List of Major League Baseball players with unidentified given names

Thirty-four individuals who played professional baseball at the major league level lack identified given names. All 34 played between 1872 and 1892; 17 played in the National Association, which folded in 1875. Identification of players remains difficult due to a lack of biographical information. A Brooklyn, New York, directory, for instance, lists more than 30 men who could be the professional player "Stoddard".[1] Philadelphia Athletics manager Bill Sharsig signed four of the 34, "local players" McBride, Stafford, Sterling, and Sweigert, for Philadelphia's last game of the season against the Syracuse Stars on October 12, 1890. Sterling pitched five innings for the Athletics and conceded 12 runs. McBride, Philadelphia's center fielder, and Stafford, the team's right fielder, both failed to reach base, but left fielder Sweigert reached base on a walk and stole a base. Society for American Baseball Research writer Bill Carle "doubt[s] we will ever be able to identify them".[2]

Despite their relative anonymity, several players have received media coverage describing their games. Sporting Life noted that "the visitors took kindly to the curves of Sterling", as "the Athletics were easily beaten by the Stars" in Philadelphia's contest against Syracuse.[3] In 1872, The New York Times described O'Rourke as a new player on Eckford of Brooklyn who "appear[ed] to be an improvement over the recent incumbents": in his only game, the pitcher allowed 15 runs to score in a complete game against the Troy Trojans.[1] Lewis received a mention in Sporting Life (pictured) that recapped his performance, and another in the Pittsburgh Press, with a synopsis that summarized the game as "one of the greatest slugging matches ever seen since curve pitching came into vogue".[4][5]

Of the 34 athletes with an unidentified given name, Baltimore Monumentals right fielder Scott played in the most games at the major league level, with 13, followed by Wills with 9. Scott also has the most hits among players without an identified given name, with 12, followed by both Wills and Jones with 5 each. Among pitchers, Lewis has the highest earned run average, at a 60.00 mark, whereas McDoolan has the lowest, at 3.00.

Players without identified given names
A Sporting Life clip that describes Lewis as a "much disgusted ball tosser", taken from an article dated July 19, 1890.[4]
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Professional players without identified given names
Name Position(s) Team(s) League Year(s) played Statistics Reference(s)
Boland Third baseman Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875 [6]
Booth Shortstop New Haven Elm Citys National Association 1875 [7]
Carroll Left fielder Washington Nationals Union Association 1884 [8]
Edwards Center fielder
Pitcher		 Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875 [9]
Evans Left fielder New Haven Elm Citys National Association 1875 [10]
Franklin Center fielder Washington Nationals Union Association 1884 [11]
Gavern Second baseman Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1874 [12]
Hellings Second baseman Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875 [13]
Higby Right fielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1872 [14]
Jones Left fielder Washington Nationals American Association 1884 [15]
Jones Third baseman New York Metropolitans American Association 1885 [16]
Leonard Right fielder St. Louis Browns American Association 1892 [17]
Lewis Left fielder
Pitcher		 Buffalo Bisons Players League 1890 [18]
Macey Catcher Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890 [19]
McBride Center fielder Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890 [20]
McDoolan Pitcher Baltimore Marylands National Association 1873 [21]
McRemer Right fielder Washington Nationals Union Association 1884 [22]
Murphy Catcher
Left fielder		 Boston Reds Union Association 1884 [23]
O'Rourke Pitcher Eckford of Brooklyn National Association 1872 [24]
Pierce Third Baseman Washington Nationals Union Association 1884 [25]
Quinlan Shortstop Philadelphia White Stockings National Association 1874 [26]
Quinn Outfielder
Shortstop		 Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875 [27]
Scott Right fielder
Third baseman		 Baltimore Monumentals Union Association 1884 [28]
Shaffer Right fielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875 [29]
Sheridan Left fielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875 [30]
Smith Pitcher
Right fielder		 Baltimore Monumentals Union Association 1884 [31]
Spencer Shortstop Washington Nationals National Association 1872 [32]
Stafford Right fielder Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890 [33]
Sterling Pitcher Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890 [34]
Stoddard Outfielder Brooklyn Atlantics National Association 1875 [35]
Sullivan Right fielder New Haven Elm Citys National Association 1875 [36]
Sweigert Left fielder Philadelphia Athletics American Association 1890 [37]
Wills Center fielder 1884 [38]
Wood Second baseman Baltimore Canaries National Association 1874 [39]
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References
  1. Batesel, Paul (2012). Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871–1875. McFarland. pp. 101, 123. ISBN 978-0-7864-7012-9.
  2. Bill Carle (2007). "SABR Biographical Research Committee September/October 2007 Report". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  3. "Base Ball: The Association" (PDF). Sporting Life. 16 (3). October 18, 1890. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2014 – via LA84 Foundation.
  4. "Base Ball: Players' League" (PDF). Sporting Life. 15 (16). July 19, 1890. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2014 – via LA84 Foundation.
  5. "A Disastrous Experiment". The Pittsburgh Press. July 13, 1890.
  6. "Boland". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  7. "Booth". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  8. "Carroll". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  9. "Edwards". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  10. "Evans". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  11. "Franklin". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  12. "Gavern". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  13. "Hellings". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  14. "Higby". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  15. "Jones". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  16. "Jones". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  17. "Leonard". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  18. "Lewis". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  19. "Macey". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  20. "McBride". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  21. "McDoolan". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  22. "McRemer". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  23. "Murphy". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  24. "O'Rourke". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  25. "Pierce". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  26. "Quinlan". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  27. "Quinn". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  28. "Scott". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  29. "Shaffer". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  30. "Sheridan". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  31. "Smith". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  32. "Spencer". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  33. "Stafford". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  34. "Sterling". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  35. "Stoddard". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  36. "Sullivan". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  37. "Sweigert". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  38. "Wills". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  39. "Wood". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
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