- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Detroit
- Team: Wolverines
- League: National League
Charles William Ganzel (1862-1914) was reared in Kalamazoo with nine siblings, part of what would be called the “First Family” of Michigan baseball. Charlie had the longest major league career, 14 seasons, with his best coming with the Wolverines and Beaneaters for whom he served nine years behind the plate. Usually a reliable reserve, Ganzel had to step up when longtime teammate Charlie Bennett lost both legs in a train accident. The duo had moved from Detroit to Boston as part of the then highest-cost foursome sold: $30,000. They had split the duties in 1887 when the Wolverines reached their peak, winning the NL flag and defeating the Browns in the post-season. Charlie’s years in Boston were very productive with three more pennants. A lifetime .259 BA testified to his skill offensively and he was always praised for his defense.
- Brother John saw major-league experience as did son Foster who followed 43 years after Dad’s debut, still the longest gap for father/son major-league debuts
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- League: National League
Wallace Clifton Fessenden (1860-1935) was born in New Hampshire as the clouds of civil war were gathering. At age 28 he umpired in the National League, logging 52 games in 1889 and returning for one game in 1890. At the end of that season, Fessenden left his referee garb on July 2 and stepped in as the interim manager of the American Association's Syracuse Stars three weeks later. The team went 4-7 during his time at the helm. His ace that season was Dan Casey, who although not the real model for Mighty Casey, had the honor of reenacting Thayer's opus at the inauguration of the Hall of Fame in 1939. The best hitter on the Stars was Cupid Childs who hit .345. Wally followed George Kasson Frazier who, with Fessenden, shared the distinction of managing the Stars that year as their only major league managerial experience. Frazier was the team owner and stepped aside as the season wound down toward the dissolution of the club at year's end. The Stars had been an International Association team in 1888 and '89 before their sole MLB season in the AA.
- Fessenden had gained some minor league managerial experience with Lynn of the Massachusetts State Association in 1884 and with Salem of the New England League in 1888
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Pittsburgh
- Team: Alleghenys
- League: National League
James Harding Henderson (1862-1903) could have been nicknamed “Hard-Luck” Henderson instead of Hardie. He is one of only 34 pitchers of the 1870s and 1880s to achieve 200+ decisions. Unfortunately, most were losses (81-121 over his six-year major league career with four teams). Hardie came up with the NL’s Quakers in 1883 and was rudely treated in his debut by the Providence Grays and one Charles Radbourn. Old Hoss made Hardie one of the 48 notches on his belt that year, prepping for the glory of “59 in ‘84." Philadelphia soon shuffled Henderson off to Baltimore where he would achieve ignominy in a number of categories: most losses in ‘85 with 35; most walks in ‘84; most hits, walks and runs surrendered in ‘85; not to mention twice leading the league in wild pitches. Nevertheless, the guy won 81 games in a mere six seasons and compiled a lifetime 3.50 ERA, so the losses couldn’t have all been his fault.
- In a curious bit of morbid irony, the Library of Congress lists Hardie Henderson as a member of the Brooklyn Trolley-Dodgers - for his 1888 Kimball Campions (N184) card - when the team was actually known as the Grays. The borough of Brooklyn wouldn’t be known by that Manhattan put-down until 1895 - the year the team adopted the Trolley-Dodger nickname. Unfortunately for this man who has been posthumously misidentified as a trolley-dodger, Hardie perished under the wheels of a Philadelphia trolley while making his way home from work at a pool hall at the tender age of 40
- Henderson's uniform color in this card was changed from black & red to blue & red in March, 2017 to reflect recent reliable research conducted by Craig Brown and friends at Threads of Our Game. Two cards had been previously released featuring a black uniform.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Boston
- Team: Beaneaters
- League: National League
Richard Butler Conway (1865-1926) earned quite a reputation for toughness in his native Lowell, MA and the New England League. Although his reliance on his off-speed pitches signaled a short career in the majors (in an era when the heater dominated from fifty feet), Conway's overhand fastball clocked Bill McGunnigle, fracturing his skull and ending a playing career for the future National League manager. The reputation may have stemmed less from the beaning than the fact that it was the third straight high hard one that decked Mac at Brockton that summer of 1885.
Conway was signed to his first major league contract with the American Association's Baltimore Orioles in 1886 but was soon returned to the minors. He got a big break after pitching his Portland team to a win in Boston against the Blues who shared the South End Grounds with the Beaneaters, bringing him to the NL's attention. Boston hired him for the '87 campaign. The Globe faulted his reliance on his curve and “using his arm entirely....He fails to get any speed on the ball and much strength is wasted.” Nevertheless, Dick's debut showed promise and the same paper lauded his effective control and all-around play. After going 5-1, the league caught on to him and he finished 9-15.
- Plagued with a sore arm, Conway ended his two-plus years MLB tenure with a 15-24 record and 4.78 ERA
- Dick was part of a “brother battery” with older sibling Bill with the '86 Orioles, among only sixteen such pairings in the majors
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Indianapolis
- Team: Hoosiers (NL)
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Jesse “the Crab” Burkett (1868-1953) was a Hall of Fame outfielder from 1890 to 1905. Following Ed Delahanty, Burkett became the second major leaguer to hit .400 twice (‘95 &’96 for the Cleveland Spiders.) Led the NL with .376 in 1901 while with the St Louis Cardinals.
- Still holds MLB record for inside-the-park HRs with 55
- First West Virginian elected to Hall of Fame
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1946
- Jesse Burkett did not appear in the Old Judge series. This image is taken from a photo that appeared in The Sporting Times in February, 1890. Signed by Indianapolis as a young pitching phenom after the close of the 1889 season, Burkett would never pitch for the Hoosiers as the franchise folded before the 1890 season. Burkett then made his major league debut with the New York Giants in 1890 on a pitching staff that included Amos Rusie and Mickey Welch.
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