A Phenomenal Nickname

Posted on by JW

Recently I started playing the Immaculate Grid (baseball only), a browser game in which you have 9 guesses to fill a 3×3 grid with MLB players from the start of baseball in the 1800’s to present.  Very rarely do I complete the whole grid successfully (although my baseball knowledge has increased a lot since playing), but it is so much fun. My friends and I share our results with each other and have great text conversations about our favorite guesses and failures, while also learning about our favorite sport. After I finish with my guesses, I love to research all the grid categories and in doing so I discover so many of the fun baseball stories and legends of old.  

Today’s grid had a category for a player who was on both the Dodgers and the Phillies. Keep in mind the grid goes back to the very beginnings of baseball, so Dodgers can be Los Angeles Dodgers (1958-present), Brooklyn Dodgers (1911-1957), Brooklyn Robins (1916-1931), Brooklyn Superbas (1899-1910), Brooklyn Grooms (1895-1898), Brooklyn (1884-1894), Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1889-1890) and Philly consists of Philadelphia Phillies (1886-present), Philadelphia Phils (1942) and Philadelphia (1883-1885). So, a freaking deep pool to say the least. When I did my research after playing, I found a player from the 1880’s whose name was so awesome I just had to learn more.

“Phenomenal” Smith was born in Philadelphia on December 12th, 1864. Unfortunately, Phenomenal wasn’t his given name. (That would have been so cool!)

He was born John Francis Gammon, which at some point became John Francis Smith and began his baseball career in 1883 at the young age of 18 as a pitcher in the minors. He didn’t play much in his first few seasons, with only 4 Major League games in 1884 and 4 more in 1885. He played quite a bit in the minors in 1885 and 1886, mostly with the Newark Little Giants.

Legend has it that Smith gained the nickname Phenomenal after pitching a no-hitter against Baltimore on October 3, 1885. The nickname clearly stuck as it is found on all the baseball cards and literature of the day. It is possible he loved the nickname because another legend tells of an arrogant young ball player who, in his very brief stint with the Major League Brooklyn Greys, claimed to be so good he didn’t need his teammates to win. (Talk about no team in I.)

On June 17th, 1885, this cocky comment led to his teammates reportedly committing 14 intentional errors to punish Smith and losing the game 18-5. This incident led to Phenomenal’s release after only one game with Brooklyn, and a trip back to the minor leagues. (This is why I love these old stories, as this is something that would never happen in today’s Major Leagues.)

In 1886 while with Newark, he was, well, phenomenal, pitching 292 innings with a .74 ERA and 317 strikeouts, while going 22-10. In 1887, he was back in the Major Leagues and started 55 games for Baltimore. In true old school fashion, he completed 54 of them for 491 innings but only had 209 strikeouts and a 3.79 ERA and was 25-30.

He would go on to play with Baltimore until 1888 when he was purchased by the Philadelphia Athletics for around $1000 dollars. He wouldn’t play much with them and was released in June 1889. In 1890 and 1891, he played a few games for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, until his final game, June 15, 1891, with the Phillies. He was only 26. His final Major League statistics did not nearly justify his phenomenal nickname as he would finish his career 54-74, with a 3.89 ERA and 519 strikeouts in 1169.1 innings and a 7.7 War.

After he left major league baseball for good, Phenomenal would spend another 15 years as a player-manager in the minor leagues. He would play-manage over a dozen minor league teams, some of which were even named after him (The Norfolk Phenoms and The Portland Phenoms). While a player-manager with Norfolk, he has been credited with discovering and managing the future Hall of Famer, Christy Mathewson, then only 19. In 1890, after one season with Phenomenal as his manager, Mathewson would be sent to the major leagues and would go on to become one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history.

Phenomenal Smith spent 5 more years in baseball as the player-manager of The Manchester New Hampshire Baseball Club. In 1901 at the age of 36 he would win the batting title in the New England league after hitting .363.

Phenomenal stayed in New Hampshire, becoming a police officer in 1904 and having many children. He retired from police work in 1932 and would live until the age of 87, passing away in Manchester in 1952.  

Posted by Jake

ARTICLE REFERENCES:

Leave a comment