Old Judge and the Western Association of 1888

The Old Judge set contains more than 500 players from teams across three major leagues (the National League, the American Association, and the Players League of 1890) and many minor league teams. In 1888, it included players from all eight clubs in the Western Association at the start of the season. They added additional players from the Western Association in 1889, including players from the two new clubs that season (Denver and St. Joseph), as well as players from Sioux City, which had joined the Western Association in the middle of the previous season. They also changed the team designation for many players who had changed teams over the previous year. In all, more than 130 players from the 1888 Western Association were pictured on Old Judge cards (although not all were identified with the WA club they played for in 1888). As the photos were likely taken during spring training that year (for the cards released in 1888), not all of the players depicted with a club actually played for that club in the regular season, and players signed by the teams in season would be depicted with their club from the spring of 1888.

Western Association players available as Old Judge Cabinet Cards

Charles Boyd Chicago Boyd was released in spring training	Roscoe Coughlin Chicago This card was 'discovered' in 2019, although its existance was deemed likely	Jack Croghan Chicago	Dan Dugdale Chicago
John Dunn Chicago	Frank Dwyer Chicago	Fischer Chicago No one knows who Fischer was	William Hanrahan Chicago
Moxie Hengel Chicago	Charlie Hoover Chicago Davenport Pictured with Chicago (NL) from 1888 spring training	Fred Lange Chicago Kansas City	Herman Long Chicago Kansas City
Thomas McCallum Minneapolis Chicago Davenport	Jim McCauley Chicago	Joseph M. Nicholson Minneapolis With Chicago in spring training when photo was taken	George Rooks Chicago
Jumbo Schoeneck Chicago	Charlie Sprague Chicago	Thomas Turner Chicago Pictured with Minneapolis from 1889

Des Moines

Billy Alvord Des Moines	Ed Cushman Des Moines Shown in Des Moines uniform, but team ID is Toledo from 1889	Bug Holliday Des Moines	Bill Hutchison Des Moines Pictured with Chicago (NL) from 1889
Ted Kennedy Des Moines Omaha	Jimmy Macullar Des Moines	Dick Phelan Des Moines Pictured with Des Moines from 1889 update	Joe Quinn Des Moines
Harry Sage Des Moines	Luke Schildknecht Des Moines Sioux City	George Shafer Des Moines	Fred Smith Des Moines
Dan Stearns Des Moines	Ed Swartwood Des Moines Rumored to be joining Des Moines for about two weeks in March 1888	Bill Traffley Des Moines	Sam Trott Des Moines
Bill Van Dyke Des Moines	Frank Wells Des Moines Sioux City Shown in Des Moines uniform, but team ID is Milwaukee from 1889

Kansas City Blues

Joe Ardner Kansas City	Michael Bradley Kansas City	Count Campau Kansas City	Ed Cartwright Kansas City
Jim Conway Kansas City	Jim Curtis Kansas City	Julie Freeman With Kansas City in spring training but released before season	Joe Gunson Kansas City
Bill Hassamaer Kansas City	Spud Johnson Kansas City	Bill Krieg Minneapolis Kansas City	Fred Lange Chicago Kansas City
Herman Long Chicago Kansas City	Jim Manning Kansas City	John McCarthy Kansas City	Kid Nichols Kansas City
Charlie Reynolds Kansas City	Park Swartzel Kansas City	Jake Wells Kansas City

Milwaukee

William Crossley Milwaukee	Andy Cusick Milwaukee	David Davin Milwaukee	Alex Ferson Milwaukee
Tom Forster Milwaukee Davenport	Billy Fuller Milwaukee	Clark Griffith Milwaukee	Bill Hawes Minneapolis Milwaukee
Jack Horner Milwaukee Omaha	Bobby Lowe Milwaukee	Leech Maskrey Milwaukee	Jimmy McAleer Milwaukee
Lynn Mills Milwaukee	Pat Pettee Milwaukee	William Shenkel Milwaukee	Ben Stephens Milwaukee Davenport
Joe Strauss Milwaukee	Joe Walsh Milwaukee	Ed Warner Milwaukee	George Winkelman Minneapolis Milwaukee

