1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys season

1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys
LeagueNational League
BallparkRecreation Park
CityAllegheny, Pennsylvania
OwnerWilliam A. Nimick
ManagerGuy Hecker
← 1889
1891 →

The 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys season was the ninth season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The team finished eighth and last in the National League with a record of 23–113, 66.5 games behind the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.

This was the final season for the team with the name "Alleghenys," as the team changed its name to the Pittsburgh Pirates the next season, a name it has retained to the present day.

Background

The Alleghenys' season essentially ended when most of its stars defected to the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players' League. With a decimated roster, the Alleghenys made a poor showing. The 113 losses by the Alleghenys set a new major league record, breaking the old record of 111 set the previous year by the Louisville Colonels. That record would stand until 1899, when the Cleveland Spiders lost 134 games, the all-time record.

Poor crowd attendance meant that this team played 97 of its 136 games on the road, finishing with a road record of 9-88. (The 88 losses remained a record until 1899 and continues to be one that cannot be replicated under current MLB scheduling rules, which only allow a maximum of 81 road games.)

The team's .093 road winning percentage is the lowest in MLB history for a minimum of 60 games. This would be the last time the Pittsburgh franchise reached the century mark in the loss column until 1917, when the team was known as the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Regular season

Season standings

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Brooklyn Bridegrooms 86 43 .667 58‍–‍16 28‍–‍27
Chicago Colts 83 53 .610 48‍–‍24 35‍–‍29
Philadelphia Phillies 78 53 .595 9 54‍–‍21 24‍–‍32
Cincinnati Reds 77 55 .583 10½ 50‍–‍23 27‍–‍32
Boston Beaneaters 76 57 .571 12 43‍–‍23 33‍–‍34
New York Giants 63 68 .481 24 37‍–‍27 26‍–‍41
Cleveland Spiders 44 88 .333 43½ 30‍–‍37 14‍–‍51
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 23 113 .169 66½ 14‍–‍25 9‍–‍88

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHI CIN CLE NYG PHI PIT
Boston 6–11 8–11 11–8 13–7 11–8–1 11–9 16–3
Brooklyn 11–6 11–9 9–7 17–3 10–8 10–8 18–2
Chicago 11–8 9–11 12–8–2 13–7 13–6 8–10–1 17–3
Cincinnati 8–11 7–9 8–12–2 13–4 14–6 11–9 16–4
Cleveland 7–13 3–17 7–13 4–13 6–12–2 5–14–1 12–6–1
New York 8–11–1 8–10 6–13 6–14 12–6–2 6–11 17–3–1
Philadelphia 9–11 8–10 10–8–1 9–11 14–5–1 11–6 17–2
Pittsburgh 3–16 2–18 3–17 4–16 6–12–1 3–17–1 2–17


Opening Day lineup

Roster

1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys

Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Harry Decker 92 354 97 .274 5 38
1B Guy Hecker 86 340 77 .226 0 38
2B Sam LaRocque 111 434 105 .242 1 40
SS Ed Sales 51 189 43 .228 1 23
3B Doggie Miller 138 549 150 .273 4 66
OF Tun Berger 104 391 104 .266 0 40
OF John Kelty 59 207 49 .237 1 27
OF Billy Sunday 86 358 92 .257 1 33

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Bill Wilson 83 304 65 .214 0 21
Fred Roat 57 215 48 .223 2 17
Fred Osborne 41 168 40 .238 1 14
Mike Jordan 37 125 12 .096 0 6
Eddie Burke 31 124 26 .210 1 7
Paul Hines 31 121 22 .182 0 9
Sam Crane 22 82 16 .195 0 3
Ducky Hemp 21 81 19 .235 0 4
Fred Dunlap 17 64 11 .172 0 3
Dad Lytle 15 55 8 .145 0 0
Henry Youngman 13 47 6 .128 0 4
Peek-A-Boo Veach 8 30 9 .300 2 5
Robert M. Gibson 3 13 3 .231 0 1
John Coleman 3 11 2 .182 0 0
John Gilbert 2 8 0 .000 0 0
Harry H. Gilbert 2 8 2 .250 0 0
Phil Routcliffe 1 4 1 .250 0 1
Frank McGinn 1 4 0 .000 0 0
Jim Gray 1 3 0 .000 0 0
Fred Truax 1 3 1 .333 0 1
Fred Clement 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Kirtley Baker 25 178.1 3 19 5.60 76
Guy Hecker 14 119.2 2 9 5.11 32
Dave Anderson 13 108.0 2 11 4.67 41
Bill Sowders 15 106.0 3 8 4.42 30
Crazy Schmit 11 83.1 1 9 5.83 35
Bill Phillips 10 82.0 1 9 7.57 25
Billy Gumbert 10 79.1 4 6 5.22 18
Sumner Bowman 9 70.2 2 5 6.62 22
Bill Day 6 50.0 0 6 5.22 10
Phenomenal Smith 5 44.0 1 3 3.07 15
Charlie Heard 6 44.0 0 6 8.39 13
Pete Daniels 4 28.0 1 2 7.07 8
Duke Esper 2 17.0 0 2 5.29 9
John Coleman 2 14.0 0 2 9.64 3
George Ziegler 1 6.0 0 1 10.50 1

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Fred Osborne 8 58.0 0 5 8.38 14
Henry Jones 5 31.0 2 1 3.48 13
Charlie Gray 5 31.0 1 4 7.55 10
Robert Murray Gibson 3 12.0 0 3 17.25 3
Alfred Lawson 2 10.0 0 2 9.00 2

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Fred Hayner 1 0 0 0 13.50 1
Billy Sunday 1 0 0 0 inf 0

References