The Indianapolis Blues were a baseball team in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

for one season (1878), in which they finished fifth in the six-team league with a 24–36 record. They were managed by

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

John Clapp, and played their home games at

South Street Park South Street Park is a former baseball ground located in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. The ground was home to the Indianapolis Blues of the National League for the 1878 season and was also known then as National Park. The ground first hosted baseball ...

. They had been brought into the League from the

League Alliance The League Alliance was the first semi-affiliated minor league baseball league. Proposed by Al Spalding on January 15, 1877. Independent baseball teams were to affiliate with National League teams, which would honor their respective contracts. The ...

following their 1877 seaso

Their top-hitting regular was

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

Orator Shafer George W. Shafer ometimes spelled ''Shaffer'' or ''Schaefer''(October 4, 1851 – January 21, 1922) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Orator", because he was an avid speaker, Shafer played for 10 teams in four different majo ...

, who batted .338 with a

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

of .455. Their most successful pitcher was

The Only Nolan Edward Sylvester "The Only" Nolan (November 7, 1857 – May 18, 1913) was a Canadian pitcher and outfielder in professional baseball. He played for five Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from 1878 to 1885. Family Although Nolan was raised in Pate ...

(13–22, 2.57), but had two other starters with better

ERAs Eras is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Albert Boton and Albert Hollenstein and was released by the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in 1976. Eras is licensed by the Linotype type foundry. A distinct and curious feature of E ...

: Jim McCormick (5–8, 1.69) and

Tom Healey Thomas F. Healey (1853 – February 6, 1891) was an American Major League Baseball player who pitcher, pitched for one season. In () he played with the Providence Grays and Indianapolis Blues. For his career, he compiled a 6-7 record in 14 appea ...

(6–4, 2.22).

Roster

* John Clapp *

Art Croft Arthur F. Croft (January 23, 1855 – March 16, 1884) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played for three teams during three-year professional and Major League career. Career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Croft began his profess ...

Silver Flint Frank Sylvester "Silver" Flint (August 3, 1855 – January 14, 1892) was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played 13 seasons of major league baseball for the St. Louis Red Stockings, Indianapolis Blues and Chicago White Stockings. Biograp ...

Jimmy Hallinan James H. Hallinan (May 27, 1849 – October 28, 1879) was an Irish born professional baseball player. In the first professional league season, he played shortstop in five games for the 1871 Fort Wayne Kekiongas. He returned to professional ...

* Jim McCormick *

Russ McKelvy Russell Errett McKelvy (September 8, 1854 – October 19, 1915) was an American Major League Baseball player who played center fielder, center field for the Indianapolis Blues of the National League (the only year the Blues were in the Major ...

Candy Nelson John W. "Candy" Nelson (March 14, 1849 – September 4, 1910) was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He played 13 seasons between and for nine teams in three leagues. Biography A native of Maine, Nelson entered professional baseball in B ...

Joe Quest Joseph L. Quest (November 16, 1852 – November 14, 1924) was an American professional baseball player from 1871 to 1892. He played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (principally as a second baseman) for seven different major league clubs. His ...

* Fred Warner *

Ned Williamson Edward Nagle "Ned" Williamson (October 24, 1857 – March 3, 1894) was a professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball. He played for three teams: the Indianapolis Blues of the National League (NL) for one season, the Chicago White S ...

External links

Baseball Reference Team Index
Defunct Major League Baseball teams

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

Professional baseball teams in Indiana Defunct baseball teams in Indiana League Alliance teams Baseball teams disestablished in 1878 Baseball teams established in 1878 {{Indianapolis-stub

Roster

See also

External links