- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Bridegrooms
- League: American Association
David Luther Foutz (1856-1897) compiled the 2nd highest winning % of all time (.690) for the St. Louis Browns & Brooklyn Bridegrooms over a 13 year career. A fine batsman, he hit .357 for Brooklyn in ’87 & won 25 games on the mound. Foutz was so highly prized that Browns’ owner Chris Von der Ahe bought the Bay City, MI franchise to get him.
- Was sold to the Bridegrooms in 1888 for $13.5k, then led Brooklyn to pennants in ’89 & ‘90
- Ended his career as player-manager for the Bridegrooms from 1893-1896
- Forced to retire due to ill health, Foutz succumbed to asthma at the age of 40
- Foutz' uniform color in this card was changed from blue to red in March, 2017 to reflect recent reliable research conducted by Craig Brown and friends at Threads of Our Game. Six cards had been previously released featuring a blue uniform.
- 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.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Bridegrooms
- League: American Association
Albert John Bushong (1856-1908). A poor hitter, Doc’s 16 year career and presence on 5 pennant winning teams are evidence of his defensive prowess. Bushong was so highly regarded that he was one of the first baseball players to endorse a product and even had a town in Kansas named for him: Bushong, Kansas: pop. 34.
- 5x pennant winner
- Some sources credit him with the invention of the catcher’s mitt
- Earned the nickname Doc because he was a dentist
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Robins
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Zachariah Davis Wheat (1888-1972) starred in left field for the Brooklyn Superbas/Robins/Dodgers and still holds team bests in hits, doubles, triples, RBI and total bases. Wheat defied the Deadball trend of choking up on the bat, swinging away with a “smashing swipe” according to one reporter. Yet, his stylish fielding drew the most praise (“the finest craftsman of them all.”)
- 5 of his 9 HRs in 1914 were over the fence, rare in that era
- Again defying tradition, used a light (40oz) bat and a wrist-snap unheard of then
- Survived long enough to see the lively ball, hitting .357 at age 37
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1959
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Robins
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Charles Dillon Stengel (1890-1975) played and managed over half a century, seeing the game go from the Dead Ball Era to “Can’t anybody here play this game?” Casey broke in with Brooklyn in 1912, then the Pirates, Phillies, Giants and Braves, compiling a respectable .284 BA with 60 HRs. Stengel won the Giants’ two Series victories in ’23 with home runs. But it was not as a player that Casey entered the Hall of Fame. He managed his way to Cooperstown riding 1905 lifetime wins at the helm of the New York clubs and Boston from ’34-’65. He played for one world-title team and managed 7 more. The venerable and voluble manager became a fount of baseball wisdom and humor, endearing him to generations of fans.
- Only man to wear the uniforms of the 4 NY clubs
- Came out of retirement to helm the hapless Mets through their painful early years, giving the Old Perfessor “new ways to lose I never knew existed before.”
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1966
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