There was never a time during this season that we were worse than fifth, and on several, occasions we were right up in the front rank. When October arrived we were in the third place, but during the short season that followed we passed Philadelphia and took second position. Brooklyn carried off the pennant with a total of 86 games won and 43 lost, while Chicago had 83 games won and 53 lost, Philadelphia being third with 78 games won and 53 lost, while Cincinnati, Boston, New York, Cleveland and Pittsburg followed in that order.
This was an achievement to be proud of, and with the downfall of the Brotherhood and the consolidation of some of the leading clubs I naturally thought that the Chicago team would be strengthened very materially, but such was not the case. I did not even get my old players back, those of them that continued in the profession being scattered far and wide among the other League clubs, while others retired from the arena altogether. As a result it was a constant hustle on my part to secure new players, and I think I may easily say that the hardest years of my managerial experience were those that followed the revolt of the Brotherhood, continuing until my retirement from the Chicago Club at the close of 1897, at which time I was the owner of one hundred and thirty shares of the club's stock, which from the time of Mr. Hart's connection with it has been worthless so far as I am concerned, and simply because...
[CHAPTER XXXIII. MY LAST YEARS ON THE BALL FIELD.]
The season of 1891 proved to be almost as disastrous, when viewed from a financial standpoint, as was the seasons of 1890, owing to the war for the possession of good players that broke out between the National League and the American Association, that was caused by a refusal on the part of the last-named organization to stick to the terms of the National Agreement, the result being the boosting of players' salaries away up into fancy figures.
This state of affairs proved to be exceedingly costly for all concerned, as really good players were at that time exceedingly scarce and the demand for them, constantly growing.
The Chicago team for that season was again to a very great extent an experimental one, made up at the beginning of the season of the following named players: Luby, Gumbert and Hutchinson, pitchers; Schriver and Kittridge, catchers; Anson, first base; Pfeffer, second base; Burns, third base; Dahlen, shortstop; Wilmot, Ryan and Carroll, outfielders; Cooney, substitute.
This proved to be a strong organization and one that would have landed the pennant 'had it not been for the fact that the jealousy of the old players in the East engendered by the Brotherhood revolt would not allow a team of youngsters, many of whom were newcomers in the League to carry off the honors, and a conspiracy was entered into whereby New York lost enough games to Boston to give the Beaneaters the pennant and to relegate us at the very last moment into the second place.
We had made a whirlwind fight for the honors, however, and though we lost no fault could be laid either at my door or at the doors of the players, as we had the pennant won had it not been for the games that were dropped by the "Giants" to the Boston Club, in order that the honors might not be carried off by a colt team.