Year In Review : 1897 National League

Off the Field…

Bram Stoker’s groundbreaking horror novel "Dracula" was published. Although not the first vampire tale, Stoker's version became the blueprint for all those that have followed. Dracula was seven long years in the writing, from first notes to finished book and it sold reasonably well when it was published, even though the critics were not so generous. A popular bestseller in Victorian England, Stoker's hypnotic tale of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, whose nocturnal feedings are symbolic of an evil both old and new, still endures as the greatest story of suspense and horror ever written to date.

In the National League…

The Chicago Colts set a Major League record after scoring thirty-six runs on thirty hits against the Louisville Colonels on June 29^th.

On June 18^th, Chicago’s player / manager Cap Anson became the first Major League player to reach three-thousand hits after tapping a single off the Baltimore Orioles for a 6-3 win.

Philadelphia’s rookie sensation Napoleon Lajoie hit .361 and led the National League with nine home runs and a .569 slugging average.