Of the 13 members of the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe, eight of them — including a 10-year-old boy — were among the first Japanese to play baseball in the U.S. Yamamoto Kinjiro, third from right, played third base for the Japanese team, and was called the “Belle of Japan” because he walked on a tightrope wearing a woman’s costume, a common performance in 19th-century Japan. (Courtesy of the Thanatos Archive.)

The Yeddo Royal Japanese acrobatic troupe toured America between 1871 and 1877. During their stops in the Washington/Baltimore area in the summer of 1872, they learned the finer points of baseball from a major leaguer and then competed in two exhibition games. Officials at the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in Tokyo call the acrobats’ encounter with the national pastime in 1872 “an amazing discovery … without a doubt, it’s the oldest record of Japanese playing the game.”1

Harue Tsutsumi, a Japanese researcher who specializes in kabuki (a classical Japanese dance-drama) in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), deserves credit as the first person to shed light on the Yeddo Royal troupe’s historic involvement in baseball.2 She discovered it while completing her doctoral thesis.3 With a master’s in theater history from Osaka University, she attended Indiana University and earned a doctorate in East Asian languages. In 2004 she concluded her studies at IU with the 331-page doctoral thesis titled Kabuki Encounters the West: Morita Kan’ya’s Shintomi-za Productions, 1878-79. In her thesis, Tsutsumi also shared details of the Yeddo Royal Japanese troupe act:

Genjiro performed the traditional Japanese acrobatic stunt of putting a bamboo pole on his shoulder, then playing the shamisen [a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument] while a boy balanced himself on the top of the pole. An acrobat called “Sunikechi” walked barefoot on a ladder of sharp-edged swords. The troupe also presented a tightrope walker called “Belle of Japan” (“Amusements” Daily Morning Chronicle [Washington] 5 June 1872), who was actually a man who specialized in walking on a tightrope in a woman’s costume, a type of performance that was common in nineteenth-century Japan (Kodama 157). In his memoir, Kume recorded that a (male) troupe member called “Musume-san (girl)” walked the tightrope wearing woman’s makeup and a fancy woman’s kimono (Kume, Kume hakase 1: 251). According to Kurata, a tightrope walker called Yamamoto Kinjiro appears in a list of the members of Genjiro’s original troupe (Kurata, Kaigai koen kotohajime 94). Although the original name of the “Belle of Japan” tightrope walker never appeared in newspaper articles, it is likely that he was Kinjiro.4

The 16-member troupe departed Yokohama on July 22, 1871, on the SS Japan.5 They arrived in San Francisco on August 13, led by two British entrepreneurs known only as R. Mitchell and H.W. Welton.6 Mitchell told the press that he had lived in Asia for eight years and persuaded the troupe to leave for the West after seeing them perform in Hong Kong.7

The San Francisco Examiner reviewed their first US performance, and declared it “the very best troupe that has ever visited the city.”8 After performing in California for two months, the acrobats ventured east, eventually reaching the Baltimore area in April 1872.9

The Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe Play Ball

In Baltimore the troupe performed at Ford’s Grand Opera House, a venue founded by John T. Ford, owner of Ford’s Theatre in Washington, where President Lincoln was assassinated.10

On Friday, June 7, 1872, several members of the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe, along with their agent and an interpreter, played a baseball game against members of the Olympic Base Ball Clubs at Olympic Grounds in Washington. The Daily Morning Chronicle wrote, “This is to be a grand international game. … [T]he Japs are not novices with the ‘willow,’ and some Americans are not without apprehension that the West will meet with a crushing defeat from the East.”11

The Daily National Republican reported that the game was competitive, and “came near being a victory for the Orientals. The style in which they (the Japanese) handle the ball and bat somewhat astonished our boys, and had not rain stopped the game” there was a chance that the Japanese might have won the game. The Republican listed the final score of 18-17, with a breakdown of runs by inning.12 It reveals that the score was tied 15-15 going into the fifth inning, making for an exciting and entertaining finish.

The press reported that the Yeddo Royal Troupe practiced for two days to prepare for the game “under the guidance of Professor Brainard.”13 This “professor” for the Japanese was Asa Brainard , a pitcher for the Washington Olympics during the 1871 and 1872 seasons.

“Let’s Play Two!” Another Game for the Japanese

A week after the game at Olympic Grounds, the Baltimore Sun announced that the “celebrated Royal Yeddo Japs … will play a game of base ball with a club of nine well-known Baltimoreans, at Newington Park, on Friday, June 14, at 3:30 p.m.”14

Despite the fact that the game was billed as “Comic Base Ball,” the Japanese tourists were serious in their approach to the game. The pregame advertisement read: “The Japs are desirous of learning our national game, and on their return to their far-distant homes will be the first to introduce it into the ancient Empire of Japan.”15

The details of the Yeddo Royal game were published the following day. A16 ccording to the Baltimore Sun, the opposing Baltimoreans were replaced by a local nine known as the Dolly Varden Club. In this game, six innings were played and when it was over the Dolly Varden Club outscored the Japanese, 27-23.17

Three hundred fans witnessed the game at Newington Grounds, the home ballpark to the major-league Lord Baltimore baseball club of the National Association. The venue, which opened on April 22, about eight weeks before the game featuring the Japanese acrobats, seated up to 5,000, and was located in northwest Baltimore.18 Today it is the site of Cumberland & Carey Park and multiple apartment buildings, businesses, and churches.19

Based on previous reports from other games and performances, below is a possible lineup for the Yeddo Royal Troupe:20

• 1B: Yannanowah
• SS: Professor Gangero (Genjiro Hayakawa, troupe leader)
• 3B: Kingero (Kinjiro Yamamoto)
• LF: Yoshi-Taro (Yoshitaro Takamori)
• RF: Chonosuki
• UNK: Quietaro (“best pop of the bunch”)
• UNK: Astaro (“extraordinary batter”)
• UNK: Buchuhami (10-year-old boy)
• UNK: R. Mitchell (British manager)
• UNK: Interpreter

The lineup for the Dolly Varden Club of Baltimore was not shared after the game against the Japanese. However, two weeks later the club competed in a Fourth of July contest and its lineup reflected the following names and positions:21

• C: Miller
• 3B: Muller
• RF: Martin
• 1B: Houser
• P: Kinsley
• CF: Lester
• LF: Dew
• 2B: Dalrymple
• SS: Bantz
• LF: Jordan (substitute)

The Yeddo Royal Troupe left Baltimore and headed to Wilmington, Delaware, to perform at the Grand Opera House there. It appears that the troupe members were feeling confident about their newly developed ballplaying skills, as they challenged the Diamond State Base Ball Club of Wilmington to a game.22

After ads ran in both the News Journal and the Wilmington Daily Commercial promoting the contest, the game was canceled. Two members of the Yeddo Royal Japanese were unable to perform, so the game “was abandoned to the great disappointment of base ball fans.”23 After the attempted game in Delaware, there is no record of the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe competing on a diamond again.

Between 1873 and 1877, the acrobats zigzagged across the Midwest, the East Coast, and into Canada, never crossing west of the Mississippi River. In May 1875 the press reported that the troupe visited the baseball grounds of the St. Louis club. It was not specified if they visited the home of the St. Louis Red Stockings (Red Stocking Base Ball Park) or the St. Louis Brown Stockings (Grand Avenue Park), but their continued interest in the “national pastime” was noted.24

The Japanese acrobats journeyed south to the Caribbean and performed in Cuba in the fall of 1877, and in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1878.25 After that, there is no record of the Yeddo Royal troupe performing in the West.

Did they return to Japan in 1878? At this point, no one knows for sure. What we do know is that even though they were the first Japanese to play baseball, they did not fulfill their desire to become the “first to introduce it into the ancient Empire of Japan.” That distinction belongs to American schoolteacher Horace Wilson, who is now enshrined in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame for his efforts.26

Author’s note

An extended version of this article first appeared online at: “Early Baseball Encounters in the West: The Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe Play Ball in America, 1872,” by Bill Staples Jr., billstaples.blogspot.com, posted July 18, 2019.

Notes

The Orioles hosted the St. Louis Browns that Friday at their two-tiered wooden home ground, Union Park. Those who attended the scheduled doubleheader couldn’t have expected anything approaching the history that would unfold before their eyes. The Orioles had won just 10 of their 42 games to that point. The Browns, like the Orioles a remnant of the recently disbanded American Association, stood at 16–27. Those clubs and their fellow Association adoptees to the National League, Louisville and Washington, had formed a cluster at the bottom of the standings where they would remain all season.

