The Union Association (UA) League lasted just one year -- 1884 -- consisting of 13 separate teams: the Altoona Mountain City, the Baltimore Monumentals, the Boston Reds, the Chicago Unions (who became the Pittsburgh Stogies and eventually the St. Paul Saints), the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds, the Kansas City Cowboys, the Milwaukee Brewers, the St. Louis Maroons, the Washington Nationals, the Wilmington Quicksteps (who became the Philadelphia Keystones, then moved to Milwaukee and became the Cream Citys).
The UA was formed in Pittsburgh under organizer Henry Van Noye Lucas, who also owned the Maroons, the team that took top billing in the UA's lone season. The UA raised eyebrows by showing blatant disregard for the reserve clause observed by the National League and American Association. The UA wrote up their own such rule, which stated, "Resolved, that while we recognize the validity of all contracts made by the League and the American Association, we cannot recognize any agreement whereby any number of ballplayers may be reserved for any club for any time beyond the terms of their contract for such a club."
Lucas' St. Louis Maroons racked up an impressive 94-19 record, 21 games above the second-place Cincinnati Outlaw Reds. Second baseman Fred Dunlap paced the team with 13 homeruns, a high total for the era, and his .412 batting average was second only to Jack Glasscock's .419 mark (Glasscock batted just .249 for the N.L.'s Cleveland Blues, where he had been a teammate of Dunlap's, before jumping to the UA's Outlaw Reds). Starting pitchers Charlie Sweeney and Billy Taylor anchored the starting rotation, going 24-7 and 25-4 respectively, while posting beautiful ERAs under the two mark. The Maroons had five relief pitchers, but in those days, starters typically completed their games. The bullpen corps was made up mainly of position players: John Cattanach, Dave Rowe (a regular outfielder), Milt Whitehead (the regular shortstop), Clifford "C.V." Matterson , Thomas Jefferson "Sleeper" Sullivan (a catcher/outfielder) combined for a total of six appearances. Longball leader Dunlap also made one pitching appearance, allowing one earned run and two hits in 2/3 of an inning. Cattanach was the only one to make multiple appearances. He made two.
Whereas the Maroons had five starters, the second-place Outlaw Reds had three -- Dick Burns, George Bradley and Jim McCormick -- all of whom won 20 or more games and threw at least 200 innings (Burns and Bradley tossed over 300 innings apiece). Cincy apparently relied heavily on their pitching; their team batting average was .271 (St. Louis's was .292), and they had only two players with 100 or more at-bats with .300+ batting averages: first baseman Martin Powell (.319 for the 1884 Outlaw Reds, he also batted .338 for the '81 Detroit Wolverines of the N.L.), pitcher Burns (.306), and backup third baseman Elmer Cleveland.
The Kansas City Cowboys were the league's worst team, compiling a record of 16-63. Their three starting pitchers, Ernie Hickman, Bob Black, and William "Peek-A-Boo" Veach combined for eight wins and 31 losses. A total of 17 others appeared in games for the Cowboys, and two of them -- Alex Voss and the Irish-born Barney McLaughlin -- saw most of the action, combining for 14 appearances (10 starts) and 101 2/3 innings.
Other noteworthy individual accomplishments: Baltimore's Bill Sweeney, part of a two-man starting rotation, started 62 games, winning 40 and losing 21. Wilmington/Philadelphia starter Jersey Bakely's numbers were a stark contrast -- 14-27.
The aforementioned Fred Dunlap of the champion Maroons, arguably the best player in the league, placed no lower than fourth in the UA in the categories of batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, homeruns, and bases on balls. Dunlap would go on to have a decent baseball career, playing for the Detroit Wolverines, and the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the National League, the New York Giants of the Players League, and the Washington Statesmen of the American Association. He also played four years for the N.L.'s Cleveland Blues before joining the Maroons.
The lack of balance would prove to be the UA's undoing; the league folded after the 1884 season ended. Lucas took his Maroons (including Dunlap) and joined the National League and also bought the Blues. Six years later, in 1891, the American Association would fold. The National League would reign supreme until the American League was born in 1901.
Sources:
www.baseball-reference.com
Diamonds - The Evolution of the Ballpark, Michael Gershman, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.
» Steve "Gimpy" Bowles is an ardent Oakland Athletics fan living in northern California. He has written several pieces on Athletics history and is currently working on a series of essays on the history of baseball in Oakland.
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Posted May 26, 2003.
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