Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Ned Cuthbert's Last Hurrah

Ned Cuthbert

Ed Cuthbert, the veteran ball tosser, has signed with the Baltimore Unions, and will leave to-night for Chicago, where he will report for duty to-morrow.  It is reported that he will be appointed assistant manager and field captain of the team.
-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 22, 1884


I think that it's safe to assume that Cuthbert reached an agreement to sign with Baltimore when the club was in St. Louis to the play the Maroons from May 14-18.  He was thirty-nine years old and did not play well in forty-four games, hitting .202/.247/.232 in a weak league.

While his last season in the major leagues was not a particularly glorious one, Cuthbert should be remembered as one of the most significant players in St. Louis baseball history.  He was a star with the great Brown Stockings club of 1875-1876 and helped keep professional baseball alive in St. Louis during the Interregnum of 1879-1881.  Cuthbert also played a role in putting the AA Browns together in 1882.

For more information on Ned Cuthbert, I recommend you pick up a copy of Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume One.  And for that matter, you should probably pick up Volume Two as well.  You can get both volumes for a decent price and they would make a great Christmas present for the baseball history lover.  Volume Three should be out sometime in the spring.        

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