Minneapolis

Varney Anderson St. Paul Minneapolis	Timothy Brosnan Minneapolis Sioux City	Cal Broughton Minneapolis St. Paul	Tod Brynan St. Paul Minneapolis
Frank Graves Minneapolis	Bill Hawes Minneapolis Milwaukee	Fred Jevne Minneapolis	Rudy Kemmler St. Paul Minneapolis Davenport
Gus Klopf Minneapolis Davenport	Bill Krieg Minneapolis Kansas City	Thomas McCallum Minneapolis Chicago Davenport	Joseph M. Nicholson Minneapolis
Charlie Parsons Minneapolis	Owen Patton Minneapolis St. Paul	Fred Rehse Minneapolis	Myers Robinson Minneapolis
Dave Rowe Minneapolis	Taylor Shafer St. Paul Minneapolis	John Shaw Minneapolis	John Sowders St. Paul Minneapolis
James Stirling St. Paul Minneapolis	Patsy Tebeau Minneapolis Omaha	Joe Walsh Milwaukee	George Winkelman Minneapolis Milwaukee

Omaha

Bill Annis Omaha	Bill Burdick Omaha	Jim Burns Omaha	Dad Clarke Omaha
Jimmy Cooney Omaha	Jack Crooks St. Louis Omaha	John Doran Omaha Davenport	John Flynn Omaha
John Healey Omaha	Jack Horner Milwaukee Omaha	Ted Kennedy Des Moines Omaha	Tom Lovett Omaha
Chippy McGarr Omaha	Jack Messitt Omaha	Joe Miller Omaha	Sam Moffet Omaha
Tom Nagle Omaha	Pat O'Connell Omaha	Dan Shannon Omaha	Patsy Tebeau Minneapolis Omaha
Joe Walsh Milwaukee	Tug Wilson Omaha

St. Louis

Charles Alcott St. Louis	Tug Arundel St. Louis	Jake Beckley St. Louis	Ernie Burch St. Louis
Bart Cantz St. Louis	Jack Crooks St. Louis Omaha	Tom Dolan St. Louis	Joseph Herr St. Louis
Hunkey Hines St. Louis	Jack Kenyon St. Louis	Tom Loftus Manager St. Louis	Jerry McCormick St. Louis
Parson Nicholson St. Louis	Fred Nyce St. Louis	Ed Sproat St. Louis	Pete Somers St. Louis
Harry Staley St. Louis

St. Paul

Varney Anderson St. Paul Minneapolis	John Barnes St. Paul	Cal Broughton Minneapolis St. Paul	Tod Brynan St. Paul Minneapolis
Scrappy Carroll St. Paul	Jesse Duryea St. Paul	Billy Earle St. Paul	Rudy Kemmler St. Paul Minneapolis Davenport
Larry Murphy St. Paul	Owen Patton Minneapolis St. Paul	John Pickett St. Paul	Charlie Reilly St. Paul
Taylor Shafer St. Paul Minneapolis	John Sowders St. Paul Minneapolis	William Tuckerman St. Paul	Peek-A-Boo Veach St. Paul Sioux City

Player - Self Explanitory
March 1 - On club roster before March 1, 1888
Card # - Card number if in Old Judge N172
Old Judge Club - Team for card in 1888
Cabinet - X if included on checklist for Old Judge Cabinets for 1888
Notes - Dates for signing, release, etc.
First game - First game for club in Western Association (if played)
Last game - Last game for club if before July 1

For the St. Louis Whites, the only player on the roster as of March 1 who was not included in the Old Judge set was Frank Weikart, who was released around April 3. Tug Arundel did not join the club until late April, after the photo shoot for the team. Tom Dolan is photographed in a Whites uniform, but identified with the St. Louis Browns. He spent two or so weeks with the Browns in Spring Training on a road trip through Memphis and New Orleans, which may be why Old Judge identified him with the Browns. On the other hand, Pete Somers spent those same two weeks in St. Louis with the Whites, and he is also identified with the Browns.

Take home: No likely unidentified Whites out there (nor Browns either, for that matter).

