The 1890 Louisville Colonels baseball team finished with an 88–44 record and won the American Association championship. The previous season, the Colonels had lost 111 games, the most any team in the Major Leagues had lost up to that point (the record was broken during the 1890 season by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, who lost 113 games). When the Colonels won the 1890 pennant, it was the first time in major league history that a team had moved from last place to first place in the span of a single year. This remarkable achievement is extensively documented in a 2026 book, The 1890 Louisville Cyclones, written by Perry T. Cooper and published by McFarland & Company, Publishers.
The Louisville club's sudden ascension from last place to first place was accomplished largely because of the contributions of two young pitchers, Scott Stratton and Red Ehret, with strong support from outfielder Jimmy Wolf (who hit .363 and won the American Association's batting title), shortstop Phil Tomney (an outstanding defensive player) and veteran manager Jack Chapman.
Note that, although the Louisville club is usually listed as the Louisville Colonels in baseball literature, most newspapers in 1890 referred to the club as the Louisville Cyclones. This was prompted by the Tornado outbreak of March 27, 1890. During that multi-state outbreak, a deadly tornado (referred to as a cyclone in 1890 parlance) swept through downtown Louisville, causing widespread devastation and killing between 76 and 120 people (accounts vary). The club's nickname reverted to "Colonels" the following year.
After the season, Louisville played the National League champions, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, in the 1890 World Series. After seven games, the World Series ended in a tie; each team won three games, with the remaining game being called off on account of darkness with the score deadlocked at seven runs apiece.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup
Roster 1890 Louisville Colonels 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 93 337 73 .217 0 35 1B 134 553 169 .306 0 53 2B 133 493 126 .256 1 82 3B 123 521 135 .259 2 51 SS 108 386 107 .277 1 58 OF 133 485 132 .272 3 77 OF 130 557 161 .289 3 67 OF 134 543 197 .363 4 98
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 32 101 24 .238 0 11 24 73 15 .205 1 9 8 32 8 .250 0 4 6 26 12 .462 0 5 7 24 2 .083 0 1 2 8 2 .250 0 0 2 7 1 .143 0 1
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G GS IP W L SV ERA SO 50 49 431.0 34 14 0 2.36 207 43 38 359.0 25 14 2 2.53 174 28 21 192.0 12 7 1 2.91 123 18 13 109.0 8 5 4 3.39 46 12 10 93.0 6 3 0 1.94 31 3 3 22.0 2 0 0 3.27 6
1890 World Series
Louisville, champions of the American Association, played the National League champions, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms in the 1890 World Series. The series pitted the two most recent American Association champions against each other.
The series winner was to be the first to win four games. Brooklyn started strong, winning the first two games in Louisville, with game 3 called after eight innings with the score tied. Louisville salvaged the fourth game, which was the last one played in Louisville. After Brooklyn won the first game at home to take a 3–1 lead, Louisville came back to win two straight. After that, bad weather and poor attendance forced the remaining games to be canceled, with the plan that a deciding game would be played before the 1891 season began. However, due to inter-league disputes, that never occurred, and the series officially ended in a 3–3–1 tie.
References
1890 Louisville Colonels team page at Baseball Reference