Archive for the ‘19th Century Baseball History’ Category

 

Young Rube Waddell

George Edward Waddell, called Eddie, was born in October 1876 in Bradford, Pennsylvania near the New York border. As a teenager, he moved with his family to a farm in the town of Prospect, north of Pittsburgh in Butler County.

In his youth, he attended school and worked the fields. Part of his responsibilities included chasing off crows who fed on the harvest. He did so with rocks, becoming proficient in both accuracy and sheer force. Growing to over six feet and weighing around 200 pounds, Eddie would later intimidate batters as he did the scavenger birds.

In 1895 at age 18, Waddell joined the Butler team, a mediocre club which held contests with other local nines. It wouldn’t be long before the rest of the state and Organized Baseball started hearing about this impressive lefty who sent more than his share of batters back to the bench. He would soon be known as the first great lefthanded strikeout pitcher.

1896

Around May 13, 1896, Waddell signed with George Tebeau of Fort Wayne (IN) of the Class-C Interstate League.

Fort Wayne Sentinel 5/14/1896

His actions here show the first signs of the erratic behavior which would plaque team officials throughout the big farmer’s travels in semi-pro and professional baseball.

Fort Wayne Sentinel 5/29/1896

Exasperated, Tebeau formally suspended Waddell on June 4, at which time the ballplayer was listed with the Franklin nine.

The above Fort Wayne references strongly suggest that Waddell was playing somewhere, most likely in Pennsylvania, Tebeau would have seen him pitch in mid-May – probably in or around New Castle. The May 14-article suggests that he was playing for an Eau Claire, PA nine, or perhaps for another team that happened to be playing in Eau Claire. As yet, confirmation has not been found.

In early June at the latest, Waddell joined the Franklin squad. Franklin had been in an organized circuit, the Class-C Iron and Oil League, the previous year with fellow Pennsylvania teams in New Castle, Oil City, Sharon, Titusville and Warren (and others outside the state). However, Franklin’s baseball status had diminished since 1895. Even their new, young pitching star couldn’t save the club.

Titusville Herald 7/1/1896

Waddell’s catcher with Franklin was Jack Nelson whom legend has it bestowed the famous nickname “Rube” on his young counterpart for both his country mannerisms and naïveté.

The nine disbanded in early July. Waddell immediately joined Runninger’s Athletes, a team composed mainly of Franklin and Oil City ballplayers under the management of popular local pitcher Honest John Runninger.

Titusville Herald 7/4/1896

Soon enough, Rube was twirling for Oil City, a club which also included his Franklin catcher Jack Nelson.

Titusville Herald 8/13/1896

Waddell returned to the farm for the winter.

1897

Rube may have played for mediocre clubs in 1896 but word got around about his exploits. The new manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Patsy Donovan, invited the big hayseed for a spring tryout in early April, or perhaps late March.

The pitcher headed south and met Donovan for breakfast. This must have occurred in Roanoke, Virginia, the Pirates training site where the manager had been since March 22. The two did not see eye to eye. Donovan cancelled the tryout. The pitcher headed back to Butler without even showing his stuff.

An unlikely suitor then approached the lefty. Volant College, a small private teachers’ college located to the west just outside Butler, offered to pay Rube a $1 per game plus room and board; he didn’t even have to attend classes. In the days before the Amateur Athletic Union stiffened eligibility requirements in the early 20^th century, this practice was more common than might be suspected.

Rube pitched his first game for Volant and its manager Thomas H. George on May 8 in Wampum, PA. He arrived late – in the 7^th inning – and took the mound for the final two frames, striking out 5 of the 7 men he faced.

He pitched for the school through June 23, dominating all opposition. While with Volant, Waddell also pitched a few contests for Greenville. One day while heading to meet George and his college squad, Rube was rerouted at gunpoint to Mercer by a couple of guys he tried to hitch a ride with. Missing his intended contest, Rube merrily decided to pick up a dollar and actually took the mound for the Mercer nine – when in Rome.

Waddell took the mound for Greenville for a few games at the end of June but soon joined Evans City. (He may also have pitched for the Homestead Athletic Club while with Evans City. He seems to have bounced back and forth with Homestead.) In mid-August, he faced the Pirates at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh.

Soon thereafter, Fred Clarke, manager and left fielder, and Harry Pulliam, club executive, of the Louisville Colonels of the National League sent Pittsburgh native Frank Haller to Evans City to check out their star pitcher. Impressed, he signed Rube on the 25^th.

Waddell felt no need to rush to his new club; he remained in western Pennsylvania pitching for Evans City and Mars.

Sporting Life 9/11/1897

Soon after midnight on Wednesday, September 8, Waddell woke Fred Clarke at the Colonels’ Washington, D.C. hotel. He had arrived and was prepared to begin his major league career. Later that day, Rube, still just 20 years old, made his debut in Baltimore, a 5-1 complete-game loss to the Orioles.

Philadelphia Inquirer 9/9/1897

The Sporting Life, dated 18 September 1897, credited Rube’s initial outing as a fine performance, especially noting how well he fielded his position. In the local correspondent’s words, the team made a “good haul in the hayseed.”

Rube’s catcher for the contest was Osee Schrecongost, a New Bethlehem, PA native also making his major league debut.

A week later on the 15^th, Waddell made his only other regular season appearance for the Colonels in 1897. He relieved a struggling Bill Magee in the third inning of the day’s second contest. Louisville lost 8-2 to Pittsburgh but Rube pitched well enough to win the contest, the loss belonging to Magee.

On the 21^st, Waddell finally pitched in Fort Worth, for the Colonels though – a 10-7 victory over the home team. He remained with Louisville into October, pitching in a few exhibition contests but returning home.

When the National League posted its reserved roster on October 7, Waddell was claimed by the Colonels; however, they soon dumped him off. Two weeks later, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers of the Western League with John Richter for Pat Dillard according to reports. First, Tigers owner Frank Vanderbeck had to find Rube’s address; no one seemed to know more than a vague reference that he lived in Butler County.

The deal may not have actually happened that way. For one, Dillard remained in Detroit for 1898. So did Waddell and Richter. Perhaps the exchange was conditional, or perhaps an early form of placing and reserving players – farming – in the minors for seasoning took place.

Fred Clarke and his young pitcher butted heads more than once in 1897. After the pitcher injured his finger while intoxicated, the manager fined him $50. The incident and others impressed on Clarke the need for the young lefty to get more seasoning/maturity. It also impressed on Waddell the need to avoid such a disciplinarian and spoilsport. Their parting was mutually appreciated.

Waddell did not remain idle back home. He played left guard for Butler’s football squad.

Name

Searches of the young Waddell found him listed under more than a handful of names:

• George E.
• George
• E.
• Edward
• Ed
• G.E.
• Rube
• Rubey
• Ruby
• Reuben

Personality

Stories of the eccentric Waddell were told long before he became a national celebrity.

Sporting Life 9/4/1897 (concerning his time in Evans City)

Sporting Life 9/18/1897

New Castle News 4/17/1914 (about his youthful exploits in New Castle)

1898

Waddell headed south to Nashville, the Detroit Tigers’ training site, in late March 1898, reporting in fine shape.

Sporting Life 3/26/1898

When the Western League season opened on April 20, Rube was on the mound for Detroit, a 4-2 loss to Indianapolis. He pitched for the club in nine contests, posting a 4-4 record with 38 strikeouts and 32 walks. His catcher was former major leaguer Art “Old Hoss” Twineham.

His final game with the club took place on May 21, a 12-5 loss to St. Paul. Rube allowed 13 hits and made some crucial miscues, including a glaring mental lapse during a steal of home. The Chicago Tribune lamented, “Detroit’s chump playing made it an easy game for [St. Paul].” The fact that Waddell was seriously hung over only antagonized owner Frank Vanderbeck who had been on the warpath for the last few weeks, firing his manager along the way.

Vanderbeck began to chide his pitcher for his performance. The insults combined with an earlier $25 fine for playing with a local club on May 8 alienated the young Waddell. He took off, jumping the club and landing across Lake St. Clair in Chatham, Ontario, Canada along the Thames River.

Chatham belonged to the Canadian League but wasn’t a signatory of baseball’s National Agreement, leading to the possibility that Rube would be blacklisted by Organized Baseball. As it was, Detroit suspended him.

