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Fred Lange

Third Base
  • Series: 1880s: Loving Paupers
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: Maroons
  • League: Western Association

Frederick W. Lange began his pro ball career as a teenager (how young is in dispute). He was from the San Francisco Bay Area and played in 1886 for the Greenhood and Morans team of oakland, a charter member of the California State League. The owners were haberdashers in Oakland who sponsored the club for three years. In 1887 the team floundered in last place despite having a lot of talent. The loss of star pitcher George Van Haltren, who went east to begin a long major league career, was a big blow. Fred Lange was a pal of Van Haltren’s and followed him to NY.

There is a fair degree of uncertainty and confusion surrounding Lange’s career, some of which appears to have been instigated by Lange himself. He had changed his surname to "Dolan" to sign with the G & Ms in Oakland so his parents wouldn’t know of his unworthy occupational choice. (Anyone familiar with the American Association’s reputation as the “beer and whiskey league” can sympathize with Fred’s folks as the 1880s were an era of free-wheeling debauchery in big time baseball.) But there is a reference by authors Dick Dobbins and Jon Twichell in their book Nuggets on the Diamond:Professional Baseball in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present, published in 1994, to the effect that Fred Lange was also “Willard Brown,” who went on to play for the NY Giants after leaving Oakland in 1886. Catcher William "California" Brown did play for the Giants from 1887-1889 and, perhaps not coincidentally, had played for Greenhood and Morans as well. Adding to the confusion, the editors of The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Co mistakenly list William Brown as "Willard" in that seminal encyclopedia on the Old Judge universe.  One possible theory to the confusion, however unlikely, is still intriguing: In moving East to pursue his big league dreams, might Fred Lange have adopted the name "Willard Brown" as a sort of hopeful and opportunistic nominal doppelganger to William Brown?

The truth is, most likely, that the mystery and confusion around Fred Lange's name and identity is the result of a more modern human error and that there is no mystery at all. Fred Lange & William Brown are clearly different people, perhaps even friends, who look nothing alike and appear together in a Greenhood & Morans team photo from 1886, thereby dispelling the notion that Brown was Lange's alter ego. Furthermore, there is no record of a "Willard Brown" playing professional baseball in the 19th century and the Old Judge folks were unconfused on the players' identities, with each player getting five unique poses in the series with no misspellings, overlay or confusion between them. Given that Van Haltren knew both Lange and Brown and that Van Haltren and Brown had quickly established themselves as bone fide big leaguers, it seems unlikely that Lange would attempt to perpetrate such a thinly veiled con while striving to join his friends on the big stage.

  • Further adding to the confusion around Lange's name, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art mistakenly lists Lange as "Lance" for the two Old Judge cards of Lange that reside in the museum's collection.
  • Lange later authored an influential tome of his own: History of Baseball in California and Pacific Coast Leagues (1847-1938)

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 272-4

George Rooks

Outfield
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: Maroons
  • League: Western Association

George Brinton McClellan Rooks (nee Ruckser) (1863-1935) had a vanishingly brief stint in the National League, seeing action in five games in left field for the Boston Beaneaters in May of 1891. He had a grand total of 20 plate appearances with 16 official at bats. He had twice as many walks as hits and ended his tour in the majors with a .125 average. He did score a run, allowing him to approach home plate from an alternate direction. This sketch doesn't do justice to a much longer professional experience for the young Chicagoan who had debuted with the Lincoln Tree Planters of the Western League in 1886 before moving on to the Northwestern League's Oshkosh franchise to finish the season. George remained in the league the following year with the LaCrosse Freezers where he was a regular. He hit .333, higher than any teammate with as many at bats. He showed both power and speed with four home runs and 70 stolen bases. Rooks got a cup of coffee in '88 with his hometown Maroons but got into only eight games before being shipped out to the Lima Lushers of the Tri-State League. 1889 would be the second and last time George played an entire season for one team, this time with the Detroit Wolverines of the International League. He was one of four to play 112 games and he produced a fine .303 average, second on the club among regulars.

  • Following his sojourn in Boston, Rooks finished out his minor league career primarily close to home with clubs in Wisconsin and Michigan, including the intriguing bi-city squad from Ishpeming-Negaunee in 1892
  • George strayed south for his swan song in '93 with Vicksburg of the Mississippi State League
  • Although Baseball Reference data list George as right-handed, the Old Judge poses when he was with the Maroons depict a lefty both at bat and throwing

Auction History

Jumbo Schoeneck

First Base
  • Series: 1880s: Loving Paupers
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: Maroons
  • League: Western Association

Lewis N. Schoeneck (1862-1930) came by his nickname honestly, standing 6'2” and 223 lbs, a true Gargantua in his day. Despite his size and presumed strength, Schoeneck proved better suited to the minors than the big leagues. His decade in pro ball was mostly in those smaller circuits and, apart from his season with the Union Association in which he played for two clubs and saw pitching a decided cut below true major league caliber, his batting average was consistently much higher in the minors. This is, of course, not unique by any means and the big first baseman was able to perform very well for most of the franchises he played for. Thanks to the renegade UA that siphoned off a lot of upper-tier minor league talent to make its attack on National League dominance in 1884, many of its players enjoyed one sunny season hitting well above their pay grade. Jumbo, for example, was in the top ten in the league in many offensive categories, including BA, OBP and Slugging Percentage. Since his only other major league time came four years later with the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the NL, his summer of love with the Pittsburgh Stogies and Baltimore Monumentals (never mentioned in connection with baseball greatness) enabled Schoeneck to “retire” with a career major league batting average of .283. Not a bad accomplishment to tell the grandkids.