It was a cool, overcast summer day with a light breeze blowing in from the northwest when the Browns took the field in the first inning of the opening contest. St. Louis sent veteran pitcher Charlie “Pretzels” Getzien into the box to oppose the Orioles ace right-hander Sadie McMahon. McMahon, 24, was coming off 36- and 35-win seasons. But those victories had been posted in the disbanded American Association, and so far in 1892 McMahon had found the National League to be tougher. His record stood at just 3–10 as the game began.

Pretzels Getzien was at the end of a career that yielded 145 victories, 29 of them with the pennant-winning Detroit Wolverines in 1887. As recently as 1890, Getzien had won 23 games for Boston’s National League team. But that had been his last strong season. Although just 27 years old, he started only 10 games in 1891, winning four and losing six. Nonetheless, in their desire for an experienced arm, the Browns had signed Getzien just a few days before, and he was 2–0 for them as he took to the pitcher’s box in Baltimore.

Orioles batters, who exercised their right under the rules of the time to bat first, were all over Getzien’s offerings from the outset. Billy Shindle led off with a blistering triple to left field, and by the time the first inning ended, the Orioles had sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs. Robinson, the eighth hitter in the lineup, contributed a single.

Baltimore hitters continued to tee off on Getzien in the second inning, scoring five more runs, with Robinson adding a second single. The veteran hurler was removed at the end of the inning, his team trailing 10–1. He had given up seven hits and 10 runs in two innings of work. Getzien never recovered from the humiliation, losing eight of his final 11 starts before being released in late July.

Joe Young, making his major-league debut and, as it turned out, his only big-league appearance, replaced Getzien in the third inning. Young had been the star hurler for the Mount Carmel team in the Central Pennsylvania League before signing with the Browns, but he could do nothing to stop the Orioles’ onslaught. The Baltimore club pounded him for nine hits and 13 runs during his two innings in the pitcher’s box. Amazingly, the leader of the Orioles assault was Robinson, a career .226 batter entering the season, whose third, fourth, and fifth hits were a single in the third inning, a double in the fourth, and a single in the fifth.

Besides being unable to stop Robinson or the Orioles, the visiting Browns had great difficulty catching up to McMahon’s offerings. They managed only seven hits and four runs. Browns center fielder Steve Brodie, who later gained fame as an Oriole, was the only St. Louis player to make two hits off McMahon.

Left-hander Ted “Theo” Breitenstein came in to start the sixth inning, allowing the Orioles’ 24th and 25th runs but avoiding Robinson, who did not come to the plate. Robinson batted in the seventh, collecting his sixth hit (a single), although the Orioles failed to add to their 25–2 lead. He batted again with two out in the ninth and produced a seventh base hit, his sixth single of the game. That seventh hit was harmless, but Robinson had already done enough damage, driving across 11 runs. The runs batted in were a single-game record that stood until 1924, and represented nearly 20 percent of the runs Robinson sent across the plate for the entire 1892 season.

Robinson was hardly alone in his offensive exploits that June day. The Baltimore lineup, despite the team’s poor record, had its share of talented ballplayers. Future Hall of Famer John McGraw, playing second base in his sophomore season in the majors, connected for three singles in the opener, scored three runs, and stole a base. His double-play partner, shortstop George Shoch, connected for five hits, including a two-bagger, and he scored four runs. Baltimore’s left-handed right fielder, George Van Haltren, swatted two base hits while crossing the plate five times. Third baseman Billy Shindle stroked a double and a triple. Jocko Halligan, Joe Gunson, and Curt Welch each came through with a pair of safeties for the Orioles in the lopsided victory. (Remarkably, despite 32 hits and seven bases on balls for both teams, the game took only an hour and 50 minutes to complete.)

Following his record performance, which included a stolen base, the durable Robinson caught the second game of the doubleheader, garnering two more singles. The result was a 9–3 Orioles victory that looked like a nail-biter in comparison with the opener. Robinson later told the press that his “lamps got tired during the second game” or he would have done better.

McMahon, who was coming off back-to-back 30-win seasons, fell off a bit in 1892, winning just 19 games. The Orioles played inconsistent ball for the rest of the 1892 season and finished with the worst record in the league. But on that one June day in Baltimore, Wilbert Robinson made baseball history.

This essay was originally published in “Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century” (2013), edited by Bill Felber. Download the SABR e-book by clicking here.

The Orioles had just swept three home games from the New York Giants to open the 1894 season. The defending champion Beaneaters had likewise swept the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. (The first game was played in Boston and the next two in Brooklyn.) In this contest, Baltimore, the home team, batted first. Jack Stivetts pitched for Boston and Sadie McMahon for Baltimore. Each pitcher had been the Opening Day victor. According to the Boston Globe, “What promised to end in a well-played game wound up in a burlesque.”2

The first eight innings of the game between these top two contenders were close and exciting. Boston pushed across two runs in the second inning as Tommy Tucker singled, Jimmy Bannon reached on an error, Charlie Ganzel and Stivetts sacrificed the runners, and Bobby Lowe doubled. Baltimore answered with a solo run in the fourth when Joe Kelley singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Heinie Reitz. Stivetts and Lowe hit back-to-back doubles in the seventh inning for another Boston run. Both teams played with purpose and professionalism. The crowd was anxious that their Orioles might lose.

There was some cleverness in the third inning. With one out, Willie Keeler batted with Wilbert Robinson on second and John McGraw on first. Keeler lifted a routine fly ball to left field and the runners stayed near their bases, but left fielder Tommy McCarthy “purposely muffed the ball [and] with lightning quickness he picked it up and sent it to [Billy] Nash, who touched third and threw to Lowe on second” for a double play.3 Beaneaters first baseman Tucker remarked, “That’s a new one on you” to the Baltimore players as he passed them coming off the field.4

And then came the dramatics. According to the Lowell Sun, “Boston showed the white feather in the last inning and allowed Baltimore to win in a canter.”5 The excitement of the ninth inning started when Baltimore’s third-base coach, Boileryard Clarke, in an effort to distract both Stivetts and umpire Tim Hurst, “walked out to the bleachers and raised his hands like a ‘pop concert’ leader, and a volume of sound filled the air, every man, woman and child yelling for all he or she was worth.”6 At first, Stivetts did not seem moved, but “Hurst became rattled at the awful noise.”7 Stivetts pitched to his catcher Ganzel’s mitt, but Hurst kept calling them balls, and the crowd kept getting louder. After Kelley drew a walk, Ganzel “made a vigorous protest”8 and was fined 10 by the umpire. Reitz then stepped into the batter’s box, “holding his bat on his shoulder without the least idea of striking at the ball.”9 He also walked on four straight pitches, at which point Stivett threw his cap to the ground. Hughie Jennings then stroked a single to short center, driving in Kelley. This brought the crowd to its feet. The first three pitches to Robinson were called balls, bringing thunderous roars from the crowd. With the third called ball, Stivetts again “acted like a wild man [and] he threw his cap upon the ground.”10 The Boston team gathered around home plate, offering Stivetts time to compose himself. Umpire Hurst then ordered Stivetts back to the mound. When he didn’t comply, both the Beaneaters hurler and catcher were fined. A moment later, Stivetts was ejected.11

Beaneaters manager Frank Selee brought Kid Nichols on in relief. However, “he was refused the privilege of a little warming-up work by two big policemen, and went in cold and stiff.”12 Nichols threw one pitch, but it was wide, and Robinson trotted to first with an RBI walk. Suddenly the game was tied. Baltimore pitcher McMahon singled past Tucker at first, and two more runs scored. McGraw followed with a single, driving in Robinson. Then, according to the Baltimore Sun, the Beaneaters just quit; “the fielders acted like wooden soldiers when the Baltimore players sent the ball into their territory, and Nichols tossed the ball like a school boy.”13 Keeler singled, plating McMahon and McGraw, and advanced on a wild pitch. Steve Brodie tripled to the right-field fence and Dan Brouthers singled to left. One base hit followed another and the Baltimore squad batted around without making an out, scoring eight times.

