Working closely with these men was Henry D. Ramsey, a long-time minor league player and manager, who had been retained by the Kingston stock company as its manager for 1903. On March25 and again on April 1, meetings were held which resulted in forming the Hudson River Baseball League for 1903. Franchises were taken up by Ossining, Newburgh, Hudson and Saugerties, as well as Kingston and Poughkeepsie. Elected President was McCabe, Secretary was Ramsay, and Treasurer was Col. H. D. Claflin of Saugerties. Application was made to the National Association for the Class C classification; admission was received on May 5.

Ramsay, the Secretary, was delegated to formulate a schedule. The response to his initial effort was symptomatic of the entire season-the schedule was rejected because it provided an “unfair share” of Saturday dates to Kingston. Finally, a new schedule was approved which opened on May 21 and closed September 19. Managers were McCabe, at Poughkeepsie, Ramsay at Kingston, August Schnack at Hudson, W. Merritt at Newburgh, and Keeney at Saugerties. W. L. Evans was owner/manager of the Ossining team.

Opening day at the brand-new Poughkeepsie ball grounds was deferred to May 28 because the skinned diamond was not completed. Instead Poughkeepsie opened at Newburgh, using Ernest Linderman, of Hoboken, as pitcher. This very first game of the season was protested-Linderman was on the Toledo (American Association) reserve list and was unable to acquire his release. The league president (McCabe!) threw out the protest on the grounds that the Poughkeepsie management was unaware of Linderman’s status.

As the season progressed, dissatisfaction with the umpiring mounted. In spite of frequent levying of $5 fines on rowdy players, umpires were under such pressure that all the original umpires had resigned by June 21. At a league meeting held June 21, McCabe and Ramsay resigned their league offices and C. S. Harvey, who resigned that day as umpire, was elected President. McCabe’s letter of resignation, quoted in the Poughkeepsie Eagle, spoke to the criticisms of the umpires-by players, management and newspapers-and his reluctance to serve longer. In fact, the Newburgh paper had taken to calling McCabe by the cognomen “Bad Bill,” because of his managerial protests to the umpires. Ramsay, at Kingston, and Evans, at Ossining, were also highlighted as bad actors, while even the Eagle characterized the Hudson aggregation as “gentlemen.”

On the field, Kingston had jumped off to an early lead, with Hudson, Saugerities and Poughkeepsie staying close. Newburgh and Ossining played close games, but were consistent losers. From June 22 through July 12, Hudson ran off a string of 12 straight wins and took over the lead, while Poughkeepsie kept slipping down toward Newburgh, in fifth place. ByJuly 28, however, Kingston recovered the lead, although Hudson hung close down to the end of the season. Ossining’s record slipped from 11-11 on June 25 to 14-29 on July 24, with a corresponding loss of fans. Catskill, an early potential franchise holder, agreed to take over the franchise with the support of the local electric railway which built a new park adjacent to the electric line. Evans remained manager, but gave up some of his ownership prerogatives.

Fred W. Valentine, manager of a semi-professional team at Peekskill, had been one of the early supporters of the idea of a Hudson Valley League. However, Peekskill had decided that playing five or six games a week would require that their players become fully professional-leaving their “lucrative positions”-so they had played independently. However, independent exhibitions had proven to be unsuccessful, financially. Valentine applied for admission to the League and was accepted as the seventh team as of August 2. This was very unusual to have a league increase in size in the course of a season. At that time Poughkeepsie had a 21-24 record, and Peekskill was credited with that same record. The beefed-up Peekskill team played its first game on August 11, and, through the remainder of the season, played at a 27-15 clip. Curiously, this .643 pace would have been good for third place behind Kingston’s .677 and Hudson’s .656. As official standings show, even with the 2 1-24 handicap, Peekskill’s final 48-39 .565 record stood third.

The quality of baseball clearly improved during the season. Early on, games with five or more errors per team were frequent, while errorless games became sufficiently common as to warrant no comment late in the season. As far as can be determined, only three major leaguers played in the league during 1903-James Dygert, a rookie pitcher with Poughkeepsie, Arthur DeGroff, a fast centerfielder with Saugerties and Kingston, and Dennis “Dan” Brouthers, at age 45 still a dangerous hitter whenever he played first base with Poughkeepsie, known as the Giants. Brouthers was a resident of Wappinger Falls, a village near Poughkeepsie, and reportedly found great difficulty in “getting in condition.” Apparently he could still “crush” the ball; in a game at Ossining, he was noted as having been cheated by the umpire when he hit the ball over the fence and was credited only with a single. The Poughkeepsie Eagle believed it should have been credited as a two-base hit!

One no-hit game was pitched during the season, by James Berger, of Hudson, against Ossining on July 7. The one triple play was turned by Newburgh against Poughkeepsie on July 24-with Brophy and Brouthers on base, McQuade lined to right-fielder Sullivan who, after a circus catch, threw to first-baseman Alfy Williams, who relayed to second-baseman Billy Shufelt.

The 1903 Hudson River League season is remarkable for the playing of the first known mid-season All-Star game. On August 17, the stars, called the All-Leaguers, defeated Poughkeepsie by a score of 7 to 0 before a capacity crowd. Demonstrating Kingston’s dominance in the league, five of the stars were from the Kingston Colonials, with one each from Catskill, Peekskill, Hudson and Saugerties. The Newburgh Hillsides were unrepresented.

As the season came to its final stages, the heavy incidence of rainouts produced a large number of double-headers. So many games would have been lost that the season was extended one week, through September 27. Even so, almost every day in September there was at least one doubleheader. The season was climaxed by the Hudson-Poughkeepsie QUADRUPLE-header played on September 20. In the morning double-header, Hudson won 2-1 and 6-4, and in the afternoon, 3-1 and 4-2. Bingham and Sewall each lost two games for Poughkeepsie, while Donaghue and Berger won in the morning and Donnelly pitched two winners in the afternoon for Hudson. Peekskill had previously won three games in a day-a morning victory from Poughkeepsie, and twin victories over Catskill, all on September 7.

Although the Hudson River League had to survive bad weather, unskilled management and other problems, the league was reasonably successful, with Peekskill and Ossining/Catskill the only heavy financial losers. Although McCabe lost money, much of his loss was traceable to the capital investment in the new ball grounds. The league expanded into New Jersey in 1904 with the addition of Paterson’s “Intruders,” and survived into the 1907 season.

Final Standings:

The Cubs wanted him back, however. As the Chicago correspondent to Sporting Life put it, “The pitcher problem is still a tough one. If Waddell would only return. I wonder how many months before Rube will have California touched to a standstill and, unable to raise any more loans, will come back to his old club.”

But Rube liked it in Los Angeles, and as the season went on, there was no more mention of his returning to Chicago. He was playing almost every day, and through mid-June had appeared in 48 of the club’s 60 games. He pitched in 20, with a 12-8 mark and 142 strikeouts, while he was batting .283, good enough to be among the leaders. He won a suit of clothes for hitting the first home run of the season; he sparred with Jim Jeffries, who thought Rube wasn’t a bad boxer, and was talking of learning how to catch, as he had already played all the other positions.

Meanwhile, Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics was in trouble. He had lost Nap Lajoie and pitchers Bill Bernhard and Chick Fraser in a court decision won by the Phillies. Eddie Plank was a year away from becoming a great pitcher, while Chief Bender was still at Carlisle. Waddell pitched for Mack in 1900 at Milwaukee, where he won 10 and lost 3 in a little over a month, after jumping from the Pirates in mid-season. So early in June, Connie sent Rube a wire, and, after taking two weeks to make up his mind, Rube headed east on June 20, much to the disgust of Manager Morley of Los Angeles.

When Rube took the mound for the first time with Philadelphia, it was the 26th of June and the A’s were back in the pack, six games behind the White Sox and only three games out of seventh place. He pitched poorly, losing 7-3 at Baltimore, giving up seven hits, three walks, two hit batsmen and a balk.

July was better. Back home in Philadelphia, he shut out the Orioles on two hits, facing only 27 men and striking out 13. Here is his July log.

Against Washington, he allowed five runs in the first Inning, but hung on to win. The 22-9 game against Boston was the one in which Danny Murphy made his American League debut, arriving at the park during the first inning, and proceeding to go 6 for 6 with a home run. Rube relieved in the fifth with the A’s ahead 9-6 and, after Philadelphia scored 12. In the 6th, Mack took Waddell out. The Macmillan research team gave him the win in this game, but other sources, including Sporting Life, did not. The next day he beat Bill Dinneen in 17 innings, driving in an insurance run himself in the final frame after a homer by Monte Cross. On the 21st, he took over for Plank In the eighth with the score tied and Philadelphia pushed across the winning run in the ninth. The next day he pitched six scoreless innings in relief, after coming in with the A’s behind 4-1. The final game of the month was a ten-inning tie halted by darkness. Although all sources do not agree on games won, Rube has at least a claim on winning ten games in a single calendar month, a feat unmatched by any other hurler since the pitching distance was increased to its present length in 1893. And the White Sox lead was down to half a game.

Rube continued to pitch every third game during most of August, and, although he lost his next two, he was still doing quite well.

The first shutout against Detroit went 13 innings, and Rube scored the winning run himself, as he tripled and came home on a single by Harry Davis. In the victory over the White Sox he struck out 11, and the Athletics were in first place, a half game ahead of the Browns, with Boston one game out and Chicago two back. Against St. Louis he was called on in the first inning with the A’s behind 3-0.

The only turn he missed all season was on August 25th, but he was now to start one incredible stretch of pitching.

Rube was rested in the game on September 4, leaving after six innings when the A’s were ahead 9-0. In the twinbill on the 10th against Baltimore, Waddell appeared in the opening game with the A’s behind 4-0 in the first inning. In the nightcap, he relieved in the eighth with the score tied at four. This climaxed two weeks in which Rube pitched in nine games, winning eight. Next came a loss to Boston in the ninth inning against Cy Young. But he then defeated the Red Sox three straight times, increasing the Philadelphia lead to five games. When it came time for Waddell to pitch again, the pennant was clinched, so he did not try for his tenth victory in September.

The official guide gave Waddell only 23 wins for the season, although there are no score-sheets left to determine exactly which games were credited to him. The July 8th game appears to be the only questionable decision. The Macmillan encyclopedia shows 25 games won for Rube.

He joined the team after they had played 50 games, and, although the schedule called for 140 total, Philadelphia played only 137. Assuming that 24 is the correct victory figure, Rube’s win per team game (24/87) has not been exceeded since the present pitching distance was adopted in 1893. Rube was taken out of only two games, both when the Athletics had very large leads. In six relief appearances, he went 28 innings and allowed only two runs, one earned, winning all six games.

Waddell went on to have several fine years with Philadelphia, but he never matched the exceptional iron-man performance of his first year in the American League, even though it covered only 2/3 of the season.

The Yanks of 1922, fresh off their first pennant, were loaded with talent and were favorites to repeat despite the six-week suspension of Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel at the start of the season. This was because of their post-season exhibition play in 1921, a violation of existing rules. Besides returners like  Ruth, Meusel, and pitching ace Bob Shawkey, the New Yorkers had plucked pitcher Joe Bush and shortstop Everett Scott from the Red Sox in a poorly disguised plan to keep Sox owner Harry Frazee’s non-baseball ventures alive. The final blow came on June 26 with the purchase from Boston of third baseman Joe Dugan to replace the injured Frank Baker and ineffective Mike McNally, a move which caused total 0utrage in St. Louis and set the stage for the showdown in September.

This was clearly the greatest Browns team. Besides the acknowledged superstar first baseman George Sisler, the Browns were loaded with quality players who, despite not having long careers, were peaking in 1922 and blended into a powerful offensive machine. From his clean-up spot just behind Sisler, Kenny Williams had developed into a bonafide slugger whose 39 homers and 155 RBIs led the league. Williams also stole 37 bases, to finish second to Sisler in that category. Centerfielder “Baby Doll” Jacobson hit behind Kenny Williams and drove in 102 runs while covering the outfield superbly. The third outfielder, Johnny Tobin, was the lone holdover from the St. Louis defunct Federal League entry and hit .331 while pounding 13 homers from his leadoff spot. The Browns keystone combo of Marty McManus at second and Wally Gerber played a solid defensive game although McManus at .312 was clearly the better hitter. Hank Severied, an excellent hitting veteran, did the catching and batted .321. This was one of the few teams in history with four hitters having 100 RBIs. Over all, the Browns led the league in runs, hitting, and stolen bases.

