September 30, 1895: Washington’s Ed Cartwright hits for the cycle on season’s final day

The final day of the 1895 National League season, September 30, saw four games played in the 12-team league. The Baltimore Orioles, who had already locked up their second of three straight pennants, defeated the New York Giants, 8-3. The Philadelphia Phillies edged the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in a slugfest, 10-9.

And the sixth-place Boston Beaneaters played a doubleheader against the 10th-place Washington Senators. Those who attended the pair of games in Washington saw Senators first baseman Ed Cartwright make history in the opener, when “Cap’n Ed” collected a single, double, triple, and home run in Washington’s 15-7 win.

Cartwright – a large man also nicknamed Jumbo and Piano Legs1 – had played for various minor-league teams in the 1880s before getting his first shot in a major league in 1890, when he signed with the American Association’s St. Louis Browns and appeared in 75 games at the age of 30. On September 23 of that season, Cartwright hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in the same inning against the Philadelphia Athletics;2 his seven-RBI inning remained a major-league record until Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals hit two grand slams in an inning in 1999.

After Cartwright spent the next three seasons in the minor leagues, Washington, which finished consistently near the bottom of the league standings during its nine-season NL run in the 1890s, signed him to be its everyday first baseman for the 1894 season. A year later, he was the team captain, and he set career marks in runs (95), hits (156), batting average (.331), triples (17), and stolen bases (50).

When Cartwright’s Senators wrapped up the 1895 season by hosting the Colts, somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people3 braved the elements to watch the games at National Park.4 Both ends of the doubleheader were played in “a cold, sharp wind.”5

The newspapers reported that many players did not want to play. The Boston Post told its readers that “neither side fought hard for victory, the outfielders walking after triples and doubles that ordinarily would have counted [as] one-baggers.”6 According to the Washington Post, “Neither team cared if the other won and the chief desire seemed to be to fatten up their batting averages.”7

Senators manager Gus Schmelz “decamped himself”8 before the first game and was not present at all. In addition, Washington second baseman Jack Crooks and outfielder Tom Brown also missed the doubleheader, as they both “made tracks for St. Louis.”9 This forced a bit of shuffling in the lineup. Even the Beaneaters were “out for a frolic,” as players wore uniforms “consisting of one blue and one red stocking, and various other colors, resembling a ‘crazy quilt.’”10

Jack Stivetts started the opener for the visiting Beaneaters. In 1895 the right-hander, who won 203 major-league games over 11 seasons, had been “beset by a series of maladies,”11 resulting in a mediocre year. Against Washington, his “hands were blue with cold, and he lobbed ’em over the plate as big as balloons.”12 Rookie Andy Boswell got the nod for the Senators. It was only his third start (and sixth overall pitching appearance) of the season, since he had come to Washington from the Giants.13

Boswell kept the Beaneaters off the scoreboard for the first four frames. Meanwhile, Bill Joyce started the Senators’ second with a walk off Stivetts. Charlie Abbey singled, and after Cartwright was retired, Frank Scheibeck hit a two-run triple. Gene de Montreville’s groundout brought Scheibeck home, and the home team led, 3-0. Deacon McGuire doubled but was stranded on the bases.

Cartwright singled in the fourth and Kip Selbach singled in the fifth, but Stivetts left them both stranded as well. Boston loaded the bases with two outs in its half of the fourth, but Boswell snuffed out the rally. In Boston’s fifth, Boswell quickly got two outs, but then Jack Ryan, who had replaced Jimmy Bannon in right field,14 singled. Herman Long tripled, Hugh Duffy walked, and then Fred Tenney “came to the rescue”15 with a double. Washington’s lead was trimmed to one run, 3-2.

The sixth inning “brought a feast for the home team”16 as the Senators “pounded Jack Stivetts all over the lot.”17 Joyce drove a pitch down the right-field line “to the far right bleacher stand,”18 good for three bases. Abbey rolled a slow grounder to second baseman Joe Harrington for the first out, and Joyce scored.

Cartwright sent “one of Stivetts’ pineapples”19 to deep right-center for a triple. Scheibach was retired on a comebacker to the mound, but then de Montreville reached when third baseman Billy Nash threw the ball wildly to first, pulling Tommy Tucker off the bag. Cartwright scored on the play.

Boswell surprised the crowd by driving the ball between first and second for a single, putting runners at the corners. McGuire launched a ball to deep center, and center fielder Duffy did not give chase; the Boston Globe reported that Duffy “refused to pick the ball up until the batsman [McGuire] had completed the circuit of the bases.”20 McGuire’s 10th home run of the season resulted in three more tallies and an 8-2 lead.

Boston narrowed the gap in its half of the sixth. Harrington reached when Cartwright dropped a throw from de Montreville at short. Harrington stole second as Charlie Ganzel struck out. Stivetts and Ryan hit back-to-back singles, scoring Harrington, and both crossed the plate on Long’s second triple of the game. The score was now 8-5.

In the seventh, Boyd led off with a single and scored on Cartwright’s third home run of the season, giving the Senators some breathing room at 10-5. With two down in the eighth, Washington’s bats exploded again. McGuire singled, and Selbach reached when a grounder bounced off Tucker’s foot into foul territory.

