Lewis
American baseball player

Lewis

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American baseball player
Gender:
Male
Places:
United States of America
Is:
AthleteBaseball player
Work field:
Sports
Birth:
(Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA)
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Introduction Players without identified given names
The details
Biography

Introduction

Thirty-three individuals who played professional baseball at the major league level before 1900 lack identified given names (there are hundreds of other players of which this is true from the twentieth-century Negro leagues). All 33 played between 1872 and 1892; 18 played in the National Association, which folded in 1875. Identification of players remains difficult due to a lack of biographical information. A Brooklyn, New York, directory, for instance, lists more than 30 men who could be the professional player "Stoddard". Philadelphia Athletics manager Bill Sharsig signed three of the 32, "local players" McBride, Stafford and Sweigert, for Philadelphia's last game of the season against the Syracuse Stars on October 12, 1890. McBride, Philadelphia's center fielder, and Stafford, the team's right fielder, both failed to reach base, but left fielder Sweigert reached base on a walk and stole a base. Society for American Baseball Research writer Bill Carle "doubt[s] we will ever be able to identify them". David Nemec has commented on this phenomenon with both major league and minor league players, noting, for example, that a McGuire (not on this list because he was a minor league player) is probably the player with an unknown first name whose appearances came closest to the twentieth century.

Despite their relative anonymity, several of these players received media coverage describing their games. In 1872, The New York Times described O'Rourke as a new player on Eckford of Brooklyn who "appear[ed] to be an improvement over the recent incumbents": in his only game, the pitcher allowed 15 runs to score in a complete game against the Troy Trojans. Lewis received a mention in Sporting Life (pictured) that recapped his performance, and another in the Pittsburgh Press, with a synopsis that summarized the game as "one of the greatest slugging matches ever seen since curve pitching came into vogue".

Of the 33 athletes with an unidentified given name, Baltimore Monumentals right fielder Scott played in the most games at the major league level, with 13, followed by Wills with 9. Scott also has the most hits among players without an identified given name, with 12, followed by both Wills and Jones with 5 each. Among pitchers, Lewis has the highest earned run average, 60.00, whereas McDoolan has the lowest, 3.00.

Players without identified given names

Lewis
A Sporting Life clip that describes Lewis as a "much disgusted ball tosser", taken from an article dated July 19, 1890.

National Association

1872–1874

Name Position Team League Year Ref
Higby Right fielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1872
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 1 error
O'Rourke Pitcher Eckford of Brooklyn National Association 1872
Summary:
  • 0–1 win–loss record
  • 9.0 innings pitched
  • 8.00 earned run average
  • 15 runs allowed
Spencer Shortstop Washington Nationals National Association 1872
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 1 run
  • 4 errors
McDoolan Pitcher Baltimore Marylands National Association 1873
Summary:
  • 0–1 win–loss record
  • 9.0 innings pitched
  • 3.00 earned run average
  • 24 runs allowed
McGovern (Gavern) Second baseman Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1874
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 1 run
Quinlan Shortstop Philadelphia White Stockings National Association 1874
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 1 hit
  • 1 run batted in
Wood Second baseman Baltimore Canaries National Association 1874
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 5 plate appearances
  • 0 hits

1875

Name Position Team League Year Ref
Boland Third baseman Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 1 error
Booth Shortstop New Haven Elm Citys National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 2 plate appearances
  • 1 error
Edwards Center fielder / Pitcher Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 5 plate appearances
  • 1 hit
  • 0–1 win–loss record
  • 2.0 innings pitched
  • 4.50 earned run average
Evans Left fielder New Haven Elm Citys National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 2 hits
  • 1 run batted in
Hellings Second baseman Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 1 hit
Quinn Outfielder / Shortstop Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 2 games played
  • 1 hit
  • 2 runs
Shaffer Right fielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 1 error
Sheridan Left fielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 0 hits
D. Smith Second baseman Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:

Misidentified until 2023 as Thomas N. Smith

  • 3 games played
  • 13 plate appearances
  • 1 hit
Stoddard Outfielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 2 games played
  • 9 plate appearances
  • 1 hit
Sullivan Right fielder New Haven Elm Citys National Association 1875
Summary:
  • 2 games played
  • 3 hits
  • 3 runs batted in

Union Association, American Association and Players' League

1884–1885

Name Position Team League Year Ref
Carroll Left fielder Washington Nationals Union Association 1884
Summary:
  • 4 games played
  • 16 plate appearances
  • 4 hits
  • 4 errors
Franklin Center fielder Washington Nationals Union Association 1884
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 3 plate appearances
  • 2 putouts
Jones Left fielder Washington Nationals American Association 1884
Summary:
  • 4 games played
  • 5 hits
  • .294 batting average
McRemer Right fielder Washington Nationals Union Association 1884
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 3 plate appearances
  • 0 hits
Murphy Catcher / Left fielder Boston Reds Union Association 1884
Summary:
  • 2 games played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 1 walk
Scott Right fielder / Third baseman Baltimore Monumentals Union Association 1884
Summary:
  • 13 games played
  • 12 hits
  • 1 home run
Smith Pitcher / Right fielder Baltimore Monumentals Union Association 1884
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 5 plate appearances
  • 1 hits
  • 0–0 win–loss record
  • 6.0 innings pitched
  • 9.00 earned run average
Wills Center fielder Washington Nationals American Association
Kansas City Cowboys (UA)		 1884
Summary:
  • 9 games played
  • 36 plate appearances
  • 5 hits
Jones Third baseman New York Metropolitans American Association 1885
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 4 plate appearances
  • 1 hit

1890–1892

Name Position Team League Year Ref
Lewis Left fielder / Pitcher Buffalo Bisons Players' League 1890
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 5 plate appearances
  • 1 hit
  • 0–1 win–loss record
  • 3.0 innings pitched
  • 60.00 earned run average
Macey Catcher Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 1 plate appearance
  • 0 hits
McBride Center fielder Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 2 plate appearances
  • 0 hits
Stafford Right fielder Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 2 plate appearances
  • 0 hits
Sweigert Left fielder Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 2 plate appearances
  • 1 stolen base
Leonard Right fielder St. Louis Browns American Association 1892
Summary:
  • 1 game played
  • 1 walk
  • 1 stolen base