When their demand that only union men be employed was refused, members of the Western Federation of Miners dynamited the $250,000 mill of the Bunker Hill Company at Wardner, Idaho, destroying it completely. President William S. McKinley responded by sending in hundreds of black soldiers from Brownsville, Texas with orders to round up the thousands of miners and confine them in specially built cages called "bullpens".
The largest baseball crowd ever to date (24,000+) turned out at the West Side Grounds to watch the Chicago Orphans play the visiting St. Louis Perfectos. The home team Orphans won the contest 4-0 despite a poor showing by pitcher James Callahan who allowed twelve hits.
A motion to change the name of the Western League to the American League was successfully introduced by W.F.C. Golt of Indianapolis.
On October 8 th , three teams played in a single double header at Chicago. Game one pitted the hometown Orphans against the Cleveland Spiders as Jake Taylor tossed his first shut out and thirty-ninth complete game of the season en route to a 13-0 Chicago victory. Game two matched the winners against the Louisville Colonels and ended with another 7-3 Chicago decision, after the game was called due to darkness after only five innings.
"A lovely shade of cardinal." - Anonymous woman describing the new St. Louis uniforms which was overheard by William McHale of the St. Louis Republic
Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard
Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard
1899 National LeagueTeam Standings |
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Team [Click for roster] | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB |
Brooklyn Superbas | 101 | 47 | 2 | .682 | 0 |
Boston Beaneaters | 95 | 57 | 1 | .625 | 8 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 94 | 58 | 2 | .618 | 9 |
Baltimore Orioles | 86 | 62 | 4 | .581 | 15 |
St. Louis Perfectos | 84 | 67 | 4 | .556 | 18½ |
Cincinnati Reds | 83 | 67 | 7 | .553 | 19 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 76 | 73 | 5 | .510 | 25½ |
Chicago Orphans | 75 | 73 | 4 | .507 | 26 |
Louisville Colonels | 75 | 77 | 3 | .493 | 28 |
New York Giants | 60 | 90 | 3 | .400 | 42 |
Washington Senators | 54 | 98 | 3 | .355 | 49 |
Cleveland Spiders | 20 | 134 | 0 | .130 | 84 |
Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard
Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard
On April 30, 1899, the largest crowd to date watched the Chicago Orphans defeat the St. Louis Perfectos 4-0. The fans, 27,849 in total, watched from the outfield and balls hit into the crowd were counted as singles.
On September 27, 1899, Jay Parker of Pittsburgh made his Major League debut on the mound and issued two base on balls. He was relieved and both runs scored. Parker never appeared in another Major League game and his lifetime earned run average is technically infinite.
Future legends born during this season? Earle Combs on the 14th of May, Kiki Cuyler on the 30th of August, Waite Hoyt on the 9th of September, Pie Traynor on the 11th of November, and Jocko Conlan on the 6th of December.