| June 1 was due to be Staley's start. He had started two games in the past three days, three in the past five, and four in the past seven, so manager Loftus submitted a lineup card with a local amateur pitcher named Reynolds listed as the starter. At game time, he tried to substitute Staley in, but Des Moines protested, and the Whites were forced to go with Reynolds. Per the St. Paul Globe "...just before play was called, Loftus tried to work in Staley. This was objected to very firmly by the home management and Umpire Powers sustained the point contended for, Loftus threatened to take his team off the field; but he was told he would forfeit the game and his guaranty. He finally sent his men in, with Reynolds in the box, and the result was an unmerciful drubbing."The good news for the Whites was that their offense came alive for the first time in a few games, as they scored 7 runs. The bad news is Reynolds gave up 21. This would be the most runs allowed by the Whites in a game all season. The Whites scored four runs in the first and held a 4-2 lead going into the third, when Reynolds gave up 8 runs. The top three in the Des Moines lineup went 13-18. The identity of Reynolds is not given in any of the game accounts. The Chicago Tribune called him a phenomenon, but then clarified "and how a man could don a uniform and know less of the science of ball-playing is apparently where the phenomenal part of it came in." The Des Moines Register was completely silent as to the Whites starter, not even mentioning that anything unusual had occurred. There was no report on the game in any of the St. Louis papers. So far as is known, Reynolds never pitched in another professional game again. At the start of the season, the Whites had four pitchers on the roster - Staley, Sproat, Nyce and Pete Somers. Somers was released on May 4 without ever pitching a game during the season for the Whites. (It is not entirely clear he was actually on the Whites roster and not the Browns, depsite his pitching for the Whites through most of Spring Training.) Sproat pitched three games, with the last game being May 7, before dropping out of the record entirely. That left the club with just Staley, one of the best pitchers in the Western Association, and Nyce, who started the season with a sore arm. It seems inevitable that Staley and Nyce would wear down.
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Newspaper articles
St. Louis Globe Democrat |
Des Moines Register |
Sporting Life |
St. Paul Globe |
Chicago Tribune |