290 - Baseball's First Worst to First: the 1890 Louisville Cyclones w/ Perry T. Cooper

290 - Baseball's First Worst to First: the 1890 Louisville Cyclones w/ Perry T. Cooper

From Hooks & Runs by A podcast about baseball, music and culture.

June 8, 2026 · 53 min · Season 7 · Episode 290

About this episode

Perry T. Cooper discusses his book on the 1890 Louisville Cyclones, the first Major League team to go from worst to first.

Author Perry T. Cooper is our guest this week. Cooper's new book, "The 1890 Louisville Cyclones: Major League Baseball's Original Worst-to-First Team" (McFarland, March 2026). Louisville finished the 1889 American Association season with 27 wins, 111 losses, the first Major League team to lose 100 games during a campaign. Under new manager Jack Chapman, Louisville rebounded in 1890 to first place in the AA and an 88-44 record. Cooper regales listeners in this interview with stories abou...

People in this episode

Guest: Perry T. Cooper

Topics covered

  • baseball
  • history
  • sports
  • interview
  • culture

Keywords

  • Louisville Cyclones
  • Perry T. Cooper
  • worst to first
  • baseball history
  • American Association

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McFarland

Books & works: The 1890 Louisville Cyclones: Major League Baseball's Original Worst-to-First Team

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