The pitching staff, led by Urban Shocker’s 24 wins and Elam Vangilder who was having his best year at 19-13, received excellent help from starters Dixie Davis and Ray Kolp, plus rookie relief ace and occasional starter Hub Pruett. They led all other American League teams in strikeouts, earned run average, and saves, although the lack of depth was later used as an excuse for losing the pennant.

Of all the Browns, however, none could compare with the 29 year-old George Sisler. An incredible .420 average with 246 hits, 134 runs, 51 stolen bases and the league MVP award only begin to tell the story. During the heat of the race and despite a serious arm/shoulder injury, he compiled a 41-game hitting streak into late September which broke Ty Cobb’s 40-game streak of 1911. (Interestingly enough Kenny Williams had a 28-game streak the same year and Rogers Hornsby of the Cardinals had a 33-game streak in 1922 which stood as the National League modern record until Tommy Holmes hit in 37 straight in 1945.) By the end of 1922 Sisler had a lifetime average of .361, but sinus trouble led to eye problems which caused him to miss all of the 1923 season and plagued him throughout his career.

The Yanks minus Ruth and Meusel jumped from the gate winning 22 of 33, actually playing better before they returned. Lee Fold as manager of the Browns also had his club break fast and the two teams quickly left the pack behind. The Brownies got hot in early June and took over first place until July 28 when the acquisitions of Dugan and Scott began to take effect.

When the Browns blew a four run lead in the ninth inning of an August 30 game against Tris Speaker’s Indians, the club had slipped to 2½ games back with 26 left to play. Five days later however, after winning four of five  and watching the New Yorkers drop three of four with Babe Ruth sitting out his fifth suspension of the season, the Browns moved back into first place by 1/2 game. Nearly as much interest was directed at the George Sisler hitting streak which by now had reached 35 games.

The Yankees played their last home game on September 11 before the largest crowd in their history at that time with 40,000 inside the Polo Grounds and another 25,000 turned away. This was the last regular season American League game played in the Polo Grounds, with Yankee Stadium opening the following spring. The Yanks thus faced playing their last 18 games on the road.

On September 13 the Browns announced George Sisler had severely sprained ligaments, couldn’t lift his right arm above his head, and might miss the rest of the season, a critical question for his 39-game hitting streak and particularly his club’s pennant hopes. Ironically, Sisler had injured his arm in an attempt to catch a throw on a ball hit by Ty Cobb, whose consecutive game hitting streak he was attempting to break.

Four games away from the big St. Louis-New York series, Everett Scott, the Yankee shortstop, had his own unusual problems. With his 970 consecutive games playing streak in jeopardy because he had missed the train, Scott was forced to take a bus from Gary, Indiana to Chicago to make the Yanks-White Sox doubleheader. At that time this was the longest playing streak in baseball history and would not be broken until Lou Gehrig came along.

As the big series neared, the fans in St. Louis became increasingly excited with tickets going for $45 each via the scalpers. On game day, fully 30,000 persons paid their way into tiny Sportsmans Park which was then designed to hold only 15,000.

Attention naturally centered on Sisler who had already missed several games causing his streak to be frozen at 39. When Sisler appeared from the dugout the crowd “burst forth with incredible excitement and had to be held back by mounted police”. Sisler was playing, the Browns were playing their last 12 games at home and suddenly the Yanks’ half-game lead seemed awfully small.

The Yanks sent their leading pitcher, Bob Shawkey, against Urban Shocker, the Brownie ace. After Sisler extended his streak to 40, the New Yorkers moved ahead 2-1, and when Sisler, swinging poorly due to his injury, bounced into a rally ending doubleplay in the sixth, Shawkey caught his second wind and began mowing down St. Louis. To begin the bottom of the ninth Yankee centerfielder Whitey Witt was tracking a medium deep fly ball to right-center when he was struck on the head by a flying soda bottle from the stands. Immediately the crowd emptied onto the field. As order was restored and Witt was carried from the field bleeding badly, a crucial change in the attitude of the fans occurred. Much of the hostile crowd actually began cheering for the Yanks to secure victory which they quickly did.

As Sisler later stated, “The bottle throwing had taken the heart out of the Browns.” League officials were outraged. Ban Johnson offered $1000 for the arrest and conviction of the culprit and the local papers had front page pictures of Witt from his hospital bed. Although several well-regarded sources stated the bottle had been thrown by a small boy who may have been trying to hit the ball and not Witt, there was another explanation. Johnson later awarded two World Series tickets to a gentlemen who wrote saying that Witt had stepped on the bottle, already laying in the outfield, and it had bounced up and hit him on the forehead!

The next day the Browns rebounded before an even larger crowd behind Hub Pruett, the rookie lefty who gained his reputation striking out Babe Ruth. In his ten at bats against Pruett before this game Ruth had struck out nine times and was hitless. It seems odd that in one of his biggest wins ever Pruett would lose his total mastery over the Babe who homered in the 5-1 loss. As Ruth rounded the bases in total silence, a straw hat was thrown at his feet and he ceremoniously wore it back to the dugout. Sisler extended his streak to 41 eclipsing the Cobb mark and establishing a record that stood until the incredible DiMaggio streak in 1941.

The final game of the series would decide whether or not the Yanks would leave town in first place and as far as the St. Louis fans were concerned, the pennant.

Manager Miller Huggins was working his righthander Joe Bush against Dixie Davis, a late replacement for Elam Vangilder. The righthander Davis was the complete master for seven innings and led 2-0. A two-out error allowed one run to score in the eighth and the Browns led by one going into the fatal ninth, an inning which would live forever in the hearts of Brownie fans. Wally Schang singled off Davis’ glove and after Severeid had committed a passed ball, Lee Fohl quickly removed Davis in favor of Pruett, a move for which he was to be second guessed for years. Despite pitching a great game the previous day Pruett had missed much action due to a sore arm. The Yanks sent Mike McNally up to hit, and when Severeid made a poor throw to third on his bunt, the Yanks had runners on first and third with none out. Pruett then walked Everett Scott and Fohl quickly went to Urban Shocker the first game starter. After retiring Joe Bush, a good hitting pitcher, disaster struck when Whitey Witt, his head still bandaged from the first game bottle incident, singled to center scoring two runs and the Yanks led 3-2. The only consolation was George Sisler having one final shot at extending his 41 game hitting streak. When he was retired in the ninth, the season was as good as over for the Browns.

Despite the favorable schedule remaining, the absence of Sisler for several games after this series due to the arm injury was too much to overcome. Three days later, when Babe Ruth had saved his third game of the month with a late inning throw, the Brownies trailed by 3½ games with only six to play. Perhaps more interesting was the St. Louis attendance which had slipped to 2000. Clearly the fans had deserted.

With five games left, the Yankees needed only one victory or a St.Louis loss to clinch the flag. They dropped the final game of a series in Cleveland to the fourth-place Indians and the first two with last place Boston before clinching with a 3-1 win. After losing their finale in Washington, the Yankees were only one game up in the standings over the Browns who had won their last five.

The Browns were not to be close again until their war-time contingent finally won the American League title in 1944.

The sharply declining attendance near year-end in St. Louis was unfortunately a preview of things to come. During 1922 the Browns drew 713,000, which was second to the Yankees. By early spring the following year the absence of Sisler coupled with the collapse of the pitching staff was adding to the Browns problems. As summer progressed, attendance continued to fade, and by year-end the decline was 40% from 1922.

Unfortunately for the Brownies, the Cardinal farm system as designed by Branch Rickey was quickly taking hold in 1923. By 1926 the National Leaguers were the World Champions and were outdrawing the Browns by 2 to 1. The fans had obviously made their choice.

Things became progressively worse for the Browns during the depression and the loss of owner Phil Ball only added to the problems. Between 1930 and 1939 the Browns were to draw an average of only 115,000 per year or a total of 1,115,000; this 10-year figure was nearly exceeded by Baltimore the first year it took the franchise in 1954.

It most assuredly is not! It is baseball’s most misleading number. It has pacified and fooled generations of players, fans, managers and media, masquerading as its grandest  garment, but in reality resembling a certain Emperor’s uniform.

What can the matter be with the average? Let’s begin with the fact that it considers a home run the same as a single. That it pretends no player has ever drawn a walk. That a player hitting into a double play has made one out. That nothing happened when a bunt moved a man along, or a fly ball brought a runner home.

After hiding such integral moments of the game, the batting average cannot proclaim itself an honest indicator of anything but the durability of its own clichés.

How about the offshoot of the BA: the slugging average? Doesn’t it take total bases from hits into account? Yes, but then it loses all credibility by disregarding outs made while batting, enabling long-ball hitters to produce outs at a rapid clip and maintaining the slugging average with a once-in-a-great-while long hit. And, of course, the slugging quotient is just as bereft when it comes to explaining walks and dp’s, sacrifices, etc.

The base-out percentage is baseball’s most complete and informative offensive statistic. Its simplicity may be startling, yet it entails everything a player accomplishes individually whenever his team is at bat. It can be computed in seconds, and easily kept track of. Its roots are in the nature of the game itself, i.e., the struggle of all batters to attain as many bases as possible while attempting to avoid being put out.

Unlike any other statistic, it takes each plate appearance into consideration. Doing this, it reveals abilities and flaws previously unaccounted for and destroys common myths about player success. It is a true barometer of what a player has accomplished during the season and his career.

The base-out percentage is founded on the simple theory that a batter may embark on two journeys after completing a plate appearance: 1) back to the dugout, or more pleasurably, 2) to begin that magic trek around the bases.

Bases are of the highest import, competing with outs for the production of the sport’s gold-runs! The game is circling the bases before the third out occurs. To attain the highest number of bases while compiling the fewest number of outs is each batter’s dream. To build the highest ratio of bases to outs is his desire. And whether consciously or not, he has always been trying to improve his percentage of bases to outs. This is where the base-out percentage (BOP) comes into focus.

It is figured in this manner: Basesare derived by adding total bases, walks, hit by pitch, stolen bases, sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies. Outsare totaled by adding “outs batting” (at-bats minus hits), sacrifice hits, sacrifice flies, caught stealing, and double-plays grounded into. Bases are then divided by outs. The result is the base-out percentage (BOP).

Chronicling the base-out percentage is easy. And the results are astounding. Let’s sample the 1977 records of two players, their reputations made on the traditional batting average, to see the base-out percentage in action-Willie Montanez, who played with Atlanta, and Gary Thomasson who performed for San Francisco:

The batting average and  slugging percentage give Montanez the offensive edge in the traditional listings. The base-out percentage does not stop there, however. Consider these additional, lesser publicized facts:

Gary Thomasson is known as a “waiter,” Willie Montanez is affectionately called a “free swinger.” In other words, Willie Montanez makes many more outs, all based on avoiding the base on balls, in search of extra bases by hitting away. While he may make a few more bases this way, 249 total bases to Thomasson’s 201 (48 more bases), this is nearly negated by the BB column, 35 walks to Thomasson’s 75 (40 less bases). And by his inability to draw a walk, he has made 56 more outs with his free and dubious swinging than Thomasson did by waiting for his pitch and remembering “a walk is as good as a hit.” The walk, of course, may sometimes be more damaging physically and mentally to opposing hurlers.

This is not all. Montanez has grounded into 18 dp’s overlooked in his batting average, accounting for 18 extra outs. Thomasson was able to avoid the dp’s, hitting into only seven.

Further, Montanez did not appreciably aid his team on the base paths. He stole one base and was caught once. Thomasson stole 16 bases, being caught only four times.

All told, the comparison totals:

The base-out percentage is a far cry from the batting average and slugging average. It shows Thomasson had the more effective 1977 season. Careerwise, this also shows: Thomasson’s .715 base-out percentage over Montanez’s .682.

