1888 Louisville Colonels season
American Association (19th century)|American Association team season
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The 1888 Louisville Colonels season was a season in American baseball. The team was coming off a strong 1887 season, in which it won 76 games and lost 60 under new manager John "Kick" Kelly, but the 1888 season proved to be a disappointment. The team's primary problem was a lack of quality pitching. The best pitcher, Thomas "Toad" Ramsey, had won 37 games in 1887; in 1888, plagued by a sore arm, he won only 8. None of the other pitchers proved capable of picking up the slack. The 1888 Colonels finished with a 58–87 record, seventh place in the American Association.
| 1888 Louisville Colonels | |
|---|---|
| League | American Association |
| Ballpark | Eclipse Park |
| City | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Record | 48–87 (.356) |
| League place | 7th |
| Owners | W. L. Lyons, Zach Phelps, W. L. Jackson, John Phelps, Mordecai Davidson, John R. Botto |
| Managers | Kick Kelly, Mordecai Davidson, John Kerins |
Regular season
On June 7, shareholder Mordecai Davidson bought out most of the other shareholders, appointing himself president and John R. Botto vice-president. Two days later, he officially took over as manager as well. John Kerins, among others, served as team captain, guiding the team's on-field activities.
The most famous member of the 1888 Colonels was outfielder Pete Browning, a ferocious hitter who was noted for excessive drinking and peculiar behavior. One of the best-known stories about Browning concerns an incident which occurred in Kansas City on June 19 of the 1888 season. Browning got up in a Kansas City hotel that morning, following a heavy rainstorm. The gutter in front of the hotel had been overwhelmed by the rain; there was a large puddle of water there. The drunken Browning purchased some fishing gear and tried his hand at fishing in the gutter. It's unclear whether he did this as a joke or whether he really believed that he could catch fish in the gutter, but in any event, the gutter-fishing incident became one of the most often-repeated Pete Browning stories. It's documented in the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Browns | 92 | 43 | .681 | — | 60–21 | 32–22 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 88 | 52 | .629 | 6½ | 53–20 | 35–32 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 81 | 52 | .609 | 10 | 55–20 | 26–32 |
| Cincinnati Red Stockings | 80 | 54 | .597 | 11½ | 56–25 | 24–29 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 57 | 80 | .416 | 36 | 30–26 | 27–54 |
| Cleveland Blues | 50 | 82 | .379 | 40½ | 33–27 | 17–55 |
| Louisville Colonels | 48 | 87 | .356 | 44 | 27–29 | 21–58 |
| Kansas City Cowboys | 43 | 89 | .326 | 47½ | 23–34 | 20–55 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BRO | CIN | CLE | KC | LOU | PHA | STL | |||||||||
| Baltimore | — | 8–12 | 6–14 | 10–9 | 11–8 | 11–9 | 5–14 | 6–14 | |||||||||
| Brooklyn | 12–8 | — | 14–6–1 | 16–4 | 11–9 | 13–7 | 12–8–1 | 10–10–1 | |||||||||
| Cincinnati | 14–6 | 6–14–1 | — | 10–7–1 | 15–4 | 17–3–1 | 10–10 | 8–10 | |||||||||
| Cleveland | 9–10 | 4–16 | 7–10–1 | — | 10–9 | 9–8–2 | 7–13 | 4–16 | |||||||||
| Kansas City | 8–11 | 9–11 | 4–15 | 9–10 | — | 6–12 | 3–14 | 4–16 | |||||||||
| Louisville | 9–11 | 7–13 | 3–17–1 | 8–9–2 | 12–6 | — | 5–15–1 | 4–16 | |||||||||
| Philadelphia | 14–5 | 8–12–1 | 10–10 | 13–7 | 14–3 | 15–5–1 | — | 7–10–1 | |||||||||
| St. Louis | 14–6 | 10–10–1 | 10–8 | 16–4 | 16–4 | 16–4 | 10–7–1 | — | |||||||||
Opening Day lineup
Roster
| 1888 Louisville Colonels | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Infielders | Outfielders | Manager | ||||||
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 | Paul Cook | 57 | 185 | 34 | .184 | 0 | 13 |
| 1B | Skyrocket Smith | 58 | 206 | 49 | .238 | 1 | 31 |
| 2B | Reddy Mack | 112 | 446 | 97 | .217 | 3 | 34 |
| 3B | Joe Werrick | 111 | 413 | 89 | .215 | 0 | 51 |
| SS | Bill White | 49 | 198 | 55 | .278 | 1 | 30 |
| OF | Chicken Wolf | 128 | 538 | 154 | .286 | 0 | 67 |
| OF | Pete Browning | 99 | 383 | 120 | .313 | 3 | 72 |
| OF | Hub Collins | 116 | 485 | 149 | .307 | 2 | 50 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Kerins | 83 | 319 | 75 | .235 | 2 | 41 |
| Guy Hecker | 56 | 211 | 48 | .227 | 0 | 29 |
| Farmer Vaughn | 51 | 189 | 37 | .196 | 1 | 21 |
| Lave Cross | 46 | 180 | 41 | .228 | 0 | 15 |
| Harry Raymond | 32 | 123 | 26 | .211 | 0 | 13 |
| Phil Tomney | 34 | 120 | 18 | .150 | 0 | 4 |
| Farmer Weaver | 26 | 112 | 28 | .250 | 0 | 8 |
| Wally Andrews | 26 | 93 | 18 | .194 | 0 | 6 |
| Dude Esterbrook | 23 | 93 | 21 | .226 | 0 | 7 |
| Phil Reccius | 2 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 4 |
| Hercules Burnett | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Fusselback | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas Long | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Cross | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toad Ramsey | 40 | 342.1 | 8 | 30 | 3.42 | 228 |
| Scott Stratton | 33 | 269.2 | 10 | 17 | 3.64 | 97 |
| Guy Hecker | 26 | 223.1 | 8 | 17 | 3.39 | 63 |
| Ice Box Chamberlain | 24 | 196.0 | 14 | 9 | 2.53 | 119 |
| John Ewing | 21 | 191.0 | 8 | 13 | 2.83 | 87 |
| Billy Crowell | 1 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.00 | 5 |
References
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