1899 Brooklyn Superbas

1899 Brooklyn Superbas / Franchise: Los Angeles Dodgers / BR Team Page

Record: 101-47, Finished 1st in National League (1899 NL)

Clinched Pennant: October 7, 1899, vs. New York Giants

Managed by Ned Hanlon

Ballpark: Washington Park

History, Comments, Contributions

The 1899 Brooklyn Superbas dominated the 1899 National League, winning 101 games and beating the second-place 1899 Boston Beaneaters by eight games. The last-place 1899 Cleveland Spiders, a famously awful team, were 84 games behind because their best players had been moved over to St. Louis. The St. Louis team, in spite of acquiring several Hall of Famers, finished 18 games behind Brooklyn. After starting the season 3-4, the Superbas went 41-8 from April 24th to June 22nd to run away with the pennant.

The Brooklyn pitching staff was led by 25-year-old Jay Hughes who had a record of 28-6. Hughes would pitch only four years in the majors because he preferred to be on the west coast. Brickyard Kennedy went 22-9 and would win 20 games in 1900 with Brooklyn as well. Jack Dunn, more famous later as the owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles, won 23 games. Dunn appeared in 142 major league games as a pitcher in his career, but far more as a position player, appearing mainly at third base.

The hitters were led by future Hall of Famers Willie Keeler and Joe Kelley, who had earlier been teammates with Baltimore before being moved to Brooklyn as a side-effect of Syndicate ownership. Keeler dominated the team with a .379 batting average while Kelley was second among regulars at .325. Kelley and Keeler led the team in triples while Kelley had the most home runs. Kelley had the most RBI while Keeler had the most runs scored. Tom Daly led the team in doubles with 24 and was second in stolen bases with 43 while Keeler led the team with 45 stolen bases.

Hall of Fame manager Ned Hanlon had led the Baltimore Orioles to three pennants in the 1890s and would lead the Superbas to a second pennant in 1900. In all, he managed 20 years in the majors.

The Superbas won again in 1900 but with only 82 victories. Keeler and Kelley stayed but Jay Hughes was gone, replaced by Joe McGinnity who had been with Baltimore in 1899 as the Birds were one of four National League teams to be contracted after the season, along with Cleveland, the Washington Senators and the Louisville Colonels.

Further Reading

• John Snyder: "Dodgers Journal: Year by Year and Day by Day with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers Since 1884", Clerisy Press, 2009, ISBN 9781578603336, 1578603331