- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Quakers
- League: National League
Alexander Bennett Sanders (1865-1930) pitched for the Quakers, Athletics and Colonels over a 5 year career. His odd delivery left him facing 2nd base and vulnerable to the bunt. Nevertheless, Sanders went 80-70 with a 3.24 ERA. Perhaps his fielding limitations led to his yielding 2 runs despite hurling a no-hitter against the Orioles on 8/22/92 — the 1st no-no where the loser scored.
- Sanders joined the ill-fated Player’s League with Philadelphia in 1890
- As a rookie, nearly achieved a 2nd no-hitter, giving up a one-out single in the 9th
- 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: 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
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: Players' League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Henry Francis O’Day (1859-1935). O’Day was a pitcher & occasional position player over 7 ML seasons for 5 teams. Hank then umpired for 30 years, interrupting his tenure twice: to manage the Cincinnati Reds in 1912 and the Chicago Cubs in 1914.
- Member of ’89 Champion Giants
- Umpired 10 World Series
- Officiated Merkle’s Boner
- Called 4 no-hitters in 4 decades
- Only person to play, manage & umpire in NL
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 2013
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Omaha
- Team: Omahogs
- League: Western Association
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Charles Augustus Nichols (1869-1953). A right-handed, switch-hitting pitcher, Nichols played 15 major league seasons for 3 different clubs. Nichols had 11 seasons with 20 Wins or more, 10 consecutively, 7 of which exceeded 30. He quit MLB for 2 years to own & pitch for a minor league team, with whom he won another 48 games.
- Youngest to 300 Wins (30 years)
- 5x NL pennant winner
- His 361 Wins ranks 7th all-time
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1949
- Nichols' uniform color on this card was changed in September, 2017, from red-striped to blue-striped to reflect recent reliable research by Craig Brown & friends at Threads of Our Game. Seven cards were previously released featuring a red-striped uniform.
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