1877 Louisville Grays season

1877 Louisville Grays
League	National League
Ballpark	Louisville Baseball Park
City	Louisville, Kentucky
Owners	Walter N. Haldeman, Charles Chase
Manager	Jack Chapman

The 1877 Louisville Grays were the victim of Major League Baseball's first gambling scandal. Pitcher Jim Devlin, outfielder George Hall, utility player Al Nichols and shortstop Bill Craver were accused of throwing games at the end of the season. All four were banned from baseball for life. The team was unable to continue and folded after the season.

Regular season

After a spectacular start that included a 27–13 record to begin the season, the Grays mysteriously lost seven games in a row. Players bobbled the ball, seemed to slow between bases, and swung suspiciously wide. The result was that the Grays lost the pennant.

Pitcher Jim Devlin

Second baseman Joe Gerhardt

Right fielder Orator Shafer

Left fielder George Hall

Shortstop Bill Craver

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston	42	18	.700	—	27‍–‍5	15‍–‍13
Louisville	35	25	.583	7	20‍–‍9	15‍–‍16
Brooklyn Hartfords	31	27	.534	10	19‍–‍8	12‍–‍19
St. Louis	28	32	.467	14	20‍–‍10	8‍–‍22
Chicago	26	33	.441	15½	17‍–‍12	9‍–‍21
Cincinnati	15	42	.263	25½	12‍–‍18	3‍–‍24

Record vs. opponents

1877 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Team	BOS	BKN	CHI	CIN	LOU	STL
Boston	—	7–5–1	10–2	11–1	8–4	6–6
Brooklyn	5–7–1	—	8–4	7–3	6–6–1	5–7
Chicago	2–10	4–8	—	8–3–1	4–8	8–4
Cincinnati	1–11	3–7	3–8–1	—	5–7	3–9
Louisville	4–8	6–6–1	8–4	7–5	—	10–2
St. Louis	6–6	7–5	4–8	9–3	2–10	—

Roster

1877 Louisville Grays
Roster
Pitchers Jim Devlin Catchers Pop Snyder		Infielders Bill Craver Joe Gerhardt Bill Hague John Haldeman Juice Latham Harry Little Al Nichols		Outfielders Bill Crowley George Hall Flip Lafferty Orator Shafer		Manager Jack Chapman

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	Pop Snyder	61	248	64	.258	2	28
1B	Juice Latham	59	278	81	.291	0	22
2B	Joe Gerhardt	59	250	76	.304	1	35
3B	Bill Hague	59	263	70	.266	1	24
SS	Bill Craver	57	238	63	.265	0	29
OF	George Hall	61	269	87	.323	0	26
OF	Orator Shafer	61	260	74	.285	3	34
OF	Bill Crowley	61	238	67	.282	1	23

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
Al Nichols	6	19	4	.211	0	0
Flip Lafferty	4	17	1	.059	0	0
John Haldeman	1	4	0	.000	0	0
Harry Little	1	3	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
Jim Devlin	61	559.0	35	25	2.25	141

References

• 1877 Louisville Grays season at Baseball Reference