1897 Season
$2,320 Lands SP Gruber for Orioles
Friday, February 5th, 1897: The Baltimore Orioles have called a press conference later today to announce the signing of starting pitcher Henry Gruber to a 2-year, $2,320 contract.
Both Gruber and the Orioles are said to be very pleased to come to this agreement.
In his career Gruber has totaled 85 victories and 98 defeats with a 3.64 ERA. The 33-year-old hurler also has struck out 428 batters in 1573.1 innings and surrendered 1825 hits.
[IMG]file:///I:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Scott/My%20Documents/Out%20of%20the%20Park%20Developments/OOTP%20Baseball%2012/saved_games/NABL.lg/news/html/images/north_american_baseball_league_90.png[/IMG]Baseball America Top 100 Prospects List Published
Monday, April 5th, 1897: The season is about to start, so it's time for Baseball America to publish the annual Top 100 Prospects list. This year 23-year-old shortstop Honus Wagner of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms is the #1 prospect overall.
Here is the top 10:
1) SS
Honus Wagner, 23, Brooklyn Bridegrooms
2) SP
Rube Waddell, 20, Chicago White Sox
3) SP
Jack Powell, 22, Pittsburgh Pirates
4) SP
Jack Cronin, 22, Pittsburgh Pirates
5) CF
Chick Stahl, 24, Cleveland Spiders
6) RF Walter Thornton, 22, Chicago Colts
7) RF Jimmy Sheckard, 18, Boston Beaneaters
8) SP Tully Sparks, 22, Detroit Tigers
9) MR Red Donahue, 24, Brooklyn Bridegrooms
10) RF Chief Sockalexis, 25, Washington Senators
NABL News: Opening Day
Monday, April 5th, 1897: The long-awaited and much-anticipated Opening Day of baseball is finally here! For both fans and teams, hope always springs eternal. The proverbial "next year" is finally here! For better or worse, we'll find out what all the offseason management moves, manipulations and changes in personnel will bring. So, break out the peanuts and crackerjacks, sit back, sip on a tall cool one and get ready for some baseball. Here are the games on tap in North American BaseBall League for the first day of the new season:
Chicago White Sox @ Baltimore Orioles
Philadelphia Athletics @ Cleveland Spiders
Louisville Colonels @ Washington Senators
Detroit Tigers @ Boston Americans
Pittsburgh Pirates @ Brooklyn Bridegrooms
New York Giants @ Boston Beaneaters
Cincinnati Reds @ Chicago Colts
Philadelphia Phillies @ St. Louis Browns
Philadelphia at Cleveland
Monday 4/5
Cleveland 6 Philadelphia 3: Jesse Burkett HR. John Anderson 3-4, 2 runs.
Tuesday 4/6
Cleveland 17 Philadelphia 7: Herman Long 2-5, 4 RBIs. Bily Hamilton and Henry Cote 3 RBIs each.
Wednesday 4/7
Philadelphia 5 Cleveland 4: Four run ninth lifts Athletics. Mike Griffin 3-5, RBI. Charlie Nyce 2-4, RBI.
Detroit at Philadelphia
Thursday 4/8
Philadelphia 11 Detroit 1: Charlie Reynolds HR, 2-3, 4 RBIs. Denny Lyons 2-3, 3 RBIs.
Friday 4/9
Philadelphia 8 Detroit 4: Tom Parrott 3-5, 2 RBIs. Mike Griffin 2-5, 2 RBIs.
Saturday 4/10
Philadelphia 6 Detroit 5: Jack Clements HR, 2 RBIs, 2-5. Buck Freeman 3-5. Mike Griffin 2-5.
Philadelphia (4-2) at Boston (3-3)
Sunday 4/11
Philadelphia 14 Boston 3: Charlie Reynolds GRANS SLAM HR (2), 6 RBIs, 3-5.
Monday 4/12
Boston 9 Philadelphia 3: Fred Hartman 3-4, RBI. Fielder Jones 2-5, 2 RBIs.
Tuesday 4/13
Philadelphia 6 Boston 4: Charlie Nyce HR, 2-4, 2 RBIs.
Philadelphia (6-3) at Washington (6-3)
Wednesday 4/14
Washington 8 Philadelphia 4: Tommy Tucker 4-5, 2 RBIs. Pete Gilbert 2-4, 2 RBIs.
Thursday 4/15
Philadelphia 9 Washington 8: Sport McAllister hits his first career GRAND SLAM HR (1).
Friday 4/16
Washington 4 Philadelphia 3: Charlie Reynolds HR (3). Dan Brouthers 2-3.
Standings
| American League Standings |
| W | L | PCT | GB |
| Washington Senators | 8 | 4 | .667 | - |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 7 | 5 | .583 | 1.0 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 7 | 5 | .583 | 1.0 |
| Chicago White Sox | 6 | 6 | .500 | 2.0 |
| Boston Americans | 6 | 6 | .500 | 2.0 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 6 | 6 | .500 | 2.0 |
| Louisville Colonels | 5 | 7 | .417 | 3.0 |
| Detroit Tigers | 3 | 9 | .250 | 5.0 |
| National League Standings |
| W | L | PCT | GB |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 7 | 5 | .583 | - |
| Chicago Colts | 7 | 5 | .583 | - |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 7 | 5 | .583 | - |
| Boston Beaneaters | 7 | 5 | .583 | - |
| St. Louis Browns | 5 | 7 | .417 | 2.0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 5 | 7 | .417 | 2.0 |
| New York Giants | 5 | 7 | .417 | 2.0 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 5 | 7 | .417 | 2.0 |
Shut outs
4/10 Bill Daley (Washington) 5-0 over Cleveland.
4/10 Will Calihan (Americans) 8-0 over White Sox.
4/12 Frank Gilmore (Cincinnati) 3-0 over Pirates.
414 Bob Emslie (Beaneaters) 6-0 over Pirates.
5 or more hits
4/9 Bill Hallman (Brooklyn) 5-5 against Cincinnati.
Injuries
4/7 Jocko Halligan (Brooklyn) 5-6 weeks with torn quad.
4/8 Jimmy Sheckard (Beaneaters) 5 weeks with torn hip flexor tendon.
News
Washington Hurler Captures 300th Victory
Friday, April 16th, 1897: Charlie Ferguson of the Washington Senators nailed down his 300th career victory with a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Athletics today at Boundary Field. Ferguson, 33, fired 1 strikeout over 9 innings of work. He gave up 3 runs, 3 walks and allowed 8 hits.
"I feel great," Ferguson said afterward. "I try not to get caught up in the moment. It's hard with so much press coverage these days, but I tune all that out when I go out there and pitch."
In his career Ferguson has posted a record of 300-253 and compiled a 2.66 ERA.