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Jimmy McAleer

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Jimmy McAleer

James Robert McAleer (July 10 1864 - April 29 1931) was an American center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who spent the bulk of his fourteen-year professional playing career with the Cleveland Spiders. As a manager, he was regarded by contemporaries as an instrumental figure in the formation of the American League.[1]

McAleer was born in Youngstown, Ohio, where he attended local public schools and earned a high school diploma from Rayen High School.[2] A "strapping six-foot 175-pound outfielder",[3] he gained invaluable experience with Youngstown-area amateur and minor league baseball clubs.[2]

Playing career

The world championship Cleveland Spiders (1895)

McAleer became a member of a Youngstown minor league baseball club in 1882, remaining with the team until 1884.[2] The following year, he joined another minor league club in Charleston, South Carolina; and in 1887, he played for a team based in Memphis, Tennessee.[2] According to his obituary, McAleer's skill as a center fielder was first recognized in 1888, when he was playing for a club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[2]

On April 24, 1889, McAleer broke into the major leagues in Cleveland, Ohio, where he established a reputation as a graceful outfielder.[4] He proved a standout on the celebrated 1895 Cleveland world championship team.[3] In 1898, when the Spiders' owners purchased the St. Louis Browns franchise, McAleer opted to stay in Cleveland, taking a three-year hiatus from baseball until the Cleveland Blues franchise joined the newly-formed American League.[5]

His subsequent career as a manager would overlap with his playing career. McAleer played his final major league game on July 8, 1907.[6] A later newspaper account summed up McAleer's performance as a player in the following terms: "As an outfielder, McAleer was known as a top defensive star. Blessed with excellent speed, the Youngstown native played a shallow outfield, almost described as being an infielder. His speed on the basepaths helped him steal 51 bases one year and 41 another. He finished with a lifetime batting average of .255".[3]

Managerial career

File:Browns1909.jpg
St. Louis Browns (1909)

Some accounts suggest that McAleer managed the Cleveland team as early as 1900.[7] In July of that year, he reportedly presided over the Blues' upset loss to the Detroit Tigers. When Tigers manager Tommy Burns agreed to forfeit the game to Cleveland because he feared that umpire Joe Cantillon would be injured by an angry crowd, McAleer agreed to play Detroit using a reserve umpire. Detroit won the day, with a score of 6-1.[8]

In 1901, McAleer participated in only three games with the Blues before taking over as manager of the new league's St. Louis Browns (a different team than the National League club).[9] Over the next eight years, as manager of the Browns, McAleer lured players such as Hall of Famers Jesse Burkett and Bobby Wallace.[10] He went on to manage the Washington Senators, where he initiated what became a venerable baseball tradition. On April 14, 1910, McAleer suggested that visiting President William Howard Taft throw out the first ball of a season opener.[11]

Last hurrah

On September 15, 1911, McAleer announced his resignation from the Senators.[12] He went on to become a major stockholder in the Boston Red Sox between 1912 and 1913, purchasing a half-interest in the team for $150,000.[13] In 1912, the Red Sox took the league pennant.[14]

Red Sox as 1912 champions

In the afterglow of this victory, McAleer returned to his hometown in style. A brass band met him at Youngstown's train depot, and a parade and fireworks display were held in his honor. The Youngstown Vindicator reported: "As the auto bearing Mr. McAleer turned into West Federal Street, hundreds of sticks of red fire were burning at Central Square, while the quiet atmosphere was occasionally punctured by the explosion of a bomb".[15]

