- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Quakers
- League: National League
John Clements (1864-1941) was known best for being a left-handed catcher and, by far, the most durable and enduring southpaw ever to play the position in the majors. Jack caught four times as many games (1,073) as any other port-sider in history and was the last to catch regularly in the major leagues. Jack played 17 seasons and is credited as the first receiver to wear a chest protector. His .394 BA in 1895 is highest ever at his position and he was among the top four in batting average three times. He was also the first big leaguer to catch 1,000 games. Clements’ power was such that, upon retirement, he was the all-time leader for catchers in single-season and career home runs. Jack came up with the Union Association’s Philadelphia Keystones in that league’s sole season, 1884. When the team folded in August, Jack became the backstop for the National League’s Quakers (Phillies) franchise for 14 seasons before playing out his MLB career with three other teams.
- Jack had trouble laying down the tools. In 1900, following his final year in the NL, he played for the only minor league squad of his long career, a dozen games with the Providence Clamdiggers. He hit .295
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