The 1886 World Series was won by the St. Louis Browns (later the Cardinals) of the American Association over the Chicago White Stockings (later the Cubs) of the National League, four games to two.

[2] The victory for the White Stockings, who featured the 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) slugger Cap Anson, marked the 6th time in 11 years that the team had garnered the National League pennant.

[7] The game began with a coin toss to determine which side would bat first, with Anson and Chicago winning the call and sending the Browns to the plate to open.

[11] After retiring the side in order in the top of the first, Chicago quickly jumped out to a two-run lead powered by a Cap Anson RBI triple to the right-center gap.

[11] This would prove to be all the scoring that the White Stockings needed for the win as Chicago's ace pitcher John Clarkson (a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame) struck out ten[12] in throwing a five-hit shutout as "Anson's Pets" beat Dave Foutz and the Browns, 6–0.

[5] St. Louis curveball specialist Bob Caruthers made short work of the home team, allowing just two hits and cruising to a 12–0 victory in a game mercifully shortened to 8 innings by darkness.

[14] Coming off his complete game 1-hitter the previous day, Bob Caruthers again took the ball for the Browns, while John Clarkson made his second series start for the White Stockings.

[14] With his effectiveness hindered by the necessity of pitching two days in a row, the Browns found themselves on their heels quickly when ace Bob Caruthers walked four of the first five batters, surrendering a second run on a base hit given up to third baseman Tom Burns of the Chicagos.

[12] Star outfielder Tip O'Neill expressed the view that the pitching situation had been miserably managed and that the entire team had been put off by the decision not to rest Caruthers.

[15] Clarkson was nothing if not durable, having won 53 games in 1885 to lead the National League—the second greatest number of wins by an individual pitcher in baseball history.

Chicago's second pitcher, Jim McCormick, failed to make the trip due to a recurrence of "rheumatism" in his feet, an ailment which hampered his mobility and made participation impossible.

Chicago manager Cap Anson intended to start the newcomer in game 4, but objection was made by Browns owner Chris von der Ahe, who declared there was an understanding that the World Series was a competition between the two teams which had won the championships of their respective leagues and that no additional players were to be used by either side.

[17] After the starting bell rang at 3:15 pm, the Chicagos managed to rack up a 3–0 lead in the top of the first inning with one hit, two walks, two errors, and a sacrifice fly.

[18] The White Stockings managed to get two runs back in the top in the sixth, powered by Abner Dalrymple's RBI triple to right field, followed by a base hit by Clarkson.

[18] The Browns put the game away for good with three more runs in the bottom half of the frame, however, with three walks, two singles, and a muffed fly ball doing the damage.

Von der Ahe in the matter was unsportsmanlike and wrong, and if the loss of this game interferes with our winning the series, I think it would be only right to make some kind of a protest against it.

Right fielder Jimmy Ryan came in to relieve, showing himself a better pitcher than Williamson but nevertheless taking the loss as his teammates blundered away the game defensively.

"[20] Chicago right fielder Tom Burns committed two particularly costly errors, allowing runs to score, with Nat Hudson giving up only three hits en route to an easy 10–3 victory.

[20] Catcher Silver Flint contributed mightily to the carnage, allowing four runs to score on passed balls and making another costly throwing error to third base.

Bob Caruthers made his third pitching start for St. Louis, with John Clarkson returning to the mound for a fourth time for Chicago.

Under threatening skies the White Stockings took a 2–0 lead into the fourth inning, when a brief rain shower prompted fans to leave the grandstand and run onto the field, demanding that the umpire call the game, thereby nullifying the result, because of inclement weather.

Charlie Comiskey began the St. Louis half of the inning with a single to right field and was sent to third by a bunting Curt Welch, who managed to beat out the throw to first base, putting runners on the corners.

[22] The loud and abrasive Cap Anson had been riding Latham throughout the game when he was on the field from the third base coaching area, taunting him as a "soft spot" in the Browns' defense.

Clarkson wound up and threw a pitch that got past catcher King Kelly, with Welch coming home to win the game and the series for St. Louis.

"[24]The reporter of the Chicago Tribune differed with the official scoring decision, asserting that the all-important passed ball was "really a wild pitch by Clarkson.

"[21] Regardless of the intricacies of official scoring, the winning run excited the packed grandstand mightily, with fans remaining in their seats and cheering for fifteen minutes after the game was over, while hundreds of others stormed the Browns' locker room with congratulations.