Waddell was playing with Chatham by the 25^th, making a reported $60 a month. He also occasionally took the mound for nearby teams.

On June 2, Rube faced the Page Fence Giants, one of the top black clubs of the era. He lost 9-1, allowing 9 hits, to Sherman Barton who tossed a 3-hitter. Two of Barton’s allowed hits came off Waddell’s bat. What occurred that day in Chatham in all likelihood wouldn’t have taken place if the contest was played in the States. Rube went through three catchers, one via injury and two who weren’t experienced backstops and couldn’t handle the lefthanded fireballer. To see the game through, one of the Giants’ catchers, Pete Burns, stepped behind the plate for Rube and Chatham – effectively integrating the club, a practice nearly extinct in American minor league baseball.

On the 21^st, Rube struck out 17 Dunnville batters on the way to no-hitting the club, a 1-0 victory. To boot, he scored Chatham’s only run, in the 4^th inning. Miraculously, another 9 outs were handled by Waddell himself; thus, the pitcher almost singlehandedly accounted for 26 of Dunnville’s allotted 27 outs.

Saginaw News 6/23/1898

The next day, he struck out another 20 Dunnville batters.

In mid-July, Waddell met with Tigers’ manager George Stallings and agreed to re-join the club. First, he needed to return to Chatham and pick up some cash they owed him. There, he fell ill, some reports say malaria but that seems severe, and went home to Pennsylvania to recover.

The extent to his illness is questionable though; he was seen reported pitching for the Homestead Athletic Club, by July 31 at the latest.

Greenville Advance Argus 8/11/1898

As suggested above, Waddell’s status in Organized Baseball was under question. It would need to be settled in the off-season. The Brooklyn Dodgers also began expressing interest in the lefty around this time.

The Sporting Life announced that he was traded by Detroit to Columbus of the Western League as compensation for Bert Briggs.

Sporting Life 8/20/1898

In early September, Eddie left Homestead and joined the Butler nine. Rube seemed content, talking about managing the club in 1898. He was also running track for Butler. At some point though, he agreed to join Columbus (OH) and apparently signed with them.

In October the Louisville Colonels drafted Rube Waddell “of Detroit or Columbus,” whomever he belonged to. The transaction was announced by the National League secretary on the 18^th. (Louisville also drafted Ginger Beaumont, Kid Elberfeld and Deacon Phillippe)

Waddell once again kept busy during the off-season. He played left end for Homestead on the gridiron and also played for the club’s water polo and hockey teams.

1899 (briefly)

At the National League meetings on December 17, the circuit’s Board of Arbitration gave Harry Pulliam of Louisville free reign to sign Waddell for the upcoming season. Pulliam deposited the required $500 draft price. It would be up to the Western League to decide if Detroit or Columbus could claim the money.

On March 18, 1899, Waddell left with the Louisville group, headed to their training site in Thomasville, Georgia. On April 22 he was formally farmed out to Columbus, playing with the nine into September. He then joined Louisville for 10 contests.

At the end of the year, Louisville merged with Pittsburgh in a highly questionable syndicate deal which produced the first dynasty of the 20^th century.

As usual, Waddell had no shortage of suitors:

Brooklyn Eagle 8/7/1899

SOURCE LIST

• Baltimore Sun, 9 September 1897
• Baseball-reference.com
• Bay City Times, Michigan, 26 May 1898, 23 June 1898
• Boston Herald, 18 December 1898
• Chicago Tribune, 1897-1899
• Cleveland Leader, 3 January 1898
• Cleveland Plain Dealer, 15 May 1898, 22 May 1898
• Debono, Paul. The Chicago American Giants. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2007.
• Decatur Daily Review, Illinois, 22 May 1898
• Dubuque Daily Herald, Iowa, 31 August 1898, 4 October 1898
• Grand Rapids Herald, 15 February 1898
• Greenville Advance Argus, Pennsylvania, 17 June 1897, 16 June 1898, 11 August 1898, 8 September 1898
• Greenville News, Pennsylvania, 10 September 1898
• Levy, Alan H. Rube Waddell: The Zany, Brilliant Life of a Strikeout Artist. Jefferson,
• Minneapolis Journal, 18 May 1898
• New Castle News, Pennsylvania, 4 November 1897, 1 April 1898, 17 April 1914
• New York Times, 7 October 1897
• Peterson, Todd. Early Black Baseball in Minnesota: The St. Paul Gophers, Minneapolis Keystones and other Barnstorming Teams of the Deadball Era. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2010.
• Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 September 1897
• Retrosheet.org
• Rockford Republic, Illinois, 16 August 1898
• Saginaw News, Michigan, 23 June 1898, 1 August 1898
• Shenango Valley News, Greenville, Pennsylvania, 25 June 1897
• Sporting Life, 1897-1898
• Titusville Herald, Pennsylvania, 1 July 1896, 4 July 1896, 7 August 1896, 13 August 1896

 

Hugh Gilgan

In 2010 I submitted a biography of Barney Gilligan to the SABR Biography Project. Within it I wrote of his time in the National Association, 2 games with the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1875. This information was readily available at the encyclopedia reference sites. The Atlantic research led me to his playing with the New York Flyaways. 

Not long after the publication of the bio, I started to receive emails that I may have based the Atlantics/Flyaway part on incorrect data. I posted it here hoping for continued discussion. 

Unfortunately, it seems the encyclopedias were wrong, as was I for not picking up on the discrepancy. A game account from the New York Times on 26 September 1875 clearly shows that “Gilligan” indeed came from the Flyaway club. However, information provided to my by Richard Malatzky and Robert Richardson (via Peter Morris) shows that it wasn’t Barney Gilligan with the Flyaways but a man named Hugh Gilgan. They offered several convincing references from 1874 and 1875 which shows this. (Obviously, both Gilligan and Gilgan were catchers) 

Thus, it appears that Barney Gilligan did not play in the National Association. In response, today I asked for my Gilligan bio to be amended and it was. I am not a member of the SABR Biographical Committee which typically investigates these variances but I assume an investigation is already underway. 

Here I offer the section of the bio which now pertains to Gilgan, appropriately altered to correspond to Gilgan. I offer no further material that I have been privy to. It is not my work and thus for another to present.

Hugh Gilgan returned with the Flyaways in 1875. The New York Flyaways were acknowledged as the leading club of the area in 1874 and ’75, winning various championships each season.

The latter season, he caught a pitcher named Fallon. Among his teammates, Molly Moore joined the Brooklyn Atlantics of the National Association, the top league of the time, at the end of June.

In September the Atlantics found themselves in need of more bodies. According to the New York Times, “The Atlantic club, of Brooklyn, having disbanded last week and several of the members going to other clubs, a new nine has been organized by the introduction of several amateur players.” Gilgan and former Flyaway players Bill Rexter and a man named Stoddard joined the Atlantics on September 25.

In New York on the 25th, Gilgan caught Frank Fleet and went hitless against the Mutuals’ Bobby Mathews in a 10-7 loss. It was the next-to-last game of the season. The team didn’t play another league contest until October 9. Very few took note of the game so late in the season, “not more than one hundred persons were present,” according to the Times. Gilgan manned right field and collected two hits and a run off Tommy Bond of Hartford in an otherwise humiliating 20-7 loss. The Atlantics of 1875 were an overmatched club, finishing the year with a 2-42 record.

 

The Tom Foleys of Early Chicago Baseball

This is an effort to try and clear up the confusion surrounding the identity of the two Tom Foleys that were influential in early Chicago baseball – which I chronicled here.

Tom Foley – the Business Manager

Foley was a financial backer and business manager for the city’s first professional club, the White Stockings. He held a position with the club through at least 1872.

Excerpt from Professional Baseball in Chicago, A Shaky Start

Perhaps more important, Tom Foley was selected as the [White Stockings’] business manager overseeing day-to-day operations. Among his first efforts was to head east and sign players for the upcoming season, 1870. He went to Philadelphia and New York and did just that. He also placed an ad in the New York Clipper in hopes of attracting some top players.

