[BaseballMan]

Future on the Horizon
By the 1870s, Harry Wright had been recognized as the best manager in the game. Wright was able to help Boston acquire some of the best talent in the game. Yet for a team that had Al Spalding, Ross Barnes, Jim O'Rourke, Deacon White and Harry's younger brother George a championship trophy eluded Harry and the Red Stockings.
The 1873 Red Stockings were not the best team Harry had managed but they were still expected to finish first. In terms of individual statistics and leaders, the Boston Red Stockings had the highest runs-per-game average, at 10.9. Their batting was led by a strong team effort, with many players contributing to their success. The team finished with a batting average of .333, an on-base percentage of .351, and a slugging percentage of .433. The team had several notable players in 1873, including Ross Barnes, who played second base and had a batting average of .388, and George Wright, who played shortstop and had a batting average of .349. Harry Wright played center field and had a batting average of .299. Other notable players on the Red Stockings roster in 1873 included Deacon White, who batted .348 and Jim O'Rourke, who batted .336 and broke the record for consecutive game hitting streak with 46.Al Spalding once again led the Red Stockings and the league in wins with 41. His record would give him his 3rd straight Cy Young Award. In fact, the award for the best pitcher was originally known as the Al Spalding pitching Award. However the final official name for awards was used in these chronicles. This is why Spalding won the 1873 Cy Young award even though it would not be named that for many years after Spalding's death.

The Baltimore Canaries had a strong season in 1873, finishing with a record of 38-19 and a .667 winning percentage, which was good enough for second place. The team scored 567 runs and allowed 451. Lip Pike was the team's best hitter, posting a .368 batting average. During the summer Pike also managed to beat "Chance" a horse in 100 yd dash. Other Canaries contributors were Tom J. Carey who hit .319, Davy Force hit .346, Everett Mills hit .364 and Scott Hastings hit .379 The team's pitching was led by Asa Brainard, who went 11-2 with a 2.54 ERA in 157.1 innings pitched. Candy Cummings went 10-6 with a 2.95 ERA in 124.2 innings pitched, while George Bradley went 8-8 with a 2.87 ERA in 139 innings pitched.

On the weak side of the league, the Baltimore Marylands had a difficult season, with a high runs-per-game average of 9.2. However, they did manage to record 2 complete games and 1 shutout. The team finished with an ERA of 4.76 and a WHIP of 1.75. Elizabeth Resolutes finished the season with a record of 6-17 and a .261 winning percentage, which placed them 9th in the league. The team scored 138 runs and allowed 192 runs. Neither team were able to overcome the lack of success on the field and called it quits before the season ended.

The National Association of 1873 had an exciting season, but questions still remained on the future of the league. The commissioner Henry Chadwick was well respected as an expert on the game. However, he was not a strong leader and would often allow players to leave and join teams at their leisure. This did nothing for fans of bad teams.

But changes were already on the horizon. A future of baseball with or without the National Association was beginning to form in the mind of William Hulbert. In the shadows of 1873 Hulbert had watched the game and began to plan the future. Hulbert had backed the the 1871 Chicago team that had been lost due to the great Chicago fire. Hulbert was eager to bring baseball back to Chicago but was displeased with the league’s lack of effort to field good teams in the west. Most west teams were hardly better than minor league teams for the powerhouse teams of the East. Hulbert wanted a restart in Chicago.
Hulbert also wanted a better organized league and control placed in the owner’s hands.