John McGraw

Name	John McGraw
Position	Infielder/Manager
Bats	Left
Throws	Right
Birth date	April 07, 1873
Birth place	Truxton, New York
Death date	February 25, 1934
Death place	New Rochelle, New York
Debutdate	August 26
Debutyear	1891
Debutteam	Baltimore Orioles
Finaldate	September 12
Finalyear	1906
Finalteam	New York Giants
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.334
Stat2label	Stolen bases
Stat2value	436
Stat3label	Runs scored
Stat3value	1,024
Stat4label	OBP
Stat4value	.466
Teams
Highlights
Hofdate
Hofmethod	Veterans Committee

John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 — February 25, 1934), nicknamed "Little Napoleon" and "Muggsy," was a Major League Baseball player and manager. Much-lauded as a player, McGraw was one of the standard-bearers of dead-ball era major league baseball. Known for having fists as quick as his temper, McGraw used every advantage he could get as both a player and manager. He took full advantage of baseball's initial structure that only provided for one umpire, becoming notorious for tripping, blocking and impeding a baserunner in any way he could while the umpire was distracted by the flight of the ball. His profligacy in employing such tactics may have led to additional umpires being assigned to monitor the basepaths.

However, even with his success and notoriety as a player, he is most well known for his record as a manager. His total of 2,763 victories in that capacity ranks second overall behind only Connie Mack; he still holds the National League record with 2,669 wins in the senior circuit. McGraw is widely held to be "the best player to become a great manager" in the history of baseball.

Personal life

Early years

McGraw's father, a widower whose name was also John, moved to Truxton in 1871. He and his older brother Michael had immigrated from Ireland more than 15 years earlier. As a widower and an Irish immigrant, life was not easy for the man who would become the father of one of the first great baseball managers. He and his brother had arrived in time for the Civil War, and were drawn into the conflict as part of the Union army. Shortly after the war, he married and McGraw's older half-sister was born. The first Mrs. McGraw died in childbirth, and McGraw's father began moving around looking for work—a search that ultimately led him to Truxton, New York. It was here that the elder McGraw married young Ellen Comerfort, and where the younger John McGraw was born on April 7, 1873.

The younger John McGraw was named "John" after his father, and "Joseph" after his grandfather back in Ireland. Even as a baby, young Johnny (as he was called) had raven hair, and eyes so dark that many people thought they were black. The boy's birth was the first of many to the family, as seven more children were born over the course of the next 12 years. The sheer number of children, combined with the paucity of well-compensated work led to hard times for the large family. It was often a struggle simply to have ample food for everyone and clothing enough to protect them all from the harsh winters of upstate New York.

Tragedy struck the family in the winter of 1884, when a debilitating fever swept through the family. Johnny's mother was the first to succumb, and his half-sister Anna, 13, died shortly thereafter. By the time the month of January in 1885 had passed, three more McGraw children had died. The devastated family moved from their house in the country into a hotel in town. Johnny's father, understandably bitter, heaped even more responsibility on the young boy's shoulders, and had very little patience for his son's passion for baseball. He became abusive toward the boy, and later on in 1885 (still only 12 years old), Johnny ran away. From that day onward, he was raised by a kindly neighbor, Mary Goddard, under whose care he did quite well.

During his years as part of Mrs. Goddard's household, he took on several jobs that allowed him to save money to buy baseballs and the Spalding magazines that chronicled the rules changes in the rival major leagues of baseball, the National League, and the American Association. He quickly became the best player on his school team. Shortly after his 16th birthday, he began playing for his town's team, the Truxton Grays, making a favorable impression on their manager, Albert "Bert" Kenney. While he could play any position, his ability to throw a big curveball made him the star pitcher. It was McGraw's relationship with Bert Kenney that would precipitate his professional playing career.

(seated left), shortstop Hugh Jennings (seated right), and Willie Keeler (standing left)]]

Marriages

McGraw, then 23, married Minnie Doyle, the daughter of prominent Baltimore politician Michael Doyle, on February 3, 1897. This was at the height of his fame as a player for the old Baltimore Orioles of the National League. Two years later, while McGraw was on a road trip with his team, she developed appendicitis. An emergency appendectomy was performed, and McGraw was called back from Louisville, Kentucky. However, her condition worsened and, surrounded by not only McGraw, but other members of the family as well, young Minnie, only 23 years old, died on September 1, 1899.

