1894 by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Page 77
move over to center to leave right field to Mac. More important, they were both aggressive players endowed with keen baseball intelligence. In their several seasons together, Dufy and McCarthy would devise, refine, or popularize much of the game strategy of the 1890s. They also became lifelong friends and, for a time, partners in a popular Boston bowling alley/saloon.
Statistically, their initial season together was not impressive.
While team best, Hugh’s .301 batting average was well beneath his previous marks, while McCarthy’s .242 was well below his.
Yet following each other in the batting order, they triggered a hit and run/stolen base oriented offense that placed the Boston club second in runs scored during that offensively challenged season. And in the outfield the two developed defensive tactics, like close-in positioning and the trapped ball double play, that ably supported the exceptional pitching provided by Kid Nichols, 35-16, Jack Stivetts, 35-16, and Harry Staley, 22-10, that paced the Beaneaters to a pennant-winning 102-48 record in the first season of play for the expanded 12 team National League. With Duffy at .462 and McCarthy at .381 showing the way, Boston then swept the Cleveland Spiders in six games, including one tie, of post season championship play.
The following two years saw the Heavenly Twins at the pinnacle of their prowess. In 1893, McCarthy posted a robust .346 batting