Undecided: I love this image of Pop, but the quality is not great. I am still not sure if I should wrestle with it again or retire the card permanently.
Michael J. Hughes (1866-1931) got 25 of his three-year career total 39 wins for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in his rookie season, 1888. That performance earned Hughes the opening day start for Brooklyn in 1889, but he fell to a lackluster 9-8 record that year. Hughes was traded to the Athletics in 1890, finishing his brief ML tenure going 1-3 in six games.
William Henry Holbert (1855-1935). Holbert was a catcher for 6 teams over 12 seasons and is perhaps best known as the player with the most career at bats without a home run (2,335). While a good defender, Bill was a weak hitter compiling a career BA of .208, with .228 OBP, .232 SLG, and an OPS+ of 47.
Guy Jackson Hecker (1856-1938) went 6 for 6 in one game, hit 3 HRs in another, and won the AA batting title in 1886. He also pitched a no-hitter. His WHIP wasn’t eclipsed until Pedro Martinez edged out his mark in 2000. In ’84 Hecker was the triple-crown winner with 52 wins, 385 SOs and a 1.85 ERA. Small wonder he is regarded as the best pitcher-hitter of the 19th Century.
John Joseph Harkins (1859-1940) came by his nickname “Pa” early in his career but really earned it after his ninth son was born in 1911. Harkins was a pitcher for the Cleveland Blues, Brooklyn Grays and Baltimore Orioles from 1884-88, establishing a so-so record (51-83 with a 4.09 ERA). The stats tell only a small part of Pa’s story. A half century later, his obituaries in hometown New Brunswick, NJ would extol an esteemed citizen, father, coach and, yes, “one of the last surviving big-time baseball players of the Eighties.” He was hailed as half of the “famed battery” with Cleveland: Harkins and Bushong “which thrilled fans in 1884.” Harkins was the first major-leaguer to come out of Rutgers and went on to coach at Yale, Lehigh and Princeton. He mentored the future football legend Amos Alonzo Stagg who remained a lifelong friend. The Blues folded after Pa’s ’84 season and seven players migrated to Brooklyn including catcher Doc Bushong. Harkins was a regular starter for his three years there, got into only one game for the Orioles in ’88 and went into college coaching.
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