Simeon Edward Bullas was a Clevelander who played thirteen games with Toledo in the American Association in 1884 – one of the years when there were three major leagues operating at the same time.  That Toledo team is famous for having both Fleetwood and Welday Walker, the last African American major leaguers prior to Jackie Robinson, on their team.

Arriving January 11, 1863, Bullas was the third of six children born to Samuel and Mary Elizabeth (Fark) Bullas, both born in England and having come to the United States with four children after the Great War for Slavery.  Samuel was a moulder; his wife was busy maintaining a very busy home.

A catcher, Bullas learned the game in Cleveland and joined the amateur ranks with the Malleables and the Shamrocks there before signing to play with Youngstown in the old Interstate League for the 1883 season.  In his time with Toledo, Bullas had just four hits (one triple) in 45 at bats.  He was released following a game where he committed six passed balls.  Aside from his brief MLB turn, he also played with Oil City, Hamilton (Ont.), Newcastle and Chattanooga.

In 1890, the owner of various iron foundries, Francis Ley, assembled a number of baseball players and sent them to Ley’s hometown of Derby in England, where Derby joined three other clubs to form the National League of Great Britain. Bullas played catcher and provided coaching.  Because Ley’s club had a handful of American professionals, they dominated the league in such a way that the league complained.  The league proposed to even things out by making a rule that only people born in England could pitch.  Ley countered by not using his American ace against the two tailenders, but that didn’t really change things and eventually Ley tired of the complaints and withdrew from the league.

As an adult, and after his baseball days, Bullas worked as a moulder.  He also worked at the Euclid Avenue Opera House in Cleveland as a ticket taker and stagehand for a number of years.

When he died of pneumonia on January 14, 1908, he was unmarried.  His earthly remains are interred at Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland.

1870, 1880, 1900 US Census
Cleveland Death Records
Ohio Marriage Records (Cuyahoga County)
“Star Catcher in Old Days,” Billings Gazette, January 29, 1908: 6.
“A Row in England,” The Sporting Life, August 23, 1890: 8.

Image of Bullas is an old tin type and is part of the collection at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and can be found here.