He married his second wife, Blanche Sindall, on January 8, 1902. She outlived McGraw by nearly 30 years, dying on November 4, 1962. Even after her husband's death, Mrs. McGraw was a devoted fan of the team he had managed for so long. In 1951, she threw out the first pitch during a World Series game in which her beloved Giants played the New York Yankees. Sadly for Mrs. McGraw, the hated Yankees won that day, 6–2, and would go on to win the championship—their third in a row—in six games.

Later years

In 1923, only nine years before he would retire, McGraw reflected on his life inside the game he loved in his memoir My Thirty Years in Baseball. He stepped down as manager of the New York Giants in the middle of the 1932 season. He was reactivated briefly when he accepted the invitation to manage the National League team in the 1933 All-Star Game.

Less than two years after retiring, McGraw died of uremic poisoning at age 60 and is interred in New Cathedral (Roman Catholic) Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Connie Mack would surpass McGraw's major league victory total just months later. After his death McGraw's wife found, among his personal belongings, a list of all of the African-American players he wanted to sign over the years, but was unable.

Baseball career

In the minor leagues

In 1890, Bert Kenney bought a portion of the new professional baseball franchise in Olean, New York. The team was to play in the newly formed New York-Pennsylvania League. In return for this investment, he was named player/manager of the team (this was called "captain" at the time).

When McGraw heard the news, he immediately went to visit his former coach, begging him for a chance to play on the new team. Kenney had seen a lot of baseball by this time, and doubted that his former pitcher's one great pitch (the "outcurve," as it was called) would work as effectively against professional competition. Yet the man liked the teenaged McGraw very much, and when the boy insisted that he could play any position available, Kenney decided to give him a chance. McGraw signed his first contract to play professional baseball on April 1, 1890.

Olean was located 200 miles from Truxton, and this was the furthest the youngster had ever traveled from his hometown. His debut with his new team was inauspicious and short-lived. He began the season on the bench. After two days, Kenney inserted him into the starting lineup at third base. McGraw would describe the moment of his first fielding chance decades later:

[F]or the life of me, I could not run to get it. It seemed like an age before I could get the ball in my hands and then, as I looked over to first, it seemed like the longest throw I ever had to make. The first baseman was the tallest in the league, but I threw the ball far over his head.

Seven more errors in nine more chances followed that day, a debacle that McGraw would not soon forget. After the team opened with no wins in six contests, Kenney and the other members of the ownership of the team—in the face of attendance that had dwindled to nearly nothing—were forced to overhaul the team. McGraw was given his release from the team, but Kenney also loaned him $70 and wished him luck if he wanted to try to catch on with another squad. McGraw could not bear the thought of going home a failure, as both his father and Mary Goddard had urged him to stay home and take a regular job, instead of chasing his dream of being a ballplayer. McGraw was resolute in his determination to make a name for himself as a professional baseball player, even if that meant struggling along in poverty for a time.

Thus it was that he began his journey again, this time in Wellsville, New York, a team that played in the Western New York League. The level of baseball played there was the lowest of the minor leagues, and McGraw still struggled with his fielding. But during his 24-game stint with the club, he managed to hit .365, flashing a glimpse of what would later become his hitting prowess. On October 1, 1890, he finished his first season as a professional baseball player, still only 17 years old.

After that first season, McGraw caught on with the traveling team of flamboyant promoter and fellow player, Al Lawson. Then only 21 himself, Lawson had gathered a ragtag group of players. These he took to Gainesville, Florida, in February 1891, hoping to play against major league teams who were training in the area. After defeating a team from Ocala a couple of times, Lawson began calling his team "the champions of Florida," and was able to convince the major league team from Cleveland to play against his team. It was during this game that McGraw gained his first notoriety as a player. The Cleveland squad was led by Denton True "Cy" Young, who had already become famous for his "cyclone"-like fastball.

While the young Gainesville club lost the game 9–6, McGraw managed three doubles in five at-bats. He also scored half his team's six runs, crossing the plate three times. He played error-free defense at shortstop as well. Reports of the game—and his masterful play in it—made it to the Cleveland papers. McGraw's name began to become widely known after other daily papers as well as some national baseball weeklies, such as The Sporting News. McGraw heard from many professional clubs requesting his services for the upcoming season within around a week.

