CATCHER: HOW THE MAN BEHIND THE PLATE BECAME AN AMERICAN FOLK HERO (Ivan R. Dee, Inc.)

Catcher tells the history of the remarkable men who played this position in the early days of baseball when catchers wore not protective equipment and were very much taking their lives in their hands by standing directly behind home plate. I show how these men achieved the status of folk hero and successfully brought the tradition of frontiersmen and cowboys to urban America.  There are also some amazing stories about men who sought to be catchers and ended up achieving greatness in other fields, including one of the greatest American novelists.  But the book is also a story of loss -- of what happened to the catchers of the late 1880s and ’90s who donned equipment and came to be perceived as less manly and courageous.  And finally there is triumph as the twentieth century sees the catcher’s position redefined once again, bringing back some of the old glory.  It was a fascinating book to write and research and I did my best to do justice to a very important story that has largely escaped notice. I will be doing quite a few book events, so check my events page to see when and where they will be held. Or to order it, click here. And to read some of the praise it has received, click here.

In addition, I LOVE A GOOD MYSTERY and spend no end of time working on unsolved baseball mysteries. Here are a couple, one solved and the other still mystifying baseball historians:

JACK McCARTHY

Jack McCarthy made his major league debut on August 3, 1893, and played more than 1000 major league games before finally retiring in 1907.  He is perhaps best remembered for stepping on the umpire’s broom in a game on May 14, 1904, and spraining his ankle, an injury which led umpires to switch to smaller whisk brooms.  Despite his lengthy career, he remains a mystery figure and when and where he died remains unknown.  I’m sending this post in hopes someone will be able to help.

The encyclopedias have listed McCarthy as dying in San Francisco on September 11, 1931.  A former ballplayer named Jack McCarthy did indeed die in San Francisco on that date, but he was not the major leaguer.  Obituaries in the Sporting News and San Francisco Chronicle correctly identified him as a former minor leaguer and American League umpire, but made no claim that he played in the major leagues.  Additional research by Richard Malatzky conclusively demonstrated that this man was not the major leaguer.

Here’s a summary of what we have learned about the real major leaguer.  John Arthur McCarthy Jr. was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts on March 26, 1869 to John and Margaret McCarthy.  He had a younger brother named Frank who also played in the minor leagues.  Jack attended Holy Cross College until shortly before making his major league debut.  In 1899, he married 20-year-old Jessie F. Halpin of Kansas City.  The couple would have no children.

After his playing days ended, he remained in baseball for awhile as a minor league manager.  But eventually he drifted into other lines of work; the 1930 census shows Jack and Jessie living at 1504 Dearborn Parkway in Chicago, with his occupation listed as a clerk in a probate court.  Nor did he forget about baseball – the Chicago Tribune of August 20, 1933 listed him as one of the players expected to play in an old-timers game and he also appeared in a photo of old-timers that appeared in the Tribune on June 24, 1937.

After that the trail becomes difficult to follow.  The Queen of Heaven Cemetery, near Chicago, has records for a John A. McCarthy and Jessie McCarthy who are buried together.  John A. was interred on October 21, 1948, no age given, and Jessie on March 5, 1951, age 77 (which is a little off, but reasonably close).  Unfortunately, the Tribune didn't publish a death notice for either, nor does John seem to be on the on-line1916-50 index to IL death certificates.  Their graves are located in section 30, block 24, graves 161 and 163, but they are unmarked and no family members seem to be buried with them.  The cemetery will not give out any additional information.  So while it seems likely that Jack McCarthy died in 1948, we still lack definite proof and are unsure of exactly when and where he died. 

JOHN ROACH

Meet John Roach, who pitched one game for the New York Giants on May 14, 1887, losing 17-2.  Not surprisingly he was released shortly thereafter and his dismal performance was quickly forgotten.  Not by me, however.  I’m a member of the Biographical Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research, the small group of people who worry about what ever happened to obscure players like Roach.  A few years ago, we found that Roach died in Peoria in 1934 and that answered the most pressing question.  But since then, we keep finding intriguing new details about this enigmatic player.  Roach, for example, had a brother Mike who also played in the major leagues.  Five years before his birth, his parents were getting their mail at a Pennsylvania post office called “Youngwomanstown.”  Unfortunately it changed its name before John was born -- wouldn’t that have been a cool place of birth?

But the most intriguing question was what hand Roach used to pitch.  On August 8, 1936, the New York Times published a letter by a man who claimed to have witnessed John Roach pitching with both hands for the Giants in his only major league game.  And the writer correctly recollected that the Giants lost the game by the score of 17-2.  There is no contemporary documentation of Roach using both hands during that game, and thus no way to be certain, which means that another unsolved mystery swirls around John Roach.  Judging from his tantalizing pose on this baseball card, perhaps he liked it that way.

Admittedly, it’s not exactly CSI.  But if you enjoy reading about the efforts to solve real-life mysteries like these, check out some of my other research.