The 1978 base-out percentage may bring about a reconstruction of what transpired on the field last season. Contrast Pete Rose’s glory-and-hit filled campaign as compared to Joe Morgan’s “season long slump” of 1978.  The base-out percentage has a few final words on the subject-Morgan .762, Rose .752! Also compare:

The base-out percentage (BOP) does not avoid anything a player does offensively. A sacrifice is counted as a base gained and an out made. A hit by pitch is a base. A stolen base is for the first time reflected in a percentage.

What Eddie Stanky used to call intangibles-not hitting into dp’s, sacrificing, waiting out a pitcher-are rightfully rewarded in the base-out percentage.

The lure of baseball has in great part come in the weighing of players’ statistics, analyzing the different offensive departments each batter contributes to. The base-out percentage offers a clear picture of what a player has accomplished. An .800 percentage means that for each 1,000 outs a player has made 800 bases. A BOP of over .700 would be above average. A manager choosing a player who makes 60 bases each 100 outs (.600 BOP), over one who totals 75 bases per 100 outs (.750 BOP), may do so at his team’s run-scoring peril.

There were but three 1.000 or over “BOPers” in 1978, meaning these players had more bases than outs. This was a drop from the  11 “Big BOPers” of 1977.

The current career BOP leader is Cincinnati’s Joe Morgan, with a mark of .971. (See accompanying charts.) From 1972 through 1977, Morgan had a remarkable string of six straight years with over a  1.000 Base-Out Percentage.

With Morgan and others due to negotiate a contract after the 1979 season, the value of the base-out percentage should be obvious. Signing an out-maker with a nice batting average to a million dollar pact may be questionable. And instead of sulking over a low average, a player may point to his base-out percentage and demand a raise!

Copyright 1979 by Barry F. Codell

1978 BASE-OUT BREAKDOWN (125 OR MORE BASES)

CAREER LEADERS, BASE-OUT PERCENTAGE
ACTIVE PLAYERS, 1979 (500 OR MORE BASES)

CAREER TOTALS OF POST-WWII STARS

The age old problems experienced recently by Jack Quinn at Hawaii, Wally Moon in San Antonio, or Pat McKernan at Pittsfield began in the late 19th century when minor league baseball flooded the nation. As National League baseball along with its many competitors reached its adolescence in the 1880’s, minor leagues brought to cities in the west and towns elsewhere the opportunity to experience the thrills and joys which baseball gave to major league cities.

Though baseball players were still not held in the highest repute, newspapers in one aspiring minor league city constantly reported both the game and its team’s players in the most positive fashion. In the spring of 1888 when the Texas League took root, the Dallas News reported:

The organization of a Texas League has had the effect of attracting first-class players from various parts of the country . . . and if properly conducted, as it doubtless will be, the sport will prove healthful to the youth of the land. The game is wholesome and manly barring occasional disfiguration of faces and fingers, and even the patrons who attend must feel its effects. A good baseball player must need be a lusty, swarthy, sinewy specimen of manhood; agile, elastic, of well-knit frame and thorough physical development . . . The sport is exhilerating, if not always exciting, and the exercise resultant is a lesson in physical upbuilding.

Baseball enthusiasm swept the Lone Star State in the winter of 1887- 1888. Several cities sought entry into the newly formed Texas League which had its organizational meeting on December 15, 1887. Boastful exchanges between Dallas, Galveston, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth led to successful campaigns in each city to organize a team. Several smaller cities, such as Waco and Denison, sought entry into the league but failed to raise sufficient capital or enough professional players.

Investors in Dallas found stock in the Dallas Athletic and Amusement Association attractive. By January 7, 1888, 2/3 of its stock had been subscribed. The association president, Leon Vendig, a Dallas merchant, spoke glowingly of a long and prosperous existence. Through the remainder of winter, the Association along with a cooperative press generated interest in the new team. The Dallas press used “quality” as the watchword in promoting baseball. Dallasites were told that Charles Levis, the team’s playing manager was among the finest and most knowledgeable gentlemen in the game. Vendig looked beyond “homegrown” talent and sought only the finest players available. The St. Louis Browns, who had won the American Association title in 1887 by 14 games, “guaranteed” the Dallas team six crack players. To stimulate further excitement, the Browns nearest rival, Cincinnati, played three games with the Dallas team in March. Though the major leaguers demolished the local nine, over 1500 persons showed up for the rain-delayed games.

Management sought to provide a genteel atmosphere for their patrons. The new ball park in suburban Oak Cliff was modeled on the field at Philadelphia “which is conceded to be the most attractive in the U.S.” The admission price of 25¢ was established by league rules. The late starting times, generally around 4 o’clock, sometimes as late as 5, provided an opportunity for a good part of Dallas citizenry to come to the games. Since the ball park was in a suburb rather than in the business district, J. T. Marsalis’s Oak Cliff Railroad ran special trains with a 5¢ fare to the games. Vendig reserved an area of the grandstand to attract female fans and every Wednesday was designated as “Ladies Day,” when all the fairer sex could enter the park free of charge.

Publicity stressed the idea that Dallas hired only gentlemen to play for them. Swearing and ungentlemanly behavior at the ball park would not be tolerated on the field or in the stands. An article in the newspaper in mid-March reported that the Dallas team was so serious about their work that “coffee is the strongest drink allowed to pass their lips.” Though stories appeared about the rowdy and licentious exploits of the other players in the league, no such publicity emanated from Dallas. Though gambling on baseball in the city’s many gaming parlors could not be stopped, Vendig maintained that such unseemly activity would not be condoned at the ball park. This lip service to the integrity of baseball lasted until opening day when the Dallas News writer concluded that there was “considerable betting, with one of over $1000 won.” Nearly all future reports on games included the odds on that day’s game.

In reality the owner did not have to sell his team as a group of gentlemen. As owners since time immemorial have noted, winners draw fans. Dallas won two league titles in 1888! Vendig’s early optimism about the quality of his club was well-founded since Dallas had the most stable franchise in the league in 1888. Though no official record of attendance exists, the journalist gave evidence of strong support for the Dallas Hams. Over 3000 attended opening day ceremonies, with an additional 500 fans standing around the outfield. Crowds rarely approached that level again, but only a poor foe or inclement weather drove attendance below 1000. Throughout the summer, crowds of 2000 became common. The rivalry with the Fort Worth Panthers attracted particularly large, vocal, and partisan crowds. As spring slipped into summer, it was apparent that the amount of support for baseball was not as evident in other cities. Sustained support proved to be the missing link throughout the Texas League in 1888. On June 13, only 150 attended a brilliant pitchers’ duel in Austin. Crowds of 300 became common even when league-leading Dallas came to town.

The league began to crack on June 8. The San Antonio team failed to show up for a series. Finally the Alamos withdrew from the league, leaving their players without back salaries. When the San Antonio team withdrew, the league president, Robert Adair, who also was the president of the Houston franchise, instructed Austin to travel to Fort Worth to make up some rainouts. Dallas strenuously objected since Austin was scheduled to play in Dallas those dates. Vendig’s indignation brought the Austin team to Dallas despite a vehement warning from the league office. Such bravery caused the Hams to call a third inning halt in a June 13 game so that Vendig could present a gold-headed ebony cane to the Austin manager, John J. McCloskey, for his honesty in following the original schedule. Shortly after the incident, Dallas’ chief rival, the Fort Worth team, folded. By July 1, Austin could not attract fans and Houston did not meet its payroll. By Independence Day, Austin had not paid its players and Houston had collapsed. Only Dallas and Galveston remained. The first Texas League season ended early with standings (provided by the SABR Minor League Committee) as follows:

• Dallas: 35-18
• Galveston: 30-24
• Houston: 28-24
• Austin: 27-24 (disbanded 7/1, moved to San Antonio 7/4)
• Fort Worth: 20-28 (out 6/25)
• San Antonio: 6-28 (out 6/3)

Fortunately for Dallas baseball fans, the Southern League had the same problems. Discussions began at once to consolidate franchises from both leagues into one solid association. By July 9 that merger had been accomplished. Dallas, New Orleans, Galveston, Houston, Birmingham, and of all places, San Antonio, fielded teams in the new Texas-Southern League. The Austin team had been moved intact to San Antonio where “solid” backing had been arranged. Master-minding this shift was the ever-present John J. McCloskey, who can accurately be described as the founding father of the Texas League. Houston then reorganized its association, paid 70% of its back salaries, and hired new talent. Galveston improved its business operation so that it remained in the league. But before the renewed season began, Birmingham, which had won the Southern League title, dropped out. In retrospect, it seems apparent that only Dallas and New Orleans had sufficient backing and support.

The new league featured a hot rivalry between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Dallas Hams. They dominated play with the other teams and by mid-August both Galveston and Houston had attendance problems and folded. The league floundered through the remainder of the month with only three teams. The problems of the collapsing franchises had damaged even the strong teams. Four players jumped the Pelicans because of uncertainty about continued pay. Dallas had to “place more stock” on the market to raise sufficient capital, and the San Antonio team threatened to shift to Fort Worth if attendance did not pick up. What had been an optimistic beginning in 1888 resulted in a limp finish with only three squads left. On September 3, these three-Dallas, New Orleans, and San Antonio-mutually agreed to end the season.

The Hams claimed the laurels for both campaigns. Having first led the Texas League almost the entire season, they then swept through the Texas-Southern seasons with a 21-8 record as well as demolishing New Orleans, their closest rivals, in six of eight games. The Hams in short had a solid baseball club. Of the 19 men who played all or substantial portions of the season, eight made it to the major leagues. None became stars or even journeymen, and most only experienced the proverbial “cup of coffee” before disappearing from baseball.

The early season hitting hero and team catcher was James “Tub” Welsh. The backstop was known for his paunchy stomach as well as being the “gum chewer” of the team. Welsh elicited the most favorable reactions from the fans. When the Texas League season ended, Welsh was sold to Buffalo. The popular catcher returned to Dallas for the 1889 and part of the 1890 seasons. He eventually played for Toledo (AA) in 1890 and Louisville (NL) in 1895. Coincidentally, he held a lifetime major league .261 average with 261 times at bat.

Joe Fogarty, right fielder and occasional first baseman, had a brief stay with St. Louis (NL) in 1885. Like Welsh, Fogarty had a weight problem. He was on his way down from the majors as was “Ducky” Hemp, the center fielder, who had played briefly at Louisville (AA) in 1887. Hemp appeared with Pittsburgh (NL) and Syracuse (AA) in 1890 leaving a lifetime .211 average. Art Sunday, the other outfielder, played one year at Brooklyn for Monte Ward in the Players League, hitting .265.

Manager and first baseman Charles Levis had both managed and played for the Baltimore team in the Union Association in 1884. He also appeared in the major leagues with Washington (UA) and Indianapolis (AA). After a brief stay at Baltimore (AA) in 1 885 he returned to the minor leagues where he played and managed for several years. Jack Wentz, the second sacker, played one game for Louisville (AA) in 1891 while Tim O’Rourke, third baseman, batted 332 times for Syracuse (AA) in 1890, ending the season and his major league career with a .283 average. The only pitcher to have made it to the majors was Doug Crothers who compiled an 8-13 record with Kansas City (UA) and New York (AA) in 1884 and 1885. Crothers achieved some notoriety in baseball in 1 887 when he refused to sit for the Syracuse team picture. He did this because the International League entry had a black pitcher who was not only on the team but challenging him for the team’s leadership. When his manager at Syracuse demanded he cooperate, Crothers attacked him. None of this appeared in the Dallas papers in 1888 and Crothers became a model citizen, even taking over the management in later years.

Despite these trials and tribulations, Dallas returned to organized baseball, if that is what the Texas League was in 1888, for the 1889 season only to have the league collapse again. Leon Vendig operated the team through 1890, Crothers managed the team in 1889, and several players returned to play for a few years. Dallas did not field a team in 1891, but did in 1892. The city did not have an entry in the league in either 1893 or 1894. In 1895, Dallas became a regular member of the Texas League until Bob Short moved the Senators to the Metroplex in 1972. Though Dallas twice had its park burn down, it is doubtful that the problems and bizarre events of 1888 were ever repeated.

