1.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
2.
1876 in baseball
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After a tumultuous five-year existence, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players folded following the 1875 season. One of the new rules put into place by the new league was that all teams had to be located in cities that had a population of 75,000 or more. The initial NL season began with eight teams, and they were asked to play seventy games between April 22 and October 21, the NL is considered to be the first major league, although it has been argued that the NA can make that claim. National League, Chicago White Stockings Champions of the West, St. Louis Brown Stockings Four premier semi-professional teams were in play in 1876 and they were the Binghamton Crickets, the Columbus Buckeyes, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and the Syracuse Stars. In competition against NL clubs these 4 semi-pro teams played 32 games – winning 16, losing 14, of the 60 players on these 4 semi-pro teams no fewer than 50 of them wound up playing in the National League over the next 5 seasons. Chicago White Stockings signed Cap Anson as a free agent, hartford Dark Blues signed Candy Cummings as a free agent. Boston Red Caps signed George Wright as a free agent, august 10,1876 – The New York Mutuals loaned Nealy Phelps to the Philadelphia Athletics. Phelps returned to the Mutuals on the same day, bryces Base Ball Guide General Ginsburg, Daniel E. The Fix Is in, A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals, reiss, Steven A. Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Clubs, Volume 1. Specific 1876 season at baseball-reference. com Charltons Baseball Chronology at BaseballLibrary. com Year by Year History at Baseball-Almanac. com Retrosheet. org
3.
West Side Park
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West Side Park was the name used for two different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois. They were both home fields of the now known as the Chicago Cubs of the National League. Both ballparks were what are now called wooden ballparks, the initial stadium was the clubs home beginning in 1885, succeeding Lakefront Park. The park was located on a block bounded by Congress, Loomis, Harrison and Throop Streets. The elongated shape of the block lent a bathtub-like shape to the park, the stadium held roughly 10,000 fans. In addition to the diamond, the park held a track which encircled the playing field. The Cubs had had to secure a new property after 1884, the season began on April 30, a month later than it does today, for a 112-game schedule,50 fewer games than todays major-league schedule. The club spent the first five-plus weeks of the 1885 season on the road, despite being wanderers early in the season, the powerful Chicago club, under player-manager Cap Anson, came home with an 18-6 record. They would sweep a four-game set in their first homestand and romp through the league schedule, the only team that gave them any problem was the New York Giants, who won 10 of the clubs 16 meetings and finished just two games behind Chicago in the standings. If projected to a modern 162-game schedule, that translates to 125 and 123 wins, respectively, Chicago captured the National League pennant that season and also went on to win the league crown in 1886. The championships of the 1880s were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, exemplified by the 1885 contest, the 1886 World Series was more conventional, and was won by the Browns. Those matchups were the first on-field confrontations of the Cubs and Cardinals clubs, the site also saw bonus baseball in 1887, as a neutral site for Game 14 of that years unique 15-game traveling World Series between the Browns and the Detroit Wolverines. In 1891 the team split its schedule between West Side Park and South Side Park, the first West Side Park was abandoned after the 1891 season, with the team playing at home exclusively on the South Side in 1892. The site of the first West Side Park is now occupied by the Andrew Jackson Language Academy, left field – unknown Center field –560 ft. Right field –216 ft. In May 1893, the club opened the second West Side Park a few blocks west-southwest of the first one, on a block bounded by Taylor, Wood, Polk. It was located at 41°52′13″N 87°40′21″W, during May and June, they split their 1893 schedule with South Side Park, playing Sunday games on the West Side and weekday games on the South Side. By mid-summer they had abandoned the South Side park and moved into the West Side park full time, home plate for this ballpark was in the northwest corner of the property, toward the Polk and Lincoln intersection. The right field fence paralleled Taylor, with flat apartments between the alley behind the field area, and Taylor itself
4.
1893 in baseball
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The following are the baseball events of the year 1893 throughout the world. National League, Boston Beaneaters June 19 – Baltimore Orioles outfielder Piggy Ward reached base a record 17 times in 17 consecutive plate appearances, the record would be matched 69 years later, when catcher Earl Averill, Jr. tied that mark in 1962. August 16 – Bill Hawke of the Baltimore Orioles pitches a no-hitter against the Washington Senators in a 5–0 win and it is the first no-hitter thrown from the modern-day pitching distance of 606. August 18 – The Boston Beaneaters set a Major League record which stands for the most batters hit by a pitch in an inning. Four batters are hit in the 2nd inning in the game with the Pittsburgh Pirates, november 21 – Ban Johnson is named president, secretary, and treasurer of the recently reorganized Western League. Under Johnsons leadership the WL will prosper, catcher for two teams in 1881. April 18 – Fred Siefke,23, third baseman for the 1890 Brooklyn Gladiators
5.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
6.
