They Play A Rattling Good Game

The St. Louis Reds. - This club is in better playing form now than ever.  Recently they secured the services of Tom Sullivan, a St. Louis amateur, to play centre field and change catcher.  He played behind the bat so well that the managers of the club intend keeping him there, and the regular catcher, Dolan, will play at centre hereafter.  The Reds are composed entirely of St. Louis players, and their team as now fixed upon is as follows: Morgan, p. and captain; Sullivan, c.; Croft, 1st b.; Dillon, 2d b.; Redmon, s.s.; Collins, 3d b. and change pitcher; Magner, l.f.; Dolan, c.f. and change catcher; Loftus, r.f., with Oran as tenth man.  The Reds have been trying to get clubs to visit them, but so far only the Stars of Covington have called on them.  The Reds have got a first-class park, and, as they play a rattling good game, they draw better than ever.  The two games they played with the Browns proves that they play well, and when they get a chance at other League clubs they intend to show what they can do.  The Reds are all strong batters, and by practicing regularly every day they are fast becoming good fielders.  All clubs wishing to play them should address the secretary, Mr. L.C. Waite, No. 3,001 Olive street, St. Louis, Mo.

-Mears Baseball Scrapbook, Volume 4, 1856-1907


This report on the 1876 Red Stockings comes from late May or earlier June.  It appears right under a piece (from the Clipper) about the death of Tom Miller, who passed away on May 29, 1876.  The Globe picked up the piece and ran it on June 8.  So this probably originally ran in the Clipper in early June.

Two things stood out to me.  First, Packy Dillon was playing second base for the club.  I probably already knew this and had forgotten it but I'm used to thinking of Dillon as a catcher.  Second, Tom Oran wasn't good enough to crack the starting nine.  One of the best players in the history of pioneer-era, St. Louis baseball, he was only 28 years old and couldn't start for a minor, independent, professional club.         

The 1884 Maroons: Roster Moves

The Unions have released Perry Werden and laid off Tom Sullivan for two weeks.  Sullivan's legs are in bad condition.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 1, 1884


It's been speculated that Werden had suffered an arm injury, which would explain his lack of use by the Maroons and his release.  He would come back to have a decent career in the major leagues as a first baseman but his major league pitching career was pretty much over.  Sullivan, on the other hand, was finished as a major league baseball player.

The 1884 Maroons: Sounds Like A Heck Of A Catch

Between 1,500 and 2,000 people witnessed the second game between the Keystone Club, of Philadelphia, and the St. Louis Unions, played yesterday afternoon at Union Park.  As in the first meeting between the same nines the local team won.  The visitors were outbatted and outfielded, but by bunching hits earned most of their runs.  William Sullivan, a new discovery, occupied the pitcher's box for the home team for six innings.  He showed that he was a promising twirler, but hardly a safe one to put against experienced players.  In the third inning Dickerson opportunely became sick and Taylor was uniformed and sent out to left field.  Then in hte seventh inning Taylor's opportune presence was utilized by his going to the box, Sullivan retiring to right and Shafer moving to left.  Dickerson said his trouple was neuralgia.  Some unsympathetic people intimated that his affliction was superinduced by the hard hitting the Keystones were doing on Sullivan's delivery.  The visitors presented Bakely and Gillen.  Weaver had been announced to pitch, but was indisposed.  Bakely was hit for 17 singles and a total of 22 bases, and Gillen, whose support was brilliant in many respects, allowed three balls to pass him.  Brennan had one passed ball charged against him, but handled the widely differing deliveries of Sullivan and Taylor with equal ease and reliability. 

The feature of the game was a catch by Dunlap that deservedly elicited general and prolonged applause.  In the second inning, when Dunlap was playing about ten yards from second, Cross hit a high-line ball almost directly over second, the hit appearing to be safe beyond doubt.  To the astonishment of the entire assemblage, Dunlap ran back, sprang into the air, and with a right hand reach performed the seemingly impossible feat of capturing ball.  The performance has never been surpassed on a St. Louis ball ground.  

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 30, 1884


So...what DID Dunlap do?  Just your regular, old two for six with three runs scored.  He also turned a double play in the field.  And he made a running, jumping one-handed catch of a line drive that was hit ten yards to his right.  No big deal.