In 1888 even the team’s name was in doubt. Though some claim the name was the Steers (which would be perfectly logical considering the economy of the region) they were always referred to as the Hams in the press. During the 1888 season, teams simply failed to show up to play the Hams three times. It was quite common for trains to break down and for teams to be delayed a few days before arriving in a rival town. Spring rains made fields muddy and the early schedule became haphazard. But when a good crowd was at the ball park the show went on in spite of weather. In early June, with a heavy crowd coming to the game, the Oak Cliff Railroad tipped over injuring several fans as well as manager Charles Levis. One day in Fort Worth as the teams readied to play, the umpire signed a contract with the Panthers and played right field that day.

In spite of all these circumstances, or perhaps because of them, a Dallas journalist who fancied himself a poet summed up the attitude of many Dallas baseball fans in late August of 1888 when he concluded his three stanza poem with:

Hurrah then for the Hams!
And if their courage doesn’t sag,
You can bet good even money
That they’ll carry home the rag.

In the last two decades of the 19th century, some 30 Negro players saw service in leagues in Organized Baseball. After 1898, however, the doors of the majors and the members of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues were closed to Negroes, although there were no rules anywhere prohibiting them from playing. It is, of course, possible that a light-skinned Negro of mixed racial background may have “passed,” to use the expression of the time.

Thus, the first documented instance of a Negro playing in Organized Baseball in the 20th century was Jackie Robinson, signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, who made his debut with Montreal of the International League in 1946, right? WRONG!!

Exactly 30 years earlier, in 1916, a Negro named Jimmy Claxton pitched for the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League, briefly, to be sure, but he was there. Jimmy was a well-known baseball figure in the Pacific Northwest and, in 1969, was elected to the Tacoma-Pierce County Hall of Fame. Claxton was a baseball player for more than 40 years.

James E. Claxton was born in 1892 at Wellington, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island off the west coast of Canada. His family moved to Tacoma, Wash., when he was three months old and he always considered that city to be his hometown. His mother was Irish and English, his father was Negro, French and Indian.

As chronicled by Tacoma News-Tribune sports editor Dan Walton in a 1964 column, “Jimmy began playing baseball as a left-handed catcher with the Roslyn town team as a 13-year old. He held the job for five years. He started pitching in 1912 with the Chester team, near Spokane, and fanned 18 in his first game.” Walton went on to say:

His travels took him to such teams as the Tacoma Giants; Sellwood of the Portland City League; Good Thunder, Minn.; Homestead in the Stevens County League; Shasta (Calif.) Limiteds; the Lincoln Giants of the Los Angeles Winter League; the Seattle Queen City Stars; Mukilteo of the Snohomish County League; the Chicago Union Giants; the Tacoma Longshoremen; Eureka, S.D.; the Cuban Stars of the Negro American League; the Nebraska Indians and many way points.

He had a 20-1 record with the Chicago Giants the season they played 43 barnstorming games against the House of David, he won 20 games in 20 starts at Edmonds, managed and pitched Roslyn to three titles in four years in the Central Washington League, and had Luis Tiant, Sr., as a fellow left-hander with the Cuban Stars in 1932.

How did he get to the Pacific Coast League in 1916?

“I got off to a real good start as a southpaw pitcher with the Oakland Giants in a Colored League in the spring of 1916,” Jimmy told Walton.

A fellow named Hastings, a part-Indian from Oklahoma, I believe, followed every game we played. He introduced me to Herb McFarlin, secretary of the Oakland Coast League club, and told him I was a fellow tribesman. I was signed to an Organized Baseball contract, but the manager was against me and did everything to keep from giving me a fair chance.

I had been with Oakland about a month when I got a notice that I was released. No reason was given, but I knew. They tried to get out of paying me, but I had my contract and the notice of release. They had to come through with the money.

After 48 years, Claxton’s memory was a little off as to the time he spent with the PCL club, but otherwise research indicates he was correct.

The San Francisco Chronicle for Sunday, May 28, 1916, reported, “Claxton, the Indian pitcher who works from the port side and hails from an Indian reservation in Minnesota, will make his PCL debut (today).” Being a Sunday, the Oaks were playing a morning-afternoon doubleheader with visiting Los Angeles, then managed by Frank Chance and fielding such players as Harl Maggert, Johnny Bassler, and Harry Wolter.

Claxton started the first game, pitched two-plus innings, allowed four hits and three runs, two of them earned. He walked three, struck out none. Jimmy left the game with the Oaks trailing, 3-0, but got off the hook when his teammates tied the score in the fourth. The Angels won the game, 5-4.

Claxton finished the second game that afternoon, pitching one-third of an inning, giving up no runs or hits and walking one batter. Los Angeles won that contest handily, 10-5.

The press was reasonably kind in the next day’s editions. The Chronicle stated, “Klaxton (some incorrectly spelled his name with a K), the Indian youngster who made his PCL debut, was obviously nervous and cannot be fairly judged by his showing.”

The San Francisco Call reported, “Klaxton, the Indian southpaw recently nailed by the Oaks from an Eastern reservation, stepped into the box for the first time yesterday morning. The Redskin had a nice windup and a frightened look on his face, but not quite enough stuff to bother L.A. He lasted two innings. However, he may do better in the future.”

Unfortunately, for Claxton there was to be no Pacific Coast League future. His name next appeared in the press on June 3, when his outright release was announced.

The Call reported it rather matter-of-fact. “Elliott (Oaks’ manager Harold “Rowdy” Elliott) has given the gate to George Klaxton, the Indian southpaw recently secured from an Eastern reservation. Klaxton appears to have a lot of stuff, but he’s not quite ripe for this company. He’s a free agent and will probably make a stab to secure a job in the Western League.”

The Chronicle, however, had a little different twist to the story. In his 1964 interview with Walton, Claxton indicated he always suspected that a “supposed friend” had tipped off Oakland officials that he was part Negro.

The Chronicle’s story, signed by sports editor Harry B. Smith, said, “George Claxton, the Indian pitcher who was signed by Elliott, has been handed his release. According to Rowdy, the heaver had nothing on the ball and he couldn’t afford to bother with him. Claxton pitched last year, according to reports, with the Oakland Giants, but Manager Rowdy declared that he appeared at the Oakland headquarters with an affadavit signed before a notary showing him to be from one of the reservations in North Dakota.”

The commentary was somewhat different after it became known Claxton was part Negro!

Despite his very brief Pacific Coast League trial, Claxton did have enough ability as a pitcher to say that, had he been born 30-40 years later, he might well have made the majors. For example, in 1919, in what the Oakland Tribune called “the greatest semi-pro game ever put on here”, Claxton pitched the Shasta Limiteds to the Northern California championship by beating Best Tractors, 2-1, on a five-hitter. His mound opponent that day was Johnny Gillespie, who, three years later, was pitching for Cincinnati. Best’s first baseman and cleanup hitter was Babe Danzig, former Red Sox and PCL performer, and their catcher, Andy Vargas, later played several years in the Coast League.

Claxton must have been a pretty fair hitter, too. The box score for that 1919 game shows him batting fourth and, while the game was still a scoreless tie, he drew an intentional walk to load the bases.

Claxton was still pitching once a week at the age of 52, in fast semipro company. According to a nephew, he pitched, and won, a two-hitter when he was 61! He died in Tacoma on March 3, 1970, at the age of 78.

Anton’s “timing!’ might not have been the best, in that he was born too soon to be a major league player, but it was uncanny in another context. Believe it or not, Jimmy Claxton is the first Negro player who ever appeared on a baseball trading card.

From 1911 to 1939 a candy company in San Francisco Issued the famous “Zeenut” cards, the longest continuous series of baseball cards printed, until they were recently surpassed by Topps. Clsxton may have been with the Oaks for just one week, but he happened to be there when the photographer was around taking the pictures for the 1916 set of Zeenut cards, and his card was issued with all the rest that year.

However, the most prominent display of a name player at a strange position, at least from today’s perspective, was the listing of Roger Bresnahan as pitcher for the Washington Senators. It was the future catching great’s major league debut, and the 18-year-old gained headlines in the home town paper-KID PITCHER A WIZARD-by shutting out St. Louis 3-0 on six hits. It was a big lift for the Senators, who were mired in 11th place in the 12-team league.

Describing the work of the “Hibernian” or the “Buckeye Stripling,” the Post said control was “the first symptom of clever work displayed by the youngster . . and he also showed himself the possessor of a speedy shoot, an outcurve, an inshoot, and a drop ball.” The veteran Deacon McGuire was the catcher of this wide assortment of deliveries. He was impressed with Bresnahan’s pitching ability, his agility in the field (he had fielded two hard smashes back to the mound), and his bloodline, for McGuire was quoted as saying “He comes of the right stuff; good, old gamey Irish blood in that lad.”

Manager Tommy Brown used Bresnahan three more times in the last month of the 1897 season and the youngster was at least partly responsible for Washington ending the season in seventh place in the standings. Bresnahan had a 4-0 log for his rookie season and he apparently felt this indicated great promise as a pitcher. The burly Irishman held out for more money the next spring and Washington let him go.

Bresnahan drifted back to Toledo where he pitched briefly in 1898. He next pops up in a few box scores for Minneapolis in 1899, and gets in one box Score as a catcher with the Chicago NL team in 1900.

The Baltimore Orioles picked him up as a pitcher in 1901, but he was hit hard in his first two games. Manager John McGraw put him behind the bat One day when catchers Wilbert Robinson and Cliff Latimer were both banged up. Bresnahan performed so well that the transition from pitcher to regular player took place rather quickly. That doesn’t mean that he immediately became a first string catcher, but he did get to fill in at a number of positions. When McGraw jumped to the New York Giants in July 1902, he took Bresnahan and Joe McGinnity with him.

It was in New York where Bresnahan gained his greatest fame as McGraw’s sparkplug (and alter ego) and Christy Mathewson’s favorite catcher. He had great versatility, playing all nine positions on the diamond. He frequently batted leadoff, was a good base stealer, and played many games in centerfield.

The comments of his contemporaries give some idea of his strengths, particularly behind the plate. One sportswriter said,

“Watch him while he is catching. Watch him throw to bases. Absolute, unerring decision is his. Never a moment of hesitation, a second of doubt. He heaves the ball to second or to third, or to first as the lightning chance may demand, with a sort of cold, infallible ferocity. And he possesses that alacrity of taking a chance which differentiates soldiers of genius from the prudent plodder.”

With those plaudits it is probably fortunate that the inventor of shin guards did not continue as a hurler-in spite of his spectacular debut. He showed too much skill with a glove, too much versatility, too strong a bat, and too much field leadership to play only once every four days.

The box score of his debut on August 27, 1897 follows:

WASHINGTON 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 x – 3
ST. LOUIS   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0

Bases on balls off Bresnahan 1 (Hartman); off Sudhoff 2 (Brown and Reilly). Struck out by Bresnahan 1 (Hartman); Sudhoff 2 (Demontrevile and Reilly). Two-base hits-Demontreville, Wrigley and Lally. Sacrifice hits-Murphy. Stolen bases-Tucker and Hartman. Double plays-Reilly to Tucker, Cross to Hallman. Passed ball-McGuire. Umpire-Mr. Kelly. Time of game-2 hours.

From the appearance of the modern game of baseball in 1846 to the formation of the first professional league in 1871, the umpire was the personification of an amateur sport played by gentlemen. Initially, umpires were either volunteers or persons chosen from the assembled spectators (and even players), for then the only qualifications for umpiring were a basic knowledge of the rules and a reputation for rendering fair and accurate decisions. Because it was considered an “honor” to be designated an umpire, the early arbiters received no payment for their service. Although umpires worked in whatever clothing they happened to wear to the game, contemporary wood-cuts depict the idealized stereotype of the umpire-a distinguished-looking fellow, often attired in a top hat, Prince Albert coat, and cane, who stood, kneeled, or sat on a stool a respectable distance from home plate along the first base line.

After the Civil War, baseball, like virtually every other aspect of American society, underwent a profound transformation. The era of the gentleman arbiter quickly came to an end, replaced by the age of the professional umpire. From the 1870’s through the 1890’s the nature of umpiring was altered because of four factors: the professionalization of baseball, revisions in the rules and techniques of the game, a change in the composition of teams and spectators, and the transformation of the National Pastime from sport to business.

