Leagues rose and crumbled in those early days, franchises came and went (or switched home cities), but one thing was steadfast – pro baseball was a White man’s game. At least until early in the 1878 season, when Bud Fowler, an itinerant 20-year-old from upstate New York, became the first Black player in what came to be called Organized Baseball,

Although he was known as Bud Fowler throughout his long career, his birth name was John W. Jackson Jr. Born in 1858 in the village of Fort Plain, New York, Fowler grew up in nearby Cooperstown – in fable the birthplace of baseball, and the modern home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where Fowler was to be enshrined in 2022 for his decades of contributions to early Black baseball.

Why John W. Jackson Jr. became Bud Fowler is a subject of speculation. The best explanation of why he changed his last name is that he wanted to make a clean break from his staid family existence. John Sr. was a barber, a trade that amounted to a middle-class profession in the economically suppressed African American world of the nineteenth century, while his son seems to have been intent on becoming a professional ballplayer, a rare and precarious existence in the 1870s for any man. As to his nickname, he appears to have been given it because he himself called other guys Bud.1

Fowler didn’t mind traveling for his baseball. Over a 30-year career, he played in locales ranging from New Mexico to New Orleans to Ontario, Canada. It was in Massachusetts that he first caught the baseball public’s eye while pitching for the amateur Chelsea Franklins outside Boston in the spring of 1878.

On April 24 he was on a “picked nine,” mostly made up of Chelseas, that defeated the Boston Red Stockings, the National League’s defending champion, 2-1. Pitching in typically chilly New England springtime weather, Fowler gave up only three hits, although the Bostons didn’t seem all that inspired – “the boys were rather unwilling,” most playing without their baseball shoes, and wearing jackets in the field.2

Hurling for Chelsea, again in lousy weather on May 15, Bud allowed a professional nonleague team from Worcester only five hits. But Chelsea lost, 3-0, as Bud was matched up against Bobby Mathews, one of the outstanding pitchers of the day.

By now he had caught the eye of the nearby Lynn Live Oaks of the International Association, a two-tier league formed in 1877 with junior members in smaller cities and towns and, in 1878, a 12-team championship tier in the United States and Ontario that included Lynn. The International Association meant to challenge the new National League for major-league hegemony; while it failed to achieve that stature, it became known as one of the first minor leagues.

So when the Live Oaks, mired in a slump and with Price, their starting pitcher, out with an injury, took the field against the London (Ontario) Tecumsehs on May 17, they tried something new. They enlisted “the young colored pitcher of the Chelseas,” integrating professional league ball to solve their pitching problem.3 This was no Jackie Robinson moment – Fowler’s tenure with the team was short-lived and did not lead to a movement to further integrate pro baseball. But there he was, a Black man on a White team.

Bud’s performance was stellar: He threw hitless ball until the fifth and gave up only two hits and a walk in seven innings. At that point the Oaks were ahead 3-0. They had scored their first run in the third inning when Patrick Gillespie, the second baseman, got a hit and was driven in on another hit by catcher Tom “Sleeper” Sullivan. Lynn followed right up with two more in the fourth on consecutive hits by right fielder George Wood, third baseman Harry Spence, and first baseman Bill Lapham.

What was meant to be a nine-inning game ended in the seventh when the Tecumsehs refused to continue after a second disagreement with an umpire’s call. Shortstop Mike Burke, the recipient of Fowler’s only base on balls, was thrown out trying to steal in the second inning. The Tecumsehs’ manager, the veteran Ross Barnes, protested and succeeded in getting umpire Henry Murphy replaced on the spot. Then, in the seventh, Burke tried to score on a hit to the outfield, but had no better luck with the second ump, James Tufts, who called him out at the plate. At that point the Tecumsehs walked off, and the game was forfeited to Lynn.4

Fowler was back in the box wearing a Live Oaks uniform the next day, again facing Worcester and Mathews.The outcome was about the same as on May 15. Mathews gave up four hits and Fowler six, but Worcester won, 6-4. Even in these early times when fielders didn’t wear gloves and many errors were made, the Live Oaks were notable for their lousy defense – they made 16 miscues (although three of them were Bud’s).5

With Price still on the mend, the Live Oaks continued to employ Fowler. He made at least two more starts for them, losing both games. Then, on June 1, the struggling Lynn team merged with independent Worcester. Players from both squads made up the new team, but the roster did not include Fowler. Mathews was Worcester’s hurler, and while he was on a short hiatus from the majors, in the end he pitched for 15 years in the big leagues and won 297 games. He was the easy choice for the merged team.

Bud was demoted to a new secondary Lynn squad. In addition to his athletic ability and baseball acumen, however, he had a third valuable trait: availability. He was ready on July 11 when the Live Oaks needed a “first class” pitcher to face the New Bedford, Massachusetts, team, Mathews having been suspended for drunkenness.6 New Bedford won, 6-0, although Bud gave up only five hits. Changing home cities did nothing to improve the Live Oaks’ fielding; they were charged with either nine or 10 errors, depending on the newspaper box score.

Fowler stayed around the Boston area at least for the first half of 1879, pitching for a team in Malden, and then for the semipro Aetnas. Jeffrey Michael Laing, his biographer, says Bud then went west to the Massachusetts-New York state line in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, for the rest of that year and 1880.7 There was only amateur ball in the Berkshires at that time, but Fowler had also followed his father into the barber profession, and could have used it, as he often did later, to sustain himself between paying baseball opportunities.

In 1881 he showed up in Guelph, Ontario, for a short time, but objections by some of his White teammates caused him to leave.8 It was just one of many times that he voluntarily or involuntarily left a team because of racism, as a promising start for Blacks in pro ball met racial opposition. Bud and dozens of others after him who were clearly identified as Black were completely forced out of Organized Baseball by 1900.

Fowler, becoming an infielder later in his career due to arm trouble, played, managed, and promoted baseball until 1909 on integrated teams, Black teams run by others and teams headed by Bud himself. Most prominently, he organized the Page Fence Giants, a leading Black team of its time, in 1895. His many career moves were the result of discrimination, discovery of better opportunities and, one suspects, a penchant for roving the world of baseball.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the Baseball-Reference.com website provided statistics and team information.

Notes

1 Jeffrey Michael Laing, Bud Fowler, Baseball’s First Black Professional, (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2013), 65; Brian McKenna, “Bud Fowler,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bud-fowler/.

2 “Base Ball. The Bostons Defeated by a Picked Nine – Score, 2 to 1,” Boston Globe, April 25, 1878: 3.

3 “Base Ball. Games at Lynn, Lowell, Providence, New Haven and Other Places – Notes of the Field,” Boston Globe, May 18, 1878: 4.

4 Boston Globe, May 18, 1878.

5 “Base Ball,” Worcester Daily Spy, May 20, 1878: 4.

6 “Base Ball,” Worcester Daily Spy, July 12, 1878: 4; “New Bedford vs. Worcester,” New York Clipper, July 20, 1878: 131; McKenna, “Bud Fowler.”

7 Laing, Bud Fowler, 70.

8 McKenna, “Bud Fowler.”

The Capital Citys were one of five teams in the Northeastern League, a circuit informally called the “Vermont State League.” It had four teams based in Vermont (Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland, and St. Albans) and a team in Malone, New York. The eight-person board of directors managing the Capital Citys sold stock at $5.00 a share to fund the team’s expenses and convert part of Nicholas Meadow into an enclosed ballpark with seating for spectators.2

Fowler started the 1887 season with the Binghamton Crickets of the International Association and was one of the best players in the league, tallying 55 hits in 34 games. But he faced significant tension from his White teammates. On June 27 Buck West and Charles Dilworth refused to play with Fowler and asked to be released from their contracts. Nine other Binghamton players signed a petition to have Fowler released from the team, and Fowler was dismissed.

An opposing International Association player said, “Fowler used to play second base with the lower part of his legs encased in wooden guards. He knew that about every player that came down to second base on a steal had it in for him and would, if possible, throw the spikes into him.”3 Additionally, league umpire Billy Hoover admitted to purposely calling close plays against Fowler’s teams.4 Fowler also heard racial epithets shouted from the stands.

On July 14, 1887, International Association executives met in Buffalo, New York, and voted not to approve the contracts of any more Black players. That same day, Chicago White Stockings manager Cap Anson said his National League team would not play an exhibition game against the International Association’s Newark Little Giants if Newark’s Black pitcher George Stovey and Black catcher (and former major leaguer) Fleet Walker were on the field. This is considered the day the major leagues’ color line was drawn and it would be 60 years before another African American played alongside White players in the major leagues.5

In early August, newspapers across Vermont noted that the Northeastern League club in Montpelier had signed Fowler.6 His first game was on August 6 at Nicholas Meadow against St. Albans. Nicholas Meadow was a vast, well-groomed field across the Winooski River from Montpelier’s lower State Street.7 It hosted numerous events that month, including the Barnum and London circus.8 Office buildings and Montpelier High School’s athletic fields now occupy the wide plot of land.9

The field was wet at the beginning of the game due to morning rain.10 Errors by Montpelier helped Lawrence Downey and J.E. Rudderham score runs for St. Albans in the first inning. In the second, Fowler singled, stole second, stole third, and scored on a base hit to center field to make it 2-1. Harry Wright scored for St. Albans in the fifth, Larimer did the same for Montpelier in the sixth, and neither team scored the rest of the way in St. Albans’ 3-2 win.11

Montpelier’s Argus and Patriot newspaper singled out Fowler, writing that “the man who covered himself with glory was the recent acquisition of the Montpelier team, John Fowler, colored, of New York. … He played a great game at second base.”12 While Fowler made an error in the close loss, multiple media reports described the loud ovation he earned after an acrobatic relay throw in the middle of a 5-4-3 double play in the eighth inning.13

One week later, Fowler went 4-for-5 and made seven putouts in Montpelier’s 10-6 loss at St. Albans and the Burlington Free Press reported: “Fowler, the colored second baseman, captured the crowd by his fine playing.”14

Similar praise for Fowler followed other Montpelier games, like this appreciation from the Argus and Patriot: “with Fowler, the phenomenal colored second baseman, the Montpelier club are only too well pleased to have him guarding the second bag.”15

That same paper welcomed the idea of more Black players coming to town in 1887, writing that “if Binghampton [sic] or any other club has any more Fowlers, Montpelier can find a place for them.”16

Fowler was named co-captain of the Capital Citys in mid-August.17 According to Jeffrey Michael Laing’s biography Bud Fowler: Baseball’s First Black Professional, Fowler was “the first (and only) African American to serve in that position in organized integrated baseball in the 19th century. What is surprising about the veteran’s appointment to this role is how uncontroversial such an action was in Vermont in the racially charged 1880s.”18

A co-captain’s responsibilities in this era varied from team to team, but it appears likely that Fowler contributed to scheduling and lineup decisions with co-captain H.J. Cox and managers William Lord and Fred Spaulding.19 He was also a vocal leader; in a game against Burlington on August 17, Fowler exclaimed to his team, “The game is ours, all we have got to do is to bat it out!”20

It’s impossible to know how all of the White Capital Citys players felt about Fowler’s promotion to co-captain, but there’s no evidence that any of them refused to take direction from Fowler. The Argus and Patriot applauded the team’s acceptance, writing “The management of the Montpelier base ball club have at least one thing upon which they can congratulate themselves, and that is that there appears to be no race prejudice among the players.”21

After Montpelier’s 13-4 loss in Rutland on August 16, the Rutland Daily Herald wrote, “Captain Fowler of the Montpeliers is a colored man and a first-class ball-tosser in every respect. He played a brilliant game yesterday on second and made two of the four runs for his club. The Montpeliers are fortunate in securing him. … Fowler seemed to be the favorite with the spectators yesterday, and was greeted with applause every time he stepped to the plate.”22

Fowler hit .429 with seven stolen bases in his eight official documented games with Montpelier23 and seemed to have been popular.

