Published August 23, 2024
By Phil Reyburn
By his late teens, Sammy Samuels, who was born in Quincy but living in Chicago, was playing baseball in the Chicago City League, “the Windy City’s top circuit for aspiring young players.” Most of the time he was his team’s third baseman, but he occasionally played shortstop. When not on the diamond, Sammy had started college.
In May 1895, Samuels signed with the Rock Island Islanders of the low-level Eastern Iowa League. The Rock Island Argus commented on Sammy’s strong play both in the field and at bat. But unfortunately, the Islanders were expelled from the league in mid-June when the club failed to pay their players. Sammy, though, was able to catch-on with the semi-pro Streator Reds.
Due to the mercurial temperament of the St. Louis Browns’ owner, Sammy Samuels baseball fortunes were to take a drastic change. Since joining the National League in 1892, beer baron Chris von der Ahe’s St Louis Browns had fallen on hard times. In a 12-team league, the team’s best finish was ninth in 1894. The 1895 squad was on pace to finish near the cellar again. Frustrated and ready to turn to young talent, von der Ahe “out of the blue” on August 3, 1895, signed Sammy Samuels whose “professional baseball experience consisted of one month . . .” to a big-league contract.
St. Louis was in Chicago taking on the Colts (now the Cubs), when in the third inning Sammy took over at third base. He finished the game playing errorless ball and going one for two at the plate. While in the Windy City, Sammy had two more clean fielding games, but he only picked up one more hit. After three games, the St. Louis Globe Democrat describe Sammy as a “jewel” of a player. Before leaving Chicago, he stopped at a nearby studio and was photographed wearing his St. Louis Browns road uniform.
The Browns’ next stops were in Pittsburgh and then Cincinnati, where Sammy struggled both in the field and at the plate. Back in St. Louis, and making his debut before the home crowd, he had an errorless game and went one for three at bat. But his fielding woes soon made headlines—-St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “’Samuels’ Fault: The Little Third Baseman Lost Game for the Browns.’”
When the season ended, Samuels had appeared in 24 games, and he had collected 17 hits in 83 at-bats for a .230 batting average. Charged with 24 errors, Sammy’s fielding was not acceptable for the National League, and in the offseason the Browns released him.
So, when the spring of 1896 came, Samuels “began a three-year odyssey through multiple minor leagues in which he played for over a dozen teams. . ..”
One of the teams looking at Samuels was the Quincy Blue Birds of the Western Association. The Daily Journal reported on May 18th that Quincy “signed Samuels . . . who played third base . . . with the St. Louis Browns last season. He made a fairly good showing in the National League and may prove a fast man in the Western Association. We hope so.”
The Daily Journal on May 19th printed this note: Sam Samuels . . . is a Quincy boy. He lived on Fourth Steet near Hampshire. His father used to have a clothing store. Glad to see he got a place with the Quincy team and wish the club success.”
On Friday, May 22, 1896, The St. Joseph Saints were in town to play the Blue Birds. The two teams were battling to stay out of last place. In hopes of breathing life into the slumping Blue Birds, team president Ged Jones, four days earlier, had signed former hometown boy and recent major league player Sammy Samuels. That afternoon Samuels was at the hot corner and hitting seventh.
In his first at bat, Samuels doubled driving in two runs, and he had a respectable day at the plate, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored. But his future with the Blue Birds was spelled out in the box score. Samuels had been charged with six errors. The Saints scored only five earned runs and took the game 14 to 9.
The Qunicy newspapers graphically reported Samuels’ horrific day in the field. The May 23, 1896 Daily Journal’s headline spelled it out—-“COULDN’T STOP A STREET CAR.” The Journal’s sportswriter claimed Samuels’ “could easily have been indicted” since “he was obtaining money under false pretenses, by representing himself to be a ball player.” He wasn’t through with his denunciations, stating that Samuels had “played positively the rockiest game at third ever seen on Quincy’s grounds. Out of ten chances he accepted four. It is extremely doubtful if any third baseman in any league has made six errors in one game this season. Half the time he couldn’t stop the ball, and when he did get hold of it, he didn’t know what to do with it.”
The Quincy Morning Whig was less dramatic, but their conclusion was the same. “Samuels by the way was released last night. He is a good fellow, and all that, but he can’t play ball. He muffed and fumbled, and when he did get the ball didn’t know what to do with it. So, he can go back to Chicago, and Quincy will hustle for another third baseman.”
“It was a lively game for all of Samuels ’errors, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it hugely,” added the Morning Whig reporter. The Daily Journal writer concurred stating: “Aside from Samuels’ wretched playing, the game was full of snap and ginger and at times the excitement ran high.”
It seems strange that nowhere in any of the game’s writeups was anything said about Samuel Samuels being a Quincy native. Probably the Daily Herald explained it best—“Samuels proved to be a great flunk.” No use to lay claim to that.
After the 1898 season, Sammy Samuels disappeared from professional baseball. He had had four tumultuous years, but whether it was a twist of fate or not, Samuels played in 24 big league games. He lived every boy’s fantasy who picked up a baseball, put on a glove, or swung a bat. Sammy Samuels wore a big-league uniform and played on the “field of dreams.” This fact can never be taken from Sammy Samuels. He was a major league baseball player.
Sammy Samuels died on February 22, 1964, in New York City.
Phil Reyburn is a retired field representative for the Social Security Administration. He authored “Clear the Track: A History of the Eighty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, The Railroad Regiment” and co-edited “‘Jottings from Dixie:’ The Civil War Dispatches of Sergeant Major Stephen F. Fleharty, U.S.A.”
Sources
“Amusements.” Quincy Whig, October 13, 1869, 4.
“Can’t Crowd Us Lower.” Quincy Daily Herald, May 23, 1896, 1.
“Colts Took Three Straight,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 5, 1895: 9.
“Couldn’t Stop A Street Car.” Quincy Daily Journal, May 23, 1896, 5.
“Dropped to the Last.” Quincy Morning Whig, May 23, 1896, 3.
“Grand Stand Gossip,” Rock Island (Illinois) Argus, May 9, 1895.
Jewish Baseball Museum [Online]. Htps://jewishbaseballmuseum.com>spotlight-
story>Image of 19th Century Jewish Baseball Player Discovered by Bob Wechsler
Sammy Samuels short biography.
“Quincy Club and Franchise.” Quincy Daily Journal, May 19, 1896, 5.
“The Red Stockings.” Quincy Weekly Whig, August 7, 1869, 3.