The reference to "William Sullivan, a new discovery" is interesting and may point to an error in the records.  It looks to me that the record has Sleeper Sullivan pitching this game for the Maroons.  The problem is that William Sullivan can not be Sleeper Sullivan.  Sleeper Sullivan's name was Thomas Jefferson Sullivan not William and he was not in any way a new discovery.  Sleeper Sullivan had played in the major leagues since 1881 and was with the Brown Stockings in 1882.  He was a popular player in St. Louis and I think that the Globe's baseball reporter would have recognized him and identified him properly.  

Unless there was some kind of attempt at deception going on, we have to take the reporting at face value and conclude that William Sullivan, rather than Sleeper Sullivan, pitched this game.  But Baseball-Reference does not list William Sullivan on the Maroons 1884 roster, although, when you search for William Sullivan, you get this.  Something is wrong here and my gut feeling tells me that the error is on our end.  

I'm going to look into this some more and see what I can find but, right now, I think that the record is in error.  Maybe the Globe has it wrong or I'm missing something but I don't think so.  We'll see.  

Note:  This gets curiouser and curiouser.  In Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume One, David Nemec states that Sleeper Sullivan pitched in the game on May 29, 1884.  Peter Morris, on the other hand, states at his website that there is "overwhelming evidence" that William Sullivan, rather than Sleeper Sullivan, pitched in that game.  I'll check in with both men but I'm more than inclined to agree with Peter on this one.

Note the second:  Talked to Peter about this and he shared some references that I hadn't seen about William Sullivan and the May 29th game.  In my opinion, the evidence is pretty conclusive that this game should be credit to William Sullivan, rather than Sleeper Sullivan, and Peter has passed all of this on to the powers that be in order to get the record corrected.    

Really? Are We Absolutely Sure About This?

The paragraph that appeared in yesterday morning's Globe Democrat, stating that T.P. Sullivan had not been engaged by the Lucas nine as manager was an error. It should have referred to Tom Sullivan, the well-known catcher. Tom has not signed yet, notwithstanding the statement of a morning paper that he had. T.P. Sullivan, familiarly known as "Ted," has signed as manager of the Lucas nine.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 31, 1883

Frustrating. I've just spent about an hour of my life writing up these last few posts and running down information about "Ted" Sullivan. And it was all an error. Now I'm not going to pretend that I've never confused Ted Sullivan and Tom Sullivan because I do it all the time but this is making me a bit cranky.

And, just to complicate matters a bit more, Thomas Jefferson Sullivan (a.k.a. Tom Sullivan, a.k.a. Sleeper Sullivan, a.k.a. Old Iron Hands) did sign with the Maroons at some point. Unless I'm confusing this Tom Sullivan with another Tom Sullivan or, possibly, Tim Sullivan.

St. Louis Players Rabbit To Dubuque

Jack Gleason, Billy Gleason and Tom Sullivan, three of the best players St. Louis ever turned out, left for Dubuque on Friday evening.  Tom Loftus, who is to Captain the team, having preceded them.  Sullivan, who caught so well for the old Red Stockings and Live Oaks, of Lynn, is to fill the same position in the Hawkeye team.  

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 13, 1879

Some interesting questions: Would Dubuque have come to St. Louis and played if there weren't several St. Louis players on the team?  Would Ted Sullivan and Charles Comiskey have been brought in if the Rabbits hadn't played in St. Louis?  Would the Browns have been a success without Sullivan and Comiskey?  Would professional baseball in St. Louis have suceeded without the success of the Browns?  Was Loftus, Sullivan, and the Gleason's signing with Dubuque one of the more pivotal moments in the history of St. Louis baseball? 

