Charles Joseph Sweeney (April 13, 1863 – April 4, 1902) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

from 1883 through 1887. He played for the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Lea ...

, St. Louis Maroons, and Cleveland Blues, and is best known for his performance in 1884, when he won 41 games.

Early life

Sweeney was born to Irish immigrants Edward and Mary Sweeney in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, California.Rainey, Chris
"Charlie Sweeney"
sabr.org. Retrieved April 28, 2019. He started his professional career in 1881 with the San Francisco Athletics of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

."Charlie Sweeney Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019. Sweeney is often incorrectly listed as playing one game with the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

's Providence Grays in 1882; he did not join the team until 1883. That season, he pitched 146.2 innings for the Grays and had a 7-7 win–loss record and a 3.13

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA)."Charlie Sweeney Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

1884 season

By 1884, Sweeney and

Charles Radbourn Charles Gardner Radbourn (December 11, 1854 – February 5, 1897), nicknamed "Old Hoss", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for Buffalo (1880), Providence (1881–1885), ...

were the Grays' two main pitchers. The 1884 season had 50 fewer scheduled games than today, and most teams got by with two-man starting rotations. Through much of April and May, Sweeney outshone the veteran and ace of the Grays, Radbourn. This created a lot of tension between the two, as Sweeney was seemingly stealing the limelight from the hobbled but proud "Old Hoss." On June 7, 1884, these tensions reached a zenith, when Sweeney took the box and struck out 19 Boston batters to set a major league record that would be tied a few times but not broken for 102 years, until

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...

struck out 20 in a game in 1986. Sweeney was feted upon his return to Providence for days following his accomplishment, much to the bitter jealousy of Radbourn. Not long after that, Sweeney suffered arm problems, not uncommon in the day, which sidelined him. The arm trouble may have been a result of his reliance on the "fadeaway", or

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...

, which involves turning the wrist outward as the pitch is delivered. This meant Radbourn would suffer the workload of two men, further driving a wedge between the veteran and the upstart. On July 16, Radbourn had a meltdown and was suspended by the team. Sweeney was forced to return to his regular pitching duties, which he did effectively for a time. Following an exhibition game on July 21 in

Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of ...

, Sweeney, who had allegedly been drinking throughout the game, refused to return with the team to Providence, choosing to stay in Woonsocket with a lady he had escorted to the park that day. Waking the next morning, he realized he missed morning practice and raced to make it back to Providence for his start that afternoon. Though most players in the day were held to temperance clauses during the season, Grays manager Frank Bancroft was left with little choice but to pitch his drunkard ace. After five effective innings, Bancroft signaled for the team captain

Joe Start Joseph Start (October 14, 1842 – March 27, 1927), nicknamed "Old Reliable", was one of the most durable regulars of baseball's earliest era, and one of the top first basemen of his time. He began his playing career in 1859, before the form ...

to make a pitching change. Sweeney refused to budge and continued to pitch for another two innings. Before the start of the eighth inning, Bancroft insisted that Sweeney vacate the pitcher's box and move to right field. Possibly still drunk, as well as the prevailing sentiment of 1880s baseball being that finishing a game a pitcher started was a question of manhood, Sweeney flatly refused. When Bancroft threatened the pitcher with a $50 fine, Sweeney told him to take his fine and the rest of his salary, promptly quitting. Sweeney spent the rest of the game watching from the field in street clothes and left with two women, presumably prostitutes. The Grays, frustrated by not only Sweeney, but Radbourn's insubordination, expelled Sweeney from the National League. Radbourn, who had spent the last several weeks demanding he be paid for doing the work of two men, finally received his wish of being paid both his salary and Sweeney's, along with the promise of a full release from the Grays following the season, as long as he pitched out the season and tried to gain the Grays the pennant. He did just that, pitching almost every game afterward and leading the Grays to the National League championship. Radbourn finished the season with 59 wins, setting an MLB record that has never been broken. Meanwhile, Sweeney signed with the St. Louis Maroons of the

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

and became the highest-paid player in the league. The Maroons roared through the "Onion League" and easily won the Union's only championship. For the season, Sweeney pitched 221 innings for the Grays, going 17-8 with a 1.55 ERA, and 271 innings for the Maroons, going 24-7 with a 1.83 ERA.

Later baseball career

It is possible that Sweeney's arm could not handle the strain of all those innings, because he never pitched as well again. The Maroons joined the National League for a brief time (1885–1886) and Sweeney continued to pitch for them. In 1885, battling arm injuries and drinking heavily, he went 11-21 with a 3.93 ERA in 275 innings. On June 12, 1886, Sweeney gave up seven

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in a game, which still stands as the MLB record. He was released from the Maroons in mid-season after starting 5-6 with a 4.16 ERA. The following year, he played a few games for the Cleveland Blues of the American Association before being released. Sweeney finished his major league career with a record of 64-52. He then moved on to play for various teams in the California League from 1888 to 1892.

Later life

After returning to San Francisco, Sweeney went into business with his friend, baseball player James McDonald, and married McDonald's sister Jennie. In July 1894, Sweeney shot and killed a man in a fight. The case went to trial, and Sweeney was found guilty of

voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender acted during ''the heat of passion'', under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot ...

and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released in March 1898. He then began working as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

in the California League, and in August he got into an argument at a game, assaulted someone, and was arrested. Sweeney suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

during the last years of his life. He died in San Francisco in 1902, nine days short of his 39th birthday. He is interred at

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a rural cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent". History Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several membe ...

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924. W ...

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