Albert Spalding
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Albert Goodwill Spalding was an American pitcher, manager and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A. G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised in Byron, Illinois and he played major league baseball between 1871 and 1878. Spalding set a trend when he started wearing a baseball glove, after his retirement as a player, Spalding remained active with the Chicago White Stockings as president and part-owner. In the 1880s, he took players on the first world tour of baseball, with William Hulbert, Spalding organized the National League. He later called for the commission investigated the origins of baseball. He also wrote the first set of baseball rules. Having played baseball throughout his youth, Spalding first played competitively with the Rockford Pioneers, a youth team, which he joined in 1865. After pitching his team to a 26–2 victory over a mens amateur team, he was approached at the age of 15 by another squad. To aid him in this venture, Hulbert enlisted the help of Spalding, playing to the pitchers desire to return to his Midwestern roots and challenging Spaldings integrity, Hulbert convinced Spalding to sign a contract to play for the White Stockings in 1876. Spalding then coaxed teammates Deacon White, Ross Barnes and Cal McVey, as well as Philadelphia Athletics players Cap Anson and Bob Addy, to sign with Chicago. News of the signings by the Boston and Philadelphia players leaked to the press before the season ended and all of them faced verbal abuse and he was the premier pitcher of the 1870s, leading the league in victories for each of his six full seasons as a professional. During each of years he was his teams only pitcher. In 1876, Spalding won 47 games as the pitcher for the White Stockings. In 1877, Spalding began to use a glove to protect his catching hand, people had used gloves previously, but they were not popular, and Spalding himself was skeptical of wearing one at first. However, once he began donning gloves, he influenced other players to do so, Spalding retired from playing baseball in 1878 at the age of 27, although he continued as president and part owner of the White Stockings and a major influence on the National League. Spaldings.796 career winning percentage is the highest ever by a baseball pitcher, joining Chicago initially were the leading teams from Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis. The owners of these western clubs accompanied Hulbert and Spalding to New York where they met with owners from New York City, Philadelphia, Hartford. Each signed the constitution, and the National League was officially born
7.
Jim Hart (baseball)
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James Abner Hart was an American baseball manager for the Louisville Colonels and the Boston Beaneaters for parts of three seasons. Hart went to the U. K. in the 1890s, a British national professional Baseball body was started in 1890 and a letter to Albert Spalding in America requesting help in establishing a league. The British requested eight to ten players to coach and convert the existing players, Spalding sent Hart as a skilled manager and players, William J. Barr, Charles Bartlett, J. E. The original intention had been to have eight teams but initially there were just four Aston Villa, Preston North End, Stoke City, the first three used Jim Hart to decide the line-up of their teams, but Francis Ley at Derby made his own decisions. Hart was part-owner of the Chicago Colts team, and in the 1895 season, the entire Colts team was arrested for creating a disturbance on Sunday, and Hart bailed every player out
8.
Frank Selee
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Frank Gibson Selee was an American Major League Baseball manager in the National League. In his sixteen-year Major League career, he managed the Boston Beaneaters for twelve seasons, and he was noted for his ability to assess and utilize talent, which gave his teams a great opportunity to be successful. His success is measurable in that he won five NL titles with the Beaneaters, including three years in a row from 1891 to 1893. After he left Boston, he went on to manage in Chicago where he built the basis for the Cubs later success by signing and utilizing the talents of Frank Chance, Joe Tinker and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 for his managerial achievements. Selee was born in Amherst, New Hampshire and he has been described as a balding little man with a modest demeanor and a formidable mustache that gave his face a melancholy cast, and shy and reticent in public. He left a job in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1884 to form a minor league team. His was success in the minors, which led his eventual move to the Major Leagues in 1890, noted for having a keen ability to assess talent, Selee managed the Boston Beaneaters and the Chicago Cubs. His Beaneaters captured five NL pennants during his tenure and his 1892 team, aided by the first 150-game schedule in history, became the first team to win 100 games in a season. In all, twelve of his players went on be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In June,1905, he became too ill to manage and surrendered his team to Chance, the last Cubs title under Chance in 1910, eight of top thirteen players from the 1905 team were still major contributors. In total, he had 1,284 victories in 2,180 games as manager during his 16-year career, Selee died of consumption at the age of 49 in Denver, Colorado, and was interred at Wyoming Cemetery in Melrose, Massachusetts. In 1999, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee for his achievements as a manager and he is one of only two people from New Hampshire to inducted into the Hall of Fame. The other was Carlton Fisk, who was enshrined in 2000 and he was portrayed without his well-known mustache. Frank Selee at the Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball-Reference. com – managerial statistics and analysis Frank Selee at Find a Grave
9.
Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. The team plays its games at Wrigley Field, located on the citys North Side. The Cubs are one of two league teams in Chicago, the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League Central division. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, was a member of the NL in 1876. The Cubs have appeared in a total of eleven World Series, the 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of.763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, the 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major North American sports. Since the start of play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason eight times through the 2016 season. The Cubs are known as the North Siders, a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, there is a divisional rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals and also a newer rivalry with the Milwaukee Brewers. There is also a rivalry with the White Sox. The Cubs began play in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, joining the National League as a charter member. Owner William Hulbert signed multiple star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes, Deacon White, the White Stockings played their home games at West Side Grounds and quickly established themselves as one of the new leagues top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at.429 as Chicago won the first ever National League pennant, which at the time was the games top prize. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding, the White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882, and Anson established himself as the games first true superstar. In 1885 and 86, after winning N. L. pennants, both seasons resulted in match ups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, with the clubs tying in 1885 and with St. Louis winning in 1886. This was the genesis of what would become one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In all, the Anson-led Chicago Base Ball Club won six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886. As a result, Chicagos club nickname transitioned, and by 1890 they had known as the Chicago Colts, or sometimes Ansons Colts
10.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
11.
1902 Pittsburg Pirates season
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The 1902 Pittsburg Pirates won a second straight National League pennant, by an overwhelming 27.5 game margin over the Brooklyn Superbas. It was the Pirates first ever 100-win team, and still holds the record for best winning percentage at home. Ginger Beaumont won the title with a.357 mark, Tommy Leach led the league in home runs with 6, Honus Wagner led the league in RBI with 91. As a team, the Pirates led the league in every significant batting category and they scored 775 runs, which was 142 more than any other team. The team allowed four home runs during their 1902 season, the fewest in MLB history, Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg
12.
Mal Eason
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Malcolm Wayne Eason was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Orphans, Boston Beaneaters, Detroit Tigers and Brooklyn Superbas. He was born in Brookville, Pennsylvania, from 1901 to 1902 Eason went 8–17 and 10–12, while pitching for awful teams. Despite his losing records, he registered 3.59 and 2.61 ERAs respectively and his most productive season came in 1906, when he posted a 10–17 mark with a 3.25 ERA. It was his last season as an active player and that July 20, Eason no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0. Earlier in the season, he had been the losing pitcher in the last no-hitter before this one, not until Bill McCahan in 1947 would another pitcher hurl a no-hitter after being on the losing end of the last no-hitter before it. In a six-season career, Eason posted a 36–73 record with 274 strikeouts and he completed 90 of 114 starts, including ten shutouts. Eason is recorded as having umpired three games in 1902, after his retirement as a player, he worked as a National League umpire from 1910 to 1917. Eason died in a fire in Douglas, Arizona, at the age of 91. List of Major League Baseball no-hitters Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Baseball Almanac Baseball Library Retrosheet
13.
Fred Glade
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Frederick Monroe Glade was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1902 through 1908, Glade played for the Chicago Orphans, St. Louis Browns, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, he batted and threw right-handed. He debuted on May 27,1902, and played his game on June 21,1908. In 1902 Glade appeared in one game for the Chicago National League team and he jumped to the American League in 1904 and gave four years of good services for the awful St. Louis Browns. In his rookie season he went 18–15 with a 2.27 ERA, in addition, on June 19 he set a major league game-record, since then broken, with 15 strikeouts in a 1–0 victory over the New York Highlanders. But Glade led the league with 25 losses in 1905, winning six games with a solid 2.81 ERA. He rebounded with two winning seasons in 1906 and 1907 and he was traded to the Highlanders before 1908, his last major league season. In a six-season career, Glade posted a 52–68 record with a 2.62 ERA in 1072-2/3 innings pitched, a good control pitcher, he recorded a 1.96 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Glade died in Grand Island, Nebraska, at age 58,1904 St. Louis Browns Baseball Library Baseball Reference Retrosheet
14.
