in 1884, wright was brought in to manage the philadelphia quakers. the quakers had joined the national league the previous year, finishing dead last with an abysmal record of 17-81. under wright, they improved enough to finish in sixth place in 1884. in 1885, the team finished above .500 for the first time, going 56-54 and finishing in third place, a distant 30 games behind the white stockings and 28 games behind second-place new york giants.