man and a really first-class pitcher, who would have won
more games than he did had he met with the support that he should have
had.

Remsen was a fine fielder and a fast base-runner, but his weak point was
in hitting. He was a good thrower, too, though I beat him in a match at
Hartford by covering 127 yards and 4 inches, a performance that
surprised some people who had wagered their money on his success.

During the greater part of that year I was troubled with a frog felon on
my right hand that nearly incapacitated me from playing altogether. It
was absolute torture to me to catch, but I managed to worry along with
it in some sort of fashion, though unable to do myself justice, and for
that reason I stood lower on the list of averages than I might otherwise
have done.

A felon is a mighty unpleasant thing to have at the best, and a man
deserves some credit for playing ball at all that is afflicted in that
way.

When the season ended none of the clubs had made any money, but the game
was growing steadily in public favor, and it was evident to even the
most superficial observer that there was "a good time coming."

The following year, 1879, saw a great many changes both in League
memberships and in the personnel of its players. At the annual meeting
held in Cleveland December 4, 1878, the Indianapolis Club resigned its
membership and the circuit was filled by the admission of clubs from
Cleveland, Buffalo and Syracuse. The Milwaukee Club afterward failing to
come to time the Troy, N. Y., Club was taken in to fill the vacancy.

George Wright, one of the greatest players of the day, and the man to
whom Boston owed much of its success in winning the pennant, deserted
Boston for Providence, taking O'Rourke with him, and after the hardest
sort of a fight with Boston, Chicago and Buffalo he succeeded in winning
the pennant with that organization, he having the services of John M.
Ward and "Bobby" Matthews as pitchers, Lewis J. Brown as catcher; Joe
Start, M. H. McGeary and W. L. Hague on the bases; with "Tommy" Stark,
Paul Hines and James O'Rourke in the field. Emil Grace and John Farrell
replaced Brown and Hague toward the close of the season.

It was a great year of changes all around and the League teams taken as
a whole were stronger than they had ever been before.

Among the pitchers outside of these I have already mentioned were such
stars as McCormick, "Jimmy" Galyin, Bradley and Will White, all of whom
are f