Washington DC Baseball

[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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[GeoPoto]

Player #7: Patrick E. "Pat" Dealy played all or part of five seasons in the majors between 1884 and 1890. 113 hits and 2 home runs in 5 MLB seasons. He debuted with the St. Paul Saints of the Union Association in 1884 as their backup catcher, which was his primary position throughout his career (he also played substantial numbers of games at shortstop, third base, and the outfield). He then played three seasons in the National League, with the Boston Beaneaters in 1885 and 1886 and Washington Nationals in 1887. His final season came with the Syracuse Stars of the American Association. Dealey also umpired two NL games in 1886. In 1887, he was Connie Mack's back-up.

Dealy is said to have allowed 10 passed balls in a game on May 3, 1886, which is odd given that he appeared in 14 games at catcher that season and allowed a total of 20 passed balls, which means that he had a total of 10 in the other 13 games. It was apparently typical to allow one passed ball per game - Dealy allowed 24 during 28 games at catcher in 1887 while Connie Mack allowed 76 passed balls during 76 games at catcher in 1887.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #8: John A. "Jack" Farrell. "Moose". Second baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1886-1887. 877 hits and 23 home runs in 11 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Syracuse Stars in 1879. His best season was 1883 with the Providence Grays as he posted a .329 OBP with 92 runs scored in 435 plate appearances. He last played for the Baltimore Orioles in 1888-1889. In 1881, he managed the Providence Grays.

Farrell was the second baseman for the Providence Gray's in 1879-1885, a consistently good team that won the pennant in 1879 and 1884.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #9: Andrew B. "Barney" Gilligan. Catcher with the Washington Nationals in 1886-1887. 386 hits and 3 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Cleveland Blues in 1879-1880. His best season was 1884 with the Providence Grays as he posted a .325 OBP with 47 runs scored in 329 plate appearances. He was Hoss Radbourn's catcher as Radbourn won 54 games and the Grays won the 1884 pennant. He finished his MLB career with the Detroit Wolverines in 1888.

In the 1880's catching was brutal, dangerous work using the primitive equipment of the day. It was also customary for "batteries" to stay together. Most teams had two pitcher/catcher duos and rarely mixed them up barring injury. So, when Hoss Radbourn took over starting every Providence Grays game in the second half of the 1884 pennant-winning season, it meant Gilligan caught every game as well. It is well understood that Radbourn's was a feat of fantastic endurance; less appreciated, is Gilligan's ability to catch Radbourn game after game. Despite the physical demands of all the catching, 1884 was also Gilligan's finest offensive season.

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