The 1881 Cleveland Blues and a Trio of Canadian Baseball Pioneers

Blistering cold and hardscrabble tenacity aren’t Canada’s only shared traits with Cleveland. Canada’s influence extends to Cleveland’s ball diamonds as well. Over its 125-year existence, the franchise now called the Guardians has employed 26 Canadian players, while the long-defunct Cleveland Blues and Cleveland Spiders claimed four and two Canucks respectively. Relative to the 30 other current franchises, the Guardians have rostered the sixth-most Canadians all-time, only five fewer than the most maple-infused club, the Phillies. From Jack Graney to John Axford, Ron Taylor to Cal Quantrill, and including the current trio of Bo Naylor, Cade Smith, and Erik Sabrowski, Canadians have suited up for the team now called the Guardians for over a century.

But I would like to wind the clock all the way back to the short-lived Cleveland Blues of the then-nascent National League. Only in existence from 1879 to 1884, the struggling Blues rarely finished in the top half of the league, finishing as high as third place only once, in 1880. In 1881, the Blues wrapped their season second from the bottom, with a team that included three Canadians. First baseman Bill Phillips, third baseman Pop Smith, and pitcher Edward “The Only” Nolan teamed up as the first trio of Canadians on the same major league roster.1 These three men had an immense impact on Cleveland’s baseball history, and, more broadly, on the development of baseball in Canada. So let’s take a look at each of these players, how they got to Cleveland, what they did together in 1881, and where they went afterwards.

For many years, the New Brunswick-born Bill Phillips was regarded as the first Canadian to break into the major leagues.2 However, Peter Morris’s research within the last twenty years has revealed Bob Addy’s Port Hope, Ontario, origins, which have readjusted our historical understanding and marks Addy as Canada’s first major leaguer.3 Further research by Morris, as detailed in a piece by John Thorn in 2015, revealed Edward “The Only” Nolan’s birthplace to be Trenton, Ontario, in 1857.4 Nolan was a member of the Indianapolis Blues for their sole year in the National League in 1878, making him the second-ever Canadian to play major league baseball, pushing Phillips to the bronze position.

Though more is being learned about Nolan, his life is still shrouded in mystery. What we do know about the man may mark him as one of baseball’s most colorful characters. Though his major league career was short, he managed to get himself suspended or blacklisted multiple times, once for missing a train after a boondoggle to New York City with teammates, once for fabricating an ill sibling needing assistance as an excuse to leave his team to visit a prostitute, once again for using a phony funeral as an excuse to go drinking, and finally for his involvement with gamblers.5 Regardless of his misdeeds, he was beloved by fellow players and fans alike. According to letters from his daughter to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, young fans copied his mannerisms, including his way of walking, as well as his personal fashion stylings.6

As a pitcher, he could be a marvel. Known for a fastball more rapid than those of his contemporaries, Nolan was also an early master of the curveball.7 He may well have been the first pitcher to deliver what was known at the time as the “curve drop.”8 In 1877, Nolan turned in what could be considered the greatest pitching season of all time, albeit with Indianapolis in the League Alliance.9 He ended that campaign with a record of 64-4-8 and an ERA of 0.50, while delivering his team an absurd 30 shutouts (including two in one day, one a no-hitter). For good measure, in 33 games where he didn’t pitch, he played right field.10

The following season, Indianapolis was added to the National League and Nolan got to pitch to major league batters. He worked the bulk of the team’s innings and posted a 13-22 record with a 2.57 ERA. Era-adjusted, that translates to a subpar 80 ERA +. He also led the league in walks with 56, at a time when a walk required nine balls. The Indianapolis team was disbanded following the season and Nolan moved west to San Francisco to pitch for a number of non-major league clubs over the next two seasons.11

In 1881, Nolan made his way back to the majors, this time with the Cleveland Blues, then in their third year in the National League. Nolan had an 8-14 record and a 3.05 ERA. Better than his 1878 National League stint, this ERA still translates to a sub-par 86 ERA + . Perhaps for the first time in his professional career, Nolan did not amass the majority of his teams’ innings. That distinction went to his old friend from adolescence, Jim McCormick. At the end of the season, Nolan, along with nine other players, was blacklisted from the league for “confirmed dissipation and general insubordination.”12

He managed to get back to the majors in 1883 with Allegheny of the American Association, then Wilmington, which joined the Union Association towards the end of 1884, and finally with Philadelphia of the National League in 1885. He was not the primary hurler for any of these teams, and through his final three big league seasons, he went a cumulative 2-16 with a 3.87 ERA.

Nolan’s statistics, as displayed on Baseball Reference, leave the baseball fan wanting. But they may belie his status as one of his era’s most respected pitchers. He had a blazing fastball and a beguiling curveball like few of his contemporaries, and he left batters scratching their heads across 11 seasons and multiple leagues. Perhaps his career numbers were hurt by his mercurial nature, his general lack of respect for the authorities of either league or club, and a renegade spirit that meant he answered to no one, and likely only pitched for himself.

