- 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: National League
Daniel Richardson (1863-1926) played 2B and SS for the Giants, Grooms, Senators, and Colonels over an 11 year span. His stints with the NY Giants included one year when the team played in the Player’s League (’90). He contributed to two Giant league championships in ’88 & ’89.
- During his one year with the Washington Senators, Richardson was player/manager
- Achieved a career BA of .254 and stole 225 bases
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Buffalo
- Team: Bisons
- League: National League
Abram Harding Richardson (1855-1931). Primarily a 2nd baseman, Hardy played every position at one time or another, even going 3-0 as a pitcher. Playing for 6 different teams over 14 professional seasons, Hardy was an excellent hitter who retired with a .299 lifetime average. Hardy’s best season was 1890 when he hit .326, scored 126 Runs, knocked in 146 runs & stole 42 bases.
- Once hit a home run because the outfielder could not find the ball in the tall grass
- Bill James ranks him as the 39th best 2nd baseman all-time
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Columbus
- Team: Buckeyes
- League: American Association
John H. Richmond (1855-1898) played 8 seasons at SS and CF for 7 teams. He started with the Athletics in 1875 and closed his career with the Alleghenys in ’85. He played 4 years in the NL and 4 in the AA, compiling a modest .238 batting average.
- His two most productive years were toward the end of his career with Columbus: ’83-84
- Series: Pioneer Portraits II: 1875-1899
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Athletics (AA)
- League: American Association
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Uncle Robbie (1863-1934). A durable catcher for 17 seasons with 3 teams, Robinson is credited as the 1st to play directly behind the plate at all times. Uncle Robbie once caught 5 games in two days. He also had 7 hits & 11 RBI in a single game. After his playing days were over, Robinson went on to manage for 18 seasons.
- Won 3 NL pennants as player
- Won 2 NL pennants as manager
- Won 5 NL pennants as pitching coach
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1945
- 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: Minneapolis
- Team: Millers
- League: Western Association
John Ryn (1862-1928) came out of Ohio and the Ohio Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, a nursery of some of the great baseball talent of the 1870s and 80s. A teammate of William Hoy and Edward Dundon, Ryn never followed them into the majors but floated on the periphery of the big leagues from 1884 to ‘95. The strapping first baseman had power and character but injuries and bad timing conspired to keep him in the minors. Hearing-impaired players made a significant imprint on the early game, none more so than Hoy, the “King of the Mutes” in the benighted lingo of sports scribes then. Ryn was able to carve out a pro career that spanned a dozen teams ending with the Twin Cities Hustlers of the Interstate League. The sketchy data indicate a .270 overall BA but press coverage consistently portrayed Ryn as a man to be reckoned with on the diamond.
- John and his sisters were deaf, their parents were not. A lifelong bachelor, Ryn made a living as a manual laborer and lived out his life with sister Anna in Marion OH
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