Carl Lundgren
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Carl Leonard Lundy Lundgren was an American baseball and football player and coach. Lundgren played football and baseball for the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, in eight years with the Cubs, he compiled a record of 91 wins and 55 losses. His best season was 1907 when he won 18 games, pitched 207 innings without allowing a run, threw seven shutouts. His 1.17 earned run average was the second lowest in the Major Leagues, control problems held him back from greater renown. After retiring as a player, Lundgren became a coach and he was the head baseball coach and assistant football coach at the University of Michigan from 1914 to 1921. He was the baseball coach and assistant athletic director at the University of Illinois from 1921 until his death in 1934. Lundgrens baseball teams at Michigan and Illinois won eight Big Ten Conference baseball championships, Lundgren was born in Marengo, Illinois in 1880. His father, Pehr Hjalmar Lundgren, was born in Östergötland, Sweden, emigrated to the United States in 1868 and worked as a house painter and his mother, Delilah Lundgren, was born on a farm outside Marengo. His father purchased a farm north of Marengo, where the family lived until 1900, Lundgren graduated from Marengo High School in 1898. He was the oldest of four children, having a brother, Franz Emil. Lundgren enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign in 1898, studied civil engineering, as a senior, he published a paper titled, Comparative strength of gravel and broken-stone concretes. While at Illinois, he played at the halfback and fullback positions for the Illini football team for three years and he was also a pitcher for the Illini baseball team from 1899 to 1902 and was the team captain in 1902. The Chicago Cubs saw Lundgren pitch in a game between the Illinois college team and the Cubs. The Cubs gave Lundgren a tryout, and he made his Major League debut for the Cubs on June 19,1902, one sports writer noted that the Cubs had a new pitcher, and the world lost a civil engineer. In his rookie season, Lundgren pitched 17 complete games and had a run average of 1.97. Lundgren pitched for the Cubs from 1902 to 1909 and compiled a 91–55 record, during his best years, from 1904 to 1907, he compiled a record of 65–27. The Cubs won three pennants in 1906,1907, and 1908 and World Series championships in 1907 and 1908. During the 1906 and 1907 seasons, Lundgren compiled records of 17–6, in 1907, Lundgren pitched 207 innings without allowing a home run, threw seven shutouts, and gave up only 27 earned runs in 28 games
15.
Bob Rhoads
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Barton Emory Rhoads, nicknamed Dusty, was a major league pitcher for the Chicago Orphans, Cleveland Naps, and St. Louis Cardinals in the early 20th century. His best year was in 1906, when he won 22 games and had a 1.80 ERA and he finished his career with a 97–82 record, a 2.61 ERA and 522 strikeouts. He is buried at Mountain View Memorial Park in Barstow, California, list of Major League Baseball no-hitters Baseball-Reference. com
16.
Jim St. Vrain
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James Marcellin St. Vrain, a native of Ralls County, Missouri, was a Major League Baseball pitcher. The left-hander played for the Chicago Orphans in 1902, and at just 19 years of age he was the youngest player to appear in a National League game that season. St. Vrain made his league debut in a road game against the Cincinnati Reds at the Palace of the Fans. He pitched well, but the Orphans lost 2–1 and his first major league win came against the New York Giants on May 9. He pitched a 5–0 complete game shutout in front of the crowd at West Side Park. St. Vrain pitched well during his season but gave up a lot of unearned runs. He is also remembered for running the wrong way on the bases, although he was a left-handed pitcher, one day, manager Frank Selee suggested he try batting left-handed, and upon making contact with the ball, St. Vrain was confused enough to run to third base. In a total of 12 games,11 starts,10 complete games, and 95 innings pitched, he had 51 strikeouts and only 25 walks, though his record was 4–6, his ERA was a sparkling 2.08. St. Vrain died at the age of 54 in Butte, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference Retrosheet
17.
