; Away: 3–5)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
84August 1@ Metropolitans11–1St. George Cricket GroundsN/A48-36W1
85August 2@ Metropolitans4–6St. George Cricket GroundsN/A48-37L1
86August 4@ Browns2–7Sportsman's ParkN/A48-38L2
87August 5@ Browns5–0Sportsman's ParkN/A49-38W1
88August 6@ Browns2–3Sportsman's ParkN/A49-39L1
89August 7@ Colonels4–3Eclipse ParkN/A50-39W1
90August 9@ Colonels4–5Eclipse ParkN/A50-40L1
91August 10@ Colonels4–5Eclipse ParkN/A50-41L2
92August 11Blues10–12American ParkN/A50-42L3
93August 12Blues3–4American ParkN/A50-43L4
94August 13Blues5–4American ParkN/A51-43W1
95August 14Colonels6–1American ParkN/A52-43W2
96August 16Colonels4–2American ParkN/A53-43W3
-August 17ColonelsPostponed (rain); Makeup: August 18
97August 18Colonels4–5American ParkN/A53-44L1
98August 19Grays7–4American ParkN/A54-44W1
99August 20Grays1–0American ParkN/A55-44W2
100August 21Grays9–14American ParkN/A55-45L1
101August 23Metropolitans2–0American ParkN/A56-45W1
102August 24Metropolitans5–3American ParkN/A57-45W2
103August 25Metropolitans15–6American ParkN/A58-45W3
104August 26Orioles11–19American ParkN/A58-46L1
105August 27Orioles16–2American ParkN/A59-46W1
106August 28Orioles1–5American ParkN/A59-47L1
107August 29Athletics7–5American ParkN/A60-47W1
108August 30Athletics7–2American ParkN/A61-47W2
109August 31Athletics5–3American ParkN/A62-47W3 :
September: 16–5 (Home: 5–2; Away: 11–3)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
110September 2@ Athletics7–3Jefferson Street GroundsN/A63-47W4
111September 3 1@ Athletics11–9Jefferson Street GroundsN/A64-47W5
112September 3 2@ Athletics6–15Jefferson Street GroundsN/A64-48L1
113September 5@ Athletics3–2Jefferson Street GroundsN/A65-48W1
114September 6@ Orioles12–3Oriole ParkN/A66-48W2
115September 7@ Orioles1–6Oriole ParkN/A66-49L1
116September 8@ Orioles6–2Oriole ParkN/A67-49W1
117September 9@ Metropolitans10–0St. George Cricket GroundsN/A68-49W2
118September 10@ Metropolitans11–11St. George Cricket GroundsN/A68-49W2
-September 12@ MetropolitansPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 15
119September 13@ Grays7–2Washington ParkN/A69-49W3
120September 14 1@ Metropolitans6–2St. George Cricket GroundsN/A70-49W4
121September 14 2@ Grays4–5Washington ParkN/A70-50L1
122September 15 1@ Metropolitans4–0St. George Cricket GroundsN/A71-50W1
123September 15 2@ Grays11–1Washington ParkN/A72-50W2
124September 17Colonels1–2American ParkN/A72-51L1
-September 18ColonelsPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 19
125September 19Colonels2–1American ParkN/A73-51W1
126September 20Colonels4–2American ParkN/A74-51W2
127September 21Browns15–3American ParkN/A75-51W3
128September 22Browns6–0American ParkN/A76-51W4
129September 24Browns7–5American ParkN/A77-51W5
130September 25@ Browns8–4Sportsman's ParkN/A78-51W6
131September 29Browns2–8American ParkN/A78-52L1 :
October: 3–2 (Home: 2–0; Away: 1–2)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
132October 1Browns10–2American ParkN/A79-52W1
133October 2Browns8–2American ParkN/A80-52W2
132October 3@ Blues2–7National League ParkN/A80-53L1
-October 7@ ColonelsPostponed (unknown reason, site change); Makeup: May 2
133October 8@ Colonels6–12Eclipse ParkN/A80-54L2
134October 9@ Colonels2–0Eclipse ParkN/A81-54W1 :

### 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 | 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 | 0 | 1 | 5.79 | 1 |
| Wild Bill Widner | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 5.00 | 0 |
| George Tebeau | 1 | 8.0 | 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 |