1879 Season Leaders

Top performers from the 1879 baseball season. Click column headers to sort.

These are the 1879 Major League Baseball season leaders in batting and pitching. Charley Jones led with 9 home runs, John O'Rourke led with 62 RBI, and Paul Hines led with 146 hits. Batting leaders require at least 200 at bats and pitching leaders at least 50 innings pitched, which is why a part-season line does not appear here.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.

Data updated

← Back to 1879 Season Overview

Batting Leaders

Minimum 200 at-bats required

1879 OPS Distribution

Every qualified batter that season, plotted as a histogram. The highlighted bin contains the league leader.

Complete Statistics

1879 Season Leaders — Complete Statistics
Player Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Paul Hines PRO 85 409 81 146 25 10 2 52 0 8 16 0.357 0.369 0.482 0.851
Jim O'Rourke PRO 81 362 69 126 19 9 1 46 0 13 10 0.348 0.371 0.459 0.829
King Kelly CN1 77 345 78 120 20 12 2 47 0 8 14 0.348 0.363 0.493 0.855
John O'Rourke BSN 72 317 69 108 17 11 6 62 0 8 32 0.341 0.357 0.521 0.877
Deacon White CN1 78 333 55 110 16 6 1 52 0 6 9 0.330 0.342 0.423 0.766
Ed Cogswell BSN 49 236 51 76 8 1 1 18 0 8 5 0.322 0.344 0.377 0.721
Joe Start PRO 66 317 70 101 11 5 2 37 0 7 4 0.319 0.333 0.404 0.737
Cap Anson CHN 51 227 40 72 20 1 0 34 0 2 2 0.317 0.323 0.414 0.737
Charley Jones BSN 83 355 85 112 22 10 9 62 0 29 38 0.315 0.367 0.510 0.877
Tom York PRO 81 342 69 106 25 5 1 50 0 19 28 0.310 0.346 0.421 0.767
Orator Shafer CHN 73 316 53 96 13 0 0 35 0 6 28 0.304 0.317 0.345 0.662
Jack Farrell SR1 54 241 40 73 6 2 1 21 0 3 13 0.303 0.311 0.357 0.668
Cal McVey CN1 81 354 64 105 18 6 0 55 0 8 13 0.297 0.312 0.381 0.694
Ed Williamson CHN 80 320 66 94 20 13 1 36 0 24 31 0.294 0.343 0.447 0.790
Buttercup Dickerson CN1 81 350 73 102 18 14 2 57 0 3 27 0.291 0.297 0.440 0.737
Abner Dalrymple CHN 71 333 47 97 25 1 0 23 0 4 29 0.291 0.300 0.372 0.672
Bill Crowley BFN 60 261 41 75 9 5 0 30 0 6 14 0.287 0.303 0.360 0.664
John Ward PRO 83 364 71 104 9 4 2 41 0 7 14 0.286 0.299 0.349 0.648
Silver Flint CHN 79 324 46 92 22 6 1 41 0 6 44 0.284 0.297 0.398 0.695
Hardy Richardson BFN 79 336 54 95 18 10 0 37 0 16 30 0.283 0.315 0.396 0.711
John Morrill BSN 84 348 56 98 18 5 0 49 0 14 32 0.282 0.309 0.362 0.671
Pete Hotaling CN1 81 369 64 103 20 9 1 27 0 12 17 0.279 0.302 0.390 0.692
George Wright PRO 85 388 79 107 15 10 1 42 0 13 20 0.276 0.299 0.374 0.673
Mike McGeary PRO 85 374 62 103 7 2 0 35 0 5 13 0.275 0.285 0.305 0.590
Oscar Walker BFN 72 287 35 79 15 6 1 35 0 8 38 0.275 0.295 0.380 0.675
Charlie Eden CL2 81 353 40 96 31 7 3 34 0 6 20 0.272 0.284 0.425 0.709
Bill Phillips CL2 81 365 58 99 15 4 0 29 0 2 20 0.271 0.275 0.334 0.609
Charles Fulmer BFN 76 306 30 82 11 5 0 28 0 5 34 0.268 0.280 0.337 0.616
