Roger Bresnahan

Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "the Duke of Tralee", was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a major-league player, Bresnahan competed for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago Orphans (1900), Baltimore Orioles (1901–02), New York Giants (1902–1908), St. Louis Cardinals (1909–1912) and Chicago Cubs (1913–1915). Bresnahan also managed the Cardinals (1909–1912) and Cubs (1915). He was a member of the 1905 World Series champions.

Bresnahan began his career as a pitcher. He also served as an outfielder, before becoming a regular catcher. For his major-league career, Bresnahan had a .279 batting average in 4,480 at bats and a 328–432 managerial win–loss record. Bresnahan popularized the use of protective equipment in baseball by introducing shin guards, to be worn by catchers, in 1907. He also developed the first batting helmet.

After retiring as a player, Bresnahan remained active in professional baseball. He owned the minor league Toledo Mud Hens and coached for the Giants and Detroit Tigers. In 1945, Bresnahan was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Early life

Roger Philip Bresnahan was born on June 11, 1879, in Toledo, Ohio. He was the seventh child of Michael and Mary Bresnahan, who had immigrated to the United States from Tralee, Ireland. Bresnahan used to claim that he was also from Tralee, and early in his life, he earned the nickname "The Duke of Tralee".

Bresnahan began playing baseball in grade school, becoming one of the best known sandlot baseball players.

At 16, Bresnahan signed with a semi-professional team from Manistee, Michigan. After he graduated high school, Bresnahan signed with Lima of the Ohio State League, where he played primarily as a pitcher, but also as a catcher in 1895 and 1896.

Bresnahan played for the Toledo Mud Hens of the Interstate League and the Minneapolis Millers of the Western League in 1898, and the Millers and Buffalo Bisons of the Western League in 1899.

Chicago Orphans (1900)

Bresnahan appeared in two games at catcher for the Chicago Orphans of the NL in 1900, which served as a tryout. John McGraw, manager of the Baltimore Orioles of the AL saw Bresnahan pitch for Chicago, and decided to sign him for the Orioles before the 1901 season. For the Orioles, Bresnahan filled in at catcher behind Wilbert Robinson, and also appeared in the outfield. A faster baserunner than the average catcher, Bresnahan had two inside-the-park home runs on May 30, 1902.

thumb|300px|Bresnahan (third from right) with the [[1905 New York Giants season|New York Giants before playing in the 1905 World Series]]

With Frank Bowerman and Jack Warner established as the Giants' catchers, McGraw played Bresnahan as the center fielder for the Giants.

Bresnahan shifted to catcher full-time in 1905, as Bowerman became less effective and Warner left the Giants. Bresnahan led the Giants with a .313 batting average in the World Series. Bresnahan practiced in shin guards that are worn in cricket during spring training, and debuted them on April 11, 1907. Fans, used to seeing catchers play without protective equipment, threw snowballs on the field, and without police at the game, umpire Bill Klem called off the game, with the Giants forfeiting to the Philadelphia Phillies. The press also criticized the use of shin guards. However, other catchers began to adopt Bresnahan's idea. Though Pittsburgh Pirates manager Fred Clarke protested Bresnahan's gear to the league, the protest was denied and the equipment was approved. Bresnahan caught a career-high 138 games in 1908, batting .283 and leading the NL in walks.

Bresnahan also developed the first batting helmet. He was hit in the head with a pitch by Andy Coakley of the Cincinnati Reds on June 18, 1907. Bresnahan led the Cardinals, who won only 49 games in 1908, to 54 wins in 1909 and 63 wins in 1910. the team was involved in a train wreck while riding the Federal Express to Boston. Fourteen people were killed after the train derailed and plunged down an embankment outside Bridgeport, Connecticut. None of the Cardinals were seriously injured, due to a fortuitous change in the location of their two Pullman cars, requested by Bresnahan. The Cardinals helped rescue the injured and remove bodies.

Bresnahan and Britton feuded publicly in 1912, as the Cardinals fell to sixth place in the NL. The Cardinals fired Bresnahan after the 1912 season due to various arguments Bresnahan had with Britton, including over Bresnahan's desire to sell Miller Huggins to another franchise. Britton cited decreased profits as a sign that Bresnahan was uninterested in the job. Huggins succeeded Bresnahan as Cardinals' manager, as she preferred Huggins' "gentlemanly" manner, as opposed to Bresnahan's rougher personality. Bresnahan hired an attorney to obtain the remainder of his salary. He eventually settled the lawsuit against Britton for $20,000 ($ in current dollar terms). He served as player-manager for the Cubs in 1915, but was released when his batting average slipped.

The Cubs paid Bresnahan for the remaining two years on his contract and aided Bresnahan in purchasing the Toledo Mud Hens, then in the American Association, in 1916. The club had moved to Cleveland to block the Federal League from placing a team there, but returned to Toledo under Bresnahan's control. and appeared in five games for the Mud Hens in 1921.

Bresnahan sold the Mud Hens before the 1924 season. McGraw then hired Bresnahan as a coach for the Giants, a position he held from 1925 through 1928. He coached for the Detroit Tigers in 1930 and 1931. Bresnahan ran for county commissioner in 1944, winning the Democratic Party nomination, but losing in the general election by a few hundred votes out of 140,000 votes cast.

Bresnahan died of a heart attack at his home in Toledo on December 4, 1944, at the age of 65. He was survived by his wife, Gertrude, and his daughter, Marian. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Toledo.

Bresnahan stood approximately . Bill James wrote that Bresnahan "was one of those guys that if you were on his team and played hard he was as nice to you as could be, but if you got on his bad side you'd think he was the Breath of Hell."

Bresnahan was elected to the Hall of Fame the year after his death. He had received 47 votes of the 226 electors in the 1936 Hall of Fame balloting, and between 43 and 67 votes each time from 1937 through 1942. In the 1945 balloting, occurring one month after Bresnahan's death, he received 133 votes, still falling short of enshrinement. However, the Permanent Committee noticed the surge in votes and elected him in April 1945.

Regarding his Hall of Fame induction, James has criticized the election, saying that Bresnahan "wandered in the Hall of Fame on a series of miscalculations", and regarding his election, that "the Hall of Fame had, for the first time, selected a player who clearly had no damn business being there".

Roger Bresnahan

Early life

Chicago Orphans (1900)

See also

References

Bibliography

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