[tm1681]

THE 1870s IN REVIEW

THE CHAMPIONS

AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE

1871: Pennsylvania Quakers (55-35, no playoffs)
1872: Manhattan Orangemen (61-29, no playoffs)
1873: Boston Shamrocks (61-29, no playoffs)
1874: Boston Shamrocks (53-38, no playoffs)
1875: Buffalo Blues (60-30, no playoffs)
1876: Brooklyn Kings (55-35, no playoffs)
1877: New York Knickerbockers (56-34, no playoffs)
1878: New York Knickerbockers (64-26, no playoffs)
1879: Brooklyn Kings (60-30, President’s Cup 4-0 over Rochester)

Champions were varied in the APBL’s first nine seasons, with six different teams winning the title. Brooklyn were the first champions after the league instituted divisions and a playoff in order to cater to fan demands for a climactic series.

NBBO FINALISTS & CHAMPIONS – Tucker-Wheaton Cup winners in italics

1870: NYL – Kings County BBC (49-21 BRK), NEL – Green Mountain BC (44-26 NE)
1871: NYL – Atlantic BBC (53-17 BRK), NEL – Cantabrigians BC (46-24 NE)
1872: NYL – Mutual BBC (47-23 NYC), NEL – Reading Athletic Club (47-23 INL)
1873: NYL – Victory BBC (49-21 UNY), NEL – Philadelphia Tigers Social Club (45-26 COA)
1874: NYL – Excelsior BBC (43-27 BRK), NEL – Cantabrigians BC (50-20 NE)
1875: NYL – Excelsior BBC (51-19 BRK), NEL – Massachusetts Bay BC (50-20 COA)
1876: NYL – Frontier BBC (52-18 UNY), NEL – Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons (45-25 INL)
1877: NYL – NYAC Athletics (44-26 NYC), NEL – Sons of the Ocean (53-17 NE)
1878: NYL – Excelsior Knights (47-23), NEL – Massachusetts Bay Pilgrims (55-15 COA)
1879: NYL – NYAC Athletics (46-24 NYC), NEL – Reading Athletics (44-26 INL)

Excelsior was so dominant over a five-year stretch (1874-78) that the APBL came calling and they got Konrad Jensen back. However, they weren’t the only team to win more than one Tucker-Wheaton Cup as Reading did it twice.

TEAM OF THE DECADE

Brooklyn Kings (American Professional Baseball Association)



1870 NBBO: 49-21, Brooklyn & NYL champs, Tucker-Wheaton Cup winners
1871 APBL: 47-43, 3rd place
1872 APBL: 53-37, 3rd place
1873 APBL: 47-43, 5th place
1874 APBL: 47-43, 5th place
1875 APBL: 51-39, 2nd place
1876 APBL: 55-35, champions
1877 APBL: 53-37, 2nd place
1878 APBL: 61-29, 2nd place
1879 APBL: 60-30, 1st in Metropolitan, won President’s Cup 4-0 over Rochester

1870s: 523-357 (.594), 2x APBL champs, 1x NBBO champs, 5 other top-three finishes

There were other teams to win a pair of APBL titles during the 1870s (Boston, NY Knickerbockers), but only Brooklyn added a Tucker-Wheaton Cup in their final year in the NBBO to take three titles in the 1870s. That, combined with their consistency, put them alone at the top.

PRO BATSMAN & PLAYER OF THE DECADE

Konrad Jensen – Manhattan Orangemen (1871-74), Buffalo Blues (75-76), Phi. Patriots (77-78), Excelsior Knights (79)

800 G, 1,354 H, .394 AVG, .957 OPS (173 OPS+), 1,354 H, 299 XBH, 1,779 TB, 542 RBI, 301 SB, 38.52 WPA (7.80 per 162), 33.7 WAR (6.9 per 162)

2x APBL champion (1872, 75)
5x APBL Batsman of the Year (1874-77, 79)
7x APBL Team of the Year at OF (1873-77, 79)
4x APBL Batting Champion (1874, 76, 77, 79)
7x APBL leader in walks (1871-75, 77, 78, runner up 2x)
7x APBL leader in on-base percentage (1871-74, 76, 77, 79)
4x APBL leader in OPS (1874, 76, 77, 79, runner up once)
4x APBL leader in home runs (1874, 76-78)
3x APBL leader in hits (1874-76)
3x APBL leader in runs (1872-74)
2x APBL leader in non-pitcher WAR (1874, 77, runner up once)
1x APBL leader in total bases (1874: 236, runner up 3x)
1x APBL leader in runs batted in (1874: 78)

1874 (MNH): 91 G, .416 AVG (200 OPS+), 111 R, 169 H, 44 XBH, 78 RBI, 236 TB, 28 SB (4 CS), 5.61 WPA (9.98 per 162), 5.2 WAR (9.2 per 162)

There is simply no debate: Konrad Jensen was both the best hitter and best overall player of the 1870s. He won five APBL Batsman of the Year awards in six seasons, received 6/7 APBL Team of the Year nods in the outfield to end the decade, had an average as high as .448, finished multiple seasons with an OPS over 1.000, and he did this even though he ended the decade by turning 40. Also, in 1976 he successfully stole 92 times in 90 games just to prove to everyone he could steal bunches of bases if he felt like it. He started the decade with the Orangemen after Excelsior didn’t make the APBL cut and moved a couple of times after that, but he ended the decade back home after his old club proved too dominant for the NBBO.

