1881 Season Leaders

Top performers from the 1881 baseball season. Click column headers to sort.

These are the 1881 Major League Baseball season leaders in batting and pitching. Dan Brouthers led with 8 home runs, Cap Anson led with 82 RBI, and Cap Anson led with 137 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 1881 Season Overview

Batting Leaders

Minimum 200 at-bats required

1881 OPS Distribution

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

Complete Statistics

1881 Season Leaders — Complete Statistics
Player Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Cap Anson CHN 84 343 67 137 21 7 1 82 0 26 4 0.399 0.442 0.510 0.952
Martin Powell DTN 55 219 47 74 9 4 1 38 0 15 9 0.338 0.380 0.429 0.810
Jack Rowe BFN 64 246 30 82 11 11 1 43 0 1 12 0.333 0.336 0.480 0.816
Joe Start PRO 79 348 56 114 12 6 0 29 0 9 7 0.328 0.345 0.397 0.741
Fred Dunlap CL2 80 351 60 114 25 4 3 24 0 18 24 0.325 0.358 0.444 0.802
Abner Dalrymple CHN 82 362 72 117 22 4 1 37 0 15 22 0.323 0.350 0.414 0.764
King Kelly CHN 82 353 84 114 27 3 2 55 0 16 14 0.323 0.352 0.433 0.786
Dan Brouthers BFN 65 270 60 86 18 9 8 45 0 18 22 0.319 0.361 0.541 0.902
Buttercup Dickerson WOR 80 367 48 116 18 6 1 31 0 8 8 0.316 0.331 0.406 0.737
Silver Flint CHN 80 306 46 95 18 0 1 34 0 6 39 0.310 0.324 0.379 0.703
Deacon White BFN 78 319 58 99 24 4 0 53 0 9 8 0.310 0.329 0.411 0.740
Pete Hotaling WOR 77 317 51 98 15 3 1 35 0 18 12 0.309 0.346 0.385 0.731
Tom York PRO 85 316 57 96 23 5 2 47 0 29 26 0.304 0.362 0.427 0.790
Jim O'Rourke BFN 83 348 71 105 21 7 0 30 0 27 18 0.302 0.352 0.402 0.754
Charlie Bennett DTN 76 299 44 90 18 7 7 64 0 18 37 0.301 0.341 0.478 0.819
George Gore CHN 73 309 86 92 18 9 1 44 0 27 23 0.298 0.354 0.424 0.778
George Wood DTN 80 337 54 100 18 9 2 32 0 19 32 0.297 0.334 0.421 0.756
Roger Connor TRN 85 367 55 107 17 6 2 31 0 15 20 0.292 0.319 0.387 0.706
Ezra Sutton BSN 83 333 42 97 12 4 0 31 0 13 9 0.291 0.318 0.351 0.669
Hardy Richardson BFN 83 344 62 100 18 9 2 53 0 12 27 0.291 0.315 0.413 0.727
John Morrill BSN 81 311 47 90 19 3 1 39 0 12 30 0.289 0.316 0.379 0.695
Paul Hines PRO 80 361 65 103 27 5 2 31 0 13 12 0.285 0.310 0.404 0.715
Bob Ferguson TRN 85 339 56 96 13 5 1 35 0 29 12 0.283 0.340 0.360 0.700
Sadie Houck DTN 75 308 43 86 16 6 1 36 0 6 6 0.279 0.293 0.380 0.673
Ned Hanlon DTN 76 305 63 85 14 8 2 28 0 22 11 0.279 0.327 0.397 0.724
Tom Burns CHN 84 342 41 95 20 3 4 42 0 14 22 0.278 0.306 0.389 0.695
Mike Dorgan WOR 51 220 36 61 5 0 0 18 0 8 4 0.277 0.303 0.300 0.603
Patrick Gillespie TRN 84 348 43 96 14 3 0 41 0 9 24 0.276 0.294 0.333 0.627
Bill Phillips CL2 85 357 51 97 18 10 1 44 0 5 19 0.272 0.282 0.387 0.668
