A Couple Of Good Stories From Gus Schmelz

Manager Schmelz has an inexhaustible fund of baseball anecdotes. In a reminiscent mood the other evening he told of some of the ludicrous things he had seen on the ball field. Probably the funniest of these occurred here in Washington in 1886. In that year Mr. Schmelz was managing the St. Louis Maroons for Henry V. Lucas, who had at that time more money than he could use. But the story is told best in Manager Schmelz's own words.

"The Maroons," Mr. Schmelz said, "were a great team, with Jack Glasscock, Jerry Denny, Fred Dunlap, Al McKinnon, George Myers, and a lot of others just about as good. We arrived in Washington to play the Nationals, and in the game during the afternoon Al McKinnon had reached first base and George Myers was at the bat. McKinnon started for second just as Myers hit the ball on the nose. Hines was playing center for Washington and when the ball was hit it did not look as if Paul would get anywhere near it. By the time McKinnon had turned second it began to look as though Hines might get the ball, so Dunlap, who was coaching at third, yelled for McKinnon to go back. Just then Paul reached for the ball, barely touching but not holding it. By this time Jerry Denny, who was coaching at first, was yelling for Myers, who had turned back in disgust when he thought Hines was going to get the ball, to go on. In the excitement of the moment and the yelling of the balance of the team, who had in the mean while rushed up to the lines, McKinnon started back to first, while Myers ran on around to third. The two men met near second and Myers tried to head McKinnon off and turn him back toward third, but Al, who had been rendered nearly frantic by the noise and coaching cries, thinking Myers was one of the enemy trying to block him, gave George a shove which landed him on his back and continued back toward first. Meyers scrambled to his feet and chased himself up to third.

"Hines had now secured the ball, but seeing one of the Maroons breaking for third while another was running still harder to get back to first, Paul didn't know what to do. Finally he ran in with the ball in his hands, accompanied by the whole Washington team. He found McKinnon, who should have been on third, safely perched on first while Meyers, who belonged on first, was wildly clutching third with both hands.

"Now ensued one of the funniest scenes ever witnessed on a ball field. Paul first went up and touched Meyers with the ball then he was dragged by his club mates over to first for he would not relinquish his hold on the ball to touch McKinnon. Then they changed their minds and dragged Paul back to third and made him touch Meyers again. Needless to say that by this time the procession back and forth across the diamond had been joined by all the Maroons, who had the Umpire in their midst, and were arguing and gesticulating as they dragged that official from one side of the diamond to the other. All this combined with the howls, yells and laughter of the audience, so confused the umpire that it was fully half an hour before he could give a decision and all that time the Senators determined to make sure of at least one man dragged Hines and the ball from third to first and first to third, touching first one man and then the other, according to the direction in which the umpire seemed to be inclined to give his decision. The Maroons, equally determined not to have either man declared out, dragged the poor umpire in the wake of the other procession. Taken altogether the scene was too funny to be described.

"The most remarkable play I ever saw," continued Mr. Schmelz, "was made on the St. George grounds, Staten Island, when Erastus Wiman owned the Metropolitans. I was managing the Cincinnati team at the time. Jim Keenan, of Indianapolis, was the mainstay catcher of our aggregation, and he was the receiving end of the battery that day. A foul tip struck his hands, went straight up in the air, fell on top of his head (he had his cap on), rolled up against the edge of his mask and stayed there. Keenan reached up, picked the ball off the top of his head and the umpire declared the batter out."

-Washington Post, April 1, 1894

A Rattling Bargain

I wrote a short post awhile back about the Otto Shomberg/Alex McKinnon trade. This transaction between the Maroons and Pittsburgh was the first trade ever made between two National League teams. Obviously there had been sales, tranfers, releases, and whatnot but this was the first straight-up trade between NL clubs.

While browsing through the December 4, 1886 issue of The Sporting News, I found their report of the trade:

The Maroons have traded McKinnon, teir first baseman, for Shomberg, the left-handed batsman and lightning fielder of the Pittsburg Club. A few weeks ago the Sporting News notified the base ball public that McKinnon would not be found with the maroons next season. We said then: "McKinnon has not given satisfaction to the management. He has a very good record as a batsman, but certain players on the team have complained that he bats solely for his own record and without regard to the runs he man bring in. Besides this they claim that he never hits the ball when a hit is most needed and that he is never willing to sacrifice. They also say he is a poor runner as well as a very poor fielder in his position"

We had hardly made this statement when the Maroons received several offers for that player.

Horace Phillips, manager of the Pittsburgs, came here and offered Shomberg and $400 in cash for McKinnon. This offer was satisfactory and as a result Phillips, who is in Boston, this morning signed McKinnon for Pittsburg, while an agent of the St. Louis Club at the same moment signed Shomberg for St. Louis.

All St. Louisians having the interest of the local team at stake will rejoice over the dicker. Shomberg is a young and magnificent player and last season had a batting record of .295 and standing eighth on the list. With him, Ake, Denny, and Glasscock the Maroons will have the grandest infield in America.

Of course, the Maroons did not have the grandest infield in America and Shomberg never played in St. Louis because, in March of 1887, the Black Diamonds dropped out of the National League and sold their team to Indianapolis.

Not Exactly A Blockbuster

On December 4, 1886, the Maroons traded Alex McKinnon to the Pittsburg Alleghenys for Otto Schomberg and $400. Three months later, Schomberg would be sold to the Indianapolis Hoosiers.

Make sure to take some time today to remember the immortal Schomberg for McKinnon deal. And please celebrate responsibly.

Update: It was brought to my attention that the McKinnon/Schomberg deal was the first player trade between National League teams (see comments). For an overview of 19th century player transactions, you should check out David Ball's work here. Also (and I just noticed this), Schomberg wasn't exactly sold to Indianapolis in 1887. The Black Diamonds folded, Indianapolis was admitted into the League to take their place, and many of the Maroon players ended up there.

Jack Glasscock

"In the 1883 season by common consent Jack Glasscock, then a member of the Cleveland Club of the National League, was considered the greatest short-fielder.

Glasscock was a member of Cleveland's famous stone wall infield, which included Bill Phillips at first base, Fred Dunlap at second, Jerry Denny at third and Glasscock at short-field.

These four were all great players, but in fielding none of them had the edge on Glasscock. He was such a great player that when the Union Association was organized in 1884 and its manager went hunting for phenomenal players, men who would draw the crowds, Glasscock was among the many selected.

He was one of the trio of Cleveland players, Briody and McCormick being the others, who left the Cleveland team in the midst of the 1884 season to join forces with the Cincinnati Club of the Union Association. At this time Glasscock's playing was simply wonderful and his accession by the managers of the Union Association gave that organization a mighty boost.

When the Union Association was disbanded in 1884 Glasscock joined his old partners, Dunlap and Denny, on the St. Louis National League Club, which held forth at the old Union Grounds at Jefferson and Cass avenues for a single season. The St. Louis infield that year included Alex McKinnon, first base; Fred Dunlap, second base; Jerry Denny, third base; and Jack Glasscock, short-field.

St. Louisians were very proud of this organization and expected great things of it. But the team was not successful, either from a playing or financial standpoint and before the season was half over its owners were plunged into bankruptcy. But Glasscock's great playing was often talked of afterwards.

After leaving St. Louis, Glasscock went to Indianapolis, where he led the League short-stops in 1889 and then went to Pittsburgh, where in 1894, he again bobbed up as the leading man in his position.

Glasscock is now a carpenter working at his trade in Wheeling, W. Va. He was one of the greatest players from a fielding standpoint the game has ever known."

-From The National Game