1886 Detroit Wolverines season

1886 Detroit Wolverines
1886 Detroit Wolverines
League	National League
Ballpark	Recreation Park
City	Detroit, Michigan
Owner	Frederick K. Stearns
Manager	Bill Watkins
	← 1885 1887 →

The 1886 Detroit Wolverines had the best winning percentage of any major league baseball team to play in Detroit. They compiled a record of 87–36 for a .707 winning percentage. Nevertheless, the Wolverines finished in second place, 2½ games behind the Chicago White Stockings.

Regular season

1886 Detroit Wolverines

Season standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Stockings	90	34	.726	—	52‍–‍10	38‍–‍24
Detroit Wolverines	87	36	.707	2½	49‍–‍13	38‍–‍23
New York Giants	75	44	.630	12½	47‍–‍12	28‍–‍32
Philadelphia Quakers	71	43	.623	14	45‍–‍14	26‍–‍29
Boston Beaneaters	56	61	.479	30½	32‍–‍26	24‍–‍35
St. Louis Maroons	43	79	.352	46	27‍–‍34	16‍–‍45
Kansas City Cowboys	30	91	.248	58½	17‍–‍40	13‍–‍51
Washington Nationals	28	92	.233	60	19‍–‍43	9‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1886 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	KC	NYG	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	6–12	6–11	11–6	6–11	3–10	11–6–1	13–5
Chicago	12–6	—	11–7	17–1	10–8–1	10–7–1	13–4	17–1
Detroit	11–6	7–11	—	16–2	11–7	10–7–1	15–2–1	17–1–1
Kansas City	6–11	1–17	2–16	—	3–15–1	2–14–1	5–12–2	11–6–1
New York	11–6	8–10–1	7–11	15–3–1	—	8–8–1	15–3	11–3–2
Philadelphia	10–3	7–10–1	7–10–1	14–2–1	8–8–1	—	12–6	13–4–1
St. Louis	6–11–1	4–13	2–15–1	12–5–2	3–15	6–12	—	10–8
Washington	5–13	1–17	1–17–1	6–11–1	3–11–2	4–13–1	8–10	—

Roster

1886 Detroit Wolverines

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Bill Watkins

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; Slg. = Slugging percentage; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	Slg.	HR	RBI
C	Charlie Bennett	72	235	37	57	.243	.391	4	34
1B	Dan Brouthers	121	489	139	181	.370	.581	11	72
2B	Fred Dunlap	51	196	32	56	.286	.418	4	37
3B	Deacon White	124	491	65	142	.289	.354	1	76
SS	Jack Rowe	111	468	97	142	.303	.425	6	87
OF	Sam Thompson	122	503	101	156	.310	.445	8	89
OF	Ned Hanlon	126	494	105	116	.235	.296	4	60
OF	Hardy Richardson	125	538	125	189	.351	.504	11	61

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; Slg. = Slugging percentage; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	Slg.	HR	RBI
Charlie Ganzel	57	213	28	58	.272	.338	0	51
Sam Crane	47	185	24	26	.141	.189	1	12
Jim Manning	26	97	14	18	.186	.268	0	7
Harry Decker	14	54	2	12	.222	.250	0	5
Jack McGeachey	6	27	3	9	.333	.333	0	4
Billy Shindle	7	26	4	7	.269	.269	0	4
Tom Gillen	2	10	2	4	.400	.400	0	4

Note: pitchers' batting statistics not included

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Lady Baldwin	56	487.0	42	13	2.24	323
Pretzels Getzien	43	386.2	30	11	3.03	172
Pete Conway	11	91.0	6	5	3.36	35
Billy Smith	9	77.0	5	4	4.09	36
Phenomenal Smith	3	25.0	1	1	2.16	15
Larry Twitchell	4	25.0	0	2	6.48	6

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Hardy Richardson	4	3	0	0	4.50	5

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Lady Baldwin

NL leader in wins (42)
NL leader in strikeouts (323)
NL leader in shutouts (7)
NL leader in walks plus hits per 9 innings pitched (WHIP) (0.967)
NL leader in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (6.86)
#3 in NL in ERA (2.24)
#3 in NL in win percentage (.764)
#2 in NL in strikeouts to walks (3.23)
#3 in NL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (5.97)
#4 in NL in games (56)
#4 in NL in innings pitched (487)
#4 in NL in games started (56)
#4 in NL in complete games (55)
#5 in NL in walks per 9 innings pitched (1.85)
#5 in NL in Adjusted ERA+ (147)

Dan Brouthers

NL leader in slugging percentage (.581)
NL leader in OPS (1.026)
NL leader in total bases (284)
NL leader in doubles (40)
NL leader in home runs (11) (tied with Richardson)
NL leader in runs created (126)
NL leader in extra base hits (66)
NL leader in at bats per home run (44.5)
#2 in NL in on-base percentage (.445)
#2 in NL in triples (15)
#2 in NL in times on base (247)
#3 in NL in Power/Speed Number (14.4)
#3 in NL in at bats per strikeout (30.6)
#3 in NL in batting average (.370)
#3 in NL in plate appearances (555)
#3 in NL in runs scored (139)
#3 in NL in hits (181)
#4 in NL in runs scored (125)
#4 in NL in bases on balls (66)

Pretzels Getzien

#5 in NL in win percentage (.732)

Ned Hanlon

NL leader in games played (126)
#2 in NL in outs (378)
#3 in NL in stolen bases (50)
#4 in NL in plate appearances (551)
#5 in NL in at bats (494)

Hardy Richardson

NL leader in at bats (538)
NL leader in plate appearances (584)
NL leader in hits (189)
NL leader in home runs (11) (tied with Brouthers)
NL leader in singles (140)
NL leader in Power/Speed Number (17.4)
#2 in NL in at bats per home run (48.9)
#2 in NL in games finished (pitcher) (4)
#3 in NL in games played (125)
#3 in NL in total bases (271)
#3 in NL in stolen bases (42)
#4 in NL in runs created (109)
#4 in NL in extra base hits (49)
#5 in NL in times on base (235)
#5 in NL in batting average (.351)
#5 in NL in slugging percentage (.504)
#5 in NL in OPS (.906)

Jack Rowe

#4 in NL in RBIs (87)

Sam Thompson

NL leader in double plays by an outfielder (11)
#3 in NL in at bats (503)
#3 in NL in RBIs (89)
#4 in NL in singles (117)

Deacon White

#4 in NL in singles (117)
3rd oldest player in NL (38)

Players Ranking Among Top 100 of All Time at Position

The following members of the 1886 Detroit Wolverines are among the Top 100 of all time at their positions, as ranked by The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001:

Charlie Bennett: 49th best catcher of all time
Dan Brouthers: 18th best first baseman of all time
Fred Dunlap: 89th best second baseman of all time
Hardy Richardson: 39th best second baseman of all time
Deacon White: 76th best third baseman of all time
Billy Shindle: 95th best third baseman of all time (played only 7 games for the 1886 Wolverines)
Sam Thompson: 37th best right fielder of all time

External links

Baseball-Reference.com 1886 Detroit Wolverines Regular Season Statistics