Then, as Yogi Berra once said, “It was déjà vu all over again.”14 Kelley and Reitz once again reached via the base on balls. By now, the Baltimore fans were concerned that Boston would refuse to retire the side and the inning would be lost, due to darkness, giving the victory to Boston, so “the Baltimore players were loudly admonished by the spectators to be put out purposely.”15 Jennings popped out to second, but Robinson singled, driving in two more runs. McMahon laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Robinson to second, but Reitz held up at third. McGraw drew a walk to load the bases again. Keeler grounded back to Nichols, who threw wildly to first and two more runs came in. Keeler went to second on the error and then stole both third and home. The embarrassment finally ended when Brodie popped out to Nichols on the mound. The Beaneaters did nothing in the bottom of the ninth, making “no effort to get runs.”16

Seventeen Baltimore players had batted in the final frame, scoring 14 runs. Had the Beaneaters batted first, the game could have been decided with a walk-off 4-3 victory for the Orioles. Instead, every Orioles player managed at least one hit and one run scored in the game. McGraw, Kelley, and Robinson led the Orioles offense with three hits each. McMahon pitched a good game, limiting the Beaneaters to three runs on eight hits, with the only strikeout of the game. Lowe shined for Boston with three hits, all doubles. There were eight sacrifices in the game. Amazingly, according to the Baltimore Sun, only four of the Orioles runs were earned.17

The two teams played again each of the next two days. Boston won both games, 6-3 and 13-7. For the season, Boston beat Baltimore eight of 12 matches, but the Beaneaters finished 1894 eight games behind the eventual champion Orioles.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org. The author sincerely thanks Lisa Tuite of the Boston Globe for her assistance with providing sources.

Notes

1 “A Game From Boston: Something Dropped in the Ninth Inning, and Then, Oh, My!,” Baltimore Sun, April 25, 1894: 6.

2 “Yelled Like Mad: Crowd Tried to Rattle Jack Stivetts,” Boston Globe, April 25, 1894: 5.

3 “A Game From Boston: Something Dropped in the Ninth Inning, and Then, Oh, My!”

4 “A Game From Boston: Something Dropped in the Ninth Inning, and Then, Oh, My!”

5 “Badly Punished,” Lowell Sun, April 25, 1894: 8.

6 “Yelled Like Mad: Crowd Tried to Rattle Jack Stivetts.”

7 “Yelled Like Mad: Crowd Tried to Rattle Jack Stivetts.”

8 “Yelled Like Mad: Crowd Tried to Rattle Jack Stivetts.”

9 “Yelled Like Mad: Crowd Tried to Rattle Jack Stivetts.”

10 “A Game From Boston: Something Dropped in the Ninth Inning, and Then, Oh, My!”

11 According to the Boston Globe, Boston pitcher Jack Stivetts and umpire Tim Hurst both hailed from Ashland, Pennsylvania. The Globe commented that it was “strange to say that every time that Tim umpires a game where Stivetts is pitching there is always trouble, and the Boston players claim that Mr. Hurst is not particularly stuck on his old townsman.”

12 “Yelled Like Mad: Crowd Tried to Rattle Jack Stivetts.”

13 “A Game From Boston: Something Dropped in the Ninth Inning, and Then, Oh, My!”

14 This Yogiism is attributed to Yogi Berra (date unknown). It is inscribed on the walls of the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center, Little Falls, New Jersey.

15 “A Game From Boston: Something Dropped in the Ninth Inning, and Then, Oh, My!”

16 “Yelled Like Mad: Crowd Tried to Rattle Jack Stivetts.”

17 According to the Boston Globe and the Lowell (Massachusetts) Sun, Baltimore had six earned runs.

Oh, where is Cleveland’s pennant pole?
In the town of the oyster stew.
And where is the blooming Temple Cup?
I’m afraid they’ll get that too.”1

The Baltimore Orioles (90-39) of 1896 had finished first for the third straight year, previously having topped the National League in 1894 and 1895. But after losing the Temple Cup the last two seasons to the second-place teams, New York and Cleveland, they were poised for a much-needed victory in the competition for the Cup.

The Baltimore Orioles of the late nineteenth century were the dominating force in the National League. Baltimore was led by Ned Hanlon , a “short, stout manager who sat on the Orioles bench in a three-button Victorian suit.”2 Foxy Ned, as he was sometimes known, had just won the third of his five championships in a Hall of Fame career. The ’96 Orioles were also led by five other future Hall of Famers: John McGraw at third, Hughie Jennings at short, Willie Keeler in right, Joe Kelley in left, and Wilbert Robinson behind the plate. It is no wonder that Hanlon and his boys are credited with perfecting the hit-and-run, bunting, the sacrifice, and the Baltimore chop, what came to be known as “inside baseball.”3

The 1896 Cleveland Spiders (80-48), led by player-manager Oliver “Patsy” Tebeau , had finished second behind the overpowering Orioles. They had also finished second to Orioles in 1895, but had triumphed over Baltimore in the Cup series, and were not looking to relinquish what had “soothed the ruffled spirits of Tebeau when he thought of the pennant.”4 The Spiders were stacked with talented players, among them Cy Young , Nig Cuppy , Chief Zimmer , and Jesse Burkett . Although in the shadow of the Orioles, as was the rest of the professional baseball at that time, the Clevelanders were no slouches.

Game Three of the Temple Cup took place on October 5, 1896, before a less-than-impressive crowd of 2,000. The interest in the Temple Cup had begun to lessen at this point and the turnout at Baltimore’s Union Park was disappointing. Union Park was “fancier than most, a double-decked, 8,000 seat wooded stadium with a beer garden, picnic grounds and ladies grandstand.”5

In the box for the Orioles was Bill Hoffer , who was coming off of a splendid season with a 25-7 record and a 3.38 ERA. Although he was pitching on just two days’ rest – he had started in Game One of the series on Friday – and “had trouble in the earlier innings making his balls ‘break’ just right,”6 he persisted and at “the proper moment, Hoffer became invincible.”7

Pitching for the Spiders was Nig Cuppy, who had finished the season with a 25-14 record and a 3.12 ERA. He was the number-two starter for the Spiders behind Cy Young but was every bit as capable as the famous Cy.

The Orioles were the first to strike, in the bottom of the second. Cuppy had retired McGraw, Keeler, and Jennings in order in the first. Leading off the second for Baltimore was Joe Kelley, who topped the National League with 87 stolen bases in 1896.8 He singled and was forced out at second on a groundball by Jack Doyle , the Orioles’ first baseman. Doyle then stole second and was driven in by center fielder Steve Brodie . Brodie was the Cal Ripken of his day. He holds the nineteenth-century record for consecutive games played (727).9 Cuppy then retired Baltimore catcher Robinson to put a stop to the blossoming rally.

Cleveland tied it in the top of the third. The Spiders had been hitting Hoffer well – “he was hit safely nine times in the first five innings” – but had nothing to show for it thus far. But three singles in the top of the third were enough to bring home a “tally.”10

The Orioles jumped ahead in the bottom of the third. Hoffer helped his own cause by driving a triple past the scrambling Cleveland outfielders. Then he capitalized on a fly ball and “a poor throw by Burkett, which allowed Hoffer to score.”11 But Baltimore didn’t hold the lead for long. In the top of the fifth inning, the Spiders took advantage of the only walk of the game and drove home another run on two singles.

Baltimore retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth. The pugnacious John McGraw manufactured a one-man rally. He led off the inning with a single off Cuppy, stole second, and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Zimmer. McGraw finally let someone else on the Orioles help with a fly ball. McGraw scored and Baltimore wouldn’t lose the lead again.

Cleveland pitcher Cuppy “pitched a brilliant game up to the eighth inning, when the champions fell on him for three singles and a double.”12 Catcher Wilbert Robinson, who hit .312 over seven seasons with the Orioles,13 started the rally with a double. McGraw’s single drove in Robinson. Then McGraw stole second and was driven in on a single by Keeler, who in turn was then driven in by Kelley’s single. The three runs seemed to seal the Spiders’ fate. They left nine men on base in the game.

After two hours, Game Three of the Temple Cup was concluded. The Orioles won 6-2. The series traveled to Cleveland, but the Spiders were too far out of the race to come back. The Orioles won the fourth game at League Park and took the Cup home with them, along with $200 per player. The Temple Cup was played once more, in 1897, and the Orioles were victors again, but after that the Temple Cup series was scuttled for lack of interest by both fans and players.

Sources

Besides the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, the SABR Biography Project, and the following:

Eckhouse, Morris. Legends of the Tribe: An Illustrated History of the Cleveland Indians (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 2000).

Thorn, John. “A Pictorial Chronology of Baseball in the 19th Century, Part 19: 1895-1896,” ourgame.mlblogs.com, September 10, 2019. https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/a-pictorial-chronology-of-baseball-in-the-19th-century-part-19-1895-1896-8fa5370298cf.

Notes

As the 1897 season began, the National League’s Baltimore Orioles had just completed their third straight pennant-winning season. Prospects looked good for a repeat in 1897 with players like Hughie Jennings , John McGraw , Joe Kelley , and Wilbert Robinson returning for another shot at a pennant. Also returning to Baltimore for 1897 was the diminutive outfielder William Henry Keeler or, as he was better known, Wee Willie.