Sadie Houck BSN 80 356 69 95 24 9 2 49 0 4 11 0.267 0.275 0.402 0.677
Mike Dorgan SR1 59 270 38 72 11 5 1 17 0 4 13 0.267 0.277 0.356 0.633
Joe Hornung BFN 78 319 46 85 18 7 0 38 0 2 27 0.266 0.271 0.367 0.638
Ross Barnes CN1 77 323 55 86 9 2 1 30 0 16 25 0.266 0.301 0.316 0.617
John Clapp BFN 70 292 47 77 12 5 1 36 0 11 11 0.264 0.290 0.349 0.640
George Gore CHN 63 266 43 70 17 4 0 32 0 8 30 0.263 0.285 0.357 0.642
Blondie Purcell SR1 63 277 32 72 6 3 0 25 0 3 13 0.260 0.268 0.303 0.571
Al Hall TRN 67 306 30 79 7 3 0 14 0 3 13 0.258 0.265 0.301 0.566
Lew Brown PRO 53 229 23 59 13 4 2 38 0 4 24 0.258 0.270 0.376 0.646
Ed Caskin TRN 70 304 32 78 13 2 0 21 0 2 14 0.257 0.261 0.312 0.574
Pud Galvin BFN 67 265 34 66 11 6 0 27 0 1 56 0.249 0.252 0.336 0.588
Ezra Sutton BSN 84 339 54 84 13 4 0 34 0 2 18 0.248 0.252 0.310 0.562
George Bradley TRN 63 251 36 62 9 5 0 23 0 1 20 0.247 0.250 0.323 0.573
John Peters CHN 83 379 45 93 13 2 1 31 0 1 19 0.245 0.247 0.298 0.546
Fred Warner CL2 76 316 32 77 11 4 0 22 0 2 20 0.244 0.248 0.304 0.552
Tommy Bond BSN 65 257 35 62 3 1 0 21 0 6 8 0.241 0.259 0.261 0.519
Jack Burdock BSN 84 359 64 86 10 3 0 36 0 9 28 0.240 0.258 0.284 0.542
Tom Carey CL2 80 335 30 80 14 1 0 32 0 5 20 0.239 0.250 0.287 0.537
Pop Snyder BSN 81 329 42 78 16 3 2 35 0 5 31 0.237 0.249 0.322 0.571
Jake Evans TRN 72 280 30 65 9 5 0 17 0 5 18 0.232 0.246 0.300 0.546
Charlie Reilley TRN 62 236 17 54 5 1 0 19 0 1 20 0.229 0.232 0.258 0.491
Bill Hague PRO 51 209 20 47 3 1 0 21 0 3 19 0.225 0.236 0.249 0.485
Harry McCormick SR1 57 230 21 51 4 1 1 21 0 0 22 0.222 0.222 0.261 0.483
Jim McCormick CL2 75 282 35 62 10 2 0 20 0 1 9 0.220 0.223 0.270 0.492
Terry Larkin CHN 60 228 26 50 12 2 0 18 0 8 24 0.219 0.246 0.289 0.535
Mike Mansell SR1 67 242 24 52 4 2 1 13 0 5 45 0.215 0.231 0.260 0.491
John Richmond SR1 62 254 31 54 8 4 1 23 0 4 24 0.213 0.225 0.287 0.512
Jimmy Macullar SR1 64 246 24 52 9 0 0 13 0 3 27 0.211 0.221 0.248 0.469
Will Foley CN1 56 218 22 46 5 1 0 25 0 2 16 0.211 0.218 0.243 0.461
Jack Glasscock CL2 80 325 31 68 9 3 0 29 0 6 24 0.209 0.224 0.255 0.479
Davy Force BFN 79 316 36 66 5 2 0 8 0 13 37 0.209 0.240 0.237 0.477
Dave Eggler BFN 78 317 41 66 5 7 0 27 0 11 41 0.208 0.235 0.268 0.503
Thorny Hawkes TRN 64 250 24 52 6 1 0 20 0 4 14 0.208 0.220 0.240 0.460
Joe Quest CHN 83 334 38 69 16 1 0 22 0 9 33 0.207 0.227 0.260 0.488
Hick Carpenter SR1 65 261 30 53 6 0 0 20 0 2 15 0.203 0.209 0.226 0.435
Bill Holbert SR1 59 229 11 46 0 0 0 21 0 1 20 0.201 0.204 0.201 0.405
Joe Gerhardt CN1 79 313 22 62 12 3 1 39 0 3 19 0.198 0.206 0.265 0.471
George Strief CL2 71 264 24 46 7 1 0 15 0 10 23 0.174 0.204 0.208 0.413
Barney Gilligan CL2 52 205 20 35 6 2 0 11 0 0 13 0.171 0.171 0.220 0.390
Will White CN1 76 294 28 40 6 0 0 17 0 6 56 0.136 0.153 0.156 0.310
Showing 1-50 of 68 qualified batters

