The beginning of June saw the crises of the 1888 season come to a head. The ownership of the Louisville changed hands to Mordecai Davidson, manager John Kelly resigned, and the Colonels suffered a disastrous eastern road trip.
The battered Falls City aggregate arrived home on June 8 and at that time John Kelly formally handed in his resignation as manager and immediately accepted a job as umpire in the National League. Club owner Mordecai Davidson stated he'd assume the day-to-day responsibilities of running the Colonels.
The Courier-Journal conducted a postmortem of the season thus far and acknowledged bad luck, and most especially injuries to the catchers contributed mightily to the failures faced by the Louisville nine. The paper stated Louisville's pitchers could not throw as hard as usual due to injuries faced by the catchers. While the start proved discouraging, the paper seemed hopeful for a turnaround in the Colonels' fortunes.
The future indeed seemed brighter on June 9, as the Kansas City Cowboys arrived at Eclipse Park and promptly received a 14-4 thrashing by the Louisvilles. The game proved close until the sixth inning, when Louisville blew the game open. The Colonels played with the "old time vim and dash" exhibited by Falls City's clubs in years past. All Louisville players except Hub Collins got a hit and the crowd of 500 went home happy.
The next day saw another win for the Derby City boys, as they won 5-1 in a rain-shortened, six inning contest.
They missed a sweep the next day, as Kansas City won 8-7. Both clubs played well, but the Cowboys timed their hits just a little better.
Considering the other world news of the day, things weren't so bad. Germany's Kaiser Frederick lay dying, the sovereign only recently assuming the throne from his father, Kaiser Wilhem I. Beloved American poet Walt Whitman fell ill and the nation feared the author of Leaves of Grass would soon join Kaiser Frederick in death. The fate of a ballclub in Louisville didn't seem so momentous in comparison.
After a short, three-game home stand, the Colonels boarded a train westward to face the St. Louis Browns and the Cowboys.
Louisville lost the first game against St. Louis 3-2 on June 13, after leading most of the day. A gruesome injury to Guy Hecker compounded the sorrowful tidings of the loss. He received a spike wound on his left hand in a play at the plate and subsequently fainted as a result of blood loss. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated Hecker would leave for Louisville that night to have a specialist look at his crippled hand.
In the words of the Post-Dispatch, Hecker's injury would "hurt Louisville's strength, if indeed such a thing be possible."
The next day, St. Louis again defeated the Falls City crowd 13-7 as Ramsey received "wretched support" from the Colonels. This defeat indeed seemed small, as news of the death of Kaiser Frederick reached America. Frederick's death meant Kaiser Wilhem II assumed the throne of Germany, as 1888 became the "Year of Three Emperors." The new Kaiser's policies in time helped contribute to the First World War, but that was 25 or so years in the future.
Back in Missouri, the Browns completed their sweep of the Colonels the next day, as they thumped the Colonels 12-3. St. Louis chased Ice Box Chamberlain out of the box in the second inning, and Louisville played in a "half-spirited, listless manner."
Louisville couldn't leave the Mound City fast enough, and the next day (June 16) they played the one team that almost guaranteed a break in a Colonel slump, Kansas City. Chamberlain again started and again got hit hard, but today he held on. In spite of being on the receiving end of a four-run first, the Colonels won 6-5.
The Courier-Journal reported that day President Davidson lowered prices for all seats to $.50, with boys under 12 admitted for $.25, and ladies free on Thursdays when accompanied by a man.
On June 17, the Colonels managed a two-game sweep of the Cowboys by the narrowest of margins, winning 7-6 as timely hitting saved the day for the Falls City club.
After their 2-3 "Show-Me State" excursion, the Colonels made for the Queen City to play a four game tilt against the Reds, with two games in Cincinnati and two in Louisville.
The first game, played on June 21, shared headlines with the Republican National Convention, who set about determining their candidate for president. Being out of the White House, there was much more division than the Democrats encountered earlier in the month.
Louisville proved more decisive than the GOP as they defeated the slumping Reds 15-9. The Colonels took advantage of the Reds' suspect pitching and shoddy defense. Louisville hit well and in the words of the Cincinnati Enquirer, "presented a marked and favorable contrast to the banged-up, crippled, and dilapidated team" they'd played a month before.
The Reds evened the series the following day in dramatic fashion in the eleventh inning 10-8. This game surged back and forth (I would love to have seen a win percentage graph from this game) with the game being tied twice. Cincinnati took a 8-5 lead to the ninth, where Louisville promptly tied the score. The Colonels could do no more, however, and Cincinnati pushed two runs across in the top of the eleventh.
The next day, the series shifted to Louisville amidst a steady drizzle which fell upon the field all day. Rain stopped the game for 30 minutes during the third inning. The wet grounds and soggy ball contributed to the lackluster performance of both clubs and darkness mercifully put an end to the 10-10 game after the Reds scored two runs to tie it in the ninth.
As a bit of an aside, Cincinnati's uniforms proved the second most interesting part of the "dreary, drawn out battle." I won't go into detail here, as the 19th Century base ball uniform database "Threads of Our Game" does a much better job of documenting the Reds' togs from that game than yours truly, though I'm happy to say my research of the Courier-Journal archives found a gem of a quote from this game about the Cincinnati uniforms, which certainly made me chuckle.