Keeler began as he so often stated, “hitting ’em where they ain’t” in the first game of the 1897 season, a 10-5 victory over the Boston Beaneaters.1 Through an eight-game homestand, Keeler got a least one hit in each game. Then, through a 25-game road trip in which the team visited nine of the other 11 National League cities, Keeler continued his streak. After the road trip Keeler kept right on hitting, passing Cal McVey (1876) and Dusty Miller (1895-1896), both of whom had hit in 30 straight games. Jimmy Wolf was the next name erased from the record books when Keeler crossed his mark of 31 straight games with a hit off the record books.

With a hit in his 37th consecutive game, Keeler passed Gene DeMontreville , who in 1896-97 hit in 36 straight games. After he broke Dahlen’s record of 42 games with a hit, every game after that raised the number in the record book.

Preparing to face the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 18, the Orioles sat in first place with a record of 32-9, 1½ games ahead of the second-place Beaneaters. Pittsburgh, with a record of 20-22, was in eighth place, 12½ games behind the Orioles.

The visiting Pirates batted first, with Mike Smith grounding out to shortstop Hughie Jennings.2 Second baseman Dick Padden missed the first two pitches from the Orioles’ Joe Corbett (the younger brother of heavyweight boxing champion Jim Corbett), and then hit the next pitch over the fence for a home run.3 Harry Davis and Steve Brodie singled, with Davis taking third on Brodie’s hit. Patsy Donovan ’s infield out scored Davis. Brodie was out on an attempted steal of home and the half-inning ended with the Pirates leading 2-0.

For the Orioles, McGraw led off the first with a double but was out when a ball hit by Keeler struck him.4 Jennings walked, then Keeler went to third on Jack Doyle ’s force-out grounder.5 Keeler then stole home and the first inning came to an end with the Pirates on top 2-1.

The second inning was scoreless. In the Pittsburgh third, starting pitcher Pink Hawley led off with a single, Mike Smith walked, and Padden was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Davis hit a long fly ball to Tom O’Brien in left field, scoring Hawley and giving Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, Orioles catcher Frank Bowerman and pitcher Corbett singled, putting runners at first and third. Corbett stole second and McGraw’s second hit of the game scored both runners. McGraw was thrown out trying to steal third base. With the bases empty, Keeler doubled to center field and scored on a two-out triple by Doyle to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead.

Pittsburgh tied the game, 4-4, in the top of the fourth but the Orioles took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning. O’Brien, Joe Quinn , and Bowerman singled. Corbett doubled and McGraw reached on an error by Pirates catcher Joe Sugden . Keeler then tripled and Jennings singled. All this – six runs scored – happened with nobody out, and it gave the Orioles a 10-4 lead.6 The Orioles weren’t done. Jennings stole second base and went to third after tagging up on a foul out. He scored the Orioles’ seventh run of the inning on a long fly ball and Baltimore was now in command of the game, 11-4.

Pittsburgh got four hits in the sixth inning but just one run.7 In the Pirates’ eighth, singles by Donovan and shortstop Bones Ely combined with an out by Sugden gave Baltimore another run to make the score 11-6.

The Pirates rallied for three runs in their ninth inning, beginning with a walk to outfielder Mike Smith. Padden doubled and Davis’s fly out scored Smith. Brodie singled and went to second on an out by Donovan. Ely’s fourth single of the day scored Padden and Brodie to make the final score Baltimore 11, Pittsburgh 9.

The win gave the Orioles a two-game lead over the second-place Beaneaters. Pittsburgh was led by Ely’s four singles and Donovan’s three hits, which included a double.8 Keeler, Bowerman, and Corbett each had three of the Orioles’ 16 hits. “The Pirates slugged the ball yesterday as they have not done any other time this season,” a Pittsburgh newspaper observed.9 They made 16 hits and totaled 21 bases and yet could not win.10

Later in the season, the pennant race came down to two teams, the Orioles and the Beaneaters. The Beaneaters prevailed in the race and ended up the National League champions by two games over the Orioles.

Keeler’s hitting streak of games ended at 44 in the Orioles’ next game, a 7-1 loss to the Pirates, and he held the record until Joe DiMaggio bettered the mark, hitting in 56 games in 1941. Since DiMaggio, the only player to come close to DiMaggio, and for that matter Keeler’s 44 were Pete Rose , who tied Keeler in 1978, and Paul Molitor , who hit in 39 straight games in 1987.

Sources

In addition to the game story and box scores cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org websites.

Notes

More than a battle for the 1897 National League pennant, the contest played out at Baltimore’s Union Park was a living, breathing metaphor. To the 30,000 fans who literally broke down the park’s gates and walls to see it, and to the thousands nationally who followed telegraphed accounts in locations as distant as Los Angeles, it was the real world playing out of the eternal struggle of good vs. evil.

Few confused the assigned roles. Virtually across the nation outside Baltimore itself, the Orioles were the embodiment of all that was wrong with baseball. Led by third baseman John McGraw, shortstop Hughie Jennings, first baseman “Dirty Jack” Doyle and right fielder Wee Willie Keeler, the team managed by Ned Hanlon had since 1894 terrorized the rest of the league, sweeping to three successive pennants by both skill and intimidation. “The dirtiest ball ever seen in this country,” Boston sports writer Tim Murnane lamented of the Orioles’ style.1 A reporter in New Orleans, commenting on a spring training exhibition, had characterized McGraw as having adopted “every low and contemptible method that his erratic brain can conceive to win a play by a dirty trick.” 2

Though hardly saints themselves, the Beaneaters—three-time champions from 1891–93 before being dethroned by the Orioles—assumed the mantle of fan favorites once it became clear in 1897 that either they or the Orioles would win the pennant. Between August 27 and September 26, they combined to win 39 of 49 decisions (three games ending in ties), neither team ever leading the other by more than one game in the standings. A fated schedule ordered the clubs together for three games the final week in Baltimore. As the series opened, the Orioles held a one percentage point lead over Boston, although thanks to having played three more games the Beaneaters were actually a half game ahead in the standings.3 The frantic first two games did nothing to resolve the tension. Boston won 6-4 on Friday behind ace pitcher Charles “Kid” Nichols with a throng of 13,000 overflowing onto the field. Another 14,000 turned out Saturday, again spilling onto the field and climbing atop the outfield fence, to watch the Orioles win 6-3 and draw the race back into a virtual deadlock. The illegality of Sunday baseball merely ensured that the drama would build one more day.

Despite the fact that Monday was a work day, fans overwhelmed the tiny baseball grounds to witness the decisive game. The attendance is commonly estimated at 30,000—easily surpassing the previous record for any game—but the truth is that nobody knows how many people watched. Fans broke through the outfield gate and knocked down part of the fence to get access. Others stormed the turnstiles, erected seats on the roofs of houses across the street, or perched themselves on telegraph poles.

A delegation of more than 100 fans from Boston— the genesis of the famed “Royal Rooters”—showed up complete with a brass band to challenge the home team’s noise advantage. Thousands more crowded the streets of Boston’s “Newspaper Row” to “watch” on large play-by-play boards in a scene repeated on smaller scales in cities across the country. Nichols, already a 30-game winner, returned to the rubber on two days’ rest as did the Orioles’ Joe Corbett, who was seeking his 25th victory.

But chance had it in for Corbett. The game’s fourth batter, Chick Stahl, lined a drive off his hand that jammed several fingers. Hanlon was forced to remove his ace. The Beaneaters got a run out of that first inning, but Keeler’s base hit led to two Oriole runs in the bottom half of the inning. The lead changed hands three more times by the end of the third inning, which ended with the score tied at 5-5. In the Boston fourth, Billy Hamilton, the era’s premier baserunner, singled and stole second, Fred Tenney walked, and Bobby Lowe singled to drive Hamilton across. Chick Stahl followed with a single that produced Tenney, and an error by Wilbert Robinson allowed Lowe to score an eighth run.

Bill Hoffer, whose 22nd victory had been Saturday’s complete-game triumph, pitched scoreless ball from that point through the sixth. But by the beginning of the seventh inning Hoffer had worked 13 innings in less than two days against the league’s best offense, and he was exhausted. What ensued turned the top of the seventh into one of the most productive (or, depending on your perspective, disastrous) half innings ever played.