St. Louis Whites

Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Charles Alcott	X	2	St. Louis (WA)	X	Released May 6	May 3, 1888	May 6, 1888
Tug Arundel 13 Indianapolis (NL) X Signed April 24 May 8, 1888 June 20, 1888
Jake Beckley X 25 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888
Ernie Burch X 51 St. Louis (WA) X Signed February 2 April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Bart Cantz X 64 St. Louis (WA) X May 1, 1888 June 20, 1888
Jack Crooks X 99 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Tom Dolan X 126 St. Louis (AA) StL-AA Actually with the Whites April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Joseph Herr X 225 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 8, 1888
Hunkey Hines X 226 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Jack Kenyon X 260 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Tom Loftus X 277 St. Louis (WA) X Manager
Jerry McCormack X 305 St. Louis (WA) X Released May 3
Parson Nicholson X 345 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Fred Nyce X 347 St. Louis (WA) X May 1, 1888 June 17, 1888
Pete Somers X 428 St. Louis (AA) StL-AA Released May 6
Ed Sproat X 434 St. Louis (WA) X May 1, 1888 May 7, 1888
Harry Staley	X	435	St. Louis (WA)	X	April 28, 1888	June 19, 1888
Frank Weikart	X	Released April 3

Chicago Maroons

Hypothticals:
Gene Moriarity was signed by the club in 1887, and was with them well into the season. He would be my top choice for missing Old Judge card from the Maroons.
Arthur "Dad" Clarkson was the brother of John Clarkson. He was signed relative late - March 25 - but much earlier than many other players seen with the Maroons.
Charlie Ingraham - Possibly the Dugrahm listed on the Cabinet checklist?

	Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Charles Boyd X 34 Chicago (WA) X Signed February 8; last listing April 11 Roscoe Coughlin 95.1 Chicago (WA) X Signed May 26 June 2, 1888 Jack Crogan X 98 Chicago (WA) X May 1, 1888 June 2, 1888 Dan Dugdale X 136 Chicago (WA) X May 2, 1888 John Dunn X 139 Chicago (WA) X May 2, 1888 June 7, 1888 Frank Dwyer 141 Chicago (WA) X Signed April 24 May 1, 1888 Fischer 161 Chicago (WA) X Unknown player William Hanrahan 213 Chicago (WA) X Signed April 24 May 1, 1888 Moxie Hengel X 223 Chicago (WA) X May 1, 1888 Charlie Hoover 232 Chicago (NL) Chi NL/ Signed May 16 May 20, 1888 Chi WA Fred Lange X 272 Chicago (WA) X May 1, 1888 Herman Long X 278 Chicago (WA) X May 1, 1888 Jim McCauley X 303 Chicago (WA) X May 1, 1888 Joseph M. Nicholson X 344 Chicago (WA) X Released May 16 George Rooks X 391 Chicago (WA) X Released May 16 May 1, 1888 May 15, 1888 Jumbo Schoeneck X 404 Chicago (WA) X May 17, 1888 Charlie Sprague 433 Chicago (NL)/ Chi NL Signed May 4 May 6, 1888 Chicago (WA) Gene Moriarty X May 1, 1888 Dad Clarkson Signed March 25; released May 16 May 3, 1888 May 3, 1888 Charlie Ingraham X? Joined club May 5; Dugrahm? May 5, 1888 May 26, 1888

Des Moines

Hypotheticals:
Ed Cushman and Frank Wells - Both players have cards with later teams that look like they are in Des Moines uniforms.
Guerdon Whitely (or Whiteley?) - He played with Des Moines in 1887, and was signed to come back for 1888 until the club signed Shafer. He signed with Hutchinson around April 12, so most likely Old Judge never released a card for him

Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Billy Alvord X 6 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Ed Cushman X 107 X May 2, 1888 Bug Holliday X 231 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Ted Kennedy X 259 Des Moines X May 10, 1888 Jimmy Macullar X 287 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Joe Quinn X 376 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Harry Sage X 397 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Luke Schildknecht 402 Des Moines X Signed April 18; released to Sioux City late June June 1, 1888 June 1, 1888 George Shafer 409 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Fred Smith X 424 Des Moines X May 4, 1888 Dan Stearns X 436 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Ed Swartwood 449 Des Moines X Reports between March 23 and March 31 Bill Traffley X 462 Des Moines X May 2, 1888 Bill Van Dyke X 470 Des Moines X April 28, 1888 Frank Wells X 488 X April 28, 1888 June 13, 1888 Guerdon Whiteley X Signed by Hutchinson April 12

Kansas City

Hypothetical:
J.B. Freeman was a "phenomenon" from Missouri who signed with Kansas City for the 1888 season. He was cut on May 3, which means he should have been around when the team shoot was occurring. He got a card the following year in the 1889 set, pictured with the Browns (whom he was with in ST) but identified with Milwaukee (to whom he was sold before the season started).

Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Joe Ardner X 12 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 Michael Bradley X 37 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 Count Campau X 62 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 June 28, 1888 Ed Cartwright X 70 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 Jim Conway X 91 Kansas City (WA) X May 5, 1888 J.B. Freeman X 171 Released May 3 Joe Gunson X 205 Kansas City (WA) X May 5, 1888 Bill Hassamaer X 216 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 Ralph (Spud) Johnson X 247 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 Jim Manning X 292 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 John McCarty X 302 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888 Charlie Reynolds X 383 Kansas City (WA) X May 2, 1888 Park Swartzel X 450 Kansas City (WA) X May 2, 1888 Jake Wells X 487 Kansas City (WA) X May 1, 1888

Milwaukee:

Hypotheticals:
Alex Ferson jumps out. He was identified with Milwaukee as early as January 8, and he was with the club through the spring. He was released relatively early (May 16), so maybe that is why there is no (known) card of him.
John Quincy Adams Struck was another pitcher with the club all through spring. He shows up on the Cabinet Checklist.
Hart on the Cabinet Checklist is probably Jim Hart, the manager.
And looking at the Old Judge Book, I'm not sure who they think "Keas" is. I haven't found anyone by that name associated with the club.

Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Andy Cusick X 108 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 David Davin X 118.5 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 June 7, 1888 Alex Ferson X 158 Signed before January 8; released May 16 May 2, 1888 May 15, 1888 Tom Forster X 167 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 Billy Fuller X 173 Milwaukee X May 2, 1888 Jack Horner X 234 Milwaukee X May 1, 1888 Bobby Lowe X 281 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 Leech Maskrey X 295 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 Lynn Mills X 326 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 Pat Pettee X 365 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 William Shenkel X 401 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 Ben Stephens 438 Milwaukee X Signed May 16 May 22, 1888 Joe Strauss X 442 Milwaukee X April 28, 1888 Edward Warner X 479 Milwaukee X May 1, 1888 John Q A Struck X X May 24, 1888 June 10, 1888 Jim Hart (Manager) X X Manager

Minneapolis

Hypotheticals:
Cal Broughton was signed in May, but has a card in the set with St. Paul (for whom he played after August 16, and then in 1889), and he shows up as a Cabinet option.
Joe Walsh joined the club before Broughton, and he has a card from his time with Omaha prior to going to Minneapolis. Is it weird that they added players after that point but did not change the team for him?
Michael Lynch was released very early in the spring.
Podge Weihe was signed right as Shaw was released. He didn't last long, so maybe Old Judge never bothered to put him on a card.

Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Timothy Brosnan X 41 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 Cal Broughton 42 X Joined club on May 19 May 19, 1888 Frank Graves X 197 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 May 15, 1888 Bill Hawes X 237 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 Fred Jevne X 246 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 W.F. Jordon X 249 Minneapolis X Released May 2 Gus Klopf X 264 Minneapolis X May 1, 1888 Bill Krieg X 269 Minneapolis X May 1, 1888 Thomas McCullom X 308 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 Charlie Parsons X 361 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 April 30, 1888 Owen Patton X 362 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 Fred Rehse 380 Minneapolis X Signed March 3 May 15, 1888 Myers Robinson X 389 Minneapolis X April 30, 1888 May 6, 1888 John Shaw X 414 Minneapolis X Released May 2 April 30, 1888 May 1, 1888 J.C. Sterling X 439 Minneapolis X Released in late May Joe Walsh 477 Omaha Purchased May 1 from Omaha May 2, 1888 George Winkelman X 505 Minneapolis X May 2, 1888 Michael Lynch X Released April 1; back for one game May 13, 1888 May 13, 1888 Podge Weihe Signed May 2; with Lima by May 19 May 2, 1888 May 7, 1888

