- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Stockings
- League: National League
Frank Sylvester Flint (1855-1892) broke into MLB as a 19-year-old catcher for the St Louis Red Stockings of the NAPBBP in 1875. He spent the ’78 season with the Indianapolis Blues during their only year in the NL and then caught on with the Chicago White Stockings for 11 years. Twice Flint led the league in fielding % and was near the top in four other seasons. He routinely ranked among the leading catchers in games played, put-outs, assists and range. A heavy drinker, “Silver” died just a few years following his retirement at age 36.
- Flint led the NL in games caught four times
- Partly due to his longevity, this hard-working backstop is still third all-time in errors with 456
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Stockings
- League: National League
Charles Andrew Farrell (1866-1925) was a much-beloved and highly touted catcher for 18 years. He played three years for Boston (AL), all pennant-winning clubs. Returning to Boston after a ten year absence, the Royal Rooters gave him a diamond ring on opening day. When the club played next in D.C., the Senators fans gave him “the greatest ovation a visiting player ever received on a Washington ball field.” And there was much to love: 1563 games, 1564 hits, 912 RBI. And Duke set a record that still stands, throwing out 8 of 9 attempted steals on May 11, 1897. Farrell earned praise at every stop in his nine-team career, with multiple stints with several of the clubs.
- Was reputed to have earned his nickname by consuming 380 clams
- After helping the Sox to the first world title in 1903, per Tim Murnane, Boston writer: “…Farrell is the greatest catcher the game has produced”
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: Maroons
- League: Western Association
John Francis Dwyer (1868-1943) served MLB as player, manager and umpire. He won 176 games, led the NL in saves in 1893, piloted the ’02 Tigers and officiated Cy Young’s perfect game on May 5, 1904. The Massachusetts native was college-trained when he began his big league career in 1888 with Chicago’s White Stockings. Over his twelve year playing span, the right-hander completed 270 of his 318 starts. Dwyer’s hitting was good enough that he played four other positions, hit five HRs and compiled a .229 BA.
- Dwyer won over 15 games in nine of his twelve years including two 20+ seasons
- Dwyer was the workhorse on Kelly’s Killers (aka Cincinnati Porkers) during their 1891 AA season-still perhaps the rowdiest bunch in a wild era when franchises and whole leagues were forming and folding with abandon. Player-manager Mike “King” Kelly and owner Chris von der Ahe shared the conviction that beer and baseball were made for each other. That Dwyer could win 13 games under their leadership is a tribute to his athletic prowess.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: Maroons
- League: Western Association
Daniel Edward Dugdale (1864-1934) had a brief exposure to major league baseball but carried the game’s torch to Seattle where he dominated the Pacific Northwest sports scene for 36 years until his sudden death crossing the street in front of a truck the night before his annual banquet celebrating the game. Big “Dug” had been a savvy catcher for the KC Cowboys and Washington Senators before migrating west seeking Klondike gold. He settled in Seattle where his devotion to baseball and his entrepreneurial instincts melded into a different kind of gold. He founded and managed teams, he built the first double-deck stadium on the coast, he was a warrior fending off the Pacific Coast League invaders from California. At last, he settled for being a legend in Rainier’s shadow, extolled at the banquet he missed as the Northwest’s “greatest individual figure in the national game.”
- When he decided to stop being the backup to Deacon McGuire in D.C., Dug went home to Peoria and founded the Distillers in what was then the world’s spirits capital
- Dugdale Park endured for decades until it perished two years before its owner, victim to a serial arsonist with an oil drum in the heart of the all-wood structure
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Stockings
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Hugh Duffy (1866-1954) is as much a baseball institution as the Hall of Fame that enshrines him. For 68 years he devoted himself to the game he loved and excelled at as few ever have. In 1894 he set the all-time mark with a .440 average while winning the triple crown. He made HOF pitchers look like batting practice coaches: .586 against John Clarkson, .650 vs Cy Young. Amos Rusie was the exception, holding Duffy to a mere .333. So diminutive Cap Anson nearly dismissed him (“We already have a bat boy”), Hugh hustled his way to becoming the only player to hit .300 in four leagues and let the power follow his form (“hit ‘em up the middle”) winning two HR titles. Duffy went on to coach, manage, scout and mentor for a half-century after hanging up his spikes. He was still hitting fungoes eight years after his induction into Cooperstown and delighted in pupil Ted Williams’ success as he sought in vain to eclipse Duffy’s record in 1941.
- Playing career spanned 19 years, primarily in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia
- Played center field for the Beaneaters next to his “Heavenly Twin,” Tommy McCarthy in right, leading Boston to a pair of pennants
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1945
- Although the Old Judge series features five known poses of Hugh Duffy, I could not find one of suitable quality for this project. This image is taken from a cabinet photo produced by the Elmer Chickering Studio in Boston.
- Update, 4/26/2017: I found a suitable image for Duffy from the original Old Judge series. This card has been replaced and retired and is now considered an outtake.
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