Foley’s efforts proved fruitful and soon the new nine was announced. It proved to be expensive. Catcher Bill Craver was signed for $2500 (Craver was actually signed much later – well into 1870). Captain and second baseman Jimmy Wood was paid $2000. Most of the others were paid between $1500 and $2000. Many of the players were taken from the Eckfords of Brooklyn, Unions of Lansingburgh, New York (Troy Haymakers) and Athletics of Philadelphia:

• Pitcher – Ed Pinkham (Eckfords), Levi Meyerle (Athletics)
• Catcher – Craver, Charles Hodes (Eckfords)
• First base – Bub McAtee (Unions)
• Second base – Wood (Eckfords)
• Third base – Meyerle
• Shortstop – Ed Duffy
• Outfield – Ned Cuthbert (Athletics), Fred Treacey (Eckfords), Clipper Flynn (Unions)
• Utility – Mart King (Unions)

Thus the club became Chicago’s first professional nine.

Foley was born on August 16, 1842 in Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland. He moved to New York City in the fall of 1849 (as usually reported) or perhaps 1850 (possible match in New York passenger lists from 20 November 1850). At age 11 or 12 in 1854, he moved to Chicago.

It’s been reported that he only had three months of formal education. By the summer of 1855, he lived and worked at the Tremont House, a famed local hotel, in their billiard room.  The sport, though in its infancy, was becoming hugely popular, especially in Chicago. Foley tended to the tables, brushing them for example, and other related jobs at the Tremont. The 1860 U.S. Census, dated July 11, finds him working there, at age 17, with a number of other young Irish men and women, among others.

The Tremont in 1860 housed the offices of the Illinois Republican Party which in May hosted the Republican National Convention at a nearby convention center. Both Presidential candidates, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, previously opened their Senate campaigns from a Tremont balcony. (Douglas died at the hotel in 1861.)

Within a few months of the 1860 Census, Foley moved on to the Briggs House, still working with billiards. Five years later, he relocated to the Newhall House in Milwaukee.

In June 1865, Foley won the first State of Illinois Billiard Tournament.

New York Times 6/23/1865

In May 1866, he returned to Chicago where he opened a succession of billiard rooms that he owned and operated over the next six decades:

• 1866: Corner of Dearborn and Monroe Streets
• Fall 1867: 152 Dearborn Street (which burned in the Chicago fire of October 1871)
• Circa October 1871: At the Barnes House
• Circa October 1871: Wabash Avenue
• January 1873: Foley’s Palace Billiard Hall on Clark Street

Though it appears that Foley operated the 152 Dearborn Street location until the fire of 1871, the 1870 U.S. Census lists him living with his wife and brother, James, employed as a “Clerk in Store.” Perhaps that was the billiard store.

The Palace opened to great fanfare and expense, $40,000. It contained 30 tables, making it the largest in the country. However, the Panic of 1873 wrought havoc with the billiard industry and by the middle of the decade Foley found employment elsewhere through the end of the decade. More billiard room locations:

• 1880: Lake and Clark Streets (small room)
• 1882: Collender Hall, 141 Madison Street
• 1887: Garden City Billiard Hall, 174-176 Madison Street
• Circa 1890: 146 Madison Street

Foley, a member of the People’s Party, also served as an alderman of the First Ward in Chicago.

In the early 1860s, Foley married Anastasia “Anna” F. Lacey, an Irish girl born in New York circa 1844. They had three children:

• Nellie, circa 1863
• Thomas Pelhan, July 28, 1871 (The “Phelan” appears to stem from billiard pioneer Michael Phelan)
• Nannie, February 26, 1874

Anna died on January 31, 1881. Within a year or so, Foley remarried to another Irish lady, Mary E. Moynihan, born in Rochester, New York circa 1850. They had no children together.

Foley became known as the “Dean of America’s Billiard Roomkeepers.” He was well-known in the industry throughout the country and would gain a great deal of interest as he traveled.

Sporting Life 7/7/1890

Thomas Foley died on November 3, 1926 in Chicago at age 84. He was interred at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston.

Tom Foley – the Ballplayer

Excerpt from Professional Baseball in Chicago, A Shaky Start

In 1866, Thomas James Foley joined the Excelsiors, captaining the club in 1867 and ’68. He officially turned professional in 1869 when he joined the Forest Citys of Rockford, though it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that he was previously compensated by the Excelsiors. He continued with Rockford until joining the Chicago White Stockings with the formation of the National Association in 1871. He died of a stroke in January 1896 as one of the oldest and most respected letter carriers in the city, a job he held since May 1874.

With Excelsiors:

• 1866: third base
• 1867: third base
• 1868: third base, catcher
• Vice president of Excelsiors in 1867

Foley remained in local baseball circles umpiring in the National Association in both 1874 and ’75.

Thomas James Foley was born in Chicago in 1844 or 1845 (according to the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 U.S. Censuses) or perhaps 1847 (according to the online encyclopedias). He was the son of Charles and Mary Foley, both born in England. Charles was an engineer. The family (Charles, Mary and 10-month-old daughter Mary) arrived in the United States on October 13, 1842 and settled in Chicago.

In the 1870 Census, Thomas, age 25, is listed as a book binder; specifically, he manufactured “blank books, ledgers and journals.” This was his occupation throughout his baseball career. He sold it when appointed a letter carrier on May 6, 1874, a job he maintained for two decades.

Foley and his wife Elizabeth E. “Libbie” had five children:

• Walter B., January 1874
• Thomas, April 1877
• Albert, circa 1878
• Charlotte, October 1886
• Charles, October 1891

Thomas J. Foley died of a stroke at home on January 4, 1896 in La Grange Park, a suburb of Chicago.

SOURCE LIST

The confusion with the two Tom Foleys was pointed out to me in email communications by Richard Smiley and Mark Braun.

• Ahern, M.L. The Great Revolution: A History of the Rise and Progress of the People’s Party in the City of Chicago and County of Cook. Chicago: Lakeside Publishing and Printing Company, 1874.
• Ancestry.com
• Baseballhistoryblog.com
• Chicagobilliardmuseum.org
• Chicago Tribune, 5 January 1896, 4 November 1926, 5 November 1926
• Familysearch.com
• McKenna, Brian, “Professional Baseball in Chicago, A Shaky Start,” Baseballhistoryblog.com, 20 July 2010
• New York Times, 23 June 1865
• Parker, Jim, “Intelligent People Say the Nicest Things,” Illinoisbilliardclub.com, August 2002.
• Retrosheet.org
• Sporting Life, 7 July 1890
• Wikipedia.org

 

Dick McBride, Fired on the Field Mid-Game

Dick McBride had a great season in 1875; that is until he was fired humiliatingly. He managed a major league club to a 49-17 record, which seems outstanding, and it is. More than that, he was the club’s main pitcher – and in 1875 that meant he pitched nearly every game. His record in league contests was a stellar 44-13, which constituted over 530 innings work. That’s just league contests; the club probably played another 30-40 games that weren’t officially designated. Regardless, one day in October, the team’s directors stepped forward – on the grass nonetheless – and fired him on the spot, and turned the club over to a 23-year-old.

Beginnings

Dick McBride, a Philadelphia native, played cricket and baseball as a youth. His skills were such that he joined the first nine of the Athletics of Philadelphia, soon to be the city’s top club, in June 1861 – the month he turned 14 years old, if you believe the date of birth listed in the online encyclopedias. Initially an outfielder and catcher, he settled into the shortstop position. He remained with the club, even playing with them during a furlough while he briefly served in a Pennsylvania infantry unit during the second half of 1864.

By the middle of the decade, he was the club’s main pitcher. Not coincidentally the club joined the ranks of the top clubs in the country around this time. With it, McBride’s star rose as well. He was the city’s first superstar despite the impressive cast that surrounded him – especially Al Reach.

At the time, the amateur ideals still prevailed in the sport. Soon suspecting eyes were cast upon the Philadelphia boys for accepting cash under-the-table. Harry Wright, for one, declared it outright. As the game inched towards outright professionalism, the Athletics remained competitive, even with the onslaught of the western teams. In 1871, the club joined the new National Association, the sport’s first professional league that limited its membership level to a manageable figure.

The Athletics behind McBride won the NA’s first championship, by 2 games over Boston. Thereafter though, Boston dominated – taking the next four pennants. That’s no poor reflection on McBride. McBride managed the club for their entire run in the National Association, save 8 games. Plus, he continued to work his magic on the mound, posting a 105-56 record through 1874. He also was no slouch with the bat, among the best hitting pitchers in the game, and better than some position players.

