Southpaw pitcher Rube Waddell died of tuberculosis at the age of 37 on April 1, 1914. The Hall of Famer compiled a 193-143 (.574) record and a 2.16 ERA during his 13 seasons with the Colonels, A’s, Pirates, and Browns.
William Van Winkle “Jimmy” Wolf was born on May 12, 1862 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the only player to appear in the American Association in all ten seasons of its existence. All ten of Wolf’s AA seasons were played for his hometown team, first known as the Louisville Eclipse in 1891, then known as the Louisville Colonels from 1882 to 1891. Wolf set a number of career American Association records: most games played (1,195), total bases (1,921), hits (1,438), doubles (214), and triples (109).
When the American Association folded, Wolf went on to play for the St. Louis Browns of the National League in 1892, which ended up being his last season in the majors. He played in just three games for the Browns before being let go. He would then play in the minor leagues until 1894, before retiring from baseball.
To Wolf’s family growing up, he was known as “Willie.” The nickname “Chicken” was supposedly given to him by Eclipse teammate, Pete Browning. According to the story, the Eclipse manager instructed the team to eat lightly before a game, but Wolf succumbed to his appetite and stuffed himself on stewed chicken. He then played poorly in the game, committing several errors. Pete Browning made a connection between the stewed chicken and Wolf’s lackluster play and hung the nickname “Chicken” on him. The name caught on with his teammates and the local press.
About halfway through his professional career, Wolf then became known as “Jimmy” Wolf in the Louisville newspapers. However, the origin or reason for this change remains unknown.
Following the end of his playing career, Wolf returned to Louisville, and in 1894, he joined the Louisville Fire Department. Five years into his firefighting career, while rushing to the scene of a fire, Wolf’s engine collided with a pushcart, and Wolf suffered a serious head injury in the accident. Wolf was declared “mentally unbalanced” and, in 1901, spent time in the Central Asylum for the Insane outside Louisville. Wolf died on May 16, 1903 at City Hospital in Louisville. William Van Winkle Wolf was laid to rest in Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery.
On May 9, 1888, while pitching against the Kansas City Cowboys, Elton “Icebox” Chamberlain of the Louisville Colonels pitched right-handed for the first seven innings of the game and left-handed for the last two innings. Louisville won the game by a score of 18–6, and the performance made Chamberlain the third major league pitcher to throw with both his left and right hands during the same game. The feat would not be repeated in the major leagues until Greg Harris switched arms for the ninth inning of a game in 1995.
The newspaper story covering the game was printed the next day in The Courier-Journal:
September 26, 1896 marked the season finale for the Cleveland Spiders, which they played against the Louisville Colonels at Eclipse Park. Cleveland outfielder Jesse Burkett collected three hits as the Spiders won, 4-3. Burkett thus finished the season with a .410 batting average, making him the first player to hit .400 in consecutive years, having batted .405 the previous season.
Future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke made his major league debut on June 30, 1894. Clarke went five-for-five for the Louisville Colonels, collecting four singles and a triple.
On July 12, 1897, Louisville outfielder Tom McCreery hit three home runs off Philadelphia right-hander Jack Taylor. The three four-baggers provided the difference in the Colonels’ 10-7 victory over the Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Each of the outfielder’s round-trippers were inside-the-park home runs, which makes me wonder about Philadelphia’s defense.
The Chicago Colts (later know as the Cubs) of the National League established the record for most runs scored in a game by one team on June 29, 1897 when they destroyed the Louisville Colonels in a 36-7 rout. The modern NL record would be set by the Cardinals in 1929 when they beat the Phillies, 28-6, at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl.
