Buffalo Bisons first baseman
Dan Brouthers leads the NL with 129 hits, a .368 batting average, a .950 OPS, and a 199 OPS+. His 63 runs batted in rank second in the league.[1][2]
Cincinnati Red Stockings pitcher
Will White has a record of 40–12 and leads the AA with 480 innings pitched, 40 wins, and 8 shutouts. He has a 1.54 earned run average and a 173 ERA+.[3][4]
Events
January–March
January 20 – The state of
Kentucky modifies a poorly written law that had banned baseball from being played in the state.
February 25 – In an effort to increase attendance, the
Providence Grays will require their players and the opposition team to parade through the streets of
Providence in full uniform on game days, accompanied by a brass band.
March 11 – After losing Dasher Troy and Sam Wise to the
National League after signing contracts to play in the
American Association, the AA drops its policy honoring the blacklist and expelled list of the National League.
May 5 –
Cap Anson of the
Chicago White Stockings is called out for walking back to the base after a foul ball was hit. The rule states the baserunner must run back to the base. The rule will be changed in the off season.
May 25 – Charles Foley of the
Buffalo Bisons becomes the first major leaguer to hit for the cycle. Foley will also become the first player to hit 2 grand slams in one season in 1882.
May 27 – Mike Moynahan has his finger amputated at the first joint after breaking it during a game. Moynahan will hit .310 as the everyday shortstop for the
Philadelphia Athletics in the
American Association in
1883.
June 5 – In describing the
Boston Red Caps 10–2 win over the
Detroit Wolverines, the
Chicago Tribune states it is the first game in which a team scored 10 runs or more with all of them being earned.
June 6 –
Blondie Purcell of the
Buffalo Bisons is fined for cutting the game ball open, which was soggy, rendering it unusable. Purcell did it to force the umpire to put in a new ball so that Bison pitcher
Pud Galvin could throw his curve more effectively.
June 20 –
Larry Corcoran, pitcher for the
Chicago White Stockings, goes 4–4 at the plate, including the first grand slam in the history of the White Stockings. It is the only home run of Corcoran's career.
July 18 –
Tony Mullane of the
Louisville Eclipse, begins switch-pitching in the 4th inning of a game against the
Baltimore Orioles. Mullane pitches left-handed against left-handed batters and right-handed against right-handed batters. Mullane gives up a 2-out homer to
Charlie Householder in the 9th and loses 9–8.
August 17 – The
Providence Grays beat the
Detroit Wolverines 1–0 in 18 innings. Hall-of-Famer
John Montgomery Ward goes the distance for the Grays, while fellow pitcher, teammate and Hall-of-Famer
Charley Radbourn, playing right field on his non-pitching day, hits a home run in the 18th to win it. Some consider this the finest played game of the entire 19th century.
September 5 – The
Baltimore Orioles play the first 4 innings of their game against
Pittsburgh in street clothes because their uniforms have been delayed at the train station.
September 25 – The lame-duck
Worcester Ruby Legs hold the first double-header while only charging one admission price. This idea will be used by virtually every major league club for nearly 100 years.
September 28 – The
Worcester Ruby Legs lose to the
Troy Trojans 4–1 in front of 6 people. The 2 teams are by far the worst in the league and have already been given the official boot from the
National League.
September 29 –
Worcester loses again to
Troy 10–7 in front of 25 fans in
Worcester's last major league game.
October 28 – The
Philadelphia Athletics of the
American Association announce that the club turned a $22,000 profit during the 1882 season. It is more than any team in the
National League made and gives credibility to the fledgling AA.
November 22 – John Day, owner of the
New York Gothams, proposes a resolution that would prohibit teams from signing players who had broken the reserve clause. Both leagues will ultimately adopt this proposal and turn the reserve clause from a protection against roster-raiding by other clubs into an item used against hard-bargaining players. The Gothams will join the
National League in
1883.
December 14 – The
American Association hires a permanent staff of umpires who will be scheduled, paid and overseen by the league rather than individual teams. It will eventually become the standard practice in every professional league, regardless of sport.