- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Minneapolis
- Team: Millers
- League: Western Association
Charles James Parsons (1863-1936) was a pitcher who got three try-outs with major league teams during a minor league career that spanned the latter half of the 1880s. He broke in with the Newark Domestics of the Eastern League in 1884 where, at twenty years old, he started two games, yielded just 3 earned runs in 15 innings and pitched to an 0-1 record. Charlie made an impression the following season for the Birmingham club of the Southern League, leading the team with a 10-13 record and an outstanding 1.48 ERA. On May 29, Parsons hurled the first no-hitter for those Barons, earning him a spot on the NL's Boston Beaneaters’ roster to begin the 1886 season. Assigned to pitch back-to-back games, Parsons lost both and was summarily sold to Rochester of the international Association, where he had an excellent year at 15-10 with a team-leading 1.12 ERA. Charlie’s sustained success in the minors earned him another spot in a major league rotation in 1887, this time with the New York Metropolitans of the American Association. In four starts, Parsons went 1-1 but gave up 17 earned runs (36 total runs for the error-prone Mets). By 1888, Charlie was suiting up for the Minneapolis Millers. Other than being immortalized in five known poses by a Goodwin photographer in his Millers uniform, Charlie started just one game in Minneapolis, surrendering two runs and finishing the game in a losing effort. In 1890 Parsons got one more shot in the majors with the Cleveland Spiders. Again, they only used him for two games and he lost his only decision.
- The Sporting News reported in its June 16, 1890 edition that Parsons had been signed by Jackson of the Tri-State League, but there is no evidence that he ever played professional baseball again
- Parsons was 25-24 with a 1.31 ERA in 51 minor league games, but just 1-4 with a 4.58 ERA in 8 major league games
- Charlie may have been a better hitter than pitcher. Although it’s a small sample, Charlie hit .333 (9 for 27) in his 8 ML games, knocking in two and stealing a bag for good measure
- Series: 1880s: Loving Paupers
- City: Minneapolis
- Team: Millers
- League: Western Association
John Shaw made his mark in 19th century baseball via his six-photo spread in the Old Judge catalog when he was pictured in his Minneapolis Millers uniform in 1887/88. John had been the regular shortstop for the Millers in ‘87, but as the next campaign began he was shuttled down to New Orleans in what was described by The Sporting News as a cost-saving move by Minneapolis management. Shaw was said to be “a rattling good hitter and a fine base runner.” Yet, the News speculated he was let go because he was a “high priced man whom the club did not want.” The team had signed future major leaguer Joe Walsh to play short and Shaw was expendable. John had begun in 1884 with the Boston Reserves of the Massachusetts State Association and knocked around New England with Portland, Brockton, Newburyport and back to Boston’s Blues in 1886. Shaw’s move to the Twin Cities allowed him to post his career year in ‘87. He hit .292, playing every day at shortstop. The forced move south didn’t sit well with poor Shaw. He joined the Pelicans for the 1888 season and found himself mired in a slump that left him with a pitiful .143 average in a mere four games. The spotty minor league data of the era show only that Shaw finished the ‘88 season with Easton of the Central League with no stats available.
- The Sporting News coverage of Shaw’s move to the Crescent City gives a glimpse into the day-to-day updates available for fans of the era. The reporter noted that “Advance money and a ticket was sent Shaw this morning and he will come south at once.”
