1881 Buffalo Bisons season

1881 Buffalo Bisons
League	National League
Ballpark	Riverside Park
City	Buffalo, New York
Manager	Jim O'Rourke

The 1881 Buffalo Bisons finished the season with a 45–38 record, good for third place in the National League.

A highlight from this season occurred on September 15. In a 12-inning game against Worcester, Buffalo second baseman Davy Force recorded 12 putouts, seven assists, two unassisted double plays, participated in a triple play, and made just one error in 20 chances.

Regular season

Left fielder Dan Brouthers

Pitcher Pud Galvin

Center fielder Hardy Richardson

Catcher Jack Rowe

First baseman Deacon White

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	—

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	Jack Rowe	64	246	82	.333	1	43
1B	Deacon White	78	319	99	.310	0	53
2B	Davy Force	75	278	50	.180	0	15
3B	Jim O'Rourke	83	348	105	.302	0	30
SS	John Peters	54	229	49	.214	0	25
OF	Curry Foley	83	375	96	.256	1	25
OF	Hardy Richardson	83	344	100	.291	2	53
OF	Dan Brouthers	65	270	86	.319	8	45

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
Sleeper Sullivan	35	121	23	.190	0	15
Blondie Purcell	30	113	33	.292	0	17
John Morrissey	12	47	10	.213	0	3
Pop Smith	3	11	0	.000	0	1
Ed Swartwood	1	3	1	.333	0	0
Jack Manning	1	1	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
Pud Galvin	56	474.0	28	24	2.37	136
Jack Lynch	20	165.2	10	9	3.59	32

Other 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
Curry Foley	10	41.0	3	4	5.27	2
Blondie Purcell	9	61.2	4	1	2.77	15

References

• 1881 Buffalo Bisons season at Baseball Reference