One goal I have for this blog is to introduce the reader to Louisville's history in Major League Baseball. Louisville has a strong minor league tradition and of course has the Louisville Slugger bat. What many fans do not realize is Louisville had major league teams throughout the 19th Century.
In 2018, I want to focus on the 1888 Louisville Colonels club of the American Association. I will follow the Courier-Journal and attempt to make a weekly blog post regarding the 1888 club. Before I do so, a brief background is in order.
Louisville was a founding member of the National League (NL) in 1876, it lasted two seasons and contended for the pennant in 1877 before an unfortunate (in many ways) losing streak caused the Grays to fade from contention. Sadly, it turned out that four prominent players on the team threw the results of games for money. One of baseball's first gambling scandals came from Louisville, of all places. The NL banned the four players from professional baseball for life. The Louisville team also didn't survive past 1877 and didn't field a major league team again until the advent of the American Association in 1882. We'll cover that scandal in-depth in a later post, this requires a great deal of research.
The American Association came about as a response to the demand for professional baseball and the fact the NL had a more puritanical view of the sport that caused trouble. The League prohibited alcohol sales and Sunday matches, charged higher prices, and generally appealed to a more upper crust clientele. The NL brooked no disobedience from its rules, for instance, they banished the Cincinnati club for renting its home grounds to amateur clubs for Sunday baseball games and alcohol sales. (The current Cincinnati club returned to the NL in 1890 after an eight-year stint in the American Association).
Other cities had been banished and men with means who desired to participate in baseball took the steps to initiate a rival organization to the NL. In 1882 they founded the American Association, with Louisville being a charter member. The AA allowed liquor sales and cheaper admission to games, and had a vibrant history from 1882 to 1891. Louisville was in the Association its entire existence, and after its collapse in 1891 (more on that in a later post).
Louisville returned to the NL in 1892 and stayed in the League until 1899, when it contracted from 12 to eight clubs.
Now that I've given a (very) brief introduction to Louisville in the majors, it's time to go back in time 130 years to 1888. Grover Cleveland's in the White House, but would lose his seat in that year's election to Indiana's Benjamin Harrison. There are 38 states in the Union, the Great Blizzard of 1888 killed 400, and the great captains of industry made money hand over fist as the Gilded Age roared on.
In Louisville, the Colonels finished fourth in the eight team AA, with a 76-60 record. They had one of the strongest offenses in the American Association, Louisville looked to improve on a strong 1887 campaign with the 1888 team.
In the April 1, 1888 Louisville Courier-Journal ran an introduction to the club, stating "there are but few persons in this city to whom the faces of the players of the Louisville club are not familiar." In addition to the incomparable Browning, other notable players of the Louisville nine included some of the below names. We'll become familiar with them over the next few months.
Undoubtedly, Pete "The Gladiator" Browning boasting a beefy .402/.464/.547 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging average), paced the Colonel attack. Browning, a Louisville native and "the ideal of every small boy in the country" according to the Courier-Journal, was in my opinion, the AA's premier batsman. Unfortunately, his outfield defense was truly horrific, even by the standards of the era of rudimentary gloves (or none at all).
Tom "Toad" Ramsey headed the rotation in 1887 and looked to do the same in 1888. In 1887 he won 37 games and lost 27 with a 3.43 ERA over 561 innings pitched. These are extreme numbers to a 21st Century eye, but were common in the 19th Century. Penny-pinching clubs carried 15 or so players and the limited amount of arms meant pitchers took more innings than the modern counterpart. This is not an indictment on the modern player, pitchers of that era tended to burn arms out at a quicker rate, and lengthy careers for pitchers weren't common.
In addition to Ramsey, Guy Hecker and "Ice Box" Chamberlain bolstered the rotation. Hecker went 18-12 with a 4.16 ERA in 1887, he'd been one of the Association's premier pitchers, with a 52-win season for Louisville in 1884. He was towards the twilight of his career, as seasons of heavy workloads took their toll.
Chamberlain came to Louisville in 1886 and had a good campaign for Louisville in 1887, with the Courier Journal stating "he was one of the surprises of the year." However, he proved difficult to sign over the winter, with the Courier-Journal reporting "it is by no means certain he will play ball this season."
Scott Stratton was another pitcher on the opening day roster for the Louisville club, a young lad of 18, called a "promising young pitcher." He would have some impressive seasons in the future for the Falls City.
Lave Cross came to Louisville as the backup catcher, another young talented player with a massive career ahead of him. However, he was still just a prospect for the coming season.
Jim "Chicken" Wolf, a native of Louisville and childhood friend of Browning, patrolled the outfield with his fellow Falls City colleague. He had a tendency to overeat and be overweight (the nickname "Chicken" came from his penchant for stewed chicken). Despite his extra baggage, he proved a fully competent big league player.
The Louisville Courier-Journal had nothing but effusive praise of the Colonels for the coming season (the press tended to be on poles of praise or contempt of clubs in those days), the next few months would be a test as to whether the club deserved the kind words.
(To help me complete this introductory look at the Colonels of '88, I used the April 1, 1888 article titled "Louisville's Players" and the 1887 and 1888 Louisville Colonel team pages on baseball-reference.com)
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