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Charlie Ferguson

Pitcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Quakers
  • League: National League

Charles J. Ferguson (1863-1888) was considered by future Hall of Famer Wilbert Robinson to be the 5th best player of all-time when Ferguson succumbed to typhoid fever at age 25. Primarily a pitcher for the Quakers over four seasons, the right-hander also handled the outfield and second-base. He won at least 21 games each year and was lights-out in 1886, winning 30 with a 1.98 ERA (2nd in the league). Playing more outfield the next year, Ferguson not only won 22 but drove in 85 with a .327 average. The youngster was stricken before the ’88 season and never recovered.

  • Hurled a no-hitter against the Providence Grays on Aug 29, 1885
  • In tribute to this young warrior, the Quakers and three other NL teams wore black crepe for the entire 1888 season
  • Decades later, W.B. Hanna dubbed him “the game’s best all around player”
  • Robinson ranked Ferguson 5th all time after Cobb, Keeler, Ruth and Wagner

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Sid Farrar

First Base
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Quakers
  • League: National League

Sidney Douglas Farrar (1859-1935) played his entire ML career in Philadelphia for the Quakers (Phillies) and Athletics. Farrar averaged .246 over his eight years. He started at 1B every year. As a rookie in 1883, he endured the fledgling franchise’s inaugural season with a NL-worst record of 17-81. He moved to the ill-starred Players’ League in 1890 and retired after the league folded.

  • A devoted father, Farrar and his teammates scrimped to pay for his daughter Geraldine’s music education
  • Geraldine went on to a world-renowned opera career, touring with Toscanini and Caruso

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Ed Delahanty

Outfield
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Quakers
  • League: National League
  • Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame

Edward James Delahanty (1867-1903) died in the icy waters of the Niagara River while still in his baseball prime. He was hitting .333 for the Senators that July of 1903, well below his days with the Phillies, but still a force to be reckoned with after a 16-year career in left field. Through the 1890s no hitter dominated as did Big Ed. With Sam Thompson and Billy Hamilton he formed an outfield-for-the-ages, each hitting .400+ in 1894. He struggled during his early years until, driven to excel, Ed transformed himself at the plate. Personal achievement had not brought a pennant, however, and Delahanty experienced the frustrations of the reserve system in his pursuit of the pay he felt was his due. As with so many players of that day, Ed turned to the bottle and was given to outbursts such as the one that got him ejected from the train the night he died. His tragic end came amid one of the great careers in baseball history.

  • Only player to win batting titles in both AL & NL
  • First to hit .400 three times
  • Fifth all-time in career batting average (.346)
  • 2nd player to hit 4 HRs in a game
  • Elected to Hall of Fame: 1945

  • Ed's uniform color on this card was changed in March, 2017 from black & red to blue & red to reflect recent reliable research by Craig Brown & friends at Threads of Our Game. Nine cards had been previously released featuring a black uniform.

Auction History

Harry Decker

Catcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Quakers
  • League: National League

Earle Harry Decker (1864-?) was a catcher for six teams over four seasons in the majors. He came into pro ball at an opportune time for a young man. 1884 saw the arrival of the short-lived Union Association whose entry into the “big leagues” allowed many minor league and marginal players a chance at the elite level, if only briefly. Harry was nothing if not opportunistic. He was clever enough to patent a thumbless catcher’s mitt (“The Decker Safety Catcher’s Mitt”) and cunning enough to pursue a criminal career that landed him in San Quentin prison under the name Earl Henry Davenport. Harry led a long life of crime, using multiple aliases, which has prevented baseball historians from tracking his life after baseball. He did show up in a team photo of the San Quentin squad and a reporter recalled him from his Keokuk days as a good defensive catcher. A versatile fielder, Decker played most positions but was a weak hitter, resulting in short stints in the majors followed by return to the minors (five teams in the US and Canada.)

  • Harry’s most productive season was his last, with Pittsburgh, in 1890. He hit .274 in 92 games

Auction History

Ed Daily

Pitcher
  • Series: Beginnings: 1880's
  • City: Philadelphia
  • Team: Quakers
  • League: National League

Edward M. Daily (1862-1891) broke in with a bang for the Quakers in 1885, winning 26 games, 5th in the NL. He played mostly in the outfield for a few years and teams before returning to the mound in 1890 as the “star” pitcher for the Brooklyn Gladiators’ only year in the AA, going 10-15 for the last place club. With Ward’s Wonders of the Players’ League and the NL’s Bridegrooms, Daily was part of a three-team Brooklyn entry that one year.

  • Got to play in the “world series” in 1890 for Louisville, Daily’s third team that frantic year
  • Died following his stint with the Washington Statesmen in their final year in the AA

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