1875

Boston won the 1874 pennant by 7.5 games over New York. Philly sat third, 11.5 games behind. The Boston dominance was frustrating for the league. The question every summer seemed to be not who would win the championship but by how many games. Naturally, this hurt at the gate and created more resentments than goodwill. Unbeknown, the National Association held its own seeds of destruction.

The story is well-known. In mid-1875, Chicago president William Hulbert and his new righthand-man Al Spalding (who was actually a pitcher with Boston) coaxed several of the game’s leading players to sign with the White Stockings for the 1876 season. Trouble was, those men belonged to other league clubs, Boston and Philadelphia. Today, this would be viewed as illegal tampering. Back then, the men typically weren’t signed for the following season but contract negotiations weren’t permitted in-season.

In the 1870s, disputes were only heard and ruled upon during off-season meetings by the league directors. To skirt a potential rebuke, Hulbert called his own preemptive meeting and proposed the formation of a new circuit – the National League. The plot worked for several reasons, not the least of which was the dissatisfaction of the also-ran status of the vast majority. The National Association ceased to exist. None of this was certain though during the 1875 season.

What was clear was that Boston continued to dominate. They started the season 26-0. By the start of October, the Red Stockings sat 11.5 games up on their closest competitor. Though the Athletics were in second place – they were a distant second and, perhaps more alarmingly, finances were precarious.

On the 8^th, the Athletics lost 8-1 to Hartford. McBride ceded 14 hits, including 3 singles, a double and three runs in the ninth. Tommy Bond held Philadelphia to a meager three hits.

The Standings:

Boston 63-7-3

Philadelphia 49-17-2, 12 games behind

October 9

On October 9, the Athletics hosted the champion Red Stockings at their main park, the Jefferson Street Grounds at the corner of 25^th and Jefferson Streets. One day after ceding 14 base knocks to Hartford, McBride allowed another 16 “clean hits” – in 5 innings; though, he was only behind one run, 14-13. What happened next seems strange by today’s standards, and perhaps it did then, but little of it was mentioned in print.

The Athletics’ Directors then held a meeting on the field, deposed of McBride from the captaincy and put in Anson

 – Boston Journal

Obviously under a mandate, Anson then removed McBride from the game and installed Ezra Sutton in the box, who did no better. Darkness ended the contest an inning later, Boston victorious 17-13. Most today chalk up the action as a financial decision, saving the star McBride’s salary. But does that hold up?

For one, the season was nearly over. How much could be saved? Second, financial decisions aren’t made on the field. This was clearly a snap decision made in the heat of battle. Surely, the directors were constantly aware of financial considerations but there were surely other issues at play here.

Was it the ineffectiveness of a once great star? – Hardly. Even with the October 9-loss, McBride posted a stellar 44-14 mark in 1875. He had started all but three of the club’s games heading into September, amassing a personal-best 538 innings that year. Only Al Spalding of Boston won more games. McBride was still a star and only perhaps 30 years old.

Was McBride running the team poorly? It doesn’t appear that he was if one deems wins and losses as the criteria. They had a fine record, just not Boston fine. They stood at 49-17-2 in second place. There was no train wreck here. They only had a losing streak of four games once and that was early in the season. They did lose 3 in a row in early July but that hardly seems significant, especially with a 7-game win streak immediately following it plus a 9-game streak soon thereafter.

Philly outscored their opponents nearly 2-1, 638 runs to 323 in 1875. The ridiculously stacked Boston squad, on the other hand, outscored opponents nearly 3-1. How can you compete with that?

Perhaps there were some all-too-common internal gripes in the Philadelphia organization that we know little about.

It’s also a little hard to understand the lack of outcry over his disposal. After all, he was one of the biggest names in Philadelphia baseball. Had the game just not progressed to the point where the stars mattered? Did the sportswriters of the time just tend to give the facts – and nothing but the facts? Had nostalgia as yet failed to creep into the game?

Why Anson? This was his first experience as a manager. Sure he was a tough, smart competitor. But he had already showed his disloyalty to the Athletics. He and Sutton were two of the men – along with a group of Red Stockings – that had secretly signed with Hulbert, a secret which was now in the open. Was it an attempt by Philadelphia to keep their young slugger, luring him with a promotion?

Perhaps it was the presence of a young pitching phenom ready to take the place of an aging veteran. Possible, but it’s still hard to understand the dumping of a highly-effective pitcher.

That phenom was Lon Knight, another Philadelphia boy, who made his major league debut on September 4 at age 22. He impressed.

That day in Philadelphia, Knight and his catcher Bill Coon, both fresh from the amateur Shibe club, worked the game for the Athletics. They led the club to a 6-3 victory over the strong Boston nine, only their seventh loss. Before that point Philly was a mere 1-6-2 against the champions. Knight was an instant hit, especially since his effort came after an embarrassing 16-0 blanking. His work after that though was only so-so, 2 more wins but then 3 losses. Does a team bank on this and dispose of a 44-win pitching star who seems to still be in his prime?

Thereafter

Knight immediately took over the pitching duties. There were only 8 league games left and he started each. The next game, October 11, was a disaster. Boston cleaned his clock. Twenty-five hits and 15 runs sealed a victory by 12. The remaining seven games produced a 4-2-1 record.

Anson took off for Chicago as predicted, though he did beg Hulbert and Spalding to let him stay in Philadelphia. But that wasn’t a baseball thing – he was wooing a young – very, very young – local girl. Ezra Sutton did renege on his promise and stayed in Philly. That didn’t seem to matter much; Spalding and his boys took off for the Windy City.

McBride, a fill-in pitcher, appeared in 4 games for his old cricket foe, Harry Wright, in Boston. The end came quickly for McBride after losing each contest. What led to his fast, almost immediate demise?

Hulbert and Spalding brought their plan to fruition and the National League was formed. Philly tanked that first season, behind Knight and the old Brooklyn star George Zettlein. After finishing 14-45-1 in seventh place they were bounced from the league for failing to complete their schedule.

Chicago with their pilfered talent claimed the top prize in 1876. Hulbert then formally claimed the league presidency, keeping it until his death.

Harry Wright revamped his Boston Red Stockings and took the pennant in 1877 and 1878 in the now New York and Philadelphia-less stunted 6-team league.

SOURCE LIST

• Baseballchronoloy.com
• Boston Globe, 11 October 1875, 12 October 1875
• Boston Journal, 6 September 1875, 11 October 1875
• Chicago Tribune, 10 October 1875
• Fleitz, David L. Cap Anson: The Grand Old Man of Baseball. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2005.
• New York Morning Telegraph, 10 October 1875
• Retrosheet.org
• Shiffert, John. Base Ball in Philadelphia: A History of the Early Game, 1831-1900. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2006.

 

The 1871 Rockford Forest Citys, Bullied by the Big Boys 

The Forest City club of Rockford in northern Illinois was amassed in May 1865 during the maturation decade of the sport outside the New York area. (Team formally created on June 7)

Rock River Democrat, Rockford, Illinois 5/31/1865

 

In September the annual country fair was held in Rockford at the fairgrounds administered by the Winnebago County Agricultural Society. The fair’s committee decided it would be opportune to put on an exhibition of the sport that was already being hailed as the national pastime. At a hastily-assembled field a tournament was held to crown a state champion, as well as, another for county bragging rights. 

Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette 8/26/1865

 

Two Rockford clubs vied for the Winnebago championship, the Forest Citys and Sinnissippi. The Forest Citys ran away with the title, 55-17. Historian Peter Morris notes that the 1865 Forest Citys’ roster was composed of men in their 20s and 30s. That changed in 1866 as young talent flooded in. This contest from November 7, 1865 shows the genesis of the youth movement as local enthusiast Hiram Waldo (more on him later) amassed a group of local boys to take on the Forest Citys:

Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette 11/11/1865

Note the pitcher of the Waldo Nine – the very young, 15-year-old, Al Spalding. The shortstop may be Ross Barnes. Here’s an earlier game with Spalding and Barnes playing for the youth team, the Pioneer Club, at the Church Street grounds: (May be the first printed reference to Spalding)

Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette 10/7/1865

Here’s a box score from May 1866 with Spalding now with Forest City. Note Waldo in right field. (Barnes would become the pitcher for the Pioneers when Spalding joined Forest City. Barnes then joined the Forest Citys by September 1866.)

Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette 5/26/1866

Spalding also continued to pitch for his high school, West Rockford:

Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette 10/27/1866

Fair Grounds Park

The positioning of the ball field within the massive fairgrounds complex is not readily known. The complex itself was a short walk from the town’s main business district. The Agricultural Grounds was large enough to house the ball field, a racetrack, dance hall, music pavilion, equestrian ring and other facilities. 

The fairground’s location became the area’s main baseball facility, though there soon would be others. According to researcher Jim Nitz, it was “more convenient than the previous ballpark on the old drill grounds at the north end of Church Street.” Much that is known about the specifics of the ball field came from a former resident named John Clifford who recounted the layout in a letter to the editor many years later, in 1939. 

Rockford Register-Republic 8/16/1939

1869 Rockford Forest Citys

Tom Foley, Barnes, Al Barker, Denton Sawyer, Cone, Addy, Spalding, George King, Hastings

Rockford arrived on the baseball map in 1867. By this time however, the team may have developed from an amateur club to one that compensated its players in some form. Open financial compensation of ballplayers was still a couple of years in the future. On July 25 of that year, they stunned the Nationals of Washington D.C. who were in Illinois as part of baseball’s first western tour. On the mound for Rockford was the up-and-coming Spalding who was about to break on the national scene and eventually become one of the most significant figures in 19^th century sports.

1870 

Spalding was still with the club in 1870 as it grew into a professional nine. That coveted triumph over the Nationals of D.C. was eclipsed on July 11, 1870 when Rockford faced the esteemed Red Stockings of Cincinnati. Not only were the Reds the sport’s first openly-professional nine but they propelled baseball to a national craze with their undefeated streak which until June 14 in Brooklyn had stretched all the way back to 1868. 

Rockford headed to the Union Grounds in Cincinnati in early July and took on the Reds twice, losing by a slim margin 14-13 on the 2^nd but being handily defeated on the 4^th, 24-7. In turn, Rockford played host on the 11^th. In anticipation of the upcoming match the park was revamped: 

Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette 7/9/1870

A large crowd was expected. Despite the fact that Rockford’s population was listed at just at 11,049 in 1870, the club drew an impressive crowd on holidays and big contests, between 2000 and 5000 according to Jim Nitz. 

The fans weren’t happy about the Red Stockings’ demands though. Because of their unique status during the era, Cincinnati set their own price; they forced Rockford to charge a 50-cent admission, rather than the normal quarter. Tickets were sold in advance at local book stores and hotels. Those wishing to mitigate the extra expense of the Reds’ contest were urged to purchase a season’s pass for $3. (The books stores mentioned were owned by local baseball enthusiast Hiram Waldo whom Peter Morris brings to light at the SABR Biography Project.)

The contest proved an exciting one as Rockford tied it up in the ninth, 16-16, with one out and the bases loaded. However, Fred Cone was thrown out trying to score and then Ross Barnes flied out to third. Red Stockings captain Harry Wright, citing darkness, refused to play a tenth inning, as custom dictated that both captains had to agree to extra innings. (Cone was originally a member of the Unions of Rockford.)

The National Association 

Despite its meager population, in 1871 Rockford landed a slot in the new National Association, the first major league of the professional era. The league boasted four comparably major cities from the east coast and two from the acknowledged west: 

• Boston
• Chicago
• Cleveland
• New York
• Philadelphia
• Washington, D.C.

…And three with weaker fan bases: 

• Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Rockford
• Troy, New York

There were no set schedules but National Association clubs were expected to face the others five times each, for a total of 40 games. Of the small-town clubs, Troy was at a distinct advantage. Being located in the east, they could easily arrange a set of games with the big eastern clubs. Just this seemingly simple task – formulating a schedule and sticking to it – proved insurmountable for the fortunes of the other two – Fort Wayne and Rockford. 

The issue ran both ways: 

• Could Rockford afford to make the trips east?
• Could the eastern clubs afford to make the trip to Rockford?

The issues seem fundamental but they had to be figured out through trial and error. Not only was baseball in its infancy but there were no role models to emulate. This was the birth of professional team sports in America. No one had a crystal ball or an owner’s manual. 

Concerning the above-listed issues, the hammer was wielded by the top eastern clubs. They had the clout to do as they pleased. The smaller clubs were left to fend for themselves. Troy fared well but Fort Wayne only made one trip east and remained close to home, essentially withdrawing from the league at the end of August. Rockford, on the other hand, weathered the storm until the end. 

1871 Rockford Forest Citys 

The year opened without a clear idea of the 1871 Forest City club or, in fact, if there would even be a club. It wasn’t a clear-cut answer. Eighteen Seventy was expensive; the men had traveled an estimated 7731 miles. Moreover, the crux of the team – Al Spalding, Ross Barnes and Fred Cone – had already departed. They joined Harry Wright who was now in Boston. 

Rockford still had longtime favorite Bob Addy, a transplanted Canadian who married a local girl and ran a tin shop in town during the off season. Addy joined the club in August 1866 from the Clippers of Rochelle. Catcher and captain Scott Hastings (a local Rockford hotel clerk) was also returning, as was young outfielder Gat Stires (formerly with the Unions of Rockford). (Peter Morris claims that Addy, moreso than Hastings, acted as team captain.)

A large delegation turned out on January 11 and determined that the club “had done much [in the past] to spread the fame of Rockford far and wide, and that it would be to our pecuniary advantage to put our hands deep down in our pockets, if necessary, to maintain a first-class club.” The directors then set about to sell subscriptions throughout the community to help finance the club. 

This was essential. Today, we think of large corporations administering ball teams and managing expenses and receipts. For a club like Rockford, community support wasn’t a luxury; it was a necessity. Baseball nines, which were actually the visible extensions of a larger social club, during the amateur era bled cash. They were supported by the club members themselves and by community benefactors. As ballparks were enclosed, allowing for the collection of gate receipts, the financial burden was perhaps lessened to an extent or perhaps not. For sure, the onus was shifted as professionalism crept in. With the diminishing of the amateur ideal, the social clubs eventually died out. And with them went the income from dues and other financial support. 

Players no longer funded their own travel expenses. On the contrary, they expected to be paid for their services every month. These new entities needed additional revenue sources. Gate receipts helped but they may not cover the extensive travel expenses, not to mention payroll, especially for the smaller clubs. Community benefactors, usually richer residents, businessmen or companies, often filled a support role here. In fact, this is the basis of the semi-pro concept which was prevalent well into the 20^th century in black and white baseball. 

The Rockford officials on January 11 were bolstered by the belief that star pitcher George Zettlein from the famed Brooklyn Atlantics would be pitching for them in 1871. However, Zettlein was quickly wooed away by Chicago. Instead, Rockford landed a 26-year-old hard thrower from Philadelphia named Cherokee Fisher. Hyperbole being what it is, the Rockford Register hailed him as “without a doubt the swiftest pitcher in this country…The only trouble with Fisher,” they claimed, “is that but a few men have been found who could fill the bill as catcher for him, when he puts on full speed.” 

To fill that role, Rockford signed a soon-to-be 19-year-old from their old foe in Marshalltown, Iowa – Adrian Anson. The big redhead outweighed most of his teammates by 30+ pounds and at 6’ tall stood several inches above the norm. In Anson’s opinion, Fisher was indeed fastest hurler he’d seen yet and he didn’t relish catching his deliveries and the impending abuse his body would suffer. Fortunately, it was soon determined that Scott Hastings would be returning to handle the majority of the catching duties. 

Of course, Anson went on to have a long and exulted career, probably the finest of the 19^th century. Along with King Kelly and John L. Sullivan, Anson was the biggest name in the fray in American sports prior to 1900. Unfortunately for Rockford, they boasted few others with distinguished careers. In fact, the rest of the squad combined appeared in far fewer than Anson’s total of major league games, 2524 to 1860. Moreover: 

• Three regulars never saw major league action after 1871
• Only two topped 300 games in the majors – Chick Fulmer and Denny Mack
• Addy, Fisher and Hastings were in the 200s

The 1871 Season 

The Forest Citys began practicing in March. They shared the Fair Grounds with the local Alert club and opened the season against them on Saturday, April 15 in the first of a series of practice matches, two a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. Anson was behind the plate. Hastings hadn’t joined the club yet; he was in fine form though – been playing with the New Orleans Lone Stars all winter and spring. 

