Major League Baseball Forgotten Greats: Charlie Sweeney

Charlie Sweeney and Old Hoss Radbourn are forever linked in both Major League Baseball and Providence Grays history. In a lot of ways, the were quite similar.

When one takes a look back at the 19th century in Major League Baseball, the 1884 season stands out. It was that year that Old Hoss Radbourn won his unbelievable 59 games while shattering virtually every pitching record. Fred Dunlap of the St. Louis Maroons in the Union Association had the highest OPS+ of any player, a mark that was only bested by Barry Bonds in 2001. And, pitching for both teams, was Charlie Sweeney, a young fireballer who was similar in a lot of ways to his Providence teammate.

While a great deal has been written about Radbourn's drinking and carousing off the field, the same could be said for Sweeney. Although one would have suspected that he and Radbourn would be friends as they were kindred spirits, Radbourn detested the younger hurler, even walking away from the Grays at one point. However, Sweeney would play an important part in Radbourn's stellar year.

Sweeney got off to an excellent start with the Grays, posting a 17-8 record with a 1.55 ERA and a 0.824 WHiP. He set the Major League Baseball record with 19 strikeouts in a game on June 7, pushing the tensions between he and Radbourn to a breaking point, as the veteran became jealous of the fanfare surrounding the accomplishment. An arm injury sidelined Sweeney temporarily, but when Radbourn left, he was pressed back into service.

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However, Sweeney's time with the Grays came to an end shortly thereafter. He allegedly drank throughout an exhibition game on July 21, then refused to return with the team to Providence, spending the evening with a woman he met that day. The next day, he slept late, and missed morning practice. Still drunk, he made his way back to the team in time to start, and pitched five effective innings. The Grays tried to remove him in the sixth, but he refused to vacate the pitcher's box, the precursor to the mound, for two innings. Finally, he was threatened with a $50 fine if he did not move to right, whereupon he quit the team. Sweeney then appeared in the stands in his regular clothes and accompanied by two prostitutes. Radbourn was given both pitcher's salaries as an enticement to return, and the rest was history.

For his part, Sweeney was not done. He latched on with the Maroons, the dominant team of the Union Association. He continued his excellent performance, posting a 24-7 record with a 1.83 ERA and a 0.812 WHiP. Sweeney also posted a 14.77 K/BB rate, striking out 192 batters against 13 walks in 271 innings. He was also handy with the bat, producing a combined .307/.347/.404 batting line.

That would be about the end for Sweeney. He won only 11 more games the following year, as his arm could not withstand the strain from his performance the previous year. He was out of baseball after the 1887 season, when he made when he made just three disastrous outings with the Cleveland Blues. At 24 years old, his time as a pitcher was over.

Sweeney continued his ways after baseball. Like Radbourn, he continued his hard drinking, leading to his downfall. In 1894, Sweeney killed a man in a fight in a saloon, and was convicted of manslaughter. He was pardoned four years later, but did not get to enjoy his freedom for long. He died from tuberculosis in 1902, just nine days before his 39th birthday.

One of the bright stars of Major League Baseball in 1884, Charlie Sweeney had a meteoric rise and a sudden fall. While he had a fantastic 1884 campaign, he is remembered more for his departure from the Providence Grays, and how he sealed Old Hoss Radbourn's place in history.