The Milwaukee Grays were a short-lived baseball team that spent one year, 1878, 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 ...

. The team was part of 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 ...

, loosely affiliated with the National League, in 1877. It won 19 games and lost 13 (including a 10–7 loss to the Chicago White Stockings of the NL), ending up in fourth place. "The team's sharp style and strong hometown support won them a National League berth in 1878."The 1878 Milwaukee Grays
. They won 15 games and lost 45 in 1878, finishing sixth and last in the league. Their home games were played at Eclipse Park II. The Grays were managed by former major league

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 ...

Jack Chapman John Curtis "Jack" Chapman (May 8, 1843 – June 10, 1916) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager who was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began playing in the National Association when he played for the Brooklyn Atlantics a ...

, whose nickname was "Death to Flying Things." Their best hitter was

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

Abner Dalrymple Abner Frank Dalrymple (September 9, 1857 – January 25, 1939) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who hit 43 home runs (including 22 in 1884, the second-highest total to that date) and batted .288 with 407 RBI during his 12-s ...

, who led the team in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.354),

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, ...

(.421), runs (52), and doubles (10). Their top

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

was

Sam Weaver Samuel Weaver (8 February 1909 – 15 April 1985) was an English footballer who played as a half-back. Playing career Weaver began his career at local side Pilsley from where he moved to Sutton Town. His performances for Town attracted the a ...

, who was only 12–31 but had the fourth-best

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in the league, a very low 1.95.

Legacy

The club is remembered in the name of a

vintage base ball Vintage base ball is baseball presented as if being played by rules and customs from an earlier period in the sport's history. Games are typically played using rules and uniforms from the 19th century. Vintage base ball is not only a competiti ...

club. Along with the Milwaukee Cream Citys, the Grays are dedicated to preserving and presenting the rich history of organized baseball in Milwaukee. Current players wear replica uniforms based upon the original uniforms worn back in 1878. The modern-day Milwaukee Grays are a member of the

Vintage Base Ball Association The Vintage Base Ball Association is a vintage base ball league founded in 1996 in Columbus, Ohio, on the 150th anniversary of the first recorded baseball game between organized teams. The league uses the National Association of Base Ball Players ...

References

External links

Baseball Reference Team Index
Defunct Major League Baseball teams History of Milwaukee Baseball in Milwaukee League Alliance teams Defunct baseball teams in Wisconsin Baseball teams disestablished in 1878 Baseball teams established in 1877 1877 establishments in Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-baseball-team-stub

Legacy

See also

References

External links