Meinke was born in 1863 in Chicago. [1] His parents Herman and Louise Meinke,were both immigrants from Germany. [2]
Meinke began his professional baseball career in 1883 with the Grand Rapids,Michigan club in the Northwestern League. [3]
On May 1,1884,opening day of the 1884 season,Meinke made his Major League Baseball debut with the Detroit Wolverines of the National League. The Wolverines lost the season opener to Philadelphia by a 13-2 score,began the season with an 11-game losing streak,and finished in eighth place with a 28-84 record. Meinke was the Wolverines' lead pitcher during the 1884 season,appearing in 35 games and pitching 289 innings,including 31 complete games. [4] He compiled a respectable 3.18 earned run average (ERA) but,with little support from his teammates,finished the season with an 8-23 record. Meinke also led the National League's pitchers with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. [1]
In addition to pitching,Meinke also served in a utility role and appeared in a total of 92 games during the 1884 season,including 51 games at shortstop,four in the outfield,three at second base,and three at third base. He compiled a .165 batting average in 341 at bats and struck out 89 times,the second highest total in the National League behind Sam Wise. [1]
Meinke returned to the Wolverines in 1885 but appeared in only two games,one as a pitcher and one as an outfielder. Meinke allowed two earned runs in five innings and was the losing pitcher in his only game on the mound. His major league career ended on May 22,1885. [1]
Meinke continued to play professional baseball in the minor leagues through the 1887 season,including stints with Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League (1885),Denver Mountain Lions of the Western League (1886),and LaCrosse Freezers of the Northwestern League (1888). [3]
Meinke died in November 1931 at age 68. [2] He was buried at Montrose Cemetery. [1]
John Charles Rowe was an American professional baseball player,manager and team owner from 1877 to 1898. He played 12 years in Major League Baseball,as a shortstop,catcher,and outfielder,for four major league clubs. His longest stretches were in the National League with the Buffalo Bisons (1879–1885) and Detroit Wolverines (1886–1888). He was also a player-manager and part owner of the Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League in 1890,and the manager of the Buffalo Bisons from 1896 to 1898.
Abram Harding "Hardy" Richardson,also known as "Hardie" and "Old True Blue",was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1875 to 1892 with a brief minor league comeback in 1898. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball,playing at every position,including 585 games at second base,544 games in the outfield,and 178 games at third base. Richardson played for six major league teams,with his longest stretches having been for the Buffalo Bisons (1879–1885),Detroit Wolverines (1886–1888) and Boston Reds (1890–91).
William Henry White was an American baseball pitcher and manager from 1875 to 1889. He played all or parts of 10 seasons in Major League Baseball,primarily for the Cincinnati Reds in the National League (1878–1879) and the Cincinnati Red Stockings in the American Association (1882–1886). He had three 40-win,and one 40-loss,seasons in Cincinnati. During the 1882 and 1883 seasons,he led the American Association in wins,compiling an 83–34 win–loss record and a 1.84 earned run average (ERA).
Charles William Ganzel was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1897. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball,principally as a catcher,for four major league clubs. His most extensive playing time came with the Detroit Wolverines and Boston Beaneaters. He was a member of five teams that won National League pennants,one in Detroit (1887) and four in Boston.
Richard Simon Burns was an American professional baseball player from 1883 to 1890. He played three seasons in Major League Baseball,principally as a pitcher and outfielder,for the Detroit Wolverines,Cincinnati Outlaw Reds and St. Louis Maroons.
Charles B. "Lady" Baldwin was an American left-handed pitcher. He played six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers (1884),Detroit Wolverines (1885–1888),Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1890),and Buffalo Bisons (1890).
Frank Henry Mountain was an American baseball player from 1880 to 1886. He played seven seasons in Major League Baseball,principally as a pitcher,outfielder and first baseman. He played for six different major league clubs and saw his most extensive playing time with the Columbus Buckeyes of the American Association,appearing in 128 games for that club during the 1883 and 1884 seasons.
