1884 Providence Grays season

1884 Providence Grays
National League Champions World Series Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1878)
Location
Messer Street Grounds (since 1878)
Providence, Rhode Island (since 1878)
Other information
Owner(s)	C. T. Gardner
Manager(s)	Frank Bancroft
< Previous season     Next season  >

The Providence Grays went 84–28 during the 1884 season, easily capturing the National League championship. They then faced the American Association champions, the New York Metropolitans, in the very first World Series. Thanks to excellent pitching by Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, the Grays swept the series and became the "World Champions."

During the last half of the regular season, Radbourn was the team's main pitcher after Charlie Sweeney jumped to the Union Association. Radbourn won 59 games for the Grays, which set a Major League Baseball record that has stood for over 120 years.

Regular season

1884 World Series Champion Providence Grays

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Providence Grays	84	28	0.750	—	45–11	39–17
Boston Beaneaters	73	38	0.658	10½	40–16	33–22
Buffalo Bisons	64	47	0.577	19½	37–18	27–29
New York Gothams	62	50	0.554	22	34–22	28–28
Chicago White Stockings	62	50	0.554	22	39–17	23–33
Philadelphia Quakers	39	73	0.348	45	19–37	20–36
Cleveland Blues	35	77	0.312	49	22–34	13–43
Detroit Wolverines	28	84	0.250	56	18–38	10–46

Record vs. opponents

1884 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DET	NY	PHI	PRV
Boston	—	9–6–2	10–6	14–2	12–4–1	8–8–1	13–3	7–9–1
Buffalo	6–9–2	—	10–6–1	14–2	12–4	5–11–1	11–5	6–10
Chicago	6–10	6–10–1	—	8–8	11–5	12–4	14–2	5–11
Cleveland	2–14	2–14	8–8	—	9–7	5–11	6–10–1	3–13
Detroit	4–12–1	4–12	5–11	7–9	—	2–14–1	5–11	1–15
New York	8–8–1	11–5–1	4–12	11–5	14–2–1	—	11–5	3–13–1
Philadelphia	3–13	5–11	2–14	10–6–1	11–5	5–11	—	3–13
Providence	9–7–1	10–6	11–5	13–3	15–1	13–3–1	13–3	—

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	Barney Gilligan	82	294	72	.245	1	38
1B	Joe Start	93	381	105	.276	2	32
2B	Jack Farrell	111	469	102	.217	1	37
3B	Jerry Denny	110	439	109	.248	6	59
SS	Arthur Irwin	102	404	97	.240	2	44
OF	Paul Hines	114	490	148	.302	3	41
OF	Paul Radford	97	355	70	.197	1	29
OF	Cliff Carroll	113	452	118	.261	3	54

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
Sandy Nava	34	116	11	.095	0	6
Charley Bassett	27	79	11	.139	0	6
Miah Murray	8	27	5	.185	0	1
John Cattanach	1	4	0	.000	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
Old Hoss Radbourn	75	678.2	59	12	1.38	441
Charlie Sweeney	27	221	17	8	1.55	145
Ed Conley	8	71	4	4	2.15	33
Cyclone Miller	6	34.2	3	2	2.08	12
Paul Radford	2	13	0	2	7.62	2
Harry Arundel	1	9	1	0	1.00	4
John Cattanach	1	5	0	0	9.00	2

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
Arthur Irwin	1	0	0	0	3.00	0
Paul Hines	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

The World Series of 1884

Main article: 1884 World Series

Providence Grays (NL) (84–28) vs New York Metropolitans (AA) (75–32)

Game 1

Friday, October 23, at the Polo Grounds

Providence defeats New York 6–0

Game 2

Saturday, October 24, at the Polo Grounds

Providence defeats New York 3–1 (7 innings)

Game 3

Sunday, October 25, at the Polo Grounds

Providence defeats New York 12–2 (6 innings)

References

• 1884 Providence Grays season at Baseball Reference