The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
1892 Cleveland Spiders had memorable ride
1892 squad had four future Hall of Famers; outspoken manager led charge
The Spiders became a piece of Cleveland sports lore as a long-forgotten championship contender.
Even with the national pastime closer to its birth than its stride in 1892, professional baseball was not lacking in bravado.
One afternoon early in the season, a fan in St. Louis decided to approach Chicago’s Hall of Fame manager and first baseman Cap Anson.
The fan was chiding Anson for his squad losing several recent games to another National League outfit, the Cleveland Spiders.
Anson gracefully gave the fan some leeway ... until, that is, he predicted the Spiders would finish ahead of Anson’s squad, in that era nicknamed the Colts.
Anson reached into his wallet, pulled out a $100 bill daring him to bet — and the fan quickly stopped.
Much to the chagrin of the National League that season, though, the Spiders never stopped, as they became a piece of Cleveland sports lore as a long-forgotten championship contender.
The Spiders came into 1892 not lacking in talent, with three future Hall of Famers on its roster in outfielder Jesse Burkett, third baseman George Davis — and their ace, a 25-year-old right-hander named Cy Young.
Then there was second baseman Cupid Childs, catcher Chief Zimmer, the elder statesman of the team at 31, and a surprising rookie pitcher in George Cuppy.
But the tone was set for the squad by their confident and opinionated third baseman Patsy Tebeau, who doubled as the Spiders’ manager.
Jan. 11, 1892, Tebeau spoke to Sporting Life magazine about his vision for a “strong” baseball player.
“Exercising in gymnasiums is too much of a strain for a ball player and is apt to harden the muscles too much,” Tebeau said. “The only kind of gymnasium work that does a player any good is hand ball, which is comparatively light, active and trains the eye to become correct.
“Fresh air has as much to do with bracing a player during the winter as anything else. The sooner players learn that they must be something else but strong, the better off they will be.”
Feb. 19, Tebeau announced the Spiders would report for spring training March 15 in Hot Springs, Ark.
He bristled at the notion being floated of placing a cap on the number of pitchers a team could carry, and the number of games per week in which they could each pitch.
“Why, when my pitchers demonstrate to me that they are in condition and can pitch winning ball you can rely on it that they will have to go in and do so?” Tebeau said. “That is what they are paid for, and if they fail to do so and set up the baby act, alleging that they are overworked and sent in too often, overboard they will go.”
“We have struck a winning pace now, and it is a case of everybody look out for us.” — Cleveland Spiders manager/third baseman Patsy Tebeau
As he promised, Tebeau took three weeks to get he and his teammates in shape for the season, condition Tebeau required after battling injury the year prior.
“Tebeau is a grand player at third and fills out a fast team for the Spiders. Last season, he was troubled with a lame knee,” the Boston Globe wrote March 23. “A good rest and a boiling out at Hot Springs may bring him around in good shape. Pat is a favorite with the base ball public.”
April 12, the Spiders’ season commenced in Louisville, and local officials took the occasion seriously. The Spiders were picked up at their hotel in a series of carriages, with a brass band leading the way through the main city streets to the ballpark. They started with a 5-2 loss, but confidence was high among pundits.
“Trombone-voiced Tebeau of the Clevelands thinks he has a thing of beauty and a joy for ever in the Spiders for 1892,” the Pittsburgh Times write. “Mercury might have pointers in sprinting from its outfield. Its infield is hardy and will wear well, and the club as a whole will be dangerous in the matter of run
getting.”
They had their moments in the early stages in that regard, including a pair of 14-run games in April, but never quite found their footing in the National League first-half race.
In that era, the combatants of a season-ending “world championship series” were the first-half and second-half champions.
Tebeau was none too pleased after a trip to Cincinnati that didn’t help that cause.
“When we go to Cincinnati, we’ve got to carry clubs and revolvers to get a fair show,” Tebeau said.
By the end of June, the Spiders were displaying better form. June 20, they were 30-24, but seven games back of the pace-setting Boston Beaneaters.
From June 11-25, the Spiders had a 11-2-1 stretch, including a 9-3 win at Cincinnati.