The Sullivan Benefit

The benefit game for Tom Sullivan was played at the Union Grounds last Sunday afternoon, and there was an immense crowd in attendance. It was the biggest success in the way of a benefit scored in this country, and great credit is due for the able manner in which John T. Magner managed the affair. Tom Sullivan's friends were there in a body, and we noticed among the gathering the Sheehans, the Cullinanes, the Caseys, the McCafferys, the Lyons, the O'Neills, the Sullivans, the Hunts, the Fitzgeralds and all the rest of the Kerry Patch gang. The game between the Vets and the Peach Pies brought to the memory of the oldest inhabitant the days when base ball in St. Louis was in its infancy. In the veteran team appeared Joe Chambers, who did the pitching for the Empires twenty years ago. It is needless to say that his curves were lambasted terribly. At short field was John T. Magner, looking like Falstaff, with "good round bell," not as reliable though as when the great fielder of the St. Louis Reds of '76 and the Browns of '81. At third was Pidge Morgan who has not been seen on the field these many years, but looking like the old Dan and playing as earnestly as ever. At second was Packie Dillon, who with Morgan, played with the St. Louis Reds of '74 and '76. At left was (Ned) Cuthbert, once the prince of left fielders, running as lively as ever and capturing everything within reach, but not hitting the ball as hard as in the olden time. At right was (George) Seward, who with Cuthbert played with the Browns of '74, which was just twelve years ago. At center was Dean Simpson, the pitcher of the old Evansville club; while at first was Casey of the old Quincy's. Last but not least was Harry McCaffery, whose catching was not as effective as of old and, to cap the climax, there was Dan Devinney, of the old Louisville Brownstocking memory, officiating as umpire. Is it any wonder these old Vets failed to make a hit off Silch. They lost track of the ball long years ago. The Peach Pies on the other hand had a picnic with Chambers, while their fielding was unusually sharp and brilliant. The outfield had little or nothing to do. They played four new men who did splendidly, and proved themselves acquisitions. For the Vets, Cuthbert at left carried off the honors, making some beautiful catches of hard hit balls, particularly one from Black's bat, which was a liner, and good for two bases, which he headed off and spoiled a good hit. McCaffrey behind the bat and Dillon at second base also did well. Ingraham caught Silch splendidly for the Peach Pies and Black, Bouchard and Drissel all did good fielding. There was no mule race. The gentleman who had promised to furnish the mules brought out but one animal and it was like the Vets, too old to run. The sprint races were also postponed. The sprinters were afraid the time they would make effect them in the handicaps of May 30, and for that reason they refused to run...

From a financial standpoint the benefit was also a huge success. Mr. Magner alone sold $300 worth of tickets. The gate receipts were $500. Lew Simmons, of the Athletic Club, sent $39, te contribution of himself and players. Harry Wright sent $20. The Detroits also purchased a lot of tickets. Mr Magner desires to return thanks to Jack Sheehan, the Cullinane boys, Danny Lyons and all others who assisted him in making the benefit a success. Over $900 was realized in all, which will set Tom up in business.

-The Sporting News, May 10, 1886


I've written about Sullivan's troubles and the benefit game before and finally stumbled across the TSN article. I have to admit that, for some reason, this game ranks very high among all the historical games that I would have liked to have seen. You can have Ruth's called shot and Merkle's boner and the Homer in the Gloamin' and all that-I'll take a nice little exhibition game on a Sunday afternoon at the Union Grounds in 1886.

The Browns Of The Interregnum

(The) original Brown Stocking Club which first represented St. Louis in the National League...died in 1878 when the news came that Hall, Devlin, Nicholls, and Craver had been expelled from the Louisville Club for crookedness. This announcement was a death blow to the St. Louis Brown Stockings Club of that year by reason of the fact that Devlin and Hall, two of the expelled players, had signed with St. Louis for the following season. In 1879 St. Louis had no baseball to speak of. In 1880 a nine called the St. Louis Browns, under the management of the veteran Cuthbert, played games on the co-operative plan and furnished patrons with the only base ball that was going that year. That nine included Cuthbert, Shenck, Decker, McDonald, Croft, McGinnis, Pearce, Bowles, Cunningham and Morgan. This team played twenty-one games, losing but one, and that to the Louisville Reds, a semi-professional organization, by a score of 14 to 8. Its success in fact led to the organization of what is now known as the Sportsman's Park and Club Association, a company which was really organized for the purpose of refitting the present Sportsman's Park for baseball purposes. After the park had been fully equipped the Brown Stockings of the previous year were asked to reorganize and take possession of it. This they did with a nine which included the Gleason brothers, Baker, Seward, McCaffory, McSorley, McGinnis, Magner, McDonald, Gault and Cuthbert. This nine, like that of the previous year, played great ball, and the famous Akron team was the only nine it met that year that proved too much for it. It was so successful, in fact, that in the fall of 1881 steps were taken to put a professional team in the then talked of American Association.

