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Tip O’Neill

Outfield
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: St. Louis
  • Team: Browns (AA)
  • League: American League
  • Hall: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

James Edward O’Neill (1858-1915) came out of Woodstock, Ontario to take the American Association by storm, becoming Canada’s Babe Ruth. Tip debuted with the NL’s Gothams in 1883 as a pitcher, receiving tepid reviews. He made a better impression on Charles Comiskey who signed him the next season in St. Louis to replace switch-pitching Tony Mullane. The following year theWoodstock Wonder came into his own at the plate. He became the Browns’ best hitter and led the team to four straight pennants, then falling second to Brooklyn in ‘89. Ever loyal to Comiskey, Tip followed his leader to the Players’ League Chicago Pirates, back to St. Louis in ‘91 and on to Cincinnati for his final campaign the next year. In his decade at the pinnacle of the game, O’Neill established one of the best hitting records of the 19th century: .326 BA, .458 slugging and a Triple Crown. He and Paul Hines remain the only such champions eligible for the Hall to be excluded (a fate shared with all the greats who played primarily in the AA, save for Bid McPhee).

  • Tip’s excellence is commemorated north of the border with the Tip O’Neill Award given annually by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
  • U.S. Speaker of the House “Tip” O’Neill was nicknamed after James
  • Elected to Canadian BB Hall of Fame: 1983

Auction History

Joe Wood

Pitcher
  • Series: Diamond Heads '15
  • City: Boston
  • Team: Red Sox
  • League: American League

Howard Ellsworth “Smoky Joe” Wood (1889-1985) was honored at age 95 with a doctorate from Yale, the institution for whom he coached for 20 years following his ML career. In 1912 for the Red Sox, Wood joined an elite list of 30-game winners, going 34-5. In one of the most dramatic duels ever, Wood defeated Walter Johnson 1-0, himself fresh off a 16-game win streak, gaining his 14th straight and would go on to tie Johnson’s AL record string. Wood then climaxed his phenomenal year by leading the Sox over McGraw’s Giants in a Series for the ages at brand-new Fenway Park.

  • A broken thumb in ’13 left Wood impaired, but he went on to a fine OF role for the Indians
  • Said Walter Johnson: “No man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood.”

Auction History

Buck Weaver

Shortstop
  • Series: Diamond Heads '15
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: White Sox
  • League: American League

George Daniel Weaver (1890-1956) climbed to a lofty height during his baseball career and plummeted to an historic low that would test any man. Buck’s dad insisted he forego his mother’s funeral to begin his pro career in the White Sox system. He ended his career when Judge Landis banished him from the game along with 7 fellow Sox. In between, this gregarious, cheerful soul basked in the shadows of the Great Pyramid sporting a fez during the 1913 world tour and danced for joy after Comiskey’s club locked up the ’17 Series, a team he had led in batting and afield. Although pilloried with his teammates for throwing the 1919 Series, Weaver played errorless ball, hit .324, and was never accused of taking money. He would spend the rest of his life trying to clear his name. After Cicotte and Jackson confessed, the Sporting News headlined: “Chicago Fans Grieve Most for Weaver and Still Hope for Him.”

  • Played exclusively for the White Sox (1912-1920), averaging .272, and was the only banned player to remain in Chicago
  • Buck successfully sued his penurious owner for his 1921 salary

Auction History

Ed Walsh

Pitcher
  • Series: Diamond Heads '15
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: White Sox
  • League: American League
  • Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame

Edward Augustine Walsh (1881-1959) still holds the ML record for ERA with 1.82 lifetime and hurled himself into the Hall of Fame as one of the most dominant and durable pitchers of the early 20th century. He needed a year off in 1913 but felt the White Sox needed him more. He ruined his arm and effectively ended his career demanding more of that right arm than it could give after 195 wins and 1,736 SOs.

  • Reputed to have guided the owner’s architect into shaping the AL park to Walsh’s liking, making Comiskey Park a “pitcher’s park” for 80 years
  • Earned “workhorse” status with an average of 395 innings per season 1907-1912
  • Elected to Hall of Fame: 1946

Auction History

Bobby Wallace

Shortstop
  • Series: Diamond Heads '15
  • City: St. Louis
  • Team: Browns (AL)
  • League: American League
  • Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame

Rhoderick John Wallace (1873-1960) had a Hall of Fame career as one of the top shortstops for 24 years before going on to one of the longest tenures in MLB as coach, manager, scout and even a short stint as an umpire. Playing primarily in St. Louis for the Cardinals and Browns, Wallace set records, including a mournful one: longest career by a player to never make the World Series.

  • Too good a fielder to stay on the mound, became the premier defensive SS of his era
  • In 1911, Pirates’ owner declared Wallace the one player in the AL he desired above all others
  • Elected to Hall of Fame: 1953

Auction History