Peruse the game logs at Retrosheet.org and you won’t find much rhyme nor reason to the scheduling for the 1871 season. League contests were made up on the fly, some here and some there. Sometimes there was seemingly a week or two between games. That doesn’t mean the teams were idle. Games were booked all summer long outside the league’s purview wherever gate receipts were attractive. The eastern clubs – like relatively-nearby Philadelphia, New York, Boston – may have faced each other numerous times but only counted a select predetermined few as league contests. In the west Chicago was the focal point. This luxury in the east wasn’t always possible when traveling extensively. It was a major ordeal to travel between the east and west, expensive and time consuming. 

League-wise the Forest Citys opened at home on May 6 against Cleveland. Then, Washington made a western swing, hitting Rockford on May 17. That was it, the big eastern nines, other than Washington, weren’t as yet prepared to head west. Boston wouldn’t do so until early July, Philadelphia in the middle of the month and New York at the end. Moreover, they didn’t  relish going back a second time. Boston hit the big cities – Cleveland and Chicago – in late September, Philadelphia made two hops to Chicago but New York never returned. The implication was clear – bring your team to the east coast. Rockford had few options in this regard. Head east or withdraw. Fort Wayne chose the latter, playing exclusively in the west by mid-July. 

In total, Rockford had only 7 home games and one of them was pushed to Lake Front Park in Chicago. They hosted each team once in Rockford except for Troy and Chicago, who despite its proximity didn’t make the trip. Troy made only one trip west, in late August, but Rockford was in the east at the time. 

That left 18 away games of which Rockford only officially won one. Compounding the issue, Rockford was forced to forfeit four games they had already won because of a rule declaring Hastings ineligible because he had played for another team within the last three months. 

A comparison: 

• Troy: 17 home games, 12 away
• Fort Wayne: 9 home, 10 away (left league at the end of August)
• Rockford: 7 home, 18 away

It could be surmised that Rockford may have actually benefited financially by playing before the larger eastern crowds. But, herein lays the rub. They were pulled east but that didn’t mean that the big clubs were going to offer them an equal share of the gate. On the contrary, some demanded the lion’s share – particularly the New York Mutuals and Brooklyn Eckfords. Rockford cancelled matches against these two in May, refusing to be bullied. 

Rockford’s travels: 

• Games at home into mid-May
• Then onto the road for a month and a half, into July
• Back home for a month
• Back on the road in mid-August until mid-September

Travel expenses were daunting. Benefactors at home became disenchanted and the team in its present form ceased to exist when the season ended. Rockford’s jewel, Cap Anson, headed to Philadelphia for a 300% raise. Though Anson and Spalding never played together in Rockford, they would soon join up in Chicago for a long and profitable association.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED, THERE IS A 55-PART SERIES ON EARLY ROCKFORD BASEBALL HISTORY BY HORACE E. BUKER IN THE ROCKFORD REPUBLIC IN 1922 RUNNING FROM MARCH 15 TO SEPTEMBER 20 (WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS)

SOURCE LIST 

• Fleitz, David L. Cap Anson: The Grand Old Man of Baseball. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2005.
• Morris, Peter, “Hiram Waldo,” SABR Biography Project
• Nitz, Jim, “Fair Grounds (Rockford, IL),” SABR Biography Project
• Retrosheet.org
• Rockford Register, Illinois, 8 April 1871, 23 April 1871
• Rockford Register-Republic, 16 August 1939
• Rockford Republic, 1922
• Rockford Weekly Gazette, 1871
• Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette, 1865-1871
• Rock River Democrat, Rockford, Illinois, 31 May 1865

 

William Stryker Gummere

What kind of a damned fool trick is that?

Legend holds it that in the spring of 1870 Bill Gummere, an outfielder with the Princeton nine known as the Nassau Club, was the first man to slide or hook-slide – into second base avoiding the tag of the great Al Reach after a high throw. The above quote was supposedly the second baseman’s response to the bold and surprising athletic act.

William Stryker Gummere was born on June 24 or 25, 1850 in Trenton, New Jersey, the third of eight children. His father, Barker Gummere, was from “prominent Quaker family of Burlington County.” (Keasbey) He was a local lawyer and Clerk of Chancery Court for a time and a leading member of the state bar. His father, also named Barker, served in the Revolutionary War in a New Jersey regiment. William’s mother was Elizabeth Chambers Stryker.

William was schooled at the Trenton Academy and then the prestigious Lawrenceville Academy, one of the oldest prep schools in the United States. From there, Gummere attended Princeton, graduating just before his twentieth birthday in 1870.

Career and Family

After Princeton, he studied at his father’s law office and joined the bar in 1873. His law career was fast-tracked from the start. He first practiced in Trenton in the office of G.D.W. Vroom, a well-connected and prestigious local lawyer. He also sat on the board of several businesses. In 1875, Gummere relocated to Newark to form a partnership with his uncle and former Governor of New Jersey, Joel Parker.

In November 1876, Gummere married Frances Beasley, the daughter of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Mercer Beasley (who was originally appointed by Parker). They had four children.

A Republican in a Democrat-dominated state, Gummere never ran for political office though he desired it. In the late 1880s, he returned to Trenton to oversee the legal affairs of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He subsequently became a Circuit judge.

In February 1895, Gummere was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court, serving under his Chief Justice father-in-law. In 1901, Gummere was himself appointed Chief Justice, remaining in office until his death. In the position he was held in high regard: (quote by Keasbey)

A man of unblemished record, his intellectual equipment has in an eminent degree those characteristics of balance, logicality and breadth of grasp that form the essentials of the judicial mind.

Football

In 1868 and ’69, Gummere served as captain and bulldog/forward of the Princeton football team. He was an All-American in the latter year. The 1868 team only played intra-squad games. The following year, they played Rutgers twice in November (a loss and a win, respectively), after being challenged by his opposing captain. The contests are often seen as the first intercollegiate games in football history, though the rules and action was more a combination of soccer and rugby than modern football. He is also identified as the first captain in Princeton history, who in turn claimed the first intercollegiate win for the college.

Golf

Gummere competed in numerous senior golf tournaments, competing ably, scoring well, copping accolades and titles and attaining a degree of national attention in various publications. Most of the recognition came after his 60^th birthday.

Gummere on left on golf course, circa 1914

Cricket

Gummere played competitive cricket as a member of the Trenton Club around the time he attended Princeton. (New York Times, 11 October 1870)

Baseball

PICTURE OF A YOUNG GUMMERE DURING PRINCETON DAYS

Gummere joined a strong the Princeton nine, known as the Nassau Club, in 1869. He played in the outfield, predominantly in center. The club had finished 1868 with a flourish, defeating the national champion Athletics of Philadelphia on October 31, 25-17. He played with Nassau throughout 1869 and in the spring and summer of 1870. (Princeton baseball at the time also played in the fall.)

The club played area college squads and was a member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. Intent on avenging the previous season’s loss, the Athletics opened 1869 against Princeton, on April 24. It proved to be a nail-biter, but Nassau ultimately fell 28-27.

On May 14, Princeton soundly lost to the Atlantics of Brooklyn, 24-3. Highlights of the contest include Brooklyn catcher Dickey Pearce picking-off two runners at first base. Gummere was the first victim.

In 1870, Princeton and Gummere played the Athletics twice, losing on both occasions, June 18 and June 28.

In the fall of 1870, specifically in September, Gummere was named second baseman and captain of the amateur Trenton Base Ball Club. He played with the club through 1872, after which he left baseball to presumably to focus on his legal career. In the latter season, he played right field. (In 1873 Gummere’s father Barker is listed as vice president of the club)

Trenton State Gazette 9/9/1870

On June 30, 1871, Gummere was brought in by the Philadelphia Olympics to play the strong Fort Wayne Kekiongas of the major National Association. In a tough match, Fort Wayne emerged victorious by two runs, 16-14. The Olympics used Gummere again on August 14.

Jersey Journal 8/21/1871

Gummere served as an umpire in Jersey City on June 17, 1905, a game in the Class-A Eastern League.

The Slide

The story of Gummere as the inventor of the slide or perhaps the hook-slide has some color to it. The story is first highlighted

 in print in his obituary in The Sporting News on February 22, 1933 and repeated 20 years later in Lee Allen’s anecdotal work The Hot Stove League from 1955. It even comes with a little bantering between the Princeton boy and one of the early greats of the game who was among the first professionals, second baseman Al Reach.