 

 

The third Canadian to play major league baseball, Bill Phillips, was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1857. Like so many Maritimes-born ballplayers of that generation, his family participated in a widespread migration away from the region.13 When he was a teenager, Phillips’ family moved to Chicago. Baseball had caught on in a big way in eastern Canada, so it’s quite likely that Phillips was already proficient at the game by the time his family landed in the Windy City.14

As a 20-year-old first baseman and occasional catcher, Phillips began his professional career with a handful of independent teams, including the 1878 Forest City club in Cleveland. He led that team in batting average, then made the jump to the majors when Cleveland was granted a National League franchise. Phillips’ first major league hit came off future Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward. He remained with the Blues for six seasons, serving as their everyday first baseman, though he did play catcher in 12 games, and outfield for two.

Known mostly for his slick fielding, Phillips’ large stature made him an ideal target at first base. As such, he led the league in double plays from 1880-82. It didn’t hurt that he was a member of Cleveland’s famed “Stonewall Infield,” with Fred Dunlap and Jack Glasscock. This group was widely regarded as the finest defensive infield of the early 1880s.15

Phillips’ rare catching duties nearly created a tantalizing first for the game. When Nolan joined the Blues for the 1881 season, the possibility arose of seeing the game’s first-ever all-Canadian battery, should Phillips see any time behind the plate while Nolan toed the slab.16 Unfortunately, Phillips only played first base that year, so the game would have to wait a little longer for the great Canadian battery to arrive.17 Regardless of the missed opportunity, Phillips, in his third year in Cleveland, paced the 1881 Blues club in games played and triples, while slashing .272/.282/.387, good for a 112 OPS + . Over his six seasons with the Blues, Phillips tallied 590 hits, accrued a .264 batting average, and a 108 OPS + .

Phillips carried the load for Cleveland the best he could, but the club’s dismal performance in 1884 precipitated untenable attendance numbers leading to the collapse of the franchise. The Blues’ manager, Charlie Hackett took over Brooklyn in the American Association after Brooklyn bought the Cleveland team, and Phillips was one of the Cleveland players brought over to Brooklyn after the sale.18 Phillips enjoyed three good years in Brooklyn before being replaced. At just 31 years old in 1888, he played his final major league season with Kansas City. He was still adept in the field, but his bat fell off dramatically, likely the result of the syphilis that would kill him just 12 years later.19

Over his ten-year career, Phillips proved to be one of the game’s most adept fielders, and, while with Cleveland, an anchor of the best infields in baseball. He provided enough offense to remain productive for several lousy teams. He ended his major league tenure with a 109 OPS + , and bears the distinction of being the first Canadian to amass 1,000 career hits, beating fellow Canuck George Wood to that mark by one season.20 Tall, burly, and mustachioed, Phillips cut quite the figure for his era and played first base with the grace and confidence that made him stand out among his peers. Had he not been slowed by a fatal illness in his early 30s, it’s hard not to think about how much more Phillips could have accomplished in the game and what more he could have done for Canada’s burgeoning baseball reputation.

 

 

Pop Smith was an outstanding proto-utilityman. Mainly a second baseman, he also played over 300 games at shortstop, 52 at third base, and 14 in the outfield, all for 10 different clubs over 12 seasons. Like so many utilitymen throughout major league history, he was a glove-first player. But what a glove it was. Regarded as one of the game’s best second basemen, his defense covered for his lackluster offense to keep him employed in professional baseball for 22 seasons.21

Charles Marvin “Pop” Smith was born in Digby, Nova Scotia, in 1856, and like Phillips, his family moved to the United States when Smith was still young. He started his professional career as a 19-year-old, playing for a handful of teams in various independent leagues the next four years. In 1880, at 23, Smith got his first taste of big league ball with the short-lived Cincinnati Stars of the National League. The Stars were disbanded after the NL expelled them for the 1881 season, and Smith found himself moving between three different clubs that year. He played for Cleveland starting in late May, played for Buffalo in late June/early July, and finished with Worcester starting in late August.

Smith’s arrival in Cleveland completed professional baseball’s first-ever Canadian trio. Blink and you’ll miss it, as the trio were together for just a brief time in the early summer of 1881. Smith’s abbreviated tenure with the Blues was underwhelming at best. Second base may have been his main position, but he would not be supplanting Cleveland’s best batter and primary keystoner, Fred Dunlap. As a result, Smith’s 10 games all came at the hot corner. Clearly more adept at second, Smith struggled defensively at third, posting a subpar .838 fielding percentage on 37 chances. At bat, Smith’s time in Cleveland was the strongest showing of his three stops that season, but that is saying very little indeed. He slashed .118/.118/.118 over 34 at-bats—just four hits, and none of them for extra bases. Smith’s time with the Blues may have been forgettable from a performance standpoint, but we can appreciate it more thoroughly as the first time in professional baseball that three Canadians played together for the same team.

