would capture five NL pennants over the course of the decade. They set the 19th century win record in 1892 with 102 wins. They tied their record in 1897. While the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Spiders received most of the reconition of the time as a result of their antics, the Boston team was consistently the best team of the era. It consistently beat the Cleveland and Baltimore teams, as evidenced by their pennant victories. The Beaneaters had an impeccable pitching staff, starring Kid Nichols. Nichols would win 300 games by his 31st birthday. Also bolstering the Beaneaters approach was a superb infield of Bobby Lowe, Jimmy Collins, Fred Tenney, and Herman Long. All of these men were excellent defenders as well as hitters. While their style of play was not the exciting "slugging style," it was an effective, powerful force in the game of baseball. Catcher, Jimmy Collins, would later be admitted to the Hall of Fame, and during his playing dayes he invented the "snap throw" to first base on bunts.

The above picture is Kid Nichols' Mayo's Plug Tobacco Base Ball card from 1895. Nichols was one of the best pitchers of his time.

back to the base ball timeline