Fowler’s time in Vermont’s capital city ended abruptly. The club couldn’t meet player payroll due to financial difficulties,24 and folded before the 1887 season ended. Looking for another team to play for, Fowler traveled east to New Hampshire and joined a professional club in Laconia.

The Montpelier Capital Citys finished their only season with a 2-13 record.25 Three members of the team ended up playing in the major leagues.26 Fowler wasn’t one of them, but that wasn’t due to a lack of ability.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com and Newspapers.com, and received research assistance from Charlie Bevis, Paul Carnahan, Wayne McElreavy, Chuck McGill, and Tom Simon.

Notes

1 Brian McKenna, “Bud Fowler,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bud-fowler/.

2 “Montpelier and Vicinity,” Vermont Watchman and State Journal, June 29, 1887: 1; “Business Notices,” Rural Vermonter, July 1, 1887: 3.

3 Ron Thomas, “Black Innovations Enriched Baseball,” San Francisco Chronicle/Des Moines Register, March 28, 1993: 31.

4 “Bud Fowler.”

5 Peter Mancuso, “July 14, 1887: The Color Line Is Drawn in Baseball,” Society for American Baseball Research, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-14-1887-the-color-line-is-drawn/.

6 “Base Ball,” Vermont Watchman and State Journal, August 10, 1887: 1.

7 “Business Notices,” Vermont Watchman and State Journal, July 20, 1887: 1.

8 “The Barnum and London Show,” Vermont Watchman and State Journal, August 3, 1887: 1.

9 Paul Carnahan, “Langdon Meadow and the Growth of Montpelier,” The Bridge, December 1, 2016.

10 AccuWeather, email correspondence with certified consulting meteorologist Steve Wistar, November 13, 2021.

11 “Base-Ball,” Vermont Watchman and State Journal, August 10, 1887: 1.

12 “Base Ball at Montpelier Last Week,” Montpelier Argus and Patriot, August 10, 1887: 4.

13 “Base Ball at Montpelier Last Week.”

14 “The World of Sports,” Burlington Free Press, August 15, 1887: 1.

15 “Mere Mention Memoranda,” Montpelier Argus and Patriot, August 17, 1887: 4.

16 “Mere Mention Memoranda.”

17 “Base-Ball,” Vermont Watchman and State Journal, August 17, 1887: 1.

18 Jeffrey Michael Laing, Bud Fowler: Baseball’s First Black Professional (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2013), 96.

19 “Montpelier Minor Mere Mention,” Montpelier Argus and Patriot, July 13, 1887: 3.

20 “Burlingtons Win,” Burlington Free Press, August 18, 1887: 8.

21 “Mere Mention Memoranda.”

22 “Field Notes,” Rutland Daily Herald, August 17, 1887: 4.

23 Bud Fowler: Baseball’s First Black Professional, 96.

24 “Base Ball Trouble at Montpelier,” Burlington Free Press, August 11, 1887: 8.

25 Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007), 149.

26 “History / Baseball in Central VT,” Vermont Mountaineers, http://thevermontmountaineers.pointstreaksites.com/view/thevermontmountaineers/mountaineers-history-1/history-baseball-in-central-vt.

In the 1880s, the Educational Home for Boys in Philadelphia was a boarding school housing about 100 Native Americans from the Chippewa, Mohawk, and Sioux tribes.1 They learned to read, write, and speak English; obtained skills needed in farming and carpentry; and received religious and music education. “For after taking away the lands and hunting-grounds of the Indians,” said the Philadelphia Times, “it is as little as we can do to give their children the advantages of civilization.”2

Part of the boys’ training was to learn the national game. The school baseball team played against other amateur teams in Philadelphia. In 1888 and 1889, Jacob White Eyes was the school’s best pitcher and Peter Graves was his catcher. The Times reported that this “able Indian battery” does “fine work.”3 Jacob White Eyes was an Oglala Sioux born in the Dakota Territory in December 1869.4 In Lakota, his native language, he was Ištá Ská, meaning “white eyes.” As a young man, he stood more than 6 feet tall.5 Peter Sha-ga-na-she Graves was a Chippewa born in Minnesota in May 1870.6

On April 6, 1889, facing a team from the Pennsylvania Deaf and Dumb Institute, White Eyes struck out 21 batters and walked only one in a 9-2 victory.7 On June 5, against a semipro team from Norristown, Pennsylvania, he pitched well in a 4-2 loss.8 He was outdueled that day by Norristown ace John “Sadie” McMahon. Soon after, White Eyes and Graves joined the Foote Base Ball team of Philadelphia, managed by Harry F. Foote.9

The Middle States League was an integrated minor league that included two African-American teams, the Cuban Giants and the Gorhams. Foote’s team joined the league in July 1889 and represented Hazleton, Pennsylvania, 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The Hazleton Sentinel heralded the team’s arrival. “White Eyes and Graves are Indians, and are considered to be one of the best batteries in the State,” said the Sentinel.10 At this time, few Native Americans played professional baseball. Louis Sockalexis, believed to be the first Native American to play in the major leagues,11 debuted in 1897. Chief Bender, who lived at the Educational Home in the 1890s, made his major-league debut in 1903. Jim Thorpe came along a decade later.

On July 16, 1889, the Hazleton team lost its first game, 8-6, to the Cuban Giants.12 White Eyes and Graves were the battery in that game and in six of Hazleton’s next nine games. In those six contests, White Eyes’ earned-run average was a sparkling 0.88.13 But he won only three of the six because the Hazleton defense was woeful, committing 38 errors in the three losses. He and Graves play “splendid ball,” said the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It is very discouraging to see how badly they are supported.”14 In his first two weeks in the league, White Eyes pitched 59 innings, an arduous workload.

With a 4-6 record, the Hazleton team traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a game on July 30. The Harrisburg Ponies, managed by James Farrington, had won 12 of their last 13 games, and with a 39-15 record were battling the Cuban Giants for first place.15 This was a tough test for the Hazleton squad. Foote chose White Eyes and Graves as his battery; Farrington went with Bobby Gamble and Kid Williams. Gamble had been invincible, allowing only five hits in 27 innings, July 17-24.16 He was masterfully assisted by Williams, “the finest catcher in the league.”17

About 300 fans attended the game on a rainy Tuesday. The league umpire did not show up, so Ponies utilityman Harry Koons filled in.

The home team batted first. White Eyes struck out the leadoff man, Bill Eagan, and walked Tommy Pollard, the Harrisburg captain. Pollard attempted to steal second base; Graves threw the ball over the head of second baseman Frank Rinn, and Pollard scampered to third. But Rinn grabbed George Hoverter’s hot grounder and threw home in time to get Pollard. White Eyes fanned Jerry McCormick for the third out.

Graves led off the bottom of the first and got aboard when Gamble misplayed his grounder. Graves reached second base on the play or by stealing second. Frank Conway struck out, but the third strike got away from Williams. Graves tried to score from second but was tagged out at the plate by Gamble.

White Eyes “threw the ball with terrific force”18 but was wild. The Sentinel reported that the Harrisburg batters were afraid of him. In the top of the second, he struck out Joe Jones and walked John Deasley and Howard Vallee. Williams advanced the runners with a sacrifice, but White Eyes escaped the jam by striking out Gamble.

In the bottom of the second, Gamble retired the Hazleton batters in order, fanning two of them. White Eyes did the same to the Harrisburg hitters in the top of the third. It was a pitchers’ duel.

Andy Knox led off the bottom of the third with a bunt down the third-base line. Gamble fielded it and threw wildly to first, allowing Knox to reach second. White Eyes struck out, but Williams missed the third strike. The play-by-play account omits the details, but Knox was put out and White Eyes reached second base. After Graves flied out to Jones in left field, White Eyes was called out for running out of the baseline on his way to third. Manager Foote felt the umpire’s incorrect calls in this inning deprived his team of two runs.

The Ponies broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. After McCormick struck out, Jones reached on an error and Deasley drew a walk. Jones scored on a fielder’s choice, and Deasley tallied on a single by Williams. In the bottom of the fourth, Charlie Kelly drew a walk but was stranded.

Rain came down hard in the fifth inning. White Eyes retired the Ponies in order in the top half. With one out in the bottom half, Walter Plock drew a walk but Williams caught him napping at first. Gamble struck out Knox to end the inning.

The game was called due to the rain. The final score was Harrisburg 2, Hazleton 0. Gamble completed a five-inning no-hitter. White Eyes gave up only one hit in the loss. Each pitcher struck out seven batters.

The Harrisburg Call praised White Eyes and Graves: “A stronger battery and one that works together better cannot be found. Both are perfect gentlemen. … Their behavior while on the ball field and elsewhere is of such a character as will put many of their pale-faced brethren to shame.”19

Epilogue

Jacob White Eyes continued to pitch for the Hazleton team, but his effectiveness diminished. Perhaps he had a sore arm. In late August he was released “for poor playing.”20 Peter Graves remained with the team, which finished the season with a 10-27 record.

No record has been found of White Eyes or Graves playing for any other minor-league team. In 1892 they played together on a YMCA team in Philadelphia.21 Without Graves, White Eyes played for Guy Green’s barnstorming Nebraska Indians, 1898-1903.22

When not traveling, White Eyes resided in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Oglala Sioux. He married a Frenchwoman and learned enough of the French language that Buffalo Bill Cody brought him along on the 1905-06 European tour of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. White Eyes served as Cody’s French interpreter and performed in the show as one of the Indians.23 An associate of Cody later said of White Eyes: “He is quite an athlete. When we were in Paris, a team of the Buffalo Bill show played a game of baseball with the American students of Paris and Jake pitched. We won all three games.”24 White Eyes died on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1937 at the age of 67.

Graves resided on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. In the words of Erwin F. Mittelholtz, his biographer, Graves “was perhaps one of the greatest leaders and spokesmen that the Chippewas of the Red Lake Indian Reservation will ever know or remember. He ruled firmly, sometimes with an iron hand, yet he was a statesman and guardian for the rights and protection of the Red Lake Chippewa Indians for more than half a century.”25 Graves died on the Red Lake Reservation in 1957 at the age of 86.

Sources

Game account in “The Great Game,” Hazleton (Pennsylvania) Sentinel, July 31, 1889: 4.

Ancestry.com and Baseball-reference.com, accessed December 2020.

Mittelholtz, Erwin F. Historical Review of the Red Lake Indian Reservation, Redlake, Minnesota: A History of Its People and Progress (Bemidji, Minnesota: General Council of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians and the Beltrami County Historical Society, 1957).

