The season of 1891 proved to be almost as disastrous, when viewed from a
financial standpoint, as was the seasons of 1890, owing to the war for
the possession of good players that broke out between the National
League and the American Association, that was caused by a refusal on the
part of the last-named organization to stick to the terms of the
National Agreement, the result being the boosting of players' salaries
away up into fancy figures.
This state of affairs proved to be exceedingly costly for all concerned,
as really good players were at that time exceedingly scarce and the
demand for them, constantly growing.
The Chicago team for that season was again to a very great extent an
experimental one, made up at the beginning of the season of the
following named players: Luby, Gumbert and Hutchinson, pitchers;
Schriver and Kittridge, catchers; Anson, first base; Pfeffer, second
base; Burns, third base; Dahlen, shortstop; Wilmot, Ryan and Carroll,
outfielders; Cooney, substitute.
This proved to be a strong organization and one that would have landed
the pennant 'had it not been for the fact that the jealousy of the old
players in the East engendered by the Brotherhood revolt would not allow
a team of youngsters, many of whom were newcomers in the League to carry
off the honors, and a conspiracy was entered into whereby New York lost
enough games to Boston to give the Beaneaters the pennant and to
relegate us at the very last moment into the second place.
We had made a whirlwind fight for the honors, however, and though we
lost no fault could be laid either at my door or at the doors of the
players, as we had the pennant won had it not been for the games that
were dropped by the "Giants" to the Boston Club, in order that the
honors might not be carried off by a colt team.
Hutchinson, upon whom the most of the pitching work devolved, was one of
the best in the business. He was a graduate of Yale, a gentleman and a
player who used his head as well as his hands when in the box. Gumbert
and Luby were both fair, and the latter, had it not been for strong
drink, might have made for himself a much greater reputation than he
did. Dahlen at short was a tower of strength to the team, being as agile
as a cat, a sure catch and an exceptionally strong batter, while the
rest of the infield and the entire outfield was away above the average
in playing strength.
The race in 1891 was one of the closest in the history of the League.
Opening the season in the third place we never occupied a lower
position, but on the contrary, out of the twenty-four weeks that the
season lasted he held the first place in the race for all of fifteen
weeks and should have finished at the top of the column had it not been
for the reasons already given, and which were largely commented on at
the time by lovers of the game throughout the country, and the
newspapers from one end of the United States to the other.
At the beginning of the closing week of the season's campaign Chicago
was in the van by a percentage of victories of .628 to Bostons .615,
which was apparently a winning lead and which would have been had not
the New York organization made a present of its closing games to the
Boston Club for the express purpose of throwing us down and keeping the
pennant in the East. As it was, however, we finished head and head with
the leaders, New York being third, Philadelphia fourth, Cleveland fifth,
Brooklyn sixth, Cincinnati seventh, and Pittsburg eighth.
As an excuse for the queer showing made by the "Giants" in these Boston
games it has been alleged that the team was in poor condition when it
left the metropolis for the Hub to play this closing series, and that
its true condition was kept a secret by the management, one writer going
so far as to say that Manager Ewing's brother John was at that time
disabled by a sprained ankle, while Rusie was suffering from a bruised
leg, and also that Whistler had been playing at first base so well that
Ewing thought he could afford to give Conner a day or two off, all of
which may have been true, though I am free to confess right now that I
do not believe it.
In February, 1892, the American' Association became a thing of the past,
four of its leading clubs joining the National League, which now
embraced twelve cities instead of eight, the circuit taking in Boston,
Brooklyn, Louisville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New York,
Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, St. Louis and Baltimore.
The Chicago team for that season consisted of A. Gumbert, Hutchinson,
Luby, Miller, Hollister and Meekin, pitchers; Kittridge and Schriver,
catchers; Anson, first base; Canavan and Decker, second base; Dahlen and
Parrott, third base; Dahlen and Cooney, shortstop; Ryan, Dugan, Wilmot
and Decker in the outfield. The majority of these were green players,
as compared with the seasoned material of which some of the other League
clubs boasted, and it was only by switching them about from one position
to another that it was possible to tell where they best fitted.
