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Charley Sweeney, Pitcher
Sweeney was raised in San Francisco, where he quickly developed a reputation as a hard thrower in amateur ball and signed with the Grays late in 1882. In 1884, he was 21 years old, and in his second full season. He was regarded as the ace of the pitching staff going into the season, and was selected to pitch opening day on May 1. Though he lost that game, he was nearly perfect in his next game two days later, allowing only a scratch single to Dan Brouthers, who was promptly picked off. He built his record to 8-1 by May 24, and often looked unhittable. On June 2, he struck out 13 New York batters. He topped this feat on June 7, when he struck out 19 men against defending champs Boston and won 2 to 1. The Journal commented that it was "a record which will not be broken in many a day." Sweeney received a "magnificent basket of flowers" before the next game. The record was eventually broken, by another hot-tempered westerner named Roger Clemens over a hundred years later. Sweeney was quite a hitter in addition to his pitching skills. A month into the season, he was leading the team in hitting with a .338 average, and he often played in right field on his "days off" to get his bat into the lineup. He slammed a home run in Chicago on June 26 on one of these days off. His .298 season batting average was second on the team. Sweeney's brilliant season started to unravel on June 27, when Larry Corcoran of Chicago pitched a no-hitter and Sweeney lost 6-0. It was to be his last complete game for the Grays. He apparently injured his arm during the game, as he took the next ten games off. On July 8, he started the game, but when the game went into extra innings, with "his arm not being able to stand the strain", Radbourn was brought in to nail down the victory. Another pitcher, Cyclone Miller, was brought in to give Sweeney more time to heal, but then Radbourn was suspended on July 16. For the next two days, the weak-armed Cyclone faltered in the late innings, and Sweeney was forced to come in to get the saves both times. Finally, on July 22, Sweeney was entrusted with another start, with the Cyclone in the outfield in case of emergency. Legend has it that Sweeney had been drinking pretty heavily after an exhibition game in Woonsocket the night before, and was in no condition to pitch. Some sources claim that he continued drinking during the game. Still, he had a 6-2 lead going into the seventh inning. Desiring to get practice for Miller and to rest Sweeney's arm, the manager decided to send Sweeney to right field. The Journal reports: "At this he 'kicked', and with abusive language positively refused to go into the field, retiring from the game altogether, obliging the home club to continue the game with but eight men." The Grays ended up losing the game 10-6 with only two outfielders. Sweeney was kicked off the team and out of the league. He then immediately signed a big contract with the St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association, quickly enough to cause suspicion that his tantrum was planned to get him expelled. He tore up the Union League and led St. Louis to a championship of their own. He finished the year with a combined record of 41-15: 17-8 with Providence and 24-7 with St. Louis. After this glorious but troubled year, he then struggled through three poor seasons, widely reported to be caused by excessive drinking. Arm troubles also contributed to the end of his career, as he was worked too hard at an early age. The final straw was with Cleveland in 1887, where he reportedly assaulted another player, bringing his major league career to a close at age 25. In 1894, he was sentenced to ten years in the San Quentin prison for killing a man in a San Francisco saloon. He contracted tuberculosis in prison, and was released after serving part of his sentence, dying in San Francisco on April 4, 1902 at the age of 38. copyright Rick Stattler 2002 |
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