- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Stockings
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Albert Goodwill Spalding (1850-1915) was an elite pitcher who retired at age 27 and proceeded to influence the game as few others have. He helped organize the NL, co-founded A.G. Spalding sporting goods, published the game’s first official rules, traveled the world to promote baseball, owned the White Stockings and led an Olympics, leaving one of the great legacies in sport.
- Was a five-time pennant winner with the Boston Red Stockings and Chicago White Stockings
- Career 252-65 record with a .796 winning percentage
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1939
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Boston
- Team: Beaneaters
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Frank Gibson Selee (1859-1909) was on the way to becoming the greatest baseball manager of all time when tuberculosis drove him out of the game he had mastered. For sixteen years, 1890-1905, Selee molded teams that found ways to win. He placed players on the field like a chess grandmaster, using their talents in ways they didn’t even recognize in themselves. He treated his players fairly and as men, not cogs in a machine. And they responded to him, setting records for games won. Frank’s Beaneaters won five titles. He went out to Chicago and rebuilt a floundering squad, recruiting the likes of Mordecai Brown and carefully putting together the pieces of a legendary infield. Illness forced him to pass the baton to Frank Chance, but it is clear that Chicago’s four pennants were a testament to Selee’s managerial acumen.
- Frank’s genius was in organizing men to get the best results from them. His players hit for power unlike any until the Babe’s Yankees yet also innovated many of the finesse plays: hit and run, hitting behind the runner, double-plays
- A dozen of Selee’s charges would precede him into Cooperstown
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1999
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
“The Hoosier Thunderbolt” (1871-1942). In a 10 year career: (8) 20-win & (4) 30-win seasons; 5x strikeout & 2x ERA leader; won pitching’s Triple Crown in 1894. Rusie threw hard for the era, once hitting HOFer Hughie Jennings in the head, inducing a 4-day coma. This event was influential in increasing the pitching distance to 60’6″ from its original 50 feet.
- Once was traded for Christy Mathewson
- Suffered hearing loss due to line drive to the head
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1977
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Athletics (AA)
- League: American Association
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Uncle Robbie (1863-1934). A durable catcher for 17 seasons with 3 teams, Robinson is credited as the 1st to play directly behind the plate at all times. Uncle Robbie once caught 5 games in two days. He also had 7 hits & 11 RBI in a single game. After his playing days were over, Robinson went on to manage for 18 seasons.
- Won 3 NL pennants as player
- Won 2 NL pennants as manager
- Won 5 NL pennants as pitching coach
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1945
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Providence
- Team: Grays (NL)
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Charles Gardner Radbourn (1854-1897). An elite pitcher for 5 teams over 12 seasons, Radbourn owns the single-season Wins record with either 59 or 60 (sources vary) in 1884 – the year in which he became baseball’s 2nd triple Crown winner with 441 Ks & a 1.38 ERA. In 1884, Radbourn started 40 of his team’s last 43 games and won 36 of them. In the 1884 World Series, Radbourn started and won all three games, giving up only 3 runs. Including the postseason, Old Hoss won 62-63 games in 1884 and threw over 700 innings.
- NL Triple Crown: 1884
- NL Wins champ: 1883, 1884
- 309 career Wins
- Pitched no-hitter: 1883
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1939
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