Although I had signed six pitchers at the beginning of the season, there
were but three of them that fulfilled my expectations, viz., Gumbert,
Hutchinson and Luby, and of these three Hutchinson did the lion's share
of the work, pitching in no less than seventy of the one hundred and
fifty-six games that we played. The team was not an evenly balanced one,
however, and though it boasted of some individuals that were away above
the average yet it lacked the ability and practice to play as a team and
consequently finished the season in seventh place, Boston again carrying
off the pennant with 102 games won and 48 lost, while Cleveland came
second with 93 won and 56 lost, Brooklyn being third, Philadelphia
fourth, Cincinnati fifth, Pittsburg sixth, Chicago seventh, New York
eighth, Louisville ninth, Washington tenth, St. Louis eleventh and
Baltimore last.
I remember one rather queer incident that occurred during that season,
and while we were playing in Boston. Henry E. Dixey, the actor, who was
then playing a summer engagement at the "Hub," had driven out to the
grounds as usual in his buckboard, with his pet bull terrier "Dago" in
the seat beside him. Dixey always retained a seat in his rig and took up
his place right back of the left field. Dixie had not been on the ground
more than twenty minutes when Dahlen swiped the ball for a three-bagger.
It was one of those long, low, hard drives, and sailed about ten feet
over the left fielder's head and in a direct line for Dixey. He couldn't
have gotten out of the way had he tried, but the fact was that he didn't
see it coming, and the first he knew of it was when he heard a sharp
yelp at his side and saw poor "Dago" tumbling off his seat between the
wheels.
The dog was dead when picked up, the ball having broken his neck.
Between the yellow buckboard, the dead canine, the frightened horses and
Dixey's excitement the whole field was in an uproar and it was fully ten
minutes before we could get down to playing again, but Dahlen, the cause
of it all, didn't even see the affair and scored on the death of "Dago,"
his being the only genuine case of making a dog-gone run that has ever
come under my observation.
Some time during the winter of 1892, I added "big Bill Lange," who has
since become one of the stars of the League, and Irwin to my string of
fielders, and cast about to strengthen the pitching department of the
team as much as possible, Gumbert and Luby having been released. Having
this object in view no less than eleven twirlers were signed, of whom
all but four proved comparative failures, Hutchinson, McGill and Mauck
having to do the greater part of the work in the box, the other eight
men, Shaw, Donnelly, Clausen, Abbey, Griffith, McGinnins, Hughey and F.
Parrott being called on but occasionally. Of this lot Griffith was the
most promising and he afterwards turned out to be a star of the first
magnitude.
With these exceptions the team was about the same as that of the season
before, and that it proved to be as great a disappointment to me as it
did to the ball-loving public, I am now free to confess. It was a team
of great promises and poor performances, and no one could possibly have
felt more disappointed than I did when the end of the season found us in
ninth place, the lowest place that Chicago Club had ever occupied in the
pennant race since the formation of the League, we having won but 56
games during the season, while we had lost 71, a showing that was bad
enough to bring tears to the eyes of an angel, let alone a team manager
and captain.
The Bostons, whose team work was far and away the best of any of the
League clubs, again walked away with the championship, that club winning
127 games and losing 63, while Pittsburg, which came second, won 81
games and lost 48. Cleveland was third with 73 games won and 55 lost,
while Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Chicago,
St. Louis, Louisville and Washington finished as named.
When the season of 1894 opened I was pretty well satisfied that my team
of colts would make a much better showing than they had done during the
previous year, but again I was doomed to disappointment. The team, with
the exception of the pitching department, which had been very materially
strengthened, was about the same as that with which I had taken the
field the previous year, and that there was good enough material in it
with which to win the pennant I was certain. It managed to fool me,
however, and fool me good and hard, as well as several others who
thought themselves good judges, and that before the season was half
over.