(Cincinnati's sartorial choices didn't elicit mockery alone, as the Colonels' maroon uniforms elicited similar sneers, you can see their finery on "Threads of Our Game" as well. You're welcome in advance for all the valuable time you'll spend seeing the wonderful uniforms worn by base ball clubs in the 19th Century.)
The most interesting aspect of the third game in he series revolved around Pete Browning, who made his grand arrival in Louisville on June 23. He'd lapsed from his temperance pledge made at the start of the season and got "roaring drunk" in Kansas City during the recent series with the Cowboys.
Browning got so intoxicated he bought a fishing pole and began fishing in a gutter in front of Louisville's hotel. As Louisville left for Cincinnati, Browning stayed and further enjoyed what Kansas City had to offer.
Browning, "as is his usual" apologized and asked for mercy from Louisville's management, which was granted at a cost of a $100 fine (over $2,500 in 2018). As funny as this episode may sound, Browning's alcoholism had left a streak of such incidents through his playing career and would sadly contribute to an untimely and unfortunate death in the future for the "Gladiator."
Cincinnati closed out the series with Louisville in fine fashion, winning 11-4. The Colonels looked poor, as Scott Stratton got hit hard. Cincinnati pitcher Tony Mullane managed to stymie all but three Louisville batters that day. Browning, Chicken Wolf, and Joe Werrick all managed two hits apiece, but unfortunately the rest of the Louisvilles could do little against "The Count."
The generally listless showing this day infuriated President Davidson, as the defeat coupled with Browning's alcoholism and Toad Ramsey's mysterious illness which somehow managed to go away when he went to a saloon, proved too much.
Shortstop Bill White became the target of Davidson's ire as he was suspended for his subpar performance in the recent days. However, in White's defense, he didn't carouse (at least not openly) and had been playing with a high fever the last few days. An indignant White demanded his release and if he could not obtain it, he'd retire to his Ohio home to run a general store.
White's suspension wasn't the only personnel matter on the day, as the Colonels signed pitcher John Ewing and catcher Henry "Farmer" Vaughn from Memphis of the Southern League. The battery proved one of the best in the loop and the Courier-Journal hoped the duo would bolster the improving Louisville club.
In spite of the difficulties of the previous days, the Colonels had indeed played better than at any point during the season. Their better play came as a nasty surprise to the next club to come to the Falls City, the Association-leading Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
On June 26, the day after Benjamin Harrison won the Republican nomination for President, Louisville defeated Brooklyn 7-6.
A crowd of 1,000 saw Ice Box Chamberlain outduel Bob Caruthers, who uncharacteristically walked four batters. Louisville played a few men out of position, with Chicken Wolf at short, pitcher Scott Stratton in centerfield, and local amateur standout Hercules Burnett in right. In spite of the rearranged state of the club, the Colonels superbly supported Chamberlain and came back from an early deficit in the win. The win vaulted them out of the cellar, as the bumbling Kansas City Cowboys took possession of that exalted position.
The Bill White situation further developed, as Davidson stated he'd attempt a trade with St. Louis for shortstop Joseph Herr.
Brooklyn evened the series the next day, winning 9-7. The Bridegrooms hit hard and often, and Brooklyn's pitching proved too tricky for the Colonels to fully overcome, as a late rally came up short.
Louisville won again the next day 6-1, dropping Brooklyn out of first place. The Courier-Journal stated "Chamberlain was invincible" and he received first-rate support from the rest of the club, especially Lave Cross at catcher. Wolf, still at shortstop and played it "as if he had been in that position all his life.
Louisville's new battery of John Ewing and Farmer Vaughn debuted in the closing match of the Brooklyn series and indeed the month of June. They performed well, with work that "was all that could be desired." Ewing's out curve and drop ball confounded the Brooklyn batters throughout the contest. However, Browning's sprained ankle and two runs scored off of errors by Chicken Wolf proved the difference in the 3-2 loss.
After a tumultuous start, June ended much more optimistically for Louisville. As June waned and July began, the American Association standings looked as such:
|
Club
|
W
|
L
|
Pct
|
GB
|
|
Brooklyn
|
39
|
18
|
.684
|
-
|
|
St. Louis
|
35
|
15
|
.700
|
.5
|
|
Philadelphia
|
32
|
19
|
.627
|
4.0
|
|
Cincinnati
|
32
|
22
|
.593
|
5.5
|
|
Baltimore
|
25
|
27
|
.481
|
11.5
|
|
Cleveland
|
17
|
35
|
.327
|
19.5
|
|
Louisville
|
16
|
38
|
.296
|
21.5
|
|
Kansas City
|
14
|
36
|
.280
|
21.5
|
Many valuable resources contributed to this post. Special thanks to Craig Brown at "Threads of Our Game" for allowing me to link to his pages on the uniforms for the 1888 Colonels and 1888 Reds. The Louisville Courier-Journal, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, www.newspapers.com, and www.baseball-reference.com all proved incalculably vital in compiling this post.
Thank you again for looking!
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