Mike McGeary

Mike McGeary
Second Baseman
Born: February 12, 1851(1851-02-12) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died: After 1910
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 9, 1871 for the Troy Haymakers
Last MLB appearance
June 26, 1882 for the Detroit Wolverines
Career statistics
Batting average	.276
Runs scored	484
Runs batted in	236
Teams
National Association of Base Ball Players Troy Haymakers (1870)   League Player Troy Haymakers (1871) Philadelphia Athletics (NA) (1872–1874) Philadelphia White Stockings (1875) St. Louis Brown Stockings (1876–1877) Providence Grays (1879)–(1880) Cleveland Blues (1880–1881) Detroit Wolverines (1882)   League Manager Philadelphia White Stockings (1875) Providence Grays (1880) Cleveland Blues (1881)

Michael Henry McGeary (February 12, 1851 – After 1910) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played mainly infield positions during his 11 league seasons, which included stints for seven different teams in two leagues. Three of those teams employed him as player-manager.^[1]

McGeary was a native of Philadelphia. He made his professional debut at 19, as the regular catcher for the Troy Haymakers in 1870, the last season of the National Association of Base Ball Players. The NABBP had first permitted professional clubs for the 1869 season and the "Haymakers" had been one of twelve pioneers. Formally they were the Union baseball club of Lansingburgh, New York, a city neighboring Troy and subsequently annexed by it.

While the team played 25 professional matches in 1870 (with 11 wins and one tie), McGeary played in 37 of all 46 games on record. He was a little below average as a batter in the company of his teammates. ^[2] It was a solid team in the professional class. Seven of the including McGeary were remained together when the club participated in the first professional league during 1871.

His league statistics seem to show that Mike was a solid ballplayer, but rumors that he threw games persisted throughout his career, though never substantiated.^[3] He was suspended by the St. Louis management for allegedly "throwing" a game on May 27, 1876. The game took place against the New York Mutuals at the Union Grounds, and Mike had made four errors.^[4]

Little is known about Mike McGeary after his baseball career. The best resources may only be census records.^[5] The last of these records appear to be from 1910, which hints that he may have died between 1910 and 1920.

References

1. ^ "Mike McGeary's career stats". retrosheet.org. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmcgem101.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 
2. ^ Wright, Marshall D. The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857–1870. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Co. 2000. Page 300.
   Coverage of NABBP play, even the list of a player's teams, is generally limited to the record that Wright has published, which is compiled from various sources and commonly limited to regular and important substitute players.
3. ^ Daniel E. Ginsburg (2004). The Fix Is in: A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals, pg. 34. McFarland. ISBN 9780786419203. http://books.google.com/books?id=lOjvggO19joC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=%22mike+mcgeary%22+baseball&source=web&ots=xbccxdXJoe&sig=nbSX6ugwVo5ebcjcYrhaHheT5jM#PPA34,M1. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 
4. ^ Neil W. McDonald (2004). The League That Lasted: 1876 and the Founding of the National League, pg. 116. McFarland. ISBN 9780786417551. http://books.google.com/books?id=kUTWjHzAiwkC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=mike+mcgeary+founding+national+league&source=web&ots=RjGOtsLbd0&sig=xoYTEhpqtsejlxCRs4S6KNTgob4#PPA116,M1. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 
5. ^ "Mike McGeary at Ancestry.com". ancestry.com. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&gsfn=Mike&gsln=McGeary&gsby=1851&gsb2co=2%2cUnited+States+&gsb2pl=41%2cPennsylvania&gsdy=&gsd2co=1%2cAll+Countries&gsd2pl=1%2c+&sbo=0&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gl=allgs&gss=ansmp&so=1&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=24988. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Preceded by Bill Craver	Philadelphia White Stockings Managers 1875	Succeeded by Bob Addy
Preceded by George Wright	Providence Grays Managers 1880	Succeeded by John Montgomery Ward
Preceded by Jim McCormick	Cleveland Blues Managers 1881	Succeeded by John Clapp

Persondata
Name	McGeary, Mike
Alternative names	McGeary, Michael Henry
Short description	Major League Baseball player
Date of birth	July 17, 1847
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of death
Place of death