The 1884 Maroons: Why Do You Build Me Up, Buttercup?

Dickerson played with the Baltimores yesterday at right field.  He will be expelled by the Unions for drunkenness.  Several days ago President Lucas announced that he was only waiting to locate him before expelling him.  He says there is now not a lusher on his nine and he will never have another.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 27, 1884


So Buttercup jumps the club.  He's gone.  Ain't coming back.  But, just as a matter of principle, we're going to expel  him for drunkenness.  Whatever.  And I love the part about how the Maroons on longer have any lushers on the club.  Without getting into the character of the players on the club on July 27, I will just point out that the newest member of the club got kicked off of his last team because he showed up late for a game, drunk and in the company of a couple of women of questionable character.  Just sayin'.

But, anyway, you should really watch this video.  It'll put a smile on your face:

 

That's just a great song.

The 1884 Maroons: Dickerson Falls By The Wayside

During the St. Louis Unions' Eastern trip, Lew Dickerson disappeared at Baltimore, and has not been heard from since.  Meeting many old friends he yielded to his inclination for strong drink and fell by the wayside.  All St. Louisans, including President Lucas, regret his surrender to whiskey.  While here he played splendidly, both at the base and in the field, was unassuming and gentlemanly in his deportment and made hosts of friends.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 25, 1884

While it may be very true that Dickerson fell of the wagon in Baltimore, it's also true that he jumped the Maroons for the Baltimore Association club.  There were rumors, dating back to July 12, that Baltimore was after Dickerson so I'm not sure what purpose this piece from the Globe serves.  The Globe had already reported that Baltimore had offered Dickerson a contract so I would imagine that the folks at the Globe knew what the real situation was.  Were they slandering Dickerson in an attempt to cover the Maroons' and the UA's loss of a player to the established leagues?    

The 1884 Maroons: Tempting Offers

Reports to the effect that Baker and Dickerson, of the St. Louis Unions, had jumped their contracts, the former going to the Athletics and the latter to the Baltimores, but they played with the Unions yesterday at Baltimore.  It is well understood, however, that both have been approached with tempting offers.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 13, 1884


So the established leagues poached Bill Taylor and were after George Baker and Buttercup Dickerson.  We already have seen that, because of just this kind of thing, Lucas was talking about going after players under contract, which he had never done before.  And that would lead to him offering a contract to Old Hoss Radbourn.  

The Ball Says "Whiz"

Lewis Pessano Dickerson

Lew Dickerson says:  "Boys, that Dailey is the boss pitcher.  When he fires a ball at you it says 'whiz' as it goes by and makes you think it would burn you up if it touched you."

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 22, 1884


Buttercup Dickerson was no scrub.  He was a heck of hitter who played in the big leagues for seven seasons.  So when he says that Hugh Daily threw the ball hard, I'm inclined to believe him.

An interesting fact:  According to Baseball-Reference, the most similar hitter to Buttercup Dickerson is Nyjer Morgan.  It's kind of rare when the similarity scores kicks up a modern comp for a 19th century guy.

The 1884 Maroons: Men Like These

In the Union team there are six of the strongest batsmen in the country.  Dunlap led the Clevelands in batting Dickerson and Taylor were about the heaviest hitters in the Allegheny team; Rowe was the hardest hitter in the Baltimore nine; Jack Gleason could hit the ball harder than any man in the Louisville Club, while Shaeffer, next to Brouthers, was as good a batsman as there was in the Buffalo team.  Men like these make the leather fly no matter what the quality of the pitcher.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 10, 1884

The 1884 Maroons: Materializing Into An Organization

The Lucas-Wainwright Club is materializing into an organization that will command the respect and admiration of the whole country. Early yesterday afternoon news was received that Mr. Lucas, who was in Pittsburg, had signed Mike Mansell, Wm. Taylor and J.P. Dickerson, respectively the left fielder, first baseman and center fielder of the Allegheny Club of this year. Later in the day messages came announcing that Gross, the catcher of the Philadelphia Club, Dave Rowe, center fielder of the Baltimore club, and Jack Rowe, catcher of the Buffalo nine, were secured, making in all six important acquisitions. Mike Mansell is a grand left fielder, a good left-handed batsman, and one of the fleetest runners in the profession. Taylor is an all-around player, who is able to acquit himself in an exceedingly creditable manner in any position on the field. Dickerson is a center fielder of merit and a reliable left-handed batsman. These three men will come here on salaries of $2,000 each. Gross is one of the tallest catchers in the country, and has a remarkably long reach, which he utilizes to the greatest advantage. He is also a wonderful thrower and an excellent batsman. The Rowe brothers are highly esteemed by both the public and the management, the latter's appreciation of their ability being attested by contracts providing them with salaries of $2,600 each...Besides being a grand catcher, Jack can play any position on the field.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, November 9, 1883

Of the players mentioned above, only Billy Taylor, Buttercup Dickerson and Dave Rowe actually played for the Maroons in 1884. It appears that the Allegheny's had given Dickerson and Taylor their releases and they were free to sign with any club.

The 1884 Maroons: The First Players To Break The Rule

Tony Mullane, of the St. Louis Base-ball Club, and Jack Gleason, of the Louisville Eclipse, have broken the reserve rule, left their respective clubs, and signed with the new St. Louis organization, which is to form a part of the new Union Association. They are the first players to break the rule. Mullane was offered $1,950 for next season's play in the St. Louis Club, but refused that offer to go with the new St. Louis Club at a salary of $2,500, of which $600 is paid him in advance. The new organization offers Deasley, of the St. Louis Club, $3,000 for next season's work. He says he will accept the offer unless paid $2,500 by the older organization, which has placed him on the reserve list. The new St. Louis Club will to-morrow sign with Dickerson and Taylor, late of the Alleghenys. Gleason says the reason he broke the reserve rule with Louisville is that the Directors of that club wanted to reserve him at a salary of $1,000 for the season.

-New York Times, November 8, 1883

Neither Tony Mullane nor Pat Deasley played for the 1884 Maroons for reasons that I'm sure will become clear over the course of this exercise. Jack Gleason, Buttercup Dickerson and Billy Taylor, however, did play for the club.

Rumors about which players would join the Maroons were flying around fast and furious in October and November. Ted Sullivan was organizing a club for a Southern tour and I'm sure that all the players he was approaching about joining that enterprise were all rumored to be joining the Maroons. And Sullivan probably was trying to talk all of them into joining the new club. The club he put together had Buck Ewing, Jumbo McGinnis, Charlie Comiskey, Brother Bill Gleason, Tony Mullane, Jack Gleason, Old Hoss Radbourne, Joe Quest and Cliff Carroll. I don't know what it would have cost Lucas to sign all of those guys but it would have been a darn good team. Of course, the team he did put together finished 94-19 so he didn't really need all them.

But just imagine Radbourne pitching in the UA in 1884. If there's one thing I want you to take away from this post, that's it-the image of Charlie Radbourne pitching in the UA in 1884.