Mike Sullivan

Had the designated hitter rule been in effect during the 1880s, hard-swinging infielder-outfielder Mike Sullivan might have had a lengthy major league career. He posted impressive batting averages and power numbers in most leagues in which he played. Defense, rather, was Sullivan’s nemesis. A rash of untimely fielding miscues short-circuited his lone playing opportunity in the big leagues, a 28-game stint with the American Association’s Philadelphia A’s in 1888. A year later, he was out of the professional game altogether and working in the linen mills of central Massachusetts. Sullivan remained so employed until his passing some 40 years later. A look back at the life and baseball career of this long-forgotten old-timer follows.

Michael Joseph Sullivan was born on March 10, 1860 in Webster, a small Massachusetts town situated on the outskirts of Worcester.1 He was the youngest and the only American-born child begat by day laborer John Sullivan (1815-1890) and his wife Margaret (née Welsh, 1817-1894), Irish Catholics who emigrated with their three older offspring and settled in the Bay State during the late 1850s.2 When Mike was still an infant, the Sullivan family relocated to the adjoining town of Dudley, where he was educated through the eighth grade.3 He then joined the local work force. The 1880 US Census placed 19-year-old Mike Sullivan still in residence at his parents’ home and working in a linen mill.

In his leisure time, our subject played baseball. A sturdily built 5-foot-8½/165 pounder, the right-handed batting and throwing Sullivan rapidly progressed through area amateur and semipro ranks before turning professional in 1884. He began that season with the Worcester club of the newly formed Massachusetts State Association, playing first base and outfield. Official stats for the MSA are nonexistent but published local box scores portray Sullivan as hitting for average (20-for-63, .317) and displaying power (.460 slugging average) in 14 games. The same also reveal no glaring defensive shortcomings with five errors committed yielding an .823 fielding percentage, tolerable for a barehanded infielder-outfielder.4

Worcester’s record stood at a league-leading 12-4 (.750) when the club succumbed to financial pressures in mid-July.5 Sullivan thereupon joined another MSA team in Lawrence but played  only two games there.6 With the Massachusetts Association losing three more members on July 21, Sullivan jumped to the Meriden club of the more stable Connecticut State League. His arrival was hailed by the Meriden Daily Republican, which advised that “Sullivan hits viciously at the ball. Look for some tall batting from him.”7 The newcomer did not disappoint, going 2-for-5 with a home run in a 13-5 Meriden triumph over Willimantic.8 Thereafter, Sullivan’s work continued to draw praise in the local press.9

The Connecticut State League did not take the field for the 1885 season. So free agent Mike Sullivan joined the Springfield (Massachusetts) club in another fledgling minor league circuit, the Southern New England League.10 As previously, his hitting garnered plaudits in the hometown press. The Springfield Daily Republican commended his “terrific work at the bat” in an early-season 13-9 victory over Sullivan’s erstwhile team, the Meriden Maroons, by then also a member of the SNEL.11 But the press reacted harshly a month later when late-game fielding blunders by right fielder Sullivan cost Springfield a 9-8 decision to Meriden. “Sullivan’s weak, nerveless playing was fatal and he will lie off for a week and pay a fine in consequence,” readers of the Daily Republican were told.12 A month thereafter, he was back in the newspaper’s good graces after making “two of his phenomenal catches [in right field] which did the crowd good, for it has been some time since they have seen him do the like” during a 20-7 drubbing by Meriden.13

No later defensive lapses were reported and after 58 games played, Sullivan was batting a solid .318 with 27 extra-base hits when the (27-37, .422) Springfield club folded on August 22. The entire Southern New England League collapsed days later, once again making a free agent of Sullivan. In early September, he found a berth with the Meriden Maroons when his former club formed the nucleus of a reconstituted four-club Connecticut State League. “Sullivan made his first appearance in right field and had nothing to do,” reported the Meriden Daily Republican. But he “made a sharp safe hit, and while a little nervous showed up satisfactorily” in a 7-3 Meriden win over Waterbury.14 Days later, “Sullivan played first base finely, making two very difficult catches, a one-handed catch of a high thrown ball calling out great applause” during a 3-0 whitewash of New Britain.15 In seven late-season games, he did not hit much, posting an underwhelming .143 (4-for-28) batting average. Meriden, meanwhile, finished the abbreviated season at 8-2 (.800), tops in the CSL.