Hugh Duffy opened for Boston with a solid base hit. Jimmy Collins drilled a fastball into the crowd in right field for a ground-rule double, and Dutch Long’s double into the crowd in center scored both runners. When three more hits produced three additional runs, Hoffer did what in 1897 was the unthinkable: He motioned to team captain Robinson and manager Hanlon to relieve him. Both men ignored the gesture, imploring Hoffer to continue. He did, but by the time the slaughter had ended with Long’s second double of the inning, nine Boston runs crossed the plate. The champion Orioles were, for the first time since 1893, effectively unseated.

When Nichols retired the last Baltimore batter and the final score 19-10 score was posted, a remarkable scene ensued. Although the Baltimore and Boston fans had exchanged epithets all season long, they now joined on the field in a series of mutual salutes. Their bands serenaded each other with renditions of “Yankee Doodle,” “Dixie,” “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight,” and “Maryland, My Maryland.”4

The nation treated the outcome as something of a purgative for what were widely perceived as the game’s ills. “Never was interest keener in America’s great national game than it is today,” said the Boston Globe.5 The outcome put Boston a game and a half in front with just three to play; two victories in Brooklyn the following weekend formalized the pennant that ended the pennant run of the 19th century’s most feared and despised team at three.

This essay was originally published in “Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century” (2013), edited by Bill Felber. Download the SABR e-book by clicking here.

Notes

In late January of 1901, American League President Ban Johnson convened a series of organizational meetings at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Chicago. The purpose of the gatherings was to iron out the final details in preparation for the launching of his new major league. Seven years earlier, Johnson, a Cincinnati sportswriter, had become president of the Western League, a very competitive minor circuit. In 1900, Johnson changed the name of the loop to the American League. The following year, claiming major-league status, he added teams from Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington.

A few weeks before Johnson’s Chicago sessions, the Baltimore contingent elected its own officers and directors and authorized the construction of a ballpark. Third baseman John McGraw, one of the club’s stockholders, would serve as the player-manager.

McGraw’s Orioles, named after two previous major-league franchises in Baltimore, held spring training at Hot Springs, Arkansas. After a few weeks of practice and signing additional players, McGraw’s squad came back to Baltimore in early April to take part in a series of exhibition games.

The Orioles’ Opening Day opponent, the Boston Americans, led by player-manager Jimmy Collins, held their preseason workouts in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Following two consecutive rainouts, the Orioles finally crossed bats with the Americans on April 26, 1901. The game was played at American League Park (Oriole Park IV), located at what is now the southwest corner of Greenmount Avenue and 29th Street.

Beginning at 1 P.M., a procession of nearly 50 carriages started out from the Eutaw House Hotel at the northwest corner of Baltimore and Eutaw streets. American flags were draped from buildings along the parade route as fans of all ages lined the streets. Led by a detail of mounted policemen, the caravan of horse-drawn conveyances included team executives, players from both teams in uniform, sportswriters, politicians, union leaders, and other local baseball enthusiasts.1

More than 10,000 fans, a good-sized crowd for an early twentieth-century major-league game, were waiting at the ballpark. Ropes were strung along both foul lines to hold back the overflow of spectators. Lavish floral arrangements, which would be presented to the players at various stages of the game, lined the perimeter of the grandstands.

After a short practice session followed by the pregame festivities, Ban Johnson tossed out the ceremonial first pitch. Then the Orioles took their positions on the diamond. Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity, recovering from a recent bout of malaria, was the starting pitcher for the Orioles. (He reportedly earned the nickname due to his previous employment in an iron factory.) Beginning his third year in the majors, McGinnity was coming off back-to-back 28-win seasons and a total of more than 700 innings pitched. This durability would be a common theme throughout his career.

McGinnity’s batterymate was Wilbert Robinson. The reliable backstop for Baltimore’s National League champion Orioles, Robinson once caught 26 innings in one day during a tripleheader sweep of the Louisville Colonels in 1896. It would have been 27 except that the third game was called in the eighth inning because of darkness.

Boston’s leadoff hitter, Tommy Dowd, started the contest with a bounder up the middle that McGinnity snagged for the first out. The next batter, Charlie Hemphill, swung down on a ball that landed in front of home plate before bouncing straight up in the air. McGinnity ran in from the pitcher’s box, fielded the ball, then fired to first to catch Hemphill by a step. Hemphill may have been taking a page from the 1890s Orioles playbook by attempting the famous “Baltimore Chop” to get on base.2

McGinnity, using to great effect the side-arm rising curveball he called “Old Sal,” held the opposition scoreless for the first three frames. On the Boston side, pitcher Win Kellum was making his major-league debut. The southpaw hurler had been a 20-game winner with the Western League’s Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1900. Baltimore’s first batter, John McGraw, received a thunderous round of applause that lasted over three minutes as he walked to the plate. The tough New Yorker acknowledged the crowd and greeted Kellum with a double off the top of the right-field fence.

Turkey Mike Donlin followed with a three-base hit over center fielder Chick Stahl’s head that scored McGraw. (Donlin’s turkey-like gait earned him the barnyard moniker.) After a walk to Jimmy Williams, Bill “Wagon Tongue” Keister smacked a double to right that scored Donlin and Williams.3

“A great ovation was given to Robbie and Mac when they stood together in the second inning and were presented with a beautiful floral tribute. Their names were inscribed on yellow and black ribbon which hung from the design” was how one local sportswriter described the tribute the two Orioles received from the fans.4

Baltimore added another run in the bottom of the third on Donlin’s second triple of the game and a fly ball by Williams.

Boston scored in its half of the fourth. Jimmy Collins got things started with a liner between short and third that was good for two bases. With Buck Freeman at bat, Wilbert Robinson tried to pick Collins off second but nobody was covering the bag. The ball sailed into center field, and Collins scampered to third. Freeman knocked Collins in with a base hit to left. Robinson made amends soon after by throwing out Freeman by 10 feet on an attempted steal of second.

In the sixth, Keister drove a triple through the gap in right-center. After a walk to Cy Seymour, the Orioles reverted to some inside baseball. Seymour took off for second as Kellum released his pitch. The batter, Jimmy Jackson, playing in his first major-league game, protected the runner with a swing and a miss. Keister, on third, headed for home as Boston catcher Lou Criger unleashed his peg to second. Criger’s throw was high, allowing Seymour to slide in safely while Keister crossed the plate. Jackson followed with a double that knocked in Seymour for the Orioles’ sixth tally of the game.

After enduring seven innings of one-run ball, the Boston bats began to show signs of life in the eighth. With McGinnity tiring, Criger and Kellum reached base via a double and an infield hit. An RBI single by Dowd and a fly ball by Collins accounted for a pair of Boston runs before McGinnity retired the side.

In the Orioles’ half of the inning, Keister ignited the offense again with a single to center. The next batter, Seymour, bunted for a base hit. Jackson followed with an RBI double. After a walk to Frank Foutz, Robinson swatted a grounder to third that Collins missed, allowing two runs to score. A pair of force outs pushed Foutz home with the Orioles’ final run of the game.

Things got a bit dicey for Baltimore in the top of the ninth. With one out, Hobe Ferris hit a ball past first baseman Foutz. Williams, at second, backed up the play, but threw wildly to first, allowing Ferris to advance a base. After Criger got a hit, rookie catcher Larry McLean pinch-hit for Kellum and smacked a two-bagger that scored Ferris. Dowd followed with a grounder that Keister fumbled, and Criger came home. McLean scored on a fly ball before Stahl grounded out to end the game. Baltimore had won its first American League game, 10-6.

There were many defensive standouts that day. The Boston outfield of Dowd, Stahl, and Hemphill played too shallow on several occasions, but otherwise made some stellar grabs. For Baltimore, center fielder Jimmy Jackson hauled in everything in his territory, including a sensational shoestring catch off the bat of Collins in the sixth. The best play of all was made by McGraw in the third inning. Dowd sent a towering fly ball close to the third-base grandstand. McGraw, weaving his way through the blue-coated policemen stationed along the rope line, kept his concentration and gathered in the tough popup.

In regard to the Orioles’ starting pitcher the Baltimore American wrote, “For seven innings McGinnity fooled the heavy hitting Bostonians, which was doing so well for a sick man that people are apt to wonder what the Iron Man will do when he quite recovers his health.”5

After the game Boston player-manager Jimmy Collins told reporters, “Our boys will do better work after they get into the strides. You couldn’t judge much by today’s game.”6

Although the 1901 season started off on a good note for Baltimore, the relationship between the manager and Ban Johnson deteriorated rapidly. Due in part to his contempt for Johnson’s American League umpires, McGraw left the Orioles in July of 1902 to join the National League’s New York Giants.

