Reynolds Goto Baseball Reference for Reynolds p Majors: No
	St. Louis Position: p First game: June 1, 1888 Last game: June 1, 1888 # of games: 1	Filled in as the starter on June 1, 1888. Described as a local amatuer from Des Moines.

Reynolds started one game for the St. Louis Whites on June 1, 1888. The Whites were in Des Moines playing in their fifth game in four days and their seventh in six days (including two double headers). Hughes (Joe Murphy) and Harry Staley started a double header at home on May 27 against Omaha. May 28 was a travel day, and Staley started on May 29 in Kansas City. On May 30, Nyce and Staley started the two games of a double header at Kansas City, and then Nyce started on May 31 in the first game of the series in Des Moines. The Whites won just one of those previous six games (an 8-0 shutout of Omaha by Staley in Game 2 of the May 27 double header at the start of the stretch of games). June 1 was going to be Staley's third start in four days.

When the Whites turned in their lineup for the game, they named "Reynolds", a local amateur, as the starter. Per the St. Paul Globe

"...just before play was called, Loftus tried to work in Staley. This was objected to very firmly by the home management and Umpire Powers sustained the point contended for, Loftus threatened to take his team off the field; but he was told he would forfeit the game and his guaranty. He finally sent his men in, with Reynolds in the box, and the result was an unmerciful drubbing."

The identity of Reynolds is not given in any of the game accounts. The Chicago Tribune called him a phenomenon, but then clarified "and how a man could don a uniform and know less of the science of ball-playing is apparently where the phenomenal part of it came in." The Des Moines Register was completely silent as to the Whites starter, not even mentioning that anything unusual had occurred. The Des Moines Leader described the incident, and added the detail that "Reynolds was a local amateur who has distinguished himself recently by dropping a couple of games with the Stuart club." The Des Moines Grays lost two games to the club from Stuart, Iowa on Decoration Day (May 30); those could have been the two games referred to in the Leader.

On April 8, 1934, the Des Moines Register published an article about the 1888 Des Moines club featuring a photo of the club (specifically this one) which was provided by C.M. York, who "pitched semipro baseball in Des Moines from 1886 to 1893, playing with the old Des Moines Grays, Capitol Hill and other teams." Charles Monroe York (1856-1956) hailed from Lancaster, MO at the time of his visit to the Des Moines Register in 1934. Street guides from the late 1880s include Charles M. York in 1889 and 1890 living with Levi York (a brother to Charles Monroe York), but he is not in the 1888 street guide.

In 1942, the Des Moines Register printed an interview with Byron Stanbery (1870-1953). "He started playing with the Des Moines Grays as a pitcher, being graduated from that club to the 12-team National League in which he played with Louisville from 1895 to 1898, inclusive, as pitcher and secondbaseman" (July 12, 1942). He may have been too young to be Reynolds, being only 18 in 1888. Plus, I can find no record of even a minor league player named Stanbery (or variations) at the time, let alone a player with Louisville.

Date	Pos	AB	R	BH	2B	3B	HR	SB	PO	A	E	BB	HPB	K
6-1-1888	p	4	1	1				1	1	6	5
1 Games		4	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	6	5	0	0	0

Date	Pos	IP	H	R	ER	K	BB	HPB	WP
6-1-1888	p	9	20	21	14	1	5	0	1
1 Games		9	20	21	14	1	5	0	1