More On The Jumpers
A few scattered notes
More On The Jumpers
I did a little bit of preliminary research on the 53 pre-1901 jumpers to the American League I identified in this post.
I haven’t dug deep quite yet. Keep in mind that there is a chance that some of these players didn’t actually “jump.” For example, some might have been released first, while others might have taken a circuitous route through the minor leagues.
At this point, the only questions I’m interested in are:
Who lost the most players?
Who gained the most players?
I’ll probably be interested in something else in the future, at which point we can come back to this discussion.
Who lost the most players?
The answer to this question didn’t surprise me at all.
If you’ve ever done research on the 1900 season, you already know the answer. It’s the National League team that was hated by everybody, the team that hardly drew any fans, the team that personified everything that was wrong about the sport.
If there was one team that the American League was sure to target, it was certainly this team.
The team I’m talking about is the Brooklyn Superbas, the National League champions in both 1899 and 1900.
It’s kind of hard to explain just how hated those Superbas were. Articles like this were common:
In fact, things were so bad that there was a serious rumor that summer that the Superbas were going to move to Washington DC:
That rumor might have been the wild invention of a few newspapermen, but it was certainly based on a general feeling of malaise and upset around the club. Remember that Brooklyn had won the pennant the year before. When this was printed, Brooklyn was in second place, 2 1/2 games behind the Phillies.
Anyway, here’s the chart:
You’ll notice right away that two of the teams that lost multiple players were in two city towns (remember that St. Louis didn’t have an American League team until 1902). There were 4 Boston National League players who went to the Boston American League team, and 4 Chicago National League players who went to the Chicago American League team.
St. Louis, meanwhile, is the team that John McGraw played for. 4 St. Louis players went to Baltimore, including McGraw; 4 additional St. Louis players went to play for the Red Sox. As you can see, the players tended to move around in packs.
The Pirates, meanwhile, lost fewer players than any other National League team, helping to set the stage for their famous 1902 season.
Who Gained The Most Players?
The top team here is also obvious.
McGraw was well known among baseball players, and was apparently heavily respected. In addition to 3 of his St. Louis teammates (including the notable star Mike Donlin), McGraw also succeeded in convincing Joe McGinnity to leave Brooklyn to go with him to Baltimore. McGinnity was a recognized star pitcher in those days, having won 28 games two years in a row with the Superbas.
Aside from that, the American League teams seem relatively well balanced. Chicago didn’t attract many new players — but you’ve got to remember that Chicago won the 1900 American League pennant. Cleveland was a new team in a city that had furnished the worst team in baseball history in 1899. Even still, 5 players is pretty impressive given the circumstances.
All in all, stealing 53 players away from the National League was enough to give the American League in 1901 a clear feeling of authenticity. After all, you’re not going to have a competitive new league with a bunch of unknown minor leaguers.