Jack Taylor (1900s pitcher)
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John W. Jack Taylor was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs. He made his league debut with the Cubs on September 25,1898. His best years as a pitcher were 1900,1902,1903 and his career average was 2.66 ERA. In 1904, Taylor set a league record by pitching 39 consecutive complete games. Taylor actually threw 187 consecutive complete games between June 1901 and August 1906, but this streak was interrupted by 15 additional relief appearances, thus Taylor appeared in 202 consecutive games without being relieved himself. Taylor and fellow Cub Larry McLean were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in return for Mordecai Brown and Jack ONeill in December 1903, thus he was part of the great 1906 Cubs, that year the ERA for the entire pitching staff was 1.76. He also contributed to the World Series-winning season in 1907, Taylor died in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 64. List of St. Baseball, The Biographical Encyclopedia, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
18.
Pop Williams
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Walter Merrill Pop Williams was a professional baseball pitcher whose playing career spanned nine seasons, including three in Major League Baseball. He was born in Bowdoinham, Maine on May 19,1874, Williams batted right-handed and threw left-handed. Over his major league career, Williams compiled a record of 16–25 with a 3.17 earned run average,41 complete games. He was also the coach of the Bowdoin College baseball team during the spring of 1903, during his time in the majors and the minor leagues, Williams occasionally played outfield and first base. In the majors, Williams played for the Washington Senators, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Williams attended Bowdoin College from 1893 to 1896. His professional career began in 1895 with the Lewiston ball club in the Class-B New England League, in 1896, Williams played for two teams, his previous club, Lewiston, and Fall River Indians. That season, Williams went a combined 14–16 with a 3.15 earned run average,28 complete games, Williams also four games in the outfield and four games at first base that season. He batted a combined.312 with 29 runs,43 hits,10 doubles, Williams moved on to the Class-A Toronto Canucks of the Eastern League in 1897. Although records were not kept in his first season there, in 1898 he went 16–14 with 26 complete games and that season, Williams made his debut in Major League Baseball. Playing for the Washington Senators, Williams went 0–2 with an 8.47 ERA in 2 games and his debut with the Senators made Williams the first person from Bowdoin College to play in the majors. He returned to Toronto in 1899 and went 20–10 with 28 complete games, Williams was tied for third in wins that season in the Eastern League. Williams played with the Toronto team until 1901, in 1901, he went 16–13 in 34 games. Williams joined the major league Chicago Orphans in 1902 and he went 11–16 with a 2.49 ERA,27 complete games, and 99 strikeouts. Williams was tied for eighth in the National League in both losses and home runs per nine innings that season, Williams was re-signed by the Orphans, now renamed the Chicago Cubs, for the 1903 season. He did not join the Cubs in spring training that season as he was coaching the Bowdoin College baseball team, with the Cubs in 1903, Williams went 0–1 with a 5.40 ERA in one game, a start. In April of the 1903 season, the Philadelphia Phillies purchased Williams from the Cubs and his tenure with the Phillies proved short, however, as after two games with a 1–1 record and a 3.00 ERA, he was released. As a free agent, Williams signed with the Boston Beaneaters, in ten games, he went 4–5 with a 4.12 ERA, nine complete games and 20 strikeouts. All of his games were for starts, on the season, Williams went 5–7 with a 3.99 ERA,12 complete games and 30 strikeouts in 13 games, all starts, between Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston
19.
Johnny Kling
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John Gransfield Kling was an American catcher and manager in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Rustlers and Boston Braves, and Cincinnati Reds. Kling was the Cubs starting catcher in the game of the 1908 World Series Kling was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. It was expected that he would work in the business, as his brother Charles seems to have done. By the age of fifteen, he was playing amateur ball and he also had an interest in pool, and began playing competitively even as he pursued a baseball career. In late January 1904, Kling married Lillian May Gradwohl, while Kling was not born Jewish, his wife was, and they were married by a Kansas City Rabbi Harry H. Mayer, of Temple BNai Jehudah, a Reform congregation. After playing amateur and semi-pro baseball, Kling finally made his league debut on September 11,1900. He got three hits, and made an impression both as a catcher and as a hitter. For what was left of the season, he caught fifteen games and had an average of. By all accounts he was a defensive catcher, praised for his skill in throwing out runners who were caught stealing. Between 1906 and 1910, the Cubs won four National League pennants, and unlike many ballplayers of his day, he didnt smoke, drink or chew tobacco. Staying in good shape as a result was said to contribute to his baseball success, overall, he played 1260 major league games, hit.271 with 20 home runs and 513 RBIs careerwise. He made 1151 hits in 4241 at bats, in August 1902, he amassed a Major League Baseball record streak of 12 consecutive hits. Walt Dropo later tied the mark in 1952 and he caught 115 shutouts during his career, ranking him 16th all-time among major league catchers. But while he loved baseball, Kling never lost his devotion to the game of pool, in 1902, for example, one reporter called him the best pool player of any active baseball player. He often played for purses as high as $300, an amount in that era. During this time, he ran his own billiard room in his native Kansas City. His skill at pool also served him well when it time to negotiate his baseball salary. Before the 1906 season he announced that he would not sign a new contract unless Chicago offered him a raise in pay and this angered his manager, Frank Chance, who snapped that everyone else but Kling had come to terms with the club
20.
