Altoona Mountain Citys

Altoona Mountain Citys
Years 1884*

Folded after 25 games with a 6–19 record

Based in Altoona, Pennsylvania
Major league affiliations
Ballpark
Colors

Purple, white
   

Other names
  • Altoona Pride
  • Altoona Ottawas
Owners
  • Arthur Dively & William Ritz
Managers
Major league titles
  • Union Association pennants: 0

The Altoona Mountain Citys were a professional baseball franchise that played in Altoona, Pennsylvania in 1884. The Mountain Citys were a charter member of the Union Association, but folded after 25 games with a 6–19 record. They were alternately known as the Ottawas, after the local history of the Ottawa people in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the start of the season, they were also known by the nickname Altoona Pride, and were advertised as the Famous Altoonas. By the season's end, they were known as the Altoona Unfortunates.[1]

History

For its roughly six weeks of play, the Altoona Mountain Citys were managed by Ed Curtis and played in Altoona's Columbia Park. Among its roster, catcher Jerrie Moore and shortstop Germany Smith were two of its best players. John Murphy and Jim Brown were the team's ace pitchers.

When Henry Lucas, president of the newest major league, the Union Association, could only find seven teams for his league, he convinced the team, then part of the Inter-State Association, to join the league, with the promise that the Pennsylvania Railroad would provide some backing.[2]

The Mountain Citys began the 1884 season by playing the top teams in the league, the St. Louis Maroons and the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds, and losing 11 straight. The Altoona team's performance against the Maroons was especially hideous; they gave up 92 runs and made 53 errors. After finally winning their first game on May 10, the Mountain Citys went 5–8 the rest of the way before folding. The team's final game was on May 31, 1884. The team was a disaster – attendance was as low as 200 on some games, and averaged slightly more than 1,000 per home game, low figures even for those times.

Shortly after the club folded, the Kansas City Unions (also known as the Unions or Cowboys) were formed to take over Altoona's games in the schedule; this club played out the remainder of the season. Despite a 16-63 (.203 W-L percentage) finish, the franchise was one of only two (the St. Louis club being the other) in the league to make a profit. In contemporary newspaper reports, the team had Altoona's record (6-19) combined with their own and were considered to have finished last in an eight-team league. The Unions disbanded shortly after the Union Association voted to dissolve after the 1884 season.

The Altoona Curve, Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, saluted the Mountain Citys by changing their names to "The Altoona Mountain City" for every Thursday game.

1884 season

Season standings

Union Association
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Maroons 94 19 .832 — 49‍–‍6 45‍–‍13
Cincinnati Outlaw Reds 69 36 .657 21 35‍–‍17 34‍–‍19
Baltimore Monumentals 58 47 .552 32 29‍–‍21 29‍–‍26
Boston Reds 58 51 .532 34 34‍–‍22 24‍–‍29
Milwaukee Brewers 8 4 .667 35½ 8‍–‍4 0‍–‍0
St. Paul Saints 2 6 .250 39½ 0‍–‍0 2‍–‍6
Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies 41 50 .451 42 21‍–‍19 20‍–‍31
Altoona Mountain Citys 6 19 .240 44 6‍–‍12 0‍–‍7
Wilmington Quicksteps 2 16 .111 44½ 1‍–‍6 1‍–‍10
Washington Nationals (UA) 47 65 .420 46½ 36‍–‍27 11‍–‍38
Philadelphia Keystones 21 46 .313 50 14‍–‍21 7‍–‍25
Kansas City Cowboys 16 63 .203 61 11‍–‍23 5‍–‍40

Record vs. opponents

1884 Union Association record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ALT BAL BOS CHI/PIT CIN KC MIL PHI STL STP WSH WIL
Altoona — 1–3 1–1 0–0 0–3 0–0 0–0 1–3 0–8 0–0 3–1 0–0
Baltimore 3–1 — 10–5–1 7–5 4–10 10–2 1–3 10–2 1–14 0–0 11–5 1–0
Boston 1–1 5–10–1 — 4–8–1 5–11 8–4 2–2 8–3 8–8 0–0 12–4 5–0
Chicago/Pittsburgh 0–0 5–7 8–4–1 — 7–8 12–4 0–0 3–5 2–14 0–0 4–8–1 0–0
Cincinnati 3–0 10–4 11–5 8–7 — 9–1 0–0 9–0 4–12 3–0 10–6 2–1
Kansas City 0–0 2–10 4–8 4–12 1–9 — 0–0 0–4 0–11–1 1–1–1 4–8–1 0–0
Milwaukee 0–0 3–1 2–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 — 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–1 0–0
Philadelphia 3–1 2–10 3–8 5–3 0–9 4–0 0–0 — 0–8 0–0 4–7 0–0
St. Louis 8–0 14–1 8–8 14–2 12–4 11–0–1 0–0 8–0 — 2–1 13–3 4–0
St. Paul 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 1–1–1 0–0 0–0 1–2 — 0–0 0–0
Washington 1–3 5–11 4–12 8–4–1 6–10 8–4–1 1–3 7–4 3–13 0–0 — 4–1
Wilmington 0–0 0–1 0–5 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–4 0–0 1–4 —


Opening Day lineup

Roster

1884 Altoona Mountain City
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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR
C Jerry Moore 20 80 25 .313 1
1B Frank Harris 24 95 25 .263 0
2B Charlie Dougherty 23 85 22 .259 0
3B Harry Koons 21 78 18 .231 0
SS Germany Smith 25 108 34 .315 0
OF Taylor Shafer 13 55 18 .327 0
OF Jim Brown 21 88 22 .250 1
OF John Murphy 23 94 14 .149 0

Other batters

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR
Pat Carroll 11 49 13 .265 0
John Grady 9 36 11 .306 0
Jack Leary 8 33 3 .091 0
Charlie Berry 7 25 6 .240 0
George Noftsker 7 25 1 .040 0
Frank Shaffer 6 19 3 .158 0
Joe Connors 3 11 1 .091 0
Clarence Cross 2 7 4 .571 0
Charlie Manlove 2 7 3 .429 0
George Daisy 1 4 0 .000 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
John Murphy 14 111.2 5 6 3.87 48
Jim Brown 11 74.0 1 9 5.35 39
Jack Leary 3 24.0 0 3 5.25 7
Joe Connors 1 9.0 0 1 7.00 0

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Germany Smith 1 0 0 0 9.00 1

References

  1. ^ Richard Worth (2013). Baseball Team Names: A Worldwide Dictionary, 1869-2011. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 20. ISBN 9780786468447. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
  2. ^ "Mountain Citys History". Archived from the original on 2009-10-21.