Chief Meyers

Chief Meyers
Meyers with the Giants in 1910
Catcher
Born: July 29, 1880(1880-07-29) Riverside, California
Died: July 25, 1971(1971-07-25) (aged 90) San Bernardino, California
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 16, 1909 for the New York Giants
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 1917 for the Boston Braves
Career statistics
Batting average	.291
Home runs	14
Runs batted in	363
Teams
New York Giants (1909-1915) Brooklyn Robins (1916-1917) Boston Braves (1917)
Career highlights and awards
Third in NL batting average (1911) Second in NL batting average (1912) Third in NL MVP voting (1912) Appeared in the 1911, 1912, 1913, 1916 World Series

John Tortes "Chief" Meyers (July 29, 1880 - July 25, 1971) was a Major League Baseball catcher for the New York Giants, Boston Braves, and Brooklyn Robins from 1909 to 1917. He played on the early Giants teams under manager John McGraw and was the primary catcher for Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson. Meyers hit over .300 for three straight years as the Giants won three straight National League pennants from 1911 to 1913. Overall, he played in four World Series - the 1911, 1912, and 1913 Series with the Giants, as well as the 1916 Series with the Robins. Meyers was a Native American from the Cahuilla culture of California, and he was educated at Dartmouth College.

Meyers had his greatest success in the 1912 season, hitting .358 and finishing third in the MVP award voting. His .441 on-base percentage led the league.^[1] Meyers was also a key player in that year's World Series versus the Boston Red Sox, which featured the infamous "Snodgrass Muff" as well as captivating performances by Mathewson and Smoky Joe Wood. In 1919, Meyers was hired as manager of the New Haven entry in the Eastern League.^[2]

Meyers was interviewed by Lawrence Ritter for The Glory of Their Times in March 1964.^[3] This brought him a great deal of fame years after he had left baseball.

See also

• Hitting for the cycle
• The Glory of Their Times

References

1. ^ "1912 National League Most Valuable Player Award". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1912.shtml#NLmvp. 
2. ^ "Chief Meyers Appointed Manager" (PDF). The New York Times. 05-03-19. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940CE5DF1338EE32A25750C0A9639C946896D6CF. 
3. ^ "Ritter Audio Tapes". Rare Books & Special Collections University of Notre Dame. 05-03-19. http://www.library.nd.edu/rarebooks/collections/sports/baseball/special/ritter_audio_tapes.shtml. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Chief Meyers Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac

Persondata
Name	Meyers, Chief
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 29, 1880
Place of birth	Riverside, California
Date of death	July 25, 1971
Place of death	San Bernardino, California