Buffalo Bisons (National League)

Former Major League Baseball team of the National League in Buffalo, New York from 1879–1885

This article is about the National League baseball franchise. For other teams named Buffalo Bisons, see Buffalo Bisons (disambiguation).

Buffalo Bisons
A program cover featuring the 1882 Buffalo Bisons
Information
League	National League
Location	Buffalo, New York
Ballpark	Olympic Park (1884–1885)
Founded	1879
Folded	1885 (continued as a minor league team)
Former ballparks	Riverside Park (1879–1883)
Colors	Gold, black
Manager	List of managers: Pud Galvin & Jack Chapman (1885) Jim O'Rourke (1881–1884) Sam Crane (1880) John Clapp (1879)

The original Buffalo Bisons baseball club played in the National League between 1879 and 1885. The Bisons played their games at Riverside Park (1879–1883) and Olympic Park (1884–1885) in Buffalo, New York. In 1886, they moved into minor league baseball as members of the original International League.

The original IL Bisons would leave in 1971 to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada as the Winnipeg Whips, before eventually landing in Scranton, Pennsylvania (after an additional five moves), the franchise currently plays in Moosic, Pennsylvania as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.^[1] The current Buffalo Bisons, founded in 1979, include the history of the NL Bisons; it is thus the only NL team from the 19th century that both still exists and no longer plays in Major League Baseball.

Year-by-year records

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Season Manager Games W L T WP PL GB

1879 John Clapp 79 46 32 1 .590 3rd 10.0

1880 Sam Crane 85 24 58 3 .293 7th 42.0

1881 Jim O'Rourke 83 45 38 0 .542 3rd 10.5

1882 Jim O'Rourke 84 45 39 0 .536 3rd 10.0

1883 Jim O'Rourke 98 52 45 1 .536 5th 10.5

1884 Jim O'Rourke 115 64 47 4 .577 3rd 19.5

1885 Pud Galvin / Jack Chapman 113 38 74 1 .339 7th 49.0

Players of note

[edit ]

Brouthers, Galvin, O'Rourke, Radbourn, and White are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Highlights and memorable moments

[edit ]

1877: A precursor to the Bisons played in the League Alliance,^[2] finishing with a 79–28–3 record. The team subsequently joined the National League.^[3]
1880: Future Hall of Fame pitcher Charlie Radbourn debuted as a second baseman on May 5
1880: Pud Galvin pitched a no-hitter against the Worcester Worcesters on August 20
1881: 2B Davy Force recorded 12 putouts, seven assists, two unassisted double plays, participated in a triple play, and made just one error in 20 chances in a 12-inning game against Worcester, on September 15.
1882: Ireland-born Curry Foley became the first major league player ever to hit for the cycle (including a grand slam), on May 25, and Dan Brouthers led the National League with a .368 batting average
1883: Brouthers won his second consecutive NL batting title with a .374 average and Galvin posted 46 wins
1884: Brouthers hit triples in four consecutive games, set a season team-record with 14 home runs, and Galvin won 46 games for the second year in a row. Galvin threw another no-hitter, on August 4. The Bisons' 18–0 score remains the greatest margin of victory in a no-hitter in Major League history. Two years after Foley, Jim O'Rourke became the fourth player in MLB history to hit for the cycle, on June 16.
1885: Brouthers hit .359, ending second in the NL batting race behind Roger Connor (.371)

National Baseball Hall of Fame members

[edit ]

Name^[4] Position Inducted Tenure

Charles Radbourn P 1939 1880

Jim O'Rourke OF 1945 1881–1884

Dan Brouthers 1B 1945 1881–1885

Pud Galvin P 1965 1879–1885

Deacon White 3B/C 2013 1881–1885

References

[edit ]

^ "Private Site".
^ "1877 Buffalo Statistics".
^ "Minor League Baseball: History: Top 100 Teams". www.minorleaguebaseball.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
^ "Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame." Buffalo Bisons. Retrieved on August 19, 2018.