Frank Chance
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Frank Leroy Chance was an American professional baseball player. A first baseman, Chance played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and he also served as manager of the Cubs, Yankees, and Boston Red Sox. Discovered by the Cubs as he played baseball while attending college, Chance debuted with the Cubs in 1898. In 1903, Chance became the Cubs regular first baseman, and in 1905, Chance led the Cubs to four National League championships in the span of five years and won the World Series in 1907 and 1908. With Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers, Chance formed a double play combination. Let go by the Cubs after the 1912 season, Chance signed with the Yankees and he joined the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League as a player–manager, returning to MLB in 1923 as manager of the Red Sox. Chance was named the manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1924, noted for his leadership abilities, Chance earned the nickname Peerless Leader. He is the leader in managerial winning percentage in Cubs history. Chance was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 1946 balloting by the Veterans Committee, along with Tinker and he was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fames first class, in 1959. Chance was born in Salida, California, in Stanislaus County and his family was of English and Scottish descent. He was raised in Fresno, California and attended Fresno High School and his father was president of the first national bank in Fresno. Chance enrolled at the University of California, where he pursued a degree in dentistry and he transferred to Washington College in Irvington, California. While playing baseball for the baseball team, he received an offer to play semi-professional baseball for a team in Sullivan, Illinois, for $40 a month. Returning to college the year, Chance led his team to a third-place finish in an amateur tournament of 50 teams. Bill Lange of the Chicago Cubs discovered Chance and convinced the Cubs to sign him as a catcher and outfielder. Chance was scouted by other teams, but chose the Cubs as Tim Donohue was the only catcher ahead of him on the Cubs depth chart, Chance began his career in 1898 with the Chicago Cubs, serving as a reserve catcher and outfielder. He played irregularly through the 1902 season, due in part to finger injuries suffered while catching, Chance played in no more than 75 games in a season through 1902. In 1903, Johnny Kling became the Cubs full-time catcher, as Bill Hanlon, the Cubs first baseman, left the team, manager Frank Selee moved Chance to first base
21.
Dad Clark
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Alfred Robert Dad Clark was a professional baseball player. Clark played part of one season in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Orphans in 1902 and he played in 12 games, collecting 8 hits in 43 at-bats, totaling a.186 batting average. Along with his nickname Dad, Clark also was known as Fred, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
22.
Johnny Evers
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John Joseph Evers was an American professional baseball second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball from 1902 through 1917 for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves and he also appeared in one game apiece for the Chicago White Sox and Braves while coaching them in 1922 and 1929, respectively. Evers was born in Troy, New York, after playing for the local minor league baseball team for one season, Frank Selee, manager of the Cubs, purchased Everss contract and soon made him his starting second baseman. Evers helped lead the Cubs to four National League pennants, including two World Series championships, the Cubs traded Evers to the Braves in 1914, that season, Evers led the Braves to victory in the World Series, and was named the leagues Most Valuable Player. Evers continued to play for the Braves and Phillies through 1917 and he then became a coach, scout, manager, and general manager in his later career. Known as one of the smartest ballplayers in MLB, Evers also had a temper that he took out on umpires. Evers was a part of a great double-play combination with Joe Tinker and Frank Chance, Evers was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1946. Evers was born on July 21,1881, in Troy and his father worked as a saloon keeper. Many of Evers relatives, including his father, brothers, and uncles, Evers attended St. Josephs Elementary School and played sandlot ball in Troy. Evers made his debut in minor league baseball for the Troy Trojans of the Class-B New York State League in 1902 as a shortstop. Evers reportedly weighed less than 100 pounds, and opposing fans thought he was a part of a comedic act, Evers reportedly weighed no more than 130 pounds during his career. Evers batted.285 and led the New York State League with 10 home runs, Frank Selee, manager of the Chicago Cubs, scouted Everss teammate, pitcher Alex Hardy. Evers made his MLB debut with the Cubs on September 1 at shortstop, only three players in the National League were younger than Evers, Jim St. Vrain, Jimmy Sebring, and Lave Winham. Three days later, Selee returned Tinker to shortstop and assigned Evers to second base, in his month-long tryout with the Cubs, Evers batted.222 without recording an extra-base hit and played inconsistent defense. However, Lowes injury did not properly heal by spring training in 1903, the Cubs sold Lowe to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the season. Evers played 152 games in the 1904 season, defensively, his 518 assists and 381 putouts led the NL, though his 54 errors led all NL second basemen. During the 1906 season, Evers finished fifth in the NL with 49 stolen bases, the Cubs won the NL pennant in 1906, but lost the 1906 World Series to the Chicago White Sox four games to two, Evers batted 3-for-20 in the series. During the 1907 season, Evers led the NL with 500 assists, the Cubs repeated as NL champions in 1907, and won the 1907 World Series over the Detroit Tigers, four games to none, as Evers batted 7-for-20
23.