As players progressed in status from amateur to semipro to professional, umpires predictably followed suit. The organization in 1876 of the National League had an immediate and profound effect on umpiring. The League moved quickly to impose uniformity and quality controls on umpires. In addition to counseling its arbiters on the interpretation and application of rules, the League in 1878 enhanced the independent posture and professional stature of the officials by paying them $5 a game. At first the League adopted the practice pioneered by the old Professional Association of having the home team select an umpire from a list of five candidates submitted by the visiting club, but in 1879 it compiled an official list of 20 qualified men from whom the home team could choose an arbiter. The rival American Association went one step further when it began operation in 1882. In addition to paying its umpires a salary plus $3 per diem for expenses while on the road, the Association required its officials to wear blue flannel coats and caps while working games. The next year the National League adopted the concept of a permanent, paid, uniformed staff, thus completing the professionalization of major league umpires.

Fundamental changes in the rules and strategy of the game during the 1880’s and 1890’s necessitated a significant expansion of the authority granted to umpires. Rapidly changing rules combined with ambiguities in existing rules (what, for example, was a “legal” pitch?) caused confusion among players, fans and arbiters alike. Revolutionary changes in offensive tactics-the popularity of the bunt, hit-and-run, and stolen base-placed additional strains on the officials. The problem was simple: a single umpire, whether he worked behind the catcher or pitcher, had an enormously difficult time obtaining proper position to call plays and thus to maintain control of the game.

The problems confronting umpires were compounded by the expansion of baseball to the public at large. This resulted in the “lower sort” increasingly replacing the “respectable element” both on the field and in the stands, and umpire-baiting and rowdyism became commonplace. Umpires were routinely spiked, kicked, sworn at and spit upon by players, while fans (“kranks” as they were then called) hurled curses, bottles and all manner of organic and inorganic debris at the arbiters. Mobbings and physical assaults by players and patrons alike became commonplace; police escorts were familiar and welcome sights to the men in blue. One of the most inhospitable towns in baseball was Baltimore, where in the 1890’s the Orioles of Ned Hanlon and John McGraw set new lows for violent behavior on the field. In short, a rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred mentality dominated the game in the last part of the 19th century.

Given the difficulties confronting umpires in the early days of the professional era, it was clear steps would have to be taken to increase the ability of the officials to control the game. To help exert discipline on the field, umpires were first granted absolute authority in judgment decisions, then allowed to fine players deemed guilty of abusive conduct, and finally in the 1890’s permitted to eject offenders from the game. But the problem of inadequate coverage of plays went unresolved despite the use of two umpires (dressed in white to symbolize “purity”?) by the rebel Players League in 1890. The use of two officials became widespread during the first decade of the 20th century, but it was not until 1910-11 that the official rules stipulated the assignment of both an umpire-in-chief to call balls and strikes and a field umpire to make decisions on the bases. (Three umpires were assigned to regular season games in 1933; the four-man crew was adopted in 1952.)

Many of the difficulties faced by umpires in the 1880’s and 1890’s are traceable to the evolution of baseball from sport to business. Club owners, in the business of selling entertainment, soon realized that umpire-baiting boosted gate receipts. Apart from a refusal to provide adequate salaries, facilities, or staffs, the owners undermined the position of the umpires directly by paying their player’s fines and indirectly by doing nothing to curb rowdyism by teams or spectators. Owners and league officials were culpable not only in that they refused to support their umpires but also in that they quickly joined forces with zealous sportwriters in deliberately casting the arbiters as villains and scapegoats.

For all the uncertainties and tribulations of this early period, it produced several umpires who deserve special recognition in baseball history. William B. McLean (NL 1876-80, 1882-84) perhaps deserves the title of the first professional umpire. So great was his ability and reputation for fairness that league officials not only agreed to his demands for the then unheard of fee of $5 per game but also sent him on an expense-paid tour of every city in the league. The most famous early exponents of the two basic styles of umpiring were Robert V. Ferguson and John H. Gaffney. Ferguson, known as “Robert the Great,” ruled as an iron-fisted autocrat while Gaffney, dubbed “The King of the Umpires,” controlled the game through tact and diplomacy. Gaffney also popularized the technique of working behind the plate until a man reached base and then moving behind the pitcher (before the umpire worked either behind the batter or pitcher and did not usually shift) and began the practice of calling a ball “fair” or “foul” at the point where it left the park instead of where it was last seen. In 1888 Gaffney was the highest paid umpire in baseball, earning $2,500 a year plus expenses on the road.

Other noteworthy umpires were John 0. Kelly, who worked mostly in the American Association and who appeared in more early World Series (5 Series, 26 games) than any other umpire of the day; and the duo of John A. Heydler and Thomas J. Lynch, both of whom went on the serve as president of the National League. Finally, there was Richard Higham, who was dismissed in 1882 for advising gamblers how to bet on games he umpired and, thus, has the dubious honor of being the only umpire ever judged guilty of dishonesty.

The umpiring profession as well as baseball in general became “big league” after 1900. Principal credit for enhancing the stature of the men in blue belongs to Byron “Ban” Johnson who, as the first president of the American League, emphatically supported the decisions and positions of his umpires. Continued front office support, coupled with the on-field reputation of umpires like Bill Klem, secured by the 1920’s the role of the umpire as the unquestioned arbitrator of the game. But in other areas the umpiring profession progressed slowly. Although Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier as a player in 1947, there was no Black umpire until Emmett L. Ashford joined the American League staff in 1966. And it was not until the organization of the Major League Umpires Association in the l960’s, thanks largely to the efforts of National League arbiter Augie Donateffi, that umpires finally began to receive salaries and fringe benefits commensurate with their contribution to the game and achieve true professional status.

Despite the prominent position of umpires in baseball history, information about arbiters and their activities remains elusive. James M. Kahn’s badly out-dated The Umpire Story (1953) is the lone scholarly history of umpiring. And where countless tomes contain detailed career profiles of players, coaches, and managers, there is no comprehensive biographical compendium for umpires. The archival plight of the umpire is illustrated by the three basic baseball sourcebooks. The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball contains an “All-Time Register” of umpires, but the names are often incomplete and there are numerous inaccuracies; the Baseball Register offers annually biographical sketches of current umpires, but some information is incorrect; the massive Baseball Encyclopedia has nothing on umpires. Worse yet, newspapers have long since banished umpires from the box scores; the Sporting News alone continues the tradition of listing game officials.

I have learned first-hand the difficulty of obtaining even the most elementary information about umpires in the course of researching a history of baseball umpiring. Neither the American nor National League headquarters could produce a comprehensive roster of the men who have umpired in their leagues. Moreover, I have had to obtain the names of All-Star and World Series umpires from box scores and official game records. Tabulations of those umpires who have achieved the greatest distinction in terms of either length of career or service in All-Star games and the World Series constitute the burden of this article.

In addition to providing baseball historians with information not readily available elsewhere, the compilations help sharpen our perspective on the game’s umpiring elite. Arbiters work in essential anonymity: few fans know even their names, and their great calls and outstanding performances go generally unrecorded. As a result, career longevity and assignment to work one of baseball’s showcase contests serves as reliable, albeit imperfect, indexes of professional achievement. Although front office favoritism and the recent practice of rotating All-Star and World Series assignments skew slightly the following tabulations, they nonetheless identify those umpires who exerted a dominant influence in their profession and, thus, baseball since the turn of the century.

Long Service Umpires

An umpire, indeed anyone who officiates athletic contests, has an extraordinarily difficult job. In addition to enduring low pay, minimal financial reward, minimal fringe benefits, lack of recognition, and constant verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse, the umpire is subject to the strain of performing in pressure-packed situations in full view of thousands and even millions of hypercritical observers. It is often said that an umpire is the only person who is expected to be perfect at the beginning of his career and improve every day thereafter. And, one might add, possess the patience of a Job and the wisdom of a Solomon.

Although a love for the game leads numerous individuals to attempt a career in umpiring, only a small minority are able to reach the major leagues. The attrition rate is high, even among the elite who make it; most major league umpires either walk or are driven away within five to ten years. To remain an umpire for more than a decade one must not only possess superior technical skills and physical stamina but also be tough-minded and thick-skinned.

The following table of men who officiated in the major leagues for 20 or more years reads as an umpires’ Who’s Who. Because an umpire’s reputation and contribution to baseball are determined largely by the length of his career, these 30 men are the arbiters who have had the greatest influence on the game of baseball in modern times. Interestingly, the umpires are evenly divided between the American and National Leagues, with Tommy Connolly and Ernie Quigley having served in both circuits. Bill Klem and Hank O’Day, who rank at the top of the list in terms of the number of seasons worked, also have the distinction of having careers that encompassed five decades. It is recorded that Bill McGowan, in the course of 16½ seasons, worked 2,541 consecutive games. Babe Pinelli, in a recent letter to the Baseball Hall of Fame Historian, stated that he did not miss a regulation game in his 22 years, 1935-56.

What the list of long-service umpires does not relate, and for which we lack the space in this article, is a discussion of the colorful side of some of the umps like William “Lord” Byron, the singing ump, or Ron Luciano, of flamboyant gesture fame. Absent also is an explanation of the nicknames by which some of the officials were known, such as Silk, Beans, Brick, Jocko, Dusty and Ziggy.

Long Service Umpires, 1876-1978

All-Star Umpires

Although the spotlight has appropriately focused on the players chosen to participate in baseball’s All-Star games, the umpires selected to officiate those contests likewise deserve recognition as “All-Stars.” From 1933 through 1978, 114 arbiters, 58 from the AL and 56 from the NL, have officiated 49 All-Star games. Beginning with the inaugural contest in 1933 through 1948 (there was no game in 1945), four umpires, two from each league, worked the games. In 1949 the designated “alternates” were positioned on the field along the outfield foul lines, forming the now-traditional crew of six. During the years 1959-62, Major League Baseball experimented with holding two All-Star games a year; while the cast of players and coaches remained largely the same for both games, a different crew of umpires was assigned to each game except for 1960 when the same contingent worked both contests. Prior to the mid-1960’s, when the Umpires Association established a schedule of assignment rotation, league officials selected All-Star umpires.

While most baseball aficionados are familiar with the players and performances that marked the initial All-Star game, few know that Bill Dinneen, Bill McGowan, Bill Klem, and Cy Rigler-four of the greatest umpires in baseball history-worked that historic contest. Fewer still recall the composition of other historic crews-that Eddie Rommel and Joe Rue (AL) and Jocko Conlan and Tom Dunn (NL) worked the first night game in All-Star history at Shibe Park in Philadelphia in 1943 or that Nestor Chylak, Jim Honochick and John Stevens (AL) along with Dusty Boggess, Tom Gorman, and Vince Smith (NL) are the only umpires to work two games in a single season (1960).

Unique individual achievements provide data for historians and triviots alike. A few examples will suffice. Charles Pfirman was the arbiter behind home plate when Carl Hubbell struck out the side, including five batters in a row, in the first two innings of the 1934 game. Several post-1933 Major Leaguers-Jocko Conlan, Charlie Berry, Tom Gorman, and Bill Kunkel (1972, 1977)-made the All-Star game as an umpire, but Lon Warneke, the Arkansas Humming Bird, alone played (1933-34, 1936, 1939, 1941) and umpired (1952) in the contest. Only two men have umpired consecutive All-Star games, Scotty Robb (1950-51) and Doug Harvey (1963-64); Robb’s is the more unusual record since they were the only games in which he appeared. Finally, if there ever was an All-Star tandem of umpires, it would be Al Barlick (NL) and Bill Summers (AL), who not only share the record for the most All-Star appearances (7) but also worked together in three games.

The table that follows lists those umpires who worked the most All-Star games in baseball history. Due to space limitations, the roster is limited to the 23 men who made four or more appearances. For the record, another 17 umpires worked 3 games apiece, 27 others appeared in two contests each, and 47 arbiters received a single assignment. The record of the men listed below is the more impressive since umpires assigned to All-Star games appeared in an average of 2.3 contests.

