The 1884 Maroons: Conspiracy Theories

Before we leave Old Hoss and Providence behind and get on with the rest of the Maroons' 1884 season, I wanted to post one more excerpt from Fifty-Nine in '84.  I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again but Charlie Sweeney was a piece of work:

From the start and for years to come, Sweeney believed that he had been the victim of a conspiracy.  He claimed that Ned Allen even divulged the dirty secret to Lucas in 1885-that Radbourn, jealous of Sweeney, had engaged in an underhanded plot to force the young pitcher off the team.  Radbourn supposedly had complained to Bancroft that "Sweeney was getting all the credit for everything," and had promised to stop slacking off and start working hard if the club would just dump his competition.  Sweeney also disputed the charge that he had shown up drunk in the fateful game against Philadelphia, arguing that it was unlikely he could have pitched seven strong innings while intoxicated.  "At any rate," he added mischievously, "wouldn't it have been better to let the drunken man stay in" than to take him out and lose the game?  

Again, I encourage you to pick up Ed's great book and read the whole story of Radbourn's fantastic 1884 season.  

The 1884 Maroons: I Can Never Get Back Into The League

Radbourne will not come to St. Louis.  The Providence management has reinstated him and expelled Sweeney, and he is now satisfied.  Sweeney,, however, will very likely come here... 

The Boston Globe of Sunday says: It was generally understood around the city last Sunday that Radbourn had signed with the St. Louis Unions, and will make his appearance with them on their return West.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 24, 1884

On the day after Sweeney's expulsion, the Grays faced a game against third-place New York.  Would Miller pitch, with his sore arm, after his horrible performance against the Phillies?  Or would the Grays send in the baby-faced, overmatched Conley?  Or had some other equivalent of a wooden cigar-store Indian been found? As the game was about to begin, the startled crowd at the Messer Street Grounds saw a familiar figure stroll to the box in his nonchalant, businesslike fashion, as a smattering of applause built to a crescendo of cheers. 

He was not leaving for St. Louis, after all.  Charlie Radbourn was back in a Grays uniform, and he was going to pitch.

-Fifty-nine in '84


So what happened?  According to several sources, Radbourn was going to jump to the Maroons.  It was a done-deal.  I'll let Brian McKenna explain, quoting from his SABR BioProject piece:

The Providence directors met to decide how to proceed with the rest of the season, or if to proceed at all. Few viable starters were available on the market with rosters stretched thin with upwards of 33 clubs that season spread over three major leagues. Their record stood at 43-19-1, a mere 2.5 games behind first place Boston in the standings and 5.5 games up on third place New York. After falling so close to the pennant in previous seasons, all of Providence wanted the chance to seize first place. Bancroft consulted with Radbourn and the directors. Ultimately, Rad agreed to pick up much of the slack through the rest of the season for consideration. In his words, “I’ll pitch every day and win the pennant for Providence, even if it costs me my right arm.” First, the reserve clause was stricken from his contract, allowing him to become a free agent at the end of the season. Second, his salary was raised substantially; in essence, Radbourn was paid the salary of two pitchers for the remainder of the season. Third, fearing that he was also in consultation with the Union Association, management gave him $1,000 according to newspaper accounts. In total, he made upwards of $5,000 in 1884, one of the highest figures in baseball history to date. 

Ed adds some color to the story in Fifty-nine in '84:

This was not a bad deal.  Though $5,000 awaited him in the Union Association, Radbourn knew full well that he risked lifetime expulsion from organized baseball if he violated his contract.  It was true that he could escape immediately from Providence if he jumped, and avoid toiling all season for owners who, in his view, had betrayed him.  But he feared that the outlaw league would not last.  "I can jump a contract with the league and join the [Union] association, but I can never get back into the league," he pointed out at the end of the season.  This hard profession gave his life meaning, and he did not feel good about placing all his chips on the fate of the Unions.  There was only one safe passage out: a release from his contract and freedom from the reserve clause. 

And here, Bancroft and Allen were finally offering him what he had sought for so long: to receive extra pay for doing extra work, to prove that he was the slave of no man, to break the chains of the reserve clause, to escape to a bigger market and a bigger payday, [and] to make himself the master of his own life... 

Sweeney was gone.  And Radbourn, refreshed by six days without pitching, returned in fine form... 

The greatest sustained pitching performance in baseball history had begun.

So, in the end, both Radbourn and Sweeney got paid, they got away from each other, each became the undisputed star pitcher on their club and each won a championship.  After all the drama, everything worked out.  

