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A Pittsburgh rookie in 1899 when relief pitching was a rarely practiced art, Sparks topped the National League in relief innings pitched and relief ERA. He settled into the Phillies' rotation in 1903 for a stretch of satisfactory seasons, highlighted by a 22-8 mark in 1907. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 8, 1903: Pittsburgh's Sam Leever shuts out the Phils, 2-0, beating Tully Sparks to keep the scoreless streak alive. It is Leever 2nd shut out during the Bucs' skein of 56 straight innings, and he will lead the NL with seven shutouts. Wagner is 2-for-3 and saves the shutout with a game-ending snag in left center of a line drive by pinch hitter Klondike Douglass. » September 8, 1904: The visiting Phillies stop the Giants win streak at 12 when the beat up Dummy Taylor to win, 9-8. Bill Duggleby is the victor. New York then wins the nitecap, 4-1 as Christy Mathewson notches his 30th victory, over Tom "Tully" Sparks. Darkness ends the game in the 7th inning. » August 24, 1905: Chicago's Ed Reulbach defeats Philley starter Tully Sparks in a 20-inning 2–1 Colts marathon win over the Phils, exactly two months after Big Ed topped the Cards by the same score in 18 innings. Frank Chance's single drives in Jack McCarthy with the winning run. The game ties the existing ML mark for the most innings played in a game. A high point in the game, as recounted in Johnny Evers Touching Second, is when OF Jimmy Slagle, in the 18th, shoves his hand in his back pocket to get a plug of chewing tobacco just as the batter cracks a long line drive. Slagle starts after the ball and discovers that he can't get his hand out of his pocket. He makes a leaping one-handed catch with his gloved hand, then stops, pulls the tobacco out, bites off a piece and bows to the crowd. » August 30, 1906: At Baker Bowl, the Phils and Giants swap shutouts. The Quakers win the opener, 2-0, when Tom Sparks allows just three hits to outpitch Christy Mathewson. Iron Joe McGinnity then blanks the hosts, 1-0, to hand Bill Duggleby the loss. » October 4, 1906: At the Polo Grounds, the Giants light up Tully Sparks for six runs in the first inning, and Christy Mathewson coasts to a 7-6 win over the Phils. Matty ends the season at 22-12. » May 4, 1908: The Giants jump on Tully Sparks for five runs in the first inning and coast to a 12-2 win over the Phillies. Christy Mathewson leaves with a 9-0, lead and runs his record to 5-0.