List of 19th-century Major League Baseball players with unidentified given names explained

Thirty-three individuals who played professional baseball at the major league level before 1900 lack identified given names (there are hundreds of other players of which this is true from the twentieth-century Negro leagues). All 33 played between 1872 and 1892; 18 played in the National Association, which folded in 1875. Identification of players remains difficult due to a lack of biographical information. A Brooklyn, New York, directory, for instance, lists more than 30 men who could be the professional player "Stoddard".^[1] Philadelphia Athletics manager Bill Sharsig signed three of the 32, "local players" McBride, Stafford and Sweigert, for Philadelphia's last game of the season against the Syracuse Stars on October 12, 1890. McBride, Philadelphia's center fielder, and Stafford, the team's right fielder, both failed to reach base, but left fielder Sweigert reached base on a walk and stole a base. Society for American Baseball Research writer Bill Carle "doubt[s] we will ever be able to identify them".^[2] David Nemec has commented on this phenomenon with both major league and minor league players, noting, for example, that a McGuire (not on this list because he was a minor league player) is probably the player with an unknown first name whose appearances came closest to the twentieth century.^[3]

Despite their relative anonymity, several of these players received media coverage describing their games. In 1872, The New York Times described O'Rourke as a new player on Eckford of Brooklyn who "appear[ed] to be an improvement over the recent incumbents": in his only game, the pitcher allowed 15 runs to score in a complete game against the Troy Trojans. Lewis received a mention in Sporting Life (pictured) that recapped his performance, and another in the Pittsburgh Press, with a synopsis that summarized the game as "one of the greatest slugging matches ever seen since curve pitching came into vogue".^{[4] [5]}

Of the 33 athletes with an unidentified given name, Baltimore Monumentals right fielder Scott played in the most games at the major league level, with 13, followed by Wills with 9. Scott also has the most hits among players without an identified given name, with 12, followed by both Wills and Jones with 5 each. Among pitchers, Lewis has the highest earned run average, 60.00,^[6] whereas McDoolan has the lowest, 3.00.

Players without identified given names

National Association

1872–1874

Name	Position	Team	League	Year	Ref
Higby					^[7]
	Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 error
O'Rourke					^[8]
	Summary: 0–1 win–loss record 9.0 innings pitched 8.00 earned run average 15 runs allowed
Spencer					^[9]
	Summary: 1 game played 1 run 4 errors
McDoolan					^[10]
	Summary: 0–1 win–loss record 9.0 innings pitched 3.00 earned run average 24 runs allowed
McGovern (Gavern)					^[11]
	Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 run
Quinlan					^[12]
	Summary: 1 game played 1 hit 1 run batted in
Wood					^[13]
	Summary: 1 game played 5 plate appearances 0 hits

1875

Name	Position	Team	League	Year	Ref
Boland					^[14]
	Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 error
Booth					^[15]
	Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 1 error
Edwards					^[16]
	Summary: 1 game played 5 plate appearances 1 hit 0–1 win–loss record 2.0 innings pitched 4.50 earned run average
Evans					^[17]
	Summary: 1 game played 2 hits 1 run batted in
Hellings					^[18]
	Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 hit
Quinn					^[19]
	Summary: 2 games played 1 hit 2 runs
Shaffer					^[20]
	Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 error
Sheridan					^[21]
	Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 0 hits
D. Smith					^[22]
	Summary:Misidentified until 2023 as Thomas N. Smith^[23] 3 games played 13 plate appearances 1 hit
Stoddard					^[24]
	Summary: 2 games played 9 plate appearances 1 hit
Sullivan					^[25]
	Summary: 2 games played 3 hits 3 runs batted in

Union Association, American Association and Players' League

1884–1885

Name	Position	Team	League	Year	Ref
Carroll					^[26]
	Summary: 4 games played 16 plate appearances 4 hits 4 errors
Franklin					^[27]
	Summary: 1 game played 3 plate appearances 2 putouts
Jones					^[28]
	Summary: 4 games played 5 hits .294 batting average
McRemer					^[29]
	Summary: 1 game played 3 plate appearances 0 hits
Murphy					^[30]
	Summary: 2 games played 4 plate appearances 1 walk
Scott					^[31]
	Summary: 13 games played 12 hits 1 home run
Smith					^[32]
	Summary: 1 game played 5 plate appearances 1 hits 0–0 win–loss record 6.0 innings pitched 9.00 earned run average
Wills					^[33]
	Summary: 9 games played 36 plate appearances 5 hits
Jones					^[34]
	Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 hit

