BASEBALL WEEKLY
April 1886
Injuries Mount For Chicago
In what has to be considered their worst run of bad luck since they were formed 16 years ago, the Chicago White Stockings opened the new season in the most difficult way losing a number of key players for the entire year.
Ruptured index finger
Soon after the season ending injury of second baseman Fred Dunlap before the season even began, the injuries kept rolling in. After his opening start of the season starter George Derby was lost when he ruptured a tendon in the index finger of his throwing hand. Derby who has been a mainstay in the Chicago rotation for close to 10 years, Derby will likely miss up to 3 months.
Next in line was Billy Sunday who tore a his labrum in his right shoulder sidelining him for the remainder of the season. Sunday was the everyday left fielder and batted .276 last season. Sunday is also one of the fastest baserunners in the league and will be missed. Count Gerdney and Jim Mctammany will look to fill this void.
Along with these two key injuries Stump Wiedman continues to have a problem staying on the mound. The starter agai went down with a strained tricept muscle and isnt due back until late May or June. Joe Borden also missed some time out of the bullpen with a sore shoulder. In the meantime the Whites had to do something to try and fill the void in the pitching core, and they called upon veteran Cy Bentley, who was waiting for a call as a free agent.
Legendary Cy Bentley has joined Chicago
Good old Cy was one of the most dominant pitcher in the history of the game, havng won 311 games in his career, only behind Al Spalding. Bentley has also won the outstanding pitcher of the year award an incredible 7 times and had a storied career in Boston. Bentley did well in his initial 2 starts for the team this month, and can still pitch with guile and purpose at the age of 36.
Cap Anson is off to the worst start of his career which isnt helping matters. Anson who is a lifetime .320 hitter is only batting .193 on the young season and many worry if he has lost some speed on his swing. To his defense Anson has started slow before and turned it around everytime.
The team is 9-13 and only still 4.5 games back. They do play with heart and fight for their wins, a recent loss to their old teamate Al Spalding of Brooklyn earlier this month, was of interest to many. Cap Anson has also gone on record before this season that he expects his players to avoid alcohol on game days and concentrate fully on the game at hand, some rumblings of this being an unpopular move have circulated.
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League NewsToad Ramsey a 21 year old starting pitcher in the St. Louis Browns organization has been touted as the top prospect in all of baseball by the annual Baseball America publication. Another publication called the Sporting News has begun publication across the country.
New addition Tom Lynch of the Senators didnt get much of his stay of his career for that matter. Lynch will not play baseball again after a freak offfield injury has left him with limited use of his arms, details were scetchy.
Tim Keefe, the dominant starting arm for the Brooklyn Grays has inked a new deal to stay with the defending champions. Keefe signed a three year deal worth $1842 a season. The Blues have used Keefe along with old ace Al Spalding this season to try and repeat as champs.
Speaking of Al Spalding, a decision came down from an Illinois court about the lawsuit that George Wright claimed against Spalding and his business over a catchers mask inovation. Spalding lost a decision that will force him to pay an undisclosed sum of money to wright for patent infringements to the catcher mask. Wright has since retired and is looking into coaching or managing.