To make the roster more serviceable to readers, I have organized the following table first according to the number of appearances; individuals are then listed alphabetically within the numerical categories. The superscript numbers 1 and 2 indicate the game worked during the period of the dual All-Star games.

All-Star Game Umpires 1933-1978

World Series Umpires

Since interleague championship competition began in 1903, 117 umpires, 61 from the American League and 56 from the National League, have worked the 443 games played in 75 World Series, (The Series was not held in 1904). Hank O’Day, (NL) and Tommy Connolly (AL) share the distinction of officiating the first autumn classic. The format of a 2-man crew, one arbiter behind home plate and the other on the bases, was employed in the Series until 1908. In that year a pair of 2-man crews-John Sheridan (AL) and O’Day, Bill Klem (NL) and Connolly-alternated games. The practice of alternating umpires carried into the 1909 Series, but in the third game, played in Detroit on October 11, all four umpires were on the field at the same time. Silk O’Loughlin and Billy Evans of the American League and Klem and Jim Johnstone of the National League thereby formed the first four-man crew, a tradition which continued through 1946.

In 1947 the “alternate” umpire from each league, who had been seated in the stands from 1940 to 1946, was stationed along the foul line in the outfield thus establishing the now-familiar six-member Series staff. The umpires in that historic contingent were Jim Boyer, Bill McGowan, and Eddie Rommel of the American League, and Larry Goetz, George Magerkurth, and Babe Pinelli of the National League. Another historic occasion was the inauguration of night games in the 1972 Series. The umpires for the three night contests, all of which were played in Oakland, were Bill Haller, Jim Honochick, and Frank Umont of the Junior Circuit, and Bob Engel, Chris Pelekoudas, and Mel Steiner of the Senior Circuit.

More than All-Star games, World Series assignments clearly reveal the dominant umpires in a given era as well as in baseball history. In large part because of his unprecedented influence within National League headquarters, Bill Klem stands alone at the top of the list with a phenomenal 108 games in 18 Series-almost one-fourth of those played. His dominance was such that he received consecutive Series assignments on four occasions including one stretch of five Series in a row (1911-15). In addition to Klem, contemporaries Tommy Connolly (1910-11), Hank O’Day(1907-08), Cy Rigler (1912-13), and John Sheridan (1907-08) worked back-to-back Series; George Barr is the only “modern” umpire to be assigned consecutive Series (1948-49). By far the predominate umpire pairing in World Series competition is the twosome of Klem and Bill Dinneen, a combination that appeared together seven times.

For umpires as well as for players, an appearance in the World Series is the culmination of one’s career. Former Major League players Charlie Berry, Jocko Conlan, Tom Gorman, and Babe Pinelli made it to the Series as arbiters instead of as athletes; Bill Kunkel was a member of the 1963 Yankees, but did not play in the Series; Bill Dinneen (who pitched for Boston in the first Series), George Pipgras (1927-28; 1932), Eddie Rommel (1929, 1931), and Lon Warneke (1932, 1935) appeared in the Series both as a player and as an umpire. (Warneke is the only man to play and umpire in both the All-Star games and the World Series.)

Through World Series assignments, individual umpires have achieved some unusual statistical records. In four appearances, George Hildebrand and George Magerkurth umpired “for the cycle”-Series of 4, 5, 6, 7 games. Bill Klem and Cy Rigler worked Series which lasted 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 games; Rigler had three 8-game Series. Hank O’Day once worked five consecutive 5-game Series. John Sheridan worked four Series, each of which went five games. It is unusual that each of the three Series Stan Landes worked went to a full seven games, but it is simply extraordinary that Jim Honochick worked seven games in each of his six Series assignments.

The table below identifies the 22 umpires with the most World Series assignments since 1903. Although space permits listing only those with five or more Series assignments, it should be noted that 20 men worked 4 Series, 16 received 3 assignments, 18 got 2 calls, and 41 appeared in a single autumn classic. The table is organized first according to the number of World Series assignments, then by the total number of games worked, and finally alphabetically.

World Series Umpires, 1903-1978

After Boston had won the American League championship in 1903 and Pittsburgh had prevailed in the National circuit, the presidents of these clubs, Matt Killilea (Boston) and Barney Dreyfuss (Pittsburgh) agreed to apost-season meeting of their clubs. A nine game series was scheduled; the first team to win five to be declared the winner.

With the example set by the champions of their leagues, other clubs quickly followed their lead. Post season confrontations were arranged between the two Philadelphia clubs; the two in St. Louis; the Chicago rivals; and even a series between Cincinnati of the NL and Cleveland of the AL for the championship of Ohio.

In subsequent years meetings for a city or state championship were repeated sporadically but only the Chicago series persisted with some degree of regularity.

Through 1942 a total of 26 City Series were contested in Chicago from that 1903 inaugural. The dominance of the White Sox in these autumn affairs defies logic; the Chicago Americans triumphed 19 times while the Nationals could claim Chicago championships on only six occasions. Oddly, the first series ended in a tie. In the years between 1903 and 1942 a total of 161 games were played with the White Sox winning 95 times and the Cubs taking 62 games. Four of the games ended in deadlocks.

The owners of the two Chicago teams, Charles A. Comiskey of the White Sox and James A. Hart of the Cubs, decided to play a 15 game city series to start October 1, 1903. The Cubs were established as prohibitive favorites by virtue of a strong third-place finish in the National League. The White Sox were a poor seventh in their league with a 60-77 won-lost balance sheet.

The opener was scheduled in West Side Park, home of the Cubs, and the home team emphasized its role as favorite with a humiliating 11-0 defeat of the Sox. Jack Taylor allowed the Sox only three hits while his mates amassed ten.

At the home field of the Sox, 39th and Wentworth, the Cubs won the next two, 5-1 and 6-0. In game two Jake Weimer did not allow the Sox a hit until the sixth (they got 3 in all), and, in the shutout, Bob Wicker did not surrender a safe blow until two were out in the fifth.

Fifteen thousand fans, mostly Cub fanatics, jammed West Side Park October 4 only to endure a 10-2 loss to Frank Owen, youngest of the Sox pitchers. The next day, game five went to the tenth inning before the White Sox could push across the winning run, 4-3.

On October 6 southpaw Weimer won again to put the Cubs up four games to two.

Rain washed out a game on October 7 and a day later the Sox battered the Cubs with a 14-hit attack. The Cubs managed 12 hits themselves but a 5-run eighth nailed down a 9-3 victory for the Southsiders.

In the best pitched game of the series, Owen “donated” the game to the Cubs. In the last of the ninth of a scoreless tie, Jimmy Slagle singled to center after the first batter had been retired. Owen then walked Jack McCarthy. With Frank Chance at bat, Owen uncorked a wild pitch and both runners moved up. When Chance dribbled a slow roller toward second baseman George Magoon, Slagle crossed the plate unchallenged with the only run of the game.

On October 10 (game nine) the Cubs scored all their runs in the fourth and triumphed, 4-2. The scene shifted to the South Side Grounds the next day and the crowd was so great that spectators were permitted to overflow onto the field. (In those days of limited seating in the stands, field crowds were not uncommon. Batted balls hit into such crowds were generally ground-rule doubles.) Despite a reduced playing field, Doc White (Sox) and Carl Lundgren provided a fine pitching duel won by the Americans, 2-0.  The Sox closed to within one game of the Cubs on October 12 with Owen besting Taylor, 4-2.

Wicker was again almost invincible as he pitched his team to a 5-1 win and the Nationals climbed to within one game of capturing the Chicago championship. But, the Sox refused to die and took the next two games (October 14 and 15) by identical 2-0 scores behind Owens and Nick Altrock and it was all even at seven.

The series ended at this point because the contracts of all the players expired October 15. Comiskey offered to play a double-header on that last day to complete the schedule, but manager Frank Selee of the Cubs refused the offer. The suggestion of paying the players on a single game basis (past October 15) was also vetoed by the Cubs because Joe Tinker, their shortstop, had to be in Kansas City for his own wedding.

An interesting bit of trivia for today’s baseball buff… all the starting pitchers on both sides hurled complete games with the exception of game #13 when Chance used a pinch hitter for Weimer in the eighth inning. In the 14 games not a home run was made. Doc White, who pitched in four games, played right field in three others, and pinch hit in one, led in batting with a .360 average.

Late in the 1904 season both Chicago teams were still in the running.  But by the end of September the Cubs had been eliminated by the New York Giants; and on October 4 the Boston Red Sox defeated the White Sox and the Chicago Americans were out of the race. Comiskey, wanting to get even with someone, challenged president Hart of the Cubs to a six game series.*

*Player contracts were still written to expire October 15 in 1904 and, since the Season was not scheduled to end until October 9, the earliest starting date for a city series would have been October 10 making only six playing dates available.

Hart replied the next day with a public statement, “I believe games should be played to decide championships of the world. . .of a state .. . or, of a city but  like Caesar’s wife, be above suspicion.  He refused to let his team play until a governing body for both leagues could supervise such post-season affairs with authority to punish wrong-doers. Hart had suspected that one of his pitchers in the 1903 series (Jack Taylor?), not with the Cubs in 1904, had not given his all.

Hart sold the Cubs to Charles W. Murphy in 1905 which paved the way for the Chicago City Series to be resumed. The Cubs won the 1905 opener; the Wlhite Sox evened the series the next day but then the Cubs swept three in a row, 3-2, 6-5, and a 10-5 romp.

The 1906 meeting of the Chicago teams was an intracity series but with the added glamour of being the World Series; the first ever to match teams from the same city. Again, as in 1903, the Cubs were odds-on favorites. They had won 116 games and had lost only 36 during the season. No team since has threatened that win total or that winning percentage. The Nationals had built a dynasty that was to win four National League flags in five years and the only two World Championships (1907-1908) in their trophy case. With the Tinker to Evers to Chance combine, Harry Steinfeldt completed the infield. Wildfire Schulte, Jimmy Sheckard and Slagle manned the outfield, and Johnny Kling was the number one catcher. Three Finger Brown, Jack Pfiester, and Ed Reulbach were the backbone of the pitching staff, abetted by Carl Lundgren and Taylor, who had returned to his former team from St. Louis in mid-season, and-newcomer—-Orvie Overall.

The Sox, on the other hand, hit only .228 as a team in 1906, last in their league-giving rise to the sobriquet, “Hitless Wonders.” A 19-straight win streak in August provided them with a three-game margin over New York at season’s end. Manager Fielder Jones was forced to juggle his infield and utility man, George Rohe, took over at third and emerged the hero of the series with triples in the first and third games that provided the margins of victory in each, 2-1 and 3-0. In between these games, Ed Reulbach fashioned a one-hit win, and Brown shut out the Sox in game four, 1-0.  Frank Isbell’s record-setting four doubles (it’s still the record) in game five was decisive in an 8-6 victory for the Sox, and Doc White won easily in game six, 8-3, to wrap up their conquest of the favored Cubs four games to two.

After the Cubs had won world championships in 1907 and 1908, the City Series resumed in 1909. Comiskey and Murphy agreed to turn over 60% of the proceeds of the first four games to a players’ pool – as was done in the World Series. Overall blanked the Sox in the opener, 4-0; the Cubs also won the second, 5-2; White won the third game for the White Sox, 2-1; and then Overall and Brown won games four and five by 2-1 and 1-0 scores. In the finale Brown permitted only one hit.

The Cubs were in the World Series again in 1910 but in 1911, the White Sox, showing absolutely no respect for their West Side rivals, clobbered the Cubs four straight. This series drew 99,359, including 36,208 in the third game. This was the largest Chicago baseball crowd up to that time and rivaled the biggest World Series crowds of that period.

White Sox disrespect for their Chicago rivals was demonstrated for six consecutive years, through 1916. In 1912 the first two games ended in ties, an 0-0 affair with Ed Walsh permitting the Cubs only one hit before darkness halted the contest after nine innings, and another that went 12 innings to a 3-all standoff before poor visibility intervened. Thereafter the series took an odd turn. The Cubs won the next three and then the Sox shocked their adversaries with four straight, including an 11-inning game, and a whopping 16-0 whitewash in the final contest.

In 1913 the Sox won four of six. The following year it was 4-3 with the Sox on top. In 1915 the Sox won in five, and in 1916 it was again (as in 1911) a sweep of the first four games.