Photo credits

Left image: Drawing of the Educational Home for Boys, from the cover of the Third Annual Report of the Educational Home for Boys (Philadelphia: Henry B. Ashmead, 1875).

Center image: 1887-88 photo of Jacob White Eyes as an 18-year-old student of the Educational Home for Boys, by John N. Choate, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Right image: 1905-06 studio portrait of Jacob White Eyes as a 36-year-old performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.

Notes

1 “The Lincoln Institution,” Philadelphia Times, January 22, 1886: 4.

2 “Chat,” Philadelphia Times, April 15, 1888: 12.

3 “About the Amateurs,” Philadelphia Times, May 27, 1888: 7.

4 1900 US Census.

5 “The Nebraska Indians,” Lead (South Dakota) Call, March 27, 1900: 3.

6 1900 US Census; Mittelholtz, 114.

7 “The Indians Win Their First,” Philadelphia Times, April 7, 1889: 3.

8 “The Indians Beaten at Norristown,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 6, 1889: 6.

9 “Base Ball,” Hazleton (Pennsylvania) Sentinel, July 8, 1889: 4.

10 “The Team Is Here,” Hazleton Sentinel, July 11, 1889: 4.

11 Baseball-almanac.com/legendary/american_indian_baseball_players.shtml.

12 “Base Ball,” Hazleton Sentinel, July 17, 1889: 4.

13 Computed from box scores in the Hazleton Sentinel, July 18-29, 1889.

14 “Gorham, 11; Hazleton, 9,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 25, 1889: 6.

15 “Base Ball,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Independent, July 30, 1889: 1.

16 “Another Game Won,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Telegraph, July 18, 1889: 1; “Middle States League,” York (Pennsylvania) Gazette, July 23, 1889: 1; “The Middle States League,” Philadelphia Times, July 25, 1889: 2.

17 “1 to 0,” Harrisburg Independent, July 24, 1889: 1.

18 “White Eyes Surprised,” Harrisburg Telegraph, July 31, 1889: 1.

19 As reported in the Hazleton Sentinel, August 6, 1889: 4.

20 “Base Ball,” Freeland (Pennsylvania) Tribune, August 29, 1889: 1.

21 “Base Ball Notes,” Camden (New Jersey) Courier, April 22, 1892: 1.

22 “Baseball,” Crete (Nebraska) Herald, June 10, 1898: 1; “Normal School Happenings,” Grant County Witness (Platteville, Wisconsin), June 7, 1899: 5; “The Nebraska Indians,” Lead Call, March 27, 1900: 3; “Exeter Defeats the Indians,” Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln), May 1, 1901: 2; “Indians to Play at Vincennes, Ind.,” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 17, 1902: 7; “Told by an Indian,” Nebraska State Journal, December 7, 1903: 6.

23 “Wh-o-o-op! Iron Tail and His Braves Come,” New York Times, February 8, 1906: 9.

24 “Old Partners Now Mayors,” Omaha Bee, December 27, 1907: 2.

25 Mittelholtz, 110.

Ladies’ Day meant the stands were replete with colorfully attired women and “their feathers and ribbons and smiles.”4 Girls, too, were there, which irked the boys:

“And just think of it! Girls are permitted to go through the gates without paying anything. It does not cost them a cent and boys have to give their quarters and half dollars. … Of course, a great many boys are enterprising enough to work for the privilege of watching the exciting games but every boy without pocket money can’t peddle score cards, chewing gum or lemonade.”5

The White Sox were managed by Frank Selee and featured a superb two-man pitching rotation: right-handers William “Dad” Clarke and Charles “Kid” Nichols. It was Nichols’ turn to pitch. Though only 19 and in his third professional season, he was regarded as the finest pitcher in the league.6 His extraordinary record, through games of July 28, was 28-4.7 Omaha’s newspapers described a poised youngster who “never gets rattled” and “is cool and collected at all times.”8

Only two members of Selee’s starting lineup had any major-league experience: first baseman Wally Andrews and right fielder Joe Strauss. In contrast, seven of nine starters for the Corn Huskers were former major leaguers, including first baseman and manager Jim Powell, third baseman George Bradley, and pitcher Billy Crowell. Bradley, at 37, was the oldest; back in 1876 he pitched the first no-hitter in National League history. Crowell, a 23-year-old right-hander, had compiled a 19-45 record over two seasons in the major-league American Association.

Among the Western Association batting leaders were Jack Crooks of Omaha and John “Monk” Cline of Sioux City. Through games of July 12, both men were hitting above .350.9 Crooks had belted four home runs and a single on June 8 in a 19-15 triumph over St. Paul.10 He was known also for his fielding – he covered “an immense amount of territory” at second base11 – and for his foghorn voice which could be heard throughout the ballpark.12 Cline was a short (5-foot-4) shortstop, but what he “lacks in height he neutralizes by the expansiveness of his smile.”13 His countenance was never brighter than when he won $5,000 (equivalent to $150,000 in 2022) in Louisiana’s August lottery.14

The White Sox wore uniforms that were, in the words of a local newspaper, “new, neat and novel”: “white flannel shirts, with navy blue stripes, navy blue pants, white caps [and] belts,” and fittingly, white socks.15 The Corn Huskers donned “suits of gray flannel” with black caps, belts, and socks.16 Herman Doscher, in white flannel, was the sole umpire. A former player and umpire in the majors, Doscher was “a gentleman of excellent judgment and acquainted with every wrinkle of the great American game.”17

Many fans rode cable cars to the ballpark. This “swiftly gliding” conveyance was preferred over the sluggish old “horse cars” (horse-drawn streetcars).18 Attendance was reported to be nearly 1,500, including several hundred women.

The White Sox batted first and had men on base in each of the first two innings but did not score. Leading off the third, Nichols reached on an error by manager Powell at first base, and Jimmy Cooney stroked a single to left. The bases were loaded after an error by Tim Brosnan, the second baseman, and Joe Walsh’s single brought Nichols home with the first run of the game.

In the top of the fourth, Omaha’s Jim Canavan reached on a force out and stole second base, but he was thrown out trying to steal third. That was unfortunate, because Nichols followed with “a rattling two-bagger.”19 It was another missed opportunity for the home team.

Nichols looked invincible as he retired the first nine batters he faced. But the Corn Huskers came to life in the bottom of the fourth. Cline singled and came home on Ed Glenn’s double to right field. Glenn moved to third on an infield out and scampered home when catcher Tom Nagle missed the third strike on Brosnan, giving Sioux City a 2-1 lead.

Canavan’s triple in the sixth inning brought in the tying run for the White Sox. The game was now a pitchers’ duel, “close and exciting,” keeping everyone “in a constant state of feverish anxiety.”20

The tie was broken in the top of the ninth. With the bases empty, Nichols stepped to the plate and drove the first pitch from Crowell deep into the left-field corner. The ball landed inside a chicken coop! No ball had ever been hit there before. Nichols circled the bases for a home run as fans showered him with silver dollars, halves and quarters. “He deserved every cent he received,” declared the Omaha Republican.21

The Corn Huskers could not score off Nichols in the bottom of the ninth. The final score was Omaha 3, Sioux City 2. Nichols was the hero of the game, excelling as a pitcher and a hitter.

In his complete-game victory, Nichols struck out 10 and allowed only three hits. He received excellent support from his defense. Crooks, at second base, made “a great one-hand catch of a hot liner” in the fifth inning.22 And Walsh, the shortstop, was credited with five assists; he was “marvelous” and “never played a better game.”23

The White Sox also defeated the Corn Huskers in both the second and third games of the series. Nichols threw a two-hitter in the final game.24

Omaha went on to win the 1889 Western Association pennant. Sioux City finished in fourth place.25 Nichols’ season record was 39-8 with a 1.75 ERA and 368 strikeouts in 438 innings. He spent the next 12 seasons with the Boston Beaneaters of the National League, with Selee as his manager. Over that span, Nichols compiled a 330-183 record and the Beaneaters won five pennants. In 1949 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

Game coverage in the August 24, 1889, issues of the Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha Republican, and Omaha World-Herald.

Notes

1 Omaha’s Base Ball Park was located at Twentieth and Ohio streets, according to: “Places of Amusement,” Omaha Daily Bee, September 4, 1888: 2. Women and girls were admitted free on Ladies’ Days.

2 “Standings of the Clubs,” Omaha Daily Bee, August 23, 1889: 2.

3 “Base Ball Record,” Watertown (Wisconsin) News, October 17, 1888: 3.

4 “The Demons Were Hoodooed,” Omaha Daily Bee, August 1, 1889: 2.

5 “Women at the Ball Games,” Omaha World-Herald, September 1, 1889: 11.

6 “Omaha Took Both Games,” Omaha Daily Bee, July 5, 1889: 4.

7 “The Western Ass’n,” The Sporting News, August 10, 1889: 4.

8 “Flashes from the Diamond,” Omaha Daily Bee, June 23, 1889: 9; “Flashes from the Diamond,” Omaha Daily Bee, July 7, 1889: 9.

9 “The Western Ass’n,” The Sporting News, August 10, 1889: 4.

10 “Omaha 19, St. Paul 15,” Omaha Daily Bee, June 9, 1889: 2.

11 “Notes of the Game,” Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, May 29, 1889: 2.

12 “Ready to Play Base Ball,” Omaha Daily Herald, March 31, 1889: 7; “A Receipt for Umpires,” St. Paul (Minnesota) Globe, August 4, 1889: 4.

13 “Ball Tossers Arrive,” Spokane (Washington) Review, March 31, 1892: 3.

14 “In General,” Sioux City Journal, August 15, 1889: 5.

15 “Ordered to Report,” Omaha Daily Bee, March 22, 1889: 8. The 1889 uniform, with white socks, surely inspired the team nickname. In 1888, the Omaha team was known as the Omahogs.

16 “Championship Games,” Sioux City Journal, April 20, 1889: 6.

17 “Base Ball Notes,” Omaha World-Herald, February 2, 1890: 2.

18 “Crowded Cable Cars,” Omaha Daily Herald, July 2, 1888: 8.

19 “The Kid’s Home Run Drive,” Omaha Daily Bee, August 24, 1889: 2.

20 “The Kid’s Home Run Drive.”

21 “He Is a Great Kid,” Omaha Republican, August 24, 1889: 2.

22 “The Kid’s Home Run Drive.”

23 “He Is a Great Kid.”

24 “Eleven Consecutive Games,” Omaha Daily Bee, August 26, 1889: 2.

25 Reach’s Official American Association Base Ball Guide, 1890 (Philadelphia: A.J. Reach, 1890), 69.

The Detroit Wolverines, managed by Bob Leadley, had captured the 1889 International Association pennant in convincing fashion, finishing seven games ahead of the second-place Syracuse club. Leadley predicted that his 1890 Wolverines would be “fully 25 per cent stronger” than the 1889 championship team.1 “Manager Leadley has in the Detroits undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, minor league club in the country,” said the Buffalo Express.2

The Torontos,3 under new manager Charles Maddock, hosted the Wolverines on Opening Day, Thursday, May 1, 1890, at the Toronto Baseball Grounds in front of 2,500 fans, “a large attendance considering the painfully chilly weather.”4 Players and spectators were “thoroughly uncomfortable, as a cold north wind made the atmosphere as chilly as that of a March day.”5

The game was preceded by a grand parade through the streets of Toronto. A brass band led the way, and the ballplayers followed in horse-drawn carriages. At the ballpark, after the teams’ pregame warm-ups, Toronto Mayor Edward F. Clarke made a welcoming speech and ceremoniously tossed a baseball onto the field. Wesley Curry, “a steady, reliable umpire,”6 was the game’s sole arbiter.

