- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Chicago
- Team: American Giants
- League: Independent
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
John Lloyd (1884-1964) was one of the best shortstops in baseball history. Called by whites the “Black Wagner,” Honus himself deemed that association with Lloyd an honor. Lloyd was a pillar of black baseball with a lifetime Negro League BA of .343. He also spent 12 seasons in the Cuban League, batting .329.
- Babe Ruth called Lloyd the best baseball player ever
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1977
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: New York
- Team: Yankees
- League: American League
Roger Thorpe Peckinpaugh (1891-1977) caught the eye of Nap Lajoie who signed the 19-year old to a pro contract in 1911 with Cleveland. The Naps quickly regretted sending the budding star to the Yankees in 1913, where Roger immediately impressed with his defensive skills at short (best arm of his era) and leadership qualities. Frank Chance made him captain the following year and, upon Chance’s resignation late in the season, Peckinpaugh became the youngest manager in MLB history. NY hired another to manage in ‘15, but Roger would remain captain his entire tenure with the Yankees, which culminated in a World Series appearance in 1921. That proved a fateful Fall Classic for the veteran shortstop. He set a record with nine assists in one game, but his failure to corral a first-inning grounder in the deciding game allowed the only run to score. Peckinpaugh would be traded to Boston that offseason. Far from through, Roger would win a Series with the Senators in ‘24 and then play the goat once more as Washington dropped the 1925 Series. He was honored that year as the first SS named MVP. The League Awards had replaced the Chalmers Award in 1922.
- Became Cleveland’s manager in 1927, returned in ‘41 and later stepped up to GM
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Stockings
- League: National League
William T. Hanrahan, nicknamed “Red,” played minor league ball from 1885 through 1898, primarily in the Western Association and the Eastern League. He began with Albany of the New York State League but moved west to Chicago in 1888, presumably to make his bid to play major league baseball in the National League.
The shortstop was photographed by Old Judge that year in a Chicago White Stockings uniform. However, Red never played for the team and is identified by Goodwin instead as a member of the Chicago Maroons in 1888 and the Minneapolis Millers in 1889. This makes Red one of a handful of Old Judge subjects who was lucky enough to be on a major league roster the day the Goodwin photographers showed up, but unlucky enough to be removed from the roster without ever having played a game for that or any other major league team. So close, Red! So close.
Red was a regular with both the Maroons and Millers, playing in over a hundred games for both clubs. The sketchy minor league stats don’t record every campaign, but he seems to have generally batted under .300, faring better in the 1890s when he returned east. He hit .307 with Albany in ‘93 and .306 with Rochester in ‘96. By then his plate appearances were in decline, getting into only 16 games with the Browns. Red’s final season brought his pro ball career full-circle as he wrapped it up with the Johnstown/Palmyra Mormans (aka Johnnies) of a newly reconstituted NY State League in 1898, which now included Pennsylvania teams.
- The Maroons and Millers were led by manager Moxie Hengel, the only two seasons he managed in pro ball. With Minneapolis, Moxie shared managerial duties with Sam Morton. It is said the two had a strange method, Hengel piloting the road games and Morton serving as the home field boss
- As a rule of thumb in the 1880s series, I always designate a player’s team as that for which he is uniformed in the photograph, even if he never played for the team.
- Series: 1880s: Spotted Ties
- City: New York
- Team: Metropolitans
- League: American Association
John W. Nelson (1849-1910) has a resumé reading like a history of baseball in New York: Brooklyn Eckfords (1867-69, '72) NY Mutuals ('70,) Troy Haymakers/Trojans ('72, '79,) NY Metropolitans ('83-87,) NY Giants ('87) and the Brooklyn Gladiators (1890). Candy got out of the Big Apple occasionally, playing for the Indianapolis Blues in '78 and the Worcester Ruby Legs in '81, but otherwise this native of Portland, ME was a fixture in and around the city that never sleeps.
Candy was a right-hander who batted left and was primarily a shortstop for nine franchises in three leagues over a career that saw him become the oldest player in the American Association at age 41 with the Gladiators. That finale came in a season when three major league teams graced the pastures of Brooklyn: the NL's Bridegrooms, the Players' League Ward's Wonders and Nelson's squad. He was not the only team member to hang 'em up after the 1890 campaign. Only three Gladiators continued to play professionally and none of them after July of '91. Candy was the best hitter (and only one to hit over .300) on the '83 Metropolitans as they debuted in the AA under Jim Mutrie.
- For all nickname aficionados, Baseball-Reference has determined that there have been precisely six “Candys” in the majors, with Hall of Famer Candy Cummings having the greatest renown and Candy Maldonado being the most recent.
- In 13 seasons, this Candy hit .253
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Old Judge Pose: 341-1
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Detroit
- Team: Wolverines
- League: National League
Frank S. Scheibeck (1865-1956) enjoyed a two-decade career that began with the Duluth Freezers and ended with his hometown Tigers at age 41 in 1906. Frank had some distinguished moments over this long haul. With the Toledo Maumees of the AA in 1890, he was the league leader for shortstops in several defensive categories while hitting .282. His performance could careen up and down, however, leading to many assignments in the minors. Undoubtedly, Frank regaled his grandkids with the tale of his role in one of the greatest ninth-inning comebacks ever: a bases-loaded double that sparked his Cleveland Blues against the Washington Senators, overcoming a 13-5 deficit on May 31, 1901.
- Remarkably, on April 25, 1901 in their first American League game, Detroit overcame a ten-run disadvantage, also in the bottom of the ninth versus the Brewers
- Played for seven major-league teams from 1887-1906
- Played for three different professional baseball teams in Detroit across three different leagues: Detroit Wolverines, NL, 1888; Detroit Tigers, WL, 1895-96; Detroit Tigers, AL, 1906.
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