1894 by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

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Figures for 1890 and 1891 include those generated by the American Association which ceased to exist in 1892. A “World Series” was played in 1891 featuring the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, pennant winners of the National League, and the Louisville Colonels, pennant winners in the American Association. The result was a 3-3-1 tie.

UERA stands for Unearned Run Average, and has been computed by simply subtracting ERA (Earned Run Average) from RPG (Runs per Game). It is only mentioned here because it dropped significantly in 1895, and though it is unprovable either way, the writer would postulate that this was caused by the increased use of fielding gloves, making for fewer errors.

Early baseball was a game played without fielding gloves. Balls were caught or missed using bare hands. The earliest gloves were not webbed and not particularly well suited for catching but was used more to swat a ball to the ground so that it could be picked up. Many early baseball gloves were simple leather gloves with the fingertips cut off, supposedly to allow for the same control given by a bare hand but with extra padding.

One of the first players believed to use a baseball glove was Doug Allison, a catcher for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, in 1870, due to an injured left hand. The first confirmed glove use

1894