The 1913 St. Louis Terriers

To find players quickly, O'Connor held tryouts prior to the start of the season. Coming out of these tryouts, the squad as published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (May 2, 1913, pg. 11) consisted of:

Pitchers - Moxey Manuel (formerly of the Chicago White Sox), Marvin Bridges, Jack Frey, John Fisher and Foster
Catchers - Andy Pettit and Tom Walden
Infielders - Duke Sheahan (1b), Jimmy Barton (2b), Charlie Stis (ss), Bill Prout (3b), and Robert Murphy (substitute)
Outfielders - Joe Zoellers, Buck Hooker, Scotty Kempin, Sullivan and Zarmack
Note: First names were not provided in the article.

The Terriers played their first game on Tuesday, May 6, 1913 at home against Chicago. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported "the paid attendance was just below 4000, while the pass list ran the total up above 4500, according to the estimates" (May 7, 1913, pg. 10). In the crowd was George Stoval, player-manager of the St. Louis Browns, one day after he was suspended by Ban Johnson for spitting tobacco juice on an umpire in a game over the weekend. The game was played at a park located at Kingshighway and Manchester, on the grounds of St. Louis University, which was renovated to house the club. Admission was 25 cents, with the Grand Stand costing 50 cents and Boxes 75 cents (Globe-Democrat, May 5, 1913). The intended Opening Day lineup, as published on May 5 in the St. Louis Star and Times was Hooker (cf), Murphy (3b), Kempin (rf), Barton (2b), Zoellers (lf), Stis (ss), Sheahan (1b) and Pettit (c), with Bridges or Frye starting. Come game time, Prout started at third base, and Frye was the starter. Bridges relieved Frye in the third after Frye allowed three runs that inning. Fisher pitched the ninth inning after a pinch-hitter, identified as Van Horst in the Globe-Democrat, batted for Bridges in the eighth inning. St. Louis lost 7-4 to Chicago. By the end of May, most of these players were no longer with the club.

Following a three-game series against Chicago (St. Louis lost all three), the club set out on May 8 on a road trip through Covington, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. The roster underwent wholesale changes during this trip. Hooker and Bridges were released before the club even left town, while Louis (Chief) Rehmer and Fred Arbeiter joined the club. Rehmer was signed in time to start the third game against Chicago, on May 8.

By the time the club returned to St. Louis, the entire pitching staff had been revamped. The overhaul of the pitching staff started when Jesse Gwin, late of New Orleans, joined the club in Covington for his first start on May 9. Arbeiter, Fisher, Frey, Jesse Beebe, Manuel and Luther Smith (playing as Brown) all pitched for the club on the road trip; none came back to St. Louis. Jack Ridgway (playing as Jack Mullin), jumped from Charleston (along with Witterstaetter and Smith) to start on May 18. A pitcher named Harmon pitched in the final game of the road trip, in Indianapolis. (This may have been a mid-identification of pitcher George Carmen, who appeared in one game with the club a few weeks later, but who also appeared in a team photo taken when the team returned from the road trip.) Pitchers Jack Reis and Al Pfyl joined the club upon its return to St. Louis, completing the overhaul. None of the pitchers from the Opening Day roster were still on the club at this point.

On the position side of the roster, Sheahan and Zoellers both lasted just one game into the trip, resulting in the club using a series of outfielders to fill in alongside Kempin and Dusty Miller, who joined the club in Covington to play left field. Eddie Hohnhorst joined the club in Covington to play first base, while Chick Waters, his brother-in-law, played three games in right field in Covington. Jack Powell, later an umpire in the Pacific Coast League (and briefly in the majors) filled in for three games in right field in Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. Leo Witterstaetter, playing under the name Leo Jones all season, joined the club in Indianapolis. He settled in in left field, moving Dusty Miller to right field, with Kempin in center field, stabilizing the outfield for a short period. Ed Green (who played for O'Conner the previous season in Cleveland) replaced Pettit (who was injured on the trip) behind the plate.

Ultimately, Jack Mertens (playing as Jack Collins) and David Gaston were signed for the outfield, resulting in the release of Ed Hohnhorst at the end of May and Scotty Kempin a few weeks later. On June 1, 1913, when Carman pitched his few innings for the club in Chicago, he became the 32nd player to appear in at least one game for the Terriers, less than one month after the club's first game. By the middle of June, Murphy, Prout and Barton were all that were left from the Opening Day club after Stis was injured in batting practice when he was beaned in the head.

The photo below was taken in St. Louis in late May, after the club returned from its first road trip. It reflects the roster at that time.

The 1913 St. Louis Terriers (May 1913) From left to right: Reis, Wittersteatter (aka Jones), Miller, Kempin, Walden, Hohnhorst, Green, Mertens (aka Collins), Pfyl, O'Connor, Rehmer, Ridgway (aka Mullin), Gwinn, Stis, Prout, Carmen, Murphy, Barton

Known team photos of the 1913 Federal League clubs
Chicago Team Photo
Covington Team Photo
Indianapolis Team Photo (Preseason)
Indianapolis Team Photo
Pittsburgh Team Photo