# List of 19th-century Major League Baseball players with unidentified given names

Thirty-two individuals who played professional baseball at the major league level before 1900 lack identified given names (there are hundreds of other players of which this is true from the twentieth-century Negro leagues). All 32 played between 1872 and 1892; 18 played in the National Association, which folded in 1875. Identification of players remains difficult due to a lack of biographical information. A Brooklyn, New York, directory, for instance, lists more than 30 men who could be the professional player "Stoddard". Philadelphia Athletics manager Bill Sharsig signed three of the 32, "local players" McBride, Stafford and Sweigert, for Philadelphia's last game of the season against the Syracuse Stars on October 12, 1890. McBride, Philadelphia's center fielder, and Stafford, the team's right fielder, both failed to reach base, but left fielder Sweigert reached base on a walk and stole a base. Society for American Baseball Research writer Bill Carle "doubt[s] we will ever be able to identify them". David Nemec has commented on this phenomenon with both major league and minor league players, noting, for example, that a McGuire (not on this list because he was a minor league player) is probably the player with an unknown first name whose appearances came closest to the twentieth century.
Despite their relative anonymity, several of these players received media coverage describing their games. In 1872, The New York Times described O'Rourke as a new player on Eckford of Brooklyn who "appear[ed] to be an improvement over the recent incumbents": in his only game, the pitcher allowed 15 runs to score in a complete game against the Troy Trojans. Lewis received a mention in Sporting Life (pictured) that recapped his performance, and another in the Pittsburgh Press, with a synopsis that summarized the game as "one of the greatest slugging matches ever seen since curve pitching came into vogue".
Of the 32 athletes with an unidentified given name, Baltimore Monumentals right fielder Scott played in the most games at the major league level, with 13, followed by Wills with 9. Scott also has the most hits among these players, with 12, followed by both Wills and Jones with 5 each. Among pitchers, Lewis has the highest earned run average, 60.00, whereas McDoolan has the lowest, 3.00.

## Players without identified given names
### National Association
#### 1872–1874

| Name | Position | Team | League | Year |
| Higby | Right fielder | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1872 |
| Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 error |||||
| O'Rourke | Pitcher | Eckford of Brooklyn | National Association | 1872 |
| Summary: 0–1 win–loss record 9.0 innings pitched 8.00 earned run average 15 runs allowed |||||
| Spencer | Shortstop | Washington Nationals | National Association | 1872 |
| Summary: 1 game played 1 run 4 errors |||||
| McDoolan | Pitcher | Baltimore Marylands | National Association | 1873 |
| Summary: 0–1 win–loss record 9.0 innings pitched 3.00 earned run average 24 runs allowed |||||
| Quinlan | Shortstop | Philadelphia White Stockings | National Association | 1874 |
| Summary: 1 game played 1 hit 1 run batted in |||||
| Wood | Second baseman | Baltimore Canaries | National Association | 1874 |
| Summary: 1 game played 5 plate appearances 0 hits |||||

#### 1875

| Name | Position | Team | League | Year |
| Boland | Third baseman | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 error |||||
| Booth | Shortstop | New Haven Elm Citys | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 1 error |||||
| Edwards | Center fielder / Pitcher | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 1 game played 5 plate appearances 1 hit 0–1 win–loss record 2.0 innings pitched 4.50 earned run average |||||
| Evans | Left fielder | New Haven Elm Citys | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 1 game played 2 hits 1 run batted in |||||
| Hellings | Second baseman | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 hit |||||
| Quinn | Outfielder / Shortstop | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 2 games played 1 hit 2 runs |||||
| Shaffer | Right fielder | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 error |||||
| Sheridan | Left fielder | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 0 hits |||||
| D. Smith | Second baseman | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: Misidentified until 2023 as Thomas N. Smith 3 games played 13 plate appearances 1 hit |||||
| Stoddard | Outfielder | Brooklyn Atlantics | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 2 games played 9 plate appearances 1 hit |||||
| Sullivan | Right fielder | New Haven Elm Citys | National Association | 1875 |
| Summary: 2 games played 3 hits 3 runs batted in |||||

### Union Association, American Association and Players' League
#### 1884–1885

| Name | Position | Team | League | Year |
| Carroll | Left fielder | Washington Nationals | Union Association | 1884 |
| Summary: 4 games played 16 plate appearances 4 hits 4 errors |||||
| Franklin | Center fielder | Washington Nationals | Union Association | 1884 |
| Summary: 1 game played 3 plate appearances 2 putouts |||||
| Jones | Left fielder | Washington Nationals | American Association | 1884 |
| Summary: 4 games played 5 hits .294 batting average |||||
| McRemer | Right fielder | Washington Nationals | Union Association | 1884 |
| Summary: 1 game played 3 plate appearances 0 hits |||||
| Murphy | Catcher / Left fielder | Boston Reds | Union Association | 1884 |
| Summary: 2 games played 4 plate appearances 1 walk |||||
| Scott | Right fielder / Third baseman | Baltimore Monumentals | Union Association | 1884 |
| Summary: 13 games played 12 hits 1 home run |||||
| Smith | Pitcher / Right fielder | Baltimore Monumentals | Union Association | 1884 |
| Summary: 1 game played 5 plate appearances 1 hits 0–0 win–loss record 6.0 innings pitched 9.00 earned run average |||||
| Wills | Center fielder | Washington Nationals | American Association Kansas City Cowboys (UA) | 1884 |
| Summary: 9 games played 36 plate appearances 5 hits |||||
| Jones | Third baseman | New York Metropolitans | American Association | 1885 |
| Summary: 1 game played 4 plate appearances 1 hit |||||

#### 1890–1892

| Name | Position | Team | League | Year |
| Lewis | Left fielder / Pitcher | Buffalo Bisons | Players' League | 1890 |
| Summary: For broader coverage of this topic, see 1890 Buffalo Bisons season § Brooklyn vs Buffalo game and the story of Lewis. 1 game played 5 plate appearances 1 hit 0–1 win–loss record 3.0 innings pitched 60.00 earned run average |||||
| Macey | Catcher | Philadelphia Athletics | American Association | 1890 |
| Summary: 1 game played 1 plate appearance 0 hits |||||
| McBride | Center fielder | Philadelphia Athletics | American Association | 1890 |
| Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 0 hits |||||
| Stafford | Right fielder | Philadelphia Athletics | American Association | 1890 |
| Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 0 hits |||||
| Sweigert | Left fielder | Philadelphia Athletics | American Association | 1890 |
| Summary: 1 game played 2 plate appearances 1 stolen base |||||
| Leonard | Right fielder | St. Louis Browns | American Association | 1892 |
| Summary: 1 game played 1 walk 1 stolen base |||||