Fantastic research, David. From that article, we can see that the downfall came in 1888.
"In 1888 the Wolverines dropped from first to fifth, and then at season's end, dropped right out of the league."
So the term "creach" could very well have been in response to the rapid downfall of the Detroit Wolverines. Also, the card is dated to 1888 based on its design, which has the white block with text at the bottom, not 1887, since the photo lacks the "flying sausage" advertisement known on 1887 cards.
So it seems that they were calling him Irish via blaming him for the downfall of the Detroit Wolverines. Wow.
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