George Joseph "Nig" Cuppy (July 3, 1869 – July 27, 1922) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
. In his 10-year
major league career, he played mostly for the
Cleveland Spiders
The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...
, compiling a
win–loss record of 163–98.
Biography
Cuppy was born George Joseph Koppe in
Logansport, Indiana
Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash River, Wabash an ...
, on July 3, 1869,
[Cava, Pete (2015). ''Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players''. p. 47.] to Christian Koppe and Christina Stieffenheffer Koppe.
It is unclear when he changed his name, but "Cuppy" is the phonetic spelling of the German name "
Koppe
''Koppe'' is a genus of Liocranidae, liocranid sac spiders first described by Christa L. Deeleman-Reinhold in 2001.
Species
it contains thirteen species throughout Southeast Asia:
*''Koppe armata'' (Eugène Simon, Simon, 1896) – Sri Lanka
*' ...
".
His nickname was a reference to his dark complexion; before the
integration of baseball, ballplayers with a dark complexion were sometimes
nicknamed "Nig". Cuppy was of
Bavarian descent.
[Fleitz, David L. (2017). ''Rowdy Patsy Tebeau and the Cleveland Spiders''. pp. 57–58.]
Cuppy started his professional baseball career in 1890. In 1890 and 1891, he played for
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
teams in the
Indiana State League,
Tri-State League The Tri-State League was the name of six different circuits in American minor league baseball.
History
The first league of that name played for four years (1887–1890) and consisted of teams in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia.
The second league ...
, and New York–Pennsylvania League.
Cuppy then joined the
National League
National League often refers to:
*National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada
*National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
's Cleveland Spiders, and for the next few seasons, he was the team's number two starter behind
Cy Young
Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered t ...
. In his rookie season of 1892, Cuppy had a win–loss record of 28–13 and an
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) of 2.51, a performance better than either of Young's first two major league seasons. The February 11, 1893, edition of ''
The Sporting Life'' featured a drawing of Cuppy on the first page with the caption: "George Cuppy, the clever young pitcher of the Cleveland club."
In 1893, the distance between the
pitcher's mound
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refer ...
and
home plate
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
was increased from to . That season, Cuppy had a record of 18–10. In 1894, he went 24–15 and led the league with three shutouts. In 1895, he went 26–14, and in 1896, he went 25–14; he had the fifth-most wins in the National League during both seasons.
["George Cuppy Stats"](_blank)
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2021. Afterwards, his workload decreased, and he never won more than 11 games in a season again.
In three post-season appearances with the Spiders (1892, 1895, 1896), Cuppy had a record of 1–4. In three of his four losses, his teammates were shut out. On August 9, 1895, Cuppy scored five runs against the
Chicago Colts in an 18–6 victory,
the most runs ever scored by a pitcher in a major league game.
Cuppy remained with the Spiders until March 29, 1899, when the club's owners transferred him, along with the majority of the roster, to their other team, the
St. Louis Perfectos.
He spent only one season with the Perfectos before being sold to the
Boston Beaneaters
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...
on May 23, 1900.
The 1900 season was the only year of his career in which he did not pitch with Young. At the end of the season, in which Cuppy recorded a record of 8–4 and an ERA of 3.04, he moved across town to the newly formed
Boston Americans
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
of the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
.
The 1901 season, Cuppy's last in the major leagues, resulted in the only season in which he had a losing record, and he had a career-low 13 appearances. He was released by Boston in August 1901.
Cuppy finished his major league career with a record of 163–98 and a 3.48 ERA in 2,283
innings pitched
In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...
.
He was known for taking his time between pitches while on the mound, which annoyed fans, umpires, opposing batters, and his own teammates.
[''Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871–1900, Volume 1'' (2011). pp. 40–41.]
Cuppy died at the age of 53, of
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine. It was frequently accompanied ...
, on his farm in
Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in tu ...
. He was interred at Rice Cemetery in Elkhart.
References
External links
, o
Baseball Almanac*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuppy, George
1869 births
1922 deaths
19th-century baseball players
19th-century American sportsmen
Major League Baseball pitchers
Cleveland Spiders players
St. Louis Perfectos players
Boston Beaneaters players
Boston Americans players
Dayton Reds players
Meadville (minor league baseball) players
Jamestown (minor league baseball) players
Baseball players from Indiana
American people of German descent