The Detroit lineup featured a first-rate infield. Jake Virtue was regarded as one of the best-fielding first basemen. Bill Higgins, the second baseman, could “make a double play as quick as anyone.”7 The speedy Bobby Wheelock covered a lot of ground at short. Jim Donnelly, the third baseman, was the team captain.

In the Detroit outfield were Harry Hulin in left, George Rhue in center, and Count Campau in right. The battery was pitcher Edgar Smith, a 27-year-old right-hander, and catcher Mike Goodfellow. Smith had posted an 18-9 record for the 1889 Wolverines. He was “a quiet, intelligent, gentlemanly fellow”8 and a good hitter; Leadley placed him sixth in the batting order.

The Toronto battery was pitcher Ledell Titcomb, a 23-year-old southpaw, and catcher John Grim. Titcomb had compiled a 15-13 mark for Toronto in 1889.

The Toronto infield was composed of Pete Wood at first base, Tom McLaughlin at second, Albert Ike at short, and Chris Rickley at third The outfield was covered by Denny Connors, Billy Bottenus, and John Coleman in left, center, and right field, respectively.

The defending champions had prepared for the new season by playing a number of preseason games, but the Torontos had played only one.9 Five men in Toronto’s Opening Day lineup (Wood, Ike, and the entire outfield) were new to the club, so the Torontos opened the season with little experience playing as a team.

Toronto batted first and took a 2-0 lead. Smith struck out Grim, the leadoff man, but the third strike got past the catcher, Goodfellow, allowing Grim to make it to second base. Bottenus followed with a single to center field, scoring Grim, and went to second base on the throw home. Wood’s grounder was handled by Virtue, who tossed to Smith covering first, but Smith dropped the ball and Wood was safe. Bottenus rounded third base a little too far, and Smith fired the ball to Donnelly, who tagged Bottenus before he could return to the bag. Wood reached second base on Connors’ sacrifice and came home when McLaughlin sent “a line hit right into Hulin’s hands [in left field], and to the amazement of everybody he dropped it.”10

Connors singled with one out in the third inning but was erased by a 4-6-3 double play, from Higgins to Wheelock to Virtue. The nifty twin killing was “one of the finest ever seen on the home grounds,” reported the Toronto Mail.11

Two sacrifices and three singles, including a base hit by Smith, netted two runs for the Wolverines in the bottom of the third to knot the score. In the next inning, the Torontos were sloppy on defense as the visitors rallied for four more runs. Rickley and McLaughlin muffed infield popups. Higgins doubled in the inning, and Wheelock and Campau contributed singles.

Leading off the fifth inning, Grim grounded to Donnelly, who threw errantly to first, enabling Grim to get aboard. Bottenus grounded into a force out, advanced to second base on Wood’s sacrifice, and scored on Connors’ single. With McLaughlin at the plate, Smith delivered two wild pitches, allowing Connors to reach third base, and McLaughlin’s single brought him home. The Torontos had cut Detroit’s lead to 6-4.

Grim led off again in the seventh inning and repeated a grounder to Donnelly. This time Donnelly’s throw to first base was accurate, but the usually-sure-handed Virtue dropped it. Bottenus singled, sending Grim to third base, and Bottenus stole second base. When Smith fanned Connors, Goodfellow dropped the third strike and unleashed a wild throw to first base that went into right field, where it was collected by Campau. Grim scored, but when Bottenus also tried to score, he was nailed at the plate by Campau’s “splendid throw” home.12 A single by McLaughlin scored Connors, and the game was tied, 6-6.

Smith tripled in the bottom of the seventh for the Wolverines, but Titcomb fielded Virtue’s tap and collaborated with Grim and Rickley to nab Smith in a rundown between third and home. Virtue, however, reached third base on the play and scored after McLaughlin fielded Hulin’s grounder and threw wildly to first base. Detroit led, 7-6.

Bothered by a sore arm, Donnelly was replaced at third base in the top of the eighth inning by Jake Wells, Detroit’s backup catcher. Wells immediately muffed Ike’s popup but atoned for it by starting a 5-4-3 double play later in the inning.

The Wolverines tacked on three more runs in their eighth on singles by Higgins, Campau, and Smith, and two errors by Ike at short. Smith then retired the Torontos in order in the ninth, and the ragged affair was over. The final score was Detroit 10, Toronto 6.

“Errors were more numerous than runs,” noted the Toronto Mail.13 The Wolverines were charged with seven errors, and the Torontos were guilty of 11 miscues. The home team could have been charged with more errors: Two fly balls that were counted as Detroit hits should have been caught, but the Toronto outfielders “feared a collision [and] no one tried for them.”14

Epilogue

The Wolverines won their first nine games of the 1890 season15 and were the clear favorites to win the pennant, but the International Association folded on July 10. Several Detroit players were signed by major-league clubs. Campau, Higgins, Donnelly, and Wells went to the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, while Wheelock went to the Columbus Solons in the same league.

Smith and Virtue joined the Cleveland Spiders of the National League, and Leadley became the Spiders manager on July 26, 1890. In Leadley’s 10th game at the helm, Cy Young made his major-league debut in an 8-1 victory over Cap Anson’s Chicago Colts.

On September 15, 1890, with Grim as his batterymate, Titcomb pitched a 7-0 no-hitter for the Rochester Broncos of the American Association.16

Acknowledgments

Joe Gonsowski provided the Jake Virtue photo.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, I used the International Association page from the Bullpen section of the Baseball-Reference.com website. Neither Baseball-Reference.com nor Retrosheet.org have yet extended their digitized box score coverage as far back as 1890; I used the box score for this game from the May 2, 1890, Detroit Free Press game story cited in Note 4.

Notes

1 “Opening of the International League Championship Season,” Toronto Mail, May 1, 1890: 2.

2 “The International League,” Buffalo Express, May 9, 1890: 6.

3 Although Baseball-Reference.com refers to the team as the Toronto Canucks, contemporary newspapers refer to the team as the Torontos.

4 Detroit Free Press, May 2, 1890: 2.

5 Ibid.

6 Toronto Mail, May 2, 1890: 2.

7 “The Crack of the Bat,” Detroit Free Press, January 20, 1889: 3.

8 “Gossip,” Detroit Free Press, September 18, 1889: 2.

9 Toronto Mail, May 1, 1890: 2.

10 Detroit Free Press, May 2, 1890: 2.

11 Toronto Mail, May 2, 1890: 2.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 “The International,” Sporting Life, May 24, 1890: 12.

16 “Here’s Pitching for You,” Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), September 16, 1890: 6.

Canton opened the 1890 season with a doubleheader at Wheeling, West Virginia, on April 30. In the first game, Cyclone Young hurled a three-hitter as Canton defeated Wheeling, 4-2. In his second appearance, on May 3, he won again, a 4-3 triumph at McKeesport, Pennsylvania.3

Cy Young’s third start came on Tuesday, May 6, in the first game of a three-game series against Akron, Ohio, at Akron’s West Hill Park.4 The Akron Beacon Journal reported that it was a “dark, cold afternoon” – cloudy with the temperature in the mid-40s – and noted that the “few spectators” included some enthusiastic Canton fans.5 The teams wore colorful uniforms: Canton in blue and red, and Akron in bluish-gray and dark blue.6 Canton brought its mascot, a bull terrier.

Akron, as the home team, opted to bat first. Young yielded a solid double to the leadoff man, Charlie Pike, the Akron captain. After Frank Motz sacrificed, shortstop Mike O’Rourke singled, scoring Pike for a 1-0 Akron lead.

Canton answered in its half of the first. Leading off, Jack Darrah reached first on O’Rourke’s throwing error, moved to second on a passed ball, and stole third. John Carr was hit by a pitch from George Whinnery, and Ed “Fatty” Cline, the Canton captain, slapped a run-scoring single, tying the game. Henry Yaik singled to load the bases, but Whinnery escaped further damage when Joe Fern hit into a double play.

Both teams had men on base in the second inning but could not score. Young and Whinnery settled down and retired the batters in order for the next three innings in a pitchers’ duel.

In the top of the sixth, O’Rourke drew a base on balls from Young, advanced a base on an error by Darrah, the second baseman, and stole third. Yaik, Young’s catcher, was charged with a passed ball that permitted O’Rourke to score, giving Akron a 2-1 edge.

Darrah made amends for the error in the bottom of the seventh. After Ed Dillon reached first when Whinnery muffed his easy popup and took second on a passed ball, Darrah brought him home with a single. Canton went ahead in the eighth as Cline singled, went to third on Tom Dallas’s double, and came home on a wild pitch.

Young was sharp. He retired the Akron hitters in order in the eighth and ninth innings. The final score was Canton 3, Akron 2. Young allowed five hits, struck out eight, and walked two. After the final out, the elated pitcher hugged his manager, William C. Heingartner.

The next day, Akron won the second game of the series, 6-4. Young pitched again in the third contest, on Thursday, May 8. It was a cloudy day, but with the temperature in the mid-50s,7 a much larger crowd, about 600, attended.

Canton was the first to score. In the bottom of the first, Darrah smacked a ball that went between O’Rourke’s legs at short. Carr followed with a two-run homer. Akron got one back in the top of the second; Homer Berger singled, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice, and scored on an error by Darrah.

Randall, the Akron pitcher, was wild. Canton added a run in the fourth on two singles, a walk, and two wild pitches. Akron battled back with two runs in the fifth, from a double by Charlie Tebeau, a Canton error, and a single by Whinnery, who was in right field for Akron in this game.

In the top of the sixth, Dan Sweeney earned the distinction of becoming the first man to hit a home run off Young in a professional baseball game. His solo shot “sailed gracefully far over the left field fence.”8 This gave Akron a 4-3 lead. But Canton scored once in the sixth and once in the seventh to retake the lead.

It looked forlorn for the home team when Akron came to bat against Young in the top of the ninth trailing 5-4. The first man up was Tebeau. He got on base on Young’s fielding error, stole second, and went to third on Yaik’s wild throw. Randall’s dribbler down the third-base line was watched intently by Dallas, the third baseman, who waited for it to roll foul. It stayed fair, however, as Tebeau stormed home to tie the game.

Akron broke the game open with three more runs off Young, via a double by Pike, a single by O’Rourke, and two more Canton errors. Canton’s bull-terrier mascot “crawled under the player’s bench and shed scalding tears,” gloated the Beacon Journal.9

Canton scored a run in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little too late. The final tally was Akron 8, Canton 6, and Young was handed the first loss of his professional baseball career. He allowed 10 hits, struck out four, and walked none. Canton committed eight errors, including two by Young.

