View source for Detroit Wolverines

{{Short description|19th-century Major League Baseball team}}
{{for-multi|the minor league baseball team|Detroit Wolverines (minor league baseball)|the National Football League team|1928 Detroit Wolverines (NFL) season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox baseball team
| name = Detroit Wolverines
| native_name = 
| logo = 1888 Detroit Wolverines.jpg
| logo_size = 250
| logo_caption = 1888 Detroit Wolverines, with [[Boston Braves|Boston]]'s [[South End Grounds]] as a backdrop
| league = [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (1881–1888)
| former_leagues = 
| location = [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]
| ballpark = [[Recreation Park (Detroit)|Recreation Park]] (1881–1888)
| former_ballparks = 
| founded = {{mlby|1881}}
| folded = {{mlby|1888}}
| league_champ_type = National League pennants
| league_champs = '''1'''<br>[[1887 Detroit Wolverines season|1887]]
| series = World's Championship Series
| series_champs = '''1'''<br>[[1887 Detroit Wolverines season|1887]]
| colors = 
| mascot = 
| owner = {{Collapsible list|title=List of owners
 | [[Frederick K. Stearns]] (1886–1888)
 | Joseph Marsh (1883–1885)
 | [[William G. Thompson]] (1881–1882)
}}
| manager = {{collapsible list|title=List of managers
 | [[Robert Leadley]] (1888)
 | [[Bill Watkins (baseball)|Bill Watkins]] (1885–1888)
 | [[Charlie Morton (baseball, born 1854)|Charlie Morton]] (1885)
 | [[Jack Chapman]] (1883–1884)
 | [[Frank Bancroft]] (1881–1882)
}}
| general_manager = 
| president = 
}}
The ''' Detroit Wolverines''' were a 19th-century [[Major League Baseball]] team that played in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] from 1881 to 1888 in the city of [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]]. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre-modern [[1887 World Series|World Series]]) in 1887. The team was disbanded following the [[1888 Detroit Wolverines season|1888 season]].

==Franchise history==
Founded at the suggestion of Detroit mayor [[William G. Thompson]], the Wolverines played the first game of major league baseball in Detroit on May 2, 1881, in front of 1,286 fans. Their home field was called [[Recreation Park (Detroit)|Recreation Park]], and it consisted of a wooden grandstand located between Brady Street and Willis Avenue. This stadium was demolished in 1894, though its location is indicated by a historical marker in what was once left field. The name of the ball club derives from Michigan being known as "The Wolverine State;" although the team name "Wolverines" is now primarily associated with [[University of Michigan]] sports, there was no connection between the University and the Detroit baseball team.

Though they folded after only eight seasons, the Wolverines occupy an important place in baseball history. On September 6, 1883, they conceded 18 runs in a single inning against the [[Chicago Cubs|Chicago White Stockings]], the most ever in MLB. In 1885, new owner Frederick Kimball Stearns began spending heavily in an attempt to create a 'super-team' by buying high-priced players. Most notably, he purchased the entire [[Buffalo Bisons (NL)|Buffalo Bisons]] franchise that August, to secure the services of its stars: [[Dan Brouthers]], [[Jack Rowe]], [[Hardy Richardson]], and [[Deacon White]], the so-called "Big Four". This strategy quickly met resistance from his fellow owners, who changed the league's rules governing the splitting of gate receipts, reducing the visiting team's maximum share to $125 per game. Detroit was not yet the Motor City, and its population was too small to support a highly paid team. The Wolverines' home gate receipts were not sufficient to sustain their payroll, and Stearns was forced to sell his stars to other clubs and disband the team after the 1888 season. The franchise's place in the National League was taken by the [[Cleveland Spiders]] in 1889.
{{main|1887 Detroit Wolverines season}}
The Wolverines' most successful season came in 1887, when they were crowned as the champion of the National League with a record of 79 wins and 45 losses. After the season, they defeated the [[St. Louis Cardinals|St. Louis Browns]], champion of the rival [[American Association (1882–1891)|American Association]], in a series of exhibition matches, winning ten of the fifteen games played. These games were a predecessor to the modern [[World Series]], which did not begin until 1903.

Three Detroit players [[hit for the cycle]]: [[George Wood (baseball)|George Wood]] on June 13, 1885, [[Mox McQuery]] on September 28, 1885, and [[Jack Rowe]] on August 21, 1886.

==Prominent players==
[[File:Hrichardson.jpg|thumb|[[Hardy Richardson]] of the Detroit Wolverines, circa 1887]]
*[[Charlie Bennett]]
*[[Dan Brouthers]]
*[[Count Campau]]
*[[Fred Dunlap]]
*[[Ned Hanlon (baseball)|Ned Hanlon]]
*[[Deacon McGuire]]
*[[Hardy Richardson]]
*[[Jack Rowe]]
*[[Billy Shindle]]
*[[Sam Thompson (outfielder)|Sam Thompson]]
*[[Deacon White]]
*[[Chief Zimmer]]

===Baseball Hall of Famers===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
! colspan=4 |Detroit Wolverines Hall of Famers
|-
! Inductee
! Position
! Seasons
! Inducted
|-
| [[Dan Brouthers]] || [[First baseman|1B]] || 1886–1888 || 1945
|-
| [[Ned Hanlon (baseball)|Ned Hanlon]] || [[Center fielder|CF]] || 1881–1888 || 1996
|-
| [[Deacon White]] || [[Third baseman|3B]]/[[Catcher|C]] || 1886–1888 || 2013
|-
| [[Sam Thompson (outfielder)|Sam Thompson]] || [[Right fielder|RF]] || 1885–1888 || 1974
|}

==See also==
* [[1928 Detroit Wolverines (NFL) season|Detroit Wolverines football team]] – 1928 [[National Football League|NFL]] franchise
* [[1881 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[1882 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[1883 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[1884 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[1885 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[1886 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[1887 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[1888 Detroit Wolverines season]]
* [[Detroit Wolverines all-time roster]]

==External links==
*[https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DTN/ Franchise statistics at baseball-reference.com.]
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060325004618/http://www.michmarkers.com/startup.asp?startpage=L1426.htm Information about Recreation Park.]}}
*[http://www.detroit1701.org/Recreation%20Park.html Team history]

{{Detroit Wolverines}}
{{1887 Detroit Wolverines}}
{{MLBHistory}}
{{Detroit}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Detroit Wolverines| ]]
[[Category:1881 establishments in Michigan]]
[[Category:1888 disestablishments in Michigan]]
[[Category:1880s in Detroit]]
[[Category:Baseball teams established in 1881]]
[[Category:Defunct Major League Baseball teams]]
[[Category:Defunct baseball teams in Michigan]]
[[Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1888]]
[[Category:Baseball teams in Detroit]]