Posted By:
Kevin CummingsFor those of you who would like to see the articles that John refers to, here is the link: http://www.crosswinds.net/~thedeadballera/Obits/MullaneTonysObit.html
As an added bonus, here is the link to his (Mullane's, not John's
) listing in Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23261
John - I think your assertion about the paucity or accuracy of records 50 years ago is probably correct. And the minds of the sportswriters of the day (no doubt aided by a few brewskies) could have yielded stories that were largely apocryphal.
One additional factor - the American Association was viewed as a level of competition not equal to that of the National League. Many of the brighter lights of the 19th century who played most or all of their career in the American Association (like Mullane) probably have had that held against them. Bid McPhee was the first, I believe, to break that line.