Boyd singled down the left-field line, plating McGuire. Joyce’s infield dribbler past Stivetts loaded the bases. Abbey lined a two-run single up the middle and Cartwright “corked out a double-bagger,”21 giving him his fourth hit and completing the cycle, as two more runners scored. Scheibeck grounded a ball to short and Cartwright was tagged out as he tried to take third. Five more runs were added to Washington’s total.

Boston made it closer with two runs in the ninth. Long doubled for his third extra-base hit of the game and took third on Duffy’s single. Tenney’s grounder to second went through Scheibeck’s legs, and Long scored while Duffy advanced to third base. Nash grounded into a double play, but Tenney came home with Boston’s final run. When Scheibeck squeezed Harrington’s pop fly for the final out of the game, the Senators had prevailed, 15-7. Every Senators player had scored at least one run, and all but de Montreville had hit safely in the game.

After a short break, the two clubs took the field again. Washington’s 31-year-old catcher McGuire was presented with a silver service setting “the record for continuous catching, having appeared in every game this season.”22 In addition to leading Washington in hitting in 1895 with a .336 average and 10 homers, McGuire’s SABR biography notes, Old Reliable Jim “led all catchers in putouts, assists, errors, passed balls, stolen bases allowed, and caught-stealings. His record of 189 players caught stealing still stands [as of 2023].”23

McGuire was 2-for-5 in the nightcap (he had gone 3-for-6 in the opener), but Boston won the final game of the season, 10-8, scoring four runs in the eighth inning in a game called due to darkness.24 The clubs combined for 21 hits.

After hitting for the cycle in the first game, Cartwright collected a single in four at-bats in the second game. Only one other National League player had hit for the cycle in 1895: St. Louis Browns outfielder Tommy Dowd on August 16 against the Louisville Colonels.

Cartwright had another solid season in 1896, batting .277 with one homer and 62 RBIs for the 10th-place Senators. He led the league in games played at first base (133), and he helped turn a triple play against the St. Louis Browns on September 8.25 Unfortunately, he was not as productive at the plate in 1897, batting just .234, and he played his final game in the majors on June 4.

Acknowledgments

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

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org. With no play-by-play available on Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org, the author based the game’s play-by-play on details found in the Boston Globe, Boston Post, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Chicago Chronicle.

Notes

1 Harry Keck, “Sports Scene,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, May 20, 1938: 29.

2 Keck. For more information on the game, see Gregory H. Wolf, “September 23, 1890: Browns teenager George Nicol tosses 7-inning no-hitter in debut,” SABR Games Project, found online at https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-23-1890-browns-teenager-george-nicol-tosses-7-inning-no-hitter-in-debut/.

3 The Washington Times reported that 1,500 people attended the doubleheader, whereas Retrosheet lists the attendance at 1,768. The Washington Post listed the attendance at 2,000.

4 According to Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org, the 1895 Washington team played its games at Boundary Field. Both the Washington Post and Washington Times refer to the field as “National Park.” Incidentally, Baseball-Reference calls the team the Senators, while Retrosheet refers to them as the Nationals.

5 “Washington vs. Boston,” Chicago Chronicle,” October 1, 1895: 4.

6 “Honors Even,” Boston Post, October 1, 1895: 3.

7 “Both Clubs Took One,” Washington Post, October 1, 1895: 4.

8 “Both Clubs Took One.”

9 “Both Clubs Took One.”

10 “Generous to Each Other,” Washington Times, October 1, 1895: 3.

11 According to his SABR biography, in 1895, Stivetts had “a ‘small tumor’ removed from his left eye (probably a cyst), an injured arm from an exhibition game, and finally malaria.” See Gregory H. Wolf, “Jack Stivetts,” SABR Biography Project.

12 “Both Clubs Took One.”

13 Boswell played just one season in the majors. He began the 1895 season with the New York Giants, posting a 2-2 record and a 5.82 ERA in four starts. With the Senators, Boswell was 1-2, giving him a career record of 3-4. This was Boswell’s final game in the majors.

14 In the third inning, Boswell “hit Bannon a terrible crack on the arm just above the elbow and put him out of the game.” See “Generous to Each Other.”

15 “Both Clubs Took One.”

16 “Generous to Each Other.”

17 “Both Clubs Took One.”

18 “Generous to Each Other.”

19 “Both Clubs Took One.”

20 “Clasp Hands,” Boston Globe, October 1, 1895: 5.

21 “Both Clubs Took One.”

22 “Washington vs. Boston.”

23 Robert W. Bigelow, “Deacon McGuire,” SABR Biography Project. Although McGuire became known as Deacon or Deacon Jim, both the Washington Post and Washington Times referred to him as Old Reliable Jim in their accounts for this doubleheader.

24 “Washington vs. Boston.”

25 Cartwright also participated in a triple play (just the second 4-3-2 triple play ever completed in major-league history) while playing for the Browns on July 13, 1890, against the Philadelphia Athletics.