The White Sox won the 1917 World Series from the Giants and the Cubs lost the 1918 fall classic to the Red Sox following a war-shortened season (halted after Labor Day by federal edict). The Sox again appeared in the 1919 series when they lost to Cincinnati 5 games to 3 in a nine game series. The nine game W.S. format was used in 1903 and revived for a three year period (1919-21).

Ugly suspicions about the 1919 series surfaced even as the games were being played and dark rumors persisted all through the next season. Late in September of 1920 Ed Cicotte confessed to accepting bribes and implicated seven teammates. Comiskey suspended those identified, two regular infielders, Swede Risberg and Buck Weaver; two-thirds of his outfield, Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch; two starting pitchers, Lefty Williams and Cicotte; and utility man Fred McMullin. The eighth member of the nefarious “Black Sox” was Chick Gandil who had dropped out of organized baseball after 1919. With Comiskey unable to field a representative team, there was no city series in 1920.

The excision of the Black Sox forced Comiskey and manager Kid Gleason to rebuild the Chicago American League club to large extent in 1921. Players still with the team from the 1919 squad included second baseman Eddie Collins and catcher Ray Schalk as regulars and Red Faber and Dickie Kerr as starting moundsmen Roy Wilkinson, who had appeared in only four games in 1919, had become a 1921 starter-but a losing one (4-19). Harvey McClellan a part-time infielder, and Honest Eddie Murphy, a little used outfielder, were the only other holdovers.

Despite a ragtag collection of rookies and aging castoffs, the Sox fashioned their most convincing conquest of their (now) North Side adversaries in 1921 With the World Series still contested at nine games, the City Series was also scheduled for nine. But, the White Sox needed only five of those games as they swept the series. At this point, the Sox had vanquished the Cubs in THIRTEEN straight contests; the last four of 1915, a four game sweep in 1916, and then the 1921 insult.

The Cubs “broke through in `22.” Tiny Osborne was the pitching standout for the Cubs with wins in the second and third contests (five consecutive days of foul weather had interrupted play following game two) and a 1-0 loss to Faber in game six. Faber had won the opener from Vic Aldridge. Dixie Leverette of the Sox defeated Alexander in the fourth game and Aldridge took the fifth. Alexander and Leverette were matched in the seventh and deciding game (the City Series, as the World Series, had reverted to a seven-game format in 1922) with Alex shutting out the Pale Hose and enabling the Cubs to hold up their heads for the first time since 1909.

The White Sox regained the city championship in 1923 and held on in 1924 by identical four games to two margins. In 1923 the Cubs broke on top with wins in the first two games. Then, as had happened so often, the Sox won four in a row.

Alexander was the only Cub pitcher able to win in 1924. He won the opening game, 10-7, and the fifth contest, 8-3. In the latter, Alex was the whole show, getting four hits, including a double, to reinforce his pitching.  The Sox took the others, a 12-7 hitters’ delight in game two; Faber’s 6-3 victory in the third game, featured by an Earl Sheely home run that bounced into the right field stands in Comiskey Park (today that would only be a ground rule double); Ted Blankenship’s 13-0 whitewash in game four; and Sloppy Thurston’s 5-3 victory, preserved by Ted Lyon’s excellent relief pitching, in the windup.

The 1925 series opened with a spectacular 19-inning 2-all tie in Comiskey Park on a cold October 7th. The aging arm of Alexander endured the whole game for the Cubs as did the young one of his mound adversary, Ted Blankenship. The game was halted, not surprisingly, by darkness. The Bruins then won four of the next five to earn the city title for only the fourth time in 15 tries. Wilbur Cooper, in his first season with the Cubs after 13 years in a Pirate uniform, won two, including the clincher. Blankenship was the only Pale Hose hurler to rack up a win.

The best pitching in the entire history of the Chicago City Series dominated the 1926 fall meeting. The series went full term and four of the games were shutouts. In two others the losers managed to score only one run. Charlie Root turned back the Sox 6-0 in game #1; Percy Jones whitewashed them 1-0 in game #3 and even drove in the only run of the contest with his single; Ted Blankenship started two games, #4 and #7, blanking the Cubs each time, 4-0 and 3-0. Jones came back to add game #6 to the Cubs’ total with a fine 4-1 performance. In game #2 Ted Lyons had the best of a 10-5 game that featured four homers (Bibb Falk and Whispering Bill Barrett connected for the Southsiders as did Charlie Grimm and Hack Wilson for the Cubs). A 13-hit attack by the Sox was good for only three runs in game #5 but that was enough for Red Faber, who held the Northsiders to seven, to win handily, 3-1.

No series was played in 1927 because the Cubs did not issue a challenge (the team losing the previous series was expected to initiate a challenge the following year). On September 20, president Bill Veeck, Sr. issued an official statement, “The Cubs will not play a City Series this year. The season of 1927 contained so many splendid possibilities (the Cubs had been in the N.L. race well into September) that any other than a World Series would be an ill-fitting climax.”

The 1928 Sox-Cubs confrontation provided one of the most exciting of all the series. In two games (the first and fourth) the Cubs had three-run innings in each that provided all the runs they needed in 3-0 and 3-2 victories. Faber was the victim in each. The White Sox had the second game in hand, 2-1, going into the Cub ninth, but Art Shires fumbled a ground ball that enabled the Cubs to tie. Given this reprieve, the Cubs went on to win, 5-3, when Gabby Hartnett’s triple in the 14th drove in two Cubs and he also scored when Johnny Butler doubled. A White Sox rally could push only one marker across in their half. Game three was a hitter’s dream and a pitcher’s nightmare. Nine pitchers (five of them Cubs) tried to stem the 33 hit assault (18 by the Cubs). Six doubles, three triples, and a Hack Wilson home run (he also added two doubles) delighted fans who enjoy high-score games. The Sox won this one 13-11. In the only well-pitched game of 1928, Tommy Thomas stopped the Bruins on four hits and won 2-0 when Riggs Stephenson and Wilson allowed Bill Hunnefield’s fly to fall between them as two runners crossed the plate. Grady Adkins, in his first year with the Sox, breezed in game six when his teammates scored seven times off Guy Bush and Charlie Root in the first three innings to knot the series. In the deciding game, Sheriff Blake and the Cubs clobbered their opponents with a 16-hit barrage to win, 13-2.

By 1929 the Cubs had assembled their best team since the 1906-10 glory years. Grimm, Rogers Hornsby, Woody English, and Norm McMillan provided a solid, hard-hitting infield (a combined B. A. of .309 and 56 homers). The outfield of Stephenson, Wilson, and Kiki Cuyler was even more potent (.355 and 77 round-trippers) and they were equally good defensively. Their regular catcher, Gabby Hartnett, was shelved by injury most of 1929, but Zack Taylor, backed by Mike Gonzalez, provided adequate catching. The pitching supplied by Root, Bush, Blake, Hal Carlson, and Malone’s excellent 22-10 season was good enough to capture the 1929 NL flag by a 10-1/2 game bulge over second-place Pittsburgh and begin a strange chain of winning league championships only at three-year intervals (1929,1932 1935, and 1938).

The Cubs won the city championship in 1930; the only time they ever managed back-to-back city titles. After the first four games had been split, the Cubs captured the next two by identical 6-4 scores. Wilson’s homer in the fifth game was the killing blow and a three-run rally in the ninth of the sixth game overcame a one run White Sox lead.

The crosstown rivals battled through seven games in 1931 before the Southsiders prevailed. Pitchers were in charge for the most part. Faber blanked the Cubs in the opener, 9-0, and Bush brought the Cubs even with a 1-0 shutout in the second game. The teams split one-run decisions in the next two; the Cubs by 2-1 in game three and the Sox by 4-3 the next day. Smead Joiley’s grand slam and another home run by Bill Cissell with two on buried the Cubs in game five, 13-6. The Cubs then evened the series, 3-2, only to fall the next day. Tommy Thomas fashioned a four-hitter and his mates amassed six counters in the fourth inning off Bob Smith, and the White Sox had reclaimed the city championship.

After the Cubs had bowed to the Yankees in the 1932 World Series in four straight, they followed the same pattern in the 1933 City Series. Sam Jones, Faber, Lyons, and Joe Heving were just too much for the erstwhile NL champs. In bowing to Sox pitching, 3-2, 2-0, 9-0, and 5-1, the Cubs managed to accumulate only 25 hits for the four games.

The Cubs bought slugger Chuck Klein from the Phillies for the 1934 season. With an already solid lineup, the Cubs were heavily favored to take the National League pennant. For most of the year, they did stay in the fight with New York and St. Louis, holding solidly to second during July and August. They won only 8 of 21 games in September and faded from contention. When they dropped three of a four-game series to the seventh-place Phillies in mid-September, even-tempered Charlie Grimm, Cub manager, blasted some of his men for not playing to their potential. In light of this disappointing denouement to what should have been a rewarding season, there was no wish on the part of the Cubs to prolong the 1934 season by playing a city series and, perhaps, risking further humiliation.

A sensational 21-game consecutive win streak in September catapulted the Cubs to the NL flag in 1935, but they ran out of miracles in October and succumbed to the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, winning only two games, both with Lon Warneke on the hill.

The Cubs were again denied even one victory in 1936. Vern Kennedy, Monty Stratton, Ted Lyons, and Bill Dietrich were in command 5-1, 11-3, 4-2, and 8-2, respectively.

The 1937 series went to seven games, but in the finale the White Sox employed four double plays to thwart their crosstown rivals, 6-1.

The Cubs won the National League championship in 1938 for the fourth of their “every third year cycle,” but again came up empty in losing four straight to the Yankees.

The year 1939 was another might-have-been for the Bruins. They won three of the first four and had a comfortable 5-0 lead in game five through five innings. But the Hose rallied for two in the sixth and tied the score in the eighth with three runs and then won in the tenth with another three. The disheartened Cubs managed only one run in each of the last two Sox victories, 6-1 and 7-1.

The 1940 series also ran to seven games with the White Sox still the champs of Chicago. It was the third successive series to run full length, with the same result.

The Sox swept the 1941 series; it was the sixth time since the beginning that the Cubs failed to win a game in their post-season contests with their Chicago rivals. A triple play in game three provided the highlight; it was the only triple-killing in Chicago City Series history. With John Rigney holding a 6-0 lead in the fifth, Clyde McCullough, Cubs catcher, received Rigney’s only pass Bobby Sturgeon beat out a slow roller to short. Charlie Gilbert, batting for Bill Lee, lined sharply to Bill Knickerbocker at second. Bill flipped to Luke Appling to double McCullough off the bag, and with Sturgeon almost at second, Appling tagged him for the third out.

The White Sox started the 1942 post season meeting threatening to blank the Northsiders again. The Hose won the first three games, 3-0, 9-5, and 3-2. But, the Cubs rebounded, 5-3, and, the following day, Claude Passeau and Ted Lyons hooked up in a classic pitching match-up that went into the tenth one-all. In the top of the 10th, Phil Cavarretta tripled and scored on Sturgeon’s long fly to give Passeau and the Cubs a 2-1 win. But, the next day John Humphries pitched the Pale Hose to a 4-1 victory to close out the series. It was the eighth consecutive city title for the Southsiders and, as the passing years revealed, the LAST City Series.

Since 1942 the Chicago rivals have occasionally arranged to end the spring exhibition season in Chicago but such games never assumed the formality of a city series. The last such series was played in 1971.

In 1949 the management of the Cubs and the White Sox inaugurated a benefit game in mid-summer to raise funds for the Chicago Park District for boys’ baseball. These games were generally enthusiastically received and well attended. The first, a night game on July 11, 1949 in Comiskey Park, attracted 36,459 fans and the Cubs, behind the pitching of Johnny Schmitz won, 4-2. The last of these was played August 14, 1972 with the Cubs again the winner. In all, this series of benefit games resulted in 13 victories for the Cubs and ten for the White Sox.

There seems little current demand for a revival of a city series in Chicagoland.  However, an October meeting between the Cubs and White Sox in a World Series would rival, if not top, the Chicago Fire in historical importance for a host of baseball fans hungry for a championship to cheer after many long years of short rations.

