The Boston Reds of 1884 were a member of the short-lived Union Association

Union Association

The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for only one season in 1884. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season...

. One of the last teams to join the Union Association, the Reds were owned by George Wright, whose long association with professional baseball (including the first major league team in Boston, the Red Stockings

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

) lent sorely-needed credibility to the fledgling league. The team was managed by Tim Murnane

Tim Murnane

Timothy Hayes Murnane was an American sportswriter specializing in baseball, regarded as the leading baseball writer at The Boston Globe for about thirty years until his death. At the same time, he organized and led professional sports leagues and helped govern the baseball industry...

, who was also their regular first baseman. Their home games were played at the Dartmouth Grounds

Dartmouth Grounds

Dartmouth Grounds is a former baseball ground located in Boston, Massachusetts. The ground was home to the Boston Reds of the Union Association in 1884. It is also known as ....

.

In their one season of existence, the Reds finished with the fifth-best record in the league at 58-51. Of the teams that played the full season, they finished fourth (the Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers (UA)

The Milwaukee Brewers served as a replacement team late in the 1884 Union Association season. Called the Cream Citys by both local papers, they had a record of 8-4. The team came to the UA from the Northwestern League, as did the St. Paul Saints, and were managed by Tom Loftus...

, a late-season addition, finished with the second-best record at 8-4). Their top-hitting regular was outfielder

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

 Ed Crane

Ed Crane (baseball)

Edward Nicholas Crane , nicknamed Cannonball, was an American right-handed pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball for eight seasons...

, who batted .285 with 12 home runs, and their best pitcher was Dupee Shaw

Dupee Shaw

Frederick Lander "Dupee" Shaw , was an American Major League Baseball player who played pitcher in the Majors from to . He would play for the Detroit Wolverines, Boston Reds, Providence Grays, and Washington Nationals...

, who was 21-15 with an ERA

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 of 1.77. Shaw struck out 18 St. Louis Maroons

1884 St. Louis Maroons season

The St. Louis Maroons finished with a 94-19 record and won the championship of the new Union Association. After the season the UA folded and the Maroons joined the National League, the only UA team to continue past this season.- Roster :...

in a game on July 19.

External links

• 1884 Boston Reds at Baseball Reference