- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Stockings
- League: National League
Marcus Elmore Baldwin (1863-1929) had a career that mirrored the stormy times in which he pitched. In his seven years with five clubs, Baldwin managed to get on the good and bad sides of some of the most notable figures in early baseball. He warred with Chris von der Ahe, including time in the slammer and charges of kidnapping. He practically put the “pirate” in the Pittsburgh Pirates by poaching inter-league players. He was the mound mainstay for Al Spalding’s world tour, only to return to lawsuits and acrimony as Spalding accused him of rowdiness beyond the bounds of a dissolute era. His debut was aborted as Cap Anson tried to insert him into the series with the Browns only to be expelled by the officials. Such was the checkered path that proved preparation for a long medical career in Pittsburgh.
- Baldwin was regarded as the flamethrower of his era. Catcher Jack O’Connor, who also caught Cy Young, said Baldwin was “the fastest pitcher I ever caught.”
- His fastball was all the more intimidating given Baldwin’s wildness, often walking as many as he fanned.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Detroit
- Team: Wolverines
- League: National League
Charles B. Baldwin (1859-1937) got his first taste of "big league” ball with the Cream Citys (Milwaukee Brewers) when that Northeastern League franchise briefly joined the Union Association in 1884. For five more years with the Detroit Wolverines, Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Buffalo Bisons of the renegade Players’ League, Lady’s left arm would win 73 games with a 2.85 ERA and 582 Ks. His stellar season of 1886 saw him lead the NL with a 42-13 record including 55 complete games and a league-best 323 strikeouts. His 42 wins still place him 2nd all-time among southpaws. Baldwin followed that annus mirabilis with an injury plagued season in 1887, but still managed to pitch five complete games (winning four) to lead Detroit over the St. Louis Browns in the inaugural Dauvray Cup series.
- Baldwin’s nickname derived from his abstemious ways and a refined manner uncharacteristic of 1880s baseball
- It is said that Baldwin was the first lefty to master the curve
- Matt Kilroy is the only left-hander to win more in a single season with 46 in 1887
- Of Baldwin, Hall of Famer Ned Hanlon said, "I will not hesitate in saying that 'Lady' Baldwin was the best left-handed pitcher of his day and one of the best that ever stood in the box. He had wonderful command, speed and curves, and knew how to work the batters." - Sporting Life, September 11, 1897
- Although the Old Judge series features five known poses of Lady Baldwin, I could not find one of suitable quality for this project. This photo was taken during the Tomlinson Studio photoshoot of 1886 in Detroit and is not known to exist in the Old Judge series.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: St. Paul
- Team: Apostles
- League: Western Association
Warner Samuel Anderson (1866-1941) was a right-handed pitcher who played part of 4 seasons with the Indianapolis Hoosiers & Washington Senators. Primarily a minor leaguer, Varney began his professional career with the Milwaukee Cream Cities of the Northwestern League in 1887 and his debut was promising: starting 40 games & going 24-15 with a 2.94 ERA. By ’89 the Hoosiers gave him a try but the 23-year-old got into only two games. Five years later, he got another opportunity with the Senators where he pitched substantially in only the 1895 season, hurling 204 innings with a 9-16 record. His other significant year was 1897 with the Rockford Forest Citys of the WA, where he won 17 & lost 9. When he played, he hit. His two strong seasons with Milwaukee & Rockford he hit .295 and .324 respectively, and in ’95 batted .289 against ML competition. For unknown reasons, he was only a spot-starter for most of his career.
- Varney pitched for one final club – Rock Island in 1898 – starting and winning his only game. He also went 1 for 3 at the plate
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- Old Judge Pose: 7-5
- Buchner Canvas: Nick Nicholl
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
Howard Ellsworth “Smoky Joe” Wood (1889-1985) was honored at age 95 with a doctorate from Yale, the institution for whom he coached for 20 years following his ML career. In 1912 for the Red Sox, Wood joined an elite list of 30-game winners, going 34-5. In one of the most dramatic duels ever, Wood defeated Walter Johnson 1-0, himself fresh off a 16-game win streak, gaining his 14th straight and would go on to tie Johnson’s AL record string. Wood then climaxed his phenomenal year by leading the Sox over McGraw’s Giants in a Series for the ages at brand-new Fenway Park.
- A broken thumb in ’13 left Wood impaired, but he went on to a fine OF role for the Indians
- Said Walter Johnson: “No man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood.”
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Sox
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Edward Augustine Walsh (1881-1959) still holds the ML record for ERA with 1.82 lifetime and hurled himself into the Hall of Fame as one of the most dominant and durable pitchers of the early 20th century. He needed a year off in 1913 but felt the White Sox needed him more. He ruined his arm and effectively ended his career demanding more of that right arm than it could give after 195 wins and 1,736 SOs.
- Reputed to have guided the owner’s architect into shaping the AL park to Walsh’s liking, making Comiskey Park a “pitcher’s park” for 80 years
- Earned “workhorse” status with an average of 395 innings per season 1907-1912
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1946
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