Random Wednesday: 1881 Worcester Ruby Legs

   Photo by <<graham>>
   some rights reserved

Admit it. You’d never heard of the Worcester Ruby Legs. It’s okay, I’d never heard of them either.

The Ruby Legs played three years in the National League, 1880 – 1882. They started out bad and kept getting worse. In 1881, they sported a 32-50 record, good for last place in the NL, 23 games back of the champion Chicago Cubs. (Did I just say “champion Chicago Cubs”? Wow, that was a long time ago.)

Other teams in the NL that year included the Providence Grays, Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Wolverines, Troy Trojans, Boston Red Caps, and Cleveland Blues. As for the Ruby Legs, they were led on offense by first baseman Harry Stovey, and outfielders Buttercup Dickerson and Pete Hotaling.

Talk about a different game. The club used four pitchers all season. Catcher Doc Bushong committed 44 errors. How does a catcher commit 44 errors? Well, like I said, it was a different game. Only 59% of the runs the Ruby Legs allowed in 1881 were earned. That number for MLB in 2007 was 92.5%.

The Ruby Legs actually were in first place as of May 24, when they owned a 10-4 record. They went 22-46 the rest of the way, and carried that momentum into 1882, when they finished 18-66. After the ‘82 season, the club closed up shop with an all-time franchise record of 90-159 (.361). Stovey is the club’s all-time leader in runs (223), hits (290), doubles (59), triples (31), and homers (11).