- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Boston
- Team: Beaneaters
- League: National League
John J. “Black Jack” Burdock (1852-1931) began and ended his 18 year career in Brooklyn, first for the Atlantics and retiring from the Bridegrooms (Grooms). Played for the Hartford Dark Blues during their 1st year in the new National League, ‘76, and the next when Hartford became the Brooklyn Hartfords for a year.
- Sandwiched in between his stints in Brooklyn were 10 years with the Boston Beaneaters
- Was player/mgr for the Boston Beaneaters’ 1883 pennant winner, leading the club in average at .330
- One of the best infield defenders of his era, Burdock led the NL in putouts by a 2nd baseman five straight years, 1876-1880
- Led his league in fielding percentage by a 2nd baseman 6 times
- Achieved a career .250 batting average with 1,231 hits, 778 runs and 501 RBI
- 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: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Indianapolis
- Team: Hoosiers (NL)
- League: National League
George Walter Burnham (1860-1902) was lured from the ranks of National League umpires to become the first manager of the new Indianapolis Hoosiers franchise when John Brush brought the beleaguered St Louis Maroons to a joyous community. “Watch” thus became a key figure in the sad saga of major league baseball in Indiana. The club lost every one of its arduous 22-game road trip and floundered all of the 1887 inaugural year. Burnham thought fining all the players might improve morale but captain Jack Glasscock mutinied. The Chicago Tribune reported the fear that “someday the men will decline to go on the field.” Days later Brush replaced Watch with another manager with no playing or managing experience and would try yet another neophyte, a sportswriter, before that dismal season mercifully ended with a 37-89 record. Burnham’s reputation preceded him to the Hoosiers and gave pause. The nickname was said to have derived from George’s failed attempt at self-promotion by presenting himself with an engraved watch during a Cleveland game in ‘83 that he was umpiring.
- Watch’s total experience officiating was 107 games scattered over five seasons between ‘83 and ‘95. He called Old Hoss Radbourn’s no-hitter on July 25, 1883
- The Hoosiers’ prospect finally seemed ready to improve in 1889 with the arrival of Amos Rusie. Sadly for the city, Brush parlayed his investment into a lucrative career with the Reds and Giants by dumping the woebegone Hoosiers after their third losing season
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Baltimore
- Team: Orioles
- League: American Association
Thomas P. Burns (1864-1928) was an excellent player with four ML teams over 15 seasons. He starred for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, leading them to two pennants in two leagues (1889 in the AA & 1890 in the NL.) His nickname derived from his offseason job hawking shellfish. He brought his huckstering skills to the park, annoying fellow players as “the noisiest man that ever played on the Brooklyn team.” He had a temper to match his mouth, once stabbing & severing a tendon of sleeping teammate Tom Daly, who was dozing on field between games of a double-header.
- NL home-run and RBI champion in 1890
- Compiled a .300 lifetime batting average
- Burns' uniform color on this card was changed in January, 2017 from black to blue & red to reflect recent reliable research by Craig Brown & friends at Threads of Our Game. Nine cards had been previously released featuring a black uniform.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Kansas City
- Team: Cowboys
- League: American Association
James Milton Burns (1861-1909) was an outfielder for the Kansas City Cowboys and Washington Statesmen in three seasons. He played for the Kansas City Cowboys in 1888-89 and for Washington’s first season in the American Association, 1891. That was also the American Association’s final year and the team moved to the National League as the Senators. 1888 was KC’s first year in the AA and ’89 was their last, so Burns was with teams in flux. A productive hitter, his batting average over the three years was .305 with 111 RBI. Jim had begun with Oshkosh and Omaha in ‘86-88 before getting a trial with the Cowboys and he stayed with the team when it became the KC Blues of the Western Association in 1890. He had a brief stint with the Denver Mountaineers before joining the D.C. squad in ‘91. Burns stayed in the minors after his season with the Statesmen, playing exclusively in the Western Association for the Minneapolis Minnies/Millers, the Detroit Creams, Grand Rapids Gold Bugs and St. Paul Apostles
- Jim had a fine .332 average in his ten minor league seasons showing that his MLB stats were typical of a good hitter
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Bridegrooms
- League: American Association
Albert John Bushong (1856-1908). A poor hitter, Doc’s 16 year career and presence on 5 pennant winning teams are evidence of his defensive prowess. Bushong was so highly regarded that he was one of the first baseball players to endorse a product and even had a town in Kansas named for him: Bushong, Kansas: pop. 34.
- 5x pennant winner
- Some sources credit him with the invention of the catcher’s mitt
- Earned the nickname Doc because he was a dentist
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