- 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: Louisville
- Team: Colonels
- League: American Association
John Ewing (1863-1895) had three early cups of coffee, playing 1 game in 1883 for the St Louis Browns, 1 game in ‘84 for the “Outlaw Reds” of the Union Association, and 1 game also in ’84 for the Washington Nationals of the UA. In that game, Long John had a triple and scored– the full extent of his offense until returning to MLB four years later. Ewing finally caught on as a pitcher in 1888 with the Louisville Colonels, playing there for 2 seasons before ending his career with the 1890 Giants of the Players’ League and their NL club in ’91 where he went out with a bang, earning the NL’s ERA title with 2.27. In all, Ewing played for six ML teams in four leagues during his brief career.
- Ewing’s brother Buck went on to a Hall of Fame career as infielder/manager
- The brothers were teammates for two seasons and John played under Buck as manager in ‘90
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Louisville
- Team: Colonels
- League: American Association
Philip Sydney Ehret (1868-1940) made his major league debut while still only 19, in July 1888. A pitcher for six big league teams over 11 seasons through 1898, Red broke in with the Kansas City Cowboys and closed his tenure with his hometown Louisville Colonels. Overall, he achieved a 139-167 record with a 4.02 ERA. Young Ehret had a great year in 1890, winning 25 games for the Colonels with the second-best ERA in the American Association at 2.53. Only 29 when his major league career closed, Ehret returned to the minors for another six years finishing up in the Southern Association with the Memphis Egyptians for three seasons and, finally, with the Montgomery Senators in 1906 where he pitched only five innings.
- Pitched three games, winning two, in the 1890 post-season series which ended in a tie with Brooklyn, 3-3-1 after weather curtailed a planned nine-game event
- Led the NL in shutouts in 1893 with four
- Red was part of what became the longest streak of a team starting a different opening-day pitcher, 13 straight years in Cincinnati from 1892-1904, a record still unmatched. He was sixth in the skein
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: St. Louis
- Team: Browns (AA)
- League: American Association
Charles Edward Duffee (1866-1894) was an outfielder for four clubs from 1889 through 1893, beginning with the St Louis Browns for two seasons, then playing during one year each for the Columbus Solons, Washington Senators and Cincinnati Reds. That last assignment was very short-lived, as Duffee played only four games in April, 1893.
- Duffee’s career BA was .267 with 35 HRs and 33 triples
- “Home Run” Duffee hit 16 in his rookie season, third in the AA
- Duffee’s career was cut short by ill health, and he died of “consumption” Christmas Eve, 1894
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Kansas City
- Team: Cowboys
- League: American Association
James J. Davis (1861-1921) played 3rd base during 7 seasons for 6 major league teams (twice with Kansas City in different incarnations). He broke in with KC’s Cowboys of the Union Association in 1884 and later played for their American Association contingent in ’88-89. He also played for the Gladiators, Brooklyn’s Players’ League entry in 1890, finishing his time in the big leagues for the Washington Statesmen during their final year in the AA, 1891. “Jumbo” was a sturdy 5’11” and 195 lbs, hardly a giant but he must have impressed with his strength, leading the league in triples in ‘87 and generally hitting for a respectable average. His career BA was .272 with 468 hits in 453 games. The native New Yorker had begun minor league ball in 1883 with the Quincy, IL, Quincies in the Northwestern League (when Indiana, Illinois and Michigan were considered the “northwest”).
- In 1888, Davis saved a girl from drowning at the Coney Island shore while the Cowboys were on a road trip to NY
- Following his final game in D.C. “Big Jim” umpired some AA contests in 1891
- Also played for the Orioles and Browns, finding his post-retirement home in St. Louis
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