1875 in baseball
The following are the baseball events of the year 1875 throughout the world.
Champions
National Association final standings
| National Association | |||||
| Rank | Club | Wins | Losses | Win % | GB |
| 1st | Boston Red Stockings | 71 | 8 | .899 | -- |
| 2nd | Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | 20 | .726 | 15.0 |
| 3rd | Hartford Dark Blues | 54 | 28 | .659 | 18.5 |
| 4th | St. Louis Brown Stockings | 39 | 29 | .574 | 26.5 |
| 5th | Philadelphia White Stockings | 37 | 31 | .544 | 28.5 |
| 6th | Chicago White Stockings | 30 | 37 | .448 | 35.0 |
| 7th | New York Mutuals | 30 | 38 | .441 | 35.5 |
| 8th | St. Louis Red Stockings | 4 | 14 | .222 | 37.0 |
| 9th | New Haven Elm Citys | 7 | 40 | .149 | 48.0 |
| 10th | Washington Nationals | 4 | 23 | .148 | 40.5 |
| 11th | Philadelphia Centennials | 2 | 12 | .143 | 36.5 |
| 12th | Keokuk Westerns | 1 | 12 | .077 | 37.0 |
| 13th | Brooklyn Atlantics | 2 | 42 | .045 | 51.5 |
Statistical leaders
| National Association | |||
| Type | Name | Stat | |
| AVG | Deacon White BOS | .367 | |
| HR | Jim O'Rourke BOS | 6 | |
| RBI | Cal McVey BOS | 87 | |
| Wins | Albert Spalding BOS | 55 | |
| ERA | Albert Spalding BOS | 1.52 | |
| Strikeouts | Frank Fleet STL/BRA | 26 | |
Notable seasons
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Events
January–March
April–June
- May 3 – The Hartford Dark Blues are caught using an illegal bat which had been whittled nearly flat on one side and painted black to conceal the altering. The bat is thrown out and the Dark Blues go on to win the game.
- May 5 – The Washington Nationals give up 20+ runs for the 5th consecutive game.
- May 11 – The St. Louis Red Stockings fall to the Chicago White Stockings 1-0, the lowest scoring game ever at the time.
- May 21 – Only 10 days after it happened for the first time, the NA sees its second 1-0 game as Candy Cummings of the Hartford Dark Blues outduels Bobby Mathews of the New York Mutuals.
- May 22 – Pud Galvin makes his debut with the St. Louis Brown Stockings. Galvin will only pitch in 8 games for St. Louis and will not be seen in the major leagues again until 1879.
- June 11 – George Hall of the Philadelphia Athletics, who will finish 2nd in the league with 4, homers in consecutive at-bats.
July–September
- July 20 – Harry Wright learns that Albert Spalding, Deacon White, Ross Barnes and Cal McVey will jump to the Chicago White Stockings for the 1876 season. The Chicago Tribune reports that Wright will return to Cincinnati to start a new team.
- July 21 – Joe Start of the New York Mutuals hits 3 home runs and a triple in a Mutuals victory.
- July 28 – Joe Borden of the Philadelphia White Stockings pitched professional baseball's first no-hitter in defeating the Chicago White Stockings 4-0.
- September 6 – The Boston Red Stockings win their 4th pennant in a row roughly 6 weeks sooner than they had in the previous 3 seasons. The Red Stockings clinch with 16 games left to play on their schedule.
- September 11 – The first professional women's game is played in Springfield, Illinois on a half-sized field. The "Blondes" defeat the "Brunettes" 42-38.
- September 24 – George Gage, President of the Chicago White Stockings, passes away after suffering a stroke. William Hulbert will take over the team and drive the final nail in the NA's coffin by starting the National League during the off-season.
- September 25 – Paul Hines commits 10 errors at 2nd base for the Chicago White Stockings in a loss.
October–December
- October 10 – At a meeting of Chicago White Stockings stockholders, William Hulbert uses a proxy from the widow of the deceased George Gage to declare himself President of the team. He names Albert Spalding as Secretary.
- October 30 – The Boston Red Stockings defeat the Hartford Dark Blues 7-4 in what proves to be the final game in the history of the NA. The Red Stockings claim the last 4 pennants in increasingly dominating fashion after the Philadelphia Athletics win the inaugural flag in 1871.
Births
- 1875 – Bill Magee [1]
- January 7 – Kitty Bransfield
- January 20 – C. I. Taylor
- January 20 – Ernie Courtney
- January 24 – Bunk Congalton
- February 1 – Billy Sullivan
- February 12 – Michael J. Kelley
- February 18 – Walter Thornton
- February 21 – Luther Taylor
- February 25 – Johnny Kling [2]
- February 28 – George Gillpatrick
- March 3- John Kerin
- March 14 – Wilbur Murdoch
- March 28 – Jimmy Barrett
- March 28 – Harry Gleason
- April 2 – Ed Siever [3]
- April 11 – Ossee Schreckengost
- April 12 – Joe Corbett
- April 13 – Kid Elberfeld
- May 29 – Dave Fultz
- June 25 – Bill Phyle
- August 6 – Brownie Foreman
- August 21 – Frank Isbell
- August 31 – Eddie Plank
- September 4 – Jack Gilbert
- November 25 – Freddy Parent
- November 30 – Myron Grimshaw
- December 4 – Joe Corbett
- December 17 – Jim McHale
Notes
| 1 – Some sources show 1864 |
| 2 – Some sources show November 13 |
| 3 – Some sources show 1877 |
Deaths
- February 14 – Charlie Hodes, 26?, catcher/utility player from 1871–1874.
- July 22 – Eb Smith, 28, umpire for one game during the 1872 National Association season.