Bobby Lowe
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Robert Lincoln Bobby Lowe, nicknamed Link, was an American Major League Baseball player, coach and scout. He played for the Boston Beaneaters, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Lowe was the first player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game, a feat which he accomplished in May 1894. He also tied or set Major League records with 17 total bases in a single game, Lowe was a versatile player who played at every position but was principally known as a second baseman. When he retired in 1907, his career fielding average of.953 at second base was the highest in Major League history, Lowe also worked as a baseball manager, coach and scout. He was the player-manager of the Detroit Tigers during the last half of the 1904 season and he was also a player-manager for the Grand Rapids Wolverines in 1908, and coached college baseball in 1907 for the University of Michigan and from 1909 to 1910 for Washington & Jefferson College. Lowe was a scout for the Detroit Tigers in 1911 and 1912, Lowe was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in July 1865, two months after the end of the American Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His middle name Lincoln likely derives from the historic circumstances immediately preceding his birth, Lowes father, Robert L. Lowe, was a Pennsylvania native and a railroad engineer. His mother, Jane Lowe was an immigrant from Ireland, by 1880, Lowes father had died and at age 15 he was living with his mother and three siblings in Union Township. In 1881, Lowe was working as an office devil at the Newcastle Courant, in the summer of 1881, at age 16, he played in a baseball game between the printers and the doctors of New Castle. Charley Powers, who played minor league baseball, was working as a compositor at the Courant and was selected as the captain of the printers, Lowe pleaded for a place on the team, and Powers stationed him in right field. He later recalled that the kid carried off the honors both in the field and at the bat, I saw at once that he was a born ballplayer. In 1882, Lowe played with the Archie Reeds, a baseball club in New Castle. He left his job with the Courant in 1883 and, at age 18 and he was the sole support at the time for his mother and youngest sister, Olive, and gave up baseball for several years. Some accounts indicate he also played for Witherows plant baseball team, in 1886, Charley Powers organized a baseball club in New Castle and persuaded Lowes employer to allow him to play with the club occasionally. He played catcher and third base for New Castle in 1886, Powers and Lowe both signed to play with the Eau Claire, Wisconsin team in the Northwestern League during the summer of 1887. Powers later recalled that the manager of the Eau Claire club, Abe Devine, ran a saloon and refused to use Lowe because he refused to patronize his saloon. Devine sent him back to New Castle, declaring, That boy cant play ball, Lowe was put into the lineup in a game against Milwaukee and drew cheers from the crowd for his defensive play at third base. In his first at bat, he hit a home run off Varney Anderson that sailed far over the center field fence
24.