Lawson acted as the boy's agent, and advised him to request $125 monthly and a $75 advance. The manager of the Cedar Rapids, club in the Illinois-Iowa League was the first to wire the money, and McGraw decided to make that his next stop. It was later claimed by several other clubs that McGraw had signed with them, and had accepted their $75 advances. Though they threatened to sue, the clubs were never able to substantiate these claims, and McGraw was allowed to play in the league.

It was with the Canaries—as his Cedar Rapids club was called—that his greatest opportunity would arise. The Chicago White Stockings arrived in town for an exhibition game against McGraw's team. The White Stockings were led by Adrian "Cap" Anson, the major league's first true superstar. Unfazed by his famous opponents, the brash young McGraw led his teammates in giving their foes a hard time. During the game, on a field covered in mud, McGraw made a dazzling play at shortstop, leaping high to steal a hit from Cap Anson. After the game, Anson—impressed with the 18-year-old's solid play—asked him whether he would like to play for Chicago's team some day, which greatly increased the young man's confidence. .]]

When the call came for McGraw to report to the major leagues—the Baltimore club specifically—his teammates accompanied him to the rail station. McGraw arrived at Camden Station in Baltimore on August 24, 1891, still only 18 years old, but now a major league baseball player. McGraw described his new home upon his arrival as "a dirty, dreary, ramshackle sort of place."

In the major leagues

McGraw made his major league debut in 1891 in the American Association with the Baltimore Orioles. After the Orioles moved to the National League a year later, he remained with the team until 1899. During this time, McGraw established himself as an adept batsman with a keen eye, and an excellent third baseman. He walked over 100 times in a season three times, scored over 100 runs in a season five times, batted .320 or higher in every year from 1893 on, and also boasted an on base percentage of .400 or higher in every year from 1893 on, including a career high mark of .547 in 1899. McGraw also took on managerial duties for the 1899 Oriole team and posted an 86–62 record.

McGraw's playing time diminished over the following years as he played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1900), the American League Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902) and the New York Giants (1902–1906). He effectively retired after the 1902 season, not posting more than 12 at bats in any season thereafter. He retired having accumulated 1,024 runs, 13 home runs, 462 RBI, a .334 batting average and a .466 on base percentage. His .466 career on base percentage remains third all-time behind only baseball legends Ted Williams (.482) and Babe Ruth (.474).

As a manager

at the 1912 World Series.]] Despite great success as a player, McGraw is most remembered for his tremendous accomplishments as a manager. In his book The Old Ball Game, National Public Radio's Frank Deford calls McGraw, "the model for the classic American coach—a male version of the whore with a heart of gold—a tough, flinty so-and-so who was field-smart, a man's man his players came to love despite themselves." McGraw took chances on players, signing some who had been discarded by other teams, often getting a few more good seasons out of them. Sometimes these risks paid off; other times, they did not work out quite so well. McGraw took a risk in signing famed athlete Jim Thorpe. Alas, Thorpe was a bust, not because he lacked athletic ability, but because "he couldn't hit a ball that curved."

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" |- | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB | CS | OBP | SLG | BA | HBP |- | 1,099 | 3,924 | 1,024 | 1,309 | 121 | 70 | 13 | 462 | 1609 | 836 | *74 | 436 | *-- | *-- | .410 | .334 | 134 |} The following managerial career statistics for John McGraw as officially recognized by Retrosheet.org. {| border="1" cellpadding="2" |- | G | W | L | W/L % | RS | RA | EJ |- | 4,768 | 2,763 | 1,947 | .587 | 22,699 | 18,567 | 117 |}

' * ' denotes stats that were not officially recognized during parts or all of his career, and are incomplete.

See also

List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs

List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

Baltimore Orioles (19th century)

Inside Baseball

Sources

References

Further reading

External links

Category:1873 births Category:1934 deaths Category:19th-century baseball players Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Category:Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Category:Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902) players Category:Baltimore Orioles (19th century) managers Category:Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902) managers Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Major League Baseball managers Category:Baseball player–managers Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Baseball players from New York Category:Major League Baseball third basemen Category:New York Giants (NL) managers Category:New York Giants (NL) players Category:People from New York Category:St. Bonaventure University alumni Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:Cedar Rapids Canaries players