Pitching Leaders

Minimum 50 innings pitched required

Complete Statistics

1879 Season Leaders — Complete Statistics
Player Team W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA WHIP
Fred Goldsmith TRN 2 4 8 7 7 0 0 63.0 61 11 1 31 1.57 0.98
Tommy Bond BSN 43 19 64 64 59 11 0 555.3 543 121 24 155 1.96 1.02
Will White CN1 43 31 76 75 75 4 0 680.0 676 150 68 232 1.99 1.09
John Ward PRO 47 19 70 60 58 2 1 587.0 571 140 36 239 2.15 1.03
Harry Salisbury TRN 4 6 10 10 9 0 0 89.0 103 22 11 31 2.22 1.28
Pud Galvin BFN 37 27 66 66 65 6 0 593.0 585 150 31 136 2.28 1.04
Bobby Mathews PRO 12 6 27 25 15 1 1 189.0 194 48 26 90 2.29 1.16
Jim McCormick CL2 20 40 62 60 59 3 0 546.3 582 147 74 197 2.42 1.20
Terry Larkin CHN 31 23 58 58 57 4 0 513.3 514 139 30 142 2.44 1.06
Frank Hankinson CHN 15 10 26 25 25 2 0 230.6 248 64 27 69 2.50 1.19
Curry Foley BSN 9 9 21 16 16 1 0 161.6 175 45 15 57 2.51 1.18
Bill McGunnigle BFN 9 5 14 13 13 2 0 120.0 113 35 16 62 2.62 1.07
George Bradley TRN 13 40 54 54 53 3 0 487.0 590 154 26 133 2.85 1.26
Harry McCormick SR1 18 33 54 54 49 5 0 457.3 517 152 31 96 2.99 1.20
Bobby Mitchell CL2 7 15 23 22 20 0 0 194.6 236 71 42 90 3.28 1.43
Blondie Purcell SR1 4 15 22 17 15 0 0 179.6 245 75 19 28 3.76 1.47
Showing 1-50 of 16 qualified pitchers

1879 Season Leaders: Frequently Asked Questions

Who led MLB in home runs in 1879?
Charley Jones led with 9 home runs in 1879.
Who led MLB in RBI in 1879?
John O'Rourke led with 62 RBI in 1879.
Who led MLB in hits in 1879?
Paul Hines led with 146 hits in 1879.
Who led MLB in wins in 1879?
John Ward led with 47 wins in 1879.
Who led MLB in strikeouts in 1879?
John Ward led with 239 strikeouts in 1879.
Who had the lowest ERA in 1879?
Fred Goldsmith at 1.57, among pitchers with at least 50 innings.