1890 Buffalo Bisons season

Major League Baseball season November 2013 Buffalo Bisons 1890 Players' League Olympic Park Buffalo, New York 36 96 y 8th Connie Mack (minority) Jack Rowe, Jay Faatz The 1890 Buffalo Bisons baseball team was a member of the short lived Players' League, and an "outlaw" franchise that used the name of the existing minor league Buffalo Bisons without permission.December 2023 The Players' League Buffalo Bisons compiled a 36–96 record, which landed them in last place, 46½ games behind the pennant-winning Boston Reds and 20 games behind the seventh-place Cleveland Infants in the eight-team league. After the season, the league folded, as did the team and the stadium continued to home field for their International League rival Bisons. Regular season 300px|thumb|Buffalo Bisons, 1890 Season standings Buffalo Bisons Record vs. opponents BUF Opening Day lineup Roster 1890 Buffalo Bisons Roster Pitchers Lady Baldwin John Buckley Dan Cotter Bert Cunningham Fred Doe Bill Duzen Alex Ferson George Haddock George Keefe Gus Krock General Stafford Catchers Connie Mack Infielders Jack Carney Jay Faatz John Irwin Jack Rowe Deacon White Sam Wise Outfielders Ed Beecher Spider Clark Jim Gillespie Jocko Halligan Dummy Hoy Lewis John Rainey Larry Twitchell Manager Jay Faatz Jack Rowe Brooklyn vs Buffalo game and the story of Lewis thumb|upright=2|alt=A faded clipping from Sporting Life, dated July 19, 1890.|A Sporting Life clip that describes Lewis as a "much disgusted ball tosser"; taken from an article dated July 19, 1890Base Ball: Players' League http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1890/VOL_15_NO_16/SL1516003.pdf Sporting Life LA84 Foundation July 19, 1890 https://web.archive.org/web/20140112200334/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1890/VOL_15_NO_16/SL1516003.pdf January 12, 2014 3 15 16 A player known only as "Lewis" made his only MLB appearance in a game on July 12, 1890 against the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders. Born in Brooklyn, New York,https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lewis01.shtml Lewis Baseball-Reference Sports Reference, LLC May 28, 2020 Lewis, according to Macht, was a "local boy" who stated he was a pitcher and asked for a tryout when Buffalo played against the Ward's Wonders on July 12, 1890, at Eastern Park in Brooklyn.Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvAWd-Aq5UMC Macht Norman L. 77 2007 University of Nebraska Press 978-0-8032-0990-9https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1890/07/13/103252486.pdf All our Local Clubs Won: The Cincinnatis Leave the Field, Causing a Scene The New York Times July 13, 1890Brooklyn!: An Illustrated History https://books.google.com/books?id=iefbwP_Wx88C Temple University Press Snyder-Grenier Ellen Marie 978-1-59213-082-5 232 1996 Bisons player–manager Jack Rowe started Lewis on the mound. Lewis probablynote Probably Home teams in the late 19th century could select which team batted first, the home team often opting to bat first to get the first opportunity to hit using the game ball, only one of which was often available for the entire game."Last Licks": Do They Really Help? Simon Gary A. Simonoff Jeffrey S. The American Statistician 2006 60 1 13 10.1198/000313006X90350 27643721 219593418 A recollection in The Illustrated Buffalo Express and in the Brooklyn Citizen state that Brooklyn batted first,https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51717063/just-think-of-it/ Just Think of It The Illustrated Buffalo Express July 13, 1890 14 Newspapers.com though it is recorded that Brooklyn batter Lou Bierbauer hit his two home runs in the bottom of the third inning. pitched in the top of the first, second, and third innings of the Bisons' game on July 12, during which he allowed 20 earned runs over three innings pitched for an ERA of 60.00.note Earned Run Average Baseball-Reference lists Lewis as allowing 20 earned runs, though various box scores state Brooklyn only scored 14 earned runs over the entire game. A recap of Lewis's pitching in The Illustrated Buffalo Express was as follows: "Lewis sent Ward and Joyce to first on balls, and Ward scored on a passed ball. Orr made a home run and Joyce run in ahead of him. Van Haltren got a base on balls and scored on McGeachy's single. Daly hit safe and McGeachy scored. ... In the second the Brooklyns added six more runs to their credit on hits by Orr, Daly , Sowders, Ward, Joyce, and Andrews. ... In the third on Bauer's two home runs, McGeachy's two-bagger, Daly's, Sowder's, Ward's and Andrew's singles added eight runs to the