BASEBALL MONTHLY
April 1897
Geggus Earns Extension As Colts Come Out Hot
Last season for the Colts is was all about overcoming a dynasty, this season it seems to be about making right what went wrong late last season. What ever the motivation Al Spalding has intilled in his men the 1897 season for Colts has started off and running in a big way.
Chicago won 18 games in the month of April, the most in team history and the emphasis seems to have been swung to the pitching side of things, where the rotation looks sharp. Nig Cuppy joined the rotation at the star of this season and more and more teams around the league are going with bfour starters instead of three. This addition will reduce the workload on the big Colt arms like Charlie Geggus and Al Orth for the pennant run. Cuppy looked good in his three starts going 3-0 with a 3.27 ERA.
Geggus is back to being possibly the most dominant arm in the game as he once again leads the league in strikeouts with 58. Geggus is also 5-1 and shows no signs of slowing down at the age of 35. The team and cirty also believes in the right hander as the team signed a new three year contract with the player. The deal will help Geggus earn just under 3000 dollars a season.
"Im just happy to be staying in Chicago and with this team" said Geggus when the news broke, "to me this is the best baseball city in the country and having played in both leagues I have seen them all."
The Colts are also getting a fine contribution from a name that they hadnt heard in a few years. Jocko Halligan is back with the team in 1897 and is playing like he did back in his rookie season when he was drafted by the club when he was the 7th overall pick. Halligan who has had an assortment of injuries in his career, is batting .358 for the season and is quite happy to be home and playing.
On a sour note for the month, big Sam Thompson did fracture his fibula and will miss six weeks of action trying to recover.
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Around the League
Poor Cy Young is having a heck of time getting settled in Detroit. Young has lost all six of his starts for the Tigers despite pitching relatively well (3.86 ERA). Young also lost all our of his game in the preseason and is now a combined 0-10 when he puts on the Tiger uniform.
Speaking of the Tigers, their star George Van Haltern will miss close to seven weeks due to an ankle injury. Rip as they call him, is a career .328 hitter.
Piano legs George Gore has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. Gore who is 39 years old has over 1500 hits in his career as well as a World Championship with the Reds in 1883. He has had limited playing time with Louisville this season.
Charlie Hodnett won his 200th game this month while Sam Thompson smacked his 2000th career hit.