A mass player exodus soon followed, leaving Baltimore unable to put nine men on the field. Johnson asked other American League clubs to send players to Baltimore so the Orioles could play out the schedule. At the end of the 1902 campaign, Baltimore’s American League franchise was transferred to New York. Originally called the Highlanders, this team is now known as the New York Yankees.

Author’s note

The Baltimore newspapers have varying accounts of what Boston runner was thrown out stealing by Wilbert Robinson in the fourth inning, Buck Freeman or Freddie Parent. By comparing the game accounts in the Boston and Baltimore newspapers Freeman was on first base when Parent was put out on a fly ball for the second out in the fourth. Freeman was then caught stealing for the last out of the inning.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes. the author consulted contemporary newspaper articles from the following newspapers: Baltimore Morning Herald, Baltimore Morning Sun, Boston Herald, Boston Journal, and Sporting Life.

Notes

1 The cavalcade traversed the principal streets of the city—Baltimore, Holliday, Lexington, Calvert, Fayette, Howard, Monument, Charles, Huntington Avenue, then finally out to York Road (present-day Greenmount).

2 Baltimore groundskeeper Tom Murphy was known to pack hard clay around the plate at Union Park, the home grounds of the great National League Orioles. When the Orioles batters chopped at the ball it would bounce high off the clay. By the time the opposition could make a play, the runner was usually safe. Whether the team’s groundskeeper in 1901, Marty Lyston, employed the same tactic at American League Park has been lost to history.

3 The true origins of Keister’s unusual nickname are up for debate. Was it his use of the Wagon Tongue model bat or his propensity for salty language? It was quite possibly a combination of the two.

4 “Orioles Made An Easy Start,” Baltimore American, April 27, 1901: 10.

5 “Orioles Made An Easy Start,”

6 “Takes The Crowd,” Boston Globe, April 27, 1901: 8.

Baltimore was hosting the Detroit Tigers in the third game of a four-game series. The Orioles had eked out a 4-3 win in the first game came away with a 10-3 victory in the second game.

As the 24th dawned, the Orioles, with a record of 22-20, were in fifth place in the American League, 4½ games behind the first-place Boston Americans (28-17). Detroit (27-23) was in third place, 3½ games behind Boston.

On the mound for George Stallings’ crew in game three was right-hander Roscoe Miller, who had debuted in the major leagues on April 25. In his rookie year Miller would lead the Tigers in wins (23), winning percentage (23-13, .639), shutouts (3), and innings pitched (332).

Getting the start for the Orioles was right-hander Frank Foreman, who had made his major-league debut in 1884 for the Chicago/Pittsburgh franchise in the Union Association. The highlight of his career came in 1889 when he won 23 games for the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association, the only time in his career that he won 20 or more games.

After the game was over, the headlines in the paper could have read “Miller’s Massacre” or perhaps “Detroiters Demolished,” because Baltimore had beaten Detroit 17-8, with Donlin the chief tormenter, with a 6-for-6 day.2

Before Donlin was an Oriole he had acquired a reputation for demolishing pitchers’ self-esteem and his performance in this game might have made people forget about all of his previous performances.3 Against the Boston Beaneaters on June 2, 1900, Donlin reached Boston twirlers for three singles, a triple, and a home run as he and his St. Louis teammates went down to defeat at the hands of the Beaneaters, 17-16.4

On June 24 Orioles got four runs in the first inning, thanks to hard hitting and a couple of errors by the Tigers.5 They scored six more runs in the second inning to take a 10-1 lead. Inning three saw Baltimore score three runs on a triple, a double, and two singles and go ahead 13-1.

Foreman allowed just one run in the first five innings, but the Tigers bats came alive for six runs in the sixth.6 Foreman was driven out of the game. Third-year right-hander Joe McGinnity replaced Foreman and held the Tigers to one run the rest of the way.7

In the bottom of the sixth Baltimore added two runs to make the score 15-7. In the eighth inning Detroit plated its eighth run and Baltimore got two to come away with a 17-8 victory.

The 22 hits in eight innings by the Orioles for 35 total bases set an American League record.8

The Tigers were led on offense by Ducky Holmes, catcher Al Shaw, and Roscoe Miller, who each had two hits in the loss. Miller took the loss on the mound going the full nine innings, allowing all 17 runs and all 22 hits. He walked three batters, and hit two. The game was witnessed by just 2,000 spectators.

The only player who did not have a hit for Baltimore in the game was McGinnity, who had only one at-bat. Starting at the top of the lineup, John McGraw had one hit as did Roger Bresnahan (triple), first baseman Jimmy Hart, and Foreman (triple). Jimmy Williams (triple), Jack Dunn (the same Jack Dunn who would discover a young left-hander by the name of George Ruth), and catcher Wilbert Robinson all had two hits. Those with three hits for the Orioles were Cy Seymour (double) and outfielder Jimmy Jackson.

Another feature of the game was the play at first base of the Orioles’ Hart, who handled 13 chances without an error.

Donlin’s six hits included two triples and two doubles. He scored five runs. Before this game a player had collected six or more hits in a game 49. Fred Tenney on May 31, 1897, and Barry McCormick on June 29, 1897, each had eight hits in a game.

After the loss, Detroit (27-24) and Baltimore (23-20) were tied for third place in the American League standings, 4½ games behind the Chicago White Sox, who had moved into first place past the Beaneaters.

The colorful Donlin9 finished his 11-year major-league career in 1914 with the New York Giants, after playing for the Cincinnati Reds, the Beaneaters, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. His .333 career batting average placed him 28th on the all-time list, just behind Eddie Collins and Paul Waner and just ahead of Stan Musial and Wade Boggs.

At the end of the inaugural American League season, the Tigers were in third place with a record of 74-61, 8½ games behind the first-place White Sox. The Orioles (68-65) were in fifth place, 13½games behind Chicago.

The Orioles played just the 1901 and 1902 seasons in the American League before league President Ban Johnson decided to move the team to New York to compete with the National League Giants. The Orioles became the New York Highlanders, and later the Yankees. Except for the upstart Federal League in 1914 and 1915, Baltimore remained a minor-league city until 1954, when the St. Louis Browns relocated there.

Sources

In addition to the game story and box-score sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org. websites

Notes

1 Michael Betzold and Rob Edelman, “Mike Donlin,” SABR Biography Project, sabr.org, accessed June 2, 2019.

2 “Orioles Now Third,” Baltimore Sun, June 25, 1901: 6.

3 “Orioles Now Third.”

4 “Orioles Now Third.”

5 “Miller an Easy Mark,” Detroit Free Press. June 25, 1901: 10.

6 “Orioles Now Third.”

7 “Orioles Now Third.”

8 “Orioles Now Third.”

9 He was cocky and self-assured, and when he wanted to be, also a damn fine ballplayer who appreciated his own worth. He once asked McGraw for a $500.00 raise, and when the manager refused, he “retired” and went on the road with his wife, actress Mabel Hite, as part of a husband/wife act. Thedeadballera.com/BeerDrinkersMikeDonlin.html. See also Donlin’s biography at the SABR BioProject: sabr.org/bioproj/person/3b51e847#_edn1.

The room had become a familiar place for Connolly in Baltimore, and the yawps of impassioned players and fans a familiar tune.

Connolly, they surmised, missed an easy call in the fourth inning on this Wednesday afternoon when Orioles third baseman Jack Dunn zipped down the first-base line on an infield grounder. Dunn’s foot touched the first-base bag just before the throw arrived, Orioles players and their fans thought. Dunn was safe, they believed, but Connolly called him out.2

“It was the spark that started the blaze,” the Baltimore Sun reported the next day.3

The Baltimore players voiced their frustration to Connolly. Most demonstrative, it turned out, was Orioles star pitcher Joe McGinnity. As players argued with the arbiter, fans poured out of the American League Park grandstand and bleachers wanting – again – a piece of Connolly. His umpiring had been suspect the entire game, and during Monday’s and Tuesday’s contests, and a few other games in the last couple of weeks.