-From The Sporting News, October 11, 1886


Al Spink had much to do with the Interregnum Browns and wrote the following in The National Game:

At this time my brother William Spink was the sporting editor of the Globe-Democrat and I held that sort of position on the then Missouri Republican, now the St. Louis Republic. After the failure to land a professional team in St. Louis in 1878 we did our best and worked together to replace the game here on a substantial footing.

But the baseball-loving public, disgusted at the way they had lost the splendid team they had hoped for, would have none of it.

Out of the remnant of the old St. Louis professional team we organized a nine that included holdover veterans like Dickey Pearce, Edgar Cuthbert, Lipman Pike, Mike McGeary, Joe Blong, Arthur Croft, Charles Houtz, Tom Sullivan, Packie Dillon, Danny Morgan and others.

This team played games on Sundays sometimes at Grand Avenue Park, now Sportsman's, and sometimes at the Reds' Park on Compton avenue, to which Shakespeare would have termed a beggardly array of empty benches. One day in the summer of 1878 we went to the pains of bringing the Indianapolis Browns here, a team that had won the championship of the International Association and that included in its ranks such famous players as the "only" Flint and the "only" Nolan.

But this team and our picked nine of professionals did not take in enough money at the gate at its initial game to pay the street car fares of the twelve players on the Mound City bob-tailed cars from the park back to their hotel quarters downtown.

The season of 1879 was as unfruitful of results as that of the season which preceded it. A picked up team of left-over professionals was again organized, called the St. Louis Browns and it stood ready to play any team of players that happened on Sundays to drop into Grand Avenue Park. During the close of the season of 1879 the game showed signs of returning to life, and with my brother William, I again set out to reconstruct the old edifice and bring it back to its own.

Together we brought about the meeting which at the close of the season of 1880 led to the organization of the Sportsman's Park and Club Association, an organization effected for the purpose of fitting up Grand Avenue Park for baseball purposes. This organization included Chris Von der Ahe, president; John W. Peckington, vice president; W. W. Judy, treasurer; and A. H. Spink, secretary.

The Grand Avenue Park, which at this time contained a weather beaten grandstand and a lot of rotten benches, was torn away and in its place was erected a new covered stand and an open "bleachers."

Sitting out in the field early in the spring of 1881 before the new grandstand was completed, I organized the St. Louis Browns of that year, Edgar Cuthbert, the only one of the old professionals still remaining in the city assisting me in the selection of a nine which included George Baker and George Seward, catchers; George McGinnis, pitcher; Edward Gault, first base; Hugh McDonald and Dan Morgan, second base; Jack Gleason, third base; William Gleason, short field; Harry McCaffrey, center field; Edgar Cuthbert, left field; and John T. Magner, right field.

It was agreed as we all sat there on the green sward that we would work together to build up the sport and each player promised to be prompt at each game, to do his level best at all times and to take for his pay just as small a percentage of the gate receipts as the general welfare of the park and its owners would allow.

On Sunday, May 22, 1882, these grounds were really opened with an exhibition game between the newly organized St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Reds. The Reds won by 2 to 1...

Despite the good attendance at this opening game between the Reds and Browns the outlook seemed cold and bleak, for St. Louis stood badly then in the eyes of the outside world.

More On The Sullivan Benefit

From the Sporting News, March 29, 1886:

"A Benefit For Tom Sullivan

John T. Magner, the well known ex-professional, is getting up a benefit game for Tom Sullivan, who recently had the fingers of his right hand amputated. It will take place at Union Park some time in the near future, Mr. Lucas having tendered the use of his grounds for that purpose. Mr. Magner says that Ed Cuthbert, Charles Houtz, Harry McCaffery and several other old professionals have promised to assist him in getting up the benefit, which promises to be a veritable bumper."

Note that this Sporting News article states that Sullivan lost the fingers of his right which contradicts Al Spink's claim that Sullivan had both of his hands amputated. Also, they say this happened "recently" which gives further evidence to the idea that Sullivan's injury happened in the winter of 1875/76.

