- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Boston
- Team: Beaneaters
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
John Gibson Clarkson (1861-1909) won 328 games, won the triple crown in 1889 and twice pitched more than 600 innings in a season. In 1885, John appeared in 70 games, threw 68 complete games, 623 innings, won 53, had an ERA of 1.85, a no-hitter, and won the pennant. Apparently having to hurl the sphere a mere fifty feet was a tonic to the arm. But unlike so many pitchers of his era, Clarkson didn’t flame out from such prodigious labor on the mound. From 1885-92 he AVERAGED 36 wins per season and would win 30+ an extraordinary six times. This great career began with the Worcester Ruby Legs in 1882, flowered with Cap Anson’s Sox in ‘84 and fully bloomed in Boston when John followed his ace catcher King Kelly to the Beaneaters in ‘88. League politics that culminated in the Players’ League revolt took a toll on Clarkson’s reputation and sundered his friendship with Kelly as the hurler remained loyal to the Nationals.
- Cleveland acquired John in 1892 allowing him to team with Cy Young. Chief Zimmer, who caught Young for a decade, proclaimed Clarkson the best he ever saw
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1963
- Although the Old Judge series features seven known poses of John Clarkson (all in a Chicago White Stockings uniform), this image is taken from a cabinet photo produced by the Conly Studio in Boston.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Quakers
- League: National League
Clarence Algernon Childs (1867-1912) was not only a fine second-baseman, he was an excellent batsman with a knack for getting on base. He played 13 seasons in the majors for five clubs. His best years were the eight he spent with the Cleveland Spiders where he played alongside Cy Young, Jesse Burkett, Bobby Wallace, Buck Ewing, George Davis and John Clarkson. Never elected to the Hall of Fame, Cupid’s on-base percentage exceeds that of every second-baseman in Cooperstown but Rogers Hornsby and Eddie Collins and his lifetime .306 average is better than a dozen who made it in. The stocky Childs was dubbed “the dumpling” by a Grand Rapids reporter describing his tryout with Kalamazoo in 1888. Yet, the article said Cupid could cover more ground than most. His arrival in Cleveland resulted from a favorable ruling in a nationally publicized case when the Orioles tried to hold him to a contract ruled null. Childs fit in well with Patsy Tebeau’s “hooligans” through the 1890s.
- Ranks 24th all-time in OBP (.416), just behind Stan Musial
- Had a great eye at the plate, striking out only once every 26 at bats
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: St. Louis
- Team: Browns (AA)
- League: American Association
Elton P. Chamberlain (1867-1929) was a right-hander for 6 teams over 10 ML seasons, including at least one game he finished as a southpaw. A study in perseverance, the icy-calm Chamberlain doggedly refused to give in to Boston’s Bobby Lowe on May 30, 1894, eventually surrendering 4 HRs to a batter for the first time in history. Lowe added a single to keep Ice Box in the record books for most total bases to a batter in one game. In 1888-89 he went 25-11 and 32-15 for the Browns.
- Led the American Association with six shut-outs in 1890 for the Columbus Solons
- Completed 264 of his 301 career starts and ranks 64th all time in that statistic
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Quakers
- League: National League
Daniel Maurice Casey (1862-1943) was dubbed by Time “the Mudville Man” and helped inaugurate the Hall of Fame in 1939 with a stirring re-enactment of Casey at the Bat. Whether he was Ernest Thayer’s model or not, Casey was a fine pitcher for the Philadelphia Quakers, leading the NL in ERA in 1887. He pitched 7 years for 4 teams, won 96 games with two 20+ seasons.
- Became a candidate for THAT Casey by striking out, breaking Quakers fans’ hearts 8/21/87
- The week prior, Casey had won the game with his only career HR, inspiring the fans’ hopes
- In ’87 he won 28 of the 45 games he started, with a 2.86 ERA in 390 innings
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Bridegrooms
- League: American Association
Robert Lee Caruthers (1864-1911) was a star pitcher, primarily for the Browns and Bridegrooms, leading his teams to five pennants in his 10-year career. Caruthers had the distinction of helping Brooklyn capture titles in consecutive seasons in two leagues: the AA in ’89 and the NL in ’90. One of the hardest working players of his day, Caruthers pitched in 340 games and played outfield in 366 as well as filling in occasionally at first and second. In 1886 while winning 30 games for St Louis, Caruthers had a league high .448 on base percentage, a pattern of plate and mound prowess that characterized this versatile dynamo.
- Caruthers won 40 for the Bridegrooms in ’89 and 23 the next year in the Senior Circuit
- Only Whitey Ford (barely) edged Caruthers in winning percentage for those with 200+ games
- No player who spent most of his career in the AA has made the Hall of Fame
- Caruthers' uniform color on this card was changed in January, 2017 from blue to red to reflect recent reliable research by Craig Brown & friends at Threads of Our Game. Nine cards had been previously released featuring a blue uniform.
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