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Tom McLaughlin

Shortstop
  • Series: 1880s: Spotted Ties
  • City: New York
  • Team: Metropolitans
  • League: American Association

Thomas McLaughlin (1860-1921) was primarily a shortstop for three American Association franchises beginning with the Louisville Eclipse in 1883 and finishing up with the Washington Statesmen in 1891 following a four-year hiatus from the big leagues. Never much of a hitter, Tom's career lasted as long as it did on the merits of his defensive skills. His swan song with D.C. was his best at the plate where he hit .268 - but in only 50 plate appearances.

McLaughlin's career average was a lowly .192, but his nadir came with the Metropolitans in 1886 when he hit .136 with an OPS+ of 22 (league average is 100). The underwhelming performance pushed McLaughlin back to the minors for four years. He had played much more previously for Louisville and, in his final year with what was by then the Colonels, was in every one of that 112-game campaign of 1885.

McLaughlin's '86 sojourn with the Mets earned him a place in Old Judge's “spotted tie” series that we feature here. All of which proves that lasting fame is not always the result of on-field prowess, but can also be a function of being at the right place at the right time. The same could be said of the entire Metropolitan squad of 1886, which featured ace Jack Lynch going 20-30 while the team's record was 53-82 en route to a 7th place finish where the Mets trailed 38 games behind the dominant St. Louis Browns.

  • Tom's exile to the minors saw him travel from New Jersey (Newark of the International League) to Toronto, St. Paul and, finally, Syracuse to open the '91 season before his call-up to Washington.
  • His personal-best hitting came with the Stars: .280, which led to his final attempt to hit big league pitching

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 316-1

Tom Forster

Second Base
  • Series: 1880s: Spotted Ties
  • City: New York
  • Team: Metropolitans
  • League: American Association

Thomas W. Forster (1859-1946) played infield and outfield for three teams in the 1880s. His major league tenure began with the Detroit Wolverines of the National League in 1882. Tom had begun in pro ball the year before with three teams in the Eastern Championship Association: the New York Qucksteps, the New York New Yorks and the Washington Nationals, who also represented Albany, NY in '81. Following Tom's rookie season he went out to Michigan and played for the East Saginaw club in the Northwestern League. He began there again in 1884 before getting hired by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He got into 35 games for the team that would finish 11th in the American Association. Before the season was out, Tom was shipped back to NY and the Metropolitans. He got into only one game in '84 but saw action the next two years. Unfortunately, Forster couldn't hit in the big leagues. He was .221 in '85 and .195 in '86 with minor league stints interspersed. He ended up out “west” with Milwaukee and Davenport before returning east for final campaigns with the Hartford, CT entry in the Atlantic Association. Tom was player-manager at the end of the 1890 season.

  • Forster's batting average over his four MLB seasons was .197. He had his sole HR with the Metropolitans in 1886

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 167-1

Dave Orr

First Base
  • Series: 1880s: Spotted Ties
  • City: New York
  • Team: Metropolitans
  • League: American Association

David L. Orr (1859-1915). A 1st baseman for 5 teams over 7 major league seasons, Orr was one of the best hitters of the 1880s. Largely forgotten today, Orr may have made a case for the Hall of Fame were it not for a career-ending, paralyzing stroke suffered on the field in 1890. Dave’s .342 lifetime average is 11th all-time & in 4 of 7 seasons, his closest comp is Dan Brouthers.

Brouthers himself believed Orr was the greatest hitter of his time:

"The greatest hitter that ever played ball was old Dave Orr. He didn't care whether they were over the plate or not. If they were within reach of that long bat of his he would hit them out, and when he hit them there was no telling whether they would be found again or not. I have always held that Dave Orr was the strongest and best hitter that ever played ball." - Dan Brouthers, Sporting Life, 1894

  • Won AA batting title: 1884
  • Won AA RBI crown: 1884
  • Lead AA in hits: 1884 & 1886
  • Lead AA in triples: 1885 & 1886

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 360-1

Al Mays

Pitcher
  • Series: 1880s: Spotted Ties
  • City: New York
  • Team: Metropolitans
  • League: American Association

Albert C. Mays (1865-1905) began in professional ball as a pitcher with Oil City of the Iron and Steel Association in 1884. He signed the next season with Louisville of the American Association. As the third-string hurler, Mays went 6-11 for the Colonels. He had a decent ERA of 2.76 for a sixth-place team that struggled to score runs. Mays moved to New York and the Metropolitans in '86 but continued to lose many more than he won. It was so bad in '88 that the woeful Mets (not the last time the Big Apple would bind those two words) were 44-89 with Mays providing 17 of the wins and 34 of the losses. He hurled 441 innings with a 4.73 ERA. Al's 34 defeats were the league record that year as were the 232 earned runs allowed. Thereafter, staying exclusively in the AA, Mays played for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms late in 1888 where he got to contribute to a second-place finish with a 9-9 record. He finished up with the Columbus Solons where he clearly enjoyed better run-support as he was 10-7 in 1889 with a 4.82 ERA before ending his MLB tenure the following season with but one decision, a complete-game loss.

  • Mays was the only native of little Dover, Ohio to play in the big leagues. Sadly, his life ended tragically in a drowning accident at age 39 in Parkersburg, West Virginia

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 299-1

Steve Behel

Outfield
  • Series: 1880s: Spotted Ties
  • City: New York
  • Team: Metropolitans
  • League: American Association

Stephen Arnold Douglas Behel (1860-1945) had a life that spanned a remarkable period, from the eve of the Civil War to nearly the end of  World War II. He only spent a few years out of those nine decades in professional baseball, but he could tell his grandchildren about how he was once a big league player.

Behel saw action in nine games in 1884 for the Milwaukee Brewers of the upstart Union Association, which had poached players from the dominant National League, the American Association and minor league teams. The UA managed to limp through that one season at the pinnacle of the game, though many decry the notion that it was truly a major league. The Brewers only played a dozen games in '84 as a replacement franchise late in the season along with the St. Paul Saints. The Saints never got to play a home game and the Brewers (aka Cream Citys) played only one on the road. Steve went 8 for 33, good for a .242 average which was third on the team.

Behel was a part-timer for the AA's NY Metropolitans in 1886, playing in 59 games, but his average slipped to .205. Primarily a minor leaguer, Behel began with the Fort Wayne Hoosiers of the Northwestern League in 1883 and concluded with Rockford of the Central Interstate League in 1888. His best season was with Eau Claire, where he batted .348 in 1887.

  • The Earlville, IL native played most of his pro ball close to home, but he did get further afield with the Augusta Browns of the Southern League in 1885

Auction History

Cartophilia

Old Judge Pose: 26-1