Sullivan returned to Meriden when the Maroons stepped up in class for the 1886 season, becoming a new member of the high minor Eastern League. Stationed at second base, Sullivan was in the middle of “a handsome triple play” pulled off in an early season 4-1 loss to Hartford.16 More often, however, he patrolled more congenial territory in right field. By midseason, it had become apparent that competition in the Eastern League was too fast for last-place (12-34, .261) Meriden. And the club was suffering financially, as well. Play was therefore abandoned on July 13. Sullivan, too, appeared overmatched, his batting average sliding to .247 (24-for-97) in 24 games played.17 His fielding was also substandard: Sullivan’s .862 FA (28 putouts-12 assists-8 errors) placed him no better than seventh out of nine EL right fielders.18

Notwithstanding his unimpressive stats, Sullivan was quickly scooped up by the Eastern League’s Hartford Dark Blues when Meriden folded.19 He then tested the patience of Hartford fans by getting off to a slow start with his new club.20 But two base hits and flawless defense in center field during an 8-2 Hartford win over Bridgeport on August 2 set fans more at ease. Sullivan’s numbers with Hartford were unpublished and the club did not commit itself to retention of his services for the next season’s campaign. While he awaited Hartford’s pleasure, Mike returned to Dudley, where he focused on courtship of Annie Stafford, a local linen mill worker. The couple was subsequently married in St. Louis Church in Webster in January 1887.21 The union proved childless but supplied Mike with brothers-in-law James “General” Stafford and John Stafford, both of whom went on to major league baseball careers of their own.22

Unsigned, Sullivan traveled to Hartford in April 1887, looking for a spot on the club roster. The Hartford Courant strongly supported his engagement, declaring that Sullivan “should not be allowed to go elsewhere. He is a fine fielder, a good batter, and a fan favorite.”23 Club management soon agreed, installing him at third base, an unfamiliar position. The hot corner was a demanding post even for an experienced barehanded third baseman and Sullivan struggled defensively, particularly in the early going. He offset his fielding struggles, however, with torrid batting. The Jekyll and Hyde quality of his play was exemplified by a game with three base hits and four errors at third base in an 8-7 win over Danbury in late June. After that, his defensive play improved while his bat stayed hot. Sullivan was batting an Eastern League-leading .418 with 26 extra-base hits, a .552 slugging percentage, and 23 stolen bases when the very competitive (35-24, .593) but financially strapped Hartford club disbanded on July 30.

Although no base on balls stats are available for the 1887 Eastern League season, Sullivan’s batting average was necessarily inflated by the ill-considered rule that counted a walk as a base hit that year. But he was an impatient batsman and not likely a great beneficiary of the rule; the following season with the Philadelphia A’s, the free-swinging Sullivan walked only three times in 115 plate appearances. Other EL hitters were, therefore, far more apt to have their batting average elevated by taking walks than was Sullivan. In any event, baseball annals accord our subject the title of 1887 Eastern League batting champion.24 The dissolution of the Hartford team nevertheless left him out of work. A Worcester newspaper reported that “Sullivan of this town, fielder of the Hartford ball nine, goes to the New York [National] League club for the remainder of the season,”25 but that never happened. Sullivan’s name disappeared from newsprint thereafter, his whereabouts and activities unreported. The probabilities, however, are that he went home to his new wife and his old job in the linen mills near Dudley to await the onset of the 1888 baseball season.

