Champions First World's Championship Series: Providence Grays over New York Metropolitans (3–0) National League: Providence Grays American Association: New York Metropolitans Union Association: St. Louis Maroons
Statistical leaders Any team shown in indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
American Association National League Union Association Stat Player Total Player Total Player Total AVG Dave Orr (NYM) .354 King Kelly (CHI) .354 Fred Dunlap (SLM) .412 HR John Reilly (CIN) 11 Ned Williamson (CHI) 27 Fred Dunlap (SLM) 13 RBI Dave Orr (NYM) 112 Cap Anson (CHI) 102 Unavailable W Guy Hecker1 (LOU) 52 Charles Radbourn2 3 (PRO) 59 Bill Sweeney (BLU) 40 ERA Guy Hecker1 (LOU) 1.80 Charles Radbourn2 (PRO) 1.38 Jim McCormick (COR) 1.54 K Guy Hecker1 (LOU) 385 Charles Radbourn2 (PRO) 441 Hugh Daily (WST/) 483 1 American Association Triple Crown pitching winner 2 National League Triple Crown pitching winner 3 All-time single-season wins record
Major league baseball final standings American Association final standings
National League final standings
Union Association final standings
All-Time Statistical Leaders (Strikeouts) The 1884 season was memorable in that six of the top 10 all-time Major League Baseball single season strikeout totals were set that season:
Pitcher Strikeouts Season Team League Overall Rank Hugh Daily 483 1884 Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies / Washington Nationals UA 3 Dupee Shaw 451 1884 Detroit Wolverines / Boston Reds NL/UA 4 Old Hoss Radbourn 441 1884 Providence Grays NL 5 Charlie Buffington 417 1884 Boston Beaneaters NL 6 Guy Hecker 385 1884 Louisville Eclipse AA 7 Bill Sweeney 374 1884 Baltimore Monumentals UA 10
Notable seasons Old Hoss Radbourn won a record 59 or 60 games (depending on the sources), a record that will almost certainly never be broken. In addition to wins, Radbourn led the National League in games (75), games started (73), complete games (73), ERA (1.38), saves (2), strikeouts (441), and innings pitched (678.2).
The season record for pitching strikeouts (369, by Tim Keefe 1883) is broken by seven players, with Hugh Daily beating Keefe's record by 114. To this day (as of 2020), six of the top ten strikeout seasons were accomplished in 1884 (including five of the top seven). 1884 was the first season in which pitchers were allowed to throw overhand.
Events
January–March February 18 – Terry Larkin, recently released from prison after shooting his wife and a police officer in , is arrested again for threatening to shoot his father. Larkin will be released and play this season for the Richmond Virginians. Larkin was later institutionalized after challenging his former employer to a duel, and committed suicide by slitting his throat with a razor in 1894. February 20 – The Altoona Mountain City club is admitted to the new Union Association as its seventh club, leaving Lancaster as the only franchise in the Inter-State League. March 4 – The National League reduces the number of balls needed for a walk to six. Team owners also agree to provide two separate benches for the teams in order to cut down on player fraternizing during games. March 15 – Henry Chadwick writes in a newspaper column that a ground-keeper in St. Louis has started placing tarpaulins over the bases when it rains in order to keep them dry. Other clubs will follow suit and cover the pitching area and batter areas as well. March 17 – The Union Association admits the Boston Reds, run by George Wright, as a new team to the league. March 28 – Umpire William McLean throws a bat into the stands, striking a spectator, in reaction to taunts from the crowd. McLean is arrested but not charged as the fan is not injured.
April–June April 17 – The Union Association opens its inaugural season with 3 games. May 1 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black player to play in the major leagues. Walker will play in 42 games for the Toledo Blue Stockings, have 152 at-bats and get 40 hits in his only season in major league baseball. Facing racism constantly, even his own teammates refuse to play with him. An injury in mid-July effectively ends Walker's season and he is later released. No other African-American will play in the major leagues until Jackie Robinson in . May 1 – The Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association has a section of their stands collapse as fans are leaving the park following their opening day game. There are numerous injuries including a broken arm. Reds' ownership covered all medical expenses for those injured. May 5 – After pitching in St. Louis the previous day, Tony Mullane of the Toledo Blue Stockings is barred by a court from pitching in the state of Missouri until his case involving his contract jumping is settled. May 6 – Larry McKeon of the Indianapolis Hoosiers pitches a 6-inning no-hitter. The game is called due to rain with the score tied 0–0. McKeon will go on to lose 41 games in 1884. May 16 – A foul tip off the bat of a Detroit Wolverines player sticks in the face mask of Boston Beaneaters catcher Mike Hines. Umpire Van Court rules it a catch and calls the batter out. National League secretary Nicholas Young will instruct all NL umpires to not call an out in that scenario again. May 22 – The Indianapolis Hoosiers release catcher George Mundinger and pitcher Pete Fries. May 24 Al Atkinson of the Philadelphia Athletics retires the final 27 batters in pitching a no-hitter over the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. Atkinson hit the lead off batter, Ed Swartwood, who stole second, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch, then did not allow another base runner in the 10–1 victory. The St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association, after starting the season with 20 consecutive wins, lose their first game of the year. May 29 Ed Morris of the Columbus Buckeyes pitches a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in an American Association game. The Chicago White Stockings hit 5 over-the-fence home runs in