External links

[edit ]

Baseball Almanac
Team index page at Baseball Reference
Buffalo Bisons history
Buffalo Bisons Team Ownership History at SABR Team Ownership History Project

v t e Buffalo Bisons
Based in Buffalo, New York
Notable players	Dan Brouthers Davy Force Pud Galvin Jim O'Rourke Hardy Richardson Jack Rowe Deacon White
The franchise	Managers Players
Ballparks	Riverside Park Olympic Park
Seasons	1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885

v
t
e

Histories of teams in Major League Baseball

American
League

East	Baltimore Orioles • Boston Red Sox • New York Yankees • Tampa Bay Rays • Toronto Blue Jays
Central	Chicago White Sox • Cleveland Guardians • Detroit Tigers • Kansas City Royals • Minnesota Twins
West	Athletics • Houston Astros • Los Angeles Angels • Seattle Mariners • Texas Rangers

National
League

East	Atlanta Braves • Miami Marlins • New York Mets • Philadelphia Phillies • Washington Nationals
Central	Chicago Cubs • Cincinnati Reds • Milwaukee Brewers • Pittsburgh Pirates • St. Louis Cardinals (1875–1919) • (1920–1952) • (1953–1989) • (1990–present)
West	Arizona Diamondbacks • Colorado Rockies • Los Angeles Dodgers • San Diego Padres • San Francisco Giants

Relocated
teams

American League	Milwaukee Brewers (1901) • St. Louis Browns (1902–1953) • Philadelphia Athletics (1901–1954) • Washington Senators (1901–1960) • Kansas City Athletics (1955–1967) • Seattle Pilots (1969) • Washington Senators (1961–1971) • Oakland Athletics (1968–2024)
National League	Boston Braves (1871–1952) • New York Giants (1883–1957) • Brooklyn Dodgers (1890–1957) • Milwaukee Braves (1953–1965) • Montreal Expos (1969–2004)

