Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

That's a great picture. Thanks for posting it.

Wikipedia reports that "The 1891 Washington Statesmen baseball team finished the season with a 44–91 record in the American Association in their first season. After the season, the AA disbanded and the Washington club, renamed the "Senators," joined the National League.

So, despite the "National" on their uniforms, the team was apparently officially named the Senators. Perhaps the first official use (in MLB) of the team-name Senators -- I believe the American League team that began in 1901 (now the Minnesota Twins) was not officially designated as Senators until after Clark Griffith died in 1955.

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

That's a great picture. Thanks for posting it.

Wikipedia reports that "The 1891 Washington Statesmen baseball team finished the season with a 44–91 record in the American Association in their first season. After the season, the AA disbanded and the Washington club, renamed the "Senators," joined the National League.

So, despite the "National" on their uniforms, the team was apparently officially named the Senators. Perhaps the first official use (in MLB) of the team-name Senators -- I believe the American League team that began in 1901 (now the Minnesota Twins) was not officially designated as Senators until after Clark Griffith died in 1955.

The official name of most 19th Century (and early 20th Century) professional baseball teams consisted of the city name and "Base Ball Club", or something similar. There were a few exceptions in the major leagues, such as the Eclipse club that was eventually renamed the Louisville club, and the Metropolitan club (of New York), which disbanded after the 1887 season. The nicknames given to teams, such as the Giants, Browns, Statesmen, and Senators, were just that--informal names used by the fans and the press, but not really official names, and different newspapers in the same city might favor different names.

Anyway, whoever made the Wikipedia entry had probably never seen the image of the 1892 team or done much research in the newspaper archives. By the end of the decade, the team was usually called the Senators in the press, but it's hard to imagine that this was the most commonly used nickname for the 1892 team, considering what was printed on their uniform shirts.

[Carter08]

Might be far afield from what the OP is thinking but I’m a huge fan of the 5th all star game ever played, which was in Washington in 1937. FDR threw out the first pitch, Gehrig homered, Dizzy’s career got derailed by a liner from Earl Averill. Awesome game.

[GeoPoto]

Originally Posted by Carter08

I’m a huge fan of the 5th all star game ever played, which was in Washington in 1937. FDR threw out the first pitch, Gehrig homered, Dizzy’s career got derailed by a liner from Earl Averill. Awesome game.

The American League took the game, 8-3, Lefty Gomez besting Dizzy Dean, Lou Gehrig blasting a home run for the AL. And, as you say, Dean's broken toe was the beginning of the end of his Hall-of-Fame career.

The images of Griffith Stadium are from 1924 and FDR's first pitch is from the 1940 season.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #4: J. Albert "Al" Myers. "Cod". Second baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1887-1889. 788 hits and 111 stolen bases in 8 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1884. His best season was 1890 with the Philadelphia Quakers as he posted a .365 OBP with 95 runs scored, 81 RBIs, and 44 stolen bases in 554 plate appearances. He ended his career in 1891 still with Philadelphia.

The book Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball says that Mack and his new wife Margaret, in the off-season after the 1888 season, along with Myers and Jim Whitney, traveled toward California, playing on a pay-per-game basis for various barnstorming teams. The players made enough money for their expenses as well as some left over.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #5: Samuel N. "Sam" Crane. Second baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1887. 276 hits and 3 home runs in 7 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Buffalo Bisons in 1880. His final season was 1890 with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He managed the Buffalo Bisons in 1880 and the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds in 1884.

After his playing days, Sam had a long and distinguished career as a sportswriter. It was his connection to baseball as a player, manager, and sportswriter that lent credibility to his assertion that Cooperstown, New York be the location for a "memorial" to the great players from the past. Cooperstown was, at the time, the place that many people believed was where Abner Doubleday had invented the game of baseball. It was this idea of a memorial that eventually led to the creation of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1939.

Crane's playing career ended when he was arrested after having an affair with the wife of a fruit dealer and stealing $1,500 from the husband.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #6: Owen F. "Spider" Clark. Utility player with the Washington Nationals in 1889. 106 hits and 5 home runs in 2 MLB seasons. He also played in 1890 for the Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League. While he was primarily a right fielder, he played all over the diamond on defense, playing every position at least once, including one game as a pitcher for the Bisons.

With the Nationals in 1889, Clark also became the first major league player with the nickname of "Spider," a moniker he received because of his thin build and his excellent range as a fielder. Clark died of tuberculosis in 1892 at 24 years old.

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