- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
Michael Cornelius Dorgan (1853-1909) was an outstanding hitter and fielder whose career (and life) was cut short by numerous injuries due to his aggressive play. He starred for the St. Louis Brown Stockings and ended with the Syracuse Stars, his hometown team. Surgery on his knee, hurt making a game-saving catch in 1887, led to blood poisoning and his premature death.
- First Syracuse resident to play in the NL
- Awarded the New York Clipper Gold Badge Award as top defensive player at his position
- Managed parts of 3 seasons for 3 different NL teams from 1879-1881
- Elected to Syracuse Hall of Fame: 1999
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Roger Connor (1857-1931) was the home run king of the 19th century, clouting 138 in his 18-year career. His record stood for 23 years after his retirement, until Babe Ruth surpassed him in 1921. Connor anchored first-base for five teams, winning pennants twice with the Giants. His flair for the dramatic was never more evident than when he struck the first-ever major league grand slam with his team down by three with two outs in the ninth. Born in Connecticut, Roger played for local clubs until joining the Troy Trojans in 1880. That NY hamlet witnessed five future Hall of Famers on their squad with Connor playing alongside Dan Brouthers, Buck Ewing, Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch. After moving to the Gothams, the 6’3” Connor inspired owner Jim Mutrie to proclaim the team “my giants!” and a new identity was born.
- Much more than a slugger, Connor won the NL batting title in 1885 and consistently hit .300+ while exhibiting remarkable speed for a big man (still fifth all-time in triples)
- Connor lived to see Ruth claim his HR title. It was thought at the time, however, that Connor had hit 131 HRS and Ruth's record was celebrated at 132. Writing for SABR in 1975, John tattersall discovered that Connor had actually hit 138 HRs.
- Jay Jaffe's JAWS system ranks Connor as the 5th greatest 1st baseman of all-time, just behind Cap Anson and just ahead of Jeff Bagwell
- Beloved by fans and the baseball press, he had a particularly strong advocate for the Hall in fellow legend, umpire Bill Klem
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1976
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
William M. Brown (1866-1897) was a catcher & infielder for 7 seasons with 5 clubs, including stints with NY’s Giants in both their National League and Players’ League incarnations. He began in New York in 1887, left for the Phillies in ’91, was out a year before catching on with the Orioles. His final year in the majors was with two teams: the Louisville Colonels & St. Louis Browns in 1894. This native San Franciscan was exotic enough to be nicknamed for his State in an era dominated by eastern teams and players. Chronic lung problems limited his play. He sought milder climes in the west & Hawaii to no avail, succumbing to the disease at age 32. He is buried in the necropolis “City of Souls” in Colma, CA, near his hometown.
- Brown’s finest year was 1893 with the Colonels, batting .304 with 140 hits and 85 RBI
- His 50 walks that year gave him an OBP of .373
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
Master William Breslin was one in a line of NY Giants’ mascots in the 1880s, primarily due to HOF catcher Buck Ewing’s love of “hoodoos.” Superstition is still alive and well in baseball and goes back to its roots. In the old days it wasn’t rally monkeys, tomahawks or Phanatics–it was young boys recruited from the mean streets by ball players desperate for an edge. Lads such as “masters” Bretsie and Preston prowled the NY dugout in 1886, preceded by an unknown “colored boy” that year. Any charm could do, though. Ewing seized variously on a yellow mutt, a ring-tailed monkey named “Mose,” and a toy barking dog. But no mascot seems to have gained the popularity and fame of Willie Breslin.
One of Buck’s proteges was Fred Boldt, a Chicago waif the team picked up on the road. Back in NY, young Fred ran up an account at a diner near the Polo Grounds and absconded with Cannonball Titcomb’s shoes.
- The Breslin Old Judge cards have become highly prized
- Sadly, biographical data for Willie and his cohorts is lacking. We trust he turned out better than young Boldt
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
James Francis Thorpe (1888-1953) grew up in the Sac and Fox nation in Oklahoma, a hardscrabble existence that saw him in and out of boarding schools. Orphaned and troubled, the teenager found himself in faraway Pennsylvania and came under the tutelage of the renowned Pop Warner. Thorpe’s athletic skill would carry him to heights few have attained, a Renaissance man of sport, bestride the 20th Century. Acclaimed as the world’s greatest athlete in the 1912 Olympics where Thorpe played in two exhibition baseball games, presaging a professional career. A rare “free agent” in the era of the reserve clause, he was able to choose the Giants over the last-place Browns during the 1913 season. He played sporadically but went to the World Series and was the star of the global tour of Giants/White Sox players that off-season.
- Team owners caromed Thorpe from team to team with limited playing time, ending his MLB tenure with the Boston Braves in 1919
- Hit the ball that Hippo Vaughn misplayed, ending the remarkable “double-no-hitter” in 1917
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