George Edward "Stump" Weidman (February 17, 1861 – March 2, 1905) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player from 1880 to 1893. He played nine years in

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), ...

, principally as a

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 ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, for five different major league clubs. He appeared in 379 major league games, 279 as a pitcher and 122 as an outfielder, and his longest stretches were with the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

(288 games, 1881–1885, 1887) and the

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a baseball team in the National League in 18 ...

(51 games, 1886). As a pitcher, Weidman compiled a 101–156 (.393)

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

with a 3.61

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) in innings pitched. He led 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 ...

in 1881 with a 1.80 ERA and totaled 45 wins in the 1882 and 1883 seasons. He pitched more innings for the Wolverines (1,654) than any other pitcher in the club's history.

Early years

Weidman was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

, in 1861. He attended

Rochester University Rochester University (formerly Rochester College) is a private Christian college in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It was founded by members of the Churches of Christ in 1959. Rochester University is primarily undergraduate (though it offers so ...

and was a pitcher on the baseball team there in 1880. He also played for the Hop Bitters Club of Rochester, with

Buck Ewing William "Buck" Ewing (October 17, 1859 – October 20, 1906) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. Renowned for his offensive and defensive skills, he was the first 19th-century catcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. C ...

as his catcher. Weidman was given his nickname due to his stocky stature, standing and weighing .

Professional baseball career

Buffalo

Weidman made his major league debut with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

on August 26, 1880. In the final weeks of the 1880 season, Weidman started 13 games for the Bisons and appeared in another four games as a relief pitcher. He compiled a 0–9 record and 3.40

(ERA) in innings pitched.

Washington and Albany

Weidman began the 1881 season with the Washington Nationals, then joined the

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

, club in July 1881.

Detroit Wolverines

After the Albany team folded, Weidman joined the

and brought his catcher Sam Trott with him. Weidman and Trott made their debut for Detroit on September 3, 1881, a 4–3 loss against Buffalo. Weidman started 13 games for Detroit in the last month of the season, compiling an 8–5 record and 1.18 ERA in 115 innings pitched. He led the

in ERA and had the lowest WHIP rating (walks + hits per inning pitched) at 1.043. Weidman had another strong year in 1882, winning 25 games, pitching 411 innings and 43 complete games with a WHIP rating of 1.046 (4th best in the National League). On August 17, 1882, he was the losing pitcher in one of the great pitching duels in baseball history.

Monte Ward John Montgomery Ward (March 3, 1860 – March 4, 1925), known as Monte Ward, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, shortstop, second baseman, third baseman, manager, executive, union organizer, owner and author. Ward, of English descent, ...

was the pitcher for the Providence Grays, and he and Weidman held the game scoreless through 17 innings. Weidman allowed only seven hits but lost the game in the 18th inning on a home run by

Old Hoss 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), ...

, who was playing in right field. While he won 25 games in 1882, Weidman also ranked among the league leaders with 20 losses. He lost at least 20 games for five consecutive seasons from 1882 to 1886, ranking among the league leaders in losses for each of those seasons. Weidman also appeared 88 games as an outfielder for the Wolverines during the 1883 and 1884 seasons. He scored 58 runs, had 50 RBIs, and compiled a .175 batting average during those seasons. Applying the sabermetric

Wins Above Replacement Wins Above Replacement or Wins Above Replacement Player, commonly abbreviated to WAR or WARP, is a non-standardized sabermetric baseball statistic developed to sum up "a player's total contributions to his team". A player's WAR value is claimed to ...

(WAR) model, Weidman earned negative ratings of −1.6 and −1.7 in 1883 and 1884. In 1887, Weidman returned to the Wolverines, where he went 13–7, helping them to the 1887 National League pennant. Over the course of six seasons, Weidman pitched more innings for the Wolverines (1,654) than any other pitcher in the club's history.

Kansas City

After the 1885 season, Weidman was released by the Wolverines to league control and then obtained by the newly formed

. He appeared in 51 games as a starting pitcher for the Cowboys, including 48 complete games, and also appeared in three games as an outfielder. He compiled a win–loss record of 12–36 (.250) and a −1.4 WAR rating with a 4.52 ERA in inning pitched. He led the National League in both losses (36) and earned runs allowed (549). His 36 losses in 1886 is tied for ninth highest in major league history. The Kansas City club compiled a 30–91 record and disbanded after the 1886 season.

New York

In early August 1887, Weidman was sold by Detroit to the

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York ...

for a price estimated at between $800 and $1,000. Weidman started 12 games for the Metropolitans in the last half of the 1887 season and compiled a 4–8 record with a 4.64 ERA. At the end of the 1887 season, the Metropolitans sold Weidman to the New York Giants. Weidman appeared in one game for the Giants in 1887 and two games in 1888. He compiled a 1–2 record and 2.77 ERA in his three games with the Giants. He played in his last major league game with the Giants on July 5, 1888, at age 27.

Minor leagues

Although his major league career ended in 1888, Weidman continued to pitch in the minor leagues. He compiled a 10–4 record for the Toronto Canucks in 1884. Weidman remained in Canada in 1885, playing for the Hamilton Hams of the International League. He concluded his professional baseball career in 1893 with the Providence Clamdiggers of the Eastern League.

Later years

After retiring from baseball, Weidman worked 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'', ...

for a time, including one season as an umpire in the

. He then became a saloon operator in

. His first venture in the saloon business was the firm of Coughlin & Weidman. He later formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Silk O'Loughlin, a well-known umpire. Weidman and O'Loughlin operated a saloon for several years at 158 State Street in Rochester. That establishment was sold in approximately 1903, after which Weidman and O'Loughlin conducted business at another location. By early 1905, Weidman developed a tumor which was believed to be throat cancer. He traveled to New York City where he met with medical specialists and underwent an operation that resulted in his death. He died in a New York hospital in March 1905 at age 44. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, New York. In an obituary, the ''Sporting Life'' wrote: "Weidman was a clean-cut, honest and well behaved ball player, and a credit to his profession at all times. Peace to his ashes."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weidman, Stump 1861 births 1905 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Detroit Wolverines players Kansas City Cowboys (NL) players New York Metropolitans players New York Giants (NL) players National League ERA champions Minor league baseball managers Rochester (minor league baseball) players Washington Nationals (minor league) players Albany (minor league baseball) players Toronto Canucks players Hamilton Hams players Providence Clamdiggers (baseball) players Rochester Brownies players Montreal Royals players Rochester Yellowjackets baseball players Baseball players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Rochester, New York