Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #17: Edward C. "Jumbo" Cartwright. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1894-1897. 562 hits and 144 stolen bases in 5 MLB seasons. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1890. His best season was 1895 with Washington as he posted a .400 OBP with 95 runs scored, 90 RBIs, and 50 stolen bases in 531 plate appearances.

Cartwright is most famous for having seven RBI in one inning, accomplished with the Browns in 1890; his record would stand for 109 years until it was broken by Fernando ("Bodacious") Tatís of the Cardinals in 1999.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1655197409

[ValKehl]

Hi George,
I am very much enjoying all of your posting in this thread, both the great cards and the interesting biographic info re the players.

But, I'm curious about one aspect of the bios. Why is it that with all of the statistics you mention, you never or virtually never mention a player's batting average?
Best,
Val

[GeoPoto]

Hi Val! Thank you for the kind words. I am trying to provide a brief career overview, in a standard format, without losing (or abusing) the attention of readers (most of whom are, I assume) not intensely interested in the players or their history. If your question is Why not BA AND OBP? my answer is that it might begin to clutter the writing with "too many" (similar) numbers. If your question is Why OBP in lieu of BA? my answer is that I subscribe to the modern view that OBP is a richer statistic that conveys more meaningful information regarding the "value" of the player's offensive production.

I realize the players in question and the fans of their time were largely oblivious to OBP but keenly aware of batting average as a basis for evaluating and comparing offensive performance across teams, players, and seasons. That was then; this is now.

[GeoPoto]

Player18: William M. "Bill" Joyce. Third baseman with the Washington Senators in 1894-1896. 971 hits, 70 home runs, and 266 stolen bases in 8 MLB seasons. He was the 1896 NL home run leader. He debuted with the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders in 1890. He had a career OBP of .435. His best season was 1896 as he posted a .470 OBP with 121 runs scored, 94 RBIs, and 45 stolen bases in 600 plate appearances. His 1896 season was split between Washington and the New York Giants. He finished his career as the player-manager of the Giants in 1896-1898. He holds (a tie for) the record with 4 triples in one game. In 1891, he reached base in 64 consecutive games, a record that stood until Ted Williams broke it in 1941.

The Brooklyn Grooms traded Joyce to the Washington Senators in the 1892-93 offseason, but he refused to play for the Senators at the salary offered and held out for the entire 1893 season. Joyce finally signed with the Senators in the spring of 1894 and was named the team captain. Praised as “an intelligent, energetic and aggressive captain,” Joyce had one obvious fault: He was “a kicker from Kickersville,” who obsessively and persistently protested umpires’ calls. On May 1, 1894, his incessant kicking resulted in the forfeiture of a game to the Brooklyn Grooms. Worse, after the game he and several teammates followed the umpire into the dressing room spouting “obscene and blackguard language.” It was an “act of hoodlums,” wrote Henry Chadwick, the 69-year-old “Father of Baseball.”

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1655287488

[brianp-beme]

I have three N300 cards with a total size of approximately 2.375 normal examples. My full one happens to be formally attired Otis Stocksdale, pitcher for Washington. I will let George post his great writeup on him when he shows his example.

Brian

[GeoPoto]

Great Stocksdale, Brian! Is that the right rear pocket fold over variation? Or the left?

[GeoPoto]

The 1895 Washington Senators baseball team finished the season with a 43–85 record, tenth place in the National League.

Player #19: Otis H. Stocksdale. "Old Gray Fox". Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1893-1895. 15 wins and 1 save in 4 MLB seasons. 1896 NL pennant winner. His final season was with the Baltimore Orioles in 1896.

Stocksdale never had a winning record as a pitcher but hit over .300. He was born in Maryland and attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; he is the player with the highest major league batting average to come out of Johns Hopkins.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1655376680