We were in it, and very much in it, from start to finish, finishing in the second place, the championship going to New York, the team from the Eastern metropolis winning 84 games and losing 47, while Chicago won 77 games and lost 58, Philadelphia came third on the list with 69 games won and 61 lost, and Boston fourth with 70 games won and 63 lost, Detroit, Pittsburg, Indianapolis and Washington following in the order named.
The Chicago team that season consisted of Baldwin, Tener, Krock and Van Haltren, pitchers; Daly, Flint, Farrell and Darling, catchers; Anson, Pfeffer and Burns on the bases; Williamson, shortstop, and Sullivan, Ryan, Pettit and Duffy in the outfield.
Among the men signed, and who were given a trial, were Hoover, Sprague, Brynon, Clark, Maine and Gumbert.
In the matter of batting averages I again led the League with .343, Beckley of Pittsburg being second with .342, a difference in my favor of only a single point.
A long time before this season was over I became interested financially in a proposed trip to be made by the Chicago Club and a picked team, to be called the All-Americans, to Australia and New Zealand, A.G.
Spalding, Leigh S.Lynch and one or two others being associated in the venture.

The management of this trip and the details thereof were left entirely in the hands of Messrs.

Spalding and Lynch, the latter-named gentleman having been associated with A.M.Palmer in the management of the Union Square Theater at New York, and having passed some time in Australia in connection with the theatrical business, had a wide acquaintance there.

When the subject was first broached, it is safe to assert that there was not a man connected with the enterprise that had any idea that the journey would be lengthened out to a trip around the world, but such proved to be the case.
In February of 1888 Mr.Lynch departed for Australia in order to make the necessary arrangements there for the appearance of the tourists.
Posters of the most attractive description were gotten ready for the trip, and long before the season was over the fact that we were going became known to every one in the land who took any interest in base-ball whatever, the proposed trip even then exciting a large amount of interest.

Mr.Lynch, who had returned, had awakened considerable interest among the Australians, and long before the actual start was made the prospects, both from a sight-seeing and money-making standpoint seemed to be most alluring.
One would naturally have thought that with such a chance to travel in strange lands before them, every ball player in America would have been more than anxious to make the trip, but such was not the case, greatly to my astonishment, and to the astonishment of Mr.Spalding, upon whose shoulders devolved the duty of selecting the players who should represent the National Game in the Antipodes.
Ten players of the Chicago team signed to go at once, these being Ned Williamson, Tom Burns, Tom Daly, Mark Baldwin, Jimmy Ryan, Fred Pfeffer, John Tener, Mark Sullivan, Bob Pettit and myself, but the getting together of the All-American team was quite a difficult matter.