According to the Dodgers’ broadcasters, the first cycle in Dodger history was by Dick “Oyster” Burns (see featured photo) in 1890 for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms… against the Pittsburgh Alleghenys! So when Matt Muncy came up in the top of the ninth Friday needing only a double to complete his cycle, he had a chance to complete a 119-year cycle, too. In effect, he could hit his cycle not only against the Rockies, but also against the revived but still ancient Alleghenys — and, I suppose, the newly born Cascades, too.
Muncy walked, a kinder gesture with his team up 9-3. That led to a run rather than the two or three had he doubled. But had he known he was batting against the ghosts of the Alleghenys, perhaps he would have swung at one of the two strikes he took, driving it down the line and pulling in at second with his double — a Wolverine haunting the Alleghenys again, 129 years later.
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So I got to thinking: did the old Detroit Wolverines ever play the Pittsburgh Alleghenys? The Alleghenys were founded in 1882 in the American Association. They switched to the National League in 1887, and changed their name to the Pirates in 1891.
The old Detroit Wolverines were founded in 1881, members of the National League. They were disbanded after the 1889 season. The new Old Detroit Wolverines have quadrupled the success of the old Detroit Wolverines. They only won one NL championship — in 1887 — whereas the new Wolverines have won 4 EFL championships.
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Anyway — as you can see, the two vintage teams played in the same league for just two years. They first met on May 2, 1887, in Pittsburgh, where the Alleghenys won 8 – 3. But the W’s won the next two games in that series, then swept the A’s in Detroit in another 3-game series a week later, including an 18 – 2 shellacking in the final game on May 12. At that point the W’s had outscored the A’s 60 – 30.
The 1887 season ended 13 games to 4 in favor of the Wolverines, who scored 85 runs to the A’s 45. The Wolverines finished in first place in the NL. They went on to win a “world series” against the American Association champion St. Louis Browns, 10 – 5 — the only time any Wolverine team has won — or even played in — a world series.
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1888 was different from the start. The Wolverines opened the season April 20 at Pittsburgh, losing the first three games by a total score of 14 – 25. The W’s won game four, 6 – 4 and then swept a four game set in Detroit beginning May 1 by a total score of 52 – 17. The 1888 season ended 10 – 9 in favor Wolverines, 118 runs to 89. The Wolverines finished 5th in the league with a 68 – 63 record. The Alleghenys finished 6th at 66 – 68.
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The old Detroit Wolverines went into hiatus in 1889, and stayed there for 115 years until they resurrected in the EFL. The Alleghenys mourned. In 1889 they sagged to 61-71. In 1890 they were so depressed they went 23 – 113, finishing 66 1/2 games behind the Bridegrooms and their cycle-clouting Oyster Burns. The NL then looked a lot like the EFL now: 5 of the 8 teams finished above .500, with the 5th place Boston Braves only 12 games out.
The Alleghenys, no doubt hounded by bitter fans, went into the witness protection program and changed their name to the Pirates in 1891. It worked. They immediately improved to 55 – 80, still in last place, but tied with the Reds 30.5 games out. In 1892 they improved again to go 80 – 73 and finish 6th (out of 12) teams. In 1893 they finished in second place (81 – 48), just 5 games out. They stalled after that, and weren’t NL champions until 1901. That was Honus Wagner’s second year with the team, already their superstar.
Detroit returned to the major leagues in 1901 with the Tigers, not connected to the Wolverines. The Tigers were a brand new franchise in the brand-new American League. They were still 3 years away from their old English D, and 4 years away from taking on an 18-year old Ty Cobb, who would eventually supplant Wagner as the greatest baseball player anyone had ever seen.
That’s wonderful, Ron–great fun to read and an interesting angle on some long ago baseball history. I have one mild disagreement and two notes to add.
Disagreement: It’s not quite so self-evident that Cobb “supplanted” Wagner as the greatest baseball player. I’ve read many players and writers from the period who felt it was Wagner always, at least until the 1920s. Of course, to throw out another opinion that can be endlessly debated–the beauty of baseball history, Ruth supplanted them both, and Ruth himself has never been supplanted as the greatest of all time.
Note: Wagner and Cobb met in one World Series when the Pirates defeated the Tigers in 1909, 4 games to 3. (This was the first of 5 Pirates World Series victories, all in 7 games.) Wagner thoroughly outplayed Cobb in the Series, which included the perhaps embellished story of Cobb calling Wagner “Krauthead” and Wagner responding with spikes flying.
Note: I don’t know that I’ve ever said this before, but it was the Wolverines that inspired my choice of Alleghenys. When I was an expansion team in the league’s second season and it came time to choose my nickname, I thought it was pretty cool that Ron was using a pre-Tiger Detroit name for his team’s name. I did a little reading, and came up with Alleghenys as my own nod to the historical Pittsburgh franchise.
Very well done, you two.