Edward Ellsworth Springer hailed from Canada (perhaps Oil Springs, Canada), the fourth of eight children born to Edward Robert Springer and Nancy Ann (Shaw) Springer. Dad was an English import working as a machinist while Nancy was a Scottish import taking care of a large family. Somewhere after 1881, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan where the youngest of the children were raised. The younger Edward Springer, future baseball player, learned the game in Michigan cities that were growing hotbeds for local sports.

Springer played just one major league game, that with Louisville in 1889. To make his major league debut, Springer rode the rails from Detroit to Louisville in time to pitch in the second game of a doubleheader against Brooklyn. Brooklyn pounced on the young kid right from the start and won 8 – 1 in five innings (darkness). Five of the eight runs allowed were earned. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Springer didn’t show the speed expected of him and he had a slow motion and waited some between pitches. “His delivery is too slow, and he goes about it with the deliberation of a backwoods minister.”

To be fair, I’m not sure how Springer got the job. Obviously, Louisville was desperate for good young players – they were a seventh place team in 1888 on their way to a 27 – 111 record in 1889. Still – either they were too desperate for anyone who could play or the scouts they trusted weren’t very good. And, most of the time when Springer played on an organized team before that, he was usually a left fielder. Had Louisville talked to someone in, say, Hamilton, Ontario – Springer would never have gotten this chance.

In the months prior to his major league start, Springer tried to get a job pitching for Toronto in 1889. Springer offered to collect $300 per month in months where he won more games than he lost, and only $150 each month in which he lost more games than he won. Toronto apparently balked at the interesting offer (that was a lot of cash for an unproven pitcher) – so Springer signed with the Hamilton Hams of the International League instead. Springer first pitched in relief against Buffalo on Opening Day, May 8, 1889. Springer fanned one, walked five, and gave up five runs in eight innings of work. One wild pitch broke the finger of his catcher when he tried to stop it. He pitched again on May 14, and it was a disaster. Your Hamilton Spectator baseball writer commented, “The whole truth of the matter is that he can’t pitch. He has no judgment; he can’t put the ball over the plate and he is not qualified to play in the league. The elongated youth should be allowed to return to California.”

We are working backwards through Springer’s baseball career, I guess.

Let’s give Springer some credit. In the fall or winter of 1888, Springer went all the way to Los Angeles to improve his lot in life and, while there, played amateur ball with the Los Angeles Tribunes, which suggests that Springer was working for the newspaper and playing games when not working. One spring article in Michigan noted that he once struck out 17 batters in a game in California.

Springer likely landed in California looking for a better job. In 1888 Springer got a tryout with the Detroit Wolverines of the National league, having spent time with an amateur lot in Reed City in 1887. (Reed City is a small town in north-central Michigan and nowhere near any city most of you have ever heard of). Springer wasn’t ready for National League company but manager Bill Watkins liked him and gave his recommendation to teams on Springer’s behalf. One such recommendation got Springer an offer of $150 a month and a $75 advance from Dallas.

So, Springer hopped on a train south. When he arrived in Dallas, they didn’t have a contract written up for him – but Springer played a few games anyway. Then, Dallas tried to shave his monthly salary in half; Springer said no and headed back north, stopping in Chicago. (That Dallas hadn’t yet finished collecting funds from subscribers to meet their financial obligations was problematic.)

In Chicago, he was able to land with the West Ends, an amateur team that was a member of the City League. Soon after, the West Ends let Springer move to another team in the league, the Aetnas, but apparently league rules stipulated that Springer would have to sit out three weeks before he could play for the Aetnas. That didn’t happen – and as the Aetnas began to encroach upon another team’s ability to win the City League, complaints were made leading to forfeits and fines. (Using box scores, it looks like Springer didn’t play between July 8 and July 29 – so apparently Springer played on the 21st day – which would have been a violation.)

Springer’s life mirrored the railroads he frequently travelled – lots of stops but quickly moving to the next station. However, I don’t see where Springer played baseball in 1890 or 1891, but I do see where an E. E. Springer was selling horses in Sioux City for 1890. By 1891, he had moved to Minneapolis.

Edward Springer was two years removed from his lone start for Louisville when he died on December 17, 1891. According to the Minneapolis Tribune and his gravestone at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Springer was 22 years old. However, the 1871 Canadian Census says Springer was born in 1867 and, without better information, Baseball-Reference.com agrees, saying he was 24 years old at the time he passed to the next league.

Notes:

“Reed City Beats Greenville,” Detroit Free Press, June 30, 1887: 8.
“The World’s Champions,” Saginaw News, March 30, 1888: 3.
“Base Ball Notes,” Dallas Morning News, April 30, 1888: 8.
“A Batting Contest,” Fort Worth Daily Gazette, May 4, 1888: 8.
“Dallas Base Ball Notes,” Fort Worth Daily Gazette, May 10, 1888: 8.
“Bunched Hits,” Detroit Free Press, May 22, 1888: 8.
“The Case of Springer,” Chicago Tribune, August 6, 1888: 8.
“Baseball To-day,” San Bernadino Daily Courier, December 30, 1888: 7.
“About Pitcher Springer,” Hamilton Spectator, February 21, 1889: 1.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 9, 1889: 3.
“Bad Day for Pitchers,” Hamilton Spectator, May 15, 1889: 4.
“Louisville’s New Pitcher,” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 13, 1889: 6.
Gobs of livestock for sale ads in the Sioux City Journal for the summer of 1890.
Obituary, Minneapolis Tribune, December 18, 1891: 8.
1871 Canada Census