Omaha

Omaha players are hard to find, so I guess it doesn't surprise me that there could be quite a few more out there.
Hypotheticals:
Ed Gastfield is available as a Cabinet, as is Frank Selee, the manager.
John Campana was released on April 10, so maybe too soon to be on a card.
Ed Cassian was with Omaha until July 2 without ever appearing in a regular season game. He pitched in spring training. But he's not on the cabinet list, so not sure why he doesn't seem to have had a card.
Len Sowders, brother of John Sowders (St. Paul) and Bill Sowders (Boston). Not sure when he signed with Omaha, but he was gone by early June.
Sanders is listed on the Cabinet checklist, but I think this is an error. I wonder if they meant Sowders?

Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Bill Annis X 10 Omaha X April 30, 1888 Bill Burdick X 52 Omaha X May 1, 1888 Jim Burns X 56 Omaha X April 30, 1888 Dad Clarke 77 Omaha X Signed May 22 from Chicago NL May 24, 1888 Jimmy Cooney X 93 Omaha X May 10, 1888 John Doran X 131 Omaha X April 30, 1888 June 17, 1888 John Flynn X 164.5 Omaha X April 30, 1888 John Healy 219 Omaha X Pitched for Omaha on April 19; released June 7 May 20, 1888 June 2, 1888 Tom Lovett X 280 Omaha X April 30, 1888 Jack Messitt X 322 Omaha X May 10, 1888 May 10, 1888 Joe Miller X 324 Omaha X April 30, 1888 Tom Nagle 339 Omaha (1889) Signed June 7 June 7, 1888 Pat O'Connell X 353 Omaha X April 30, 1888 Dan Shannon 411 Omaha X Signed March 25 April 30, 1888 James Walsh X 477 Omaha Sold to Minneapolis May 1 Tug Wilson X 504.5 Omaha X April 30, 1888 Ed Gastfield X Signed April 28 May 5, 1888 May 30, 1888 Frank Selee X X Manager John Campana X Released April 10 Edward Cassian X Released July 2 Len Sowders X May 1, 1888 May 26, 1888

St. Paul

Hypotheticals:
Tom Morrisey and Frank Ringo were both listed in the Cabinet checklist.
Joe Quest was released early in April.
Peter Vogel was released later in April.
John Corbett was released even later in April.
It really makes me wonder what the cut-off date was to be included or not in the cards that were printed.

Player	March 1	Card #	Old Judge Club	Cabinet	Notes	First Game	Last Game
Varney Anderson X 7 St. Paul X May 4, 1888 John Barnes X 20 St. Paul X Manager Scrappy Carroll X 68 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 Jesse Duryea X 140 St. Paul X May 20, 1888 Billy Earle X 142 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 Rudy Kemmler X 258 St. Paul X May 4, 1888 Larry Murphy X 333 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 John Pickett X 369 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 Charlie Reilly X 382 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 Taylor Shafer X 410 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 John Sowders X 432 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 William Tuckerman X 466 St. Paul X May 6, 1888 Peek-A-Boo Veach X 472.5 St. Paul X April 28, 1888 Tom Morrissey X St. Paul X April 28, 1888 Frank Ringo St. Paul X Signed May 8 May 15, 1888 Joe L. Quest X Released April 9 Peter J. Vogel X Released April 19 John Corbett X Released April 24

So there you go. If you are still hanging in, congrats! You made it!

I would say my list of most likely possible cards isn't that much different than the players presented in the Old Judge Book. For new players, I would keep an eye out for Moriarty, Ingraham (Dugrahm), Struck, Hart, Gastfield, Selee, Morrisey and Ringo.

Then there are Campana, Cassian and Sowders from Omaha, who are likely (IMO), just based on how hard it is to find players from Omaha and how long they were with the club in Spring Training and beyond (well beyond for Cassian).

Cushman and Wells most likely exist with Des Moines. Broughton is probably out there with Minneapolis and Hoover with Chicago. Given that Sprague has new poses with the Maroons, and Coughlin was clearly photographed well after ST, it seems likely to me that Hoover could have a new pose with the Maroons, like they did a second shoot. How else do you have cards for both players released on May 16 and also a player signed on May 26?

So that's what I have to show for being stuck at home for a while. Thanks for listening!