1885 Chicago White Stockings

1885 Chicago White Stockings / Franchise: Chicago Cubs / BR Team Page

Record: 87-25-1, Finished 1st in National League (1885 NL)

Clinched Pennant: October 6, 1885, vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Managed by Cap Anson

Ballpark: West Side Park

History, Comments, Contributions

The 1885 White Stockings were utterly dominant, going 87-25 to win the 1885 National League pennant. They finished only two games ahead of the New York Giants but were at least 30 games ahead of everyone else.

The team scored 7.38 runs per game, as opposed to the league average of 4.95. The pitchers, for their part, had an ERA of 2.23 while the league ERA was 2.82.

George Gore was perhaps the team's best hitter, with a .313 batting average, an OBP of .405 and 13 triples. Player-manager Cap Anson hit .310 and drove in 108 runs. King Kelly, in the outfield and often at catcher, led the team with 124 runs scored. Abner Dalrymple led the team with 11 home runs.

There were two key starters, John Clarkson who went 53-16 and Jim McCormick who was 20-4.

After the season, the team played against the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, fighting them to a tie.

The White Stockings would win the pennant the following year, 1886, but then not do so again until the great 1906 Cubs team, which, however, in spite of winning 116 games, had a lower winning percentage than this 1885 team.

Further Reading

• Paul E. Doutrich: "Champions, Tantrums and Bad Umps: The 1885 'World Series'", Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 46, Number 2 (Fall 2017), pp. 10-16.
• Bob Tiemann: "September 29-October 3, 1885: White Stockings cap a pennant chase" SABR

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White Stockings tied Browns (3-3-1)