They opened the season using the same two man pitching
rotation of Lynch
and Cushman that proved successful late in 1885, but it was soon
apparent
that it wasn't going to work again. After a slow start, due in part to
a spate of injuries, manager Gifford
was replaced by Bob
Ferguson. Al
Mays
was added to the pitching staff and soon replaced Cushman in the
rotation.
In August the team returned to a three man rotation, and in September
they
tried out a four man rotation. They added rookie John
Shaffer, who pitched
sensationally in his eight starts, with an ERA under 2.0. Behel wasn't
the answer in the outfield, so Elmer
Foster was obtained. They also used
catchers Donahue
and Reipschlager
in center for a while, and late in the
year moved the aging veteran Candy
Nelson to the outfield. At second, once
again the
incumbent proved to be a washout, and newcomer John
Meister took
over in September, and was soon hitting third in the lineup. Once
again,
first base was the team's strong point, as Dave
Orr took advantage of the
expansive field at Staten Island to hit 23 of his 31 triples
there. First
baseman Dave Orr
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