McAleer's tenure as a part-owner of the Red Sox was about to come to a swift end, however. Some accounts suggest that he had been too shrewd for his own good. Reports indicate that McAleer's efforts to ensure that the 1912 World Series would be held at Boston's new Fenway Park led him to pressure the team's manager to feature an untested pitcher in a contest between the Red Sox and the New York Giants.[16] While the Red Sox's subsequent loss to the Giants at 5-2 guaranteed that the Series would be held in Boston, it also left Boston's players disgruntled and demoralized.[17] Worse yet, the Red Sox, which had been scheduled to host three Series games, sold their tickets as a three-game set while neglecting to inform their most loyal fans that an earlier tied game would be counted as one of those games.[18] Consequently, during the seventh game of the World Series, the "Royal Rooters", a passionate contingent of Red Sox fans led by Boston Mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, found themselves without seats.[19] A riot quickly ensued, [20]and an incensed Fitzgerald led a boycott of the Series' final game.[3] As if things weren't bad enough, McAleer's increasingly tense relationship with American League President Ban Johnson took a turn for the worse in 1913, when McAleer forced the resignation of Red Sox manager Jake Stahl, one of Johnson's close friends.[3] Following a bitter quarrel with Johnson, McAleer sold his holdings in the Red Sox. Media accounts suggest that McAleer's feud with Johnson turned out to be a lifelong affair, despite the efforts of legendary baseball manager Charles Comiskey to smooth over the rift.[1]

Retirement

McAleer returned to his native Youngstown, where he spent his last years as an incongruously cosmopolitan figure. Newspaper accounts indicate that, in retirement, the former baseball manager maintained close friendships with figures as varied as song-and-dance man George M. Cohan and King Alfonso of Spain.[2]

Following his death, at age 66, an article in The Youngstown Daily Vindicator praised the ex-major leaguer in the following terms: "Forceful and resourceful, but always retiring when there was talk of his share in the development of baseball, James R. McAleer died within a matter of weeks after the passing of Byron Bancroft Johnson, his chief partner in the forming of the American League, and the man with whom he 'broke', which break brought about his retirement".[1]

Legacy

Despite McAleer's varied career, his debacle with the Red Sox (and subsequent falling out with Johnson) may have overshadowed his genuine contributions to professional baseball. In 1936, during the first elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he received just one vote in the balloting for 19th-century figures.[21]

As a player, McAleer received an unofficial but nevertheless impressive endorsement, however. He was named by former Cleveland legend Nap Lajoie as "one of the best ever".[3] Among residents of his native Youngstown, Ohio, McAleer's career would be viewed as another chapter in a rich baseball tradition that produced luminaries such as Deacon McGuire, Billy Evans, George Shuba, and Dave Dravecky.

References

  1. ^ a b c Ward, Frank B. (April 29, 1931). "James R. McAleer Chiefly Responsible for Formation of American League". The Youngstown Daily Vindicator. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "vind-yo-04-29-31a" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Jim M'Aleer, Noted In Ball World, Is Dead". The Youngstown Daily Vindicator. April 29, 1931. p. 1. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f "McAleer Credited For Aiding Baseball". The Youngstown Vindicator. July 13, 1986. p. D-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  5. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  6. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  7. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  8. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  9. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  10. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  11. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  12. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  13. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  14. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  15. ^ "'Jimmy' M'Aleer Gets Royal Welcome Home". The Youngstown Daily Vindicator. October 19, 1912. p. 12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Jimmy McAleer and the 1912 World Series". Rob Neyer. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  17. ^ "Jimmy McAleer and the 1912 World Series". Rob Neyer. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  18. ^ "Jimmy McAleer and the 1912 World Series". Rob Neyer. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  19. ^ "Jimmy McAleer and the 1912 World Series". Rob Neyer. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  20. ^ "Jimmy McAleer and the 1912 World Series". Rob Neyer. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  21. ^ "Jimmy McAleer". Baseball Library. Retrieved 2007-03-05.

Sports Illustrated Player Page

Preceded by
John I. Taylor (purchased 50% interest in 1912)
 Owner of the Boston Red Sox (along with John I. Taylor)
1912 — 1913 		Succeeded by
Joseph Lannin (bought McAleer’s interest)
Preceded by
First Manager
 Cleveland Blues Manager
1901 		Succeeded by
Preceded by St. Louis Browns Manager
1902-1909 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Washington Senators Manager
1910-1911 		Succeeded by
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