In the heat of the fuss, McGinnity stomped at Connolly’s feet and spewed two shots of tobacco juice directly into Connolly’s face, the umpire claimed.4

Spectators in the new ballpark on the corner of Baltimore’s 29th Street and York Road had grown tired of Connolly’s inconsistencies. They had seen enough, and wanted another word with the ump. The scene soon turned chaotic. Baltimore Police Captain Charles W. Gittings5 and about 40 other officers quickly moved to surround and protect Connolly. They knew the routine. This was the fifth time Connolly needed protection from the Baltimore crowd in six games over a two-week span.6

Most of the attacks on Connolly were verbal, but 25-year-old Frank J.T. Allen, a clerk and loyal Orioles supporter, struck the umpire. Sergeant Max Mauer arrested Allen, who later in the day was fined $20 plus court costs.7

A couple of players – one from each side – also found themselves in police hands. One eager patrolman arrested Orioles shortstop Bill Keister for breach of peace although Keister was merely looking on, the Sun reported.8

Detroit’s Kid Elberfeld, for some unexplained reason, ran toward Connolly as the mess was beginning, but not meaning to get involved. Rushing by him was an Orioles player who nudged the diminutive Tiger into one of the rookie police officers. “The new ‘sleuth’ seemed bent on doing something heroic, and when he rushed up, Elberfeld was the first who came within reach,” the Sun reported. “Grabbing the inoffensive little shortstop by the collar, he trotted him off across the field at double-quick. The prisoner protesting volubly.”

Later that day, Justice White at the Northern Police Station fined Keister $1 and court costs for his charge of disturbing the peace. The judge dismissed Elberfeld’s case.9

Despite minor disturbances – if you can call getting tobacco juice in your face minor – Connolly escaped unharmed as police rushed him to his dressing area. As he left the field, he yelled the forfeit announcement, giving Detroit, which was already winning the contest 7-4, the victory.

Connolly stayed in the dressing room, with a policeman guarding its door, recovering from the ruckus and likely wiping tobacco juice from his mug. Police guarded Connolly for more than an hour, waiting for the offended to disperse.

They didn’t budge.

So Gittings and his crew cleared the ballpark. As the crowd walked away, police officers ushered Connolly to a carriage, which had been ordered by Orioles President Sidney Frank. The carriage, flanked by mounted policemen, hurried away carrying Connolly, Frank, and club director Miles Brinckley. Connolly’s carriage could not, however, escape the hisses and hollers from fans still in the streets.

The Baltimore Sun reporter covering the game suggested that Connolly’s delusions extended beyond the baseball field and that he, perhaps, had a greater impression of himself than was deserved. He wrote: “Some wag suggested that in his coach with outriders Connolly would more than ever imagine himself a czar and the crowd outside a band of nihilists.”10

Orioles players, fans, and even the press felt they had legitimate gripes with Connolly. The umpiring throughout the season, the Sun surmised, had been “remarkably good.”

“But in these last two series, Connolly’s work has been so flagrant as to incense the spectators beyond control,” the newspaper wrote. “Whether right or wrong, players and spectators believe that Connolly has intentionally given Baltimore the ‘worst of it,’ and every close decision against Baltimore lately, whether right or wrong, has added fuel to the flame.”11

Earlier in the August 21 contest, with Baltimore leading 3-2, Detroit loaded the bases. Doc Casey smacked a long fly ball off Orioles pitcher Harry Howell. Everyone in the park, it seemed, saw the ball fly foul. Tigers baserunners stopped running, thinking they needed to retreat to their bases and await the next pitch to the switch-hitting Casey.12

Connolly, however, saw the ball’s flight differently and barked, “Fair ball.”13 His judgment gave Casey a grand slam and it boosted Detroit to a 6-3 advantage. The call made the crowd furious and added another spark that soon ignited the blaze.14

Some criticism of the umpire came, too, from the Detroit players. The Baltimore Sun’s game stories of the previous two days were littered with details of ways Connolly blew calls.15

A day before Wednesday’s game, Orioles Secretary Harry Goldman suggested to Connolly that he ask American League President Ban Johnson to move him out of Baltimore for his safety. Connolly refused. That same day, Baltimore player-manager John McGraw, who suffered a season-ending knee injury that same day,16 wired a letter to Johnson. If Connolly stays, the letter read, he could cause tremendous tumult.17

Johnson stuck up for his umps, and that included suspending McGinnity indefinitely for his actions against Connolly.18 “His alleged offense,” the Baltimore Sun reported, “expectorating in Umpire Connolly’s face.” The Sun fearfully speculated that the suspension, which was thought then to possibly be for the remainder of the season, would drive McGinnity, who the paper said was “never a ‘rowdy,’” out of Baltimore and back to Brooklyn’s National League team, where he had played the year before. It would kill what small chances the “Orioles had to win the pennant.”19

Johnson, meanwhile, had plenty to say to the press regarding players’ and fans’ treatment of umpires, claiming arbiters could benefit from words of encouragement and less criticism.

“The vaporings of a partisan press, and the wild utterances of a disgruntled manager or player should not be taken seriously,” Johnson told the Chicago Record-Herald. “The best means to secure good umpiring is to keep the players away from the official. … The way to secure the best results from an umpire is to encourage him in his work rather that abuse him.”20

Heeding the suspension, the Orioles played on without McGinnity. And on a trip west to Chicago, the star pitcher and McGraw, newly fitted into his leg cast, paid a humble visit to Johnson at his office. “McGinnity confessed that he violated the rules and had also been guilty of conduct hurtful to the game, but he pleaded that his offense was not so serious as to warrant his expulsions,” the Baltimore Sun reported.21

After now having heard both sides of the argument, Johnson said, “I expect McGinnity to be pitching next week,” the article said.

Days later, Johnson stuck to his word and reinstated McGinnity on the condition that the pitcher pay a fine to the American League office and give an apology to Connolly. McGinnity agreed and pitched the same day, tossing a shutout against Milwaukee.22

“That is all there is to it,” Johnson said of his decision. “Circumstances, I find, were not all against the pitcher, and as he shows a disposition to rectify his wrong, I am glad to put him back in the game.”23

The Detroit Free Press disagreed, and advocated for a longer suspension for McGinnity. “A man who will spit in another man’s face is not fit for any society,” the paper wrote. “If a ballplayer can’t be a gentleman he should not be allowed to play, but should be sent back to carry the hod.”24

A newspaper reporter caught up with Connolly days after McGinnity’s suspension was overturned. He was umpiring the Orioles’ latest series in Cleveland, but had yet to hear from the pitcher. “And I don’t care to see him,” Connolly said. He would be willing to overlook a player, in the heat of the moment, punching him in the face or hitting him with a “rib roaster,” he said.

“My hand would go out to him in forgiveness in a moment,” Connolly said. “But when, as in McGinnity’s case, a man leaves the bench, rushes up to me and deliberately spikes me and spits in my face, as he did, twice in succession, I do not care for his apology.”25

Sources

The author used Baseball-Reference.com in addition to sources cited in Notes.

Notes

1 “Ends in Small Riot,” Baltimore Sun, August 22, 1901: 6.

2 “Ends in Small Riot.”

3 “Ends in Small Riot.”

4 “Connolly Still Angry,” Topeka State Journal, September 6, 1901: 2.

5 The Baltimore Sun Almanac, 1910, 14. The Sun article from August 21, 1910 mentions Gittings only by his rank and surname. The Almanac lists him as Charles W. Gittings, a captain in the Northeastern district.

6 “Ends in Small Riot.”

7 “Ends in Small Riot.”

8 “Ends in Small Riot.”

9 “Ends in Small Riot.”

10 “Ends in Small Riot.”

11 “Ends in Small Riot.”

12 “Ends in Small Riot.”

13 “Ends in Small Riot.”

14 “Ends in Small Riot.”

15 “One from Detroit,” Baltimore Sun, August 20, 1901: 6; “They Could Not Hit,” Baltimore Sun, August 21, 1901: 6.

16 “McGraw Out for the Season,” Baltimore Sun, August 23, 1901: 6. Doctors told McGraw “he would have to have his knee incased in a plaster cast and lie in bed for three weeks,” the Sun reported, “and that he could not play again this year.”

17 “Ends in Small Riot.”

18 “McGraw Out for the Season.”

19 “M’Ginnity Is Driven Out,” Baltimore Sun, August 23, 1901: 6.

20 “Discipline in Baseball,” Detroit Free Press, August 26, 1901: 8.

21 “M’Graw and Johnson Meet,” Baltimore Sun, August 31, 1901: 6.

22 “M’Ginnity Is Reinstated,” Baltimore Sun, September 4, 1901: 6.

23 “M’Ginnity Is Reinstated.”

24 “Timely Sporting Gossip,” Detroit Free Press, September 8, 1901: 9.

25 “Connolly Still Angry.”

Little Napoleon

The new Orioles had been a franchise only since 1901, when they finished three games over .500 but were still 13½ games out of first place. The 1902 season was worse; they were 26-30 before this game was played. The team finished in last place.

