 Image from Old Judge card set |
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| St. Louis Position: c-of-inf First game: April 28, 1888 Last game: June 20, 1888 # of games: 25 | Signed by St. Louis on November 4, 1887. Transferred to the Browns June 24, 1888 when the Whites folded. Player profile from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (March 11, 1888). | ||||
Dolan signed with the St. Louis Browns in October 1882. He played in 81 games for the Browns in 1883 and returned for the 1884 season. In August of 1884, he very publically jumped to the St. Louis Maroons in the Union Association. Dolan claimed to have been expelled by the Browns before he went to the Unions on August 23 and asked to play for them. His dispute with the Browns was over playing time and salary, claiming he was playing better than the other catcher on the club (Pat Deasley) but playing less and getting paid less. Von der Ahe refused to release him, but he still finished the season with the Maroons. He stayed with the Maroons in 1885 (and 1886) after they transferred to the National League. That made him the only player to appear with St. Louis teams in three different major leagues in three consecutive seasons. He was released by the Maroons in 1886 along with pitcher Charlie Sweeney after the two players caused a disturbance at a game at Sportsmans Park. He was subsequently signed by Baltimore of the American Association to finish 1886. He had the best season of his career in 1887, when he hit .404 in 95 games for Lincoln in the Western Association.
When he was signed by the Whites in November of 1887, it was a homecoming to the city he lived in and fans who knew him. At 33 he was the oldest player on the club. Counting the independent Reds and the Whites in 1888, he played for five different professional clubs in St. Louis. Dolan caught 15 of Staley's 20 starts with the Whites. He also played in the outfield for a few games, played one game at third base, and started the Whites final game at first base after Beckley was sold. He hit .185 with one extra base hit in 26 games. Despite this anemic performance, he was transferred to the Browns when the Whites disbanded and he appeared in 11 games for them, his final games in the majors. In seven seasons in the majors, he hit .204., with an OBP of .242. Despite his generally poor performance through his career, he continued playing, appearing in 79 games with Denver in 1889. In 1890, while with Des Moines in the Western Association, his young son died; he retired and took a job in St. Louis with the fire department. On April 18, 1894, Dolan and two others were electrocuted while fighting a fire. One firefighter, William Gannon, was killed; Dolan was seriously injured. He survived and resumed his job as a firefighter. He died in January, 1913.
During his playing career in St. Louis, he and his father, a saloon keeper in St. Louis, bank-rolled a local 'colored' team called the Black Stockings in the early 1880s.
| Date | Pos | AB | R | BH | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | PO | A | E | BB | HPB | K |
| 4-28-1888 | c | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 5-2-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 5-6-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 5-7-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-9-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-12-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 5-13-1888 | rf & ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||||||
| 5-15-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-18-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-19-1888 | cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 5-20-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| 5-22-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-25-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 5-26-1888 | 3b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 5-27-1888 | c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-29-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 5-30-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| 6-1-1888 | c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 6-2-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 6-5-1888 | c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 6-9-1888 | cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 6-13-1888 | rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 6-15-1888 | cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| 6-19-1888 | c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 6-20-1888 | 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 25 Games | 96 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 131 | 39 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
