- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
William M. Brown (1866-1897) was a catcher & infielder for 7 seasons with 5 clubs, including stints with NY’s Giants in both their National League and Players’ League incarnations. He began in New York in 1887, left for the Phillies in ’91, was out a year before catching on with the Orioles. His final year in the majors was with two teams: the Louisville Colonels & St. Louis Browns in 1894. This native San Franciscan was exotic enough to be nicknamed for his State in an era dominated by eastern teams and players. Chronic lung problems limited his play. He sought milder climes in the west & Hawaii to no avail, succumbing to the disease at age 32. He is buried in the necropolis “City of Souls” in Colma, CA, near his hometown.
- Brown’s finest year was 1893 with the Colonels, batting .304 with 140 hits and 85 RBI
- His 50 walks that year gave him an OBP of .373
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Detroit
- Team: Wolverines
- League: National League
Dennis Joseph Brouthers (1858-1932) was one of the truly great hitters of the 19th century. Dan (pronounced BROOTHERS) played for ten teams over 19 seasons. He led the NL in OBP five times; SLG% seven times; H & 2B three times; Rs, HRs, & RBI twice. The 19-year old Brouthers vowed to quit the game when Johnny Quigley, a catcher for Harlem in 1877, died a month after a horrific home plate collision with Big Dan. He relented after the shock subsided & went on to the most prolific career of his era.
- One of only 29 to play in four decades
- .342 BA is 9th all-time; .423 OBP is 15th
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1945
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
Master William Breslin was one in a line of NY Giants’ mascots in the 1880s, primarily due to HOF catcher Buck Ewing’s love of “hoodoos.” Superstition is still alive and well in baseball and goes back to its roots. In the old days it wasn’t rally monkeys, tomahawks or Phanatics–it was young boys recruited from the mean streets by ball players desperate for an edge. Lads such as “masters” Bretsie and Preston prowled the NY dugout in 1886, preceded by an unknown “colored boy” that year. Any charm could do, though. Ewing seized variously on a yellow mutt, a ring-tailed monkey named “Mose,” and a toy barking dog. But no mascot seems to have gained the popularity and fame of Willie Breslin.
One of Buck’s proteges was Fred Boldt, a Chicago waif the team picked up on the road. Back in NY, young Fred ran up an account at a diner near the Polo Grounds and absconded with Cannonball Titcomb’s shoes.
- The Breslin Old Judge cards have become highly prized
- Sadly, biographical data for Willie and his cohorts is lacking. We trust he turned out better than young Boldt
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Indianapolis
- Team: Hoosiers (NL)
- League: National League
Henry J. Boyle (1860-1932) was known to his adoring fans as “Handsome Henry” during his ML career with the St. Louis Maroons & Indianapolis Hoosiers from 1884-89. His managers may have focused more on his mediocre performance than his comely appearance. The sturdy right-hander compiled an 89-111 record on the mound over his six seasons with a respectable lifetime 3.06 ERA. In an 1886 New York World article titled “How Men Pitch Base-Ball” it was noted that Boyle “depends chiefly upon the effectiveness of the ‘up-in-shoot’ and the terrific speed with which he drives in the straight pitch.” In an 1884 contest with the Washington club, Boyle was the center of controversy as the game was forfeited to the Maroons after losing the argument that Boyle’s foul ball was now too lopsided to be used.
- Boyle’s last season in St. Louis was the team’s finale as well. He was the NL ERA champ that year for the hapless Maroons with a sterling 1.76 ERA and a dismal 9-15 record
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: Maroons
- League: Western Association
Charles Boyd is another of the Old Judge mystery men. He appears in the 1888 card series in three poses in the uniform of the Chicago Maroons of the Western Association. He is right-handed and identified as a first-baseman. Miller, Gonsowski and Masson, in their Old Judge compendium, relate a reference from the Feb 18, 1888 Sporting News reporting the signing of Charles, of Sheffield IL, by the Maroons. A March 31 article predicted this fleet-footed (“he can beat Billy Sunday”) slugger would join the club by April 15. We find no record of Boyd making the Maroons or any other minor league team. There is a cryptic reference to a “Boyd” on the roster of the Danville, IL Browns in 1888 but there is nothing else to identify that player.
- The Old Baseball Cards website lists the Boyd card as depicting “Jake” Boyd while the Goodwin editors have him as “Charles” with the Sporting News items as support
- As ever with these “ghosts” from the early decades of the game, Ars Longa welcomes any leads on identifying Mr. Boyd
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