Providence Grays - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

team based in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

who played in the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

from until . The Grays played at Messer Field

Messer Street Grounds

Messer Street Grounds is a former baseball ground located in Providence, Rhode Island. The ground was home to the Providence Grays baseball club of the National League from 1878 to 1885....

in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National League title twice, in and . The team folded after the season.

1879 champions

One of the leading players from the 1879 pennant winner was Hall of Famer

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...

John Montgomery Ward

John Montgomery Ward , known as Monte Ward, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, shortstop and manager. Ward was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Renovo, Pennsylvania...

.

The team had a putative claim to being the first Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

team to field an African-American baseball player, William Edward White

William Edward White

William Edward White played as a substitute in one baseball game for the Providence Grays, on June 21, 1879. Recent work by members of the Society for American Baseball Research suggests that he may have been the first African-American to play major league baseball, predating the longer career of...

, a Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

student who played one game for the Grays on June 21, 1879. Evidence is strong but not conclusive: Peter Morris of the Society for American Baseball Research

Society for American Baseball Research

The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York, in August 1971 by Bob Davids of Washington, D.C. The Society's mission is to foster the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, while generating interest in the game...

has researched this issue, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on January 30, 2004. However, it has been acknowledged that White, who had at least one Negro ancestor, lived his life as a white man, and his race sparked no controversy when he was hired by Providence. Brothers Dan

Dan Falk

Dan Falk is a Canadian science journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has written for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, The Walrus, Cottage Life, SkyNews, Astronomy and New Scientist, and has contributed to the CBC radio programs Ideas, Quirks and Quarks, Tapestry and Spark.He has published...

and Cliff Falk, who were both starting pitchers on the club during the 1883 season, may also have been of partial Negro ancestry.

1884 champions

The 1884 team was led by ace pitcher Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn

Charles Radbourn

Charles Gardner Radbourn , nicknamed "Old Hoss", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the Buffalo Bisons , Providence Grays , Boston Beaneaters , Boston Reds , and Cincinnati Reds...

(sometimes spelled Radbourne), who won a record 60 (59, according to some sources) games that year and led the Grays to the pennant. When the team's other star pitcher, Charlie Sweeney

Charlie Sweeney

Charles J. Sweeney was an American Major League Baseball pitcher from 1882 through 1887. He played with moderate success for several teams, but he is best known to historians for the inadvertent career boost that he gave to future Hall of Famer Old Hoss Radbourn.Sweeney began his major league...

, defected to the rival 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...

league in July, it looked like the Grays' season was doomed, but "Old Hoss" offered to pitch the rest of the team's games. The Grays went on a 20-game winning streak and topped the league ahead of their ferocious New England rivals, the Boston Red Stockings.

When the season was over, the Grays had won the league title by five games. They then played the New York Metropolitans

1884 New York Metropolitans season

The New York Metropolitans finished with a 75-32 record, first place in the American Association. After the season, they played the National League champion Providence Grays in the 1884 World Series and lost three games to zero.- Roster :...

, champions of the rival American Association

American Association (19th century)

The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...

, in a three-game championship series, and won all three games. It wasn't officially called the "World Series," but the Grays became undisputed world champions. At the end of the 1885 season, the Grays disbanded due to declining gate attendance.

Other highlights

Other memorable highlights of the Grays' short existence include a no-hitter

No-hitter

A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...

by Radbourn on July 25, 1883, the second perfect game

Perfect game

A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...

in MLB history, pitched by John Montgomery Ward

John Montgomery Ward

John Montgomery Ward , known as Monte Ward, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, shortstop and manager. Ward was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Renovo, Pennsylvania...

on June 17, 1880, and pitcher Charlie Sweeney

Charlie Sweeney

striking out 19 batters in a nine-inning game on June 7, 1884, a record that would stand until broken by Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens

William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...

102 years later.

Season records

Season	Record	Pct.	Result
1878 1878 Providence Grays season The Providence Grays were a new franchise that joined the National League for the 1878 baseball season. They finished in third place.-Roster:-Starters by position:...	33-27	.550	Third place
1879 1879 Providence Grays season The Providence Grays won the National League title in only their second season in the league.-Regular season:300px\|thumb\|Providence Baseball Club, 1879, York, Riley, Hines, Start, Denny, Nara, H. Wright, Radbourne, Gilligan, G. Wright, Farrell, Ward...	59-25	.702	Won National League Pennant
1880 1880 Providence Grays season The Providence Grays finished the 1880 season in second place in the National League.-Roster:-Starters by position:Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in...	52-32	.619	Second place
1881 1881 Providence Grays season The Providence Grays finished the 1881 season in second place in the National League for a second straight season. However, management strife and sagging attendance hurt the team's bottom line and they occasionally had trouble meeting payroll.-Roster:...	47-37	.560	Second place
1882 1882 Providence Grays season The Providence Grays hired veteran manager Harry Wright to guide the team in and the team seemed to improve. They held first place until September 17, but then suffered a losing streak that dropped the team into second place....	52-32	.619	Second place
1883 1883 Providence Grays season The Providence Grays finished the 1883 season in third place after a hard-fought four-way battle for the National League pennant.-Roster:-Starters by position:...	58-40	.592	Third place
1884 1884 Providence Grays season The Providence Grays went 84-28 during the 1884 season, easily capturing the National League championship. They then faced the American Association champions, the New York Metropolitans, in the very first World Series...	84-28	.750	Won National League Pennant
1885 1885 Providence Grays season After the team's success in 1884, things went downhill fast for the Providence Grays. The team dropped in the standings, finishing 30 games back in fourth place and attendance fell drastically...	53-57	.482	Fourth place

Notable alumni

Lip Pike
Lip Pike
Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike the "Iron Batter", was one of the stars of 19th century baseball in the United States. He was the first player to be revealed as a professional , as well as the first Jewish player...

, major league baseball 4x home run champion

External links

The Providence Grays at Baseball Reference
Info on the Grays of the 1880s