- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Washington, D.C.
- Team: Senators
- League: National League
Albert Wagner (1871-1928) followed his kid brother Johannes (Honus) into the big leagues in 1898. The Pittsburgh native got his professional start in Steubenville of the Interstate League in 1895 when he was already 23. He moved to the Warren, PA entry in the Iron and Oil League the same season and later played infield and some outfield for the Canton Deubers and Wheeling Nailers back in the Interstate League. Butts then moved up to the Eastern League's Toronto Canadians/Canucks for the 1896-97 campaigns before getting his shot in MLB with the NL's Senators. His best game came after Washington dealt him to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms later in the '98 season. Wagner hit his only home run, doubled and scored three times in a 9-5 win on July 4. Honus, two years Butts' junior, had begun with the same Steubenville squad in 1895 after Al urged the manager to give him a tryout. Both Wagner boys had been barbers. Honus and Butts parted company the same year when the shortstop-for-the-ages moved on to the Michigan State League and a call-up in '97 to the Louisville Colonels and a National League career in baseball's stratosphere. Al returned to Pittsburgh and his barber chair.
- Butts' “career” stats included a .226 average in 74 MLB games
- However modest Butts' numbers, he can be rightly regarded as an all-time great scout
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Pittsburgh
- Team: Alleghenys
- League: National League
William J. Kuehne (1858-1921) came out of the German-American semi-pro clubs of Chicago to begin his career in truly professional baseball with the Columbus Buckeyes of the American Association in 1883. After a month of dreadful play at 2nd base, his manager replaced him. Having a hole at 3rd, he gave Willie one more try. Kuehne found a home at the hot corner. What followed was a ten-year career in MLB in which the otherwise light-hitting but solidly-built (and not known for speed) Kuehne played as though every day was “triple or nothing.” His lifetime .232 average belied a penchant for three-baggers. His record for “most triples in a season without hitting a home run” (19 in 1885) lasted until another Willie--Keeler--tied it in 1897. SABR’s David Nemec has documented several other odd “firsts” set by Kuehne: “lowest slugging average with at least 100 triples,” four straight seasons with more triples than doubles, and most triples (115) in history by a player with fewer than 4500 plate appearances. One in every nine hits went for three.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Sioux City
- Team: Corn Huskers
- League: Western Association
George Washington Bradley (1852-1931) groomed for the major leagues with the vaunted Easton, PA club, known as the top amateur squad of the day. He signed with the NA’s St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1875 with a number of teammates. “Grin” (for what may have been his mesmerizing smirk that befuddled batters) hurled a shut-out in his second start against the White Stockings, a feat that came to be known as “Chicagoing” for years after. That promising beginning was completely overshadowed the following year as Bradley led St. Louis to a second-place finish in the new National League. George pitched all but four innings of the ‘76 season and his record and the team’s were identical: 45-19. He led the league in ERA at 1.23. He threw 16 shut-outs. He scored the first NL no-hitter. No one has since exceeded the shut-out record (only Grover Cleveland Alexander tied it). After that remarkable year Grin became a vagabond. He logged 16 cities over the next dozen years. He never came close to such heights on the mound and played infield as much as he pitched. He was a superb-fielding third baseman.
- A former manager, Frank Bancroft, cast a shadow over Bradley’s career-year. Grin was said to have found a way to access the game ball and smash it with a vise, yielding a malleable sphere to befuddle batters even more than the evil smile
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Washington, D.C.
- Team: Nationals
- League: National League
James B. Donnelly (1865-1915) had eleven seasons in the majors, playing third base for nine teams. While he toiled in relative obscurity for most of his career, Donnelly had the thrill, in its waning days, of being part of a remarkable championship season with the Orioles in 1896. In that storied year, the club walked away with its third straight NL pennant, besting second-place Cleveland to win the Temple Cup in the post-season. Donnelly had, by far, his greatest offensive production in ‘96, hitting .328 - over a hundred points above his lifetime average. That effort would have been a headliner for any other team, but in Baltimore Donnelly was only the sixth-best on the squad. Jim was overshadowed by pretty good men: Wilbert Robinson .347, Jack Doyle .339, Hughie Jennings .401, Willie Keeler .386, and Joe Kelley .364. Talk about Murderers Row! The Ned Hanlon/John McGraw powerhouse was soon to disband as the NL went from twelve to eight teams to accommodate the new American League a few years later.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Washington, D.C.
- Team: Nationals
- League: National League
John Irwin (1861-1934) followed elder brother Arthur out of Toronto and into American baseball, joining Art’s Worcester Ruby Legs when they were a National League entry in 1882. Art had been with the team since 1880 and was an established star when John debuted, getting into a single game that season. The younger Irwin played his most substantial year in ‘84 with the upstart Union Association’s Boston Reds under the tutelage of George Wright. John played third base, and hit .234 over 105 games in the UA’s only season. He would never see that much playing time again. Staying on the margins of big-time pro-ball, John saw action in all of the leagues of his day. He was with the NL’s Washington team in ‘87,the Players’ League’s Buffalo Bisons in ‘90, and then back with another Boston team called the Reds, this time in the American Association in 1891 with a final stint with the AA’s Louisville Colonels that same year.
- John’s appetite for the game was undiminished by his mediocre record. He played for various, primarily New England, teams through the 1899 season
- Big brother Art’s innovation of the fielder’s glove and scandalous demise amid bigamy revelations overshadowed John’s more mundane career but he outlived Art by 13 years
- Irwin’s uniform color on this card was changed in May, 2017 from blue to red to reflect recent reliable research by Craig Brown & friends at Threads of Our Game. Two cards had been previously released featuring a blue uniform.
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