Ross Barnes BSN 69 295 42 80 14 1 0 17 0 16 16 0.271 0.309 0.325 0.634
Lon Knight DTN 83 340 67 92 16 3 1 52 0 23 21 0.271 0.317 0.344 0.661
Harry Stovey WOR 75 341 57 92 25 7 2 30 0 12 23 0.270 0.295 0.402 0.696
Ed Williamson CHN 82 343 56 92 12 6 1 48 0 19 19 0.268 0.307 0.347 0.654
Arthur Irwin WOR 50 206 27 55 8 2 0 24 0 7 4 0.267 0.291 0.325 0.616
Jack Glasscock CL2 85 335 49 86 9 5 0 33 0 15 8 0.257 0.289 0.313 0.602
Orator Shafer CL2 85 343 48 88 13 6 1 34 0 23 20 0.257 0.303 0.338 0.641
Curry Foley BFN 83 375 58 96 20 2 1 25 0 7 27 0.256 0.270 0.328 0.598
Jim McCormick CL2 70 309 45 79 9 4 0 26 0 5 16 0.256 0.268 0.311 0.578
Jim Whitney BSN 75 282 37 72 17 3 0 32 0 19 18 0.255 0.302 0.337 0.639
Bill Crowley BSN 72 279 33 71 12 0 0 31 0 14 15 0.254 0.290 0.297 0.588
John Clapp CL2 68 261 47 66 12 2 0 25 0 35 6 0.253 0.341 0.314 0.655
Buck Ewing TRN 67 272 40 68 14 7 0 25 0 7 8 0.250 0.269 0.353 0.622
Lee Richmond WOR 61 252 31 63 5 1 0 28 0 10 10 0.250 0.279 0.278 0.556
George Bradley CL2 60 241 21 60 10 1 2 18 0 4 25 0.249 0.261 0.324 0.585
Joe Quest CHN 78 293 35 72 6 0 1 26 0 2 29 0.246 0.251 0.276 0.527
John Ward PRO 85 357 56 87 18 6 0 53 0 5 10 0.244 0.254 0.328 0.582
Joe Gerhardt DTN 80 297 35 72 13 6 0 36 0 7 31 0.242 0.260 0.327 0.586
Jake Evans TRN 83 315 35 76 11 5 0 28 0 14 30 0.241 0.274 0.308 0.581
Joe Hornung BSN 83 324 39 78 12 8 2 25 0 5 25 0.241 0.252 0.346 0.598
Jerry Denny PRO 85 320 38 77 16 2 1 24 0 5 44 0.241 0.252 0.312 0.565
Jack Farrell PRO 84 345 69 82 16 5 5 36 0 29 23 0.238 0.297 0.357 0.653
Jack Burdock BSN 73 282 36 67 12 4 1 24 0 7 18 0.238 0.256 0.319 0.575
Doc Bushong WOR 76 275 35 64 7 4 0 21 0 21 23 0.233 0.287 0.287 0.574
Pop Snyder BSN 62 219 14 50 8 0 0 16 0 3 23 0.228 0.239 0.265 0.504
Ed Caskin TRN 63 234 33 53 7 1 0 21 0 13 29 0.226 0.267 0.265 0.532
Fred Corey WOR 51 203 22 45 8 4 0 10 0 5 10 0.222 0.240 0.300 0.541
John Cassidy TRN 85 370 57 82 13 3 1 11 0 18 21 0.222 0.258 0.281 0.539
Old Hoss Radbourn PRO 72 270 27 59 9 0 0 28 0 10 15 0.219 0.246 0.252 0.498
Hick Carpenter WOR 83 347 40 75 12 2 2 31 0 3 19 0.216 0.223 0.280 0.502
John Peters BFN 54 229 21 49 8 1 0 25 0 3 12 0.214 0.224 0.258 0.482
Pud Galvin BFN 62 236 19 50 12 4 0 21 0 3 70 0.212 0.222 0.297 0.518
George Creamer WOR 80 309 42 64 9 2 0 25 0 11 27 0.207 0.234 0.249 0.484
Frank Hankinson TRN 85 321 34 62 15 0 1 19 0 10 41 0.193 0.218 0.249 0.467
George Derby DTN 59 236 17 44 3 1 0 12 0 4 29 0.186 0.200 0.208 0.408
Art Whitney DTN 58 214 23 39 7 5 0 9 0 7 15 0.182 0.208 0.262 0.470
Davy Force BFN 75 278 21 50 9 1 0 15 0 11 29 0.180 0.211 0.219 0.430
Bill McClellan PRO 68 259 30 43 3 1 0 16 0 15 21 0.166 0.212 0.185 0.397
Showing 1-50 of 67 qualified batters