Defunct
teams

American Association (1882–1891)	Columbus Buckeyes (1883–1884) • Indianapolis Hoosiers (1884) • Richmond Virginians (1884) • Toledo Blue Stockings (1884) • Washington Nationals (1884) • Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1882–1886) • New York Metropolitans (1883–1887) • Cleveland Blues (1887–1888) • Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1884–1889) • Cincinnati Red Stockings (1881–1889) • Kansas City Cowboys (1888–1889) • Brooklyn Gladiators (1890) • Philadelphia Athletics (1882–1890) • Rochester Broncos (1890) • Syracuse Stars (1890) • Toledo Maumees (1890) • Boston Reds (1891–1891) • Cincinnati Kelly's Killers (1891) • Columbus Solons (1889–1891) • Milwaukee Brewers (1891) • Philadelphia Athletics (1890–1891) • Baltimore Orioles (1882–1891) • Louisville Colonels (1882–1891) • St. Louis Browns (1882–1891) • Washington Statesman (1891–1891)
American League (1901–present)	Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902)
American Negro League (1929)	Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1929–1929) • Baltimore Black Sox (1929–1929) • Cuban Stars (East) (1929–1929) • Hilldale Club (1929–1929) • Homestead Grays (1929–1929) • New York Lincoln Giants (1929–1929)
Eastern Colored League (1923–1928)	Washington Potomacs (1924) • Wilmington Potomacs (1925) • Newark Stars (1926) • Brooklyn Royal Giants (1923–1927) • Harrisburg Giants (1924–1927) • Hilldale Club (1923–1927) • Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1923–1928) • Baltimore Black Sox (1923–1928) • Cuban Stars (East) (1923–1928) • New York Lincoln Giants (1923–1928) • Philadelphia Tigers (1928)
East–West League (1932)	Baltimore Black Sox (1932) • Cleveland Stars (1932) • Detroit Wolves (1932) • Hilldale Club (1932–1932) • Homestead Grays (1932) • Newark Browns (1932) • Pollock's Cuban Stars (1932) • Washington Pilots (1932)
Federal League (1914–1915)	Indianapolis Hoosiers (1914) • Baltimore Terrapins (1914–1915) • Brooklyn Tip-Tops (1914–1915) • Buffalo Blues (1914–1915) • Chicago Whales (1914–1915) • Kansas City Packers (1914–1915) • Newark Peppers (1915) • Pittsburgh Rebels (1914–1915) • St. Louis Terriers (1914–1915)
National League (1876–present)	New York Mutuals (1876) • Athletic of Philadelphia (1876) • Hartford Dark Blues (1876–1877) • St. Louis Brown Stockings (1876–1877) • Louisville Grays (1876–1877) • Indianapolis Blues (1878) • Milwaukee Grays (1878) • Syracuse Stars (1878) • Cincinnati Red Stockings (1876–1879) • Cincinnati Stars (1880) • Worcester Worcesters (1880–1882) • Providence Grays (1878–1885) • Buffalo Bisons (1879–1885) • Cleveland Blues (1879–1884) • Troy Trojans (1879–1882) • St. Louis Maroons (1885–1886) • Kansas City Cowboys (1886) • Detroit Wolverines (1881–1888) • Indianapolis Hoosiers (1887–1889) • Washington Nationals (1886–1889) • Cleveland Spiders (1889–1899) • Baltimore Orioles (1892–1899) • Louisville Colonels (1892–1899) • Washington Senators (1892–1899)
Negro American League (1937–1948)	Cincinnati Tigers (1937) • Detroit Stars (1937) • Indianapolis Athletics (1937) • St. Louis Stars (1937) • Atlanta Black Crackers (1938–1938) • Indianapolis ABCs (1938) • Indianapolis ABCs (1939) • Cleveland Bears (1939–1940) • Toledo–Indianapolis Crawfords (1939–1940) • St. Louis–New Orleans Stars (1939–1941) Jacksonville Red Caps (1938, 1941–1942) • Birmingham Black Barons (1937–1938, 1940–1948) • Chicago American Giants (1937–1948) • Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns (1943–1948) • Cleveland Buckeyes (1942–1948) • Kansas City Monarchs (1937–1948) • Memphis Red Sox (1937–1948)
Negro National League I (1920–1931)	Chicago Giants (1920–1921) • Columbus Buckeyes (1921) • Pittsburgh Keystones (1922) • Cleveland Tate Stars (1922) • Milwaukee Bears (1923) • Toledo Tigers (1923) • Cleveland Browns (1924) • Cleveland Elites (1926) • Dayton Marcos (1920, 1926) • Indianapolis ABCs (1920–1926) • Cleveland Hornets (1927) • Cleveland Tigers (1928) • Cuban Stars (West) (1920–1930) • Birmingham Black Barons (1924–1925, 1927–1930) • Kansas City Monarchs (1920–1930) • Memphis Red Sox (1924–1925, 1927–1930) • Nashville Elite Giants (1930–1930) • Chicago American Giants (1920–1931) • Cleveland Cubs (1931) • Detroit Stars (1920–1931) • Indianapolis ABCs (1931–1931) • Louisville Black Caps (1930–1931) • St. Louis Stars (1920–1931)
Negro National League II (1933–1948)	Akron Grays (1933) • Cleveland Giants (1933) • Columbus Blue Birds (1933) • Detroit Stars (1933) • Indianapolis ABCs (1933–1933) • Baltimore Black Sox (1933–1934) • Cleveland Red Sox (1934) • Nashville Elite Giants (1933–1934) • Philadelphia Bacharach Giants (1934) • Brooklyn Eagles (1935) • Chicago American Giants (1933–1935) • Columbus Elite Giants (1935) • Newark Dodgers (1934–1935) • Washington Elite Giants (1936–1937) • Pittsburgh Crawfords (1933–1938) • Washington Black Senators (1938) • Toledo Crawfords (1939–1939) • Harrisburg–St. Louis Stars (1943–1943) • Baltimore Elite Giants (1938–1948) • Homestead Grays (1933, 1935–1948) • New York Black Yankees (1936–1948) • New York Cubans (1935–1936, 1939–1948) • Newark Eagles (1936–1948) • Philadelphia Stars (1934–1948)
Negro Southern League (1932)	Atlanta Black Crackers (1932–1932) • Birmingham Black Barons (1932) • Chicago American Giants (1932) • Columbus Turf Club (1932) • Indianapolis ABCs (1932) • Little Rock Grays (1932) • Louisville Black Caps (1932–1932) • Memphis Red Sox (1932) • Monroe Monarchs (1932) • Montgomery Grey Sox (1932) • Nashville Elite Giants (1932)
Players' League (1890)	Boston Reds (1890–1890) • Brooklyn Ward's Wonders (1890) • Buffalo Bisons (1890) • Chicago Pirates (1890) • Cleveland Infants (1890) • New York Giants (1890) • Philadelphia Athletics (1890–1890) • Pittsburgh Burghers (1890)
Union Association (1884)	Altoona Mountain Citys (1884) • Baltimore Monumentals (1884) • Boston Reds (1884) • Chicago Browns (1884) • Cincinnati Outlaw Reds (1884) • Kansas City Cowboys (1884) • Milwaukee Brewers (1884) • Philadelphia Keystones • Pittsburgh Stogies (1884) • St. Louis Maroons (1884–1884) • St. Paul Saints (1884) • Washington Nationals (1884) • Wilmington Quicksteps (1884)

Italics denote team who later changed leagues

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National	United States

Year-by-year records

Players of note

Highlights and memorable moments

National Baseball Hall of Fame members

See also

References

External links