In the days before all teams went south for spring training, clubs often played local or minor league nines to get into shape for the coming campaign.
The beginning of April 1888 saw the resumption of base ball activities in the Falls City. On April 1, the Memphis Club of the minor league Southern League made April Fools of the Colonels, defeating them 8-6.
John Ewing pitched for the Memphis club, and his curve ball gave Louisville fits all afternoon. The Courier-Journal bemoaned the "inability of Louisville batters to hit at the proper time the swift curves delivered by Ewing." The Louisville paper complimented the 25 year-old's skill, stating he struck out seven and fielded the position well. The Courier-Journal stated John Ewing had the potential to be as good a player as his brother Buck Ewing.
Buck Ewing was one of the finest players of the 19th Century, playing a multitude of positions, and playing all of them well. His best renown came as a catcher for the New York Giants, had a career 47.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), one of the best of the decade. His exemplary play led him to the Hall of Fame in 1939.
Time would tell if John could match his brother Buck and Louisville would hear more from him later on in 1888. But on this day, he did quite well.
The local press tried minimizing the defeat of the Derby City nine, as the Courier-Journal stated,"the playing yesterday should not be taken as an example of what the Louisville team can do." The the paper said Colonels took little to no outdoor practice at this point in the season, while the Memphis club had a few weeks worth of outdoor practice in order to shake off the rust of a long winter's layoff.
According to the Courier-Journal, the Memphis Nine included Davy Force, a stalwart second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop of both the National Association and the National League. Force began his professional career in 1871 with the Washington Olympics of the National Association. Historians consider the National Association baseball's first professional league and Force lasted the entirety of its existence from 1871 to 1875. The Association died after the 1875 season, and Force joined the NL after its founding. He spent the bulk of his time there playing for the Buffalo club. His career in the NL ended in 1886. Like many players then and now, he apparently didn't stop when his time in the show ended. Against Louisville, Force collected one hit in five and played shortstop and right field.
Louisville's star, Pete Browning, didn't take the field against Memphis.
The first game didn't go well, but baseball's a daily game, and the next days brought success to the Colonel nine.
On April 3, The Colonels played a local amateur nine called the Deppens and decisively defeated them, 9-0. Louisville pitching walked nine, but struck out ten. Outfielder Hub Collins went 3 for 5 and Louisville committed no errors (a rare occurrence in this era). Pete Browning made his first appearance in this game, going 1-5.
The next day, Louisville soundly defeated the Deppens again, this time neither team played as tightly, as the Colonels won 19-9. The solid defense of the day previous didn't hold, as both teams gave up only four earned runs a piece.
The Courier-Journal advertised a visit by the defending National League champion Detroit Wolverines in games for Saturday, April 7 and Monday, April 9.
A good crowd of 2,000 showed up on Saturday April 7, but didn't get a chance to see the Wolverines square off against the Colonels. A train accident in Nashville prevented Detroit from making it to Louisville on time. As fortune would have it, the St. Paul Apostles of the Western Association arrived in Louisville from Cincinnati and agreed to play the Colonels and satisfy the crowd with a game (and ensure a pay day for both clubs).
Louisville handled the Apostles with relative ease, 11-3. Browning paced the Colonel attack, going 3-5 with two doubles and one single. Pitcher Toad Ramsey scattered five hits. It's safe to say the Louisville fans went home happy, even if they didn't see the NL champs.
Louisville still had rust to knock off in advance of a difficult AA season, but they'd generally played well, even if it wasn't against big league competition. The biggest challenges laid ahead.
Resources for this post came from articles in the Courier-Journal from April 2, April 4, April 5, and April 8, 1888. Information on Davy Force came from pages 94-95 of Nineteenth Century Stars: 2012 Edition, edited by Robert Tiemann and Mark Rucker and published by the Society for American Baseball Research. Buck Ewing's career information came from his page on Baseball-Reference.com. (As a history major, I apologize for not having my sources in the Chicago Manual of Style!)
No comments:
Post a Comment