In 1881, Detroit Mayor William G. Thompson bought most of the players from the defunct Cincinnati Reds franchise and formed the Detroit Wolverines, which joined the National League. The team finished the season with a 41–43 record, good enough for fourth place in the NL race.
| 1881 Detroit Wolverines | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Recreation Park |
| City | Detroit, Michigan |
| Owner | William G. Thompson |
| Manager | Frank Bancroft |
Regular season
editSeason standings
edit| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Stockings | 56 | 28 | .667 | — | 32–10 | 24–18 |
| Providence Grays | 47 | 37 | .560 | 9 | 23–20 | 24–17 |
| Buffalo Bisons | 45 | 38 | .542 | 10½ | 25–16 | 20–22 |
| Detroit Wolverines | 41 | 43 | .488 | 15 | 23–19 | 18–24 |
| Troy Trojans | 39 | 45 | .464 | 17 | 24–18 | 15–27 |
| Boston Red Caps | 38 | 45 | .458 | 17½ | 19–22 | 19–23 |
| Cleveland Blues | 36 | 48 | .429 | 20 | 20–22 | 16–26 |
| Worcester Worcesters | 32 | 50 | .390 | 23 | 19–22 | 13–28 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BUF | CHI | CLE | DET | PRV | TRO | WOR | |||||||||
| Boston | — | 4–8 | 2–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 8–3 | |||||||||
| Buffalo | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 6–5 | |||||||||
| Chicago | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 9–3 | |||||||||
| Cleveland | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 3–9 | 6–6–1 | 7–5 | |||||||||
| Detroit | 8–4 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | |||||||||
| Providence | 7–5 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | |||||||||
| Troy | 5–7 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 6–6–1 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | |||||||||
| Worcester | 3–8 | 5–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | — | |||||||||
Roster
edit| 1881 Detroit Wolverines | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers
Catchers |
Infielders | Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Charlie Bennett | 76 | 299 | 90 | .301 | 7 | 64 |
| 1B | Martin Powell | 55 | 219 | 74 | .338 | 1 | 38 |
| 2B | Joe Gerhardt | 80 | 297 | 72 | .242 | 0 | 36 |
| 3B | Art Whitney | 58 | 214 | 39 | .182 | 0 | 9 |
| SS | Sadie Houck | 75 | 308 | 86 | .279 | 1 | 36 |
| OF | Lon Knight | 83 | 340 | 92 | .271 | 1 | 52 |
| OF | George Wood | 80 | 337 | 100 | .297 | 2 | 32 |
| OF | Ned Hanlon | 76 | 305 | 85 | .279 | 2 | 28 |
Other batters
editNote: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lew Brown | 27 | 108 | 26 | .241 | 3 | 14 |
| Charlie Reilley | 19 | 70 | 12 | .171 | 0 | 3 |
| Dasher Troy | 11 | 44 | 15 | .341 | 0 | 4 |
| Mike Dorgan | 8 | 34 | 8 | .235 | 0 | 5 |
| Sam Trott | 6 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Will Foley | 5 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 1 |
| Jack Leary | 3 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 4 |
| Dan Stearns | 3 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan O'Leary | 2 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| George Bradley | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Moynahan | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Taylor | 1 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 |
| Sam Wise | 1 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
editStarting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Derby | 56 | 494.2 | 29 | 26 | 2.20 | 212 |
| Stump Weidman | 13 | 115.0 | 8 | 5 | 1.80 | 26 |
| Frank Mountain | 7 | 60.0 | 3 | 4 | 5.25 | 13 |
| Tony Mullane | 5 | 44.0 | 1 | 4 | 4.91 | 7 |
| Will White | 2 | 18.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.00 | 5 |
| Jack Leary | 2 | 13.0 | 0 | 2 | 4.15 | 2 |