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of healthy pitchers. Though Bailey wasn’t formally under contract, Ewing asked if he wanted to pitch a game.
It was a heady offer for a 24-year-old kid used to sweating through summers in the far-less-glamorous Southern League. Bailey took the mound for the Reds, and not only did he win the game 19–8 (despite giving up 13 hits and eight runs, five earned), but he also went two for four at the plate with a double, an RBI, and a stolen base. The Enquirer reported, “There’s a few disgusted Bourbonites … for the boy from the Bottoms had a little greased lightning on the balls, which passed over the plate. He did not give up a base on balls, and only one wild pitch, due to natural nervousness from being up against a league team.” He also earned praise from his battery mate, fellow local boy Farmer Vaughn, who said he wished Bailey had joined the team sooner. In the cryptic patois of the day, Vaughn added, “The boy may be left [handed] when in-shooting balls, but he’s right on strikes.”
That game would be Bailey’s only major league appearance. He did pitch again for the Reds on a barnstorming trip through Indiana after the season, but if he had hopes of making the team in 1896, it didn’t happen. He played until 1903 for several Southern League teams, before retiring to run a pool hall in Selma, Alabama. But with baseball in his blood, he returned to coach in what was then called the Southern Association, as well as at Mercer and Sewanee universities. He was managing an insurance company in Macon when he died of blood poisoning at the age of 47. Though he played only one game for the Reds and mostly as a favor from (or maybe for) a friend, King Bailey made it count.
CLARENCE “KID” BALDWIN
NOVEMBER 1, 1864–JULY 10, 1897
Major League Career
1884–1890
Time as a Red
1885–1890
Position
CATCHER
BORN IN NEWPORT, KENTUCKY, Clarence “Kid” Baldwin was the son of a riverboat pilot. While Kid was still a kid, the family moved to St. Louis, where as a teenager he began playing baseball, making up for his runty size with a cocky, reckless attitude that didn’t make him popular with coaches and teammates. Society of American Baseball Researchers (SABR) historian David Ball writes that the nickname “Kid” was given frequently in that era “to scrappy, feisty little athletes, and Kid Baldwin certainly fit that description.” Listed at 5′6″ and 147 pounds, Kid probably was even lighter when he started playing professionally at 18.
A tough competitor with an outstanding arm, he established himself as an excellent catcher. In his first year, he made history by playing an official major league game (in the Union Association) for one team (Pittsburgh) while under contract to another major league team (Kansas City). On September 18, 1884, Pittsburgh’s only available catcher was injured during a game with Baltimore and Kid happened to be watching in the grandstand. He agreed to fill in.
He came to the Reds the following year, and though not a starter he was named the assistant team captain. With his brash attitude, he didn’t hesitate to give older—and bigger—veterans a piece of his mind. In his rookie year, he also played the outfield and third base and even worked four innings as a relief pitcher. But despite his skills on the field, during his first two seasons he became better known for his antics off of it, namely drinking and disobedience. He incurred so many fines that a teammate declared to reporters during the 1886 season that Kid had not yet cashed a full paycheck.
In 1887, new Reds’ president Aaron Stern offered Baldwin a hundred-dollar bonus if he remained sober throughout the season. Baldwin accepted the challenge and caught a league-leading 96 games, also leading in assists with 165.
But he soon went back to carousing, and his play suffered. When he got married (to Mary Killiger of Quincy, Illinois) after the 1889 season, the Reds hoped he would settle down. He didn’t. He played sparingly in 1890 until on July 28 the team released him. A week later, the beleaguered Philadelphia Athletics offered a contract, but he did no better there. On August 14, he blew a game by losing count of the outs. The Athletics led the St. Louis Browns 5–4 in the eighth inning, when the Browns loaded the bases with no outs. A St. Louis player grounded to the shortstop, who threw to Baldwin for the force at the plate. Baldwin then whipped the ball to first to get the batter out. The first baseman fired the ball back to Baldwin, who wasn’t there to catch it—he’d already headed to the bench thinking the inning was over. Two St. Louis runners scored and the game was lost. In September, the A’s released him. He had to beg for money to get home.
He never played again in the majors, setting an unfortunate record: He caught more games (396) in the majors than any player who never appeared in a game after the age of 25. The next year, despite his pledges to stay sober, no major league team wanted him. He played in the minors until being let go by Class B Harrisburg. From there, estranged from his wife, he drifted around, drinking heavily, living mostly in Cincinnati flophouses or on the streets. Early in 1897, his wife filed for divorce. He continued to spiral down, appearing in Cincinnati Probate Court, where a judge considered confining him to a mental hospital. On June 3, 1897, The New York Times described him as “a hopeless wreck of dissipation” and predicted his imminent death. He was taken to Cincinnati’s City Hospital and then agreed to go to Longview Insane Asylum, located in Carthage, hoping to overcome his demons and alcoholism. Instead, he died a week later, only 32 years old.
SKEETER BARNES
MARCH 3, 1957–
Major League Career
1983–1985; 1987; 1989; 1991–1994
Time as a Red
1983–1984; 1989
Position
FIRST BASE; THIRD BASE; OUTFIELD
THE POWER OF PERSEVERANCE. A cliché, yes, but now and then someone comes along to reaffirm our belief in that power. Take, for example, Cincinnati’s William Henry “Skeeter” Barnes. It took him until the age of 34 to achieve major league success. By that time, when he was called up by the Detroit Tigers, he was playing his 14th minor league season—nearly 1,600 minor league games, more than 6,000 minor league plate appearances.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, he has explained numerous times that his mother gave him the nickname “Skeeter” when he was a baby, just as a term of endearment. For whatever reason, it stuck. After starring at Woodward High School, he earned a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, where he played second base in 1977 and ’78, compiling a .289 batting average—a solid but unspectacular career. The Reds waited until the 16th round to draft him and then sent him to their rookie league team in Billings, Montana, where he slashed a surprising .368/.422/.516. He earned an All-Star selection, despite not having a set position, logging time at every infield spot, as well as in the outfield.
The lack of a primary position dogged him throughout his career and probably slowed his journey to the majors. He also didn’t fit a particular type—a small guy without great speed, thus best suited for a corner infield or outfield position, where teams want a player with power, which Barnes didn’t possess. But after hitting .337 for AAA Indianapolis in 1983, he was finally called up to the Reds, debuting on September 6 at first base against San Francisco. He didn’t get a hit, but he was hit by two pitches, once with the bases loaded, giving him his first major league RBI. He also scored his first run and stole his first base in that game.
He saw limited action for the remainder of the season and found himself back in the minors to start the next one. But he hit well and was called up, this time earlier in the season, but, once again, he struggled in limited playing time. The Reds traded him the following year to Montreal. He spent the next few years bouncing around several organizations, getting just 30 plate appearances in the majors. After he was released in 1988 by the Pirates, the Reds picked him up, sending him to AAA Nashville, where he was a fan