February 29 Happy Birthday to Former Tigers or Detroit Wolverines

There are no Tiger birthdays for Feb 29.  So Sadie Houck who has a known birth some time in the month of March seems apropos. 

Sadie was a player with the Detroit Wolverines when he was blacklisted.   He started his major league career in 1879 with Boston of the National League.  He was an excellent fielder and hit .267 for the Boston Red Stockings as a starting outfielder and shortstop.  .267 was good for fifth best on the team and his 49 RBI’s was 8^th best in the league.  Also making a major league debut in 1879 was the reserve clause.  It was also called the “five man rule” because at the time the clause was applied to the five players of a teams choice.  If a team put you on reserve no other team could touch you or offer you a contract.  You became the property of that team in perpetuity.  Sadie’s contract in 1879 was for $600.  In 1880 he was sent to Providence part way through the season but his average dropped down to .201 at Providence.  In 1881 at the age of 25, Sadie joined the Wolverines in Detroit of the National League.  He boosted his average up to .279 which tied him for fourth best hitter on the team.  His salary was $700.  This was fifth highest at best for the Wolverines.  In fact, the Wolverines big stars, Charlie Bennett (Tiger Stadiums original name was Bennett Park named after Charlie) and ace pitcher George Derby made double what Sadie made at $1,400 and Hall of Famer Ned Hanlon made almost double at $1,200.  This must have eaten away at Sadie that he could not earn more money with the Wolverines yet he could not move to another team to make more money either.  I can only assume that he tried to jump leagues after 1881 as he was blacklisted and did not play baseball in 1882.  He was reinstated back in baseball in 1883 as he resigned with the Wolverines and hit .252, fourth best on the team.  Clearly he was still on Detroit’s reserved list as at the end of the season Sadie’s contract was purchased by Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association.  The reserve clause was sticking.  Sadie would play out his days with teams in the American Association or National League until 1887.  In his 8 year career he hit .250 and as a Wolverine he hit .264.  The reserve clause would expand to all players on a team.  It would be challenged time to time by rival leagues but would never be broken until struck down almost 100 years later in 1975.  However, by that time Sadie had been dead for over 50 years.