Howard Carleton Blaisdell (June 18, 1862 - August 20, 1886) was a starting pitcher

Starting pitcher

In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....

 who played for the Kansas City Cowboys

Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association)

The Kansas City Cowboys were a team in the Union Association during its only season, . Referred to as the "Cowboys" mostly by historians, they had no official nickname during their short life and were most frequently referred to by local press of the day as the "Unions" and by the press of other...

 of the Union Association

Union Association

The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for only one season in 1884. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season...

 during the season. He was born in Bradford, Massachusetts

Bradford, Massachusetts

Bradford is a former town in Essex County, Massachusetts. The name currently refers to the area on the south side of the Merrimack River in Haverhill, Massachusetts that was once Bradford...

. Batting side and throwing arm are unknown.

Blaisdell pitched for the Fort Wayne Hoosiers of the Northwestern League (1883) and Lynn of the Massachusetts State Association (1884) before joining the Cowboys. He posted a 0-3 record with a 8.65 ERA

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 in 26 innings of work for Kansas City, who finished 11th with a 16-63 mark. Though he was not successful as a pitcher, Blaisdell hit .313 (5-for-16) with a double

Double (baseball)

In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

 and one run

Run (baseball)

In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

, a bright spot for an awful team who hit a collective .199 average.

In 1885 Blaisdell pitched for the Haverhill club of the New England League

New England League

The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played sporadically in five of the six New England states between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League Baseball clubs in Boston and alongside stronger, higher-classification...

. A year later he died in Malden, Massachusetts

Malden, Massachusetts

Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...

, at the age of 24.

Sources