Last week we discussed the history of the Troy Haymakers, the predecessors of today's San Francisco Giants baseball team.
Of the 76 or so ball players that made up the various teams of the Troy Haymakers between 1866 and 1882, a handful of them rose above the rest. While the Troy team was in the National League for a short four years, it produced five players that had careers that landed them in the Hall of Fame.
"Big Dan" Brouthers
(1858-1932 )
Brouthers joined Troy in 1879, but was sent back to the minors for making too many errors and ended up playing for a number of teams (even tried pitching for Troy). He has been called the "Babe Ruth of his era." He ended up leading the league in batting average in 1882-83, 89, 91-92; in home runs in 1881 and 86, and rbi's in 1892.
In 1881 he was sent to Buffalo, where he led the league in homers (8) and batted .368 in 1882 and .374 in 1883 . On September 10, 1886, he hit three home runs, a double, and a single for 15 total bases
He won the batting title (.373 ) in 1889 for the Boston Beaneaters. In 1891 he joined the pennant winning Boston Reds of the American Association and won the batting with a .350 average. The next year he won his fifth batting title .335 but with yet another team the Brooklyn Superba. In 1894 he hit .347 and drove in 128 runs leading Baltimore to its first pennant.
In 1904, now at the age of 46, and in the minors, he won the Class D Hudson River League batting title. He ended the year with a two-game return to the Giants.
Brouthers ended his career with a .343 batting average, ninth-best of all time. He retired as a press box attendant at the Polo Grounds until his death 1932. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945.
"Dear Old Roger" Connor
(1857-1931 )
Connor was the Babe Ruth of the 19th century and his 138 homers was tops until the real Babe broke it. He led the league in home runs in 1890, rbi's in 1889, and batting average in 1885.
At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, he joined the Troy Trojans in 1880 which now included Tim Keefe, Mickey Welch and catcher Buck Ewing, the other Hall of Famers. As the story goes, he found both his career and wife in Troy when he went to a shirt factory where she worked; he had to be fitted with a special uniform because of his size and she took his measurements.
He led the league in fielding average in 1887, 1890, 1892, and 1896. He is fifth on the all-time list of triples with 233.
Connor was the first to hit a grand slam in the major leagues on September 10, 1881.
In his debut season for New York Gothams (Giants), he batted .357. He hit such a homer in his first game with the Giants, in 1883, that fans passed the hat and bought him a $500 gold watch in appreciation.
Pitcher Tim Keefe and Manager Jim Mutrie was shifted over to the New York Gothams. Mutrie referred to the team as "my giants." which eventually became the official name of the team.
In 1885 Connor led the National League with 169 hits, batting .371. The following year he led the league in triples and batted .355. In 1887 he smacked 17 home runs.
In their first pennant win in 1888, Connor smacked 14 home runs. The next year, and another pennant, he hit 13 homers.
In 18 seasons he had a .317 batting average and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1976.
William "Buck" Ewing
Ewing played several positions but was hailed as the best catcher in baseball during his time. Ewing batted a lifetime .303 but hit as high as .344 in 1893. During the infamous Dead Ball era, he was the National League home run champ hitting 10 in 1883 and led the league with 83. Leading the league with 20 triples in 1884, he hit three of them in a game in 1883, and four other times hit 15 in a season. He was fast too. He averaged 37 stolen bases and had a high of 53 in 1888.
He also managed the New York , Cincinnati, and Cleveland clubs. In 1888, as manager, he led the Giants to their first pennant and did it again the next year also hitting .327. He was inducted into the Hall Fame the year it opened in 1939.
"Sir Timothy" Keefe
Keefe joined the Troy team in 1880 and ended up playing for the New York Mets and Giants after the team quit the National League in 1882. Keefe is known as the inventor of the changeup and led the League in wins in 1888 and ERA in 1880, 85, and 88.
Keefe won 342 games during his career which included winning 19 games in a row. He threw a six or less hitter 28 times in 51 starts in 1888 and went 4-0 in the World Series.
His career ERA was a low of 2.62 and his record low of 0.80 pitched in 1880 remains a record today.
He ended his baseball career as an umpire but made his money in real estate. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964.
"Smiling Mickey" Welch
Welch was a right handed pitcher with a curveball, a change of pace, and a screwball and was the third 300-game winner of the majors. He threw seven 20+ games in a row and nine total in his 13 year stint. He joined Troy in 1880.
During his 13 major league seasons, he posted 20 or more wins nine times - seven in succession. In 1884 he completed 62 of 65 starts, winning 39, and had a career-high 345 strikeouts. He established a record by striking out the first nine batters he faced, a feat that was not broken until 1970.
Welch won 17 consecutive games in 1885 with seven of them shutouts, and won 44 games losing only 11. He lead the National League with an .800 winning percentage. On September 10, 1889, he made history by becoming the first pinch-hitter in Major League history.
Welch helped pitch the Giants to their first pennant. He remains among the leaders in complete games and innings pitched. He recorded 40 career shutouts. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973.
Two other Trojans are in the Hall of Fame although they never played with the Troy Team. Troy born John "The Trojan" Evers was the pivot man in baseball's most famous double-play combination: "Tinker to Evers to Chance." He helped lead Chicago to four National League pennants and two World Championships (1907, 1908). Evers led the Boston Braves to a World Series title in 1914, batting .438 in the series and was voted the MVP. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1946. Evers is the only Hall of Famer buried locally in St. Mary's in Troy.
Trojans contributed to the great game of baseball in other ways too.
Third baseman Esteban Enrique, otherwise known as Steve "The Cuban Sylph." Bellan, was the first Latin player in professional baseball. More than 50 years before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, our Haymakers employed a Latino player, born in Havana, Cuba, in a league which otherwise was pure white. Bellan is credited as being the father of baseball in Cuba.
It was Alec Smith of Troy that made the first catchers mit in the 1880's.
Troy's James N. Kern was the first president of the National Association League when it formed in 1876.
It looks like professional baseball is coming back to Troy. The least we can do is name the new stadium for our historic team - Haymaker Stadium.
(1859-1906 )
(1857-1933 )
(1859-1941)
Trojan Michael "King" Kelly began his professional baseball career with Cincinnati and is considered one of the greatest players of his time and is called the "King of Baseball." He stole at least 50 bases in four consecutive years, including 84 in 1887 and played on eight pennant winners in sixteen years. He won the National League batting title in 1884 (.354) and 1886 (.388 ). He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945.