On May 19, the Colonels opened the Athletic series with a 6-5 win. Louisville native Gus Weyhing took the box for the Athletics, Ramsey for the Colonels and both pitchers commenced to mow down each batting order. Ramsey struck out 11, Weyhing 13. Philadelphia took an early lead, but the Colonels promptly roared back, aided by two walks and a wild pitch by Weyhing that allowed three Louisville runs. The Courier-Journal, somewhat hyperbolically stated "All in all, the Louisvilles put up a game that was well-nigh invincible.
Falls City fans should've savored the win, they wouldn't see another the rest of the month.
The next game occurred Monday, May 21 as Philadelphia, like many cities east of the Alleghenies prohibited amusements of any kind on Sundays. These local "Blue Laws" determined to keep the Sabbath holy and had immense sticking power. Philadelphia clubs wouldn't play Sunday ball until the 1930s.
On that Monday, Louisville lost more than just 14-4. Catcher Lave Cross went down with a split finger that tore off his nail and opened it to the bone. The Courier-Journal reported Cross would be out a month and departed for Louisville to recuperate. John Kerins replaced him but was in no better condition. He had two sore fingers and a game leg.
The injuries forced a rash of position changes for the Colonels. Kerins disability contributed to the shellacking "Ice Box" Chamberlain and Scott Stratton took that afternoon. Descriptions of Louisville's effort that day varied depended on what city's paper one read. The Courier-Journal said the Colonels played "pluckily" while the Philadelphia Inquirer stated they "gave a wretched exhibition."
With Cross lamed and Kerins not at full tilt, Louisville determined to find a "first-class man" to sign as a fill-in.
The next day saw Louisville put up a fight with the Athletics, but still come up short 6-5. Louisville's shoddy defense undercut their effort and Pete Browning's offensive heroics (3-3 with a triple) and stellar defense (outfield assist to first for a double play) could not make up for it.
In spite of the lackluster field work, Louisville had the lead until the eighth inning, when a three-run Athletics rally doomed the Colonels.
The Falls City Nine departed Philadelphia to go to Brooklyn, to face the surging Bridegrooms (so called after a season where many of their players got married).
The first tilt (May 25) between the Colonels and Bridegrooms fell to the Brooklyn club, 4-1. The "Red Devils" as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle referred to the Louisville club in its crimson uniforms "played ball like a lot of cigar signs," according to the Courier-Journal. A steady rain fell throughout the game, more than likely contributing to the defense's less-than-stellar support of Toad Ramsey.
The next day, Brooklyn pitcher William "Adonis" Terry added to Louisville's spring of woe, as he no-hit the flailing Colonels in front of 4,875 "intensely gratified spectators" as the Bridegrooms won 4-0.
Toad Ramsey pitched for the second time in two days for the Colonels, as he was the only man the hobbled John Kerins could catch effectively. Ramsey pitched well in the losing effort, but second baseman George Mack's error in the sixth inning gave Brooklyn a lead Terry wouldn't let them relinquish.
The Courier-Journal mentioned the no-hitter in passing, as no-hitters in that era didn't get a lot of publicity, though they were rare. The reporter with the Courier-Journal had to telegraph the game report back to Louisville, and he tried to keep it short and cheap. Also, with the malaise surrounding a 9-20 start, a no-hit loss was just one more misery for the Louisville fans.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle gave the event more attention, and rejoiced in the win, but the hoopla that surrounds such doings in this modern age didn't avail itself in 1888.
Louisville performed much better the next day as a steady rain fell, but still came up short to the Bridegrooms 6-5. The Falls City contingent held a 5-1 lead going into the seventh, but a Brooklyn rally in the eighth cut the lead to 5-3. The rain fell harder in the ninth and made the ball difficult to grip, with Brooklyn taking advantage as they scored three runs and avoided a "signal defeat." The win propelled the Bridegrooms to second in the American Association standings.
According to the Courier-Journal, Ice Box Chamberlain pitched well, but the Colonel defense-as it had all year-looked poor, with Browning fielding "like a blind man" and Chicken Wolf not looking "lively enough" and allowing two pop flies to drop as hits.
Brooklyn swept Louisville the next day. Smelling blood in the water from the wounded Colonel nine, the Brooklyn manager refused to allow a Toad Ramsey for Guy Hecker substitution. Paul Cook, the Louisville catcher, who was hurt (of course!) had difficulty catching Hecker, but could catch Ramsey. Seeing how this could hurt his odds of winning, the Brooklyn manager didn't allow it, as was his prerogative. He did allow Kerins (hurt too) to replace Cook, but after one inning Kerins left the game as his injuries prohibited him from competently playing.
Chicken Wolf came in to catch, and pitcher Scott Stratton went to the outfield in his place. Stratton proved a bright spot on the day, going 3-3 with a walk. One of the few bright spots of the day for Louisville.
On the whole, this trip had been a nightmare so far for Louisville, Browning had gone hitless against Brooklyn and that was merely a symptom of the problems bedeviling the Louisville nine. No one knew exactly what was wrong, but the Courier-Journal stated "they seem, each and all, the pitchers excepted, to be listless before the game commences."
Defeats will do that, losses pile up and a previously confident team will go from optimism and pessimism in short order. Add injuries and slumps into the mix and the ingredients are all too perfect for a horrendous stretch of play, as evidenced by the record up to this time. However, that alone couldn't explain what was going on, the team did seem dissatisfied.
Louisville happily put Brooklyn, with its bridge, Navy Yard, and overwhelming ballclub (but no hipsters at this time) behind them as they rode the rails south to Baltimore, where they'd face the Orioles.
"The Louisville Club came upon the Baltimore grounds yesterday for the first time this year, casting a lurid glare over the place by the intense brilliancy of their cardinal costumes," stated the Baltimore Sun. This comment really proved the most memorable thing about the game for the Falls City faithful, as Louisville played its last game of May, losing 7-3.
Rain mercifully cancelled a game the next day, ending the month in appropriate fashion for the flatlining Colonel nine.
The end of May saw a fierce struggle at the top of the Association standings, Louisville did its part by losing a total of 12 games to league leaders Brooklyn, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. Louisville wasn't last, they could thank the still-worse Kansas City club for taking that honor by a half game, but things looked bleak. The Colonels seemed dead in the water, with most of the season yet to play.
Something seemed terribly wrong.
American Association Standings- 05/30/1888
Club W L Pct GB
Brooklyn 25 9 .735
Cincinnati 23 9 .719 1
St. Louis 19 8 .704 2.5
Philadelphia 14 15 .483 8.5
Baltimore 13 15 .464 9
Cleveland 11 20 .355 12.5
Louisville 9 23 .281 15
Kansas City 7 22 .241 15.5
Outstanding...Excellant writing and great story!!
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