The 1884 Providence Grays: The Truth Has At Last Come Out

Old Hoss

The truth has at last come out, and the mysterious trouble which seemed to be undermining the Providence Baseball Club and bringing it to ruin has been unveiled.

-New York Times, July 23, 1884

There were rumors, specifically, that [Radbourn's] "sudden lameness, which was set down as rheumatism," had all been an act and that, in truth, he was "anxious to leave the League and join the St. Louis [Union Association club,] which would be nearer his home, which is in Bloomington, Ill., the Telegram reported.  Considering the "dark insinuations afloat" about Radbourn's intentions, the Journal though management had shown extraordinary patience, but "when every inducement, financial and otherwise, has been offered him to play ball to his best ability, and he had been coaxed and petted beyond all reason to seek to carry the nine to victory, it is high time that more compulsory measures be undertaken."...[On] July 20, the Boston Herald reported some hair-raising news "on perfectly reliable authority": the great Charles Radbourn had agreed to sign a contract with St. Louis's Maroons and would journey west within days, abandoning Providence-and breaking a contract that was still in effect, even though the Grays were no longer paying his salary.  Lucas offered Radbourn a whopping $5,000, covering the rest of the 1884 season and all of 1885, with $1,000 of it in advance.

-Fifty-Nine in '84

And, here exactly and finally, is where the Maroons' season collides head-on with the Gray's season, where my work intersects with Ed's fine work on Fifty-Nine in '84 and where This Game of Games becomes a blog about the history of 19th century baseball in Providence, Rhode Island.

By the way, if I haven't mentioned it, you should really pick up and read Ed's book, if you haven't yet done so.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm quoting long stretches of Fifty-Nine in '84 without permission and I don't want Ed to sue me.  It's a wonderful book, rich in detail and extremely well-written.  Ed did a fantastic job bringing Radbourn's story to life and if you like the history of 19th century baseball, you'll love the book.  Do yourself a favor and read it.

To give you a quick understanding of what was happening in Providence in 1884, with regards to Radbourn and Sweeney, I'm going to turn to another friend of the blog, Brian McKenna, who wrote the SABR BioProject entry on Radbourn:

[1884] started out on a somber note. On February 8, reports circulated out of Bloomington that the great Radbourn was shot in the thigh in a tiff with a female acquaintance. Luckily for baseball fans, it was actually one of Radbourn’s cousins that suffered the injury. For the first time, the National League allowed pitchers to raise their arm above their shoulder, effectively legalizing the overhand delivery. The ruling sparked a great deal of controversy throughout the summer and into the following winter. Many feared that pitchers had gained too great an advantage. The American Association avoided the debate; their pitchers were still bound by the previous rules, which in truth were hard, if not impossible, to enforce. Pitchers always had and always would push the boundaries. 

Radbourn’s disgruntlement with his salary spilled over into spring training. Twenty-one-year-old Charlie Sweeney entered the season as Providence’s other main starter. He pitched the lion’s share of the games in the spring and was paid extra to do so which antagonized Radbourn, who also didn’t care for the gushing plaudits that were being heaped on his young colleague. Once the season began, Radbourn took his place in the rotation. Through June, the pair started all but one of the club’s 47 games, with Radbourn starting 24 of them. Sweeney, perhaps sore from the new overhand pitching style, fell out of the rotation on June 27. Radbourn was forced to fill in, starting and finishing ten of the next 12 games. He wasn’t happy about it, especially considering he didn’t receive extra cash as Sweeney had during the preseason. It’s obvious that Sweeney and Radbourn were having some sort of a running feud, as Rad pitched that many games straight at least twice the previous season without complaint. After a loss on July 12, a local newspaper, the Providence Evening Bulletin, described the pitcher as acting “careless and indifferent.” It seems he was drinking heavier than usual during this time as well. 

In those ten games, Rad posted a so-so 6-4 record. On July 16, he lost to Boston 5-2 after becoming erratic and ceding a couple runs in the eighth after being called for a balk. Providence management immediately suspended him because of poor play. Per the Boston Advertiser, “There have been unpleasant reports of the dissatisfaction of Radbourne (sic), pitcher of the Providence club, current for some time. This evening the board of directors of the Providence association decided to summon him to appear before them tomorrow and answer certain questions regarding his conduct for the past three weeks.” Baseless accusations were even mounted that perhaps he was throwing games. The Boston Globe described his frame of mind; “Radbourn was in no condition, physically or mentally, to pitch.” He apparently snapped in the eighth in a dispute with the umpire and his catcher Barney Gilligan. The sloppy play included a walk, an error by Gilligan, a fumble by the third baseman and the balk call on an apparent third strike. “This seemed to break up Rad, and then he pitched the ball so wild that no man could hold it, and two men came home.” 

