In 1884 Sweeney won 41 games, helping pitch two major league clubs to pennants. After
winning
17 for Providence (NL), he was expelled from the league for leaving the field in
the middle of a game, and promptly signed with St. Louis in the rival
Union Association,
where he won 24. With Providence on June 7, he struck out 19 Boston batters to set
a ML record for a nine-inning game that, though tied four times, was not broken until
Roger Clemens struck out 20 in 1986. In 1894 Sweeney killed a man in a San Francisco
saloon. Sentenced to prison, he died there eight years later.
(FIC)