The Sporting News 2/22/1933

In response to Reach’s inquiry at the top of the page about the trickiness of the evasive maneuver, Gummere supposedly retorted, “That is a device to evade being put out when running bases.” Before the situation itself is analyzed, it must first be noted that like much anecdotal evidence this is first found decades after the fact, over 60 years later. It also has the smooth ring of a story told over and over again by the interested party, the judge. The kind of remembrance an honored member of the society class might offer to colleagues, friends and acquaintances – party fodder so to speak.

The circumstances have been told several ways in various sources, but all really stem from this obit. It should be noted that the writer of the obit probably had access to Gummere and heard him tell the story at some point.

First that it took place in the spring of 1870. Since Reach was the famed second baseman of the Athletics of Philadelphia, the date can specially be narrowed to the aforementioned games:

• April 24, 1869
• June 18, 1870
• June 25, 1870

The contests all took place at Princeton.

Second, Gummere either hit a single and tried to stretch it into a double or he was merely trying to steal second base. The latter seems more likely since the stories are consistent that the throw came from the catcher. The TSN obit claims, “After reaching first [on a single], Gummere made a dash for second, but the Athletics’ catcher was prepared to pick off the college boy.” If the action occurred simultaneously, it seems unlikely, but possible, the catcher would have the ball. There must have been some pause, perhaps a pitch or two, and then a steal attempt.

Third, accounts vary as to the throw. It was high; it was perfect. Either version pertaining to the steal attempt and the catcher’s throw seem to be massaged by the ultimate author to fit a legitimate game situation, not necessarily what happened that day at the onset of the professional era. Obviously, the details were long since forgotten by the time they were written down. A recreation was needed for clarification purposes. And there’s nothing wrong with that per say. We need to be drawn into the situation.

Fourth, the issue of the slide arises. If the ball was thrown high, a mere slide was probably all that was needed. Gummere couldn’t have been the first man to slide. Paul Dickson in his comprehensive dictionary notes that the term ’slide’ was first used in 1866 but that’s just the term; the act was performed prior to that. Sliding on the base paths was being done back in the 1850s as clearly demonstrated by Peter Morris in A Game of Inches.

Now a perfect throw, or at least a low one, is naturally a ripe situation for a hook-slide, as is a situation with Reach waiting for the runner or when he is out of position due to first fielding the ball. Again the color arises in the story. The obit declares, “Instead of running into Reach or stopping dead when he saw he could not make the bag, Gummere threw himself feet first at the bag – the original [sic] of the hook slide Ty Cobb was to use later – and buried his face in his right arm for protection.” This seems liked a forced description of events, portrayed by the author of the obit and the situation doesn’t really scream hook slide, only a feet-first leap, the kind that had been taking place since at least the 1850s.

The inputting of the great Ty Cobb into the story adds a colorful visual to the story. By Gummere’s death, Cobb’s exploits had been daily fodder for over 25 years. But somehow it is remembered that Gummere “buried his face in his right arm?” Who exactly remembered that nuance from sixty years ago? It’s not essential to the story but perhaps it was inputted later to add some credibility. Would it have made it into print as such before the Cobb legend?

Anecdotal stories/evidence that are brought up years and even decades after the fact are in and of themselves suspect – especially if they are self-serving and self-aggrandized and, more so, considering that Reach himself was around the game for decades but did not lend a corroborating word. That however does not mean that there is no truth to it. It was further alleged in the obit that the Athletics adopted the style for themselves. The implication being that Gummere’s quick thinking altered the baseball’s community’s approach to sliding. This is the crux of the story, for a boast to be good, the bigger the better. Peter Morris in A Game of Inches states, “For one thing, the description does not sound like a hook slide. More important, there is no evidence that the Athletics adopted any kind of slide…” As this points out, all is said about the slide is that it was feet first and that Gummere protected his face, a defensive maneuver learned in the school of hard knocks.

But there is one aspect of the story that could be overlooked – Reach’s surprise. What does this indicate - a self-serving oomph to the story or a legitimate response to some sort of manuever or contortion the runner pulled on him that day?

Another interesting aspect to this is Reach’s positioning. It’s somewhat essential to the story, but made more so because he was lefthanded and because he was playing barehanded. The question begs, when would a hook-slide be needed against a lefthanded second baseman who is presumably straddling the bag, at least at the onset of the action? It’s doubtful that the throw was perfect, at least in trajectory; that would seem to preclude any viable escape from the waiting baseman. In short, the throw and/or the timing had to be off to warrant the maneuver; the situation wasn’t ideal for either party.

This is typical of bang-bang plays in baseball. This is as much acknowledged by the description that Reach “turned to put the ball on Gummere.” If there was any measurable turn, the throw wasn’t perfect. The obituary author probably wrote the description of the play unaware that Reach was lefthanded, and it may not have clicked that he was barehanded. If there was a noticeable turning on Reach’s part, the ball was probably delivered behind him or for some reason he took the throw in from of the bag – which again is a good time for a hook-slide. In truth the situation could of happened in any number of ways. The point is the author of the obit didn’t really know, only surmised and tweaked to preset ideas. It couldn’t be any other way considering this was all relayed 60+ years later.

(On a side note, it’s interesting to imagine how would Reach being lefthanded change things. Not so sure but doubt much really. Being barehanded, protocol would seem to dictate a two-handed catch. Perhaps the barehandedness actually lent Reach some flexibility in the play that’s not available today. He certainly was one of the top players of his time which would suggest as a middle infielder he was proficient at catching with either hand if needed to do so in a bang-bang play.)

The point of the story seems to indicate that Gummere was smart in trying to hook the part of the bag furthest from the baseman. Good baseball so to speak. And Gummere was certainly smart of mind and a top athlete in multiple sports – seems logical. But there were a lot of smart ballplayers and had been for some time before Gummere took to the diamond for Princeton. Certainly many, if not all, ballplayers knew to head for the spot on the base that was most likely to yield success. We can even see that today on the playground with small children. Even classically untrained in kickball or a base game, they will evade and shoot for the neglected spot of the base with their foot. It’s a natural response.

In essence, a slide is a slide. The purpose of such is to avoid a tag and to make it into the base safely. Sure, feet first the runner aims for a different spot of the bag each time according to the circumstances. Head-first the options multiply as we’re much more adept with our arms and hands.

Did Gummere hook-slide that day, was there anything special about the maneuver? Perhaps by the response Reach supposedly gave during the incident. Did Gummere do so on purpose? Probably. Did he introduce something new to the game as claimed? Maybe. Did he change the evolution of base running? It seems unlikely given the fact that of all the research and reading of contemporary materials that went into Morris’ A Game of Inches, the section on the hook-slide centers on a period a decade and a half after the Athletics-Princeton game; that is, outside the singular claim by the TSN obituary and repeated as an established fact by Lee Allen in 1955 that Gummere’s action was the first of its kind. 

SOURCE LIST

• Ancestry.com
• Dickson, Paul. The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, Third Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009.
• Familysearch.com
• Golf Illustrated and Outdoor America, October 1914
• Jersey Journal, 21 August 1871
• Keasbey, Edward Quinton. The Courts and Lawyers of New Jersey 1661-1912, Volume 3. New Jersey: Lewis Historical Publications Company, 1912.
• Leitch, Alexander, “William Stryker Gummere,” A Princeton Companion, located via etcweb.princeton.edu, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978.
• Morris, Peter. A Game of Inches: The Story Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball, One-Volume Edition. Chicago, Ivan R. Dee, 2010.
• New York Daily Tribune, 27 April 1869
• New York Herald Tribune, 24 June 1868, 15 May 1869, 4 July 1870
• New York Times, 15 May 1869, 11 October 1870
• Philadelphia Inquirer, 26 April 1869, 20 June 1870, 19 February 1895, 20 February 1897
• Princeton University. Twenty Years After, Class of ’70, Princeton College: Record of the Members. New Jersey: Sherman and Company, 1891.
• Sporting Life, June 1905
• The Sporting News, 2 February 1933
• Trenton Evening Times, 16 July 1932, 24 January 1933
• Trenton State Gazette, 29 June 1870, 9 September 1870, 3 July 1872
• Webcache.googleusercontent.com
• Wikipedia.org
• Wright, Marshall D. The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2000.

 

Fred Dunlap

Dunlap is identified at Baseball-reference.com with the nickname “Sure Shot,” but was much more likely to be called “King” Dunlap, as in “King of Second Baseman.”

