THE 1878 MILWAUKEE GRAYS

July 2, 1878 at Milwaukee
Grays lose to Boston, 4-1
Season record: 7-19-1

One of the best games of the season was played on the Milwaukee grounds, yesterday, between the home nine and the Bostons. Weaver pitched for the Milwaukees, with Bennett in his old place behind the bat. The prospect of a good game called out one of the largest crowds of spectators seen on the grounds this year. The Milwaukees won the toss and took the field. The first two innings resulted in zeros on both sides. In the third, Morrill and Bard tallied for the visitors. The fourth and fifth resulted in ciphers. In the sixth, Leonard and O’Rouke scored, making four for the visitors. The game was finished with no more runs for the Bostons, and only one for the Milwaukees, the latter by Dalrymple, in the ninth. The visitors took every possible advantage of Bennett’s weak shoulder and consequent inability to throw to second [note: stolen bases were not included in the box scores in 1878, but we can guess there were quite a few for the Red Caps]. The Bostons played a remarkable game, only one error being scored against them. Lack of space, this morning, prevents a full report.

Notable:
- Indeed Boston only had one error (by the first baseman, Morrill) while Milwaukee had 10, four by Bennett at catcher and three by 2B Peters.
- Bennett was also charged with two passed balls.
- The headline of this story calls Boston the Champions. Boston was 42-18 in 1877, a full 7 games ahead of Louisville, which was 35-25 … and of course threw games for money.
- Boston would lead the league in fielding with a .914 fielding percentage (Milwaukee would be dead last at .866, accumulating roughly 150 more errors than Boston).
- The pitcher for Boston – as he would be for 59 of the team’s 60 games – was Tommy Bond. Bond would pitch 57 complete games and compile 532.2 innings.