Epilogue

Even with the talented Young, the rebuilt Canton team of 1890 was the weakest squad in the Tri-State League. At season’s end, the team’s record was 27-47.10 Young’s record was 15-15.

For Young, his stay in Canton was a time of inconsistency. Against Springfield, Ohio, on June 2, he surrendered 17 hits in a 13-5 debacle, yet a week later he beat them, 5-3.11 McKeesport seemed to have him figured out, routing him 14-4 on June 28 and 8-2 on July 7.12 But on July 25, he threw a no-hitter against them with 18 strikeouts.13 That was his final game with Canton. He signed with the Cleveland Spiders of the National League and made his major-league debut on August 6. It was the beginning of a 22-year big-league career in which he won a record 511 games.

Sources

Game coverage in the May 7-9, 1890, issues of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Peterjohn, Alvin K. “The First Year of ‘Cyclone’ Young,” Baseball Research Journal (SABR), 1976.

Notes

1 Henry Chadwick, ed., Spalding’s Base Ball Guide and Official League Book for 1890 (Chicago and New York: A.G. Spalding & Bros., 1890), 86, 87. Baseball-Reference.com (accessed November 2021) refers to the 1888-90 Canton teams as the “Canton Nadjys.” The research for this article found no mention of this nickname in period sources.

2 “Whinnery’s Muff,” Akron Beacon Journal, May 7, 1890: 4.

3 Sporting Life, May 10, 1890: 12.

4 West Hill Park was located on Crosby Street in the West Hill neighborhood of Akron.

5 “Whinnery’s Muff”; “Meteorological Report,” Akron Beacon Journal, May 6, 1890: 1.

6 “The Akron Club’s Uniform,” Akron Beacon Journal, April 4, 1890: 3.

7 “Meteorological Report,” Akron Beacon Journal, May 8, 1890: 1.

8 “Intensely Exciting,” Akron Beacon Journal, May 9, 1890: 3.

9 “Intensely Exciting.”

10 Henry Chadwick, ed., Spalding’s Base Ball Guide and Official League Book for 1891 (Chicago and New York: A.G. Spalding & Bros., 1891), 166.

11 Sporting Life, June 14, 1890: 10.

12 Sporting Life, July 5, 1890: 11; Sporting Life, July 12, 1890: 10.

13 Sporting Life, August 2, 1890: 11.

The teams entered the day tied for first place in the four-team California League. The Metropolitans were managed by Mike Finn. The Colonels were named for their owner and manager, Colonel Thomas P. Robinson. Marching majestically in a cape overcoat and derby, Robinson, like a drum major, led a brass band into the ballpark before each game of the twin bill.

In the second game, Finn chose Jacob “Nick” Lookabaugh to pitch for the Metropolitans. Robinson tabbed a 19-year-old phenom, Wilfred “Kid” Carsey, to pitch for the Colonels.3 Both hurlers were right-handers.

The Mets batted first and went out in order. Oakland’s Joe Cantillon singled to lead off the bottom of the first; left fielder Rube Levy bobbled the ball and threw wildly to second base, allowing Cantillon to reach third. Two outs later, Sam Dungan, the league’s leading hitter, slapped a double into left-center field, scoring Cantillon with the first run of the game.

The Mets threatened in the top of the second. William “Steve” Stevens led off by drawing a walk and went to second base when Charley O’Neill could not hold Buck Ebright’s stinging line drive to left field. O’Neill was charged with an error. But Carsey retired the next three batters to get out of the jam.

Charley O’Neill singled to right field to start the bottom of the second. Jim McDonald also singled to right. After Norris O’Neill struck out, first baseman William “Peek-a-Boo” Veach was slow to field Carsey’s grounder, and Carsey reached to load the bases. Cantillon’s grounder was handled by shortstop Bill Everitt, who threw to second baseman Joe Shea for a force out, as Charley O’Neill came home with the Colonels’ second run. McDonald tried to score from second on the play but was nailed at the plate by Shea’s alert throw to catcher Chick Speer.

Everitt, a 21-year-old shortstop, impressed with his fielding. The highlight of his performance, for which he received a standing ovation, occurred in the bottom of the third. Charles Dooley grounded a ball past Ebright, the third baseman. Ranging far to his right, Everitt corralled it and threw to first in time to retire Dooley.

But it was Carsey’s day to shine. In the fourth inning Charlie Sweeney, the sole umpire, mistakenly gave Ebright a base on balls on only three balls. Otherwise, Carsey did not allow a baserunner from the third inning through the eighth. In the fifth inning, he needed only five pitches to retire the side.

He received ample help from his fielders. In the seventh, Stevens slugged an apparent home run to left-center field. But Oakland’s center fielder, Danny Sweeney, the smallest player in the league at 5-feet-5,4 chased it down and after juggling it, made the catch. The next inning, third baseman Norris O’Neill grabbed Everitt’s grounder over the bag and fired across the diamond in time to get him.

Carsey gave up a base on balls with one out in the ninth, but the Mets could not capitalize. When all was said and done, Carsey had delivered a no-hitter. The final score was Oakland 2, San Francisco 0. With a split of the doubleheader, the teams remained tied for first place.

Carsey allowed three walks in his gem. Lookabaugh also pitched well, allowing six hits and two walks. Though the Mets lost, San Francisco newspapers were effusive. The Call said it was “one of the most brilliant and interesting games ever produced on a California diamond.”5 And the Examiner called it the greatest game ever played at the Haight Street Grounds.

Epilogue

The Metropolitans won the 1890 California League pennant, finishing 2½ games ahead of the Colonels.6 Working in two-man rotations, the league’s pitchers carried a heavy load. Lookabaugh pitched an astounding 803 innings for the 1892 San Jose Dukes and was never the same after that.

Carsey found success in the majors, winning 94 games for the 1892-97 Philadelphia Phillies. But he never threw another no-hitter. When interviewed in 1951 at the age of 80, he proudly mentioned the no-hitter he threw in San Francisco in 1890.7

Sources

Game coverage in the October 13, 1890, issues of the San Francisco Call, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Francisco Examiner.

Image from the June 30, 1894, issue of the New York Clipper.

Notes

1 “Notes,” San Francisco Call, October 10, 1890: 8.

2 “They Divided the Honors,” San Francisco Call, October 13, 1890: 8.

3 As noted in Carsey’s SABR biography, evidence suggests that he was born on October 22, 1870. The game described here was therefore 10 days before his 20th birthday.

4 “League Liners,” San Francisco Call, September 29, 1890: 8.

5 “They Divided the Honors.”

6 “California League,” Sporting Life, December 6, 1890: 6.

7 Harold C. Burr, “Carsey Finds New Use for Gay Nineties’ Arm,” Brooklyn Eagle, February 22, 1951: 21.

The year before, the Oakland Colonels had played home games in Emeryville, about three miles north of Oakland. Robinson decided that his team should have a new ballpark in Oakland for the 1892 season, and with the backing of the Piedmont Cable Company, one was built on filled-in marshland near the company’s power plant.2 The company expected to profit from transporting fans by cable car.

The ballpark was dubbed the Piedmont Grounds. The grandstand behind home plate could seat 640. Above the grandstand were 10 private boxes with one reserved for Robinson and his friends. Bleachers on the third-base side could accommodate at least 450 fans. On the first-base side was parking for horse-drawn carriages from which visitors could watch the game. The field dimensions were 276 feet to left field, 409 to center, and 218 to right.3

A showman and promoter, Robinson was proud of the new arena and talked it up to the press. The venue, however, included an eyesore: a ramshackle, moss-covered barn that jutted into fair territory in right field. The barn was rented and in use, and scheduled for demolition when the lease expired on April 24. Robinson offered $300 (about $10,000 in 2023 dollars) to have it razed or relocated sooner, but his offer was declined.

With great fanfare, the Piedmont Grounds opened to the public on April 12. “The new grounds are in fine condition,” reported the Oakland Times, “the ground having been rolled until it is firm and the finishing touches having been added to the grandstand and boxes.”4 There was no mention of the decrepit barn. Before the game, Robinson led a parade through the streets of Oakland. A large crowd came to the ballpark and saw the Colonels lose, 8-6, to San Francisco.5

The next day, Wednesday, April 13, the Colonels hosted the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels were managed by Bob Glenalvin, a 25-year-old second baseman. The pitchers were right-handers: James Stafford for the Angels and Ed “Easy” O’Neil for the Colonels. The sole umpire was James McDonald. The attendance was 600,6 not counting the “mass” of “small boys” who scaled the outfield fence to get in; these lads had “over-the-fence tickets,” quipped the San Francisco Examiner.7

The Angels tallied once in the bottom of the fourth inning via two singles, a base on balls, and a fly out. The Colonels responded with two runs in the top of the fifth. Ed Hutchinson singled and Pete Lohman reached when Jack Newman muffed his fly ball to right field. O’Neil’s single to right sent Hutchinson home and Lohman to third, and Lohman came home on the front end of a double steal.

The Angels went ahead 5-2 with two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Singles by Bill Hassamaer and Emmett Rogers, a triple by George Treadway, and three errors by the Oakland defense were responsible.

The Colonels rallied with four runs in the top of the eighth to take a 6-5 lead. Lou Hardie led off with a triple and Fred Carroll, the Oakland captain, doubled to left. After Parke Wilson’s infield single and Clem Buschman’s sacrifice bunt, Hutchinson lined a single to left field that brought in two runs. Lohman’s single knocked in Hutchinson with the go-ahead run.

The Angels came to bat in the bottom of the ninth trailing by a run. Glenalvin led off with a double to right and Al McCauley drew a walk. Hassamaer grounded to the pitcher O’Neil, who threw to third base for a force out, and Newman flied out to Hardie in center field.

Now it was up to William “Kid” Hulen, age 22, the youngest man in the Angels lineup. With two strikes on him, he lined the ball off the barn in right field. It was a fair ball and Lohman, the right fielder, gave chase to it. The ball rolled inside a cylindrical iron roller, which had been used to “firm” the ground. By the time Lohman fished out the ball, McCauley and Hassamaer had crossed home plate with the tying and winning runs. The final score was Angels 7, Colonels 6.

Robinson was seething after the bizarre finish. Sportswriter William M. Edwards, who had come from Los Angeles to report on the game, called the Piedmont Grounds “a miserable excuse for a ballpark.”8

The next day, the second game of the Angels-Colonels series was halted in the second inning by rain.9 It was played, as planned, at San Francisco’s Haight Street Grounds. The teams met again at the Piedmont Grounds on Friday, April 15, for the third game of the series. The pitchers were southpaw John Roach for the Angels and right-hander Lester German for the Colonels. The attendance was not reported. Robinson surely chafed at the many freeloaders. “About 200 persons” sat on the center-field fence without paying, and between 50 and 200 men and boys “perched on the roof” of the barn for “a bird’s eye view of the game.”10

Yet it was the barn that became the center of attention. It had helped the Angels on Wednesday, and in this contest, it benefited the Colonels, proving that it was “a strictly impartial structure,” quipped the San Francisco Call.11 The spectators on the roof were in for a big surprise.