Lawrence Grant Twitchell was an American professional baseball player from 1886 to 1896. He played nine seasons in Major League Baseball,primarily as an outfielder but occasionally as a pitcher,with seven different major league clubs. His best seasons were spent with the Detroit Wolverines from 1886 to 1888,the Cleveland Spiders in 1889,and the Louisville Colonels from 1893 to 1894.
George Edward "Stump" Weidman was an American professional baseball player from 1880 to 1893. He played nine years in Major League Baseball,principally as a pitcher and outfielder,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 and the Kansas City Cowboys.
John Francis "Phenomenal" Smith,born as John Francis Gammon,was an American professional baseball player and player-manager from 1884 to 1905. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball,principally as a pitcher,for six different clubs.
Frederick Lander "Dupee" Shaw,also sometimes known as "Wizard," was a professional baseball player from 1883 to 1896. The left-handed pitcher played Major League Baseball for six seasons with the Detroit Wolverines (1883–1884),Boston Reds (1884),Providence Grays (1885) and Washington Nationals (1886–1888). Shaw won 30 games in 1884 and 23 in 1885,but never won more than 13 games in any other season. He lost 33 games in 1884 and 31 in 1886. He had a career mark of 83–121 with a 3.10 earned run average (ERA).
William Henry "Bollicky Bill" Taylor was a pitcher,outfielder,and catcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Worcester Ruby Legs,Detroit Wolverines,Cleveland Blues,Pittsburgh Alleghenys,St. Louis Maroons,Philadelphia Athletics,and Baltimore Orioles during the 1880s. Taylor was 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) and weighed 208 lb (94 kg).
John Francis Coleman was an American professional baseball outfielder and pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Quakers,Philadelphia Athletics,and Pittsburgh Alleghenys from 1883 to 1890. Coleman holds the MLB single-season record for pitching losses,with 48.
William John Lelivelt was a Dutch professional baseball pitcher. He played Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers in 1909 and 1910. He appeared in five major league games and compiled an 0–2 record in 29 innings pitched with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.41.
Peter J. Conway was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for five seasons with the Buffalo Bisons (1885),Kansas City Cowboys (1886),Detroit Wolverines (1886–1888),and Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1889). He won two games for Detroit in the 1887 World Series and followed in 1888 with a season record of 30 wins and 14 losses. He was also the first coach of the Michigan Wolverines baseball team in 1891 and 1892.
Francis Hasbrouck Brill was an American professional baseball player and hall-of-fame bowler. He appeared in one season in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Wolverines during the 1884 season. He played 12 games as a pitcher and one game as an outfielder. He later played several seasons of minor league baseball. During the 1900s he became a prominent ten-pin bowler. At the first annual national championship held by the American Bowling Congress in 1901,Brill won both the singles and all-events championships. He was inducted into the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 1996.
Michael Moynahan was an American professional baseball player from 1879 to 1886. He appeared in 169 games across four seasons in Major League Baseball,principally as a shortstop,for the Buffalo Bisons (1880),Detroit Wolverines (1881),Cleveland Blues,and Philadelphia Athletics (1883-1884). He was the starting shortstop,and with a .310 batting average the leading hitter,for the 1883 Athletics team that won the American Association pennant with a 66-32 record.
Charles H. "Pretzels" Getzien was a German-born American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or parts of nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with five different National League teams from 1884 to 1892. He was the first German-born regular player in the National League.
William J. Geiss was an American professional baseball player from 1882 to 1894. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball,as a pitcher for the 1882 Baltimore Orioles,and as a second baseman for the 1884 Detroit Wolverines. He appeared in 93 major league games,73 as a second baseman and 13 as a pitcher. He also played 11 seasons of minor league baseball for at least 17 different minor league clubs from 1883 to 1894.
Francis Bernard Cox,also known as "Runt",was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1891. He played 27 games in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Detroit Wolverines in the latter part of the 1884 season.