Cyclone Miller started the next two games and Ed Conley the following. Sweeney relieved in two of the games and wasn’t pleased about being pressed into action. 

So lets return to the rather interesting Times article that started this post:

Some time ago crookedness was suspected, and to-day the cold fact stares the management in the face that they have been "played for sailors."  When the season of 1883 closed Radbourn threatened not to sign for this year.  A combination was formed by him and Carroll not to sign, and only after prolonged persuasion could either be induced to put their names to contracts, Carroll only giving in when he was cornered and almost obliged to give up a hunting trip with Radbourn, the management threatening to hold him until Oct. 1 and make him come to this city before he would be paid off and released for the year.  When this season opened Radbourn and Sweeney became jealous of each other.  Sweeney had been kept in the background and Radbourn billed as the star pitcher.  Sweeney asked leave to occupy the "points."  He did so, and proved such a success that he even pitched on days when Radbourn was to toss the sphere, and was paid extra for those games.  When Sweeney became lame Radbourn had to do double duty, and "kicked" because he was not also paid extra for Sweeney's dates.  About this time Radbourn began to show an ugly disposition, and finally, in games last week, he is charged with throwing a game because everything did not go to suit him.  Since then Sweeney has been owlish, and to-day his disaffection, like Radbourn's, took a tangible shape.  His first kick over the traces was yesterday, when the club went to Woonsocket to play an exhibition game.  He appeared on the grounds with a woman whom he gave a seat on the grand stand, and after the game, when ordered to pack up and come home with the boys, he refused to do so, remaining until a late train.  To-day he began to pitch a "stuffy" game; he was surly and owlish, and pitched without speed or any great effort to win.  At the close of the seventh inning Providence had 6 to 2 runs and had the game won, as the Philadelphia Club was batting weakly and fielding badly.  To ease up on Sweeney's lame arm, Manager Bancroft told the Californian to go into the field and let Miller pitch out the game.  He became very angry and left the field, evincing jealousy of young Miller who is a promising ball-tosser.  Philadelphia went to the bat in the inning, and it was found that Providence had but eight men in the field.  Sweeney was missing.  Bancroft went in search of him, and found him in the dressing room with his store clothes on.  He requested him to go out and play,, but was most villainously abused.  Director Allen then threatened to lay Sweeney off without pay, but to this threat Sweeney sarcastically replied that he did not care, as he could make more money if he did not play here.  Providence went on and finished the game with eight men.  The eight innings was handsomely played, but in the ninth, fly balls were hit between the regular out-field positions, and the men being unable to cover so much ground, the hits became safe.  Then Miller was pounded for five hits, Providence giving him bad support, as bad as could be looked for, and the Philadelphia Club won the game.  Convinced from what Sweeney had said, and from his conduct and Radbourn's peculiar actions that the "Wreckers' Union" had been at work, the management to-night expelled Sweeney from the league and will cause his name to be put on the black list. 

A meeting will probably be held to-morrow to consider whether the club shall be disbanded.  There are no pitchers to be had, and, with the present feeling in the team, the pennant cannot possibly be won.  If the association stops short to-day there will be a surplus of $17,000 on hand.  The St. Louis Union Association are suspected of having approached the malcontents.  There is still further trouble, based upon Catholicism and Protestantism.

The Sweeney incident, as I'm sure you know, is much more interesting than the Times reported and I'll get into that tomorrow.  But to wrap this up, I'll quote, once again and not for the last time, Fifty-Nine in '84:

Suddenly the Grays, who had been blessed only a week earlier with arguably the two best pitchers in baseball, now had neither, with little prospect of finding replacements.  Rumors swept the city that the directors intended to parcel out among the stockholders the $17,000 left in the coffers and close the business down.  The rumors were true.  "The club was going to disband, for pitchers were scarce and things looked bad," Bancroft recalled.  "The directors were about to toss up the sponge."  Miller, who could barely get through a game without collapsing, could hardly pitch the rest of the way alone, and Conley was no major league major leaguer.  

The Providence situation was a soap opera and the Maroons were playing a major part in all of their drama.    

The 1884 Providence Grays: Hurting In Body And Soul

Radbourn, pitcher of the Providence Club, has been cited by the Association to explain his conduct for the last three weeks.  Pending inquiry, Miller and Sweeney will play in the box.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 17, 1884

I love how the story of the 1884 Maroons has intersected with the story of the 1884 Grays.  Lucky for me Ed Achorn has written the book on that Providence club and that makes my job much easier.