- One is left to surmise that John had to pay his own way to Pennsylvania for the ignominious conclusion to his tenure in pro ball
Auction History
Cartophilia
Old Judge Pose: 414-1
- Series: 1880s: Loving Paupers
- City: Minneapolis
- Team: Millers
- League: Western Association
Timothy J. Brosnan spent his entire professional baseball career in the minors, primarily as a second baseman. His first recorded teams, in 1884, were Springfield of the Massachusetts State Association and Rockville of the Connecticut State League. He moved to Lawrence of the Eastern New England League in '85 and also played for Brockton of the New England League. He was moving up in class at Lawrence where ten of his sixteen known teammates would see action in the majors. His stint at Brockton put Brosnan into even more elite company. Bill McGunnigle, who would go on to a managerial role in Brooklyn, was a pitcher/outfielder and Tommy Bond, then on the downside of a fine career in Boston, was a Brockton mainstay in the pitcher's box. In all, nearly two dozen of the '86 squad had been or would be big leaguers. 1886 was a significant dividing line in Tim's pro tenure. He left New England for the Southern Association's Charleston club. He played in the most games of any on the Seagulls despite a struggling .228 average. The following year saw Brosnan move to the midwest where he would conclude his professional endeavors. Tim joined the Des Moines Hawkeyes for the '87 campaign and again proved his durability, leading the team with 123 games played and compiling a very fine .317 average. With the Minneapolis Millers in '88 Brosnan's average declined to .254 but he was a regular. Tim's final move took him to Sioux City later that season and he would remain a Corn Husker for the final two years of his career.
- Brosnan hit .275 in '89, his last full year
- Tim was captured by the Old Judge crew in 1888 in his Millers' uniform — six poses depicting a right-hander at bat and afield
Auction History
Cartophilia
Old Judge Pose: 41-2
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Minneapolis
- Team: Millers
- League: Western Association
James J. Daly (1865-1938) compiled a very short major league slash line. Sun made it to the big leagues with the Baltimore Orioles in 1892, joining one of the more ferocious teams of the era. He got into a mere 13 games and went 12-48 for a .250 average with seven RBI for the last-place team. With the likes of McGraw, Hanlon, Stovey and Wilbert Robinson - this was a down year for a team on the cusp of greatness. Already the squad was known for making its own rules and playing with a snarl. Thus, it was unlikely for a new kid to make the big club and Daly soon found himself back in the minors. He had begun playing ball in his hometown of Port Henry, NY and moved into the professional ranks with Portsmouth of the New England League in 1888. The next year he was out west with two Twin Cities clubs where he was photographed by the Old Judge crew. The Goodwin editors note that Daly was the poorest-fielding left fielder in the Western Association at that time. He returned east with Portland and Lebanon in '91 and began the '92 campaign with the Buffalo Bisons of the Eastern League. It is said that Daly acquired his nickname in the Buffalo outfield as he played the position while eschewing sun glasses. His distinctive moniker not enough to gain a toe-hold with the Orioles, Sun shuffled back to Buffalo for the '93-94 seasons. Daly then moved to Rochester for two years before wrapping it up in 1897 with stints for three Pennsylvania franchises: Reading, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
- Sun's best year at the plate was 1895 with Rochester where he hit .337 in 128 games, by far his most prolific season
- While his endurance at the pinnacle of his sport was short-lived, Daly set a much finer life-mark by living just long enough to celebrate fifty years of marriage to the mother of their four children
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Minneapolis
- Team: Millers
- League: Western Association
Thomas McCullum (aka McCallum) was an outfielder for several minor league teams, primarily in the Western Association, from 1884 through 1890. He appeared in an Old Judge card pose for 1888 as a Minneapolis Miller as a right-handed batter. Data is sketchy for this young man, confused by alternate renderings of his name. As McCullum, the Baseball Encyclopedia has him playing for New Castle in 1884, Youngstown in ‘85 and the Milwaukee Brewers in ‘86 and again in ‘89, then back east in the Tri-State League with Dayton and McKeesport in ‘89-90. As McCallum, the Encyclopedia has him with Eau Claire in ‘87, Minneapolis, Davenport and the Chicago Maroons - all in ‘88. It does appear these references identify the same player. Tom’s best year was with Eau Claire where he hit a superb .354 that moved him up to the Western Association.
- As with many Old Judge subjects, the cards reflect promise sometimes unfulfilled as McCullum did get 389 at-bats in 1888 but hit only .213
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