Fantastic 1889 Brooklyn Bridegrooms Scorecard at Goodwin & Co. Auctions

Here is something you don't see everyday.

Featured here is a 1889 Brooklyn Bridegrooms scorecard.  As you may know, this year was the franchises last as a member of the American Association.  The following season they would join the National League where they continue to this day.  BTW, the Bridegrooms moniker is one of the many different nicknames given to the Brooklyn club.  At the time, teams did not have official names.  As for how Bridegrooms became popular, as the story goes several of the teams players got engaged at the same time, so naturally the fans (and the press) chose what was most suitable. (If you're interested in reading a biography focused on the club when they were known as the Bridegrooms I suggest reading Ronald Shafer's book called "When the Dodgers were Bridegrooms."  Check out my interview with the author here.)

This scorecards is one of the earliest artifacts of its kind from the Dodgers franchise.  Best yet, Goodwin & Co. auction house was kind enough to share pics of several of the pages within it in their auction listing.  I've captured all of those photos below, and included the biographies created for each individual player so that you may learn a little bit more about a few of the earliest Dodger players.  Since the pics provided aren't particularly clear I've done my best to recreate them.  Check out these pics and biographies below the fold.

As you can see below, the club was playing their games at Washington Park; their very first home and onetime headquarters for General George Washington during the Revolutionary War.  I had previously written extensively about this ballpark here. 

CSA: 1890's Dave Foutz Newsboy Cabinet

"His (Dave Foutz) calm demeanor and take-charge attitude inspired confidence among his teammates. And his strong hitting and good fielding and base running contributed to many victories." - Historian Robert L. Tiemann in Nineteenth Century Stars (1989) (From Baseball Almanac)

Nicknamed "scissors" because of his skinny frame, Dave Foutz would be a early Brooklyn hero. He was well liked by the other players and cheered by the fans. In 13 Major League seasons, he played for Brooklyn the last 9 while pitching, batting and playing the field. Soon, Foutz would even became a player manager for 4 season before retiring from the game in 1896.

He was as versatile as they come. Foutz could play the outfield, 1st base and pitch a great game. He even had Base Ball smarts. At the ripe age of 26, Foutz was the player manager for the Bay City, MI Base Ball team of the Northwestern League. It was there he was first noticed by the powerful St. Louis Browns (Cardinals) who immediately sought his services. Unfortunately, they discovered that would have to buy the team to get him, so they did just that.

In 1884 he premiered with St. Louis at the age of 27 and became a star on the mound. Dave Foutz started 25 games, winning 15 and losing only 6, that year. The next season he won 35, and bested that with a career plateau of 41 wins in 1886. Inexplicably, he and Bob Caruthers (St. Louis' other star pitcher) was soon sold to Brooklyn for a sum of $13,500.00- a huge sum at the time.

And there he stayed. From 1888 to 1896 he proudly roamed the Eastern Park ball fields for the the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Suffering from asthmatic conditions Foutz was forced to retire too soon. Then, his life would be cut short a year later. He died in the place he was born, Waverly, Maryland, at the age of 40 in 1897.

Over his career, Foutz batted .276, while stealing 280 bases, and knocking in 750 runs. As a pitcher he won 147 games against just 66 loses. His career ERA was an impressive 2.84. Foutz lead St. Louis in three straight American Association Championships, and the Dodgers to a AA Championship and National League Championship. As Brooklyn's skipper he had a record of 264-257 in 4 seasons.

I note this former Dodger because of a great vintage 1895 Newsboy Cabinet photo card available at Clean Sweep Auctions. This card measures 4.5" x 6.5" and comprises of a sepia toned photograph mounted on cardboard backing. Newsboy produced over 500 cabinet cards of famous people in the 1890's, and only 14 are known to feature Base Ball players. As the name suggest, these cards would typically be glued or nailed onto a cabinet door for fans to admire. Of note, the clarity of the Dave Foutz photo is amazing. This is a rare opportunity to check out a vintage card of a historic figure in Dodgers history.

(Auction Link)

A Dodger Book: When the Dodgers Were Bridegrooms

How much do you really know about the Dodgers? Sure, you've heard of Charles Ebbets and his palace called Ebbets Field. And you know of the ballplayers with names like Durocher, Reese, Snider and Robinson who have been spoken and written about in ad nauseam, but how about McGunnigle, Adonis Terry or Charles Byrne.

Well, I have to admit, before finding out about this new book I had no idea who they were either.

Fortunately, these past Dodger characters have not been lost to time. Ronald Shafer, who wrote "When the Dodgers Were Bridegrooms," puts us through a time capsule that explores the birth of the Brooklyn franchise to the early 20th century, and I had an opportunity to asked him a couple of questions about it. Check it out below. Also, go to his website, here, for more information about the book.

1: Please tell me how you came up with the idea of this book?

I got the idea for the book after my wife, Mary, told me that her great-grandfather, Bill McGunnigle managed the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and invented the catcher's mitt. I found out that according to an 1895 baseball guide, Mac was indeed credited with being the first to use in mitt in 1875 (actually, a pair of bricklayer's gloves). I also found that the Bridegrooms were the same team that later became the Dodgers.

2: Considering we are looking at the late 19th Century, how did you do the research to fill out a complete story about the team and cast of characters? Resources must have been limited, and with the passage of time, stories a bit muddled.

Goodwin Auctions: 19th Century Brooklynite Dan Foutz

Here is a great and truly vintage 19th century Baseball card currently available on auction from Goodwin & Company. It features do-it-all ballplayer Dave Foutz of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (an early incarnation of the Dodgers). Foutz was decent with the bat, he could field multiple positions and he was a very accomplished pitcher... Heck, he even managed the Dodgers for a time. This guy was a Victorian Baseball renaissance man.

His numbers don't lie. As a pitcher, in 1886 he won 41 games while losing only 16 with a ERA of 2.11. That year he threw 504 innings, had 55 complete games and had a ERA+ of 164. As a batter a year later, 1887, he would hit .357 with a OPS of .901. In 1889 he stole 64 bases. His ability to do it all made it seem that he was destined to become a superstar. Unfortunately, he fell short of greatness, although Baseball Reference does compare his career quite favorably with that of Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean. It is said that Foutz suffered through asthma throughout his life and eventually succumbed to it at the age of 40 - only a year after leaving the game.

The card below is one of the scarcer Baseball cards out there. It was produced in 1895 by Mayo's Cut Plug.

(Auction Link)