We started out with seven pitchers, Griffith, Stratton, Hutchinson,
Abbey, Terry, McGill and Camp, The last-named pitched in but a single
game, which proved to be quite enough.
Our start was a bad one, in fact, the worst that we had ever made. We
lost eight out of the first nine games that we played, and the end of
May saw but one club between us and the tail end of the procession, that
one being Washington. Until the month of August was reached we were
never nearer than ninth in the race, but that month we climbed into the
eighth position and there we hung until the finish came, leaving the
Baltimore, New York and Boston Clubs to fight it out between them, which
they did, the first-named carrying off the prize, winning 89 games and
losing 39, against 88 won and 44 lost for Boston, after which came
Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Chicago, St. Louis,
Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Washington and Louisville.
When the championship season of 1895 opened the Chicago Club had ten
pitchers at its command, viz., Griffith, Hutchinson, Thornton, Parker,
Friend, Stratton, Terry, McFarland, Dolan and Abbey; three catchers,
Kittridge, Donohue and Moran, while I played first base, Stewart second
base, Everett third base, Dahlen shortstop and Wilmot, Lange, Ryan and
Decker the outfield. There were at least seven good twirlers in the
bunch, at the head of which stood Griffith and Hutchinson. Thornton,
Parker, Friend, Terry and Stratton were all better than the average when
just right, and it was certainly not the fault of the pitchers if the
team did not carry off the pennant honors. At late as September 7, and
when the club was in the ninth place, predictions were freely made to
the effect that the club would not finish in the first division, but
this time the croakers proved to be all wrong, for the team made a grand
rally in the closing weeks of the season and finished in fourth place, a
fact that some of the newspaper critics seemed to have purposely lost
sight of at the time of my enforced retirement, that being the same
place they stood under Burns' management the first season.
The Baltimores again won the championship, they having 87 games won and
46 lost to their credit, as against Cleveland's 84 won and 46 lost,
Philadelphia 78 won and 53 lost, and Chicago 72 won and 58 lost,
Brooklyn, Boston, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, New York, Washington and
Brooklyn following in order.
The Chicago team of 1896 was a somewhat mixed affair, change following
change in rapid succession. Hutchinson had retired from the game and the
pitchers, seven in number, were, Griffith, Thornton, Briggs, Friend,
Terry, Parker and McFarland; Kittridge and Donohue as catchers, myself
and Decker alternating at first base, Pfeffer and Truby doing the same
thing at second, and Everett and McCormick at third. Dahlen played
shortstop, and Lange, Everett, Ryan, Decker and Flynn took care of the
outfield.
The most of the pitching this season devolved upon Griffith and Friend,
while Parker and McFarland both proved failures. Neither Pfeffer nor
Decker were themselves for a great part of the season, and yet, in spite
of all, the team played good ball and finished in the fifth place, the
pennant going for the third consecutive time to Baltimore, which won go
games and lost 39, while Cleveland came second with 80 games won and 48
lost, Cincinnati third with 77 games won and so lost, Boston fourth with
74 games and 57 lost, and Chicago fifth with 71 games won and 57 lost,
Pittsburg, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Brooklyn, St. Louis and
Louisville finishing as named.
The team with which I started out in 1897 was certainly good enough to
win the pennant with, or at least to finish right up in the front rank,
and that it failed to do either of these things can only be explained by
the fact that underhanded work looking toward my downfall was indulged
in by some of the players, who were aided and abetted by President Hart,
he refusing to enforce the fines levied by myself as manager and in that
way belittling my authority and making it impossible to enforce the
discipline necessary to making the team a success. The ringleader in
this business was Jimmy Ryan, between whom and the Club's President the
most perfect understanding seemed to exist, and for this underhanded
work Ryan was rewarded later by being made the team captain, a position
that he was too unpopular with the players to hold, though it is
generally thought he was allowed to draw the salary as per the
agreement.
The Chicago players for that season were Briggs, Callahan, Friend,
Griffith and Thompson, pitchers; Kittridge and Donohue, catchers; Decker
and myself, first base; Connor, Callahan and Pfeffer, second base;
Everett and McCormick, third base; Dahlen, McCormick and Callahan,
shortstop; and Lange, Ryan, Decker and Thornton, outfielders.
