1890 Philadelphia Athletics season

March 2026 November 2013 Philadelphia Athletics 1890 American Association (19th century)American Association Jefferson Street Grounds Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 54 78 y 8th Bill Sharsig, H. C. Pennypacker, William Whitaker Bill Sharsig thumb|200px|Manager Bill Sharsig thumb|200px|Pitcher Sadie McMahon thumb|200px|Pitcher Ed Seward thumb|200px|Pitcher Duke Esper thumb|200px|Catcher Wilbert Robinson thumb|200px|First baseman Jack O'Brien thumb|200px|Third baseman Denny Lyons thumb|200px|Left fielder Blondie Purcell thumb|200px|Center fielder Curt Welch thumb|200px|Right fielder Orator Shafer The 1890 Philadelphia Athletics had a 54–78 record and finished in eighth place in the American Association. During the season, the team struggled financially. They could not afford to keep paying their players and had to finish the season with a pickup team. Summary Led by pitcher Sadie McMahon (29–18 win–loss record) and third baseman Denny Lyons (193 OPS+),"1890 Philadelphia Athletics Statistics". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021. the Athletics started the season with a record of 41–21. At that point, on July 6, they were in first place by five games."1890 Philadelphia Athletics Schedule". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021. However, the team was struggling financially, and then they also struggled on the field.Nemec, David (2011). Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871–1900, Volume 2. p. 143. They sold Lyons to the St. Louis Browns on September 6."1890 Philadelphia Athletics Trades and Transactions". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021. After winning on September 14, they had a 54–56 record and were in sixth place out of nine teams, 15 games out of first. The Athletics lost their next game on September 16 right before leaving on a 16-game western road trip. By then, they were unable to pay their players.Nemec, David (2006). The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball. p. 519. That day, they released their starting catcher and only future Hall of Famer, Wilbert Robinson, who signed with the Baltimore Orioles two days later."Wilbert Robinson Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021. Many of the Athletics' other players deserted the team.Nemec (2006). p. 521. Among those who left were three regulars who never played in the major leagues again: right fielder Orator Shafer (113 OPS+) played his last game on September 13, and first baseman Jack O'Brien (126 OPS+) and left fielder Blondie Purcell (108 OPS+) both played their last game on September 16."Orator Shafer Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021."Jack O'Brien Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021."Blondie Purcell Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021. For the road trip, Athletics manager Bill Sharsig was sent off with $245 (US 245 1890 eq) and what was left of the team. As writer David Nemec noted, "[Sharsig] then lived from hand to mouth by spending gate receipts from each series to pay his players and hotel bills and buy train tickets to the next city. By the end of the season he was reduced each day to putting a uniform on anyone who even looked like a ballplayer in order to field a full nine-man lineup." Among the "major league" players who appeared for the team in October were four people who are listed in the record books by just their last names, as their first names are unknown.In 2023, one player (John Sterling) was uncovered by the Society for American Baseball Research. The Athletics lost all 16 games on that road trip, and then they lost their last five games at home. Overall, they finished their season on a 22-game losing streak for a record of 54–78 and eighth place. Of those 22 losses, 13 of them were by at least 10 runs. They played the seventh-place Syracuse Stars in their last series of the season, and in three games, they were outscored by the Stars 43–7. The Athletics were expelled from the American Association after the season ended. They were replaced by a new Philadelphia Athletics team that had been in the Players' League in 1890. Regular season Season standings Philadelphia Athletics Record vs. opponents PHA Roster 1890 Philadelphia Athletics Roster Pitchers Duke Esper Ed Green Horace Helmbold Mickey Hughes William Lackey Sadie McMahon Ed O'Neil Bill Price Ed Seward William Stecher John Sterling Harry Stine Jim Whitney Catchers Kid Baldwin Bart Cantz Macey John Riddle Wilbert Robinson Infielders Sam Campbell Ed Carfrey George Carman Bill Collins Ben Conroy Henry Easterday Dennis Fitzgerald Andy Knox Denny Lyons George Meyers Jack O'Brien Al Sauter Taylor Shafer Pete Sweeney Outfielders George Crawford Joe Daly Pete Hasney Joe Kappel McBride Ed Pabst Blondie Purcell Orator Shafer Charles Snyder Stafford Sweigert Curt Welch Manager Bill Sharsig 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 Wilbert Robinson 82 329 78 .237 4 42 1B Jack O'Brien Jack O'Brien (catcher) 109 433 113 .261 4 80 2B Taylor Shafer 69 261 45 .172 0 21 SS Ben Conroy 117 404 69 .171 0 21 3B Denny Lyons 88 339 120 .354 7 73 OF Orator Shafer 100 390 110 .282 1 58 OF Curt Welch 103 396 106 .268 2 40 OF Blondie Purcell 110 463 128 .276 2 59 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 Joe Kappel 56 208 50 .240 1 22 George Carman 27 93 16 .172 0 7 Kid Baldwin 24 90 21 .233 0 12 John Riddle 27 85 7 .082 0 2 Andy Knox 21 75 19 .253 0 8 Joe Daly 21 75 21 .280 0 7 Henry Easterday 19 68 10 .147 1 3 Pete Sweeney 14 49 8 .163 0 0 Al Sauter 14 41 4 .098 0 0 Charles Snyder 9 33 9 .273 0 4 Ed O'Neil 10 31 5 .161 0 2 Ed Pabst 8 25 10 .400 0 3 Bart Cantz 5 22 1 .045 0 1 George Meyers 5 19 3 .158 0 1 George Crawford 5 17 2 .118 0 3 Dennis Fitzgerald 2 8 2 .250 0 0 Pete Hasney 2 7 1 .143 0 0 Sam Campbell 2 5 0 .000 0 0 Ed Carfrey 1 4 1 .250 0 0 Stafford 1 2 0 .000 0 0 McBride 1 2 0 .000 0 0 Bill Collins Bill Collins (catcher) 1 1 0 .000 0 0 Macey 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 Sadie McMahon 48 410.0 29 18 3.34 225 Ed Green Ed Green (baseball) 25 191.0 7 15 5.80 56 Ed Seward 21 154.0 6 12 4.73 55 Duke Esper 18 143.2 8 9 4.89 61 William Stecher 10 68.0 0 10 10.32 18 Ed O'Neil 6 52.0 0 6 9.69 17 Mickey Hughes 6 41.1 1 3 5.44 15 Bill Price 1 9.0 1 0 2.00 1 Harry Stine 1 8.0 0 1 9.00 1 Horace Helmbold 1 7.0 0 1 14.14 3 John Sterling 1 5.0 0 1 21.60 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 Jim Whitney 6 40.0 2 2 5.18 6 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 William Lackey 1 0 0 0 9.00 1 Curt Welch 1 0 0 0 54.00 1 References Category:Philadelphia Athletics (AA) seasons Philadelphia Athletics (AA) season Philadelphia