Sullivan, Ted

Ted Sullivan (1851-1929) Considered by many to be the father of minor league baseball, Sullivan co-founded the second-ever professional baseball league according to SABR, the Northwestern League, and went on to co-found the first Western League, Southern League, and Texas League. Sullivan played major league ball for the St. Louis Maroons in the Union Association in 1884. Managed the major league St. Louis Browns (1883), St. Louis Maroons (1884), Kansas City Cowboys (1884), and the Washington Nationals (1888), with an overall record of 132-132 (.500). Sullivan is often credited with coming up with the term “fan” to describe baseball enthusiasts. He claimed to coin the term while managing in Dubuque!

Sullivan moved to Dubuque in 1875 to run the Western News Service franchise that serviced the Illinois Central Railroad depot and trains running in and out of Dubuque. Sullivan and his employees sold newspapers and magazines, tobacco, confectionary goods, and general dime-store items to travelers. In 1878, Sullivan convinced his college friend, Charley Comiskey, to move to Dubuque and work as a “butcher” selling items on the trains. Sullivan and Comiskey revolutionized first base play by pioneering playing off the bag in Dubuque. Comiskey and Sullivan would research the science behind playing off first base in between trains at the train station in Dubuque.

Sullivan organized the famous 1913-1914 World Tour of the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants. Sullivan organized the tour for his friend Charley Comiskey, owner of the White Sox. The tour included a young pitcher born in Cascade, Iowa, who started his Hall of Fame career in Dubuque – Urban “Red” Faber.

For more information, see “The Evolution of the American League.”

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