Ending your baseball career is upheaval enough for many ballplayers. The angst of doing so during the turmoil of labor strife and a monopoly battle, wherein an athlete naturally questions his own worth and value in the community, is another. The Brotherhood era, 1889-1891, which historian Charles C. Alexander has dubbed Turbulent Seasons, taxed even the best of baseball men, player and executive alike. Fred Dunlap, once the top second baseman in the game, but now in his 30s, ran head-on into the drama, some of his own making.

Dunlap was no stranger to labor strife. In the early 1880s with Cleveland of the National League, he made $1300 to both manage (in 1882) and play the infield for the club. Up popped Henry Lucas from St. Louis with family money to spare and a new pet project, an upstart major league for 1884. Dunlap jumped to the new Union Association for a raise to $3600, and a resumption of his managerial duties. Well, he really didn’t jump his contract with Cleveland; he hadn’t signed one for the 1884 season yet. But that’s not of course how the National League viewed matters. They believed that their ballplayers belonged to them and them alone, in perpetuity, via a “reserve clause” they unilaterally decided to insert into their contracts.

“Dunlap,” according to Lucas, “said he did not care anything for the reserve rule, and intended to treat it as an imposition.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 26 November 1883) Lucas’ free spending netted quite a few good ballplayers. So many in fact that he overwhelmed his pet project; the other owners couldn’t keep up, couldn’t compete. The Maroons ran away with the pennant, by 35.5 games over the nearest club. Dunlap, besides acting as manager for most of the season, did his part on the field. He led the league in runs, hits, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and total bases. It may well have been a Triple Crown-season but RBI totals are not available.

The Lucas train barreled over the league and, in essence, sealed its demise after one brief season (despite his efforts to financially prop up the other clubs). Dunlap’s potentially thorny reentry into the National League was assured when Lucas purchased Fred’s old Cleveland franchise and relocated it to St. Louis.

Dunlap remained with St. Louis until August 1886 (by this time making $4500 a season, even after ceasing his formal managerial duties) when he was sold to Detroit, during Lucas’ withdrawal from the business. Detroit sold him to Pittsburgh in November 1887, a sale which netted Dunlap personally $2000 over and above a new $5000 per year deal.

By 1889, Dunlap was 30 years old with his best years on the field behind him and contemplating retirement. (That year he filled in for 17 games as interim manager.) He had signed a 2-year deal with Pittsburgh before the 1888 season. By July 1889, he was openly discussing leaving the game. Per the Wheeling Register, “Dunlap is one of the richest baseball players in the country. He owns a great deal of real estate in [his hometown] Philadelphia and has a fine figure in the bank to his credit.” He also saw an ugly chapter in baseball history approaching. The talent, National Leaguers more so than those in the other major league, the American Association, had unionized and were now intent on forming their own league.

As the season ended, Dunlap lined up with his brethren in the players union of the day, the Brotherhood; he was headed to the new Players League. After the 1889 season, Pittsburgh nevertheless listed him as part of their National League reserved squad. He was also listed as a member of the new Pittsburgh entry in the Players League.

1890

On December 6, 1889, the Philadelphia Inquirer declared that Dunlap was home for the winter and inserted, “He is a staunch Brotherhood supporter.” In January, it seemed imminent that he would be transferred to his hometown squad in Philly, but Ned Hanlon, Pittsburgh’s manager, was holding up the deal in order to extract some compensation from the league, in the form of another player or two. (Note: indeed men were being signed by individual Players League clubs, but the league directors wanted some form of parity and, hence, influence over each roster.) Dunlap, for his part, preferred staying in Philadelphia and overseeing his investments.

A tiff brought matters to a head in late-February. The St. Louis Republic declared, “Fred Dunlap is the latest player weakening on the Brotherhood.” Hanlon claimed Dunlap caused a ruckus over a “very trifling matter” and consequently the manager had enough: “He can never play in the Pittsburg club as long as I am manager.” In response, an irate Dunlap flatly told Hanlon that he wouldn’t play for him anyway and he was immediately released and assigned to the Philadelphia club.

Within days, Dunlap contacted Bill Nimick, president of Pittsburgh in the National League. He wanted a $500 raise to rejoin the club. Nimick countered that he wanted his second baseman back, but at a pay cut. Dunlap also sought to force the Players League to honor his contract:

Cleveland Plain Dealer, 4 March 1890

Per Hanlon:

Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7 March 1890

On March 13, the Philadelphia Inquirer noted his unconditional release from the Players League.

Philadelphia Inquirer 13 March 1890

Dunlap headed to New York to discuss the matter with the head of the Brotherhood, Monte Ward – to no avail:

Philadelphia Inquirer 22 March 1890

On the 24^th, Dunlap agreed to a deal with the National League; he was headed back to Pittsburgh. He was still irate though; the Players League entanglement forced him to accept a deal with a $1500 pay cut.

New York Herald, 10 April 1890

Unfortunately for Dunlap, Nimick was in a precarious position – even as the season started. He had overspent and the club was in serious financial in trouble. By May, the creditors were piling up. He owned money seemingly everywhere:

• Rent on Recreation Park
• Hotel fees
• Advertising expenses

Lawsuits were being initiated and foreclosure was looming at the park. Nimick gained a concession from the league to drop admission prices to a quarter from the league minimum of 50 cents. Home games were also being rerouted to other league parks. Pittsburgh actually played home games in Wheeling, West Virginia and Canton, Ohio in 1890. Retrosheet lists the club with only 40 home games compared to 98 as a visitor. Of those 98, they lost 88.

By mid-May Nimick resigned in favor of J. Palmer O’Neill, who promptly cut costs – which meant Dunlap for one. He was released on May 14 after only 17 games at second base.

Daily Inter Ocean, 15 May 1890

On the 22^nd after all the to-do earlier in the year, Dunlap rejoined the Brotherhood, signing with New York. However, he only appeared in one game for them on the 26^th before another dust-up. Well it appears that he never really put anything on paper with the Players League this time. He had played that one game “to accommodate Ewing.” That is, manager Buck Ewing needed someone to man second so Dunlap acquiesced. Only after the game did Fred sit down to negotiate:

New York Herald, 28 May 1890

Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29 May 1890

With that, he packed up and went home. In July, he was approached by Bill Sharsig, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association, to join the club at a reported $500 per month, but Dunlap rejected the offer. He was done for the year. In December, there was talk of him joining Baltimore but that didn’t pan out either.

On February 7, 1891, Dunlap decided to return to the game and inked a deal with the expansion Washington Nationals of the American Association. In his eighth game with the club on April 20, he rounded third heading for home, but decided he couldn’t make it and returned, sliding into the base. He “fractured a small bone in his left leg.” (Washington Post, 21 April 1891) He was treated at Garfield Hospital and remained intent on rejoining the club. He never did. Still walking with a cane in June, the Nationals gave him his formal release on the 28^th.

Over the winter of 1891-1892, the National League and American Association merged, forming an enlarged 12-team league. (The Players League had folded after one year.) With all the player shuffling, Dunlap wasn’t claimed by any of the twelve clubs. His playing career ended with a slide into third. He probably wouldn’t have returned anyway; Fred was involved in his business endeavors and had recently entered horse racing.

There was talk of him joining the Allentown club in 1894 but that never happened.

SOURCE LIST

• Alexander, Charles C. Turbulent Seasons: Baseball in 1890-1891. Dallas, Texas: Southern Methodist University Press, 2011
• Baseball-reference.com
• Canton Repository, Ohio, 15 May 1890
• Chicago Daily Gazette, 13 November 1889
• Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, 29 May 1890
• Cleveland Plain Dealer, 26 November 1883, 22 February 1890, 25 February 1890, 4 March 1890, 7 March 1890, 18 April 1890
• Daily Inter Ocean, Chicago, 1 November 1889, 10 April 1890, 15 May 1890
• New York Herald, 11 January 1890, 27 February 1890, 25 March 1890, 10 April 1890, 28 May 1890
• New York Sun, 23 March 1890
• Philadelphia Inquirer, 1889-1892, 14 April 1894
• Retrosheet.org
• St. Louis Republic, 22 February 1890
• Thomas, Joan M., “Henry V. Lucas,” SABR Biography Project
• Washington Post, 21 April 1891, 3 June 1891
• Wheeling Register, West Virginia, 21 July1889