The Angels scored twice in the bottom of the first inning on a hit batsman, George Treadway’s double, a passed ball, and a fly out. Carroll led off the top of the second with a home run over the left-field fence. After Buschman singled, Hutchinson lifted a fly ball that landed on the barn’s roof. A fan there “clung to the ball until both Buschman and Hutchinson had crossed the plate, but they were sent back by Umpire McDonald to third and second respectively,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle.12 Moments later, Buschman came home on a passed ball and the score was tied, 2-2.

In the top of the sixth inning, Carroll started a rally with a double to left field. Wilson tripled off the side of the barn, and Buschman followed with a single up the middle. Hutchinson’s bunt down the third-base line was fielded by Hulen, a left-handed third baseman. Hulen’s throw skipped past McCauley, the first baseman, who “scrambled around among the carriages and horses” to retrieve the ball.13 Buschman scored and Hutchinson went to second base. Lohman’s sacrifice and Ollie Smith’s single brought Hutchinson home with the fourth run of the inning. The Colonels now led 6-2.

McCauley led off the bottom of the sixth “with a drive to right, the ball bounding over Lohman’s head. It would have been a home run but for the barn. The ball hit the side of the stable, rebounded into Lohman’s hands and ‘Pop’ [McCauley] was thrown out at second.”14

Near the end of the seventh inning, there was a loud crash as the roof of the barn caved in under the weight of the spectators, dropping some of them into the barn. “A wild-eyed cow and a horse dashed out through the splintered walls and plunged terror-stricken across the diamond,” the Call reported.15 Also emerging were “squealing pigs” and “a terrified goat.”16 Hardie, the center fielder, came over to help, only to be chased away by an angry hen.

There were no serious injuries, according to reports. Those who fell into the barn were assisted, and those remaining on the roof were helped down. Fans sitting on the center-field fence took advantage of the diversion; they came down from the fence and took seats in the bleachers.

The cave-in was more interesting than the game. It was quite a sight, “the like of which was never seen on any ball-field,” said the Call.17 Robinson should “introduce a trick barn with a drop roof, and hire some small boys with padded trousers to sit thereon,” suggested the Call. “Then he can advertise that the barn will positively cave in at each and every game.”18

With the barn in ruins and bereft of squatters, the game resumed. German doubled to left field in the top of the ninth, and errors by Glenalvin and Hassamaer let him score. The Angels came to bat trailing 7-2 in the bottom of the ninth. One run came in on a fly out and two more on Treadway’s double to right field.

With two outs and men on second and third, Glenalvin stepped to the plate. His grounder was fielded by Carroll, the first baseman, who raced Glenalvin to the bag. Carroll slid feet first while Glenalvin dove head first, “an exciting double slide … from opposite directions.”19 Glenalvin was called out and the game was over. The final score was Colonels 7, Angels 5.

The next game at the Piedmont Grounds took place five days later, on April 20. The barn was gone and the outfield fence was topped with barbed wire.20

Sources

Game coverage in the April 14 and April 16, 1892, issues of the Oakland (Times, Tribune), Los Angeles (Herald, Times), and San Francisco (Call, Chronicle, Examiner) newspapers.

Ancestry.com and Baseball-Reference.com, accessed November 2023.

Spalding, John E. Always on Sunday: The California Baseball League, 1886 to 1915 (Manhattan, Kansas: Ag Press, 1992).

Photo courtesy of Doug McWilliams.

Notes

1 Robinson served in the California National Guard, but no evidence has been found that he rose to the rank of colonel.

2 “The Ball Grounds,” Oakland Tribune, March 2, 1892: 6.

3 “A Great Parade,” Oakland Tribune, April 6, 1892: 8.

4 “Jubilant Baseball Cranks,” Oakland Times, April 12, 1892: 1.

5 “A Parade and Defeat,” San Francisco Examiner, April 13, 1892: 8.

6 William M. Edwards, “‘Kid’ Hulen,” Los Angeles Herald, April 14, 1892: 5.

7 “Won Out in the Ninth,” San Francisco Examiner, April 14, 1892: 8.

8 Edwards, “‘Kid’ Hulen.”

9 “Stopped by the Rain,” San Francisco Examiner, April 15, 1892: 8.

10 “Baseball and Barn,” San Francisco Call, April 16, 1892: 8; “A Great Game,” Oakland Tribune, April 16, 1892: 4.

11 “Baseball and Barn.”

12 “On the Diamond,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 16, 1892: 5.

13 “How an Old Stable Brought Victory for the Colonels,” San Francisco Examiner, April 16, 1892: 8.

14 “How an Old Stable Brought Victory for the Colonels.”

15 “Baseball and Barn.”

16 “Baseball and Barn.”

17 “Baseball and Barn.”

18 “Baseball and Barn.”

19 “Baseball and Barn.”

20 “Uncle Takes One Game,” San Francisco Examiner, April 21, 1892: 8.

Barrow was the manager and Wagner and Heidrick were stars of the 1896 Paterson Silk Weavers. Wagner played first base and third base and batted .348; Heidrick, a fleet outfielder, hit .294.1 Disagreeing over which games counted in the standings, three teams had claimed the 1896 pennant.2 At a league meeting, it was decided that Newark had edged Paterson and Hartford for the title.3 Wagner and Heidrick returned for the 1897 season, and with Barrow elected as league president, McKee became the Paterson manager.4

Meanwhile, Lancaster (population 40,000) fielded a team in the Pennsylvania State League. Upon the demise of that circuit in July 1896, the team moved to the Atlantic League.5 There was great anticipation for the 1897 home opener against the visiting Silk Weavers. Originally scheduled for Monday, May 3, the game was delayed two days by two rainouts.

The venue was McGrann’s Park in Lancaster. Owned by railroad magnate B.J. McGrann, the 25-acre park featured a grandstand and horse racing track. The ball field was laid out in such a way that the racetrack intersected the outfield.6 Two days of rain made the field and track muddy.

The Lancaster “Maroons” wore gray uniforms with maroon stockings and cap, and “Lancaster” written across the shirt in maroon letters.7 The Silk Weavers looked sharp in their new uniforms, but the shirts read “Patterson,” a misspelling of “Paterson.”8

The Maroons were managed by Frank Rinn, who chose right-hander Jack Dolan as his pitcher. McKee selected Lee Viau, a righty with 83 major-league victories. The sole umpire was Edward “Fatty” Cline, a rotund gentleman with six years of minor-league umpiring experience.9 The attendance was estimated to be 1,200.

The home team batted first. Viau walked the first two batters, John Buttermore and Frank “Piggy” Ward, but they did not score. Bill Keister led off the bottom of the first and got aboard when his grounder was fumbled by shortstop Art Madison. After Heidrick sacrificed, Dolan walked Frank Haller.

The Paterson Evening News described what followed: “Then came the mighty Wagner and the first one that came his way was sent to the suburbs of the celestial regions and came down far, far away in left field.”10 It was a two-run triple for the 23-year-old Wagner. He came home on Robinson’s fly ball, and Paterson led 3-0.

The Maroons got one back in the second inning, on singles by Madison and Andy Roth and Dolan’s fly ball. Singles by John Stafford, George Smith, and Bob Westlake netted a run for the visitors in the fourth.

In the sixth inning, Lancaster’s Ralph Seybold, “a strapping big man,”11 crushed a drive that caromed off the top of the center-field fence and bounded back to the racetrack. Fast work by Robinson, the Paterson center fielder, held him to a double. The next man up, James Graham, singled to score Seybold.

The Maroons rallied for four more runs in the top of the seventh. Dolan and Buttermore singled. Ward grounded to Keister at short, who, in his haste to turn a double play, fumbled the ball, and the bases were now loaded. George Leidy hit sharply back to Viau, who made a wild throw home, allowing Dolan to score. Sam LaRocque followed with a two-run single, and Leidy tallied on Seybold’s fly.

The Silk Weavers came to bat in the bottom of the seventh trailing 6-4. Keister reached on an error by Graham, the third baseman, and scored on Heidrick’s “slashing” triple to left-center field.12 Heidrick came home on Wagner’s base hit, and the score was tied, 6-6.

Paterson forged ahead in the eighth. With one out, Smith drew a walk, and Westlake rapped a grounder that was fielded by Ward, the second baseman. To reach second base, Smith evaded Ward’s tag by going out of the baseline. Ward fired to first, but Westlake, too, was safe. The Lancaster fans were furious that the umpire did not call Smith out for going out of the baseline; their “howl of derision … could have been heard a mile.”13 Viau advanced Smith and Westlake with a sacrifice bunt, and Keister sent them home with his “corking single to right.”14

But the Maroons came right back with two runs in the top of the ninth. Buttermore led off with a walk, and Wagner, playing third base, could not handle Ward’s “hot grounder.”15 The runners moved up on Leidy’s sacrifice bunt and were brought home by LaRocque’s fly ball and Seybold’s single.

With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, “everybody was on edge, the strain alike on the part of players and spectators being intense.”16 After Haller led off and flied out to right field, Wagner “sent the sphere on a journey through space,” “a tremendous three-bagger” to deep center field.17 Robinson lifted a fly ball that was caught by Seybold in left field; Wagner tagged up at third and beat Seybold’s throw to the plate. The final score was Paterson 9, Lancaster 8.

Lancaster reporters blamed the loss on umpire Cline for failing to call Smith out in the eighth inning. But the reporters felt it was one of the most exciting games ever seen in Lancaster. And they marveled at Wagner. He “covered all the territory about the third station and gobbled up several grounders which properly were [shortstop] Keister’s chances,” noted the New Era.18 He “can certainly hit the ball,” said the Morning News. “He has the most awkward motions of any ball player who comes to this city, but he usually makes his play and he is a tower of strength to his team.”19

The Intelligencer said, “That man Wagner is a wonder. He plays ball something like a dredging machine going down for a bucket of mud and he usually gets what he goes after.”20 Many years later, Tommy Leach, who teamed with Wagner in the major leagues from 1898 to 1912, echoed this description: Wagner “didn’t seem to field balls the way we did. He just ate the ball up with his big hands, like a scoop shovel, and when he threw it to first base you’d see pebbles and dirt and everything else flying over there along with the ball.”21

Wagner had a .379 batting average when he left Paterson in midseason to join the Louisville Colonels of the National League. He made his major-league debut with the Colonels on July 19, 1897. Without Wagner, the Silk Weavers finished the 1897 season in sixth place in the eight-team Atlantic League. Lancaster captured the pennant with an impressive 90-45 record. In a late-season run, the Maroons won 21 consecutive games.22

Sources

Game coverage in the May 6, 1897, issues of three Lancaster newspapers – the Intelligencer, Morning News, and New Era – and two Paterson newspapers, the Morning Call and Evening News.

Notes

1 Henry Chadwick, ed., Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide for 1897 (New York: American Sports Pub. Co., 1897), 133.

2 “Whose Pennant Is It?” Paterson (New Jersey) Daily Press, September 14, 1896: 1.

3 “Atlantic League Meeting,” Philadelphia Times, November 24, 1896: 8.

4 “A Wooden Nutmeg Diet,” Paterson Daily Press, April 27, 1897: 2.

5 “Among the Ball Players,” Pittsburgh Post, July 12, 1896: 8.

6 “Scranton Smothered,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Intelligencer, April 23, 1897: 4.

