Red
Caps

Hartfords

White Stockings

Reds

Grays

Brown Stockings

Locations of teams for the 1877National League season
National League

The1877 major league baseball season was contested from April 30 through October 6, 1877, and saw theBoston Red Caps as thepennant winner of the second season of theNational League. There was no postseason.

Over the off-season, in December 1876, two teams were formally kicked out of the league for failing to fulfill their schedules:New York Mutuals andPhiladelphia Athletics, contracting the league from eight to six teams.^[1]

The Hartford Dark Blue would relocate fromHartford, Connecticut toBrooklyn, New York, as theBrooklyn Hartfords.

The 1877 schedule consisted of 60 games for all six teams of the National League. Each team was scheduled to play 12 games against the other five teams in the league. This was the first season that the National League adopted the format. The format would last only through thefollowing season.

Opening Day took place on April 30 featuring a game between theBoston Red Caps andBrooklyn Hartfords. The final day of the season was on October 6, featuring four teams.^[2]

The 1877 season saw the following rule changes:

• New rules reemphasizing the need to fulfill team schedules are implemented.^[1]
• New scheduling rules were implemented. If the league has:
  • six or seven teams, each team must play twelve games against other teams,
  • eight or nine teams, each team must play ten games against other teams,
  • ten teams, each team must play eight games against other teams.^[1]
• Each team is entitled to play half of their games at home.^[1]
• Any team refusing to play a scheduled game will be immediately expelled.^[1]
• The batter's box was moved forward by one foot so that it was equidistant forward and aft from the center of home plate.^[1]
• A fair ball is now defined as one "batted directly to the ground that bound or roll within the foul lines between home and first or home and third base, without first touching the person of a player ... [and designated as foul] all balls batted directly to the ground that bound or roll outside the foul lines between home and first or home and third bases, without first touching the person of a player ... In either of these cases the first point of contact between the batted ball and the ground shall not be regarded."^[1] Previously, the first point of contact between the batted ball and the ground determined whether a ball was fair or foul.
• The National League adopted an official ball.^[1]
• For the 1877 season only, a rule forcing home teams to bat first was implemented, a change from the coin-toss by team captains procedure.^[1]
• Baserunners were instructed to run, not walk, back to the base where they began whenever required to do so.^[1]
• Baserunners are now required to run behind a fielder in the basepath who was legally attempting to field a ball.
• If the baserunner is hit by a ball, they are out.^[3]
• The basepath was defined as extending from the foul line to three feet to tis right, and any baserunner who ran outside this area from the batter's box to first base would be declared out.^[1]
• Canvas bases 15 inches square were introduced.^[3]
• Home plate was placed in the angle formed by the intersection of the first and third base lines, moving entire into fair territory.^[3][4]
• Player reserve clause was written into the contracts for the first time.^[3]
• Thehitter was exempted from a timeat bat if hewalked.^[3]

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at

• 1877 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference

• 1877 Major League Baseball season
• Major League Baseball seasons

• Use mdy dates from February 2025
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards