The next "19th Century Base Ball Champions" card to get the spotlight here on the blog, showcasing my early custom set from 2018, is my card for Tony Mullane, "The Apollo of the Box" and quite honestly, a guy who should be in the Hall of Fame:
Over
the course of his 13-year Major League career he would finish with 284
wins, and would have easily been an early member of the 300-win circle
had he not missed the 1885 season, which was sandwiched between five
30-win campaigns.
He would post eight 20-win seasons, toss 30
shutouts and pick up 15 saves in an era when saves were not a common
thing, as evidenced by his five seasons of leading the league in that
stat, none higher than five.
Regardless, he was also a two-way
player, though from the offense-side of the game he did not show the
same success, hitting .243 over 2720 at-bats.
Nevertheless,
the Ireland-born righty who would also sometimes pitch left-handed did
rack up those 284 wins, with a nice 3.05 ERA over 555 games and 4531.1
innings, certainly enough for a vote from me for the Hall.
Sadly, I hold no such vote, so "sorry Tony!"