Germany Schaefer
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Born William Herman Schaefer in the south side of Chicago to German immigrant parents, he played in two World Series with the Tigers. During the 1909 season, Schaefer and Red Killefer were traded by the Tigers to the Senators for Jim Delahanty, in 1,150 career games, Schaefer batted.257 with 9 home runs and 201 stolen bases. Schaefer was known as both a trickster and a tactician in the early years of 20th century baseball. Well liked, stories of his exploits dot both the memories of his contemporaries and the reports of the time. One of his most famous exploits was stealing first base, which was perhaps erroneously recalled in Lawrence Ritters The Glory of Their Times by Detroit outfielder Davy Jones. The catcher did not throw the first time, inspiring Schaefer to steal first base in reverse and it worked in Jones recollection although factual evidence of this is lacking. On August 4,1911, Schaefer tried the stunt again. With the chaos on the field, Clyde Milan attempted to steal home and this event was recorded by both the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune on the following day. The umpire shall immediately call Time and declare the runner out and it is often said that it was passed because of Schaefers thefts. Though a clown on the field, Schaefer had a sound baseball mind. He also made lots of friends throughout the world, including the irascible Ty Cobb. Schaefer bestowed upon Walter Johnson his nickname Barney at a stop, claiming that Johnson was Barney Oldfield, the racecar driver. Schaefer modified his own moniker, Germany, replacing it with Liberty after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, Schaefer was the player representative present at the meeting held in preparation for the 1907 World Series between Schaefers team, the Tigers, and the Chicago Cubs. The others in the meeting, discussing ground rules, players pool and it was supposedly a trivial question, but Schaefer made a point, If there is a tie game in the Series, do the players share in its gate receipts. After a short discussion with Johnson and Pulliam, Herrman answered, as luck would have it, the first game was a 12-inning, 3–3 tie, called due to darkness. The players shared in the receipts of all five games, but a month later the Commission changed its ruling, The players share in the receipts of the first four games only, ties or no ties. In Ceylon, Schaefer even struck up a kinship with tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton and he also teamed with Nick Altrock, who later took baseball clowning to legendary heights with Al Schacht. Among Schaefers legendary antics are diversionary tactics with umbrellas, raincoats and galoshes, an account of Schaefer wearing a raincoat onto the field occurs in the July 4,1906, edition of the Washington Post
25.
Sammy Strang
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Samuel Strang Nicklin born in Chattanooga, Tennessee was a Utility Player for the Louisville Colonels, Chicago Orphans, New York Giants, Chicago White Sox and Brooklyn Superbas. He helped the Giants win the 1905 World Series, Strang led the National League in On-base percentage in 1906. After his playing career, he was the coach at Georgia Tech in 1902. Strang died in Chattanooga, Tennessee at age 55 and he was buried in its National Cemetery
26.
Joe Tinker
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Joseph Bert Tinker was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played from 1902 through 1916 for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball, born in Muscotah, Kansas, Tinker began playing semi-professional baseball in Kansas in the late 19th century. He began his career in 1900 in minor league baseball. Tinker was a member of the Chicago Cubs dynasty that won four pennants, after playing one season with Cincinnati in 1913, he became one of the first stars to jump to the upstart Federal League in 1914. While in Orlando, Tinker developed a real estate firm, which thrived during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, however, the 1926 Miami hurricane and Great Depression cost Tinker most of his fortune, and he returned to professional baseball in the late 1930s. With the Cubs, Tinker was a part of a great double-play combination with teammates Johnny Evers, however, Evers and Tinker feuded off the field. Tinker was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946 and he has also been honored by the Florida State League and the city of Orlando. Tinker was born in Muscotah, Kansas and his twin sister died at a young age. When Tinker was two, his family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, there, he began to play baseball for his schools team when he was 14 years old. He played in semi-professional baseball for Hagens Tailors in 1898, winning the city championship, in 1899, he played for a team based in Parsons, Kansas, until it disbanded. He then joined a team representing Coffeyville, Kansas, as a third baseman, playing as a second baseman for Denver, Tinker batted.219 in his first 32 games. Tebeau sold Tinker to the Great Falls Indians of the Montana State League in June, Great Falls sold Tinker to the Helena Senators, also in the Montana State League, for $200 later in the season due to the teams financial insolvency. In 1901, Tinker batted.290 for the Portland Webfoots of the Pacific Northwest League as their third baseman and he led the league with 37 stolen bases. When he purchased Tinkers contract, Cubs manager Frank Selee was seeking a replacement at shortstop for Barry McCormick, Tinker won the job during spring training. As a rookie in 1902, Tinker batted.261, Johnny Evers, also a rookie, played second base for the Cubs. With Frank Chance, the teams first baseman, the trio first played together on September 13,1902, in the 1903 season, Tinkers batting average improved to.291, and he also contributed 70 RBIs. Tinker led all NL shortstops in the 1906 season with a.944 fielding percentage, on September 14,1905, Tinker and Evers engaged in a fistfight on the field because Evers had taken a cab to the stadium and left his teammates behind in the hotel lobby. They did not speak for years following this event, Tinker led all shortstops in the NL in double plays turned in the 1905 season