7 “Lancaster Lines,” Sporting Life, March 27, 1897: 3.

8 “The National Pastime,” Paterson Daily Press, April 30, 1897: 1.

9 “Begins the Season,” St. Joseph (Missouri) Herald, May 2, 1894: 3; “News and Comment,” Sporting Life, March 6, 1897: 5.

10 “Hail Hero ‘Hannes,’” Paterson (New Jersey) Evening News, May 6, 1897: 1.

11 “Lancaster’s Club,” Lancaster Intelligencer, May 20, 1896: 2.

12 “Beaten by the Umpire,” Lancaster Intelligencer, May 6, 1897: 4.

13 “The Umpire Did It,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) New Era, May 6, 1897: 1.

14 “They Came Back with a Victory,” Paterson (New Jersey) Morning Call, May 6, 1897: 1.

15 “The Umpire Did It,” Lancaster New Era, May 6, 1897: 1.

16 “Beaten by the Umpire,” Lancaster Intelligencer, May 6, 1897: 4.

17 “Hail Hero ‘Hannes; “Beaten by the Umpire.”

18 “The Umpire Did It.”

19 “A Very Close Finish,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Morning News, May 6, 1897: 1, 4.

20 “Beaten by the Umpire.”.

21 Lawrence S. Ritter, The Glory of Their Times (New York: Vintage Books, 1985), 27, 28.

22 Henry Chadwick, ed., Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide for 1898 (New York: American Sports Pub. Co., 1898), 116, 121, 139.

The Eastern League meeting of July 10, 1898, had no shortage of drama. The Spanish-American War had taken a huge toll on attendance across professional baseball that summer, and league president Pat Powers came prepared to shut down operations,1 just as the New England League had done a few days earlier.2

Instead of disbanding, the league directors decided to slash player salaries by 20 percent across the board and implement a monthly salary cap of $1,800 per team.3 The players were given the choice of accepting the reduced salary or seeking employment elsewhere. Most of them acquiesced to the edict.4

There was one other significant item to resolve at the meeting: The Rochester owners had run into financial and legal difficulties and were looking to quickly unload their team.5 The league – renamed the International League in 1912 − agreed to relocate the franchise. A few hectic days later, it was sold to an Ottawa syndicate that was eager to introduce professional baseball to Canada’s capital. Suddenly, the Eastern Ontario city had joined Montréal and Toronto at the highest level of the minor leagues.6

The ownership group, which was led by Alex Graham,7 a brick manufacturer in Ottawa East,8 also included a gentleman by the name of Colonel Charles E. Turner.9 One year earlier, Turner had been appointed the United States’ consul general in Ottawa by President William McKinley.10 He soon became active in local sporting and social circles.11

The Ottawa Journal published an article questioning the jump to the professional ranks at such a tumultuous time.12 But the local syndicate was undeterred, and they surely must have been heartened to see a large crowd greet the players upon their arrival at the Ottawa train station on July 15.13 That afternoon upward of 2,500 fans14 were at Lansdowne Park15 to witness the team’s second home opener of the season.

Ottawa’s initial entry into what was known as Organized Baseball got off to a rough start. The cast of colorful characters − still wearing Rochester uniforms − lost their first two home games by a combined score of 18-8.16

Since Sunday baseball wasn’t allowed in Ottawa,17 the July 17 home game was played on the Hull Ball Grounds,18 which were on the Québec side of the Ottawa River. Ottawa trailed Syracuse by a 6-2 score when the skies opened up after four innings and the game was called because of rain.19 The team – citing an Eastern League rule − refused to issue refunds or rain checks because at least three innings had been played, angering many of the 1,000 fans in attendance.20

Because of potential conflicts at Lansdowne Park with the Ottawa Capitals lacrosse club,21 the baseball team played its remaining (non-Sunday) home games at the Metropolitan Grounds on Jane Street (later Pretoria Avenue).22

The Ottawas23 hosted their first game at the Metropolitan Grounds on July 19 against the Buffalo Bisons.24 Although Ottawa was in sixth place, its 34-37 record left it only 5½ games behind the first-place Montréal Royals in the tightly-bunched standings. Fourth-place Buffalo trailed Montréal by four games.

Ottawa was without its hard-hitting third baseman, Bill “Wagon Tongue” Keister, who had been recently recalled by the National League’s Boston Beaneaters.25 Despite the absence of Keister, Ottawa fielded a starting lineup that included seven former or future major leaguers.26

Jimmy “Gussie” Gannon, a New England League refugee, got the start for Ottawa. The 24-year-old southpaw had made one appearance in the big leagues, a five-inning relief outing for Connie Mack’s Pittsburgh Pirates in June 1895.27 He was opposed by James “Farmer” Brown, a 19-game winner with the Bisons in 1897.

Ottawa put two men on base on in the bottom of the first, only to have Brown wiggle out of the jam.

Brown wasn’t as fortunate in the second inning. Ottawa had runners on first and second with one out when Gannon came to the plate. He slapped a single past the first baseman and Joe Bean scampered home with the game’s first run. According to the Ottawa Citizen, the enthusiastic fans roared so loudly that “the roof of the grandstand was in danger.”28

The next batter was Bob “Rabbit” McHale, who had an 11-game stint with the Washington Senators earlier in the season.29 McHale singled, knocking in catcher Joe Gunson, and Ottawa led, 2-0.

Gannon cruised through the first four innings, allowing only one Buffalo baserunner to get into scoring position.

After a brief rain delay in the bottom of the fourth, Ottawa put runners on first and second with one out for its 28-year-old second baseman, Frank Bonner. Four years earlier, Bonner had hit .322 in 33 games as a utility player on the NL’s pennant-winning Baltimore Orioles. Bonner singled to center field and Gunson trotted home, giving Ottawa a three-run cushion.

The Bisons scored a run off Gannon in the fifth. With one out, Ed Gremminger reached on an extra-base hit, and he was driven in by William Diggins.30

Ottawa first baseman Mike Kelley led off in the bottom of the fifth. The 22-year-old showed why he was considered one of the Eastern League’s top prospects31 when he reached on a single and later scored on a “beautiful steal to home.”32 Gunson, one of several players credited with inventing the padded catcher’s mitt,33 added an RBI single to extend Ottawa’s lead to 5-1.34

The Ottawas tacked on a run in the sixth on an RBI triple by Bonner and another in the seventh on Bean’s solo home run.35

Gannon shut out the Bisons the rest of the way, icing a 7-1 victory and giving the city its first professional win on home soil. The fans were delighted by the “best all-around baseball ever witnessed in the Capital,”36 and the Buffalo News observed that Ottawa “is now red-hot for baseball.”37

Depending on the source, Gannon threw either a six- or seven-hitter.38 He walked two and struck out a pair of batters. Ottawa slugged 14 hits against Brown, including two extra-base hits and two singles by Bonner, who finished the season with a .298 batting average.39

At some point that day, J.R. McNeil, a Sparks Street tailor and local baseball booster, gave the Ottawa players a sneak preview of the new uniforms he was making for them.40 The collared “suits” – made from material matching the McNeil family tartan − were worn for the first time in a doubleheader on the August 1 Civic Holiday.41 They were perhaps the boldest uniforms ever worn in professional baseball.

Not surprisingly, reception was mixed. The Ottawa Citizen generously labeled the team the “most stylish looking aggregation in the league.”42 On the other hand, the Providence Journal thought the uniforms were “ridiculous,”43 and the Buffalo Commercial felt they gave the Ottawas a “ludicrous appearance.”44 The Montreal Herald went as far as to write a poem mocking the tartan attire.45

The garish uniforms may not have sparked the team, although the addition of two booming bats to its lineup certainly didn’t hurt. The Beaneaters demoted Keister on July 24 and he returned to action with Ottawa a couple of days later.46 The 5-foot-5, 168-pound slugger finished the Eastern League season with a .322 batting average and 14 steals.47 One year later, Keister was the Orioles’ starting shortstop, playing to the left of a combative third baseman named John McGraw.48

Perhaps the best player to wear an Ottawa uniform that summer was Quiet Joe Knight, a 38-year-old left fielder from Port Stanley, Ontario.49 Knight had started the season with the Eastern League’s Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons, but the two-time batting champion50 refused to accept the 20 percent pay cut.51 Knight caught on for a short time with the St. Thomas (Ontario) Saints in the Canadian League52 before joining Ottawa in mid-August.53 He finished second in the Eastern League batting race with a .338 average.54

Ottawa hovered near the .500 mark until late August, when the bottom fell out of its season. The team lost 14 of its last 15 games to finish in the cellar with a 53-70 mark, 18½ games behind the pennant-winning Royals.55

Although the league survived a difficult summer, Montréal, Toronto, and Wilkes-Barre may have been the only teams to turn a profit.56 Lower-than-expected attendance in Ottawa resulted in hefty losses for Graham’s syndicate,57 and in November he notified the league that “it would be useless to continue as a member of the circuit.”58

At a league meeting in February, Powers agreed to auction off Ottawa’s players to help offset the losses.59 Kelley, Bonner, Gannon, and Elmer “Herky Jerky” Horton were sold to Hartford, while Rochester – back in the league once again60 – snapped up McHale, Bean, Bill Clymer, and Charles Morse.61

Professional baseball briefly returned to Ottawa in 1906, although that attempt failed when the outlaw Northern Independent League collapsed in August. But the third time was a charm for the city: Ottawa finally gained a foothold in Organized Baseball in 1912 with the arrival of the hugely successful Senators of the Class C (later B) Canadian League.62

Photo note

According to Tom Shieber, founder of SABR’s Pictorial History Research Committee, Mike Kelley is pictured in the back row, second player from the left. Joe Gunson is in the front row, second player from the left. Tailor J.R. McNeil is in the center of the photo in a tartan vest.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, and the 1901 Ottawa City Directory. Eastern League batting statistics were taken from Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide for 1899, which was available on the Internet Archive as of June 2023. The daily Eastern League standings were taken from the Boston Globe. Unless otherwise noted, play-by-play information was taken from the article “Bisons Easy” on page 6 of the July 20, 1898, edition of the Ottawa Citizen.

Notes

1 “Rochester Team Will Not Come Back,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 11, 1898: 11.

2 “New England League Stops,” Boston Globe, July 6, 1898: 9.

3 “Eastern League is Compelled to Adopt Preservative Measures,” Sporting Life, July 16, 1898: 12.

4 “The Eastern League Is Now Running Smoothly with Rochester Transferred to Ottawa,” Sporting Life, July 16, 1898: 4.

5 The root cause of Rochester’s troubles had more to do with significant cost overruns on the construction of its new ballpark than poor attendance. Construction costs for Culver Field soared and when the 1898 season began, several local tradesmen still had not been paid for their work. In early July, those tradesmen filed liens totaling more than $14,000. “Rochester Team Will Not Come Back”; “Gray in Charge of Culver Field,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 17, 1898: 19; “Will Play Ball Just the Same,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 3, 1898: 18.

6 The highest level of the minor leagues in 1898 was classified as Class A. Two circuits earned that designation, the Eastern League and Ban Johnson’s Western League.

7 “Ottawa In It Now,” Montreal Gazette, July 12, 1898: 5.