1890–1892

Name	Position	Team	League	Year	Ref
Lewis					^[35]
	Summary: 1 game played 5 plate appearances 1 hit 0–1 win–loss record 3.0 innings pitched 60.00 earned run average
Macey					^[36]
	Summary: 1 game played 1 plate appearance 0 hits
McBride					^[37]
	Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 0 hits
Stafford					^[38]
	Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 0 hits
Sweigert					^[39]
	Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 1 stolen base
Leonard					^[40]
	Summary: 1 game played 1 walk 1 stolen base

Notes and References

1. Book: Batesel, Paul. Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871–1875. 101, 123. 2012. McFarland. 978-0-7864-7012-9.
2. Web site: SABR Biographical Research Committee September/October 2007 Report. 2007. Society for American Baseball Research. Bill Carle. March 14, 2014.
3. Book: Nemec . David . The rank and file of 19th century major league baseball : biographies of 1,084 players, owners, managers and umpires . 2012 . McFarland & Co., Publishers . Jefferson . 9780786490448 . 60.
4. News: Base Ball: Players' League. Sporting Life. LA84 Foundation. July 19, 1890. https://web.archive.org/web/20140112200334/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1890/VOL_15_NO_16/SL1516003.pdf. January 12, 2014. 3. 15. 16.
5. News: A Disastrous Experiment. The Pittsburgh Press. July 13, 1890.
6. There is a problem with this number, however. The game's box score (q.v.) reveals that at least six (and possibly as many as fourteen) of the 20 runs Lewis allowed in his single stint on the mound must have been unearned, giving Lewis an actual ERA somewhere between 18.00 and 42.00, not 60.00.
7. Web site: Higby. Baseball-Reference. January 5, 2014.
8. Web site: O'Rourke. Baseball-Reference. January 17, 2014.
9. Web site: Spencer. Baseball-Reference. January 19, 2014.
10. Web site: McDoolan. Baseball-Reference. January 11, 2014.
11. Web site: Gavern. Baseball-Reference. January 2, 2014.
12. Web site: Quinlan. Baseball-Reference. January 17, 2014.
13. Web site: Wood. Baseball-Reference. February 16, 2014.
14. Web site: Boland. Baseball-Reference. January 2, 2014.
15. Web site: Booth. Baseball-Reference. January 2, 2014.
16. Web site: Edwards. Baseball-Reference. January 2, 2014.
17. Web site: Evans. Baseball-Reference. January 2, 2014.
18. Web site: Hellings. Baseball-Reference. January 5, 2014.
19. Web site: Quinn. Baseball-Reference. January 17, 2014.
20. Web site: Shaffer. Baseball-Reference. January 19, 2014.
21. Web site: Sheridan. Baseball-Reference. January 19, 2014.
22. Web site: D. Smith Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More . . . 25 March 2024 . en.
23. Want a Challenge? . SABR Biographical Research Committee Report . May/June 2024 . 1–2 . March 25, 2024.
24. Web site: Stoddard. Baseball-Reference. January 25, 2014.
25. Web site: Sullivan. Baseball-Reference. February 16, 2014.
26. Web site: Carroll. Baseball-Reference. November 2, 2014.
27. Web site: Franklin. Baseball-Reference. January 2, 2014.
28. Web site: Jones. Baseball-Reference. January 11, 2014.
29. Web site: McRemer. Baseball-Reference. January 17, 2014.
30. Web site: Murphy. Baseball-Reference. January 17, 2014.
31. Web site: Scott. Baseball-Reference. January 17, 2014.
32. Web site: Smith. Baseball-Reference. February 16, 2014.
33. Web site: Wills. Baseball-Reference. February 16, 2014.
34. Web site: Jones. Baseball-Reference. January 11, 2014.
35. Web site: Lewis. Baseball-Reference. January 11, 2014.
36. Web site: Macey. Baseball-Reference. January 11, 2014.
37. Web site: McBride. Baseball-Reference. January 11, 2014.
38. Web site: Stafford. Baseball-Reference. January 25, 2014.
39. Web site: Sweigert. Baseball-Reference. February 16, 2014.
40. Web site: Leonard. Baseball-Reference. January 11, 2014.