With Chicago inactive because of the Fire and Philadelphia surrendering, there was concern that there would not be enough clubs to start the next season. However, clubs in Troy, New York; Washington, Baltimore and Cleveland were added. The fourth franchise almost was awarded to Buffalo, but Cincinnati objected to the lack of a second western franchise. Going so far as to accuse the other clubs of trying to push the Kings out of business. There is a little truth to this. Afraid of the showing of the Chicago Browns (and the complete failure of the Philadelphia entry) the remaining first season eastern clubs felt they might not be able to dominate as they thought they could. By concentrating the clubs along the seaboard, the hope was to make it financially impossible for a single western club to survive.
Chicago owner James Winfred McCormick warns an eight team league is too large. “There is simply not enough crack players to compete at the level we envision. When the Browns retake the field the talent that does exist will abandon these lesser clubs, ruining what men have been told are solid investment.” There is some truth in what he says. With an expanded schedule (clubs playing between 55 and 57 games) the holdover clubs all won at least 36 games, no new club won more than 20.
Beset with injuries, the Baltimore club is on the brink of falling out of the league. In exchange for the promise of an additional western club for 1873, the Cincinnati Kings transfer two young pitchers, Johnie Dolly and Connie Pozar to the Terrapins. The Kings drop from second to fourth after the transfer.
Henry Panell is signed by the Cleveland franchise after Chicago goes dormant. While Panell challenges the Boston combination of Emch and Lent for individual honors, hitting .492, his teammates are so inept at the bat and pitch, the Eries finish a distant 8th.
Baltimore finishes the season a combined 3-22 against the established clubs,
Brooklyn hurler Hank Imfeld throws the first perfect game in history against the Washington Congressionals.
Cincinnati’s Tory Claessens is declared the top hurler, while Alton Emch wins outstanding batsman for the second year. The Boston Unions boasted three .400 hitters in their line up, but a merely average pitching staff kept the race close all year.
With Boston’s hitter dominating the league, accusations of “talent hording” are levied the Winter Conference. “Without a method of sharing talent; Boston has created a perpetual ‘dynasty’ that can never be broken,” says Washington owner J. O’Brien Hickey. A motion to add two more clubs is voted down, and the Troy franchise is transferred to Saint Louis, making good on the promise made to the Cincinnati club. A motion to reintroduce a “balanced” schedule, as was had in the first year is taken under consideration and adopted to “preserve the integrity of the championship season.”
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Empire League Standings
Team W L PCT GB Home Away XInn 1Run
Boston 42 15 .737 - 20- 7 22- 8 3-0 6-4
New York 39 16 .709 2.0 18-10 21- 6 5-0 8-8
Brooklyn 37 19 .661 4.5 24-10 13- 9 1-3 9-7
Cincinnati 36 20 .643 5.5 12-11 24- 9 4-1 9-8
Washington 20 36 .357 21.5 11-18 9-18 2-4 6-4
Troy 18 38 .321 23.5 10-21 8-17 0-3 3-6
Baltimore 16 39 .291 25.0 8-20 8-19 1-4 3-7
Cleveland 16 41 .281 26.0 7-17 9-24 2-3 8-8