The Radbourn/Sweeney situation was coming to a head and it would end with the Maroons finally getting the big-time pitcher that Lucas had been hunting for since before the season started.  However, it was not the Providence pitcher he was originally after and, here shortly, I'm going to have to write up a long post on Radbourn's situation with the Grays.  At this point, I'll just say that he had been suspended by the club and Ed wrote that Radbourn was "hurting in body and soul."

With Radbourn having melted down, with Sweeney about to hit the bottle a bit too hard and with the Maroons in desperate need of a pitcher, things were about to get interesting.    

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 1884 Maroons: Let The Rumors Begin

A gentleman identified with the St. Louis Unions says that when that club reappears on the home grounds, July 29, it will present a pitcher who is second to none in the country.

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 12, 1884


You would think that they were talking about Sweeney but his problems with Providence didn't come to a head until July 22.  At the beginning of the month, Sweeney was nursing a sore arm and, although it looks like Lucas was after one of Providence's pitchers, it doesn't appear that he was originally after Sweeney.  And he wasn't after Ed Conley.

I'll have much more to say about all of this in the near future because Henry Lucas was a bit tired of the way the baseball establishment was treating his new league and, at the same time, there was an unhappy pitcher in Providence who was ready to listen to what Lucas had to say.

And if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm talking about Charles Radbourn.  So I guess I'm going to have to get Ed Achorn's book off the shelf and share some of that with you here soon.  

Charlie Sweeney

Charlie Sweeney's name came up a few days ago when we were talking about the St. Louis Maroons. Somebody mentioned that he injured his arm in 1885 and this was a factor in the Maroon's poor showing in the NL. I tried to run this story down and, in the process, learned a bit about Sweeney.

Charles J. Sweeney was born in San Fransisco in 1863 and, as a youth, played on local Bay area teams. In 1883, Harry Wright brought Sweeney and Sandy Nava from California to Providence to play for the Grays.

In 1884, Sweeney was splitting time on the mound with Hoss Radbourne. On June 7, he struck out 19 batters in a 2-1 victory over Boston, a record that would stand for 102 years. On July 22, Sweeney was getting shelled by Philadelphia and Wright replaced him on the mound with right fielder Cyclone Miller. Unhappy about being relieved and refusing to play the outfield, Sweeney stormed off the field, leaving his team a man down. The Grays finished the game while playing with only eight men and lost to the lowly Quakers 10-6. It is unclear if Sweeney was released by Providence at this point but his career with the Grays was over. Radbourne, shouldering the pitching load for the rest of the season, won 26 of his next 27 starts and the Grays stormed to the pennant.

A week later, Sweeney was starting for Henry Lucas' Black Diamonds. The Maroons' roster had been raided by both the NL and the AA and Lucas took a great deal of glee in "stealing" Sweeney from Providence. "There is," he said, "(a) great pleasure in going into the enemy's camp, capturing their guns and using them on your own side." Sweeney would go 24-7 with a 1.83 ERA for the Maroons and would finish the year at 41-15 in 60 starts with a 1.70 ERA.

In 1885, with the Black Diamonds now in the National League, Sweeney suffered through an injury-plagued campaign. Suffering a shoulder injury early in the season, Sweeney was 4-2 (including a win at Providence on May 13th) before getting shelled in back to back starts. He didn't pitch again for almost three weeks and was ineffective when he returned. After a loss to Buffalo on August 28th, Sweeney made only three more starts for the Maroons and finished the season 11-21 in only 35 starts with an ERA of 3.93.

Sweeney's 1886 season was not any better. Making only eleven starts for the Maroons, he went 5-6 with a 4.16 ERA before being released by the team in June. Catching on with the Stars of Syracuse in early July, Sweeney made only two ineffective starts before being let go. He next showed up back in San Francisco pitching for the Altas and being treated as a returning hero by his hometown fans.

Attempting a big league comeback in 1887, Sweeney made only three starts for the Blues of Cleveland. After going 0-3 with an ERA of 8.25, Sweeney's major league career was over. He finished with a career mark of 64-52 and an ERA of 2.87.

Sweeney certainly appeared to be a difficult character to deal with. Besides the incident in Providence, he was involved in a "vicious fight" with teammate Emmett Seery in 1886. While it's unknown what prompted the fight, all of the Maroons sided with Seery and The Sporting Life referred to Sweeney as a "whiskey-guzzling cowardly nincompoop".

A more serious incident occurred in 1894 when Sweeney shot a man named Con MacManus in a bar in San Francisco. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison, where he died of consumption in 1902.

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.