The Wheeling Stogies was a minor league baseball team based in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

, that played under several different names at various times between 1877 and 1934. They played mostly in the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

and the

Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-Atlantic League) was a lower-level circuit in American minor league baseball that played during the second quarter of the 20th century. History The Middle Atlantic League played from 1925 through 1951, with t ...

, as well as in several various other area-based leagues.

History

The Stogies can be traced back to 1877 and the city's first professional team known as Wheeling Standard, which featured

Jack Glasscock John Wesley "Jack" Glasscock (July 22, 1857 – February 24, 1947) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1879 to 1895. Nicknamed "Pebbly Jack", he was the top player at his position in the 1880s durin ...

and

Chappy Lane George M. Lane (died October 9, 1901) was a professional baseball player in the Major Leagues. His debut in the Major Leagues was on May 16, 1882. He finished his baseball career on September 9, 1884. He was a first baseman and outfielder for the ...

. Then in 1887 the city once again fielded a new team known simply in the record books as Wheeling. However, the following season, Wheeling came to be called the "Nail City" for its nail industry, creating the Wheeling Nailers, a team name which even today is used for the city's professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

. The team was also known as the Wheeling National Citys, and in 1895 as the Wheeling Mountaineers, which consisted of future major leaguers: Tom O'Brien and

Dewey McDougal James H. "Dewey" McDougal (September 19, 1871 – April 28, 1935), was a professional baseball player who was a pitcher in the Major Leagues from – for the St. Louis Browns. McDougal was born in Aledo, Illinois and died in Galesburg, Illinois ...

. The town also had a thriving tobacco industry with Marsh Wheeling's Stogies as a leading enterprise, and later the club's name changed to the Wheeling Stogies in 1899. In 1900

Ed Poole Edward Isaih Poole (September 7, 1874 – March 11, 1919) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played from 1900 to 1904 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Brooklyn Superbas. Poole stood at and weighed 175 lbs.

went 20–15 for the Wheeling Stogies. He also played in the infield and outfield when he didn't pitch and batted .257. Poole was then acquired by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and made his major league debut in October of that year. He was a member of the Pirates

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

pennant winning team in 1901."Ed Poole Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-04. Under manager Bill Phillips, the club won Central League titles in 1909 and 1910. The Stogies' 1909 season featured

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

inductee,

Bill McKechnie William Boyd McKechnie (August 7, 1886 – October 29, 1965) was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman during the dead-ball era. McKechnie was the first manager to win Wo ...

. The 1909 season also featured several memorable exhibition games. The first was against a barnstorming team led by baseball great

Cap Anson Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association (NA), he played a record 27 c ...

his semi-professional team, which he called "Anson's Colts". The Colts defeated the Stogies 10-4 with Anson going 1-5 and scoring a run for the Colts, while Bill McKechnie went 1-4 with a run for Wheeling. The Stogies also faced the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and 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, the team became the Oaklan ...

that season, losing 7-2 and 3-0 respectively. However, on April 8, 1909, the Stogies defeated the Athletics 5-4 in front of just 250 fans at Wheeling. The Pittsburgh Pirates purchased McKechnie from Wheeling at the end of the season. However, to close out the 1909 season, the Pirates, who had just won the

1909 World Series The 1909 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1909 season. The sixth edition of the World Series, it featured the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League champion Detroit Tiger ...

, and the Central League champions played against each other in an exhibition game in Wheeling. The Stogies defeated the Pirates 9-1; however, the Pittsburgh club played many back-up players in the game. Following their 1912 season, the Central League revoked the Wheeling franchise, after the club experienced serious financial difficulty. During the 1912 season the Central League went to a 12-team league, and increased monthly salaries from $1,500 to $2,100. This caused only 4 of the league's teams to profit. As a result, Wheeling and the 5 easternmost teams were cut from the league. Wheeling and the other five teams then formed the third

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

. However, flooding and financial hardship forced two of the league's clubs in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

to fold, and the league ended operations on July 21, 1913. The following season, Wheeling did not field a team. However, on February 22, 1915, the team was reorganized and was once again a member of the Central League. The new team featured

Goat Anderson Edward John "Goat" Anderson (January 13, 1880 – March 15, 1923) was an American professional baseball outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. He played one season with the Pirates in 1907. The 27-year-old rookie batt ...

and future

1919 World Series The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...

winner and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

football coach,

Greasy Neale Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Early life and playing career Neale was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although writers eventually assumed that Nea ...

. Despite having Neale in the line-up the 1915 season, the team finished near the bottom of the standings. The following season Neale was sold to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

of the

. The team finished in fourth place during the 1916 season. However, the team folded again in 1917 due to struggles associated with World War I. The Stogies once again took to the field in 1925, as a member of the Middle Atlantic League. During this time, the team consisted of brothers Dan and

Art Rooney Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr. (January 27, 1901 – August 25, 1988), often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football franchise in the National Football League (NFL), from 1933 until his death. ...

. Art, an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, led the team in games played, runs scored, hits and stolen bases. However, he would be more famous for his efforts in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

as the founder of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

in 1933. He would become a member of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

in 1964. Meanwhile, Dan played at

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

and would later change his name to Silas and become a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

priest.

Legacy

In June 2004, the

Washington Wild Things The Washington Wild Things are a professional baseball team based in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The Wild Things are a member of the Frontier League, an independent baseball league which, as of 2020, is an official Partner Le ...

of the independent

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

wore Stogies jerseys to honor the team against the

Chillicothe Paints The Chillicothe Paints are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chillicothe, Ohio, in the United States. The team is a member of the summer collegiate Prospect League. The Paints previously played in the professional independent Frontier Le ...

References

External links

Baseball Reference Wheeling, West Virginia
{{Middle Atlantic League , state=collapsed Defunct minor league baseball teams New York Yankees minor league affiliates 1877 establishments in West Virginia 1934 disestablishments in West Virginia Middle Atlantic League teams Central League teams Defunct Interstate League teams Defunct Western Association teams Ohio State League teams Iron and Oil League teams Defunct Tri-State League teams League Alliance teams Defunct baseball teams in West Virginia Baseball teams established in 1877 Baseball teams disestablished in 1934