Louis W. Bierbauer (September 28, 1865 – January 31, 1926) was an American professional baseball player. He was a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

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during the late 1880s and 1890s. Over that period of time, he played for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

of the American Association before joining many other major leaguers in jumping to the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders in the newly formed

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

for the 1890 season, a league which folded after just one year of play.

A "piratical" act

When the Players' League folded in 1891, pretty much every player that left the

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or the American Association for the league in 1890 was allowed to return to their original team. However, Lou Bierbauer never signed a contract to return to the Philadelphia Athletics. The National League's

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s–1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association An early mention of "base ball" in the region is found in an issue of t ...

, realizing Bierbauer's absence in the Athletics lineup, soon became determined to sign him at all costs. Alfred Spink, the founder of the ''

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'', wrote about the incident in his 1910 book "The National Game". According to Spink, the Alleghenys' manager, Ned Hanlon, traveled to Erie in the dead of winter to sign him with the Alleghenys. The Athletics, upon learning of this deal, objected to Bierbauer's signing and stated that he should return to the A's, since that was the team that employed him before his defection to the failed Players' League. An official for the American Association also objected to Bierbauer signing with the Alleghenys and called the act "piratical." However the Alleghenys contended that since "the merican Associationdid not reserve Bierbauer, he was a free agent". An arbitrator agreed, and soon players and fans alike were calling the team the " Pirates."Why is our baseball team called the Pirates?
''Pittsburgh City Paper'', August 14, 2003.

Legacy

Bierbauer played for the Pirates for six seasons before moving on to the St. Louis Browns from 1897 to 1898. He later finished his professional baseball career in the minor leagues. Alfred Spink would go on to call Bierbauer the "one-time king of second basemen", a great "all-around player" who dominated both the National League and the American Association. In a 1955 story also reprinted in ''The Pirates Reader'', a friend of Bierbauer told the ''

Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph The ''Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1927 to 1960. Part of the Hearst newspaper chain, it competed with '' The Pittsburgh Press'' and the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' until be ...

'' that "Louie loved the Pirates and rooted for them until the day of his death in 1926." Bierbauer died in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania at the age of 60, and is interred at Erie Cemetery.

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bierbauer, Lou 1865 births 1926 deaths American people of German descent Baseball players from Erie, Pennsylvania Major League Baseball second basemen Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Brooklyn Ward's Wonders players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Browns (NL) players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Minor league baseball managers Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Hartford Indians players Erie Sailors players East Liverpool Potters (baseball) players

A "piratical" act

Legacy

See also

References

External links