To summarize the 26 Series played over the course of 40 years, two long service pitchers-Red Faber and Ted Lyons-appeared in the most Series, 14 each; followed by two catchers, Ray Schalk and Gabby Hartnett, 11 each. In games played, Schalk led with 53, followed by Hartnett with 51, and Johnny Evers 50. Evers also led with 13 stolen bases. Earl Sheely hit the most homers, 6, and Eddie Coffins, Buck Weaver, and Vic Saier had 5 triples each. For the players in three or more Series, Jimmy Dykes had the highest batting average, .467, with 14 for 30. Shano Collins was 44 for 126 in five Series for .349.

For pitchers, Red Faber was 11-6, and Ted Lyons 10-7. Reb Russell  was 5-0. Charlie Root lost the most games, 8. Faber, Ed Walsh, and Ted Blankenship pitched the most shutouts, 3.

Until that fateful season of 1899, the Cleveland Spiders had fielded a pretty good team. Their pitching staff boasted none other than the immortal Cy Young. Outfielder Jesse Burkett and third-baseman Bobby Wallace have since joined Young in the Hall of Fame. All three were in their prime at the end of the 1890’s. Jack Powell was already a proven 20-game winner, just starting on a career which would see him win nearly 250 games. At nearly every position, the Spiders were at least adequate, if not strong, and in a tough league they were one of the best, not far behind the great Boston and Baltimore teams. In fact, the 1895 season saw Cleveland finish only 3 games behind Baltimore and then defeat the Orioles in the Temple Cup Series 4-1. The next season they again finished 2nd, this time 9½ games out. The team seemed headed for sure greatness, building on a reputation already gained for colorful, scrappy play. But owner Frank Robison had other plans for his team.

At the beginning of 1899, the St. Louis team was for sale. The colorful, one-of-a-kind Chris Von der Ahe had owned the club for most of two decades, first in the American Association and then in the National League. Faced with huge debts and personal and family problems, he finally bowed to the inevitable and sold his team. After a period of uncertainty as to who would be its next owner, Robison finally came into possession of the franchise. He already owned Cleveland, but in those days it was not illegal but common practice for one man to have interest in two teams. In fact Baltimore and Brooklyn also were part of syndicate baseball in 1899.

The club Robison got was no prize. St. Louis had finished dead last the previous two seasons with an accordingly poor team, with the only bright spot being Lave Cross at third base. Already dissatisfied with his Cleveland team, where attendance was poor and Sunday baseball was outlawed, etc., Robison switched most of the Spiders to St. Louis for 1899. Except for Cross, many of the St. Louis players went to Cleveland. Now with two star third-basemen on the St. Louis team, Bobby Wallace left the position to Lave Cross and switched to shortstop. He went on to a distinguished career at that position, although he had never before played there in the big leagues. The following table shows the switching of personnel between the two teams between 1898 and 1899:

1898   St.Louis 1899

 Tucker, Decker  lB Patsy Tebeau

 Quinn, Crooks  2B Cupid Childs

 Lave Cross  3B Lave Cross

 Smith, Hall, Sullivan  SS Bobby Wallace

 Tom Dowd OF   Henry Blake

 Dick Harley OF   Jesse Burkett

 Jake Stenzel OF   John Heidrick

 Clements, Sugden C  Schreck, O’Connor, Criger

 Hughey (7-24)  P  Powell (23-19)

 Sudhoff(l 1-27) Sudhoff(13-10)

 Taylor (15-29)  Young (26-16)

 Carsey (2-12) Cuppy (11-8)

1898   Cleveland 1899

 O’Connor, Tebeau lB Tom Tucker

 Cupid Childs 2B Joe Quinn

 Bobby Wallace  3B Suter Sullivan

 Ed McKean  SS Harry Lockhead

 Henry Blake OF   Tom Dowd

 Jesse Burkett  OF   Dick Harley

 Jim McAleer OF   L. McAllister

 Lou Criger  C  Joe Sugden

 Young (25-13)  P  Knepper (4-22)

 Powell (23-15)  Hughey (4-30)

 Wilson (13-18)  Schmidt (2-17)

 Cuppy(9-8)  Bates (1-18)

Colliflower (1-11)

Since pitching is the key to any club, let’s look more closely at the Spider’s pitching staff in 1899. Of the top five named above, none was a worn-out veteran on the decline, and all were supposedly at the prime of life. Yet, inexperience and lack of skill did play their part. This was Charlie Knepper’s first and only season in the big time, and Bates had seen only limited action the year before. He, too, never had another big-league season. Jim Hughey’s career had begun back in `91, but he finished at a sorry 29-80 lifetime log. Fred Schmidt was 31 and hadn’t pitched in the majors since 1893, a six-year layoff, and then it had been only sparingly, as reflected in a lifetime record of 7-36. Harry Colliflower was a 30-year old rookie who called it quits after the 1899 disaster. Of the pitchers on the staff, Jack Stivetts had the best credentials, with a lifetime log of 198 wins, including a banner year of 35 wins in 1892. However, though only 31 years old, Jack decided he had had enough after an 0-4 season with the hapless Spiders.

The season itself began in   St. Louis on Saturday, April 15, with Cleveland absorbing a 10-1 defeat. They lost again on Sunday, then, after three days rest went to Louisville where they lost two more, bringing us up to Saturday the 22nd. On that day, Cleveland played a doubleheader in Louisville and won the first game, 6-5 before dropping a 15-2 verdict. Out of the 20 games the Spiders won all season, 12 came in split doubleheaders, meaning that they only had 8 days all year of unmixed victory. Two more losses in Cincinnati made their April record 1-7.

The month of May started with a home-opener doubleheader against Louisville. Cleveland got off to a good start with a 5-4 victory in 14 innings in the opener before the home folks, but then reverted to form in the nightcap. They also split a doubleheader with the same team the next day, but then went on their first skid, losing 11 in a row as Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati came to town. This brought the year’s record to 3-20 going into action on Saturday, May 20th. The team had been idle since Monday, and it seemed the layoff did them good, because they now hit their best stretch of the entire season. It started with a decisive 10-4 win over Philadelphia that day, then a journey to Louisville for a Sunday game and a 4-3 victory. Washington visited Cleveland at the beginning of the following week, and the Spiders took the middle game of the set. Then came Baltimore, and Cleveland gained a split in two games with the mighty Orioles. In that memorable week, the Spiders won 4 games in 6 tries. These all came in single contests, and thus represented half the club’s total of single game wins for the entire year.

The end of May saw Cleveland go back east for a road trip which was to mark the beginning of the long downhill slide after that brief flash of respectability. The month of May ended with an 8-26 log for the season so far, including another doubleheader split in Boston on Memorial Day.

The month of June proved to be eventful in several ways for the team. On the second of the month, it looked after six innings like Cleveland had a rare victory in the bag in Brooklyn. They led by 10-1 at that point, but then the roof fell in as the hometown nine scored ten times in the last three innings to take an 11 to 10 win. On Monday, June 5, after a 14-2 defeat at the hands of Brooklyn, manager Lave Cross quit to move on to more encouraging things at St. Louis, his old team. He left Cleveland with an 8-30 record and five straight losses. His successor, Australian-born infielder Joe Quinn saw the current losing string run to 13 before it ended with a 6-2 win over Pittsburgh at home on the 15th. Then came another slide of 7 games, mostly before the home fans. The next win came on June 25th, in one of the curious Sunday doubleheaders played at the time. Since not all cities allowed Sunday ball, teams where it was banned went to play where it was allowed, where the home team played two contests against two different opponents. For example, on this date, hometown St. Louis played New York and lost in the first game, then took on Cleveland and bowed again.

The Clevelanders won only 3 games in the whole month, against 22 losses. Overall, they were 11-48. Curiously, all three of those June wins were single games, giving them 7 single-game wins for the year, and after that they could muster only one more such win in the remaining three months of the season. With such dismal facts to face, it is no wonder the fans stayed away in large numbers, and led to Robison’s decision to send the team on the road for the rest of the year. The Spiders closed their home stand with a doubleheader on July 1, then took to the road for all their remaining schedule except for a brief home stand at the end of August. This meant playing only 6 games at home out of 93 remaining, and earned the team a new nickname in the press of the day: the Exiles.

The first half of July saw another 14-game losing streak for Cleveland, topping by one their previous worst of a month earlier. The doubleheader on Independence Day proved to be double disaster. It was a real battle with Pittsburgh, but Cleveland still lost both games, in 10 and 13 innings. It was more of a double disaster on the 15th, when Baltimore won both ends of the twinbill by shutouts, 10-0 and 5-0. After a Sunday rest the next day, the two teams met again for two on Monday. In the first game, the Spiders broke their losing skein with a 7-2 victory, but acted as if winning was too much for them when they allowed the Orioles to walk off with a 21-6 win in the afterpiece. It was the Clevelands’ worst loss of the year. On the 18th, they played another doubleheader in Washington and split the decisions.

On July 22 the Spiders played an exhibition game in Atlantic City against a minor-league team representing that city, and this gave them a win, 10-3. Too bad that couldn’t be added to their slim victory total against the League. July closed with three more doubleheader losses. In the final game of the month, the Spiders rose up to score 10 runs in the 7th inning, enroute to a season high of 13 for the game. Out of about 380 occasions when 10 runs or more were scored in an inning in major league play, it has meant victory on 370 occasions. But, this being the 1899 Cleveland team, it wasn’t one of those times, as Louisville won a 16-13 verdict to sweep the twin bill.

Cleveland won four games in July, against 26 losses, and they were to repeat that won-lost record in August. On August 18 the team turned in a fielding gem, making a triple play to kill off a Brooklyn rally, but the final result was still a 4-2 loss to the Superbas. On August 24, the prodigals returned home for the last time, and played New York in the first of six games before their “fans”. Attendance at this first game was no more than 100, which was one of the smallest “crowds” in major league history. New York won, of course, by 6-2. The next day, Cleveland turned the tables on the visitors with a 4-2 win. The overall record now stood at 19-94.

As bad as this was, the worst was still to come-the worst, in fact, of any team in history over a similar stretch. There were still 41 games left on the schedule, but Cleveland would win only ONE of those-that’s right, only one. August 26 saw the club embark on a 24-game losing streak which lasted until September 18 and still stands as the NL record for futility. On the 16th, it looked like the streak might end one game earlier, as Cleveland rallied for 8 runs in the second inning against Washington, but the Capital nine overtook them for a 15-10 decision. On the 18th, Cleveland won the first of a doubleheader with Washington, but dropped the second game to start them off on their final run of 16 straight losses to end the season. The record for September was an unbelievable 1-27!

In those days, without a World Series following the season, play went on till the 15th of October. For Cleveland, at least, it was a light playing schedule in October, closing with four games at Cincinnati on the final weekend. The final act of the season-long nightmare was a double loss to the Red Stockings, in which the demoralized club threw away the contests by 16-1 and 19-3, making their final count just 20 wins, and 134 losses.

The facts and figures which summarize that season of misery for the Spiders (alias Exiles) almost boggle the mind. The team had six losing streaks of 11 or more games, for example, and the longest string of wins they could muster was TWO, which they only did once! They were 9-32 at home, and 11-102 on the road. The accompanying chart shows their comparative record against the other teams in the League. Ten or more runs in a game were scored by their opponents 50 times that season, but in contrast, Cleveland scored in double figures only seven times-and lost four of those.

The club finished last in all the following categories: runs, doubles, triples, home runs, batting average, slugging average, stolen bases, strikeouts by pitchers, shutouts by pitchers and earned run average. They were seventh in number of errors, fifth in double-plays, and ninth in fielding average. Their pitching staff was 11th in bases on balls allowed, and interestingly enough, second in complete games with 138. This, of course, does not indicate all that many games with close scores, with the starting pitcher staying in long. But the Spiders’ record of one-run decisions is interesting: 8 wins, 19 losses; nothing spectacular of course, but a much higher percentage than they had overall.

During the following winter, the National League decided to cut back to 8 teams, and Cleveland was one of the clubs which was dropped. A year later, of course, the city was to be represented in the new American League, where it has been ever since. The Cleveland Spiders passed into history, and in a most negative way.