From 1882 until his final major league appearance in 1891, Smith would take his steady glove and versatility to six different teams. Though he underperformed in 1882 with Philadelphia and Louisville, he had some very fine years with Columbus and Pittsburgh, both of which he played with for multiple years. He appeared briefly for Boston and Washington, before leaving the majors behind him and playing seven more seasons split between the minors and various independent leagues.

Smith’s best seasons came between 1883 and 1886, when he played every day, primarily at second base or shortstop. His more nomadic phase, both positionally and between clubs, were the years before 1883, and that lack of consistency shows up in his underwhelming numbers. But such is the fate of the utilityman. Despite a bat that couldn’t pass muster against major league pitching, he showed enough ability with his glove at multiple positions to keep himself employed for twelve years at the highest level of competition—his was a longer tenure in the bigs than either Phillips or Nolan. At the end of his major league career, it was written of Smith that “he knows every point of the game, is thoroughly familiar with the tricks of the business (and) is quick to take advantage of every play that will help his side win.”22

The team may not have benefited in the standings from the historic union of Canadians Nolan, Phillips, and Smith, but each man brought a unique style of play to the diamond: Nolan, a fastball whiz and trailblazing curveball specialist, Phillips, a large first baseman with good hands and membership in the 1,000-hit club, and Smith, an ur-utilityman who rode his glove through twelve years of big league service. Each man’s marvelous baseball story penned chapters in Cleveland, including a convergence in 1881. That each man’s tale began in Canada is no small historical anomaly; rather, it is an important milestone for the development of baseball in Canada. It serves as a reminder that Canadians have played a part in major league baseball for over 140 years, and that baseball has lived and thrived in Canada from the earliest days of the sport’s existence. And as the following century and change has shown, baseball in Cleveland is all the stronger and richer for the Canadian ballplayers who have made their way to the Forest City. 

MACKENZIE LONGPRÉ is a professional musician from Toronto, Ontario. He spends most of his time touring, performing, and recording, but dedicates every second of spare time to reading, researching, and writing about baseball history. The game and its immense history are Mackenzie’s primary passions. He has been a SABR member since 2024 and has presented his work at the 2025 Canadian Baseball History Conference. Along with several other research and writing endeavors, Mackenzie maintains a Substack for which he writes long-form essays about long-forgotten or overlooked former Toronto Blue Jays (vukesbikerstache.substack.com).

 

Notes

1. George Wood and Arthur Irwin made up the first Canadian duo in the major leagues just one year earlier as members of the 1880 Worcester Ruby Legs.

2. Jim Shearon, Canada’s Baseball Legends (Malin Head Press, 1994), 3.

3. Peter Morris, “Bob Addy,” SABR BioProject, accessed July 1, 2026, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-addy/.

4. John Thorn, “The Only Nolan,” Our Game, May 18, 2015, accessed July 1, 2026, https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-only-nolan-bc7474dae960.

5. Alex Remington, “Today in 1857, The Only Nolan Was Born,” FanGraphs, November 7, 2013, accessed July 1, 2026, https://blogs.fangraphs.com/today-in-1857-the-only-nolan-was-born/.

6. Frederick Ivor-Campbell, Mark Rucker, and Robert L. Tiemann, eds., Baseball’s First Stars (Society for American Baseball Research, 1996), 121.

7. Bill James and Rob Neyer, The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers (Fireside, 2004), 326.

8. Tim Murnane, “The Pitcher’s Art,” Boston Globe, June 25, 1887.

9. The League Alliance consisted of teams affiliated with the National League. It comprised 13 clubs in 1877 and Indianapolis, along with a handful of other Alliance teams, were considered by many to be on par with the six National League squads that season.

10. Thorn, “The Only Nolan.”

11. Thorn, “The Only Nolan.”

12. Thorn, “The Only Nolan.”

13. Colin D. Howell, Northern Sandlots: A Social History of Maritime Baseball (University of Toronto Press, 1995), 128.

14. William Akin, “Bill Phillips,” SABR BioProject, accessed March 14, 2026, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bill-phillips/.

15. Ivor-Campbell et al., Baseball’s First Stars, 127.

16. David Matchett, “Early Batteries in the Great White North,” Our Game, Too: Influential Figures and Milestones in Canadian Baseball, Andrew North, ed. (Society for American Baseball Research, 2022), 133.

17. Though he wouldn’t form a part of an all-Canadian battery, Phillips did indeed bat against the game’s first. As revealed by David Matchett’s research in Our Game, Too, Canadians Tip O’Neill and John Humphries of the New Yorks teamed up as pitcher and catcher respectively in 1883. Phillips faced them as a batter in their second game together.

18. Akin, “Bill Phillips.”

19. Akin, “Bill Phillips.”

20. Phillips currently occupies the twelfth position on the all-time Canadian hits list, though Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sits just 53 hits behind Phillips heading into the 2026 season.

21. William Akin, “Pop Smith,” SABR BioProject, accessed March 14, 2026, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/pop-smith/.

22. Akin, “Pop Smith.”