The underlying circumstances are undiscovered, but at age 28 Mike Sullivan spent his first preseason in the camp of a major league club, the 1888 Philadelphia A’s of the American Association. He made the Opening Day roster but saw no action during the season’s first week. Then an injury to regular third baseman Denny Lyons afforded Sullivan a start against the Cleveland Blues. On April 26, he made his major league debut, stroking a pair of singles off right-hander Jersey Bakley and stealing a base. He also “played brilliantly [in the field] for six innings, accepting every chance” sent his way.26 But disaster struck in the seventh when two Sullivan errors (a muffed grounder and a wild throw) opened the gates for the four unearned Cleveland runs that spelled a 9-8 defeat.

Sullivan went from goat to hero the next time that Philadelphia faced Bakley. His three base hits included a home run that provided the margin of victory in the A’s 10-9 win on May 6. But his struggles in the field continued. In 10 games at the hot corner, Sullivan committed 12 errors, yielding an unsightly .714 fielding average. He stayed in the lineup when Lyons returned to action, being reassigned to left field. Over the next month, he remained productive at the plate and a liability in the field. That form was on full display during another game against the Cleveland Blues on June 20. Sullivan contributed a single and a stolen base on offense, offset by two miscues in left field during a 12-10 A’s victory. Four days later, he was back at third base for an Athletics Reserves exhibition game in Gloucester, New Jersey. A hitless day at the plate and two more errors in the field lowlighted Mike Sullivan’s final appearance in a Philadelphia A’s uniform.27 Days later, he was released, bringing his time as a major leaguer to an end.

During his 28-game tenure with Philadelphia, Sullivan generated ample offensive production: 12 extra-base hits, 20 runs scored and 19 RBIs. He also stole 10 bases. More than anything else, however, he demonstrated that he could hit major league pitching. His .277 batting average far exceeded the Philadelphia team mark (.250) and that of American Association batsmen in aggregate (.238). It was the same with slugging percentage: Sullivan, .455; Philadelphia A’s, .344; AA, .315. But impatience at the plate – Sullivan walked only three times in 115 plate appearances – put his on-base percentage (.296) a hair below the AA standard (.297). More disconcerting was Sullivan’s penchant for strikeouts (25 or 22% of his at-bats) that exceeded the era’s norm. But it was abysmal defense (his .742 fielding percentage in 18 games in the outfield was almost as bad as his third base performance) that led to his dismissal by the A’s. Simply put, Sullivan could not be deployed safely anywhere on the diamond (but would have made an excellent DH a century later).

Following his release, Sullivan auditioned with the Syracuse Stars of the minor league International Association. But two singles in 14 at-bats and continued poor defense (five errors in 14 chances in left field) earned him his walking papers after four games. After that, Mike Sullivan went home, his professional baseball career over at age 28. From then on, he confined himself to the odd game with the amateur ball club of Webster.28 Otherwise, he receded into the anonymity of private life, the name Mike Sullivan all but disappearing from local newsprint.

For the remainder of his life, Sullivan reverted to his teenage occupation, working in Worcester-area linen mills.29 He lived quietly with wife Annie in Dudley until her death in 1925 brought their 38-year marriage to a close. Sometime thereafter, Mike, by then suffering from heart disease, moved into the home of niece Rose Kelly in Webster. He died there on the evening of June 16, 1929. Michael Joseph Sullivan was 69. Following a Requiem Mass said at St. Louis Church, his remains were interred next to those of his wife in Calvary Cemetery, Dudley.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Darren Gibson and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Paul Proia.

Sources

Sources for the biographical info imparted above include the Mike Sullivan file with questionnaire maintained at the Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York; the Sullivan profile in The Rank and File of 19th Century Major League Baseball, David Nemec, ed. (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2012); US and Massachusetts Census records accessed via Ancestry.com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Unless otherwise specified, stats have been taken from Baseball-Reference.

