July 19, 1898: Jimmy ‘Gussie’ Gannon leads Ottawa to its first home victory in professional baseball

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.