their home opener against the Detroit Wolverines. The White Stockings new ground rule allows a home run instead of a double for any ball hit in the air over the 180' left field fence or the 215' right field fence. After Chicago increases their home run output from 13 in to 142 this season, the National League will mandate a minimum fence distance of 210 feet beginning in . May 30 – Ned Williamson of the Chicago White Stockings becomes the first player to hit 3 home runs in one game in Chicago's 12–2 win over the Detroit Wolverines. May 31 – Altoona Mountain City drops out of the Union Association and folds, being replaced by the Kansas City Cowboys. Teams leaving and entering will become a recurring theme during the UA's one and only season. June 5 – Frank Mountain of the Columbus Buckeyes pitches a no-hitter and hits a home run in a 12–0 victory. June 7 – Charlie Sweeney of the Providence Grays strikes out 19 batters in a game to set a record that will last for over 100 years. June 10 – Larry Corcoran of the Chicago White Stockings switch-pitches in a 2–0 win over the Cleveland Blues. June 13 – The Baltimore Orioles place a barbed-wire fence around the field after the crowd swarmed the field and threatened the umpire in the previous day's game. June 16 – Buffalo Bisons outfielder Jim O'Rourke hits for the cycle as the Bisons crush the Chicago White Stockings, 20–9. June 20 – The Toledo Blue Stockings sign catcher Deacon McGuire. June 27 – Larry Corcoran of the Chicago White Stockings throws a no-hitter against the Providence Grays. It is the 3rd no-hitter of Corcoran's career and the first in the National League this season. June 28 – While playing a Sunday game in Toledo, the players are arrested in the 6th inning for violating the city ordinance banning Sunday baseball. Due to the unruly crowd, the police allow the players to complete the game. The Brooklyn Atlantics defeat Toledo 5–3 before players from both teams are taken into custody.
July–September 1884 – In American Association action, Guy Hecker of the Louisville Eclipse pitches complete games to win both ends of a doubleheader. Hecker does not walk a single batter in this day as he beats the Brooklyn Atlantics, 5–4 and 8–2. July 5 – Al Atkinson jumps from the American Association Philadelphia Athletics to the Union Association Chicago Browns, the first player to jump mid-season to the new league. July 7 – Hugh Daily strikes out 19, tying the record set a month earlier while throwing a one-hitter in the process. July 10 – Hugh Daily of the Chicago Browns pitches his second consecutive one-hitter. Daily will pitch four one-hitters by season's end, setting a major league record. July 11 – Billy Taylor, who had a 25–4 record for the St. Louis Maroons in the Union Association, jumps to the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association and wins the first of 17 games for Philadelphia, ending with a combined 43–16 record. July 28 – Charles Radbourn gains a victory in relief for the Providence Grays in the game that provides the point of contention as to whether Radbourn won 59 games or 60 in 1884. The Grays were trailing 4–3 when starting pitcher Cyclone Miller finished pitching in the bottom of the 5th inning. Providence scored 4 runs in the top of the 6th to take the lead, then Radbourn came in to pitch starting in the bottom of the 6th. Under the scoring rules of the day, Radbourn was credited with the win. Miller would have gotten the victory under today's scoring rules, hence the discrepancy in total wins for Radbourn. August 4 – Pud Galvin of the Buffalo Bisons pitches a no-hitter against the Detroit Wolverines. August 5 – Thomas Lynch, a deaf-mute, makes his major league debut for the Chicago White Stockings in the pitcher's box and is winning until he tires in the eighth inning. Cap Anson, who had hit two homers in the game, relieves him and promptly loses 8–5. Lynch will never appear in another major league game. August 6 – Cap Anson hits three home runs in a 13–4 win, giving him five homers in his last two games. August 21 – Charlie Geggus pitches a no-hitter for the Washington Nationals of the Union Association. The game is halted after eight innings as the Nationals defeat the Wilmington Quicksteps 12–1. August 25 – The Chicago Browns of the Union Association, after losing $15,000 in Chicago, move to Pittsburgh and become the Pittsburgh Stogies. They defeated the first-place St. Louis Maroons in their first official game in Pittsburgh on this day. August 26 – Dick Burns of the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds pitches a no-hitter against the Kansas City Cowboys. August 28 – Mickey Welch strikes out the first 9 batters of the game to set a record that would not be broken until by Tom Seaver. August 29 – The St. Louis Maroons win the only Union Association pennant with a 7–2 win over the Pittsburgh Stogies. September 11 – When no umpire shows up for the American Association game between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Toledo Blue Stockings, rookie pitcher Hank O'Day of Toledo fills in as a substitute. After his playing career, O'Day would later be recognized as the best umpire of the first quarter of the 20th century and would be the umpire to make the famous call involving Fred Merkle in . September 15 Manager Joe Simmons of the Wilmington Quicksteps pulls his team off the field before a home game against the Kansas City Cowboys when he realizes he will be unable to pay the required $60 gate fee to the visiting Cowboys as the attendance is zero. The visiting Cowboys are 7–55–2 (.112) while the Quicksteps are 2–16 (.111) and occupy the cellar in the Union Association standings; following this, the Quicksteps drop out of the Association and disband. The Providence Grays win the National League pennant with a 10–2 win over the Cleveland Blues. September 19 – The Union Association replaces the Wilmington Quicksteps and Pittsburgh Stogies and with the Milwaukee Brewers and a team from Omaha sponsored by the Union Pacific Railroad.