Pitching Leaders

Minimum 50 innings pitched required

Complete Statistics

1881 Season Leaders — Complete Statistics
Player Team W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA WHIP
George Weidman DTN 8 5 13 13 13 1 0 115.0 108 23 12 26 1.80 1.04
John Ward PRO 18 18 39 35 32 3 0 330.0 326 78 53 119 2.13 1.15
George Derby DTN 29 26 56 55 55 9 0 494.6 505 121 86 212 2.20 1.19
Larry Corcoran CHN 31 14 45 44 43 4 0 396.6 380 102 78 150 2.31 1.15
Pud Galvin BFN 28 24 56 53 48 5 0 474.0 546 125 46 136 2.37 1.25
Old Hoss Radbourn PRO 25 11 41 36 34 3 0 325.3 309 88 64 117 2.43 1.15
Jim McCormick CL2 26 30 59 58 57 2 0 526.0 484 143 84 178 2.45 1.08
Jim Whitney BSN 31 33 66 63 57 6 0 552.3 548 152 90 162 2.48 1.16
Fred Goldsmith CHN 24 13 39 39 37 5 0 330.0 328 95 44 76 2.59 1.13
Mickey Welch TRN 21 18 40 40 40 4 0 368.0 371 109 78 104 2.67 1.22
Blondie Purcell BFN 4 1 9 5 5 0 0 61.6 62 19 9 15 2.77 1.15
The Only Nolan CL2 8 14 22 21 20 0 0 180.0 183 61 38 54 3.05 1.23
Bobby Mathews PRO 4 8 14 14 10 1 0 102.3 121 36 21 28 3.17 1.39
Tim Keefe TRN 18 27 45 45 45 4 0 403.0 434 145 83 103 3.24 1.28
John Fox BSN 6 8 17 16 12 0 0 124.3 144 46 39 30 3.33 1.47
Lee Richmond WOR 25 26 53 52 50 3 0 462.3 547 174 68 156 3.39 1.33
Harry McCormick WOR 1 8 9 9 9 1 0 78.3 89 31 15 7 3.56 1.33
Jack Lynch BFN 10 9 20 19 17 0 0 165.6 203 66 29 32 3.59 1.40
Fred Corey WOR 6 15 23 21 20 1 0 188.6 231 78 31 33 3.72 1.39
George Bradley CL2 2 4 6 6 5 0 0 51.0 70 22 3 6 3.88 1.43
Frank Mountain DTN 3 4 7 7 7 0 0 60.0 80 35 18 13 5.25 1.63
Showing 1-50 of 21 qualified pitchers

1881 Season Leaders: Frequently Asked Questions

Who led MLB in home runs in 1881?
Dan Brouthers led with 8 home runs in 1881.
Who led MLB in RBI in 1881?
Cap Anson led with 82 RBI in 1881.
Who led MLB in hits in 1881?
Cap Anson led with 137 hits in 1881.
Who led MLB in wins in 1881?
Larry Corcoran led with 31 wins in 1881.
Who led MLB in strikeouts in 1881?
George Derby led with 212 strikeouts in 1881.
Who had the lowest ERA in 1881?
George Weidman at 1.80, among pitchers with at least 50 innings.