As with the NBBO-only days, there could be an argument for Anthony Mascherino as the legendary shortstop won four titles plus six gold gloves to bring his career total an incredible 14, and he had slightly higher WAR (34.4). However, Jensen’s superior haul of major awards (7x TotY, 5x BotY, 4x batting champ) put him on the throne.

PRO HURLER OF THE DECADE

Fred Peacock – Penn. Quakers (1871-73, 75), Pitt. Industrials (74), NY Knickerbockers (76-77), Brooklyn Kings (78-79)

198-116 record, 3.44 ERA (120 ERA+), 2,866.2 IP, 214 CG, 12 SHO, 233 BB, 430 K, 54.5 WAR (4.3 per 225 IP)

3x APBL champ (1871, 77, 78)
1x APBL Hurler of the Year (1878)
1st-ever pitcher with 30+ wins in a season (1878: 32)
3x APBL leader in wins (1871, 76, 78)
2x APBL leader in WHIP (1872, 78)
2x APBL leader in K/9 (1877, 79)
1x APBL leader in ERA (1878: 2.44)
1x APBL leader in strikeouts (1879: 68)
1x APBL leader in K/BB: (1879: 2.19/1)

1878 (BRK): 32-11, 2.44 ERA (153 ERA+), 369.0 IP, 29 CG, 43 BB, 69 K, 1.19 WHIP, 6.6 WAR (4.0 per 225 IP)

There was no singularly dominant pitcher over the first nine seasons of the APBL. James Maxwell and Clarence Bowden won two Hurler of the Year Awards each, but Maxwell’s career effectively lasted three seasons due to injury and Bowden had some mediocre years after leaving the Orangemen in 1875. Peacock had more wins than any other pro pitcher in the 1870s and adding his historic 1878 on top of that made him the Hurler of the Decade. Peacock would go on to retire after the 1882 season with more combined NBBO & APBL wins than any other pitcher (369 – 234 in the APBL & 135 in the NBBO), and he retired with a career pitching WAR of 92.1.

ALL-DECADE TEAM

C: Bruce Fine – Knickerbockers (71-75), Boston (76-79) – 4x Team of the Year, 2x Golden Glove, 19.4 WAR (4.3/162)
1B: Jens Kristensen – Boston (71-72), Brooklyn (73-74), Penn. (75-77), NJ (78-79) – 2x Team of the Year, 2x Golden Glove, 9.5 WAR (2.0/162)
2B: James McDonald – Pitt. (71-74), Brooklyn (75-77), Rochester (78-79) – 1x champ, 4x Team of the Year, 12.2 WAR (2.4/162)
3B: James Findley – Boston (71-76), Buffalo (77-78) – 2x champ, 1x Batsman of the Year, 3x Team of the Year, 3x RBI leader, 14.5 WAR (3.9/162)
SS: Anthony Mascherino – Penn. (71-74), Brooklyn (75-76), Knickerbockers (77-79) – 4x champ, 6x Golden Glove, 3x Team of the Year, 34.4 WAR (6.9/162)
OF: Charles Brophy – Knickerbockers (74-79) – 2x champ, 2x MVP, 1x Batsman of the Year, 1x Batting champ, 5x Team of the Year, 26.63 WPA (9.84/162), 20.9 WAR (7.7/162)
OF: Tommy Thompson – Pennsylvania (71-79) – 1x champ, 4x Team of the Year, 7x Golden Glove, 21.07 WPA (4.75/162), 21.8 WAR (4.9/162)
OF: Konrad Jensen – Orange (71-74), Buff. (75-76), Phi. (77-78), Excelsior (79) – 2x champ, 5x Batsman of the Year, 4x Batting champ, 7x Team of the Year, 33.7 WAR (6.9/162)
SP: Fred Peacock – Penn. (71-73, 75), Pitt. (74), Knick. (76-77), Brk. (78-79) – 3x champ, 1x Hurler of the Year, 3x win leader, 30-win season, 198-116, 3.44 ERA, 54.5 WAR (4.3/225 IP)
SP: Clarence Bowden – Orange (71-74), Penn. (75), Phi. (76), Brk. (77-79) – 1x champ, 2x Hurler of the Year, 178-135, 3.18 ERA, 54.8 WAR (4.2/225 IP)
SP: Leland Thurston – NJ (71-74), Pitt. (75-76), Phi. (77-79) – 1x champ, 3x strikeout leader, 2x CG leader (32 in ’77), 181-178, 3.54 ERA, 54.5 WAR (3.6/225 IP)

There was a lot of player movement over the first decade of professional baseball, and a lot of the NBBO greats who went pro retired during it. Because of that, some of the positions on the all-decade team (1B, 2B, SP) are weak. Brophy made it even though he played only five full years, because once he settled in with the Knickerbockers after a brief stint in 1874 he became a superstar at the age of 21 (.996 OPS, 171 OPS+).