Detroit OJ Collecting Milestone – Barney Gilligan

[Joe_G.]

Fueled by the extra time COVID-19 presents and Tanner’s Old Judge thread (I enjoy looking at these 19th century gems), I wanted to share a collecting milestone, the acquisition of a rare Barney Gilligan card. I now have all 21 Detroit subjects that can be found in the Old Judge set.

Detroit Old Judge Background / Context:

There are 21 subjects (players & manager) that can be found with Detroit in the Old Judge set accounting for a total of 72 poses spread across 3 years as follows.

National League Detroits

1887: 9 subjects, 28 poses
1888: 6 new subjects, 30 new poses (+ many Detroit re-issues from 1887)

International Association Detroits

1889: 6 subjects, 14 poses (all new Detroits)

Detroit sat atop the baseball world in 1887, crowned World Champions, but they would disband at the close of 1888 with all players jumping to new teams. The 1889 Detroit Old Judge cards are courtesy of the International Association, a leading minor league circuit, for which Detroit would be a new member. Goodwin didn’t photograph the International Association teams directly but represented the teams in impressive quantity via team change updates to older Old Judge cards.

Obtaining Barney Gilligan

I have had a Detroit Old Judge focus ever since picking up my first example in 1989. Over the years I have had multiple opportunities to obtain the players and grow the collection with a lone exception. I have never seen a Detroit Barney Gilligan surface in auction or offered for sale but instead merely aware of two examples tucked away by a pair of long-time passionate collectors. I have periodically made trade offers but never found the right balance until this spring when a special cabinet card sealed the deal and I couldn’t be happier. It turns out that this Gilligan was auctioned by Lew Lipset on eBay just before I returned to the hobby in 2004 (shame on me for taking a hobby hiatus). Many thanks to my long time friend, Troy Kirk.

1888 Detroit Wolverines & Barney Gilligan the Player

Detroit was vulnerable behind the plate to start the 1888 season. Bennett and Ganzel were not healthy, neither ready to take the punishing blows to their hands during the cold spring games. Sutcliffe would catch the opener (4/20) followed by Cal Broughton (4/21) for his lone game of the season. Back to Sutcliffe (4/23) and then in desperation, Charlie Bennett threw caution to the wind and caught the Wolverines first win of the season (4/24). One day later, 4/25, Barney Gilligan was signed by Detroit. Manager Watkins mused on 4/26 that catching duties would be handled by Bennett, Deacon White (who hadn’t caught in years), and Gilligan near term with Ganzel joining the mix when ready. Gilly arrived with Detroit in Indianapolis on 4/27 and caught his first and only game with Detroit that day. Barney would catch Lady Baldwin quite well, went 1 for 5, but could no longer throw to the bases with authority, runners advancing freely. Barney’s performance wasn’t considered unacceptable and he remained a day-to-day catching prospect. However, when Ganzel began catching and trading off with Bennett the demand for Gilligan’s services diminished. Gilligan would be released by Detroit on 5/15/88 (20days after signing). Barney’s lone game with Detroit in 1888 would be the final chapter in his major league career, a career highlighted by great success including his catching of Charlie Radbourn in 1884. Barney Gilligan was Charlie Radbourn’s “personal catcher” during his record smashing 1884 campaign in which he went 60-12.

Far more can be gleaned by reading Barney’s SABR bio HERE.

The Uniqueness of Barney’s Detroit N172

Barney has two Old Judge poses, both introduced in 1887, while with Washington. The 1887 cards with Washington are not difficult. In 1888, both poses were updated to show Barney’s move to Detroit. One is only known in cabinet form (a rare N173) and the other as a rare Old Judge cigarette pack insert (N172). All of the new 1888 Detroit Old Judges, with exception of Barney Gilligan, originate from an April photo-shoot at Fearnaught’s Studio in Indianapolis (likely taken within a couple days of Gilly joining Detroit in Indy). A couple observations:

1) Barney’s Detroit N172 is only NL Detroit player represented by single pose (excluding manager)
2) Barney’s Detroit N172 is only Detroit team change card (excluding the 1889 minor league cards)
3) Barney’s Detroit N172 is only card in which “DETROIT” is spelled out in all caps, perhaps the only card in whole Old Judge set with team/city designation in all caps (excluding some of the script cards)
4) An extension of 3), it is only Detroit card that truncates the “s” on the city/team nameplate (all others are “Detroits”)

If you have a little extra time on your hands and interest, try to find another Old Judge card with team in all caps. It seems as though the card was a quick team change update that was soon after pulled. Barney’s short stay with Detroit may help explain the rarity, then again, all 1888 Detroit OJs are tough. How frequently do you see a Lady Baldwin, Frank Scheibeck, or Deacon White to name a few?

Presenting the 21 Detroit Wolverines from Old Judge Set

1887 – Dan Brouthers, Charile Ganzel, Ned Hanlon, Hardy Richardson, Jack Rowe, Sam Thompson, Larry Twitchell, Stump Wiedman, and manager Bill Watkins (center)

1888 – Lady Baldwin, Pete Conway, Pretzel Getzien, Barney Gilligan, Frank Scheibeck, and Deacon White

1889 – Kid Baldwin (error card), Count Campau, Mike Goodfellow, Mike McGlone, George Rooks, and Bobby Wheelock

A big milestone down, many more to conquer, such is the life of collecting Old Judges. I’m now over 75% complete on the 72 Detroit N172 poses, lots of rarities to hunt down.

All the best to my collecting colleagues, stay safe!