1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys season

March 2026 November 2013 Pittsburgh Alleghenys 1890 23–113–2 (23 113) 8th National League Recreation Park Allegheny, Pennsylvania William A. Nimick Guy Hecker (1st season) 1891 Pittsburgh Pirates season The 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys season was the ninth season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The team finished eighth and last in the National League with a record of 23–113–2 (23 113), 66.5 games behind the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. As of 2025, this remains the worst single-season record in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The 1890 team also recorded the most losses and the second-fewest wins in a season (behind only the shortened 60-game 2020 season).Lowest single-season winning percentage in Pittsburgh Pirates franchise history https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/nTb7e live https://archive.today/20260120044837/https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/XJCBH January 20, 2026 January 20, 2026 StatheadMost losses in a season in Pittsburgh Pirates franchise history https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/Jh0fe live https://archive.today/20260120044707/https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/Jh0fe January 20, 2026 January 20, 2026 StatheadFewest wins in a season in Pittsburgh Pirates franchise history https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/XJCBH live https://archive.today/20260120044837/https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/XJCBH January 20, 2026 January 20, 2026 Stathead Their -16.5 pitching wins above replacement and 56 adjusted ERA+Minimum 20 games played. represent the lowest marks for any team in a single season in MLB history.Fewest pitching wins above replacement by a team in MLB history https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/aOpZx May 7, 2026 Stathead https://web.archive.org/web/20260507192153/https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/aOpZx May 7, 2026 liveLowest adjusted ERA+ by a team in a season in MLB history, minimum 20 games played https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/HXczf May 7, 2026 Stathead https://web.archive.org/web/20260507192216/https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/HXczf May 7, 2026 live This was the final season for the team with the name "Alleghenys," as the team changed its name to the Pittsburgh Pirates the next season, a name it has retained to the present day. Background The Alleghenys' season essentially ended when most of its stars defected to the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players' League. With a decimated roster, the Alleghenys made a poor showing. The 113 losses by the Alleghenys set a new major league record, breaking the old record of 111 set the previous year by the Louisville Colonels. That record would stand until 1899, when the Cleveland Spiders lost 134 games, the all-time record. Poor crowd attendance meant that this team played 97 of its 136 games on the road, finishing with a road record of 9-88. (The 88 losses remained a record until 1899 and continues to be one that cannot be replicated under current MLB scheduling rules, which only allow a maximum of 81 road games.) The team's .093 road winning percentage is the lowest in MLB history for a minimum of 60 games, for comparison the 1899 Spiders road winning percentage was .098. This would be the last time the Pittsburgh franchise reached the century mark in the loss column until 1917, when the team was known as the Pittsburgh Pirates. Regular season Season standings Pittsburgh Alleghenys Record vs. opponents PIT Opening Day lineup Roster 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys Roster Pitchers Dave Anderson Kirtley Baker Sumner Bowman Pete Daniels Bill Day Duke Esper Robert Gibson Charlie Gray Billy Gumbert Fred Hayner Henry Jones Alfred Lawson Bill Phillips Crazy Schmit Phenomenal Smith Bill Sowders George Ziegler Catchers Harry Decker Bill Wilson Infielders Fred Clement Sam Crane Fred Dunlap Harry H. Gilbert John Gilbert Jim Gray Guy Hecker Paul Hines Sam LaRocque Dad Lytle Doggie Miller Fred Roat Ed Sales Peek-A-Boo Veach Henry Youngman Outfielders Tun Berger Eddie Burke John Coleman Charlie Heard Ducky Hemp Mike Jordan John Kelty Frank McGinn Fred Osborne Phil Routcliffe Billy Sunday Fred Truax Manager Guy Hecker Player stats Batting Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Harry Decker 92 354 97 .274 5 38 1B Guy Hecker 86 340 77 .226 0 38 2B Sam LaRocque 111 434 105 .242 1 40 SS Ed Sales 51 189 43 .228 1 23 3B Doggie Miller 138 549 150 .273 4 66 OF Tun Berger 104 391 104 .266 0 40 OF John Kelty 59 207 49 .237 1 27 OF Billy Sunday 86 358 92 .257 1 33 Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Bill Wilson Bill Wilson (catcher) 83 304 65 .214 0 21 Fred Roat 57 215 48 .223 2 17 Fred Osborne 41 168 40 .238 1 14 Mike Jordan 37 125 12 .096 0 6 Eddie Burke 31 124 26 .210 1 7 Paul Hines 31 121 22 .182 0 9 Sam Crane 22 82 16 .195 0 3 Ducky Hemp 21 81 19 .235 0 4 Fred Dunlap 17 64 11 .172 0 3 Dad Lytle 15 55 8 .145 0 0 Henry Youngman 13 47 6 .128 0 4 Peek-A-Boo Veach 8 30 9 .300 2 5 Robert M. Gibson 3 13 3 .231 0 1 John Coleman John Coleman (outfielder/pitcher) 3 11 2 .182 0 0 John Gilbert John Gilbert (baseball) 2 8 0 .000 0 0 Harry H. Gilbert 2 8 2 .250 0 0 Phil Routcliffe 1 4 1 .250 0 1 Frank McGinn 1 4 0 .000 0 0 Jim Gray Jim Gray (baseball) 1 3 0 .000 0 0 Fred Truax 1 3 1 .333 0 1 Fred Clement 1 1 0 .000 0 0 Pitching Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Kirtley Baker 25 178.1 3 19 5.60 76 Guy Hecker 14 119.2 2 9 5.11 32 Dave Anderson Dave Anderson (pitcher) 13 108.0 2 11 4.67 41 Bill Sowders 15 106.0 3 8 4.42 30 Crazy Schmit 11 83.1 1 9 5.83 35 Bill Phillips 10 82.0 1 9 7.57 25 Billy Gumbert 10 79.1 4 6 5.22 18 Sumner Bowman 9 70.2 2 5 6.62 22 Bill Day 6 50.0 0 6 5.22 10 Phenomenal Smith 5 44.0 1 3 3.07 15 Charlie Heard 6 44.0 0 6 8.39 13 Pete Daniels 4 28.0 1 2 7.07 8 Duke Esper 2 17.0 0 2 5.29 9 John Coleman 2 14.0 0 2 9.64 3 George Ziegler 1 6.0 0 1 10.50 1 Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Fred Osborne 8 58.0 0 5 8.38 14 Henry Jones 5 31.0 2 1 3.48 13 Charlie Gray 5 31.0 1 4 7.55 10 Robert Murray Gibson 3 12.0 0 3 17.25 3 Alfred Lawson 2 10.0 0 2 9.00 2 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Fred Hayner 1 0 0 0 13.50 1 Billy Sunday 1 0 0 0 inf 0 Notes 30em References 30em 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys team page at Baseball Reference 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys Page at Baseball Almanac Category:Pittsburgh Pirates seasons Pittsburgh Alleghenys season Pittsburg Pir