For The Benefit Of Mr. Sullivan

Al Spink, in The National Game, tells a sad tale about Tom Sullivan, a catcher for the Reds in the late 1870's and early 1880's. Sullivan was a "genial, kindly lad without an enemy in the world" and, according to Spink, one of the best catchers St. Louis ever produced.

One cold winter night after his playing days were over, Sullivan was walking from the Kerry Patch neighborhood to the St. Louis Poor House to visit a friend. During the course of the journey, Sullivan's hands were frostbitten and, a few days later, doctors were forced to amputate them. "Thus," wrote Spink, "the lad who was one of the first to catch the speediest delivery close to the bat and who was rated for his skill as a receiver, thrower, and batsman was left a hopeless cripple and his scores of friends in the 'Patch' always referred to him as 'Poor Tom.'"

While Spink doesn't give a date for Sullivan's accident, it's likely that it happened sometime in the winter of 1885/6. This assumption is based on the fact that on May 8, 1886, a benefit game was held for Sullivan. The game, which according to the Sporting News was played before an "immense crowd", was a contest between the Peach Pies and a team of St. Louis baseball veterans. Playing for the vets were some of Sullivan's old teammates on the Reds, including John Magner, Pidge Morgan, and Packy Dillon. The benefit raised over $900 for Sullivan, including $560 in gate receipts, $89 sent by other teams, and $20 sent by Harry Wright.

Tom Sullivan passed away in 1909.

Tom Loftus

Tom Loftus was a prominent 19th century baseball man who was involved in the game for more than 25 years. A player, captain, manager, and team president, Loftus was described by Al Spink as a person who "did much to bring the game into its proper sphere" and as "one of the great builder's up of the national game".

Loftus was born in St. Louis in 1856 and first gained notice on the baseball field while playing for the 1875 St. Louis Reds. In 1876, Loftus was regarded as the best player on the Red Stockings.

Living a rather nomadic baseball life, Loftus played with a Memphis team in 1877, captained Peoria in 1878, and joined the Dubuque nine in 1879. Loftus would call Dubuque home for the rest of his life, even as his baseball career took him from city to city.

The 1879 Dubuque Rabbits were an outstanding baseball team. The nine consisted of Loftus, Charlie Comiskey, Old Hoss Radbourne, the Gleason brothers, Tom Sullivan, Billy Taylor, William Lapham, and Larry Reis. Loftus played second base as the team won the championship of the Northwest League and a victory over Cap Anson's Chicago White Stockings.

In 1882, Ted Sullivan, who had put the Dubuque team together, went to St. Louis to manage the St. Louis Browns and brought the core of his Dubuque team with him. Loftus, Comiskey, and the Gleasons all joined Sullivan on the Browns. Coming down with a serious illness, Loftus played in only six games for the Browns in 1882 and 1883.

In 1884, Loftus's health had recovered enough for him to sign with Milwaukee in the Union Association as both player and manager. However the illness had taken its toll and Loftus only played the early part of the season before retiring as player and devoting his full time to managing.

Over the next seventeen years, Loftus would manage numerous teams. In 1885, he returned to St. Louis to skipper the Whites. From 1887 to 1889, Loftus managed in Cleveland. He then managed two seasons in Cincinnati from 1890 through 1891. In 1894, Loftus was managing the Columbus Western League team and remained there until 1900 when he took the manager's job with the Chicago Orphans of the NL. In 1901, Loftus took his last baseball job, managing the Washington Senators. Staying in Washington for two seasons, Loftus also served as team president.

Retiring from the game in 1902, Loftus returned home to Dubuque to devote himself full time to his business interests, specifically the ownership and management of a hotel. He received numerous offers to return to the game but preferred to remain in Dubuque.

While no longer active in the game, Loftus was still a respected figure in baseball circles. Al Spink wrote that "(while) he was not active in the game from 1902, he was one of the counsellors of both big leagues and was regarded as one of the substantial men in baseball. His advice was sought and heeded..." Ted Sullivan would write that Loftus was twenty years ahead of his time when he was playing and remained so throughout his baseball career. Henry Chadwick regarded Loftus as one of the greatest baseball men who ever lived.

Loftus, who according to Al Spink was"one of the best fellows ever prominently identified with the game," died at his home in Dubuque on April 16, 1910.