Leonard is the only player on Baseball Reference's list of players with only one official game in the majors who played for a St. Louis club and who has no known first name. He appears in the box score as "Leonard rf" just above a second name, "Collilns rf". Leonard got one plate appearance. It seems he walked and stole a base, but did not score. The Boston Post reported that Collins took Leonard's place in the fifth inning, but no reason is given for the change. The New York Sun reportd on September 13, 1892
The St. Louis Club is having some hard luck. In addition to numerous cases of injured players, the team has been weakened by two desertions in the past few days. Pitcher Hawke, who was doing phenomenal pitching, left without leave, and third baseman McCormick has also disappeared. Hawke told Von der Ahe he was tired of pitching and wanted to go home, while McCormick said nothing but went.Collins, according to Baseball Reference, was Bill Collins, a player just past a cup of coffee himself. Collins played six games in the majors over five years, from his first game in 1887 to that very game in 1892, his last game (and only one with St. Louis).
Catcher Collins and Leonard, a local player, helped the team out yesterday.
After doing some digging in contemporary papers, there is one player named Leonard who was playing in the time frame, in New Jersey. The Montclair Times frequently reported on the play of M.J. Leonard, who played third base for the club at the local Athletic Club in from 1890 to 1893. In 1894, Brockton signed M.J. Leonard,
The Fall River (MA) Globe, August 9, 1894
from Newark New Jersey; Baseball-Reference identifies this player as Michael J. Leonard. There is no proof that this is the Leonard who played for St. Louis in that one game in 1892, but he is the only Leonard playing baseball at that time in that area showing up in the newspapers.
Posted April 16, 2020