Tebeau could sense better fortune was ahead, telling the Cincinnati Enquirer: “We have struck a winning pace now, and it is a case of everybody look out for us.”
He was right.
By the midway point, pitching was already a strength for the Spiders, with the indefatigable Young and Cuppy overachieving.
A third quality arm —
and fourth future Hall of Famer — was on his way, too.
July 6 was a good day for the Spiders. They dispatched Baltimore, 115, with Burkett doubling twice.
And by day’s end, highly regarded pitcher John Clarkson was on board.
Clarkson had been released by Boston in a costcutting move, and he expressed interest in playing in Cleveland.
He reached out to Spiders’ management, they agreed to terms via telegram and Clarkson joined the team for the second half.
At the helm, Tebeau was quite the character, even at home. Once, it was reported, Tebeau had made a fine defensive play that drew applause. Tebeau turned and said sarcastically, “Don’t applaud me, boys. You’ll give me the heart disease if you do.”
Aug. 5, the Spiders won, 4-2, at Louisville, with Burkett going 4-for-5 with a double and triple and three runs and Young scattering three hits in a complete game. That improved the Spiders to a league-best 13-5 in the second half.
“Every man on the team, even our pitchers and catchers, have been batting at opportune times since the second season began, and the
boys go at a pitcher with all the confidence in the world,” Tebeau said after a 5-1 victory in Pittsburgh two days later.
By Aug. 24, the Spiders were 4 ½ games clear, then six by Aug. 29 sitting at 2710.
In a 4-3 11-inning win over Philadelphia on Aug. 24, Young went the distance — and got a unique assist. After being the final out of the eighth at the plate, Young needed time for a breather before starting the ninth on the mound. Burkett grabbed the ball, went to the outfield and played catch with Jack O’Connor. Philadelphia protested vehemently, and the umpire fined the entire Spiders outfield $5 each for the transgression.
“Unless the Spiders stumble, as usual, they will come close to winning the championship,” the New York Tribune wrote. “Well-posted base ball men expect them to stumble.”
They never did. Clarkson struck out six and allowed one earned run in a 9-5 win over Cincinnati to improve to 4617 on Sept. 29, 7 ½ games ahead of Boston. Tebeau was livid pregame, claiming the groundskeeper had soaked the first-base line in water to slow his players. It turned out to be a burst water pipe.
Oct. 6, behind another
complete game from Young in which he fanned five, the Spiders reigned, 6-0, over Cincinnati. The game took one hour.
Oct. 12, the second-half pennant was clinched.
The Spiders closed the regular season four days later with an 11-2 victory over Louisville.
The “world championship series” dates were arranged with first-half champion Boston. Three games would be contested at League Park in Cleveland, then three more in Boston. In the bestof-nine format, should it take more than six games, the remaining games would be in New York.
The Spiders planned to send Young to the mound in “at least five” of the games.
“The series is awaking a great deal of interest both among players and patrons,” Sporting Life magazine wrote. “Among the players, the general opinion is that the Cleveland team ought to win.”
Not so much. Clarkson and Young were both tagged, and the Spiders were swept by the Beaneaters in five (four losses and a tie).
After the series-clinching game in Boston, won by the Beaneaters, 8-3, Spiders president Frank Robison looked to his Boston counterparts and said, “Never mind, boys. We’ll go at you
harder in 1893.”
Childs batted a teamhigh .317, walked 117 times and scored 136 runs, and shortstop Ed McKean led with 93 RBI. Burkett hit .275 with 66 RBI, 119 runs and 36 steals.
Young went 36-12 with a 1.93 earned-run average, tossing 48 complete games in 49 starts. Cuppy went 28-13 with a 2.51 ERA, and Clarkson contributed 17 wins and a 2.55 ERA.
Players scattered across the country, including Tebeau back to St. Louis and Young to his farm near Canton.
But not before giving Cleveland its first taste of being a championship contender on the diamond, a tone set by their leader.
“Tebeau’s word in the club policy in a playing way is law,” team secretary Davis Hawley told local media Oct. 2. “We all know that he understands his business better than we do, and there is not nor will there be any interference with him in the management of his men. He is a jewel, and the Cleveland club officials know it.”