- 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.
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Smiling Tim, Sir Timothy (1857-1933). A dominant pitcher for 5 teams over 14 seasons, Keefe’s 1st season was the last in which pitchers threw from 45′ & his last season was the 1st in which they threw from 60’6″. In an extraordinary career, Keefe won 20+ gms 7x; 30+ gms 6x; 40+ gms 2x; 200+ Ks 6x; 300+ Ks 2x; & posted lowest ERA in history: 0.86 in 1880.
- Won Triple Crown: 1888
- ERA Champ: ’80, ’85, ’88
- 342 career Wins
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1964
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Phillies
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Eppa Rixey, Jr. (1891-1963) was one of the most durable left-handers of all-time. Until 1959 he was the NL’s winningest southpaw. That year, Warren Spahn surpassed Rixey and for the first 60 years of the century, only Walter Johnson and Pete Alexander started more games. The pitcher never played a day in the minors thanks to his University of Virginia coach’s rave reviews. Cy Rigler was a well-regarded umpire when not mentoring college players so his scouting report counted and the Phillies responded, signing him for the 1912 season. The club won a pennant in 1915 but Rixey labored for a mostly sub-par team until traded to the Reds in 1921. Rixey’s debut season with Cincy was stunning, allowing only one HR in 301 innings en route to a league-leading 25 wins. Staying with the Reds through 1933, Rixey’s labors for two lower division franchises meant the losses added up, too. So much so that he owns the dubious record of most losses in a career for a lefty: 251.
- The hard-working, likable southerner lived just long enough to learn of his selection to Cooperstown, exclaiming to his family “I finally made it!”
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1963
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Stockings
- League: National League
William H. Clarke (1865-1911) learned early why the major leaguers get the big bucks: he had uniformly outstanding success on the mound in the minors with an overall 1.81 ERA. Things were always tougher with the big clubs: an ERA of 4.16 and a journeyman record of 44-51 during seven seasons. Dad’s best year came with the Giants in 1895 where he won 18 with a 3.39 ERA. Things must have looked different when he came out of Lorain, OH to the Sandusky Suds in 1887 winning 21 with a rookie ERA of 1.13. Similar results followed in Des Moines and Omaha. Clarke even got to do a turn out west with the San Francisco Haverlys and a short stay with the Jacksonville (IL) Lunatics where it must have maddened him to go 3-3 despite a 0.87 ERA. Always a strong-willed character (the nickname reflected a grizzled visage), Dad sparred and stormed through a long up-and-down career.
- Per SABR, Dad’s innovative “system” of pitching “slants” influenced Big Train Johnson to perfect his own motion
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