Pfeffer was the only weak spot, he being handicapped by illness, and yet
even he might have made a creditable showing had he not been handicapped
my some of his associates and most unmercifully criticized by the
newspapers, whose unwarrantable attacks have, in many cases, to my
certain knowledge, driven good men out of the business. Lack of
discipline and insubordination began to show from the start. Fines were
remitted in spite of all the protests that I could make, several members
of the club being allowed to do about as they pleased. There could be
but one result, as a matter of course, and that was poor ball playing.
When the April campaign ended we were in the eleventh place. At the end
of May we stood tenth. At the end of June we had again dropped back to
eleventh. At the end of July we had climbed up to eighth, and at the end
of August we were sixth, having then climbed into the first division.
When the close of the season came, however, we had dropped back again to
the ninth position, the margin between sixth and ninth places being a
very small one. The race for the pennant that season between Baltimore
and Boston was a close one, the latter club finally carrying off the
honors of the season with 93 games won and 39 lost, while Baltimore came
second with go games won and 40 lost, and New York third with 83 games
won and 48 lost, Cincinnati being fourth, Cleveland fifth, Brooklyn
sixth, Washington seventh, Pittsburg eighth, Chicago ninth, Philadelphia
tenth, Louisville eleventh and St. Louis twelfth.
Late that fall the newspapers began to publish articles to the effect
that I was to be released by the Chicago League Ball Club, but as no
official notice to that effect had ever been served on me, arid as I was
conscious of always having done my duty by the organization in which I
was a stockholder, I for some time paid no attention to the matter. From
mere rumors, however, these newspaper articles soon began to take on a
more definite form and to be coupled with references to my management of
the team that were, to say the least, both uncalled for and venomous,
but still I heard nothing from headquarters that would lead me to
suppose there was any truth in them.
On the contrary I was treated with the greatest consideration, Mr.
Spalding even going so far as to insist upon my attending the League
meeting in my official capacity, where I made trades for players that
were afterwards blocked by himself and President Hart, this action
making my position a most humiliating one.
Still ignorant of the fact that I was to be dropped from the club's
rolls, and that without warning after my long and faithful service, at
Mr. Spalding's solicitation that spring I accompanied him on a trip to
England, and while we were there he advised me not to worry about the
club matters or the rumors that I had heard, as the thing would
doubtless be all fixed up before our return. I then made a proposition
to him that he and I together should buy the Chicago League Ball Club, a
proposition that he partially acceded to, though in view of subsequent
events I am now certain that such a plan was not in reality entertained
by him for a moment.
Matters had indeed been "fixed up" on my return, and Tom Burns, my old
third-baseman, had been brought on from Springfield, Mass., to manage
the team, or, rather, to serve as a figure-head for the Club's
President.
It was then that I was advised by Mr. Spalding to resign, which I
refused to do, preferring to take my medicine like a man, bitter as the
dose might be.
Mr. Burns that spring took up the reins that had been taken out of my
hands, and how well he succeeded with the able (?) assistance of
President Hart was now a matter of history.
The following table gives my batting and fielding record for the past
twenty-three years, and I feel that it is one that I may well be proud
of:
Years Games %Base hits %Fielding
1875 69 .318 .820
1876 66 .342 .826
1877 67 .335 .868
1878 59 .336 .818
1879 49 .407 .974
1880 84 .338 .977
1881 84 .399 .975
1882 82 .367 .948
1883 98 .307 .964
1884 111 .337 .954
1885 112 .322 .971
1886 125 .371 .949
1887 122 .421 .947
1888 134 .343 .985
1889 134 .341 .982
1890 139 .311 .978
1891 136 .294 .981
1892 147 .274 .971
1893 101 .322 .981
1894 83 .394 .988
1895 122 .338 .990
1896 106 .335 .982
1897 112 .302 .987