  • During his first of two seasons with the Hoosiers in 1888, Jumbo was summoned to relieve in two games. He hurled 4.1 innings, surrendering five hits and four runs without a decision. All of the runs were unearned giving him a phenomenal career ERA
  • Neither of Jumbo's UA clubs performed too badly, but all of the league's other teams were crushed by the St. Louis Maroons who made mincemeat of the competition. The lop-sidedness of the runaway Maroon steamroller played a large part in demoralizing the fans and leading to the league's demise after that storied '84 campaign. St. Louis was a big winner in another, more important way. Their achievement led to the franchise graduating to the NL in 1885 where they became cellar-dwellers

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 404-4

Moxie Hengel

Second Base
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: Maroons
  • League: Western Association

Emery J. Hengel (1857-1924) had brief stints in major league baseball during parts of the 1884 and 1885 seasons. Moxie signed on as an infielder with his hometown's entry in the upstart Union Association, whose Browns sought to compete with the renowned Chicago White Stockings. The experiment failed and, by August, the club had moved to Pittsburgh (as the Stogies) and lasted until September 18. Many of the players went to Baltimore's Monumentals, but Hengel landed in the Twin Cities with the St. Paul Saints (White Caps). That franchise's contribution to the UA amounted to eight games in total, all on the road. Moxie's anemic .152 average might have signaled a quick end to his would-be career, but he got one more chance - this time with the National League's Buffalo Bisons in what would be their final campaign in the majors. That 1885 season saw Hengel teaming with some real stars: first baseman Dan Brouthers, second baseman Davy Force, shortstop Jack Rowe, third baseman Deacon White, outfielder Hardy Richardson and pitcher-manager Pud Galvin were all on hand. Despite all that talent, the Bisons ended the year ahead of only the woeful St. Louis Maroons and were folded into the Detroit Wolverine club the following season. By this time, Moxie had achieved the dubious distinction of having been on the final rosters of four straight failed ball clubs within two years - and Moxie's days in the Show were over. Undeterred, Hengel returned to the minors, playing for the Utica Pent-Ups, Chicago Maroons, Minneapolis Millers and others before closing his pro tenure with the Minneapolis Minnies of the Western League in 1894 at age 36. In '92 Moxie made a stop in Michigan with the Ishpeming-Negaunee Unions of the Wisconsin-Michigan League, a team that, thankfully, never had to recruit a radio broadcaster.

  • Moxie's first major league manager was Ed Hengel. One of three managers for the Chicago Browns in 1884, Ed managed the team to 34 wins and 39 losses. Ed was also born in Chicago and just two years before Moxie. While it's hard to imagine the two were not related, research has not revealed any familial connection.
  • Moxie's batting average for his three big league teams was .180. He hit no home runs but did manage three doubles and two triples in his 35 games
  • Moxie may have been a better leader than ballplayer: He managed the Chicago Maroons in 1888 and the Minneapolis Millers (road games only) in 1889
  • The first release of this card (January, 2017) was likely an error: Hengel was misspelled as "Hengle." This is actually a common mistake for Moxie and it has caused a fair amount of confusion through the years. The Old Judge editors spelled his name "Hengle" and his Wikipedia entry uses the two spellings interchangeably. Deeper research indicates that "Hengel" is the most likely spelling. All subsequent releases of this card will feature the name "Hengel."

Auction History

Jim McCauley

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Chicago
  • Team: Maroons
  • League: Western Association

James Adelbert McCauley (1863-1930) was a catcher for four major league teams in a brief career that spanned three seasons from 1884-1886. This New Yorker came out of Union College in Schenectady to sign with the St Louis Browns in the AA, but appeared in only one game. Most of his time in a sporadic tenure was with the Buffalo Bisons in ’85 and the Trolley Dodgers in ’86 where he ended his ML stint.

  • Career BA of .189 spoke to the brevity of his work in the majors
  • In 30 games for Brooklyn, McCauley had an OBP of .439 showing a good eye with 11 walks
  • Although the Old Judge series features five known poses of Jim McCauley, I could not find one of suitable quality for this project. This image is taken from a cabinet photo produced by the Gehrig Studio in Chicago. The Gehrig Studio cabinet also features a Goodwin copyright stamp for 1888 and it is clear that this photo was taken in the same studio at the same time as McCauley's five known OJ poses. It is therefore plausible that this pose may constitute a sixth as-of-yet undiscovered OJ pose for McCauley.

Auction History