1881 Providence Grays season

The Providence Grays finished the 1881 season in second place in the National League for a second straight season. However, management strife and sagging attendance hurt the team's bottom line and they occasionally had trouble meeting payroll.

1881 Providence Grays
League	National League
Ballpark	Messer Street Grounds
City	Providence, Rhode Island
Owner	Henry Root
Managers	Jack Farrell, Tom York

Regular season

Pitcher Charles Radbourn

Pitcher John Montgomery Ward

Center fielder Paul Hines

Third baseman Jerry Denny

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Stockings	56	28	0.667	—	32–10	24–18
Providence Grays	47	37	0.560	9	23–20	24–17
Buffalo Bisons	45	38	0.542	10½	25–16	20–22
Detroit Wolverines	41	43	0.488	15	23–19	18–24
Troy Trojans	39	45	0.464	17	24–18	15–27
Boston Red Caps	38	45	0.458	17½	19–22	19–23
Cleveland Blues	36	48	0.429	20	20–22	16–26
Worcester Worcesters	32	50	0.390	23	19–22	13–28

Record vs. opponents

1881 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BUF	CHI	CLE	DET	PRV	TRO	WOR
Boston	—	4–8	2–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	7–5	8–3
Buffalo	8–4	—	5–7	7–5	9–3	7–5	3–9	6–5
Chicago	10–2	7–5	—	6–6	7–5	9–3	8–4	9–3
Cleveland	4–8	5–7	6–6	—	5–7	3–9	6–6–1	7–5
Detroit	8–4	3–9	5–7	7–5	—	4–8	7–5	7–5
Providence	7–5	5–7	3–9	9–3	8–4	—	6–6	9–3
Troy	5–7	9–3	4–8	6–6–1	5–7	6–6	—	4–8
Worcester	3–8	5–6	3–9	5–7	5–7	3–9	8–4	—

Roster

1881 Providence Grays
Roster
Pitchers Bobby Mathews Charles Radbourn Catchers Barney Gilligan Emil Gross		Infielders Jerry Denny Jack Farrell Bill McClellan Henry Myers Joe Start		Outfielders Lew Brown Paul Hines John Ward Tom York		Manager Jack Farrell Tom York

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Emil Gross	51	182	50	.275	1	24
1B	Joe Start	79	348	114	.328	0	29
2B	Jack Farrell	84	345	82	.238	5	36
3B	Jerry Denny	85	320	77	.241	1	24
SS	Bill McClellan	68	259	43	.166	0	16
OF	Tom York	85	316	96	.304	2	47
OF	Paul Hines	80	361	103	.285	2	31
OF	John Ward	85	357	87	.244	0	53

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Charles Radbourn	72	270	59	.219	0	28
Barney Gilligan	46	183	40	.219	0	20
Lew Brown	18	75	18	.240	0	10
Henry Myers	1	4	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
John Ward	39	330.0	18	18	2.13	119
Charles Radbourn	41	325.1	25	11	2.43	117
Bobby Mathews	14	102.1	4	8	3.17	28

References

• 1881 Providence Grays season at Baseball Reference