March 31 – The
Worcester Ruby Legs offer the
Providence Grays $1,000 for negotiating rights with Providence player-manager
George Wright. The Grays refuse the offer and Wright remains the reserved property of Providence.
April–June
April 21 –
George Wright turns down the
Providence Grays final contract offer. As a reserved player obligated to Providence, Wright has no other option but to sit out the season (although he does mysteriously appear in 1 game on May 29 for the
Boston Red Caps).
April 28 –
Lew Brown, catcher for the
Boston Red Caps, arrives drunk for an exhibition game and is suspended for the entire season by the Red Caps.
July 8 – The
Chicago White Stockings win their 21st consecutive game. This record will stand until
1916 when it is broken by the
New York Giants. It still stands as the 2nd longest winning streak in major league history.
July 11 – The Chicago Tribune publishes runs batted in for the first time.
July 17 –
Harry Stovey of the
Worcester Ruby Legs hits his first big league home run. Stovey will become the first player in history to reach 100 career home runs.
August 6 –
Tim Keefe makes his major league debut with the
Troy Trojans, pitching a 4-hitter in defeating the
Cincinnati Stars. Keefe will end up with 342 career wins and be elected to the Hall-of-Fame in
1964.
August 27 – Bill Crowley of the
Buffalo Bisons records 4 assists from the outfield for the second time this season, having done it previously on May 24. Crowley remains the only outfielder to ever have 4 assists in one game on two separate occasions.
September 1 –
Charley Jones of the
Boston Red Caps refuses to play after the club fails to pay him $378 in back pay. The team responds by suspending, fining and black-listing him. Jones will never again play in the
National League, although he will appear again beginning in
1883 in the
American Association.
September 2 – The first night game is played in
Nantasket Beach,
Massachusetts. The Jordan Marsh and R. H. White department stores from
Boston play to a 16–16 tie.
September 8 – The
Polo Grounds in New York City are leased by a new Metropolitan team being led by
Jim Mutrie.
September 29 – The
Polo Grounds hosts its first baseball game as the newly formed New York Metropolitans defeat the National Association champion Washington Nationals 4–2. Approximately 2,500 people attend the game, the largest crowd to see a game in New York City in several years.
September 30 – The last place
Cincinnati Stars win their final game 2–0 in front of 183 fans. This will be the last game for this troubled franchise, although the city will see the current version of the
Reds begin play in
1882.
October–December
October 4 – The
National League prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages in member parks and also prohibits member parks from being rented out on Sundays. These rulings are directly aimed at the
Cincinnati Stars club who routinely did both in order to raise additional money for their continual struggling finances.
October 6 – The
Cincinnati Stars refuse to abide by the new rules set down and are immediately kicked out of the
National League.
December 8 – The
National League rejects the Washington Nationals bid for membership and accepts the
Detroit Wolverines as its newest member.
December 9 – The
National League re-elects
William Hulbert as president and adopts several new rules for
1881. Among the new rules are reducing called balls for a walk down to 7 and moving the pitching box back 5 feet to the new distance of 50 feet.