8 “Small City Items,” Ottawa Journal, April 26, 1899: 7; “Snowshoers Entertained,” Ottawa Journal, February 10, 1898: 6.

9 “‘The Ottawas’ Incorporated,” Montreal Star, August 15, 1898: 2; “Ottawa Has a Ball Team Now,” Ottawa Journal, July 12, 1898: 6.

10 Donald J. Childs, “The Victoria Golf Club and Golf at Aylmer’s Hotel Victoria 1899-1915,” Outaouais Heritage WebMagazine, https://qahn.org/files/outaouaisheritagewebmagazine/article-images/the_victoria_golf_club_and_golf_at_aylmers_hotel_victoria_1899-1915.pdf, accessed May 25, 2023.

11 Turner was the vice president of the 1897-98 Ottawa Hockey Club, which played in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. He was also elected an officer of the Ottawa Baseball Club in March 1898. The team participated in the Ottawa City League. “Let’s Talk Hockey Now,” Ottawa Journal, November 12, 1897: 6; “Ottawas Organized,” Ottawa Journal, March 30, 1898: 6.

12 “Interest Is on the Decline,” Ottawa Journal, July 11, 1898: 8.

13 “Clymer Was Reminiscent,” Ottawa Journal, December 8, 1898: 6.

14 The Ottawa Citizen estimated the crowd, which included many women, at “about 2,500.” General admission tickets were 25 cents, while seats in the grandstand went for 50 cents. The Ottawa Journal reported attendance of “almost 2,000.” “Ottawa Lost,” Ottawa Citizen, July 16, 1898: 6; “Lost the First,” Ottawa Journal, July 16, 1898: 6; “Ball To-Day,” Ottawa Citizen, July 15, 1898: 6.

15 The only Eastern League games played at Lansdowne Park prior to the switch to the Metropolitan Grounds were on Friday, July 15, and Saturday, July 16.

16 “Ottawa Lost.”

17 Neither Ottawa nor Toronto − the two Eastern League teams based in the province of Ontario − could play baseball at home on Sundays in 1898. It was permitted in Québec, so Ottawa shifted Sunday games to nearby Hull; Montréal also played at home on Sundays. Toronto’s first Sunday home game wasn’t played until May 7, 1950. When the International League’s Ottawa Athletics were moved to Columbus, Ohio, for the 1955 season, Sunday baseball was still not allowed in Ottawa. “Jersey City Beats Toronto,” Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard, May 8, 1950: 10; Jack Koffman, “Ottawa Fans Plan Petition to End Sabbath Blue Law,” The Sporting News, September 1, 1954: 28.

18 “We Can’t Win All the Time,” Ottawa Journal, July 13, 1898: 6; “Championship Baseball Sunday,” Ottawa Journal, July 30, 1898: 7; “The Sunday Game,” Ottawa Journal, July 18, 1898: 6.

19 “Rain Saved Ottawa,” Montreal Gazette, July 18, 1898: 2.

20 Monday’s game against the Buffalo Bisons was rained out. “The Hull Game,” Ottawa Citizen, July 18, 1898: 6; “The Sunday Game.”

21 “Fever Raging,” Ottawa Citizen, July 13, 1898: 8; “Sporting,” Ottawa Journal, July 13, 1898: 7.

22 The Metropolitan Grounds were located on Jane Street (later Pretoria Avenue) between O’Connor Street and Metcalfe Street. The grounds were subdivided into lots in 1900. Tommy Shields, “Ottawa Teams Had Glorious Accomplishments in Lacrosse,” Ottawa Citizen, April 28, 1953: E-6. “Somerset St. Pavement,” Ottawa Citizen, September 5, 1900: 1.

23 Baseball Reference lists the team name as the Ottawa Wanderers, although the author found no mentions of the nickname “Wanderers” in the contemporary press. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle did refer to the team as “[manager] Mickey Finn’s wandering band” during the period of transition from Rochester to Ottawa. “Gannon Was Not a Mystery Yesterday,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 13, 1898: 11.

24 The Ottawa Citizen reported that the Metropolitan Grounds was a decent venue despite not having any seating behind home plate. “Bisons Easy,” Ottawa Citizen, July 20, 1898: 6.

25 Keister began the season with the Beaneaters and was loaned to Rochester in late May. His most recent appearance for Rochester/Ottawa was in a road game on July 12. “Morton Resigned, Clymer Managing,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 25, 1898: 12; “Gannon Was Not a Mystery Yesterday,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 13, 1898: 11.

26 The seven former or future major leaguers in Ottawa’s starting lineup were left fielder Bob “Rabbit” McHale, second baseman Frank Bonner (later known as the Human Flea), first baseman Mike Kelley, center fielder Bill Clymer, shortstop Joe Bean, catcher Joe Gunson, and pitcher Jimmy “Gussie” Gannon. Six of Buffalo’s starters on July 19 were former or future major leaguers: shortstop Frank Shannon, left fielder Jack White, center fielder Sandy Griffin, second baseman Sam Wise, right fielder Ed Householder, and third baseman Ed “Battleship” Gremminger.

27 “Down to Third Place,” Pittsburgh Post, June 16, 1895: 6.

28 “Bisons Easy.”

29 “Won Like Warriors,” Washington Evening Star, May 12, 1898: 8.

30 The Ottawa Citizen reported Gremminger’s hit as a double. The Buffalo News and Buffalo Express said he tripled. It’s unclear how Diggins drove in Gremminger. According to the Buffalo News, Gremminger scored on an out by Diggins. The Ottawa Citizen said Gremminger scored on a “hit” by Diggins, although the writer appears to have used the term “hit” whenever a ball was struck by a bat.

31 Kelley played 76 games for the National League’s Louisville Colonels in 1899, his only season in the majors. He became a controversial figure in Organized Baseball in 1906-08. “Condensed Dispatches,” Sporting Life, February 4, 1899: 4.

32 The author was unable to find a game story that explained how Kelley reached third base. “Bisons Easy.”

33 Chuck Rosciam, “The Evolution of Catcher’s Equipment,” Baseball Research Journal (Summer 2010), https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-evolution-of-catchers-equipment/, accessed May 26, 2023.

34 The Ottawa Citizen credits the RBI single to Bonner, but this is not possible based on the batting order. The run must have been driven in by Gunson.

35 Bean started the 1898 season with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, although he never got into a game. His only appearance in the big leagues came in a 50-game stint with the New York Giants in 1902. Bill Lamb, “Joe Bean,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Joe-Bean/, accessed May 31, 2023.

36 “Bisons Easy.”

37 “Ottawans Did Us Up,” Buffalo News, July 20, 1898: 6.

38 The Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Journal, and Montreal Star reported that Gannon gave up six hits. According to several Buffalo papers and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, it was seven hits. The discrepancy appears to be a single credited to Farmer Brown.

39 Bonner’s .298 batting average was third best on the team. Among players appearing in 80 or more games, his batting average ranked 18th in the league.

40 McNeil was elected an officer of the Ottawa Baseball Club in March 1898. The team participated in the Ottawa City League. “Ottawas Organized”; “Bisons Easy.”

41 “The World of Sport,” Ottawa Citizen, August 2, 1898: 6; Tom Shieber, “Bagpipes and Baseball, or Clash of the Tartans,” Baseball Researcher Blog, http://baseballresearcher.blogspot.com/2012/11/bagpipes-and-baseball-or-clash-of.html, accessed May 26, 2023.

42 “The World of Sport.”

43 “Base Ball News and Comment,” Sporting Life, September 17, 1898: 5.

44 “Baseball Brevities,” Buffalo Commercial, September 3, 1898: 4.

45 The poem read, “A splurge of solferino, A dash of blue and cream, Some blue, some green, some yellow, The whole a fairy dream, You think perhaps I’m singing, Of a rainbow that’s a beaut, But there you are mistaken, For it’s Ottawa’s new suit.” Solferino is a moderate purplish-red color. “The Sporting World,” Ottawa Citizen, August 19, 1898: 6.

46 “Long, Bergen and Collins,” Boston Globe, July 26, 1898: 7; “Sports of the Season,” Ottawa Citizen, July 27, 1898: 6.

47 Keister’s .322 batting average was second best on the team. Among players appearing in 80 or more games, his batting average ranked eighth in the league.

48 Keister was a regular in the major leagues from 1899 to 1903 with the Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Senators, and Philadelphia Phillies. He compiled a career .312 batting average in 621 major-league games, but poor fielding cut short his big-league career. He continued to play in the minors from 1904 to 1910.

49 “Both Are Good Men,” Ottawa Journal, August 16, 1898: 6.

50 Knight won back-to-back batting titles in the Eastern League in 1893 and 1894.

51 “Rochester’s Club Goes to Ottawa!” Wilkes-Barre Record, July 12, 1898: 3.

52 The Canadian League was a professional circuit that was quickly organized after the collapse of the International League in mid-July. The International League had teams in Hamilton (Ontario), St. Thomas (Ontario), London (Ontario), Port Huron (Michigan), Bay City (Michigan), and Saginaw (Michigan). The four-team Canadian League comprised Hamilton, St. Thomas, London, and Chatham (Ontario). “A New League,” Montreal Star, July 12, 1898: 2.

53 Knight’s first appearance with Ottawa was on August 13. “Won Two; Lost One,” Montreal Gazette, August 15, 1898: 5.

54 Knight’s .338 batting average was second in the league among players appearing in at least 80 games. Toronto’s Buck Freeman won the batting title with a .347 average. Freeman went on to become one of the top sluggers in the American League. Eric Enders, “Buck Freeman,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Buck-Freeman/, accessed May 31, 2023.

55 Ottawa lost 14 consecutive games from August 29 to September 10. The team snapped its losing streak in its final game by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second game of the September 10 twin bill. “Ottawas Won a Game,” Ottawa Citizen, September 12, 1898: 6.

56 “Eastern League Is Doubtless Relieved at the Close of the Battle,” Sporting Life, September 17, 1898: 12.

57 The Ottawa Journal reported that the team owners lost $4,000 during their two months in the Eastern League. “Looking For Sympathy,” Ottawa Journal, September 10, 1898: 6.

58 “A Trifle Mixed,” Sporting Life, November 19, 1898: 4.

59 “Ready for Work,” Sporting Life, February 18, 1899: 6.

60 A Rochester team had been transferred to a Canadian city in the previous two seasons. Rochester was moved to Montréal in the middle of the 1897 season after Riverside Park was destroyed by fire on July 16, 1897. “Baseball Stands Destroyed by Fire,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 17, 1897: 12.

61 “News and Comment,” Sporting Life, March 11, 1899: 5.

62 After the aborted attempt to join an outlaw league in 1906, Ottawa had a professional baseball team in the Canadian League (1912-15), Eastern Canada League (1922-23), Quebec-Ontario-Vermont League (1924), Canadian American League (1936-40), Border League (1947-50), International League (1951-54, 1993-2007), Can-Am League (2008, 2015-2019), and Frontier League. As of June 2023, the Ottawa Titans had been in the Frontier League since 2021. The 1924 team was operated as the Ottawa-Hull Senators. The 1940 team split games between Ottawa and Ogdensburg, New York.