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Wilbert Robinson

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Athletics (AA)
  • League: American Association
  • Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame

Uncle Robbie (1863-1934). A durable catcher for 17 seasons with 3 teams, Robinson is credited as the 1st to play directly behind the plate at all times. Uncle Robbie once caught 5 games in two days. He also had 7 hits & 11 RBI in a single game. After his playing days were over, Robinson went on to manage for 18 seasons.

  • Won 3 NL pennants as player
  • Won 2 NL pennants as manager
  • Won 5 NL pennants as pitching coach
  • Elected to Hall of Fame: 1945

Auction History

Bill Gleason

Shortstop
  • Series: 1880s: Loving Paupers
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Athletics (AA)
  • League: American Association

William G. Gleason (1858-1932) was an American Association shortstop for three teams from 1882-89. During those eight seasons Gleason hit .267. He debuted with his hometown St. Louis Brown Stockings and participated in their three pennants in '85, '86 and '87. He was an everyday player and increased the number of games played every year with the club, culminating in '87 when he appeared in 135 games with a fine .288 average. St. Louis management must have anticipated a decline was in store. He was traded to Philadelphia's Athletics in '88, where his hitting fell off to .224. Philly dealt him to the Louisville Colonels for his final campaign. Gleason saw action in only 16 games in 1889. He stayed in pro ball for two more minor league seasons with Washington of the Atlantic Association in 1890 and finished up with the Rockford Hustlers of the Illinois-Iowa League the following year where he recorded by far the highest average on a squad that included eight other past or future big leaguers.

  • In a storied and rowdy “championship” contest following the 1885 season, Gleason's Browns vied with the formidable White Stockings. Bill was at the center of the storm as his throw to first was ruled late, infuriating the home folks and precipitating a long row in which Cap Anson refused to allow the Chicago umpire to be replaced. Comiskey called his team off the field which led to a forfeit of the first game. The “Series” ended in a tie.

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 193-2

Denny Lyons

Third Base
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Athletics (AA)
  • League: American Association

Dennis Patrick Aloysius Lyons (1866-1929) was a strong hitting third-baseman over a thirteen year career in the major leagues from 1885 with Providence to 1897 with the Pirates. His lifetime batting average was .310. In 1890 he led the American Association in on-base percentage and slugging, and was second to Chicken Wolf in BA. He hit 62 home runs in the Deadball Era and was known as a formidable fielder in the no-glove era. Lyons’ era was also a time of rapid evolution in the game. In 1887, the year Denny “hit” safely in 52 straight, the pitcher’s box had been tightened and the pitcher’s delivery shortened to one step. Walks were also considered hits that year which has caused most modern students of the game to dismiss his “streak,” second only to Joltin’ Joe. But DiMaggio didn’t have to hit a fastball hurled from fifty feet. Only two of the 52 games was affected by walks but they were in the middle of the run. Despite such quibbles, Lyons was clearly a very accomplished player both offensively and afield.

  • Consistently ranked among batting leaders in both leagues he starred in: AA and NL
  • An Amos Rusie fastball broke two fingers and ended Denny’s ML tenure. He continued in the minors and hit .274 for the Beaumont Oil Gushers in 1903

Auction History

Mike Sullivan

Outfield
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Athletics (AA)
  • League: American Association

Michael Joseph Sullivan (1860-1929) didn't play the hot corner as poorly as that ancient mariner (“he stoppeth one in three”), but let's just say that Mike made other third-basemen of his era look pretty good. Despite a respectable ability at the plate, it was defense that proved offensive to his management, leading to an abbreviated time in the major leagues. Mike lasted all of 28 games before Philadelphia sent him up to Syracuse where, four games later, his pro ball career was over. Sullivan had started out in New England playing for three teams in 1884: Meriden, Worcester and Lawrence. He stayed in the neighborhood in '85 and '87 (no record of his play in 1886). He was with Springfield and back to Meriden in '85 and Hartford in '87 before his call-up to the American Association's Athletics.

  • Sullivan actually split his time between outfield and third. But it was in the infield he did his real damage. The Brooklyn Eagle eagerly recorded the game on May 13 when the hapless Sullivan played the goat, making three errors including the one that led to the Bridegrooms' victory over the Athletics
  • Mike's debut that season had been at third where he made two errors subbing for Denny Lyons. He went on to make ten more miscues in his next nine games before being exiled to left field where his ability to track down the ball wasn't much improved. Despite having a slugging average that ranked behind only John Reilly and Harry Stovey among AA hitters with a minimum 100 at-bats, his bosses couldn't abide his .726 fielding percentage
  • A native of Webster, Massachusetts, Mike was born on the eve of the first great national calamity, the Civil War, and died there just before the onset of the worst economic calamity, the Great Depression.

Auction History

Harry Whitacre

Pitcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Athletics (AA)
  • League: American Association

Harry Whitacre (aka Whiteacre, Whitaker) is known primarily from photographs: he is depicted on (at least) three 1888 Old Judge cards in an Athletics’ uniform. Harry was photographed batting and throwing right-handed. He is also found in a team photo of the Kennett Square Mohicans of 1886 along with the brothers of future major leaguer Mike Grady and the father of future Hall-of-Famer Herb Pennock. Kennett Square was becoming the “mushroom capital of the world” about the same time the Mohicans were transforming from an amateur club to one of the foremost teams in Pennsylvania in the late 1880s. The Sporting News, in January ‘88, touted “Whiteacre, the Athletics new pitcher” as being “highly thought of by Manager Sharsig.” As with many up-and-coming minor leaguers of the day, Harry’s promise went unfulfilled. He didn’t make the Philadelphia squad.

  • The pose used on this card is one of two recently discovered Old Judge proofs of Whitacre, neither of which are known to have been issued in the original Old Judge series
  • Baseball Encyclopedia records an H. Whitaker pitching one game for Williamsport of the Pennsylvania State Association in 1886, a complete-game win
  • Although the Old Judge series features three known poses of Harry Whitacre, I could not find one of suitable quality for this project. This image is taken from an Old Judge proof taken at the same time as Whitacre's other OJ images and may represent an as-of-yet undiscovered pose.

Auction History