The 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys season was the ninth season for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The team finished eighth and last in the National League with a record of 23–113–2 (), 66.5 games behind the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
As of 2025, this remains the worst single-season record in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The 1890 team also recorded the most losses and the second-fewest wins in a season (behind only the shortened 60-game 2020 season). Their -16.5 pitching wins above replacement and 56 adjusted ERA+ represent the lowest marks for any team in a single season in MLB history.
This was the final season for the team with the name "Alleghenys," as the team changed its name to the Pittsburgh Pirates the next season, a name it has retained to the present day.
Background The Alleghenys' season essentially ended when most of its stars defected to the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players' League. With a decimated roster, the Alleghenys made a poor showing. The 113 losses by the Alleghenys set a new major league record, breaking the old record of 111 set the previous year by the Louisville Colonels. That record would stand until 1899, when the Cleveland Spiders lost 134 games, the all-time record.
Poor crowd attendance meant that this team played 97 of its 136 games on the road, finishing with a road record of 9-88. (The 88 losses remained a record until 1899 and continues to be one that cannot be replicated under current MLB scheduling rules, which only allow a maximum of 81 road games.)
The team's .093 road winning percentage is the lowest in MLB history for a minimum of 60 games, for comparison the 1899 Spiders road winning percentage was .098. This would be the last time the Pittsburgh franchise reached the century mark in the loss column until 1917, when the team was known as the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup
Roster
1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Harry Decker 92 354 97 .274 5 38 1B 86 340 77 .226 0 38 2B Sam LaRocque 111 434 105 .242 1 40 SS Ed Sales 51 189 43 .228 1 23 3B Doggie Miller 138 549 150 .273 4 66 OF Tun Berger 104 391 104 .266 0 40 OF John Kelty 59 207 49 .237 1 27 OF 86 358 92 .257 1 33
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 83 304 65 .214 0 21 Fred Roat 57 215 48 .223 2 17 41 168 40 .238 1 14 Mike Jordan 37 125 12 .096 0 6 Eddie Burke 31 124 26 .210 1 7 Paul Hines 31 121 22 .182 0 9 Sam Crane 22 82 16 .195 0 3 Ducky Hemp 21 81 19 .235 0 4 Fred Dunlap 17 64 11 .172 0 3 Dad Lytle 15 55 8 .145 0 0 Henry Youngman 13 47 6 .128 0 4 Peek-A-Boo Veach 8 30 9 .300 2 5 Robert M. Gibson 3 13 3 .231 0 1 3 11 2 .182 0 0 2 8 0 .000 0 0 Harry H. Gilbert 2 8 2 .250 0 0 Phil Routcliffe 1 4 1 .250 0 1 Frank McGinn 1 4 0 .000 0 0 1 3 0 .000 0 0 Fred Truax 1 3 1 .333 0 1 Fred Clement 1 1 0 .000 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 25 178.1 3 19 5.60 76 14 119.2 2 9 5.11 32 13 108.0 2 11 4.67 41 Bill Sowders 15 106.0 3 8 4.42 30 Crazy Schmit 11 83.1 1 9 5.83 35 Bill Phillips 10 82.0 1 9 7.57 25 10 79.1 4 6 5.22 18 9 70.2 2 5 6.62 22 Bill Day 6 50.0 0 6 5.22 10 Phenomenal Smith 5 44.0 1 3 3.07 15 Charlie Heard 6 44.0 0 6 8.39 13 4 28.0 1 2 7.07 8 Duke Esper 2 17.0 0 2 5.29 9 John Coleman 2 14.0 0 2 9.64 3 George Ziegler 1 6.0 0 1 10.50 1
Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 8 58.0 0 5 8.38 14 Henry Jones 5 31.0 2 1 3.48 13 Charlie Gray 5 31.0 1 4 7.55 10 Robert Murray Gibson 3 12.0 0 3 17.25 3 Alfred Lawson 2 10.0 0 2 9.00 2
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Fred Hayner 1 0 0 0 13.50 1 1 0 0 0 inf 0
Notes
References
1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys team page at Baseball Reference 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys Page at Baseball Almanac