Brooklyn's score". A different recollection appeared in the Brooklyn Citizen. After the third inning, he moved to left field and left fielder Ed Beecher switched to pitcher. In the third inning Lou Bierbauer hit two home runs off Lewis's pitching;https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/event_hr.fcgi?id=bierblo01&t=b Lou Bierbauer Career Home Runs Baseball-Reference Sports Reference, LLC May 28, 2020 this was only the second time a batter in a major league game had hit two home runs in a single inning.Dickson Paul https://books.google.com/books?id=ceeU7xSLw5kC The Dickson Baseball Dictionary W. W. Norton & Company 2011 978-0-393-07349-2 3rd 527Home Run: The Definitive History of Baseball's Ultimate Weapon https://books.google.com/books?id=-mInQ1Cz7S0C&pg=PT30 Vincent Dave Potomac Books 2007 978-1-61234-459-1 Chapter 1 Lewis did manage to record at least one strikeout as a pitcher.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51733666/the-baseball-world-results-of-games/ The Baseball World: Results of Games Played on Many Diamonds Yesterday Brooklyn Citizen July 13, 1890 4 Newspapers.com Defensively, Lewis recorded two putouts and three assists on five total chances as a pitcher, with no putouts or assists on no chances as a left fielder. As a batter, Lewis recorded one hit over five at bats for a batting average of .200, and scored a run. Lewis is credited with only two innings played in the outfield, though several box scoresA Disastrous Experiment The Pittsburgh Press https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50430696/lewis-buf-pl/ July 13, 1890 6 Newspapers.com only list nine players as having played for Buffalo in the game, the game as lasting nine innings, and Lewis as having played only in left field and as a pitcher. A July 13, 1890 article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described Beecher as an "improvement" over Lewis as a pitcher, but Sporting Life notes on the game say Beecher "fared but little better".Fine Fun for Ward: His Wonders have Taken Four Straight Games https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51722809/fine-fun-for-ward-his-wonders-have/ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle July 13, 1890 2 Newspapers.com Brooklyn won the game 28–16. The total of 44 runs set a record for the most combined runs scored in a single MLB game which stood until 1922.https://sabr.org/research/highest-scoring-games The Highest Scoring Games Liebman Ronald G. Society for American Baseball Research 1980 June 9, 2020 Lewis recorded a loss for his dismal performance. According to a box score in The New York Times, 600 people attended the game, compared to attendances of 2,156 for a PL game in Boston, 2,508 for a PL game in Philadelphia, and 4,304 for a PL game in New York.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51705919/yesterdays-ball-games-players-league/ Yesterday's Ball Games: Player's League The Boston Globe July 13, 1890 1 Newspapers.com The game in which Lewis played lasted two hours and three minutes, according to The New York Times; Lon Knight and Charley Jones served as umpires. The wind during the game was described as "chilly",Brooklyn, 28; Buffalo, 16 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51711453/brooklyn-28-buffalo-16/ St. Louis Post-Dispatch July 13, 1890 24 Newspapers.com with "awfully stiff" winds blowing in from Jamaica Bay and fans "shiveringly [clinging] to their seats". Several articles recounted Lewis's performance in the game. A contemporary writer for The Pittsburgh Press described Lewis's tryout as a "disastrous experiment" and called the game "one of the greatest slugging matches ever seen since curve pitching came into vogue", while Sporting Life reported that "[t]he Buffalos tried a new pitcher named Lewis in the box, but after three innings he retired to left field, a much disgusted ball tosser." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that "the way [Ward's Wonders] pounded Lewis' delivery must have convinced that aspirant for fame that the [P]layers' [L]eague [was] above his class", and described him as "unfortunate". Other contemporary papers covered the game: the Buffalo Courier said Lewis was "slaughtered";His Name Was Lewis: After the Game it Was Mud – Bisons Tried a New Pitcher https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51715096/his-name-was-lewis-after-the-game-it/ Buffalo Courier July 13, 1890 7 Newspapers.com the New-York Tribune called him a "failure";Home Nines Win Again: Bridegrooms Increase Their Lead https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51788772/untitled/ New-York Tribune July 13, 1890 3 Newspapers.com and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the game was "full of accidents", though "Lewis was used worse than all the rest, as he was knocked completely out of the box". A 1963 article in Baseball Digest described Lewis as a "neophyte" whose "first name has been lost to posterity",The Wildest Opening Series Ever Played http://digital.emagazines.com/baseball_digest/19630401/index.html Overfield Joseph M Baseball Digest April 1963 49 subscription and 2007 y, Lewis's first name remained "mercifully unknown", according to Macht. Lewis did not make another appearance for the Bisons during the rest of the season, and his first name, date of birth, date of death, and batting and pitching stances were unknown June 2021 y, though a writer for The Pittsburgh Press described Lewis as a "young man" when he played for the team. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle used the performance to argue that Buffalo should ask other clubs to borrow pitchers for the team. Lewis's ERA is given as 60.00, by allowing 20 earned runs in three innings, but there is a problem with this. Since Buffalo committed eight errors that day (Brooklyn was even less astute in the field, with eleven miscues) it seems unlikely that all 20 of the runs Lewis allowed were earned; and one look at the boxscore (q.v.) reveals this to be impossible. Only fourteen of the 28 runs Brooklyn scored are credited as earned, so at least six (and potentially as many as fourteen) of the scores allowed by the unfortunate Lewis had to be unearned. This places Lewis' true ERA somewhere between 18.00 and 42.00, not 60.00 (that and his WHIP rate of 6.667 would be both the highest on the Bisons and the highest in the history of the PL).https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BUF/1890.shtml 1890 Buffalo Bisons Statistics Baseball-Reference Sports Reference, LLC May 28, 2020https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/PL/1890-standard-pitching.shtml 1890 PL Standard Pitching Baseball-Reference Sports Reference, LLC May 28, 2020https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/leader_glossary.shtml https://web.archive.org/web/20200513162238/https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/leader_glossary.shtml May 13, 2020 Leaderboard Glossary Baseball-Reference Sports Reference, LLC May 28, 2020 Lewis does not hold the MLB single-season highest ERA record among non-qualifiers, which is infinity.https://sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/SABR_BB_Rec_Cmt_News_June_2004.pdf The Infinite ERA Club Society for American Baseball Research June 9, 2020 June 2004 Spatz Lyle https://web.archive.org/web/20120406113341/https://sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/SABR_BB_Rec_Cmt_News_June_2004.pdf April 6, 2012 (If not Lewis, the current MLB record for the highest ERA with at least three innings pitched is 30.00 by Dave Davidson, who gave up ten earned runs in three innings from 2007 to 2009.) Lewis is not listed as having played in any other major or minor-league games. 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 Connie Mack 123 503 134 .266 0 53 1B Deacon White 122 439 114 .260 0 47 2B Sam Wise 119 505 148 .293 5 102 3B John Irwin John Irwin (baseball) 77 308 72 .234 0 34 SS Jack Rowe 125 504 126 .250 2 76 OF Dummy Hoy 122 493 147 .298 1 53 OF Ed Beecher 126 536 159 .297 3 90 OF Jocko Halligan 57 211 53 .251 3 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 Spider Clark 69 260 69 .265 1 25 Larry Twitchell 44 172 38 .221 2 17 John Rainey John Rainey (baseball) 42 166 39 .235 1 20 Jay Faatz 32 111 21 .189 1 16 John Carney John Carney (baseball) 28 107 29 .271 0 13 Lewis 1 5 1 .200 0 0 Jim Gillespie Jim Gillespie (baseball) 1 3 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 George Haddock George Haddock (baseball) 35 290.2 9 26 5.76 123 Bert Cunningham 25 211.0 9 15 5.84 78 George Keefe 25 196.0 6 16 6.52 55 Larry Twitchell 13 104.1 5 7 4.57 29 General Stafford 12 98.0 3 9 5.14 21 Alex Ferson 10 71.0 1 7 5.45 13 Lady Baldwin 7 62.0 2 5 4.50 13 John Buckley John Buckley (baseball) 4 34.0 1 3 7.68 4 Bill Duzen 2 13.0 0 2 13.85 5 Dan Cotter 1 9.0 0 1 14.00 0 Fred Doe 1 6.0 0 1 12.00 2 Lewis Lewis (baseball) 1 3.0 0 1 60.00 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 Gus Krock 4 25.0 0 3 6.12 5 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Deacon White 1 0 0 0 9.00 0 Ed Beecher 1 0 0 0 12.00 0 Spider Clark 1 0 0 0 6.75 2 Notes note References 1890 Buffalo Bisons team page at Baseball Reference Buffalo Bisons season