Notes

1 Town records suggest that Sullivan was actually born on February 1, 1860, in nearby Dudley, Massachusetts. Note: Our subject is not to be confused with Michael Joseph “Big Mike” Sullivan (1870-1906), a right-handed pitcher whose 10-season major league career commenced the year after infielder-outfielder Mike Sulivan’s ended.

2 The older Sullivan children, Bridget (born 1843), Catherine (1847), and John (1852), were born in Ireland.

3 According to a player questionnaire submitted by a nephew decades after Mike Sullivan’s death, he attended Nichols Academy, a private institute-turned-free public school located in Dudley.

4 Per box scores published in Worcester and Boston newspapers. The writer is indebted to Paul Proia for supplementing his research on Sullivan’s stats.

5 See “Sporting Gossip,” Worcester Evening Gazette, July 17, 1884: 8.

6 Sullivan played left field and went 1-for-4 at the plate for Lawrence in a 5-2 loss to Holyoke. See “State Series,” Boston Herald, July 18, 1884.

7 “Base Hits,” Meriden (Connecticut) Daily Republican, July 22, 1884: 3.

8 Per “Meriden Bats Heavily,” Meriden Daily Republican, July 24, 1884: 3.

9 See e.g., “Base Ball,” Meriden Daily Republican, August 30, 1884: 3: “Sullivan made a splendid three base hit …[and] played a good game … on first” in a win over Bridgeport, and “Second at Last,” Meriden Daily Republican, August 11, 1884: 3: “Sullivan played a fine game” against Hartford.

10 See “Sporting Matters,” Worcester Evening Gazette, April 21, 1885: 8, re-printing a report published in the Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily Republican.

11 “Sporting Matters,” Springfield Daily Republican, May 13, 1885: 5.

12 “Meridens 9, Springfields 8,” Springfield Daily Republican, June 14, 1885: 1.

13 “Sporting Matters,” Springfield Daily Republican, July 8, 1885: 5.

14 “Meridens in the Lead,” Meriden Daily Republican, September 2, 1885: 4.

15 “Lambert’s Fine Work,” Meriden Daily Republican, September 5, 1885: 4.

16 “Hartford 4, Meriden 1,” Providence Daily Journal, May 8, 1886: 3. See also, “Hartford 4, Meriden 1,” Boston Herald, May 8, 1886: 2.

17 Per Eastern League batting stats published in the 1887 Reach Official Base Ball Guide, 50. Baseball-Reference has no data for Sullivan’s 1886 season.

18 Same as above, Eastern League fielding stats, 53.

19 See “Notes,” Hartford Courant, July 15, 1886: 2; “Grounders,” Boston Herald, July 13, 1886; 2.

20 “Base Ball,” Hartford Courant, July 20, 1886: 2: “People are impatient to see Sullivan bat; he will get there soon” after Sullivan went hitless against Waterbury on July 19.

21 State of Massachusetts marriage records indicate that the Sullivan-Stafford wedding ceremony was performed by Father James Dunn, pastor of St. Louis Church in Webster, on January 31, 1887.

22 Utility man General Stafford (born 1868) played for five different clubs during his eight-season major league career. Younger brother John Stafford (born 1870) was a two-game pitcher for the 1893 Cleveland Spiders. Annie Stafford Sullivan (born 1859) was their older sister.

23 Per “Notes,” Hartford Courant, April 13, 1887: 2.

24 See e.g., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, eds. (Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, Inc., 3d ed., 2007), 149.

25 “Webster,” Worcester Daily Spy, July 25, 1887: 3.

26 “Lost by One Run,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 27, 1888: 3.

27 See “The Game at Gloucester,” Philadelphia Times, June 25, 1888: 2.

28 As advertised in the Worcester press. See e.g., “Webster,” Worcester Daily Spy, August 5, 1897: 8; “Whitinsville,” Worcester Daily Spy, July 15, 1897: 8. Brother-in-law John Stafford occasionally played alongside.

29 As reflected in 1900-1920 US Census Reports.