Managing the Orioles was the pugnacious “Little Napoleon,” John McGraw. As a player with the old Baltimore Orioles, McGraw was one of the best leadoff men of the era. He batted .320 for nine consecutive years, led the league in runs scored and walks, and stole 436 bases. He and the Orioles won three National League pennants in a row from 1894 through 1896. But they, and McGraw, were known more for a strategy of cheap tricks and intimidation.

The early Orioles (1882-1899) were infamous for nasty play, and McGraw was one of their nastiest players. They held onto runners by their pants loops, spiked basemen, and notoriously baited, insulted, and belittled umpires.

“Our Baltimore club had a reputation as umpire fighters,” McGraw remembered. “I guess we did make life pretty miserable for some of them. … It was our second nature to fight for the smallest point, and as a consequence, the umpires often had to take the brunt of our wrath.”2

“The Orioles,” remembered former umpire and National League President John Heydler, “were mean, vicious, ready at any time to maim a rival player or umpire if it helped their cause. The things they would say to an umpire were unbelievably vile, and they broke the spirits of some fine men.”3

The Czar

The National League contracted from 12 to eight teams in 1900, disbanding Baltimore’s franchise. Western League President Ban Johnson saw an opportunity and relocated his teams to the vacated cities. He renamed his operation the American League and declared it equal to the National League, whose players he stole, enticing them with more lucrative contracts.4 McGraw agreed to be a player-manager for the new Baltimore club and insisted on having an ownership stake in the team. Johnson accepted the terms.5

Johnson’s reputation for totalitarian control of the American League earned him the nickname of “Czar.”6 He detested rowdyism, promising more wholesome play to attract fans. He supported his umpires’ decisions and quickly suspended players who acted out. “My determination was to pattern baseball in the new league along the lines of scholastic contests, to make ability and brains and clean, honorable play, not swinging of clenched fists, coarse oath, riots or assaults upon the umpires decide the issue.”7 Johnson’s baseball was not the game McGraw played.

After Johnson directed a series of suspensions and fines against the Orioles, McGraw suspected that he was targeting Baltimore’s team. “As President of the American League, [Johnson] was constantly picking on the Baltimore club,” McGraw asserted. “Setting me down for frequent suspensions and frequently disciplining other players. His severity was unusual and unjust, I thought. This crippled us considerably.”8

Tensions came to a head on June 28, 1902.

The Rundown

Tommy Connolly umpired the game, the first of a two-game series against the Boston Americans. Connolly and the Orioles had a history: In 1901, he ruled that McGraw had interfered with a runner and allowed the run to score. That day, Connolly needed a police escort to leave the field.9

Joe McGinnity took the hill for Baltimore, and Cy Young for Boston. McGraw was in the lineup at third base for the first time in five weeks after being spiked in the knee in Detroit.10

Before the fifth inning, McGinnity was in control, allowing only one run on five hits. Meanwhile, whatever residual pain may have been in McGraw’s knee didn’t affect him at the plate. He led off the game with a triple and scored when center fielder Joe Kelly got a base hit. In the seventh McGraw bunted for a hit, stole second, and reached third on an error. The Orioles had a three-run lead going into the sixth inning. But Cy Young limited the damage and kept Boston in the game long enough for the wheels to come off McGinnity.11

In the sixth, Boston manager-third baseman Jimmy Collins hit a single. Center fielder Chick Stahl followed with a double. Buck Freeman, who would lead the league in RBIs in 1902, drove them both home. After McGinnity secured two outs, Freddy Parent singled and was driven in by Lou Criger’s double.

McGraw tried to stop the bleeding in the seventh by giving the ball to right-hander Jack Cronin. Cronin walked left fielder Patsy Dougherty, Collins got another hit, and both men were driven in when Stahl hit a triple. It was 8-4, Boston.

Then came the eighth inning.

With Baltimore at the plate, first baseman Dan McGann lined a base hit into center field. Next came an infield hit by Cy Seymour. Young tried to hold McGann on second base but overthrew the ball past the defender, allowing both runners to advance.

Baltimore utility catcher Roger Bresnahan followed with a grounder on the third-base side. With McGann on third, Seymour on second, and Bresnahan on his way to first, McGann broke for the plate. With no one out, if Collins opted to take the sure out at first, McGann would score a run. However, if McGann could sustain a rundown between Collins and Boston catcher Criger, Bresnahan would make it to first safely and Seymour would be able to advance on the play.

“We always took chances,” McGraw later remembered. “There is always an advantage in taking those chances. It puts the other fellow in the worry about what to do.”12

A Pair of Suspenders

Few in the audience paid attention to what the other runners were doing. While everyone watched Collins and Criger try to catch McGann, Seymour went to third.13

Seeing that Bresnahan had made it to first safely, McGann broke back for third and Seymour retreated for second. McGann slid safely into third. For a brief moment, the Orioles had the bases loaded with no one out.14

Quickly, Boston shortstop Freddy Parent called for the ball and tagged Seymour on second base, arguing to Connolly, the umpire, that Seymour had run past third but failed to retouch it when he ran back to second. Connolly agreed and called Seymour out. McGraw ran out to argue.15

The Baltimore Sun insisted that “McGraw did not talk roughly to the umpire, nor was he as strenuous as he has been on numerous occasions this year when he was not penalized.”16 The Boston Globe, on the other hand, insinuated that McGraw threatened to hang Connolly.

Whatever was said, Connolly ejected McGraw, but the Baltimore manager refused to go. The umpire then declared the game a forfeit to Boston.

The Globe insisted that it was fortunate that the police were on the scene to protect the players and Connolly from the “enraged” Baltimore fans.

Ban Johnson suspended McGraw two days later. “I am convinced Umpire Connolly was absolutely right,” he stated. “He knew what he was doing and because he knew the rules, I am glad he maintained his position and humiliated Mr. McGraw.”17

McGraw was not surprised to hear the news: “Ban is a great suspender. Why, he’s almost a pair of suspenders.”18

“Johnson is down on Baltimore and would like to see it off the map,” McGraw said during the suspension. “I am sick and tired of the whole business and I don’t care if I never play in the American League again.”19 McGraw left the Orioles, going to the Giants, promising on record not to tamper with the Baltimore club on his way out.20

However, Joe Kelly and McGraw sold their ownership of the Orioles to Kelly’s father-in-law, Sonny Mahon. Mahon turned around and sold those holdings to the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants. Immediately, both clubs began transferring talent from Baltimore to their respective clubs. By July 17, Baltimore was unable to field a team against St. Louis and was forced to forfeit its second game in 15 days.21

The next year, Ban Johnson moved the Orioles to New York, where they would later become the Yankees. Although the Yankees eventually came to dominate the sport, for nearly two decades the Giants would be Gotham’s main attraction.

Winning 10 pennants and three World Series, the Giants led New York baseball in attendance for 15 of the next 20 years.22 Only in 1920, with the help of Babe Ruth, did the Yankees consistently surpass their crosstown rivals in popularity.

McGraw and the Giants faced the Yankees in the 1921 World Series. He welcomed the team that was once his Baltimore Orioles to the big stage by beating them five games to three.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 “Forfeited to Boston,” Baltimore Sun, June 29, 1902.

2 John McGraw, My Thirty Years in Baseball (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1923), 78.

3 Charles C. Alexander, John McGraw (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995), 55.

4 Joe Santry and Cindy Thomson, “Ban Johnson,” Society for American Baseball Research, sabr.org/bioproj/person/dabf79f8, accessed November 15, 2019.

5 Alexander, 77.

6 “M’Graw and Johnson: Talk of Trouble Being Fomented by American League’s Enemies,” Baltimore Sun, July 29, 1901.

7 Frank Menke, “Life of Ban Johnson,” installment number 1, quoted in Eugene C. Murdock, Ban Johnson: Czar of Baseball (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1982), 39.

8 McGraw, 130.

9 “Make a Poor Start,” Baltimore Sun, August 16, 1901.

10 “‘Mugsy’s Way,” Boston Globe, June 29, 1902.

11 “Forfeited to Boston.”

12 McGraw, 88.

13 “Forfeited to Boston.”

14 “Forfeited to Boston.”

15 “Forfeited to Boston.”

16 “Forfeited to Boston.”

17 “Ban Suspends Again,” Baltimore Sun, July 1, 1902.

18 “Ban Suspends Again.”

19 “Baseball Change Expected: McGraw’s Tilt with Ban Johnson May Let New York Secure Him as Manager,” New York Times, July 3, 1902.

20 “M’Graw Has Release,” Baltimore Sun, July 9, 1902.

21 Jimmy Keenan, “Joe Kelly,” Society for American Baseball Research, sabr.org/bioproj/person/17b00755, accessed November 15, 2019,

22 Keenan.