1890 Philadelphia Athletics
LeagueAmerican Association
BallparkJefferson Street Grounds
CityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
OwnersBill Sharsig, H. C. Pennypacker, William Whittaker
ManagerBill Sharsig
Manager Bill Sharsig
Pitcher Sadie McMahon
Pitcher Ed Seward
Pitcher Duke Esper
Catcher Wilbert Robinson
First baseman Jack O'Brien
Third baseman Denny Lyons
Left fielder Blondie Purcell
Center fielder Curt Welch
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+),[1] 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.[2] However, the team was struggling financially, and then they also struggled on the field.[3] They sold Lyons to the St. Louis Browns on September 6.[4] 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.[2] The Athletics lost their next game on September 16 right before leaving on a 16-game western road trip. By then, they were unable pay their players.[5] That day, they released their starting catcher and only future Hall of Famer, Wilbert Robinson, who signed with the Baltimore Orioles two days later.[6] Many of the Athletics' other players deserted the team.[7] 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.[1][8][9][10]

For the road trip, Athletics manager Bill Sharsig was sent off with $245 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."[3] Among the "major league" players who appeared for the team in October were five people who are listed in the record books by just their last names, as their first names are unknown,[1] although one (John Sterling) has since been uncovered by SABR. 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.[2] 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.[2]

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

American Association W L Pct. GB Home Road
Louisville Colonels 8844 0.667 — 57–13 31–31
Columbus Solons 7955 0.590 10 47–22 32–33
St. Louis Browns 7858 0.574 12 45–25 33–33
Toledo Maumees 6864 0.515 20 40–27 28–37
Rochester Broncos 6363 0.500 22 40–22 23–41
Baltimore Orioles 1519 0.441 24 8–11 7–8
Syracuse Stars 5572 0.433 30½ 30–30 25–42
Philadelphia Athletics 5478 0.409 34 36–36 18–42
Brooklyn Gladiators 2673 0.263 45½ 15–22 11–51

Record vs. opponents

1890 American Association record

Sources:
Team BAL BR COL LOU PHI ROC STL SYR TOL
Baltimore —0–02–4–21–2–12–25–12–51–22–3–1
Brooklyn 0–0—5–92–132–103–10–14–105–125–9
Columbus 4–2–29–5—10–8–111–910–9–112–8–210–713–7
Louisville 2–1–113–28–10–1—17–311–6–29–1114–514–6
Philadelphia 2–210–29–113–17—7–127–1310–76–14
Rochester 1–510–3–19–10–16–11–212–7—8–12–111–4–16–11–1
St. Louis 5–210–48–12–211–913–712–8–1—10–99–7
Syracuse 2–112–57–105–147–104–11–19–10—9–11
Toledo 3–2–19–57–136–1414–611–6–17–911–9—

Roster

1890 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

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
CWilbert Robinson8232978.237442
1BJack O'Brien109433113.261480
2BTaylor Shafer6926145.172021
SSBen Conroy11740469.171021
3BDenny Lyons88339120.354773
OFOrator Shafer100390110.282158
OFCurt Welch103396106.268240
OFBlondie Purcell110463128.276259

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 Kappel5620850.240122
George Carman279316.17207
Kid Baldwin249021.233012
John Riddle27857.08202
Andy Knox217519.25308
Joe Daly217521.28007
Henry Easterday196810.14713
Pete Sweeney14498.16300
Al Sauter14414.09800
Charles Snyder9339.27304
Ed O'Neil10315.16102
Ed Pabst82510.40003
Bart Cantz5221.04501
George Meyers5193.15801
George Crawford5172.11803
Dennis Fitzgerald282.25000
Pete Hasney271.14300
Sam Campbell250.00000
Ed Carfrey141.25000
Stafford120.00000
McBride120.00000
Bill Collins110.00000
Macey110.00000

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 McMahon48410.029183.34225
Ed Green25191.07155.8056
Ed Seward21154.06124.7355
Duke Esper18143.2894.8961
William Stecher1068.001010.3218
Ed O'Neil652.0069.6917
Mickey Hughes641.1135.4415
Bill Price19.0102.001
Harry Stine18.0019.001
Horace Helmbold17.00114.143
John Sterling15.00121.601

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 Whitney640.0225.186

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 Lackey10009.001
Curt Welch100054.001

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1890 Philadelphia Athletics Statistics". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "1890 Philadelphia Athletics Schedule". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Nemec, David (2011). Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871–1900, Volume 2. p. 143.
  4. ↑ "1890 Philadelphia Athletics Trades and Transactions". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  5. ↑ Nemec, David (2006). The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball. p. 519.
  6. ↑ "Wilbert Robinson Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  7. ↑ Nemec (2006). p. 521.
  8. ↑ "Orator Shafer Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Jack O'Brien Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Blondie Purcell Stats". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
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