Philadelphia Keystones

Poster promoting an April 1884 match between the Keystones and the Boston Unions.

The Philadelphia Keystones (also known as the Keystone Club of Philadelphia) were a professional baseball franchise. In 1884, they were a member of the short-lived Union Association. The team was owned by former player Tom Pratt.[1]

The Keystones were managed by catcher Fergy Malone and finished in eighth place in the 12 team league with a 21–46 record. Their top-hitting regular was left fielder / infielder Buster Hoover, who batted .364 with a slugging percentage of .495, and their best pitcher was Jersey Bakley, who was 14–25 with an earned run average of 4.47. Their home games were played at Keystone Park. Jack Clements, who played for 17 seasons and was the last (and virtually the only) left-handed catcher in major league history, made his big-league debut with the Keystones.

Like several other teams in the Union Association, the Keystones did not make it through the entire season, folding after the game of August 7. The entire league ceased operations after 1884, its first and only season.

1860s

There was an amateur or semi-pro Keystone club in Philadelphia during the 1860s. They generally played their games at the same ballpark as the better-known Athletic ball club. The 1884 team revived the old club name, and both names reference Pennsylvania, "The Keystone State".

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 —


Roster

1884 Philadelphia Keystones
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
C Tom Gillen 29 116 18 .155 0
1B John McGuinness 53 210 52 .236 0
2B Elias Peak 54 215 42 .195 0
3B Jerry McCormick 67 295 84 .285 0
SS Henry Easterday 28 115 28 .243 0
OF Buster Hoover 63 275 100 .364 0
OF Joe Flynn 52 209 52 .249 4
OF Bill Kienzle 67 299 76 .254 0

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
Jack Clements 41 177 50 .282 3
Henry Luff 26 111 30 .270 0
Billy Geer 9 36 9 .250 0
Fred Siegel 8 31 7 .226 0
Chris Rickley 6 25 5 .200 0
Pat Carroll 5 19 3 .158 0
Bill Jones 4 14 2 .143 0
Levi Meyerle 3 11 1 .091 0
Clarence Cross 2 9 2 .222 0
Dave Drew 2 9 4 .444 0
Tom Daly 2 8 0 .000 0
George Patterson 2 7 1 .143 0
Fergy Malone 1 4 1 .250 0
John O'Donnell 1 4 1 .250 0
Lefty Johnson 1 4 0 .000 0
Robert Foster 1 3 1 .333 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
Jersey Bakley 39 344.2 14 25 4.47 204
Sam Weaver 17 136.0 5 10 5.76 40
John Fischer 8 70.2 1 7 3.57 42
Bill Gallagher 3 25.0 1 2 3.24 12
Al Maul 1 8.0 0 1 4.50 7

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
Dave Drew 1 0 1 0 3.86 2
Jerry McCormick 1 0 0 0 9.00 3

References

  1. ^ Spink, Alfred Henry (1911). The National Game. Carbondale, Illinois: SIU Press. p. 70. ISBN 0-8093-2304-4.